After 10 Years, Consolidated Biscuit Workers Will Vote on Union
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After a decade of struggle, workers at cookie maker Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC), now Hearthside Food Solutions (HFS), in McComb, Ohio, are a big step closer to joining a union. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced the 825 workers will vote May 5–6 on whether to join a union.
Fed up with low pay, minimal benefits and hazardous working conditions, workers at CBC approached the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) about joining the union in 2001.
For Selena Smith Packer, a 15-year veteran at the plant, the issue is consistency.
Every time a new manager or a new owner takes over, they make changes for their interest, not ours. We have no vote or say in the matter. As a union, we’ll get to vote on changes and even make some demands that are in our best interest.
Congressional Black Caucus: Public Employees Deserve a Seat at Table in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to eliminate bargaining rights for public employees is “blatantly un-American” and “jeopardizes the viability of the people during these tough economic times,” say Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.).
In a letter to Walker, Cleaver, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, and Moore, who represents Milwaukee in Congress, say public servants deserve a seat at the table to help solve the state’s fiscal crisis. The letter says:
Your constituents and Americans all across the country have made it clear that unionization is a cherished right worth protecting. Unions have not only empowered this nation, but helped create and maintain the American middle class.
In a seperate statement, Cleaver says:
Anytime the rights of public workers are being compromised, it is our duty to stand with them. For 40 years, the Congressional Black Caucus has worked tirelessly to ensure that all Americans, regardless of race, color or creed, have the opportunity to fully pursue and achieve the American dream. Taking away public employees’ rights to collectively bargain seems like an assault on the pursuit of that dream.
Major Congressional Groups Back Public Health Insurance Option
Support for a public health insurance option as part of comprehensive health care reform received a boost this week when four prominent congressional groups announced a public plan was essential to their backing of reform legisaltion.
A public insurance plan option is one of the AFL-CIO’s key health care reform principles, but it has been vigorously attacked by the private insurance industry.
In a letter to President Obama and Senate and House leadership, the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), the Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus and the Asian Pacific American Caucus wrote:
Our support for enacting legislation this year to guarantee affordable health care for all firmly hinges on the inclusion of a robust public health insurance plan like Medicare.
