Archive for September, 2006
1,000 South African Telecom Workers Form Union—Here’s How
Since late July, nearly 1,000 wireless telecom workers in South Africa have joined a union, through a first-of-its kind African regional strategic organizing program. The workers do not yet have enough new members to request recognition by their employer, but they expect to soon reach their goal.
Machinists JUICE It Up with New Get-Out-the-Vote Campaign
Are you looking for a little juice? If so, Rally Around is just the place to go. The new Machinists (IAM ) union campaign is designed to galvanize voters and let the gubernatorial candidates in key state races know voters are looking for Job creation, Utility rate reduction, Insurance reform, Commuting solutions and Educational Equity—JUICE.
Union Movement Mourns Death of ‘Labor’s Troubadour,’ Joe Glazer
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| Windows Media | Real Media | |
“I know this song it ain’t never gonna end.”*
The union movement is mourning the death of Joe Glazer, whose musical career began with a $5 mail-order guitar and included more than 60 years of singing, songwriting and recording songs of solidarity, justice, unions and workers. Glazer, who earned the name “Labor’s Troubadour,” died Sept. 19 in Chevy Chase, Md. He was 88.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says Glazer’s life was a “a great adventure and a journey for justice.”
AT&T Moving 2,000 Jobs—Back Home
AT&T is returning some tech-based jobs to the United States, a move that could create 2,000 new union jobs in the Internet/DSL support field—and a sign of union strength in tackling the exporting of jobs.
The Latest Torment for Air Traffic Controllers: A Dress Code
What is it about air traffic controllers that Republican administrations don’t like?
Textile Business Association Joins with Unions to Fight for Jordanian Workers’ Rights
The AFL-CIO union movement has joined with the National Textile Association (NTA), which represents U.S. textile producers, to file the first workers’ rights case ever submitted under the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (Jordan FTA). The action also is the first time ever a business association has formally joined in filing a workers’ rights case under a trade agreement. The complaint calls on the Bush administration to invoke the labor provisions under the treaty to force Jordan to stop gross workers’ rights violations occurring in that country. (Click here to download the complaint or the executive summary.)
The Jordan FTA was the first U.S. trade agreement to include enforceable workers’ rights—the deal with Cambodia was the second. But trade experts say sweatshop conditions and other egregious abuses of workers’ rights in Jordan have escalated because neither the U.S. nor the Jordanian government is committed to enforcing the rights they signed off on in the free trade agreement.
Solidarity Center Report: Swazi Workers Lack Basic Freedoms
Workers in Swaziland, a small African country tucked away between South Africa and Mozambique, are trapped in the turmoil of the global economy.
Their national economy is on the brink of collapse, and they are unable to try to fix the situation because an absolute monarchy prevents them from exercising their fundamental rights.
Much of the turmoil is the result of the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides liberal access to U.S. markets for more than 35 African countries. When it was passed in 2000, AGOA helped countries like Swaziland, one of the poorest in Africa, attract investment and provided a market for exports that led to some economic growth.
House Approves ‘Poll Tax’ Bill, Judge Rejects Similar Voter ID Law in Georgia
The 21st century poll tax bill we reported on yesterday passed the U.S. House of Representatives today. In a near party-line vote, almost all Republicans voted for the bill that will require every voter to present a government-issued, proof-of-citizenship photo ID. Civil rights and voters groups say the bill, H.R. 4844, sponsored by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), is another attempt at voter suppression.
Anti-Worker TABOR Measures Wither and Howie Rich EXPOSED
About a month ago, we told you how out-of-state, extremist-conservative and anti-union groups are pumping money and effort into several state ballot initiatives such as those that would restrict how states raise and spend money. If passed, such measures could cripple services such as law enforcement, fire protection, education and other public services.
FCC Buried Key Reports on Media Consolidation; Public Hearings Set
Heads up on two key developments in the move by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to change media ownership regulations.
