Labor Union Blog

Most of us still have some holiday shopping to do and here are a few suggestions that can keep you out of the lines at the malls and big-box stores and warm the heart of any good trade unionist or progressive on your list.

David Prosten reminds us that Union Communication Services (UCS), the labor movement’s all-union, 100 percent labor books bookstore, is a good place to find the gift of solidarity. They have a sleigh full of great stocking-stuffers for the labor activist in your life, union hall or workplace.

Click here to see a special selection of books and other goodies from the UCS catalog. Some of the best of the best are featured here, including two brand-new, just-added titles—Working Words, a collection of prose and poetry from Bob Dylan to Eminem to Amiri Baraka, and Rebel Voices, the IWW anthology.

Also at UCS, check out the recently published children’s book Which Side Are You On? The Story of a Song. It tells the story of the song, written in 1931, that has become an anthem for people fighting for their rights all over the world, through the eyes of song author’s Florence Reece’s 11-year-old daughter. The song was written as the Reece family huddled under the bed as bullets from coal company thugs tore through their Kentucky home.

Your holiday gifts can fight human trafficking and modern-day slavery when you shop at the Not for Sale Store. The group Not for Sale (NFS) is a leading voice in the fight against global exploitation.

The store showcases products made by NFS and its partners, who employ survivors of human trafficking and those vulnerable to exploitation. Through the marketing and sale of ethically made products, the Not For Sale Store serves a dual purpose: The store provides sustainable opportunities for survivors to have dignified work while demonstrating the viability of alternative supply chains that value people over profit.

It has an amazing selection of men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, gift cards and more, including apparel from the ultra-hip AllSaints line that earlier this year entered a partnership with NFS.

Don’t forget with the AFL-CIO Online Store—Union Made^TM where you’ll find union/worker-themed T-shirts (including my favorite above), sweatshirts, caps, buttons, bumper stickers and more.

You can find union-made products at AFL-CIO’s Union Label and Service Trades Department (UL&STD). Just click on the yellow “Search for Union Products” box on the right side of the UL&STD home page here.

You also can click on the unions below to visit their online gift shops:

AFSCME, AFT, Postal Workers (APWU), Railroad Signalmen (BRS), Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers (GMP), Ironworkers, Fire Fighters (IAFF), Machinists (IAM), Electrical Workers (IBEW), Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA), Letter Carriers (NALC), National Nurses United (NNU), Plasterers and Cement Masons (OPCMIA), Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), Seafarers (SIU), Transport Workers (TWU), TCU/IAM, UNITEHERE!, Mine Workers (UMWA), United Steelworkers (USW), United Transportation Union (UTU), Utility Workers (UWUA).

Visit the Labor Heritage Foundation’s online gift shop here and Union Boot Pro here. Other shopping links include: Union Made Goods, Justice Clothing and Union-Made Clothing Discounts from Union Plus.

Click here to check out American-made products recently featured on manufacturethis, the blog from the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM).

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., today upheld the new democratic union election rule for aviation and rail workers issued by the National Mediation Board (NMBM) in 2010.

The aviation industry, led by Delta Airlines, challenged the new rule and today’s decision was the second time a federal court upheld the democratic election rule.

For decades, the deck was 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.

In a statement this afternoon, the Flight Attendants (AFA\CWA) said:

This decision confirms that the National Mediation Board has full and absolute authority to bring democracy to union elections in their jurisdiction.

The new rule was at the center of this summer’s shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill who held funding for the agency hostage in an attempt to repeal right of air and rail workers to democratic union elections.

After Republicans backed down, a temporary funding bill was approved this fall, but the runs out next month and Republicans with the backing of the airline industry are expected to mount another attack on the workers’ rights to fair elections. Says AFA\CWA:

For too long, ideologues have held up passage of this vital piece of legislation on the hope that they could strip aviation workers of their democratic right of free and fair union elections.

It is time for Congress to drop this single-minded crusade against workers’ right to join a union. We encourage Congress to pass a comprehensive funding bill that allows the FAA to move forward on vital safety and airport improvement projects that will help to enhance the world’s greatest aviation system.

Mario Cilento was elected president of the 2.5 million-member New York State AFL-CIO today by the state federation’s executive council. He succeeds Denis M. Hughes who is retiring and served as president since 1999.

Cilento has been with the New York State AFL-CIO for nearly 20 years, serving as chief of staff for the past 12 years.  He says:

The labor movement in this state has always risen to the challenges laid before us.  Together, as one movement, we will once again meet those challenges, and provide a brighter economic future for all working men and women.

Cilento says one of his priorities is closing the “growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots.”

Our state and our country rises and falls with the strength of the middle class.  We must create and retain good jobs that provide financial security both now and in retirement. All too often the cynics will focus on what makes us different. We will focus on what unites us:  the belief that all workers deserve a decent living for their hard and honest labor.

Amy Masciola, campaign consultant for the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers District of Local 32BJ/SEIU (NCFO/SEIU), sends us this.

This week at the Biennial Convention of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO, union members from around the state kicked off a campaign in support of workers at AAK in Louisville. Nearly 50 employees of the oils and fats processor, formerly Golden Brands, are currently working without a contract after voting overwhelmingly to reject the company’s final offer in November. According to unfair labor practice charges the union filed, workers describe a hostile atmosphere in the workplace after managers threatened to fire members of the bargaining committee if they did not recommend the contract offer to co-workers. One worker was fired after he spoke to authorities about management’s threats.

Workers—members of Chapter 320 of the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NCFO/Local 32BJ SEIU)—were shocked when management launched a vicious anti-union campaign last fall. For more than 25 years, workers had a cooperative relationship with the company. However, last July, a Swedish multinational corporation, AarhusKarishamn (AAK), bought Golden Brands and took over the 10-acre Louisville facility. The new management seems determined to break the union and has retaliated against workers for speaking out.

According to Robin Price, a seven-year employee of the company, shop steward, and single mother of three,

I didn’t see it coming. When they first came in, they met with all the stewards, shook our hands, and told us not to worry about them coming after the union. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. They lied to us.

Just before the union contract expired in October, management circulated a decertification petition. Price was vocal in explaining the importance of their union to her co-workers, saying,

I explained that without our union the company could lower wages whenever they wanted to and we’d have no rights.

The decertification attempt by management was a failure, so the company came to the bargaining table with proposals that would gut the union contract, depriving workers of a voice on the job after 25 years of fair treatment by the former owners.

Among other things, the company wants to eliminate the union security clause and seniority rights. Says Mike Moses, NCFO Business Manager:

We are deeply concerned about AAK’s anti-union. We understand that companies in Sweden treat their workers with respect and negotiate on a level playing field. It’s outrageous that a Swedish company would come to the United States and engage in classic union busting tactics.”

Two weeks ago, dozens of supporters and workers gathered for a rally outside the facility in Louisville. Workers say they are going to fight for the respect they deserve. “We’re not giving up until we get our good union contract back,” said Price. Saying they will take that fight all the way to AAK headquarters in Sweden if necessary. Says Moses:

We think AAK’s shareholders and customers in Sweden will be concerned about the company’s treatment of its U.S. workers.

Delegates to the Kentucky AFL-CIO convention committed to support the AAK workers in their fight for a fair contract. They started by making calls to some of the company’s major customers, including General Mills, and demanding that they tell AAK to treat its workers with respect. Said Moses:

They couldn’t do it in Sweden. Don’t let them get away with a double standard in the U.S. 

Andy Richards on our Field Communications staff sends us this.

With the holidays only days away, Pittsburgh-area faith leaders, community members and union families came together Friday to hand bring holiday cheer and hand out hundreds of toys and donations to families in need.

At the Allegheny County Labor Council’s annual Labor of Love/Stuff the Bus Toy Drive, they gave out toys, gift cards and other donations collected earlier this month. The annual toy collection is one of the largest holiday toy drives in Pittsburgh and union members and their families kick it off each year by filling a 40-foot transit bus to the brim with gifts for children in need. Says Bob Mazzie, a retired member of ATU Local 85 who donated toys at the kick-off event earlier this month:

It is more important than ever that we come together as a community and support those in need. This is not just about the spirit of the season but about keeping our community strong.  By lifting those up in need, we make sure that we are moving together towards a brighter future together.

Last year’s effort generated an estimated $15,000 in toys and donations to help hundreds of kids whose parents have been affected by the slumping economy and slim prospects for finding family-sustaining jobs in the area.

“We wouldn’t be able to do this event every year without the support of union families and the community,” says Father Regis Ryan of Focus on Renewal, whose group organized the event with the help of union families.

It is a testament to the fact that we can accomplish a lot more together than we can individually.

Emergency Medical Service (EMS) helicopter pilots, members of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 109 and employed by Air Methods Corporation based in Denver, have ratified a new agreement.  The 1,000 pilots operate in 45 states and transport nearly 100,000 patients a year. AMC is the nation’s largest provider of air medical emergency transport services and systems.

The agreement–reached after two and a half years of talks that included mediator from the National Mediation Board—was ratified by a wide margin.  Says Local 109 President Dan McDade:

I’m pleased with the results and look forward to working cooperatively with the company.  This agreement demonstrates an improved cooperative relationship between the company and the union.

AMC recently acquired Omniflight, which employs more than 300 helicopter pilots.  Discussions will begin soon on providing those pilots a voice in the AMC bargaining unit.

OPEIU Local 109 is affiliated with the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association (PHPA), a council within OPEIU.

AFT and West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced they are leading an unprecedented public-private partnership to improve educational opportunity and address complex social and economic problems in the Central Appalachia community of McDowell County, W.Va.

Gov. Tomblin and AFT President Randi Weingarten announced the “Reconnecting McDowell” initiative, which includes more than 40 partners in a comprehensive effort that will take place over the next three to five years. Says Weingarten:

McDowell County is an American story that deserves a new chapter. Given the challenges, being conventional won’t be good enough. We will be flexible, creative and entrepreneurial, and will take risks.

McDowell is the southernmost West Virginia county and has suffered devastating economic and social problems due to the decline of the coal economy in recent decades. As reported by the Washington Post, 80 percent of the students in the county’s Anawalt Elementary School meet the state’s definition of poor.

The Reconnecting McDowell partners have signed a covenant binding their commitment to make education the centerpiece of their efforts–chiefly to develop a well-rounded curriculum and provide support, services and enrichment to the county’s 3,600 students and its teachers.

The project also vows to seek solutions to underlying poverty, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, housing shortages, limited medical services and inadequate access to technology and transportation.

The partnership “has the power to change lives for the better in rural West Virginia and inspire other communities throughout the nation to follow suit,” says Tomblin.

Partners in the project come from business, foundations, government, nonprofit agencies and labor, and include Save the Children, Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia, DonorsChoose.org, College Board, Cisco Systems, the West Virginia AFL-CIO and the United Mine Workers.

Commitments already in place include $150,000 from the AFT Educational Foundation for a six-month planning process; $100,000 from Frontier Communications for online learning projects with Globaloria; and a long-term plan to provide books for every county child by First Book.

Former West Virginia first lady, Gayle Manchin, who now serves as vice president of the state board of education, was a prime mover in creating the partnership. She called the effort “impressive,” and said its expertise will help find

creative ways to invest in housing, technology and broadband, transportation, recreation and infrastructure.

The Reconnecting McDowell partnership plans to provide quarterly public updates. As Weingarten told the Washington Post:

This is not a photo-op. This is a moral commitment. We’re in the business of making a difference in the lives of people.

You can sign a pledge to “Stay Connected to McDowell” here.

Terry Miale, a communications systems engineer, lost nearly everything when she lost her job.

My whole life is gone. My retirement is gone. My house is gone. For a period of time, I lost my mental health because I went into a deep depression.

Even though she worked 30 years in her field, it took Miale four years to get re-employed. So Miale can’t understand why Republican leaders in Congress just won’t extend unemployment insurance (UI) to long-term unemployed workers who can’t find jobs in an economy in which there are more than four workers for every one job.

When I needed  unemployment benefits, they were there. I really think that it isn’t fair to pull a lifeline out from under people that are just now having to collect unemployment benefits. It’s hard enough to live on unemployment benefits, let alone live with none.

Unless UI is extended this month, 2 million jobless people will lose their lifeline. Those in Congress blocking the UI extension should be made to feel what it’s like to be unemployed.

Sign a petition to Congress demanding it act now to extend the emergency UI benefits program.

This is a cross-post from the Metropolitan Washington (D.C.) Central Labor Council Council.

Holiday carolers serenaded Verizon board member Rodney Slater yesterday with new words to an old favorite:

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Verizon gave to me: Profits over people, less respect for workers, more corporate greed, less health insurance, dividends for stockholders, cutting our pensions, billions in profits, OUT-SOURCING JOBS, unfairly fired workers, dishonest bargaining, a cut in starting pay and a few million for the CEO!

Activists from the Communications Workers of America (CWA), other unions, Jobs with Justice and the Occupy movement sang carols about corporate greed outside Slater’s downtown Washington, D.C., office. Slater, the U.S. secretary of transportation under President Bill Clinton, made $219,000 last year as a Verizon board director and helped stuff the stockings of the company’s top five executives with a cool $258 million over the past four years, earning Slater and his Verizon board colleagues a lump of coal from the protesters.

In August, Verizon workers went on strike, as bargaining broke down over give-backs in health care and pensions demanded by the company. Two weeks later, employees were back at work on the promise of good-faith bargaining—yet they still have no contract. Since then, a new report found Verizon has paid no federal taxes since 2007 and in fact, paid a -2.9 percent tax rate from 2008-2010.