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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 ::
One Heckuva Leak (washingtonpost.com) By Howard Kurtz
Judging by a flood of questions yesterday, the public is real interested in this story about the Bush administration leaking a CIA operative's name -- and the media are not looking too good in the process.------------------------------------------- posted 7:54 PM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
Statement of AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney on Census Report Showing 2.4 Million More Americans Don't Have Health Insurance Since 2002
AFL-CIO Endorsement Meeting Postponed By SAM HANANEL
The AFL-CIO has again postponed a meeting to consider endorsing a presidential candidate, a blow to Democratic hopeful Dick Gephardt who is counting on strong union support to boost his sagging campaign.-------------------------------------------
Candidate Sweeney Uses AFL-CIO Web; Why Can't Union Members Have a Voice?
LaborTalk Oct. 1, 2003 By Harry Kelber
AFL-CIO's Web site (www.aflcio.org) performs a valuable service by keeping us informed about economic and political developments and mobilizing us for legislative campaigns.
But the Web site lacks an important feature. It doesn't have a bulletin or message board where we can discuss our views about issues of mutual concern and communicate with our leaders.-------------------------------------------
Even Monkeys Get It--Now Why Doesn't My Boss? workplacefairness.org
One of the most fascinating workplace-related studies to cross our desk recently came to us courtesy of Nature Magazine. Researchers have learned that monkeys appear to have an innate sense of fairness, and will express their displeasure when failing to receive 'equal pay for equal work.' Now that we know that primates have natural expectations to be treated fairly for what they do, how do workers get the primates who write our paychecks to honor those expectations?-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, September 29, 2003 ::Undecided unions put endorsement plans on hold, watch Clark By Leigh Strope AP
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has said he would call a meeting around Oct. 15 to consider Gephardt, but only if there was sufficient support from about two-thirds of the federation's 13 million members. That could be difficult with key unions in a holding pattern.
Organized labor is basically split into two camps: unions that want Gephardt to be the Democratic nominee and those that don't. He has 14 national union endorsements so far.
General Clark says he'd relieve Rumsfeld of his command By JAMES W. PINDELL and SAM YOUNGMAN
Gen. Wesley Clark, told a New Hampshire audience Friday night he had only fired one person in his life. On Saturday he said he wanted to fire a second person: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.-------------------------------------------
KQED gets 'The Blues' By Bill Picture
Seven of the country's finest and most acclaimed feature filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, Richard Pearce and Clint Eastwood, celebrate the 100-year anniversary of a bona fide American tradition with a series of one-hour documentaries dedicated to the blues, the lasting effect it has had on music and its role in the shaping not only of black culture, but in contemporary American history.
Airing nightly through Oct. 3 on KQED. Go to www.pbs.org/theblues for broadcast schedule.-------------------------------------------
The Plame Game - Will the leak of a CIA agent's name be the next big political scandal? By Jack Shafer
Given that the White House knows who the leakers are, I would surmise that the administration will staunch the damage—and still the scandal—by strongly encouraging the leakers to offer themselves up for sacrifice out of duty to President Bush. If I were Bush, I'd avoid anything that could be construed as a coverup and start rehearsing my address to the nation about how a tiny precancerous lesion has been removed from the face the presidency.-------------------------------------------
Alaskan governor says Canada should not 'interfere' with pipeline debate By JAMES STEVENSON
CALGARY (CP) - "I don't think it's an issue of the Canadian government, necessarily," Murkowski said outside of a Insight Information conference on northern energy in Calgary.
"We do not interfere or comment on your own decisions on making incentives at whatever level you see fit on your own projects, and we expect the same courtesy when we make decisions."-------------------------------------------
Union President Responds to Announced Closing of Levi Strauss Factories PRNewswire
UNITE President Bruce Raynor, head of the largest apparel workers' union in North America, today attacked Bush Administration trade policies in response to the announced closing of 4 Levi Strauss plants in the United States and Canada.-------------------------------------------
Civil trial into mine blast starts Monday CBC News
YELLOWKNIFE - One of the biggest civil lawsuits in Canadian history gets underway Monday, stemming from the 1992 murders of nine miners in Yellowknife.
The men were killed in an underground explosion during a prolonged contract dispute at the Giant gold mine. People felt the blast kilometres away.
Royal Oak Mines had locked out workers in May 1992, a day before they were planning to strike. The company then used replacement workers to keep the mine in operation.
N.W.T. civil mega-trial starts Monday in 1992 mine bombing that killed 9 CNEWS Canada-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, September 28, 2003 ::The Unbuilding of Iraq By John Barry and Evan Thomas
How did we get in this mess?
NEWSWEEK interviews with top government officials involved in the planning and execution of the reconstruction of Iraq point to a “perfect storm” of mistakes and bad luck: wrongheaded assumptions, ideological blinders, weak intelligence and poor coordination by White House national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Justice probing reported leak of CIA agent's name CNN-------------------------------------------
Mother Jones Bowlsheviks Bowling Shirts These red and black beauties feature Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's unmistakable silhouette, bowling ball in hand, on the back and "motherjones.com" stitched on the front. A legacy of an actual, albeit short-lived Mother Jones bowling team—fondly remembered for whipping the arch-capitalists Goldman Sachs.-------------------------------------------
DUBYA'S NEED FOR METTLE ON STEEL The minor savings of jobs in the steel-producing industries have been overwhelmed by major losses in the steel-consuming companies - many in other politically sensitive states such as Michigan (which Bush narrowly lost in 2000) and Tennessee (which he won).
And - surprise, surprise! - the steelworkers went ahead and endorsed Democratic presidential contender Dick Gephardt anyway.-------------------------------------------
White House sacks Bush speechwriters after poor UN performance Aides to US President 'Boy' George W. Bush have sacked his speechwriters following his address to the UN General Assembly yesterday, DeadBrain has learned. While strong on the usual rhetoric, the response to the speech by world leaders can at best be described as polite.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, September 27, 2003 ::Voices from the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride By Richard Muhammad, AlterNet
Get on the Bus!
Four decades after the first freedom rides, people are back on the buses to continue the struggle for economic and social justice and civil rights for America's most marginalized population – immigrants. Surprise, America, it's a never-ending tour until we get it right.-------------------------------------------
IBEW Members Clean Up After Isabel’s Wrath When Hurricane Isabel came riding in on storm-force waves and 100 mile-an-hour winds, IBEW members were at the ready Thursday, September 18 for the inevitable chore of restoring power in her wake.-------------------------------------------
Call for global asbestos ban renewed CUPE BC
An outstanding panel of international and Canadian experts exposed the ways the asbestos industry has prolonged the life of this discredited substance. Representatives from India, Lebanon and Peru described the appalling human tragedy caused by the use of Canadian asbestos in their countries.-------------------------------------------
Reuters | AFL-CIO to Cos.: Remove Grasso Supporter By Martin Howell
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The AFL-CIO on Friday called on five public companies that have Kenneth Langone on their boards not to re-nominate the key supporter of ousted New York Stock Exchange Chairman and CEO Dick Grasso.
AFL-CIO's Throw-the-Bum-Out Call Gets Cool Reception By Troy Wolverton
Kenneth Langone may be an unpopular figure because of his defense of the massive pay package handed out to former New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso. But that doesn't mean all investors and governance experts are ready to blackball the NYSE board member.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, September 26, 2003 ::U.S. Newswire - Board of Certified Safety Professionals Aligns with OSHA; OSHA is dedicated to assuring worker safety and health. Safety and health add value to business, the workplace and life. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
Roof collapse kills 1, hurts 2 By CHARLES RUNNELLS
OSHA to investigate Cape church tragedy
Dedeneditto said it looked like the trusses collapsed. “It’s a domino effect. If one goes, they all go.”-------------------------------------------
17th CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF IWA CANADA Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers members yesterday urged the leaders of their 55,000-member union to aggressively seek mergers with a compatible, larger union. The delegates agreed that labour organizations are facing increased pressure from multinational corporations in a globalized economy and that they therefore need to build bigger, stronger unions.-------------------------------------------
IWA accepts olive branch By Gordon Hamilton
The offer to the Industrial, Wood & Allied Workers of Canada came just hours before a 72-hour strike notice expired at 3 p.m. and after the companies lost a Labour Relations Board appeal to have the strike notice declared null and void.-------------------------------------------
Hispanics still face more deaths, injuries on the job By L.M. SIXEL
Ricardo Benitez, an organizer with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Union Local 551 in Houston, said he commonly sees contractors cutting corners with Hispanic immigrant workers, who by his estimate perform 80 percent of the construction work in Houston.-------------------------------------------
Doing the Work of America: Food and Commercial Workers Mobilize for Immigrant Worker Rights
Washington, D.C--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)The nation's largest private sector union and the largest workers' organization in the food industry, the 1.4 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), is mobilizing to protect the rights of immigrant workers who now comprise the majority of the workforce in much of America's meat and food processing industry.-------------------------------------------
Levi Strauss: North American jeans no longer fit company Levi Strauss says it plans to close its sewing and finishing operations in San Antonio by year-end, displacing approximately 800 workers. Its three Canadian facilities -- two sewing plants in Edmonton, Alberta, and Stoney Creek, Ontario, and a finishing center in Brantford, Ontario -- are expected to close in March 2004, displacing approximately 1,180 employees.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, September 25, 2003 ::Philadelphia: Street loses cool at union meeting Mayor John Street lost his cool at a union meeting last weekend, shouting at a roomful of blue-collar municipal workers whose endorsement he is trying to win that he would 'win this election without you if I have to!'
The comment infuriated union workers, who booed and shouted for several minutes as union president Herman 'Pete' Matthews said into a microphone, 'I wouldn't come to your office and insult you.'-------------------------------------------
Ananova - Ban on Russian ads depicting euro having sex with dollar
InfoWorld: Update: California bans all spam e-mail By Stephen Lawson
Law sets up an 'opt-in' requirement-------------------------------------------
Possible outsourcing concerns Harley union By RICK BARRETT
Union leaders are concerned that Harley-Davidson might eliminate jobs here by outsourcing the production of motorcycle transmissions.-------------------------------------------
Construction union gives Missouri's Gephardt another labor endorsement By LEIGH STROPE/AP
WASHINGTON -- Dick Gephardt picked up his 14th union endorsement for the Democratic presidential nomination when leaders of the Laborers International Union of North America decided Tuesday to back the Missouri Democrat.-------------------------------------------
www.iamnotamerican.com FAQ page: Why do you use American companies to produce some of your products. Isn't that hypocritical?
* No. It's actually quite ironic. An American company producing t-shirts that say "I am not American". Hmm. That's the same reason I specifically requested 'Made in the USA' shirts for the printing of the Canadian flag design shirts. Primarily though, it also has a lot to do with the fact that no Canadian company I have found can provide me with the same ability to sell a large number of items with my "I am not American" designs without requiring me to produce and hold a large inventory.-------------------------------------------
Herald Sun: Union standover claim By GEOFF WILKINSON
A SMALL firm's contract on a building site was cancelled after one of Australia's biggest unions stood over the builder, the Federal Court heard yesterday.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union had warned the builder it would 'experience trouble' if it used the sub-contractor, the court heard.
The interim building industry taskforce yesterday obtained an injunction restraining the union and state president John Cummins from coercive behaviour.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 ::Oregon employers to save millions By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER
PORTLAND — Oregon employers will pay $22.7 million less a year in total workers’ compensation costs beginning in January under rates announced Tuesday by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
The total payment per $100 in payroll goes from $1.95 to $1.92. The total rate has dropped almost every year since reforms began in 1990. That year it was $4.32, one of the highest rates in the nation.-------------------------------------------
Human Rights are Workers Rights
School of the Americas Watch Northwest http://tacomanov16.org
SOAWNW is organizing its first annual regional nonviolent vigil and action in Tacoma, Sunday, November 16, 2003. Put this important date on your calendar now so you will be sure to reserve this day to attend and make your voice heard.-------------------------------------------
How many calls stopped? Few. By Allen Wastler CNN/Money
This was the list that was going to bring peace to homes across America. The list that President Bush said would help protect 'family time.' And now a federal court has stopped it dead in its tracks, declaring that the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its bounds.-------------------------------------------
Union-employer contracts automatically include rights Ottawa - The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that union-employer contracts automatically include rights and obligations set out in human rights and labour relations legislation.-------------------------------------------
SWEENEY WANTS FOUR MORE YEARS Will AFL-CIO’s 2005 Convention Be Rigged?
LaborTalk by Harry Kelber
Unless the convention voting rules are changed, the 51-member Executive Council, which has been in office for 10 years, will be reelected for another four years, even though most of the Council members are not known, never say anything publicly and have never had to campaign for their position.
These sham elections for leadership positions have been going on for decades, because of a provision in the AFL-CIO’s Constitution that gives international unions as many convention votes as the number of their members, while state federations and central labor councils are limited to one vote each.-------------------------------------------
'Wrecking ball' hangs over coastal mills, forest companies say By Gordon Hamilton
The LRB has told both sides it will rule before Thursday on FIR's application for a cease-and-desist order against the union. FIR, which represents 61 coastal employers, asked the board to prohibit the strike notice until it has had a chance to hear a company charge that the union has bargained in bad faith.
FIR is basing its claim on an LRB requirement that all parties consider economic viability. FIR walked away from negotiations last month but says it wants to return with an agenda that considers the troubled state of the coastal industry.
Alberta premier Klein pessimistic softwood deal will ever be found CanWest News
EDMONTON - It's likely there will never be a long-term softwood trade agreement with the United States, Premier Ralph Klein told Alberta forestry executives Monday.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 ::Workers at Tyler plant say safety still at risk By LISA FALKENBERG
David Willis was working against the clock. His shift was ending soon and he still had a job to do.
The mechanic had a choice, the kind that has become routine at the Tyler Pipe foundry. He could do things the slow, safe way but maybe not finish in time, or be fast, risky and, if all went well, get the job done.
Disturbing legacy of rescues: Suicide By Jim Hopkins and Charisse Jones, USA TODAY-------------------------------------------
'Healthy Forests' debate rages in Southeast By Jason Zacher
Smokey Bear and Bambi instilled an acute fear of forest fires in the American public.
The cartoon characters have been cited by environmentalists for what they, along with scientists and government officials, believe has fueled a flawed policy of extinguishing even the smallest forest fires. That policy has left a massive load of downed trees and other fuel that has spawned massive forest fires out west during the past few years, they say.
GOP reveals language of provision to pursue oil drilling in ANWR By SAM BISHOP
Republican leaders who favor oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Monday unveiled the language they will pursue--if they decide to pursue it.-------------------------------------------
Yale Strike Settled By SHINZONG LEE, Yale Daily News
Union members nearly unanimously ratified eight-year contracts Friday afternoon, officially ending a three-week strike and one of Yale's most protracted labor disputes.-------------------------------------------
ENR - As AGC Girds for Elections, Union Chiefs Talk Cooperation By Richard Korman
By the time the meeting was over, the spirit of respect and mutual self-interest was so thick you could have cut it with a welder’s torch. While not a lovefest, four union presidents–the operating engineers’ Frank Hanley, the carpenters’ Douglas McCarron, the laborers’ Terence O’Sullivan and the ironworkers’ Joseph Hunt–pleased many contractors who crowded a hotel conference room in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15. All expressed a determination to help union contractors compete.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, September 22, 2003 ::ENR - Ironworkers and Their President Are Polishing Up Performance By Sherie Winston
Edward C. Sullivan, president of the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Dept., commends Hunt for improving communications with the union’s 235 locals. Hunt is informing the rank-and-file about the changes he’s making and "that goes a long way," says Sullivan.-------------------------------------------
Indian Motorcycle loses fight to revive old brand Indian Motorcycle on Monday halted a four-year effort to revive the oldest U.S. motorcycle brand, suspending production of its heavyweight cruisers after losing its biggest investor.
Hopis seek their Water Rights By Jack L. August Jr.
As I pull into the parking lot at Hopi Tribal Headquarters in Kykotsmovi, I am struck by the plethora of bumper stickers on cars: SAVE H2OPI (Save Hopi Water).-------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS: New kind of brotherhood for unions By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
In reaching a settlement with General Motors on Thursday and in recent agreements with several other industrial behemoths — Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Goodyear and Verizon — unions have shown a new realism, a new willingness to rein in their demands. Keeping their employers competitive, they have concluded, is essential to keeping unionized jobs from being lost to non-union, often lower-wage companies elsewhere in the country or overseas.-------------------------------------------
UPDATE 2-Bush gives nod to Global Crossing sale to STT By Jeremy Pelofsky | Reuters
The U.S. Defense Department had initially opposed the deal and Homeland Security officials had reservations. However, the Justice Department and the economic wing of the administration backed the deal because of a lengthy network security pact reached with the companies, sources have said.-------------------------------------------
Lobbying fiery as time near on asbestos fund By SHARON THEIMER
On one side are victims and their relatives, who with the help of trial lawyers attest to the horrible effects of asbestos-related illness. On the other side, companies say lawsuits are threatening their solvency and jobs.
Unions are on both sides. The AFL-CIO says there's not enough money in Hatch's proposed fund and too many companies have hidden behind bankruptcy to avoid paying claims. But some of its affiliates, like the Boilermakers, also raise concerns about jobs lost to rising lawsuits.-------------------------------------------
Govt plans tough new legislation for construction industry Australian Broadcasting Corporation TRANSCRIPT
BARRIE CASSIDY: In terms of what you regard as the biggest problems within the industry, you have identified the construction industry and specifically, commercial construction.
Why is that so different to the housing sector?
TONY ABBOTT: Well, the commercial sector is traditionally viewed by the CFMEU as its own particular playground and the CFMEU exercises a quasi monopoly supplier of labour role and that's what makes the difference.
The CFMEU's insistence on its own power, insistence on a closed shop and its use of coercion, intimidation and violence to protect the closed shop in the commercial sector.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, September 21, 2003 ::Indiana - Franklin auto parts plant likely to close By April Marciszewski
News of the closing emerged Thursday when representatives met with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 2993 to tell them of the preliminary decision to close the Franklin plant.-------------------------------------------
Missouri - Workers question drug raid By David Tanner
The IBEW says the raid was, in part, retaliation for its members voicing opinions on city financial issues. The union has recently pushed for and is fronting the cost of a state audit of the city books.-------------------------------------------
White House retreats from provision for Arctic drilling / The Olympian The White House is easing away from insisting that Congress open an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling after the president was told by lawmakers the issue could doom energy legislation.-------------------------------------------
EPA fears health threat from Columbia River slag By Christopher Schwarzen
TRAIL, B.C. — For 100 years, one of the world's largest zinc smelters squatted above the Columbia River just north of the U.S.-Canadian border and used Washington's mightiest river as its personal dumping ground.
Canadian smelter gets deadline to plan study of Columbia slag By Christopher Schwarzen
The EPA maintains the company is responsible for much of the river's worst pollution problems because for a century — from 1894 to 1994 — it dumped about 400 tons of smelter slag daily into the river, a practice legal in Canada at the time.
-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO wants mushroom farm labor probe Wyoming: The state AFL-CIO has asked Gov. Dave Freudenthal to investigate the use of prison labor to build and staff a $5 million mushroom farm in Shoshoni.-------------------------------------------
Health Canada medical marijuana could be better, supplier agrees By DEAN BEEBY
The Health Canada marijuana that's getting bad reviews from some patients was not tested by users and could be improved, says the grower.
TheNewMexicoChannel.com - Health - Bad Pot? Blame Canadian Government If the dope is bad, don't blame your dealer; blame the government -- at least in Canada.
Pot law non-existent in B.C., judge rules By Neal Hall
"As a result, there was no longer any prohibition or penalty . . . for simple possession of marijuana. It follows, therefore, there is no offence known to law at this time for simple possession of marijuana."-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, September 20, 2003 ::CN: I am (not) ‘Canadian’ By DARREN YOURK The Globe and Mail
Memo surfaces requiring CN employees drop the word 'Canadian' CTV.ca News Staff
Employees of the Montreal-based CN Rail are being urged to use the acronym CN when referring to their company, and not to use the word "Canadian," according to an internal publication.-------------------------------------------
CDUI Sept. 03 newsletter CARPENTERS DEMOCRATIC UNION – INTERNATIONAL
Volume 1 Number 3 www.ranknfile.net
News and Information for the Working Carpenter-------------------------------------------
Fool.com: VeriSign Creates Havoc By Rex Moore
Before this week, mistyping or misspelling a Web address would likely direct you to a '404' error page, indicating the domain name did not exist. Now, however, VeriSign directs this typo traffic to a Web page of its own, called Site Finder. There, users might get help finding their lost site, but they'll also be subjected to advertising.-------------------------------------------
Project Censored The Effort to Make Unions Disappear
It's revealing that the story of a labor movement with more than 13 million members can be censored with relative ease. The dominant media view in recent years has been that unions are artifacts of an earlier era and are simply no longer relevant in the 'new' information economy. Full-time labor beat reporters, once fixtures in big-city newsrooms, virtually disappeared years ago.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, September 19, 2003 ::Forest industry workers vote to strike By John French
The besieged coastal forest industry may soon find itself in even more trouble than it already is as frustrated unionized workers prepare for a possible strike.
Bosses are passing the buck: IWA By Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun
A vision statement by three forest company leaders on the future of the coast lumber industry will remain a "pipe dream" until companies commit the $1 billion needed to rebuild aging coastal sawmills, the head of the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada said Thursday.
Change or die, Canada West Coast lumber firms told Three of the largest lumber producers on Canada's Pacific Coast warned on Wednesday the region's ailing forestry industry must undergo a major restructuring if it is to survive.
Supply pinch sends wood prices through the roof By Greg Paeth
The cost of lumber has soared in recent weeks, driven by the continuing boom in new home construction, the military's need for wood in Iraq and a wet spring and summer that hampered production. Prices are skyrocketing in this region and all over the country for plywood and other types of lumber routinely used in home construction, remodeling and hundreds of other around-the-house projects.
Coastal forest companies say industry needs overhaul The report pledged to 'achieve a collective agreement that is modern, flexible, free from restrictive work practices and one that ensures employees do well when companies do well.'
The companies, according to the report, aim to reduce labor costs to 'bring them in line with costs in other North American regions' and find savings through eliminating pay for time not worked provisions and 'more flexible work practices.'-------------------------------------------
CFMEU - Workers leave Hilton site over asbestos concerns Four hundred construction workers have walked off the job at the Hilton Hotel site in central Sydney after discovering asbestos and synthetic mineral fibres at the site.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO president will seek new term Labor leaders agreed Thursday their energies would be better directed at pushing Bush out of office instead of a potentially divisive and bitter race for a new union president.-------------------------------------------
Living through an OSHA inspection BY Mike Fimea
The OSHA liability rule is fairly straightforward: An employer may be cited for violations only in areas to which its own employees had access. The rule was simple to interpret in the 1970s, Keller said, but today's work site is complicated by exceptions: joint employer and multiemployer work sites, multiple subcontractors and outsourcing.
'In general industry, companies often lease employees from temporary agencies,' he said.
'The workers may be paid by the temp agency, but the company controls the work environment. If the leased employee is exposed to a hazard or injured, OSHA may cite both the temporary agency and the (company) that leased the employee.'-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, September 18, 2003 ::Minnesota Machinist wins top safety award CHICAGO — A Minnesota Machinist took high honors at the recent conference of the National Safety Council. Mary Sansom became the second woman to win the Distinguished Service to Safety Award.-------------------------------------------
WorkingForChange-Choking on 'Clear Skies' By Molly Ivins
Orwellian initiative would renew license for nation's worst polluters
AUSTIN, Texas -- The administration is now in Full Ostrich on Iraq: Dick Cheney put on a fabulous performance last Sunday on 'Meet the Press,' in which he insisted everything in Iraq is trickety-boo, right as rain and cheery bye. I haven't heard anyone lie with such gravitas since Henry Kissinger was in office.-------------------------------------------
Come in sick, win a prize A BC health authority is offering workers a chance to win $300 if they don't call in sick for six months.
British Columbia: Liberals let poorest workers suffer By Adrian Dix
This past May, the government introduced changes to the Employment Standards Act that reduced protection for farm workers. The changes excluded farm workers from the hours of work, overtime and statutory holiday pay provisions of the act. Further, changes to make the use of child labour easier — particularly in the agricultural sector — were also introduced and passed.
Indeed, the employment standards changes had a distinctly 19th-century dimension to them. Mark Thompson, a UBC commerce professor and B.C.'s foremost expert in employment standards law asks, “Why do we need the 12-hour day in the 21st century? Labour was fighting for the eight-hour day at the turn of the 20th century.”-------------------------------------------
Lecture explores women's role in the birth of unions Campbell River Mirror
Missing until now were stories of women being paid half a man's wage for the same work, women whose legs were cut and shattered by strike-breaking provincial police directing a bulldozer through the workers' picket line, women who starved during the depression years trying to keep their children fed, women who were welcomed into industry during two World Wars and were urged to return to the kitchen immediately after. It was this struggle for human rights and women's equality that helped build trade unions to where they are today.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 ::Statement of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao on Historic Drop in Workplace Fatalities 'Today's report is good news for America and demonstrates the Administration's strong commitment to workplace safety. Still, even one workplace fatality is too many and we will continue to aggressively protect workers through tough, targeted enforcement action, as well as through our health and safety partnerships with workers, employers and unions.'
Kokosing worker likely died instantly By KENT MALLETT
HEATH -- Steven Durbin, the 52-year old construction worker killed in a trench collapse Monday along Ohio 79, was likely dead before the effort to rescue him even got started.
CSB Releases Report On Huston Fatal Blast
Board Chairman Carolyn Merritt said, “This accident, which took three lives and caused devastating burns to survivors, could have been prevented if the hazard of the waste had been recognized, communicated, and controlled. Oil and gas field wastes can be highly flammable and need to be handled appropriately. It’s my hope that our findings and recommendations will be widely reviewed by similar operations, helping save lives in the future.”-------------------------------------------
The rat is back By: Brian Taffe
Herman is the rodent you might recognize as a union mascot against corporate misdoings. In this case, he and his union workers are picketing against Bast-Hatfield Construction.
Lawyer claims he smells rat in deflation order-------------------------------------------
MfD OpenForum : AFL CIO: Pressing for workers or posing for the press? How frightening is it when the skeltons in your closet bite your ass before you get the closet door slammed shut?
That is what seems to be happening to labours' new tag team of Sweeney, Raynor, McCarron, Stern, and Wilhelm who took to the sidewalks of New Haven, Connecticut in protest.
Arrested for civil disobedience, the 5 labour musketeers decided to 'sit-in', in support of Yale University employees who have been on strike for 18 days. But that's not how Yale officials are viewing the actions of the 5 prominent labour leaders.
Yale officials claim the labour leaders reasons to join the fracus are a little less than honorable. In fact they are claiming it is an outright media grab, meant to bring attention to the AFL CIO's new non-union union organizing campaign.-------------------------------------------
The Calgary Sun: Ralph's hero treated like a criminal By LICIA CORBELLA
The irony of this situation is while MacKinnon was tackling Klein's assaulter, he says Klein's government was assaulting him and 149 other men like him who were getting help at the Sunalta Shelter, located at 2032 10 Ave. S.W.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 ::AlterNet: Tommy Chong Will Be Free in Prison By Debra McCorkle, AlterNet
Because of the court's refusal to accept this devil's bargain to turn Tommy Chong into another horrible Just Say No advertising shill for the Partnership for a Drug Free America, Chong is a free man. For the mere price of nine months in jail, he can spend the rest of his life as a hero for libertarian ideals. He doesn't have to kiss John Ashcroft's ass. He doesn't have to be a liar and a hypocrite. Like those who went to jail and endured the blacklist during the McCarthy Era, Chong can maintain his integrity in these increasingly right-wing Big Brother times. He can use this imprisonment to publicize the punishment inflicted by our government for a non-violent crime which has harmed no one.-------------------------------------------
Man is jailed in trial on misuse of union funds BY DAVID ASHENFELTER / freep.com
A union employee was held in contempt of court Monday as a federal trial began for five people, including a Warren city councilman, accused of misusing Michigan carpenters union funds by helping to build a union official's home. "The evidence in this case will show that the bulk of the work was done on weekdays, not weekends," Assistant U.S. Attorney Walter Kozar told a 16-member jury in opening statements.
NY Daily News - Hunt's on for body in '98 capo rubout By MICHELE McPHEE
By then, Coppola, a former carpenters union official, had made a name for himself as an earner running the rackets at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, along with his boyhood pal Liborio (Barney) Bellomo.-------------------------------------------
Take Back The Media! Flash Animation "Triumph of the Wimp" Bush: The Missing Years-------------------------------------------
Gang of Five’ Union Leaders Plot Radical Takeover of AFL-CIO LaborTalk (September 17, 2003)
By Harry Kelber
A group of five international union presidents, who call themselves the New Unity Partnership, are going ahead with their plan for drastic changes in the organizing methods, structure and functions of the AFL-CIO, without any discussion of their initiative within the labor movement, or even with their own members.
The five union leaders, who have banded together to promote their image of what the union movement should be, are: Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union; John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE); Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE; Terence O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers, and Douglas McCarron, president of the Brotherhood of Carpenters, whose union withdrew from the AFL-CIO in March 2001.-------------------------------------------
Asbestos Proposal Yields Lobbying War By SHARON THEIMER
It wasn't until the late 1960s and '70s that the American public learned that asbestos - used in products ranging from automotive brake linings to building insulation - caused cancer and other illnesses.
Now, years after asbestos began disappearing from commercial use in the United States, thousands exposed to it have gotten sick or fear they will. Many are suing companies that made or used asbestos, or acquired businesses that did.-------------------------------------------
Mural honours Regina workers By Anne Kyle
Working people played an integral part in shaping Regina and Saskatchewan's history and on Saturday trade unionists gathered at the Regina Union Centre to commemorate those contributions and struggles by officially unveiling the Regina Workers Mural.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, September 15, 2003 ::ABCNEWS.com : Bush, in Michigan, Defends Pollution Plan The Detroit Edison plant is one of the dirtiest in the country, emitting nearly 150,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides every year, said Eric Schaeffer, the chief of civil enforcement under the Clinton administration's Environmental Protection Agency.
The plant 'is the perfect place for the White House and the energy lobby to celebrate their latest rollback of the Clean Air Act,' said Schaeffer, now the director of the Environmental Integrity Project.-------------------------------------------
Trans-Alaska Gas Pipeline Gets Backing (washingtonpost.com) By Dan Morgan and Peter Behr
The draft language specifically prohibits an alternative route that would bring natural gas from Alaska's Prudhoe Bay to a pipeline hub in western Canada through a pipeline under the Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, and down Canada's Mackenzie Valley. This route has the backing of a group of U.S. energy investors, but not the major oil companies that own gas reserves in the region.-------------------------------------------
LaborNet: "Pooling Our Resources for Growth" SEIU PRESIDENT ANDY Stern explains why he and four other union heads are joining together to search for ways to expand their rolls
Q: But haven't you all have drawn up a list of which AFL-CIO departments and functions you'd cut or refocus in order to home in on organizing and politics?
A: Yes, we're still talking about an AFL-CIO program agenda. It's something we're still working on, an early version of getting off people's chests what they'd like to see changed at the AFL-CIO. All of us, especially people like Doug [McCarron, president of the Carpenters, which quit the AFL-CIO in 2001], whine about the federation. So rather than always whining, we said, 'Let's at least make a list of what we'd like to do.'-------------------------------------------
Sudden jump in lumber prices; homeowners will be hit soon Macomb, MI
The price of roofs is going through the roof. Ditto the price of siding and framing materials.
Wholesale costs of lumber have soared in the past few weeks, driven by the continuing boom in new home construction, the harsh winter that shortened this year's building season and the military's need for wood for U.S. troops' camps in Iraq. Given that wood accounts for a third of the cost of materials for new homes, the stratospheric increases soon will start to hit homeowners.-------------------------------------------
WorkingForChange-Fiore Presents: A Nation Remembers flash animation
iam/ca/toast molson shockwave flash-------------------------------------------
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:: Sunday, September 14, 2003 ::Record labour shortage ahead: study By Eric Beauchesne
Lack of workers and high tuition costs expected to drive youth into workforce earlier, says financial watchdog
OTTAWA -- In less than 10 years, Canada will start to face its severest shortage of labour ever, according to a report released this week by the federal financial watchdog.
Cash on tap lures wannabe plumbers Reports of massive earnings prompt even bank managers to sign up for trade courses By Mona McAlinden
Forget law, medicine and accountancy … if you really want to get ahead in the modern world, become a plumber. It’s advice that an increasing number of people are heeding. New figures from City and Guilds reveal a huge increase in applications to major trade courses in Scotland.
New Zealand - Worrying gaps in trades takeup Building owners could be round the S-bend without a spanner unless more people can be attracted to train as plumbers, gasfitters, drainlayers and roofers.
Apprentice numbers have dropped so low - about 1600 across the country - that the Plumbing and Roofing Industry Training Organisation is launching national roadshows to woo youngsters into the trades.
Ananova UK - Buildings crumbling in craftsmen shortage 'The industry is reaching crisis point. Although there are more architects, surveyors and professionals who specialise in conservation than ever before, we desperately need to attract young people into working hands-on to renovate old buildings.'
Alaska - Construction figures drop after 3 years 08/28/03 By MATT TUNSETH
Perhaps the biggest threat to the construction industry isn't cutbacks on spending by the government and oil companies, but a lack of interest from young people wanting to get into the business.
'There's a coming labor shortage in this state, and that's going to hit the construction industry very hard,' he said.
countries examine migration of labor By Angelina Davydova
Finland, with a population of 5.18 million people and an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, faces a shortage of qualified professionals in some sectors of the economy, mainly in high technology, construction, healthcare and the social sector.-------------------------------------------
Congress gives labor rare triumph By LEIGH STROPE
Labor ran an extensive lobbying campaign against the proposed overtime pay changes during the congressional vacation.
'I think labor worked overtime during the recess to get this done,' said Pat Cleary, senior vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, which supports the administration's proposal to revise overtime pay regulations.-------------------------------------------
Infoshop News - 10,000 Yale Strike Supporters Rally, City Shut Down By Angela Carter
Sweeney; John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union; Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE; Douglas McCarron, president of United Brotherhood of Carpenters; and Andy Stern, president of SEIU, were arrested alongside 147 other demonstrators.
Top labor leader arrested in Yale strike Police say John Sweeney and the others were charged with disorderly conduct and received misdemeanor summonses to appear in court. All were released from jail.
New England Regional Council Local 24 banner Yale march photo-------------------------------------------
Fatal blast at rocket fuel plant By Ryan Kim, Alan Gathright, Keay Davidson, Chronicle Staff Writers
The second explosion in five weeks at a South Bay rocket fuel plant killed a construction worker Friday.
The unidentified male contract worker died about 11 a.m. in what was described as a small explosion while doing maintenance modifications on a solid rocket fuel mixing facility.
CBC North | WCB drops suit against some Giant defendants An explosion at the Giant mine a decade ago killed nine miners
YELLOWKNIFE - Nine men named in the multi-million dollar lawsuit arising from the explosion at the Giant mine may be off the hook.-------------------------------------------
Labor Notes Conference: Dissidents blast UAW leaders By JOSEPH SZCZESNY
Greg Shotwell, a dissident UAW member who is also an elected convention delegate who has sparred with the UAW through a Web-based newsletter, has complained that a cooperative philosophy has altered the character of the union and done serious damage to the union's legacy.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, September 13, 2003 ::Preventing Job-Site Knee Injuries by Steven D. Bond Fine Homebuilding
We all recognize that construction is a dangerous occupation, and some accidents are unavoidable. Still, I see a lot of patients whose problems could have been prevented, or at the very least minimized, without much effort. A clean job site and a little maintenance to the tradesman's most important tool, his or her body, go a long way toward preventing injuries.
Knee pads don't help if you leave them in the truck
Working on your knees is a setup to develop prepatellar bursitis, commonly called housemaid's or preacher's knee. I would call it tilesetter's or drywaller's knee.-------------------------------------------
Sweeney, union workers arrested at Yale NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- AFL-CIO President John Sweeney was arrested with 151 other demonstrators Saturday after leading a march through city streets in support of two striking Yale University unions.
'Anything for the workers!' Sweeney yelled as he boarded a bus with his hands bound with plastic ties.
Yahoo! News - Top Stories Photos - AP Sweeney busted
Labor Leaders Arrested at Rally for Yale University Strikers By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
"Today is a statement by thousands of workers who don't work for Yale, but want to make a statement to the nation," said Bruce S. Raynor, the president of Unite, the nation's largest apparel workers' union. "Yale, which is a first-rate educational institution, has a reputation for arrogance and for not paying its workers enough to live on or retire on."
Mr. Raynor was arrested in a sit-in at Elm and York Streets at 3 p.m., along with Mr. Sweeney; Douglas J. McCarron, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America; and Andrew L. Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. Also arrested was John W. Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, the parent union of the locals representing the Yale clerical, dining hall and maintenance workers who are on strike.-------------------------------------------
Troublemaking in Troubled Times: Organizing to Win!
Labor Notes Conference September 12-14, Detroit
When we fight for our rights... they call us 'troublemakers.'
Musicians
* Alejandro Alvarez * Ellis Boal * Chris Chandler * Jacob Estrada * Anne Feeney * Dawn Grattino * Tom Juravich * Vance Lelli * Susan Lewis * Julie McCall * Susan Newell * Jesse Ponce * Janet Stecher * Baldemar Velasquez * Rodney Ward * Ted Warmbrand
Labor Notes Conference begins today Michigan Indymedia
Unionists around the country are looking troubled times straight in the eye and taking action, pushing back against the economic downturn, government heavy-handedness, and the ever-increasing corporate greed for concessions.
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Union demonstrators plan mass arrests at Yale The strategy behind the multi-union demonstration was to garner support from other unions to pressure Yale, the demonstration's organizers said. By noon, trucks, buses and carloads full of carpentry, electrical and food service unions were parked near Yale's campus.
'We brought 700 people from this union alone, because we believe in the fight,' said Doug McCarron, national president of the United Brothers of Carpenters.-------------------------------------------
Eves acknowledges insult to McGuinty 'over-the-top' The bizarre insult, contained in a statement e-mailed to media representatives shortly before lunchtime, immediately deflected attention from the health-care agenda that the Conservatives had hoped to pitch Friday.
'Dalton McGuinty,' the statement said. 'He's an evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet.'-------------------------------------------
PRNewswire
National labor leaders from the AFL-CIO, UNITE and other unions will discuss a multi-city campaign to take the fight at Yale to 10 cities. Thousands of workers from dozens of unions across the United States will converge on Yale this Saturday to support Yale workers who have been on strike for a dignified retirement since August 27.
WHO:
John J. Sweeney, President, National AFL-CIO
Andrew L. Stern, President, SEIU
John W. Wilhelm, President, H.E.R.E.
Bruce Raynor, President, UNITE
Douglas McCarron, President, United Brotherhood of Carpenters
waldheim: Solidarity Saturday That list sound familiar? It should. It's the same group that has been featured recently preparing for a power struggle within the AFL. It's pretty interesting to see them not only fighting within the AFL to force a progressive shift to more organizing, but also supporting each other in their local fights.-------------------------------------------
No market for unions? Ask Gencie Marshall By Ken Georgetti Financial Post
A receptionist's dismissal from a private school two years before her retirement date illustrates why we still need unions, says Canada's top labour boss
True to its neo-conservative form, the National Post marked Labour Day by launching a week-long journalistic feeding frenzy on organized labour.
Day after day, Post readers were told unions were a spent force -- out of step with their members and shunned by workers not yet unionized.
State of the Unions: Court rulings entrench unions By Diane Francis Financial Post
Canadians think more like Americans than Europeans when it comes to labour unions.
Some 93% of Canadians who responded to a National Post/Global National poll said they feel workers should be able to choose the union that represents them. Nearly two-thirds, or 62%, said removing a union should as easy as voting in one.
Nice sentiments, but no such rights exist here. Canadians only think they do.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, September 12, 2003 ::3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference 'Write better emails. Make more moneys.'
Like most Nigerians, you're probably finding that it's increasingly difficult to earn a decent living from email. That's why you need to attend the 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference.-------------------------------------------
Nike settles free speech case with $1.5M payment to labour rights group By WILLIAM MCCALL
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) - Nike Inc. has agreed to pay $1.5 million US to a worker rights group to settle the free speech case that it took to the U.S. Supreme Court.
'The two parties mutually agreed that investments designed to strengthen workplace monitoring and factory worker programs are more desirable than prolonged litigation,' Nike said in a release Friday.-------------------------------------------
State safety mandate little-know and less enforced By L.M. SIXEL
TEXAS has had a law on the books since 1989 requiring cranes to have insulators that prevent deaths from contact with power lines.
But those who should know about the device, which could have prevented some of the state's 30 construction-related electrocutions in the past three years, don't.
Accident kills worker By Matt Katz
Second man hurt as scaffolding falls at construction site
Each year, 50 people die and 4,500 more are injured in scaffold-related accidents, OSHA said. Workers being struck by falling objects was a primary cause of such accidents.-------------------------------------------
Tommy Chong gets nine months on drug paraphernalia charges By DAN NEPHIN
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Tommy Chong, who played one half of the dope-smoking duo in the Cheech and Chong movies, asked for leniency from a judge Thursday but was sentenced to nine months in prison for conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia.-------------------------------------------
Dropkick Murphys sing out for blue-collar workers By TIMOTHY FINN
'Everyone loves to make heroes out of people doing tough jobs,' he said from the road recently, 'but no one wants to pay them what it's worth or make work conditions better for them.'-------------------------------------------
Newsday.com - An Air of Discontent By Graham Rayman
On Aug. 22, the Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general declared that the agency downplayed health risks before obtaining enough data, and allowed the White House to soften statements to the public. EPA officials have disputed the findings.
Peter Thomassen, president of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, said he has union lawyers looking into possible legal action. 'As time went on, FEMA and the people in charge of the site told us it was safe to work without respirators, and said the neighborhood is safe for children, and safe for office workers,' he said. 'Then a year and a half afterward, they come out and say we were told to fudge the reports. So we are very upset about it.'
Anger builds over EPA’s 9-11 report By Francesca Lyman MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR
Sept. 11 — Two years after the World Trade Center attacks, New Yorkers say they’re outraged by reports that the White House influenced the Environmental Protection Agency to downplay hazards posed by the toxic dust that fell in an avalanche over the city. The EPA’s acting chief defends the agency’s actions after the attacks, saying it hopes to be better prepared for “the next time.”-------------------------------------------
State of the Unions: Labour gets more than its due By Terence Corcoran Financial Post
Canadians are free to join a union and pay union dues. But thanks to some convoluted Supreme Court rulings, Canadians are not free to not join unions, nor are they free to not pay union dues.
The result of this warped distortion of freedom of association -- which forces people to do something against their will -- is a compulsory money machine that transfers hundreds of millions of dollars from workers to union leaders.
Secret ballots a must to certify union: poll 89% of respondents By Drew Hasselback Financial Post
When it comes to union membership, Canadians definitely want to have their say.
A National Post/Global National poll commissioned by LabourWatch and conducted by Leger Marketing found that 89% of respondents said secret ballots should be mandatory when forming or removing a union at a workplace.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, September 11, 2003 ::Crown wants jail time in pie-throwing case 'The facts are as follows: that I was delivering my greetings and a guy came along and didn't throw a pie, he smacked me in the face. My ears rang for a while, I had a sore face and those were the facts that I gave to the prosecutor,' Klein said. 'That's the only conversation I'm going to have and that's the only conversation I'm going to have with any of you.'-------------------------------------------
Documentary Honors Workers at Ground Zero
The U.S. Department of Labor produced “Up From Zero.” Chao originally announced this initiative Sept. 11, 2002. DVDs will be sent to the presidents of the local and international unions involved in the film project and can be ordered free of charge at www.dol.gov/opa/dvd-------------------------------------------
Tribute in Light
Digital Photo of the Day 09112003.jpg 400x600 pixels
Steve's Digicams - Digital Photo of the Day-------------------------------------------
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Senate to Bush: ‘Don’t mess with overtime’ AFL-CIO
WASHINGTON — In a major setback to President George W. Bush’s proposal to take overtime pay protections away from more than 8 million workers, the U.S. Senate Wednesday voted 54–45 to block the raid on workers’ paychecks.
Bush Cites 9/11 On All Manner Of Questions (washingtonpost.com) By Mike Allen
President Bush paused in his Labor Day remarks about jobs and told his audience of union members, "I want you to think back to that fateful day, September the 11th, and what happened afterwards."
Usually his reminder is more subtle, but Bush is invoking the terrorist hijackings frequently as he ramps up his reelection campaign and tries to defuse the political risk posed by persistent joblessness, setbacks in Iraq and accusations that he exaggerated evidence on the road to war.-------------------------------------------
"Dead Peasant Insurance" Employers would be barred from taking out life insurance on their rank-and-file employees and making themselves the beneficiaries under a bill sent by the Assembly to Gov. Gray Davis Thursday.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 ::State of the Unions: Canadians prefer the My Way ethos By Fazil Milhar Financial Post
Non-union workers more satisfied with jobs than unionized
Job satisfaction is not as high among unionized employees as it is among non-unionized workers. This news will come as a surprise to some readers and not to others.
Surprise or not, a National Post/Global National poll commissioned by LabourWatch and conducted by Leger Marketing makes for interesting reading on the state of mind of union workers compared to their non-union counterparts.
Union members don't want dues going to politics By Wojtek Dabrowski Financial Post
76% oppose party support
New data suggest that most unionized workers don't back their leaders in spending their union dues on supporting political causes.
Instead, they want the money spent on shop issues -- namely bargaining for compensation and working conditions -- at their place of work.-------------------------------------------
Building boom leads to more falls, injuries on job By Michael McCullough
B.C.'s red-hot home-building market is creating a new problem for the Workers Compensation Board: a rise in falls from rooftops.
Falls on the job site caused more than 400 serious injuries between 1998 and 2002, resulting in more than $32 million in claims, the Crown corporation reported Monday.
General labourers and carpenters have the greatest number of falls, and each claim typically costs $7,440 and 50 work days lost.-------------------------------------------
Carpenters Union launches EyeOnCassidy.org : SF Indymedia
San Francisco, CA—The Carpenters Union today launched the website EYEonCASSIDY.org to raise concern over construction defects and worker safety at Joe Cassidy Construction, Inc. job sites. The site includes numerous photographs of construction practices that the Union believes warrant investigation, as well as court documents from construction defect lawsuits against the company. Joe Cassidy is Treasurer of the Residential Builders Association (RBA) and Vice-Chair of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection Board of Examiners.
Eye On Cassidy - Do You Live in a Joe Cassidy Building? Based on safety walks by the Carpenters Union at Joe Cassidy Construction, Inc. job sites, a review of court records and our experience in the construction industry, the Carpenters Union is concerned about the construction practices at Joe Cassidy Construction, Inc.-------------------------------------------
Health Problems Plague WTC Rescuers abc7.com:
'A lot of us in the rescue business don't think about the long-term effects of our work,' said Kettering Fire Chief Robert Zickler, captain of Ohio Task Force One, a 72-member team dispatched to the Trade Center wreckage for 10 days.
Doctors monitoring the health of people who dug through the rubble at Ground Zero now say the airborne particles likely were pulverized concrete. When inhaled, it can burn the lungs. When swallowed, it can inflame the stomach lining, causing heartburn.-------------------------------------------
State of the Unions: Fertile new ground difficult to find By Peter Brieger Financial Post
In the telephone poll of 1001 working Canadians, Leger Marketing found that 81% of non-union employees had no interest in becoming unionized. About the same percentage of unionized respondents wanted to keep their workplaces organized.
The study noted that employees in the first group, one-third of whom had been in a union before, tended to be younger than unionized participants, were less educated and more likely to be employed in sales or administrative jobs at small, private-sector employers (those with less than 50 staff).
State of the Unions: Unionized workers less happy at work By Peter Brieger Financial Post
The poll, commissioned by LabourWatch and conducted by Leger Marketing, found that a "staggering" 93% of respondents were satisfied with their jobs. But the poll also revealed that, for the most part, non-union workers are happier than unionized employees.
Union workers were less satisfied when it came to relations with management -- 18% were dissatisfied, double the percentage for non-union workers -- while their feelings toward learning and training opportunities at work were also gloomier with an 19% dissatisfaction level, compared with 12% for other workers.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, September 09, 2003 ::Secretary of Labor Chao Hosts 9/11 Film Premiere; 'Up From Zero' Honors Ground Zero Workers U.S. Newswire
The film includes interviews with Greg Nolan, a crane operator with Local 15 of the International Union of Operating Engineers; Rich Ostrander, a dock builder with Local 1456 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America; Hugh Smith, a carpenter with Local 608 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America; Chris Pillai and Willie Quinlen, both iron workers with Local 40 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers; and Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan monk from St. Francis of Assisi church in New York City, who ministered to workers at Ground Zero.-------------------------------------------
The cost of wood is going right through the roof
Wholesale costs of lumber have soared in the past few weeks, driven by the continuing boom in new-home construction, the harsh winter that shortened this year's building season and the military's need for wood for U.S. troops' camps in Iraq. Given that wood accounts for a third of the cost of materials for new homes, the stratospheric increases soon will start to hit homeowners.
U.S. Commerce Department investigates duties on Canadian lumber
WASHINGTON (CP) - The U.S. Commerce Department is reviewing how it calculates anti-dumping duties of about eight per cent on Canadian softwood lumber exports.
The department has asked for submissions on the issue within 45 days. 'Should the department change its policy, as the coalition believes it should and will, the dumping duties on Canadian lumber would be expected to rise substantially,' said the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports.-------------------------------------------
Salon.com News | Black copters over Oregon By Bill Donahue
President Bush visits rural Oregon to tout his forest plan. Suddenly, huge fires burn. Now a small town is consumed by conspiracy theories.-------------------------------------------
CEP Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Twenty-five CEP members were laid off by Hibernia during a Union certification bid in February 2000. The Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Board had ruled the lay offs were contrary to legislation and ordered reinstatement. The company appealed the Board decision and won before the provincial Supreme Court.-------------------------------------------
Union members go on trial today - 09/09/03 By David Shepardson
DETROIT -- Four members of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters -- including a Warren councilman -- and one of their spouses are expected to face trial today in federal court on charges of embezzlement, theft of union assets and conspiracy.-------------------------------------------
State of the Unions: Poll finds deep divide on unions By Terence Corcoran National Post
Those who are in want to stay in; those who are out want to stay out
Another Labour Day gone, off into the oblivion of annual non-events along with the usual load of rhetoric from Big Labour about the oppression of the Canadian worker and the crucial role of the union movement. Ken Georgetti, head of the Canadian Labour Congress, said in his Labour Day message to the nation that unions plan to refocus their efforts and spend the next couple of months assisting workers in getting the economic respect they deserve. The CLC slogan: "Is your work working for you?
State of the Unions: Leaders out of step with members By Fazil Milhar Financial Post
The proportion of the total workforce that belongs to a union in Canada has declined from more than 40% three decades ago to just 26% today.
If the public sector, where 71% of the workforce is unionized, is taken out of this picture, only 18% of all workers in the private sector belong to a union. That is down from 28% to 30% three decades ago.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, September 08, 2003 ::The Oregonian - Burden of proof By Andy Dworkin
With a quarter-ton of wood and a half-ton pickup, two Oregon men are putting the stump back in political stumping.
During the weekend, the circle of fir arrived in Washington, D.C., the most prominent wooden 6-footer to hit the capital since Al Gore.-------------------------------------------
Workday Minnesota: Unions help all workers, new study finds “The research evidence clearly shows that the labor protections enjoyed by America’s entire workforce can be attributed in large part to unions,” says EPI President and report author Lawrence Mishel.-------------------------------------------
ZNet - Is Labor on the Edge of a New Upsurge? By Dan Clawson Labor Notes
Most of the labor movement's focus has been on the need to put more resources into organizing, but if the labor movement doubled the number of people it organized each year, and kept that up till 2036, it wouldn't bring back the power. It would leave labor's numbers (in percentage terms) right where they were in 1983, after Reagan wiped out PATCO, at a shade over 20% of the labor force.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, September 07, 2003 ::Service held for Sept. 11 WTC firefighter, last of 343 By LUKAS I. ALPERT
NEW YORK -- Hundreds gathered Sunday to pay their respects to Michael Ragusa, the last firefighter killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center to receive a memorial service.
Google Search: related news articles
Officials hope for clues in new 9/11 tape By KAREN MATTHEWS
It is the only videotape known to have captured images of both planes hitting the trade center.-------------------------------------------
NAFTA ruling hailed as big win for Canada
By Gordon Hamilton and Peter O'Neil Vancouver Sun
However, U.S. lumber lobby calls ruling on softwood lumber duties a 'punt, not a victory touchdown'
A NAFTA panel has disputed a crucial argument underpinning American softwood lumber duties, giving the U.S. International Trade Commission 100 days to prove its case is based on solid evidence, not "conjecture and speculation.-------------------------------------------
MfD OpenForum: Pipe Trades for a Democratic Union By Frank Natalie
Somewhere along the road, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) international hierarchy has decided that rank-and-file members are no longer needed in the decision making process within their local unions. Instead, through forced mergers, mandatory by-law changes, and a host of other demands, our international leadership is seizing control from the rank-and-file, and methodically shifting that control to the UA's intermediate bodies. Their arrogant flawed notion that they know best defies the very essence of union democracy.-------------------------------------------
Union chief: 'We can't back down' By TOM MORTON
Cecil Roberts encouraged the flock, comforted the discouraged, chastised the powerful, retold stories of faithful ancestors, and foretold hope for the future.
And all that happened before Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers, International, really started preaching.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO's Sweeney voices solidarity with Bush's wars By Bill Vann wsws.org
Sweeney began by declaring that, two days after Labor Day, “we have a lot to celebrate.” He continued: “Worker productivity in our country is the highest ever, and the working class heroes who pulled us through 9/11 and its aftermath are doing so again in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Why record “worker productivity” is something an organization that claims to represent the interests of workers should celebrate, the AFL-CIO head did not explain. The dramatic increase in productivity by US corporations—at an annual rate of 6.8 percent according to the latest Labor Department figures—has translated into layoffs on the one hand and speedup on the other. Sweeney’s remark, delivered to a largely corporate audience, amounts to boasting about the role of the AFL-CIO unions in facilitating this whipsawing of the American workforce.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, September 06, 2003 ::Please Die Soon, We Need Your Pension By JOHN D. MCKINNON, WSJ The government agency that insures 44 million workers' retirement benefits said the nation's pension system is in worse financial shape than previously believed, a politically charged warning at a time when economic uncertainty, unemployment and rising fears about the loss of manufacturing jobs overseas already are stoking debate in Washington.-------------------------------------------
Breaking Ranks with the AFL-CIO By Aaron Bernstein
At this point, they're not talking about quitting the AFL-CIO -- unlike the course one of them, Carpenters President Douglas J. McCarron, took two years ago after his frustration over the federation's inaction boiled over. Nevertheless, 'that could happen if things don't change,' says one of the other four.
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Fires and smoke in the Pacific Northwest "Satellite: Aqua - Pixel size: 1km"-------------------------------------------
Federal indictments rock East Chicago Pastrick's son Kevin was named in a second indictment today -- along with former state Democratic Party Chairman Peter Manous and former Carpenters Union boss Gerry Nannenga -- following a grand jury investigation into a Porter County land deal involving local union pension funds. Manous was charged with receiving a kickback of $200,000 from Kevin Pastrick, who also is charged with paying off Nannenga.
Doh! Man steals GPS tracking device By John Leyden
A 40 year-old Wisconsin man has put in a strong bid for the dumbest criminal of the year after he allegedly stole a GPS tracking device used to monitor criminals on probation.-------------------------------------------
Canada's Haida Indians reject islands land offer VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A native Indian leader rejected a new offer Thursday to help settle a land dispute in the Queen Charlotte Islands, off British Columbia's north Pacific Coast, which the government wants to open up drilling for offshore oil and gas.
The provincial government offered the Haida Nation 20 percent of Queen Charlottes, an archipelago south of the Alaska Panhandle, in return for the Haida suspending lawsuits that lay claim to the entire area, which is also known as Haida Gwaii, and its resources.
"They are clearly trying to provoke something here," said Guujaaw (his full name), president of the Council of the Haida Nation, who described the offer unveiled Wednesday as "designed to be rejected."-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, September 05, 2003 ::Googlism for: ullico
ullico is clearly ready to play with wall street biggies
ullico is challenging the commission's authority in baltimore county circuit court in hopes of having the subpoena quashed
ullico is a diversified financial services company dedicated to serving unions
ullico is union
ullico is presently under investigation by a federal grand jury and state insurance regulators in maryland
ullico is resisting on all fronts
ullico is a big political donor
ullico is losing money on its operations but earns $127 million by selling some global stock
ullico is being investigated by a federal grand jury in washington
ullico is a privately held company
ullico is the union
more...-------------------------------------------
Lumber industry hails 'watershed' NAFTA softwood ruling against U.S. By BRUCE CHEADLE
OTTAWA (CP) - A NAFTA panel has given the United States 100 days to prove that Canadian softwood exports threaten the American lumber industry in a ruling being hailed as "the beginning of the end" of the intractable trade dispute.
The panel - with three American and two Canadian members - issued a unanimous binding ruling Friday that the International Trade Commission in Washington has failed to show that Canadian timber pricing practices have hurt or materially threatened U.S. producers.
And without such proof, say Canadian lumber interests, the foundation crumbles under crippling U.S. duties on Canadian softwood exports.-------------------------------------------
The Globe and Mail-B.C. fires destroy billions in timber Industry to salvage partly burned trees By PETER KENNEDY
VANCOUVER -- The forest fires burning in British Columbia's southern Interior may have damaged trees worth as much as $5.6-billion as finished lumber, a leading industry organization said yesterday.-------------------------------------------
No charges in collapse that killed ironworker By Jim McKinnon
'The failures at every level of this project are so blatant and overwhelming that a reasonable person could only conclude that the actions, errors and omissions on the part of Dick Corp. more than rise to the level of recklessness and grossly negligent conduct,' Wecht said at the conclusion of the inquest.-------------------------------------------
OSHA accuses area Cintas of 30 violations By Michelle Meyers
The Cincinnati-based company, which until recently provided laundry services for the city of Hayward, has been in the spotlight lately because of a local lawsuit employees filed against the company claiming it violated Hayward's living-wage law.
Employees, who are in the process of unionizing, may have triggered the visit from Cal/OSHA by requesting documentation on past injuries at the facility, said Jason Oringer, an organizer for the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.
Occupational Hazards Magazine Honors America's Safest Companies
According to Joseph Van Houten, Ph.D., CSP, worldwide director of Planning, Process Design and Delivery, Johnson & Johnson Safety & Industrial Hygiene, New Brunswick, NJ, "Safety is a key indicator of organizational excellence. A safe plant typically has high employee morale, high productivity and minimal product defects."
Others acknowledge that business success would not be possible without a safe workplace and safe workers.
Des Moines Register-Events Center accidents cost Polk $38,000 By BERT DALMER
Nearly 50 construction accidents - including four linked to drug violations - have occurred at the Iowa Events Center since work on the project began in earnest in January. Taxpayers have been held liable for many of the resulting costs.
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The Iowa Events Center has yet to receive an OSHA citation in 22 months of sporadic construction, records show.-------------------------------------------
Boise Cascade Sees the Light By Darci Andresen, AlterNet
On Wednesday Sept. 3, Boise Cascade, the number one logger on U.S. public lands in the 1990s, released a landmark policy agreeing to halt its logging of endangered and old growth forests in the U.S. and abroad. It also committed itself to responsible forest management practices, including a decision to give preference to wood harvested from certified “sustainably managed” forests.
Stand of giant cottonwoods found in southeastern B.C.
By Margaret Munro
A grove of giant cottonwood trees that rival Canada's famed coastal cedars and firs in both age and girth has been discovered in the southern Rockies.
The trees are close to 400 years old and up to 10 metres around.
"They are, by far, the oldest known cottonwoods in the world," says Stewart Rood, a tree specialist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, who describes the trees in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Botany.
The football field-sized stand of arboreal giants is beside the Elk River in southeastern B.C.-------------------------------------------
Haida offered 20% of Charlottes By Judith Lavoie
In return for 200,000 hectares of land, B.C. wants Haida lawsuit dropped
VICTORIA -- In an unprecedented move, the B.C. government is offering the Haida Nation 20 per cent of the Queen Charlotte Islands.
The offer of 200,000 hectares of Crown land is the largest chunk of land proffered in any of B.C.'s treaty talks.-------------------------------------------
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:: Thursday, September 04, 2003 ::Union Bashing A Big Business By John Logan
LOS ANGELES -- Here's a Labor Day question for all the budding law students out there. What federal right has inspired the creation of an entire industry dedicated to its destruction? Need a few clues? Congress enacted landmark legislation protecting this right almost 70 years ago, but that law is now routinely violated with virtual impunity. And the industry committed to undermining this right is worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, yet operates practically unhindered by regulation.
The federal right in question is, of course, the right to choose a union, enshrined in law in 1935 when Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). And the industry dedicated to undermining that law is the antiunion consultant industry. The NLRA attempted to extend a degree of democracy to the American workplace by allowing workers to form unions free from employer interference.-------------------------------------------
Sweeney on Labor Day Offers Little Hope To Unemployed and Non-Union Workers
LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
Unorganized workers don’t have to be told about their employers’ anti-union methods. They know them all too well. What they would like to hear from the AFL-CIO is what can it do to make it less risky to join a union. But there is nothing in Sweeney’s speech that provides a short-term, satisfactory answer.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO Runs TV Ads Opposing Bush Attempt to Slash Overtime Pay The Bush Administration's proposed change to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) would disqualify up to more than eight million workers from their right to overtime pay, according to the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute. The changes would affect a broad range of workers, including nurses, journalists, police, cooks, secretaries, firefighters, dental hygienists, administrative workers, paralegals and more. The rules would broaden the exceptions to the overtime law, thus making it easier for employers to avoid paying overtime pay. In addition, virtually all workers earning more than $65,000 would be denied overtime protection.
'National Security' Part Of Bush Plan To Gut Civil Services By Helen Thomas
The administration is also locking and loading against any involvement of unions in the civilian workforces of the Pentagon and the Transportation Department.
In a power grab, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has drafted a plan that bars collective bargaining for the Pentagon's 640,000 civilian workers, eliminates due process in the workplace and promotes public-private competition for defense work.-------------------------------------------
Commerce Department Finds 8.38% Preliminary Antidumping Rate on Canadian Softwood Lumber 'The Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports again calls on the Canadian government to halt its unfair trading practices and seek open and competitive timber and lumber markets through a negotiated settlement,' added Wood. 'Canada is America's important and valued trading partner. However, in order to solve an internal unemployment problem they have created an international one. We strongly desire free trade and competition.'
U.S. says it has found new evidence of Canadian softwood dumping: "The dispute has threatened to cripple the $10-billion annual export industry, based primarily in British Columbia and Quebec, where mills have closed, costing thousands of jobs.
Ottawa and the provinces have challenged the American duties at both the World Trade Organization and NAFTA.
Last week, the WTO ruled against Washington's countervailing duties. But the win wasn't entirely clear and isn't binding on the U.S.
In August, a NAFTA panel, which is binding and carries more weight in the U.S., also ordered Washington to review its countervail duties that total 18.9 per cent.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 ::Environmental groups, forestry unions challenging raw log exports from B.C By GREG JOYCE
VANCOUVER (CP) - Two environmental groups joined two forestry unions in court Tuesday to try to stop the export of raw logs from B.C. Crown lands.
In a hearing expected to last all week, the Sierra Legal Defence Fund wants the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn a three-year permit to export 1.3 million cubic metres of timber annually from northwestern British Columbia.
Sierra lawyer Devon Page, acting for the David Suzuki Foundation, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers' Union and the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers' Union of Canada, is challenging a cabinet order-in-council of February 2002.
IWA's demands going over like a lead balloon with forest firms High costs have cut the workforce to 8,000 over the past 15 years By Don Whiteley
Now FIR has taken the rather radical step of asking the Labour Relations Board to enforce a provision in the B.C. Labour Code that requires all parties to foster employment in economically viable businesses.-------------------------------------------
The Australian: US union allegations over sweatshops By Stefanie Balogh
THE powerful US peak trade union body has told the US Labour Department Australia is rife with child workers and sweatshops, and routinely breaches international labour standards.
The AFL-CIO submission is part of a campaign with the ACTU to scuttle the proposed US-Australian free trade agreement unless 'deficiencies' in Australia's industrial laws are addressed.-------------------------------------------
Is There Any Doubt Why We Need to Reform the AFL-CIO? By Harry Kelber
The dirty, little secret about the AFL-CIO and many of its affiliated unions is that they are undemocratic by any significant definition of that term. Their leaders discourage free speech by their members. They suppress criticism and all forms of dissent. They censor their publications to reflect only the official viewpoint. They change the AFL-CIO Constitution by a voice vote at conventions. They conduct sham elections in which the incumbents are guaranteed to win, again and again.-------------------------------------------
New union welcomes all -- working or not Members to pay dues to have voice on issues BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney is expected to announce in Detroit today the formation of a newfangled national labor union that is specifically for employees who don't have union representation at work.
Working America will serve as a voice for nonunion -- and even unemployed -- workers on labor issues such as jobs, health care and education, Sweeney is to tell the Detroit Economic Club during a luncheon at the Cobo Conference Center.-------------------------------------------
For unionists, Labour Day almost religious experience Day commemorates accomplishments, dedication of union movement
By Carol Mulligan/The Sudbury Star
Gerard, who lives much of the year in Pittsburgh, where the USWA is headquartered, addressed participants in yesterday’s Labour Day parade.
As well as delivering a serious message about trade unionism, Gerard introduced Cusack and boasted about how she would soon give birth to his first grandson.
“And he’d better be born with a Steelworkers’ hat on,” Gerard quipped.
A brutal Labor Day message Sept. 3, 2003 12:00 AM
I have read many different articles and opinions regarding the Labor Day holiday and what it really means.
This is how I spent the holiday: On Monday night at 5 p.m. my boss called me up to tell me that he does not need me any more. No explanations, no talk, no nothing. Just pick up your check tomorrow.
I worked three years with his company, never missed a day of work, was never late and never sick. Happy trails. Happy Labor Day to you. - James M. Sgambati Phoenix
Vancouver Sun - Unions living in 'darkest hours' By Michael McCullough
B.C. Fed chief warns that privatization, contracting-out, threaten labour movement
B.C.'s labour movement is living through one of the darkest hours in its history, B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair said Monday.
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