NC State A.F.L. – C.I.O.

We are the people we’ve been waiting for

We are One Nation, born from many, determined to build a more united America – with jobs, justice and education for all.

We are young people, frustrated that society seems willing to spend more locking up our bodies than educating our minds, yet still we find ways to succeed and shine.

We are students and newly-returned veterans – persevering in the face of mounting debt – determined not to be the first generation to end up worse off than our parents.

We are baby boomers and seniors – who saw hope killed in 1968 and will not let the dream of a united America be taken from us again.

We are conservatives and moderates, progressives and liberals, non-believers and people of deep faith, united by escalating assaults on our reason, our environment, and our rights.

We are workers of every age, faith, race, sex, nationality, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and ability – who have suffered discrimination but never stopped loving our neighbors, or our nation.

We are American Indians and Alaska Natives – citizens of Native nations – who maintain our cultures, protect our sovereignty, and strength America’s economy.

We are the new immigrants, raising our children in the torchlight of the Statue of Liberty, while confronting the shadows that are bigotry and mass deportations.

We are the native born.  We inherited the divided legacies of settlers and American Indians, black slaves and white and Asian indentured servants. And yet, in this moment of shared suffering, we rejoice in newfound friendships and new alliances.

We are people who got thrown out – thrown out of our jobs, schools, houses, farms and small businesses – while Wall Street’s wrongdoers got bailed out. We are families who pray every day – for peace and prosperity; for deliverance from foreclosures; for good jobs to come back to urban and rural America.

We are unemployed workers – forced to watch hopes for bold action dashed – because some Senators threaten filibusters, and other would-be champions fold in fear.

And yet, we are the majority – fueled by hope, not hate. We have the pride, power and determination to keep ourselves – and our country – moving up and out of the valley greed created.

And most importantly – from ensuring women are treated fairly at work, to expanding health care coverage for millions– we have been victorious whenever we worked together. We have proven the only thing we need to succeed is each other.

And so, on 10-2-10, we come back together – to march.

“I believe that workers can change the South and, by doing so, change the country. If only I could get the leaders of the union movement to believe it, too.”

By MaryBe McMillan, Secretary-Treasurer

Forty-seven years after the 1963 March on Washington, the union movement and our allies are preparing for our own march in October. Under the banner of One Nation Working Together, union members, civil rights activists and other concerned citizens will rally in support of good jobs, a quality education for every child, immigration reform and workers’ freedom to form a union. Our rallying cry is that we must reverse the dangerous trend toward greater income inequality and finally create an economy that works for all.

To achieve that goal and to become a truly united nation working together, leaders of the One Nation coalition partners—particularly our nation’s labor leaders—could learn a valuable lesson from that earlier march on Washington: The road to justice and equality must go through the South.

During the 1963 march, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. eloquently illustrated this point when he said:

“Let freedom ring from the mountains of New York…Pennsylvania….Colorado….California. But not only that: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia….from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee….from every hill and molehill of Mississippi….let freedom ring.”

Civil rights leaders knew the only way to win freedom for people of color everywhere was to win it first in the most difficult place—the segregated South. That’s why community activists boycotted buses in Montgomery, college students staged sit-ins in Greensboro and sanitation workers walked out in Memphis. Dr. King and other leaders understood that if they could change policies in the heart of Jim Crow, then they could change laws nationally. And they did.

More than four decades later, national labor leaders should heed Dr. King’s prophetic words. If we want to strengthen the rights of workers everywhere, then we must organize workers in the South.

The southern United States is the center for exploitation of workers of all colors. Employees in the South have the lowest wages, the fewest worker protections and the least union representation. And nowhere are the harmful effects of globalization and flawed trade deals more evident than in the South.

My hometown of Hickory, N.C., has lost more jobs due to trade than just about anywhere else in the country. Laid-off workers there can receive free tuition for re-training at the local community college. But many question the point. The furniture factories and hosiery mills are all boarded up, casualties of NAFTA and CAFTA. Why enroll in training if you’ll just end up working at Wal-Mart or the local mall?

One would think that workers in Hickory and other southern towns have been shortchanged for so long that they would stand up and demand that elected officials finally look out for their interests. But instead, the South keeps re-electing policymakers who support trade deals that harm workers, who oppose wage protections and who vote time and again against workers’ interests. Keep in mind that these votes hurt all workers, not just Southerners.

If we want a more worker-friendly Congress, then workers in the South need to believe that change is possible. That’s hard to do in places like Hickory, where there is no voice to counter what folks hear on talk radio. There is no union organizing workers. There is no central labor council mobilizing people for collective action. There are no canvassers from Working America talking to folks about taking our country back from the CEOs and Big Banks. Unions have largely chosen not to invest in the South, and as a result, there is no labor movement in many areas to challenge the status quo.

I have heard national labor leaders say that we are at a critical moment in our movement, and that to grow, we must convince the public that we are the voice for all workers. If that’s true, then we must win the hearts and minds of workers in my hometown and small towns across the South. Because if we don’t, we will see the violent union-busting and repressive laws of the South spread throughout the country.

The good news is, with the will and the resources, we can change the South. Thanks to an influx of resources in 2008, North Carolina elected a pro-worker U.S. senator, and our state went “blue” in the presidential election for the first time since 1976.

Workers at the world’s largest pork slaughterhouse, Smithfield Packing Co. in Tar Heel, N.C., felt so empowered by our electoral victories that one month later, in December 2008, they finally won their union after 16 long years of struggle. The workers, the majority of whom are people of color, had a slogan leading up to the union election: “We won the White House so we can win the hog house.” And they did.

That victory was possible because 1) a union was willing to make a long-term investment in organizing and 2) the workers believed that change was possible. We could have many more victories like the one at Smithfield. But first, national labor leaders have to invest in organizing campaigns throughout the South.

During the 1963 march, Dr. King outlined his dream of racial equality. I too have a dream—a dream that one day, even in North Carolina, the least unionized state in the country, all workers will have good jobs and the freedom to organize and bargain collectively.

I believe that dream can come true. I believe that workers can change the South and, by doing so, change the country. If only I could get the leaders of the union movement to believe it, too.

Putting America back to work

In the middle of the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, obstructionists in Congress have blocked bill after bill to create jobs and get us back on our feet. Here in NC, we’re hard at work making sure all of our union brothers and sisters know whether our members of Congress have been working and voting for us or for Wall Street. We can be proud of some Representatives who have been on our side, but Sen. Richard Burr has really let us down.

But there’s an even bigger movement nationwide to hold members of Congress accountable for their records—and we’re part of it. It’s called ONE NATION, a broad and diverse coalition that has come together to build a future of shared prosperity, not stubborn unemployment and a lost generation, and to reverse the dangerous economic course America has been on.

ONE NATION includes our union, the AFL-CIO and civil, human rights, faith, environmental and other progressive allies, united to call for:

• An economy that works for all;
• Good jobs, fair jobs, safe jobs and more jobs;
• Wall Street reform;
• Quality education for every child;
• Reform of our broken immigration system;
• And restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.

Pulling America back together

On Oct. 2, tens of thousands of working people, young people, retirees, civil rights activists and many others will come together for a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. On the same day—exactly one month before the fall elections—the union movement will hold its biggest labor walk ever, taking our message door-to-door in targeted states around the country. Together we will show the obstructionists in Congress that we are many and diverse, strong and united—and we will fight together for the American Dream and for good jobs now.

We urge you to be part of this national surge of strength to improve life for working families. We are asking all unions to recruit members to march on Washington on 10/2/10. Information on buses will be announced soon, Sign up now by calling or emailing our office or going to http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org/.

Bill now moves to Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives took an important step forward in providing fire fighters, police officers, and other public safety workers collective bargaining rights by passing the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act as an amendment to the war supplemental spending bill moving through the Congress.

Most states already provide bargaining rights to public safety workers. Only North Carolina and Virginia make it illegal for public employees – including safety workers – to sit down at the table and bargain as equals with their employer. This bill would change that for public safety workers, and it’s a long time in coming, says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger:

“Seventy-five years after passage of the National Labor Relations Act, fire fighters are a step closer to having the same rights that workers in the private sector have had since 1935.”

Tell Kay Hagan keep her campaign promise of support

Kay Hagan won the endorsement of the IAFF in 2008 after pledging her support for the collective bargaining bill. Now staff for the Senator are indicating she has changed her position.

“This is unacceptable,” says Greensboro firefighter and Vice President of PFFPNC Local 947 , Dave Coker:

“We are asking that you contact Senator Hagan’s office and urge her to live up to the promises she made to firefighters in North Carolina and vote for the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act.

“I can’t stress how important these phone calls will be as we head into this fight.  You can bet that the City/County Managers and others will be calling Senator Hagan and encouraging her to vote against the bill.”

Here’s the number to Kay Hagan’s DC office: 202-224-6342; and her state headquarters in Greensboro: 336-333-5311; and her Raleigh office: 919-856-4630; and her Charlotte office: 704-334-2448; and her Asheville office: 828-257-6510; and her Greenville office: 252-754-0707.

For more information about this legislation, visit the IAFF website.

Coalition for public employees needs support

The campaign to end the ban on public employee collective bargaining in North Carolina has been a long one. The work of the North Carolina Hear Our Public Employees Coalition (HOPE) must continue, especially in hard economic times. Even for a group that runs as efficiently as HOPE on a shoe-string budget, that effort takes money.

Richard O’Brien, Secretary-Treasurer for the Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina, has written a letter urging our member unions and individuals in the community to dig deep and continue to fund this vital effort to repeal the Jim Crow law that bans bargaining for public employees:

Now is not the time to slack off, as HOPE has been securing more and more legislators who support the repeal.

This is where we need YOUR help! Our larger contributors have not been able to help out in the way that they would like to be able to contribute. So rather than having a few large contributors, HOPE is counting on numerous individuals like you to make smaller donations of $10, $15, or $20.

I am Richard O’Brien, the Secretary-Treasurer for the Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina (the IAFF State Affiliate).

If you are receiving this e-mail, you are in some way connected, either as a Local Union member or through your membership in a larger statewide organization, to a coalition known as HOPE (Hear Our Public Employees). Visit the website and learn more about HOPE.

HOPE is a coalition of organizations and individuals that support our goal of securing collective bargaining rights for public employees by repealing NC General Statute 95-98 which bans contracts between units of government and unions or employee associations.

As you are aware, the economy has not recovered. The coalition partners are doing everything they can to financially support HOPE which runs on a limited budget. HOPE operates with only one part-time staff person and is in danger of losing that one person.

HOPE is not a charitable organization. If it were, we would not be able to lobby the legislators thereby defeating the reason for our very existence. Therefore, donations are not tax deductible and you can see why small donors are that much more important.

Now is not the time to slack off, as HOPE has been securing more and more legislators who support the repeal.

This is where we need YOUR help! Our larger contributors have not been able to help out in the way that they would like to be able to contribute. So rather than having a few large contributors, HOPE is counting on numerous individuals like you to make smaller donations of $10, $15, or $20.

Help HOPE Help You!

HOPE makes it real easy to donate. HOPE has a PayPal account set up on their website.

Simply go to HOPE’s website and click on the orange Donate icon on the right hand side of the page and follow the instructions to make a secure credit card donation of $10, $15, or $20.

We know finances are tight for our members too, and if you can’t see your way clear to donate one of these amounts, would you at least consider donating $5?

Your help is needed now! Please contribute now!

Visit HOPE’s website NC HOPE and click on the orange Donate icon on the right hand side of the page and follow the instructions to make a secure credit card donation.

Drivers want independence from cab companies

Cab drivers in Charlotte are protesting city laws requiring all cab operators to be registered with a local cab company. On June 18, dozens gathered outside city hall to draw attention to their fight for independence. Teamsters Local 71 organized the protest to highlight the need to change the way the cab business does business in the Queen City.

The cab drivers want Charlotte to adopt rules similar to other large cities, like New York, where cab drivers are independently self-employed.

Current law is a sweet-heart deal for cab companies, which get to take a large cut of what drivers earn just to act as a registrar. Instead of lining the pockets of company owners, protesting drivers told local NBC affiliate WCNC / NewsChannel 36 they need that money for their families:

“I have three kids. I have so many bills to pay, and I have to pay, every month, more than $1,300 to them,” said cab driver Abdul Cali. “They don’t provide me anything and my job is not secure enough.”

Watch video coverage of the protest:

City to study the issue

Following the protest, the cab drivers took their message into the City Council meeting, where the Council took the first steps toward changing the law by assigning their issues to a committee. You can view the Council proceedings online; the cab drivers’ presentation begins at about 44′ 45″.

As struggle continues, “Stay on the wall”

On Tuesday, June 15, 2010, supporters of public employees rallied outside the North Carolina General Assembly before lobbying lawmakers to repeal the ban on collective bargaining by public employees – GS95-98 – a Jim Crow law passed in 1959 that’s still on the books.

The event was organized by the North Carolina Hear Our Public Employees (HOPE) Coalition. About 200 trade unionists, community, and civil rights activists traveled to our state’s capital to press for repeal of the law that makes North Carolina one of only two states to forbid public employees from engaging in what is an internationally recognized right to bargain with your employer.

The day-long event began with an orientation session at the State Archives building, where NC State AFL-CIO President, James Andrews, urged supporters of HOPE to not give up this fight for freedom:

“The message is to you – and it’s a biblical term some of you folks know – ‘Stay on the wall. Don’t get off the wall’ – because I am convinced that the right of public workers in this state to gain collective bargaining will happen in North Carolina.” Watch the video:

Speaking truth to power in a powerful way

After orientation, HOPE supporters converged on the Mall across from the Legislative Building where the General Assembly meets to speak out for the rights of workers. There they heard several powerful messages, beginning with a speech by NC NAACP President, Rev. William Barber. Here are a few highlights from his remarks:

“The Civil Rights Movement and the Labor Movement are two movements headed in the same direction, and we will always be joined together.”

“Environmentalists and civil rights people and labor folk and folks who care about education come to those positions from the same basic moral framework: that we must have a society that works for everybody and especially those on the margins and those who do the hardest work.”

“This law [G.S. 95-98] is a Jim Crow law, one of the last active Jim Crow laws, and it needs to be repealed from our state law.”

“People talk about the dignity of work, but work alone is not dignified. Slavery was a form of work, but there was no dignity in that. [...] Work is only dignified when workers are protected, when there’s a living wage, when there’s safety, when there’s collective bargaining, when there’s labor rights.”

Watch Rev. Barber’s speech to at Lobby for HOPE rally: Part 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Ed Duffield is a firefighter of 24-years in Winston-Salem, NC. “I’m here to talk about having a seat at the table.” Firefighters’ number one priority is protecting the safety of the public and their members. They want the ability to talk about workplace issues “intelligently” with their employers, “and with collective bargaining, we’ll have the opportunity to do that.” Watch the video:

“Without the progress of women, there can be and will be no progress,” said Michelle Cotton Laws, a community activist, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, and Indy Weekly’s 2009 Person of the Year. Women make up 47% of the state workforce and 91% of teachers. In refusing to give these women a seat at the table, Michelle said, lawmakers “are talking about dismantling the strength of our families and communities.”

“We’re hear to say to the members of the General Assembly and the cabinet, ‘If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside-down, all alone, you ought to let us back at the table to collectively bargain and turn it right-side-up.” Watch the video:

We’ll have more to add to our collection of videos and pictures from Lobby for HOPE 2010 in the coming days, but you can watch these and more at our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/aflcionc.

UPDATE: Press Clips from Lobby Day

Thanks to HOPE staff person, Chelsea Earles, for compiling this list of press clips from the June 15 Lobby Day:

• http://www.reflector.com/state-news/tuesday-nc-general-assembly-38522
• http://groups.google.com/group/official-correspondence/browse_thread/thread/a33c42a646eecdfc?pli=1
• http://www.ncjustice.org/?q=node/541
• http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/group-lobbies-end-nc-government-bargaining-ban
• http://www.theherald-nc.com/2010/06/16/14784/bill-would-allow-unions.html
• http://wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.nc/210be66b-www.wlos.com.shtml
• http://www.kinston.com/articles/coalition-66138-kfpress-bargaining-workers.html
• http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/3564aaa8dd164dcc8a5005ebb005893a/NC-XGR–Collective_Bargaining/ (IN)
• http://www.gastongazette.com/news/ban-48254-unions-government.html
• http://www.civitasreview.com/miscellaneous/the-audacity-of-h-o-p-e/
• http://www.gearino.com/
• http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Tuesday-at-the-NC-General-Assembly-524962.php

Shocking report by ITUC is chilling

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has released its 2010 Annual Survey, and the results are a moral outrage:

“The ITUC’s Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings – an increase of 30% over the previous year. The Survey, released today, also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers’ rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.”

Watch the (shocking) survey video and share it with your networks:

The ITUC recorded “an extensive list of violations suffered by trade unionists struggling to defend workers’ interests, this time in 140 countries.” Beyond beatings and 101 murders documented by the ITUC, trade unionists have been targeted other ways and in more countries than ever:

“A further ten attempted murders and 35 serious death threats were recorded, again mostly in Colombia and Guatemala. Furthermore, many trade unionists remained in prison and were joined by around hundred newly imprisoned in 2009. Many others were arrested in Iran, Honduras, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey and Zimbabwe in particular. The general trade union rights’ situation has continued to deteriorate in a number of other countries, including Egypt, the Russian Federation, South Korea and Turkey.”

For more information about the 2010 Annual Survey:

• To read the survey in full
• To see the survey video
• To see the Multimedia page of the Report
• To read the press release on Africa
• To read the press release on Asia and Pacific
• To read the press release on Europe
• To read the press release on Middle East
• To read the press release on the Americas

Support public employees

Join us on Lobby Day, Tuesday, June 15. Come to Raleigh and lobby the General Assembly to repeal the ban on collective bargaining and give state agencies and localities the option to negotiate a contract with their employees. Help make sure all employees in North Carolina – private and public – have the right to a voice at work.

What: Collective Bargaining Lobby Day
When: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 starting at 9:00 AM
Where: State Archives auditorium, 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC

RSVP for Lobby Day by sending a message to info@nchope.org.

Virtual Lobby Day is happening now

Can’t be in Raleigh on Tuesday? You can still support our efforts by calling and emailing your state representative and senator. Click here to find your legislators. Tell them you support the repeal of the bargaining ban because:

• Public employees make NC work. Our quality of life depends on them.
• Public employees should not have less rights on the job than workers at McDonalds or Walmart.
• Public employees can help balance state and local budgets and collective bargaining would give them a seat at the table and a voice in how to do it.
• Repealing the ban would empower state agencies and local leaders to decide for themselves whether to bargain with employees.
• Ending a Jim Crow injustice matters even today, 51 years after the ban sought to prevent whites and non-whites from working together on the job.

Download the flyer (opens PDF) for Collective Bargaining Lobby Day and promote this event within your networks.

Come to Raleigh and support public employees

State budget crises across the country have led to major cuts in public services for the public good while ideologues foment resentment of public workers despite research which shows they earn as much as 12% less than their private sector counterparts.

In North Carolina, public employees are especially vulnerable because our state is one of only two in the nation to outlaw collective bargaining for its workers. Not having a contract makes these workers easy targets for pay cuts, layoffs, and furloughs, and it means police officers, fire fighters, teachers, and other civil servants have less rights on the job than employees at McDonalds or Walmart.

Join us on Lobby Day, Tuesday, June 15. Come to Raleigh and lobby the General Assembly to repeal the ban on collective bargaining and give state agencies and localities the option to negotiate a contract with their employees. Help make sure all employees in North Carolina – private and public – have the right to a voice at work.

What: Collective Bargaining Lobby Day
When: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 starting at 9:00 AM
Where: State Archives auditorium, 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, NC

Lobby Day is about:

• The right to collectively bargain.
• The right to respect and a voice in the workplace.
• The right to negotiate decent wages, benefits for workers and their families and safety in the workplace.
• The opportunity to share workers’ knowledge and skills on how to make public services more efficient and effective.

Download the flyer (opens PDF) for Collective Bargaining Lobby Day and promote this event within your networks.

Rule implements President Obama’s executive order

A new rule published by the Department of Labor will ensure employees of federal contractors and subcontractors know their rights to join and form unions under the National Labor Relations Act.

The change means “more stable labor-management relations and a more engaged workforce, which in turn facilitates greater efficiency and timely completion of federal contracts,” said John Lund, director of the department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards in a news release announcing the regulation:

Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to post the prescribed employee rights notice at their workplaces. The notice lists employees’ rights under the NLRA to form, join and assist a union and to bargain collectively with their employer; provides examples of unlawful employer and union conduct that interferes with those rights; and indicates how employees can contact the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces those rights, with questions or complaints. The rule implements provisions of Executive Order13496, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Jan. 30, 2009. The requirement for posting this employee notice must be included in every covered federal contract and subcontract.

No longer will contractors be able to obfuscate their employees’ labor law rights. “Knowing you have rights guaranteed by law is a first step to exercising those rights,” said AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka:

“The new rule published today by President Obama’s Department of Labor will provide workers with a clear understanding of their rights and begin to break the stranglehold of anti-union propaganda in the workplace.

“For too long, our government has tried to walk back from its duty under the NLRA to promote – not simply tolerate – collective bargaining and the rights of workers to come together to improve their lives. Working people have been hurt by a workplace culture that puts corporate interests before workers’ rights, aided and abetted by the actions of previous administrations.”

Contractors that violate the requirements of the regulations may be subject to sanctions, including suspension or cancellation of the contract.

“Don’t get caught in a bad hotel”

From the AFL-CIO Blog:

Lady Gaga recently made an unexpected appearance at the Westin Saint Francis hotel in San Francisco – in the form of a flash mob singing a pro-worker version of lyrics to her “Bad Romance.” Replete with tuba, trombone, snare drum and a couple dozen dancing activists, the group materialized in the hotel’s lobby to denounce the chain’s poor treatment of its employees and urge people to “Boycott, boycott,” this “bad, bad hotel.”

Watch the video:

Fight is for collective bargaining rights

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union of federal workers, has been with employees at the Transportation Security Administration since the department was created in 2002.

Workers at TSA, who are the first line of defense at the nation’s airports against terrorist attacks, are not allowed to bargain a contract over pay, benefits, and – perhaps most importantly – fair and equitable working conditions and dignity on the job.

The law creating TSA gives the agency unprecedented authority, and TSA has been exercising it. Management acts with impunity, disciplining and reassigning workers as it sees fit, and using favoritism and discrimination to determine promotions, overtime, and health and safety.

For eight years, Transportation Security Officers (TSO’s) have joined AFGE, which has been able to fight unfair work rules on Capitol Hill and in court, and winning important victories (opens PDF).

On Wednesday, May 5, 2010, workers from AFGE and other unions and community allies rallied at Charlotte Douglas International Airport to show support for TSO’s and their union. James Andrews, President of the NC State AFL-CIO, told those gathered he can’t imagine the kind of pressure workers at TSA are under every day:

“They can’t afford to make a mistake because the safety of the country is in their hands when they’re on the job. Now it seems to me it would be common sense to say that you want those workers not to have to worry about wages and working conditions and benefits.”

Watch the video from the TSA rally in Charlotte:

Andrews commended TSA workers at the Charlotte airport and across the country who are standing together in AFGE “because it takes courage to stand up against an employer like TSA.” He pledged that we will stand with them:

“I’ve got a clear message I want to send to those who are in the way of collective bargaining: ‘One day longer.’ That is that the workers, the community, the national AFL-CIO, unions across this country will stand together one day longer than you will be able to stand in the way.”

Learn more at http://www.tsaunion.net/.

Non-votes no longer counted as “No” votes

Air and railway companies have long had an unfair advantage when their workers tried to form a union. Old rules – tossed out today by the National Mediation Board (NMB) – mean workers covered by the Rail Labor Act will no longer have the votes not cast by their coworkers in a union election counted as “No” votes.

The AFL-CIO Blog has the story:

For decades, the deck has been stacked against workers covered under the Rail Labor Act (RLA) because every worker who did not cast a vote in a representation election was automatically counted as a “No” vote. The new NMB rule says that an election’s outcome will be decided by the majority of votes cast, just like every other election, from city council to the presidency.

Success in organizing has as much to do with having a fair process as anything else. Railway and airline workers who have lost bids to form a union only because more people chose not to vote than voted for a union can now win with a simple majority of those who do vote.

“It makes it a lot easier,” says Richard Westbrook, NC AFL-CIO Vice President and Legislative Director for the United Transportation Union (UTU) in North Carolina:

“Before, you’d go into a place with 300 workers and sign up 90% for the union, but only 100 voted. The other 200 didn’t vote at all, and it didn’t work because they were counted as “No” votes.”

The change to a more democratic union election process provides a better opportunity for workers in in the smaller, commuter airline sector to form unions, says Westbrook. “We’re organizing a lot more airlines where there is no union, and we’re working with major unions at the bigger carriers to do it.”

Obama appointees made this change possible

Last year, President Obama appointed and the U.S. Senate confirmed two Democrats to the three-person NMB – Harry Hoglander, a retired Air Force and TWA pilot, and Linda Puchala, past president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. The rule change was proposed in November and enacted over the objection of the third NMB member, Chairman and Bush-appointee, Elizabeth Dougherty.

While this action taken by the National Mediation Board is important, it is but one small step in reforming our nation’s broken labor laws. The reforms outlined in the Employee Free Choice Act would go a lot further toward leveling the playing field for all workers who want to form a union and have a contract and a voice at work.

Show solidarity w/transport security workers

The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union in the country but also is the largest and most trusted union in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), with more than 13,500 dues-paying members and 35 Locals nationwide. AFGE has been the voice of TSA employees since the very beginning.

When created over 8 years ago, the Bush Administration refused to allow TSA employees the right to collectively bargain.

What: Rally for TSA Collective Bargaining Rights!
When: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 from 11 am to 1 pm
Where: Charlotte Douglas International Airport/At Queen Charlotte Statue

Download the flyer for this event and share it with your network.

Over the past eight years, we’ve been fighting unfair work rules and policies on behalf of Transportation Security Officers (TSO) on Capitol Hill, in meetings with TSA management and in court.

Even though the law creating TSA gives the agency unprecedented authority and TSA has been exercising it, AFGE is able to bring justice to the workplace by winning TSOs their jobs back and influencing positive changes in work rules. TSA has revised its policies numerous times after the union brought the issues up with management.

For more information regarding the May 5th Rally at Charlotte Douglas International Airport please contact: Glen Stolburg at 412-956-5574 or stolbg@afge.org.

For more information about AFGE and the campaign to win bargaining rights at the TSA, please visit: http://www.afge.org or http://www.tsaunion.net.

Join us Friday in Winston-Salem, NC

The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is proud to stand with Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) in their struggle to get Reynolds to recognize its responsibility to meet with tobacco farmworkers and their union.

Join us and hundreds of allies this Friday in Winston-Salem at Reynolds American’s annual shareholders meeting.

What: March on Reynolds for Farmworker Justice
When: Friday, May 7 from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Where: Meet-up at Lloyd Presbyterian Church, 748 N Chestnut St Winston-Salem, NC

For three years, Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey has refused to discuss the abusive conditions facing the farmworkers who harvest the tobacco that makes Reynolds rich.

While Reynolds execs listen to shareholders on Friday, FLOC members and supporters will march for the thousands of farmworkers whose voices Reynolds refuses to hear.

Click here to download the flyer for this event (PDF). For more information or to sign up to volunteer, please visit http://supportfloc.org/2010ShareholdersMeeting.aspx.

For answers to questions about this event, call Alexandria Jones, National Farm Worker Ministry at (919) 597-1080 or Briana Connors, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO at (763) 229-5970.

Friday, May 7 in Winston-Salem, NC

Join the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (FLOC) and hundreds of allies on May 7, 2010 in Winston-Salem at Reynolds American’s annual shareholders meeting.

For nearly three years, Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey has refused to meet with FLOC to discuss the abusive conditions facing the farmworkers who harvest the tobacco that makes Reynolds rich.

On May 7, as Reynolds executives gather to discuss corporate policies and hear from their shareholders, FLOC members and supporters will march through Winston-Salem in support of the thousands of farmworkers whose voices Reynolds refuses to hear.

What: March on Reynolds for Farmworker Justice
When: Friday, May 7, 2010 from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Where: Meet-up at Lloyd Presbyterian Church, 748 N Chestnut St Winston-Salem, NC

Meet us at Lloyd Presbyterian Church at 10:30 am to help us distribute flyers around the city to raise awareness about issues facing farmworkers and the Reynolds Campaign. Stay for a press conference and march to follow at 12:00pm.

The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is proud to stand with FLOC in their struggle to get Reynolds to recognize its responsibility to meet with tobacco farmworkers and their union.

Click here to download the flyer for this event (PDF).

For more information or to sign up to volunteer, please visit http://supportfloc.org/2010ShareholdersMeeting.aspx.

For answers to questions about this event, call Alexandria Jones, National Farm Worker Ministry at (919) 597-1080 or Briana Connors, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO at (763) 229-5970.

SAVE THE DATE: 6/15 at 9:00 AM

On June 15, 2010, we must stand together to repeal a 50-year-old Jim Crow law (NC General Statute 95-98) that denies a basic human right to the public workers who help make our state run and are essential to our state’s economic recovery. Only North Carolina and Virigina outlaw collective bargaining for public employees. Join us on Lobby Day to help change that and make sure all employees in North Carolina – private and public – have the right to a voice at work.

Lobby Day is about:

• The right to collectively bargain.
• The right to respect and a voice in the workplace.
• The right to negotiate decent wages, benefits for workers and their families and safety in the workplace.
• The opportunity to share workers’ knowledge and skills on how to make public services more efficient and effective.

Download the flyer (opens PDF) for Collective Bargaining Lobby Day and promote this event within your networks.

And the winner is…

This winning video, “What Have the Unions Ever Done for Us?“, comes from our brothers and sisters in the Australia labor movement. It’s definitely worth two minutes of your time. To see all six of the top videos, visit LabourStart.org or click here.

Tell Betsy Atkins to resign in protest

Our fellow union members at the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC, AFL-CIO) need our support in their campaign to get Reynolds American to do right by the tobacco workers who harvest the golden leaf.

Betsy Atkins is a board member at Reynolds, but despite her encouragement, Reynolds CEO, Susan Ivey, still refuses any dialogue with FLOC about the terrible conditions under which tobacco harvesters labor.

Atkins also sits on the board of Chico’s, a woman’s clothing retailer committed to ethical sourcing. We believe Atkins commitment doesn’t end when she puts on her Reynolds hat. Her resignation would signal in concrete terms her commitment to ethical sourcing and for justice for farm workers.

“Though FLOC repeatedly asked Atkins for her help in contacting Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey, she has never responded directly to FLOC. When we began raising this issue with Chico’s corporate leaders, FLOC was told that Atkins had “continuously encouraged” Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey to communicate with FLOC. As yet Reynolds CEO Ivey has not contacted FLOC, nor has Atkins ever contacted FLOC directly about her discussions with Reynolds CEO Ivey.

“We call on Betsy Atkins to resign from the Reynolds American Inc. Board of Directors. Her resignation from the Reynolds Board would be a concrete expression of her support for Chico’s Terms of Commitment to Ethical Sourcing as well as her support for justice for farm workers. “

Click here to send a fax to Betsy Atkins asking her resign in protest. We encourage all of our readers to show solidarity with FLOC by sending a fax, today, then sharing this message with your network.

Sign the petition to give TSOs a Voice @ Work

Nine years is long enough for workers at the Transportation Security Administration to go without collective bargaining rights. Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the power to grant this basic human right to Transportation Security Officers. The federal employees union, AFGE, is asking for our help to convince her to act:

“As all of you know, AFGE has been in a 9 year fight to obtain collective bargaining for the nation’s Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) at our airports. The fight continues and has intensified after the nominee for the TSA Administrator, Erol Southers, withdrew his nomination.

“AFGE has created an online petition addressed to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano asking her to grant collective bargaining for the TSOs now and we’re asking the AFL-CIO State Feds, CLC’s, CLF’s and ALF’s if they will post it on their websites and ask union members throughout the country to “sign” the petition in solidarity with their brothers and sisters, 13,000 TSOs who have joined AFGE thus far, who are asking for a Voice at Work.

“The time for change is long overdue. It is time for TSOs to have full workplace rights, including the
right to bargain collectively. This is the most effective path to building the professional workforce
that our country demands and deserves. We urge [DHS Secretary Napolitano] to immediately grant collective bargaining
rights to Transportation Security Officers.”

Sign the petition to DHS Secretary Napolitano to grant TSOs Collective Bargaining Rights!

Labor Dept. announces new rules for H-2A

U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis announced tough new regulations on wages and job safety protections for temporary agricultural workers. The new rules, which will go into effect in time for the 2010 growing season, “reflect the Administration’s commitment to providing fair wages and strong labor protections for this vulnerable group of workers,” said Secretary Solis:

“This new rule will make it possible for all workers who are working hard on American soil to receive fair pay while at the same time expand opportunities for U.S. workers. The actions that we have taken through this rulemaking also will enable us to detect and remedy different forms of worker violations.”

The H-2A guest worker program allows farm owners to hire foreign workers to fill jobs owners say most Americans do not want. In reality, many farm owners have used the program as a steady source of cheap, easily exploitable labor while doing little to promote job openings to American workers.

Melinda Wiggins, Executive Director at the Durham-based non-profit, Student Action with Farmworkers, said the new regulations will lead to positive change in how these workers are treated:

“While there are still a number of improvements needed in the H2A program, the new wage rate formula, travel reimbursement requirements, and pre-occupancy inspection of housing are steps in the right direction.

“These changes bode well for the future of agricultural workers in our country. We look forward to more changes from the US Department of Labor that will improve the labor conditions of one of the worst paid and least protected group of workers in our country.”

What the new rules will mean for farm workers

Major features of the final rule issued by D.O.L. include a requirement that employers provide documentation to the Department proving that they are in compliance with the law. Prior to the new rule, employers only had to say so.

The new rule will increase wages for farm workers on average by over a dollar an hour. Additionally, the Wage and Hour Division has been given independent authority to levy civil money penalties against and even disbar farm employers from the H-2A program for violations, including housing violations.

The new rule also reinstates the requirement that State Workforce Agencies inspect and approve employer-provided housing before the Department issues an H-2A permit. Also, the SWA will once again be able to assist employers in ways that will expand job opportunities for U.S. workers.

The Department will create a national electronic registry of jobs for all H-2A job orders “to improve U.S. worker access to agricultural jobs and help growers find workers from across the U.S.”

Significantly, the new rule closes a major loophole that had allowed farm employers to discourage U.S. workers from taking jobs by paying them lower wages and benefits than foreign workers. The protections of the H-2A program are now extended to all workers in “corresponding employment” – including any work on the job order.

H-2A labor contractors will now be forbidden from hiring workers and moving them from site to site under the same certification. These contractors will face the same regulations as fixed-site farm employers.

Employers will now be required to provide workers with copies of the job orders no later than before departure – including from their home countries, and they’ll be required to display a poster describing employee rights and protections at the work site in English or whatever other language workers understand.

Employers will no longer be able to use the H-2A program to replace workers who are on strike or locked out. The rule change issued by the Obama Department of Labor prohibits approval for H-2A certification at any of these work sites.

Righting wrongs of previous administration

The action taken this week by Secretary Solis is in many ways a reversal of last-minute rule changes forced through by Bush Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

“The new regulations in large part reinstate the regulations which had worked fairly well since 1987, when they were adopted after the changes in the H-2 program in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986,” says MaryLee Hall, Managing Attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina’s Farmworker Unit:

“These 1987 regulations, in effect for more than 20 years, were gutted by the midnight H-2A regulations promulgated by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, which became effective on January 17, 2009, 3 days before President Obama took office.

“The new regulations promulgated by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis this week reinstate the effective preference for U.S. workers [...] as well as the protections for both U.S. and H-2A workers. In addition, the new regulations include some of the improved enforcement measures in the Chao regulations as well as some sensible, streamlined processing and enforcement provisions.

“Although not perfect, they are a vast improvement over the Chao regulations under which H-2A wages fell by more than $2 per hour to the federal minimum wage for most workers on farms employing H-2A workers in North Carolina.”

“This is a victory for our nation’s farmworkers,” said Bruce Goldstein, Executive Director of Farmworker Justice, a national farmworker advocacy group based in Washington DC:

“It’s a reversal of radical anti-worker policies imposed by the previous administration that irresponsibly stripped away basic procedures and worker protections set in place by a Republican administration in 1987.”

You can read a fact sheet on the new rules for the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program here.

Company agrees to reopen plant it shuttered after workers unionized

North Carolina has suffered tens of thousands of job losses to foreign competition. Once those jobs leave our shores, they don’t always stay in one place for long, as multinational corporations close shops and open new ones in a race to the bottom for labor.

It’s an unfortunate but familiar story for textile workers. The company sets up shop, working conditions and pay are poor, workers unionize for a better life, and the company closes the plant in search of cheaper, more exploitable labor elsewhere.

This time, however, that story has a different ending. When Atlanta-based sports apparel maker Russell Athletic lost a two year campaign to defeat the effort to form a union of 1,200 of its textile workers in Honduras, the company fired them all and closed the plant.

If Russell Athletic thought it could get away with it in Honduras, this week it was proven wrong, reports the News & Observer:

After widespread and prolonged student protests at U.S. universities, sports apparel maker Russell Athletic says it will open a new factory in Honduras and rehire ousted union workers as part of an agreement with a group that monitors labor conditions abroad for colleges.

Organized action against Russell Athletic, which began early this year, succeeded in large part because students persuaded their schools to end licensing agreements with Russell, reports the NY Times:

From the time Russell shut the factory last January, the anti-sweatshop coalition orchestrated a nationwide campaign against the company. Most important, the coalition, United Students Against Sweatshops, persuaded the administrations of Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, New York University, Stanford, Michigan, North Carolina and 89 other colleges and universities to sever or suspend their licensing agreements with Russell. The agreements — some yielding more than $1 million in sales — allowed Russell to put university logos on T-shirts, sweatshirts and fleeces.

Not only does the agreement between Russell Athletic and the union, the General Confederation of Workers, reopen the factory and rehire all the fired workers, the company has agreed to neutrality at its other plants in Honduras, including those of its parent company, Fruit of the Loom. Read the details here.

Celebrating the victory, United Students Against Sweatshops posted the following on its web site:

“This is one of the most significant youth-led campaign victories in recent times and one of the most significant campaign victories of the global justice movement. No one has ever forced a multinational corporation to reopen a facility it shut down in the global race to the bottom. This victory has also proven that together, we can successfully fight back when those in power take advantage of the economic crisis to attack working people. We should take strength and inspiration from the example of the workers of Jerzees de Honduras.”

Workers’ right to form unions must be honored

Pope Benedict XVI released a new encyclical last week to address the challenges people face because of globalization.

The Pope notes that it is often government, under the (false) assumption it’s good for the economy, that limit the freedom to form unions:

“Through the combination of social and economic change, trade union organizations experience greater difficulty in carrying out their task of representing the interests of workers, partly because Governments, for reasons of economic utility, often limit the freedom or the negotiating capacity of labour unions. Hence traditional networks of solidarity have more and more obstacles to overcome.” [emphasis added]

The Pope’s conclusion is that the freedom of workers to unite under common cause into unions and bargain for a better life – as a counter-balance to the influence of unrestricted corporate greed – is more important than ever:

“The repeated calls issued within the Church’s social doctrine, beginning with Rerum Novarum, for the promotion of workers’ associations that can defend their rights must therefore be honoured today even more than in the past, as a prompt and far-sighted response to the urgent need for new forms of cooperation at the international level, as well as the local level.” [emphasis added]

From the AFL-CIO Blog:

The Vatican and a wide variety of Catholic leaders have continued to express support throughout the year for workers’ freedom to form unions, and many Catholic scholars and organizations like the Catholic Labor Network and Catholics for Working Families have come out in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on the Pope’s statement:

“The new encyclical offers a much-needed reminder that to create an economy that works for everyone it is critical to protect workers’ fundamental right to join together as a union and bargain for a better future. As the Pope makes clear, it is not only working people, but also entire communities – nations even – that stand to benefit when workers exercise this right. In the document, the Pope reaffirms the Church’s longstanding position that labor unions play a vital role in efforts to build a more just economy – one in which even the most marginalized workers are guaranteed basic dignity and respect.”

What difference can a union make where you work?

workSMART, a project of the Trade Union Congress, the organized labor movement in the United Kingdom, like the AFL-CIO in the United States, has put together a fantastic video that speaks to anyone who goes to a job every day where they feel like just another cog in the machine and may ask, “What difference could a union make?”

Watch and share this video:

Triple Play at Lobby Day

On May 26 public employees and supporters from across North Carolina converged on Raleigh for HOPE’s second Collective Bargaining Lobby Day. Hundreds of people from 22 counties lobbied their legislators in person and through HOPE’s virtual lobby and call-in day.

Our strategy this year followed on three tracks: 1. Mock funeral for G.S. 95-98, the 50 year-old statute that bans public employee bargaining. 2. Meetings with NC House Speaker Joe Hackney. 3. Hearing of NC Senate State and Local Government Committee. Additionally, participants in our Virtual Lobby for HOPE campaign sent over 1,700 emails to the Senate committee!

Read the full report and see a picture slide show from Lobby Day at the HOPE web site, nchope.org. Here’s video of the mock funeral:

Join us on Monday, March 16, 2009

On Monday, March 16th, the faith based, social justice and labor community will come together to stand up for the Moncure workers who are standing up for us.

Download the flyer for this event. Please widely disseminate the flyer to friends, family, faith based organizations and list serves.

From the Moncure Strike Solidarity Committee:

The Orange/Chatham Solidarity Committee for the Moncure IAM LW369 Workers has organized the day of activities so that everyone can participate in one or more events. If you love justice, join us for as much of the day as you can.

We will conclude the day with a rally at the Pittsboro court house and then go into the Chatham Board of County Commissioners’ meeting at 6pm. The commissioners will vote on a resolution in support of the strikers and demand that Atlas Holdings, the owners of Moncure Plywood, take over the negotiations with the International Association of Machinists Local W369 and the federal mediator to assure a just contract.

Seven North Carolina Democratic Congress members have sent a letter and will continue to pressure Atlas Holdings to return to the bargaining table and conclude a just contract with IAM Local W369.

The International Association of Machinists with the support of the NAACP NC and other civil rights organizations has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Moncure Plywood for allowing a noose to be hung on the plant grounds.

The union is taking the struggle to the Connecticut offices of Atlas Holdings. Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd has joined the union in support of the strikers.

The Chatham Board of County Commissioners is expected to join the list of supporters.

Moncure is a member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC). Members must commit themselves to environmentally sustainable practices, including the ethical treatment of their employees. The company’s violation of these principles has been documented and disseminated to all SFC members and on the SFC web site.

For more information – including information about carpooling on the Day of Solidarity – call Lori Hoyt at (919) 968-1888 or Miriam Thompson at (919) 370-4114.

READ: Front-page story lays bare pain inflicted by 7-month standoff

Readers of the News & Observer saw a front-page article in today’s paper on the strike at Moncure Plywood.

Entitled “Strikers Persist in Worst of Times”, the story focuses on how the protracted standoff with management and the tough economy are making life for workers walking the picket line a desperate struggle for survival.

You can read the article here.

The story also includes an audio slide show from the picket line, which you can watch here.

Contribute to the W369 strike fund

Delegates at our just concluded 2009 Legislative Conference dug deep to raise money for the W369 strike fund. The NC AFL-CIO will match their contribution dollar for dollar and cut a check to the local union.

It’s never too late to give the gift of strike support. If you’ve already given to the strike fund, consider making another gift. Send your contributions to:

IAMAW Local Lodge W369
P.O. Box 318
Moncure, NC 27559

Situation is critical for many strikers at Moncure Plywood

July 20, 2008 – union members of IAMAW Lodge W369 go on strike at Moncure Plywood. Six months later the company has done everything it can to avoid negotiating a fair contract for its workers, including hiring replacements.

Walking a picket line this long is finally taking its toll as many workers face the prospect of losing everything – including their homes.

Even if you have given to the strike fund, please make another contribution. This is an urgent appeal for your support of our brothers and sisters in Moncure, NC, who are suffering greatly.

You can make a contribution by sending a check to:
IAMAW Local Lodge W369
P.O. Box 318
Moncure, NC 27559

3rd H.K. on J. set for February 14

Join the NC State AFL-CIO and other labor organizations for the rally and march on Saturday, February 14, 2009. Here’s more information from the announcement at the HK on J web site:

The H K on J coalition is united in support of a 14-point People’s Agenda for better schools and health care, equal justice, affordable housing, worker fairness, voting rights, environmental justice, and more.

The 2008 election revealed the power of unified, progressive action in NC. Let’s push forward for real change! H K on J begins with a rally and continues all year. Come to the H K on J 3 rally on February 14 at Chavis Park, 505 MLK Jr. Blvd at 9:30 am and march to the General Assembly building on Jones Street at 10:30 am. Be a part of this vital new movement for change.

Download, forward by email, print out, photocopy and widely distribute this flyer, inviting friends, colleagues, members of your congregation and civic associations to this event.

WATCH: Broadcast set for tonight (1/22) at 7:30 pm

Rob Holliday, reporter with PBS affiliate UNC-TV, interviewed state AFL-CIO president James Andrews for a feature story on unions in North Carolina that will air tomorrow night on the show North Carolina NOW.

What: North Carolina NOW feature story on unions in NC
When: Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Where: Your local UNC-TV PBS television station

After you watch North Carolina NOW for their feature on unions in our state, let us know what you think of their coverage by posting your comments to this post.

Meeting in Raleigh, Feb. 27 to Mar. 1

State Federation, Central Labor Council and Regional Affiliate leaders, officers, delegates and staff will gather in Raleigh, North Carolina, on February 27, 2009, to plan our Campaign to Win a Voice for Workers in our government, in our workplaces, and in our communities throughout the South.

Please join your fellow leaders, delegates, and staff to help plan the Turn Around America campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, win health care reform, rebuild our economy, and protect our jobs and retirement.

What: AFL-CIO Southern Regional conference
When: Friday, February 27 to Sunday, March 1, 2009
Where: Holiday Inn Brownstone, Raleigh, NC

For more information, including how to register, download the registration packet.

Ads call for economy that works for everyone again

Union members, families, friends and allies turned out in force November 4, 2008 to take a message of hope and change all the way to the White House.

Now is the time for action. American Rights at Work has debuted two new television ads – part of a $3 million ad buy – in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, federal legislation that would put the choice of how and when to form a union back in the hands of workers – not corporations.

These two spots, entitled “Hope and Change” and “We Don’t Ask” make the case that the Employee Free Choice Act is key to having an economy that works and works for everyone again:

We need members’ financial support urgently to keep ads like these on the air and to fight back against the $200 million anti-worker corporate campaign. Union members and their local unions can donate to the Turn Around America Fund and help fight for America’s workers.

By Fred Azcarate, Voice@Work Director for the AFL-CIO

In a blog entry for USAService.org, a web site designed to promote President-elect Barack Obama’s call for a national day of service on Monday, January 19, Fred Azcarate shared his own thoughts on how best to honor those who have come before us:

“The Labor Movement – the Folks that Brought You the Weekend,” is more than a bumper sticker cliché. Unions, at our best, are at the forefront of transformational social change. Serving not just our own members but helping to build a more just world. It may be no surprise unions have fought to ensure workers have the freedom to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages and benefits. In fact, we are still working today to enact the Employee Free Choice Act because we know (just as Dr. King knew standing with those sanitation workers in Memphis) that when workers have a voice on the job they help build an economy that works for everyone. But we have also helped lead the fight for the minimum wage, a 40-hour work week, Medicare, Social Security and Civil Rights.

Read the rest of Fred’s message, and visit USAService.org and sign up to take part in a service event near you.

“Angel Tree” list for striking members

Having been on strike since July 20, 2008, the many union members of Machinist Lodge W369 in Moncure, NC aren’t expecting to have a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year.

We wanted to give our readers and members from across the state an opportunity to help. The NC A. Philip Randolph Institute (NC APRI) has collected the wishes of workers walking the picket lines, and we have compiled them here for viewing.

Some wishes are for toys for children or gifts for spouses. Many wishes are for money to help pay basic expenses like transportation and shelter or gift cards to buy food.

If you would be interested in adopting a striker for the Holidays, contact the NC APRI at ncapri@earthlink.net and leave your name and phone number and who you would like to adopt.

For more information, contact business agent Melvin Montford at (901) 619-1987.

Rally planned for Saturday, Dec. 20

The strike at Moncure Plywood enter its sixth month on Saturday. The stakes for workers who have been out on the picket line since July have never been higher. The company is intent on using the strike to break the union rather than come to an agreement.

We cannot let that happen. Join us to rally support for the human rights of Moncure Plywood workers, members of IAMAW Local Lodge W369. You can bring your wish list gifts to the rally.

What: Rally to support striking workers

When: Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 12 noon

Where: Court House Circle at intersection of NC-64 and US-15/501 in downtown Pittsboro, NC (map it)

VIDEO: Interview with James Andrews, David Zonderman

Jessica Cervantez of News 14 Carolina interviewed State Fed president James Andrews for a story about the work of the AFL-CIO in North Carolina and the recent victory at Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel.

“It’s a great victory for the workers there at Smithfield. For more than 16 years, they have tried to form a union. [The company] decided to allow workers to vote in a fair and free process and that led to this victory.” — News 14, 12/12/08

Cervantez also interviewed David Zonderman, a professor at NC State University and member of the Hear Our Public Employees coalition, about the reasons for low union density in the southeast – including right-to-work (for less) laws and the ban on public sector bargaining.

Zonderman also raises the reasons employers generally oppose organizing – power and keeping wages low:

“To a certain extent, that is one of the goals of unions is to get people living wage. But what we have to remember is when people make that wage they also often spend that money,” Zonderman said. “So union wage in some ways is actually good for an economy.” — News 14, 12/12/08

The decline in bargaining power for middle class workers since the 1980s corresponds with declining wages despite huge gains in worker productivity. Profits that should have been shared in wage increases were taken by executives and shareholders. Meanwhile exploding costs for health care, food, housing and transportation have put the squeeze on consumers’ buying power, and our economy suffers the consequences.

You can read the article and watch the video online.

Misinformation abounds

The debate about whether the Congress should make available a bridge loan for the U.S. auto industry has been muddled by misinformation about the impact of the UAW’s contracts on the viability of Ford, GM, and Chrysler.

We are here to set the record straight.

The UAW has released The Truth about UAW Members and the U.S. Auto Industry, a detailed, point-by-point answer to several questions being asked in the media and in the Congress, including:

• Are UAW members really paid $73 an hour?
  No. This inaccurate and outdated figure includes the costs of pensions and health care benefits of retired employees spread out over the active workers; active workers never receive any of this compensation in any form. UAW wages start at $14 for new hires and go up to $33 for skilled trade workers.
• Do labor costs make up the majority of the cost of producing a vehicle?
  No. Only 10% is labor; the remaining 90% includes research and development, parts, advertising, marketing and management overhead.
• Do union work rules make domestic companies less efficient than their non-union competitors?
  No. In fact, nine of the ten most efficient auto assembly plants in North America are union plants.

Got the Facts? Make the Call to Congress!

Wall Street’s failures now threaten to bring down an entire industry – domestic automakers – that are suffering the consequences of the credit crisis. Three million jobs – many of them belonging to our brothers and sisters in the United Autoworkers – hang in the balance. In North Carolina alone, the collapse of the auto industry could cost 84,890 jobs.

Now is not the time to deny a bridge loan to the domestic automakers in order to push an anti-union agenda, which would punish generations of hard workers. Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler certainly shouldn’t get a free ride on the tax payer’s dollar. That is why Democratic Congressional leaders are demanding automakers demonstrate their viability and accountability before taking action. But doing nothing is not an option.

Please call the Capitol Hill switchboard at (877) 331-1223 and ask to speak with your member of Congress and both our U.S. Senators, Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr.

Tell them:

Congress must act in December to avoid the terrible consequences that would result from a collapse of the domestic automakers. It must pass legislation providing an emergency bridge loan to enable the domestic auto companies to continue their operations. At the same time, it should include requirements that will protect the taxpayers, and ensure the accountability and long term viability of the domestic auto companies.

Our brothers and sisters in the United Auto Workers would greatly appreciate your making this call today!

Join human rights organizers and social justice activists, students, youth, faith leaders, workers and union leaders in Durham, North Carolina for the seventh Southern Human Rights Organizers Conference (SHROC)

SHROC 7 will be held from December 12-14, 2008 at the Radisson Hotel Research Triangle Park, 150 Park Dr, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.

Registration is open through the start of the conference. There is a registration fee, but no one who wants to attend will be turned away because they cannot afford to register.

Issues that will be discussed at SHROC 7 include:

• Post-Katrina Human Rights Issues
• Immigrants Rights
• Slave Plantation Workplaces
• Environmental Justice
• Hate Crimes
• The War in Iraq
• Women’s Rights as Human Rights
• Voting Rights and Felony Disenfranchisement
• Global Lock-out of the Working Poor
• Death Penalty & Racism in the Criminal Justice System
• Juvenile Justice

For more information, including details about how to register to attend SHROC 7, download the conference brochure.

Workers at Moncure Plywood, members of IAMAW Lodge W369, have been on strike since July 20, when the company gave a take-it-or-leave-it final contract offer.

Workers have rejected the company’s demand for 60-hour work weeks, undermining seniority rights, increasing health insurance premiums by over 300 percent, and giving fewer holidays off.

The company has used fear, racism and favoritism to try to pit workers against each other. In September, union members found a noose hanging just inside the plant gate, near where they walk the picket line.

You can help strikers win a fair contract

Four months is a long time for anyone to be out on strike, but it only gets harder to be out of work this time of year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching.

Show solidarity with the union members at Moncure Plywood. The local union needs supporters to walk the picket line and financial assistance to back the striking workers.

The plant is located at 306 Corinth Rd, Moncure, NC in Chatham County – about a 30 minute drive south-west from Raleigh.

You can make a contribution by sending a check to:

IAMAW Local Lodge W369
P.O. Box 318
Moncure, NC 27559

Contact Melvin Montford (901) 619-1987 or IAM W369 President Lewis Cameron (919) 770-5836 for more information.