As United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger opened the union’s Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas June 12, discontent from the ranks rumbled around him. Bankrupt Delphi Corp. reported more losses, workers had to decide whether to jump ship with a buyout, and DaimlerChrysler workers’ contracts were being gutted local by local...

Festive campaign balloons obscured delegates' view of the podium as officers were nominated on Day 3 of the UAW convention.
Photo: Ellis Boal.

As United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger opened the union’s Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas June 12, discontent from the ranks rumbled around him. Bankrupt Delphi Corp. reported more losses, workers had to decide whether to jump ship with a buyout, and DaimlerChrysler workers’ contracts were being gutted local by local.

Following a familiar script, Allied Holdings—the largest carhauling company in North America—has filed for bankruptcy and is trying to force its workers to accept major givebacks. In response, the Teamsters (IBT) union is threatening to strike...

The carhaul industry has historically been a stronghold for the Teamsters. But small nonunion companies have grown, and the union has not been able to organize them. Photo: Jim West.

Following a familiar script, Allied Holdings — the largest carhauling company in North America—has filed for bankruptcy and is trying to force its workers to accept major givebacks. In response, the Teamsters (IBT) union is threatening to strike. Allied filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last July, and on April 26 the company asked the bankruptcy court to grant “emergency concessions.” These included a 10 percent wage cut over the next two months and a block on a twopercent pay raise due on June 1. The court agreed and on May 2 the cuts went into effect. Looking to push even further, Allied tried to backdate cuts to April 24, but the judge refused.

As Toronto sweltered under summer temperatures and smog warnings, 700,000 transit riders unexpectedly found themselves out on the streets during morning rush hour on Monday, May 29, looking for alternative means of transportation...

As Toronto sweltered under summer temperatures and smog warnings, 700,000 transit riders unexpectedly found themselves out on the streets during morning rush hour on Monday, May 29, looking for alternative means of transportation.

Protesting drastic shift changes, maintenance and janitorial staff of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) — members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 — had set up picket lines in the small hours of the morning.

Bus drivers, also members of Local 113, already angry about the lack of management concern for increased assaults on drivers by irate customers, honored the picket lines.

Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and UNITE HERE are racing ahead with a campaign opposing a lawsuit filed by Kentucky Speedway against NASCAR. The suit would force NASCAR to change the way it allocates races.

Kentucky Speedway is partly owned by Richard Farmer, the chairman and founder of Cintas Corporation, the largest uniform supplier in the nation. UNITE HERE and the IBT are trying to organize Cintas. Cintas has fought hard to keep its workers nonunion and was recently ordered to pay $1.4 million in back pay for violating living wage laws.

Farmer became involved with Kentucky Speedway when the fledgling company was looking for corporate sponsorship in the late 1990s. Farmer became a part owner in the track. Kentucky Speedway quickly got in the fast lane and has successfully hosted NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Busch series races.

Debra Moore, president of United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 160 in Williamsburg, was recently fired by Virginia’s Eastern State Hospital. After working unpopular weekend shifts for three years, Moore was abruptly given a weekday schedule in January. Moore, a single mother, was unable to balance work and the care of her two sons when the hospital changed her work schedule.

Unlike other employees Moore was told she could not trade shifts. Although she continued to work more than forty hours on the weekends, she missed weekday shifts and was soon fired for accrued unplanned leave.

Miners working for Peabody Energy in Kentucky are pushing hard to organize in the face of an anti-union operation. In December of last year they launched the Justice at Peabody Campaign. They have recently won support from local political and religious leaders, as well as fellow miners as far away as Australia.

Over 500 Peabody Miners have signed petitions demanding the right to organize. In addition to concerns over pensions, health care, and time off, the miners feel that a union would help them fight against forced over time. Workers feel that long workdays with little time off could lead to the kind of fatigue that makes accidents more likely.

Costa Rican union leaders voicing opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)—which would extend NAFTA throughout Latin America--are being subjected to intimidation and threats. Albino Vargas, General Secretary of Costa Rica’s largest independent union--the National Association of Public and Private Employees (ANEP)--has been warned that if he continues to oppose CAFTA, his life may be in danger.

Union representatives from a general trade union, Confederacion de Trabajodores Rerum Novarum, were also threatened during a recent attack on their offices. The attackers stole paperwork and computers as well as union officer’s personal belongings. The attack was tied to the union’s position on CAFTA.