Labor Notes Magazine, May 2008, No. 350

Magazine
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Author(s):
Jane Slaughter

Excerpt:
Although the two-month-old strike at parts-maker American Axle has shut down 30 General Motors plants and idled more than 40,000 GM workers, the United Auto Workers appear unable or unwilling to make use of their leverage to reach a settlement. . . .

Available Online:
Yes

Author(s):
Mark Brenner

Excerpt:
Mounting conflicts within the SEIU have spilled into the delegate election process for the union’s convention, scheduled for June 1-4 in Puerto Rico. SEIU opposition activists, particularly from several large locals on the West Coast, are crying foul. . . .

Available Online:
Yes

Author(s):
Joshua DeVries

Excerpt:
Flight attendants at Delta Airlines are pushing to join the ranks of unionized cabin crews. With almost all major airlines organized for decades, only Atlanta-based Delta has held out. Now a growing number of flight attendants there—aided by a huge team of Association of Flight Attendants member - organizers from other airlines — have decided their time has come. . . .

Available Online:
Yes

Author(s):
Tiffany Ten Eyck

Excerpt:
Members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers have exposed Burger King for its role in attempts to infiltrate and spy on the inner workings of a CIW-allied organization, the Student/Farmworker Alliance. Both CIW and SFA are headquartered in Immokalee, Florida, where tomato pickers are demanding Burger King join with other tomato purchasers to better the wages and working conditions throughout the tomato industry. . . .

Available Online:
Yes

Author(s):
Dan La Botz

Excerpt:
The miners of Local 65 of the Mexican Mine and Metal Workers Union at Cananea marked their ninth month of striking against Grupo Mexico, the country’s largest mining corporation and third-largest copper producer in the world. . . .

Available Online:
Yes

Author(s):
Paul Abowd

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
Mischa Gaus

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
Labor Notes staff

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
Tiffany Ten Eyck

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
Tiffany Ten Eyck

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
Tim Schermerhorn

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
Ellen David Friedman

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
John Becker

Available Online:
No

Author(s):
Labor Notes staff

Available Online:
No

Solidarity Network

Body:
An Iranian bakery worker and co-founder of the Bakery Workers Trade Union, Mahmoud Salehi, was released from prison in early April after a year of incarceration. Imprisoned for breaches of “national security,” he had organized a rally on International Workers’ Day (May 1) in 2004.
During his prison stay, protesters rallied outside the high-security facility in the Kurdish capital of Sanandaj. Their voices were soon joined by activists with LabourStart, the International Trade Union Confederation, the International Transport Federation, and Amnesty International, which all launched solidarity campaigns in the last year. Salehi was released to crowds celebrating his freedom, and promised to continue his decades-long struggle for labor rights in Iran.

Expiration Date:
Sat, 05/31/2008 - 8:59pm

Body:
In Bangladesh, workers are engaged in a protracted battle for the restoration of union rights, which were suspended more than a year ago when the government declared emergency rule. Interim authorities used that power earlier this year to file criminal cases against dozens of union members, including leaders of the Bangladesh Independent Garment Workers’ Union Federation.

In a Dhaka shop operated by garment-maker RM Sweater, workers mourn the loss of a fellow worker, a 25-year-old man they called Russell. Though he complained of severe chest pains, management refused to let Russell leave work, where he collapsed and died April 1.

Expiration Date:
Sat, 05/31/2008 - 9:59pm