Covanta Complaint Shows Need for Employee Free Choice Act
Here’s another example of why the Employee Free Choice Act is so important. The National Labor Relations Board this week issued a comprehensive complaint charging Covanta Energy Corp. and all of its U.S. subsidiaries with violating federal labor law.
More than 130 workers at Covanta’s Southeastern Massachusetts (SEMASS) facility in West Wareham, Mass., voted to join Utility Workers (UWUA) Local 369 in May 2008. The facility converts solid waste into energy by shredding and burning the trash. The employees have been trying to negotiate a first contract for more than a year.
If the Employee Free Choice Act were law, this dispute would have been over months ago. The legislation provides the mediation and arbitration assistance to help settle a contract when a company and a newly certified union cannot agree on a contract after three months.
20,000 University of Wisconsin Faculty Gain Bargaining Rights
More than 20,000 faculty members at two midwestern universities are one step closer to good union contracts. Yesterday, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signed the state’s biennial budget, which includes a provision extending collective bargaining rights to more than 20,000 University of Wisconsin (UW) faculty, academic staff and research assistants.
The same day, some 430 instructors and adjunct faculty at Western Michigan University (WMU) voted for the Professional Instructors Organization (PIO), an AFT affiliate, to represent them.
Rite Aid’s Wrong, Workers Tell Shareholders
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Rite Aid workers at the drug chain’s distribution center in Lancaster, Calif., took their years-long fight for justice to New York City yesterday, where they urged the company’s shareholders to fire management’s hired-gun, union-busting consultants.
At a Times Square rally, the workers got a boost of solidarity from their New York union brothers and sisters.
At the firm’s annual shareholder meeting, Angel Warner, a veteran Rite Aid employee and member of Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 26, charged Rite Aid with “abusive, disrespectful and illegal treatment” before and after more than 600 workers voted to join the IWLU in March 2008.
IUPA Celebrates 30 Years of Fighting for Safety of Public
As state and local governments struggle to provide services in this tight economy, the role of unions like the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) is more important than ever.
IUPA, which is celebrating its 30-year anniversary, assists law enforcement locals, including those in “right to work” states, negotiating contracts for and providing benefits to locals in more than 35 states. The union has negotiated contracts that give officers access to good benefits, wages, leave and time off.
In a press release, IUPA President Sam Cabral says officers and their families need representation that protects them during times of duress and need.
SAG Members Approve TV, Theatrical Contracts
Members of the Screen Actors (SAG) voted overwhelmingly yesterday to approve new two-year basic agreements covering film and digital TV programs, motion pictures and new media productions.
Negotiations between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) began more than a year ago. The two sides reached tentative agreements on April 16. The contracts were approved by a mail ballot. In February, the SAG national board overwhelmingly rejected what was then called the AMPTP’s last, best and final offer, but negotiations continued.
Oregon Bill Bans Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings
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When Oregon workers are choosing to form a union and bargain for a better life, they would not be forced to attend coercive, mandatory anti-union meetings by management under the Worker Freedom Act passed Monday by the Oregon State Senate. It now goes to the House, where it won approval in 2007.
The legislation will make it illegal for an employer to discipline or fire a worker who chooses not to attend a meeting on politics, religion or union organizing during work hours.
Says Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain:
Workers should not have to give up their opinions or be lectured about their employer’s beliefs to get a paycheck.
UAW Members Ratify GM Agreement
Members of the UAW overwhelmingly ratified an agreement with General Motors (GM) Corp. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger told a Detroit press conference today that 74 percent of GM’s U.S. production and skilled-trade workers voted in favor of the deal.
Under the agreement, the union-run retiree health care trust will gain 17.5 percent ownership of a post-bankruptcy GM, with an option to buy another 2.5 percent.
“UAW members have once again stepped up to make necessary and painful sacrifices to preserve U.S. manufacturing jobs,” Gettelfinger said.
This settlement agreement will give GM a chance to survive the worldwide collapse of industry sales and return as a viable company once the economy recovers and consumers begin purchasing vehicles again.
UAW, GM Reach Tentative Deal
The UAW announced today it has reached a tentative understanding with the U.S. Treasury Department and General Motors Corp. on changes to the 2007 UAW/GM bargaining agreement. The union says the tentative agreement also contains modifications to the independent Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust that funds retiree health care.
Details are not available until after ratification meetings for UAW members at GM, which are now being scheduled.
A pact between GM and the UAW was one of the key obstacles for the automaker to clear before a June 1 deadline for the company to restructure its debt as part of a process widely expected to include a bankruptcy filing.
In April, UAW members ratified a similar agreement with Chrysler, Fiat and the Treasury Department.
UAW Reaches Settlement Agreement with Chrysler, Fiat
Just days before a federally imposed deadline, the UAW announced last night it had reached a settlement agreement with Chrysler, Fiat and the U.S. Treasury Department.
After rejecting Chrysler’s viability plan in February, President Obama gave Chrysler workers and the company a second chance, union officials said. This concessionary agreement, while painful, takes advantage of this opportunity, the union said.
AT&T Posts $3.3 Billion Profit But Wants to Cut Jobs and Wages
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AT&T reported first quarter profits of $3.3 billion—yet the company is trying to cut quality jobs, wages and benefits with the more than 100,000 union workers who are behind the giant telecom’s success.
“We Are The Network,” a report released today by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), shows AT&T outperforming its competitors, and its stock is beating the Dow Jones average. Analysts are optimistic about the company’s future growth prospects, as it continues to introduce new technologies and bring together its customers’ voice, broadband, video and wireless services.
AT&T wants to shift more health care costs to employees—a move that will save only a fraction of 1 percent of operating costs and one that has a great cost to AT&T in terms of employee morale, according to the union. Such a move would lower workers’ standard of living at a time when the company posted a $3 billion profit, says CWA, which represents the workers.
