Archive for November, 2007
Equity Honors Mercedes Ellington with Robeson Award
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Dancer, director and choreographer Mercedes Ellington received Actors’ Equity’s 2007 Paul Robeson Award for her commitment to workers and human rights.
Julia Breanetta Simpson, co-chair of Equity’s Eastern Region Equal Employment Opportunity Committee, says:
Mercedes Ellington personifies each of the precepts on which the Paul Robeson Award is based: concern for and service to fellow humans, respect for the dignity of the individual, freedom of expression, universal brotherhood and the artist’s responsibility to the profession and to the greater society.
Ellington has been involved in more than 10 Broadway shows and has formed her own tap dance company. She was the only woman of color to become a June Taylor Dancer on the Jackie Gleason Show, which ran on national TV from 1952 to 1970.
Sixteenth Day of Writers’ Strike. But What About the Producers?
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We’ve seen and read a lot about television writers on strike for issues like not getting paid for the work they do when it appears on the Internet and in other new media.
But what about the television producers? How about hearing their side of the story?
Thanks to “The Colbert Report,” now all sides can get a proper airing.
Check out this “Colbert Report” video from a representative of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
Like he says, it’s his first time video-log blogging.
Ohio Special Election Nail-Biter: Pro-Worker Candidate Could Win Congressional Seat
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On Dec. 11, voters in Ohio’s 5th District will vote in a special election to fill their vacant congressional seat.
Robin Weirauch, the pro-worker candidate in the race and a former member of the Electrical Workers (IBEW), has the opportunity to take the seat.
Although the district is heavily Republican (Bush won 61 percent of the vote there in 2004), Democrats Ted Strickland and Sherrod Brown took the 5th District in 2006. And Weirauch’s Republican opponent, state Rep. Bob Latta, just went through a “brutal” primary battle.
Plus, turnout is typically low in a special election like this, which means anything can happen.
It’s Thanksgiving—Help Nurses on the Picket Lines
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Today is a good day to remember the nearly 700 nurses walking picket lines at Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) hospitals who won’t have the luxury of a well-stocked table.
So, before we O.D. on turkey taters or other turkey-laced addendums, let’s take a minute to help out these brave nurses this Thanksgiving. Click here to donate $25—the cost of a Thanksgiving meal—to the ARH nurses’ strike fund.
The members of the United American Nurses (UAN) union have been on strike in Kentucky and West Virginia since Oct. 1. They’re seeking a contract with safer staffing levels and higher patient care standards. The nurses are concerned that management’s staffing decisions and rampant mandatory overtime are preventing them from giving patients the best possible care. In contract negotiations, ARH proposed modest pay raises while demanding to cut holiday pay and increase health care premiums, effectively wiping out the raises.
So Much for ‘Remaking’ Its Image: Wal-Mart Sues Brain-Damaged Worker
Wal-Mart has spent millions trying to convince consumers that its critics are wrong about its anti-worker actions and that it is a good company that cares about its employees and the community. But the way the company has treated Deborah Shank shows the retail giant’s true colors.
The company, which earned $2.9 billion last quarter, sued a former employee who suffered permanent brain damage in a car accident to get back $470,000 it spent on her medical bills.
Pennsylvania Elects Union Members to Office
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The union movement played a major role in Pennsylvania’s state and local elections this year by knocking on doors and getting out the vote—and by electing other union members to public office. Union members ran for, and won, elected offices across the state.
At least 23 active and retired union members were elected or re-elected in Pennsylvania this month. Topping the ticket: newly elected state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey, who as a Philadelphia police officer was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). McCaffrey earned more than 1.2 million votes and joins Justice Tom Saylor, a former member of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butchery Workmen (AMCBW), on the court.
Other union members who will serve as elected leaders around the state include 12 county commissioners, three city and borough councillors, two judges and five other elected officials.
Crucifixes Made with Chinese Sweatshop Labor Sold Here
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Looks like literally nothing is sacred.
A new report by the National Labor Committee reveals that crucifixes for sale at major religious institutions such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Trinity Church in New York City were made in Chinese sweatshops.
Distributed by the Association for Christian Retail, the items are not labeled “Made in China.” In fact, they sometimes seems to be labeled “Made in Italy,” according to National Labor Committee Director Charles Kernaghan.
Following a National Labor Committee press conference yesterday outside St. Patrick’s announcing the report, Kernaghan said both St. Patrick’s and Trinity pulled the items from their store shelves.
Bush FAA Policies Lead to Flight Delays, Near Misses
If you’re flying somewhere for Thanksgiving dinner and your plane is late, more than likely it’s because there aren’t enough experienced controllers to handle the volume of air traffic this holiday weekend—the busiest travel season of the year.
In an ad this week in USA Today, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) shows the link between Bush administration’s policies, which have forced controllers to retire in large numbers, and the abysmal on-time records of the nation’s airlines.
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According to NATCA, since 2002, the percentage of veteran controllers on the job has decreased by 12 percent and the number of late arrivals has more than doubled at 105.9 percent.
And what about President Bush’s much ballyhooed decision to open military airspace to commercial flights for the holiday? Won’t make a bit of difference, NATCA President Patrick Forrey says:
This will have no real effect whatsoever. This is because there are fewer veteran, fully trained air traffic controllers on staff at air traffic facilities nationwide this holiday season than in 2006, handling 4 percent more traffic. If anything, delays will increase this holiday season, not decrease.
Arizona Workers Boycott City of Nogales
The Arizona AFL-CIO is calling for union members to boycott the city of Nogales, Ariz., until the rights of the employees are restored. In September, the Nogales City Council voted, 4–3, to take away the rights of city employees to have their union dues deducted from their paychecks. Almost all the Nogales city employees—98 percent—are union members.
Linda Hatfield, president of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7000, which represents many of the city workers, says:
The workers now more than ever need the protection from their union as their jobs are being threatened if they speak up against this attack. We will continue to stand with these workers until their rights are restored.
650 California Nurses Back on Job and More Bargaining News
The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work. Here are a few recent items from the week of Nov. 12–16, 2007.
Work Stoppages
CNA/NNOC, Peninsula Medical Center: In Burlingame, Calif., 650 Peninsula Medical Center nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC), returned to the bargaining table, a month after a two-day strike. Sticking points in negotiations include higher nurse-to-patient ratios, improved lifting standards for nurses, more break relief and improved pensions, retirement and health care benefits. The hospital is affiliated with Sutter Health.
