Occupy Oakland, Unions March Together
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More than 7,000 Occupy Oakland protesters, union members and community and faith activists peacefully rallied against Wall Street greed, bank foreclosures and for good jobs yesterday in one of the largest demonstrations since the Occupy Wall Street movement began last month.
The Alameda County Labor Council endorsed the Day of Action and encouraged local unions and union members to take part. Many of the union members who joined in the action took unpaid time off work to make their voices heard. Unions also worked with the city government, the Oakland school system and other employers to make leave arrangements.
Oakland Education Association Secretary Steve Neat told The Associated Press:
All of these different problems—foreclosures, schools closing, attacks on labor unions—they all basically stem from the fact that the top 1 percent and corporations are never satisfied to just make profit. Their profits need to go up and up every year. It’s sort of a realization that a lot of people are having that we’ve all been fighting our own issues, but really, it’s all related, it’s all the same issue.
Steelworkers Ratify New Contract, End 11-Month Lockout—and More Bargaining News
Some 750 United Steelworkers (USW) members ratified a new contract, ending an 11-month lockout, 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
USW, U.S. Steel: In Canada, members of USW Local 1005 ratified a new contract, ending an 11-month lockout by U.S. Steel. The pact, covering some 750 workers, will run until Oct. 15, 2014.
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.
Bayer Workers Fight to Keep Promised Jobs
Two years after being granted tax subsidies in exchange for creating family-supporting jobs, management at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Berkeley, Calif., steadfastly refuses to keep its commitment. Instead, it wants to outsource work done by members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 6.
Bayer Workers Kick Off New Workers’ Council with Solidarity Day
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| USW Local President Franklin Troyer (center) led the Solidarity Day action in Mishawaka, Ind., with support from Melony Winkel, unit secretary at the plant, and Jeff Fizer, a worker who volunteered to assist with the action. |
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| Maintenance workers Joe La Maestra and Austin Colvard joined their ILWU Local 6 brothers and sisters in the Solidarity Day action at the Bayer Berkeley plant. |
Teresa Casertano in the AFL-CIO Organizing Department’s Global Campaigns section reports on upcoming contract negotiations at Bayer.
With a contract that expires on Aug. 24, more than 420 workers at the Berkeley facility of the giant Bayer pharmaceutical and health care conglomerate have been preparing for bargaining for several months with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 6. Union leaders have held trainings for rank-and-file leaders, collected suggestions for bargaining proposals and held house meetings to prepare members for action to back up the bargaining team.
ILWU Local 6 members also have reached out to other unions that represent Bayer workers in the United States. Since early June, United Steelworkers Local 12273, Machinists locals 656 and 598, Chemical Workers/UFCW locals 566C and 832C and ILWU Local 6 have formed a Bayer Workers Council. Now the unions are beginning to support each other around shared bargaining and representation issues.
The Bayer Workers Council has carried out several joint actions to deliver the message to Bayer that unionized Bayer workers around the country support them in their efforts to win a good contract. In June, with the help of the AFL-CIO, the council unions distributed leaflets at key pharmaceutical industry events where Bayer executives were making presentations.
SoCal Union Members Show Solidarity with Grocery Workers
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In Southern California, 63,000 United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 770 members are fighting for a fair contract that doesn’t force the workers to pay as much as 50 percent of their take home pay for health care coverage. But they are not fighting the battle alone against the mega-grocery chains Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons.
Dozens of unions in the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor have “adopted” stores to take the workers’ message to shoppers and store managers. During the July 4 weekend, several International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU) locals went to 13 stores.
They delivered letters of support for grocery workers to the store managers and told them in the case of a strike, they and other Los Angeles working families would not cross picket lines. They also talked with store workers and customers.
A recent survey found that 62 percent of Southern California shoppers said they would honor picket lines in case of strike. Says Los Angeles Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo:
Rite Aid Warehouse Workers Win Tentative Contract
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The 500 workers at Rite Aid’s distribution center in Lancaster, Calif., overcame a relentless five-year anti-worker campaign to eventually gain a tentative contract and union recognition.
The new three-year deal, reached May 1, guarantees fair health insurance rates, job security, a worker voice in production standards and wage increases in each of the next three years.
“We’re excited about winning this victory, even if it took longer than it should have,” said Carlos “Chico” Rubio, a 10-year warehouse worker.
Buy a Book, Help a Laid-Off Union Member
This from Alfonso Nevarez in the AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department.
Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., is in the process of laying off 7 percent of its workers due to declining sales. International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5 units at Powell’s Burnside and Beaverton stores, as well as the Hoyt Street and Northwest industrial warehouses, will be affected by the layoffs. Local 5 President Ryan Van Winkle said that Powell’s was proactive in notifying workers of their bumping and separation rights.
Local 5 has coordinated with Powell’s to establish a shop-in, which will send 7.5 percent of each purchase to a fund to assist displaced workers.
Now’s the time to stock up on books for friends, family and yourself. Each purchase you make will assist a laid-off sister or brother. To make sure the funds are directed appropriately, follow the link at the ILWU Local 5 website.
Workers Protest Rite Aid’s Corporate Greed, Disrespect of Workers’ Rights
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Rand Wilson of the AFL-CIO Field Staff reports on the Rite Aid National Day of Action, Dec. 15.
Workers, union activists and community supporters marched and took part in more than 40 actions at Rite Aid stores in 11 states yesterday as part of a National Day of Action to focus attention on the company’s corporate greed and disrespect for workers’ rights.
Rite Aid, the country’s third largest retail drugstore chain, has been stalling for more than two years on negotiating a first contract with employees at its massive Southwest Regional Distribution Center in Lancaster, Calif., where 550 workers joined the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in March 2008. The company is now demanding that workers pay exorbitant increases in their health care premiums.
Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the ILWU, which organized the Day of Action, said:
Rite Aid executives are taking millions of dollars for themselves–then telling employees to pay for management’s mistakes by gouging workers for health insurance. This kind of corporate greed is wrong; it’s ruining Rite Aid and wrecking America. Citizens across the country are volunteering to help Rite Aid workers stand up and fight back against corporate greed.
Oct. 29: Student Day of Action Against Rite Aid
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In eight cities across the country today, college students will visit their local Rite Aid drug store, not to pick up toiletries or prescriptions but to picket and protest the company’s persistent pattern of worker rights abuse.
The protests are part of the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) national day of action against Rite Aid, the country’s third largest retail drugstore chain. USAS International Campaigns Coordinator Teresa Cheng says students are especially concerned about employee abuse at Rite Aid’s massive Southwest Regional Distribution Center in Lancaster, Calif., where 550 workers are in the sixth year of a struggle to join union and bargain a contract.
Student activists will hold actions today outside Rite Aid stores in State College, Pa; Palo Alto, Calif.; Boston; Los Angeles; Ithaca, N.Y.; Seattle; Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Washington, D.C.
