Philadelphia Transit Workers End Strike, and More Bargaining News
More than 5,100 members of the Transport Workers (TWU) ended their strike in Philadelphia this morning, 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
TWU, SEPTA: The six-day strike by Philadelphia transit workers is over. Transport Workers (TWU) Local 234 and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) reached a tentative agreement early this morning, in time to get trains and buses running for the morning commute. A ratification vote by TWU’s 5,100 members will be held in the next 10 days.
Root: ‘Office Space’ Taps Universal Frustration with Workplace
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At Union City, Chris Garlock of the Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Council speaks with Stephen Root, who’s in town for Saturday’s D.C. Labor Film Fest showing of “Office Space,” the 1999 funny-because-it’s-true comedy about a demeaning workplace.
With the economic crisis making workers who have jobs feel more and more at the mercy of their employers, Root says, “Office Space” is as relevant as ever, even on its 10th anniversary:
It’s the underbelly of America. Everywhere there are cubicles and people just like the characters in the movie. We’ve all been there, or know someone who has.
Just like in the movie, everybody’s afraid of losing their jobs. And there are a lot less jobs out there now.
D.C. Families, Trumka Demand Respect for Teachers
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Thousands of students, parents, teachers and community members from across Washington, D.C., converged on the district’s Freedom Plaza yesterday afternoon to rally in support of hundreds of laid-off teachers.
Nearly 400 school employees have been laid off as a result of controversial decisions by D.C. school chancellor Michelle Rhee. The layoffs include 229 classroom teachers, many of them veterans. The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) has protested the layoffs, saying that many teachers have been targeted for their age and that the firings are poorly timed and an attempt to undermine the teachers’ contract.
At yesterday’s rally, reports Chris Garlock of the Metropolitan Washington Council, D.C. residents and students of all ages spoke out strongly in support of their teachers. It was one of the largest labor rallies in recent memory in the District. At the rally it was announced that a delegation of teachers sought to present to Mayor Adrian Fenty with a statement in opposition to the layoffs, but Fenty’s assistant wouldn’t even come to the door to accept it.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called the firings “a cold hard case of union busting,” and said that union members across the city stand in solidarity with fired teachers:
The labor movement is right here with you. We’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with you for as long as it takes.
The Grassroots Fight for Employee Free Choice
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Here are a few of the latest grassroots actions in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, proposed legislation that would level the playing field for workers seeking to form a union.
A coalition of Catholic organizations has launched Catholics for Working Families, a new campaign to engage the Catholic community to protect the freedom to form unions and bargain. Inspired by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, whose statements have consistently supported the freedom to form unions and bargain, some of America’s most active Catholic organizations have launched a website and a petition in support of the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Says Bishop Gabino Zavala, archbishop of the Los Angeles diocese and co-president of the Interfaith Worker Justice board of directors:
…it is vitally necessary to recognize that we cannot recover the health of our economy and our society without ensuring that the dignity and freedom of every worker is secure.
