Union Families Bring Holiday Cheer to Pittsburgh-Area Families in Need
Andy Richards on our Field Communications staff sends us this.
With the holidays only days away, Pittsburgh-area faith leaders, community members and union families came together Friday to hand bring holiday cheer and hand out hundreds of toys and donations to families in need.
At the Allegheny County Labor Council’s annual Labor of Love/Stuff the Bus Toy Drive, they gave out toys, gift cards and other donations collected earlier this month. The annual toy collection is one of the largest holiday toy drives in Pittsburgh and union members and their families kick it off each year by filling a 40-foot transit bus to the brim with gifts for children in need. Says Bob Mazzie, a retired member of ATU Local 85 who donated toys at the kick-off event earlier this month: Read the rest of this entry »
Ohio Union Volunteers Turning Up the Heat on Issue 2
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| AFT President Randi Weingarten joined hundreds of Ohio union volunteers to mobilize to defeat Issue 2. |
AFL-CIO Field Communications Coordinator Andrew Richards files this report on the fight in Ohio to defeat Issue 2.
From small towns like Portsmouth on the banks of the Ohio River in the south to big cities like Cleveland bordering Lake Michigan in the north and all around the Buckeye State, union members are hitting the doors and the phone banks to make sure working families cast a “No” vote on Issue 2 Nov. 8.
Issue 2 would repeal S.B. 5, the law passed this spring that takes away the right of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life.
In Cleveland, AFT President Randi Weingarten told the more than 800 members from dozens of unions who volunteered Saturday:
[Ohio Gov. John] Kasich, [Wis. Gov. Scott] Walker, [Fla. Gov. Rick] Scott, [Ind. Gov. Mitch] Daniels and many others are trying to strip working people of their rights, that’s their goal. But we’re not going to let that happen. We are going to fight back, give workers and the community their voice back and in the next 10 days do everything we can to bring Issue 2 home.
Huge NYC Union March Set to Spotlight Occupy Wall Street Protest
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New York area union members will join an expected several thousand labor activists and supporters today in a Wall Street march and rally in support of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
The grassroots-grown protest is now in its third week, with a diverse array of people from across the country camping out in the heart of the financial district to demand Wall Street is held accountable for the schemes and reckless games that led to the nation’s economic collapse.
The mostly young Occupy Wall Street protesters are “speaking for the vast majority of Americans who are frustrated by the bankers and brokers who have profited on the backs of hard working people,” says Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) President Larry Hanley.
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), says Occupy Wall Street “has brought into sharp focus a reality that cannot be denied.”
Next Up: Young People Take Action to Address Economic Inequality
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| Rally in front of City Hall, Minneapolis | |
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Emmelle Israel, AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow, is in Minneapolis for the Next Up Young Workers Summit and sends us this report.
Along with 800 young workers, students, and activists, I marched down the streets of downtown Minneapolis, calling for “Good Jobs Now!” during the 2011 AFL-CIO Next Up Young Workers Summit.
The march from the summit to the City Government Plaza Light Rail Station was nearly a mile long. Next Up attendees chanted and raised signs to make their demand of “Good Jobs Now!” known the whole way.
Several taxi drivers, postal delivery workers and bus drivers honked their horns in support as the group marched to the light rail station.
Once at the City Government Plaza Light Rail Station, Jessica Hayssen of the AFL-CIO Young Workers Advisory Committee and the Minnesota AFL-CIO MCed the rally. First up was Mike O’Brian a.k.a. OB, from Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500, who performed his original rap, “One Day Longer.” The song was about a strike his union went through and encourages those on the picket line, telling them that “One day longer” makes them “One day stronger.”
Next, Mike Stenberg, a Metro Transit Operator from ATU Local 1005 in Minneapolis, spoke about how the union job he has now improved the lives of him, his wife and their two young children. He said:
I worked jobs before that were non-union. I wasn’t able to support my family… But now with Metro Transit I’m able to supply my family with a better livelihood. My American dream can come true where before I couldn’t see that happening.
Cincinnati Union Softball Match Raises Funds for Cancer Society
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AFL-CIO Community Services liaison Mark Caddo at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council tells us that despite a heat index of 103 degrees, union and community members recently turned out for a fundraising softball match between Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) locals 627 and 628.
The event, which pitted the Cincinnati Metro Bus Drivers against the Newport TANK Bus Drivers, raised $1,049 for the American Cancer Society.
Drivers, Riders Unite for Expanded Bus Service
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Workers and community members in Fall River and New Bedford, Mass., have come together to fight for expanded bus service in the cities where buses stop running at 6 p.m. and don’t operate at all on Sunday.
Members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Locals 174 and 1037, have partnered with the group Bus Riders United and the labor/community organization People First to press for the expanded service. The Greater Southeastern Massachusetts Labor Council has joined the fight for better bus service.
Last night, several dozen people met with Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan who supports expanded service and others to map out the next steps.
When buses stop running at 6 p.m., it affects workers who might otherwise ride the bus from work or to jobs that start later, and also impacts seniors who don’t have access to other transportation. It puts downtown restaurants and other business off-limits to people who depend on public transportation.
Members Mobilize to Help ATU Tornado Victims
This is a cross-post from the Amalgamated Transit Workers (ATU).
Wednesday, April 27, started out like any other quiet, sultry day in Mississippi. Beverly Harper got up early, watched some television, had breakfast with her son, surveyed the sturdy magnolia trees in her backyard and planned to enjoy a day off from her job as a bus driver in Jackson.
She had no idea what unpredictable nature had in store for her.
Harper is a member of ATU Local 1208, and a longtime Jackson resident. She is proud of her work as one of the city’s most important people—the reliable, professional, competent drivers who get people to work, school, doctors’ appointments and shopping. Her passengers call her by first name and she knows, as she gets in her car for the trip to the bus depot, that she will enjoy her day with the regulars who feel safe with her behind the wheel.
Steelworkers Ratify Pact with RG Steel—and More Bargaining News
The United Steelworkers (USW) at RG Steel ratified a new contract—and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
USW, RG Steel: The United Steelworkers ratified a new agreement with North America successor RG Steel that covers some 6,000 workers at five facilities in Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.
Hanley and Guffey Named to AFL-CIO Executive Council
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| Larry Hanley | |
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| Cliff Guffey | |
The AFL-CIO Executive Council welcomed Larry Hanley and Cliff Guffey as new members today.
Hanley was elected Sept. 30 as president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), succeeding Warren George, who retired and also resigned from the Executive Council.
Hanley began his union career in 1978 as a 21-year-old bus driver in Brooklyn. He served as president of ATU Local 726 from 1987 until 2002. He then joined the staff of the international union and most recently served as an ATU vice president.
Guffey was elected last October as president of the Postal Workers (APWU). He began his postal career in 1971 as a letter carrier in Oklahoma City. He served as APWU vice president since 2001. Before joining the APWU on the national level, Guffey was president of APWU’s Oklahoma City local. He succeeded William Burrus, who retired and resigned from the Executive Council.
The Council approved a statement saying, George “has demonstrated that a commitment to organizing can change a union.” Under his leadership, ATU created an organizing department, hired an organizing director and extended the benefits of union membership to transit workers the union had not reached before.
The Council praised Burrus for his “hallmarks of fairness, flexibility and safety.” In a statement, the Council credited Burrus and former APWU President Moe Biller with transforming the union into a progressive political force. Burrus led APWU to become one of the first to endorse Barack Obama.
Union Spy Finds Kidnap Ring in Second Mystery Novel
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This is a cross-post from the Northwest Labor Press.
Using the pen name S.L. Stoner, union attorney Susan Stoner has published the second installment in her series of historical mystery novels.
Drawing on meticulously researched local history, the books follow fictional trade union spy Sage Adair as he meets up with actual historic individuals in the Portland of the early 1900s. In the first installment, Timber Beasts, Adair uncovered a timber fraud, learned of the savage exploitation of loggers and pursued a murderer. Land Sharks, the second in the series, finds Sage in a search for two union organizers who disappeared, which leads him to discover a true-to-life Portland underground where the unwary are shanghaied—kidnapped and placed in service aboard ocean-going ships bound for whaling regions or China.
The first book in the series, Timber Beasts, was awarded the Next Generation 2010 Gold Medal for Mystery. The award was presented by Indie Books, the largest not-for-profit book awards program for independent authors and independent publishers.
