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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 ::
Trial for Bush protester begins Wednesday By JACOB JORDAN AP
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Protester Brett Bursey has been arrested for spray-painting 'Hell no, we won't go' on a Vietnam-era draft board and for burning the Confederate flag.
But his latest arrest for entering a restricted area during President Bush's visit more than a year ago may be the most important of his life.
That's because when his trial begins Wednesday, the 55-year-old Bursey who has been an activist since the 1960s, takes on the federal government.------------------------------------------- posted 8:44 PM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
Ironworkers - Is this Justice? UFCW Members for Democracy
This story made possible by the contributions of Ironworker Carl Bishop who is presently in court with his union over freedom of speech issues.-------------------------------------------
Union Electrical Apprenticeship Program Rivals Size of Largest Universities PR NewsWire
Enrollment in the organized electrical construction industry's respected apprenticeship program now rivals that of the nation's largest universities, with nearly 50,000 students participating in the professional career training program.
Officials of the National Electrical Contractors Association and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (NECA-IBEW), say latest figures show 49,532 apprentices are enrolled in its National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) program for the electrical construction professions.-------------------------------------------
Big Labor Chief: Anybody But Bush CBS News
In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Sweeney had harsh words for the Bush administration, saying it was 'anti-worker, anti-union and anti-progress.'-------------------------------------------
US/Canadian Unions in Common Front Canada NewsWire
Softwood Dispute can be Settled
A coalition of U.S. and Canadian unions representing thousands of workers hardest hit by the softwood lumber dispute wants to play a role in bringing the international trade battle to an end.-------------------------------------------
2003 Remembrance Day Veterans Affairs Canada
2003 Remembrance Poster
Canada Remembers the Korean War
Veterans Day Home Page November 11 US Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Day Posters 1978 - 2003
Veterans turning to Web to help people remember Canadian Press-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO chief says Gephardt can survive loss of two key union endorsements By LEIGH STROPE, AP
But the defections of the 1.6 million Service Employees International Union and the 1.5 million American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have put a dent in Gephardt's labor credentials and helped transform his rival Dean from surprise insurgent to solid front-runner.-------------------------------------------
Made in prison: Everything from eyeglasses to furniture By CHRISTINA HOAG AP
Inmates may like it, but prison industries are not universally popular. Across the country, some companies, organized labor and industry groups charge that prison businesses are unfair competition and exploit a captive, malleable population.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, November 10, 2003 ::Bush defends trade policies WTO rules are illegal By Ron Hutcheson
Bush declined to say whether he would lift the tariffs to avoid WTO sanctions or threatened retaliation by the European Union. The EU has threatened to impose $2.2 billion in tariffs on U.S. products ranging from Florida oranges to Wisconsin-built Harley-Davidson motorcycles by Dec. 15 if Bush refuses to remove the tariffs on imported steel. Other countries, including Japan and China, might do likewise.
Unions decry global pacts By Stacey Hirsh
Locals rally to denounce plan to extend free trade; 'I'm fighting for my job'; Members take opposition to FTAA to city streets
The American labor movement was once a strong supporter of expanded international trade. After World War II, when the United States dominated the world economy, labor thought expanded trade would mean more work.-------------------------------------------
Legal nightmare on horizon By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
Tropicana tragedy to spawn suits
Some theories on causes have emerged already, including whether the concrete was given enough time to cure, experts say.
Another theory centers on whether the builders used a method known as 'filigree wide-slab,' according to Louis Fiorentino, an ironworker and area resident. In the filigree method, thin pre-cast concrete slabs are poured away from the construction site, trucked in and assembled as a base for a second layer of concrete poured on site.
The filigree method is a hybrid of two general styles for construction of parking garages, Smith said.
One uses pre-cast slabs poured into molds off-site and reinforced with steel. These are then shipped to the garage, erected and tied together. The other method involves pouring all of the concrete into molds on-site. Once set, the molds are stripped away.
The pre-cast version is quicker, but the pour-in-place method costs less, Smith said. The combination is a faster and less expensive alternative. But such a method could be weaker without a proper curing and support system.-------------------------------------------
'A New Game Plan For Union Organizing' An 8-Part Series by Harry Kelber
download the complete part 1 as an Adobe PDF
This is the first of a series of eight articles on union organizing.
THE MISSING INGREDIENT - part 1
Unions have spent tens of millions of dollars on organizing, hired and trained hundreds of young, eager organizers, held countless sessions where the most experienced organizers devised supposedly winning strategies, conducted scores of conferences and seminars and produced tons of literature with detailed explanations of how to organize.
Our labor leaders have tried just about everything that promises to improve labor’s organizing record, and the best minds within the labor movement are still wrestling with the problem.
Yet, despite the best efforts of the Sweeney leadership, unions today represent only 13.2% of the nation’s work force, a considerable drop from the 13.9% at the time Sweeney took office. (In 1980, the figure was 23%.) The situation is worse in the private sector, where less than 9% of the total work force belongs to unions, the lowest in six decades.-------------------------------------------
Insurers knew of asbestos By Greg Gordon
Some of the nation's largest insurance companies knew for decades that asbestos could kill but didn't warn workers who handled it or take other measures that might have averted the nation's worst workplace health disaster, industry documents show.
For years, dating to the 1930s, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. did not make public or downplayed research indicating that asbestos could cause lung cancer and other diseases. Travelers Insurance and other carriers measured asbestos levels in factory air samples for years and pooled data on the mounting numbers of claims on behalf of workers who had died or got sick from asbestos.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart's model casts a long shadow BY GREG SCHNEIDER AND DINA ELBOGHDADY
Wal-Mart's ability to dictate market prices and pay its employees less has far-reaching consequences for virtually all U.S. retailers.
'You can't stay non-union unless you're giving people something. On balance it has to work out for employees,' said Bernard Sosnick, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co."-------------------------------------------
Second crane topples over in Sydney street SMH Australia
"The union will be conducting its own investigation in conjunction with Workcover but it certainly speaks to the need for stronger (worker safety) laws from the state government," Mr Davey told ABC radio.
"These accidents are happening way too often and the laws need to be toughened so that building workers can go to work with some confidence that they won't be involved in some terrible mishap and that they'll be able to get home to their families at the end of the day."
Workers trapped as building collapses in Italy. ABC News Online
Labour unions have meanwhile called a strike of all construction workers in the port city for Monday, the CGIL union's Venanzio Maurici said.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, November 09, 2003 ::Eye On Cassidy - Workers at Risk Northern California Carpenters Regional Council
photo - Worker at/above 15 feet. This plank is not a scaffold platform. There are no safety rails. Worker is not secured by a lanyard. Worker not wearing hard hat.
The Carpenters Union cares about safe working conditions on the job. Safety walks at Joe Cassidy Construction, Inc. job sites show what we believe to be a lack of regard for worker safety, including OSHA and Fire code violations.-------------------------------------------
IAM Launches 'Cyberlodge' Project goiam.org
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is offering the benefits of union membership to traditionally independent computer programmers and developers whose jobs are increasingly at risk from outsourcing, off-shoring and outright elimination.
The unique IAM organizing project, called ‘Cyberlodge,’ features a guild-like structure where workers retain their traditional employee-employer relationship while enjoying benefits normally reserved for employees with collective bargaining agreements.-------------------------------------------
Ceremony honors Alfred Zampa, builder of bridges By Carl Nolte
It was a great day for the working stiff Saturday when the state opened the newest bridge in the world -- and the first one named for a blue-collar worker.
Pedestrians in their thousands walked across the Alfred J. Zampa bridge, the handsome westernmost span of the Carquinez Bridge complex. Some wore hardhats and some had baseball caps with their union affiliation -- ironworkers, carpenters, pile driver operators.-------------------------------------------
Jimmy Hoffa myth remains unsolved Daily Record Sports
Discovery Channel search can’t find definitive evidence of Teamster’s body at Giants Stadium
EAST RUTHERFORD — A long-standing urban myth that the body of James R. Hoffa is entombed somewhere in Giants Stadium will live on, at least a little longer.-------------------------------------------
Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie By Lyle Zapato
Practical Mind Control Protection for Paranoids
Foil Thickness:
How thick is your aluminum foil? Find out using Zapato Productions Intradimensional's Aluminum Foil Thickness Calculator (pops up into separate window, requires Javascript). If you do not have Javascript, use this formula (with grams and centimeters):
((mass / 2.702) / (width * length)) * 10000 = thickness in microns
If your foil is less than 16 microns, increase the number of layers used in construction.-------------------------------------------
Union-owned insurance company to offer Marlins loan for ballpark AP
MIAMI - The nation's largest union-owned life insurance company says it willing to loan more than $110 million toward a new stadium for the Florida Marlins.
Terry O'Sullivan, chairman of the Union Labor Life Insurance Company, or ULLICO, said Thursday that the company will offer rates that could undercut conventional loans if the project creates a negotiated number of high-paying jobs.
The caveat is that the construction site would employ only union workers.-------------------------------------------
Fire Unhappy Employees By Jamis [Buck's of Woodside]
Working in the irony business has its payoffs.
"It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others."
You’ll find these and other aphorisms at the demotivational department of Despair, Inc., a company devoted to overturning smarmy platitudes with less saccharine mottoes such as "Meetings: None of us is as dumb as all of us." Or "Procrastination: Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now."-------------------------------------------
Construction worker dies in fall from condo project By Tommy McIntyre
Venice police Sergeant Mike Treanor said the man was putting drywall in an eighth-floor unit.
'He stepped out and apparently leaned against the two cables stretched across the balcony,' he said. 'The lead anchors holding the cables pulled out of the wall when he leaned on them.'
Treanor said the death was apparently an industrial accident.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, November 08, 2003 ::labourstartjobs.org Want to work for a union?
If you're looking for a job with a trade union, look here first.-------------------------------------------
Causing Death or Injury in the Workplace is Now a Crime CLC Canada NewsWire
The Canadian Labour Congress welcomes the news that Royal Assent was given to Bill C-45, also known as 'the Westray bill'.
'This is a long overdue victory for workers and their families all across Canada,' said Hassan Yussuff, secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress. 'It is now the law of the land that corporations and their principals will be held criminally liable for negligence causing death or injury in the workplace.'
Law arising from Westray mine disaster casts wide criminal net for companies By COLIN PERKEL CP
Among other things, the law - which is to receive speedy royal assent at a formal ceremony - makes organizations criminally liable for actions by 'senior' members even if they aren't directors or executives.
It also imposes a legal duty on anyone who directs work - including employers - to take reasonable measures to protect the safety of employees and the public.-------------------------------------------
California bridge named after ironworker By MIELIKKI ORG - AP
CROCKETT, Calif. - Few blue-collar workers have had a bridge named after them. But then, few have survived a plunge off the Golden Gate Bridge and gone on to build other important projects in the San Francisco Bay area.
On Saturday, the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge opens, a steel-and-concrete tribute to an ironworker who seemed almost indestructible.-------------------------------------------
Women Seamen - A Job Not An Oxymoron By ILO
GENEVA (ILO News) – Women seafarers – a rare but growing cohort on the world's waterborne transportation fleet – face inordinately tough working conditions including discrimination and sexual harassment as the maritime sector adjusts to the reality of women working alongside men, according to a new study (see note 1) just published by the International Labour Office (ILO).-------------------------------------------
B.C. incomes 'hammered' By Maurice Bridge
'Alberta, which has got the right resources, expensive energy resources, has a strong suit. B.C.'s problem -- I think the new data show something like 53 per cent of our exports come from the forest industry -- is that what's happening in our forest products industry, and tourism, as far as that goes, is just hammering incomes in B.C.'-------------------------------------------
UAW Won't Endorse Presidential Candidates By JOHN PORRETTO AP
DETROIT - The United Auto Workers' executive board will not endorse a candidate in the Democratic presidential primary, instead leaving that decision to its local organizations, the union said Friday.
The UAW, which has 675,000 active members and another 500,000 retirees, decided at its quarterly board meeting in St. Louis to make no recommendation. The executive board's decision frees up the union's community action groups in 11 regions to endorse the candidate of their choice or follow the board in making no endorsement.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, November 07, 2003 ::Union oversight ensures equal footing By BRUCE R. DENNIS, president PNRC Carpenters
Many construction projects end up being done with a combination of union and nonunion subcontractors. Some of the nonunion contractors gain their competitive edge by paying their workers less than the "prevailing wage" for the community. This can cause unrest on the job site, resulting in job delays, labor disputes and poor cooperation between contractors.
To address these issues, the construction unions have developed the use of project labor agreements, which guarantee fair wages and benefits for all workers on the project and guarantee that the project is built without disruptions.-------------------------------------------
"Save America: Recall Bush" BuzzFlash
Get the bumper sticker that says it all. It's short, sweet, and to the point.-------------------------------------------
Casino Tragedy Editorial - w/cartoon by Tom Stiglich
If the proper specs were maintained, if high-quality products were used, if...if...if all this and more were done, then there should not have been a collapse.
It goes without saying that heads will roll.-------------------------------------------
Breathe-easy Respirators by Matt Berger - Fine Woodworking
Two new powered respirators battle sawdust at a price
Every time I find myself coughing amid a cloud of sawdust I vow never to work wood again without some form of protection. However, I don't especially like disposable masks, and whenever I have looked at more sophisticated forms of protection, the high prices convince me to go without.-------------------------------------------
US lumber trade plan criticized as too restrictive By Richard Cowan - Forbes
A $225-per-thousand-board-feet duty would be applied to above-quota shipments, under the U.S. industry plan.
Michael Carliner, an economist for the National Association of Homebuilders, estimated the duty would add $2,000 to the price of a new house.
U.S. home builders, along with lumber retailers such as Home Depot, oppose any controls on wood imports.
B.C. forest workers picket as companies vote on union contract offer By EMILY YEARWOOD-LEE
The escalation in the dispute comes at a time when both sides agree the industry has been knocked to its knees by the ongoing softwood lumber dispute and an inability to compete.
Capital ideas on softwood By Jeff Nagel
At the Woodrow Wilson International Centre, one of the fellows gives a crash course on U.S./Canada trade relations.
'We don't need you,' he says, simply.
With the size and scale of the American economy, Canadian interests barely register. He says Canadians often fail to understand that negotiations with a U.S. administration can be blocked by the local political interests of powerful members of Congress.-------------------------------------------
Debate asks question: Are unions necessary? Workday Minnesota
'Are unions necessary?' will be the topic of a debate Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the University of Minnesota. Two university professors and two students will square off to debate this question, with statements from the audience also encouraged.
Union goes after high-tech workers By BILL VIRGIN
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers -- the same union that represents workers at Boeing and Kenworth plants in this region -- this week announced the formal launch of Cyberlodge, a guild-style organizing effort to recruit computer programmers and developers.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, November 06, 2003 ::Union local ousts longtime leader By JOSEPH SZCZESNY
Members of Teamsters Local 299 have ousted their top officer in an election that uncovered a deep vein of dissatisfaction with the incumbent leadership.
Local 299, one of the most storied inside the Teamsters, was the home local of Jimmy Hoffa Sr., father of current Teamsters President James P. Hoffa Jr. It remains one of the largest freight and carhaul locals in the Teamsters, but its membership has been in decline in recent years.
Hoffa: Gephardt must take Iowa By THOMAS BEAUMONT
James P. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters union, also said he expects Gephardt to garner the AFL-CIO's coveted endorsement, despite the labor federation's decision to delay an endorsement until December.-------------------------------------------
Two of nation's largest unions in Dean camp LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer
Backing from both the Service Employees International Union, with 1.6 million members, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, with 1.5 million, would help transform Dean from surprise insurgent to solid front-runner in the Democratic presidential race.
SEIU endorsed Dean on Thursday, but delayed a formal announcement until next week at the request of AFSCME, which is prepared to follow on Wednesday, several Democratic and labor officials said.-------------------------------------------
Are You on the NRA Blacklist? By CASEY HOLMES
The founders of nrablacklist.com wanted to bring attention to the 19-page list posted on the National Rifle Association's website titled 'Fact Sheet: National Organizations with Anti-Gun Policies'. The Fact Sheet cites organizations, celebrities, national figures, journalists and anti-gun corporations who have endorsed gun control laws.-------------------------------------------
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Hundreds mourn workers killed in collapse
By MARTIN DeANGELIS
In a bit of good news, two workers hurt in the collapse were released from the hospital Tuesday. That leaves six people still hospitalized, two in critical condition, and all in Atlantic City Medical Center's City Division, an ACMC spokeswoman said.-------------------------------------------
Minority Views, ULLICO Investigation house.gov
"In September 2002, Thompson began to conclude his investigation, and ULLICO management began an effort to prevent his report from being released. This led to a series of increasingly hostile letters between Thompson, John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO, and Robert Georgine, which focused on whether the Thompson Report would be made in writing and if so, whether it would ultimately be made available to shareholders. It was also in this period that United Brotherhood of Carpenters President Douglas McCarron, a ULLICO board member, announced prior to the release of the Thompson Report that he was returning to ULLICO his profits on the sale of ULLICO stock.
The Thompson Report was completed and made available to the Board of ULLICO on November 26, 2002. Rather than be party to withholding the report from shareholders, ULLICO directors John Sweeney, Linda Chavez-Thompson and Frank Hanley, President of the International Union of Operating Engineers, all resigned from the Board in protest. Shortly thereafter Carpenters President Douglas McCarron resigned from the Board in protest. This was followed by benefit plans affiliated with the United Auto Workers filing suit in federal court in Detroit seeking the release of the Thompson Report."
The Majority report:
Committee Releases Final ULLICO Report; Calls on Labor Department to Fully Investigate Whether Sweetheart Stock Deals Violated Federal Labor and Pension Laws-------------------------------------------
Diagnosed with a case of urban flight By Suzanne White
Union services firm Ullico to depart District offices
Ullico sold its current headquarters, commonly called the Darth Vader building, in February to Douglas Development for $62 million. Ullico signed a short-term leaseback deal with Douglas Development, which will expire in about six months. In the meantime, the black glass building at 111 Massachusetts Ave. NW has kept Douglas broker Blake Esherick busy.
Homeland Security leases about 80,000 square feet in the building and officials are talking with the owners about taking more.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 ::American control of our union would not help organizing by Josh Coles
November On the Level - British Columbia Carpenters Union
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i usually refrain from comment - letting the occasional irony speak for itself - but UnionBlog.com shows why *official blog* is still an oxymoron :: d@ve2300
AFGE Launches UnionBlog.com; Web Log Believed First for Labor Movement U.S. Newswire
The nation's largest union for federal and DC government workers, AFGE, today announced the launch of its official blog web site believed to be the first of its kind: UnionBlog.com. Web logs, or blogs for short, are a sort of cross between an online diary and links to current news reports. Blogs have become a popular means of communication.-------------------------------------------
Danger Lurks Behind Some Friendly Looking Contracts By Tony Illia ENR
Rampant risk-shifting by owners is becoming more challenging for some contractors than finishing work in a timely and cost-effective way, according to experts at the seventh annual Construction Financial Management Conference.
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Partners with OSHA to Reduce Injuries and Illnesses U.S. Newswire
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Hood ousted as head of Alaska Teamsters By DAN JOLING
Hood is a former Democratic National committeeman who raised his profile in Alaska and on the national scene by campaigning for development projects in Alaska, including petroleum drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and development of a proposed natural gas pipeline. In those endeavors, he often worked closely with the Alaska's all-Republican delegation, including then-U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski.
Building trades back city fiscal relief plan By Timothy McNulty
Leaders of two building trade groups announced their support for the latest Pittsburgh budget reform package yesterday, saying they fear a dip in city construction and jobs without it.
Officials from the Greater Pittsburgh Regional Council of Carpenters and the Pittsburgh Building and Construction Trades Council said the city, which faces an $80 million shortfall next year, could run out of cash in January without new taxing authority.-------------------------------------------
Rat can stay, judge rules By Jen Roppel
CINCINNATI — Rat 2; Fairfield 0.
A federal district judge on Monday granted a preliminary injunction against the city of Fairfield, allowing a labor union to use a 12-foot-tall inflatable rat during protests of a Ford dealership.
“We’re very pleased with the judge’s decision. She nailed it,” said David Cook, an attorney for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Two rats better than one for union By Jen Roppel
Emboldened by a federal judge’s ruling, a union has staged a marathon protest of a local auto dealership and has doubled the number of inflatable rats.
Two union members on Thursday — flanked by 12-foot-tall and 6-foot-tall rat balloons in the public right of way in front of a Ford dealership — waved at passing motorists all day as they either stood along the roadside or sat in lawnchairs. In return, they received honks of support from many drivers, including those in fire trucks and school buses.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 ::BCTD: ABC Report A Preliminary Report on Associated Builders and Contractors Apprenticeship Training: Flawed and Failing Initiatives
A Study by the Building and Construction Trades Department AFL-CIO
This report reveals that the average Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) apprenticeship program registers relatively few apprentices, produces more cancellations that graduations, enrolls only a small proportion of all female and minority apprentices, and provides training in a narrower range of crafts.-------------------------------------------
Woodruff and Wypijewski: Debating the New Unity Partnership full text at CounterPunch
New Unity for Labor: Time to Get Started By TOM WOODRUFF
It's great to see that efforts to rebuild workers' strength in America that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other unions are engaged in are provoking a much needed debate, including the recent article in CounterPunch by Joann Wypijewski, 'The New Unity Partnership, A Manifest Destiny for Labor.'
As for Wypijewski's article itself, some of the legitimate questions she raises are a little hard to find in the barrage of personal invective (and even ethnic slurs like the epithet 'oily' directed toward a Greek-American activist) she directs at a long list of people she doesn't like. It is bizarre, for example, to see SEIU criticized as a union with an 'all-consuming dedication' that 'has signed up half a million new members in the past few years and that is not content simply to weigh union revenues against expenses and leave it at that. SEIU seems to be on a mission from God, and that is part of the problem.'
JoAnn Wypijewski Replies
I did not criticize SEIU for its dedication (that was a compliment) but for, as I said, its mission-from-God attitude, the certainty that its way is the way ("Leading the way", as the union's slogan has it). SEIU's "United We Win" discussion paper has indeed been floating around and been published in various forms since last year. It is not the document to which I was referring, which had a secret life until recently and which is available to general readers courtesy of Carpenters for a Democratic Union. While the latter document was heavily influenced by the former, it also includes some important new features, such as the drafters' agenda for a remade AFL-CIO, eliminating, among other things, elected leadership and independent initiative at the state and local levels. That feature is undoubtedly less discomfiting to the most backward AFL affiliate leaders than are the NUP fantasies that would erase their identities and their jobs by collapsing the federation's 65 unions into 12 or 15, but it is perhaps the most telling. It indicates the trade-off the reformers are prepared to make, sacrificing democratic processes and structures capable of autonomous grass-roots action on the altar of centralized control.-------------------------------------------
Strike Fund to Support Battle with Supermarket Chains By Harry Kelber
The AFL-CIO rallied to the defense of 85,000 striking and locked out supermarket workers in Southern California and four other states by setting up a Hold the Line for Health Care Strike Fund.
'A New Game Plan For Union Organizing’
Starting Monday, November 10, 2003
An 8-Part Series on "A New Game Plan For Union Organizing’ by Harry Kelber
Labor and the War By Harry Kelber
Why Have AFL-CIO Leaders and Labor Press Given Silent Approval to Bush’s War in Iraq?
Since October 2002, after President George Bush was given a blank check to conduct a pre-emptive war against Iraq without hardly a murmur of protest from organized labor, the AFL-CIO and nearly all of its affiliated unions have maintained a pervasive and disciplined silence about the legitimacy of the war and the post-war chaos in Iraq.-------------------------------------------
Union rejects plant closing terms AP
FRANKLIN, Ind. - Union workers have voted to reject ArvinMeritor Inc.'s terms for closing its plant at Franklin.
William Whited, president of United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 2993, said many of the plant's 750 hourly workers viewed the company's proposed severance package as an insult.-------------------------------------------
Demolition starts at site of fatal collapse By JOHN CURRAN AP
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Demolition workers on Monday began dismantling a 100-foot high concrete wall left precariously unsupported after the collapse of a parking garage last week.
Three ironworkers, suspended in a basket from a giant construction crane, pried off concrete molds and a wooden scaffold from the wall before another crane lifted the pieces and lowered them to the ground at the Tropicana Casino and Resort garage.
Contractors were planning to bore holes through the 15-inch thick wall, thread cable through it and cut it down to size _ section by section.-------------------------------------------
Americans Flock to Get on NRA Blacklist by Jill Serjeant
Most blacklists are designed to intimidate. But thousands of Americans are clamoring to join one drawn up by the National Rifle Association.
Actor Dustin Hoffman was so dismayed to find his name missing from the NRA's shadowy 19-page list of U.S. companies, celebrities, and news organizations seen as lending support to anti-gun policies that he wrote to the powerful pro-gun lobby group begging to be included.
"As a supporter of comprehensive anti-gun safety measures, I was deeply disappointed when I discovered my name was not on the list," Hoffman wrote in a letter to the NRA that was released on Tuesday.-------------------------------------------
More Bad Legal History NathanNewman.org
Ferry owners could sue the constructers of bridges as unfair competition against their monopoly rights in this period. (Chadwick v. Property of Haverill Bridge, MA Supreme Judicial Court 1798).-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, November 03, 2003 ::How a union can lose its clout By Dale Kasler
The UFCW fears that supermarket wages, which average about $13 an hour in Southern California, could be driven to the $8-an-hour range that retailing consultants say is paid by Wal-Mart.
That would track what happened in meatpacking: When IBP was founded in the early 1960s, packinghouse workers earned 16 percent more than the average American factory worker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today they earn 25 percent less.
'They had gone from being very well paid, the kind of manufacturing job that fathers handed down to sons -- in a 30-year period they became underpaid,' said Donald Stull, a University of Kansas anthropologist who's studied meatpacking workers.-------------------------------------------
House panel says union firm may have violated labor, pension laws By LEIGH STROPE, AP LABOR WRITER
The report was not a sweeping indictment of the former union chiefs that ran Ullico. Rather, it said that federal labor and pension laws may have been violated and urged regulatory investigators and law enforcement to scrutinize the transactions.-------------------------------------------
Project planner is a felon BY GEORGE PAWLACZYK
Kevin Byrne, business representative of the Carpenters' District Council of Greater St. Louis, said the union agreed to work with United Front to place carpentry students in jobs. Byrne also said he was unaware of Koen's criminal background.
ESL OKs incentives for apprentice program, factory BY TANIA E. LOPEZ
The City Council approved a financial incentive to bring a carpenter's apprenticeship program and factory into East St. Louis.
The idea behind the proposal is to start an apprenticeship training school and factory for disadvantaged people. The program is a cooperative between The United Front Inc. and United Brotherhood of Carpenters, the metro-east's carpenters' union. Once carpenters graduate from the program, they automatically are entered into the union then go out into the community to help rebuild it.-------------------------------------------
America's tired masses By Susan Ives
FRIDAY, Oct. 24, was Take Back Your Time Day, a dismal reminder that we work too much. I would have given you the heads-up sooner, but I was busy.
The White House has been pushing a change to the Fair Labor Standards Act to exempt employers from paying overtime to some workers.
The administration estimates the proposed rules would affect 644,000 workers; others peg it at closer to 8 million. The AFL-CIO speculates the removal of the time-and-a-half disincentive would encourage employers to overwork current staff rather than hire more people.
UE - Information for Workers (or, some things the boss would probably rather you didn't know!)
Here's where you'll find information for stewards, officers, and workers who want to know more about their rights, workplace issues and our union.-------------------------------------------
Graham denies relations with U.S. in 'deep freeze' CANADIAN PRESS
Reminded that U.S. President George W. Bush has not made an official visit to Ottawa since taking office — a fact many critics cite when bemoaning the state of diplomatic relations — Graham was testy in his response.
"But tell me, if Bush had come up here, would softwood lumber be any different, would their wheat policy be any different?" he said, referring to ongoing trade disputes.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, November 02, 2003 ::Riot charges stayed against OCAP's Clarke CANADIAN PRESS
Allegations stem from violent 2000 confrontation at Queen's Park
Charges were stayed today against an anti-poverty activist accused of inciting a bloody riot outside the Ontario legislature more than three years ago.
RIOT CHARGES STAYED AGAINST OCAP ORGANIZER, JOHN CLARKE Statement by John Clarke, OCAP Organizer-------------------------------------------
Forbes.com: Inside Dope By Quentin Hardy
In the U.S. the never-ending war on drugs endures, to modest discernible effect. In a largely symbolic act the U.S. Justice Department has just imprisoned an icon of the pot-happy 1970s--Tommy Chong of the old Cheech & Chong comedy team--for selling bongs on the Internet. But in Canada the trade in pot, or cannabis (as many Canadians call it), is an almost welcome offset at a time when British Columbia's economy is in the doldrums.
Tourism here is down, and thousands of jobs got axed when the U.S. slapped tariffs on exports of softwood and then banned Canadian beef after an outbreak of mad cow disease. The marijuana business, by contrast, is thriving, not least because Canada shares a thinly guarded 5,000-mile border with the U.S., a big market.-------------------------------------------
Workers remember their own By Denise Jewell
With bowed heads, about 100 members of several construction unions -- from carpenters to iron workers -- used their break time to gather in a Camden parking lot while Glassboro resident Ellery Smith said a prayer for the Atlantic City workers and their families.-------------------------------------------
Workplace violence added to health, safety regulations By David Howell and Jessica Leeder
'This is part of Work Safe Alberta, which is the big initiative for reducing injuries and fatalities in Alberta that happen within the workplace,' Human Resources Minister Clint Dunford said Thursday. 'As we got looking at this, we realized the incident rate in violence was just too great to ignore.'
Under the new rules, employers will be required to develop policies and procedures for dealing with violence, defined as 'the attempted, threatened or actual conduct of a person that causes or is likely to cause physical injury.'-------------------------------------------
Labor Unions Applaud Senate's Bipartisan Passage Of Healthy Forests Restoration Act PRNewswire
The following statement can be attributed to Michael V Draper, vice president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters' Western Region and chairman, Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee:
Healthy Forests legislation elicits protests, praise in Missoula By SHERRY DEVLIN
Reaction to the U.S. Senate’s passage of Healthy Forests legislation came from all corners Friday, with environmentalists claiming the bill is a “treat” for the timber industry and a timber buyer accusing environmentalists of “a lot of foolishness.”
Liar, Liar Forests on Fire By Karyn Strickler and Timothy G. Hermach
Logging called for in the Bush administration's laughably named Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HR 1904) is the same dishonest logging that created the conditions that made the Davis Lake fire and others across the nation so frightening. They call it thinning, fire-risk reduction, meadow restoration, or good management, but it all adds up to the same old theft and destruction of America's most precious natural treasures and life-support system: our national forests and watersheds. Thanks to the Bush administration's Healthy Forests Restoration Act, American taxpayers will continue to subsidize the destruction of what little is left of our nation's forests, even those that are publicly owned.-------------------------------------------
Indiana - Union to vote Monday By SCOTT HALL
Employees face a difficult vote Monday on ArvinMeritor’s terms for closing its Franklin exhaust plant, local union leaders say.
“It’s kind of a gamble,” said William “Whitey” Whited, president of Local 2993 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. “We as a union cannot tell the people that if they vote it down, there will be another proposal.”-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, November 01, 2003 ::Trucks That Hauled Wastewater Later Carried Fruit Juice By STEVEN ISBITTS
Minute Maid and Tropicana have stopped using Winter Haven-based Indian River Transport for beverage deliveries because the company brought them juice in truck tankers that previously carried toxic phosphate wastewater.
The untreated phosphate wastewater, which contained mercury, arsenic, cyanide, cadmium and about 60 other compounds, came from the defunct Piney Point phosphate plant in Palmetto.
Coke seeks to keep plant license in India By V.M. THOMAS
Farmers complain that their wells and rivers have been drying up because of excessive use of water by the plant.
Coca-Cola also denies the farmers' claim that a high level of lead and cadmium were found in sludge from a Coke plant. The company had given the sludge to farmers as free fertilizer.-------------------------------------------
Workers wait, watch for missing comrades By Amy S. Rosenberg
Many walked away in tears, but returned shortly after to head inside to start work securing the site. 'We're ironworkers, and we're just waiting for the call to go in,' Vinnie Piazza said. 'They're union brothers. We're all union workers ready to do anything.'
Builders were fined for safety violations at Tropicana site By JEFFREY GOLD AP
Workers at the $245 million garage, for the Tropicana Casino Resort, expressed concern that the project's design and pace might have contributed to Thursday's collapse that killed four at the Tropicana Casino Resort site.
Officials deny rush as cause of collapse By Elisa Ung, Jennifer Moroz and Jacqueline L. Urgo
Ironworker Lou Fiorentino, 54, who worked at the site earlier this year, criticized the "filigree wideslab" method used to construct the garage. The method uses prefabricated plates as the base for a second layer of poured concrete.
"They bring in pieces made somewhere else and you have to link them together - it's built somewhere else and you have to make it right," Fiorentino said yesterday. "This type of construction is meant to save money... . I say it's faulty. It's built like a deck of cards. You can imagine what happens when they come down."
Investigators Look For Answers To Parking Garage Collapse NBC News
OSHA requires that an accident be reported only if there is a fatality or three or more injuries on the same accident.-------------------------------------------
Pseudonymous blogging under subpoena threat By Andrew Orlowski
Chillingly, the email threatens: 'Determining your identity for the purpose of making service of process can be easily accomplished through a subpoena to Blogspot.com.'-------------------------------------------
Smith & Wesson sets sights on clothes, home decor Reuters
Looking for just the right duvet cover to match your .38 Super?-------------------------------------------
CUPE slams yellow dog tactics by Judy Rebick - rabble news
(In the early days of the American labour movement, corporations forced workers to sign away their rights to unionize as a precondition of employment. These contracts became known as %u201Cyellow dog contracts%u201D since employees were deemed to have to cower before their %u201Cmasters%u201D to get a job. Any situation in which workers must sign away better working conditions for lower wages falls into the same category.)-------------------------------------------
Report Links Iraq Deals to Bush Donations By LARRY MARGASAK AP
Bechtel was second with a $1 billion capital construction contract involving Iraq's utilities, telecommunications, railroads, ports, schools, health care facilities, bridges, roads and airports.
The company's Internet site says, "We do engage in the political process, as do most companies in the United States. We have legitimate policy interests and positions on matters before Congress, and we express them in many ways, including support for elected officials who support those positions.
"We do not expect or receive political favors or government contracts as a result of those contributions.''-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, October 31, 2003 ::The Specter of IT Unions From The Publisher - CIO Magazine
THERE ARE TWO kinds of workers in America: those who work for unions and those who don't.-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
CASINO GARAGE TRAGEDY BY JONATHAN SCHUPPE AND MARK MUELLER
Union officials said up to 500 tradesmen, from pipefitters and ironworkers to masons and laborers, were at work in and around the garage when a long section of the top floor suddenly plummeted at about 10:40 a.m.
Like dominoes falling, floors beneath the roof collapsed as thousands of tons of steel-reinforced concrete struck with the force of an explosion. In all, parts of the top five floors collapsed, and debris punched through the two floors below them.-------------------------------------------
Plywood costs nail contractors By Maria Papadopoulos
Contractors, lumber retailers and home remodelers across the region and the nation are being nailed with skyrocketing plywood prices and limited supplies of the popular building material.
A half-inch sheet of fir plywood that cost $12 two months ago now fetches close to $27 in Brockton-area stores.-------------------------------------------
Testimony: Ground Zero Poisoned Workers By Laurie Garrett
John Graham, health and safety instructor for the Carpenters' Union, said he worked at Ground Zero for 262 straight days and is permanently disabled. He displayed a sack full of medications he now uses daily, including an anti-asthma drug, an antibiotic, an inhaler for asthma attacks, a sinus spray and assorted steroids. 'Today I am a chronically ill man who is anxious about my ability to support my family,' Graham said.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart Gets Greedy By Stan Cox, AlterNet
It's an open secret that U.S. business has become hooked on the profits generated by illegal immigration. In its remorseless drive toward Always Low Prices, Wal-Mart, it appears, is no exception. It's hard for a company to resist the temptation offered by a large pool of workers willing to put in long hours for minimum or sub-minimum wage, with no overtime pay - workers whose fear of deportation ensures that they'll do whatever is asked of them.
Wal-Mart's Hidden Costs By Steven Pearlstein
According to supermarket giants Safeway, Albertson's and Kroger, the competitive threat from Wal-Mart makes it impossible for them to survive without cutting the pay and benefits of unionized employees.
But to hear it from the 70,000 striking or locked-out members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, accepting anything less than they get now would set up an unwinnable race to the bottom with Wal-Mart's nonunion 'associates' who make as little as half of what they do.
UFCW Vice Pres Manages Billion Dollar Wal-Mart Stocks UFCW - MfD OpenForum Discussion-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, October 30, 2003 ::PRWA PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS Submitted by Robert Blough of Jenner Area Joint Sewer Authority, Jennerstown PA.
So you though your job was tough!!!!! This is what Florida Power & Light found in Orlando while doing extensions to the Airport.-------------------------------------------
Four Dead in N.J. Garage Collapse By JOHN CURRAN AP
The top five stories of a parking garage under construction at a casino collapsed Thursday, sending concrete slabs and metal beams crashing down as workers ran for cover. Four people were killed, about 20 were injured and one was missing, officials said.-------------------------------------------
whtehouse.gov robots.txt (with WH update) weblogged by Atrios
Why is whitehouse.gov (the official White House website) disallowing 'iraq' directories from search engine crawling?-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO Union Poised to Endorse Dean By LEIGH STROPE AP Labor Writer
Democrat Howard Dean is poised to capture a coveted endorsement from the largest union in the AFL-CIO - if the Service Employees International Union decides to back one of the nine presidential candidates next week.
"It's Dean or no one,'' SEIU spokeswoman Sara Howard said Thursday, days before the union's 63-member executive board will decide at its Nov. 6 meeting.-------------------------------------------
IWA faces wrath of Canada’s biggest union CUPE
Outgoing national CUPE president Judy Darcy called on the Canadian Labour Congress to “tell the IWA to get the hell out of those scuzzbag agreements.” Newly elected CUPE national president Paul Moist added that the IWA’s actions were “shameful."-------------------------------------------
IT Workers Latest Victims of "Global Economy" by Peter Ian Asen LaborNotes
Though the fledgling IT unions do have the eventual goal of gaining collective bargaining agreements, they are realistic that the task of organizing an almost completely non-union industry will not happen overnight. As such, they see the internal issues-based organizing they are doing now as very important.
'The work that we've been doing for the past seven or eight months,' WashTech organizer Marcus Courtney says about the union's anti-offshoring campaign, 'shows that unions cannot strictly rely on a collective bargaining strategy in order to grow their membership. We could be looking back at the work we're doing today, with the offshoring campaign, and say 'we are helping to lead a sea change in the attitudes of white collar professional workers in the labor movement.''-------------------------------------------
Who is keeping track of logging in B.C.? BCGEU
“It appears to be no coincidence that record-high levels of raw logs are being exported from our province, at the same time as this government is cutting the jobs of the people who would normally ensure our resources are being managed in the best interests of all British Columbians,” said George Heyman, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union.-------------------------------------------
WCB Worksafe BC Health and Safety Centre - Confined Spaces CONFINED SPACES WEBSITE LAUNCHED ON THE HEALTH AND SAFETY CENTRE
This site provides information to help identify risks and work safely in confined spaces.
Occupational Health & Safety Regulation - Changes to the OHS Regulation
* Amendments to Occupational Exposure Limits
TABLE 5-4: EXPOSURE LIMITS AND DESIGNATIONS has been repealed by B.C. Reg. 315/2003, effective October 29, 2003.
Exposure limits and designations are now covered in the following documents:
* ACGIH/WCB Table of Adopted Values TLVs
* Policy R5.48-1 (PDF 121 KB)
* New Guidelines for exposure limits and designations will be available online soon.
[Amended by B.C. Reg. 315/2003; Effective: October 29, 2003]
* Amendments to Reduce Duplication and Redundancy in Occupational Health and Safety Regulations
[Amended by B.C. Reg. 312/2003; Effective: October 29, 2003]-------------------------------------------
Suggest a book! LabourStart is assembling an online bookshelf for trade unionists -- a list of the books that every trade unionist should own.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 ::Celebrating Native American Workers on the High Steel By David Sommerstein VOA
For generations, Mohawk and other Native Americans have built America's most famous buildings and bridges, including the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. They work the 'high steel', a dangerous profession practiced high above the ground. The skill and craft of ironworking took center stage last month near Syracuse, New York in a sort of Ironworker Olympics.-------------------------------------------
Dispute court a way to repair relations with U.S. Editorials - The Province
Among the proposals to be studied: Setting up a permanent trade dispute court or other dispute-resolution mechanism, to prevent such trade battles as the softwood lumber war from dragging out for years.-------------------------------------------
Russian miners emerge from ordeal BBC NEWS
The mine's director Vasily Avdeyev - who was on his first day in the job when the accident happened - was among the last 11 to be rescued from the mine.
'When we saw the rescuers, it was like the appearance of Christ before the people,' he said. 'We had nothing to eat. I delivered a speech saying that a 20-day fast has not ever hurt anyone and it is good for the health.'-------------------------------------------
Slice the words, story's the same SEATTLE P-I EDITORIAL BOARD
'So the story is better than we might be led to believe in the news. I'm indicting the news people. It's a bigger and better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day, which, which, heaven forbid, is awful.'-------------------------------------------
Hartford Advocate: We Know Nothing by Alan Bisbort
When asked about the latest in a string of White House deceptions so numerous the American people have begun to lose count and some are even losing patience, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, alleged to be a former professor at Stanford University, said, and I quote, 'I know nothing.'-------------------------------------------
Organized labor finances new strike fund By LEIGH STROPE AP LABOR WRITER
The fund, called 'Hold the Line for America's Health Care,' will be used to aid workers facing emergency financial situations, such as evictions or defaulting on mortgages.
The fund's creation coincides with reports of pharmacists crossing picket lines to return to work.-------------------------------------------
Union fund chiefs probed in stock deal By James G. Lakely - washingtontimes
In August 2001, Global Crossing was rocked by accusations of accounting fraud, sending the stock price into a free fall. Mr. Georgine, according to both an independent Ullico investigation and the House committee, told executives to sell their Ullico shares before the stock bottomed out.
Rank-and-file union members who owned stock weren't permitted to sell before the shares were nearly worthless.
US House panel urges further probe of Ullico deals By Peter Szekely - Reuters
In 2000, Ullico offered to buy back the shares at large profits as Global Crossing -- and Ullico's large investment in it -- plummeted. Union pension funds, were limited in how many shares they could sell back to Ullico.
Ullico manages financial assets and sells insurance through its Union Labor Life Insurance Co. subsidiary.
Committee on Education and the Workforce Press Release Committee Releases Final ULLICO Report; Calls on Labor Department to Fully Investigate Whether Sweetheart Stock Deals Violated Federal Labor and Pension Laws
“At the very same time that union leaders were joining the chorus of well-deserved criticism of Enron and others for corporate misconduct, ULLICO set up a system of insider stock deals that made millions for the board at the expense of rank-and-file union members,” said Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), chairman of the Education & the Workforce Committee. “Our Committee’s investigation has concluded that the union leaders who set up these sweetheart stock transactions may well have violated federal labor and pension laws.”
“We are hopeful that the Department of Labor sheds light on these unanswered questions because American workers deserve to know whether ULLICO directors violated the law and made millions at the expense of the rank-and-file union members they represent,” added Boehner. “The Committee will continue to exercise its oversight authority to ensure that these labor and pension laws are effective in protecting the rights of American workers, and if they are not, in considering legislative solutions to guard against similar future abuses.”
-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 ::Combs' Clothing Line Accused of Sweatshop Conditions AP
Rap music mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' clothing line, Sean John, has been accused by a workers' rights advocate of using a Honduran supplier that subjects its laborers to sweatshop conditions.
"We should be paid what we're owed. We make so little that it's not enough to have a dignified life," said Lydda Gonzalez, 19, who was fired after she tried to organize a union.-------------------------------------------
Doctors: Most 9-11 workers still ailing By AMY WESTFELDT AP
NEW YORK -- Most ground zero workers still suffer from health problems two years after Sept. 11 and many do not have health insurance or job security, doctors told a congressional panel Tuesday.
Several of the workers testified at a Manhattan hospital before the committee, saying they had trouble breathing, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and no longer had the strength to do their old jobs.
'I can't tell you how hard it is living like this,' said David Rapp, a construction worker who spent five months at the World Trade Center site and now always carries an oxygen tank and uses three inhalers. 'The fear of not being able to take my next breath is unbearable.'-------------------------------------------
House panel questions union firm's trades By LEIGH STROPE AP LABOR WRITER
'Millions of workers deserve to know whether Ullico directors violated the law and made millions at the expense of rank-and-file union members they represent,' said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the committee's chairman.
Ongoing investigations by the Labor and Justice departments, the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal grand jury and Maryland's insurance commission also should determine if current laws are adequate to protect union members and workers, and suggest changes that Congress should consider, the report said.-------------------------------------------
B.C. Carpenters Union: Members to finally get affiliation ballot by Dave Flynn
McCarron has said that restructuring is necessary to make the union more accountable. Where his views differ from ours is that he believes the membership should be more accountable to the leadership — we believe the leaders should be accountable to the membership. Affiliating with a Canadian Union may be the only means left available to us to prevent the International from taking away those vested rights that the membership in BC have had for over one hundred years. Protect your right to vote by exercising that right when you receive your ballot in the mail.-------------------------------------------
Local 183 Denounces International Union's Response to Complaint of Interference Canada NewsWire
US Headquarters refuses to recognize Canadian Code of Ethics; rejects call for an independent, Canadian Mediator
'By blatantly refusing to suspend their internal US based hearing, LIUNA and its executive are further demonstrating their disregard, not only for the OLRB's jurisdiction to grant the relief requested, but also for the interests of Local 183 and its 30,000 members,' said Keith Cooper, spokesperson for Local 183. 'Through its actions, LIUNA is clearly determined to ignore the due process of the OLRB in an attempt to prevent these proceedings from being truly independent.'
Local 183 Expresses Gratitude to Employer Groups for Intervening in Dispute with International Union Canada NewsWire
12 Organizations Employing 20,000 Construction Workers Express Support for Local's Stand Against US Headquarters-------------------------------------------
Free speech kept off U.S. streets By DAVID LINDORFF
When retired Pittsburgh steelworker Bill Neel learned that President George W. Bush was coming to town last year, he decided he would be on hand to protest the president's economic policies.
Neel and his sister made a hand-lettered sign — The Bush family must surely love the poor! They have made so many of us! — and headed for a road where the motorcade would pass.
But he never got to display his sign for Bush to see.
The New Unity Partnership, A Manifest Destiny for Labor By JoAnn Wypijewski
This section bears the hoofprint of the Carpenters' McCarron, who pulled out of the AFL in 2001and has feted George W. at two Labor Day picnics. A cheap date, he got a visit on Air Force One. Along with the Teamsters' president, James Hoffa, whom the NUPsters are heavily courting, he is the Republicans' favorite labor leader. At a recent fundraising dinner for the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, McCarron and Hoffa both purchased tables.
[Iww-news] Bush's Labor Day Picnic posted by steve zeltzer
Fri, 06 Sep 2002
From: matejka@
Subject: Bush in Pittsburgh -- the real story
A retired asbestos worker from Pittsburgh, Bill Yund, recently sent his 'analysis' on Bush's Labor Day visit to Pittsburgh... interesting...
Mike Matejka
For those who may have heard via the national media that Dubya was in Pittsburgh getting 'Union' support, we pass on the real skinny:
Dubya was invited to a Carpenters Labor Day 'Picnic' downriver from Pittsburgh by McCarron (Carpenters union president, who has taken the union out of the AFL-CIO) and cronies. The photo-op had nothing to do with the Allegheny County Labor Day Parade.(word has it the Labor Council is censuring the carpenters, for whatever thats worth) The Photo-op was by invite only, excluding anyone who might disagree with having the most anti-labor Prez in memory at a union hall. Some protesters did appear, but were herded into a fenced-in area out of presidential camera-range. One 65 year old man with a sign saying 'the Bushes must love poor people because they created so many of them' was arrested when he peacefully protested the denial of his constitutional right to free expression. He pointed out that 'free' is inconsistent with being secured behind a fence. People with pro-Bush signs were allowed to roam free, of course. Meanwhile in Pgh, an estimated 40,000 REAL working people, uninvited to the photo-op, marched in the Parade and many later picnicked at a local union brewery (Iron City). Pro-Bush signs or sentiments were nowhere to be found. Carpenters in the parade expressed disappointment (to put it mildly) in the romance of their leadership with the Bush crowd. Obviously, it's unlikely that McCarron would survive an honest democratic election. His pal Dubya has had the same problem.-------------------------------------------
This Man Is Building a $1 Billion Construction Empire by James Burnett
In the beginning, the business plan Fish created for Suffolk was straightforward: the builder as wrecking ball. “When we encountered a brick wall, instead of trying to get around it, we’d just go right through it,” Fish says. He undercut rival firms by as much as 15 percent, making up the difference by squeezing it out of the carpenters, masons, and assorted specialists he hired to execute the blueprints. “He was the kind of guy who used to go after jobs and beat up subcontractors,” says Andris Silins, secretary -- treasurer of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, who scrapped with Fish when he headed the organization’s local affiliate. “Over time, he realized he couldn’t operate like that. But John probably put a few guys out of business during those years.” Still, for every HVAC installer hauling him into court, there were several clients signing on as regular customers.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, October 27, 2003 ::Robotic harvesting of citrus may solve labor shortage By GLENN C. WRIGHT, FARM VOICE
The fruiting branches are easily shaken by the 4- to 5-foot-long nylon or tubular steel spikes that form the shaking drum. At a travel speed of 1.2 mph, this system can harvest at least 500 trees per hour and 1,200 field boxes per hour, and 12 highway trucks of fruit in an eight-hour workday.
Worker productivity can increase by over 15 times and harvesting cost may decrease by 75 percent.
Taking a back seat By Khalil Abdullah
Auto shop enrollment dwindles as mechanic demand rises
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a shortage of 60,000 mechanics nationwide has led to the demand for technicians and boosted salaries.
Boomer retirement may spawn glut of jobs By Meg Richards AP
Experts say that in the not-so-distant future, America will have more jobs than it can fill. The baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1965, reshaped the U.S. economy with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of highly educated workers. But their children are not numerous enough to replace them and researchers say a serious labor shortage lies ahead.
Fewer pick career path for dealing with death BY SARA OLKON
The funeral industry is bracing for a shortage of qualified funeral directors. That's not surprising, since the job has long hours and mediocre pay and can turn off potential dates.-------------------------------------------
CIA-Leak Scapegoat Still At Large The Onion
'We're doing everything we can,' Attorney General John Ashcroft said. 'I have assured the president that I will let him know the second we find either the leak or a decent scapegoat. It will happen. He's out there somewhere.'-------------------------------------------
Unions rip WTC health registry By MAGGIE HABERMAN
Leaders of several major city unions are blasting the Bloomberg administration's World Trade Center health registry as a waste of money that won't help their sick members.
'I'm requesting that the information on the registry be taken off our [union] Web site,' said Lee Clarke, health and safety officer for District Council 37, thecity's largest municipal union,which has offices a block from Ground Zero.
'My members did not sign up to be a guinea pig or a statistic, and that's exactly what the intent of this is,' Clarke said of the $20 million study.
-------------------------------------------
When techies consider unions By Aliza Earnshaw
One local employer agreed that techies’ efforts to organize are a natural response to overseas outsourcing and the presence of visa-holding workers in the marketplace. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see some form of organizing soon, unless, of course, Congress does something to correct the current outflow of jobs” from the United States, said Rick Creson, president of Meridian Technology Group.-------------------------------------------
Dean Picks Up First Union Endorsement By Kay Henderson
DES MOINES, Iowa - Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean picked up his first union endorsement Monday, winning the backing of the 140,000-member painters' union.-------------------------------------------
Soaring labour costs to send new home prices skyward By Gillian Shaw Vancouver Sun
Wayne Peppard, executive director of the B.C. Building Trades Council, which represents 35,000 tradespeople in the province, concurred that a 50-per-cent increase is possible. He said with apprenticeship training programs being changed so that apprentices don't have to spend the time getting their full qualifications, those that do will be able to command a premium
'People with papers will be valuable and they could be demanding those types of prices, there is no doubt about it,' he said. 'Whether we can negotiate that in agreements is a whole other story.'
Canadian oilpatch braces for massive labour shortage Today's Trucking
The president of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors says the record pace of drilling will be hampered by labour shortages next year.
Coming soon: America's next labor shortage By Analisa Nazareno
In the labor market of the future, employers still will want to keep labor costs down. So they will likely pay their unskilled workers less in real wages, and on the other end will likely search for cheaper high-skill labor overseas.-------------------------------------------
BCGEU fights back hard against the Campbell Liberals It's an anti-worker government, eh? It's an anti-union government, yes? It's an anti-community government, and I say it's an anti-family government as well,' Clancy told delegates at the BCGEU policy convention.-------------------------------------------
EPA warning on asbestos is under attack BY ANDREW SCHNEIDER
The lawyers took their action under an obscure law passed in 2001 called the Data Quality Act. It demands that government agencies work with the White House's Office of Management and Budget to establish a process that permits 'affected persons' to challenge information gathered and disseminated by the government.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, October 26, 2003 ::National Electrical Code® By Mike Holt
Knowledge and the practical application of the National Electrical Code® is an essential part of all electrical installations. If it's important for you to understand the National Electrical Code®, then look no further.-------------------------------------------
New York Post Online Edition: UP IN THE AIR By ASHLEY CROSS
It's probably the most famous picture of a lunch break in New York history - and it seems hundreds of people know someone who was there.
Or do they?
Last month, The Post showed the iconic photograph of 11 ironworkers taking a break on a steel beam 800 feet above the ground during construction of the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center.
The photograph has been copied on countless posters, postcards and other souvenir items.
We asked, "Have you seen these men?"
======
union organizing posters by dave2300-------------------------------------------
Canadian Building Trades Launch Regulatory Compliance Campaign on Labor Ready AFL-CIO Canada NewsWire
The Canadian arm of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, announced the launch today (Oct 17) of a concerted campaign focused on potential violations of Canadian law by North America's largest blue-collar temporary employment agency, Washington State-based Labor Ready, Inc., according to Edward Sullivan, president of the Department.-------------------------------------------
Canada's largest labour convention starts Monday CUPE - Canada NewsWire-------------------------------------------
Lansing State Journal:Women at work By Steve Johnson
Nationally, women hold only about 897,000 - or 9.2 percent - of the 9.7 million construction-related jobs, mostly in clerical or administrative positions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the Lansing area, women hold 7.1 percent of the region's 4,944 'craft worker jobs.' The designation includes carpenters, plumbers and electricians.
Similarly, women own about 8 percent of the nation's 2.6 million or so construction companies, though their numbers appear to be increasing, some researchers say.
Worker error cited in fatality at factory when pregnant woman crushed; baby lives By KIM BATES and ERICA BLAKE
According to Dick Tracy, assistant area director of OSHA’s Toledo area office, it is a company’s responsibility to provide a safe working environment for its employees. Included in that requirement is ensuring that devices are in place to shut machines down when employees are put in dangerous situations. Often this involves a device placed on the operating controls that prevents the machine from accidentally being turned on.
This requirement, referred to as "lock out, tag out," means that each employee controls the power to the machine they are working on.-------------------------------------------
Virginia Tech Researchers Work To Help Prevent Balcony And Deck Collapses Source: Virginia Tech release
While there are numerous code requirements for decks and balconies, Woeste and his associates are primarily concerned about the attachment to the house and the openings in the railings and stairs. The 40 psf load requirement produces a heavy shear type loading in a typical deck-ledger to house-band connection. Some deck and balcony ledgers are only nailed to the house band joist, and this approach may not be adequate depending upon the span of the deck joists. If proper flashing is not installed, the wall sheathing and band joist can rot, destroying the original capacity of the nail connection.
The Sunday Mail QLD: Dream home a horror By PAUL WESTON
'Those beams holding up the house, there's a 40cm bow in there. I've tried to talk them into leaving because it will come down and they won't have a hope,' said Mr Brayshaw.
'Blind Freddy can see it's bending like a banana. There's no one more patriotic than me, but I'm disgusted to call myself an Australian because of this.
'The house will come down like a pack of cards. I'm bloody ashamed of what's happened to this family.'-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, October 25, 2003 ::Cleaner at Wal-Mart Tells of Few Breaks and Low Pay By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Wal-Mart officials said that the raid surprised them, and that they had no idea the company's cleaning contractors used illegal immigrants.
They acknowledged yesterday that 10 immigrants arrested on Thursday in Arizona and Kentucky were employed directly by Wal-Mart. Company officials said they had brought these workers in-house after certain stores phased out the use of the contractors for whom the immigrants had worked.-------------------------------------------
BC Carpenters to vote on autonomy in November October 2003 On the Level
This is a copy of the ballot that BC Carpenters Union members will use to finally determine the direction the organization will take for the future —This is the vote that counts. When it comes in the mail mark it YES for Canadian democracy and membership rights...
British Columbia Provincial Council of Carpenters
BALLOT
AFFILIATION TO CANADIAN UNION
Do you wish to transfer the affiliation of the British Columbia Provincial Council of Carpenters and its affiliated Local Unions from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America to a Canadian union?
Yes
No-------------------------------------------
Googlism for: mccarron: "mccarron is being used by the bush administration to drive a wedge into organized labor"
Googlism for: douglas mccarron: "douglas mccarron is now under investigation by the department of labor"-------------------------------------------
Arrest of Korean Trade Union Officers and Organisers International Federation of Building and Wood Workers
The International Federation of Building and Wood Workers has been informed by its affiliate the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU) of the arrest of eight union officers and organisers in Daejeon and Chunahn.
Act NOW! [LabourStart] Korea: Free 8 jailed construction union officials
"We are particularly concerned about the imprisonment of Lee Sung Woo, President of the Daejeon local union. In 1995 he lost both his legs and his arm due to a tragic work-site accident at one of the construction sites. Since the prosecution has declared President Lee to be a flight risk, he is to be incarcerated until the end of his trial, which will has yet to be set. Due to his physical challenges, we are concerned about his health if he is not released immediately."-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, October 24, 2003 ::Union to be out beating the Bushies By Juan Gonzalez
They're calling it Bush Bucks.
More than 3,000 leaders and members of New York's powerful health care workers union, 1199/SEIU, held an unusual meeting in Baltimore this past weekend to lay plans for an unprecedented $35 million campaign to drive George W. Bush out of the White House next year.-------------------------------------------
U.S. and Canada weigh chances of new lumber trade talks By Richard Cowan, Reuters
American and Canadian officials next week will try to gauge whether the two countries should launch another round of lumber negotiations to end a fight over US$6 billion worth of wood trade, a U.S. lumber industry source said Thursday.-------------------------------------------
Banking on Google (TechNews.com) By Cynthia L. Webb
It's been the Holy Grail of the stock markets for more than a year -- the quest to discover when, just when, search-engine king Google would finally go public.-------------------------------------------
Carpenters union picket subcontractors for benefits By Homa Zaryouni
It looks and sounds like a union-organized strike, except for two sentences on the bottom of every flyer that employees of Nevada Carpenters' Union hand out: 'We are not urging any worker to refuse to work. We are not urging any supplier to refuse to deliver goods.'-------------------------------------------
New Unity Partnership Published by: Workers Action
So when the New Unity Partnership (NUP) formed as a mini union federation to challenge the policies of the AFL-CIO, they played this role to the hilt. Consisting of union presidents Douglas McCarron (Brotherhood of Carpenters), Andrew Stern (Service Employees International Union), Bruce Raynor (UNITE- Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees), Terence O’Sullivan (Laborers' International Union of North America), and John Wilhelm (HERE-Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees), these officials have banded together apparently to reverse the unions decline. To show that they mean business, they have already began to hire staff.
They have aimed some accurate shots at the AFL-CIO regarding its weak-kneed organizing efforts. Then again, to miss this would be like missing a stuffed mammoth from a yard away. The question is whether the formation of the NUP presents a possible solution to the crisis of Labor, or is it a symptom?-------------------------------------------
Justice e-censorship gaffe sparks controversy By Kevin Poulsen, SecurityFocus
It turns out the report began its life as a Microsoft Word document, and whoever was in charge of sanitizing it for public release did so by using Word's highlight tool, with the highlight color set to black, according to an analysis by Tim Sullivan, CEO of activePDF, a maker of server-side PDF tools. The simple and convenient technique would have been perfectly effective had the end product been a printed document, but it was all but useless for an electronic one. 'Using Acrobat, I'm actually able to move the black boxes around,' says Sullivan. 'The text is still there.'-------------------------------------------
Union local back in business as other officials shake heads By L.M. SIXEL
Teamsters Local 988 reopened its union hall Tuesday and tried to resume normal operations, a day after being taken over by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Teamsters President Supports Detroit Casino Council Negotiators, Workers PRNewswire
The Detroit Casino Council, consisting of five unions, Teamsters Local 372, UAW 7777, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 24, Operating Engineers Local 547 and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters, is currently negotiating with three Detroit casinos, MGM, Motorcity and Greektown.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, October 23, 2003 ::S.F. Labor urges AFL-CIO to speak out on Iraq Fred Gaboury People's Weekly World
A resolution adopted by the San Francisco Labor Council calls upon the “House of Labor” to oppose “the foreign policy disasters led by the most right-wing president in memory.” The resolution also calls for end to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the return of our troops, and relinquishing U.S. power to the United Nations.-------------------------------------------
Ringed by backers, Rocky says he has stood up to City Council By Heather May
"This looks like Salt Lake City," added Latino activist Lee Martinez, noting Anderson's supporters include Persians, Asians, American Indians and Latinos. Other endorsers include: Sierra Club; Mountain West Regional Council of Carpenters; Amalgamated Transit Union; Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers Local Union 222; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1004; Salt Lake City Fire Fighters; Young Democrats of Utah; Utah Stonewall Democrats; Utah Wind Power Coalition; and Millcreek Friends Interested in Dogs and Open Space.-------------------------------------------
Feds Arrests 300 Wal-Mart Workers By James Vicini - Reuters
Wal-Mart already faces dozens of lawsuits alleging discrimination and violations of wage-and-hour rules. The company has drawn fire from labor groups, who say the company has an anti-union stance.-------------------------------------------
Wisconsin: Demonstrators urge use of local labor By Roger Pitt
TOWN OF KAUKAUNA — More than 200 construction trades union members lined the frontage road entering the Fox Energy Center site Wednesday to support the use of local labor.-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Bypass overpass rises again By JOSHUA WOLFSON
In the days following the collapse, Caltrans officials said the investigation would be coordinated by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The incident was reported to Cal OSHA, but the agency did not pursue it, said Dean Fryer, Cal OSHA spokesman.
'We never did anything on this because there were not employee injuries,' he said.
Extraordinary Circumstances Led To Mississippi Overpass Collapse
All the normal construction practices were followed in this project, said Kenny Gunn, project manager for Harper Construction, the prime contractor on the project.
"This was just an accident. It was not supposed to happen,'' he said.
Gunn said for now the company has no plans to do anything differently.
"You don't want to deviate too much from the normal construction practices,'' he said. "These practices have been proven time and time again.-------------------------------------------
Union support key to Gephardt's political future By Matt Stearns/Knight Ridder
Standing in Gephardt's way: some of the AFL-CIO's largest affiliates, including the Service Employees' International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. They haven't joined his bandwagon, not least because they're not sure he can win.
'There's been a more independent strain of thinking and acting going on among union leaders than there has been in recent presidential elections,' said Robin Gerber, a former political director for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. 'They will never believe he can win if he can't raise the money, and right now he's not raising the money.'-------------------------------------------
If It Ain't Broke, Break It TOMPAINE.com
When it comes to sheer nerve, you’ve got to hand it to George W. Bush. Air pollution is called "clear skies." Wilderness logging is "healthy forests."
The newest Bush attack on the environment doesn’t have an Orwellian name yet, but it could be the most insidious of all—a dismembering of the regulatory process itself.
Groups fire away at forest thinning bill, criticize Baucus By BUDDY SMITH
“Some of the thinning will probably fall in the wildland-urban interface, but we think all of it should,” he said. “Any logging not in that area will not protect communities from fire, and if they’re going to have commercial logging projects that far away from communities, then call it a timber sale.”-------------------------------------------
Coca Cola's Killers By Lucas Rivera
The headline reads: "Colombian Coke Float" and shows three Colombian union workers floating in a giant, old-fashioned Coke glass. In bold letters: "Unthinkable! Undrinkable!"-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 ::NEWS.com.au | Industry to halt for dead teen By Kylie Walker
FURIOUS construction workers lamenting the death of a 16-year-old labourer will stop work on Monday to march on NSW Parliament and demand jail sentences for bosses who are slack on safety.-------------------------------------------
'DUDE, WHERE'S MY COUNTRY?' By Michael Moore
"Answers please, Mr Bush" Michael Moore poses some tough questions for the US president.-------------------------------------------
PittsburghLIVE.com - Worker rescues woman By Michael Hasch
"I was in the right place at the right time," said Siebert, a pile driver who belongs to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Millwrights Local 2235.-------------------------------------------
On A Rock In Rural Iowa Thank You Veterans (submitted by Bill, IBEW)-------------------------------------------
What a Week - October 2003 Solidarity by Roger Kerson
UAW wins five agreements in five days
In a whirlwind of bargaining never before seen in the U.S. auto industry, the UAW reached new tentative agreements at all five firms within days of their common expiration date. The four-year pact with DaimlerChrysler was reached just before the previous contract expired Sept. 14.-------------------------------------------
UAW and USWA Sue Secretary of Labor Chao To Set OSHA Clean Air Standards in U.S. Factories PRNewswire
The United Auto Workers (UAW) and the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) filed suit today against U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, seeking to compel the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set clean air standards in U.S. factories
U.S. labor groups sue for clean air in factories Reuters-------------------------------------------
OSHA Offers New Resources on Chemical Reactivity Safety; Book on Managing Chemical Reactivity Hazards Offered Free Online
An important resource to help companies reduce injuries, illnesses and fatalities during chemical manufacturing and operations goes online today as OSHA unveils its newest safety and health information web page, Chemical Reactivity Safety.-------------------------------------------
Frist asks labor counter-offer on asbestos By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist Tuesday urged organized labor, which has blasted his asbestos litigation reform plan as too meager by billions of dollars, to make a counter-proposal, saying he had not given up on passing legislation this year.-------------------------------------------
Labor system eyed for security agency Washington Times
Administration officials and labor union representatives embarked yesterday on the ticklish and potentially difficult process of agreeing on a unified personnel system for the new Department of Homeland Security.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 ::Government report downplays health threat from arsenic-treated wood By January 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not allow the production of CCA-treated lumber for any residential use. However, dealers will be allowed to deplete their inventories.-------------------------------------------
Claims of fraud prompt Teamsters takeover here By L.M. SIXEL Houston Chronicle
The panel's report said Crawley hired Espinosa in 2000 and that she submitted inflated invoices for beer and soda she bought with union funds for the grand opening of the hall, which was built with non-union labor because Local 988 officials believed union workers were too expensive.-------------------------------------------
TOMPAINE.com - Sex And Politics By Richard Blow
You have to love spokespeople—even at newspapers they twist the truth. Because this flimsy rationale doesn't hold up under even the mildest scrutiny. Since when do newspapers fact-check their comics?
Putting 'The Boondocks' in the Dock (washingtonpost.com) By Michael Getler
Followers of the comic strip 'The Boondocks' were first puzzled and then angry last week. Sometimes this edgy, irreverent and controversial strip, drawn and written by a 29-year-old African American artist, Aaron McGruder, makes some readers mad, and they let the paper know.
The Boondocks Oct 15 by Aaron McGruder-------------------------------------------
1/3 of uninsured workers at large firms By Leigh Strope
A third of the nation's workers without health insurance are employed by large companies, a study says.
Thirty-two percent of all uninsured workers in 2001 were employed by big companies, up from 25 percent in 1987, according to the report released Tuesday by The Commonwealth Fund.
Researchers cited as factors soaring health care costs, declines in manufacturing and union jobs and the changing structure of large corporations -- those with more than 500 employees -- and the benefits they offer.-------------------------------------------
Fight Against Workplace Deaths Press Release: New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Collective Bargaining Vital in Fight Against Workplace Deaths
Strengthening workers’ ability to bargain collectively will reduce workplace fatalities and improve this country’s dismal health and safety record, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.-------------------------------------------
Man who fell from bridge identified By REID MAGNEY (Oct 7)
Construction of the arch section of the new Mississippi River bridge will remain shut down today in deference to the family of Anthony J. Poterala, who died in a fall Monday.
Poterala was an apprentice ironworker employed by Hi-Boom Erecting Inc. of Black River Falls, a subcontractor on the $40 million bridge project.-------------------------------------------
MEDIA ADVISORY - Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Sawmill Workers' Bargaining Conference in Montreal on October 29th and 30th at the Sheraton Centre Hotel.
Of note is the fact that the visitors from the U.S. are unilingual English but CEP will provide a translator if so desired.
The Union solution to Softwood dispute
--------------------------------------
Below is the text of the agreement reached among the unions:
- The current softwood lumber duties and the previous softwood lumber
quota agreement do not provide a satisfactory long-term solution for
workers on either side of the border;
- The workers, consumers and the communities dependent on these jobs,
have a strong interest in reaching a mutually agreeable long-term
solution;
- The undersigned unions from the U.S. and Canada, whose members' jobs
are being lost due to this trade dispute, propose that the respective
governments negotiate an agreement based on the following measures:-------------------------------------------
End of big job in sight AP
Now, as construction on the largest and most complex highway project in U.S. history passes its 20-year mark and begins to wind down, construction workers like McPhail are looking to life after the Big Dig. For many, it will mean heading back to the union hall to look for the next job.-------------------------------------------
Students, Nuns and Sailor-Mongers Beware By Jonathan Turley LATimes
It has lain dormant in the darkest recesses of American law for 125 years, but this month Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft introduced critics of the administration to his latest weapon in law enforcement.
In a Miami federal court, the attorney general charged the environmental group Greenpeace under an obscure 1872 law originally intended to end the practice of "sailor-mongering," or the luring of sailors with liquor and prostitutes from their ships. Ashcroft plucked the law from obscurity to punish Greenpeace for boarding a vessel near port in Miami.-------------------------------------------
Labor denounces asbestos fund offer from business By Susan Cornwell
Organized labor Thursday denounced a new offer from business and insurers to fund an asbestos victims' trust, saying it was inadequate to cover the costs of expected claims from people sickened by the mineral.
Statement by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney on Asbestos Defendants' and Insurers' Funding "Agreement"-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, October 20, 2003 ::Detroit's Bitter Labor Battles Not Repeated in '03 By Mark Fitzgerald
After 2,500 union workers walked off their jobs at the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News on July 13, 1995, it took 1,982 days before members ratified new contracts to end the bitter and occasionally violent dispute.
Last week, the four unions (representing a workforce that has shrunk to 1,500) overwhelmingly ratified new contracts with the dailies nearly three months before the old pacts would have expired. The contracts with Detroit Newspapers, the joint operating agency for Knight Ridder's Free Press and Gannett's News, were approved by margins of about three to one.-------------------------------------------
Canadian Envisions New Role for Nation By CLIFFORD KRAUSS NY Times
'There is a free trade agreement between the two countries and I think the spirit of that trade agreement ought to be honored,' said Mr. Martin, who represents a district in Montreal in the House of Commons. 'And it is not honored when on things like softwood lumber you end up with constant, constant harassment.'
U.S. weighs easing Canada geese protections By Judith Graham Chicago Tribune
There is an irony in the government's plan, and substantial political risk. The government is worried that the more annoying geese become, the more at risk they are of being seen as 'flying rats,' a term used by some critics. To preserve their value as wildlife, 'we need to reduce the population,' Fish and Wildlife spokesman Nicholas Throckmorton said.-------------------------------------------
FBI Investigates Cadmium Poisoning Mystery Wpxi.com
The FBI is looking into a cadmium poisoning mystery in Indiana County. Eleven people have died from high levels of cadmium, but no one knows if the cases are related.
Cadmium Found in 10 More Bodies By CHAUNCEY ROSS
A poisonous heavy metal has turned up in a spiraling number of postmortem examinations performed by the Indiana County Coroner's Office in recent months, officials said Friday.-------------------------------------------
Bush Backs Down on Plan to Ship Toxic Ships Overseas; Administration Will Study Threats Posed by Ships and Reconsider Plan In April - U.S. Newswire
The Bush administration has agreed to halt the export of old toxin-laden Navy ships to England for disposal until it assesses the environmental risks involved. The Sierra Club and the Basel Action Network, represented by Earthustice attorney Martin Wagner, had sued to stop the ships from sailing, but a judge allowed the first four-the Caloosahatchee, Canisteo, Compass Island, and Canopus-to be towed out of the James River in mid-October. The remaining nine vessels will stay where they are at least until April 2004, when the environmental analysis will be completed. The plaintiffs argued that the export plan violates the Toxic Substances Control Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, that the facility in England is not equipped to handle such contaminated ships, and that there are ship-breaking facilities in the US that are equipped to do the job. The ships together contain more than 350 tons of PCBs, 620 tons of asbestos, and 470 tons of old fuel oil.-------------------------------------------
The 10 most dangerous jobs in America By Kim Khan MSN
Loggers and fishermen faced the most daunting odds of dying at work in 2002, but the highways remained the most dangerous place for American workers.
On-the-job accidents and homicides claimed the lives of 5,524 Americans last year, down 6.6% from 2001. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the workplace death rate is the lowest it has seen since recordkeeping began in 1992.-------------------------------------------
Michigan AFL-CIO President Comments On ‘One Delegate, One Vote’ Proposal LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO, which has 650,000 members and 350,000 retirees, is quite content to have only one vote at AFL-CIO conventions, even though many international unions have hundreds of thousands of votes. Here is the text of an e-mail that Brother Gaffney sent me:
"Mr. Kelber, you are simply wrong in your "LaborTalk" of 10-15-03. The State Federations and CLC's should not have voting power equal to affiliated unions at the National AFL-CIO. Simply put, the affiliated unions pay millions of dollars in per capita, we pay none. The Executive Council, General Board and especially the convention are rightfully the place where per capita strength should be exercised. We in the AFL-CIO work for and provide service for the affiliates. This is one State that respects the principle of per capita strength." Mark T. Gaffney, president, Michigan State AFL-CIO.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, October 19, 2003 ::Labor boss gets 34 months in prison By Denise Lavoie
Before the sentencing, Cashman apologized to his family and to the Teamsters, saying he had made some 'selfish,' 'stupid,' and 'well-meaning' mistakes.
'I tried to do my best for the working men and women of Local 25,' he said. 'I can't un-ring the bell and take away the wrong things I did. But I wish more than anything that I could.'
Cashman was to begin serving his sentence immediately. He was also fined $30,000.
Cashman, 54, a trucker from Revere, was elected president of the Teamsters local in 1991, promising to clean up corruption within the union. He became a force in state politics through his support of Republican Govs. William Weld and Paul Cellucci.-------------------------------------------
Youngsters send message against union-busting Workday Minnesota
They wore signs, tied on sandwich-board style, that read, “Union-busting attorneys Seaton Beck Peters Bowen & Feuss are trying to take away my dad’s benefits.”
The Edina law firm represents JT Electric Service, Inc., an Albany, Minn., contractor that is trying to back out as a signatory with Local 292, organizer Robbie Crofoot said. The contract with JT Electric went into effect May 1, but the company is refusing to pay into the health insurance, pension and other benefit plans, he said.-------------------------------------------
Irony in deal with Pepsi is hard to miss By Mike Langberg Mercury News
One afternoon in March 1983, Steve Jobs, the brash 28-year-old founder of Apple Computer, stood on a Manhattan rooftop terrace overlooking the Hudson River. He faced John Sculley, the 44-year-old president of Pepsi, whom he very much wanted to recruit and uttered a line that's become a Silicon Valley legend:
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?'' Sculley later recalled in his autobiography.
Twenty years later, it turns out changing the world occasionally includes selling sugar water.-------------------------------------------
Doonesbury Oct 18, 2003 The following rant is a public service message to an incredible 69% of Americans.-------------------------------------------
Theft, vandalism costing building firms millions By Gerry Bellett Vancouver Sun
One of the big targets for thieves are four-by-eight tongue- and-groove plywood sheets, the price of which has risen 50 to 75 per cent recently thanks to the U.S. government buying them up following the war in Iraqi.
'It's a case of supply and demand. Ten sheets of plywood are worth $1,000,' said Keenan.
'They'll come after the plywood has been delivered to be used for roofing. The thieves could be trades working on the site -- which makes it cannibalism -- or someone who has cased it out beforehand,' he said.
The thieves invariably use white panel trucks whose rear or side doors make loading contraband relatively simple.
Thieves prey on construction sites By MELANIE LAGESCHULTE Des Moines Register
Arnie Porath, public information officer for the Ankeny Police Department, said officials have received at least three reports of plywood stolen from job sites since early September.
Sgt. Dave Disney, spokesman for the Urbandale Police Department, said construction-site thefts in his city have recently shifted from tools to materials.
Salem said plywood may seem like an unlikely target, but its price has jumped from $5 to $20 or higher per sheet in the past year, giving a 50-count pallet of plywood a retail value of $1,000 or more.
'The theft is in the plywood because it's the item with the biggest markup,' Salem said, adding that suppliers have told him several hurricanes and the rebuilding of Iraq are to blame for price increase.
Plywood prices hit new highs this year - Wet weather plays a role in shortage By Tracy Meadowcroft
Debbie Tingley, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Builders Association, said she's never seen such an acute shortage of plywood during her 20 years with the association.
"There's no indiction at this time as to when supplies will go back up," Tingley added.
She added it's been many years since the last price increase, which was caused by a tax on Canadian lumber.-------------------------------------------
Apprentice tile finisher breaks workplace gender barriers By L.A. JOHNSON
She's a rare breed. Only seven of the local union's 1,800 active members are women, and only 1 to 2 percent of the international union's 100,000 members are women.-------------------------------------------
More labor conflicts expected over health care costs By Alex Veiga
LOS ANGELES -- When West Coast longshoremen and shipping companies ended their labor dispute in January, union officials boasted that the new contract would set a standard for organized labor.
Among its provisions was no-cost health insurance, prompting an AFL-CIO official to remark that longshoremen 'won a historic contract which sets a much-needed benchmark in health care, pensions and living standards.'
For many of the country's workers that benchmark is already shifting, as employers face soaring health care costs and ask workers to shoulder a greater share of the burden. Workers are resisting, giving rise to labor conflicts in California and elsewhere.-------------------------------------------
Worker's fall leads to OSHA inquiry By Andrew Dys
N.C. man survived plunge from Catawba River bridge
OSHA is mandated to investigate only workplace fatalities or incidents in which three or more workers require overnight hospitalization.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, October 18, 2003 ::Australia: Anger at preventable workplace death By Amy Lawson
The Labour Council of NSW is pushing for the State Government to implement what could become known as 'Joel's Law' - a criminal charge of industrial manslaughter, which would carry a maximum fine of $5 million and up to 25 years' jail.
Labour Council secretary John Robertson said Joel's death 'reinforces the need to do something as quickly as possible'.
'His life was stolen away largely because of inaction on behalf of his employer in looking after his wellbeing and safety,' he said.-------------------------------------------
U.S. softwood import duties back before NAFTA panel Canadian Press
The United States hasn't relented on the issue of anti-dumping duties assessed on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, but the matter is back before a free-trade panel.
The Canadian government expressed disappointment, but said it will continue to fight the duties.-------------------------------------------
New labor alliance looks to help Gephardt By Brian C. Mooney
At a news conference in Washington, the labor leaders said the new group, called the Alliance for Economic Justice, will seek special status under the Internal Revenue Service code to spend union money to communicate with members and promote key labor issues and political candidates.-------------------------------------------
Citizens strike back in intelligence war New Scientist
With the recent demise of the Bush administration's controversial Terrorist Information Awareness (TIA) programme to monitor everyone in the US, citizens now have a chance to get their own back. A website to be launched later in 2003 will allow people to post information about the activities of government organisations, officials and the judiciary.
Open Government Information Awareness-------------------------------------------
No log exports from TFL 38 By John French
The number of raw logs leaving B.C. for processing is up significantly — but there are no raw logs leaving Squamish’s working forest.
Labour leaders are unhappy with the practice of exporting raw logs because it means that jobs are being taken away from mill workers in B.C.-------------------------------------------
Kennedy Graphics Stock Design Stickers Union Made In The USA
UNION RAGS Union T-Shirts
Tigereye Design Union made promotional items
No Sweat Union-Made Casual Apparel-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, October 17, 2003 ::Daschle, labor nix U.S. asbestos fund proposal By Susan Cornwell (Reuters)
Democrats and labor said on Friday that a proposed $114 billion fund for asbestos victims was too small and had no chance in the Senate, darkening prospects for an asbestos deal passing Congress this year.
'It won't be passed if this is the final offer,' Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle said of the asbestos fund agreed to by insurers and asbestos companies and announced earlier this week by Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist.-------------------------------------------
1 UNION "MAID" MADE OLD BEER BOTTLE CAP eBay item 3247219936 (Ends Oct-18-03 13:13:55 PDT)
1863 UNION TOKEN: UNITED WE STAND eBay item 3052760482 (Ends Oct-18-03 15:05:01 PDT)
Old Union Badge: educate organize control eBay item 3247217285 (Ends Oct-18-03 12:56:10 PDT)
UNION STICKER "PROUD TO BE UNION" eBay item 3631413296 (Ends Oct-18-03 12:49:33 PDT)-------------------------------------------
Unions' Strange War on Options The Intelligencer
For months the AFL-CIO has been agitating for publicly held companies to get rid of stock options as a component of employee compensation, claiming that options themselves act as a 'powerful incentive for executives to manipulate earnings and engage in accounting fraud.'
Instead, the enormous labor union - today, it should be noted in this context, dominated by government employees - suggests grants of 'restricted stock,' which is given at current prices but typically not vested for several years.
It never has been clear why such a switch would be good for rank-and-file workers. A new survey by Mellon Financial Corp. shows that restricting the use of options probably would harm the rank-and-file.-------------------------------------------
Canadian survey on youth health and safety in the workplace Canada NewsWire
'With 57 deaths and over 62,000 injuries among young Canadian workers in 2001, health and safety is a major issue which deserves heightened awareness and real action within this particular age group', says Ms. Ann Marie Hann, President of the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC). 'The young workers surveyed consistently showed a definite lack of training in the workplace. This has to change, and rapidly'.-------------------------------------------
Commander George's Traveling Road Show! flash animation by Mark Fiore
Amazing Oddities! Baffling Policies! Only $87 Billion!
Keeping dissent invisible How the Secret Service and the White House keep protesters safely out of Bush's sight -- and off TV.
By Dave Lindorff
PHILADELPHIA -- When Bill Neel learned that President George W. Bush was making a Labor Day campaign visit to Pittsburgh last year to support local congressional candidates, the retired Pittsburgh steelworker decided that he would be on hand to protest the president's economic policies. Neel and his sister made a hand-lettered sign reading 'The Bushes must love the poor -- they've made so many of us,' and headed for a road where the motorcade would pass on the way from the airport to a Carpenters' Union training center.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, October 16, 2003 ::Forest industry group recommends rejecting union contract bid as too costly By STEVE MERTL
A strike would affect more than two dozen mills and associated logging operations. Many IWA members are already idle because of mill shutdowns due to market conditions and the impact of the 27 per cent U.S. tariff on softwood lumber.
British Columbia's economic growth lagging: RBC Economics Canada NewsWire
'B.C.'s economic growth has been hampered by several factors, particularly U.S. countervailing duties on softwood lumber exports, weak U.S. demand for manufactured products, a stronger Canadian dollar, sharply lower migration and depressed tourism,' said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist, RBC. 'On an optimistic note, the province's growth prospects could likely improve if the outcome of the U.S. International Trade Commission's ruling on B.C.'s softwood lumber industry is in its favour.'
First Nations Offer Alternative to Softwood Lumber Tariff Stalemate 'Canada's policies regarding the non-recognition of aboriginal and treaty rights does not only violate the constitution and the direction of the Supreme Court of Canada, it also violates international trade law. A long-term solution to the softwood lumber dispute has to involve Indian tribes.'
Weyerhaeuser downgraded to junk status By Gordon Hamilton
Fitch says the softwood lumber duties -- draining $25 million US to $27 million US a quarter in revenues that could otherwise be used to pay down debt -- were a factor in the decision to downgrade the company.-------------------------------------------
related links re: leaked 13 page NUP memo
New Unity Partnership document 200 dpi scans
NUP01.jpg 625x528 pixels page 1 - reduced file size
7. Politics
- meet with Karl Rove
NUP02.jpg 606x745 pixels page 2 - reduced file size
American union members and leaders face a choice:
. Make history by fundamentally changing their unions to respond to today's employers, or
. Continue current practices and preside over organized labor's continued decline.
The New Unity Partnership, A Manifest Destiny for Labor By JOANN WYPIJEWSKI
Gang of Five’ Union Leaders Plot Radical Takeover of AFL-CIO LaborTalk (September 17, 2003) By Harry Kelber-------------------------------------------
2003 Mid-Term Conference Canadian Labour Congress Mid-Term Conference
October 17 - 19, 2003 Ottawa Marriot Hotel
Activists and leaders from Canadian unions and the International Labour Movement can take advantage of this opportunity to exchange ideas, share their experience as it relates to the growth of jobs in the high-tech and service sectors, using the Internet and new communication technologies to attract new members, and new forms of union membership and new union services that are working.-------------------------------------------
Busted By Jonathan Tasini
Far from the headlines and with little fanfare, corporations spend huge sums of money and resources to attack workers and frustrate their desire to exercise basic democratic rights at work. Corporate America has created a multi-billion dollar industry of anti-union lawyers and consultants who abuse Americans every day by twisting or breaking the law, which, in theory, gives people the right to democratically vote for a union. This union-busting industry, operating outside the public eye, has become the tool that has successfully made a shambles of a national policy that declared collective bargaining a social good and, as the Wagner Act declared in 1935, recognized the right of workers to "self-organization, to form, to join or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through the representatives of their choosing.-------------------------------------------
Accord Reached On Asbestos Fund (washingtonpost.com) By Albert B. Crenshaw
Negotiators for asbestos manufacturers and their insurers, under pressure from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), have reached agreement on funding for a national trust fund that is being proposed to pay the claims of people made ill by exposure to the fibrous mineral, parties to the dispute said yesterday.
But labor union and trial-lawyer groups, which weren't involved in the Frist talks, called the funding inadequate.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 ::Australia - Government out of control: ACTU A plan to remove nurses, teachers and university staff's right to strike was a sign the federal government was out of control, ACTU boss Sharan Burrow said.
Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews has indicated legislation to broaden the powers of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to suspend industrial action where it was 'inappropriate' would be introduced soon.-------------------------------------------
Detroit Symphony Plays Concert to Thank Workforce That Built Its Music Hall By Mark Stryker
No audience will ever look at the new Max M. Fisher Music Center the way the men and women who built the place did as they showed up for a special concert in their honor Friday night.
These weren't the wealthy donors who paid for the Max. These were the men and women from 23 unions who laid foundations, raised walls and, and among their final touches, bolted into place the heavy plaques honoring the donors.-------------------------------------------
Australia: Union calls for tougher laws after teen's death By Brad Norington, Industrial Editor
Unions want a specific crime of industrial manslaughter with hefty penalties in cases of workplace accidents resulting in death where the employer is found at fault.
The CFMEU wants a special offence of industrial manslaughter because it says existing penalties such as fines or shutting down a workplace are not sufficient.-------------------------------------------
OSHA Issues Safety and Heath Information Bulletin on Mold U.S. Newswire
A new Safety and Health Information Bulletin issued by OSHA today gives recommendations on how to prevent mold growth and how to protect workers involved in the prevention and cleanup of mold. Indoor exposure to mold can cause allergic reactions and asthma attacks in some individuals.-------------------------------------------
Unions covering fewer of Canada's workers By VIRGINIA GALT, Labour Reporter
Canadian unions are struggling to regain lost ground as a growing proportion of the work force is employed in non-union operations.
The Canadian labour movement needs to organize between 150,000 and 200,000 new members a year to stem further declines in union density, the Canadian Labour Congress says in a frank assessment of its slippage.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 ::Indiana: Builder files wage schedules for IPFW work, company president says By Linda Lipp
Local project superintendent Tony Bruscino previously has blamed the controversy on organizers with the carpenters union who were unhappy they did not get work on the $16.3 million project.-------------------------------------------
Victory for union democracy: Carpenters win right to elect regional council officers by Carl Biers
In a major victory for union democracy, New England carpenters have won the right to directly elect the officers of their regional council. On October 8, federal judge Richard Stearns in Massachusetts directed the U.S. Department of Labor to order the New England Regional Council of Carpenters (NERC) to hold officer elections. The NERC represents 27,000 carpenters in 26 locals from Connecticut to Maine.-------------------------------------------
63 International Presidents Are Asked If They Will Support Fair Union Elections LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
The following letter (marked "confidential") has been sent to the presidents of the AFL-CIO's 63 international unions, asking their help to ensure that there will be free and fair elections at the federation's 2005 convention.
October 6, 2003
Dear President ______:
We are asking you and the other 62 AFL-CIO international union presidents, who together represent 13 million union members, to rectify a grossly discriminatory practice that is damaging labor's public image and helping anti-union employers to defeat organizing campaigns.-------------------------------------------
Workers look to future projects as Big Dig nears end By STEVE LEBLANC
The unprecedented scope and duration of the $14.6 billion highway project has given workers like McPhail something others might take for granted: a dependable job and regular paycheck.
At its peak - from 1997-2002 - the Big Dig employed about 4,600 workers from various construction trades, including ironworkers and a battery of carpenters, laborers, pipefitters and electrical workers.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, October 13, 2003 ::Buffalo News - Steelmaker reaches out to labor, environmentalists By JOHN NOLAN
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - AK Steel Corp. is embarking on a more conciliatory approach toward environmentalists and regulators after shaking up its management ranks last month.
At the urging of the company's board, interim chief executive James Wainscott has begun a new era since his Sept. 18 promotion. He met with an environmentalist to help foster communication and huddled with United Steelworkers union officials before they jointly announced an agreement to try to work out disputes lingering from a bitter, 39-month worker lockout that ended last year at AK Steel's Mansfield plant.-------------------------------------------
A nasty splinter: Home builders deal with skyrocketing lumber costs By ALAN J. HEAVENS
Unless you and your family are loggers, the price of lumber isn't usually a topic of dinner table discussion.
But it is definitely a talking point among builders and U.S. and Canadian officials and the logging industries there.-------------------------------------------
CBC News: Vancouver 'squeegee kids' band together Those who have joined the Industrial Workers of the World's, Vancouver chapter, don't pay union dues, and they haven't negotiated a contract with any employer.
But they vote for their leadership and hold workshops about educating members on their rights.-------------------------------------------
Canadian Thanksgiving By Steve Holland
"A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed...to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."
Who invented Thanksgiving? American settlers and colonists? No, they did not create Thanksgiving. Actually, the first "thanksgiving" was held in Canada 43 years before the pilgrims gave thanks in 1621.
When Europeans arrived in North America they brought their traditions and practices with them. In Europe farmers celebrated their harvest times to acknowledge their thanks for good seasons and harvests. They would fill cornucopias, usually a curved goat's horn, with fruits and grains. When Europeans arrived in Canada it is thought they brought this practice with them and it became part of the Canadian Thanksgiving tradition.
The first Thanksgiving was observed around 1578. Martin Frobisher, an English navigator who was searching for the Spice Islands, landed on Baffin Island. He established a settlement and held the first ceremony of thanksgiving in what is now Newfoundland. The celebration was to give thanks for surviving the long sea journey. As other settlers arrived, they continued these thanksgiving celebrations.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, October 12, 2003 ::U.S. May Expand Access To Endangered Species (washingtonpost.com) By Shankar Vedantam
The Bush administration is proposing far-reaching changes to conservation policies that would allow hunters, circuses and the pet industry to kill, capture and import animals on the brink of extinction in other countries.-------------------------------------------
$87,000,000,000.00 A Little Perspective on $87 billion.
"A billion here, a billion there. Pretty soon it starts to add up to some real money."
But $87 billion is an impossibly high number for anyone to visualize. Let's have a look....-------------------------------------------
Gephardt gets food workers' endorsement By Brian C. Mooney
Representative Richard A. Gephardt today will bag another big labor endorsement, this one from the United Food and Commercial Workers union, with well over 1 million members nationwide.
The UFCW is the 17th of the 64 AFL-CIO unions to back the Missourian's candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. It is the fourth-largest union in the labor federation.-------------------------------------------
A moment with ... Linda Chavez-Thompson, AFL-CIO executive vice president
Linda Chavez-Thompson joined the work force at 10, weeding cotton fields in South Texas for 30 cents an hour.
Nearly 50 years later, she stands as perhaps the most powerful woman in the U.S. labor movement -- the executive vice president of the AFL-CIO.
After leaving school at 16, Chavez-Thompson worked her way up the ranks of organized labor, starting in 1967 as a bilingual secretary in a local union hall.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer spent some time with Chavez-Thompson on the eve of her visit to Seattle for the Biennial Convention for the Coalition of Labor Union Women.-------------------------------------------
