(The AFL-CIO circulated the following on July 6.)
New members reported in this week’s WIP: 840
New members reported in WIP year-to-date: 70,452
DISABILITY WORKERS WIN VOICE–At ATC/Vancom, nearly 300 para-transit drivers, dispatchers, lift attendants and utility workers voted July 1 for a voice at work with Teamsters Local 287 in San Jose, Calif. ATC/Vancom provides transportation to people with disabilities under a county contract.
AFSCME HOLDS DOWN THE FORT–Using a majority verification process, 247 nursing home workers at Fort Bayard Medical Center in Fort Bayard, N.M., chose to join AFSCME Council 18. In a majority verification procedure, workers win their union when a majority signs authorization cards verifying the decision to have union representation. Nursing home workers are among the 7,000-plus state workers who have joined AFSCME since Gov. Bill Richardson (D) restored collective bargaining rights to public workers last year. Other new AFSCME members include 22 clerical employees from city hall and the town library in Whitewater, Wis., and the 20-member Foxboro (Mass.) Highway Association, which represents the town’s highway and water employees, who voted to affiliate with AFSCME Council 93.
CWA WINS IN NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY–Some 153 workers recently joined the Communications Workers of America, including 35 cafeteria, police dispatch and other Lower Alloways Creek, N.J., township workers and 34 attorneys, social workers and support staff members at Monroe County Legal Services in Rochester, N.Y. Other new CWA members include 31 registered nurses at Our Lady of Victory Hospital/Catholic Health System in Lackawanna, N.Y.; 22 employees at the Passaic County (N.J.) Supervisors of Elections; 16 employees at the West Orange (N.J.) Library; and 15 employees in the Atlantic City (N.J.) Facilities Management and Supported Employees Unit.
TNG HAS A POINT–The 67 full-time faculty members at Point Park University in Pittsburgh have a voice on the job with the Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild, Local 38061, an affiliate of The Newspaper Guild/CWA. The ballots were cast last month but were impounded until the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected an election appeal by the university that contended the faculty were managers and not eligible to have a union.
A WIN FOR PACE–The majority of 31 warehouse employees, material handlers, forklift operators, truck drivers and production workers at Ashland Distribution Inc. in Morrisville, Pa., voted to join PACE International Union Local 2-286 June 4.
EDWARDS IS KERRY’S VP PICK–Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) chose Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) as his vice presidential running mate July 6. Edwards has strong union ties: His mother is a member of the Letter Carriers, his father was a mill worker and his brother is a member of the Electrical Workers. “This is a team that will generate a lot of excitement and draw a sharp contrast with the failed policies and leadership records of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. Kerry called Edwards “a man who has shown courage and conviction as a champion for middle-class Americans and for those struggling to reach the middle class.” As a U.S. senator, Edwards has earned a 96 percent AFL-CIO working families voting record. In 2003, he stood with working families 100 percent of the time. Kerry’s choice of Edwards for the ticket followed months-long discussions with potential vice presidential candidates, including Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), a long-time champion for working family issues. For more on the Edwards choice and the presidential campaign, visit http://www.aflcio.org .
KERRY HONORS PICKET LINE–“I don’t cross picket lines. I never have,” said Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) after he canceled an appearance at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Boston last week. The Boston Police Patrolman’s Association has been working without a contract for two years and recently began picketing Mayor Thomas Menino’s (D) appearances at events such as the mayors’ conference to highlight the need for the mayor to negotiate a fair deal. Kerry’s action continues his long support workers’ rights. He is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, has lent his support to workers at Quebecor World and Comcast, who are fighting for a voice at work and fair contracts, and earlier this year walked the picket lines with striking grocery store workers in Southern California. For a closer look at Kerry’s support of workers, visit http://www.aflcio.org . Download a free poster with Kerry’s picket line quote at http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/politics .
NLRB RAMPAGE CONTINUES–Siding with the anti-union National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a regional office of the NLRB June 28 said UAW and Freightliner violated federal labor law during a union organizing campaign at the company’s Thomas Built bus plant in High Point, N.C. The union and company had a neutrality and majority verification agreement. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said, “We’ve supported Thomas Built workers from day one, and we’re going to continue to stand by them. It’s our intention to move forward with negotiations.” The regional office’s action was an initial determination, and the matter now moves to the full NLRB for a decision. Last month, the Bush-appointed Republican-majority NLRB said it will review the legality of rules regarding majority verification and neutrality procedures workers currently use as an alternative to the more onerous NLRB election process, which allows employers to use debilitating obstacles to block workers’ free choice.
HOFFA LEAVES TRADE BOARD–IBT President James P. Hoffa resigned from the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations June 24. He said he had agreed to serve on the board when President Bush pledged to bring a new level of respect and bipartisanship to the nation’s capital. “I took him at his word. I will no longer lend legitimacy to a sham process,” Hoffa said. He said the Bush administration does not respect the views of labor and other important constituencies and Bush’s decision to sign the Central American Free Trade Agreement “left me with no choice but to resign. Our country desperately needs leaders who will include enforceable labor and environmental standards in all future trade deals, combat offshoring and strengthen Buy American laws.”
A SLAP IN THE FACE–In a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Tom Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, called for even more good American jobs to be sent overseas, arguing job exporting is good for the United States because it’s best for corporations’ bottom lines. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the June 30 speech before the corporate business organization was “a shocking slap in the face to America’s hardworking men and women….It is absolutely stunning that Donohue would then go on to accuse those men and women of ‘whining’ when giant corporations ship their jobs overseas.” Sweeney said more than 2 million family-supporting manufacturing jobs have disappeared under the Bush administration and long-term unemployment is at a 20-year high.
NOT ENOUGH JOBS–The U.S. economy needs to add 346,000 jobs every month between now and January 2006 to close the job gap, a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston reveals. The job gap, according to “Understanding the Job-Loss Recovery,” includes millions of jobs lost during President Bush’s presidency, as well as the number of jobs needed to employ people who have dropped out of the workforce and jobs to keep up with workforce population growth. This 346,000 a month figure is far more than most economists forecast, and the report calls recent job growth “anemic.” Meanwhile, the Economic Policy Institute reported that as employment grew slightly in May, the unemployment rate remained unchanged and real wages fell to a two-year low.
FIRST PAID FAMILY LEAVE–July 1 marked the day California’s landmark paid family leave law went into effect. The law allows Golden State workers to take partially paid time off from their jobs to take care of a new baby, foster or adopted child or care for a seriously ill parent, spouse, child or domestic partner. The benefit is funded by employer contributions to the state’s disability insurance fund. “Union members worked hard to pass this groundbreaking legislation that will benefit all working people,” said Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation.
PROPOSED POWER PACT–Utility Workers Local 1-2 reached a tentative four-year agreement with Consolidated Edison Co. of New York last month, averting a strike. The accord covers 8,600 linemen, splicers and meter readers, plus manhole, power plant and emergency repair workers. The pact improves wages, reduces the time required to reach maximum pay and improves pension and dental benefits. Mail ratification is under way.
JOB SECURITY–IBEW Local 21 announced a tentative five-year agreement with SBC Communications Inc. covering 11,300 workers in Illinois and northwestern Indiana. The proposed package will provide workers with access to a variety of SBC jobs emerging in new technology areas, protecting current jobs and ensuring access to future ones. The proposal retains employer-paid health care premiums. A ratification process is under way. Some 102,000 CWA members at SBC overwhelmingly ratified a similar contract, CWA announced July 1.
GCIU BOARD OKAYS MERGER–GCIU General Board voted June 30 to approve a merger with the IBT. Under the agreement, which GCIU members will vote on later this summer, GCIU would become a IBT conference and continue to be governed by its current constitution and bylaws. “By merging…we will acquire the resources and strength of a 1.4-million-member organization,” said GCIU President George Tedeschi.
NATCA WARNS OF CONTROLLER SHORTAGE–If Congress does not provide funding to hire and train new air traffic controllers, the nation’s air traffic control systems face “dire consequences,” the National Air Traffic Controllers Association warned. More than 7,500 controllers are expected to leave the workforce, mostly through retirement, by 2011. “Without adequate numbers of certified controllers, we cannot increase system capacity and safely meet the needs of our nation’s travelers,” Ruth Martin, NATCA executive vice president, told the House Aviation Subcommittee last month.
A WEEK OF ACTION–Union activists honored Independence Day by distributing and collecting tens of thousands of postcards in support of workers’ freedom to form unions during the Voice@Work week of action June 28-July 4. The postcards thank Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for supporting the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1925, H.R. 3619), a bill that would allow workers to form unions and bargain good contracts without the often-debilitating obstacles erected by employers. Activists also wrote postcards to President George W. Bush, who has not supported the legislation. In Lexington, Ky., union activists held a workers’ rights board hearing to learn more about workers at Quebecor who want a voice with Graphic Communications. Other actions included a workers’ rights hearing conducted by the Alameda County (Calif.) AFL-CIO. Also, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) charged Republican House leaders are blocking a vote on the House version of the bill even though it has 204 co-sponsors. “They’ve decided in the House of Representatives, in the United States of America, they don’t want to let democracy function….How about a little democracy in the House….How about a little democracy in the workplace?” For more information on the Employee Free Choice Act and the Voice@Work week of action, visit http://www.aflcio.org .