In the David and Goliath match-up between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the fast food industry, the little guy has tripped up the giant again. . . .
Carrying a message of union democracy, reformers left their mark on the 2008 SEIU convention, which took place May 30 to June 4 in Puerto Rico. Opposition to SEIU top leaders’ plans to dramatically restructure the union coalesced around the newly formed caucus SEIU Members for Reform Today (SMART) and the large bloc of delegates from UHW. . . .
The first contract signed June 4 at the Hilton Hotel in Glendale, California is nothing to sneeze at these days—modest raises, health care costs cut in half, and relief from a crushing workload. But its significance for hotel workers struggling to lift standards nationwide is even greater. In September 2005, the Los Angeles-area Hilton was where UNITE HERE launched its Hotel Workers Rising campaign. . . .
The aftershocks of the late-May defeat of the American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) strike will be felt in the unionized sections of the auto industry—and beyond—for years to come. . . .
The question of raiding — one union convincing members of another union to decertify and join the competitor — has been a hot-button issue once more this year in the labor movement. . . .
When New York’s governor announced last year that the state would stop asking people who wanted drivers licenses for proof of citizenship, a firestorm of anger erupted—so hot that the governor rescinded his proposal. . . .
Jim West/jimwestphoto.com
When New York’s governor announced last year that the state would stop asking people who wanted drivers licenses for proof of citizenship, a firestorm of anger erupted—so hot that the governor rescinded his proposal.
Guillermo Perez, a labor educator and the president of the Albany, New York, chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), was appalled.
Turkish workers in Tuzla’s dangerous shipyards are protesting to save their lives. The Port, Shipyard, Ship Construction and Repair Workers Trade Union (Limter Is) called a one-day strike June 16 to protest the deaths of two shipyard workers on the job. Twenty-five workers have died in Tuzla in the past year in work-related accidents. Despite the high death toll, the government has only formed a commission to investigate safety standards and step up inspections of the shipyards.
The union struck for 48 hours in February over the same issues and faced repression from police and shipyard owners. Police beat protesters and took 75 union leaders and others into custody, but could not break the strike.
United Auto Workers Local 822 members in Bronson, Michigan struck May 1 after refusing to surrender major concessions sought by auto parts supplier Douglas Autotech. The company wanted to cut wages and reduce retiree benefits, but the 140-member local voted instead to strike after four months at the negotiating table.
On May 5, the strikers offered to voluntarily go back to work under the old contract and resume negotiations. The company, however, locked them out and brought in scabs from its two non-union plants in Kentucky.
Strikers have received support from their local community, although one of Bronson’s city councilmen is a manager at the plant and has thrown his weight behind the company. There has also been community solidarity and help on the picket lines from American Axle workers at UAW Local 2093 in nearby Three Rivers, Michigan. Truck drivers delivering parts to the plant have refused to cross the picket line.
