Lede: The May Day anti-war shutdown of west coast ports is shaping up to be a real bottom-up, rank-and-file action. Doug Cunningham has more.
West Coast long shore workers have voted to stop work for eight hours during the day shift on May 1st, shutting down west coast ports to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clarence Thomas is with the Port Workers May Day Organizing Committee in San Francisco.
[Thomas]: “We believe that only in a peaceful world is it possible for there to be the kinds of gains that all working people need in order to have any kind of economic sustainability.”
Lede: The May Day antiwar shutdown of west coast ports is shaping up to be a real bottom-up rank and file action. Doug Cunningham has more.
West coast long shore workers have voted to stop work for eight hours during the day shift on May 1st, shutting down west coast ports to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clarence Thomas is with the Port Workers May Day Organizing Committee in San Francisco.
[Thomas]: “We believe that only in a peaceful world is it possible for there to be the kinds of gains that all working people need in order to have any kind of economic sustainability.”
The United Auto Workers are planning a “major demonstration” as Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut prepares to cut the ribbon on a $700 million MGM Grand expansion. The new wing will be opened at midnight on May 17, and the union plans to make its presence known as they continue to seek representation of 2,600 dealers at the casino. The dealers have voted in favor of union representation, but the casino continues to contest the results. Melinda Tuhus has more on the background for this story:
After a majority of the 2,600 table game dealers at the casino voted in favor of the United Auto Workers last November, the tribal government appealed the vote to the regional office of the NLRB in Hartford, Conn. In mid March, an administrative law judge ruled that the union had not engaged in any objectionable conduct warranting setting aside the election, as charged by the tribal leadership, and he recommended that the election be certified on behalf of the union. Tribal officials plan to appeal the decision to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. Union organizing committee member and games dealer, Denise Gladu is looking forward to her first union contract at Foxwoods:
The United Auto Workers are planning a “major demonstration” as Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut prepares to cut the ribbon on a $700 million dollar MGM Grand expansion. The new wing will be opened at midnight on May 17 and the union plans to make its presence known as the continue to seek representation of 2600 dealers at the casino. The dealer voted in favor of union representation, but the casino continues to contest the results. Melinda Tuhus has more on the background of this story:
After a majority of the 2600 table dealers at the casino voted in favor of the United Auto Workers last November the tribal government appealed the vote to the regional office of the NLRB in Hartford, Conn. An administrative law judge ruled that the union had not engaged in any objectionable conduct warranting setting aside the election and he recommended that the election be certified on behalf of the union. Tribal officials plan to appeal the decision to the National labor Relations Board in Washington DC. Union organizing committee member and games dealer, Denise Gladu is looking forward to her first union contract at Foxwoods:
The folks who teach a lot of college undergraduate classes, grade the papers and do much of the same work as full-time teachers could soon catch a break and get paid what they deserve.
The two chairmen of the congressional education committees—Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)—have introduced a bill that would include graduate teaching and research assistants at private colleges and universities as employees under the National Labor Relations Act, which would give them the freedom to join a union.
The Teaching and Research Assistant Collective Bargaining Rights Act (H.R. 5838 and S. 2891) could overturn a 2004 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that university graduate assistants are not employees and are not protected by the National Labor Relations Act.
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