(The AFL-CIO issued the following on May 3.)
New members reported in this week’s WIP: 1,056
New members reported in WIP, year-to-date: 55,297
GAINING A VOICE–Some 750 medical technicians at the University of Washington (UW) Medical Center, Haborview Medical Center and UW’s Roosevelt Clinics voted in April to join SEIU Local 925.
WILDWOOD FLOWERS INTO WIN–A total of 144 workers joined the Teamsters recently. In Watsonville, Calif., 75 workers at Wildwood Harvest Foods voted for Local 912 April 23. The new IBT members are production line workers and packers at the vegetarian food production plant. On April 23, 60 drivers at LifeSource, a blood testing and transfusion company, voted for Local 727. Also, nine drivers and dock workers at the USF-Dugan terminal in Memphis, Tenn., voted for a voice at work with Local 667 on April 24.
HITTING THE BOOKS–Last month, 65 Mercer County (N.J.) Library employees and 35 employees of the Mercer County Improvement Authority joined AFSCME Council 73, Local 2287, by 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.
A WIN FOR KIDS–A strong majority of 62 head teachers, assistant teachers and child care providers in the early childhood education department at the Betty and Milton Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill, N.J., voted April 23 to join AFT. “Being part of AFT will help all of us provide an even better learning environment for all of our students,” said Cindy Pickus, a transitional kindergarten teacher.
BAD PURCHASE–Fourteen students at State University of New York’s (SUNY) Purchase College were arrested during a peaceful protest in support of 80 food service workers on their campus March 31. The food service vendor, Chartwells, is refusing to sign an agreement to respect its employees’ freedom to choose a union. Activists have launched an e-mail campaign asking university President Thomas Schwarz to drop all charges against the students and tell Chartwells to respect the workers’ right to form a union. To support the students and workers, visit http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/SUNYPurchase .
SUCCESS STORY–The members of Fire Fighters Local 526 in Lexington, Ky., fought hard to win legislation Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) signed April 7 allowing collective bargaining for Lexington firefighters. Their success is a victory for “the entire state of Kentucky. It sets a winning precedent that could clear the way for statewide collective bargaining legislation,” said IAFF President Harold Schaitberger.
BUSH REJECTS CHINA PETITION–By rejecting the AFL-CIO’s petition on workers’ rights violations in China, President George W. Bush sent a clear message “that he will not stand up for America’s workers,” federation President John Sweeney said. The petition, filed March 16, made the case that China’s frequent violations of workers’ rights give that nation an unfair trade advantage that has cost more than 727,000 U.S. jobs. The petition called on the Bush administration to take immediate action to impose trade remedies against China. “America’s workers need a president who will stand up for American jobs and international human rights,” Sweeney said. The petition was filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which has been used extensively to protect corporate interests. This is the first time Section 301 was invoked to protest a nation’s labor practices. For more information, visit http://www.aflcio.org .
OVERTIME FIGHT CONTINUES–The U.S. Senate may vote as soon as May 4 on a proposal to guarantee workers now eligible for overtime pay will not lose their overtime pay protections under new regulations issued by the Bush administration April 23. The regulations, which redefine who is eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), are due to go into effect in late August unless Congress acts to change them. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) plans to offer an amendment to the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) tax legislation (S. 1637) to allow updates to the FLSA rules that govern overtime pay eligibility while ensuring that no workers currently eligible for overtime pay lose it. Appearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee April 28, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao said the administration opposes such a measure. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said Chao used her appearance before the committee to continue “to tell half-truths about whether workers are at risk of losing overtime pay. The regulation will make it easier for corporations to slash overtime pay for many workers.” Karen Dulaney Smith, a former U.S. Department of Labor wage-and-hour investigator, told the committee the new regulation would decrease the rights of workers. The flaws in this regulation will negatively affect workers’ earning between $23,660 and $100,000 per year, including nursery school teachers, nurses, chefs, team leaders, outside sales people and financial service employees, she said. You can help stop the overtime pay take-away by calling your senators and urging them to vote for the Harkin amendment. For more information, visit http://www.saveovertimepay.org .
WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY–During hundreds of Workers Memorial Day observances April 28, tens of thousands of workers around the nation and the world honored workers who were killed, injured or made ill on the job. While the Occupational Safety and Health Act has saved nearly 290,000 lives since it became law in 1970, a new AFL-CIO report reveals an average of 15 workers were fatally injured and more than 12,800 were injured or made ill each day in 2002. The report, “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, a National and State-by-State Profile of Workers Safety and Health in the United States,” also notes that since the Bush administration took office in 2001, it has struck down or withdrawn important health and safety initiatives and slashed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety enforcement budget. On the international front, workers at dozens of Quebecor World Inc. plants in 13 nations staged in-plant actions April 28 to demand safer jobs. Workers at seven of the printing giant’s plants in the United States are fighting for a voice at work and struggling against harassment, threats and intimidation tactics from management, the union says. For more on Workers Memorial Day and “Death on the Job,” visit http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/safety .
WOMEN OF STEEL–Some 500 women from industrial states are meeting in Washington, D.C., May 2-5 to discuss key issues in the 2004 elections. The meeting of the Steelworkers’ “Women of Steel” will unveil an expanded activist grassroots network of USWA and PACE International Union women to support specific legislative initiatives. The women also will hear from Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), USWA President Leo Gerard and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.
IT’S ABOUT JOBS–The moving of work offshore and inexpensive imports are very important issues in this election for voters in key industrial states, according to a new poll conducted late last month. On behalf of the Machinists, Fingerhut & Associates surveyed workers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Washington late last month. Seventy percent of the respondents said offshoring threatened their jobs and a whopping 90 percent favored federal programs to create more jobs. Visit http://www.goiam.org/news.asp?c=5387 to read the survey.
SBC WORKERS AUTHORIZE STRIKE–The more than 100,000 members of the Communications Workers of America working at SBC Communications operations in 13 states voted overwhelmingly last week to authorize a strike as early as May 8 if contract talks fail to produce a fair deal. The union and the telecommunications giant did reach agreement last week on retiree health care benefits, one of the major issues in the negotiations, but no details were released. Some of the key issues remaining in the talks are job security and the company’s demand for substantial increases in employee expenses for health care.
ANGELICA NO ANGEL–Duke University students, workers and union activists rallied April 20 to protest the university’s recent outsourcing of laundry services to the Angelica Corp., where workers are conducting a national campaign for justice at work with UNITE. The protestors delivered to school officials a petition bearing more than 500 signatures from Duke students, staff and faculty urging the university to stop doing business with Angelica until it cleans up its sweatshop conditions and accepts a fair and neutral organizing process.
PORT SECURITY LACKING–The April 28 explosion of a propane tank inside a shipping container that lacked supporting documentation at the Port of Los Angeles should serve as a wake-up call for the Bush administration and the port industry to address port security threats that have gone unchecked since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department. Despite passage of a major port security law in 2002, President Bush’s 2005 budget contains only $46 million of the $1.1 billion the Coast Guard says is needed for port security, Wytkind said.
EYE ON THE NLRB–“Workers’ Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB,” a new e-mail and Web publication from American Rights at Work (ARAW), exposes the National Labor Relations Board’s failure to protect workers’ freedom to form unions and spotlights the inability of current labor law to discourage employers from firing, intimidating and harassing workers trying form unions. ARAW is an educational and advocacy group dedicated to improving the climate in which workers can exercise their workplace rights. To sign up for “Workers’ Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB,” visit http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/aaraw/join.tcl .
CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY–Actors’ Equity, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors will present “A Celebration of Diversity” gala May 10 in Burbank, Calif. The gala will honor 11 diversity pioneers who have contributed in significant ways to increasing roles for people of color, women, seniors and people with disabilities in the entertainment industry. The gala is free to all entertainment union members, but reservations are suggested. For reservations, call 323-988-2080.
ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH–May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The federally recognized month grew out of legislation passed in 1977 that set aside the first 10 days of May to recognize Asian Pacific Americans’ roles in the history of the United States. To commemorate the month, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, an AFL-CIO constituency group, is sponsoring a month-long exhibit in the lobby of AFL-CIO headquarters highlighting Asian Pacific Americans’ contributions to the union movement and the country.
BMWE LEADER RETIRES–Mac Fleming, president of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes since 1990, retired April 14 after an extended medical leave. “Mac Fleming will be missed for the time and effort he put forth in our organization’s battles to improve our members’ lives,” said Secretary-Treasurer Freddie Simpson, the union’s acting president. The union will hold a special election June 8 to fill the remainder of Fleming’s term.
PATCO CO-FOUNDER DIES–Mike Rock, a co-founder of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association (PATCO) and later an organizer for the Professional Airways Systems Specialists, died in Islip, N.Y., April 22. In 1981, some 15,000 PATCO members struck the Federal Aviation Administration, and in an unprecedented move, President Ronald Reagan fired the controllers.