Economic Justice : Worker's rights |
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Unionization and union strength in different lines of employment, collective bargaining; safety and other non-monetary aspects of the employment situation.
4/24/10
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Analysis & views: 4/11/10 3/24/10 1/14/10 12/26/09 12/6/09 7/8/09 Sugar cane workers in Brazil make 8 month widows of their wives as they follow the harvest---if they are lucky and don't have to return as disabled from the strenuous work http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47561 5/1/09 Labor unrest being reflected in May Day protests around Europe. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/05/20095184026681889.html 1/29/09 French workers striking to demand government expenditures for better wages and hours disrupt the country's rail and air travel services. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7857435.stm 9/16/08 Child slavery and other forced labor still exists throughout the world, but it has declined with public attention focussed on the problem and a small number of activists making heroic efforts to overcome the situation. A Christian Science Monitor report. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0916/p01s01-usgn.html 8/14/08 Working conditions in fields of sugar cane used for ethanol production in Brazil are described as "slave-like." http://www.latinamericapress.org/articles.asp?art=5679 8/12/08 Conservative editorialist for Athens News blasts the effort of Greek unions to oppose Finance Minister's determination to limit pay increases for workers in those agencies which generate deficits for the country's budget. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13298&t=01&m=A99&aa=9 1/31/08 Peruvian workers accuse a logging company of using their identity documents in a fraudulent tax scheme. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41002 1/25/08 Investigators blame greed of coal miners to maximize profit by avoiding safety measures as responsible for a methane explosion that killed more than 100 miners in Ukraine. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080126/ap_on_re_eu/ukraine_mine_blast;_ylt=AugM13jK_wctCZ1lUIUGlIRw24cA 12/21/07 Strike of workers over pensions issue in Britain's busiest airports is planned for next month. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071221/tuk-uk-britain-airports-strike-fa6b408_3.html 12/7/07 Domestic workers in Bolivia have been difficult to organize, helping account for much of the abuse of themselves in the national work force. http://www.latinamericapress.org/article.asp?IssCode=&lanCode=1&artCode=5408 12/4/07 240,000 South African miners hold one-day strike to protest safety conditions in the mines. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7125622.stm 11/20/07 WAL-MART in Argentina gets called on the carpet for its anti-union policies: Argentine government officials are investigating charges that the company maintains sub-standard working conditions for its Argentine employees by a systematic policy of suppression of union activity. One ominous feature of this practice is Wal-Mart's employing as its "head of security" a former military officer who was involved in the infamous "disappearance" of dissenting Argentines during the era of the military dictatorship and "Dirty War" of 1973-83. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=42&ItemID=14326 11/20/07 State government workers in France join prolonged strike of rail workers, closing schools and forcing reduced operations of hospitals. http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20071120/twl-france-politics-strike-6b0205e.html 11/14/07 French transportation workers strike against a reform in early pension plans and BBC reports a "hellish day" in Paris for commuter traffic as a result. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7093373.stm 9/28/07 Employers in Denmark being faced with charges if they force employees into overtime work. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/103621.html 9/3/07 Some of the meanest work in the world: Ship-breakers of Bangladesh. Segment on 60 Minutes concerning an entrepreneur who buys up used ships from around the world and brings them to Bangladesh to be stripped by local workers. Though the work contributes to the country's economy by furnishing steel for construction and income from selling off the ships' appliances, it is done by adults and children paid extremely low wages and subjected to very hazardous working conditions. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/03/60minutes/main2149023.shtml 9/3/07 UK Guardian investigation notes that tailors in India who make clothes for export to Britain work under "Dickensian" levels of pay and working conditions. http://www.guardian.co.uk/supermarkets/story/0,,2161301,00.html 9/3/07 Nigerian government warns group called Association of All Drivers not to engage in protests against traffic managers, saying the group is "illegal" and not one of two transport unions recognized by the government. http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article18 8/9/07 Sociologists in France note uptick of suicide rates that seem to be work-related, and describe how management practices (for example, of rotating workers in and out of employment in which they are subjected to irradiation) have contributed to these deaths. While French law specifies civil penalties for anyone "encouraging" the suicide of another, there is little likelihood that French employers will be held liable under this law. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=74&ItemID=13484 7/9/07 Nurses making house calls in Scotland are coming under increasing threats of assault as they do their work. http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1528935.0.0.php 5/24/07 UK branch of McDonald's works to get excluded from Oxford English Dictionary a definition of a McJob as "an unstimulating low paid job with few prospects." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6683365.stm 5/1/07 Police in Istanbul Turkey arrest left-wing demonstrators attempting to protest the 1977 shooting of 30 protesters in another labor rally. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6610665.stm 4/11/07 "Rotating strike" impends for rail service in Canada as workers reject an agreement with management. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070410.wcnvote0411/BNStory/Business/home 4/9/07 Strike called by teachers in Neuquen, Argentina to protest the killing by police of a teacher during a demonstration related to increase in teachers' wages. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/argentina/note.jsp?idContent=373213&hideIntro=true 3/1/07 Wildcat strikes (spontaneous walk-outs) occur among workers of AIRBUS plants in Germany and France to protest the company's layoffs of workers. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6407213.stm 5/14/06 Communist parties in Indian provinces of West Bengal and Kerala achieve smashing electoral success, based on appeal to working constituency: 7-1-A-N In the wake of concerns about nut allergies, restaurants are resisting efforts to require them to make public disclosure of possible allergens in their menus:] http://counterpunch.org/prashad05132006.html 5/5/06 Strike of workers at Indian airports is experience as an "inconvenience" by Indian middle classes and as a pretext for privatizing airline industry: http://counterpunch.org/prashad05052006.html 4/7/06 Ehrenreich: French labor protests are about a right that American workers can only "dream of": the right not to be disposed of on an employer's whim: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0406-25.htm 3/26/06 General strike looms in France over youth job rights issue: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR2006032701354.html?referrer=email 3/19/06 French protests against youth labor laws are spreading throughout the country: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/international/europe/19paris.html?th&emc=th 3/15/06 Protests break out in France against new laws impeding job opportunities for younger workers: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/international/europe/15france.html?th&emc=th
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Analysis & views: 4/24/10 4/13/10 4/11/10 4/9/10 4/7/10 4/5/10 4/4/10 4/1/10 3/24/10 2/26/10 2/14/10 PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FAVORITE CEO: A UNION-BUSTING REPUBLICAN. Pressed by Bloomberg News to name his favorites, Obama mentions several, with FedEx CEO Frederick Smith at the top of his list. Smith was a major fund-raiser for John McCain in the last election, and FedEx, along with its UPS competitor, has lobbied against legislative efforts to ease the unionizing process for workers. A presidential aide tries to explain the choise by citing Smith's "innovative" ideas about energy consumption, saying that the CEO of such a big fuel consumer as FedEx speaks, officials had best listen. Alternet writer Robert Conner sees this choice as symptomatic of Obama's persistent need to seek cordial relations with the most powerful men and women in the corporate world. 2/12/10 2/10/10 2/1/10 1/27/10 1/24/10 12/31/09 12/26/09 12/21/09 11/12/09 9/14/09 8/23/09 Chicago workers resort to some musical compositions to "fight city hall." 8/18/09 7/22/09 4/25/09 Battle is joined on Employee Free Choice Act. Democrats in Congress and White House face daunting odds in their effort to secure passage of EFCA, which would allow unions to be formed without the perils of unionization elections. Union have massively organized for it, business interests in opposition. Of interest to Chris Kromm is a significant defection on the issue of key Democratic party lobbyists, some of them associated with Wal Mart's campaign of opposition to EFCA. This activity has seemingly affected the decline in support for the bill by several members of the Democratic Party in Congress http://www.counterpunch.org/kromm04242009.html 3/31/09 U.S. labor union leaders, trying to rebuild their beleaguered unions, are resorting to a desperate tactic.: Some of them (like John Sweeney and Andy Stern) are actually writing books, and rank and file union members, notorious for lack of book reading, seem to be reading (or at least are recipients of the "complimentary" copies given them by their bosses). Otherwise, an increasing number of academics and other writers on current affairs are entering a market with a mini-boom going. http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/21026 3/20/09 Are American employers using "recession" as excuse to faten their bottom lines by firing workers?: This is Robert Eshelman's suggestion, based on his observations at a Philadelphia Labor Center and from the news of the time. Employers dismiss workers at the flimsiest of excuses because of some "fault" in their work and the constant threat of such firings, even in the "good times" of companies like Wal-Mart that are now profitable, serves to keep employees willing to forego overtime pay, "give back" salary increases, take unpaid "holidays" from work, etc. http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175048/robert_eshelman_the_other_war_on_workers 2/28/09 We've got the bailout money, now let's go after the Employee Free-Choice Act.: Shortly after Bank of America secured $25 billion in bailout funding, it sponsored a teleconference on how it and other corporations could counter the EFCA, which would allow workers to establish unions based on check offs made at the time of their employment. Adam Turl documents the intensity of effort in corporate America to challenge a practice that they see as empowering unions, and he tries to refute, point by point, the common "lies" about EFCA that they promote. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2009/02/the-enemies-of-unions-and-the-lies-they-tell/ 2/17/09 General Motors tries to give its workers a dose of shock therapy:. UAW is put in a vise by the companies, as workers are told that they must accept heavy cuts in health care benefits for retirees as a condition for obtaining the "life line" of a government bailout, without which the company is likely to go under and the workers will lose their jobs http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/business/economy/17auto.html?th&emc=th 2/16/09 Day laborers in New Orleans, paid in cash and often undocumented immigrants reluctant to report crimes, are described as "easy prey" for muggers. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/us/16hispanic.html?th&emc=th 2/7/09 In California, they don't lay off workers, they "furlough" them.: In an effort to deal with its budget deficit, the state yesterday began a program, to last until June of 2011, to require workers to take a day off without pay twice a month as the agencies for which they work are closed. Workers are thus deprived of 9% of their pay and citizens are deprived of state services for two Fridays of each month. (Today California, tomorrow....) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/us/07calif.html?th&emc=th 2/3/09 Building supply and garden stores are functioning as informal "day labor centers" in U.S. cities. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45642 12/22/08 In the current economic downtown, companies (with more or less approval and cooperation with workers and their unions) are seeking to avoid layoffs by keeping their work forces intact but introducing cost-cutters like unpaid vacations, shorter work weeks and cut-backs on benefit packages. 12/22/08 Perhaps not to be outdone by Boston city firefighters nearly all of whom add "disability" payments to the retirement incomes, Massport transit workers are enjoying the benefits of a rare program that allows them to augment their incomes (and ultimately increase their pensions) by "selling back" their unused vacation time. Did we mention that the prime beneficiaries of this are salaried executive workers, some of whom are taking "informal" leave to make up for the vacation time they have sold back? http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/12/22/mining_vacation_gold_at_massport/ 12/18/08 "The lesson for labor, now and then, is don't get into bed with crooked politicans, because they may end up making you look as bad as them.": Steve Early draws this "lesson" between the "then and now" of a Massachusetts politico who took union bribes in the last century and the Illinois Governor who became involved in a similar but bigger scale way with today's Service Employee's International Union. The SEIU has done valuable work in advancing working conditions for its members, but loses that advantage when it gets too flagrantly "in bed" with pay-to-play systems like that operated by Blagojevich. http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/19971 11/28/08 Can Motor City be saved without destroying the UAW? It can, says a writer for Nation, but only if the rescue of the Big Three automakers is part of a comprehensive package of reform in how the companies do business and a national commitment to a jobs-creating agenda of addressing the nation's infrastructure and other collective needs. Otherwise, the "price" of the bailout will be not just to the taxpayers but to unionized workers, whose losses in wages and benefits will go far beyond the "concessions" already made by the UAW as the workers' contribution to company survival. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081215/colon-margolies 11/23/08 Henry Ford had the right idea, but today's automakers and other employers can't seem to follow it: Ford's idea was simply that if his workers couldn't afford to buy his cars, he couldn't make a profit and he offered an unheard-of wage for workers based on this perception. Today's businesses operate on a competitive race to the bottom of cheap labor that separates the industrial capacity of the economy from the demands of those who want the product of that capacity. The result is that the fabulous wealth of the business-owning and money-lending class is at the expense of the buying power of improverished masses. The current bailouts simply put more money in the hands of the wealthy without addressing the poverty of those who ultimately can't buy Ford's and other manufacturers' products. 11/21/08 U.S. auto workers could get a jolt of the "shock doctrine" if a bailout of the Big Three automakers is approved: . The debate in Congress, for and against the bailout, makes it clear that auto workers are going to bear the burden of consequences of the mismanagement of these companies. If the bailouts are refused and these companies go into bankruptcy, the jobs of workers will be threatened. If they are given, they are likely to be conditioned on requirements that the companies reduce further the benefits that they provide to their workers. This article, as one would expect of a writer on the World Socialist Web Site, argues that only a nationalisation of the auto industry under worker control would solve the financial problems of that industry. http://www.countercurrents.org/white191108.htm 11/19/08 Can (will) Barack Obama restore the "social contract" that has been broken by every presidential administration since Reagan?: Manuel Garcia, self-identified as a "1 per center," (the proportion of Americans who voted for either McCain nor Obama), assesses the likelihood that Obama can carry off a Roosevelt-style reassertion of a "social contract" by means of which working people have given up some of their freedom in exchange for government protection of their labor rights. Garcia even volunteers a Presidential inauguration speech and produces an optimistic statement that Obama could make as he assumes the presidency. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/11/renew-the-social-contract/ 10/25/08 A union of teachers was disbanded by Puerto Rico's Governor after they carried out a strike and a new election was called in which the intent was to install a "company union. Despite the best efforts of Andy Stern and other SIEU functionaries, the teachers said "no" to the company union. http://www.counterpunch.org/early10242008.html 8/2/08 “We feel educating our associates about the bill is the right thing to do " says Wal-Mart management as it "educates" its employees to vote against candidates who support the Employee Free Choice Act, which would loosen restrictions again unionization among Wal-Mart "associates." They also are "educated" (not threatened) against voting for Obama for President, since he supports the act. (Given the nature of some of Obama's economic advisers and the past Wal-Mart associations of his wife, their concern about his election may have been a little overdone.) http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/01/10744/ BUT SEE: "WHY ARE DEMOCRATS TAKING MONEY FROM WALMART?" http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/01/10756/ 7/27/08 Raid on a meatpacking plant in Iowa rounded up more than just illegal immigrants: The raid produced as well a flood of allegations by the detained workers of oppressive working conditions in the plant, which employed child labor, maintained lax standards of safety, and subjected workers to long hours of work. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/us/27immig.html?th&emc=th# 7/3/08 Big Three automakers can't escape their past. As the market goes south for their super-sized vehicles, Ford, Chrysler and General motors will lay off up to 20,000 workers, but they still face having to pay half salaries and benefits to these workers under UAW contract. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/business/03auto.html?th&emc=th 6/22/08 Large protests are occurring in Boston among food services workers protesting working conditions in a catering service, Aramark. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/22/food_services_workers_step_up_protest/ 6/18/08 When labor joins the management "team": Only in a "human resources seminar" could one say with a straight face that labor benefits from joining up: The beginning in the 1980s of a "non-adversarial" relationship of management and labor may have been the beginning of the end of union influence in bettering the lives of workers. Management demonstrates its "regard" for its worker team-members by, among other things, outsourcing their jobs or trying to automate them, or keeping close-mouthed about plans for plant closings in order to mine the last dregs of profit from the operation of those plants. Given the decline in industrial manufacture, these effects may have been inevitable, but in the thriving area of service employment? http://www.counterpunch.org/macaray06172008.html 5/28/08 Supreme Court makes surprise decision in favor of workers' rights: By 7-2 decision, Court affirms that an employee who reports discrimination cannot be punished by management in retaliation. Alito and Roberts, the most recent Court additions, vote with the majority, leaving only Scalia and Thomas to hold down the conservative fort. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/washington/28scotus.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 5/10/08 Mothers Day question to ponder:. Why is there so much discrimination against working mothers in U.S. work places? Interview with an MomsRising organization founder attempts to come to terms with this issue. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/84962/ 4/20/08 Staughton Lynd: For American labor, "another world is possible." This possible world will be based on the same kind of union solidarity that marked the labor movement in the 1930s. and not on a continuation of the practice, beginning with John L. Lewis, of rank-and-file movements as being essentially "caucuses to elect new bureaucratic union leaders." The recurring paeans of praise for labor titans the like of Lewis, John Sweeney and Andrew Stern will need to be replaced by union leaders who will not bargain away union solidarity by such management practices as "two-tier" wage levels for older and younger workers. http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/17200 3/16/08 Texas becomes first state to enact a federally-permitted law requiring insurance companies to give health information about clients to their employers. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5623062.html 3/1/08 Massachusetts snow plow operators are expecting to be paid more promptly for their services http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/01/plowing_crews_to_demand_wages/ 2/26/08 Ford Motor Company tries to slash labor costs by offering rich inducements such as bribes...er incentive packages...of up to $140,000 and free college tuition for all family members for those with higher end salaries to retire early, so the company can replace them with workers at entry level salaries. Some workers are reluctant to take the bait saying that don't know "what will happen" to Ford, seeming to mean that they don't trust the company to make good on their promises to buy them out. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/business/26ford.html?th&emc=th 2/25/08 Speaker of Massachusetts House, opponent of casino gambling in the state, plays golf in Hobe Sound, Florida with leading proponent and investor in casinos, urging on him the value of casinos in "creating jobs" for state workers. 2/22/08 Government employees union wins a 6-year battle against Department of Homeland Security: Since 2002, DHS has sought special exemptions from personnel requirements for employees, including their right to collective bargaining, on grounds that the Department needs to be more "flexible" in its personnel actions. Congress entered the fray by denying funds for new personnel system for DHS and a federal judge finally rules in favor of the union. 2/11/08 Alaskan workers are concerned with job losses as negotiation of a new "oil response" contract is being negotiated in Valdez. http://www.adn.com/front/story/311432.html 2/1/08 ABC News pushes front and center the allegation that Hillary Clinton failed to promote union interests while on Wal-Mart's board of directors: Their review of tapes of Board meetings is said to indicate that Clinton was anything but pro-active in opposition to the company's union-busting policies. Sam Walton mentioned that Clinton was a strong advocate for environmentalism and women while on the Board, but no mention of similar advocacy for workers. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4218509&page=1 1/31/08 Official of Port of San Francisco accuses a city supervisor of "outlandish harassment" of Port employees in phone calls to object to port authority's opposition to some of his ideas. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/31/MN8OUP00K.DTL&tsp=1 1/22/08 Will there be a social conscience malfunction at halftime of 2008 Super Bowl?: Firestone Natural Rubber Co. sponsors the show, which the company says will give it a "showcase" opportunity for world exposure. Probably they will want to keep their corporate right breast covered, since it's here that it might be revealed how the company exploits workers, including child laborers, on the company's rubber plantations in Liberia, and refuses to recognize a union which the workers voted last year to be their representative. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/21/6504/ 12/4/07 It's not just Florida teachers who hate "performance-based" pay scales . Employees of Federal Aviation Authority express extreme dissatisfaction with the agency's pay policy, citing its harmful effects on employee morale. 11/29/07 Stage-hands end a 19 day walkout, the second longest strike in Broadway history, and the closed shows set the stage for a grand re-opening. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/theater/29broadway.html?th&emc=th 11/20/07 You may miss your annual fix of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" this year: This and other Broadway shows are closing as the stagehands strike, expected to end shortly after it started, has become prolonged and the Broadway economy is expected to lose millions of dollars in its usually lucrative Christmas season. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/theater/20broadway.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th 11/11/07 What show did you see while you were in New York? "I saw a bunch of people standing on the street with signs." 27 of 35 Broadway shows close during a strike after negotiations fail between producers and stagehands. Actors and musicians join the tech workers on the picket line. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/theater/11broadway.html?th&emc=th 11/6/07 A flood of worker tears awaits the result of that "two-tier" contract that the UAW has negotiated with the auto industry:. Auto companies have used scare tactics to assure workers that, unless they accept cost-cutting contracts that create decidedly unequal pay and benefits for a company's "new hires," they will lose their own medical benefits if not their jobs as companies move to Mississippi or Mexico because they cannot "compete" in Detroit. The tears will flow, says a union activist, when workers later realize that these cuts will find their way by economic and cultural osmosis into their own supposedly protected ark of privilege. http://www.counterpunch.org/macaray11052007.htm 11/5/07 Auto industry analyst says the UAW has given the Big Three companies a chance to become competitive again by their recently-concluded labor contracts; now it's up to the companies to translate this opportunity into success by management reforms. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/OPINION03/711050349 10/13/07 U.S. auto workers are experiencing a decline in their levels of pay and benefits: This is the conclusion of a Christian Science Monitor analysis of the rcently-concluded contract negotiations between the UAW and auto makers, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1012/p01s05-usec.html 9/27/07 General Motors relieves itself of a "burden." In the labor agreement with the UAW which ended a short strike, GM wins agreement to phase out its historical responsibility for furnishing medical benefits to its workers and retirees, as union-managed voluntary benefits organizations will take their place. Other companies expected to follow suit. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/business/27auto.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 9/13/07 Little-understood plans for providing for retired employees' health care are an issue standing in the way of auto contracts in Detroit. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_AUTO_TALKS_MIOL-?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT 9/4/07 Boston Globe columnist finds very little to celebrate about Labor Day. James Carroll laments the "failure" of labor, its inability to sustain the tradition of solidarity and its co-optation by a military/industrial complex that makes "war industry" the basis of a worker economy and relegates labor (work that Americans "won't do", meaning anything separated from a computer keyboard) to immigrants. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/03/3579/ 9/4/07 Labor Day parade in downtown St. Louis becomes a "support the troops" parade. 9/3/07 How US "honors" workers on Labor Day. Stephen Lendmann says the day is "commemorated in name only by a nation beholden to capital, the corporate giants controlling it, and the best democracy their money can buy for them alone." http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=19&ItemID=13672 9/3/07 "You don't want to celebrate too much at a time when you're negotiating new contracts" says a movie web site operator in explaining the behavior of Hollywood movie executives in bemoaning their financial condition after a summer of record-breaking box office receipts. The occasion of their crocodile tears is the fact that a studio labor contract is coming up for renewal this fall http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/03/business/media/03movies.html?th&emc=th 9/3/07 A union of day workers is forcing a showdown with Baltimore Orioles management for cleaning workers at the Camden Yards site who are seeking an improvement of their working conditions as a September deadline has been indicated after which they may go on hunger strike. http://labornotes.org/node/1253 9/3/07 U.S. labor unions win 30 day injunction against government sending letters to employees demanding firing of illegal immigrant employees. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/01/MN3RRTFO5.DTL 9/3/07 Impending strike of support workers for University of Minnesota could throw into chaos the opening of the fall semester. http://www.citypages.com/databank/28/1395/article15805.asp 8/19/07 Utah mining is described as an industry in which there has been persistent and pervasive ignoring of mine safety regulations. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695202249,00.html 8/9/07 AFL-CIO plays the Kucinich gadfly card. The labor federation, at its presidential debate in Chicago, insisted on having the "lesser" candidate Kucinich in the debate, to spur the more "centrist" candidates toward a more forthright pro-labor position. Kucinich responds in his usual fiery fashion and wins kudos for his "best debate," but is unlikely to win labor union endorsement which tends, says John Nichols, to pick perceived "winners" rather than those candidates whom they like the best. The jury is still out on whether the gambit will influence the "top tier" candidates. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=221001 8/2/07 Cause of death in NYC subway accidents: "Organizational culture": Report by city transit authority uses this term to describe a pervasive practice of supervisors ignoring safety standards and practices for the protection of workers. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/nyregion/02workers.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 7/19/07 The UPS strike of ten years ago: Did it prove anything? It seems to have proven that a strike can help reduce economic inequality between workers and managers if, like the UPS one, it engages the societal consensus on the intolerability of such inequality, as the Teamsters Union successfully did in focussing on the plight of the part time workers on which UPS had depended. The turn of the Democratic Party in this direction is encouraging, but workers cannot rely on the "kindness" of either party toward themselves, since both parties are financially supported by the same forces of "de-regulation" and "globalization" that have made life so difficult for working people. Unions must be ready, as the Teamsters were in 1997, to bring production to a halt by their strikes, and not rely on their leaders' "cooperation" with management schemes to save their companies by getting union "concessions." http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=19&ItemID=13332 7/3/07 UAW is in bitter struggle with automakers in Michigan about the companies' plans to eliminate a "jobs bank" program that provides income and benefits to employees after they are laid off. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070702/AUTO01/707020355&theme=Autos-UAW-talks 6/28/07 Republican filibuster kills (for now) hopes of an Employee Free Choice Act to protect workers' right to organize On a vote of 51-48 (60 required for passage) on a motion to close debate on the issue the Act, already passed by the House, is apparently dead for this session of Congress but not necessarily for the future, as the 51 votes represents a dramatic increase in Senate support for the measure. All Democratic Senators and one Republican (Specter) voted for closure. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/27/2135/ THE VOTE 6/28/07 Johns Hopkins study shows that there is a signficant risk of health care workers being the victims of accidental needle sticks that may carry disease infection, a hazard not widely recognized partly because these incidents are frequently not reported. 6/18/07 Taft-Hartley Act 1947-2007: RIP?? Sixty years ago this month, Congress (that "good for nothing" Congress that Truman ran against in 1948) passed over President Truman's veto a law which placed huge obstacles in the way of American workers forming unions by defining "unfair" labor practices that tended to be anything in the way of practices producing effective union organization. Earlier this year the House passed a new labor relations act that would undo many of these restrictions. As early as June 20, the Senate may vote for or against the legislation. With a GOP filibuster and a presidential veto impending, the prospects are not good for ultimate success of the legislation. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=19&ItemID=13083 5/30/07 Latest assault of 5-4 Supreme Court o workers' rights as "high" court rules that workers can file pay discrimination cases only within tightly defined time deadline. The usual suspects of Alioto, Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas constitute the majority; some of those Democratic Senators who voted to confirm Roberts because he was so "well qualified" may be having second thoughts. 5/26/07 General Motors is pushing UAW to accept changes in work rules that would reduce some employee privileges, in an effort to meet similar practices among competitors like Toyota. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/AUTO01/705250367&theme=Autos-UAW 5/15/07 UAW and "the deal." The autoworkers union walks a tightrope of support and opposition toward the buyout of Chrysler Corporation which is likely to result in reduction of the company's health care and retirement benefits for its workers. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/business/15Auto.html?th&emc=th 5/13/07 Dealers at Atlantic City casinos vote down a proposal to join the UAW. 5/2/07 May Day report on the employee practices of Wal-Mart. Human Rights Watch report details how Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. corporation, uses security cameras to monitor employee conversations and provides its managers with a "tool kit" of devices to ensure that union organization will not occur in their stores. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/01/877/ 5/1/07 May Day is celebrated as a day of worker solidarity around the industrialized world but not in the USA. In this country, the fear of union power has led government away from this recognition, symbolized in today's planned events in which immigrant worker rallies are being muted by the intimidation tactics of the INS. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=19&ItemID=12719 4/10/07 Blue and green: The new colors of labor movement development. Labor movement in California is flourishing with a new clientele and tactic: a clientele of service sector employees, many of them immigrants; and a tactic of seeking and receiving support from a variety of grass roots activists in the civil rights and environmental movements. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0410/p02s01-ussc.html?page=1 4/7/07 "Reckless disregard for safety": This judgment by a mine safety agency in West Virginia resulted in a $1.5 million fine against Massey Energy, the operator of a mine in which two miners were killed in a fire. This episode apparently led to the firing of the mining inspectors whose findings resulted in the fine...and the crusading local reporter who reported on the situation. http://www.counterpunch.org/ccr04062007.html 4/3/07 In Maine, employers of domestic workers are exempt from paying them minimum wage or overtime, but only if they work individually and not as employees of firms that furnish these services. http://www.bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=148203&zoneid=586 3/10/07 Some Houston school-teachers were over-paid by mistake in their "merit bonuses" and the school district wants the money returned, teachers' union urges they not return the money. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070310/ap_on_re_us/teacher_bonuses;_ylt=Arb3erIhcw_fnFg8Cco1TvtG2ocA 3/6/07 Prevalence of abusive working conditions for teenage employees is described in a University of North Carolina study. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07065/767127-28.stm 2/6/07 Congress will today begin considering legislation that would greatly facilitate the process by which workers could join unions, freeing them from alleged management intimidations against joining. http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews 1/5/07 Unions sue OSHA for continuing to allow employers to require workers to pay for safety equipment essential to their work. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/4051 1/3/07 Dissatisfaction with working conditions at a large Connecticut casino results in 275 employees calling in sick over the holiday weekend. 12/29/06 Workers at Smithfield Meat-packing plant in NC, frustrated with efforts to have their working conditions grievances addressed by routine complaint mechanisms, are using public education programs to try to focus outside pressures on the industry. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3309 11/30/06 IRS scales back on its plan to out-source tax processing work for the tax-return season, but a federal employees union is dissatisfied with the adjusment. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/29/AR2006112901515.html?referrer=email 11/29/06 With Democratic control of Congress, American labor looks forward to much more political responsiveness to the agenda of guaranteeing the rights of American workers. http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1128-23.htm 11/29/06 UAW faces decimation of its member ranks in Ford Motor Company as the company has already completed 38,000 buy-outs with workers, representing 46% of UAW workers employed by Ford. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/29/financial/f064833S26.DTL 11/21/06 Thousand workers hold walkout at Smithfield Packing Plant in NC, world's largest hog slaughterhouse which was described as a modern-day "jungle" in Fast Food Nation. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061204/kvh 11/17/06 FBI proposes to expand the "criminal history" records submitted to employers considering the hiring of employees to include information about minor offenses. http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3903 11/10/06 Advocates for federal employees expect working condition improvements as oversight of government operations pass to the hands of new leaders like Henry Waxman in the House. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/08/AR2006110802182.html?referrer=email 10/8/06 Survivors of Sago mine disaster meet for a group counseling session in which many psychic scars are revealed; one of the men describes them as "walking dead men." http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06281/728326-357.stm 10/2/06 Working conditions at Wal Mart become worse as company institutes wage caps, expands part time and weekend employment and expects more "flexibility" of hours including having working mothers on night shifts. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/business/02walmart.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 9/1/06 Rank has its privileges for mothers returning to work after giving birth. Corporation executives at Starbucks have a comfortable "lactation" lounge complete with breast pumps, etc. while women who work the counters have to squeeze into rest rooms during short breaks without any of the "lounge" amenities. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/health/01nurse.html?th&emc=th 8/10/06 U.S. labor unions and immigrant rights advocates make common cause in a rare coaltion of sometimes opposing forces. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/us/10labor.html?th&emc=th 7/24/06 Union efforts at promoting workers' rights in a meatpacking plant in North Carolina must struggle with the distrust between two major elements of the workforce: local poor blacks and undocumented Central American immigrants. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/23/AR2006072300698.html?referrer=email 6/10/06 Delphi and UAW continue to work on "deals" that will hopefully avoid the closing the giant auto parts manufacturer. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060610/AUTO01/606100342 5/27/06 In a cozy relationship between the mining industry and the Bush administration sweetened by generous campaign contributions, safety conditions for miners have been allowed to deteriorate and "accidents" occur more frequently. http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0526-29.htm 5/4/06 As Wall Street celebrates the growth of the American "economy," most of the growth is in low-wage service employment, and there is growth as well in the demands and the dangers of jobs in areas like that of hotel housekeeping: http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3122 5/3/06 "Socially responsible" whole foods marketing industry is not very responsible in the treatment of its own workers: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0502-34.htm 4/28/06 Malfunctioning face masks cited by Sago mine disaster survivor as a factor in the mine deaths there: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/us/28mines.html?th&emc=th 4/28/06 The Employee Free Choice Act, now a bill in Congress with a near-majority of sponsors in both the House and Senate, would greatly facilitate union organize and perhaps re-energize the Democrats with a "real" issue: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0427-32.htm 4/27/06 New Jersey pipe foundry is found guilty in first case testing new laws on corporate responsibility for safety and environmental conditions for workers: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/us/27mcwane.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 4/27/06 Many transit workers in NYC feel betrayed by their union in making a deal with the city that ended their illegal strike and left them saddled with massive fines and an unsatisfactory "temporary" contract." http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3099/continued/308#continued 4/1/06 Delphi asks federal judge to allow it to throw out some of its labor agreements: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/business/01delphi.html?th&emc=th 3/28/06 Efforts stall to improve mine safety in wake of Sago tragedy: http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3000 3/11/06 Employers oppose card-check mode of helping vote for unions by associating the practice with foreign dictators Castro and Kim Jong Il: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/11/national/11labor.html?th&emc=th 3/6/06 Westinghouse workers have had lethal levels of PCBs in their bodies for years; company refuses to spend money to monitor their health: http://counterpunch.org/higgs03042006.html 3/2/06 Seeking a "more cooperative relationship" with mining companies, Bush administration has reduced or ignored fines for mine safety violations: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/national/02mine.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 2/28/06 Federal judge blocks Defense Department's implementation of new personnel system, saying it would "entirely eviscerate" collective bargaining rights of employees: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701394.html?referrer=email 2/27/06 U.S. college tour highlights sweatshop working conditions in factories making collegiate sweatshirts: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=19&ItemID=9804 2/16/06 Union organizing improves by tactic of avoiding NLRB-run elections: http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2487/
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FLORIDA:
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Analysis & views: 4/12/10 4/2/10 7/13/09 3/3/09 Ffrom Naples to Immokalee, Florida:. Barry Estabrook describes a 20-something mile trip from the affluence of million dollar mansions and upscale shops in one of American's most affluent cities to the "virtual slavery" of an Immokalee economy based on tomato-picking, 70% Latino population and $8500 per capita income. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/02-9 1/28/09 Slavery in the tomato fields of south Florida? Nation Magazine, which has frequently chronicled the efforts for better farm worker conditions in Florida, now takes up the attempt of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to enlist Governor Charlie Crist in vigorously prosecuting any cases of alleged "slavery" in the employment of those workers. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/402332 8/7/08 Tightening school budgets create fewer job opportunities this year for Florida teachers. http://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/628290.html 12/2/07 South Florida tomato growers resist farmworker union's efforts to obtain marginal improvements in wages to migrant workers. http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/112907LA.shtml 9/3/07 Generation gap noted among workers in South Florida. In this region as elswhere in the U.S., there is an increasing number of "emergent workers," often middle-aged, who seek more flexibility in their work hours and the opportunity to work at home in order to balance the needs of their work and their families. Managers, who tend to be of the Boomer generation, are likely to prefer traditional managerial models favoring set working hours and direct supervision. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-flzworkforce0903nbsep03,0,6136258.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout 12/29/06 Florida toll takers, on the "wrong" side of the union divide between supporting and opposing Jeb Bush program for public service workers, got short shrift with the legislature, but have used court action to obtain a small but significant settlement for laid-off workers. http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061211/COLUMNIST03/612110322/-1/CAPITOLNEWS
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FLORIDA LOCALITIES
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Analysis and views: Jacksonville: 3/4/10 Miami: 2/23/10 Palm Beach Co.: 12/26/09 Miami: 5/2/09 "America needs an econmic overhaul." The overall message of "hundreds" of protesters who march in downtown Miami to demonstrate for workers' and immigrants' rights, one of numerous such May Day celebrations across the country. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1028514.html Orange Co.: 2/6/09 Orange County FL school district may shortly be requiring its employees to pay premiums on their health insurance policies, a benefit that the district has up until now paid for them. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/health/orl-orhealth0609feb06,0,1611007.story
Collier Co.: 2/1/08 "Special magistrate" called into dispute between Collier County school board and teachers over a 5% pay raise for teachers. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jan/31/magistrate-hears-salary-dispute-brought-collier-te/ Naples: 1/11/08 Naples nurses accuse local hospital system of tampering with their right to form a union. http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/jan/10/nch-nurses-accuse-hospital-management-union-tamper/ Jacksonville: 12/30/07 Lock-out of Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra continues six weeks after it started. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/123007/met_230106565.shtml Jacksonville: 12/4/07 Jacksonville man's inability to collect for damages from building site injury highlights Florida's law providing shield for employers from legal responsibility for employees' injuries. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/120407/met_222564023.shtml Jacksonville: 11/14/07 Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra musicians are locked out, grounding weekend productions of The Music Man. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/111407/met_217599310.shtml Jacksonville; 9/3/07 Jacksonville employers are increasingly using material gleaned from job applicants' FaceBook and MySpace websites to help make decisions about employment. http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/090307/bus_196150556.shtml Miami: 9/3/07 Student/Farmworker Alliance targets Burger King headquarters in Miami to protest the company's "tomato supply chain." http://www.ciw-online.org/news.html Palm Beach Co.: 9/3/07 Palm Beach Post writer laments the decline of Labor Day in that community and in the country. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/09/03/s1b_LABORDAY_0903.html Pinellas Co.: 9/3/07 Military veterans in Pinellas County are getting their own job networking group. http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/02/Working/Water_cooler__Militar.shtmlhttp://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/02/Working/Water_cooler__Militar.shtml Orlando: 7/20/07 Orange County teachers are angry over the distribution of merit pay, noting the numerous flaws in the tests used to measure student performance and award teachers accordingly. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-star2007jul20,0,393283.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout Palm Beach Co.: 5/29/07 As Florida state law pushes back the start of the 07 school year, Palm Beach County may also push back teachers' salaries, causing them to go a month without pay. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/05/29/s3b_skpay_0529.html Kissimmee: 5/6/07 For Kissimmee FL prostitutes, streetwalking is being replaced by net-surfing as clients are solicited and found over the internet. Orlando: 4/4/07 Workers' compensation and jobs may be saved for some white collar employees in Orlando as scandal-ridden Mirabilis sells off some of its personnel-providing assets to a Pennsylvania firm, ClearPoint. Orlando: 3/4/07 Tigger frustration syndrome: costumed characters at Disney World subject to occupational hazards. Orlando: 1/22/07 A new round of strife between managment and workers may be developing at Disney World. Plantation: 11/25/06 Paramedics in Plantation win a suit against the city which requires that they be given 40 hour work weeks and overtime pay. Tampa: 11/22/06 After air control tower workers at Tampa airport complain about safety in the Tower because of low lighting conditions, management turns up the lighting amid complaints that this level of lighting impedes screen visibility and threatens the safety of air flights. http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBXV696TUE.html Miami: 4/26/06 Construction crane collapse in Miami resulting in death of a worker and massive traffic tie-up leads Miami-Dade Commissioner to call for a panel to discuss crane inspections procedures: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14428413.htm Jacksonville: 4/24/06 Reverse discrimination in Jacksonville awards back pay to firefighters alleging they were passed over for promotion in favor of black workers: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/042406/met_21693337.shtml Miami: 3/13/06 Labor solidarity: S.I.E.U gives half million to striking janitors at University of Miami: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/14084723.htm Miami: 3/1/06 "Limited" strike to occur at University of Miami among employees of a private firm that provides the University's janitor services: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13985232.htm 2/7/06 Impending transit strike in Volusia County: http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/EastVolusia/evlEAST03020706.htm
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