Workers Join AFSCME, Machinists and IUE-CWA in Recent Campaigns
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Some 2,600 family child care providers in New Mexico recently voted to join Child Care Providers Together (CCPT)/New Mexico, an AFSCME affiliate. Meanwhile, aerospace workers in Georgia voted for Machinists (IAM) representation and car rental workers in Boston chose IUE-CWA.
In New Mexico, the child care workers—who care for children whose parents are eligible for state child care assistance—topped off their three-year fight for a voice at work last week when their vote to join CCPT was certified.
In April, Gov. Bill Richardson (D) signed legislation the workers had fought for since 2006 to win the right to join a union to improve their lives and the quality of home child care services in the state.
Mediation Board Proposes Changes to Democratize Union Elections at Airlines, Rail
Bt a 2-to-1 margin, the National Mediation Board (NMB) says it’s time to bring democracy and majority rule to rail and airline workers voting whether to join a union.
The NMB today proposed changes to airline and rail election rules to mirror the rules that govern every other democratic election—the outcome is decided by the side that receives the majority of votes cast. Under current rules, every worker who does not cast a vote is counted as a vote against forming a union.
Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), says the NMB’s proposed changes are “fair and sensible.”
The deck is currently stacked against airline and railroad workers. The NMB is proposing new rules that would finally permit airline and rail workers to vote for unions under the same standards found everywhere else in our system of democracy. With this change, never again will workers in these industries seeking to form a union be thwarted by such un-democratic rules.
Union Movement Rallies in Solidarity with Puerto Rican Workers
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| Thousands of workers rallied in Puerto Rico against the governor’s drastic layoffs. The sign says “Give me back my job.” | |
In states across the country, working people marched and rallied in solidarity today with their Puerto Rican brothers and sisters against draconian budget cuts and cancellation of their collective bargaining rights.
As 200,000 people march in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to protest Gov. Luis Fortuño’s plan to slash the budget deficit on the backs of workers, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sent a letter of support and solidarity and rallies were held in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities.
In his letter of support, which was read at the San Juan rally, Trumka said:
We are fully aware of the attacks being afflicted on the workers and their families on your island and we will do whatever we can to stop them. We are completely committed to bringing the full force of the AFL-CIO to fighting for the rights and well being of our affiliated unions, their members, and the people of Puerto Rico.
Red Cross Workers Fight for Safe Blood, Fair Contract
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At the American Red Cross headquarters in Farmington, Conn., the 225 AFSCME Local 3145 members—front-line blood services workers who make sure the blood supply is safe and sound—have been working without a contract since April.
Around the country, several bargaining units are in the same situation. They say the Red Cross is seeking to replace nurses with unlicensed supervisors, force employees to work unrealistic schedules, make workers bear the increased costs of an inferior health care plan and turn blood collection into an assembly line process.
AFSCME Local 3145 is part of a national coalition of unionized Red Cross workers who have united to improve working conditions, along with donor and blood safety supply at the Red Cross.
In Farmington, the nurses, laboratory technicians, phlebotomists, drivers and other workers are engaged in a campaign raising public awareness about how Red Cross puts profits ahead of safety. Says Local 3145 President Debra Lenentine:
The Red Cross is all about big money and bigger profits at the expense of donors and workers.
NLRB Orders Coal Co. to Rehire 85 Mine Workers
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered Mammoth Coal Co., a subsidiary of Massey Energy, to recognize and bargain with the Mine Workers (UMWA) as the exclusive representative of the workers at its Mammoth Mine in Smithers, W.Va.
The Sept. 30 ruling also orders Mammoth to rehire 85 former workers at the mine who were not hired when Massey bought the operation in 2004. Says UMWA President Cecil Roberts:
This tremendous victory affirms what we have been saying all along. Mammoth Coal had an obligation to recognize the union when it bought this mine out of bankruptcy, and it had an obligation to rehire the miners who were working there at the time the board found were discriminated against because of their union membership.
Justice Dept. Asks Supreme Court to Decide on NLRB Rulings
For nearly two years, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has been hearing cases and issuing rules with just two members. While many of those decisions were accepted by the parties involved, dozens have been appealed to federal courts citing the two-member status of the NLRB and arguing that a two member board did not constitute a quorum that could act under the National Labor Relations Act. The five-member NLRB is staffed by presidential nominees who must be approved by the Senate.
Today, on behalf of the National Labor Relations Board, Solicitor General Elena Kagan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the question of whether the board is authorized to issue decisions while three of its five seats remain vacant.
Hotel Workers Launch Nationwide ‘Hope for Housekeepers’ Tour
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They clean our hotel rooms—some as many as 30 times a day—with few benefits. Now the housekeepers at some of the nation’s top hotel chains are joining with women’s rights, student, community and clergy leaders to shine a light on the abuses in the hotel industry.
On Sept. 30, more than 350 people will launch a seven-city nationwide “Hope for Housekeepers” tour. The tour kicks off in Long Beach, Calif., where workers will carry a seven-foot by 60-foot “Hope Quilt” on a mile-long pilgrimage from the Hilton Long Beach to the Hyatt Regency Long Beach to symbolize their struggle for decent working conditions.
“Hope for Housekeepers” is a national movement of women, founded by Hyatt housekeepers across the country to stop the abuse of women in the hotel industry and bring a message of hope to Hyatt housekeepers and women working as housekeepers across the globe. Starting out from Long Beach, the tour will travel to San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Antonio, Boston, Indianapolis and Chicago.
Help Keep Stella D’Oro Jobs in the Bronx
It’s down to the wire for workers at Stella D’oro Biscuit Co. The North Carolina-based snack maker Lance Inc., wants to buy Stella D’Oro and move production from its 78-year home in the Bronx to a nonunion bakery in Ohio.
The sale will not be finalized until October. Jobs with Justice is urging all of us to take action now by signing an online petition urging Lance CEO David Singer to keep Stella D’oro and its good union jobs in the Bronx.
In July 2009, 136 Stella D’oro workers, members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 50, returned to work after an 11-month strike to maintain family-supporting wages and health care.
Hotel Workers Fight Cutbacks with Peaceful Civil Disobedience
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Nearly 300 UNITE HERE members protesting demands from major hotels in Chicago and San Francisco for cutbacks, and the firing of 100 housekeepers in Boston, were arrested in peaceful civil disobedience demonstrations in recent days.
In a statement, UNITE HERE says the big hotel corporations have enjoyed record profits—more than $200 billion in the past decade—while many of their workers live in poverty.
“Now, hospitality companies are using the economy as an excuse to further squeeze workers and communities—eliminating jobs, trying to roll back benefits, and getting a smaller pool of workers to risk injury by working harder and faster.”
Contracts covering some 7,500 workers at 37 hotels in Chicago and 9,000 at 32 San Francisco hotels expired in August. Talks are continuing with the largest employers in each city, including Hyatt Hotels Corp., Blackstone Group and Starwood Hotels and Resorts, all of which operate properties under several different banners.
Tomato Workers Score Huge Victory
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In a huge win for farm workers, one of the nation’s top food service and management companies reached an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve working conditions and give a raise directly to Florida’s tomato harvesters.
The pact between Compass Group North America and the CIW calls for the company to pay an additional 1.5 cents per pound for all the tomatoes it purchases each year, with 1 cent per pound passed directly from the supplier to the workers. The agreement boosts workers’ wages from 50 cents for a 32-pound bucket to 82 cents per bucket, a 64 percent increase.
This is the first agreement where the money goes directly to the workers. Previous agreements called for the money to go into an escrow account.
