tagged w/ Unions
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Stuart Townsend, Director/Writer/Producer of film "Battle in Seattle," discusses the riots that erupted around the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 in Seattle, Washington.
Battle in Seattle is In theaters now.Stuart Townsend, Director/Writer/Producer of film "Battle in Seattle,"... more
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Baristas at the Mall of America Starbucks joined the Starbucks Workers Union in July 2008. Starbucks fired Barista Erik Forman in an effort to stymie the union drive. Through a campaign of direct action, legal pressure, and media advocacy, we won Erik's job back. On August 31st, the IWW held a rally to celebrate the union victory. After the rally, union supporters accompanied Erik Forman to his first shift back at the Mall of America. Things did not go as planned.
The IWW plans to file Unfair Labor Practice charges against the Mall of America, Metro Transit, and Bloomington Police over the illegal detainment of 50 union supporters in a train at the Mall of America.Baristas at the Mall of America Starbucks joined the Starbucks Workers Union in July... more
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's prison guard union said on Monday it will seek the recall of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after he ordered a pay cut for its members amid the state's protracted budget deadlock.
"We're going to move it as quickly as possible," union spokesman Lance Corcoran said of efforts to launch a referendum to remove the Republican governor, who entered office in 2003 after a recall election of then-Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat.
Corcoran said a recall measure would likely end up on a special-election ballot next year rather than on the upcoming November ballot. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association must collect the signatures of more than 1 million registered voters to qualify the measure, according to the California Secretary of State's office.
"This is a governor that has been a complete failure," Corcoran charged.
Schwarzenegger's term ends in 2010 and he can not run again.
The 30,000-plus-member union has long been at odds with Schwarzenegger, but his order in July to cut the pay of prison guards to the minimum wage sparked their latest confrontation.
Schwarzenegger also ordered job cuts for an estimated 22,000 temporary state employees and sharply reduced wages for 200,000 other workers after California began its fiscal year on July 1 without a budget.
Corcoran said prison guards should be exempt from the pay cuts in light of their public safety role. They manage the largest state prison network in the United States, overseeing about 170,000 inmates, a system plagued by overcrowding and frequent violence between rival gang and ethnic groups.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's prison guard union said on Monday it will... more
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ivxx
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3 years ago
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Starbucks workers and their supporters, 50 to 70 of them, converge for a rally today at the rail station at Lake and Hiawatha in downtown Minneapolis. The crowd comes to stand in solidarity with Starbucks workers in their fight to organize a union, the Starbucks Workers Union (SWU), with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and to escort Erik Forman back to work at the Mall of America.
One stop before the Mall of America, at Bloomington Central, the train is greeted by officers from the Bloomington Police and the Minnesota Department of Criminal Apprehension, armed with guns, tasers, and videocameras. After a liaison explains the nature of the visit—no pickets, no signs, no protest, just a group of workers accompanying a fellow worker to work—the train is allowed to pass.
Fast forward to the Mall of America station: “Get back on the train! Anyone exiting the train will be arrested for trespassing.” This is what greets all passengers as they enter the Mall of America rail station. It is spoken by armed riot police here to protect the Mall from its workers and their friends. Deployed by the Bloomington Police Department and backed up by other agencies, the riot police run to block the exits of the train.
They proceed to pen in all passengers inside the train. Legal observers attempt to negotiate, reporters attempt to document—all are forced back onto the train.
Starbucks workers and their supporters, 50 to 70 of them, converge for a rally today... more
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Last December, a majority of the dealers at Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa signed cards stating they wanted an election on whether a union should represent them.
When the election was held six weeks later, the tables had turned. The dealers rejected in a 113-68 vote having the United Auto Workers bargain for their wages and benefits.
Officials with Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns the Argosy, said workers came to that conclusion once they were educated about the history and tactics of the union.
“The employees were then given free choice and free decision-making in a secret-ballot election. That’s all anybody can ask for,” said Eric Schippers, a company vice president.
Labor officials say the tactics that companies use in the weeks leading up to such votes go to the heart of why Congress needs to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
“During those 30- to 40-some days before the election is when the corporations bring in their consultants and persuaders to get their employees to vote against collective bargaining,” said Rick Klingenberg, UAW Local 710 vice president, who worked on the Argosy campaign. “People want a union, but they’re afraid to do anything because they don’t want to lose their jobs.”
Outcomes such as the Argosy vote aren’t all that unusual. In recent years, union organizers in the area have obtained solid majorities in favor of elections at such employers as Research Medical Center, Ameristar Kansas City and Durham School Services but have lost out in the final vote.
The bill would allow unions to represent workplaces once 50 percent plus one of the eligible employees simply sign authorization cards. The bill would eliminate the step of holding a secret-ballot election after the sign-up campaign — fundamentally altering the dynamics of union organization in the United States.
The bill also states that once the bargaining agent is recognized, the company and union would have 90 days to negotiate a first contract. Otherwise, a federal arbitrator could step in and set the terms of the initial agreement.
As with most labor/management issues, the Employee Free Choice Act elicits strong feelings on both sides. This is particularly the case in an election year offering the prospect of Democratic control of both houses of Congress and the White House.
If voters elect a Democratic president and a strong Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, it becomes much more likely that the rules for bringing a union into the workplace will get much easier. Barack Obama supports the bill. John McCain opposes it.Last December, a majority of the dealers at Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa signed cards... more
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ivxx
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3 years ago
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Workers on unionized construction sites in B.C. will be subject to mandatory drug testing under an agreement negotiated by construction companies and unions.
Workers on unionized construction sites in B.C. will be subject to mandatory drug... more
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Trade unions reacted with alarm yesterday to suggestions that enhanced maternity rights are damaging the long-term employment prospects of women.
Responding to a groundbreaking speech by Nicola Brewer, chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the TUC warned that a public debate on the issue risked reinforcing the attitudes of "Neanderthal" employers.
Brewer had earlier set out a critique of the dilemmas facing parents trying to sustain a work-life balance. Referring to improvements in maternity leave rights, she said: "The increasing leave entitlement for women seems hard to argue against, but I think it presents us with an inconvenient truth. Has public policy on maternity leave made too many assumptions about the choices families will make, and as a result entrenched the stereotype that it is women who do the caring?"
Is giving more maternity rights to women reinforcing outdated stereotypes, or should women be the ones primarily caring for their children in the early part of their lives? Are maternity rights for women unfair to men?Trade unions reacted with alarm yesterday to suggestions that enhanced maternity... more
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the worlds largest corporation, is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies - including Wal-Mart.
In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized.
According to about a dozen Wal-Mart employees who attended such meetings in seven states, Wal-Mart executives claim that employees at unionized stores would have to pay hefty union dues while getting nothing in return, and may have to go on strike without compensation. Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise.
The actions by Wal-Mart - the nation's largest private employer - reflect a growing concern among big business that a reinvigorated labor movement could reverse years of declining union membership. That could lead to higher payroll and health costs for companies already being hurt by rising fuel and commodities costs and the tough economic climate.
The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who run the meetings don't specifically tell attendees how to vote in November's election, but make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in, according to Wal-Mart employees who attended gatherings in Maryland, Missouri and other states.
"The meeting leader said, 'I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won't have a vote on whether you want a union,'" said a Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor from Missouri. "I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote," she said.
"If anyone representing Wal-Mart gave the impression we were telling associates how to vote, they were wrong and acting without approval," said David Tovar, Wal-Mart spokesman. Mr. Tovar acknowledged that the meetings were taking place for store managers and supervisors nationwide.
Wal-Mart's worries center on a piece of legislation known as the Employee Free Choice Act, which companies say would enable unions to quickly add millions of new members.
Business-backed organizations are also running ads aimed at building opposition to the bill, including the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which counts several hundred industry associations as members.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made defeat of the legislation a top priority. In the past six months, it has flown state and local Chamber members to Washington to lobby members of Congress. On Thursday, the Chamber began airing a television ad in Minnesota and plans to run ads in other states as part of a broader campaign.
The bill was crafted by labor as a response to more aggressive opposition by companies to union-organizing activity. The AFL-CIO and individual unions such as the United Food and Commercial Workers have promised to make passage of the new labor law their No. 1 mission after the November election.
The November election could bring that extra support in Congress, as well as the White House if Sen. Obama is elected and Democrats extend their control in the Senate. Sen. Obama co-sponsored the legislation, which also is known as "card check," and has said several times he would sign it into law if elected president. Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, opposes the Employee Free Choice Act and voted against it last year.
Wal-Mart's labor-relations meetings are led by human-resources managers who received training from Wal-Mart on the implications of the Employee Free Choice Act.Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the worlds largest corporation, is mobilizing its store managers... more
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A 36-hour strike by the German pilots' union Cockpit continues to ground hundreds of short-haul flights of two Lufthansa subsidiary airlines. Union representatives for ground and cabin personnel plan to announce Friday whether they will also go on strike.
Walkouts by members of the airline pilots' union Cockpit affected 465 flights of Lufthansa subsidiary airlines Tuesday and are expected to ground more than 500 Wednesday, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.
The strike began at noon Tuesday and is scheduled to last until midnight Wednesday. The Cockpit union asked its more than 1,000 members to not show up for work at the subsidiary airlines Eurowings and Lufthansa CityLine.
The strike has forced Lufthansa to cancel almost 1,000 flights -- 465 on Tuesday and 525 on Wednesday, according to a company statement. The affected planes are primarily smaller aircraft making frequent connections between European countries as well as connecting flights between regional German airports and the major hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The major airports affected are those of Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Berlin, Nuremberg, Düsseldorf and Hanover.
Read more...A 36-hour strike by the German pilots' union Cockpit continues to ground hundreds... more
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The largest U.S. labor federation endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday and promised to launch a huge effort to get union voters to the polls on his behalf in November.
The general board of the AFL-CIO, an umbrella group representing 56 labor unions, voted without opposition to back the Illinois senator in the White House race against Republican John McCain.
"We'll work our hearts out for Barack Obama," said Gerald McEntee, chairman of the AFL-CIO political committee and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
"Our program is going to be worker to worker and neighbor to neighbor. We're ready to mobilize," said McEntee, who originally supported Obama's Democratic presidential rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.
The labor federation has budgeted about $54 million for get-out-the-vote operations on behalf of Obama, and will focus on mobilizing 13 million union members in 24 priority states.
The effort will provide critical grass-roots muscle that could help Obama in blue-collar battleground states, where he had difficulty during the Democratic primaries winning over white working-class voters.
The effort specifically targets the battleground states of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the labor group promised to deploy more than 250,000 volunteers for the operation.
All of the unions in the federation expect to spend a total of more than $200 million on behalf of Democratic candidates at all levels of the 2008 election.
The endorsement was no surprise, as the AFL-CIO already had started an information campaign against Arizona Sen. McCain and many of the member unions already had backed Obama -- including unions like AFSCME that had backed Clinton.
The full AFL-CIO declined to make an endorsement in the Democratic race last year, but Clinton's withdrawal earlier this month cleared the way for the move. The group requires the support of union presidents representing two-thirds of the federation's members.The largest U.S. labor federation endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack... more
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Starbucks terminated a barista active in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union today as part of its ongoing effort to combat a growing movement of employees pushing for a living wage and secure work hours. The barista, Cole Dorsey, was fired after two years of service while he was coordinating a union recruitment drive at Starbucks stores in Grand Rapids. Starbucks' pretext for the illegal anti-union firing was that Dorsey was guilty of some months-old attendance infractions.
Appears to be a violation of the US National Labor Relations Act, but who even enforces that anymore?Starbucks terminated a barista active in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union today as part... more
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In Silicon Valley's first Major strike in a decade janitors stand up for a better life.
Contract talks for more that 6,000 janitors ended last Thursday with the Bay Area's largest cleaning companies refusing after months of negotiation to propose even modest pay and benefit improvements to janitors currently making only $347 a week—just $23,000 annually.In Silicon Valley's first Major strike in a decade janitors stand up for a better... more
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San Diego Janitors are fighting for fair wages, family health care and respect. Corporate giants and service contractors are withholding a contract from San Diego janitors on par with contracts they have agreed to elsewhere in California. It’s high time these hard working people had an opportunity to pay their rent, feed their children, and provide health care for their families all in one month rather than having to choose between their basic needs.San Diego Janitors are fighting for fair wages, family health care and respect.... more
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The so-called Center for Union Facts began running TV ads this last week on Oregon stations. The Center is a front group focused on damaging the public image of unions, depressing workers’ rights, pushing legislation that would make it more difficult for workers to join unions, and furthering an anti-union business climate.
Last year, the Center began running these sensationalist ads featuring actors posed as unhappy union members. The ads ran on CNN, FOX news, and NBC. Yet, a number of TV stations refused to air the commercial, calling it "inflammatory," "inaccurate," and that it "panders to the lowest common denominator stereotypes about unions and union officials."
With election season and political advertising on the rise, the Center has pushed again to have these ads aired.
The so-called Center for Union Facts began running TV ads this last week on Oregon... more
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With the decline in SUV purchases, GM is cutting one shift in four of its factories.
Another hard blow to Michigan.With the decline in SUV purchases, GM is cutting one shift in four of its factories.... more
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After being subjected an unannounced pay cut from $10/hr to $8/hr, Cal Poly student marketing representatives Austin Garrido and Sarah Doolittle were fired by their employer, Mountain View-based Uloop.com, for attempting to organize a worker's union. The students were fired from their part-time jobs 20 minutes after posting a message in an online inter-company form announcing their intention to form a union. Doolittle and Garrido have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
According to the National Labor Relations Board’s website: “The NLRA [The National Labor Relations Act of 1935] forbids employers from interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights relating to organizing, forming, joining or assisting a labor organization for collective bargaining purposes, or engaging in protected concerted activities, or refraining from any such activity.”
Uloop.com is an online marketplace for college students currently operating in 50 campuses across America. The website hires two student representatives at each University who are in charge of promoting the site to fellow students. After being subjected an unannounced pay cut from $10/hr to $8/hr, Cal Poly student... more
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PA Union members let Hillary Clinton know that they don't agree with her assesment of Barak Obama's comment about rural Pennsylvanians being "bitter." Watch the video and hear for yourself!PA Union members let Hillary Clinton know that they don't agree with her... more
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Sen. Barack Obama has won the support of the 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union, his second endorsement in as many days from large labor organizations and a fresh sign of momentum in the Democratic presidential race with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"There has never been a fight in Illinois or a fight in the nation where our members have not asked Barack Obama for assistance and he has not done everything he could to help us," Andy Stern, the union's president, told reporters in announcing the decision.Sen. Barack Obama has won the support of the 1.9-million member Service Employees... more
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Although the Detroit automaker did better than expected in the fourth quarter, GM reported a $38.7 billion loss for 2007 on Tuesday, the largest annual loss ever for an automotive company. As a result, the company is offering to buyout all of it's hourly staff, hoping to replace them with lower paid workers. They're offering $140,000 to workers with 10 years of service, or $70,000 for those with less than 10 years, as well as $45,000 to $62,500 in pension incentives for the 46,000 who are eligible to retire.
$70,000 to take a hike and find a new job sounds pretty ok to me. The question becomes what sorts of jobs are out there for them to move into...Although the Detroit automaker did better than expected in the fourth quarter, GM... more
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Tori
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4 years ago
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