American Labor Museum Honors Wowkanech
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Charles Wowkanech, president of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, is being honored as a labor hero at this year’s 27th Annual Sol Stetin Awards Gala.
The award is bestowed every year by the American Labor Museum, located at the historic Botto House in Haldeon, N.J.
Wowkanech is being honored for his 12 years of service as leader of the state AFL-CIO and his decades of dedication to the union movement, both as an elected leader and a member of Local 68 of the Operating Engineers (IUOE).
The award is named in honor of the late Textile Workers president Sol Stetin.
Taking the Next Steps to Build Strength Through Diversity
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The diversity of the union movement is its strength. Building on the success of the historic Resolution 2 passed in 2005, the AFL-CIO Convention adopted a far-ranging policy to create more inclusive unions and a more diverse leadership.
The resolutions, “A Diverse and Democratic Labor Movement” and “Unions Should Give People with Disabilities a Voice and a Face,” call on unions to reach out at every level to build diversity.
The resolutions require every state federation and central local bodies to establish concrete goals for expanding diversity in their leadership. We also will increase our commitment to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers and workers with disabilities at all levels. And to secure the future of the union movement, we will actively recruit, train and include young workers in all activities and programs and provide opportunities for leadership.
AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy said the union movement stands on the threshold of a crusade to rebuild the middle class. The progress made in including new workers in union leadership has chipped away at one more source of divisiveness in our movement. He praised the unions for successfully carrying out the mandate of Resolution 2 to make convention delegations more inclusive—43 percent of delegates are women or people of color.
As Momentum Builds, Workers Speak Out on Employee Free Choice
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| Wisconsin health care workers deliver thousands of postcards in support of Employee Free Choice to Sen. Herb Kohl. |
With momentum building for the Employee Free Choice Act, workers across the country are taking the lead in the fight–speaking out at town hall meetings and rallies and asking their senators to pass this critical bill and make the economy work for everyone.
Here are a few of the ways workers are making a difference:
Ken Bruner, a Vietnam veteran, helicopter pilot and the president of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 107, spoke at a roundtable about the Employee Free Choice Act in Louisiana last week and said the freedom to form unions can benefit workers and businesses alike.
IBEW, OPEIU Members Honored at Labor College Graduation
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Among the 103 union members who received their college degrees in ceremonies at the National Labor College (NLC) today, two were singled out for special recognition.
Ken Erdman of the Electrical Workers (IBEW) received the 2009 Seidman Award, given to students whose senior paper best focuses on aging and retirement issues. Cathy Merkel, a member of the Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU), was honored with the President’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship, her contribution to labor education and exemplary service to her union, the NLC and the union movement.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told the graduates that the campus is one place we put aside our differences of occupation, geography or union.
Here we focus on what we all have in common: A legacy of great struggle and a deep commitment to build a better future for working families across the nation and everywhere in the world.
All totaled, 101 students received B.A. degrees and two others were awarded M.A. degrees as part of the Labor College’s 11th graduating class in a ceremony on the Silver Spring, Md., campus. The graduates are members of 23 different unions.
The Labor College enables adults working full-time with families and other commitments to break the barriers they face in pursuing higher education.
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis delivered the commencement address.
Click here to read more about the NLC graduation and the graduates.
Milwaukee Faculty Give Up Raises to Help College, and More Bargaining News
Milwaukee Area Technical College faculty in Milwaukee voluntarily gave up a salary increase to aid the college budget—and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
AFT, Milwaukee Area Technical College: Faculty at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, represented by AFT Local 212, voluntarily gave up its 3.25 percent salary increase for the 2009-2010 academic year. Local 212 President Dr. Michael Rosen, a professor of economics at the school, said the union has always been committed to doing what is best for the students and surrounding community.
Workers Tell Red Cross: Safety First
Workers and their supporters held informational pickets at Red Cross locations across the country today to tell the organization that donor and recipient safety must come first. The actions spotlighted the Red Cross’ plans to boost profits by jeopardizing the safety of our nation’s blood supply and mistreating workers.
Carrying signs proclaiming “Donors Before Dollars” and chanting “We are the Red Cross,” some 200 people joined a giant inflatable rat to “blow the whistle” on the Red Cross at its national headquarters in Washington, D.C. The marchers picketed in front of the building during the busy lunch hour, just blocks from the White House.
500 Workers Cancel Raises to Help Massachusetts’ Budget, and More Bargaining News
Some 500 workers in Massachusetts cancel raises to help state budget deficit, and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
MULTIPLE, MBTA: Four unions representing 500 workers at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU), the Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Boilermakers (IBB), agreed to cancel raises set to take effect this summer to help close an estimated $160 million budget deficit. The largest MBTA union, the Boston Carmen’s Union/ATU, represents 3,200 workers and has not yet reached agreement.
Ferry Workers Forgo Raises to Help Washington State, and More Bargaining News
Some 1,500 ferry workers voluntarily forgo raises to help Washington state, and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
Multiple Unions, Washington State: In Washington state, some 1,500 state ferry workers will voluntarily forgo raises they negotiated with Gov. Chris Gregoire last year because of the downturn in the economy. The raises would have ranged from 1.6 percent to 10.7 percent. Workers are represented by several unions, including the Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU-ILWU); Masters, Mates and Pilots (MMP-ILA); Puget Sound Metal Trades Council (MTC); Marine Engineers Benevolent Association (MEBA); and the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).
