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CAW Bargaining Reflected Principled Approach »

December 1, 2005 | Jim Stanford

Freda Coodin’s article in the November edition of Labor Notes criticizes the CAW’s strategy in recent bargaining with the Big Three automakers. I do not think she has told a complete or fair story....

Delphi’s Demands Provoke Auto Worker Resistance »

December 1, 2005 | Tiffany Ten Eyck

After years of creeping concessions, UAW rank and filers received an offer they had to refuse. When Delphi proposed to cut workers’ wages by two-thirds on October 8, the anger and anxiety wasn’t limited to those working in the struggling auto parts company’s plants—it spread to concerned...

Who Is To Blame for Auto Industry’s Woes? »

December 1, 2005 | Dianne Feeley

In an echo of the past, the Big Three automakers claim they are going broke and need concessions to save them.


Management focuses on the cost of its high-paid workers. Wages, pensions, and health care costs are cited repeatedly as the main reasons for the Big Three’s declining...

Working to Rule Builds Pressure from Within »

December 1, 2005 | Pam Galpern

At Verizon, the largest phone company in the United States, the unions chose a work-to-rule strategy to fight extreme concession demands in 2003 . . . .


Teamster Reformers Prepare To Challenge Hoffa in 2006 »

December 1, 2005 | Chris Kutalik

Teamster reformers are putting up a slate of candidates that has a shot at throwing out incumbent International officials and transforming their union. The Strong Contracts, Good Pensions slate is headed by Tom Leedham, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 206 in Oregon and a two-time...

The Test Is Coming »

December 1, 2005 | Freeda Coodin

Jim Stanford offers, as expected, a spirited defense of the CAW agreement. But he doesn’t really get to the points I raised. Since our disagreement is not over the economic package and since it is not really the details of the agreement that are at issue, let me concentrate on just a few key...

Working to Rule Builds Pressure from Within »

November 30, 2005 |

Author(s):
Pam Galpern


Excerpt:


At Verizon, the largest phone company in the United States, the unions chose a work-to-rule strategy to fight extreme concession demands in 2003...


Body:


At Verizon, the largest phone company in the United States, the unions chose a...

Auto Company To Use Bankruptcy To Slash Wages from $26 to $10 »

November 1, 2005 | Jane Slaughter

When Delphi Corporation filed Chapter 11 on October 8, the world’s second-largest auto parts maker was crystal clear about its goals. CEO Steve Miller said he needed to cut wages by 63 percent, from about $26 to $10 or $12, and to get workers to pay 27 percent of their health care.

A Living Wage: No Longer on the Auto Industry’s Agenda »

November 1, 2005 | Jane Slaughter

Is the decades-old deal between the UAW and the auto makers broken? It sure looks that way.

A New Labor Federation Claims Its Space »

November 1, 2005 | Jerry Tucker

The founding convention of the Change to Win (CTW) Federation, held in St. Louis on September 27, was, if nothing else, filled with enthusiasm. The mood was captured by SEIU President Andy Stern in an impromptu press briefing; said Stern, “The change process has ended, and now that we’ve...

Companies Use Bankruptcy Laws To Force Bigger Givebacks, Break Unions »

November 1, 2005 | Chirs Kutalik

Employers in heavily unionized U.S. industries are turning to bankruptcy courts as a strategy for gutting union contracts. Their goal: to impose layoffs and givebacks even deeper than those workers made in the concessions of the early 1980s . . . .


Labor Notes - The CAW Turn: Bargaining vs Building »

November 1, 2005 | Freda Coodin

What are we to make of the past round of bargaining between the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and the Big Three (GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler)? While Telus, Stelco, and CBC workers were in the midst of bitter struggles, the reputedly difficult auto talks were in the end remarkably amiable. The...

Letter from an Airlines Veteran »

November 1, 2005 | Gary P. Spicer

I was a member of the Machinists union (IAM) from 1976-2003. In April 1989 I was walking an Eastern Airline picket line proudly holding up our “Eastern Airlines on Strike” sign. An individual walked up to me and identified himself as an ex-PATCO employee. He asked me why he should honor our...

Jobs with Justice Brings Together Grassroots Activists »

November 1, 2005 | Sheila McClear

Over 900 labor activists from around the country converged in St. Louis September 22-24 for Jobs with Justice’s yearly conference . . . .

Delphi and the Hatchet Man »

November 1, 2005 | Gregg Shotwell

Some folks think Steve Miller, Delphi’s new CEO, is a straight shooting, no-nonsense gunslinger. The Hatchet is supposed to be a “turn-around specialist”. But Miller is a corporate carpetbagger with only one tool in his box—bankruptcy. He wants us to believe that stiffing workers and unsecured...

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