Kay Tillow: Civil Rights, Union Organizing Mark Decades of Activism
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Kay Tillow, a veteran union activist from Louisville, can inspire us all as we start the New Year. “Set a stout heart to a steep hillside” is an old Scottish proverb that reminds me of Tillow, who’s executive director of the Nurses Professional Organization. She and the NPO have spent 21 years battling to organize nurses who work for Louisville-based Norton Healthcare, Kentucky’s largest health care system. Says Tillow:
“The [National Labor Relations Board] has ruled in our favor time and again. But management has continued to threaten and intimidate nurses who want the union and we’ve never gotten recognition.”
Even so, Tillow refuses to give up. “This is a human rights issue to me.”
Bill Londrigan, Kentucky State AFL-CIO president, is one of Tillow’s biggest fans.
Kay has worked tirelessly on behalf of nurses who have had to fight one of the most anti-union health care corporations in the nation. She’s a warrior for workers.
Union Leader at Republic Windows: ‘We Don’t Have to Wait Until the Boss Screws Us’
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The power of workers comes through with a union. That’s the message and lesson learned during the successful sit-in by nearly 300 workers at the Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago last December.
Workers at Republic made justice happen. After a six-day sit-in at the plant, the workers, members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) Local 1110, faced down the company and one of the nation’s biggest financial institutions. The company announced it was shutting down and that the workers would not receive the severance and accrued vacation pay they were owed (see video).
Bank of America, which received billions in taxpayer bailout funds, cut off the company’s line of credit. Outraged by the move, a coalition of workers, community groups, politicians and religious leaders shamed the bank and company into backing down.
Three Cheers for Workers Who Waged the Sit-In
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Congratulations to workers at Republic Windows & Doors who made justice happen. After a six-day sit-in at the plant, workers at Republic Windows & Doors in Chicago voted to accept a settlement late last night.
This from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) site, via Jobs with Justice:
The settlement totals $1.75 million. It will provide the workers with:
- Eight weeks of pay they are owed under the federal WARN Act;
- Two months of continued health coverage; and
- Pay for all accrued and unused vacation.
JPMorgan Chase will provide $400,000 of the settlement, with the balance coming from Bank of America. Although the money will be provided as a loan to Republic Windows and Doors, it will go directly into a third-party fund whose sole purpose is to pay the workers what is owed them. In addition, the UE has started the “Window of Opportunity Fund” dedicated to re-opening the plant.
Victory for the Sit-In Strikers
This just in from AP:
Bank of America says it will extend credit to a Chicago window and door manufacturer whose workers have occupied the factory for five days.
The bank says it’s willing to give the Republic Windows and Doors factory “a limited amount of additional loans” so it can resolves claims of employees who have staged a sit-in since Friday.
This is the same Bank of America that, after receiving $25 million in taxpayer bailout cash, cut off the company’s line of credit. The factory closed Friday and told workers they would not receive severance and accrued vacation pay.
Worker Sit-In Highlights the Shift in the Political Winds
What a difference an election makes. Here’s what President-elect Barack Obama has to say about the 250 workers in Chicago who have staged a peaceful sit-in at the factory they worked at after it closed without paying them their salaries. From Bloomberg:
“I think they’re absolutely right,” Obama said today in response to a question at a Chicago news conference. “And understand that what’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy.”
Obama said the workers are justified in demanding their benefits and pay.
