For those who don't know about it, the AFL-CIO now has a weekly update on new union gains called Work in Progress- at the aflcio.org web site as well.
Here's last week's update - I assume these announce nurses wins will be in the next. This issue had a rather massive one-week gain because of the recently won right of Puerto Rican public employees to unionize - with the votes counted on Nov. 9.
-- Nathan Newman
-----Original Message----- Sent: Monday, November 15, 1999 5:00 PM Subject: Work In Progress, November 15, 1999
Work in Progress*November 15, 1999
New members reported in this week's WiP: 47,850 New members reported in WiP, 1999: 447,483
PUERTO RICO TEACHERS CHOOSE AFT--Seventy- three percent of Puerto Rico s 37,100 teachers voted Nov. 9 to join AFT. "Teachers want a strong voice in strengthening the quality of education in Puerto Rico," said Renan Soto Soto, president of the Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico, the island s AFT affiliate, which now becomes the union s second-largest unit. Thousands of teachers traveled to distant polling sites and stood in long lines in unseasonably warm weather to vote in the momentous election, bringing the turnout to an astounding 88 percent. "The level of turnout is a testament to these educators deep dedication to their students and to their determination to have a voice in strengthening their schools," said AFT President Sandra Feldman. AFT staff, members and retirees from seven states aided the organizing effort, as did organizers from AFSCME, UAW, the Communications Workers and AFGE. Also, 10,000 cafeteria workers voted to join the UAW, unofficial counts show. The ! elections are the second component of a two-part process created by a 1998 law allowing 150,000 public employees in Puerto Rico to choose a union. Thousands more workers are scheduled to hold elections before the end of the year.
STUDENT HEALTH--Frustrated with one of the state s few public universities that doesn t offer health insurance to graduate students, 750 teaching and research assistants of the Coalition of Graduate Student Employees at Oregon State University voted 316-166 to join AFT.
RECOGNIZING VICTORY--Pillowtex Corp. dropped its dispute over last June s 2,270-2102 vote for UNITE by Fieldcrest Cannon workers in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, N.C., clearing the way for contract negotiations for 5,000 workers there and at other plants throughout the region. Resolution between the union and management over the election, which was certified by the National Labor Relations Board, "is a demonstration of both the company and union s commitment to positive labor relations," the two sides said jointly. The largest textile organizing victory in the South, the Pillowtex win caps a 25-year effort by workers there to choose a voice at work. Meanwhile, three years after saving their company, UNITE Local 486 members overwhelmingly ratified a three-year pact with Hathaway, and look forward to its wage, vacation and pension improvements.
SAILING ALONG AT AVONDALE―Within days of reaching a neutrality agreement with Avondale Industries, a substantial majority of the New Orleans shipyard workers signed petitions circulated by the AFL-CIO Metal Trades Department to join together in a union. That brings the workers one step closer to fulfilling their goal of winning a voice on the job after a six-year struggle. Avondale s new owner, Litton Industries, will recognize the workers choice to form a union once a majority of the workers signatures have been verified by an arbitrator (see Nov. 8 WIP). CHINA/WTO DEAL 'GRAVE MISTAKE --A trade agreement reached today between the United States and China that paves the way for China s inclusion in the World Trade Organization is "a grave mistake," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said today. It "is disgustingly hypocritical of the Clinton White House to pledge to 'put a human face on the global economy while prostrating itself in pursuit of a trade deal with a rogue nation that decorates itself with human rights abuses as if they were medals," he said. To gain WTO membership, China still must negotiate agreements with other major trading partners, but trade experts said the U.S./China accord removes China s biggest hurdle to membership. Sweeney criticized China for its continued persecution of labor leaders and worker activists and its use of child and slave labor. "The agreement...deals away our democratic principles and most cherished values and we will fight it," he said.
SUPPORT GROWS FOR OVERNITE STRIKERS--Thousands of Overnite Transportation Co. workers walked out Oct. 24 after a former manager charged that Overnite illegally fired hundreds of pro-union workers. Since then, unions, central labor councils, trades councils and state federations have pitched in with picket-line assistance, rallies, news conferences and other solidarity events throughout the country, leading up to a Nov. 13 national day of action in more than two dozen cities. Overnite managers are calling striking workers at home, begging them to return to work amid reports that the company s business has dropped nearly 38 percent. Trying to hang on to customers, Overnite has offered discounts of nearly 80 percent, the union said. "Overnite s desperation means your efforts are having a major impact," IBT President James P. Hoffa told strikers. Meanwhile, the NLRB continues to order management to bargain, most recently at facilities in Bridgeton, Mo., Louisville, Ky., Norfolk, V! a., and North Atlanta, Ga. The AFL-CIO last week pledged $100,000 to support the strike and called on all affiliated unions to join the effort. "This campaign is critical, not just for the Teamsters, but for all of labor," federation President John Sweeney said. To find out how you can help, contact IBT s Carin Zelenko at 202-624-8700 or see www.teamsters.org.
WORKERS WIN UNIQUE LAYOFF BAN--Kaiser Permanente and the unions representing 60,000 of its employees announced a first-of-its-kind plan to bar layoffs at the health care network. AFSCME, AFT, SEIU, Professional and Technical Engineers, Office and Professional Employees and Steelworkers negotiated a plan under which displaced workers will be offered comparable jobs with comparable pay and benefits in the same geographic area, or be retrained and redeployed. "This agreement is the first of its kind in the health care industry," said President Sweeney. "Health care workers want to participate in shaping the workplace with the knowledge that can only be gained from doing the work."
LIVING WAGE IN CLEVELAND--Working families rallied at City Hall Nov. 8 to support a living-wage initiative expected to be introduced Nov. 15 in the Cleveland City Council. The proposal, affecting employers doing business with the city, would establish a living wage set at 125 percent of poverty for a family of four, health care and the right to seek a voice at work.
NATIVE AMERICAN ORGANIZING--Native American union activists from throughout the West attended a training session by the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute. The Nov. 5-6 Gallup, N.M., meeting was co-sponsored by the Nal-Nishii Federation of Labor, which functions as the central labor council for unions on Navajo lands. Activists discussed organizing strategies and expanding alliances with other Native American nations.
PARTNER BENEFITS--The New York Supreme Court s appellate division ruled 5-0 that New York City may offer domestic partner benefits to city workers. Although the benefits first were offered in 1993, they were challenged by a legal group founded by ultra-conservative televangelist Pat Robertson.
SCREEN TEST--Pledging to take a tough negotiating stance with the film and TV industry, "St. Elsewhere" actor William Daniels won the Screen Actors Guild presidency Nov. 5. Daniels, who defeated incumbent Richard Masur, said manyactors are concerned about the fees they receive when their work is broadcast in reruns.
CLEAN STREET--The Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council and Electrical Workers Local 98 launched a coordinated citywide effort to remove all political campaign literature and signs that remains from recent elections. The <R>effort, called Clean Street 99, is one way unions are supporting Mayor-Elect John Street s campaign promise to fight neighborhood blight. The cleanup will continue "for as long as it takes to get all the literature picked up," said IBEW Local 98 Business Manager John Dougherty.
WHAT S IN THE FRIDGE--Workers at a Frigidaire Co. plant in Greenville, Mich., voted 1,288-347 to adopt a contract after turning down an earlier offer. The new pact boosts wages and retirement benefits for 3,300 workers represented by UAW Local 137. UAW members also settled at three Lockheed Martin Corp. missile plants in Baltimore (Local 738), Denver (Local 766) and Orlando (Local 788). The production, manufacturing, office and technical workers will get an $1,800 lump-sum payment and improved wages, COLA and pension benefits.
RAYTHEON WORKERS MAKE POINT--Members of Machinists Local 933 voted 775-180 to nail down a four-year contract with Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. The pact offers a $1,500 bonus, boosts wages 14 percent over term and offers additional increases through job reclassification.
NEW OFFICERS IN NEBRASKA--Ken Mass, secretary-treasurer of the Nebraska AFL-CIO, was elected president of the state federation, succeeding Gordon McDonald, who retired last month. James M. Tylski, business manager for Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 538, is the new secretary-treasurer.
PAPER FOLDS--The final edition of the Detroit Sunday Journal will be published Nov. 21, the fourth anniversary of the award-winning interim strike newspaper s first issue. The Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions said the paper, which once had a circulation of 300,000 and averaged 48 pages during its first year, faced a continuing loss of staff as workers were called back to work at the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press or took jobs elsewhere. The council s six unions unconditionally offered to return to work in February 1997. The reader and advertiser boycott against the Free Press and the News will continue "until new contracts are ratified by the six locked-out unions," the council said.
LINE-ITEM VETO--At the carrier s annual meeting in Boston, Delta Air Lines flight attendants urged shareholders to stop management from squandering money on its effort to block a Flight Attendants organizing campaign. Delta has budgeted $2.5 million for an anti-union consultant, and is jetting in workers for mandatory captive meetings at four hub cities at a cost estimated to top $2 million, the AFA said.
ARMY (NOT SO) PRIVATE--AFGE sued the U.S. Army, charging that it provides sensitive and valuable personnel and organizational data on its Internet site, giving private contractors an unfair and illegal advantage when formulating bids for Army contracts. The Army s website has become an "incredible taxpayer-financed resource for private contractors to secure contracts and greater profits," said AFGE President Bobby Harnage.
CHECK THIS OUT--UFCW Local 1360 members ratified a new, five-year contract at Super Fresh supermarkets in southern New Jersey. The accord, which affects 718 workers, boosts new-hire pay to $10.75 in two years, provides an early-retirement cash incentive and increases hourly pay for senior employees, with no reduction in health care benefits.
NEW VP--Nate Gooden was elected a vice president by the UAW s executive board to fill the vacancy created by the death of Jack Laskowski in August. Gooden, director of UAW Region 1 since 1998, has served on the Region 1 staff since 1977.
VICTOR VAN BOURG--Victor Van Bourg, 68, one of the nation s top labor lawyers, died Nov. 2 of a heart attack in San Francisco. He successfully argued that the city of San Francisco had the right to declare that work on an airport expansion project must be done by union members. Van Bourg was a co-founder of the AFL-CIO s Lawyers Coordinating Committee. Federation General Counsel Jon Hiatt, who as a law student worked in Van Borg s firm, said, "We, his colleagues, learned an enormous amount from Victor and for that, we and the American labor movement should be eternally grateful."
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Nov. 15, 1999
We Can Stand a Little Rain
The rain has arrived in Seattle, and so have 20,000 ponchos for marchers at the Nov. 30 World Trade Organization rally and march. The ponchos will help keep the city's famous weather from dampening the spirits of its visitors, who continue to mobilize for global recognition of workers' rights.
* The Washington Association of Churches is mobilizing the faith community with an invitation to "Pray, Walk and Celebrate" during the WTO meeting, including an evening ecumenical prayer service at Seattle's St. James Cathedral Nov. 28 and a Nov. 29 interfaith prayer service at downtown Seattle's First Methodist Church. After the Nov. 29 service, participants will form a human chain around the hall where WTO delegates will have a reception.
* SEIU District 1199NW will provide standby medical units of doctors and interns to deliver medical attention to rally and march participants, augmenting normal emergency services that have been arranged with the city.
* Air Line Pilots President Capt. Duane Woerth will lead two busloads of pilots from United, Alaska, Northwest, Polar Air Cargo and Hawaiian Airlines to participate in the Nov. 30 march and rally.
* Eight hundred members of the local Taiwanese community plan to join with the Tibetan community and participate in the march. Both groups oppose China's inclusion in the WTO.
* AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka met Nov. 4 with mobilization coordinators to review event plans, and met with rank-and-file workers at the Seattle Labor Temple.
* More than 100 billboards and transit ads designed to raise questions about WTO policies are being erected around Seattle, in a campaign that has united a diverse group of labor, environmental and human rights groups.
For more information on unions' campaign to make the WTO work for working families, check out the Washington State Labor Council's website at www.wslc.org and the AFL-CIO website at www.aflcio.org. And for more information about how you can get involved, call 888-811-2WTO or 206-448-4888.