CWA, TWU Form New Partnership
The Transport Workers (TWU) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have voted to work together in a new partnership. The two unions represent more than 120,000 airline workers and are joining forces to support bargaining and organizing at American Airlines and campaigns at other airlines.
In New York and Philadelphia, TWU members have been a big part of the fair contract fight by CWA and Electrical Workers (IBEW) members at Verizon and Verizon Wireless. In the Midwest, where TWU represents transit workers and CWA represents university and public workers, there’s a lot of common ground.
TWU President James C. Little says the two unions share “common values and principles that should intuitively benefit our members through working together.” CWA President Larry Cohen says partnerships like this “are the only way we will make progress for workers.”
More than 1,500 Workers Join AFL-CIO Unions
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Warehouse workers, school, bus drivers, teachers, mechanics, telecommunication and manufacturing worker all have recently won a voice at work with AFL-CIO unions.
More than 350 employees at IKEA Distribution Center in Perryville, Md., voted by an overwhelming margin to join the Machinists (IAM ) despite opposition from IKEA managers who hired Jackson-Lewis, the well-known union-busting law firm. District 4 Business Representative Joe Flanders says the workers, “were able to see through the scare tactics.”
Last year, the Danville, Va.-based employees at Swedwood, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IKEA, voted to join the IAM.
In DuPont, Wash., more than some 350 workers who repair military helicopters and do site maintenance site maintenance and repair work for defense contractor URS Corp. Wash., voted to join IAM District Lodge 751. The workers have been without a pay or cost of living increase for more than four years, says new IAM member John Davis, and “a bunch of people got fed up.”
In Avon, Ky., 219 workers (see photo) at Allsource Global Management at the Bluegrass Station base voted to join the IAM. They are material coordinators for the distribution of military equipment. Read the rest of this entry »
Unions Fight Verizon’s Firings of Striking Workers
Verizon this week fired 40 workers who took part in the strike this summer by 45,000 Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Electrical Workers (IBEW) members. The corporation is alleging workers engaged in misconduct during the strike.
IBEW Local 2222 Legislative Director Paul Feeney told the Boston Globe:
We think this is a heavy-handed technique that Verizon is using to pressure us at the negotiating table. The union is going to fight this through the court. The company couldn’t prove to us that they did anything wrong.
CWA spokesperson Candace Johnson told the paper that other striking workers who were fired have returned to work after their records have been cleared.
We are continuing to pursue a fair determination for all Verizon workers who were fired.
The workers returned to work under the old contract, and negotiations for a new pact are continuing.
Calpine Workers Petition for Union Election; Documents Delivered to NLRB in San Francisco
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This is a cross-post from Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1245.
Five Calpine employees delivered authorization cards to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in San Francisco on Dec. 1, the latest step in a campaign to gain union representation for workers at Calpine’s power plants in Northern California.
The Calpine employees were joined by about 50 supporters for a brief rally in front of the NLRB on San Francisco’s Market Street. Several Bay Area labor leaders offered words of encouragement to the Calpine organizers.
“We’re not asking for anything in particular. We’re not asking for better wages, better benefits,” said Mike Farmer, a long-time Calpine employee with decades of service in the industry. “What we want is a voice and some representation. We’re asking Calpine to allow us to have a free and fair election.”
NYC Marchers Want an Economy ‘for All Working People’
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On a brisk and sunny day in New York City, Christy Thornton stood at the corner of Broadway and 31st streets.
“We’re facing the same issues as everyone else…high unemployment, mountains of debt and a lack of opportunity,” said Thornton, a doctoral student in history at New York University. “I’m here to stand in solidarity with the labor movement and all working people.”
Thornton is a member of the NYC Student Assembly, which formed this fall when students came together at Occupy Wall Street in lower Manhattan.
Standing in the shadow of the Empire State Building, Thornton mixed with an assortment of New Yorkers—union members from the Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the UAW, as well as three retired men who reminisced about strikes back in the 1940s. Read the rest of this entry »
Electrical Workers Complete Largest Solar Installation in Washington, D.C., Metro Area
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“As big as a football field”—the phrase that describes something really big takes on new meaning after members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26 helped FedEx Field “go green.” Union members equipped FedEx Field, home of the region’s NFL team, with the largest solar-power installation ever undertaken in the region. As highlighted in the Local 26 magazine, INCharge:
In less than three months, the crew of over 100 Local 26 workers installed over 8,000 solar panels at FedEx Field, connected by over 19 miles of new wiring. Beyond the solar panels above the parking lot and affixed to the side of the stadium, more solar power is captured by the solar sculpture of a football player—affectionately dubbed “solar man” by the Local 26 crew—that can be seen outside one of the stadium’s main entrances. The solar panels create enough energy to meet all of the stadium’s power needs on non-game days, and about 20 percent of the stadium’s power during a game, keeping 1,780 metric tons of carbon out of the atmosphere while keeping the lights shining bright on the Redskins. “This installation shows how, through innovation, creativity and expertise, we are working towards a more secure energy future,” said David Crane, CEO of NRG, which oversaw the design and installation of the solar project.
‘Union Apprenticeship Set Me on the Right Path’
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Cory McCray, an IBEW Local 24 member and founder of the Metro Baltimore Council AFL-CIO Young Trade Unionists, describes how his IBEW apprenticeship helped ensure he entered adulthood with a firm footing in the middle class. In the video here (on the left), McCray elaborates on his experience.
As I anticipate my 29th birthday, I realize how one decade can drastically change a person’s life. I find it impossible not to give thanks to God for providing me with a family, community and, most of all, the Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 24, for placing direction in my path.
As I reminisce about my trials and tribulations as a young adult, I pay homage to those who helped me overcome the self-inflicting wounds that we call experience. Those experiences are what play a big part in my decision making skills today, and the IBEW Local 24 was able to give me a clear foundation and structure to move in the right direction.
The IBEW offered a five-year apprenticeship program. My class went to school one day Read the rest of this entry »
America Wants to Work, But Political Games Block Action
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Like millions of jobless and underemployed Americans, Tom Rutherford wants to work. The jobless, 22-year veteran licensed electrician and Electrical Workers (IBEW) member has a college degree, has continually improved his skills with special training and is currently taking another upgrading course.
I’m doing my part to get back on the job. But sadly, Congress is not making the same amount effort to help create jobs. They would rather play political games than find sensible solutions to the jobs crisis, like rebuilding the infrastructure. They need to stop playing these games with the lives of millions of American families like mine.
Today, Rutherford joined AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Minnesota Working America member Kim Watkins in a press conference call outlining the AFL-CIO’s upcoming America Wants to Work mobilization and the union movement’s backing of the growing Occupy Wall Street protests.
Trumka says the spreading Wall Street protests show the growing anger and outrage over an economy with 25 million people out of work or underemployed—with a brutal impact on the communities of color—millions of families losing their homes and health care. Read the rest of this entry »
Firefighters, Other Union Members Battle Texas Blazes
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Texas Fire Fighters (IAFF) members have been on the lines around the clock as historic and deadly fires rage in central Texas leaving at least four people dead, destroying nearly 1,400 homes and burning hundreds of thousands of acres.
Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller says that along with the IAFF members and other dedicated and brave public employees who are fighting fires, union members are involved in around-the-clock activities as volunteer firefighters.
Many of the IAFF members live in the areas where 180 fires have burned for the past week and at least three have lost their homes in the fires. IAFF 11th District Vice President Sandy McGhee and Texas State Association of Fire Fighters President Guy Turner have been working hard to establish communications and assess membership needs. Says McGhee:
Trumka Announces New Jobs Plan, New Independent Political Voice for Workers
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The nation’s ailing economy needs a prescription powerful enough to heal the jobs crisis and America’s working families need an independent political voice that’s not beholden to parties or politicians, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
At a Labor Day press conference this afternoon, Trumka unveiled a six-point “America Wants to Work” jobs and economy initiative “that is serious and reflects the scale of the crisis we face.” The plan includes:
- Rebuilding America’s schools and transportation and energy systems;
- Reviving U.S. manufacturing and ending the exportation of U.S. jobs;
- Putting people to work in local communities;
- Helping states and local governments to prevent layoffs and cuts to public services;
- Extending unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and helping homeowners keep their homes; and
- Reforming Wall Street so it helps Main Street create jobs.
Click here for a detailed look.
Four workers joined Trumka, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker at today’s press conference. They told reporters their personal stories about struggling to find work and fighting back against the attacks on workers and workers’ rights being waged by extremist politicians in states across the nation.
