N.Y. transit dispute still unresolved
NEW YORK — The dispute between Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority following transit workers’ rejection of a proposed contract continues. While the union is seeking to return to good faith bargaining, the MTA has offered a new contract that union leaders and rank-and-file members alike characterize as “insulting.”
Iranian govt uses force on Tehran transport strikers
Iranian police brutally attacked activists of the Tehran and Suburbs Public Transport Trade Union over the Jan. 28-29 weekend.
Hotel workers issue wake-up call
Many-top-of-the-line hotels brag about their “heavenly beds.” But triple sheets, oversize mattresses, heavy comforters and five or six pillows make for a work load from hell for today’s hotel workers. And while global hotel chains are expecting heavenly record-breaking profits in 2006, the nation’s hotel workers are struggling in an industry plagued with poverty-level wages.
Ford to cut 25,000 to 30,000 jobs
Ford Motor Co. plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs and shutter 14 plants in a sweeping restructuring of its North American auto business.
Oakland teachers encouraged by fact finders report
Teachers here are encouraged by a long-awaited arbitrator’s report, released Jan. 23, bolstering their contention that the Oakland Unified School District can afford to raise salaries by up to 2.5 percent and that new health care costs to teachers can be minimized.
Calif. almond workers demand a voice at work
For the last year and a half, efforts by over 600 almond workers at Blue Diamond Growers’ Sacramento plant to join Local 17 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and gain the respect, raises and benefits they deserve have been stonewalled by what the company itself calls “an aggressive union avoidance campaign.”
Transit workers reject contract in close vote
By a margin of seven votes, city transit workers rejected a tentative contract between their union, Transport Workers Union Local 100, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The main reason cited for the “no” vote was the provision that workers would for the first time have to pay for health coverage, but union leaders, members and elected officials point to disinformation in the media and interference by Gov. George Pataki.
UMWA to represent Sago miners in disaster probes
“Be assured that we will pursue every avenue as we seek to understand what happened at Sago, because the truth is that when it comes to safety, we represent every miner in America and Canada whether he or she chooses to pay dues to this union or not,” said United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts as a team of union safety experts arrived at the scene of the Jan. 2 explosion that killed 12 miners.
