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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Friday, May 23, 2008 ::
UBCJA overrides rejected contract in Alberta and signs concessionary agreement behind closed doors. - posted by d@ve, CMAW weblog
Representative democracy at work - duh! just more reasons for Canadian autonomy. Click the images to read this typical McCarron shit: to collect air miles secretly sign a new contract and kill the double time to match the non-union and un-union CLAC-heads in the Oil Patch. The UBCJA theory is that if more Local 1325 members had voted they would have voted FOR the agreement so it wasn't really a real vote but a protest vote, so Lets' Make a Deal with the company.------------------------------------------- posted 6:30 AM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
:: Thursday, May 22, 2008 ::Construction workers caught drinking - By Alan Cohn, WTNH.com, CT
While many other states allow contractors to conduct random drug tests, Connecticut law makes it difficult. Employers can only do it for safety sensitive jobs and the Department of Labor has to approve it.
"The problem with that is the DOL which oversees this doesn't not have adequate staffing to really do it so it can often take 18-months or more to get approved," John Farnham, of
Associate General Contractors, said.
The construction industry has been unable to get the legislature to change the law even though unions like the iron workers, carpenters, and operating engineers have all agreed to allow construction companies to conduct random tests.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 ::The Internet as a Battleground for Internal Union Politics - Submitted by Steve Dondley, Communicate or Die
Well, I just got done watching a video that popped into my mail box (thanks to Chuck Lezette) which demonstrates how internal union politics is going online as well. The video chronicles an apparent revolt against Doug McCarron, the head of the Carpenters union, by some carpenters in British Colombia, Canada.
Now, whether or not you are for or against McCarron, the video raises a lot of questions about the future conduct of union business and debate in a more connected, transparent world.
One thing is certain, the carpenter's video clearly demonstrates that the Internet is a game changer. You can be pretty certain this video is spreading fast around the Internet amongst carpenters all across North America and is probably generating a lot of debate and discussion. If this same event happened just three years ago, the pre-YouTube era, no one would have known about it. Or, if they did hear about it, it certainly wouldn't have had the same dramatic impact as this video does.
======
see the "Lights Out McCarron" video at http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=BHoa9kat09E
"Lights Out at 513" photo archive-------------------------------------------
75 YEARS OF TVA - BY JOE RUTHERFORD, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
Private interests fought TVA with fangs bared. They argued that government should not compete with private utilities. The companies complained more intensely when it became clear that the cost of TVA power was lower than the private utilities' rates.
George Stegall, a longtime former employee of Pontotoc County Electric Power Association and a serious student of rural electrification's and TVA power's history, said the Mississippi Power Co. line from Tupelo to the city of Pontotoc had only one residential customer in the stretch between city limits because rural people, mostly farmers, could not afford the power.
Within a year of TVA's creation, two Northeast Mississippi cities were on the TVA grid: Service began to Tupelo under the first TVA wholesale power contract on Feb. 7, 1934. Amory Water & Electric began service on Sept. 9, 1934.
After that, the world of new opportunities began opening up.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 ::It's the Job of the Year Out Here - vancouversun.com
So Kokanee is looking for a campaign manager to travel with their hirsute mascot throughout B.C. and Alberta and whatever other provinces are in Western Canada. You'd be responsible for 'coordinating and overseeing the campaign,' as well as 'hosting rallies and parties at on-premise locations' (we think that means bars.) Gig runs from June 2 to Aug. 17 and it pays -- drum roll, please -- $10,000 (yes, we're thinking of applying ourselves.) Be warned, though -- you'll also have to 'address and manage developing scandals with skillfully crafted response.' (What is it they're not telling us here about this Sasquatch guy? How many times has he been in rehab?) Anyways, if this sounds like something you could fake your way through, apply at: www.rangerliveordie.ca
(blog note: the url in the article is 404, the link above is correct)
Walk with Kokanee Sasquatch
Brewery launches unique summer job opportunity-------------------------------------------
Utah Mine Disaster Was Preventable, Report Says - By IAN URBINA, New York Times
The report also said that the mining company should never have submitted a request to remove coal from the section of mine where the collapse occurred, and that federal mining officials should not have approved the proposal, because of foreseeable dangers.
The Congressional committee conducting the investigation sent a referral letter late last month to the Department of Justice asking the department to investigate whether the mine manager, Laine W. Adair, on his own or in conspiracy with others from the mining company, willfully concealed facts or made intentionally false statements to federal mining investigators about the condition of the mine before the August disaster.
On Aug. 6, roof supports in a section of the mine gave way in a major collapse that registered 3.9 on the Richter scale and left six miners fatally entombed. Ten days later, three more miners who were working as rescuers died after more tunnels fell.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, May 19, 2008 ::Asbestos exposure will kill 300 workers a year: survey - By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun via Doctor Petersen at Mesothelioma Information
Wayne Peppard, executive director of the construction trades council, said in an interview that asbestos exposure illness and mesothelioma [a type of cancer in the lung] is now epidemic and that 1,500 workers in B.C. will die of it in the next five years.
He said their survey is based on an analysis of preliminary WorkSafeBC [formerly the Workers’ Compensation Board] statistics and the latest research at the UBC School of Environmental Health.
Peppard said their review takes into account that many mesothelioma fatalities are missing as WorkSafeBC statistics only register and track their own accepted cases.
“A lot of the cases go undiagnosed. If a worker is a smoker and doesn’t indicate they’ve been exposed to asbestos, there’s no reason for the doctor to suspect it.
“This is a serious epidemic and it won’t be going away very quickly, especially if the federal government and Quebec continue [allowing] it to be mined.
“We know that many mesothelioma fatalities are not recorded in the statistics, nor are many lung cancer cases that are caused by asbestos exposure,” Peppard said. “This carnage from asbestos related fatalities is disastrous for those workers and their families.”
The 60-year-old Peppard, himself a plumber for 37 years, is now being tested for possible disease caused by his lengthy exposure to asbestos.
“I’m starting to lose my breath, so I’m a little concerned,” he said. “I’m getting tested now. I can remember pulling asbestos off boilers and pipes. I went home coughing the stuff up.”
He said asbestos is still used in B.C., including in some house siding products, and roofing and paving materials.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, May 16, 2008 ::Tending to a Flock in Hard Hats - By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN, New York Times
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, Father Jordan has ministered to the building trades, which has meant both celebrating acts of material creation and mourning those killed in this dangerous work. The six workers’ deaths on March 15 were the most he had dealt with on a single day since Sept. 11, and came amid an especially tragic 12 months, with 26 fatalities on New York work sites.
On April 28, Father Jordan officiated at a Mass for Workers’ Memorial Day in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In most years, safer years, the annual event had been easily accommodated in the priest’s home church, St. Francis of Assisi on West 31st Street. Regardless of the setting, Father Jordan has preached a consistent message.
“Union construction workers have sacred instruments,” he said in his homily at St. Patrick’s. “No, not just their tools, machinery and computerized systems that they are trained and responsible for. These sacred instruments are their hands.”-------------------------------------------
1968, 40 Years Later: Student, Worker Protests Sweep France, Leaving Indelible Mark on the Country and the World - AMY GOODMAN, Democracy Now!
It began when university students in Paris occupied the area of the Sorbonne and Nanterre universities in response to a dispute over visiting rights to a female students’ dormitory. The protests grew into a call for wider university reforms and greater personal freedoms that led to three weeks of mass demonstrations. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest heavy-handed police treatment. In a show of solidarity, ten million workers, or roughly two-thirds of the French workforce, went on strike. It marked the biggest general strike in French history.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, May 15, 2008 ::Bush to Veto 1st Responder's Union Rights - Posted by The Union Girl, Women_Unions_and_our_stories
The U.S. Senate today moved a step closer to approving legislation that would protect the collective bargaining rights of tens of thousands of firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other public safety officers.
By a 69–29 vote, the Senate killed a filibuster led by several extreme anti-worker Republican senators against the workers’ rights bill. Eighteen Republicans joined all Democrats in backing the move to end the filibuster. The vote on final passage is expected later this week.
Some 20 states do not fully protect the bargaining rights of firefighters, police officers and other first responders. Two states—Virginia and North Carolina—prohibit public safety employees from collectively bargaining.-------------------------------------------
'A hollow place in our hearts' - By Dan Carpenter, The Indianapolis Star
The children were in the back yard of their home in Convoy, Ohio, last June 9 when police officers came to inform their mother of the construction scaffold collapse at Castleton Square mall in Indianapolis that sent 29-year-old Shane Pruett 40 feet to his death. Insurance paid for most of his burial expenses; not enough for a stone. Bobbie is still waiting for his worker's compensation. The state is going after two subcontractors in court.
Workplace deaths and worker's compensation claims are down a little in Indiana, the governor noted in his speech, despite an upsurge in construction work. 'The decreases are nice, in a way,' he said quietly, 'but they are no consolation and never will be.'-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 ::Oh look, it's blue!: It's blue, and green! New wood product is resistant to mold, insects - Trading Markets (press release), CA
Blue aside, BluWood is green -- meaning it's environmentally friendly.
It contains no volatile organic compounds (chemical gases) and it is certified as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) product.
'We found a whole new direction for treated lumber,' Morando said.-------------------------------------------
Creosote Blues Revisited - by Paul Sweeney, The Texas Observer
Dennis Davis’ uncle died in his arms on New Year’s morning in 2005. Cancer had eaten away Don Hightower’s face. “He had lost his nose and the upper part of his mouth,” Davis said.
A few years earlier, Hightower had won a mediation settlement against his employer, BNSF Railway Co., North America’s second-largest railroad, “for disfigurement.” The railroad is the biggest subsidiary of Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. Before Hightower died, he made Davis promise he would seek justice for other workers at the company.-------------------------------------------
Caution needed when using pressure-treated wood - By Steve Maxwell, Ottawa Citizen, Canada
Besides rules for safe handling of pressure-treated lumber, there's a structural issue, and it has to do with a chemical interaction that's not obvious.
A substance called alkaline copper quat (ACQ) is one of the most common wood preservative compounds that keeps new kinds of pressure-treated lumber from rotting.
ACQ relies on copper to be effective, not arsenic, and this is where structural problems can occur if you're not careful. When the copper in pressure-treated wood gets wet and comes in contact with certain kinds of metal nails, screws and joist hangers, it accelerates the corrosion of these fasteners.
The first signs of trouble show up as rapid staining of the wood surrounding these fasteners, often within just a few weeks of construction. And within a few years, the choice of inappropriate fasteners will cause premature deck failure as nails and screws are reduced to crumbly iron oxide.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 ::Drought has helped cleanup effort at EPA Superfund site in Glynn - By MIKE MORRISON, Florida Times-Union
The site's soil and groundwater are contaminated with chemicals used in the wood preserving process, including dioxin, chromated copper arsenate and diesel fuel. The company manufactured railroad ties, telephone poles and pressure-treated lumber.-------------------------------------------
hat tip: Workers Comp Insider
Worker Safety Incentive Programs: Worker vs. Co-Worker? - Posted by Nick Avgerinos, InjuryBoard.com
While workers may be encouraged to report all injuries, the reporting of an injury, regardless of how minor can cause a break in the run of consecutive injury-free days from work and, perhaps more importantly for some, no reward ($$) from the employer. By following the rules and reporting all injuries, a worker risks incurring the anger of co-workers who have been informed by their employer that they will not receive a prize. Here’s the dilemma: Report the injury and lose the reward, or don’t report the injury and risk potentially serious consequences by way of a reprimand, suspension or something worse for having failed to follow company policy.
The situation becomes much more problematic down the road, if what seemed like a minor back strain that the worker chose not to report out of fear of turning the co-workers against him is later diagnosed by a doctor as a herniated disc for which surgery is needed. Now the worker has a huge problem because the workers’ compensation claim resulting from the workplace accident will likely be denied by the employer and workers’ compensation insurance company because there is no record of the worker having reported the accident to the plant nurse, supervisor, or anyone else in a managerial capacity.-------------------------------------------
CAW and Panic Bargaining - By Sam Gindin, Source: MR Zine via ZNet
The permanent two-tier system, however, has been resolutely opposed by CAW President Buzz Hargrove, and its rejection has been made central to bargaining.
The rejection of the permanent two-tier structure is indeed of crucial importance. But renaming the losses made in exchange as 'cost savings', 'offsets', or describing them as a 'creative and nimble' response, hardly negates the fact that the concessions in this collective agreement are as large as or larger than those the American UAW made in 1982. Those concessions led to harsh criticism from the Canadian wing of the union and, shortly after, to breaking away from its American parent.
As many CAW members know from experience and the union's educational programs, concessions don't guarantee jobs.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, May 12, 2008 ::May Day rally demands scrapping of anti-worker laws - By Nathan Verney, Green Left, Australia
More than 2000 people rallied at Fremantle Esplanade to celebrate May Day and to call for the scrapping of all of the anti-worker laws of the previous government.
The march featured large contingents from the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and the State School Teachers Union, which is currently engaged in an industrial dispute with the state Labor government.-------------------------------------------
Keeping the heat on OSHA - By Alexandra Berzon, Lisa Mascaro, Las Vegas Sun
California Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey said the workforce protections subcommittee she leads plans to hold a hearing this summer to investigate the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regulations of the construction industry.
“What’s happening in Las Vegas and other major cities, including New York ... there’s this need to move faster” so that the buildings are completed by deadlines, Woolsey said. “It’s taking its toll and it’s killing or injuring our workers — all so some big buildings can get built quickly.”
The Las Vegas Sun has reported that construction workers on the Strip say pressure to work faster during the current $32 billion building boom forces them and their bosses to take shortcuts, often at the expense of safety. Ten workers have died in Strip construction projects in the past 17 months.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, May 09, 2008 ::B.C.'s oilpatch is the most dangerous place to work: WorkSafeBC - By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
Over the five years, there were 92 serious injury claims accepted, which represent six per cent of claims in the industry, as compared to just two per cent for all industries combined.
The industry recorded 35 fatal claims between 2002 and 2006.
According to the survey, oilpatch jobs with the highest number of claims included oil and gas drilling, servicing and related labourers, truck drivers, floorman/woman for oil and gas wells, and oil & gas well drilling workers.
The three most common types of accidents are struck by object (16 per cent), overexertion (15 per cent), and falling (11 per cent).-------------------------------------------
On safety, we could learn from NYC - By Alexandra Berzon, Las Vegas Sun
The only response from Nevada’s elected leaders came from state legislators who said they would call hearings when the Legislature reconvenes next year to review the conduct of Nevada OSHA. The Sun reported in March that Nevada OSHA has levied only small fines on contractors for violations contributing to the deaths. In some cases, citations have been withdrawn altogether.
Local government leaders saw no role for themselves in the issue, in part because local governments in Nevada have no responsibility for workplace safety. That task falls exclusively to Nevada OSHA, which works with limited staff and budget to inspect every work site in the state.
Clark County did begin recently to push building inspectors to investigate building code violations more aggressively during construction. But the codes they enforce do not regulate construction safety. Rather, they ensure that buildings are safe once completed — that they do not contain structural flaws, fire hazards and so on.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, May 08, 2008 ::LV has scrapped some structural inspections - By VALERIE MILLER and JOAN WHITELY, Las Vegas Review - Journal
The city of Las Vegas is no longer conducting structural reviews on some buildings as tall as four stories, strip malls, tract homes and big-box stores such as Costco.
Unlike Clark County and nearby cities, the Las Vegas Department of Building and Safety is relying on the word of the architects and engineers submitting plans that their buildings meet specifications and will not collapse from gravity, high wind or seismic activity. The move, detailed in an April 11 city document, puts those larger structures in the same category as carports, gazebos and balconies.
The new guidelines were issued in the midst of the Las Vegas building department's elimination of 31 positions because of the construction slowdown. The city has laid off four of its five structural plan reviewers.-------------------------------------------
Demographics Of Jobless Claims - Mike "Mish" Shedlock, oweStreet.com, Canada
Structural demographic effects imply that prospects in the full-time labor market will be poor for those over age 50-55 and workers under age 30. Teen and college-age employment could suffer a great deal from (1) a dramatic slowdown in discretionary spending and (2) part-time Boomer reentrants into the low-paying service sector; workers who will be competing with younger workers.
Ironically, older part-time workers remaining in or reentering the labor force will be cheaper to hire in many cases than younger workers. The reason is Boomers 65 and older will be covered by Medicare (as long as it lasts) and will not require as many benefits as will younger workers, especially those with families. In effect, Boomers will be competing with their children and grandchildren for jobs that in many cases do not pay living wages.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 ::Waterboarding for Sales - By Jon Coppelman, Workers Comp Insider
Like any good manager looking for an edge, Christopherson decided to bring this aggressive 'Socratic method' to his team.
Chad Hudgens, a member of the under-performing sales group, made the mistake of volunteering for the 'team-building exercise.' In a park outside Prosper's offices, he lay on his back with his head downhill. Co-workers knelt on either side and pinned his arms. Christopherson proceeded to pour water from a jug over his nose and mouth.
'So they held me down,' Hudgens reports. '...I can't scream because the water's going down my throat...Toward the end, I'm starting to black out. I think I am drowning.'-------------------------------------------
No Worries Until They Offshore Spring Training - By Bill Blocher, The Ledger, FL
If offshoring is good for automakers, TV makers, computer manufacturers, clothing makers, socks makers, hat makers, appliance companies, toy companies, call centers, and a host of other businesses that used to manufacture their products in the United States, why shouldn't it be good for baseball?
Baseball may even be able to extend its fan base offshore and, if a team is not doing well in the United States, just ship the regular season there, too.
After all, the American fans can always watch on a TV made in China, while sitting on a sofa made in India, sipping a drink from a glass made in Korea.
Globalization is great, isn't it?-------------------------------------------
Bank of America seeks to patent abandoning America - Posted by Matt Asay, CNET Blogs
"Indeed, Bank of America is probably right when it suggests that 'A business entity is forced to commit significant resources to employ an American work force and may often find that the demands of American employees far exceed the allotted budget.' It's simply trying to remove some of the risks associated with going abroad to get work done.
Even so, the irony of Bank of America seeking to leave behind American workers is a bit thick. :-)"-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 ::So many levels of irony. - Why outsourcing has to stop. - Skippy’s List
"I just find it ironic that I am having a hard time finding a job doing similar work to the kind of work these people do, thus I am collecting unemployment and having to call India, for support on my unemployment insurance account."-------------------------------------------
Structural Problems Found In Several Boston Parking Garages - BOSTON (WBZ)
WBZ went into a number of Boston garages and found exactly what worries Dr. Capano. We saw multiple examples of crumbling concrete, which was leaving the reinforced steel exposed and rusting. As he explained, 'You look for any exposed steel. That's really the telling sign that you may have a problem because salt can get right into it.'
What happens in this area is that cars get wet after driving on treated roads. They bring that salty water into the garages where it drips into cracks. The salt then eats away at the reinforced steel. Once that happens, the structural integrity can deteriorate quickly. Said Dr. Capano, 'That is when you have some complications.'-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, May 05, 2008 ::The Dangerous World of a Subway Trackworker - By Jennifer Gonnerman, New York Magazine
But for the community of transit workers, the worst tragedy of all is when one of their own is killed, when someone starts his shift like everyone else, wearing an orange vest and a helmet, and ends it inside a body bag. Repairing and maintaining the city’s 660 miles of subway tracks—while avoiding the third rail and dodging 400-ton trains—is not an easy task. There have been at least 230 employee fatalities since 1946. In the last decade alone, ten subway workers have been killed.-------------------------------------------
Better benefits or higher wages? - By GUY BOULTON, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Employers bear most of the cost of paying for health benefits, right?
Think again.
When health care costs rise sharply, wages remain flat or decline after adjusting for inflation.
What this means is the rising cost of providing health insurance isn't coming out of your employer's profits. It's coming out your paycheck.
'It sounds absolutely trite, but there is no such thing as a free lunch,' said Amitabh Chandra, a health care economist at Harvard University. 'Somebody is paying for it. It is usually you.'-------------------------------------------
A sign of the economic times - By Susan Flynn, The Salem News, MA
Mike Desclos figured he had nothing to lose because he had so much to lose.
Out of work and with creditors calling, the union carpenter from Danvers got tired of driving around looking for jobs, wasting his money on gas and coffees.
So the 43-year-old father of two took matters into his own hands. He grabbed a black Sharpie and some poster board to make a sign, which he staked in front of his grandmother's house on Conant Street last month in an act of both inspiration and desperation.
It reads: "Laid Off. Need Work. Carpentry. Painting. Yard Cleanups. Attic and Basement Cleanouts. Call Mike D. 978-423-9185."
"I started panicking," Desclos says.
The small handwritten sign erected on this well-traveled street got people's attention.-------------------------------------------
