(The AFL-CIO distributed the following on March 22.)
New members reported in this week’s WIP: 12,876
New members reported in WIP, year to date: 41,566
A BIG NEW VOICE—More than 11,650 workers joined the UAW recently. In a major win, the 1,150 workers at Freightliner Thomas Built Bus plant in High Point, N.C., chose UAW through majority recognition using the card-check process. An arbitrator, on March 18, certified that a majority of workers had signed authorizations indicating their desire to form a union. Last year, UAW reached a neutrality agreement with Freightliner’s parent, DaimlerChrysler, in which the company agreed not to interfere in the organizing campaign, but an anti-union community group fought the union. Freightliner, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America. Meanwhile, 6,000 teaching associates, graduate assistants, tutors and graders at the 25-campus California State University system have a voice on the job with California Alliance of Academic Student Employees, a UAW affiliate, via a card-check. The California Public Employment Relations Board verified the results on March 16. In addition, the 4,500 teaching assistants, research assistants, staff assistants, readers, tutors, graders and other academic student employees at the University of Washington voted for the Graduate Student Employee Action Coalition/UAW in a mail ballot.
ON A ROLL AT GOODYEAR—Workers at a Goodyear Tire plant in Asheboro, N.C., joined the Steelworkers through a majority recognition procedure after an arbitrator ruled March 15 a majority of the 350 workers indicated they desire a union. In a majority recognition procedure, the employer agrees to recognize the union if a majority of workers shows a preference for the union by signing union authorizations or cards. This is the second Goodyear plant organized under a 2003 agreement in which the company pledged to remain neutral in organizing campaigns.
SIGN UP HERE—A total of 296 workers recently chose a
voice at work with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees. The 241 employees of the Mandarin Hotel in Washington, D.C., chose Local 25 via a card-check. Other workers joining HERE include 27 food, gift shop and maintenance workers at the Grand Hotel in Toronto Canada; 14 workers at the Downtown Toronto Hilton; and 14 employees of ARAMARK who work in the cafeteria at the American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C.
RESEARCH WORKERS SELECT UNION—Braving one of the worst March snow storms in history, the majority of 289 workers at the Research Foundation at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, N.Y., voted to join the Professional Staff Congress of New York State United Teachers, an AFT affiliate, on March 16.
CHOOSING THE UNION—Some 165 school bus drivers and bus monitors at Apollo Transportation in Yonkers, N.Y., voted to join Teamsters Local 854 Feb. 27.
CARING UNION MEMBERS—More than 60 caregivers from The Protestant Guild for Human Services in Waltham, Mass., voted unanimously Feb. 19 to form a union with AFSCME Council 93. The guild is a nonprofit agency that serves individuals with special needs. And a majority of 30 direct care workers at Blithesome Inc., a group home in Detroit, voted to form a union with Council 25 on Feb. 12.
LAB SUCCESS—Laboratory workers at a coal testing facility in Charleroi, Pa., voted for the Mine Workers March 10. The 36 workers are employed at SGS North America Inc. Mineral Services Division.
PETITION CHALLENGES BUSH ON CHINA—The AFL-CIO and the 14 unions in the Industrial Union Council filed an unprecedented petition March 16 charging China’s systematic violation of workers’ rights is an unfair trade practice that cost 727,000 U.S. jobs. According to the petition, workers in China are being forced to work for wages 47 to 86 percent below what they should be, often as bonded workers, with few workplace safety and health protections and no right to join a union. The petition calls on the Bush administration to impose sanctions or tariffs against Chinese imports until China begins to enforce workers’ rights. The Bush White House has 45 days to decide whether to accept or reject the petition. If it accepts the petition, the administration has 60 days to hold a hearing and a year to issue its decision. If it rejects the petition, it must find that China either does not repress workers’ rights or that the repression does not adversely affect the U.S. economy. This is the first time a petition has been filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to charge a country with violating workers’ rights. Businesses often use the section to protect corporate interests.
O.T. VOTE NEARS—The Senate is expected this week to renew the fight against President George W. Bush’s plan that could take away overtime pay protections from some 8 million workers, including veterans. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) plans to introduce an amendment to legislation that would repeal the Foreign Sales Corporation tax law. Harkin’s amendment would prohibit the Bush administration from cutting overtime pay protections and would retroactively repeal any overtime cuts the Labor Department may put into effect before the amendment becomes law. The Bush administration’s Labor Department plans to issue new rules by March 31 to redefine who is eligible for overtime pay. The administration has rejected numerous bipartisan attempts to block the overtime assault and ignored the nearly 2 million messages working families have sent the Bush White House and Congress urging Bush to withdraw the plan. You can send a fax to Bush by visiting www.unionvoice.org/campaign/faxbush4ot.
BUSH EDUCATION REFORM DOESN’T WORK—Members of the School Administrators say the No Child Left Behind act is curtailing the teaching of history, civics, languages and the arts, though learning time for math, reading and science is increasing. The principals were part of a poll of public school administrators in Chicago, New York and Maryland by the Council for Basic Education. “Sadly, the survey findings reflect our fear that schools are being forced by [the act] to ‘teach to the test,'” said AFSA National President Baxter Atkinson.
BUSH MERCHANDISE FROM BURMA—With the outsourcing of American jobs becoming a major political issue, the official Bush-Cheney campaign merchandise includes clothing made in Burma-a country whose goods President Bush banned for sale in the U.S. because of systematic violations of human rights, according to Newsday. The newspaper ordered several items from the official Bush-Cheney merchandise website and found a $49.95 fleece pullover embroidered with the Bush-Cheney ’04 logo and bearing a label stating it was made in Burma. Last year, Bush signed legislation banning the import of Burmese products and declared, “the United States will not waver from its commitment to the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma.” Official merchandise for Sen. John Kerry’s campaign is manufactured in the United States by union workers, according to the firm that licenses and markets Kerry merchandise.
LIMITED JOB EXPORT—The Transport Workers won “a major victory in restricting overseas outsourcing” under a new agreement with American Airlines, said Jim Little, TWU’s Air Transport Division director. The agreement, announced March 12, stipulates the majority of scheduled aircraft maintenance will be performed in the United States by TWU mechanics, unless the scheduled work is required at an international location by the Federal Aviation Administration. Some U.S. airlines are attempting to shift aircraft maintenance work to foreign locations.
CINGULAR HEALTH VOTE SET—Members of the Communications Workers of America at Cingular Inc. will vote soon on a new four-year health plan, tentatively agreed to last week by the union and Cingular. The plan would cover all 22,000 CWA members at the company and replace three current health plans. Negotiations began after Cingular attempted to unilaterally make changes in health care benefits. “This gives our members guaranteed health security at a time when the issue of health costs is a source of uncertainty for millions of workers and the cause of major labor turmoil,” CWA President Morton Bahr said.
NO SWEAT IN PA.—Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) on March 18 signed an executive order establishing one of the strongest anti-sweatshop procurement policies in the nation. The new policy ensures state executive agencies do not purchase uniforms and apparel from sweatshops. Pennsylvania is home to thousands of garment workers, including many who produce uniforms. Bidders on apparel contracts will be required to comply with workplace laws and international labor standards and pay wages and benefits that enable workers to live above poverty. Bidders also must disclose their factory and subcontractor locations. The policy also applies to laundry contracts.
STATE SEEKS BACK PAY—New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on March 17 filed a $3 million lawsuit charging Special Touch Home Health Care Services with using an outdated method for calculating overtime pay and seeking back pay for as many as 2,000 workers. “These compassionate employees work long hours for low wages, and my office will ensure that they are paid in accordance with the state’s wage and hour laws,” Spitzer said.
FIRST CONTRACT—After two years of bargaining, AFSCME Council 92 this month reached a three-year agreement with the University System of Maryland covering 1,300 workers at seven universities. The contract raises wages, protects health care costs and coverage, improves vacations, bereavement and sick leaves and provides a grievance procedure.
MOVE OVER CORPORATIONS—Saying corporations have dominated rule making in the global economy, global unions are hailing a new report that calls on the world’s governments to play a stronger role in managing globalization to minimize such effects as the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor. The report, A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All, was prepared by an independent commission set up by the International Labor Organization, an arm of the United Nations. For a copy of the report, visit www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg/index.htm.
JOBS TOUR READY TO ROLL—Fifty-one workers, one from each state and the District of Columbia, will roll out on the Show Us the Jobs™ tour March 24. The workers will tell their personal stories of how the nation’s job crisis affects them, their families and communities. Every day in America, 85,444 people lose their jobs and economists say many of those jobs aren’t coming back. The United States has lost nearly 3 million private-sector jobs since President Bush took office in 2001, including more than 2.8 million manufacturing jobs. Beginning with a rally in St. Louis and ending in Washington, D.C., the workers will spread the word to policymakers, the media and the public about the effects of joblessness and low-wage, no-benefit work. You can follow the workers as they travel through eight states and 18 cities March 24-31 by visiting a new website, www.showusthejobs.com. On the site, you will find the 51 workers’ stories and their daily accounts of the tour. The site also includes an activist toolkit you can use to fight for good jobs in your community, opportunities to speak out for better jobs and Show Us the Jobs™ gear you can order online.