See the AFL-CIO Gulf Coast Worker Network Hurricane Relief Update for the latest hurricane relief efforts of the AFL-CIO and affiliate unions and visit www.aflcio.org/hurricane.
BUSH, ALLIES USE DISASTERS TO CUT SAFETY NET—The Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress are using the Gulf Coast hurricane disasters as a pretext to slash safety net programs—while getting ready to hand $70 billion in new tax breaks to the rich. Working families and congressional Democrats are mobilizing to stop them. To finalize the federal budget and pay for the $70 billion in tax cuts for the wealthy along with paying for rebuilding the Gulf Cost, Congress is looking to cut $35 billion to $50 billion in vital survival programs, including health care, education, food stamps and unemployment compensation—some of the programs most needed by hurricane survivors. Cutting such vital family programs and handing out tax cuts for the rich “are absolutely the wrong priorities for Congress and the nation. We need to set a new direction for America,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. “The unprecedented cost of Katrina will be borne by those least able to afford it,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), ranking member of the Budget Committee, wrote to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Democratic lawmakers are rallying to fight the Republican reconciliation package because its provisions would increase the deficit, give more tax breaks to the wealthy and cut programs desperately needed by hurricane survivors and low-income Americans. Republican leaders also want to raise Medicare premiums and co-payments by as much as $10,000 over five years. Join the campaign to derail the unjust budget reconciliation—call your members of Congress toll-free at 1-800-393-1082.
CLERICAL WORKERS CHOOSE AFSCME—Some 600 clerical employees at the Hennepin County (Minn.) Medical Center formed a union with AFSCME Council 5. The County Board voted unanimously Sept. 7 to recognize the union if a majority of workers signed union authorization cards. A neutral third party verified Oct. 6 that a majority had chosen the union.
UNION SÍ FOR JOURNALISTS—With the aid of Spanish union members, the 40 U.S. journalists at the Spanish news agency EFE voted Sept. 29 for The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America. Based in Miami, EFE covers news for a Spanish audience from bureaus in Miami, its U.S. home base, as well as Washington, D.C., and New York City. Spanish unions interceded with top EFE executives at the company’s headquarters in Madrid to win assurances of a free and fair vote.
HOLE IN ONE FOR ILWU—Some 30 workers at the Kaluakoi golf course on the Hawaiian island of Molokai joined the International Longshore and Warehouse Union recently through a majority sign-up, in which the employer agreed to recognize the union when a majority of workers signed union authorization cards.
WORKERS WIN IATSE AT SPORTSNET—Employees of the Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic network voted almost unanimously Sept. 20–21 to join the Theatrical Stage Employees. The 44 new union members include such free-lance technicians as technical directors, camera operators, video operators, audio technicians and others.
LATIN GRAMMIES SHOW UNION LABEL—In a major win, the workers on the Spanish-language production of the Latin GRAMMY Awards for the first time will work under an agreement between the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the show’s producer, FRB Productions. The show will air on Univision Nov. 3.
SURVEY SLAMS U.S. WORKER INTIMIDATION—A new global survey highlights what so many workers seeking to join a union know all too well: U.S. employers regularly harass and intimidate workers seeking a voice at work. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions’ Annual Study of Trade Union Rights Violations reiterates that 92 percent of U.S. employers force workers to attend anti-union meetings by threatening them with discipline or dismissal if they refuse and 75 percent hire anti-worker firms to subdue workers and fight organizing. Yet U.S. employers who violate workers’ rights––including firing workers seeking to form unions––face weak and poorly enforced legal sanctions. For more information, visit www.icftu.org. On International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, workers are planning the largest-ever mobilization for workers’ rights in the United States and around the world. Find out more at www.aflcio.org/d10.
SOLIDARITY CHARTER AGREEMENT REACHED—The AFL-CIO has reached an agreement in principle over terms for local unions affiliated with the Change to Win (CTW) federation to join AFL-CIO state federations and central labor councils via Solidarity Charters and enjoy full voting and participation rights. “I am pleased to report that we have made progress in our discussions with the Change to Win unions concerning the terms of the Solidarity Charter Program,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. With respect to the two major issues remaining, the AFL-CIO has agreed that members from CTW unions who have Solidarity Charters may run for and hold office in the state and central bodies; and for their part, the CTW unions have agreed with the concept of paying for cost-sharing at the national level to support the work of the state federations and central labor councils, with the understanding that it remains to negotiate a mutually acceptable method of payment. Further discussions are being scheduled to finalize details. The AFL-CIO is processing Solidarity Charter applications from interested local unions. Applications can be obtained from the AFL-CIO’s website or by e-mailing solidaritycharter@aflcio.org.
HURRICANE RELIEF FUND GROWS—The AFL-CIO Union Community Fund’s Hurricane Relief Fund has collected more than $564,000 and donations still are coming in to help the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. For more on the hurricane relief efforts of the AFL-CIO and affiliate unions, see the AFL-CIO Gulf Coast Worker Network Hurricane Relief Update and visit www.aflcio.org/hurricane.
KATRINA CONNECTIONS—Several contractors with multimillion-dollar contracts for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts have cozy ties with influential lawmakers and lobbyists connected to the Bush administration, according to a Center for Responsive Politics report, Ties That Bind. Of the $2.3 billion in contracts awarded by the Bush administration in the weeks after Katrina, at least 15 totaled $15 million or more each and five contracts were valued at $500 million or more. More than 80 percent of those contracts were awarded with little or no competition. For more information, visit www.capitaleye.org.
HIGH POINT PACT ENDS STRUGGLE—More than 1,200 UAW Local 5287 members at the Freightliner Thomas Built Buses plant in High Point, N.C., approved by a 92 percent margin a new five-year contract that cuts health care costs and provides economic gains and workplace democracy. Their fight for a union voice at Freightliner began in March 2004, when a majority signed cards authorizing union representation and the company agreed to honor their choice. The rabidly anti-worker National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation filed charges on behalf of a few workers challenging the recognition. The union agreed to a new secret ballot election and in June workers again chose UAW.
BRICKLAYERS BUILD ORGANIZING—Members of the Bricklayers focused on building strength through organizing and political action during the union’s Oct.3–6 convention in Honolulu. Workshops included sessions on organizing techniques and tools and the challenges of helping immigrant workers join unions.
DELPHI MONEY GRAB ‘DISGUSTING’—UAW President Ron Gettelfinger denounced as a “disgusting spectacle” the decision by Delphi Corp. to sweeten the severance packages of 21 top executives one day before announcing its plan to file for bankruptcy. The union is willing to continue discussions to consider a wide range of options to make Delphi’s operation successful, he said. The UAW represents 25,000 workers at Delphi, the world’s largest auto parts supplier.
SPRINT WORKERS STRIKE FOR FAIRNESS—Refusing company demands for massive contract concessions, nearly 1,000 Sprint Corp. workers represented by the Communications Workers of America went on strike Oct. 9 at local Sprint telephone operations—the most profitable segment of Sprint—in Florida, Indiana, North Carolina and Tennessee. Strike issues include a proposal that would allow Sprint to shift up to 100 percent of its health costs to workers and eliminate current limits on transferring work and jobs to outside contractors. Also at issue: Sprint’s contributions to employees’ 401(k) pension plan, elimination of some overtime pay and a reduction in vacations, holidays and sick leave. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said union members could help striking local service Sprint workers by switching their wireless service from nonunion Sprint to Cingular Wireless, where workers are represented by CWA, and their long-distance service from nonunion Sprint to unionized AT&T. For more information, visit www.cwa-union.org.
HEALTH CARE VETO BEATEN—Working families continue to hold large companies accountable for forcing employees to use taxpayer-funded health care programs by paying low wages and skimping on benefits. The New York City Council recently overrode Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of legislation setting minimum standards for employer contributions to worker health costs. On Sept. 27, Long Island working families mobilized to win passage of a similar bill by the Suffolk County Legislature. Meanwhile, working families and legislators in California and Maryland will attempt to override recent health care vetoes in their next legislative sessions. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed legislation Oct. 7 that would have required the state to collect and disclose the names of those employers whose workers apply for publicly funded health care programs as well as the cost to state taxpayers. California unions, community groups and others pushed for the Health Care Disclosure Act, while the giant retailer Wal-Mart opposed it. In May, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) vetoed a bill that would have required employers with more than 10,000 workers in the state to spend 8 percent of their payroll on worker health care costs or contribute to a special health care fund. For more information, visit www.walmartcostsyou.com.
STOP CHINA’S CURRENCY SCHEMES—Union and business leaders called on the Bush administration and Congress to take immediate action to remedy the Chinese government’s practice of manipulating its currency exchange rate to gain an unfair trade advantage. “Our policy makers need to adopt a positive trade and industrial agenda to ensure that China stops subsidizing its export sector and allows its workers the growing incomes and democratic rights that will allow them to join the middle class,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told an Oct. 13 news conference in Washington, D.C. The AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, which Trumka chairs, is urging passage of H.R. 1498, bipartisan legislation that would provide U.S. manufacturers and the government with more effective tools to combat China’s illegal currency manipulation.
