Labor Notes - solidarity network feed

Laid-off SEIU Janitors Demand Their Jobs Back

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:14:20 -0500

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Janitors in California’s SEIU Local 1877 are fighting tech giant Cisco Systems’ mass layoffs. Since February, the Cisco’s janitorial services contractor, American Building Management, has laid off 75 janitors, more than 40 percent of its workforce.

Most of the workers are low-income immigrants and mothers. Janitors still on the job are suffering as well, forced to assume higher workloads that threaten health and safety.

Cisco has largely dodged responsibility, and blames the recession for the layoffs. But financial hardship seems a difficult card to play for a company that was named the world’s fourth most profitable technology company by Fortune magazine in April.

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Fri, 07/31/2009 - 10:59pm

Compass Group Intimidating Catering Workers in Algeria

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:09:10 -0500

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While employees at multinational oil producers in Algeria relax in air-conditioned shelters, workers at a catering contractor that serves them swelter in tents in the desert. The workers, employed by a subsidiary of the multinational Compass Group, have shifts that last six weeks without a day off.

They decided to create a union in 2006, but management disputed the union’s legitimacy despite initial support from 1,400 workers out of 1,800. They refused to permit meetings on company property, allowed by law.

The union collapsed. Worse yet, the company and its subcontractor have tried to make an example of the union’s elected general secretary, Yassin Zaid. His work contract was suspended, and he faces charges for “slander on the internet.” He lives in fear of further reprisals. The independent Algerian union SNAPAP is asking supporters to pressure the company to abandon legal proceedings against Zaid and to reinstate him—and to cease interfering with the union.

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Fri, 07/31/2009 - 8:59pm

Support Fired Auto Union Leader Who Backed Visteon Sit-Down

Fri, 15 May 2009 07:14:36 -0500

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Rob Williams, local convenor (chief steward) of the Unite union, was fired April 28 at the Linamar car parts factory in Swansea, Wales, for “irretrievable breakdown of trust”—that is, managers didn’t trust him to take their side. Williams had been active in supporting sit-downs at three Visteon plants in the U.K. (see page 16), and Linamar, which had bought the Swansea plant from Visteon, is now seeking pay cuts.

As managers called police to escort Williams from the factory, he ran through the plant to the union office, which was quickly surrounded by workers who left their jobs on the line. The police backed off and management backed down—but only temporarily. They fired Williams again May 6 and removed the door to the union office.

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Tue, 06/30/2009 - 11:59am

Vietnam Targets Leaders of Independent Unions

Fri, 15 May 2009 07:12:35 -0500

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Human Rights Watch released a report May 4 calling on the Vietnamese government—and the Western multinationals that do business in Vietnam—to end suppression of the country’s independent unions.

At least five of the most prominent activists organizing independent unions in the country are currently imprisoned on what HRW calls “dubious national security charges.” Some are thought to have been kidnapped by the government’s security forces.

Between double-digit inflation and stresses caused by the global economic crisis, labor unrest in the country continues to escalate. Thousands of workers, most of them employed at foreign-owned factories, have joined wildcat strikes to demand raises and better working conditions. About 5,000 garment workers struck in January, saying they were docked a month’s pay for an absence.

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Tue, 06/30/2009 - 8:59pm

Auto Workers Occupy Visteon Plants in UK

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:49:39 -0500

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Workers at a Visteon plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland, staged an occupation of their plant March 31 after management told them it would close in six minutes. Workers in two plants in England followed their lead, and soon 600 Visteon workers were occupying their factories.

The plants were part of Ford Motor Company until a restructuring plan nine years ago, when Ford promised that Visteon workers’ contracts would always “mirror” Ford’s. Ford had promised “redundancy contracts”—benefits and pay workers would get if the plant were to shut down. Now Visteon is offering nothing, and workers fear they will lose their pensions as well.

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Sun, 05/31/2009 - 9:59pm

Iraq Teachers Union Under Attack

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:47:04 -0500

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The Iraq Teachers Union (ITU) has been actively working for greater union and organizing rights under the new Iraqi constitution. But in the last few weeks the government has attempted to seize the union from its members and leaders.

The government appointed a special body to preside over the union and force it to hold elections. The ITU has had multiple conferences in which union leaders have been elected openly and democratically, the last one in late 2007 to elect a new president.

The government is demanding that the union hand over the keys to its buildings and offices, as well as its records and membership information. It has told the elected leaders of the ITU to step down or be jailed.

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Sun, 05/31/2009 - 8:59pm

Leaders of Independent Iranian Union Jailed

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:03:43 -0500

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Leaders of an independent union at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Plantation and Industry Company were arrested by Iranian authorities in late February. The arrests come after the union’s successful protest of the election of the Islamic Labor Council at the plantation February 22. Only 30 of 5,000 workers voted. The government-controlled Councils are set up in every workplace in Iran, with employers’ help.

Reza Rakhshan was arrested at an intelligence office after being summoned by the government. His home was then raided and many of his personal and union possessions were confiscated. Two leaders had their homes raided and possessions seized; one, Rahim Boshagh, also was arrested earlier in the week. The officials are charged with acting against national security, the usual accusation leveled against social, political, and labor activists in the country. Their trials were hastily conducted and verdicts are pending.

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Thu, 04/30/2009 - 9:59pm

More Forced Labor Found in Florida

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:00:28 -0500

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The U.S. Department of Justice reports a new case of forced labor in Florida agriculture. This is the seventh confirmed case of forced labor in the last decade in the state.

The report describes poor working conditions as well as workers being chained to poles, beaten, robbed, and locked inside trucks. A 17-count federal indictment outlines how a dozen workers living on a farm were forced to sleep in trucks and shacks, went unpaid for their work, and had to pay for food and showers. The cases were reported at the Six L’s and Pacific Tomato Growers farms. Both the farms are certified by the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange Socially Accountable Farm Employers program, which is supposed to prevent labor abuses.

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Thu, 04/30/2009 - 8:59pm

Ukrainian Machinists Take Over Company

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:25:17 -0600

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More than 300 workers at the Kherson Engineering plant in the Ukraine occupied the plant’s administrative building in early February, protesting unpaid wages.

Workers occupied the building and then established a patrol to maintain a constant workers’ presence there. The workers have refused to leave until the company pays the back wages owed to them and the government nationalizes the plant, without compensation for the plant owners and investors.

The workforce, which numbers about 1,500, has not been paid since September. The total amount of back wages owed to workers totals between $550,000 and $630,000.

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Tue, 03/31/2009 - 9:59pm

Honduran Apparel Workers Fired

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:23:00 -0600

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Sportswear maker Russell Corp. fired workers in an apparel plant in Choloma, Honduras in October because of their unionization efforts. Russell is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm of Warren Buffett. One of the wealthiest men in the world, Buffett has stressed throughout his career the importance of ethical business practices.

After pressure from many universities and colleges, organized by United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), Russell offered to rehire the workers.

Reinstatement talks broke down, however, after Russell offered only a 4-cents-per-day pay increase. Days after negotiations stalled, Russell said it was closing the plant.

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Tue, 03/31/2009 - 9:59pm

Greek Union Leader Attacked with Acid

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:52:16 -0600

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Konstantina Kuneva, a Bulgarian immigrant employed in Greece, was attacked outside her home in Athens with sulfuric acid in late December. Kuneva is secretary of the Panattic Union of Cleaners and Domestic Personnel and a cleaner in the Athens metro system. She is employed by OIKMET, a contractor.

The attack is thought to be motivated by Kuneva’s activities in her union and devotion to protecting the rights of cleaners and housekeepers in Greece. Since becoming an active voice in her union, she has faced pressure to quit her job and threats on her life. The acid attack has left Kuneva blind in one eye and with only partial sight in the other.

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Sat, 02/28/2009 - 8:59pm

Vietnamese Workers Fight Management Abuses

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:25:58 -0600

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Close to 4,000 Vietnamese garment workers went on strike in northern Vietnam in early January. The workers protested mistreatment by management at the Taiwanese-owned Sun Jade Company shoe factory in the province of Thanh Hoa.

Workers claim management has routinely dealt physical abuse and humiliation to workers, a majority of whom are women. Sun Jade management often punished workers for arriving late by refusing to pay the day’s wages, barring entry to the cafeteria for company-provided lunch, and cutting their entry cards in half. They have also been denied leave for an illness or death in the family, losing up to a month’s pay when these situations prevent them from working.

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Sat, 02/28/2009 - 9:59pm

Support Turkish Leather Workers

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:30:35 -0600

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Leather workers at the DESA Leather Company in Turkey are fighting poor working conditions and an anti-union employer. After they moved to unionize, management responded by firing 44 workers and intimidating 55 others into resigning their membership. The fired workers, whose union is called Deri Is, have been conducting demonstrations in front of DESA factories for the past six months, where they have been met with harassment and arrests.

DESA Leather manufactures products sold to high-end brands such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, Mulberry, and Samsonite. The 1,200 leather workers employed by the company face appalling working conditions at two manufacturing facilities and a tanning yard, which the union says are in breach of health and safety regulations.

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Fri, 01/30/2009 - 10:59pm

Russian Auto Workers Under Assault

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:26:51 -0600

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The leader of a Russian auto workers union, Alexei Etmanov, was assaulted twice at his home in Vsevolozhsk, Russia, in November. Etmanov, co-chair of the independent Interregional Trade Union of Autoworkers, faced attackers with brass knuckles and metal pipes and suffered serious injuries. Following the first attack, the ITUA received a call warning union members to stop their activities or lose their lives. Two other members of the union also were assaulted following a picket for union recognition.

The Russian government has failed to properly investigate these crimes, releasing suspects, suspending cases, and quickly halting inquiries. Demand that these auto workers receive protection from Russian authorities.

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Sat, 01/31/2009 - 5:59pm

Conflict Brewing at Lipton Tea in Pakistan

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:28:52 -0600

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Workers at a Unilever tea factory in Pakistan are protesting the company’s refusal to provide permanent jobs and contracts for their employees.

The Unilever tea factory in Khanewal, in the Punjab province, employs 750 workers who package tea for Brook Bond and Lipton tea brands. But temporary workers dominate the factory—just 22 are permanently employed.

The rest are hired through contract labor agencies. They lack the right to join the Unilever union, and have fewer benefits and lower wages than permanent workers.

Temporary is a misleading term for these tea packers. Most have been working at the factory for decades, and some as many as 30 years. The country’s labor law says that they should have been granted permanent employment after nine months on the job.

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Wed, 12/31/2008 - 9:59pm

New Death Threat to Mexican Mine Leader

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:26:56 -0600

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The Mexican miners union continues to strike at the Cananea mine for safe working conditions and the reinstatement of their leader, who faces fresh criminal charges and a new death threat.

The Mexican government tried to oust the miners’ president, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, and he was forced to flee the country after facing death threats and corruption charges. Gomez said they were trumped up; false charges are often leveled against union activists in Mexico.

Gomez won re-election and continues to lead his union in exile from Vancouver, British Columbia. The Mexican government, however, refuses to recognize him as the union’s head.

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Wed, 12/31/2008 - 10:59pm

Workers in Ukraine Fight Privatization

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:22:59 -0500

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Workers at the Vinnitsa Ball Bearing plant in central Ukraine have been locked in an eight-year battle to keep their jobs since their factory was privatized and sold to the Interprodukt Corporation.

The conditions of the sale stated that the formerly state-owned factory would remain open and be modernized. After the switch-over, however, the plant was closed and workers found themselves out of a job. As the workers organized and picketed, Interprodukt’s agents attempted to enter the factory multiple times to sell the equipment for scrap. The striking workers resisted by blockading the factory and have prevented the factory from being gutted for eight years.

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Thu, 10/30/2008 - 12:00am

Boeing’s Australian Workers Want Their Union

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:19:17 -0500

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A group of 25 workers at a Boeing subsidiary in Sydney are fighting for the right to collectively bargain after Boeing’s repeated refusals to meet their demands. The workers, employed with Hawker de Havilland, have demanded union recognition since 2007.

Boeing’s Australian subsidiary has 1,300 employees and close to 80 percent are covered under contracts. Despite this union density, the employer has shut some workers out of bargaining—and the pay and work standards that accompany it.

Hawker de Havilland has refused to enter into negotiations with the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists & Managers. The company brought scabs in from the U.S. to replace striking workers after they began holding 24-hour work stoppages in May. Help these workers gain union recognition by writing to Boeing executives in protest: patrick.c.mckenna@boeing.com and mark.d.ross@boeing.com. Find out what more you can do to help support the APESMA members by emailing infonsw@apesma.asn.au.

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Thu, 10/30/2008 - 5:00am

Garment Workers Walk over T-Shirt

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:17:06 -0500

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More than 3,000 garment workers in Bangkok staged a factory walk-out in support of their fired union president at the end of July. The striking workers stated that they refused to return to work at the Body Fashion Thailand Ltd. Factory until their union leader was reinstated.

Body Fashion Thailand (BFT), a subsidiary of Triumph International, a large underwear manufacturer, removed the union president, Jitra Kotshadej, for wearing a controversial T-shirt. The shirt was printed with the quote “Those who do not stand are not criminals. Thinking differently is not a crime,” which supports the right to not stand while the royal anthem is played in Thailand.

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Wed, 10/29/2008 - 7:00pm

Don’t Let Bain Be the Bane of Good Childcare

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:04:19 -0500

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Parents and kids’ access to childcare may be threatened by a private equity firm’s takeover of Bright Horizons, the third-largest childcare company in the country.

Bain Capital bought out Bright Horizons earlier this year, turning it into a privately held company. Big financial merger deals like this one may seem routine, but those who receive care from Bright Horizons don’t trust Bain’s reputation.

Bain’s buyout of the retail chain K.B. Toys in 2000 led to the company’s bankruptcy in 2004, causing thousands of layoffs and store closings. Child care providers worry that without transparency or input from the communities it serves, Bain will cut Bright Horizons’ services.

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Tue, 09/30/2008 - 9:59pm

Satellite Radio Makers Hungry for Justice

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:56:14 -0500

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Subcontracted South Korean electronics workers need your support in their struggle to regain their jobs and win decent work conditions from their employer, Kiryung Electronics. After a 67-day hunger strike that ended in mid-August, workers continue to insist the company rehire those it fired three years ago for organizing a union.

The workers make satellite radios that Kiryung sells to Sirius Satellite Radio in the U.S.

Kiryung employs full-time workers alongside temporary “dispatch” workers. The temps, who receive much lower wages, are paid by dispatch agencies rather than Kiryung. They make a penny above minimum wage and work 60-70 hours a week.

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Sun, 11/30/2008 - 12:59pm

Del Monte Banana Workers Murdered in Guatemala

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:18:25 -0500

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Escalating anti-union violence in Guatemala has claimed three banana workers involved in union organizing in the past year. Most recently, Izabal Banana Workers Union (SITRABI) member Enrique Cruz Hernandez was shot while on his lunch break.

The plantations where the men worked and organized are owned by subsidiaries of Del Monte. Despite tight security on the banana plantations, little information has come out about the murders.

The killings came on the heels of a conference in Guatemala convened by the International Trade Union Confederation that addressed pervasive impunity for violence against union members.

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Sun, 08/31/2008 - 9:59pm

Home Is Where the Exploitation Is

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:15:16 -0500

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Pulte Homes, the country’s fourth-largest housing developer, faces strikes in two cities over its contracting practices. Pulte outsources building operations like drywalling and painting to contractors. But workers building Pulte houses know who’s ultimately responsible when they face unsafe working conditions, low wages, long hours, unaffordable health care, and nonpayment of overtime.

Attempts to organize or speak out are met with intimidation and threats of replacement. Harassed employees in Phoenix and Las Vegas have gone on strike against their subcontracting firms and are agitating against Pulte. Workers hired to build homes for Pulte by contractors are picketing developments and leafleting prospective home buyers.

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Sun, 08/31/2008 - 9:59pm

Mexican Workers Resist Union Corruption

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:12:53 -0500

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Workers at the Corning Science de Mexico maquiladora in Reynosa, just across the border at Texas’s southern tip, are struggling against both their employer and their union for real representation in the workplace.

The workers, who make scientific equipment for laboratories, charge that the company and the union work in concert to violate their rights and hold down working conditions.

A group of dissidents, calling themselves the Commission of the Workers of Corning Science Factory (CTEC), have pulled away from the company union. They report abuse at the plant and inaction on the part of the official union.

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Sun, 08/31/2008 - 10:59pm

Support Locked Out Auto Parts Workers

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:48:46 -0500

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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.

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Thu, 07/31/2008 - 10:59pm

Turks Strike Over Rising Shipyard Deaths

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:46:14 -0500

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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.

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Thu, 07/31/2008 - 8:59pm

Shine Light on Colombian Repression

Thu, 29 May 2008 23:41:58 -0500

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Unions in Colombia, unions in the United States, human rights activists—they all opposed the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. And remarkably, on April 10 the U.S. House of Representatives responded and blocked the deal. Though the pact is not dead yet, the victory was unions’ first against a long string of free trade treaties.

Building on that victory, supporters of human rights in Colombia are planning a session of the Permanent People’s Tribunal for July 21-23 in Bogota. At the tribunal, evidence will be presented against multinational corporations that have injured the Colombian people, among them Coca-Cola (where eight workers have been murdered), Occidental Petroleum, and Chiquita (which admitted to arming paramilitaries to clear an area the company wanted for banana cultivation).

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Mon, 06/30/2008 - 10:59pm

Zimbabwean Union Members Face Violence

Thu, 29 May 2008 23:40:05 -0500

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After a watershed election March 29 in Zimbabwe that observers said ousted longtime President Robert Mugabe, teachers and union activists are bearing the brunt of government repression.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by exiled former union leader Morgan Tsvangirai, is calling on Mugabe to concede the presidency, which he has held since 1980. Tsvangirai, who led the mine workers’ union, is planning a return to the country despite assassination threats. Mugabe’s ruling party lost parliamentary elections, and the opposition won a close election for the presidency, forcing a long-delayed run-off vote set for June 27.

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Mon, 06/30/2008 - 9:59pm

Garment Workers Lead Fight in Bangladesh

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:44:24 -0500

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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.

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

Iranian Union Members Face Continuing Attacks

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:38:55 -0500

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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.

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

Palestinian Trade Union Headquarters Targeted

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:52:08 -0500

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The Gaza Strip is a difficult place to hold down a job, and recent violence against the main Palestinian union federation only worsened the lot of workers there. One and a half million Palestinians live in Gaza under an Israeli economic siege that has closed borders and ports, and restricted access to water, electricity, and basic goods. The resulting conditions have been dire. According to the UN Relief Works Association, unemployment and poverty rates have soared to 80 percent since the economic blockade ramped up three years ago.

Conditions deteriorated even further when Israel initiated military raids in late February, killing more than 100 civilians, a third of them children.

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Wed, 04/30/2008 - 10:59pm

Support New Jersey ‘Supervisors’ Union

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:43:32 -0500

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Workers at the Hishi Plastics factory in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, have waged a five-year organizing and bargaining battle with the company. Ninety percent of the plant’s 50 workers voted to join the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) in 2003, but their campaign was tied up by legal challenges from the employer, who claimed that some of the employees were supervisors.

The vote was suspended for four years while the NLRB decided the Kentucky River case, which established an expanded definition of supervisory work and denied many workers bargaining rights. Nevertheless, the National Labor Relations Board counted the ballots last January and granted collective bargaining with the UE to Hishi workers.

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Wed, 04/30/2008 - 9:59pm

Polish Coal Miners Looking for Solidarity

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:57:16 -0600

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Coal miners have launched the largest underground strike in Polish history. Since early January 500 workers have occupied the Budryk mine, 3,000 feet underground. The original strike action began in mid-December but was escalated further when workers took over their workplace.

They seek equal pay with the employees of the Jastrzebska Coal Company, who have recently begun a similar mine occupation. Jastrzebska is looking to buy up the state-owned Budryk mine this year. Budryk workers say they labor under the lowest wages in all of Polish industry.

The two unions leading the action, August 80 and Kadr, are coming under attack from right-wing politicians and business — but also from the trade unions Solidarnosc and ZZG, which have joined bosses in calling for state intervention to break up the strike. Motivated by last year’s methane explosion in the Halemba mine, workers are demanding better safety standards and wages, along with control over their workplaces to prevent more privatization of mining sites.

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Fri, 02/29/2008 - 10:59pm

Support Locked-Out Sears Technicians

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:00:36 -0600

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Seventy-seven appliance repair technicians in metro Vancouver, British Columbia, have been locked out of work since October 1. Their employer, Sears Canada, has 3,800 retail stores and more than $50 billion in annual revenue in its North American operations.

More than three months after the initial lockout, the company refuses to allow the technicians to return to work without adhering to certain conditions. Their terms rule out wage increases for the next four years and eliminate some overtime premiums and paid holidays. The new terms, which technicians are challenging, would also let Sears schedule workweeks without two consecutive days off.

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Fri, 02/29/2008 - 10:59pm

Guest Workers In Jordan Face Persecution

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:04:27 -0600

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Workers at a Jordanian textile plant where Victoria's Secret products are manufactured struck mid-November to protest management’s poor treatment. The recent U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement has resulted in an influx of guest workers there, and several American corporations have set up shop. Guest workers go to great lengths to secure work in Jordan, often taking noxious loans to obtain the required $1,500 to $3,000 for a permit.

Those who arrive at the D.K Garments factory in Jordan face extreme work conditions, according to a recent report by the National Labor Committee (NLC). The 150 guest workers at the plant, most of whom come from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are subjected to 15-hour days with mandatory, underpaid overtime, and an average of only one vacation day every three months.

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Thu, 01/31/2008 - 10:59pm

Chinese Labor Activist Brutally Assaulted in Shenzhen

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:10:20 -0600

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Workers’ rights advocates are calling on the Chinese government to investigate a ruthless November 21 knife attack on a prominent labor activist in Shenzhen, a major manufacturing center in southern China.

Shenzhen labor activist Huang Qingnan was stabbed November 21. This is not the first attack on Huang. In 1999, then a rank-and-file activist in a food factory, Huang was permanently disfigured when acid was thrown on his face while he slept in the factory dormitory.

Huang Qingnan works for the Dagongzhe Migrant Workers Center, a small group that counsels workers on their legal rights. The center has helped low-paid factory workers file hundreds of claims for injuries and unfair dismissals. Employers have been held liable for large amounts of severance pay, and it is assumed that an employer is behind the attack.

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Wed, 01/30/2008 - 1:00pm

Help Mexico Teach North Carolina About Unions

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:13:35 -0600

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North Carolina is under new scrutiny for its poor labor standards, this time from a foreign government. Under a side accord in NAFTA called the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, the Mexican government is challenging the state to implement collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. It has also requested a progress report on a recent inquiry by the International Labor Organization (ILO) into the state’s prohibition against bargaining.

Earlier this year, the ILO ruled that North Carolina’s failure to comply with “freedom of association principles...has resulted in grievous working conditions for many public sector workers.” It called on the U.S. to ratify and adhere to the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which includes collective bargaining.

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Mon, 12/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Pakistan’s Union Activists Face Death Penalty

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:10:54 -0600

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Thousands of Pakistani citizens have been arrested for joining widespread protests against the declaration of emergency rule in Pakistan. When President Pervez Musharraf suspended the constitution, fired supreme court judges, and enacted martial law in early November, crackdowns on labor ensued as well.

Two days after the decree, outspoken union leader Rana Ayub Aki was arrested and jailed. Aki is the leader of the 130,000-strong union inside the Pakistani Water and Development Authority. In the wake of these crackdowns, many labor leaders are being forced into hiding.

Union members and other activists organized a protest in early November at the Karachi Press Club, where police violently disrupted the gathering and arrested journalists, lawyers, and two labor leaders. One, Liaqat Ali Sahi, a leader at the State Bank of Pakistan and in the Hotel Workers Solidarity Committee, has been charged with treason for calling for the return of democracy at the November 5 rally. Musharraf’s emergency rule has given military courts the power to try civilians, and Sahi and three others face the death penalty.

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Mon, 12/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Second Guatemalan Unionist Murdered

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:21:24 -0500

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Despite labor protection in the Central American Free Trade Agreement, violence against Guatemalan unionists continues to escalate. Guatemalan union leader Marco Tulio Ramirez Portela was murdered September 23 outside his home. Ramirez was the secretary of sport and culture for SITRABI, a banana workers union that is organizing workers at Del Monte.

Ramirez’s slaying is the latest in a flurry of violence against unionists in Guatemala that includes the murder in January of port workers’ union leader Pedro Zamora.

SITRABI met with the Ministry of Defense in mid-September to complain about intimidation from the Guatemalan army, which forcibly entered the union’s headquarters in July in a search for information on union members. After the army intervened against a planned SITRABI strike in 1999, the relationship between the union and army has been fractious.

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Fri, 11/30/2007 - 10:59pm

Colombian Unions Face More Violence

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:16:48 -0500

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Colombia remains the most dangerous place in the world to organize a union. In a country that witnessed nearly 1,200 murders of trade unionists between 1994 and 2006, only 14 of the crimes have led to convictions. The intensity of anti-union violence has flared up again in recent weeks.

Leaders of the National Union of Food Industry Workers (SINALTRAINAL) have been actively organizing against the labor practices of multinational companies in the country, and face death threats, abductions and torture.

A death threat was found on September 20 at the home of regional union leader Jose Domingo Flores in the city of Bucaramanga. The message was signed by the Aguilas Negras, a government-funded paramilitary group notorious for repressing union movements labeled “subversive” by President Alvaro Uribe’s administration.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 11/30/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Independent Russian Auto Union

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:36:04 -0500

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Auto workers at the Avto VAZ plant in Togliatti, Russia continue to demand living wages despite their company’s refusal to negotiate and meet the workers’ demands. The independent trade union, Yedinstvo, is calling for all workers in the Avto VAZ plant to pressure top managers of Avto VAZ to raise the minimum monthly pay from 8,000 rubles ($325) to 25,000 rubles ($980) a month to meet monthly wage standards for the region set by the Samara provincial legislature during local elections.

The Avto VAZ plant is the largest auto manufacturing plant in Russia, employing over 112,000 workers in three workshops in the plant. On August 1, workers at Avto VAZ called a strike in response to having received no reply from the company regarding their demands. The union called an end to the strike on August 1 after four hours of striking at several Avto VAZ shops.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 10/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Help Free Jailed Salvadorean Nurses

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:33:07 -0500

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Eight excutive board members of the Union of Nursing Workers of El Salvador (SIEGEESAL), were arrested on September 4 after helping organize protests in the San Vicente area of El Salvador. The actions were called to protest health services privitization, medicine shortages in public clinics, and the alleged embezzlement and misuse of funds by the regional public health director.

Union leaders have secured the nurses release on bail, but they still face charges for public disorder and damages to private property.

The protests, which took place in early July, involved a call for strikes at Santa Gertrudis national hospital. The work stoppages led to a meeting with the Director General of Hospital Services who agreed to discuss the unions’ demands, launch an inquiry into the charges of embezzlement and not seek reprisals against those who participated in the protest.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 10/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Turn Up the Volume on Hearing Aid Maker

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:05:06 -0500

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More than 260 workers in hearing aid manufacturer Cochlear’s plant in Sydney, Australia have launched an international campaign to defend their contract.

Cochlear, which manufactures hearing aids for 80,000 people across the world, recently tried to terminate its collective bargaining agreement and impose “individual common law contracts.” When workers voted down the company’s proposed system, Cochlear demanded a second vote, in which the overwhelming majority of the workers again voted “no” on June 29.

Meanwhile, the workers voted twice by secret ballot to be represented by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), but the company claimed that under recently passed federal industrial relations laws it does not have to respect the workers’ decision. “Work Choice Laws,” which were implemented last year by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, allow employers coerce workers into signing “Australian Work Agreements” (AWA’s). AWA’s are individual contracts between employers and workers that override any pre-existing collective bargaining agreement. This allows employers to essentially gut union compensation and working conditions at their whim.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 09/30/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Independent Garment Unionists

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 17:37:06 -0500

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Garment workers at the Vaqueros Navarra factory in Tehuacan, Puebla, Mexico have faced firings, verbal harassment, and pressures to quit as a response to organizing efforts. The workers are active in a grassroots movement to organize an independent union.

Vaqueros Navarra, which manufactures blue jeans, is one of the largest garment factories owned by Grupo Navarro in the state of Puebla. The factory produces more than 30 brands that are exported to the U.S. market. In response to the company’s imposition of an “official union,” workers at Vaqueros Navarra formed the September 19 Union, which is affiliated with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT.) Supporters of the September 19 Union filed a petition on July 10 with the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board (JCLA) to replace the company-run union.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 09/30/2007 - 10:59pm

Demand Release of Jailed Indonesian Union Leader

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 06:08:26 -0500

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On the evening of May 1, Sarta bin Sarim, a packing worker and chairman of the local union at a furniture plant in Indonesia, was arrested. Police charged him with organizing the May Day rally that was held earlier that day in Jakarta.

The rally was organized by a coalition of local unions that did not include Sarta’s local. Sarta participated in the demonstration, which was conducted peacefully, returned to his workplace, and then went home where police was waiting for him.

At the police station he was beaten, forced to sign a false confession, and detained. The police arrested nine other workers on the same night and intimidated them into signing reports stating that Sarta organized the rally. After they complied, these other workers were released.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 08/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Argentinean Garment Workers

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 06:05:46 -0500

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Since they began organizing for better wages and union recognition, workers at two factories in Rosario, Argentina owned by Lavadero Virasoro S.A. are confronting abuse and unjustified firings from the company. Lavadero Virasoro is a garment manufacturing factory where the workers, a majority between 20-30 years old launder jeans for large name brands such as Levi’s and Lee.

The workers at Lavadero Virasoro have joined the Sindicato Unico de Trabajadores Quimicos y Petroquimicos de Fray Luis Beltran, a union for workers in the chemical industry. The workers democratically elected and voted on an internal commission of delegates to present the workers’ demands to the company. Their demands include an end to the persecution and firings of unionists, immediate re-hiring of the fired workers, a basic monthly salary of 1,800 pesos ($580 U.S.), a five-day workweek, and recognition of the internal commission. Company owner Jorge Guidetti refuses, however, to negotiate.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 08/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Justice Will Be Served at Saigon Grill

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 06:10:30 -0500

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Restaurant workers in New York City are organizing a boycott against local restaurant chain Saigon Grill. The boycott comes in response to firings and a March lockout of workers by the chain’s owners. Fired Saigon Grill workers, with support from other service workers from uptown and midtown Manhattan restaurants, have joined the “Justice Will Be Served!” campaign. Justice Will Be Served! is a coalition composed of the Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association (CSWA), National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, and 318 Restaurant Workers Union (an independent union for workers in New York’s Chinatown). Uniting restaurant, hotel, and other service workers in New York, “Justice Will Be Served! fights common service industry abuses such as long hours, sub-minimum wages, and stolen tips.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 07/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Billboard Strikers in Massachusetts

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 06:05:31 -0500

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Twenty-five members of Painters Local 391 have been striking since March 19 in Stoneham, Massachusetts. They had worked on posting for Clear Channel Outdoor Advertising, which unilaterally implemented a piece-work pay system and a seven-day work week. The company also eliminated pension funds and cut health insurance benefits.

Two weeks after the billboard workers walked out, two members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103, who also worked for the company, joined the strike. Unions across the state and in New York joined pickets at the company’s offices. Over 1,000 union members participated in the strike’s one-month anniversary rally on April 19.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 07/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Fired Mexican Delphi Workers

Mon, 28 May 2007 12:30:20 -0500

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Last summer, Delphi’s Reynosa, Mexico plant fired 250 workers for failing to purchase expensive safety shoes. Workers say that the shoes were a pretext, that Delphi was cutting production and wanted an excuse to cut its workforce. Auto parts maker Delphi, famous for slashing workers’ wages in the United States, is among the largest private employers in Mexico.

Since last summer’s Reynosa firings, Delphi has refused to pay the workers the severance pay they are entitled to by law. Many of them are single mothers. To add insult to injury, on April 27 the local labor board informed workers that their paperwork had “disappeared.”

Expiration Date:
Sat, 06/30/2007 - 10:59pm

Protest Arrests of Iranian Union Activists

Mon, 28 May 2007 12:14:05 -0500

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Iranian labor activist Mahmoud Salehi was arrested April 9 by government security forces in the city of Saqez, in the province of Kurdistan. Salehi, a former president of the Bakery Workers’ Association of the City of Saqez, had been summoned by police to the office of the provincial prosecutor, under the pretense that the governor and prosecutor wanted to discuss with Salehi his role in organizing upcoming May Day festivities. Yet upon arrival Salehi was apprehended and informed that he had been sentenced to one year in prison, along with a three-year suspended sentence, for his involvement in May Day celebrations in Saqez in 2004.

Expiration Date:
Sat, 06/30/2007 - 9:59pm

Stop Zimbabwe’s Crackdown on Labor

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:41:20 -0500

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State police in Zimbabwe brutally suppressed a mass strike planned for April 3-4 by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). In late March and early April, riot police armed with batons, attack dogs, and semi-automatic rifles stormed nightclubs, restaurants, and bars, indiscriminately attacking patrons. Police reportedly targeted these sites as possible gathering places for strikers. They also raided and ransacked ZCTU offices, beating and arresting union members and officials.

Annual inflation in Zimbabwe stands at 1,700 percent, while 80 percent of the workforce is unemployed. Average income is less than $1 a day. Unions protesting government mismanagement of the economy and the lack of access to food and medical supplies are routinely met with violent attacks.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 05/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Students Arrested in Living Wage Sit-In

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:38:32 -0500

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Twelve University of Michigan (UM) students were arrested on April 3 for occupying the office of UM President Mary Sue Coleman. The students, members of Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality (SOLE), were demanding that the university sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP). Universities that are part of the DSP have agreed to use university-licensed apparel from suppliers that pay a living wage to their employees and respect their employees’ right to organize and bargain collectively. So far, more than 30 universities nationwide have adopted the DSP.

Following a sit-in in 2000, UM adopted a “Code of Conduct” that promised to protect workers producing university-licensed apparel from harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Students contend that the school has failed to adequately monitor the actual working conditions at supplier factories, and that a more comprehensive commitment to workers’ rights is needed.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 05/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Protest Persecution of Korean Teachers

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:44:43 -0500

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Two members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) were arrested and detained January 18 for allegedly violating the South Korean National Security Law. Middle school teachers Choi Hwa-seop and Kim Maeng-gyu were arrested after posting information about North Korean politics on the internet for educational purposes.

The two teachers, both of whom have won awards for their contributions to peace education, await trial on charges that potentially carry the penalty of death.

On January 26, a judge rejected the union’s appeal to review the legality of the teachers’ detention, and three days later the two teachers were sent to Seoul Prison, where they remain today.

Expiration Date:
Mon, 04/30/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Iraqi Union Members

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:29:48 -0500

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American and Iraqi armed forces raided the Baghdad office of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) on February 23 and 25. In the first raid, soldiers destroyed furniture, confiscated computers, and arrested a GFIW employee, who has since been released. The second unprovoked raid caused further damage to GFIW headquarters.

These attacks are part of a larger pattern. Over the past several months, GFIW offices and leadership have been subject to multiple raids and attacks by the Iraqi government, the American occupation forces, and other militant groups.

In response, the GFIW has asserted its belief that a free and independent trade union movement is of vital importance to the struggle for a more democratic Iraq. As the GFIW Executive Committee expressed in a February 3statement: “The annihilation of trade unionists, the destruction and occupation of trade union offices, the freezing of the trade union movement’s assets, and the putting of obstacles in our way will only increase our resolve to build an independent, democratic trade union movement.”

Expiration Date:
Mon, 04/30/2007 - 10:59pm

Campaign for U.S. Labor Law Reform

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 06:15:28 -0600

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On the evening of February 5, 231 members of the House of Representatives reintroduced to Congress the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA or H.R. 800). If passed, the act could significantly boost the organizing efforts of U.S. unions (see page 8)

Employers have become adept at disrupting the NLRB election process, threatening and harassing potential union members while ensuring the process drags on and on. The bill would ensure that workers who vote to form a union through card-check recognition do not have to then go through an employerinitiated NLRB election.

To see if your representative is one of the bill’s co-sponsors, go to www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork and click on the “Employee Free Choice Act” icon in the center of the page; when the next page appears, click on the “233 House Members” link, located toward the top of the page.

Expiration Date:
Sat, 03/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Give Solidarity Credit Due

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 06:05:08 -0600

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Seventy women credit union workers in Hamilton, Ontario have been on strike for the past four months. Though it was started by union workers for union workers, FirstOntario Credit Union is now asking its employees to give back sick days, and accept a decrease in both retirement benefits and job security. Credit union managers are calling for these concessions despite recently reporting record profits.

The striking workers, members of Canadian Office and Professional Employees (COPE) Local 343, are out on the picket line protesting the cutbacks and demanding that FirstOntario management respect their right to a fair bargaining process.

Expiration Date:
Sat, 03/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Ethiopian Teachers Union

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:39:22 -0600

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Two members of the Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) were beaten and detained in December and are being held incommunicado. Tilahun Ayalew, arrested December 29, and Anteneh Getnet, arrested December 14, do not have access to lawyers. The charges against them are unknown.

A third ETA member, Meqcha Mengistu, has been missing since December 15. He had been under constant surveillance since attending an ETA conference December 8 and 9, according to the global union federation Education International (EI).

Amnesty International has put out several action alerts on behalf of previously detained and tortured ETA members. Attacks ETA members have increased since the union and EI filed a complaint with the International Labor Organization (ILO). EI cited government suppression of union activities, including numerous arrests since 2005.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 02/28/2007 - 10:59pm

Maquila Squid Company Workers Dumped

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:38:29 -0600

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Ninety-two workers were fired from their squid processing jobs in Santa Rosalía in Baja California Sur, Mexico by Korean multinational seafood corporation Hanjin.

The firings followed attempts to organize an independent union, the Independent Workers Union of the Maquiladora Industry in Baja California Sur (or SINTTIM). The union has filed a lawsuit against Hanjin for violating the Mexico’s federal labor laws.

Speaking of conditions in the squid-processing, one worker said: “Many of us are single mothers and we depend on the salary from our job, and the fishing industry is the only source of employment and the companies take advantage of that. They pay us two cents [U.S] to clean each pound of squid, we work 12-hour shifts, we don’t have clean water to drink, and we are victims of sexual harassment by the supervisors.”

Expiration Date:
Wed, 02/28/2007 - 10:59pm

Keep Your Holiday Party ‘Smithfield-Free’

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 22:51:23 -0600

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United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) activists at the world’s largest hog slaughterhouse are asking supporters to host a “Smithfield-Free Holiday Party.” At these parties, both the host and guests should refuse to purchase pork from the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, where workers have been struggling for the last decade to organize a union.

In November, over 1,000 Smithfield employees at the Tar Heel plant staged a two-day walk out following the firing of 50 immigrant workers. This walkout was the latest in a series of actions led by Smithfield workers dissatisfied with unsafe working conditions, low pay, and abusive management.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 01/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Save Montreal’s Oldest Delicatessen

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 22:49:31 -0600

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Strikers from Ben’s Delicatessen in Montreal held a demonstration December 5, complete with free, smoked meat sandwiches. 22 waiters, bus boys, and short-order cooks at Ben’s have been without a contract since February 2006 and on strike since July 20, shutting down the deli for more than five months.

They are demanding that Ben’s bargain fairly with their union, Syndicat des Travailleuses et Travailleurs de la Charcuterie Ben’s (CSN).

CSN is seeking a $.40 Cdn/per hour pay increase, retiree benefits, and severance pay. Strikers are also demanding air-conditioning and heating system repairs, as well as other workplace improvements. Ben’s management has refused to bargain with the union.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 01/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Support Purdue Students Supporting Workers

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 22:47:56 -0600

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Students at Purdue University began a hunger strike at the end of November, demanding that the university administration take steps toward becoming a “Sweat-Free Campus.” Currently, as is the case at many universities, Purdue apparel is made in nonunion shops that offer low wages and poor working conditions.

Purdue’s is one of many student campaigns across the U.S. encouraging university administrations to sign on to the Designated Supplier’s Program. The DSP is designed to monitor and enforce codes of conduct for companies that manufacture university apparel.

To pressure the Purdue administration to sign on to the DSP, 15 students at Purdue have been on a hunger strike for over 20 days. Tell Purdue President Martin Jischke to sign Purdue on to the Designated Suppliers Program and begin supporting unionized workers in sweat-free factories. Call 765-494-9708 or write to Jischke at Perdue Hunger Strikers. You can also sign an online petition supporting the strikers at Sweat-free Purdue Petition.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 01/31/2007 - 9:59pm

Targeting of Iranian Bus Drivers Union Continues

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:20:07 -0600

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Two Iranian labor activists, Seyed Davoud Razavi and Abdolreza Tarazi, were arrested while handing out union flyers at a bus station December 3 in the city of Khavaran. Mansour Osanloo, the president of their union, has been in prison since November 19. Osanloo was re-arrested after having recently spent seven months in the Evin Prison, which is notorious for torture. No public charges have been made against Osanloo, Razavi, or Tarazi, whose Union of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (UWTSBC) is not recognized by the Iranian government.

Ravayi and Tarazi are two of the fifty workers suspended from their company without pay since last year’s UWTSBC strike.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 01/31/2007 - 10:59pm

Cintas Threatens Security of Immigrant Employees

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:47:41 -0600

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Thousands of immigrant workers at Cintas, one of the world’s largest laundry and uniform companies, face firings if the company follows a discriminatory government proposal.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has encouraged employers to fire workers who fail to correct mismatched social security numbers or re-verify their authorization to work in the United States. The proposal is not yet law.

Cintas, headquartered in Cincinnati, designs and manufactures products such as uniforms, entrance mats, bathroom supplies, and fire safety equipment. Cintas runs 350 work sites in the U.S. and Canada. Most Cintas employees are immigrants. Workers in California, Illinois, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin may lose jobs under the DHS proposal.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 12/31/2006 - 11:00pm

Victoria’s Secrets Exposed

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:43:59 -0600

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Victoria’s Secrets Exposed

Clover Group International, a Hong Kong based lingerie company, shut down its Gina Form Bra factory in Thailand on October 20. Workers were locked in the factory while police and military personnel stood by. They were pressured to sign “voluntary” resignation letters accepting lower severance pay than legally mandated. Sixteen hundred Gina workers formed the Gina Relations Workers Union (GRWU) in 2003; now they could be out of a job.

Clover Group produces for brands such as Limited, which owns Victoria’s Secret and Express; Gap; and Calvin Klein. Just before the factory closure, the GRWU won wage increases, production bonuses, paid union leave, lunch benefits, and ongoing monitoring of the factory’s health and safety conditions.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 12/31/2006 - 11:00pm

University of Vermont Evades Living Wage

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:35:29 -0600

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The University of Vermont (UVM) Board of Trustees refuses to pay its workers a livable wage.

The board had ignored a recommendation from its own Basic Needs and Equitable Compensation Task Force to support lowwage workers with a livable wage policy, even if they are not part of the UVM service workers’ union, UE Local 267.

UVM created the Basic Needs and Equitable Compensation Task Force following a series of protests by Student Labor Action Project.

A livable wage is hourly pay or annual income that provides for the basic needs of a family, plus taxes. Basic needs include food, housing, childcare, transportation, health care, clothing, household and personal expenses, insurance, and a small amount of savings. A single person living in Burlington with no children would receive $12.43 an hour if livable wages were implemented, according to a 2005 study by the Vermont Joint Fiscal Office.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 12/31/2006 - 11:00pm

No Finale For Musicians

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:03:49 -0600

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A Chilean musicians union in Santiago was destroyed at the end of September.

The Mayor of Santiago, who fired everyone pertaining to the union, heads administration of the theater.

Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago stars in almost every performance at Teatro Municipal. Every one of the symphony’s musicians was fired.

Call for the musicians of the Santiago philharmonic orchestra to be rehired with a restored contract.

Send emails addressed to President Raul Alcaino, Corporación Cultural de la Ilustre Municipalidad de Santiago: alcalde at munistgo.cl, educam at congreso.cl. You can also write to Ambassador Andres Bianchi at the Chilean Embassy, 1732 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 11/30/2006 - 11:00pm

Riot Police Raid Korean Union Offices

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:48:04 -0600

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One hundred nineteen Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU) offices have been forcefully closed by the South Korean government. Daily crackdowns began nationwide on September 22.

Police used claw hammers, drills, steel pipes, axes and power saws to enter offices by breaking windows, doors, or holes in the walls. Numerous union offices were sealed with iron plates and bars following the raids. Internet, phone lines, and electricity were cut off.

Riot police and private security contractors arrested unionists while storming their offices. Many workers were injured.

KGEU members and solidarity organizations held sit-ins and protest rallies inside and outside offices not yet invaded. Police used fire hoses and water cannons to break up these protests. In Namwon, Jeonbuk, a barricade was created in front of an office by a truck drivers union in solidarity with KGEU.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 11/30/2006 - 11:00pm

Florida University Looking to Fire Unionized Janitors

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:49:56 -0500

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More than 400 South Florida workers fighting to organize a union may lose their jobs. About 70 percent of janitors and groundskeepers employed by the contractor UNICCO at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) voted in favor of unionizing with SEIU.

Less than two hours later, Nova President Ray Ferrero announced the end of UNICCO Service Co.’s cleaning contract. The contract is now up for new bids.

Wanda Rodrigues has been an NSU custodian for 11 years. ‘’Mr. Ferrero doesn’t want the union,’’ she told the Miami Herald. “It’s the best way for him to get rid of the workers in a legal way, a nice way.’’ Rodrigues is a mother of two. She makes $7.69 an hour with no health care coverage.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 11/30/2006 - 11:00pm

Starbucks’ Union Busting Leaves Bad Taste

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:54:43 -0500

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Starbucks has once again fired one of its workers for being a union activist. In early August, Starbucks barista Daniel Gross was fired for his union organizing, making Gross the fourth such firing in less than a year. Starbucks has been engaged in an illegal union busting campaign for over a year.

General Distribution Workers Industrial Union (IU) 660, the retail division of the Industrial Workers of the World, has been organizing baristas across the country. Daniel Gross, one of the founders of the Starbucks union, was allegedly fired, while at the picket line, for telling district manager Allison Marx that his co-worker and union brother should not be fired.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 5:00pm

Elderwear: We Don’t Care

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:53:56 -0500

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At Elder Manufacturing, the company slogan is “Elderwear: We Care.” Elder produces uniforms at a factory in El Salvador. Recently, the company chose to shift its production to a new facility nearly two hours away from the current site. The company announced this to its employees on Friday and expected them to spend an extra four hours driving to and from work on the following Monday. In El Salvador the workers are entitled to severance pay, if they didn’t want to work at the new location.

The workers were infuriated. They had been paid 63 cents per hour and were fined an hour’s pay for every minute they were late. They demanded severance pay to which they are legally entitled under Salvadoran law. The company has responded by claiming the workers quit and therefore don’t qualify for severance pay. Management has also said that these workers will not be allowed to work at the new factory.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 5:00pm

Frontier Telephone Hangs Up on CWA Workers

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:53:20 -0500

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Frontier Telephone workers in Georgia won union representation with the Communication Workers of America in April 2005. To this date, the workers (now members of CWA Local 3220) still don’t have a contract.

Frontier’s parent company, Citizens Communications, made over $56 million more in the second quarter of this year than last year and the company’s CEO made almost $4 million last year. Yet the company refuses to give its workers a fair contract.

In fact, the company’s latest demands include the right to outsource its entire workforce. Cable splicers, technicians, installers, and dispatchers in Statesboro, Georgia, face being entirely replaced by subcontractors. Already, most of the skilled unionized workers spend much time re-fixing and undoing subcontractor’s mistakes and errors.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 5:00pm

Construction Workers in Australia Need Help Now

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:52:46 -0500

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On August 29, 107 construction workers faced their first day of trial in Australian Federal Court. The workers face fines of up to $28,000 each for striking in support of their fired shop steward. Under new Australian labor laws, this strike was declared illegal. The government fines add up to over $ 2 million for these union workers. Many of the workers are now under the threat of losing their homes.

These 107 are among the first to face prosecution under Prime Minister John Howard’s new industrial relations laws. The workers struck last February on the construction site of the Perth Southern Railway.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 5:00pm

Save Indiana Labor Studies Program

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:50:56 -0500

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The labor studies department at Indiana University (IU) needs you to speak up and defend labor education. The effort underway to dismantle the department is a violation of academic freedom and university policy.

The Department of Labor Studies (DLS) faced a 20 percent cut in operating funds for 2005. As a result the DLS faculty increased their teaching load, and they radically increased income. In the just-concluded 2005-06 fiscal year DLS netted $2 million in income, doubling the income goal set by the university administration.

Despite that, academic administrators are working on a reorganization plan that would close DLS offices at the university’s Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Kokomo campuses, merge the department with another (to be determined), and possibly eliminate all non-tenured DLS faculty.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 5:00pm

Demand Release of Palestinian Labor Minister

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:49:43 -0500

Body:

Public Services International (PSI), a global federation of public service unions, is calling for the release of the democratically elected Palestinian National Authority Minister of Labor, Mohammed Barghouthis. Barghouthis and some of his colleagues have been held in Israeli prison for over 20 days.

According to the Palestine Health Services Union, they are being detained in horrific conditions and subjected to abusive interrogations.

PSI General Secretary Hans Engelberts said their detention is “on political grounds only. The current Palestinian Legislative Council was elected by a democratic process and its members should not be arrested for the mere fact that they are taking part in the government… We call upon the Israeli government to release the Minister of Labor and others immediately.”

Expiration Date:
Sun, 10/08/2006 - 1:00pm

Beautiful Flowers, Ugly Working Conditions

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:48:29 -0500

Body:

Miami-based Dole Fresh Flowers, a subsidiary of Dole Food Company, is stalling negotiations with its workers. The Miami Flower Worker Committee is asking unions and organizations to support its campaign to force Dole to negotiate in good faith with its Colombian flower workers.

There are more than 125,000 Colombian flower workers. The majority of them are single mothers who earn less than $6 per day. Their average work week is about 60 hours. Many women are forced to take pregnancy tests to get hired and if they do get pregnant while employed, they are often fired or don’t have their contracts renewed.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 5:00pm

Help End ‘Popcorn Workers Lung’

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 17:47:34 -0500

Body:

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and Teamsters (IBT) are petitioning the U.S. Department of Labor to stop risking workers’ health by exposing them to diacetyl. Diacetyl is a chemical used in artificial butter flavoring.

UFCW International President Joseph T. Hansen and Teamsters General President James Hoffa have petitioned Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) regarding the chemical’s use. An ETS would provide for immediate regulations for working with diacetyl until further investigations and regulations can be made. Without an ETS, workers would continue to work with the chemical until further investigations are completed and official OSHA standards and regulations are drawn up.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 5:00pm

Dump Non-Union Verizon Wireless

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:52:07 -0500

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Advocates of workers’ rights, including Jobs with Justice and American Rights at Work, are urging mobile phone users to support Cingular and pledge not to support Verizon.

The reason is simple. Cingular supports its workers’ right to join unions by honoring neutrality and card check agreements with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). CWA currently represents about 17,000 Cingular employees.

Verizon, on the other hand, has resisted efforts by its employees to organize with CWA and has refused to honor its neutrality agreement with the union. Workers seeking to unionize have been laid off, harassed, and subjected to “captive audience” meetings. According to American Rights at Work, the company has also closed a call center where union interest was strong.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 12:00pm

Unfreeze Iraqi Oil Workers Union’s Assets

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:50:46 -0500

Body:

The Iraqi Freedom Congress and US Labor Against the War (USLAW) are asking for a show of solidarity for Iraqi oil workers. The Iraqi regime has frozen the bank accounts of the General Union of Oil Employees, which represents over 23,000 oil and gas industry workers in Iraq.

The regime’s actions against GUOE are consistent with other recent anti-union measures. According to GUOE and USLAW, the Iraqi government has gone so far as to declare all union activity illegal, saying it will soon put forward a new law regulating trade union activity.

Despite the freezing of its assets the union is planning a strike. The oil workers are demanding that all contracts that have been imposed upon them (as well as other Iraqi workers) be abolished.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 09/08/2006 - 12:00pm

Put Faith in Labor Day

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:50:01 -0500

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The Interfaith Worker Justice Alliance (IWJ) is encouraging congregations to incorporate labor issues into their Labor Day weekend services. One issue that IWJ hopes to highlight is the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing problems of poverty and hardship on the Gulf Coast.

IWJ also champions humane immigrants’ rights policies and advocates for increases in the minimum wage. IWJ believes the religious community can play a significant role in these and other efforts to improve the lives of working people.

As part of its efforts to strengthen ties between labor and religious communities, IWJ can provide information on services that are being organized in your area. Additionally, if you would like to organize a service at your place of worship, IWJ has ideas and advice. They can also put you in touch with a special Labor Day speaker in your area. For further information visit IWJ’s website at www.iwj.org or call Will Tanzman at 773-728-8400.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 09/08/2006 - 12:00pm

Add Wrath to Grape Pickers Campaign

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:48:09 -0500

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The United Farm Workers (UFW) and their allies are urging a boycott of Charles Krug and C.K. Mondavi wines. The union hopes that by leaving these labels on the shelf consumers can help workers at Charles Krug Winery win the right to return to work.

The winery, which has been operated by the Peter Mondavi family for three generations, terminated all its workers on July 7 after talks with the UFW did not result in a new contract. The company will now outsource its field operations to an independent management company.

A major factor in the breakdown between the company and the union was the reluctance of the Mondavi workers to be subjected to “physical capacity tests.” The company claims this is a health and safety measure while the workers feel it is a way to oust older workers.
Many of the company’s employees have long service records; some have been toiling in the Mondavi fields for over 25 years.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 09/08/2006 - 12:00pm

Support Drive to Organize Peabody Mine Workers

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:45:55 -0500

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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.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/08/2006 - 12:00pm

Costa Rican Unionists Threatened Over CAFTA

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:45:16 -0500

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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.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 08/08/2006 - 12:00pm

Reinstate Fired Local Union President

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:44:09 -0500

Body:

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.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 08/08/2006 - 12:00pm

Cintas Chairman Drives Track Attack

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 12:39:17 -0500

Body:

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.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/01/2006 - 12:00pm

Farm Workers Take on the Golden Arches

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:12:01 -0500

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The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker community group from South Florida with 3,000 members, is calling on McDonald's to pay fair wages and improve working conditions for tomato pickers. The Immokalee Workers are hoping to convince McDonald's to follow Yum! Brands' (Taco Bell's parent company) commitment to an increase in wages and enactment of better working conditions.

After a four-year boycott, Taco Bell conceded in 2005 to all CIW's demands; these included paying a penny more per pound of tomatoes, which nearly doubled workers' wages. Taco Bell and the CIW also established the first-ever enforceable Code of Conduct for U.S. agricultural suppliers.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 12/01/2006 - 12:00pm

Reform CEO Pay

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 16:12:29 -0500

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Compensation for corporate executives is out of control. Top officials from the nation's largest corporations, such as Pfizer and Exxon Mobil, were paid an average $11.75 million in 2005. IBM freezes workers' pensions while its CEO, Samuel J. Palmisano, rests easy knowing he'll be getting $4 million a year after he retires. As workers' job security and pensions diminish more every year, CEO's have seen their pay and retirement packages grow by the millions--regardless of their job performance.

Many major companies are known for using accounting tricks to avoid complying with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules dictating that executive salaries must be reported. The SEC is considering new rules that would force companies to explain their compensation packages in layman's terms and include an estimated dollar value for all forms of compensation, in an attempt to promote transparency.

Expiration Date:
Mon, 11/06/2006 - 4:00pm

Keep El Salvador's Water In the People's Hands

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 13:55:08 -0500

Body:

El Salvador's water workers union, SETA, is gearing up for a big battle. The government is attempting to privatize the publicly owned and operated water system. If it happens, SETA asserts the move will limit access to safe, clean, affordable water and mean the end of the union. The government has drastically cut funding to ANDA--the nation's water authority--laying the groundwork for private investors to take over.

For the less than 60 percent of Salvadorans who have plumbing in their houses, access to water remains inconsistent; they will sometimes go three days without. When this happens, ANDA sells bottled water to affected communities for six times the price of the average monthly ANDA bill. Most cannot afford the price gauging, and so they go without water.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 11/30/2006 - 1:00pm

Protect Farm Workers from Pesticides

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 11:09:25 -0500

Body:

British researchers have recently written a report in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal that suggests "a relatively consistent relationship between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's [disease]."

Parkinson's disease, currently incurable, is a progressively degenerative nerve disease. Individuals with Parkinson's have trouble with many daily routines; their brain still functions properly, but the physical actions carried out aren't what the brain intends. In short, their body can't keep up with their brains.

The United Farm Workers (UFW) is demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) act against the threat.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 11/23/2006 - 8:00pm

Donate to Northwest Air Workers Film

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 12:16:15 -0500

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A group of progressive filmmakers have announced plans to produce 'The Red Tail,' a documentary about the struggles between Northwest Airlines and its workers. The movie will follow Northwest's path from a one-plane operation in 1926 to becoming the fourth largest airline in the world.

'The Red Tail' will feature personal stories from mechanics, pilots, flight attendants, ground workers, and union organizers, focusing on struggles between the company's workers and owners. The directors have noted that the mainstream media rarely presents an accurate depiction of how Northwest is treating its employees. Their film will be an attempt to get the full picture out there.

Expiration Date:
Wed, 11/01/2006 - 12:00pm

Stepan Chemicals Workers Win

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 13:59:41 -0500

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With your help, the workers at Stepan Chemicals in New Jersey (mentioned in the April 2006 Solidarity Network) have returned to work, ending a 14-week strike after being locked out. Your donations, calls to headquarters, and emails of support made this victory possible.

The workers, new members of the United Electrical Workers (UE), proved that management was spending more on keeping the workers locked out than it would have cost to meet their original demands.

"It shows that even when it looks like unions are taking it on the chin everywhere, you can stand up to the boss and win," said UE General President John Hovis.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 06/30/2006 - 1:00pm

March to Support Stadium Cleaners

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 13:52:40 -0500

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The Baltimore-based United Workers Association (UWA) kicked off its Summer of Justice Campaign on April 1 to highlight the poor treatment of Camden Yards stadium cleaners by Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Angelos agreed to pay these workers a living wage back in 2004, but has yet to follow through. Instead, he gave opening day profits--about $250,000--to five soup kitchens in the area.

This donation would have been more than enough to pay all the stadium cleaners a living wage for two years. UWA believes the donation was an attempt to shut them up. The Summer of Justice Campaign is gearing up for its June 24 March Against Poverty with an all-night vigil on June 23. It will be followed by a pancake breakfast the next morning at 9:30 am and then the march to Camden Yards at 12:00 noon.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 06/30/2006 - 1:00pm

Protest Anti-Worker Violence in Mexico

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 13:47:31 -0500

Body:

Police shot and killed two workers when authorities launched an assault to expel striking workers occupying the SICARTSA steel mill in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan, Mexico on April 20. More than 40 other workers were wounded, most by gunshots.

Reports from the scene suggest that others may also have been killed or may remain in critical condition. Workers and townspeople quickly retook the plant, but were then besieged by the police. Parts of the plant have been taken over by the Mexican Army and Navy.

Condemning the government's attack on the strikers, a new coalition of Mexican unions called the National Front for Union Unity and Autonomy (FNUAS) has demanded: the resignation of Mexican Secretary of Labor Francisco Xavier Salazar; the impeachment of President Vicente Fox Quezada; punishment of those involved in the murders; and recognition of the elected leader of the mine workers union, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 06/30/2006 - 1:00pm

Throw Out Anti-worker Bill

Mon, 01 May 2006 16:09:28 -0500

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Public sector workers in Quebec may prefer the two years they worked without a contract to conditions they'll face under a bill recently passed by Quebec's National Assembly. Bill 142, in effect until 2010, takes negotiations out of the hands of 500,000 public sector workers in Quebec, barring negotiation of salary, insurance, or retirement plans and imposing a two-year salary freeze.

The anti-union bill also prohibits strikes and slow-downs, punishing those who take part with hefty fines plus the loss of two days' pay for every day of work stoppage. Under Bill 142, the government retains the ability to alter or throw out collective agreements to replace workers with scabs. Affected workers range from teachers to hospital workers and make 20 percent less than similar workers in the unionized private sector.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 06/01/2006 - 4:00pm

Demand Protection for Colombian Unionists

Mon, 01 May 2006 16:06:04 -0500

Body:

Yet another Colombian labor activist has been assassinated. Daniel Cortez was an electrical worker and 16-year veteran activist with his union, Sintraeleco. He was working in Puerto Parra, an area controlled by the allegedly disbanded right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, when he was shot twice in the face and died instantly.

Meanwhile, Colombia's government is threatening two agricultural trade unionists with FENSUAGRO, the country's agricultural workers union. FENSUAGRO Vice President Hubert Ballestros and union member Oscar Salazar have been followed repeatedly in recent months by vehicles similar to those following five other FENSUAGRO activists in the weeks before their assassinations.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 06/01/2006 - 4:00pm

Help Tennessee Workers Get a Raise

Mon, 01 May 2006 16:01:21 -0500

Body:

It's hard enough to organize a union, but gaining recognition from an employer is even harder. All too often, successful organizing campaigns are followed by institutions refusing to recognize these new unions. United Campus Workers (UCW), an affiliate of CWA, was formed at the University of Tennessee around the knowledge that UT employees' wages put 20 percent of them below the national poverty line. The UT administration refuses to recognize UCW.

Workers and students at UT are demanding a $1,200 raise for all staff and faculty in an attempt to get every UT employee out of poverty. The union is backing a flat raise of $1,200 instead of the administration's proposed two percent raise because a percentage raise would benefit those at the higher end of payroll more than those who need a raise the most.

Expiration Date:
Thu, 06/01/2006 - 4:00pm

Open Ballot Access for Labor Candidates

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 12:25:58 -0600

Body:

Pro-labor folks throughout South Carolina are working to get the Labor Party on the ballot in the state's elections. To do this, the party must round up 10,000 signatures from registered voters.

South Carolina currently has no minimum wage and has the seventh slowest wage growth in the United States. Its job growth ranks 48th in the nation, while its unemployment rate is second highest. More than 600,000 South Carolinians lack health insurance.

Instead of dealing with these problems, politicians from both major parties have promoted their state's low wages in attempts to attract big business to the state.

Expiration Date:
Mon, 07/31/2006 - 1:00pm

Make Stepan Step Up

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 12:24:03 -0600

Body:

On January 24, workers at the Stepan chemical company's Fieldsboro, New Jersey plant held a one-day strike to protest the company's refusal to provide basic information regarding grievances. They were locked out. Since then, the 36 employees who organized co-workers at the Fieldsboro plant into United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) Local 155 have not been allowed to return to work.

Their healthcare coverage has been suspended and replacement workers have been brought in from other Stepan plants. Stepan has not put forth any conditions under which the workers would be allowed to return to work, only commenting that they are tired of game-playing.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 04/30/2006 - 1:00pm

Keep 'Just Garments' Open in El Salvador

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 12:19:47 -0600

Body:

One of the only unionized factories in El Salvador, Just Garments, is struggling to get out of debt and start up a new business plan. Just Garments makes clothing with a 100 percent 'sweat-free' and unionized work force. It was started by workers formerly employed at a Taiwanese-owned factory called Tainan.

As is often the case, when Tainan workers decided to join the Textile Industry Workers Union (STIT), management immediately announced the plant's closure. But the workers led an international campaign that resulted in a garment-shop with two directors--one selected by Tainan, the other selected by the workers--and the first union contract in the industry.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 04/30/2006 - 1:00pm

Hundreds of Striking Workers Arrested in Iran

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 12:10:47 -0600

Body:

Bus workers with the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (UWTSBC) in Tehran, Iran went on strike at the end of January. When they arrived at the picket lines, government security forces used physical abuse and intimidation to get them back to work. Those who refused were arrested, along with their family members, who were taken from their homes in the middle of the night. The physical abuse continued while the bus workers were in jail at Evin prison, which is notorious for torture and other abuses.

The striking bus workers are demanding the right to bargain collectively and protesting the month-long detention of UWTSBC Director Mansour Osanloo. Osanloo is being detained without any formal charges, access to his lawyers, or proper medical attention.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 06/06/2006 - 1:00pm

Tell Nestlé to Take the Sweat Out of Sweets

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 12:07:46 -0600

Body:

Nestlé, the largest food company and chocolate manufacturer in the world, continues to ignore the social responsibilities that go along with its position. Through a subsidiary in the Ivory Coast, a nation producing over 40 percent of the world's cocoa, Nestlé takes full advantage of the poverty conditions suffered by local farmers and exploits child labor.

In 2001 Nestlé signed on to an industry protocol to eradicate the worst types of child labor on cocoa farms, but the July 2005 deadline set by that agreement has come and gone without noticeable change in the way Nestlé does business in West Africa. The company still refuses to treat workers with respect, which is necessary to certify products as Fair Trade. The Fair Trade Federation guarantees products that are labeled Fair Trade are sold at a fair price, are produced in an environmentally sustainable way, and are not made through abusive child labor.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 03/31/2006 - 1:00pm

Support National Student-Labor Day of Action

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 12:04:58 -0600

Body:

Students and workers are coming together for the National Student Labor Week of Action March 31-April 4. This annual week of protests will draw attention to working conditions on college campuses, the fight for living wages, and the increasing cost of higher education.

In 2000, the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) celebrated April 4 as the first National Student Labor Day of Action to commemorate the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. Since then, it has grown to a full week filled with thousands of people participating in over a hundred actions on university campuses across the country.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 04/04/2006 - 1:00pm

Hold Dole Accountable

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 11:58:43 -0600

Body:

In an effort to improve their working conditions and wages, agricultural workers at Dole's Splendor Flowers plantation in Colombia formed the independent union Sintrasplendor in November 2004. Dole, however, refuses to negotiate with the more than 700 workers because the company has already signed a contract with Sinaltraflor, an industry-friendly union.

As another slap in the face to the Sintrasplendor workers, Dole is ignoring two court orders to reinstate four union workers that were illegally fired.

Dole has a team of lawyers on hand to oppose the legalization of the Sintrasplendor union, despite workers' compliance with every step of the legal process.

Expiration Date:
Fri, 03/31/2006 - 12:00pm

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Thu, 23 Feb 2006 19:55:13 -0600

Body:

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Expiration Date:
Thu, 02/23/2006 - 8:00pm

Defend Sugar Workers in Indonesia

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 08:26:04 -0600

Body:

The government of Indonesia, in cooperation with private and public sugar employers, is thwarting sugar workers' rights in Indonesia. The sugar worker union president, Daud Sukamto, has been fired, and management, through harassment and intimidation,
has pressured locals to resign from the union.

The Federation of Independent Tobacco, Cane and Sugar Workers' Union (FSPM TG) was officially registered in February 2005. FSPM TG is affiliated with the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied
Workers' Associations (IUF). Soon after the establishment of the union, harassment of members and union officials began.

Expiration Date:
Sun, 04/30/2006 - 8:00pm

Support Australian Aircraft Mechanic Strikers

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 08:20:42 -0600

Body:

Since the beginning of 2005, Boeing workers in Newcastle, New South Wales have been trying to negotiate a contract to cover wages and employment conditions. Although these employees are part of the Australia Workers' Union (AWU), for years Boeing has
given individual, not collective, contracts regarding wages and employment conditions.

Twenty-seven Newcastle aircraft maintenance workers have been on strike since June 2005 demanding a collective contract with the AWU. The federal government has responded, stating "all Australian workers, including these AWU members at Boeing, will
always have the right to negotiate a collective certified agreement."

Expiration Date:
Thu, 02/23/2006 - 8:00pm

Protect Excessive Airline Executive Bonuses

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 11:27:21 -0600

Body:

United Airlines, the world's second largest airline, has proposed a bonus plan to give its top eight executives $45 million in stock after the company emerges from a three-year bankruptcy, in February.

The proposal reserves 13.6 million shares, or 11 percent of the company, for 400 executives. CEO Glenn Tilton would receive $15 million in stock, or 1.1 percent of the company. According to a separate document, Tilton also would receive $605,625 annually in compensation, with the ability to double it with an annual bonus.

United workers find the proposal unfair because of their $4 billion in pay and benefit concessions taken.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 01/31/2006 - 12:00pm

Defend Mexican Textile Workers

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 11:21:23 -0600

Body:

A group of young, mostly female textile workers in Hidalgo, Mexico have been illegally locked out for protesting their working conditions and their employer's refusal to recognize their collective bargaining agreement. The workers produce Halloween costumes with Warner Brothers logos--such as 'Harry Potter,' 'Lord of the Rings,' and 'Star Wars'--for Rubie's Costume Company of New York City, one of the largest costume companies in the world.

Rubie's workers and their union, the Federacion de Trabajadores Vanguardia Obrera (FTVO), accuse the company of exposing workers to safety hazards, forcing them to take pregnancy tests, and violating child labor laws. In response, Rubie's locked the workers out and has refused to reinstate them.

Expiration Date:
Tue, 01/31/2006 - 12:00pm

Support NYU Strikers

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 11:18:35 -0600

Body:

The New York University Graduate Students Organizing Committee (GSOC/UAW Local 2110) has been on strike since November 9. Workers decided to strike after the NYU administration refused to bargain with the union in August 2005 and promptly began cutting employees' health benefits.

Since the lead-up to the strike this summer, GSOC has organized several rallies and actions, including one on August 9 of over 1,000 people. Seventy-six people were arrested in a peaceful act of civil disobedience.

The administration has continued to play hardball. On November 28, NYU President John Sexton told NYU graduate students they would lose their stipends for one year, and be banned from teaching for one year, if they did not return to work. Regardless, the graduate employees voted to stay out.

Expiration Date:
Mon, 03/06/2006 - 12:00pm