(The AFL-CIO circulated the following on May 2.)
COURT WORKERS WIN CASE FOR UNION—The 141 Bergen County (N.J.) Court administrative employees voted April 18 for representation with Communications Workers of America Local 1034. Other recent victories include 34 workers at Frontier Telephone in Statesboro, Ga., who voted to join CWA Local 3220, and 30 workers at Casa de Maryland, a nonprofit community service agency in Silver Spring, Md., who voted for TNG/CWA Local 32035.
TRUCKIN’ TO VICTORY—Truck drivers at six independent DHL contractors voted last month to join the Teamsters. In Miami, 66 workers at three locations—D&P Express, M&P Express and Miramar—voted overwhelmingly April 22 for Local 769. In Northern Virginia, 66 drivers at VMW Transportation, Powell Transportation and Ditto Transportation voted for Local 639. Meanwhile, more than 30 truck drivers at Sonepar Northeast Electric in Canton, Mass., voted recently for Local 25.
ADELPHIA TECHS WIN VOICE—Nine cable television technicians at Adelphia Communications Inc. in Western Massachusetts voted for a voice at work with Electrical Workers Local 1228.
BUSH BACKS SOCIAL SECURITY CUTS—In a nationally televised press conference April 28, President George W. Bush called for cutting benefits for future retirees as part of his plan to privatize Social Security. The call for cuts came just two days after thousands of union members, retires, lawmakers and others rallied on Capitol Hill and in 35 states to stop Bush’s scheme to privatize Social Security. “We are here to say ‘No’ to privatization and ‘Yes’ to the most successful domestic program in this great country of ours,” AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said at the Washington, D.C., rally, which coincided with the opening round of Senate hearings on the Social Security privatization plan. Social Security privatization continues to lose public support, according to an ABC News–Washington Post poll released April 25, which shows 64 percent of Americans now disapprove of Bush’s handling of Social Security, up from 56 percent in March. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/socialsecurity.
LOVE MOM, NOT WAL-MART—As part of its WakeUpWalmart.com online campaign to change Wal-Mart, the United Food and Commercial Workers is urging consumers to pledge not to buy Mother’s Day gifts and cards at Wal-Mart until the retail giant stops alleged discrimination against women. The Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart campaign kicked off April 26 when five members of Congress and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson signed the Mother of All Mother’s Day Cards, an 8-foot-by-8-foot card to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott calling on him to stop the company’s discrimination against women. A federal class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart filed on behalf of 1.6 million current and former employees claims the company systematically paid women employees less than men and denied women promotions. Members of participating unions can get discounts on flowers and other Mother’s Day gifts by visiting www.unionprivilege.org/mothersday. Union-made gift items also are available at The Union Shop Online at www.aflcio.org/shop.
WINNING FOR WORKING FAMILIES—The AFL-CIO’s executive officers have recommended broad changes for the labor federation aimed at increasing growth through organizing and gaining legislative and political strength for working families. Their blueprint for change, “Winning for Working Families,” calls for new approaches and increases in funding for organizing as well as for legislative and political mobilization. Released April 28, the recommendations also outline changes for strengthening state and local union movements, increasing leadership diversity and providing affiliate unions a larger role in federation governance. In November, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney asked union members, national unions, constituency groups and allied organizations to submit their ideas for change and identify issues the union movement must pursue to grow and build strength. More than 70 detailed proposals were submitted and nearly 7,000 rank-and-file union members submitted comments to the AFL-CIO’s Strengthening Our Union Movement website. The officers’ recommendations include establishing a $22.5 million Strategic Organizing Fund with rebates for unions that meet tough organizing standards; creating year-round, year-in and year-out member education and mobilization capacity around national, state and local political and legislative issues; and increasing member mobilization funding by approximately $7.5 million a year. The AFL-CIO Executive Council will consider many of the proposals leading up to the July AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago. To read or download “Winning for Working Families,” visit www.aflcio.org/ourfuture.
WAL-MART’S ANTI-UNION TACTICS PROBED—A federal grand jury in Arkansas, Wal-Mart’s home base, is investigating accusations that former Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Tom Coughlin misspent as much as $500,000 of company funds to bribe employees to report on co-workers who supported a union. The UFCW filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Wal-Mart April 12, claiming Coughlin’s alleged actions violated federal law.
DEATH’S STILL ON THE JOB—Latino and immigrant workers are especially at risk of death and injury on the job and experience a disproportionate number of work-related fatalities, according to the AFL-CIO’s annual report “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect.” The report analyzes workplace fatalities and injuries by state, occupation and other factors and examines the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s enforcement of safety standards. Nearly 6,000 workers were killed on the job in 2003 and another 50,000 died from occupational diseases. The report also shows more than 12,000 workers a day were injured or made ill on their jobs in 2003. The report was released on April 28, Workers Memorial Day, when hundreds of rallies, marches and religious services around the world honored those who have suffered and died on the job and workers vowed to renew the fight for safe workplaces. For more information visit www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/safety/memorial.
STRONG SAFETY BILLS INTRODUCED—On Workers Memorial Day, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) introduced legislation to toughen criminal penalties for employers whose willful safety and health violations result in a worker’s death. The Kennedy bill (S. 2371) also would include whistleblower protections for workers who report safety violations and expand the public’s right to know about dangerous chemicals in their neighborhoods. Corzine’s bill, expected to be folded into the Kennedy legislation, would increase the maximum sentence from the current six months to 10 years in prison for an employer that causes the death of a worker through willful violation of safety rules.
MORE BACK EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT—A little more than a week after the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act, the legislation has 36 co-sponsors in the Senate and 148 in the House. The bipartisan bill would reform the nation’s basic labor laws by requiring employers to recognize the union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation, known as majority sign-up. It also would provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establish stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to form unions or negotiate first contracts.
HEALTHY FAMILIES—Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced the Healthy Families Act April 27. The legislation would require employers with 15 or more workers to provide full-time employees at least seven paid sick leave days per year for their own needs or to care for sick family members. A study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research said the bill would cost employers about $20 billion in direct costs but would save more than $25 billion annually in reduced turnover costs. For more information, visit www.iwpr.org.
MUM ON FAMILY LEAVE CHANGES—The U.S. Department of Labor announced last year it would issue revisions to Family and Medical Leave Act in March but has delayed action and refuses to comment on any changes to the law. Business groups have sought to restrict workers’ use of the 1993 law, which allows workers in firms with 50 or more employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year to care for a seriously ill family member or newborn or newly adopted child.
SAFETY FIRST—Risking the safety of air travelers by putting the nation’s air traffic control up for sale should never be an option, said John Carr, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association at a House Aviation Subcommittee hearing. At the hearing, private air traffic operators from foreign countries tried to convince lawmakers the United States should privatize its air traffic control systems as several nations have. But Carr said the current U.S. system is the world’s largest, controlling 92 percent of all daily air traffic, and the safest. “I can’t understand why we are looking to foreign countries for guidance on how to improve our system,” he said.
OUTSOURCING STUDY OKAYED—Washington became one of only five states to pass legislation on job exporting. With bipartisan support, the legislature passed a measure April 23 to create a taskforce to investigate public contracting-out overseas, the impact of national trade agreements on the state’s contracting and associated outsourcing issues. For more information, visit www.washtech.org.
PROFITS SOAR, WAGES DON’T—The fruits of the growing national economy are padding the pockets of companies, not workers, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Since the recovery began in 2001, only 23 percent of national income growth has gone to wages, the lowest of rate of any post–World War II recovery, while the proportion going to corporate profits—44 percent—is the highest. For more information, visit www.cbpp.org.
SHOW TIME—The AFL-CIO’s annual Union-Industries Show, April 29–May 2 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, showcased union-made goods and services for more than 200,000 visitors. Under the theme Good Jobs Build Strong Communities, the show also provided the opportunity for students and job seekers to meet with training and apprenticeship coordinators and representatives from dozens of industries.