by James Parks, Jul 6, 2006

For the more than 300 people who turned out for Solidarity Day in Bangor, Maine, the fight to gain freedom is as real today as it was in 1776.

The annual July 4 celebration, sponsored by the Eastern Maine Central Labor Council, featured the usual music and speeches, including two-term U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine), a member of the United Steelworkers and a former forklift operator, and Gov. John Baldacci (D). The crowd chowed down on grilled lamb and moose meat.

But there was more to this July 4 than the celebrating. The struggle to protect our freedoms is taking place right now in Bangor. Nearly 1,000 workers at Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), the state’s second-largest hospital system, are fighting for a union, and nurses at the same facility are facing possible loss of the union they fought a long, bitter battle to win. For them, July 4 was a time to rededicate themselves to the principles that gave this country its independence more than 200 years ago.

First, there are the secretaries, cafeteria workers, orderlies and other workers at EMMC who are trying to gain a voice at work through the Machinists.

Second, many of the nurses at EMMC could be barred from belonging to a union by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is set to rule soon on three cases collectively known as “Kentucky River.”

The ruling literally could take away bargaining rights from hundreds of thousands of employees by altering the definition of “supervisor” to include almost anyone who gives instructions to another worker. Unlike other employees, supervisors do not have protected rights under the National Labor Relations Act to form and join unions, and employers often try to classify workers as supervisors to deny them the right to union representation and collective bargaining.

Under the upcoming NLRB ruling, nurses, building trades workers, newspaper and television employees, port workers and many others could be prohibited from forming unions.

The NLRB, which is supposed to protect workers’ freedom to join unions, has refused to hear oral arguments on the cases—and has heard no oral arguments since the Bush administration took office. In fact, the NLRB denied union requests to hear oral arguments in these cases.

“No matter what the NLRB does, the employer will have a choice, and we’re going to make sure that EMMC understands that we will not sit by and let them take away the nurses’ labor rights,” says CLC President Jack McKay.

EMMC workers issued a “Declaration of Democracy, Dignity and Respect” on July 4 explaining in very familiar terms why they want a union:

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all healthcare workers are created equal and that each of us plays a critical role in the functioning of EMMC. As such, we are endowed with certain inalienable rights that among these are fairness, respect and a voice at work. That to secure these rights, Unions are instituted among workers, deriving their just powers from the consent of the workers.

We recognize that only through a union can we become citizens as opposed to servants. Our union is a self-affirmation of our rights as humans and as workers to have a respected, protected, democratic voice at work. We have faith in the democratic process. We have faith in ourselves to advocate for issues that will better employee relations, patient care and ultimately our hospital as a whole.

In his speech at the Bangor celebration, AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff said workers must be vigilant to keep the freedoms that are important to a democracy, including the freedom to form unions:

Perhaps the most important freedom they’ve taken from us is the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.  That freedom is a basic human right, and is how working people have accessed the American dream.  That freedom is essential to democracy. When you silence the voice of the worker, you silence the voice of the people, and that is what the Bush gang is doing to us.

And that is why we have to fight, a real fight, to restore the freedom to form unions. That fight starts right now with the NLRB and the upcoming ‘Kentucky River’ decision.

We must stand and push back to insure that they don’t use this case to deprive 300,000 union registered nurses and other professionals of collective bargaining. We also must push right through the upcoming political season for a pro-worker Congress that will pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

Workers in 18 cities, including Bangor, will take to the streets the week of July 10 in a national week of action dedicated to bringing the anti-worker trends of the NLRB to light.

In Washington, D.C., AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson will join with union members and community and religious leaders July 13 to rally at NLRB headquarters to draw attention to a devastating set of NLRB decisions that have stripped hundreds of thousands of workers such as graduate teaching assistants of their rights under federal labor law.

You can act now and contact your members of Congress to tell Bush’s labor board to reverse its decision and allow oral arguments in the “Kentucky River” cases.

Meanwhile, the nonmedical workers at EMMC say they need a union to gain a stronger voice at work in the delivery of care. They say management has retaliated against workers for bringing up problems that need to be addressed by giving workers bad schedules, denying overtime pay and threatening and engaging in discipline for insubordination.

Management also has hired new workers at higher salaries than existing workers to do the same jobs and showed favoritism when it comes to raises, work schedules and work loads, the workers say.

Through its nonprofit partner, Food and Medicine, the Eastern Maine CLC has for five years successfully linked up struggles for health care and economic justice. Food and Medicine is helping garner strong community support for the EMMC workers by sponsoring rallies, educational leafleting and press conferences, McKay says.

Food and Medicine is just one of the innovations at the CLC. Although the labor council is not large and has a small operating budget and staff, it is able to do big things because it has a cadre of dedicated members.

“We have lots of people who want to make a difference in the world, and we’ve found if you give people situations where they can pitch in, they will,” McKay says. The CLC also formed Union Supported Agriculture, a coalition of groups to support area farmers. Union members buy “shares” up front for $275 by June each year. The up-front money helps farmers buy seed and keep the farm running until the garden gets going in July.

From July through October, union members get back more than their money’s worth in vegetables. Last year, shares yielded about $330 in produce, including organic tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet corn, peppers, and more than 15 other types of vegetables.

In addition, the CLC created a special fund to help laid-off workers pay their bills. The fund raised more than $11,000 at the annual picnic.

“Nobody should have to choose between food and medicine,” McKay says. “We’ve raised more than $70,000 altogether for food banks (for laid-off workers).”

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