(The AFL-CIO circulated the following on June 14.)
New members reported in this week’s WIP: 2,155
New members reported in WIP, year to date: 66,576
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH—A total of 1,110 workers formed unions in recent weeks with SEIU. In Spokane, Wash., the majority of 625 RNs at Deaconess Medical Center voted for District 1199NW on June 3. Meanwhile, some 345 resident physicians at St. Vincent’s Manhattan Hospital in New York City voted overwhelmingly May 21 to form a union with Local 1957/Committee of Interns and Residents. More than 140 staff members of the Chicago Board of Education’s From Cradle to Classroom program won voluntary recognition from their employer June 7 and joined Local 73.
NURSING A WIN—Seeking a voice in improving patient care and working conditions, 358 nurses at two facilities operated by the St. Barnabas Health Care System in the Garden State voted to join New Jersey Nurses Union/Communications Workers of America Local 1091 on May 28. Also, 112 dispatchers and communications workers for the Memphis (Tenn.) Police Department voted for the union on June 8.
PART-TIME VICTOR(Y)—The 350 part-time faculty members in the Victor Valley Community College District in Victorville, Calif., voted for a voice on the job with AFT recently.
A STRONG VOICE—Some 109 workers joined the Teamsters recently. Sixty-nine certified nursing assistants at Palm Gardens nursing home in Aventura, Fla., chose Local 769 June 2 through a majority verification or card-check process, in which an employer agrees to honor the workers’ choice after a majority indicates the desire to form a union by signing authorization cards. Meanwhile, 40 tank truck drivers at BP Amoco in Atlanta voted for Local 728.
THE FIRST TIME—After a two-year battle, the 76 firefighters in Glenview, Ill., voted to join Fire Fighters Local 4186. This is the first collective bargaining unit for public employees in the village, according to Local 4186 President Brian Gaughan.
NLRB POISED TO RESTRICT RIGHTS—In what could foreshadow a radical change in federal labor law, the Bush National Labor Relations Board announced June 7 it will review the legality of rules regarding majority verification and neutrality procedures workers currently use to win a voice at work. Workers increasingly are using the process to form unions instead of the more onerous NLRB election process, which allows employers to use debilitating obstacles to block workers’ free choice. Because some unscrupulous employers exploit the drawn-out NLRB election process to interfere with workers’ freedom to have a voice on the job, activists are building support for the Employee Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would guarantee workers the right to form unions through majority verification. Activists have persuaded 202 members of the House of Representatives and 31 senators to co-sponsor the bills, H.R. 3619 and S. 1925.
BRIDGING THE GAP FOR HEALTH CARE—From the Brooklyn Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge, thousands of activists in 38 states plan to rally and march June 19 for affordable health care for all. “In the wealthiest country in the world, every man, woman and child should have access to quality, affordable health care,” said SEIU President Andrew Stern. “But instead, more and more working families cannot afford the health coverage they need.” SEIU is organizing the Bridge the Gap for Health Care marches along with Jobs with Justice and Rock the Vote. For more, visit www.bridgingthegapforhealthcare.org.
WALKING FOR WORKING FAMILIES—Thousands of union members are volunteering to walk to tens of thousands of doors in 16 states this month to talk to union members about good jobs and affordable health care. Some 42 precinct walks were held June 12–13. Throughout the month, more than 100 walks will take place in 72 cities. As part of the AFL-CIO’s Labor 2004 program, the walkers will talk with union household members about where the presidential candidates stand on good jobs and health care. They also will pass out literature that compares the failed policies of President George W. Bush with the plans and record of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). “Working people are fed up with seeing good jobs sent overseas and facing soaring health care costs. Never before have working people been so energized so early about an election,” federation President John Sweeney said. “We’ve been overwhelmed by union members who are eager to volunteer to help bring about a change in our nation’s leadership.” Sign up to take part in Labor 2004 actions at your local union or central labor council or online at www.aflcio.org.
STAR POWER—Actor Alec Baldwin and Actors’ Equity President Patrick Quinn joined tens of thousands of New York City police, firefighters and teachers at a June 7 rally for better wages. Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) wants the city workers to accept a pay freeze in the first year of any new contract. Baldwin’s father was a teacher on Long Island for 28 years.
ON THE ROAD TO VICTORY—With the theme On the Road to the Ballot Box: Building a Coalition for Victory, black union members served notice they are more determined than ever to win the White House and Congress and fight for working families in the 2004 election. “We cannot be complacent by simply showing up on Election Day. We cannot and will not wait until three or four weeks before Election Day before we begin to mobilize our communities,” Coalition of Black Trade Unionists President William Lucy told the AFL-CIO constituency group’s convention, which met in Atlanta May 27–30.
BREAKING THE PATTERN—United Food and Commercial Workers Local 876 reached a tentative three-year agreement with Kroger Co. that breaks the pattern the grocery chain had sought to establish nationwide of requiring employee co-payments for health benefits. The proposed contract, to be voted on by 8,500 members at 86 Michigan stores June 15, preserves the workers’ current free health care coverage, maintains existing time-off benefits and guarantees an increase in the number of full-time jobs.
SHIPYARD WORKERS OK DEAL—Steelworkers at Northrup Grumman’s Newport News, Va., shipyard, the nation’s only builder of aircraft carriers, ratified a new 52-month contract June 9. The accord covers 8,500 workers and will boost wages by an average of $2.59 an hour over the term. The deal also reduces the employees’ share of increases in health care premiums from 50 percent to 25 percent. This is USWA’s first contract with Northrup Grumman since the company purchased the shipyard in 2001.
HUNGER STRIKERS SEEK JUSTICE—Five PACE International Union members began a hunger strike June 11 to protest the three-year lockout of workers at Continental Carbon Co., which is owned by the Taiwan-based Koos Group. The hunger strike began after Koos refused to commit to negotiate an end to the lockout during meetings in Taipei, Taiwan. Continental produces carbon black, a filler used in making tires. For more information, visit www.fightbackonline.org.
TACO BELL(Y) FLOP—Former President Jimmy Carter said recently Taco Bell’s solution for changing the appalling working conditions in the Florida-based tomato industry “cannot be considered a serious proposal.” The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is pressing Taco Bell to ensure its profits are not derived from abuse of workers in its supply chain. During talks held recently at the Carter Center in Atlanta, YUM! Brands, owner of Taco Bell, proposed CIW drop its boycott campaign against the company. In turn, Taco Bell would support efforts to improve wages, but only if the rest of the industry does.
MEDICAL INFORMATION SUIT SETTLED—After a bitter three-year battle, Fire Fighters Local 1365 settled a lawsuit against the city of Orlando, Fla. The city agreed to pay $600,000 to some 25 firefighters who sued in 2001, claiming a city-run medical clinic withheld information about abnormal test results after routine medical exams, allegedly to avoid paying large claims for treatment. The firefighters later learned they had heart disease, lung disease or potentially fatal hepatitis C. The city denied their claims, saying they had been informed of the results.
UNEQUAL PAY HARMS FAMILIES—Unequal pay takes a significant toll on working women and their families, reports the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). Still a Man’s Labor Market: The Long-Term Earnings Gap finds women’s total earnings over their prime working years average only 38 percent of what prime-age men earn due to a combination of lower pay, more part-time work and time out of the workforce to care for children. The typical prime-age working woman earned $273,592 between 1983 and 1998 while the typical working man earned $722,693. For more information, visit www.iwpr.org.
‘DISRESPECT FOR WORKERS’—President Bush showed “total disrespect for the views of millions of working people” by refusing to meet with top union leaders of the world’s major industrial nations, known as the G-8, said John Evans, general secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Bush is the first head of a host country to refuse to meet with labor leaders in 29 years of G-8 summits. The labor leaders issued a joint trade union statement in advance of the G-8 summit meeting in Sea Island, Ga., June 8–10. Previous U.S. presidents who hosted the summit—Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton—met with the labor leaders, as did Britain’s Margaret Thatcher when she was prime minister.
WORKERS’ RIGHTS BEING DESTROYED—The United States routinely violates workers’ right to form unions and global competition is destroying workers’ rights worldwide, according to the annual survey of trade union rights by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. The report finds employers in the United States increasingly hire union-busting consultants to prevent workers from joining unions. In addition, two of every five U.S. public-sector workers are denied basic collective bargaining rights. The survey also revealed that some 129 trade unionists were killed worldwide in 2003, while imprisonment and physical harassment against union members increased. For a copy of the survey, visit www.icftu.org/survey.
SEEKING GUARANTEES—Any future free trade agreement between the United States and the Andean countries must guarantee fundamental workers’ rights, including the right to form a union, protect the rights of small farmers and include debt relief, Colombian trade unions and the AFL-CIO said in a joint statement. The May 18 statement coincided with the launch of negotiations on the proposed U.S.–Andean Free Trade Agreement among the United States, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Bolivia is expected to join the negotiations at a later date.
DAD’s DAYS—Building and construction union members nationwide are preparing for the 18th annual Dollars Against Diabetes (DAD) collection over the Father’s Day weekend June 18–20. The campaign, sponsored by the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, raises funds for the Diabetes Research Institute. Last year, union volunteers raised more than $1 million for diabetes research. For more information, visit www.dadsday.org or www.drinet.org/html/blueprint_for_cure.htm.