Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice
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Amy Masciola, a union campaign consultant, sends us this.
More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co. locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week, Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in Ontario, just over one month after locking out 500 workers. Rio Tinto Alcan locked out 750 workers in Quebec Jan. 1. HealthBridge locked out 800 nursing home workers in Connecticut in December. As Laura Clawson at the Daily Kos notes, “For evidence of a war on workers, look no further than the rise of the lockout.”
Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times wrote recently that the number of strikes has dropped precipitously in the past two decades, while lockouts now “represent a record percentage of the nation’s work stoppages.” Greenhouse quotes professor Gary Chaison of Clark University, who says:
This is a sign of increased employer militancy. Lockouts were once so rare they were almost unheard of. Now, not only are employers increasingly on the offensive and trying to call the shots in bargaining, but they’re backing that up with action—in the form of lockouts.
Unions and our allies are fighting back against this war on workers. Beginning Feb. 22, locked-out workers from American Crystal Sugar Co. and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. will start a 1,000-mile journey across America’s heartland. They will visit six states in six days, taking part in rallies, fundraisers and other actions with local union members and allies. Locked-out workers will take their message to supporters—and call out the perpetrators of the war on workers. Read the rest of this entry »
UAW Members Ratify Pact with Oshkosh—and More Bargaining News
UAW members in Wisconsin ratify a new contract with Oshkosh Corp., 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 1,400 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
UAW, Oshkosh Corp.: Members of UAW Local 578 voted to ratify a new five-year deal with Oshkosh Corp. in Oshkosh, Wis. The 3,100 workers approved the agreement, following two earlier rejections, after the company dropped proposals that would have allowed it to hire temporary workers.
AFT, Philadelphia School District: Teachers at Philadelphia’s public schools approved a one-year contract extension with the school district. The contract now runs through August 2013 and covers 15,000 members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (AFT).
AFSCME, University of California: Patient care workers and service workers at University of California campuses ratified new contracts that will provide wage increases for some 20,000 AFSCME members. The patient care contract runs until Sept. 30, 2012, while the service contract expires Jan. 31, 2013.
Ship Pilots, Machinists, Deputy Sheriffs, Bakers and Communication Techs Join AFL-CIO Unions
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The 250 members of the Panama Canal Pilots Union recently voted to affiliate with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). The pilots guide the ships that transit the historic canal. Says ILWU President Robert McEllrath:
Both unions will benefit from this new affiliation that will provide each with more solidarity and support. With more of our employers now operating around the globe this kind of strategic alliance makes a lot of sense.
In Kent, Wash., the 165 workers at Hytek Finishes voted to join the Machinists (IAM) after a four-month battle. The workers specialize in various types of metal finishing and coating for aerospace manufacturers, including the Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter.
Doctors, Teachers, Bakers and More Win Union Voice
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While Republican lawmakers and right-wing talking heads try to demonize the union movement, physicians, nurses, flight instructors, technicians, bakers and more are the latest workers to choose a voice on the job with AFL-CIO unions.
More than 1,900 AT&T technicians across Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 3 in the Southeastern United States recently joined CWA through majority sign-up. The workers perform installation and repair for AT&T’s U-Verse TV, Internet and voice service.
In Portland, Ore., 156 workers at Dosha Salon and Spa voted for CWA Local 7901 in a hard-fought, 18-month campaign that included fierce anti-union campaign. Organizing Coordinator Al Kogler said the hair stylists, massage therapists, nail technicians, spa hosts, schedulers and laundry workers at the four salon locations didn’t back down.
Instead, the workers stayed upbeat and stuck together, wearing red T-shirts to anti-union meetings and temporary pro-union tattoos.
Locked-Out Iowa BCTGM Workers Fight Locally and Globally
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The French-based sugar and starch maker Roquette Frères opened its production plant in Keokuk, Iowa, 20 years ago, and its promise to create high-quality jobs was a key factor in winning support from local workers and local and state governments. Over the years, the firm has enjoyed tens of millions of dollars in tax benefits and other financial help.
But now, the multinational corporation is breaking its jobs promise to the community and its families by locking out 240 workers at its Keokuk corn milling plant and demanding massive wage, pension and health care concessions from the members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 48G.
The workers are waging their battle for justice both locally and globally. They are mounting a petition drive urging the city, county and state to refrain from awarding the company any additional grants, tax breaks and other economic assistance until Roquette ends the lockout and negotiates in good faith.
At the global level, they filed an international complaint against Roquette. In addition, the AFL-CIO, along with the International Union of Food Workers (IUF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM), lodged a formal complaint wit the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) charging Roquette with violating the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises.
This Halloween, Go with Union-Made Treats
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When the hordes of Halloween trick-or-treaters—from tiny Lady Gagas to younger-than-Justin-Biebers, along with the traditional pirates, witches and ghosts—come knocking on your door, you can treat them to union-made Halloween candy. It’s the good stuff, too.
Our friends at the Northwest Labor Press checked in with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) union to find out which candy carried union cards.
Wind, Web, Telecom and Sanitation Workers Join AFL-CIO Unions
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Telecom workers, green industry wind power employees, sanitation workers—and, in a precedent setting win, website writers/producers—have recently joined AFL-CIO unions.
In Puerto Rico, 171 call center workers at AT&T Mobility won union representation with Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3010 through majority sign-up. Under an agreement between AT&T and CWA, the company will remain neutral and will recognize the union once a majority of employees sign up. Meanwhile, in Ocean County, N.J., five employees of the Borough of Island Heights won representation by CWA Local 1088 also through majority sign-up.
A group of more than 130 workers at Trinity Structural Towers—Iowa’s leading manufacturer of wind towers—voted to join Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 347 in Des Moines.
Union: Wendy’s Robs Bakery Workers of Hard-Earned Health Care, Pensions
Wendy’s New Bakery Co., part of the Wendy’s/Arby’s Group fast-food chain, has illegally implemented concessionary contract terms proposed in bargaining at its Zanesville, Ohio, plant, according to federal unfair labor practice charges filed yesterday by Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 57. The 150 workers at the plant have been in negotiations for a new contract since March.
The union says the unilateral action by company guts the current health care plan, eliminates the pension plan and takes away workers’ rights guaranteed under the previous contract. BCTGM President Frank Hurt calls the action by the Wendy’s/Arby’s Group “a disgrace.”
For nearly three decades, members of Bakers Local 57 have taken pride in the quality products they make for Wendy’s stores and customers. The New Bakery workers have sacrificed much over the years in order to secure a quality contract with good health care coverage and a solid, guaranteed pension for themselves and their families. We will not quietly stand by and watch this company rob our members of their hard-earned benefits.
Private Equity Firms, Our New Corporate Masters?
Workers returned Tuesday to the job at Stella D’oro Biscuit Co. in the Bronx after a judge ordered the company reinstate the 136 employees who had remained strong throughout a brutal 11-month strike. But before they could even walk through the doors, they were greeted with the anti-union response by the company’s private equity firm owners, the 21st century’s mutation of the robber barons: Brynwood Partners announced it would shut down operations in October. (“Private equity firms” is the euphemism those leveraged buyout corporations adopted after leveraged buyout got a bad name in the 1980s.)
Established more than 75 years ago, Stella D’oro is a nationally known maker of specialty baked goods and until recently was a family-owned business. But a series of corporate buyouts ultimately resulted in Brynwood’s 2006 purchase of the company. And a private equity firm’s only reason for existing is to make money-lots of it. Even robber barons ultimately had to ensure they had enough workers on the job because those companies made money by making things. Not so for today’s private equity firms. Closing shop and making off with the profits is what they do.
2,500 UAW Members Say ‘No’ to Health Cuts and Outsourcing—and More Bargaining News
Some 2,500 UAW members in Texas authorize a strike—and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” 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.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
UAW, Bell Helicopter: Some 2,500 workers at Bell Helicopter plants in the Fort Worth, Texas, area, represented by UAW Local 218, went on strike today after rejecting contract proposals that would have increased medical costs and outsourced the work of janitors.
