Unions, rights groups praise no-match ruling
Unions and immigrant rights organizations praised a federal judge’s Oct. 10 decision barring the Social Security Administration from using “no-match” letters to force employers to fire workers who cannot quickly clear up discrepancies. At the same time, the groups said, much work lies ahead to achieve fair immigration policies.
U.S. govt, bosses use racial profiling
Fernando Rodriquez, director of Local 7 of the United Food and Commercial Workers union in Colorado, took time out from the Congreso Latino meeting in Los Angeles last week (see story, page 3) to tell the World about immigration raids the government conducted at Swift & Co. meatpacking plants in December.
Auto pact: the good, the bad and the ugly
The wages and working conditions of union autoworkers have always set standards for all manufacturing. These in turn have put upward pressure on wages and benefits for all workers. But in today’s political and economic climate, major contract negotiations in the manufacturing sector are hell.
Autoworkers: Round 2
About 43,000 autoworkers streamed out of their workplaces Oct. 10 at Chrysler plants across the nation, launching a second nationwide auto strike within a two-week period, but this one lasting only about four hours.
Judge halts no-match letters
Unions, led by the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees, and joined by allies ranging from the ACLU to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, won another round Oct. 10 in their battle with the Bush administration over immigration. A federal judge banned Bush from using error-ridden Social Security records to round up and deport workers and prosecute companies.
Report shows worldwide war on labor
The hazard of violent death that faces trade unionists, especially in Latin America, is apparent from the recently issued annual report of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for 2006. A perusal of the report makes for grim reading, especially because improvements from the year before seem nonexistent, a situation that continues this year.
Joining the middle class in 2007
The United Food and Commercial Workers union, negotiating for thousands of grocery workers in Southern California, won a stunning victory in July, approving a new union contract that reversed the unfair two-tiered system they had been forced to accept back in 2004.
Mad Moneys anti-union tantrum makes me mad
The end of the historic strike against General Motors by the nation’s autoworkers may well signal the beginning of a fight by all workers against a new level of the corporate offensive against our jobs, our wages, our benefits and our very livelihoods.
EDITORIAL: Sexual harassment hurts all
Every day women go to work and have to face various kinds of gender discrimination — an unfair wage differential, discrimination in health and other benefits, lack of advancement opportunities, and sexual harassment.
Talks continue after first-ever security workers strike
SAN FRANCISCO — Talks for a new contract continued this week after workers who provide security in prime downtown office buildings returned to their jobs Sept. 27 following a first-ever three-day strike. Workers, members of SEIU Local 24/7, and their supporters held a spirited late afternoon rally on Market Street Sept. 27 before marching past many of the buildings they protect.
