Toilet Paper Drive Collects 115,000+ Rolls for Sacramento Area Nonprofits
AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer describes union volunteer efforts to stretch the limited dollars of Sacramento area nonprofit organizations.
Every year local nonprofit agencies spend thousands of dollars on toilet paper for families in need. That’s money they could be spending on much-needed services that benefit the community. Since 2009, the Sacramento Central Labor Council and the local United Way have partnered to create Toilet Paper Drives to help local nonprofit partners offset costs and redirect the money saved into vital programs.
This year the partners collected 77,227 rolls of toilet paper (compared with 50,000 rolls last year) that were matched by a local company, bringing the total to an impressive 115,000 rolls.
North Shore Mass. Workers Win Voice and Contracts
Aliza Levine, organizer for the North Shore Labor Council in Massachusetts, sends us this report on some recent worker victories.
In these tough economic times, labor unions fight on and workers are winning some significant victories. On May 26, the North Shore Labor Council (NSLC) in Massachusetts celebrated three important wins for workers: IUE-CWA 201 members won their first contract at Budget Rent A Car after a two-year battle; nurses in the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) won essential safe staffing improvements in new contracts and more than 700 human service workers voted to join SEIU 509.
Even while working people are facing enormous difficulties, these three groups of workers fought to defend their rights on the job. A combination of solid organizing and political action helped these workers achieve victories at the ballot box and the negotiating table. In a month with lots of defensive battles on the horizon in Massachusetts—including legislation to limit health care coverage for municipal employees coming up in the state Senate—the council took some time to celebrate the workers’ hard won victories.
United to Support Wisconsin Workers
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This is a cross-post from the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Blog.
On Saturday, March 12, an estimated 185,000 concerned citizens gathered to stand up against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s extreme attacks on workers’ rights and Wisconsin’s middle class. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the energy on the ground was unprecedented as young and old, union and nonunion, public sector and private sector came together to stand up for Wisconsin’s working class.
In the biggest rally in Madison since the protests started, hundreds of thousands of working families, small business owners, farmers, students, religious groups, women’s rights groups, environmentalists, private-sector workers and public-sector workers gathered to say that worker rights are human rights and they must be protected.
Thousands of Wisconsin farmers brought their tractors down to Capitol Square, “pulling together for working families,” and held a Tractorcade around the Capitol. Tractors displayed signs such as “Don’t Farm Out Our Jobs,” “Wisconsin Farmers Support Public Employees” and “Plowing Forward for Democracy.”
New York State Workers Fight Layoffs—and More Bargaining News
New York state employees are fighting unilateral layoffs, 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 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS
Multiple, State of New York: New York Gov. David Paterson last week announced plans to move ahead with the layoffs of state workers, seemingly in violation of an agreement he reached with the Civil Service Employees Association/AFSCME and the Public Employees Federation/AFT-SEIU that guaranteed no layoffs before 2011. Danny Donohue, president of CSEA, said the announcement was “counterproductive, impractical and bad for New Yorkers all around.”
Union Members Help Keep Daimler Plant Open—and More Bargaining News
Union members negotiate a contract that keeps an Oregon Daimler Trucks plant from closing, 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 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
Multiple, Daimler Trucks North America: Good news in Portland, Ore., where a Daimler Trucks North America plant slated for closure will remain open after union members ratified new three-year contracts with the company. Most of the nearly 700 workers are members of Machinists (IAM) Local 1005, and others are represented by Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 1094, Teamsters Local 305 and SEIU Local 49.
Lehigh Valley Union Activists to Rep. Dent: Show Us the Jobs!
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Yael Foa, AFL-CIO senior field representative for the Northeast Region, recently rallied with Pennsylvania union members at the Bethlehem offices of Rep. Charlie Dent to protest his lack of action in creating good jobs. The event is one of dozens union activists are holding around the nation to hold lawmakers accountable for Good Jobs Now.
The sweltering heat did not stop more than 50 union members from turning out to rally outside Rep. Charlie Dent’s office in Bethlehem, Pa., during the congressional recess last week. The rally, organized by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation, the Lehigh Valley Central Labor Council and the Lehigh Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, highlighted Dent’s failure to address the jobs crisis and rising unemployment in his district.
Red Cross Workers Strike over Stalled Talks, Blood Safety Concerns
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More than 1,000 Red Cross workers in seven cities launched a three-day unfair labor practice strike against the American Red Cross this morning. Contract negotiations between the Red Cross and the workers—members of several unions—have been stalled, in some cases, for more than a year.
One of the key issues, the unions say, is blood drive staffing practices that workers believe are key to protecting donor and blood safety. Workers say the Red Cross is putting donors and workers at risk by understaffing blood drives, replacing nurses with unlicensed supervisors, forcing employees to work unrealistic schedules and turning blood collection into an assembly line/fast-food process.
12,000 Missouri Home Care Workers Win Union
More than 12,000 home care workers in Missouri won a voice at work when they voted to join the Missouri Home Care Union, an alliance between AFSCME and SEIU. The mail ballot results were announced May 5.
AFSCME President Gerald McEntee says the victory is “a great day for home care workers and the people they serve.”
Thousands of Missouri families rely on home care workers to help their loved ones live independent lives. We will use our combined voice to fight unnecessary cuts that threaten quality home care services. Read the rest of this entry »
17,000 San Francisco Workers Reach Tentative Pact, and More Bargaining News
17,000 San Francisco city employees reach tentative contract, 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 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS
Multiple, City of San Francisco: Unions representing San Francisco city workers have reached a tentative agreement with Mayor Gavin Newsom to save the city $200 million and avoid shortening the workweek for 17,000 workers. If union members approve the pact, city workers will take 12 unpaid furlough days over the next two years.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney: Solidarity Is Our Way of Life
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| AFL-CIO President John Sweeney gives his final keynote to convention delegates. |
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| Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bill George (above) and former Pittsburgh Steeler Franco Harris (below) help open the AFL-CIO Convention. |
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With the convening of the 26th AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention this afternoon in Pittsburgh, nearly 2,000 delegates, alternates and guests took part in the formal opening ceremony and paid tribute to retiring AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Following greetings by Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bill George, Jack Shea, president of the Allegheny County [Pittsburgh] Labor Council, and former Pittsburgh Steelers player Franco Harris, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka welcomed everyone, noting how great it is to be in Pittsburgh, “the city of bridges.”
And bridges are the perfect illustration of what we’ll be talking about over the next few days. Bridges that connect diverse people, diverse unions, diverse communities and diverse nations. Bridges to cross together, so we can turn around America….Some of the bridges America needs have been burnt—destroyed by years of a rampant corporate agenda embraced by the Bush administration. It’s hard to overstate just how damaging those years have been.
Our unions and the workers we represent are suffering in a historic collapse. But at the very same time, we have historic opportunities. New bridges with a new administration, a new Congress and rivers of hope flowing through the people of our country. Our Convention has a theme for today: We are many, we are one.
That’s our power—and it’s our joy.
