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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Monday, December 22, 2003 ::
You done killed my boy!' By Jordan Barab, Confined Space
Read the linked articles, A Trench Caves In; a Young Worker Is Dead. Is It a Crime?, and U.S. Rarely Seeks Charges for Deaths in Workplace by David Barstow, author of last January's excellent series on the McWane corporation in the NY Times.
The first article is a story of a young man, Patrick Walters, killed in an uprotected 10-foot deep trench, only a couple of weeks after OSHA had cited the same company for sending workers into unprotected 15-foot deep trench. It's the story of OSHA refusing to issue a willful citation despite proof that the hazards were well known to the company, and finally the story of a federal workplace safety agency that wouldn't even refer this case to the Justice Department for possible criminal investigation.
Where Barstow's McWane series may have left the impression that McWane was a uniquely bad actor, the devastation caused by the death of Patrick Walters in a collapsed trench is clearly only one of many similar preventable tragedies -- in unprotected trenches and elsewhere -- that are all too common in this country, yet are hardly reported or noticed by anyone except the families or co-workers of the dead.------------------------------------------- posted 7:12 PM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
Construction Sector Council recruiting aboriginals to fill ironworker shortage CBC News
The Construction Sector Council has launched a two-year initiative to address the shortage of skilled ironworkers in Canada and provide jobs for aboriginal youth.
'It's a win-win situation,' says Robert Blakely, one of the CSC co-chairmen and director of Canadian affairs for the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO union.
'The program addresses the expected shortage of skilled ironworkers while providing the opportunity for young aboriginal men and women to learn a trade they can be proud of and where they earn a good wage.'-------------------------------------------
Modern-Day Slavery Palm Beach Post 3 part series
Slavery is not just the shameful stuff of history books - not in Florida
For nine months, The Palm Beach Post explored the roots of modern-day slavery. Reporters and photographers traveled to destitute Mexican villages, crossed the desert with a smuggler, rode across the U.S. with illegal immigrants, found new claims of slavery, uncovered rampant Social Security fraud, and found that Florida's famous orange juice comes with hidden costs.-------------------------------------------
JEWEL OF AN MTA $CANDAL By LAURA ITALIANO
Figliolia overcharged the MTA for both labor and parts for a total of six maintenance and repair jobs between 1999 and 2002, contracts totaling $18 million in business and located throughout the metropolitan area, officials said. For instance, he hired unskilled recent immigrants, and even newly released convicts, for $8 an hour, then charged the MTA the prevailing union wage for plumbers of anywhere from $65 to $135 an hour.
He would also charge the MTA hundreds of dollars for parts that cost him a tiny fraction of that. The MTA paid Figliolia $123 each for a part called a 'thread-o-let.' Figliolia's cost? $4.70.
The MTA paid Figliolia $337.86 each for a part called a '21/2-by-41/2 brass nipple.' Figliolia's cost? $23.65. Sometimes the markup was as high as 5,000 percent, prosecutors said.
Greensboro - Housing headaches By STAN SWOFFORD
Hester and others wonder whether the holes have anything to do with the construction debris that washes up in their yards. Hester, who bought her house in early 1999 for $71,500, often finds boards, wire and bricks in her back yard after a rain. Sometimes a black and brown, 'rotten-smelling' liquid bubbles up. Ireland and other homeowners, including Robin Wright at 814 Carrieland, have found what they describe as 'layer after layer' of construction debris -- mainly Sheetrock or other drywall material -- buried in their yards.
Wright wonders whether the rotting debris could make the ground unstable, causing the houses to become unsettled and leading to the frequent cracks in ceilings and walls. The house next door at 812 Carrieland is separating from its front porch, and there are large cracks in its outside walls.
Something was rotten in Hamilton Township By KEITH ROYSDON
The Star Press has learned that the now-defunct Midwest Contractors - whose principals were Todd LaCosse and his father, Thomas - left a trail of unfinished sewer projects and angry government officials in the upper midwest. The elder LaCosse served prison time for drug- and fraud-related convictions and was released from prison a little more than a year before the Hamilton Township sewer contract was awarded.-------------------------------------------
WTO backs Canada in softwood dispute By Allan Swift, CANADIAN PRESS
In an interim report, a WTO panel found that the U.S. International Trade Commission "did not follow international trade rules" when it determined last May that Canadian softwood lumber exports threaten to injure the U.S. industry.
WTO Decision Against U.S. on Softwood Lumber Duties Another Blow To Protectionists; U.S. Should End Tax on Canadian Lumber ACAH/PRNewswire
Consumers pay the price of protectionism that benefits U.S. lumber producers
American Consumers for Affordable Homes (ACAH) said that today's decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) rejected the U.S. government's conclusion that Canadian softwood lumber imports posed a 'threat of injury' to the domestic lumber industry. While the decision is supposed to be confidential until February, the contents were leaked.-------------------------------------------
Pyramid of Capitalist System IWW poster, copyright 1911-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, December 21, 2003 ::Bush, Hoffa at odds, union boss says By TOM WALSH, freep.com
'There is a growing storm against trade with China and India, and this guy doesn't get it,' says International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James P. Hoffa of his one-time pal, President George W. Bush.-------------------------------------------
"Organize, Agitate, Educate" posted by "licatsplit", ufcw MfD OpenForum
I become a little nostalgic at times and I enjoy looking back on how moments and people in history were instrumental in molding our social structures. Being a building tradesman myself, I guess I'm naturally lured to the history of the early tradesmen. One such person, which stands out in my mind, was awarded the title of 'Father of Labor Day' He was a carpenter and his name was Peter J. McGuire. His first experience in activism was in 1872 in the fight for the eight hour day. What is amazing is the fact there is still a fight going on today for the return of the eight hour day as the norm! Even John Sweeney wrote about the need to return to the eight hour day and forty hour work week. The IWW also has a good article concerning this issue over the eight hour day and forced overtime. It's ironic that after all the sacrifices made by workers in the past to give us the eight hour day and the forty hour week, we must continue to fight just to maintain what they accomplished!-------------------------------------------
When Workers Die: A Trench Caves In; a Young Worker Is Dead. Is It a Crime? By DAVID BARSTOW, The New York Times
CINCINNATI — As the autopsy confirmed, death did not come right away for Patrick M. Walters. On June 14, 2002, while working on a sewer pipe in a trench 10 feet deep, he was buried alive under a rush of collapsing muck and mud. A husky plumber's apprentice, barely 22 years old, Mr. Walters clawed for the surface. Sludge filled his throat. Thousands of pounds of dirt pressed on his chest, squeezing and squeezing until he could not draw another breath.-------------------------------------------
Unions agree to unpaid day off BY FRAN SPIELMAN, Chicago SunTimes
Eight thousand city employees who bargain collectively as members of the building and construction trades have agreed to take one unpaid furlough day during the first quarter of next year to save the jobs of hundreds of their union brethren.-------------------------------------------
Judge: I saw police commit felonies By AMY DRISCOLL
Two citizens' panels plan to hold a joint meeting Jan. 15 to hear comments and complaints about police conduct during the FTAA, and both Miami-Dade and Miami police are conducting internal reviews. Amnesty International, the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers of America all have called for independent probes.-------------------------------------------
Would-be Rouge buyers gather for auction By Sarah Karush, AP
The winner must reach a collective bargaining agreement with the United Auto Workers, which represents most of Rouge's 2,600 employees.
Severstal already has been negotiating with the UAW. It filed a notice with the Wilmington court on Wednesday saying it had reached an agreement in principle with the union. No details were given.
The union said earlier it supports Severstal's bid because the Russian company intends to keep the steel-making facility fully operational. U.S. Steel is believed to have an interest primarily in Rouge's finishing assets.
Collecting steel stories a labor of love By Virginia Terhune
Andre Anderson, a member of United Steelworkers of America, worked in a Bethlehem Steel blast furnace at Sparrows Point until the company went bankrupt. He now works for ISG, which bought the plant.
Ed Bartee Sr., an African-American retiree from Bethlehem Steel, recounts his efforts to integrate the bathrooms at the Sparrows Point plant after World War II.
Edie Papadakis talks about her first day as the only woman in the all-male maintenance department at the mill.
Their memories, both good and bad, form part of a collection of videotaped interviews now preserved on the Internet, thanks to the efforts of a Dundalk college instructor.
'I've always been fascinated by oral histories and the stories people tell about their experiences,' said Bill Barry, director of the labor studies program at the Community College of Baltimore County-Dundalk.-------------------------------------------
Governor cuts labor institute funding By Andy Furillo
Union leaders decry the action, but business leaders see the UC institution as no friend of theirs.
As part of his unilateral budget-cutting action this week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated funding for what had been the intellectual driving force behind the burgeoning labor movement in California.-------------------------------------------
Talks in L.A. Grocery Strike Break Down By ALEX VEIGA
Teamsters President James P. Hoffa also issued a statement saying, 'The Teamsters will continue to honor picket lines at the retail outlets because our members know that the UFCW's fight is our fight.'-------------------------------------------
Election 2004 ‘Full-Tilt Boogie’ in Iowa By David Moberg
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean swept through Iowa in early December. The crowd gathered to hear him at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ (IBEW) union hall was divided between the curious and the committed. These well-organized union members are likely to play an outsized role in the January 19 caucuses, which in turn are likely to play an outsized role in selecting the Democratic presidential nominee. Though they disagree—with surprisingly little rancor—on who would make the best Democratic candidate, all agree with IBEW official Brian Heins that any Democratic aspirant would be “1,000 percent better than Bush.-------------------------------------------
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:: Saturday, December 20, 2003 ::SPARE A THOUGHT FOR WORKERS Isle of Man Online
'There's a mixed picture for Christmas workers,' said Mr Moffatt. 'Public sector workers tend to have very formalised terms and conditions and those allow for enhanced payments for Christmas working.
'But also, more importantly, they ensure that people do get Christmases off or there's a work/leave balance which ensures that people required to work Christmas are not required to work New Year or other holidays.'
'The private sector's much more unclear. I would say certainly in some of the service sectors there's scope for exploitation of workers at Christmas and, as we all merrily enjoy longer opening hours, we might sometimes dwell on the thought that the people who are required to provide this service for us aren't always properly remunerated.-------------------------------------------
WTO backs Canada in lumber dispute; Trade minister leans on CEOs By ALLAN SWIFT
MONTREAL (CP) - The World Trade Organization is backing Canada in its lumber dispute with the United States, even as Canada's trade minister tried Friday to get the industry to back a bilateral deal.
In an interim report, a WTO panel found that the U.S. International Trade Commission 'did not follow international trade rules' when it determined last May that Canadian softwood lumber exports threaten to injure the U.S. industry.
Independent Producers Oppose Non-Accommodating Lumber Deal PRNewswire
Representatives of Canada's independent lumber and wood products remanufacturing sector from across Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta today announced their opposition to the non-accommodating U.S. proposal for an out of court settlement to the Canada-US softwood lumber trade dispute.-------------------------------------------
Warning signs ignored during Giant strike: expert CBC North
YELLOWKNIFE - A mine safety expert has told the Giant mine civil trial the deaths of nine miners during a strike at the Yellowknife gold mine in 1992 could have been prevented.
Security precuations should have increased as vandalism and violence grew over the strike, says Plummer. Ian Plummer testified that the men's deaths might not have happened if the mine's managers and government safety officials had taken more action as vandalism escalated.-------------------------------------------
The revolution should not be eulogised By Rebecca Blood, The Guardian
"Weblogs are just too varied, too idiosyncratic, to fit into an existing box. Industry analysts might call this disruptive technology because weblogs have changed personal publishing so profoundly that the old rules no longer apply. We are at the beginning of a new age of online publishing - and I predict that this generation of online pamphleteers is just the first wave."
The best of British blogging The Guardian-------------------------------------------
Ferry Scandal Eclipses Strike By Terry Glavin, the Straight
During the week of December 8, we saw the worst disruption to B.C.'s ferry system in a quarter of a century. Now the ferries are running again, but arbitration of the union contract is not where the trouble will end. It's just where it starts, and only idiots will blame the ferry workers' union for any of this.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, December 19, 2003 ::C.D. Smith faces $80,000 fine in death of worker By Patty Brandl
President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Smith said his company is contesting the citations — and rejecting a proposed settlement of $22,000 — because OSHA does not have regulations pertaining to dismantling scaffolding. The hearing will likely be in January.-------------------------------------------
Deal rewards U.S. protectionist behaviour By PETER HADEKEL
The closer you get to understanding how the United States conducts trade policy, the more you feel like taking a shower. Surely, one of the grubbiest, most offensive parts of the softwood lumber settlement the U.S. seeks to impose on Canada is the financial windfall the American lumber industry would pocket if the deal goes through.-------------------------------------------
Tropicana seeks OK for demolition By WILLIAM H. SOKOLIC
The Tropicana Casino and Resort has asked for permission to demolish the part of the parking garage that collapsed Oct. 30, killing four construction workers and injuring 21 others.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has reviewed the demolition plan, said spokeswoman Kate Dugan.
'We will be on site during the demolition,' she said. 'Our inspectors will be gathering information during the demolition."-------------------------------------------
'Miami Model' of FTAA security is lightning rod JIM DEFEDE/COMMENTARY
Richard Trumka is not someone you want as an enemy.
A third-generation coal miner, Trumka was born in a small Pennsylvania coal town. While working the mines he went to law school at night and later led an upstart campaign to take over the mineworkers union. While president, he waged two bitter strikes against the state's largest coal operators.
Today, as secretary-treasurer of the national AFL-CIO, the 54-year-old Trumka is one of the most powerful men in organized labor and has made it his personal mission to settle the score with Miami city leaders and its police force for what happened during the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit last month.
''The American labor movement is committed, and I am personally committed, to see that the brutality we saw never happens again anywhere in this country,'' he said Tuesday during an AFL-CIO meeting to gather testimony from people who say they were abused by the police.-------------------------------------------
Survey wake-up call to respect workers – union Press Release: Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union
News that more than half of New Zealand workers hate their boss is a wake-up call to management, says the country’s largest union.
EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said a survey that showed 54 per cent of workers cited quality of management as the single biggest thing they hated about their job showed that it was time for a change.
“The old nostrum of management-knows-best is long gone,” Mr Little said.-------------------------------------------
Unionists in Quebec mobilize to oppose antilabor legislation BY SYLVIE CHARBIN, The Militant
MONTREAL—The Quebec Liberal government has decided to ram through several antilabor bills before the Quebec National Assembly recesses December 19. In response, tens of thousands of unionists and other working people across the province took to the streets December 11, despite sometimes freezing rain, in what Quebec union leaders billed as a “national day of disruption.”
The actions capped off two weeks of demonstrations and other protests organized by all the main Quebec union federations. Several news commentators here have described the mobilizations as the most important union actions in 30 years, that is, since the general strike that swept the province in June 1972.-------------------------------------------
MacPhail savages IWA leader along with usual villains By Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun
VICTORIA - When the legislature reconvened Tuesday to end the strike in the coastal forest industry, Opposition leader Joy MacPhail wasted no time saying who was behind this latest government interference in collective bargaining.
She pointed the finger at Dave Haggard, national president of IWA Canada.
A surprising choice, given the ties between his union and her political party.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, December 18, 2003 ::Firm tied to death fined again by Russ Olivo
WOONSOCKET -- A Warwick plumbing contractor has been fined a second time for repeating the same workplace safety lapses federal regulators say led to the death of worker Walter Gorski in the collapse of a sewer trench outside the Ballou Home for the Aged in February.
Greenwood Plumbing, Heating and Solar, Inc., also known as Mr. Rooter, was fined $140,800 for failing to ensure cave-in protection for workers at a residential sewer project in Cranston on July 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Monday.-------------------------------------------
Boehner, Johnson Statement on AFL-CIO Lawsuit Targeting the U.S. Department of Labor for Implementing New Reforms to Enhance Union Financial Transparency Press Release
House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) and Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) today issued the following statement on a lawsuit filed by leaders of the AFL-CIO targeting the U.S. Department of Labor for implementing long-overdue changes to the current LM-2 form that will empower union members with more detailed information about the financial activities of their unions.
“It is a shame that union bosses in DC are so consumed by partisan politics that they're willing to run their union into the ground to wage a political war at the expense of their members,” said Boehner. “With no accountability whatsoever, union leaders have regularly squandered their members’ dues and refused to disclose how they spent this money.”
“The new LM-2 forms are critical because they represent the last line of defense in keeping union leaders honest and accountable to the members they claim to represent,” Boehner added. “The Labor Department should be commended for its efforts to enforce new standards of financial disclosure and transparency so that we can ensure that the democratic rights of working American union members are protected under the law.”
"Leave it to big labor bosses to file frivolous lawsuits that will only harm their rank-and-file members,” said Johnson. “It’s time big labor honchos stopped worrying about their own hides and started caring about the hard-working men and women who make up their membership. It is the same rank-and file members who want, need and deserve these reforms."-------------------------------------------
Send a lump of coal to Wal-Mart in three easy steps!
1. Find out why Wal-Mart deserves a lump of coal this year.
2. Personalize your holiday message to Wal-Mart.
3. Send coal to Wal-Mart.-------------------------------------------
Hazardous Labor by Tom Robbins, The Village Voice
Nothing illustrates just how messy democracy can be like a good old-fashioned internal union fight. And the bitter rift that has erupted within the 2,000-member union representing the city's asbestos removal workers is a prime exhibit.-------------------------------------------
IWA tension boils over as two locals brawl at mill By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun
The workers, members of the Vancouver local of the Industrial, Wood & Allied Workers of Canada, say they were attacked by more than 100 members of the IWA's Fraser Valley local.
The mob scene at the mill was a dramatic escalation of the coastal forest labour dispute, coming at 10 p.m. Tuesday within minutes of the provincial government passing back-to-work legislation.
It reveals the degree of tension that has built not only between the IWA and forest companies, but within the ranks of the IWA itself.-------------------------------------------
A nation of hypocrites on labor rights By JULIUS GETMAN and F. RAY MARSHALL
The rights of workers to organize, to strike and to bargain collectively are essential attributes of human liberty, recognized as such by treaties, court opinions, papal encyclicals, government officials and every major international rights treaty. One is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which the United States ratified in 1992 but has done little to implement.
Bush administration officials do not dispute the importance of these rights. They would probably even agree that sustainable growth and political and social stability all require free and democratic labor movements. They claim that worker rights are adequately protected and recognized in the United States. After all, our basic labor statute, the National Labor Relations Act, sets forth that workers have ''the right to self organization, to form, join or assist labor organizations to bargain collectively . . . and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.'' It also makes interfering with these rights an unfair labor practice.-------------------------------------------
Alberta joins Ontario in panning softwood deal while B.C. sits on the fence By AMY CARMICHAEL, CP
Alberta joined Ontario Tuesday in panning a proposal to end the softwood lumber dispute, while B.C. politicians continued to sit on the fence and many worried the deal would die.
"The B.C. government has got to start building consensus among the provinces and getting the players in line," said Gian Sandhu, president of Jackpine Forest Products, one of many small B.C. producers who say without a deal their companies won't survive another year.
But Alberta's Minister of International Relations told the federal government it wants to hold out for a bigger share of the U.S. market than is being offered to Canadian producers under the deal.
Saskatchewan seeks changes to softwood deal CBC
Saskatchewan is joining Ontario and Alberta in seeking changes to a proposed softwood deal with the United States.The province argues the deal is flawed and could devastate Saskatchewan's lumber industry. The biggest problem for smaller lumber producers is the quota being proposed by the United States.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 ::EPA Scraps Changes To Clean Water Act By Eric Pianin, Washington Post
The Bush administration yesterday abandoned plans for regulatory changes that would have sharply reduced the number of federally protected streams and wetlands, in response to strong opposition from environmentalists, sportsmen, lawmakers and state officials.
President Bush made the decision after the government received more than 133,000 comments opposing efforts to narrow the Clean Water Act's scope to effectively strip millions of acres of wetlands and waterways from federal protection and leave them vulnerable to being filled in by developers.-------------------------------------------
The Wal-Mart You Don't Know By Charles Fishman, FastCompany
The giant retailer's low prices often come with a high cost. Wal-Mart's relentless pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas. Are we shopping our way straight to the unemployment line?-------------------------------------------
Unions, builder spar over local hiring stats By MATT GRISWOLD
Stan McIntosh, business manager for Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 123, located in Dover, a small community in southern Hillsborough County, said his union has sent 40 people to Parrish and not one has been hired.
'I'll be surprised if I ever see them hired. They're just not going to do it,' McIntosh said.
Russell Leggette, an organizer for the Florida Pipe Trades, invited the Herald to take a look at the license plates on cars at the FPL construction site in Parrish.-------------------------------------------
Advice to Improve Union Publications By Harry Kelber
LaborTalk for December 17, 2003
It's inevitable that, like politicians, bankers and corporation executives, some labor leaders will become involved in criminal activities. When a union leader's wrongdoing was very serious and widely publicized, I felt I had to report it, while giving him an opportunity to defend himself in our newspapers. It was important to maintain our credibility with readers.
I applied that principle when then District Attorney Thomas Dewey, later to oppose Harry Truman for president of the United States, prosecuted officers of Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 302 for shaking down restaurant owners by guaranteeing them 'labor peace.'
I believe that nearly all of today's labor publications made a costly blunder by not reporting the insider stock-trading scandal at the Union Labor Life Insurance Company for an entire year after Business Week and The Wall Street Journal made it public.
The labor scandal was the worst in decades, involving 27 current and retired national labor leaders, in a scheme they all endorsed, that allowed many of them to gain huge profits in buying and selling ULLICO stock at very favorable prices. By covering up the scandal, the labor press lost a lot of credibility with many readers.-------------------------------------------
EPA's Presents for Big Polluters By Christopher Brauchli
Mercury has been identified by the EPA as the "toxic of greatest concern among all the air toxics emitted from power plants". It contributes to neurological disorders and is a particular threat to pregnant women. One has to applaud the EPA's straightforward description of the effects of mercury. Its proposal to ease the rules on its emission into the atmosphere is another matter.
According to a report in the New York Times, the EPA's newest proposal would make the upcoming 'legally mandated mercury regulation fall under a less stringent section of the Clean Air Act that governs pollutants that cause smog and acid rain, which are not toxic to humans.' The EPA estimates that 48 tons of mercury is released into the air each year by power plants.
New Bush-Bashing Website Debuts townhall.com
BushGreenwatch.org, a news-and-information website, debuted on Monday, offering what it called an "expose" on the Bush administration's "conflicting" messages on the dangers of mercury.-------------------------------------------
Labour leaders criticize government intervention By Jeff Rud, Times Colonist
The collective bargaining process in British Columbia is being seriously undermined by a provincial government too eager to intervene in disputes, labour leaders and the opposition charged Monday.
The legislature is reconvening for a special sitting today to push through legislation to end the coastal forest dispute. It's the latest in a string of examples of government wading quickly into fights between employers and employees.
Split appears in IWA ranks By Andrew A. Duffy, Times Colonist
There appears to be a split developing within the ranks of the Industrial Wood and Allied Workers of Canada over the union leadership's handling of the proposed means to end a three-week strike by 10,000 coastal forest workers.
The presidents of two Vancouver Island locals have suggested they were all but blindsided by a decision made by IWA national president Dave Haggard to agree to sit down in mediated talks with Forest Industrial Relations -- the bargaining unit for coastal forest companies -- and if no progress is made, mediator Don Munroe will have the right to impose a decision.-------------------------------------------
BUSINESS WIRE ULLICO's J for Jobs fund and Prudential's Union Mortgage Account have agreed to a strategic alliance to co-invest in first mortgages on projects built by union labor. Each fund will continue to be managed separately by ULLICO and Prudential-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 ::Officials urge firm to allow union By Kimberly S. Johnson, New Haven Register
Connecticut leaders came out in full force Monday, demanding that Chef Solutions allow workers to unionize.
The company has been at odds with the UAW, which is trying to organize 132 nonmanagement workers.
The protestors waved union flags and signs as speakers amplified their remarks. A giant inflatable rat was also on hand.-------------------------------------------
Mold changes dream house into nightmare By Chris O'Malley
Homeowners, attorneys and home inspectors blame mold on sloppy construction -- particularly involving homes with brick walls.
Some point to the home-building boom that tempted busy builders, desperate for labor, to hire bottom-of-the-barrel masons and other subcontractors. Those crews often failed to allow for a sufficient air gap between brick and the outer wood sheathing. Overwhelmed municipal building inspectors couldn't keep pace with the construction frenzy.
Whether construction quality is worse than ever is debatable. But experts agree that mold-related health problems may be more common today because of tighter, energy-efficient designs that reduce ventilation.-------------------------------------------
United Steelworkers win compensation for Westray survivor USWA / Canada NewsWire
United Steelworkers National Director Lawrence McBrearty announced Monday that the union has won a compensation claim for a former Westray miner who was so disadvantaged that he was forced to pawn the medal he received for his part in the attempt to rescue the 26 miners killed in the 1992 Westray mine explosion.
'The worker, a lifelong miner, had been cut off compensation for post-traumatic stress and had been unable to work,' said McBrearty. 'He was plagued with thoughts about what he saw underground in the rescue attempt.'-------------------------------------------
Decision to Keep 'Injury' Threat to Domestic Lumber Producers 'Wrong'; Consumers Urge NAFTA Panel to Again Reject Harmful Homebuyer Tax ACAH / PRNewswire
Industries that depend on lumber as an input, and that oppose import restrictions, include manufacturers of value-added wood products, lumber dealers, manufactured and on-site home builders, and remodeling contractors and individuals. These industries employ more than 6.5 million workers, 25 to one when compared with those in the forestry industry. ACAH represents more than 95 percent of U.S. lumber consumption.
ITC rules U.S. lumber industry injured by Canadian exports, keeps 27% duties CP-------------------------------------------
International to pay legal costs on constitutional challenge December 2003 On The Level
10-b settlement reached
After several weeks of negotiations with the International’s legal counsel Randall Hordo, the UBCJA has agreed to pay costs of $60,000 to the BC Provincial Council of Carpenters for the court case they lost attempting to seize the council books.
This fall, the BC Provincial Council applied to the courts for its costs and expects to receive the cheque in the very near future.
In Madame Justice Brown’s judgement on the International’s attempt to enforce Section 10B of the UBCJA constitution and take over the Provincial Council books in June of 2000, she characterized General President McCarron’s actions as being in bad faith and the British Columbia membership as being “adamantly opposed to McCarron’s plans for restructuring.” This opposition was clearly reinforced with the recent referendum result of 83 per cent in favour of transferring affiliation to a Canadian body.-------------------------------------------
Teens learn teamwork building homes By Frank Bentayou
Students in school programs have built 10 houses over the years, and all have sold quickly to eager families, generally before they're completed, says Darryl Kleinhenz, who coordinates the 7-year-old program for the city of Akron.
'It's a valuable program for so many reasons,' he says. Students get hands-on experience; a neighborhood gets a solid, new house where there had been a derelict structure or nothing at all; trades get skill training for the next generation of union members; the city gets a tax boost; a family gets a home.-------------------------------------------
Effectiveness Of Fireproofing Used In Trade Center Questioned wnbc.com/AP
A federal investigation into the causes of the World Trade Center collapse has reportedly called into question the effectiveness of the buildings' fireproofing.
The investigation's findings could lead builders in New York City and nationwide to re-examine how similar fireproofing is applied in other buildings.-------------------------------------------
Burglar steals entire kitchen from house Ananova UK
A burglar has been jailed after stealing an entire kitchen, including the sink, from an unoccupied house and installing it in his own home.
Patrick Corby used power tools to strip £30,000 worth of property from the house over a number of days, including the fitted kitchen, freezer and fridge, a dresser and carpets.-------------------------------------------
We Finally Got Our Frankenstein By Michael Moore-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, December 15, 2003 ::Welding Rods Linked to Early Onset of Parkinson's disease; Pennsylvania Men Sue Manufacturers PR Newswire, SOURCE Roda & Nast, P.C.
A 2001 study performed by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that welders who participated in the study developed Parkinson's disease an average of 15 years earlier than non-welders who developed Parkinson's disease.
The complaint alleges that exposure to the toxins in welding fumes, including high levels of Manganese, can damage the central nervous system and cause neurological problems. Other disorders caused by the toxins in welding fumes include manganese poisoning, and Manganism, according to the complaint.-------------------------------------------
A HELPING HAND: LABOR UNIONS PLAY BIG ROLE IN STOCKING AREA FOOD PANTRIES By ANDREA KAMPWERTH
The member unions that make up Southern Illinois Central Labor Council and are participating in the food drive are: AFSCME Council 31 in Springfield, Carpenters Local 638 in Marion, IBEW Local 172 in West Frankfort, IBT Local 347 in West Frankfort, IFT (Teamsters) in Centralia, IUOE Local 318 in Marion, Laborers in Cairo, Machinists in Percy, Plumbers Local 551 in West Frankfort, SEIU in Springfield, Sheet Metal Local 268 in Caseyville, UFCW Local 881 in Marion and Unite in St. Louis.-------------------------------------------
Racism in Temp Agencies NathanNewman.org
Just to emphasize what should be accepted, but continues to be disputed by those who oppose affirmative action and hiring goals, racism in the workplace is persistent and overwhelming. Just check out this new study by the Impact Fund. A summary from BNA Labor Report (no link):
The study that sent specially trained pairs of black and white job applicants to temporary employment agencies in Los Angeles and San Francisco found a 'significant preference' for white applicants over slightly higher qualified African Americans...
The agencies favored white applicants by a ratio of 4-to-1 in Los Angeles and more than 2-to-1 in San Francisco.
As examples, it said a white applicant was granted an interview, while the black counterpart was not; a white applicant was offered a job with a higher salary or for a higher duration; and a white applicant was the only one to be offered coaching or suggestions for resume improvement.-------------------------------------------
Pipe Company Charged With Environmental, Workplace Abuses ABC News/AP
Federal authorities on Monday accused a pipe manufacturer and five of its managers of fouling the environment and maintaining a workplace so dangerous that a worker died and many others were maimed.
The criminal charges against Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. were announced by the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey following the arrest of four of the managers at the company's plant in Phillipsburg. The fifth was expected to surrender before the group's first court appearance, scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern time in the federal courthouse in Trenton.
'This company has a notorious history of wanton pollution of our environment, evading detection at all costs, and ruling the workplace through fear and intimidation of employees, all of which is alleged in this indictment,' U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said.-------------------------------------------
Despite rejection, softwood deal still possible By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun
Producers won't have to wait long for the next step in the dispute -- a North American Free Trade Agreement ruling that is expected to come down today.
A NAFTA panel is expected to rule on a determination by the U.S. International Trade Agency that Canadian lumber imports had injured the U.S. industry. Under U.S. law, it is not enough to prove imports are subsidized. They must also be proven to have injured U.S. companies.
Even if the ruling is in Canada's favour, however, it will likely be remanded back to the International Trade Commission, resulting in no immediate victory, one of the reasons a negotiated settlement appeals to many companies.-------------------------------------------
LaborTalk for December 15, 2003 By Harry Kelber
A New Game Plan For Union Organizing (6)
This is the sixth of eight articles on union organizing.
A WINNING STRATEGY
As the organizing campaign develops, the workers will be watching to see who is stronger - the employer or the union. That is why the union must move aggressively to put the employer on the defensive. One way to do so is to run ads in the local newspaper in which five or six of the workers, with their photos, state why they need a union. The same material can be shaped into a leaflet, posted on the union Web site, adapted into a series of radio spots or made into a videotape.
The employer may decide to run his own ads featuring loyal employees. It won't enhance his image if he copycats the union's initiative. If he responds with a public statement opposing unions, that's fine: it means that the debate over whether these workers need a union is now out in the open.
Organizers no longer have to meet secretly with small groups of nervous workers to explain the advantages of belonging to a union. They can now convey the union message to all workers, including community residents, who can read it in the privacy of their homes.-------------------------------------------
Union, industry agree to legislated end to forestry strike By JEREMY HAINSWORTH, CP
The B.C. coastal forest strike will end this week after the provincial government announced Sunday it would impose legislation, a move the forestry union and industry agreed to.
The legislature will pass the legislation in a special sitting on Tuesday, Premier Gordon Campbell said.
Most sawmills on B.C.'s south coast have been behind picket lines since Nov. 21 with about 10,000 involved.-------------------------------------------
Mediator saves 'invincible' B.C. Ferry union from walk off plank By DIRK MEISSNER
Union lawyer Michael Walton emerged from the negotiating room early Friday man and was immediately asked for an update.
Without missing a beat, he said: 'We got them right where they want us.'
Thank You BC FERRY & MARINE WORKERS' UNION-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, December 14, 2003 ::Observe Right To Unionize By Making It Reality by Pat Youngblood and Robert Jensen, ZNet
Fifty-five years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set forth basic standards for what many hoped would be a new world emerging from the devastation of World War II and the horrors of colonialism. Among the rights articulated in that document is, "to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests."
This was in line with U.S. law; the 1935 National Labor Relations Act declared it the nation's policy to encourage "the practice and procedure of collective bargaining" and protect "the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection."
Unfortunately, the principle on the books is not the typical workplace reality in the United States today. Existing laws are inadequate, and employers routinely violate even those.-------------------------------------------
Postal Service, union denounce Mad TVs 'going postal' sketch Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The letter carriers union on Thursday joined the Postal Service in denouncing an upcoming Fox television comedy sketch about mail employees "going postal'' and demanded that it not be run as scheduled over the weekend.
The Postal Service had called on its employees to protest the sketch on Saturday's episode of "Mad TV.''
The skit features "disgruntled postal workers at odds with one another over who has the right to go on a shooting spree first,'' according to the program's Web site.-------------------------------------------
Ontario Gov't, 'Bulk Of Industry' Opposes US Lumber Plan By Lynne Olver, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The Ontario provincial government won't support a U.S. proposal to end the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber trade dispute, Ontario Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay said Thursday.
Among other items, Ontario lumber producers don't like the fact that only 52% of roughly C$2 billion in antidumping and countervailing duties already paid by Canadian producers to the U.S. government would flow back to Canada. In addition, quotas would only be assigned to existing exporters, Ramsay noted.
Lumber Dealers Urge US and Canadian Softwood Trade Negotiators to Reject Agreement Imposing Quota on Vital Softwood Lumber Imports National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association
“Historically, we have had to import at least a third of our lumber needs from Canada in order to have the quality of lumber required for construction of homes or remodeling. This agreement, if ratified, is clearly anti-business, anti-competitive, and anti-affordable housing. It only hurts US consumers, especially first time home buyers.”-------------------------------------------
The Case for Protectionism by Barbara Dudley
Given the desire of people of all nations to set their own standards, build their own economies, and given the great imbalance of power between multinational corporations and most developing countries (only 30 countries now have a GDP higher than that of Walmart), it is not useful or fair to punish developing countries for not controlling corporate behavior. What we want is to halt the “race to the bottom” in wages, working conditions, environmental and consumer protection. We want to insure the ability of workers in all countries to organize collectively against exploitation. We want to prevent the flight of investment to countries least able or willing to protect their workers’ rights, with the same investors then turning around and dumping their products in rich countries.-------------------------------------------
Saddam captured in dirt hole By HAMZA HENDAWI, AP
“I think it’s rather ironic that he was in a hole in the ground across the river from these great palaces that he built,” Odierno told reporters in Tikrit.-------------------------------------------
Bremer: "Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him." ScrappleFace - Comments:
"We captured Jack Elam?"
Posted by Rob the Right Wing Extremist at December 14, 2003 11:47 AM-------------------------------------------
Bush Signs Forest-Prevention Bill Confusion Road
'Forests are dark and forbidding places where witches and big, bad wolves can hide.'
Aside from the forest fire issue, Bush offered other reasons for preventing forests. 'Many evil things lurk in forests,' he explained. 'Forests contain thorny brambles that threaten to prick and cut innocent Americans. They are dark and forbidding places where young film students can get lost, and where witches and big, bad wolves can hide.'-------------------------------------------
EPA tells Cominco to pay for contamination study By LISA STIFFLER
U.S. regulators ordered a Canadian mining company yesterday to deal with pollution in Lake Roosevelt or they will do it themselves and try to make the company pay for it.
The Environmental Protection Agency sent a unilateral order to Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. demanding that the company pay to study contamination that dates back a century. If Cominco doesn't act within 30 days, the EPA will start the investigation and is threatening legal action to recover its costs.
Teck facing a court battle in dispute with U.S. EPA By WENDY STUECK
Border issue centres on B.C. smelter's discharge into Columbia River
Gil Arnold, chairman of the Environmental Mining Council of B.C., said Teck Cominco should try to work out a solution with the EPA to address significant health and environmental concerns.
He added that the company is enjoying strong metal prices and a buoyant stock price.
'My feeling is that [Teck Cominco] are in a position to clean this up and should get on with it,' he said.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, December 13, 2003 ::Drilling planned in untapped Alaska oil reserve By Yereth Rosen, AlertNet
The BLM may also allow drilling in and around the vast Teskekpuk Lake, which sits near the Arctic coastline and is currently off-limits to development. Until now, its shores were considered too important to birds, caribou and wildlife to allow oil rigs.
Critics say the BLM is caving to companies pushing to cut costs. They point to the specifics of the new rules for the northwest section, such as the allowance for gravel roads and airstrips if they are 'necessary to carry out exploration more economically' and drilling in rivers or streams if 'it is determined that there is no feasible or prudent alternative.'-------------------------------------------
Florida Greenpeace Case Hinges on 1872 Law By Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post
The saucy boardinghouse owners of the 1800s were such aggressive marketers that Congress passed a law to stop them from jumping on board harbor-bound ships and luring away sailors with booze and prostitutes. The 1872 law, which bans unauthorized boarding of ships about to arrive in port, never got much of a workout. It was used twice -- the last time in 1890 -- then disappeared from courtrooms for more than a century.
But now, after a 113-year respite, the law is back in action in an unusual case that pits the Bush administration against one of its peskiest foes: the environmental group Greenpeace. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami filed criminal charges against Greenpeace and a federal grand jury returned an indictment in July, more than a year after two of the group's supporters scrambled onto a ship bound for the Port of Miami-Dade that they suspected of illegally importing 70 tons of Brazilian mahogany.-------------------------------------------
Ferry crews end strike, premier vows 'never again' Jim Beatty and Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Campbell did not provide any details of how a law banning future strikes would work.
'Our goal is to make sure that when the next [labour] agreement runs out we don't face the same circumstance. We'll work with both the company and the union to find solutions on how we can make sure this does not happen again.'
Although his government is being criticized for imposing an 80-day cooling-off period too quickly -- denying the union the legal right to strike -- Campbell made no apologies.-------------------------------------------
Garage concrete caused concern By Jennifer Moroz and Amy S. Rosenberg
But more than a year earlier, Atlantic City building inspectors had raised concerns with project contractors about batches of concrete that repeatedly failed in tests to reach desired strength within the standard 28 days.
In addition, city records show instances of the concrete's slump - another measure of its strength - being out of range.
Instead of changing the concrete mix, contractors and project engineers extended the test period to 90 days - an allowable practice, city officials said, but one that two independent civil engineers described yesterday as troubling.
As recently as one month before the collapse, some batches of concrete were still more than 500 pounds per square inch short of the desired strength even after 90 days, city records show.-------------------------------------------
B.C. lumber giant Canfor rejects proposed softwood lumber deal with U.S. Canadian Press
Last year, Canfor moved to try to collect millions of dollars in damages from the U.S. government over punishing lumber duties, filing a notice of arbitration and statement of claim under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Canfor claimed damages of not less than $250 million US, saying U.S conduct in the longstanding softwood lumber dispute violated NAFTA prohibitions against arbitrary, unfair and discriminatory treatment.
So far, the Canadian forestry industry has been split over the softwood deal, which is likely to collapse unless a consensus forms backing the proposal among lumber producers and the federal and provincial governments.-------------------------------------------
Up Against Wal-Mart By Karen Olsson, MotherJones
At the first sign of organizing in a store, Wal-Mart dispatches a team of union busters from its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, sometimes setting up surveillance cameras to monitor workers. 'In my 35 years in labor relations, I've never seen a company that will go to the lengths that Wal-Mart goes to, to avoid a union,' says Martin Levitt, a management consultant who helped the company develop its anti-union tactics before writing a book called Confessions of a Union Buster. 'They have zero tolerance.'-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO pushes for new law By LEIGH STROPE, AP
The AFL-CIO is pushing for legislation to eliminate elections and certify a union after a majority signs authorization cards. It also would increase penalties for employers that intimidate or fire workers for union activity.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, December 12, 2003 ::Helping Hands PortlandTribune
• Carpenters Holiday Toy Drive, sponsored by United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Oregon/Southwest Washington regional office; union is collecting donations for Toy and Joy Makers. Money or toys are requested by Tuesday to be delivered Wednesday (though union will continue collecting and delivering donations). Items can be dropped off at union's regional office, 12790 S.E. Stark St., Suite 102. Checks payable to Toy and Joy Makers, 501(c)(3) Tax ID No. 936096777. Call 503-261-1862.
Elves (volunteers) working to spread Christmas cheer By MARSHALL WHITE
Thanks to the restorative-justice program at the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, the state prison in St. Joseph, more than 200 children will get a fully reconditioned bicycle as part of this year’s program.
The toy program worked with the AFL-CIO community center to identify eligible families for this year’s program.
Since 1994, Christmas Toys for Girls and Boys has reached out to more than 10,000 children, providing toys and bicycles to brighten the holidays for underprivileged children.
BNSF workers donate to strikers By LEO MONIZ
BARSTOW -- In a gesture of union solidarity and Christmas cheer, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad workers presented Vons strikers with gift certificates to grocery competitor Stater Bros. on Friday, challenging other local unions to give similar support.-------------------------------------------
Ferry strike over CBC News
The B.C. Ferries strike is over, after the company and the union agreed to send their contract dispute to binding arbitration as recommended by mediator Vince Ready.
The B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers' Union has taken down its pickets and the workers are back on the boats.
Businesses set to sue ferry workers for damages By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun
'It's very unfortunate that the provincial government, with the help of [BC Ferries president David] Hahn, who is from New York, set a trap for them and they've fallen in that trap,' Fryer said.
The union won't get the support of other unions unless the company decides to bring in replacement workers, he said.
Union leaders and members also could be fired for defying the law. Hahn said earlier this week that BC Ferries might bring in replacement workers if the strike continues.
Fryer said sending union leaders or rank-and-file members to jail would make them martyrs. He recalled union leaders Jean-Claude Parrot and Grace Hartman were both sent to jail during illegal strikes.-------------------------------------------
City inspector was at construction site just before garage collapse By JOHN CURRAN, AP
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The deadly Oct. 30 collapse of a parking garage under construction at the Tropicana Casino and Resort occurred less than an hour after a city building inspector examined the site of a concrete pour and found nothing awry, according to city records obtained under Freedom of Information laws.
Anthony Cox, 38, spent about 90 minutes inspecting the form work, the steel reinforcements in the rebar concrete and other preparations for the pour on 'P-8,' the eighth parking level of what was to be a 10-story parking garage.
He finished at 10 a.m., about 40 minutes before the top five stories of the building came crashing down, killing four people and injuring 20.
The city's chief construction official, Steve Frame, called Cox _ a carpenter by trade licensed by the state as an inspector for high hazard structures _ a 'well-seasoned veteran' of the construction trades.-------------------------------------------
Plans have changed for the Orange bridge Terri Miles, editor Amity Observer
Orange Board of Finance member Dave Moakley works as an organizer of the International Union of Operating Engineers. As a town resident, he recognized the bridge as an important resource for residents who hike the trails and for Scout groups that use nearby Camp Cedarcrest.
The bridge is constructed of several telephone poles, with two-by-six boards for railings and wooden slats for the walking surface. In the event of an emergency, the bridge is wide enough for the Orange Police Department to drive their ATVs across.
'We're going to be replacing it with an exact duplicate,' Moakley said. 'It's going to be designed by the Carpenters Union. They'll do the blueprints and construct it at their training center in Wallingford.' The completed bridge will be disassembled and trucked to Orange where it will replace the old bridge sometime next spring, according to Moakley.
City works to keep Baker By ROBERT GOLD, HollandSentinel.com
Moving the facility is a mistake, said Pierre Fowler, a shop steward at the Holland plant. Fowler is also financial secretary for the factory's union, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners.
'Baker Furniture is as much of Holland as the Tulip Time parade,' Fowler said, adding that many of the workers are highly skilled craftsmen who have spent decades with Baker.
Tuesday, Fowler and other members of the union's bargaining team met with Kohler. Fowler said they expected to discuss a new contract, since the current deal expires Friday. Instead, they were told the plant was closing.
Correction last week's carpenters' union story Hingham Journal, MA
Here is the corrected quote:
'We're lucky to have a delegation that understands the issues average working people face, particularly in the construction industry,' Mark Erlich, organizing director of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, said. 'I think this is a strong message to Erickson that the Carpenters Union is a credible organization that should not be ignored.'
The Journal, which incorrectly typed 'should now be ignored' regrets the error.-------------------------------------------
Use of foreign workers in Gold River riles jobless By Adrienne Tanner, The Province
Anger is mounting over a federal government decision to grant 11 labourers from India work permits to dismantle machinery at a defunct pulp mill in one of the most depressed areas of B.C.
Unionized trade workers gathered outside federal offices yesterday to protest the decision to import foreign workers to Gold River, where unemployment is high.
Wayne Peppard, executive director of the provincial building trades council, said foreign work permits are properly restricted to jobs for which no Canadians are qualified or available.-------------------------------------------
Campaign underway to name new bridge for killed worker By KEVIN COURTNEY
A movement is building to name the replacement Maxwell Bridge for Richard 'Chris' Stevens, the 20-year-old construction worker killed in last week's accident on Imola Avenue.
Stevens' mother, the local Sea Scouts and two labor unions are endorsing the renaming as a way of memorializing Stevens' death and recognizing all who do dangerous construction work.
Among old-timers, however, there is sentiment to retain the Maxwell name which honors Thomas Maxwell, a Napa civic leader from the first half of the 20th century.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, December 11, 2003 ::U.S., Canada tense over Iraq contracts By GEORGE GEDDA, AP
There was cross-border finger pointing as to which country was responsible last August for the worst power blackout in U.S. history.
Tensions also have been exacerbated by trade issues, ranging from U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber imports from Canada to U.S. restrictions on Canadian meat products because of a lone case of mad cow disease.
'It sure isn't working,' Charles O. Jones of the University of Wisconsin said recently, of the U.S.-Canadian relationship. He contends that Canadians are tired of the United States setting the agenda and expecting Canada to follow.-------------------------------------------
Unions Rally to Protest Labor Policy By John Crawley, Reuters
Thousands of union workers rallied at the Labor Department, marched on Wall Street and demonstrated in other cities on Wednesday to press their grievances against the Bush administration and U.S. business.
Billed as a day of protest to mark International Human Rights Day, assertions of on-the-job threats and intimidation against labor organizers and ordinary workers underpinned a larger call to defeat President Bush in 2004 and rewrite U.S. labor laws.
"We will remember in November -- and we will vote accordingly," said James Hoffa, president of the Teamsters union, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.
Europe Condemns US Workers Rights Violations posted by Nathan Newman
The sad fact is that the US repeatedly fails to live up to international law on union rights embodied in the UN Charter and the International Labor Organization agreements that it's signed:
“While Europe’s working people have the right to trade union membership and representation, workers in our major trading partner the USA, are often deprived of this right as more and more employers take advantage of the growing anti-union climate there”, said John Monks, General Secretary of the 60 million-member European Trade Union Confederation.-------------------------------------------
The George W. Bush G.I. JOKE Action Figure Mad Magazine - On the Stands!
This is Your Brain on Propaganda By Maureen Farrell, BuzzFlash
"I got to tell you, I watched it at home. I didn’t know it was coming. I thought it was -- I thought it was just about the most moving public moment in an American presidency since Ronald Reagan said, "Honey, I forgot to duck." And I think part of the reason that Bush is popular with the troops, with the people over there, with the American people is that he’s just -- he’s a really decent guy, who really, in that case, very showily, tried to do the right thing and the good thing."-------------------------------------------
Interim Order from LRB posted at BCFMWU Home Page
THE BC FERRY AND MARINE WORKERS UNION ARE INFORMING THEIR MEMBERS AND THE PUBLIC THAT THEY HAVE RETURNED TO THE BARGAINING TABLE THIS MORNING WITH BC FERRIES AND MEDIATOR VINCE READY. BARGAINING IS CONTINUING THIS HOUR.
Ferry union offers to resume service CBC News
VICTORIA - The president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union says ferry service could resume Thursday if the government rescinded its cooling-off period, and agreed to the essential service levels set by the Labour Relations Board.
Jackie Miller also says the union has contacted mediator Vince Ready and told him that the union is ready to resume negotiations – without any pre-conditions.
Miller said the union shut down all ferry service because the government acted too quickly in imposing a cooling-off period.-------------------------------------------
Two workers hurt at Tropicana to sue city, county, state By BRIDGET MURPHY
ATLANTIC CITY - Two construction workers injured in the Tropicana garage collapse plan to sue the city, county and state in separate actions, one claiming officials failed to properly inspect the casino site, the other charging they ignored dangerous on-site conditions.
Four workers died and nearly two dozen more were injured when five floors of the 12-story parking garage collapsed Oct. 30, sending hundreds inside running for their lives.-------------------------------------------
U.S. Consumers Concerned About Economic Impact on Homebuyers If New Proposed Duties Are Imposed on Softwood Lumber From Canada ACAH - PRNewswire
American Consumers for Affordable Homes (ACAH) strongly believes that the U.S. government must consider the economic impact of any so-called deal or proposal related to current duties imposed on Canadian Softwood lumber imports into the U.S., before they continue to push the burden caused by protectionist lumber companies onto the backs of first-time homebuyers, seniors, and other Americans who pay the cost for lumber duties. The proposal announced by the Department of Commerce will significantly harm U.S. consumers to the benefit of protectionist domestic lumber producers and landowners.-------------------------------------------
Raw Log Exports. Is It Legal? Woodworkers for Fair Forest Policy Society
Section 127 of BC's Forest Act bans the export of raw logs from British Columbia; however section 128 allows the minister of forests to grant exemption permits for raw log exports under strict conditions: if the timber is surplus to the needs of B.C. mills or cannot be processed economically in British Columbia.
Lawsuit Challenges Forest Service Plans to Clearcut Premier Alaska National Forest U.S. Newswire
Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging Forest Service plans to resume wide scale clearcutting of Alaska's Tongass National Forest. The Tongass National Forest, at 16.8 million acres, is the nation's largest national forest.-------------------------------------------
Fruitcake now security threat CBC News
MONTREAL - If you're travelling by air this holiday season, forget the fruitcake. At least as carry-on luggage. That's the advice of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 ::Fire-Resistant Details by John Underwood, Fine Homebuilding
Houses burn from inside out
At 400°F, curtains, wallpaper and bedding ignite. Wood studs spontaneously combust, or pyrolize, at about 450°F (steel studs melt and deform at only slightly higher temperatures). At that point, single-pane windows blow out from heat and ambient-pressure differences. Flame and heat rush in to meet interior combustion, thoroughly consuming structures. Whole houses can reach temperatures hot enough to weaken and spall concrete foundations. According to Laguna Beach Fire Chief Rich DuBerry, many if not most of the Laguna homes lost to fire burned from inside out.
Extreme heat -- with or without direct flame -- compromised the envelopes of houses and ignited material inside by entering houses through vents; poorly sealed doors or windows; and cracks in walls, subfloors or attics.-------------------------------------------
California Supermarket Chains Are Trying To Force Their 70,000 Workers to Surrender LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
Although AFL-CIO President John Sweeney declared on Oct. 10 that "these workers [UFCW members] are not alone, and have the full support of the entire labor movement and our allies," only a few unions have appeared on the picket lines in support of the striking and locked out workers. In fact, since two months ago, there has been nothing on the AFL-CIO's Web site about the health care struggle of the 70,000 embattled supermarket workers.
The UFCW has been much too timid in battling the chains, partly because it doesn't want to hurt them to the point where they will feel justified in making mass layoffs after an eventual agreement is reached. It's still "business as usual" for both managers and employees in most Safeway stores around the country.
Union leaders worry that if the three supermarket chains are seriously weakened, they will be easy prey for Wal-Mart, which is planning to open some 40 Supercenters in California in the next five years.
Wal-Mart: Always Low Wages, Always! Mike Konopacki cartoon-------------------------------------------
Teamsters Take Fight for Worker Rights to Nation's Largest Anti-Union Law Firm IBT - PRNewswire
Several hundred Teamsters, civil rights activists, other union members and supporters marched on the downtown Atlanta offices of Jackson Lewis today blowing whistles and chanting 'Jackson Lewis tries to screw us, but workers will fight back' and 'Jackson Lewis shame on you, shame on you for what you do.' The practice is the largest anti-union, anti-worker law firm in the nation.-------------------------------------------
War Opponents Denounce U.S. Rules on Contracts in Iraq By Jackie Spinner
The United States will not allow companies from countries that did not support the war in Iraq to bid on $18.6 billion in prime reconstruction contracts funded by U.S. taxpayers, effectively excluding firms from Russia, Germany, France and Canada from a large portion of the biggest nation rebuilding effort since World War II.
(with link to original document - pdf)-------------------------------------------
A lumber offer Canada should refuse By Peter Foster, Financial Post
One of the thorniest issues is how the proposed quota would be divided between provinces and their lumber companies. Part of the U.S. strategy has always been to drive a wedge between the regions, and they seem to have succeeded once again. Ontario and Quebec producers are up in arms because they believe B.C. producers will have an advantage in terms of quotas.
British Columbia, always the biggest offender in U.S. lumber lobby eyes, is moving towards a market-based system, but American producers don't really give a hoot. The main problem is not stumpage; it's the superior competitive skills of Canadian lumber companies.
The Americans' lumber clout flouts free trade By JEFFREY SIMPSON, The Globe and Mail
The deal seems reasonable on the surface. It would end tariffs. It would produce at least a temporary halt to legal battles that have already cost Canadian interests about $100-million. It would guarantee market access, albeit at a lower share than the 33 per cent of several years ago. Firms would get money back, thereby boosting their stock prices and bottom lines. Those who are worn out by this endless, intractable struggle could take a breather.
Look more deeply. The deal mocks everything Canada sought when this war began.-------------------------------------------
Naked Defiance in Rural BC By Bill Horne
A bogus brochure which appeared in the summer inviting tourists to 'Visit the New Ghost Towns of British Columbia' gave Barkervillians and their supporters a big boost. This guerrilla media version of official promotional material, designed by Vancouver artist and activist, Murray Bush, cried, 'See abandoned schools, hospitals, courthouses, forestry offices, entire towns!' and urged readers to write Premier Gordon Campbell about Barkerville. 'Even ghost towns are becoming ghost towns!'-------------------------------------------
Ousting Bush will be uphill struggle for American labour by Mike Martin
Looming over the heads of the unions is the dreaded possibility of a re-elected George Dubya in 2004 and the damage that a second term Bush could do to organized labour, one of the few critical voices remaining in the United States. But even as they gird for battle the US labour movement has less money to spend on its political activities. In 2000 the AFL-CIO spent $42 million in its failed attempt to stop Bush. For this cycle they have budgeted about $35 million.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, December 09, 2003 ::Infernal Racket by Tom Robbins, Village Voice
Richards had claimed to be using union labor at the Park Central job, but instead enlisted a crew of minorities and other workers paid far below union scale. A carpenters' union business agent named Martin Devereaux allegedly told other union officials that he couldn't enforce the contract because Richards's company was 'a gangster type.' But Richards later said his protection from the union was really purchased with a $50,000 bribe to Devereaux and his boss, Carpenters District Council president Michael Forde.
Forde and Devereaux have both adamantly denied the charges. 'There is no credible evidence that any money went to Mike Forde,' said Forde's attorney, Dino Lombardi. 'It is a very easy thing for a guy like Sean Richards to put a union guy in the soup.' Like Heifetz, the union officials have insisted on having their long-delayed day in court.-------------------------------------------
Unions rally aims to reverse declines By Tom Ramstack
"I think the Bush administration has shown itself time and time again to be antiworker," Miss Windham said.
The Bush administration denies the accusation.
"The administration is committed to working with anyone who wants to work to advance the president's agenda for creating an environment where jobs can be created for American workers," said Claire Buchan, White House spokeswoman.
Labor Department spokes-man Ed Frank said, "The Department of Labor is not here to be pro-union or pro-business. We're here to be pro-worker."
Nevertheless, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has said his political strategy for the next presidential election is to replace President Bush with a Democratic rival.
Mr. Sweeney criticizes the Bush administration for proposed changes in overtime laws he says would strip eight million hourly workers of overtime pay. The Bush administration disagrees, saying the changes would extend overtime pay to 1.3 million more low-wage workers.-------------------------------------------
America's Hidden Human Rights Problem by Mark Weisbrot, ZNet
'Unions -- the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend,' reads a popular union T-shirt. It's true enough -- and we could add a sizeable list of other benefits that most people associate with social progress: employer-sponsored health insurance, pensions, and paid vacations.
But unions in the United States find themselves increasingly having to fight for their very existence. This week, on International Human Rights Day (December 10) thousands of union members and their allies around the country will demonstrate for the right to organize.
This is something that was supposedly established here in 1935 during the New Deal. But this right has been so eroded in recent decades that -- to the disgrace of the world's richest democracy -- it hardly exists at all.
That was the conclusion of a 213-page report by Human Rights Watch, one of the world's largest human rights organizations, written three years ago. And it keeps getting worse. Tens of thousands of workers are fired each year for joining or attempting to organize a union, in violation of U.S. law. But the penalties for employers are so slight that they have what Human Rights Watch calls 'a culture of near impunity.'-------------------------------------------
Unusual structure may have been held together by roof By Allan Woods, National Post
A key witness to the collapse of the Uptown, which dates back to 1920, said he watched a crane operator cutting beams that ran along the roof of the building with metal cutters.
"He cut little pieces first and then he cut a big steel beam from the roof and when he cut that one, then the whole damn thing came down like a ton of bricks," said Harry Lesik, 65, who was outside the nearby Manulife Centre. "There was very thick white dust everywhere. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face."
The theatre's outer wall fell away from the building and on to a neighbouring school.-------------------------------------------
McCarron's "Unbalanced" Policy on Softwood Tariffs cartoon by dave2300
... Softwood tariffs; yet another ridiculous policy failure of UBCJA International President Douglas J. McCarron
smaller file without header quotes-------------------------------------------
Seafarers Union Denied Injunction to Shut Down Reformer Website ufcw MFD forum
In denying the injunctive relief sought by the SIU, the court ruled in its findings that Michael Sacco, President of SIU is a public figure and open to public criticism.
The court also ruled that Sacco failed to provide the court with clear and convincing evidence that Swanson knew his statements were false, or that he made them with reckless disregard for their truth or falsity.
Although a small victory, it is a moral victory for all union reformers and their quest to inform and educate union members about the truth about their unions through the medium of the Internet.-------------------------------------------
Canada government: Americans insecure WorldNetDaily
Focus-group report urges citizens not to boast near 'sensitive' Yanks
An American from San Diego is quoted saying: 'What bugs me about Canadians, if I may, is that they wear that damn patch on their bags, the Canadian flag patch. That way, they differentiate themselves from us.'
Canadian flag causes flap in the U.S. By Jack Aubry, The Ottawa Citizen
Maple Leaf on baggage irks 'sensitive' Americans-------------------------------------------
Turkeys on the Moon By Michael Moore
Dear Mr. Bush:
Well, if you're planning any surprises for Christmas, don't forget to include me. When I heard last week that you wanted to send a man back to the moon, I thought, get the fake goose ready – that's where ol' George is going for the holidays! I don't blame you, what with nearly 3 million jobs disappeared, and a $281 billion surplus disappeared, and the USA stuck in a war that will never end – who wouldn't want to go to the moon! This time, take ALL the media with you! Embed them on the moon! They'll love it there! It looks just like Crawford! You can golf on the moon, too. You'll have so much fun up there; you might not want to come back. Better take Cheney with you, too. Pretend it's a medical experiment or something. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for every American who's sick and tired of all this crap."-------------------------------------------
Timber firms split on ending tariffs By JAMES GUNSALUS
'Neither side got what we wanted, but both sides got what they needed,' said John Ragosta, a lawyer representing the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, a U.S. industry group.
Frank Dottori, Tembec chief executive officer, called the proposal 'an absolute giveaway' and said he may sue over the limited access provision. Domtar said the deal provides 'no clear path to free trade,' and Canadian analysts questioned whether the U.S. would indeed lift restrictions in three years.-------------------------------------------
Asbestos cleanup expands to second Montana town; EPA cites health problems among residents By Bob Anez
The western Montana town of Libby was contaminated with asbestos fibers from a vermiculite mine that was operated by W.R. Grace & Co. from 1963 to 1990. Asbestos contamination has been blamed for some 200 deaths and health problems of hundreds of other area residents.-------------------------------------------
Six Need-to-Know Tips for a Safe Workplace White papers on Human Resources topics
Human Resources managers are often responsible for making sure that employees don't get hurt on the job. You may have this responsibility but either haven't really gotten comfortable with it or addressed it as well as you'd like. This article provides six tips to help you reduce the frequency of workplace accidents—and the chance of being inspected by federal or state safety regulators. It also provides some ideas for reducing your workers' compensation claims and premiums.-------------------------------------------
Statement by OSHA Administrator John Henshaw on Appeal of OSHRC's Decision U.S. Newswire
'OSHA believes strongly that the Commission decision is wrong. OSHA issued 'instance-by-instance' citations in this case because of Ho's egregious conduct. Ho took absolutely no action to protect his workers, and failed even to tell them of their exposure to asbestos. When the state of Texas ordered Ho to stop work because he was also violating its requirements, Ho's only response was to perform the work at night, with the building locked, so he would not be discovered. The effort to avoid detection failed when a gas explosion seriously injured three workers. The explosion was caused by Ho's order to open a valve, even though he did not know what the valve controlled.-------------------------------------------
B.C. ferries hit by strike CBC News
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said in October that people who live on Vancouver Island and in coastal communities would not be "held hostage to a labour dispute."
Union members voted 97 per cent in favour of strike action. Union officials say they're opposed to management's demands for wage concessions, changes to work hours and contracting out.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, December 08, 2003 ::Nearly 1,000 Teamsters Gather Sunday To Protest Benefit Cuts By David McArthur, WAVE, KY
UPS Teamster Tony Blair made and wore his own T-Shirt for the meeting. It read: 'Where's the funds Hoffa?'-------------------------------------------
A New Game Plan For Union Organizing (5) By Harry Kelber
This is the fifth of eight articles on union organizing.
THE EMPLOYER OFFENSIVE
A favorite tactic of the consultants is to spread a rumor that if "outsiders" (the union) are allowed into the workplace to dictate policies, the enterprise will cease being competitive; there'll be layoffs and a possible plant shutdown or a relocation elsewhere.
Actually, it's the "insiders" (employees), not "outsiders," who make bosses and managers lose sleep for fear they might decide to join a union. It's sheer nonsense to say that the union wants to take over management's job of running the company. What most workers want is a voice in determining their conditions of employment, and that's what the union provides.
Management consultants often make a big deal of the dues and assessments that employees would have to pay if they became union members. They may circulate a leaflet containing photos of various home appliances that workers could possess for the cost of the union dues they would have to pay.
You may wonder why employers are suddenly so interested in saving their employees' money. What really bothers them is that the dues money will be used to strengthen the union, so it can be more effective at the bargaining table.-------------------------------------------
SOFTWOOD LUMBER DEAL BAD FOR CANADA CEP Media Release
Canada’s largest forestry workers Union wants to delay ratification of any softwood lumber deal with the U.S. until all stakeholders, including workers, have a chance to see and study all of the details.
“ From what we have seen so far, the proposed deal is bad for Canada because it could lead to direct American control of Canadian forestry policies and would pit one province against another,” said Brian Payne, president of the 150,000 member Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
“ Canadians must retain sovereignty over our biggest single natural resource,” Mr. Payne said. “ This deal will cede control of our forests to the American Department of Commerce and the U.S. lumber industry. We want a settlement of this dispute but one that will respect how we as Canadians decide to develop our forests and our communities.”-------------------------------------------
Protecting the right to unionize By Robert J. Haynes and Kathleen A. Casavant
IMAGINE A PLACE where you were spied on just for speaking your mind. Imagine a place where you were forced to attend meetings pushing a line you disagreed with and weren't even allowed to speak. Imagine a place where you were fired just for signing your name. Does this sound like another country or something out of the distant past?
The fact is this is what happens every day in America's workplaces when workers try to form unions to improve their lives. Half of US workers say they would form a union tomorrow to win fair treatment and a voice on the job, but here in Massachusetts and in thousands of other workplaces across the country, workers are being lied to, harassed, threatened, coerced, followed, disciplined, and even fired when they try to exercise their legal right to form a union.-------------------------------------------
Tentative softwood deal met with mixed reaction CTV.ca News Staff
The Canadian timber industry appears divided over whether it comes out ahead in a proposed deal to end the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute. The reaction comes even before the deal has formally been announced.
While the Canadian government won't confirm any deal, news that the U.S. government and its domestic producers have agreed to terms is widespread.
Carl Grenier of The Free Trade Lumber Council told CTV News he thought Canada came out on the short end of the stick.
"Canada is very much the looser," he said. "This would be a big mistake. A deal like this, I think, is a bad deal and shouldn't happen."-------------------------------------------
Large independent navigates through shrinking PR scene By Teresa F. Lindeman
These days, i2 Technologies is still an important customer, but the once-roaring tech firm has suffered through restructuring, a Nasdaq delisting and shareholder lawsuits. Skutski's biggest account is the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, which is using the firm to help promote a less adversarial image within the building industry.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart's Big City Blues by Dan Levine, the Nation
Wal-Mart's vital statistics are remarkable. Annual sales ($244 billion) comparable to the gross domestic product of Austria. Plans to open a new Supercenter every two days. No unionized American workers.
The last bit is one of Wal-Mart's keys to profitability. By keeping wages close to subsistence level, the Arkansas-based retailer offers low prices that draw herds of gleeful shoppers away from the competition. Little wonder the company dispatches squads of unionbusters whenever its happy 'associates' breathe the phrase 'living wages.'-------------------------------------------
READY OR NOT FOR BRIDGE DAY By Scott Moyers
The crews of carpenters, equipment operators, iron workers, laborers, teamsters, concrete finishers and electricians are already working 12-hour days, six days a week.
There's a small night crew and workers have already been told they're going to have to work Sunday in order to get the bridge finished by Dec. 13, which is nearly seven years after the groundbreaking ceremony in 1996.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, December 07, 2003 ::Civil liberties concerns rise in wake of FTAA events By Michael Kuchta
Minnesota union members who traveled to Miami said police in Robocop-style riot gear carried out nonstop intimidation and repression.
“They absolutely crushed people when there was no provocation,” said Steelworker Tara Widner. She said police even attacked and gassed a medical tent treating wounded demonstrators.
“The cops were really strutting their stuff,” said Rob McKenzie, president of Auto Workers Local 879. “They were very belligerent, very intimidating. It was frightening.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Larry Weiss, director of the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition, which organized much of the local opposition to the FTAA. “Everything was done under a massive police presence.… They were clearly making a statement that First Amendment rights don’t exist the way they used to.”-------------------------------------------
The Inflatable Union Rat By Chuck Salter
Dissecting the inflatable union rat.
You've seen it around: a giant creature with menacing buckteeth, long claws, and red, beady eyes. It's a regular at union protests and strikes, wherever there's labor tension. If the Rat could speak, it would get right to the point: 'So I moved your #@!% cheese. You wanna do something about it?'-------------------------------------------
U.S. government, lumber industry agree to terms for ending softwood dispute By STEVE MERTL
A spokesman for International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew would not confirm a deal was in the works.
'Discussions have progressed this week but we're not at a point where we have an agreement,' said Sebastien Theberge. 'The discussions and consultations will continue over the next few days.'
But Canadian industry sources said a deal hammered out early Saturday morning would lift punishing softwood duties and give lumber exporters duty-free access to the U.S. market up to a level of 31.5 per cent. Above that, a levy of $200 US per thousand board feet of lumber would kick in.
The complicated arrangement, which would be retroactive to Saturday once a final deal was signed, would run for three years but could be extended on an annual basis after that, the source said.
After three years, Canadian provinces that make their forest policies more market-oriented and pass a review by the U.S. Department of Commerce could increase their duty-free share by five per cent in the fourth and fifth year and 7.5 per cent after that.
And if after three years the provinces that make up 75 per cent of softwood exports pass the U.S. Commerce Department's so-called changed-circumstances review, then there would be total free trade in softwood for companies in those provinces.-------------------------------------------
'Miserable failure' links to Bush BBC News
George W Bush has been Google bombed.
Web users entering the words 'miserable failure' into the popular search engine are directed to the biography of the president on the White House website.-------------------------------------------
Johnstown America Fined Thousands for Safety Violations; Company's Anti-Union Antics Backfire Once Again United Steelworkers of America
The Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) has fined railcar maker Johnstown America Corporation $3,700 for multiple violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Johnstown America has meanwhile said it will make amends for suspending a union activist when he refused to comply with company orders to work in violation of the Act.-------------------------------------------
Pearl Harbor survivors: the men of ’41 By LON WAGNER, The Virginian-Pilot
The group still has 63 members. Some can’t make it to the meetings at all, others can’t drive and need a son or daughter to give them a ride.
Those who can attend understand a touching irony: Each time the group shrinks, those left behind become even more important to each other. A death means one less person who understands what happened 62 years ago today, one less to tell the story to those who weren’t there.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, December 06, 2003 ::Dean & Libertarians Hate "Right to Work" Laws posted by Nathan Newman
Given how bad labor laws are at this point, I'd pretty much support the Libertarian position on complete repeal of national labor laws, from right-to-work to the ban on sympathy strikes to Presidential interference with strikes.
If we could hold onto a basic right to free speech in the workplace, the rest of the apparatus of the labor laws could be thrown in the trash with little loss and a lot of gain for workers rights.-------------------------------------------
B.C. Federation of Labour Calls for Continued Action to End Violence Against Women
Vancouver—December 6 marks a tragic moment in Canadian history, when in 1989, 14 innocent women were murdered at L'Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, said Angela Schira, Secretary-Treasurer of the British Columbia Federation of Labour.-------------------------------------------
Unions In The Cards By Jonathan Tasini
A union representation election in the workplace is nothing we would recognize as a fair and democratic process. Indeed, the reality more closely resembles a scene from a dictatorship in a repressive country: workers (voters) are fired or threatened with the loss of their jobs, and they endure a steady stream of negative videos, forced meetings and written messages in their paychecks warning them of the dire consequences that await them if the union should win.-------------------------------------------
U.S., Canada softwood accord near By Peter Morton and Ian Jack, Financial Post
Sources close to the talks last night said the U.S. lumber industry has signed off on a deal that would see Canadian producers have a duty-free access to 31.5% of the market. Canadian lumber over that would face an import duty at least US$200 per thousand board feet, a standard measure of construction lumber.
But what remained to be sorted out last night was how the four Canadian provinces, as well as the Maritime provinces, would divide up the market.
Lumber firms big threat to proposed softwood deal By STEVEN CHASE, PETER KENNEDY, BARRIE McKENNA
OTTAWA, VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON -- Opposition from Canadian timber companies is shaping up to be the biggest threat to consummating a deal that's been largely hammered out by Canada and the United States on ending the $10-billion cross-border softwood dispute.
Some forestry producers are angry at what they consider a weak deal taking shape, including Ottawa's willingness to let the United States keep almost half the $1.7-billion (U.S.) in duties collected so far by Washington, cash they fear will end up in the pockets of U.S. lumber mills.-------------------------------------------
B.C. Liberals launch new round of contract breaking Web posted by NUPGE
Legislative doublecross
Earlier this year, Labour Minister Bruce brought in legislation to force 13 unions in the community social services sector to bargain together as a new association of unions at one table with CSSEA.
CSSEA is now claiming that the creation of the new association means the existing contracts with individual unions are invalid. At the same time, Gordon Hogg’s ministry of children and family development is demanding a $35 million cut in compensation to the workers.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO Calls for Investigation of Police Abuse at FTAA March aflcio.org/
The letters ask Ashcroft and Gov. Bush to conduct separate independent investigations of police behavior and prosecute those responsible for the abusive actions. Sweeney demands all unlawful charges against peaceful protestors be dropped and Miami Police Chief John Timoney resign. Sweeney also asks Ashcroft to determine the extent to which federal funds were involved in the abuse and denial of rights.-------------------------------------------
Friends remember bridge accident victim By MARSHA DORGAN
On Wednesday, workers were building a wooden structure, called a falsework, to support a reinforcing network of steel bars and serve as the form for the concrete deck of the bridge.
Emergency officials said workers underneath the bridge at the time of the collapse were adjusting hydraulic jacks used to hoist the wood framework in order to align the two sections of the bridge.
Officials believe one of the metal jacks gave way, causing eight beams of steel and several tons of wood to crash to the ground.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, December 05, 2003 ::Rail Engineers' Union Approves Merger with Teamsters Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters
BLE members approved the merger by an 81% to 19% margin in the United States and 63% to 37% in Canada, making the BLE members part of the largest private-sector trade union in North America.
'Today two great unions begin a partnership to strengthen our ability to represent workers across the transportation spectrum,' Hoffa said. 'The Teamsters have always had a vision for a seamless transportation union giving workers real power on the job and in the political arena. This historic merger brings us closer to our union's vision.'-------------------------------------------
Tears, cheers greet end to Bush steel tariffs channelnewsasia.com
The steel industry, which earned a reprieve from some low-cost imports since the March 2002 duties were imposed, expressed disappointment but stopped short of criticizing the president.
Meanwhile, union leaders lashed out at Bush for backing down in the face of international pressure, and leaders of steel-consuming industries praised the president for undoing the damage caused by the tariffs.
Steelworkers Rip Bush, Fret for Future By JUDY LIN, AP
Workers and union leaders vowed to back the Democratic opposition in the 2004 presidential election.
"Our union will now work very hard to make sure George W. Bush joins the ranks of the unemployed next year," said Mark Glyptis, president of the 3,000-member Independent Steelworkers Union at West Virginia's bankrupt Weirton Steel Corp.-------------------------------------------
Chong Family Values by Steven Mikulan
“Operation Pipe Dreams,” as the government dubbed its commando raids on head shops and accessory makers, used as its battering ram Title 21, Section 863(a), of the U.S. Code, which, among other things, makes it a crime “to sell or offer for sale drug paraphernalia.” This statute was a study in taxidermy collecting dust until 1994, when the Supreme Court, in Posters ’N’ Things v. United States, ruled that head-shop owners did not have to know that their smoking pipes, roach clips and coke spoons were being used for illicit purposes to be prosecuted. Still, most vendors thought they could get around the ruling by creatively renaming their products, so that bongs suddenly became “tobacco pipes.”-------------------------------------------
Websites help you do holiday shopping the union way Workday Minnesota
USA — The president says shopping is patriotic. So if you’re spending during this holiday season, show how patriotic you really are - and do your conscience a favor, too - by spending on union-made goods made in America.
That’s not easy to do in many stores. So the AFL-CIO is promoting a series of websites where you can buy union-made clothing and other goods direct.-------------------------------------------
Bush Thanksgiving bird turns out to be another turkey By Alec Russell
The reputation of White House spin doctors for obsessively manipulating President George W Bush's image came under the spotlight again yesterday when it emerged that the turkey he appeared to be serving to troops in Baghdad was not for eating.-------------------------------------------
Carpenters local ousts Hernandez By Michael Puente
Hernandez says he was just two years from retirement, having served in the position for 18 years.
He views his ouster as discrimination, with him being one of only two Hispanics in top level posts with the union.
He also says the union has no blacks in its higher ranks.
According to Hernandez, he was eliminated because he was helping minorities move up.
“I’ve been helping Hispanics and minorities in general,” Hernandez said. “My record is unblemished. I’ve never had any disciplinary actions.
“This isn’t fair. I’ve had to put up with racial slurs and jokes.”-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, December 04, 2003 ::Union official quit port panel after indictment By Steve Walsh
The former union official was indicted by a federal grand jury Sept. 8, in connection with the sale of 55 acres of land to the carpenters union by Kevin Pastrick, son of the East Chicago mayor, and Peter Manous, former chairman of the Indiana Democratic party.-------------------------------------------
Unions fight over privatized workers Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun
HEU and IWA both want health-care employees
Two of B.C.'s most powerful unions -- the IWA and the Hospital Employees Union -- are battling over who should represent thousands of health-care workers whose jobs are being privatized.
It's a dispute that threatens the solidarity of the labour movement, the head of the Canadian Labour Congress says.-------------------------------------------
Napa bridge collapse kills worker By PAUL PAYNE
Authorities said several workers were adjusting jacks between two large supports underneath the bridge when eight steel beams and several tons of wood fell. The workers were trying to align the container into which a concrete deck section would be poured with previously built deck sections when 'something went wrong,' city spokesman Barry Martin said.
Four workers were on top of the structure and four were below when it fell.
Two workers standing on the deck were injured as they 'rode the collapse to the ground,' said Darren Drake of the Napa Fire Department.-------------------------------------------
Work resumes at casino where garage collapsed By Amy S. Rosenberg
IATLANTIC CITY - Work quietly resumed yesterday on portions of the $245 million hotel tower and expansion at the Tropicana Casino Resort, nearly five weeks after four workers were killed in the collapse of a parking garage under construction there.
The garage remained off limits, its cracked concrete layers and hanging rebar suspended in a giant cascade of debris. Demolition is expected to begin in four to six weeks, said Tom Foley, Atlantic City's emergency management chief.
But on Iowa Avenue, a single cement mixer turned, the truck parked where the bodies of the four men had been carried out by their colleagues Oct. 30.
33 days after Trop crash, construction begins again By JOE WEINERT
Tropicana's owner, Phoenix-based Aztar Corp., said work resumed on the 504-room hotel tower and part of the five-acre themed retail village called The Quarter.
'I'm sure there are enough eyes on the job to make sure it's safe for everyone to go back in,' said Ed Rafferty, superintendent for Safway Steel Scaffolds of Folcroft, Pa.
No construction work is allowed in the integrated parking garage, where the collapsed concrete decks and twisted rebar remain in plain sight. Aztar and Keating officials declined comment on the status of the demolition or removal of the affected portions.-------------------------------------------
For Bush, Unease in Steel Country By Amy Goldstein, Washington Post
'It's a broken promise,' said Andrew W. Mikilos Jr., 53, a heavy-equipment operator who has worked for U.S. Steel for 29 years. 'We haven't had adequate time for the steel companies to reorganize so we can compete,' said Mikilos, president of Local 1557 of the United Steelworkers of America. 'We are watching jobs leaving the United States in a flood.'
Pete Janicki, 45, an ironworker for 27 years and president of USWA Local 2227, said: 'He made a promise to the steelworkers. Now it looks like he is going to renege on it. . . . We did our part: the consolidation, job cuts, job combinations.'-------------------------------------------
Carpenters' training center breaks ground Thursday By NATALIE CHAMBERS
MOSS POINT -- A groundbreaking ceremony for the new $1 million Carpenters Regional Training Center on Miss. 63 is set for 10 a.m. Thursday.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 ::Reform Officer Takes on Challenges Facing Women in Both the Teamsters and the Workplace by Marsha Niemeijer, Labor Notes
Sandy Pope is currently Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 805 in Queens, New York. Her local represents warehouse workers, truck drivers, office workers, and blue-collar university workers. Approximately 25% of the membership in her local are women.
Labor Notes interviewed Sandy and asked her what barriers she sees for women who want to be leaders in their union-to serve as an example for other women and in order to improve their union.-------------------------------------------
The Village Voice: Cartoons: Bush Reelection Strategies by Ward Sutton-------------------------------------------
LaborTalk for December 3, 2003 By Harry Kelber
Voice@Work Offers Wealth of Materials But Avoids Workers’ Troubling Questions
Voice@Work assumes that it is helping unions improve their faltering organizing campaigns by repeatedly advertising the employers’ intimidating tactics and inviting abused victims to tell their horror stories at rallies and in videos. Here is their litany, with statistics, of the lengths employers will go to protect their “union-free environment:”
25% of employers fire at least one worker for union activity during organizing campaigns.
75% of employers hire union-busting “consultants” to help them fight organizing drives.
78% of employers force their workers to attend one-on-one meetings with their supervisors to pressure them against unions.
92% of employers compel their work force to attend mandatory “captive audience” meetings to listen to anti-union propaganda.
52% of employers threaten to call the Immigration and Naturalization Service to intimidate their undocumented workers during an organizing campaign.
51% of employers threaten to close their plants and relocate elsewhere if the union wins an NLRB election.-------------------------------------------
Softwood lumber talks gain ground By STEVEN CHASE AND PETER KENNEDY
After three years, British Columbia, Quebec and one other province could graduate to free trade in softwood lumber as a group, if all had reformed their regimes to suit Washington.
Softwood from Canada is highly prized in the United States for building and renovating homes.
If a deal is struck in Washington talks, it still must be approved by each government after consultations with their respective industries.-------------------------------------------
A century of unions: Members, leaders think they’re still misunderstood By DEBORAH J. MYERS
For 100 years, the Teamsters have worked as an employee advocacy group. The union has been around in the Finger Lakes region since the 1930s. Although shipping and trucking firm employees dominate the organization’s membership, the Teamsters are present in employment sectors ranging from secretaries to janitors. Even Mickey Mouse is a Teamster — costumed workers at Walt Disney World are covered by the union.-------------------------------------------
Holiday wishes & end of the year reflections... website *postcard* from Anne Feeney
Pittsburgh, December 3
There are more people out on the streets for peace, for fair labor standards, for human rights. There are more people involved in direct action, in politics and general hellraising than any time that I can remember... more people seeking answers and educating themselves. The coming year brings great opportunities to us. As 2003 comes to a close, I hope each of you will stay out of Walmart and purchase only union-made goods and the work of independent artists and artisans.
-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO sues over new financial-disclosure rule By Leigh Strope, AP
The AFL-CIO is suing the Bush administration in an effort to block a new regulation that requires the nation's largest labor unions to disclose financial details, such as how much they spend on politics, gifts and management.
The suit, against Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, was filed last week in federal court in Washington. It says Chao was 'arbitrary' and 'capricious' and exceeded 'her statutory authority' in issuing the regulation. It takes effect next year, but unions will not have to file until March 2005.
The labor federation wants the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to postpone the rule from taking effect Jan. 1 and to permanently block its implementation.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 ::The Internet and the Labour Movement by Armand Roy
The Labour Movement has traditionally been a culture of paper and verbal communications. For many years there have been numerous attempts at creating a national newspaper or magazine directed primarily towards Labour’s message. These attempts have never achieved their desired goals. Funding and support have always been the most difficult challenges and often lead to the demise of left-of-centre media initiatives.
Within the movement itself much of its communications is carried on through printed material - brochures, posters, pamphlets etc. The only other method that is utilized to pass on information is through direct personal verbal communications. Often it is through meetings, schools, conferences and conventions that most of the communications takes place.
Most recently the internet has begun to play a more significant role. But its use is not as widely utilized or relied upon as expected. Even though Canada is one of the most connected countries in the world, many within the Labour movement are still apprehensive to use the technology. A brief history will help to explain.-------------------------------------------
A Really Shitty Court Decision NathanNewman.org - News and Views
I wish conservatives (or liberals) would get upset about this kind of judicial activism. This decision by the Eighth Circuit overrode a requirement by the Department of Labor that an agribusiness company provide toilets near where workers labored.
You can read through the decision, but it's a torturous bit of judicial second-guessing of the labor department with the simple goal of making exploited agricultural workers lives as miserable as humanly possible.
Apparently, demanding that a toilet be available within a quarter mile of where you labor in the fields is too much decency to ask.-------------------------------------------
Labour din grows By KEVIN DOUGHERTY
Thousands march 'Day of Disruption' called for Dec. 11
A massive crowd of between 20,000 and 30,000 people protested outside the National Assembly yesterday in freezing temperatures.
Participants denounced what they called the "Charest-Taillon" government agenda, which aims to overhaul provincial labour laws to allow more subcontracting of government services.
The demonstration, spearheaded by the 280,000-member Confédération des syndicats nationaux, was directed as much against Gilles Taillon, president of the Conseil du patronat du Québec, as against the Liberal government of Premier Jean Charest.-------------------------------------------
Shoppers spend early Rocky Mountain News:
At REI in Denver, Ed and Diane Gomez of Fort Lupton were buying each other snowshoes. But the couple doesn't plan to buy much more than that. 'We're going to be very conservative,' said Diane, 46.
Ed, 43, works as a union organizer for local carpenters, a lot of whom have been out of work. 'I'm not going to buy very much this year,' he said.
Council committee gives OK to beer-store limits By Anthony S. Twyman
Jerry Coughlin, business agent for Local 1856 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, which would get many of the construction jobs the new store would create, also supported the proposal.
'We have hundreds and hundreds of carpenters out of work,' Coughlin said. 'Quite frankly, we need those jobs, and we need them now.'-------------------------------------------
Steelworkers Demand Investigation USWA Press Release
PITTSBURGH — The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) is calling for a Congressional investigation into "a massive police state," created in part with federal funds, to intimidate union members and others critical of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and limit their rights during FTAA meetings in Miami last week.
"Last week, the fundamental rights of thousands of Americans … were blatantly violated, sometimes violently, by the Miami police, who systematically repressed our Constitutional right to free assembly with massive force, riot gear and armaments," said Leo W. Gerard, USWA international president, in a letter to Congressional leaders.-------------------------------------------
Shaping tomorrow’s building blocks By George Couch, WNR
New wood products and processes for home building are always under construction at the Forest Products Laboratory.
The first all-wood prefabricated house was built using plywood panels at FPL in 1935; two more demonstration houses were erected in 1937. The designs helped provide low-cost housing during the depression. FPL’s “Techniques of House Nailing” instructed apprentice carpenters and homeowners who bought more than 100,000 copies from 1947-57.-------------------------------------------
A New Kind Of Poverty By Anna Quindlen, Newsweek
America is a country that now sits atop the precarious latticework of myth. It is the myth that work provides rewards, that working people can support their families. It’s a myth that has become so divorced from reality that it might as well begin with the words “Once upon a time.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1.6 million New Yorkers, or the equivalent of the population of Philadelphia, suffer from “food insecurity,” which is a fancy way of saying they don’t have enough to eat. Some are the people who come in at night and clean those skyscrapers that glitter along the river. Some pour coffee and take care of the aged parents of the people who live in those buildings. The American Dream for the well-to-do grows from the bowed backs of the working poor, who too often have to choose between groceries and rent.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, December 01, 2003 ::A New Game Plan For Union Organizing (4) By Harry Kelber
This is the fourth of eight articles on union organizing.
THE IDEAL UNION ORGANIZER
If unions are to grow, they’ll need bigger, better and more successful organizing campaigns. That means they’ll also need a larger pool of well-trained organizers.
The job of union organizer is the toughest in the labor movement. Yet many unions don’t pay much attention to selecting and training their organizers. They may pick seasoned workers from their own ranks or hire smart college kids, sending them to a weekend course at the AFL-CIO’s Organizing Institute and perhaps a short, follow-up apprenticeship with an organizing campaign.-------------------------------------------
Pressure-Treated Wood: The Next Generation by Daniel S. Morrison, Fine Homebuilding
Nearly 40 million lb. of arsenic is used in this country every year, and most of it goes into the pressure-treated wood that we use to build decks and playgrounds. But that all changes Jan. 1, 2004. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is banning chromated copper arsenate (CCA) as a preservative for wood intended for residential use (except for the lumber that is used in permanent wood foundations). CCA-treated lumber will still be available for industrial and agricultural use, however.-------------------------------------------
US Shoppers Join Counter Revolution by Duncan Campbell
Benefits Battle Could Be One of Most Critical Strikes in American Labor History
The stakes are high. Victory for the strikers would accelerate attempts to unionize other big service companies, say union organizers; defeat could have a chilling effect on recruitment. Union leaders say the strike could be the first round in a fight in which major companies seek to reduce traditional benefits because they claim they are being undercut by vast non-union firms, such as Wal-Mart.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO employees giving up two days' pay to avoid layoffs By Leigh Strope / AP
The AFL-CIO is enduring a budget shortfall so severe that its own workers are taking two days of unpaid leave to avoid layoffs, even as the labor federation attempts to mobilize its largest-ever political campaign.
Dubbed 'solidarity days,' the days off were agreed to this past summer in contract negotiations between managers and the union representing about 200 workers at the AFL-CIO, an umbrella organization of 64 international unions. Managers also have agreed to take the unpaid time.-------------------------------------------
Construction Apprentice Numbers Reach 5000 BCITO press release
A milestone in New Zealand building industry training has been reached with the signing up of the 5000th apprentice in training at any one time with the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO).-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, November 30, 2003 ::Bush Dropping Steel Tariffs to Avert Trade War By Mike Allen
The Bush administration has decided to repeal its 20-month-old tariffs on imported steel to head off a trade war that would have included foreign retaliation against products from politically crucial states, administration and industry sources said yesterday.-------------------------------------------
Back to Child Labor in North America by Bill Tielman
Believe it or not, Premier Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals are about to bring child labour back to British Columbia after it had been banned by the province since the Depression years of the 1930s.
In early December, the Liberals will put in place regulations filling in the details of Bill 37, legislation passed in October that amends the Employment Standards Act to allow children as young as 12 years to work full-time.
These regulations are, appropriately, being implemented as our thoughts turn back to the time of Charles Dickens, who not only penned A Christmas Carol but also wrote about the terrible conditions of child labour in the time of the Industrial Revolution in England.-------------------------------------------
Buy American? It takes effort By Gary Gosselin
Buying gifts stamped MADE in USA, however, may not be easy. More than 50 percent of all manufactured goods sold in this country are imported.
Unions, however, are trying to make the process easier, publicizing Buy Union Week, Nov. 29 through Dec. 7 with ads, promotions and resources, such as Web sites www.nosweatshop.com and www.justiceclothing.com, which list companies that offer American-made products.
'You can fill 10 shopping carts with union-made gifts through these companies,' said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in a statement kicking off the event. 'You could shop all day at any mall in the U.S. and have problems filling even one cart with U.S. union-made goods. That's an indication of how bad the economy is for U.S. workers, but here is a chance for us to start turning things around.'
Take the Sweat(shop) Out of Holiday Shopping AFL-CIO
Buy Union Buy Canadian British Columbia Union Label Trades Council
'I am a union worker and I shall not undermine the welfare of my fellow brothers and sisters. Canadian working people laboured too long and too hard for me to destroy their gains by purchasing non-union.'
'I am a trade unionist and refuse to reward those who have opposed my existence and way of life. I will not permit my union-earned dollars to penetrate the walls of those establishments where a union card is the same as a 'No Vacancy' or 'Not Welcome'. As a person who believes in the dignity and rights of people, before I buy I shall look for the Union Label, Shop Card or Service Button. In so doing I will strengthen the security of men and women who believe as I do in the goals of a free labour movement. Buy Union Buy Canadian.'
'I am a union family person who has been blessed with a decent living. I have come to enjoy better things because of the devotion, dedication and the desire of those before me who laboured to provide a standard of living unparalleled in the world. I shall not destroy all their efforts and render helpless all the causes they so earnestly fought to win for workers.'
'I am a member of organized labour and will never forget I would not be able to purchase the amount of products I do without a union job and, therefore, common sense and a deep commitment to the ideals of our movement and demand that I purchase those products which will further our cause.'
'I will support and strengthen my fellow brothers and sisters by using a simple tool -- The Label Golden Rule -- Buy Union Products and Use Union Services as You Would Have Union Wages Paid Unto You!'-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart gives, and Wal-Mart takes away By ABIGAIL GOLDMAN and NANCY CLEEL
By squeezing suppliers to cut wholesale costs, the company has hastened the flight of U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas. By scouring the globe for the cheapest goods, it has driven factory jobs from one poor nation to another.
Wal-Mart's penny-pinching extends to its own 1.2 million U.S. employees, none of them unionized. By the company's own admission, a full-time worker might not be able to support a family on a Wal-Mart paycheck.-------------------------------------------
Union leader returns from sunny vacation to name calling, strike By Michael Smyth
Forestry union leader Dave Haggard returns from a two-week vacation in the sun this week to the cold reality of 10,000 workers freezing on the picket lines in the brutal coastal forestry strike.
Haggard, president of the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers, will face several cold fronts after his toasty-warm Grand Cayman Island getaway: Critics from both inside and outside his once-powerful union are slamming his leadership.-------------------------------------------
Dems race divides allegiances of union members By John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times
Worried over factory closings and loss of jobs, 21 industrial unions across America are backing Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, who is known as labor's man in Washington. Workers in overalls and hard hats want to show their continued loyalty to a politician who has amassed a near perfect voting record in favor of their causes.-------------------------------------------
EPA talks with B.C. smelter end on sour note By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, AP
The company's lead and zinc smelter at Trail, B.C., is considered the prime culprit in the pollution of the lake, which is the portion of the Columbia River behind Grand Coulee Dam.
Teck wants federal help with EPA By Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun
Teck's Trail smelter discharged about 400 tonnes per day of heavy metal-laden slag into the Columbia, about 15 kilometres north of the border, for 90 years until a major cleanup effort in 1994.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, November 29, 2003 ::After the big U.S. steel meltdown By Greg Keenan
Stripped down to its essentials, the model involves:
Eliminating the huge legacy costs of pensions and retiree health care that helped push Acme, Bethlehem, LTV and a host of other steel makers into bankruptcy protection;
Drastically reducing management ranks;
Making steel with fewer unionized employees, streamlined contracts and compensation that relies more on incentives and bonuses.
Irony And Steel By By George F. Will
Once upon a time, Democrats understood that when Republicans protected, as they did for decades, American industry from the inconvenience of price competition from abroad, the result was higher prices -- a hidden tax -- paid by consumers. Today Democrats advocate protectionism, which they call 'fair trade,' in the name of protecting what tariffs actually destroy: American jobs. The steel tariffs are, for example, a $100 tax on every new American car and on the creation of jobs for autoworkers.
Bush imposed the tariffs to court steelworkers. There are 124,000 of them nationwide.-------------------------------------------
Voice of the People By KATHLEEN PACULA, letter to editor
As the proud wife of a union ironworker with Local 350, I was horrified by the comments made by Joseph Milano in the Nov. 2 story, "Collapse at Tropicana/Home's where the clothes are, not the family."
Milano, who had been forced out of his house because of the collapse at the Trop, complained about having to wear dirty clothes and said, "Work at the World Trade Center was 24 hours a day. But these guys have to have their weekends off."
Let me enlighten you, sir.
Have you ever had to wait for more than an hour to see if a family member was alive? We did. Have you ever had to wait to see if a union member could be found? I think not, or your insensitive remarks would have never been spoken.
You see, Mr. Milano, while you were complaining about your clothes, there were people with far more tragic things going on in their lives. We have children without fathers, wives without husbands and parents without sons. We have men dealing with the stress of what they saw and others who are still hospitalized.
Instead of whining about your dirty clothes, why don't you donate your time or money to the Salvation Army, the Red Cross (which was outstanding) or the victims' fund?
As for the police, firefighters and all the other workers, they put in ungodly hours and did not take the weekend off. My husband and his union brothers worked 30 hours straight through Friday. They were back again on Saturday and Sunday with three shifts going on.
I can only conclude that Milano must have very little regard for human life, as do the store owners who complained about losing money.
KATHLEEN PACULA-------------------------------------------
Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Miami Police Conduct During FTAA Ministerial Meeting Protests
The AFL-CIO is deeply disturbed by the unwarranted and unjustifiable use of intimidation and force by police against peaceful protesters during the FTAA ministerial meeting.-------------------------------------------
The New Unity Partnership: Sweeney critics would bureaucratize to organize By Herman Benson, Union Democracy Review
In 1995, the Carpenters and UNITE both voted the old guard against Sweeney the reformer. The other three backed Sweeney. When McCarron pulled the Carpenters out of the AFL-CIO, Sweeney announced that Carpenter locals would be barred from AFL-CIO state and city federations. In a serious rebuff, an unusual coupling of the building trades and the New Unity Partnership defeated Sweeney and blocked his move.
Wilhelm and O'Sullivan head two unions once heavily infiltrated by organized crime. Their unions, at least at the national level, were freed from organized crime, not by internal insurgency and reform, but by the U.S. Department of Justice. Wilhelm and Stern, who have both earned reputations as modern, progressive leaders, are allied with McCarron who exchanges mutual public expressions of admiration with President Bush.-------------------------------------------
Rescue workers say trench lacked safety features By ANNE MILLER
According to OSHA guidelines, excavation trenches deeper than 7 feet must have sloping sides, bracing on the walls or a type of cage to keep workers safe, all of which can prevent mudslides.
Last year, 92 workers died at construction sites for residential homes, according to the national Bureau of Labor Statistics. The statistics did not include information on incidents related to excavation trenches.
There were no safety measures in the trench where Koons died, said village of Colonie Fire Chief Ed Sim.-------------------------------------------
The human factor - Update on OSHA's ambitious ergonomic undertaking Author: Jane Sleeth, Canadian Occupational Safety magazine
Ergonomics is not a science in the way that occupational hygiene is. We are not at a point where we can state that 'so many parts per million of exposure to a hazard will result in a specific injury or illness.' In my experience and opinion, the best and most effective route is to work closely with compensation boards, employers and unions as well as consultants and research experts to provide employers and unions with appropriate and well researched guidelines. Of course, the very best method still seems to be educating employers about the cost savings associated with good design and the application of these guidelines at all points in the process. This always motivates employers to move forward in the development of ergonomic processes and design which positively impact all stakeholders. After all, money talks.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, November 28, 2003 ::Cancerous Complacence By Matt Bivens, The Nation
Three years ago, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer came out with a startling investigative report. It began: "Millions of brakes on cars and trucks -- and millions more waiting on parts-shop shelves nationwide -- contain asbestos fibers that can kill mechanics." The report found broad acknowledgment of health risks to some 750,000 car mechanics across America –- because changing brake shoes or even changing tires can send up clouds of carcinogenic asbestos dust. It documented that federal officials had done less and less each year to police asbestos in brakes; while everyone from the mechanics to cancer researchers to government regulators seemed to have assumed asbestos brakes were long ago banned.
They weren't.-------------------------------------------
Carpenters break away from international union By Pavlina Napastiuk, Prince Rupert
Ken Lippett, president of the local carpenters union, says he supports the B.C. Carpenters Union's move to "sever ties" with their international parent, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
According to Lippett, 83 per cent of B.C. members voted last week to tear away from the Washington, D.C.-based union.
"Right now we're in a fight with those guys," said Lippett. "We've had it with those guys. They're continuously interfering with Canadian affairs. They're totally unwilling to grant us autonomy. They've never really played a positive role in our relationship with them."-------------------------------------------
Labour renews call for general strike canada.com
VANCOUVER (CP) - B.C. labour activists renewed their call for a general strike Wednesday and are initiating an action plan to defeat the provincial Liberals.-------------------------------------------
Quebec unions demonstrate against proposed labour code changes CBC News
QUEBEC CITY - Since he announced plans to 're-engineer the state' Quebec Premier Jean Charest has been the target of almost weekly demonstrations by labour unions, denouncing his plans to amend the provincial labour code to allow for contracting out.-------------------------------------------
Contractor Negligence, Defective Supports among Charges in Wrongful Death Civil Action Filed on Tropicana Garage Collapse U.S. Newswire
This was a huge, high-stakes construction project that was built like a flimsy house of cards," added Mongeluzzi. "Industry experts will testify and the record will show that those responsible for this project and the safety of the workers were more interested in getting the job done quickly than doing it safely, violating accepted industry standards, and risking people's lives."
Widows sue over collapse of A.C. casino garage By Jennifer Moroz
In a complaint filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, Nancy Wittland and Joleen Bigelow allege that negligence on the part of the companies caused the Oct. 30 construction-site accident that killed ironworkers Michael Wittland, 53, of Pleasantville, N.J., and James Bigelow Sr., 29, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J.
Two concrete workers were also killed and two dozen other workers were injured when the top five decks of what was to become a 10-floor, 2,400-space parking garage suddenly gave way as concrete was being poured on the top floor.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, November 27, 2003 ::HELPING AMERICA WORK: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century Workforce By Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao
I am pleased to have so many representatives of organized labor at this Summit. In my meetings with union leaders as Secretary of Labor, we are finding a number of issues where there is common ground to strengthen America's workforce.
For example: Doug McCarron, President of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Doug and I have talked at length about workforce training as the future of his union.
And Cecil Roberts of the UMW is also here with us. I've had similar conversations with him, John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO, and John Wilhelm of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union.
But this issue doesn't just matter to unions. It matters to business as well. It matters to our country.-------------------------------------------
LaborTalk for November 26, 2003 By Harry Kelber
You’d never believe it, unless you were there and saw it with your own eyes. And it happened, in all places, the AFL-CIO’s 2001 convention in Las Vegas.
Sitting in the convention hall were the 22 delegates from the Service Employees International Union, each entitled to cast 57,887 votes. Not far away was the delegate from the California Labor Federation, representing 2.1 million members from 1100 local unions. He was limited to only one vote.
Each of the 9 delegates of the Laborers’ International Union had 34,000 votes, while the delegate from the New York Central Labor Council, representing 1.2 million members in 400 local unions was allotted one vote.-------------------------------------------
Air Canada Service Staff Get Burger-Coupon Bonus Reuters>Oddly Enough
MONTREAL - Pleased with workers who scored top marks on customer service, Air Canada recently picked 100 at random to give them a bonus -- a $3.78 hamburger coupon that expires in five weeks.-------------------------------------------
The bad boy of Alberta labour By Alan Kellogg
Not bad for a union that's been suspended from the umbrella Alberta Federation of Labour and the national Canadian Labour Congress for raiding members from other unions. Apparently being turned out of the House of Labour leads to even nicer digs, at least in the shifting sands of Alberta.-------------------------------------------
Every Day Is Workers Memorial Day By Jordan Barab, Confined Space
This is a workplace health and safety site and I write frequently about workers dying on the job, almost always from causes that could have been prevented by simple compliance with common OSHA standards. But we talk too often in terms of statistics, or names, or snippets from newspaper articles. Then the people are forgotten and we move on until all-too-soon, it happens again.-------------------------------------------
Union workers' anger may give Gephardt a boost By Matt Stearns
In Des Moines, contract talks between the United Steelworkers and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. collapsed partly because of the company's resistance to making capital improvements to the plant, said Dennis Green, the union local's vice president. Green suspects the company wants the plant to 'die on the vine.'
One big union backing Gephardt is the Teamsters, whose Cedar Rapids local has lost about 500 jobs to NAFTA, said Ron Hunt, the local's secretary-treasurer.
'Jimmy's made no bones about it,' said Hunt, referring to Teamsters International President James P. Hoffa. 'We're going balls to the wall for Gephardt. This is what I look at: Who's gonna take care of my people? He's battin' 1.000 with us.'-------------------------------------------
AUD's 'Best Rank-and-File Website' Contest - Using the Internet to Organize for Democracy and Power
deadline for entry is 12/30/03
Overview: The theme of AUD's 'Best Rank-and-File Website' contest is using the internet to organize for democracy and power. There are now hundreds of independent rank-and-file websites in North America operated by individual union members or reform groups. By holding this contest we hope to accomplish three things: 1) to spotlight the great work that rank-and-file webstewards are doing and make their work known to a broader audience, 2) to promote the use of the internet as an organizing tool for union reformers, and 3) to encourage discussion among rank-and-file webstewards about what works and what doesn't -- both technically and in terms of organizing -- so we can all be more effective.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 ::Mountain Area prepares for influx of workers at Yosemite National Park By Jan Jarvis
Workers are being paid Davis Bacon wages, which means they receive union scale and would have to be paid for their time during at least one leg of the shuttle journey. During winter months, workers will be expected to use their own transportation to get to Yosemite Valley. In the summer, when there is more tourist traffic in the park, worker parking may be designated at a staging area which would mean a shorter shuttle ride to the work site.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO’s Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy Expects 4 More Years at 2005 Convention By Harry Kelber
LaborTalk for November 26, 2003
You’d never believe it, unless you were there and saw it with your own eyes. And it happened, in all places, the AFL-CIO’s 2001 convention in Las Vegas.
Sitting in the convention hall were the 22 delegates from the Service Employees International Union, each entitled to cast 57,887 votes. Not far away was the delegate from the California Labor Federation, representing 2.1 million members from 1100 local unions. He was limited to only one vote.
Each of the 9 delegates of the Laborers’ International Union had 34,000 votes, while the delegate from the New York Central Labor Council, representing 1.2 million members in 400 local unions was allotted one vote.-------------------------------------------
BC Carpenters Free At Last UFCW Members for Democracy forum
After years of fighting oppression within their union, BC Carpenters are free at last. According to a media release issued late last week, members of the BC Carpenters Union voted overwhelmingly to give the UBCJA International Union the boot.
discussion, posted by liacatsplit:
This is tremendous news for the advocates of One Member - One Vote ! There is no better way to democratize existing internationals! Take away the delegate voting system, which is an excellent example of injustice, and give it back to the members! This is just the beginning and I see these large internationals succumbing to the member's desire to have a voice in "their" union!
Congratulations to the BC Carpenters who are blazing the trail for the rest of us, and good luck with the new alliance with CEP. You definitely have my support!-------------------------------------------
Bucket of concrete injures workers By LESLIE FERENC
Four men laying bricks on the outside of an uptown condominium likely didn't see a 5-tonne bucket of concrete as it came hurtling down on the scaffold where they were working, sending them plunging to the ground 15 metres below, a worker says.
The accident happened at about 11:10 a.m. yesterday at the Minto Gardens condominium under construction at 45 Sheppard Ave. E., near Yonge St.
The men, believed to be members of the Universal Workers Union, Labourers' International Union of North America, Local 183, were working on a tarpaulin-covered scaffold when the massive bucket fell as it was being hoisted by a crane to the 21st floor. It snapped their platform in half like a Popsicle stick, police said.-------------------------------------------
Labor agency reversal / Wage, hour rules pulled from Web to return to site Jenny Strasburg
'The opinion letters are what's controversial here,' said Tom Rankin, president of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, in an interview before the labor agency's about-face. 'It sounds like they don't like what's in the opinion letters, so they decided to remove them from public view. It's very strange for an administration that's supposed to be interested in open government.'-------------------------------------------
USWA Calls for Congressional Investigation into Police-State Assaults in Miami USWA Media Release
"Last week, the fundamental rights of thousands of Americans … were blatantly violated, sometimes violently, by the Miami police, who systematically repressed our Constitutional right to free assembly with massive force, riot gear and armaments," said Leo W. Gerard, USWA international president, in a letter to Congressional leaders.-------------------------------------------
US House panel urges further probe of Ullico deals By Peter Szekely (Oct 28th)
In its report of the scandal, the Republican-controlled House Education and Workforce Committee said it was 'deeply concerned' that the board members' dealings may 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,' panel Chairman John Boehner said in a statement.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 ::Protests mark Bush's first visit to Las Vegas as president By KEN RITTER, AP
Many demonstrators carried signs reading 'No Nuke Dump in Nevada.' Others brought handmade signs referring to broken promises and issues including the Iraq war, union policies, Medicare, abortion policy, and the Patriot Act.
Opponents of Yucca Mountain say Bush broke a campaign pledge to let 'sound science' decide if the nation's nuclear repository should open 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart's War on Workers: Frontline Report from Pennsylvania, Florida, and Nevada UFCW Press Release
In the same case Wal-Mart was found guilty on eight charges of interfering with and suppressing workers right to support union organizing efforts including:
-- Spying on employees.
-- Coercively interrogating an employee concerning the union sympathies and support of other employees.
-- Transferring anti-union employees into the voting unit to dilute union support.
-- Transferring a union support out of the voting unit to undermine union support.-------------------------------------------
Georgetti urges public-private union solidarity CBC
In a reflection of the ongoing tension between private and public sector unions, many of the delegates refused to stand and applaud at the end of his speech.-------------------------------------------
Confined Space blog posted by Jordan Barab
They'll sure think twice about killing any more of their employees...
The wrath of big government again...
"InChem Corp. at 800 Cel-River Road was recently fined $350 by state regulators for serious safety violations.
The state [South Carolina] Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the fine after an investigation that started after contract employee Emerson Sturgil was killed at the InChem plant in June. The 70-year-old Fountain Inn resident was an employee of Operatos Unlimited, a firm that hires out wastewater operators.
According to the OSHA report, Sturgil was standing on a ladder that was leaning on an over-pressurized carbon filtration canister, which exploded. Sturgil was thrown head-first into a concrete wall and killed, the report stated.
The employer knew, or should have known, that the equipment could be operated at unsafe pressure levels, the report stated.
The company has since installed pressure-relief devices on the equipment, the report stated.
InChem officials were not available for comment Wednesday.
Sturgil's death was the third fatal incident in six years at InChem, which makes chemicals used in coatings in hot-melt adhesives. Since 1995, the company has been fined about $54,000 by OSHA for safety violations."
Hey, it was only the third person they've killed in three years. If they don't watch out, the next person they kill might cost them $500.-------------------------------------------
Carpenter Dictatorship Institute Mind Control In Delegate Training!! By Mike Griffin, From The WarZone
When 83% of the British Columbian Carpenters voted to withdraw from the UBC I was shocked; but when McCarron said in an LA Times interview that they were communists, I understood why they wanted to leave. Those damn Commies always want something. They are all over this country and a majority of the UBC members are commies, wanting the right to vote. So are the rest of the unions and that is why the UBC withdrew from the AFL-CIO and why our friend Doug McCarron is trying to form a new kind of union where we won't have to worry about members interfering with his strong leadership. I sure hope the international leadership can keep them under control; you know, stifle dissent, punish them; the same agenda our friend in the White House has. Now I know why it is important for McCarron to fly around on Air Force One, invite Bush to labor gatherings; after all, George W said we were his kind of union! I was concerned when I saw a picture of Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, in the new training center in Las Vegas. Though he is reviled in Illinois by organized labor and was considered our most anti-union legislator, I am sure McCarron will turn him around. Still, I hope there was a good reason why he was learning how to use a screw gun.-------------------------------------------
Framing a Bay-Window Roof by Scott McBride, Fine Homebuilding
For as long as architects have been drawing bay windows, carpenters have been scratching their heads about framing the roofs.-------------------------------------------
USWA officials seek ouster of CSB leader By Lisa A. Abraham and John Higgins
Officials from the union that represents Akron-area rubber workers appeared before the Summit County Council on Monday calling for the ouster of Children Services Executive Director Joe White Jr.
They were angry about comments that White made about rubber workers in a letter he sent last week to several thousand supporters of Children Services.
In the letter, White explains the agency's position on its negotiations with striking members of Communications Workers of America Local 4546. White calls the local ``inflexible and unwilling to adapt to changing times,'' and goes on to state, ``It is this type of rigid, backward thinking and a failure to collaborate that drove the rubber industry from our city.''-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, November 24, 2003 ::Ft. Benning, GA, 23 November By Anne Feeney
I saw some protesters engage in the sort of mischief that in the 50's or 60's would have precipitated an outraged 'I'll make sure your parents hear about this!' from a cop or a neighbor. In 2003 the response is chemical weapons.
A fairly highly placed AFL-CIO official told me that the march route was unilaterally changed by the Miami police on the day of the march in complete contravention of the negotiated route. Compliant union members simply capitulated and marched the police-dictated route... out of the sight of the public. An AFL-CIO marshal confiscates my coffee cup 'for my protection.'
Fort Benning was even sadder.
Miami reporter unclear why she was arrested at FTAA protest AP
Delgado was charged with two misdemeanors, failure to obey a legal command and resisting arrest without violence. The charges were dropped Friday and she was released.
Protesters and officials from the AFL-CIO, which organized a Thursday march against the FTAA, have accused the police of overreacting, saying officers attacked and arrested peaceful protesters along with those who were violent.
FTAA protesters believe deeply in their causes By ''What the FTAA will do is it won't help people in other countries. It will misuse and abuse them and take jobs away from us here,'' said Joy Randolph, a West Virginia steelworker. ''The workers in other countries are not our enemies. We need to bring their standards up instead of lowering ours.''-------------------------------------------
A NEW ORGANIZING STRATEGY By Harry Kelber
This is the third of eight articles on union organizing.
The standard organizing method that unions use has built-in disadvantages. It calls for playing by the rules that are blatantly stacked in the employer’s favor.
The workplace that the union is trying to organize is the employer’s fortress, a terrain where he wields total control. He exercises his “free speech” rights to denounce the union, hinting that he’d sooner shut down and relocate than recognize an “outside party.” His supervisors are on the lookout for any signs of pro-union activity and hold frequent one-on-one meetings with his workers, pressuring them to have nothing to do with the union.
At “captive audience” meetings, called whenever he wants to, the employer subjects his entire work force to a barrage of antiunion speeches and videos. And if these efforts fail, he relies on his ultimate weapon: firing pro-union workers, just so everyone else on the job gets the message.-------------------------------------------
Forestry union readies proposal By PETER KENNEDY
Both union and industry officials said the strike comes at a time when the forest sector is being hit not only by labour strife, but also by punitive U.S. duties on softwood lumber and spiralling costs that the industry has said are among the highest in North America.-------------------------------------------
Insurance premiums hammer construction By SCOTT WYLAND
Aside from charging more, insurers often impose restrictions on the type of work contractors can do.
Carriers are especially spooked about multifamily housing, because a lawyer can rally tenants into filing a suit, Erwin said.
To remodel apartments, he must pay an additional $10,000 a year for the coverage.
Alan Mullins, owner of Capitol Gutter Service, said his insurance policy puts multifamily housing off limits.
He can't install gutters on apartments, Mullins said. Nor can he work in subdivisions where two or more houses are built on speculation, because insurers consider those projects as multi-family, Mullins said.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, November 23, 2003 ::Asbestos makeover reignites old battle By PETER GORRIE
The jolt of fright came at the bottom of an information sheet sent to reporters:
"This press release is printed on chrysotile paper."
Why should that simple statement lead to nervous tremors?
Because chrysotile is not just any old ingredient in paper. It's a form of asbestos. And asbestos is a convicted mass-killer, one of the most feared substances on Earth.
Over the past century, it has caused millions of deaths, and the annual toll is still at least 100,000.
Asbestos is so lethal that most uses have been abandoned, and it is banned outright in more than 20 countries. It isn't outlawed here. But it has been so effectively cast into utter darkness that most Canadians could be excused for complacently believing it's an issue of the past.
U.S. Senate puts asbestos bill off until next year Reuters AlertNet
Labor unions have said that at least $153.8 billion would be needed to pay the claims of people with asbestos-related diseases.
Google News Search: asbestos other current asbestos news articles-------------------------------------------
Arresting the Future by Tom Hayden, Alternet
The police force continued operating with the brains and appetite of a carnivorous shark today as city officials kept demonstrating 'the Miami model' of suppression even as protestors and trade ministers were leaving the city in droves.
At a Friday afternoon press conference, Thea Lee, the chief international economist of the AFL-CIO, spoke of feeling terrified Thursday as police fired pepper gas and plastic bullets at peaceful marchers. Other labor leaders, including AFL-CIO president John Sweeney expressed 'outrage' over the police blocking of a permitted gathering, and cited specific abuses such as a union retiree being denied necessary medication after an arbitrary arrest.-------------------------------------------
Foes of Bush OT Rules Abandon Effort By ALAN FRAM, AP
WASHINGTON - Foes of the Bush administration's proposed rules changing which workers would qualify for overtime pay abandoned their fight on Friday in the face of unrelenting pressure from the White House and the House.-------------------------------------------
IWA, industry trade insults By Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist
'It's a sad day for B.C.'s labour movement, because it doesn't only affect us, it affects all the labour movements in B.C.,' said Sucha Hayer, who has worked 34 years at the Weyerhaeuser mill in Chemainus.
'I was really, really shocked to hear that ruling went against us, but nevertheless, when you've got a government like we've got in Victoria -- anti-labour -- and you've got a union-bashing company like Weyerhaeuser . . . this is the result.'-------------------------------------------
FBI scrutinizing anti-war protesters By Eric Lichtblau NYT
The memorandum urged local law enforcement officials 'to be alert to these possible indicators of protest activity and report any potentially illegal acts' to counterterrorism task forces run by the FBI. It warned about an array of threats, including homemade bombs and the formation of human chains.
The memorandum also discussed 'innovative strategies' used by demonstrators, like the videotaping of arrests as a means of 'intimidation' against the police. And it noted that protesters 'often use the Internet to recruit, raise funds and coordinate their activities prior to demonstrations.'-------------------------------------------
Mike Flugennock's Poster Art Calendar This calendar contains 24 of the Collective's favorite posters that until now have only been seen on the lamp-posts of Washington, DC and this Web site. It exposes Mike Flugennock's razor-sharp political wit to a wider audience and stimulates people's minds from a grassroots left perspective.-------------------------------------------
Hundreds protest Fort Benning school By MIA TAYLOR
Thousands of autoworkers, students, Quakers, nuns, priests and others marched to the entrance of the Army's Fort Benning on Saturday to protest the post's training school for Latin American soldiers.
There, they met patriotic music blaring from the fort's gates. The music, from loudspeakers set up just a few feet behind the stage from which protesters sang and spoke, often drowned out what was being said during the 14th annual demonstration against the Defense Department training facility formerly known as the School of the Americas.-------------------------------------------
Union workers picket downtown By BRENDAN McGARRY
'It's not a union thing or a non-union thing,' said Tomas Graveley of the Empire State Regional Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. 'It's to protect all carpenters to make sure they get area standards established by the council.'
Standing next to an oversized inflatable gray rat facing Broadway traffic, Graveley accused the company of paying its employees far below the area prevailing wage rate of $30 per hour for carpenters. He said the company misclassifies rates for carpentry and labor work.
Suburban Couple Charged With Defrauding Carpenters Union WBBM 780
A suburban couple were indicted Friday on charges of defrauding the Chicago and Northeast Illinois District Council of Carpenters out of more than $500,000 in benefit payments for union members.
Richard Zerth, 60, and Barbara Zerth, 56, both of Palos Park, were indicted late Friday with two counts each of mail fraud and making false statements. The Zerths owned Roof Right Roofing and Insulation, at 14045 S. Cleveland in Posen, which employed roofing shinglers, siders and insulators, and agreed to be bound by collective bargaining agreements with the union, according to the indictment.-------------------------------------------
