Rite Aid Workers Win Big Victory from NLRB
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Robert Masciola in the AFL-CIO Organizing Department writes about a victory in the three-year struggle by Rite Aid workers to join a union.
In March 2008, nearly 700 workers at Rite Aid’s distribution center in Lancaster, Calif., overcame a vicious two-year anti-union campaign to gain a voice on the job by voting for International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 26.
The workers sought union representation to put an end to punishing production quotas and mandatory overtime piled on top of 10-hour shifts. They work in hot desert summers with no air conditioning in their work areas, with no job security.
As we enter the fall of 2009, workers are still fighting hard to win a first contract. But it has been hard given the employers’ conduct.
Truth Comes Out: Online News Workers Join Union
In today’s global society, people in different cities and continents meet, talk and take actions on the Internet. Now, the employees of Truthout.org have shown how you can join a union all online without ever seeing each other or coming face to face with an organizer.
Late last month, the Truthout workers became the first online-only news service to join a union. The new members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA (TNG-CWA) joined using the country’s first “virtual card check.” Union cards were verified with faxed PDFs of each employee’s signature.
With tools like Skype and Google Documents, organizers spent long hours on conference calls, “meeting” at night, each in their own living rooms, kitchens or backyards.
Virtual majority verification (also called “card check”) holds great promise for helping workers join unions in far-flung, online operations in which workers are not located in one central location.
Part-Time Faculty at Two New York Colleges Join AFT
Part-time and adjunct faculty teaching at two private colleges, the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) and Cooper Union (CU), voted recently to join the New York State United Teachers, an affiliate of AFT and the National Education Association. The faculty members at both schools are all accomplished artists and working professionals who perform outside the college as well as teach.
The 150 part-time and adjunct faculty who teach in the MSM precollege program work on year-to-year contracts and make about half the pay of the regular faculty. In 2002, management cut off the precollege faculty’s access to health insurance that once had been available to all MSM teachers who taught at least 10 hours.
Montana College Faculty All Union, and More Organizing News
All faculty in public colleges and universities in Montana now are union members after the faculty at Montana State University-Bozeman voted yesterday to join the Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers (MEA-MFT), the state affiliate of the AFT and the National Education Association.
MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver says:
All Montana public college and university faculty are now MEA-MFT. No exceptions. This could well be a unique event among public state colleges and universities across the nation. All of us here at MEA-MFT are excited and proud of our new members.
Unions Increase Wages of Service Workers
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After decades of disappointing wage growth for U.S. workers, a report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) shows that joining a union significantly boosts the wages of service-sector workers.
The report, “Unions and Upward Mobility for Service-Sector Employees,” shows that union membership raises the wages of the average service-sector worker by 10.1 percent, or about $2 per hour. According to the report, 13.3 percent of service-sector workers were either members of unions or covered by union contracts at their workplace in the 2004-2007 period. Click here to read the report.
On average, joining a union increases by 19 percentage points the likelihood that a service-sector worker will have employer-provided health insurance. Also, unionized service-sector workers were 25 percentage points more likely to have pensions than their nonunion peers.
Tropicana Dealers Authorize Strike
For 18 months, casino dealers and slot technicians at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City have tried to negotiate their first union contract with management to no avail. Frustrated by management’s stalling tactics and unilateral changes in their health care plan, the workers voted overwhelmingly to strike if they are unable to reach agreement.
Over the weekend, 97 percent of dealers voted to authorize a strike. Earlier last month, 91 percent of the slot technicians also voted to strike if a deal is not reached. More than 800 full- and part-time Tropicana dealers, voted to join the UAW/AC Dealers Union in August 2007.
Employee Free Choice Gains Backing of Broad Range of Groups
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The momentum for the Employee Free Choice Act is growing and the legislation is gaining a broad spectrum of backers. The range of support shows how much the public understands that a strong union movement can benefit the economy and the nation.
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland, one of the largest environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council, announced its support of the bill, which would level the playing field by allowing workers to choose how to join a union. Also at the conference, the Sierra Club reiterated its support.
Nevada Hospital Workers Join CWA with Help from CNA/NNOC
After a yearlong effort, hospital workers at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., now have a voice on the job after voting this week to join Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9413.
The 540 new union members include certified nursing assistants, environmental services staff, food service personnel, technicians, orderlies and other support staff.
The campaign to join a union was a major team effort. Strong support came from CWA District 9 staff and organizers from three CWA locals. Two CWA members at AT&T—Sophia Guadron and Lili Vega—took leave from their jobs to provide critical bilingual language assistance in several key areas during the campaign’s final months.
