(The AFL-CIO circulated the following on November 1.)
CAMPING OUT WITH NFFE/IAM—A majority of the 250 Forest Service workers at the Stanislaus National Forest in Northern California voted to join the National Federation of Federal Employees, an affiliate of the Machinists, earlier this year in two elections. Permanent and temporary workers are included in the unit, which is made up of firefighters, wildlife biologists, forestry technicians, maintenance workers, office staff and other workers.
JOINING THE CWA FAMILY—The majority of 90 paralegals, transportation aides and litigation aides at Children’s Aid and Family Services offices throughout New Jersey voted to join Communications Workers of America Local 1037 Oct. 14. Employees of the nonprofit agency work beside unionized state workers in Department of Youth and Family Services offices. “I can see all around me the advantage of being part of a union,” said Kerry Genannce, a paralegal. “Why wouldn’t I want the same?”
VOICE WITH UFCW—Twenty-seven health care workers at ViaQuest in Cincinnati voted overwhelmingly for a voice with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1099 in September. Elsewhere in Ohio, 16 Salvation Army store employees in Heath and 12 workers at a CVS store in Athens chose Local 1059 to be their voice on the job recently. The majority of 10 deli employees at Rosaurs in Hood River, Ore., voted to join Local 555 this spring.
NEW YORK WIN FOR AFT—Fifty bus drivers, cleaners, clerical, cafeteria and maintenance workers at the Ellicottville (N.Y.) Central School District on Oct. 28 became the newest members of AFT through majority verification, a process by which workers win their union when a majority signs authorization cards indicating the desire to form a union. They formed the Ellicottville Central School-Related Professional Association.
STOP VOTER SUPPRESSION—Union and civil rights activists are signing an online petition urging President George W. Bush and the Republican National Committee to stop efforts to suppress votes—especially votes of people of color—in battleground states. As Election Day approaches, GOP operatives are getting more brazen in trying to keep voters from the polls, activists say. In Ohio, with less than 24 hours before polls open, officials continued fighting over how to handle vote challenges. Unions and civil rights groups have filed suit charging Republicans are violating 1980s consent decrees prohibiting voter suppression targeting racial minorities. The British Broadcasting Corp. is reporting that documents prepared for top RNC and Bush campaign operatives list voters in predominantly African American areas of Jacksonville, Fla., whose votes Bush supporters likely will challenge. “The role of political parties in our nation should not include coordinated efforts to suppress the vote of minorities and individuals with disabilities,” said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, at an Oct. 28 news conference in front of RNC headquarters in Washington, D.C. “The right to vote should mean the right to vote for all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or disability.” Sign the online petition at http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stop_vote_suppression.
ELECTION DAY IS HERE—More than 200,000 union activists will charge forward Nov. 2 to get out the vote in battleground states from coast to coast. In a final Election Day push, activists will make thousands of phone calls, knock on doors and hand out leaflets at workplaces to ensure America elects Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) president. Kerry has pledged to keep good jobs in the United States, fight to bring down the cost of health care, protect Social Security and fix President Bush’s deeply flawed Medicare law. Already this election season, union members have distributed more than 32 million leaflets at worksites and staffed 257 phone banks. In Ohio, thousands of cheering activists kicked off the final days before the election with a spirited rally featuring rocker Bruce Springsteen, who joined Kerry and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in Columbus Oct. 28. National union leaders crisscrossed the country, mobilizing voters over the weekend. For last-minute online political resources, see below.
SF MAYOR BACKS HOTEL WORKERS—As locked-out hotel workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 2, stand strong in San Francisco, the city’s mayor joined them on the picket lines. Mayor Gavin Newsom tried to convince hotel owners to observe a 90-day cooling-off period, but when they refused, he announced the city would not sponsor any events at the 14 properties. Members of UNITE HERE Local 5 in Hawaii honored one-day pickets by Local 2 members at two hotels in Honolulu that share common ownership with San Francisco’s Sheraton Palace, one of the hotels locking out workers. In Los Angeles, UNITE HERE Local 11’s negotiating committee recommended members endorse a boycott of nine hotels. Negotiations in Washington, D.C., with UNITE HERE Local 25 broke off Oct. 27 and are set to resume Nov. 11. The workers are fighting for decent wages, health care benefits and the ability to bargain again in 2006 along with hotel workers in other major cities, which will give them equality with the global hotel industry. As Atlantic City, N.J., workers at seven casinos entered their fifth week on strike, their union filed more than 200 unfair labor practices complaints against the employers, alleging harassment and intimidation.
MERGING ON THE RAILROAD—In a historic vote, members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Oct. 27 voted to merge with the Teamsters, the second major rail union to merge with IBT this year. Freddie Simpson, president of the BMWE, will become president of the BMWE Division of the Teamsters Rail Conference. BMWE members build, maintain, inspect and repair railroad tracks, bridges and related structures throughout North America. In January, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen became the first division of the IBT Rail Conference.
MINNESOTA MANUFACTURING SUFFERS—Since President Bush took office, Minnesota has lost more than one in nine of its manufacturing jobs, according to a new report by the AFL-CIO’s Industrial Unions Council released Oct. 28. The report, available at http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/jobs, is the fifth in a series of studies examining the impact of trade on workers in industrial states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. Wages in industries that are expanding within Minnesota are 23 percent lower—or more than $10,400 less annually—than wages in industries that are contracting, the report notes.
PACE: FACILITIES NOT PREPARED FOR ATTACK—Chemical plants, paper mills and oil refineries that store large amounts of hazardous materials and might be potential terrorist targets are not well prepared for attacks, according to a new report from PACE International Union. Only 38 percent of the 125 local unions answering a PACE survey said their companies’ actions to respond a terrorist attack were effective. “Companies must make available more training in prevention and emergency response to the thousands of workers employed at chemical and paper plants and oil refineries,” said Dave Ortlieb, PACE director of health and safety programs. “This study indicates that the workforce has neither been adequately prepared nor involved and that stronger measures must be taken to protect workers and communities.”
LACK OF SICK LEAVE COMPOUNDS FLU PROBLEMS—The lack of paid sick leave in the United States will compound the risk of getting the flu this winter, at a time when even at-risk individuals cannot obtain flu shots because of a massive shortage of the vaccine, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families. Nearly half the nation’s workers don’t have guaranteed paid time off from their jobs when they are sick, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These workers are more likely to go to work when they are sick, increasing the likelihood they will infect others, says the National Partnership, which this summer released a report, Get Well Soon: Americans Can’t Afford to Be Sick, detailing the lack of adequate federal and state laws guaranteeing paid sick time.
UMWA WANTS MINE SAFETY REPORT—The Mine Workers are trying to force the Bush administration to release a report laying the groundwork for reducing the number of mine safety inspections. On Oct. 26, the UMWA filed an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act to try to get the report. “It seems obvious that the Bush administration plans to keep this report—aimed at cutting mine safety inspections—under wraps until after the election,” said UMWA President Cecil Roberts.