Archive for January, 2008
Banned Union Organizer Back on Facebook
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Union organizers don’t sit around when injustice occurs. So when Facebook banned Canadian union organizer Derek Blackadder from the site earlier this week, the global union movement took action—and Blackadder is back on Facebook.
Although candidates running for president, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, each boast tens of thousands of friends on the social networking site, Facebook threw Blackadder off for making too many friends on the site.
Within nano-minutes of Blackadder’s ban, a “Free the Blackadder One” group was created on Facebook, and quickly became so popular, it reached the 1,000 friends mark. According to Facebook rules, once a group exceeds 1,000 members, Facebook turns off the e-mail feature and members can no longer be contacted.
Union Membership on the Rise
The percentage of workers who belong to unions increased last year, according to the annual union membership report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Some 311,000 new members joined unions in 2007, the largest single-year increase since 1979. Overall, the rate of union membership increased slightly to 12.1 percent last year, from 12 percent in 2006, reversing a trend of decline in recent years.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says:
Today’s numbers show working people are pushing to form and join unions in order to improve their lives, despite record levels of resistance from employers. They know that a union card is the single best ticket into the middle class, especially in today’s economy.
The largest increase in union membership was in health services, where unions added 142,000 members, a 0.9 percent increase from 2006 to 7.9 percent.
Economic Stimulus Plan ‘Not Enough to Make Real Difference’
The economic stimulus plan announced today by House leaders and the Bush administration falls far short of reaching the people who need help the most and the quickest—and is weighted far too heavily with business tax breaks.
While the package does extend tax rebates to lower-income workers and families, something the Bush administration initially opposed, it ignores two of the most important and effective methods to provide a quick economic boost—extension of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and increased food stamp benefits. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says:
The latest economic stimulus proposal simply is not enough to make a real difference for America’s working families. It is up to the Senate to extend unemployment benefits and increase food stamps to get money into the hands of those who will spend it quickest and need it most.
Comedy Writers’ Mock Debate on Capitol Hill No Joke
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No wonder television executives haven’t been in a hurry to reach a fair agreement with striking writers. They told Congress yesterday that they have a whole lineup of reality shows—no writers needed—ready to fill the airwaves, including “America’s Brownest Walls” and “Are You a Better Surgeon Than a 5th Grader?”
Well actually, those aren’t real shows—thank goodness—and the “producers” appearing before several U.S. House members yesterday weren’t real producers. They were members of the Writers Guild of America who have been on strike since Nov. 5, fighting for a new contract that includes a fair share of revenues from Internet and electronic distribution of material they’ve written.
Postal Employees Say Big Brother Is Watching Them
Most of us believe our medical records are a private matter between us and our health care providers. But postal employees learned recently the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been snooping into their medical records, according to a suit filed by the Postal Workers (APWU) and Letter Carriers (NALC).
The unions filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Jan. 17. They say that beginning in 2006, the postal service’s OIG began surreptitiously seeking and obtaining the medical records of postal workers directly from doctors and hospitals that had provided medical services to postal employees.
Tea Workers Charge Company Is Importing Strikebreakers
Striking workers at Redco Foods say their German-based employer is illegally importing strikebreakers and they want the Bush administration to investigate. Forty-seven members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 50 walked out at Redco’s plant in Little Falls, N.Y., on Nov. 2, seeking a fair contract. Their previous pact expired July 1.
Like many other employers seeking to raise profits on the backs of workers, Redco’s parent, Teekanne GmbH, is demanding givebacks, seeking to switch from a defined-benefit pension plan to a 401(k), reducing the number of vacation days and requiring new employees to pay 25 percent of medical premiums.
More Than 1,600 Public Officials Back Employee Free Choice
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Workers mobilizing to make passage of the Employee Free Choice Act a key issue in the 2008 elections are making sure local lawmakers are lining up behind the bill.
So far, 1,672 state and local elected officials across the country, including 18 governors and state legislatures, have signed up in support of the legislation either by backing a resolution or by signing on to a letter. Some 106 local county boards or city councils have passed resolutions urging their representatives to vote for employee choice.
At a recent meeting, the Johnstown (Pa.) City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. The Johnstown Regional Central Labor Council led the fight for the resolution, along with City Council member Nunzio Johncola, an AFSCME member.
Management Consultant Gloats Over NLRB’s Anti-Worker E-Mail Ruling
With less than a year before the Bush administration packs up and moves out, employers and their allies at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) are pulling out every stop to squelch the freedom of workers to form unions. For example, the board now says employers can stop unions from communicating with workers by e-mail.
It comes as no surprise that employers are practically giddy over the ruling.
The NLRB—which is supposed to protect workers’ freedom to join a union—issued a decision days before Christmas that an employer can prohibit the use of its e-mail system for “non-job-related solicitations” and not be in violation of federal labor laws.
Writers, Producers Back at Bargaining Table
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The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) began “informal talks” today in an effort to reach accord in the 11-week strike.
No negotiations have taken place since the producers walked out of the talks Dec. 7. The writers have been on strike since Nov. 5, fighting for a new contract that includes a fair share of revenue from Internet and electronic distribution of material they’ve written.
Fire Fighters Challenge Giuliani in Florida
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Members of the Fire Fighters union (IAFF) are traveling across Florida to set the record straight about former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and his role before, during and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Fire Fighters plan to follow Giuliani through Florida every day until the state’s Jan. 29 primary. Al Santora, a retired deputy chief who lost his firefighter son, Christopher Santora, in the attacks, says it’s crucial the public sees through the myth of Giuliani’s leadership on 9/11.
I was in FDNY [Fire Department of New York] for more than 40 years, and was the chief of safety, so I know that Giuliani did nothing for firefighters. His actions at the time and leading up to the attack, and during the day itself, showed a tremendous lack of judgment and failure of leadership.
