No fun, but shell keep marching
Carina, 9, and her mother Gloria Herrera have been walking the picket line at Book Covers Inc. in Chicago since early June.
Security officers pick up the pace
OAKLAND, Calif. — Taking a break from leading chants in front of Oakland’s landmark Tribune Tower July 13, Pamela Frazier recalled her experiences working at an unorganized jobsite.
N.Y. teachers mull no contract, no work strategy
It is about 15 months until the current contract between the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the city of New York expires, in October 2007. Already, the union is planning its strategy for the next round of negotiations, with many of its ideas deriving from the results of the last round.
Working day and night in North Carolina
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Jaison Sheppard clocks out from unloading trucks for Frito-Lay at 7 a.m., but he’s not off work. His second job awaits in the parking lot outside. Having put on different work clothes, he’s off to change oil, check spark plugs and fix tires for co-workers and other customers for the rest of the day.
Plumbers put health care in the pipeline
Plumbers local unions in Memphis, Tenn., and Northwood, Ohio, have endorsed HR 676, legislation introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) that would implement a single-payer health care system in the U.S.
Locomotive engineers cite safety concerns
Safety concerns on the trains they run dominated the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen’s conference in Las Vegas in late June. Topping the list were railroads’ plans to cut the crew members per train down to one and the issue of transportation of nuclear waste.
Rockford UAW activists get political
Jobs Campaign activists met with UAW-endorsed congressional candidate Richard Auman at our weekly meeting June 5. The Jobs Campaign began 16 months ago when still-working, laid-off and retired UAW rank-and-filers first gathered at our union hall to combat what we call “plant closing by the installment plan.”
Teachers flunk Bush school law
Saying its members believe George W. Bush’s school-funding legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act, gets “a failing grade,” the National Education Association voted July 4 to lobby for a comprehensive rewrite of the statute next year.
Calif. vineyard workers fight back after firings
Vineyard workers and their union, the United Farm Workers, are upping the ante in their months-long struggle for a new contract with Northern California’s Charles Krug winery.
Connecticut AFL-CIO aims to change America
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — “Yes, they’re waging class war and it’s time we wage it back!” declared AFL-CIO Director of Organizing Stewart Acuff to prolonged applause, challenging the Bush administration and corporate interests at the Connecticut AFL-CIO convention here last week.
