(The AFL-CIO distributed the following on December 1.)
New members reported in this week’s WIP: 806
New members reported in WIP, year to date: 132,800
NURSING HOME WINS–In late November, 500 employees at 10 nursing homes throughout Oregon voted to join SEIU Local 503 in elections supervised by the American Arbitration Association. “By forming a union, we will have a strong, united voice to advocate for our residents’ needs, especially at the legislature,” says Beverly Marks, a certified nurses aide at Windsor House in Salem.
UNION IN THE HOUSE–A majority of the 109 white-collar workers at the Atlantic City (N.J.) Housing Authority voted for Communications Workers of America Local 1034 in late October.
REALITY CHECK–The 60 editors, assistant editors, graphic designers and duplication operators at Bobwell Productions in Los Angeles voted for Theatrical Stage Employees Local 700 in late October. Bobwell created the reality shows “Blind Date” and “The 5th Wheel.” The victory follows organizing wins on two other reality shows, “Big Brother” and “Performing As.”
A SAFE HARBOR–The 51 food service workers employed by Sodexho at State University of New York Maritime in Throggs Neck, N.Y., gained a voice at work with Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 100 via a card-check Nov. 20. Under a card-check procedure, an employer agrees to recognize a union when a majority of workers designates the union as their representative by signing authorization cards.
EAST-WEST VICTORIES–The majority of 45 clerical workers in the business office at Bayonne Hospital in Bayonne, N.J.–the only group of employees in the hospital that wasn’t part of a union–voted Nov. 21 to join their colleagues in Health Professionals and Allied Employees, an AFT affiliate. In another recent AFT win, an overwhelming majority of 24 faculty members at the Alliant International University in Alameda, Calif., voted to join the California Federation of Teachers.
OPEN AND SHUT CASE–Seventeen Monroe County (Pa.) attorneys, both assistant public defenders and assistant district attorneys, recently voted for Teamsters Local 773 in Allentown.
GETTING SET FOR DEC. 10 DAY OF ACTION–From Boston to Los Angeles, activists around the country are getting ready for rallies, teach-ins and hearings to commemorate International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. The actions will rev up the union movement’s campaign to assert that workers’ fundamental right to form unions routinely is violated in the United States and to act now to restore that freedom. Tens of thousands of workers and their allies from community groups, religious congregations and elected offices are expected to participate in events in more than 50 cities and towns. To check out events in your area or to add your union’s event to an online calendar, visit http://www.aflcio.org/aboutunions/voiceatwork/calendar.cfm . For more information, e-mail dfenwick@aflcio.org. Meanwhile, 81 House members and 23 senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the historic Employee Free Choice Act. The legislation would allow workers to freely choose whether to form unions by card-check.
DRUG BILL TOUGH TO SWALLOW–The Senate approved a Medicare prescription drug bill (54-44) Nov. 25 that threatens health benefits of millions of retirees, moves Medicare toward privatization and forces 32.5 million retirees to pay more for Medicare. The House narrowly approved the bill Nov. 22. “Both the House and Senate failed older Americans and passed a bill that will not give seniors what they need. Millions of seniors across America will soon realize the shameful way in which they have been passed over by this Congress,” the Alliance for Retired Americans said in a statement. The bill also prevents the government from negotiating lower drug costs and does nothing to rein in soaring prescription drug prices and opens the doors to a whopping $139 billion in profits for the pharmaceutical industry.
WORKERS FIGHT OT ATTACK–Tens of thousands of union members launched a National Week of Action on Dec. 1 to speak out for overtime pay. The nationwide mobilization of petitions, e-mail campaigns and other actions is a response to the Bush administration’s attack on overtime pay protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new FLSA overtime pay rules could slash the paychecks of as many as 8 million workers. Earlier this year, both the Senate and House voted in favor of an overtime pay guarantee in an amendment to the fiscal year 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill. But Bush administration veto threats and House Republican leaders’ strong-arm tactics stripped the amendment from the appropriations bill, which was combined into on omnibus bill with several other unfinished appropriations. That action allowed “President George W. Bush to shove through the biggest pay cut ever for workers at the behest of giant corporations,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who sponsored the original overtime pay guarantee amendment, and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) are expected to introduce new legislation to stop the Bush attack on overtime pay when the Senate reconvenes in January.
NO TURKEY ON THE SHELVES–IBT drivers and warehouse workers gave a big boost to striking and locked-out United Food and Commercial Workers members at California grocery stores. By agreeing to honor the UFCW picket lines, the IBT members in effect idled 10 distribution centers in southern and central California at the height of the holiday food shopping season. Some 80,000 grocery workers, who are on strike or locked-out in California, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, are holding the line for health care and good jobs. Union members are being urged to give a gift of just $15 to help feed striking workers’ families. Major grocery employers, including Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons, are demanding workers accept a 75 percent cut in health care for new workers and a 50 percent cut for current employees. To donate, visit https://secure.ga3.org/08/holdtheline . Supporters may also donate to the workers’ strike fund by sending checks (made payable to the UFCW Strike Hardship Fund) to UFCW Strike Hardship Fund, Attn: Secretary-Treasurer Joe Hansen, 1775 K St., N.W., Washington, DC 20006. For more information about the Hold the Line for America’s Health Care campaign, visit http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/n1141es197wU .
‘RIGHTS BLATANTLY VIOLATED’ IN MIAMI–The Steelworkers called for a congressional investigation into “a massive police state,” created in part with federal funds, to intimidate union members and other opponents of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and limit their rights during FTAA meetings Nov. 18-21 in Miami. “The fundamental rights of thousands of Americans were blatantly violated, sometimes violently, by the Miami police, who systematically repressed our constitutional right to free assembly with massive force, riot gear and armaments,” USWA President Leo Gerard said in a letter to congressional leaders. More than 2,500 police amassed for the events in Miami, funded by an estimated $16.5 million, including $8.5 million in homeland security money that was part of the Iraq war rebuilding funds approved by Congress. Some 20,000 union members and activists marched peacefully through downtown Miami on Nov. 20, but union members and AFL-CIO staff say they were attacked with pepper spray and shot with rubber bullets after the march wound down.
DON’T GIVE IN ON STEEL TARIFFS–Tariffs on imported steel are working, and President Bush should keep them in place, union leaders said. Several newspapers reported the White House will drop most of the tariffs. “Bowing to international pressure from the World Trade Organization, the European Union and Japan to end the tariffs would send a disturbing signal that the United States is unwilling to defend its domestic workers and industries besieged by heavily subsidized foreign competitors,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a letter to Bush. The Bush administration imposed the three-year tariffs in 2002 to protect the steel industry from surging imports of cheap subsidized steel that was being dumped on the U.S. market. Since 1998, 42 steel companies have declared bankruptcy and more than 50,000 steelworkers have lost their jobs.
DELPHI PACT SAVES JOBS–On Nov. 16, IUE-CWA and auto parts maker Delphi Corp. reached a tentative four-year agreement that retains all of the company’s 10 remaining plants–in Ohio, California, Mississippi, Alabama and New Jersey–during the contract. This includes plants Delphi had said it might close if they did not become profitable. While the contract does not prevent downsizing, it discourages Delphi from laying off all workers at a plant.
NOT ‘ALL THE BEST’ AT GALLO–Hundreds of vineyard workers and supporters led by Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez marched Nov. 29 in Santa Rosa, Calif., to demand that E.&J. Gallo Winery extend health care benefits to the 75 percent of Gallo workers who are contractors. After agreeing to a contract with the UFW in 2000, Gallo, whose advertising slogan is “All the Best,” refused to provide promised health and other benefits for contract workers, according to UFW.
NO DUMPING–The U.S. Commerce Department has imposed anti-dumping duties ranging from 28 percent to 46 percent on imported color televisions made in China. The action comes as a result of a complaint by the Electrical Workers, IUE-CWA and Fair Rivers Electronic Innovations, a Tennessee-based television manufacturer. Commerce officials determined that China illegally exports televisions to the United States at unfairly low prices, adversely affecting U.S. workers and manufacturers.
PATIENT POWER–The recently launched Patient Power Network (http://www.patientpowernetwork.org) provides an outlet for those who want to make the health care system more accountable. The website is a project of FACCT–Foundation for Accountability and received its initial funding from the AFL-CIO. Visitors join the network to receive alerts and regular updates on legislation, read about others’ experiences with poor health care and take action in health care campaigns.
LUDLOW RESTORATION–Work will begin soon on the restoration of the Ludlow Massacre memorial near Trinidad, Colo. After vandals in May severely damaged the memorial, Mine Workers locals, other unions and individuals raised more than $78,000 to restore the monument, which honors the 11 children, two women and five striking miners who were killed when state militia and armed guards were called in to squash a coal miners’ strike in 1914.
UNIONS LAUNCH AIDS CAMPAIGN–On Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, union leaders urged employers and unions to work together to drive stigma and discrimination against HIV/AIDS victims from the workplace. The same day, the international trade union movement launched the Global Unions HIV/AIDS campaign to combat the spread of the virus. Coordinated by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the campaign will encourage unions to use their communication channels to inform workers and their families about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. More than 3 million people worldwide, including 500,000 in the United States, have died from the disease, according to the World Health Organization.
SI, SE PUEDE!–An exhibit of illustrations by Francisco Delgado from the highly acclaimed children’s book written by Diane Cohn, “Si, Se Puede!,” will be on display at the George Meany Memorial Archives through Feb. 6, 2004. “Si, Se Puede!” illustrates through the eyes of a child the April 2000 Los Angeles janitors’ strike by 8,000 members of SEIU Local 1877. For more information, call 301-431-5451.
Work in Progress is also available on our website at
http://www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/wip .