(The AFL-CIO issued the following on May 17.)
New members reported in this week’s WIP: 2,019
New members reported in WIP, year to date: 57,527
A LOUD VOICE—A total of 1,505 workers gained a voice recently with United Food and Commercial Workers. Some 680 workers at Koch’s Foods in Forest, Miss., joined Local 1529 on April 15 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. Another 200 workers at Ace Parking Management at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport chose Local 99 via card-check May 11. In Florida, health care workers at five facilities joined Local 1625, including 122 employees at the Palms of Sebring and 63 workers at the Kenilworth Care & Rehabilitation Center, both in Sebring. Workers at three other Florida facilities chose Local 1625 by card-check. They include 118 employees at Lake Placid Nursing Home in Lake Placid, 114 workers at Rehabilitation and Nursing Center of Broward and 80 at Pompano Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, both in Pompano Beach. Other UFCW victories include 41 workers at Platinum Sportswear in Tignall, Ga., who chose Local 1996 April 13 via card-check; 40 caregivers at two Healthcare Services facilities in Charlotte, N.C., who voted for Local 204 in March; 31 meat packers at Garden Manor Farms in New York City, who voted for Local 342 on May 4; and 16 social workers at the Correctional Medical Services facility in Atlantic City, N.J., who voted for Local 1358 on May 5.
NURSING A WIN—Some 390 workers joined SEIU 1199NY this month. The majority of more than 300 business office clerical workers at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City voted for 1199 May 5. The 90 nurses, aides and service and maintenance employees at two Latta Road nursing homes in Greece, N.Y., also voted for the union May 13.
FINALLY UNITED—In early May, a panel of the National Labor Relations Board certified UNITE as the bargaining representative for 70 AmeriPride laundry workers at its Phoenix facility. The workers fought for more than a year to achieve this union victory in a battle that included two elections, two labor board hearings and appeals by the company. The AmeriPride workers will be members of UNITE’s Western States Regional Joint Board.
10,000 LAKES AND A UNION—A majority of the 54 secretaries, education assistants, custodians and bus drivers from the Triton School District in Dodge Center, Minn., voted for a voice on the job with Education Minnesota recently. Education Minnesota is the merged AFT and National Education Association affiliate in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
UI EXTENSION FAILS—Senate Republicans used a parliamentary maneuver May 11 to defeat Democrats’ attempts to renew the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation program, which provides additional weeks of federal unemployment benefits to jobless workers who have run out of regular state benefits. Eleven Republicans joined with the Democrats in support of an amendment by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). Sixty votes were needed to overcome a budget point of order raised by the Republicans, but supporters of the amendment fell one vote short because the Republicans manipulated the timing of the vote to occur when Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who supports the extension, was out of town campaigning. In other legislative news, after a year of negotiations, the AFL-CIO, asbestos companies and insurers were unable to reach agreement on legislation to set up a national trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos disease. “The AFL-CIO remains committed to seeking fair compensation for asbestos victims,” federation President John Sweeney said.
REPUBLICANS WON’T EVEN DEBATE O.T.—House Republicans refused to allow a vote or debate on a measure that would protect overtime pay for many workers who stand to lose it under new regulations approved by the Bush administration. The new regulations, which redefine who is eligible for overtime pay, will go into effect Aug. 23 unless Congress acts to stop them. On May 12, the House voted 222–205 to table a motion, introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), that would have instructed House conferees to add language to an appropriations bill to prevent the overtime regulations from taking away overtime pay rights from workers who qualify under current rules. The U.S. Senate, on May 4, voted 52–47 for an amendment by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to guarantee that workers now eligible for overtime pay will not lose it under new regulations. The House Republican leadership is trying to delay a vote on the Harkin amendment until after the final overtime changes go into effect in late August. “America’s workers deserve to at least have a vote on this matter in the House so that they can see where their leaders stand on [President George W.] Bush’s efforts to slash their overtime pay,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. Visit www.unionvoice.org/campaign/votenow4otpay to urge your representative to demand a vote on overtime pay.
NEW JOB, NO HEALTH CARE—Newly created jobs are less likely to offer health insurance than jobs America has lost in recent years, according to an Economic Policy Institute study. The study shows that in all but five states the percentage of workers with health insurance coverage is significantly less in industries that have gained jobs in the past three years than in industries that have lost jobs. To read a copy of the report, visit www.epinet.org.
WE ACCEPT—The AFL-CIO has accepted an invitation from China’s Vice Premier Wu Yi to travel to China to investigate Chinese working conditions. Wu extended the invitation last month during trade talks with the Bush administration. In a letter to Wu, the federation asked that the union delegation be given the same freedom to travel throughout the country as Chinese delegations are allowed in the United States. The acceptance came May 12, the same day the White House formally rejected the federation’s petition charging that China’s systematic and brutal repression of workers’ rights is an unfair trade practice.
FIGHTING BACK—Transportation workers represented by the Machinists marched and rallied in Washington, D.C., May 12 to protest the government’s anti-worker policies and to encourage strong member participation in this year’s elections. Meanwhile, IAM members across the country hand-billed airline passengers at major airports. Since the Bush administration took office, rail contract negotiations have screeched to a halt, the White House has colluded with airlines to lower employees’ wages and officials have sought to restrict workers’ right to vote on contracts, IAM President Thomas Buffenbarger said.
INADEQUATE TRAINING—Thirty-two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the nation’s flight attendants still lack adequate training to defend themselves and their passengers. On May 12, hundreds of flight attendants, represented by the Flight Attendants/Communications Workers of America, Transport Workers and the unaffiliated Association of Professional Flight Attendants, marched on Capitol Hill to demand that the Transportation Security Administration establish mandatory flight attendant training guidelines. They delivered 10,000 letters from flight attendants demanding mandatory security training.
GLOBAL RULE ONE TURNS TWO—The number of foreign movie and television productions shot under a Screen Actors contract has increased 200 percent in the two years since SAG adopted Global Rule One, the union said last week. The rule ensures SAG members are protected by a union contract wherever they work in the world. Prior to 2002, SAG actors working on productions abroad did not have union protections or contributions on their behalf to union pension and health care plans.
TRADES BUILD WITH HUMANITY—The AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department and union construction workers are teaming up with Habitat for Humanity to address the crisis of unaffordable housing in low-income neighborhoods. The unions will share resources and skills with the housing organization and use Habitat building sites as “living laboratories” for apprentices. During Labor with Habitat Week, May 16–22, union workers will help build homes in cities across the country, including Cincinnati, where BCTD President Edward Sullivan will kick off the national partnership May 17.
MICHIGAN UPHOLDS LIVING WAGES—After a union and community campaign spearheaded by the Michigan State AFL-CIO, Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) vetoed a bill May 7 that would have prevented local governments from adopting living-wage ordinances. “Local communities should be able to keep their tax dollars from rewarding companies that refuse to pay a fair wage with adequate health benefits,” said Mark Gaffney, president of the state federation.
CLUW LISTS ‘HITS’ AND ‘MS.’—The Coalition of Labor Union Women, an AFL-CIO constituency group, put President George W. Bush and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao on top of its annual “Hit and Ms.” list, which names the people or groups that most help or hinder the progress of women and minorities. Chao won the dubious “hit” for her efforts to gut overtime pay protections for workers, while Bush is noted for his attacks on workers’ and civil rights. “Ms.” kudos went to the members of UFCW, who were locked out or on strike at several California grocery chains from October 2003 until February 2004 for standing up for affordable health care. For the full list, visit www.cluw.org.
GAP COMES CLEAN—Union and human rights leaders are praising Gap Inc. for its frank disclosure about sweatshop conditions at many of the 3,000 overseas factories that make clothes for the popular retailer. The company issued its first social responsibility report May 12 detailing workers’ rights violations and pledged to crack down on manufacturers that abuse and underpay workers. “We have had our differences with Gap in the past and probably will again, but this is something that deserves to be applauded,” UNITE President Bruce Raynor said.
NOT SO YUMMY—The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a group of Florida farm workers who pick tomatoes for a Taco Bell contractor, will protest subpoverty wages and sweatshop working conditions outside the annual Yum! Brands shareholders meeting in Louisville, Ky., on May 20. Yum! Brands is the world’s largest restaurant company and owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silvers and A&W Restaurants. The workers will build a “Pyramid of Poverty” with picking buckets, representing the low pay rate for each pound of tomatoes they pick. At the current rate, a farm worker must pick two tons of tomatoes to earn $50. For more information, visit www.ciw-online.org.
RUSSIANS SIGN AGREEMENT—The Russian-based multinational oil company OAO LUKOIL recently signed a global framework agreement with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers trade secretariat and the Russian Oil, Gas and Construction Workers Union. Under the agreement, the first for a Russian multinational, the company pledges to abide by internationally recognized standards on workers’ rights, employment and workplace health and safety and to adhere to sound environmental practices. LUKOIL owns hundreds of gas stations on the U.S. East Coast.
WAR CASUALTIES—On April 26, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, 30, of the Pennsylvania National Guard, a member of the Teamsters, and Sgt. Lawrence Roukey, 33, of the Maine National Guard, a member of the Postal Workers, were killed in an explosion at a suspected chemical warehouse in Baghdad, Iraq. Baker, a caseworker for the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Mental Health/Mental Retardation office, “is a true hero,” said IBT President James P. Hoffa. Roukey worked in the U.S. Postal Service processing and distribution center in Portland, Maine. “We are saddened by this loss,” APWU President William Burrus said.