People Before Profit blog

Labor Day 2013: Unions determined to remake themselves

Mon, 02 Sep 2013 09:00:00 +0000

As Labor Day 2013 approaches unions in America are re-assessing themselves in a way they never have before.

The reassessment comes at a time when wages for the bottom 70 percent have been on a downward spiral since the Great Recession hit in 2007.

Only one of every nine workers nationwide is a union member and, in the private sector, only one in 14 hold union cards.

As the AFL-CIO prepares to open its convention in Los Angeles next week, the federation's president, Richard Trumka, is saying something few labor leader have been willing to admit. He is saying that unions themselves are partly to blame for the fall off in their membership.

"I'll point the finger at us," he said at a special press event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor this week. "We did not keep pace with the change in the economy, with the political environment and with young people. Things are different than they were 30 or 40 years ago."

That was when unions represented at least one fourth of all private sector workers and had the clout to raise wages not just for their own members but for all workers.

"But some of the problem is external," Trumka said. He pointed to the attacks on labor by the Republicans and he reminded the reporters that even the nation's highest court has jumped onto the anti-labor band wagon: "The Supreme Court says money is speech, and corporations should be allowed to work their will in political campaigns," he noted.

The plan to solve both the internal and external problems cited by Trumka involves restructuring the labor movement to bring in allies including previously unorganized workers and other progressive groups. Present at this year's AFL-CIO convention, in addition to unions, will be environmentalists, civil rights organizations, gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender groups, immigrant rights organizations, women's rights groups and organizations of young people.

Representatives of many of these groups attended AFL-CIO-sponsored "listening sessions" in the run-up to the convention - sessions that tackled the question of how to remake the labor movement.

"We're going to create a process where we can sit down and talk, and then not go our separate ways," Trumka said. "We are saying to them - both unionists and outside groups, 'tell us what we need to be, tell us what we need to change."

"One of the big reasons we need to change," said AFL-CIO counsel Craig Becker recently, "is that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision opened the gates for a tsunami of corporate cash flooding into politics... If the court is saying corporations are people, then we need to counter that by fostering the organization of real people.

"The old model of unions and locals no longer fits in the era of Walmart, Manpower and McDonald's," Becker added. "Labor law hasn't changed quickly enough and labor unions haven't changed quickly enough to adapt. So now the labor movement has to be part of a social movement - a democracy movement."

Labor's plan to remake itself in no way means it will abandon its current policy of fighting out its issues in the electoral arena. Plans are underway, in fact, to use the coming convention to help mobilize the full force of the unions and their allies for the 2014 mid-term elections.

Trumka told the reporters that unions will focus hard on governors' and state legislative races in the coming elections, particularly in those states where the governors and the lawmakers went on the attack against workers' rights. He singled out GOP Govs. Scott Walker (Wis.), Rick Snyder (Mich.) and John Kasich (Ohio). He said that unions would be on the move also in some states they have not previously dealt with, notably Texas.

"It's a big state," Trumka said with a grin, adding, "It's the only state in the nation without fire codes - a threat to workers lives. And it's a majority-minority state, with the minorities denied a voice."

Trumka repeated labor's support for a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented in the U.S. - 7.5 million workers and 3.5 million children. "When they are able to come out of the shadows the Department of Labor will be able to come out and enforce their rights. And that's important for all of us."

Photo: Union members and faith-based activists join Walmart warehouse workers in protests against wage theft, October 2012. (John Bachtell/PW)

Today in labor history: Motley becomes first black woman federal judge

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:05:00 +0000

On Aug. 30, 1966, civil rights lawyer Constance Baker Motley became the first African American woman to serve as a federal judge. President Lyndon Johnson appointed her a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, reportedly at the urging of then-Senator Robert Kennedy.

As federal judge, Motley's many decisions included rulings on behalf of welfare recipients, low-income Medicaid patients and a prisoner who claimed to have been unconstitutionally punished by 372 days of solitary confinement, whom she awarded damages.

Previously, Motley worked with Thurgood Marshall as a law clerk at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, then served as principal legal counsel for the fund. She wrote the briefs presented to the Supreme Court for the plaintiffs in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case. She also directed the victorious legal campaign that led to the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi in 1962.

Motley also won legal cases that ended segregation in Memphis restaurants and at whites-only lunch counters in Birmingham, Ala. She fought for Dr. Martin Luther King's right to march in Albany, Ga., and represented black students fighting for admission to the then whites-only Universities of Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and Clemson College in South Carolina.

In 1964 she was the first African American woman elected to the New York State Senate. She was also the first woman to serve as Manhattan borough president.

She was born in New Haven, Conn., in 1921 to parents who had immigrated from the Caribbean island of Nevis. She died in 2005 at age 84.

Her New York Times obituary notes that during the fiery days of the civil rights movement, "She visited the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in jail, sang freedom songs in churches that had been bombed, and spent a night under armed guard with Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was later murdered."

Photo: Constance Baker Motley with James Meredith, center, and her fellow NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Jack Greenberg. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives

Steelworker runs for Ohio council seat

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 12:55:00 +0000

BROOKLYN, Ohio - When Republicans in the Ohio legislature passed Senate Bill 5, designed to wipe out public workers' pensions, in 2011, it was personal for young Marc Bukszar in Brooklyn, a working class suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Marc's dad had reached retirement age and planned to retire after working three decades at Metro Health, Cleveland's largest public hospital. SB 5 would've taken that from him and his family.

Mark got involved, along with his father and thousands of other Ohioans, in the massive campaign to save workers' pensions and repeal SB 5. Getting active in politics for the first time, Mark gathered signatures, wrote and spoke to legislators, attended rallies. The hard work that Mark and those thousands of Ohioans put in paid off when SB 5 was repealed and public workers' pensions were saved, at least for now. That hard work was special for Mark, but he saw wealthy special interests continuing the push to take away pensions and other gains that ordinary Ohioans had worked so hard to earn.

"When I saw what they were trying to do to ordinary people," Mark said, "I knew I had to get involved in some way, to stand up with regular people to protect what they've worked their whole lives for."

For Mark Bukszar, that meant, for the first time, filing and running for City Council in Brooklyn. Mark is one of eight candidates running for four open seats in Brooklyn.

"I'm not running against anyone," he said, "but felt I had to run because I've had the experience of being hit hard, like most of the people here, and when issues come up I'll be able to know what really affects ordinary people and how we can work together to solve our problems."

It is a nonpartisan race, but Mark Bukszar said he knows from real experience how the entire economy is affected when outside interests come in to take away wages, benefits and pensions, and blame ordinary people for problems with our economy.

"It isn't just workers, but businesses, especially small businesses that are hurt when that happens," he said. "I plan to fight for all of Brooklyn's residents."

Bukszar spoke about Chesterfield Steel, the company he works for, going through an asset sale in 2008, and how it affected him and the other folks he worked with and their families.

"Everyone was devastated, people lost all they'd worked their whole lives to earn. They took our hard-earned pensions and turned them over, into 401k's. They said that it was the same thing, but we knew that wasn't the truth. 401k's are all dependent on the stock market. We earned our pensions, but now we have to fight big special interests to try get them back. One of my friends had planned to retire, had everything lined up. Instead, he had a heart attack and died after they stole our pensions. We need to stop that from happening to anyone else. That was one of the main reasons I decided to run for council."

The main issue for Mark Bukszar in the City Council race, he said, was to restore city services to Brooklyn residents. These services, including transportation, trash removal, food aid, grass cutting, snow removal and others, have been cut, hurting everyone, especially seniors and the disabled.

American Greetings, employing hundreds, is Brooklyn's largest employer. Assuring that major employers keep work in the area is a major issue.

"We need to keep work here and make sure that the workers, retirees, their families and our community keep what we have worked so hard for," he said. "We all know our cities are hurting, but we need to find ways to restore our finances that don't hurt our most vulnerable citizens. I'm not special, but I am someone whose been through these things and knows how to stand up for regular people."

Mark is also vice president of United Steelworkers Local 1-243 at Chesterfield Steel, and he doesn't hide his union affiliation.

"I'll work for all Brooklyn residents," he said, "but being a union rep has given me years of experience in helping people out. I want to bring that experience to the table when issues come up in Brooklyn so that there is someone in the room that knows what it's like to earn benefits with hard work and have to defend them. I do have experience helping regular people defend their rights."

Mark Bukszar said this is his first run for office, but he plans to stay in the "helping people out" business for a long time to come.

He says he would welcome volunteers to help in his campaign. He can be reached at 216-406-2458 or tecmobucky@yahoo.com.

Photo: Council candidate Mark Bukszar with his two young sons. Courtesy Mark Bukszar

Fast food workers' strike is "March on Corporate America"

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 12:11:00 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. - Fast food workers and their supporters in East Bay communities from Fremont to Richmond joined thousands of their coworkers in some 60 cities around the country Aug. 29, demanding living wages, decent benefits, regular schedules and the right to form a union without retaliation.

Marches and rallies throughout the day at fast food outlets including Burger King, Jack in the Box, KFC and others wound up with a 5 p.m. gathering of hundreds outside a McDonald's near the Oakland Coliseum, along the route to Oakland International Airport. There, strikers, allies from the union movement, community supporters and elected officials addressed the crowd.

U.S. Representative Barbara Lee, D-Calif., told the strikers, "You reflect what we're fighting for in Washington, D.C., and that is not just an increase in the minimum wage but a living wage. There's no way workers should have to work for minimum wage and still have to rely on food stamps, Section 8 and Medicaid."

Lee told the workers they have the backing of the 80-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, which she helps to lead. "I want you to know you have many members of Congress standing with you, wanting to see you achieve the goal of a living wage so you can take care of your families and live the American dream."

Among those addressing the rally was Consuelo, a worker at Jack-in-the-Box for eight years. "I used to be scared I'd be laid off, but I'm not scared anymore," she said. "I have a son - I can't support him on my pay. We're going to win $15 and a union," she declared, underscoring the theme of the day's actions.

Also taking the mic was former Walmart worker Dominic Ware, fired by the retail giant after he joined OUR Walmart's campaign for a living wage and decent conditions for workers there.

"They could not silence me, and they cannot silence us, because we're sticking together to bring about change," Ware said. Reflecting on the 50^th anniversary celebrations just days before, he told the crowd, "that was the March on Washington, this is the March on Corporate America!"

Also joining actions during the day were several area elected officials, including Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and City Council President Patricia Kernighan, and Alameda County Supervisor Richard Valle, who pledged his fellow supervisors' support for the fast food workers' demands.

Recalling President Obama's statement the previous day that every American deserves a living wage, health care and a pension plan, Valle urged the crowd to press the president to follow through on the Jobs Act: "He said it, now he's got to back it up!"

The California Employment Development Department says the average wage for a fast food cook in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties is $9.56 an hour, or just under $20,000 a year for a fulltime worker. Advocates point out that many fast food workers are forced to accept part-time hours, and many work multiple jobs and must rely on public assistance as they struggle to support their families.

Photo: Marilyn Bechtel/PW

Today in labor history: National Association of Letter Carriers founded

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:14:00 +0000

With sixty carriers attending from eighteen states, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) was founded in a meeting hall above Schaefer's saloon in Milwaukee, on August 29, 1889. The next day, the convention elected officers and adopted a number of resolutions. The fledgling organization espoused four objectives: fraternity, fidelity, benevolence and unity.

The Green Book

As part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, NALC hosted a reception with author and playwright Calvin A. Ramsey on the history and importance of the Green Book. The creation of letter carrier Victor H. Green (1892-1960), the Green Book was a travel guide of hotels and restaurants that would accept African-American travelers during the era of Jim Crow. Ramsey is author of the children's title "Ruth and the Green Book." The review from School Library Journal said: "This is an important addition to picture book collections, useful as a discussion-starter on Civil Rights or as a stand-alone story."

Precious Packages-America's Parcel Post Service

An exhibit at the National Postal Museum, a Smithsonian Institution museum, is located in the old Post Office building next to Union Station in Washington, D.C.

Parcel Post Service became available to Americans on January 1, 1913. The growth of Parcel Post service was phenomenal. During the first six months of operation approximately 300 million parcels were handled. At least two children were sent by parcel post - with stamps attached to their clothing - and delivered to their destinations. The Postmaster General quickly issued a regulation forbidding the sending of children in the mail!

Postal Reform

One of four postal worker unions*, the letter carriers too are fighting to save the USPS from several bad "reform" proposals. They are rallying to maintain six-day delivery. Their contribution to the communities they serve is typified by their tremendously successful - and important-annual food drive.

Photo: U.S. Postal Service letter carrier of 19 years, Michael McDonald, gathers mail to load into his truck before making his delivery run in the East Atlanta neighborhood, Feb. 7, in Atlanta. David Goldman/AP

*Four postal worker unions: APWU, NALC, NPMHU, NRLCA.

Today in labor history: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 15:23:00 +0000

Traveling by road, rail, and air, from literally near and far, a quarter of a million people arrived in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Marchers from Boston traveled overnight and arrived in Washington at 7 a.m. after an eight-hour trip, but others took much longer bus rides from places like Milwaukee, Little Rock, and St. Louis. Organizers persuaded New York's MTA to run extra subway trains after midnight on August 28, and the New York City bus terminal was busy throughout the night with peak crowds. A total of 450 buses left New York City from Harlem. Maryland police reported, "By 8 a.m., 100 buses an hour were streaming through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel."

Marian Anderson was scheduled to lead the National Anthem but was unable to arrive on time; Camilla Williams performed in her place. Following an invocation by Archbishop Patrick O'Boyle, the opening remarks were given by march director, labor and civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph, followed by Eugene Carson Blake. A tribute to "Negro Women Fighters for Freedom" was then led by Bayard Rustin (substituting for the absent Myrlie Evers), who introduced Daisy Bates, Diane Nash, Prince E. Lee, Rosa Parks, and Gloria Richardson. The following speakers were SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) chairman John Lewis, labor leader Walter Reuther and CORE chairman Floyd McKissick (substituting for arrested CORE director James Farmer). The Eva Jessye Choir then sang, and Rabbi Uri Miller (president of the Synagogue Council of America) offered a prayer, followed by National Urban League director Whitney Young, NCCIJ director Mathew Ahmann, and NAACP leader Roy Wilkins. After a performance by singer Mahalia Jackson, American Jewish Congress president Joachim Prinz spoke, followed by SCLC president Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rustin then read the march's official demands for the crowd's approval, and Randolph led the crowd in a pledge to continue working for the march's goals. The program was closed with a benediction by Morehouse College president Benjamin Mays.

Although one of the officially stated purposes of the march was to support the civil rights bill introduced by the Kennedy Administration, several of the speakers criticized the proposed law as insufficient, this despite the fact that two government agents stood by to cut power to the microphone.

The March is credited with creating political momentum for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Kennedy was assassinated November 22, 1963, so Lyndon Johnson actually signed these into law. The Supreme Court today gutted the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 by a 5-to-4 decision on June 25, 2013. Outrageously, Chief Justice John Roberts trampled the legacy of King and the civil rights movement by citing Selma, Ala., and Philadelphia, Miss., where blood was spilled to uphold the right to vote, in his majority opinion discarding a crucial section of the Voting Rights.

The mass media identified King's "I Have a Dream" speech as a highlight of the event and focused on this oration to the exclusion of other aspects. In the years following the March, some in the civil rights movement identified with Malcolm X's comment on the March as a co-optation by the white establishment. Probably both liberals and conservatives supported some aspects of March, but focused mostly on and the legislative successes of 1964 and 1965. More recently, historians and commentators have acknowledged the pivotal role played by Bayard Rustin in organizing the event.

Soon after the speakers ended their meetings with Congress to go join the March, both houses passed legislation to create a dispute arbitration board for striking railroad workers.

An assassin's bullet felled the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. King had come to Memphis to support a strike by the city's sanitation workers.

Wikipedia contributed to this article.

Photo: "Demonstrators marching in the street holding signs during the March on Washington, 1963."

Fire Fighter leader blasts hypocritical politicians

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 12:33:00 +0000

DENVER - Dozens of the nation's politicians, from the federal government on down to city halls, are hypocritical in praising Fire Fighters and other first responders, then cutting public safety budgets, Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger says.

In an August 22 speech to his union's public safety and EMS conference, meeting in Denver, Schaitberger said such pols are unstinting in their praise, until it comes time to put up the money. Then they don't.

"When politics dictates public safety, we all get burned," he declared.

Schaitberger spoke as fire fighters find themselves stressed and stretched out. California wildfires, including one of which covers an area the size of Chicago, threaten San Francisco's water system, giant sequoia trees, and many towns. The federal agency that fights fires on public lands is virtually out of money to do so.

And 19 firefighters were killed battling another huge blaze near Prescott, Ariz., earlier this year, among other tragedies. That disaster exposed the hypocrisy, Schaitberger said.

"It was another moment in time when everyone - politicians, the media and the public - expressed grief and offered condolences, calling these men unbelievable heroes. Only to be short-lived," he added.

"Not even a month after returning from Arizona - where I was interviewed by the media about the danger of fighting fires - I was in Detroit fighting to protect the wages, benefits and working conditions of our members who continue to work to keep Detroit safe while dangerously understaffed and under-equipped," he said.

The union also is trying to "safeguard the retirement security of our brothers and sisters whose pensions hang in the balance as an overzealous emergency manager tries to use bankruptcy to absolve the city government of its pension fund obligations."

Representatives of the Fire Fighters pension fund, along with pension funds for other Detroit workers and AFSCME, which represents current workers, all formally objected to Detroit's bankruptcy reorganization filing. If a federal judge agrees with the request, state-named emergency manager Kevyn Orr could cut pensions, slash health care and tear up union contracts.

"Too often, the esteem and respect expressed during tragic events comes from politicians who are otherwise hostile to unions and union workers," Schaitberger added. "This sudden and hypocritical compassion by the same politicians who blame public pensions and union benefits for what's wrong with this country is disgraceful."

"People count on our members to be there, no matter what. You deserve their respect. Yet politicians at all levels of government are making life-and-death decisions that are dangerous for our members and the people they protect. Some have the public and media convinced that a handful of browned-out stations or a few less fire fighters are a fair price for lower taxes."

Schaitberger cited examples from Memphis, Tenn., Miami, Omaha, Neb., Portland, Ore., and the U.S. Defense Department, which is furloughing fire fighters - along with other civilian workers - at military bases. The cities are furloughing Fire Fighters and cutting EMS services so they don't have to raise property taxes, he said.

"Adding insult to injury, the president of the United States issued an executive order directing agencies to recruit volunteers to fulfill duties of furloughed employees," Schaitberger added.

"In Detroit, the largest American city to ever file bankruptcy, our members are paying for a financial disaster caused by those who stand to gain the most - reckless elected leaders, irresponsible decision-makers and greedy bondholders and hedge fund managers - all while screwing workers in the process.

"Yet the federal government - which spent billions to bail out U.S. auto makers and Wall Street financiers - sits and does nothing. Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Snyder and Orr want the public to believe pension debt is the cause of Detroit's financial disaster, using deeply flawed actuarial assumptions that grossly inflate the fire and police pension liabilities." Snyder, a right wing Republican and the GOP-run legislature approved the financial manager law. Snyder imposed Orr on majority-minority Detroit.

"They want the public to believe fire fighters and police officers are getting lavish pensions that they don't deserve when the average pension for Detroit's police officers and fire fighters is $34,000 - and they don't receive Social Security," Schaitberger said.

Solidarity, however, and reminding the public of vital services, would help beat that political hypocrisy, he declared. "This public disconnect is sickening and frustrating, but we know that when we stand together and fight back we can win.

"We stood together against collective bargaining attacks, threats to end arbitration, proposals to prevent deducting dues and attempts to silence our members' political voices in states across the nation, and we've won more times than we lost by reminding citizens we are dedicated public servants who keep our communities safe. We will continue to fight to protect the benefits and worker rights you have earned on the frontlines."

Photo: Detroit Fire Fighters Association Local 344, Facebook page.

St. Louis fast food workers fight discrimination

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 16:08:00 +0000

ST. LOUIS - In advance of the nationwide low-wage fast-food worker strikes planned for this Thursday, August 29 two area restaurant employees are facing retaliation from managers at local McDonald's and Wendy's.

Brenda Bell, a Maryland Heights McDonald's employee, was recently taken off of the schedule, and Charles Eden, a Rockhill Wendy's employee, hasn't received his paycheck in over two weeks; management claims it is lost in the mail.

Obviously, these fast-food chains - among others across the nation - are attempting to intimidate low-wage activists, as they gear up for the nationwide strike. They are trying to make an example of these local strike leaders in the hopes of intimidating other would-be strikers.

However, this tactic has backfired as protesters visited both fast-food chains demanding that management address these workers issues.

At the Rockhill Wendy's about 30 protesters occupied the front counter as community and religious leaders talked with the local manager regarding Eden's paycheck.

They chanted, "No paycheck, No peace!" and "We can't survive on $7.35!"

Brianna Price, a Rockhill Wendy's employee, told the People's World, "Management won't give us a straight answer. They are trying to make this Charles' fault. They claim they 'lost' the paycheck and they're blaming it on him."

Price, 20, has worked for Wendy's for over two years and makes $7.75 an-hour, just 40 cents more than Missouri's minimum wage of $7.35.

Price said, "We're fighting for our rights," health care, paid vacation, better pay, dignity and respect.

As the World interviewed her in the parking-lot she added, "I can do everything in this store. I deserve $15 and a union."

Nationally, strikers and their supporters are demanding that low-wage fast-food workers get paid $15 an hour and have the right to form or join a union without fear of retaliation from management.

According to the Rev. Martin Rafanan, "These restaurants are retaliating and being particularly vindictive."

Rafanan, who lead the delegation into the Rockhill Wendy's and the Maryland Height's McDonald's, added, "These workers, who have provided exceptional leadership to the fast food worker movement need our support."

"We will make management understand that retaliation is not acceptable and that workers have the right to concerted action to achieve higher wages and the right to form a union without retaliation."

"We are demanding that Charles be paid today," Rafanan continued.

Rafanan told the World that the McDonald's management "essentially caved almost immediately."

Bell, who had been working an average of about 25 hours a week, was "called in, then told she couldn't work and then sent away," Rafanan said.

"We addressed this issue directly," Rafanan continued. "By being in the store and having a direct, frank conversation with the manager in front of her co-workers we got Brenda her hours reinstated. And we told the manager, 'We're watching.'"

"This was an empowering moment, not only for Brenda, but for her co-workers, too."

When asked about the up coming nationwide strike Rafanan, who is also a lead organizer for STL Can't Survive on $7.35, said, "This is what the workers have called for. It is going to be very broad geographically and lead by workers."

He added, "Workers will be striking in at least 30 cities across the country. This is the civil rights movement of our day organized on the heels of the historic 50^th Anniversary March on Washington. This is going to be huge."

Photo: St. Louis Can't Survive on $7.35 Facebook page.

Video: L.A. port truck drivers go on 24-hour strike

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 15:01:00 +0000

Port truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles went on a 24-hour strike yesterday against their employer, Green Fleet Systems, at the start of the 5 p.m. shift. They are striking to protest harassment and intimidation by company management, all unfair labor practices. The drivers are in the midst of a union organizing drive. This short video shows the beginning of the strike with workers getting their picket signs.

Photo: PW/Rossana Cambron

Given three years to live, he fights to save co-workers

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 13:12:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - Some time ago, Alan White, a worker at Aurubis Copper in Buffalo, N.Y., went to his doctor. He was coughing, hacking and short of breath. And his doctor gave him some pretty bad news.

He has silicosis, caused by 18 years of inhaling silica dust, which can cause cancer, at his foundry. White's doctor predicted he'd die within three years.

Well, White, a member of Steelworkers Local 593 in Buffalo, is still around, and on August 23 he stood with Dr. David Michaels, administrator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as Michaels announced a new proposed federal rule - long pushed by the Steelworkers and other unions - to cut down worker exposure to silica.

"This proposal is expected to prevent thousands of deaths from silicosis - an incurable and progressive disease - as well as lung cancer, other respiratory diseases, and kidney disease. Workers affected by silica are fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers lost to entirely preventable illnesses," Michaels stated after White told his story.

OSHA estimated the rule would prevent 700 deaths yearly, and 1,600 silicosis cases.

Some 2.2 million workers are exposed yearly to silica, with 1.85 million of them in construction and the rest in general industry, including the maritime trades. The federal government's current silica exposure standard is based on 50-plus-year-old data, outdated testing methods and was instituted in 1971, Michaels said.

The new limit, which would apply to all workers, limits exposure to silica dust to 50 micrograms of breathable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour day, OSHA said. That's half of the current permitted silica exposure.

"The proposed rule also includes provisions for measuring how much silica workers are exposed to, limiting workers' access to areas where silica exposures are high, using effective methods for reducing exposures, providing medical exams to workers with high silica exposures, and training for workers about silica-related hazards and how to limit exposure," the agency added.

"These provisions are similar to industry consensus standards that many responsible employers have been using for years, and the technology to better protect workers is already widely available," OSHA's fact sheet about silica notes.

It adds that employers can protect their workers by "common dust control methods, such as wetting down work operations to keep silica-containing dust from getting into the air, enclosing an operation, or using a vacuum to collect dust at the point where it is created before workers can inhale it.

Union leaders welcomed the proposed silica exposure rule, but AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka warned that business might still try to stop it - a common tactic it used against virtually every OSHA plan.

"This rule is long overdue. The development of the silica standard began more than 16 years ago. Meanwhile workers have continued to suffer unnecessary disease and death," he said.

"Silica dust is a killer. It causes silicosis, a disabling lung disease that literally suffocates workers to death. It also causes lung cancer and other diseases. The current OSHA silica standard was adopted decades ago and fails to protect workers. It allows very high levels of exposure and has no requirements to train workers or monitor exposure levels.

"The proposed rule will cut permitted dust exposure levels in half, require exposure monitoring and medical exams for exposed workers and require implementation of well-established dust control methods, like the use of water and ventilation.

"But this rule is only a proposal - workers exposed to silica dust will only be protected when a final rule is issued. Some industry groups are certain to attack the rule and try to stop it in its tracks. The AFL-CIO will do everything we can to see that does not happen."

"Regulations like these save lives," added Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, whose union's active safety and health department has probed and publicized the dangers of silica exposure. The exposure can be controlled, the Steelworkers state. "The best employers are already doing what OSHA has proposed," said Gerard. "But everyone deserves protection from deadly workplace diseases."

All of this will come too late for Alan White, though.

"After a series of tests he told me that I will die from exposure to silica," White said of the M.D.'s findings. "Eighteen years ago, I was excited to get a job at the foundry. At the time, I was a single parent, making ends meet with assistance from the government. When I got my job at the foundry, I made $62,000 the first year and thought I was set. I was ready and willing to give my all to work. But I never realized that that included my life."

Photo: Dr. David Michaels from OSHA, left, and USW Local 593 member Alan White. USW website.

Today in labor history: Women win right to vote, Women’s Equality Day declared

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:58:00 +0000

On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was formally adopted. Tennessee ratified the amendment on Aug. 18, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land.

To commemorate the amendment's adoption and the ongoing struggle for women's equality, Congress designated Aug. 26 as Women's Equality Day in 1971. Presidents have also issued Women's Equality Day proclamations. President Barack Obama issued his 2013 proclamation emphasizing the need for pay equity. He enumerated what his administration has done to further gender equality and called on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

In 2010, women made up half the U.S. workforce, but only earned 78 percent as much as men. African American women earn even less - 64 percent, according to a blog on ACLU.org. Women earned the majority of college degrees, but were still more likely to serve as the primary parent and housekeeper.

Despite shortcomings, women's rights leaders say there is much to celebrate, including President Obama signing of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009.

In addition to pay equity, reproductive rights (especially abortion and birth control), violence and sexual assault, increasing the minimum wage and getting more women in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) professions are among the current issues on the women's rights agenda.

Photo: A suffrage march in New York City in 1913, six years before the 19th Amendment was ratified. (U.S. Library of Congress)

Oakland Airport concession workers win some, and keep up the fight

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:53:00 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. - Dozens of workers at Oakland Airport concessions and their supporters walked the picket line Aug. 23 outside Oakland Airport's Terminal 2 to celebrate the return to work of co-workers fired after they spoke out against injustices and labor law violations they experienced on their jobs.

At the same time, the workers are stepping up their demands for a fair process to decide about joining a union.

The airport's Subway and Jamba Juice concessions agreed earlier this month to restore worker leaders Hakima Arhab, Bikram Thapa and Diamond Ford to their jobs, and Subway also restored normal hours to Hayat Selmani. All four will receive back pay.

In May, the National Labor Relations Board issued complaints against the two concessions for retaliating against workers for organizing. The reinstatements are part of the settlement of that case.

And now the workers are stepping up their demands for a fair process to decide about joining a union.

Workers at several airport concessions including Auntie Ann's, Burger King, See's Candies and Otaez as well as Subway and Jamba Juice took to the picket line at the airport over a year ago, determined to better their conditions on the job.

They have since held repeated informational pickets to inform air travelers about their demands, and on July 14 they held a one-day unfair labor practices strike with a lively all-day picket line.

In every phase of their struggle, the non-union concession workers have had the wholehearted support of the unionized concession workers at the airport, who belong to Unite Here Local 2850. This picket line was no exception.

Now some 200 unionized workers are engaged in their own struggle, this time fighting back against the drive by the main food service contractor, HMS Host, to freeze the wages of workers now earning less than $13 an hour, essentially eliminate health coverage by switching to a very expensive plan, and take away vacation and personal days.

Ida, a snack bar attendant with HMS Host for over six years, said the most important issue to her is medical benefits. "I have three kids - nine year old twins and an 11-year-old son. Their dad is unemployed. I can't afford to pay for a very expensive plan. Suppose I get sick on the job? Then what?

"When I heard what was happening in the negotiations, it was horrible," she said, adding that many of her co-workers feel the same way.

Ida said HMS Host also wants to eliminate all overtime pay, and wrap vacation days, sick and personal days into a 12-day annual framework, instead of the sliding scale that gave longer-serving workers two to four weeks' vacation alongside five yearly sick days.

One thing is for sure - as their struggles enter new phases, the union and non-union workers at Oakland Airport's concessions will be sticking together, and will have the continuing backing of the area's other unions and community supporters.

Photo: Marilyn Bechtel/PW

What do casinos and martial arts have in common?

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 12:22:00 +0000

In the mixed martial arts world, the last few weeks were spent in anticipation of UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs Sonnen on the debuting FOX Sports 1 network. However, the battles wouldn't just be confined to the octagon.

Members of Unite Here spoke in opposition to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) holding an event in Boston where minors could attend, and called for the state athletic commission to sanction fighter Chael Sonnen because he had been convicted of a "crime involving moral turpitude." Sonnen was eventually cleared to fight and a very watered down regulation limiting youth attendance was passed. But this was just the latest foray of the proxy war between the Unite Here Culinary Union Local 226 and the Fertitta brothers, owners of UFC's parent company.

Frank III and Lorenzo Fertitta co-own Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the UFC. They also own the Las Vegas based Station Casinos, where Culinary Union Local 226 has been engaged in a more than a decade long battle for union recognition with the Fertitta ownership group.

Tensions between the sides worsened in 2007 after the owners engaged in a leveraged buyout to gain $660 million, but saddled the company with added debt. Two years later, Station Casinos had to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Nearly 3,000 jobs were cut - approximately 20 percent of the Station Casino workforce - and those who stayed faced rising health care costs, no raises for five years, and the loss of their 401k employer matches.

Workers highlighted the horrid conditions of employment by going on a weeklong hunger strike in April 2012. Months later, Station Casinos was found guilty of one of the largest number of National Labor Relations Board violations in Nevada gaming history. In October 2012, the NLRB declared 82 violations including firing and punishing workers for their union activities.

As the struggle to organize the employees at the Station Casinos continues, the union has begun utilizing another point of pressure - the Fertitta co-owned UFC. Thus, the proxy war began.

The summer and fall of 2012 saw the development of the UFC=Unfit For Children campaign to pressure sponsors to drop out. The campaign highlighted offensive comments from UFC President Dana White and UFC fighters. It eventually got the U.S. Marine Corps to withdraw its financial sponsorship deal with the company in December 2012.

Due in large part to the campaign to push sponsors to disassociate themselves from the UFC brand over the conduct of Dana White and some of the contracted fighters, the company adopted a code of conduct to govern fighter behavior. While implementation of the policy has been left wanting in cases like Matt Mitrione and Nate Diaz, the pressure from this proxy campaign has helped developed the beginning of a structure of accountability for unprofessional actions by these combat sport pros.

Unite Here's campaign has highlighted some very significant problems with this sport, especially poor working conditions and the lack of basic freedoms to freely join a union without facing repercussions. The UFC clearly has problems, especially with the lack of meaningful enforcement of the code of conduct and Dana White letting stupid remarks fall out of his mouth at times. These are inhibiting it from becoming a more mainstream sport with national and international media exposure, rather than a niche product.

The proxy war between the union and the UFC has brought the labor battle to national attention. It has led the UFC to provide basic protections for its fighters and curb the worst problem behavior of its ownership and employees. The issues raised have also been a significant factor preventing mixed martial arts from being legalized in one of the biggest markets - New York.

We may not be sure that this proxy war will bring success to the unionization campaign of the Station Casinos workers in Las Vegas. Nor can we be certain the reforms at the UFC will be long-term and meaningful. But one thing we can be sure about is that as long as the labor injustice at Station Casinos continues, the political rumbles of pressure on the UFC will as well.

Photo: A UFC bout, September 2007. Wikimedia Commons

GOP judge launches yet another assault on the NLRB

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 12:00:00 +0000

TACOMA, Wash. - Yet another Republican-named federal judge has taken another hack at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), ruling that President Obama illegally named its top enforcement officer, Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon, three years ago.

As a result, federal Judge Benjamin Settle of the western district of Washington, in Tacoma, threw out the agency's case against Kitsap Tenant Support Services, a home care agency for the disabled in Bremerton, Wash.

The Kitsap case itself applies only to the firm, which the NLRB charged with labor law-breaking during AFSCME's organizing drive among Kitsap's security guards. What is important in Settle's ruling was not what he threw out, but who - Solomon.

Solomon's office brings all NLRB enforcement actions around the U.S. If higher courts extend and uphold Settle's August 13 ruling nationwide, then all the agency's enforcement actions starting in 2010, below the board level, are in doubt.

The GOP, business groups, and the Radical Right, relying on a federal appeals court ruling in D.C., have already challenged rulings by the board itself. They claim Obama's two "recess appointees" to the NLRB, which governs labor-management relations for 85 million workers nationwide, were illegal.

Three GOP-appointed D.C. appeals court judges issued that ruling, which throws doubt on more than 1,000 NLRB rulings since those two appointees, who are now off the board, took office. Anti-worker GOP President George W. Bush nominated Settle, a former member of the military's Judge Advocate General's corps, to the federal bench in 2007. The Senate routinely confirmed Settle.

The case involving the power of the board itself, and the status of the recess appointees, is already pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The NLRB had no immediate comment on whether it would appeal Settle's ruling about Solomon.

Kitsap, too, argued Obama illegally named the recess NLRB members. James Kobe, NLRB's acting regional director, said even if Settle agreed they were illegal, Solomon still could charge Kitsap with labor law-breaking. Settle said Kobe was wrong, because Obama broke a federal vacancies law by appointing Solomon. That law, Settle ruled, lets presidents name only top aides to departing officials to succeed their bosses. Solomon, who is still NLRB's acting general counsel, was a career board attorney.

Photo: Lafe Solomon. Bruce Smith/AP

Fast food and retail workers to walk out nationwide Aug. 29

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 11:22:00 +0000

If you go to your local McDonald's, or Wendy's, or KFC or Burger King on August 29, you may find something unusual: A picket line. And as one New York Times food columnist wrote last month, "If you want to show support, don't cross it."

And the same caution applies if you drop in at a major retailer - Macy's is prominently mentioned - to take advantage of a "pre-Labor Day sale." More pickets.

That's because hundreds of thousands of fast food and retail workers nationwide, fed up with minimum-wage jobs with no benefits and no advancement, plan to strike that day. And they're drawing enthusiastic support from the nation's unions.

The planned one-day national strike builds on one-day strikes by fast food workers that started late last year in New York City and gradually spread to other cities this year. Some retail workers have joined the crusade.

All are arguing for the same goals: A $15 hourly minimum wage - double the $7.25 federal minimum they now get - to lift themselves out of poverty, and the right to organize and join unions without management interference.

"We've had enough of struggling to get by on minimum wage or barely more, so we're walking off our jobs to demand $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation," the workers said on one of their main websites, www.lowpayisnotok.org.

Seattle Burger King worker Terrance Wise told the Fox TV affiliate there that the nationwide strike highlights the low wages in the profitable, $200 billion industry. "The more of us who go on strike that day, the louder our message will be that it is not right for companies making billions in profits to pay their workers pennies," he explained.

Retail workers from Macy's, Sears and Dollar Tree are expected to join in the strike, lowpayisnotok said. And on August 22, a week before the national walkout, workers from Walmart, the nation's largest - and low-paying - retail monster, hit D.C. to campaign for a proposed living wage ordinance there. Walmart had D.C. police arrest 10 of them who demonstrated outside its lobbying offices downtown.

The ordinance orders non-union "big box" stores in Washington to pay at least $12.50 an hour. The city council passed it, but Mayor Vincent Gray, D., is dithering, due to a Walmart threat to stop erecting six stores in low-income areas of the capital.

The wage and benefit gains are important: Federal forecasts show fast food work is one of the nation's quickest-growing job sectors, as well as one of its lowest-paid.

And some 70 percent of fast food workers are breadwinning adults, trying to feed families.

The right to organize is important, too. Economic Policy Institute President Lawrence Mishel said in a telephone press conference on U.S. wage data that the right to organize and bargain was the great driver of creation of the middle class after World War II, as it forced firms to raise workers' pay in return for rising productivity.

"Fast food workers are standing up for all of us, because conditions are exactly the same" in that industry as in other underpaid groups, Service Employees President Mary Kay Henry told Salon.com. SEIU has been a key funder of the grassroots local groups that have in turn organized the fast food and retail workers nationwide. "It's really a privilege for us to support them."

But even Henry admits to being surprised at how quickly the fast food workers' movement has spread. It's even invading the anti-union South, she notes.

The movement has already raised awareness among the rest of the country of the plight of the fast-food workers. It's also affecting at least one political race: The mayoral contest in Seattle.

There, a blog reports, the six contenders for the open seat have all said a $15 city minimum wage should be considered.

"The strike will take place the day after the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington, a march that called to raise minimum wage of $2 per hour," the Teamsters said in urging members to support the fast food workers. "Adjusted to inflation, that would equal $15.26 an hour today.

"The federal minimum wage in 1963 was $1.25, which would equate to around $9.45 today. You can support the fast food strike by signing the petition -- or brown-bagging it on August 29. Or you could join them on a strike line in your city."

And Steel Workers President Leo Gerard had a world of fun with McDonald's advice to its workers on how to survive on the firm's minimum wages. The company, whose CEO earned $13.8 million last year, told its workers in a proposed "budget" that they should get second jobs, use Medicaid, live in public housing - and not eat.

"More money would work so much better for McDonald's employees," Gerard said in a blog. Higher pay is better than company CEO Don Thompson's "recommendation they forego food or rely on food stamps. And welfare. And public housing. And Medicaid. That's the real McDonald's budget. Like other employers paying minimum wage or slightly more, McDonald's leans on taxpayers to subsidize the payroll.

"There's trouble in real-life McDonaldland now," as the workers walk out again and again, Gerard added.

Photo: Workers demand decent wages and benefits at a McDonald's in Seattle. AP

Union members swell the ranks of marchers in D.C.

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 10:58:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - Raymin Diaz wants to "break this counterrevolution" that takes away workers' rights. Bob King wants to "honor the same principles" Dr. Martin Luther King stood for, while "fighting suppression of the right to vote." Larry Greenhill wants to energize his union's members "while ensuring the community knows our concerns" about workers' rights, jobs, and justice. And Mary McCloud wants to honor Trayvon Martin, the murdered Florida teenager born just a day before her own son.

All those reasons and more brought Diaz, King, Greenhill, McCloud, and tens of thousands of other unionists into the crowds that packed the National Mall here on August 24 during a march honoring the 50^th anniversary of Dr. King's famous August, 1963 "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom."

"We have to be repetitive" on the issues Dr. King fought for, said Allen Silver, an organizer for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 100.

"Dr. King was huge about workers' rights," added Dan Lawwill of Machinists Lodge 1943 at the AK Steel plant in Middletown, Ohio. Lawwill brought his college-age daughter, Jordan, "for the experience" and education. "She's already thrown tomatoes at scabs" from a picket line at a strike there," he said proudly.

Their unions and others sent hundreds of buses filled with members, families, and community residents - 80 from SEIU in New York State and 105 loaded with Auto Workers from Michigan - to this year's march, which drew more than 100,000 people.

Besides marching, several unions carved out special roles for themselves. Members of Laborers Local 657 passed out free bottles of water by the gross in the 90-degree heat. Members of the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees manned first aid stations.

Other unions marching included the Service Employees, the Communications Workers, the Painters, the Plumbers, the Teachers, the National Education Association, the Machinists, and the Steel Workers. Members of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, one of the AFL-CIO's two constituency groups for African-Americans, turned out in droves. The massive march kicked off a week of observances of Dr. King's 1963 march.

Workers' rights was a top cause of the unions that co-sponsored this year's march, organized by the National Action Network, a civil rights organization.

"It's the same fight for the same principles" Dr. King stood for, UAW President Bob King (no relation) told Press Associates Union News Service while working over his notes for his two-minute talk to the crowd. They include workers' rights and the right to vote. And this march was just the start, he said.

"Now these have to be converted to action and solidarity with other people who believe in social and economic justice," Bob King added, mentioning women's rights, civil rights, environmental, immigrant, and lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender groups.

There was no shortage of such causes among the multitude on the Mall or at the podium. Speakers discussed workers' rights, women's rights, the right to vote, preserving Social Security, good jobs, fixing the criminal justice system so there are no more Trayvon Martins, comprehensive immigration reform and even giving citizens of Washington, D.C. full congressional voting rights, which they lack.

Interviews with the workers at the march showed equal variety.

"My dad was in the union in the Dominican Republic," explained Diaz, a regional organizer for Laborers Local 710 in Alexandria, Va. "He told me of the company shutting down jobs, of our underground newspaper and radio station. That's what brought me" to the U.S., and to the union, after a stint with a non-union shop.

"Friends told me of this opportunity to be an organizer. That's why I'm here, to break this counterrevolution that's going on" against workers. "If we don't fight for what we think is right, nobody will."

"Women are fighting for the same rights as any minority," added Brenda Sprester, a journeyman electrician with IBEW Local 26 in Lanham, Md. "That's what I tell my brothers and sisters: We're all fighting the same battles."

Joe DePero of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 420 in Philadelphia drove down to the march for two reasons. One was history "and for freedom and for equal rights." The other was to bring his seven-year-old granddaughter Kayla to D.C., on a vacation with Grandpa - they were sitting by the Reflecting Pool on the Mall - "and to teach her right."

"It's civil rights, organizing rights, collective bargaining, and equal opportunity," said Charley Little, of AFSCME Local 2208, a government workers' local in Trenton, N.J. It's also politics, he added: Unions in the Garden State are campaigning against incumbent GOP Gov. Chris Christie, whose seat is up this fall. He's not only spending $4 million unnecessarily on a U.S. Senate special election - Little says the money should go to schools instead - but Christie vetoed a raise in the state minimum wage.

"We're fighting to continue what we started back in 1963," explained Greenhill, IBEW Local 26's vice president. "We've got more of a mix of people to do it today than we did then," he said approvingly. "And we're here to bring our concerns to the whole community."

But there aren't as many unionists as there should be, he added. "Our problem is that our people aren't as motivated. We have 9,000 members; we should have at least 1,000 here. But they always say 'I have something else to do.' Then they vote for the wrong people, too."

"I feel it could have been my son" who was killed, rather than Martin, the unarmed Florida teenager, said McCloud, Recording Secretary for Local 420 of AFSCME District Council 37 in New York City. "So I came to support justice for Trayvon," whose family was among the speakers from the podium.

The workers and their allies also want to get reaction from lawmakers - and hoped the impressive turnout would spur that.

"You've got to go inside, too, and change Congress first," said UAW Local 598 member Darrell Evans, of Flint, Mich. Added his colleague, Henry Davis: "We're here because of what happened in the past" fights for voting rights, jobs and justice "and what we need to do now. America has forgotten."

"We're here for justice and hopefully the politicians will listen, or they'll be voted out," exclaimed Roger Cumberbatch of SEIU Local 1199's New York City affiliate. "It's principally the assault by the right wing on the gains the civil rights movement has made. Trying to roll back the Voting Rights Act, the Trayvon Martin verdict - all this suggests we have to stand up for what was won years ago."

"You gotta stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves because they're afraid they'll lose their jobs," the Machinists' Lawwill noted. "It's great to see everyone come together because all want equal rights," his daughter added.

And Bob King isn't the only one who says the march was just a start. When speaking of the pols who are unresponsive to workers, Cumberbatch had one final warning: "I'll come back here every year - until they get it right."

Photo: SEIU at the National Mall, August 24, from their Facebook page.

In "right-to-work" state, T-Mobile workers struggle for right to work

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:41:00 +0000

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Employees at a T-Mobile call center here say they endure a constant battle against the stress that comes from unrealistic performance standards, job insecurity and humiliation. At a "Speak Out" event earlier this year, T-Mobile's Charleston employees provided testimony to the working conditions at the call center.

Of the more than 300 workers at this call center, 75 percent are African American, and many are women and single parents struggling to support their families.

In addition to dealing with customer inquiries, the workers are required to meet a sales quota of $29 dollars per productive hour while ensuring that calls last under six minutes. This means that while assisting a disgruntled customer with resolving a problem, the employee must maintain quota by making a sale and adding charges - and all within six minutes. Not only does this aggravate an already upset customer, it also generates considerable frustration and stress for the employee. Angry customers mean poor customer feedback, and customer feedback determines employees' salary and bonus rewards. Sales targets take precedence over customer concerns at T-Mobile, and not meeting quota could result in punishment or termination. Workers must find a way to balance satisfying the required quota and preserving customer satisfaction, while facing humiliation from their supervisors in an effort to encourage productivity. This results in an unbearably stressful working environment for the employees.

Job insecurity consumes T-Mobile call center employees in Charleston. Besides the fear of their jobs being offshored to foreign countries, they say they worry constantly about job loss and termination for minor mistakes. Management treats call center workers as if they are completely expendable. According to a report released by the Communications Workers of America, a company message mistakenly sent to all employees at the call center indicated management's desire to terminate a certain number of workers each month.

Employees faced with such a difficult working environment would seem to deserve to mobilize and demand better for themselves. Unfortunately, neither T-Mobile or South Carolina's governor, Nikki Haley, are shy about their opposition to unions and collective bargaining.

T-Mobile has always been openly committed to operating union-free in the U.S. and urges its managers to discourage union organizing. Call center trainees are advised to stay away from unions and are shown anti-union PowerPoint presentations during new employee orientation. Adams, Nash, Haskell & Sheridan, a firm dedicated to "union avoidance," wrote T-Mobile's 2003 training manual, which instructs management on how to thwart union organizing attempts. The firm offers strategies on ways to avoid unionization and prevent interference by third parties with employers' productivity and profits. T-Mobile also hires attorneys and human resources staff skilled in dodging organizing attempts.

After the "Speak Out" event where workers testified about the conditions they face, management held meetings to discourage union involvement and portrayed unions as threatening, stating that union membership meant signing away your rights.

Gov. Haley expresses pride in the fact that South Carolina is one of the least unionized states in the country. She is a self-appointed "union-buster" and strong supporter of tough "right-to-work" laws, which cripple union organization and reduce wages. In fact, according to information from a news release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Carolina has experienced a decrease in wages since Haley took office in 2011. The evidence indicates she cares only for the protection and success of big businesses and nothing for the well-being of the state's working people.

At the Speak Out, the call center employees explained that they love their work and find satisfaction in helping customers solve their problems, but the stress at T-Mobile makes it difficult for them to do their job. They simply requested the peace of mind to not have to worry about job loss due to offshoring or termination for slight mistakes, and to be able to collectively organize so they can communicate their needs and demands for better treatment to their employer.

It often seems as if the odds are against call center workers in Charleston. They are up against the widespread fear that any action to improve their work environment would create a backlash from both a fiercely anti-union company, and a governor who threatens that unions "are not needed, not wanted and not welcome in the State of South Carolina."

Despite these obstacles, Charleston call center workers continue to fight for their right to work without fear. They have the support of local elected officials, community members and students. And they are backed by a global campaign that includes the Communication Workers of America, ver.di, Germany's largest union, and other unions around the world. All these people will stand by the workers in their continuing efforts to organize and put an end to T-Mobile's behavior.

Video: T-Mobile workers Joyce Bellamy and Roland Ellis discuss their campaign for respect on the job with Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, and Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America.

Photo: At the T-Mobile Speak-Out in Charleston, S.C., T-Mobile workers Joyce Bellamy, left, and Roland Ellis, second from right, speak with Sharan Burrow, head of the International Trade Union Confederation, and CWA President Larry Cohen, February 2013. CWA photo.

Today in labor history: First African-American pilot recognized posthumously

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:02:00 +0000

On this day in 1994, Eugene Bullard, the first African-American military pilot, and one of only two black combat pilots in World War I, was posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. The recognition came 33 years after his death.

Bullard was born in Columbus, Georgia on October 9, 1895. After witnessing his father's narrow escape from being lynched, he sought to escape racial discrimination by stowing away on a ship destined for Scotland. From there, he traveled to England, where he became a boxer and worked in a music hall. Years later, he settled in Paris, France.

On October 19, 1914, Bullard enlisted in the 1^st Regiment of the French Foreign Legion as a machine gunner. Later, Bullard was among the Americans allowed to transfer to the 107^th Line Infantry Regiment, where he took part in the Battle of Verdun.

In 1916, he volunteered to join the French Air Service as an air gunner. He was promoted to the rank of corporal one year later. He took part in many combat missions and reportedly shot down several German aircraft.

When the U.S. entered the war, its Army Air Service began recruiting some of those American pilots. Bullard went through the mandatory preliminary medical examination, but was rejected because only white pilots were allowed to serve. He was eventually discharged altogether in 1919.

He then returned to Paris, where he worked as a drummer and nightclub manager, married, and had children. He later fled with his two daughters in May 1940 during the German invasion of France. He volunteered with the 51^st Infantry and defended the city of Orléans. In July of that year, he returned to the United States, where he remained until dying of stomach cancer on October 12, 1961.

He and his efforts in World War I were portrayed in the 2006 film Flyboys.

Photo: Wikipedia (CC)

Secretive Trans-Pacific ‘free trade’ deal threatens wages, jobs

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 15:50:00 +0000

MINNEAPOLIS (PAI, Workday Minnesota) - Hundreds of labor, fair trade, environmental, and community activists marched through downtown Minneapolis on August 20 to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade deal that could jeopardize American jobs, wages, consumer safety, health care and environmental standards.

"We are building people power. We are movement building," Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen told the crowd. His union represents 700,000 workers in telecommunications, media, airlines, public service, health care and manufacturing, all areas where jobs are under threat due to free trade deals.

Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition Director Josh Wise, TakeAction Minnesota Executive Director Dan McGrath, Communications Workers Minnesota State Council President Mona Meyer and other coalition allies joined Cohen in leading the march.

The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries will meet this week in Brunei to discuss what could be the largest trade agreement in U.S. history. But the only people at the negotiating table are corporate lobbyists and government officials - not the groups fighting for workers, public health, free speech, environmental regulations and consumer protections.

While the draft text of the agreement has never been officially released to the public, leaked documents reveal disconcerting proposals to grant multinational corporations new political powers, ration lifesaving medicines, extend restrictive intellectual property laws and more.

"Democracy does not function unless the people have a spot at the table," noted Wise. "The big corporations want to keep this as secret as possible."

On the way to the rally, protesters stopped outside of U.S. Bank and Verizon - some of the many corporate "trade advisors" involved in the trade talks - to raise awareness about their support of the TPP.

"Secrets, secrets are no fun. TPP hurts everyone," the protesters chanted.

Workday Minnesota.

Photo: Workday Minnesota (see above link).

NLRB judge: Firm’s ‘arbitration agreement’ with workers can’t ban appeals to board

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 12:55:00 +0000

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (PAI) - An "arbitration agreement" that a firm forces a worker to sign cannot ban the worker from appealing labor law violations to the National Labor Relations Board, an NLRB administrative law judge ruled.

The ban violates the worker's labor law rights, ALJ Melissa Olivero ruled on August 14 in a case involving Fort Lauderdale-based Everglades University.

A second NLRB administrative law judge, Christine Dibble, in Kansas City, Mo., issued a similar ruling August 19 in the case of John Bauer, and his company, the Pittsburg, Kansas, office of Cellular Sales of Missouri.

In late 2011, Everglades decided to eliminate all paper personnel records and make all workers re-apply for their jobs electronically. The application included a four-page "employee arbitration agreement (EAA)." "Don't sign it" equals "no job."

Lisa Fikki, a graduate admissions counselor, objected. She wanted a lawyer to look over the arbitration agreement first, before the June 29, 2012, deadline to sign it. She believed the pact not only barred workers from going to the NLRB but also barred other defenses, such as class-action suits. The school replied by first giving her extra time to review the EAA, but then it reversed course and fired her on July 12.

Olivero's ruling agreed with Fikki's objections. The ALJ found the university's "arbitration agreement" was so broad and covered so much that a reasonable person could conclude barred it anything other than arbitration - including going to the NLRB.

"An employer violates" labor law "by maintaining work rules that tend to chill employees in the exercise of their rights," Olivero wrote. "Employers may not compel employees to waive their National Labor Relations Act right to collectively pursue litigation of employment claims in all forums, arbitral and judicial."

The test of if a work rule breaks labor law is "whether a reasonable employee would read" it to be violating his or her rights, Olivero said. The university's arbitration agreement had a vague exception to its ban on outside appeals, and that wasn't good enough, she said. The arbitration agreement "would reasonably be read by employees to prohibit the filing of unfair labor practice charges with the board," Olivero said.

Labor law bans "discrimination based upon union or other protected, concerted activity. An employee could easily construe the EAA to require arbitration of claimed violations of the act. Therefore, the language of the EAA is reasonably read to require employees to resort to respondent's arbitration procedures instead of filing charges with the board." Olivero ordered the university to change the arbitration agreement's language - and to reinstate Fikki with back pay.

In the Kansas case, the firm converted its workers from independent contractors to employees, covered by labor law, but still tried to ban them from taking cases to the NLRB. That breaks labor law, Dibble ruled, using the same language. "An employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the act when it requires employees...as a condition of their employment, to sign an arbitration agreement that prohibits them from 'filing joint, class, or collective claims addressing their wages, hours, or other working conditions against the employer in any forum, arbitral, or judicial,"" Dibble wrote.

Image: Florida and Missouri are among the states shown as attacking workers rights. "The attack on collective bargaining rights is the result of a decades-long, well-orchestrated, relentless campaign by corporations, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and their front groups to strip away workers' organizing rights and the power for better wages and working conditions." CWA Facebook page.