:: rawblogXport ::
union news / workers rights / construction / safety / irony...
 |
|||||||
| carpentersunionbc.com | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| google news | |||||||
recent posts: | |||||||
| BlogRolling: | |||||||
blogs that link here  
    
  implementation: email d@ve2300 this weblog is the work of dave livingston, a union carpenter in nelson bc canada 
|
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of labor and economic issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 Chapter 1 Sec.107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. | ||||||
 | |||||||
|
"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Saturday, January 31, 2004 ::
Political football Editorials / Boston Globe
TOO BAD the fine new MoveOn.org TV ad attacking the deficit created by President Bush won't be seen on the CBS broadcast of the Super Bowl this Sunday. It belongs there -- as does the opposing view.
What better place for a contest of ideologies than in this annual extravaganza of excess that is as much about selling commercial images as it is about the guts and grit of football. CBS would provide a much needed public service at the start of this presidential year by selling some Super Bowl air time to opposing political advocates who, with spots as clever as any for a razor or a computer, might jolt blase voters into caring.------------------------------------------- posted 10:33 PM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
The Dean Scream: The version of reality that we didn't see on TV By ABC News/WABC/abc12
It was the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in a few days. Not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air was not a reflection of the way it sounded in the room.-------------------------------------------
Falconbridge prepares for pickets CBC News: Sudbury, Ont.
Local union president Rick Grylls says the union didn't go along with concessions back then, and it won't agree to them this time around.
'If they want to go from $300 million to $305 million in profits, they're not going to do that by taking it away in benefits,' he said. 'And we're not going to lose jobs so these guys can put some money in their pockets.'
Grylls says the union rejected the company offer presented on Thursday because it contained too many concessions, including reductions in health and pension benefits.-------------------------------------------
Fate of American labor movement likely tied to Arkansas By Wesley Brown
LITTLE ROCK - If the epitaph of organized labor is written within the next few years, the slayers of the movement may be located in Northwest Arkansas.
Many experts say the fate of unions as a social and political force in the 21st Century could well depend on current battles with Tyson Foods and Wal-Mart Stores - the world's largest meat company and retailer, respectively.
The umbrella of America's unions, the AFL-CIO, now has more than 13 million of America's workers in 64 member unions working in virtually every part of the economy.
But the group hardly has won any major victories lately, has lost much of its political punch and can no longer guarantee the vote of America's working middle class.-------------------------------------------
South Carolina carefully eyes Democrats By Patrik Jonsson, csmonitor
On a 100-mile journey here from the low country near Lake Marion, through the state's hard-hit midlands, to the edge of textile territory with its rolling hills – that uphill battle was in motion in the days before Tuesday's key primary. In conversations with farmers, lawyers, nannies, and laid-off plant workers, a deepening frustration and soul searching was clear—not just over the economy and the war, but in a genuine search for the country's next steps and a tarnished American dream.
"It just seems we've lost something in this country, and frankly it's upsetting," says Glenn Costenbader, a laid-off plant worker and union boss in hardscrabble Winnsboro, S.C.-------------------------------------------
Union Membership (Annual) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
UNION MEMBERS IN 2003
In 2003, 12.9 percent of wage and salary workers were union members, down from 13.3 percent in 2002, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau ofLabor Statistics reported today. The number of persons belonging to a union fell by 369,000 over the year to 15.8 million in 2003. The union membership rate has steadily declined from a high of 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year for which comparable union data are available. Some
highlights from the 2003 data are:
--Men were more likely to be union members than women.
--Blacks were more likely to be union members than were whites, Asians, and Hispanics or Latinos.
--Nearly 4 in 10 government workers were union members in 2003, compared with less than 1 in 10 workers in private-sector industries.-------------------------------------------
Telus union agrees to binding arbitration a day after announcing strike vote CBC News
Union members, including about 10,000 workers in British Columbia and Alberta, voted more than 86 per cent in favour of a strike.
A federally mandated cooling off period expired Friday.
On Thursday, the union was ordered by a B.C. Supreme Court judge to stop airing commercials that spoofed the company's signature advertisements using cute animals.-------------------------------------------
Be prepared for OSHA, not surprised YOUR BUSINESS: Brian L. Champion
An employer may require the OSHA inspector to obtain a search warrant before allowing him or her onto the premises. No warrant is necessary, however, when the violation conditions are in plain view. Typically, all that will be gained by insisting that an inspector obtain a warrant is a delay of one or two days, and it will usually infuriate the inspector so that the inspection becomes much more focused.
Agencies Urged to Reduce Injuries and Workers' Comp Claims By Stephen Barr, washingtonpost
In an executive order this month, President Bush established the Safety, Health and Return-to- Employment Initiative and directed Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao to measure the progress of federal agencies in reducing workplace injury and illness cases. In a letter to agencies, Chao asked them to send by today their plans for cutting injury rates.-------------------------------------------
Unions aren't defeated yet, lawyers say By IRWIN BLOCK, Montreal Gazette
It is far from certain that a Supreme Court ruling allowing Place des Arts to stop offering technical services will open the door to firms getting rid of troublesome unions, say two veteran labour lawyers.
Georges Marceau, who has represented unions for 25 years, said yesterday the ruling appears to be anti-union because it justifies Place des Arts' controversial decision to no longer supply stagehands, carpenters, lighting and sound technicians to those who lease its halls.-------------------------------------------
General Motors' Saturn losing identity - report Auto News from just-auto.com
Associated Press said the union also agreed to a transition to the national labour agreement with GM that would allow the company to lay off employees for the first time in its history - workers approved the contract 2,953 to 317.-------------------------------------------
The Trouble With Wal-Mart Letter, washingtonpost
Instead of pumping millions into image building, Wal-Mart should invest in doing what it says it does: creating 'good jobs' that support families and their communities.
CHRISTINE OWENS
Director of Public Policy
AFL-CIO-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, January 30, 2004 ::Carpenter's Union Members Plan to Clean Up Graveyard By John Chambliss, The Ledger
From 1927 to 1976, union members came to Carpenter's Home in Lakeland from all over the nation to retire. The union dues paid for their rooms, food and a burial plot when they died.
At one time, up to 370 men lived there.
"It was the only place to retire for us," said Frank Hyjek, a representative from the carpenter's union in Tampa. "You would take a guy from Wisconsin who would retire, and he would come down here and share war stories with his brothers (union members)."-------------------------------------------
2004 Ice Palace - Saint Paul Winter Carnival
(scroll top bar for construction photos link)
Live Webcam of the 2004 Ice Palace
Stillwater residents volunteer time and expertise to make ice palace a reality By CRAIG DIRKES
Builders had aimed to begin work on the palace on Dec. 10, but couldn’t begin harvesting ice until St. Paul’s Lake Phalen froze to a depth of 12 inches. That didn’t happen until Jan. 2.
The late-freeze setback forced electrical personnel to work in three-shift days right behind construction workers. But by working together, the problem was solved.
“The IBEW really pulled this project together,” Deeg said. “It’s a real brotherhood. It’s amazing to see how you can count on these guys.”
Behind schedule at noon on Monday, Deeg learned that electricians were needed to work through the night. “By 2:30 p.m., we had nine volunteers,” he said.
Ice Palace lights up St. Paul Workday Minnesota: Photos by Michael Kuchta
New Richmond volunteers help build Winter Carnival ice palace
New Richmond residents played a significant role in building the new St. Paul Winter Carnival ice palace. Candy Lund and Rob Ennis, both of whom are union carpenters who belong to Local 87 in St. Paul, worked on the project along with retired carpenter Ron Leier.
Lund decided to help out at the invitation of union officials who asked the members for help. They were responsible for cutting blocks of ice on Lake Phelan, transporting them to the construction site on Kellogg Boulevard and assembling the palace.
'I worked all day Thursday, (Jan. 22), just before the palace was supposed to open,' she said. 'We had to get it done, and it was cold!'-------------------------------------------
Victims memorialized at site of A.C. casino garage collapse By BRIDGET MURPHY
ATLANTIC CITY - The wives of two of the four construction workers killed in the Tropicana garage collapse in October returned to the site Friday to memorialize their husbands' deaths exactly three months later.
Minutes after they departed, leaving behind a smattering of flowers, balloons, notes and a painting of two ironworkers at the Pearly Gates, police reopened most of the closed portion of Pacific Avenue - from Iowa to Morris avenues - to traffic for the first time since the collapse.-------------------------------------------
Union's anti-Telus ads poison phone company's image, lawyer tells hearing By STEVE MERTL, CBC
In an affidavit for the hearing, union president Rod Hiebert defends the TWU ads. They don't sell any products and are intended only to give the union's opinion in an entertaining way.
While the union's ads are intended to create viewer recognition that the subject relates to Telus, they differ from Telus's commercials because the union's animals talk and an announcer voices the overall message.
They also make it clear these are criticisms of Telus, not ads for the phone company, and the final image includes a large TWU logo, Hiebert says.
Union lawyer Jim Carpick said outside court he will challenge Telus's claim that the elements of the ads can be copyrighted.
'Even if we are copying their ads, tough luck,' he said.
Telus workers vote to strike; company hopes for arbitration: By Doug Ward, with files from Amy O'Brian
A cooling-off period ordered by the CIRB expires today. Picket lines could go up early next week.-------------------------------------------
... a little primer on Labor and Labor history in the U.S. randomWalks
Labor History
* Philip Sheldon Foner's books
* History of the U.S. Labor Movement, Resource Guide
* Haymarket Riot (1886)" (more)
* Formation of the American Federation of Labor (1886)
* Homestead Strike (1892) (more)
* Pullman Strike (1894) (more)
* Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (1911) (more)
* Ludlow Massacre (1914) (more)
* The Wobblies (The IWW today)
* Seattle General Strike (1919)
and more...-------------------------------------------
Asbestos Costs Sink Halliburton's Profit By KRISTEN HAYS, AP
Halliburton inherited the asbestos claims when the conglomerate, while under Cheney's leadership, bought Dresser Industries Inc. for $7.7 billion. Cheney left Halliburton in 2000 to be President Bush's running mate.
Asbestos Adds to Binion's Woes By Rod Smith
Remediation experts said the asbestos problem is typical of older casinos in downtown Las Vegas and on the Strip, especially in properties built before 1980.
Asbestos problems, such as those in the Horseshoe, are a disaster waiting to happen that the city, county and state are just ducking, they said.
'This town has a lot of hotels that are older and noncompliant, and the state is just looking the other way,' Headrick said. 'All it'd take is one worker's claim, but the state doesn't want to do anything about it. And (for operators) fines are less that the cleanups.'
Workers dig up asbestos dump By Stefanie Balogh, The Australian
ABOUT 40 workers constructing a massive gas pipeline in remote Western Australia were undergoing medical tests after stumbling across a hidden asbestos dump, their union said yesterday.
The discovery in the Pilbara has prompted the Australian Workers Union to call on former mining industry workers to become whistleblowers and reveal the location of possible toxic chemical waste sites across Australia.-------------------------------------------
Cartoonist calls Condi Rice 'murderer' – again By Paul Sperry, WorldNetDaily
WASHINGTON – He did it again, but this time on national TV.
Aaron McGruder, a black syndicated cartoonist who's getting his own prime-time TV series on Fox, called National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice "a murderer" for her role in the Iraq war.
The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder
US ADMITS INTELLIGENCE FLAWS SBS - The World News
'I think that what we have is evidence that there are differences between what we knew going in and what we found on the ground,' said Ms Rice.
But she brushed aside calls for an independent inquiry into the intelligence ahead of the invasion of Iraq last March.
'When you are dealing with secretive regimes that want to deceive, you're never going to be able to be positive,' Ms Rice told NBC.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, January 29, 2004 ::Terry Haddock (NHRA Funny Car Drag Racer) and Barrett Enterprises embark on Only in America Tour eDragRacer press release
Barrett Enterprises, Inc. of Fox Lake, Ill. was established in 1986 and specializes in the installation of siding on all new construction single and multi-family homes. Barrett Enterprises, Inc. is now the largest employer of union carpenters installing residential siding in the Chicago area. Owner, Bill Barrett is the fifth generation carpenter in his family and was taught by his father, Alex Barrett. Proud of being a union carpenter for 35 years, Barrett knows the advantages of union membership. He works closely with the union to train and recruit members. Barrett Enterprises, Inc. currently has 125 employees and is looking to double in size this year with the help of Haddock and the Barrett Enterprises Funny Car.
Gibbs Racing Sponsor Accused of Sweatshop Activities insiderracingnews (scroll down page)
Cintas, noted sponsor of NASCAR and Joe Gibbs Racing faces accusations of utilizing Chicago area sweatshops to produce their products. Cintas is the nation’s largest industrial uniform supplier, and a degree of fingering pointing is emerging in regard to treatment of workers. “No fares for sweatshop wear” emblazon signs being raised by Cintas workers in Chicago, as they gathered at the Metra commuter rail line offices.-------------------------------------------
Saturday deadline:
Vote for the Labour Website of the Year 2003 LabourStart
2003 Koufax Award Finalists Best Single Issue Blog
More Shameless Self Promotion: Confined Space Makes The Finals posted by Jordan Barab, Confined Space
But with your help, Confined Space can become theHoward DeanSeabiscuit of the Blogosphere.
So, if you want to strike a blow for truth, justice, workplace safety, worker empowerment and everything else worth fighting for, forget those other elections happening this year, take a moment and click HERE. Then go to the 'Comment' section at the bottom, and tell them what you think.-------------------------------------------
Ford to lay off 1,000 workers in St. Louis
Third shift at Ford (Canada) plant threatened
Ford, GM to Increase Investments and Production in Venezuela
Celebrate Black History at Henry Ford Museum
Ford Motor Wants Sheriff To Return Pickup Truck-------------------------------------------
Some resentment lingers between union and AK By David Benson
MANSFIELD, OHIO - 'The international helped us out a lot during the lockout and supported us financially, but they left five guys hanging out to dry. It could have been any one of us,' Carroll said.
Local 169 President Ron Davis said although the lockout is over and most union members are back at work, the operation isn't what it used to be.
'(AK Steel) has closed down half the plant, and we've lost half our membership,' he said.
Steelworkers ratify contract at Teck Cominco's Highland Valley copper mine Canadian Press
VANCOUVER - Members of the United Steelworkers have ratified a contract at the Teck Cominco Ltd. Highland Valley copper mine, averting a strike with what the union declared to be "the best union contract in the B.C. mining industry for the last 15 years."
Jobs threatened as steel giant Stelco obtains bankruptcy-court protection By STEVE ERWIN, CP
The United Steelworkers, which represents roughly 75 per cent of Stelco's Ontario workforce, said that attrition rate should be enough to avoid layoffs.
'I'm optimistic that at the end of the day, a restructuring can be done with a lot less people (at Stelco) for sure, but hopefully just through retirements,' said Wayne Fraser, the Steelworkers' Ontario/Atlantic director.
'We don't expect the restructuring plan to put the brunt of this on the backs of our membership or our retirees.'-------------------------------------------
Statement by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney on A New Labor Code for Iraq AFL-CIO press release
In the meantime, the AFL-CIO calls on the CPA and the Iraqi Governing Council to allow Iraqi workers to associate together and participate collectively in rebuilding the economy. Training and other kinds of support from the international trade union movement should be encouraged, especially through the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). Such initial steps would go a long way toward the development of a modern industrial relations system in Iraq that would address worker grievances and promote respect for workers’ rights.
Chao Inaugurates Grand Opening of Baghdad Employment and Training Center U.S. Newswire
U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao began a two-day trip to Iraq to highlight continuing democratization efforts by the Iraqi people. Her first visit was to inaugurate the opening of the Baghdad Employment and Training Center. The center is operated by the restored Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and provides services and benefits to Iraq's most vulnerable citizens. Under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, the Ministry operated the prison system. Now, for the first time, the Ministry is establishing employment and training centers throughout Iraq, charged with providing services to displaced workers in the nation's largest populated cities.-------------------------------------------
Working the System By Dave Lindorff, In These Times
When the Bush administration announced plans last year for a controversial “reform” of New Deal-era wage and hour regulations, it assured Congress and labor unions that the proposal would make overtime pay available to some 1.3 million low-paid workers—even as it removed many high-paid employees from overtime protection.
It now turns out that the administration’s Department of Labor (DOL), in a little-noticed report on the proposed regulations published in the Federal Register, actually was offering alert employers a set of instructions on how to avoid paying overtime to many of those long-suffering low-paid workers.-------------------------------------------
Nuke Facilities Safety Rules Are Targeted By NANCY ZUCKERBROD, AP
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is looking at waiving some current government safety requirements at federal nuclear facilities if contractors don't like them — after Congress directed it to start fining contractors for violations.
Critics contend that long-established government standards at more than two dozen Energy Department nuclear weapons plants and research labs could become unenforceable under the proposal. Energy Department officials say the intent is to give contractors more flexibility without compromising safety.-------------------------------------------
SUPER BOWL A BLITZ ON WORK FORCE By BILL HOFFMANN, New York Post
This year's Super Bowl could end up costing employers $821 million in lost wages next week as their workers goof off on company time to chat about the big game, researchers say.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, January 28, 2004 ::Four Ways to Shingle a Valley by Mike Guertin, Fine Homebuilding
A custom builder shows three conventional ways and one new method to weatherproof this crucial roof detail.
Porter-Cable Invents Keyless Blade Change on Circular Saws BuildingOnline
With its one-of-a-kind, Quik-ChangeTM system, Porter-Cable's new line of circular saws enables users to easily change the circular saw blade by hand and get the blade as tight, if not tighter, than using a wrench. The hassle-free, keyless blade change system saves time on the jobsite by eliminating the need to locate a wrench or other tool in order to change blades.
Firewalls Missing in Devastating California Wildfires prnewswire
The use of concrete masonry in construction for fire containment walls limits the spreading of fires when they do occur -- it is noncombustible and maintains its structural integrity during a blaze.-------------------------------------------
Telus union sued over spoof ads Steve Mertl, Canadian Press
'Customers are getting plucked,' squawks this parrot in one of the union ads spoofing the Telus campaign.
VANCOUVER - Telus Inc. is taking its own union to court to stop a series of parody television advertisements aimed at the telecom's customer-service woes.
The court action comes as the Vancouver-based phone company, the country's second largest behind Bell Canada, gears up for a labour showdown next week.
Telus is asking B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction against the union's TV ads, which feature the same kind of cute animals used in Telus's own spots.
The ads commissioned by the Telecommunications Workers Union include a piglet warning "Telus customers are getting the shaft," and a parrot squawking "Telus customers are getting plucked."
In its court application, Telus claims the spots infringe on its copyright.
TWU Canada mocks Telus, wins Industrial Relations Board case and calls for strike vote! UNI Telecom-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO Leaders Are the Problem For Decline LaborTalk, By Harry Kelber
When John Sweeney became AFL-CIO President in 1995, he said that organizing would be his top priority. He budgeted a third of the federation's annual income for organizing and pressed affiliated unions to do the same.
He called for the training of 1,000 full-time organizers. Hundreds of young, enthusiastic women and minorities were hired as organizers. His staff worked to develop a 'culture of organizing.' He was going to recruit a million new members in each of the next two years.
Nevertheless, AFL-CIO unions ended 2003 with their worst record since the start of the new century. It organized only 142,268 new members, compared with 446,039 in 2001, a drop of more than 300,000 in two years, according to data from Work in Progress.
In 1995, organized labor represented 14.9% of the nation's work force. Today, nine years later, it has dropped to only 12.9%. What went wrong? Who is to blame? What can be done about it?-------------------------------------------
FACE TO FACE OR CYBERSPACE By Derek Blackadder, Our Times
Perhaps most spectacularly, the Internet has created a huge new potential for international solidarity actions by unions and individual members. Still, in recruiting new members, nothing beats the smiling face of a workplace-based activist, someone with as much to gain and as much to lose as you have. And as a space for organizing, the Internet has yet to get even close to the coffee shop down the street.-------------------------------------------
Outsourcing monster Accenture specializes in exporting jobs by Mike Martin, Straight Goods
The major corporations in Canada and the United States have never had much of a social conscience. With the help of mercenaries like Accenture, they will soon have much fewer workers. Maybe that’s the intention. Then all they’ll have left is their greed.
'My job went to India...' t-shirt back in stock By CashnCarrion, The Register-------------------------------------------
Workshops set for construction, demolition industries Review-Atlas
SPRINGFIELD - Governor Rod Blagojevich today encouraged the construction, demolition and building code industry to learn how to help prevent environmental hazards and violations at one of the state environmental workshops to be held around the state.
The topics will include regulations on asbestos, lead, mold, radon, as well as other requirements for remodeling or demolition of property. The first workshop was on January 27 and they will run through March 30.-------------------------------------------
U.S. Workplaces Becoming Safer The Conference Board press release
Ratings for some of the more traditional programs, such as safety committees and training, were less positive. This may be because respondents are very familiar with these safety and health management tools, since companies have employed them for decades. It may also suggest that survey participants view these programs more as necessary obligations than best practices.
A crushing death By TONY SCLAFANI and GREG GITTRICH
Barrientos and her partner were emptying large trash containers behind Public School 106 in Bushwick around 8 a.m. when the truck's rear compactor jammed, officials said. She climbed into the truck's hauler and yanked away several garbage bags. She then climbed back on top of the truck's cab, officials said.
What happened next is under investigation. But a department supervisor said Barrientos' partner, Thomas Baker, who was in the driver's seat, believed she was on the ground and turned on the mechanical arm.
The arm swung back and delivered a brutal 8,000-pound blow, pinning Barrientos between the top of the cab and the raised back portion of the truck, officials said.
Defective Safety System Blamed For Costly Utility Explosion kansascitychannel, AP
Steve Sanders, attorney for Allen-Bradley, said the guidebook was correct and was not followed by poorly trained KCP&L workers.
Sanders said an unlikely series of events led to an explosion. A worker got a plumbing snake caught and opened a backup valve that allowed sewage water to overflow from the toilets onto the floor. The water ran down cables into the computer system, he said.
Sanders said the water first shorted out a switch that another company had improperly installed in a backup safety system, knocking that system out. Sanders said then the water caused other shorts in the Allen-Bradley components that caused the gas lines to open. The KCP&L workers on duty at the time did not have the skills to recognize or handle the problems, Sanders said.
Government Lagging In Workplace Safety KFOXTV.com
90 percent of all accidents happen in construction.-------------------------------------------
UW pushes Lands' End on labor By Aaron Nathans
Universities such as UW-Madison are pressuring Lands' End to make amends for the alleged blacklisting of pro-union job applicants at one of its subcontractor factories in El Salvador.
Lands' End makes logo clothing for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Worker Rights Consortium, the UW's watchdog organization, said 22 job applicants at the Primo factory claimed they were turned away because they tried to set up a union at another factory.-------------------------------------------
Making a Workers Mural - Celebrating Saskatchewan By Doug Taylor, Our Times
The end result, after months of work, was a mural that revolved around the theme of work gloves: their purpose and meaning. 'The glove is a symbol of the hand,' says Howie, 'and shows every line and crease of history that has been placed on it or, rather, worked into it. The hand, like the glove, is a map of a person's history, work history, life lived.' The mural includes images of a myriad of tools, from hammers to clothes-pins, and a pattern of Saskatchewan. One gloved fist clenches paintbrushes and a pencil. The gloved hands in the centre of the mural grasps an infinity sign made up of rope, chain, copper piping and hose. The infinity sign symbolizes the never-ending struggle of the labour movement for justice.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 ::Labour threatens to cut ties with founding union Tom Happold, Guardian UK
A precursor to the union was, however, instrumental in the founding of the Labour party.
A railway worker called Thomas Steel is recorded as encouraging his branch to press for a political party to be launched in 1899.
A resolution was then moved at that year's TUC conference in London on behalf of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, later to become the National Union of Railwaymen, and later the RMT.-------------------------------------------
Unemployment Rose in 2003 McGraw-Hill Construction | ENR
The number of unemployed construction workers increased 1.3% last year, with an average of 810,000 workers in the industry looking for work each month.
Oregon's jobless aid withers; workers seek relief Seattle Times, AP
Officials with the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment & Training Administration in Washington, D.C., acknowledge they might have been too optimistic about the economy's recovery when they developed the program's budget.-------------------------------------------
Religious group, grocery clerks to appeal to Safeway CEO's faith ALEX VEIGA, AP
LOS ANGELES - A religious group hopes it can speed an end to the 15-week Southern California grocery worker strike-lockout by making a faith-based appeal directly to the chief executive of one of the supermarket operators.
The group, known as CLUE, which stands for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, is behind plans for a demonstration on Wednesday near the home of Safeway Inc. CEO Steve Burd, who the grocery workers' union leadership regards as the chief strategist behind the supermarket companies' effort to scale down their share of employees' health care costs.
People of Faith Face Prison to Close Torture School U.S. Newswire - SOA Watch
Twenty-seven human rights activists begin trial today at the U.S. District Courthouse in Columbus, Ga., to face charges of misdemeanor criminal trespass. They each face six months in prison and possible $5,000 fine for civil disobedience actions at Ft. Benning, Ga., to call for closure of the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation (School of Americas).-------------------------------------------
Worker: Discovery of infected cow was 'a fluke' By CAROL M. OSTROM, Seattle Times
But, he said, it was late in the day, the cow looked balky, and 'I was cutting corners.' So he shot a bolt through her head, scooped out a bit of brain, put it in a bag, labeled it with her number, and hung it on the wall with samples from others in the truckload. Later, he checked records to confirm that the 'mad cow' was the cow he remembered, the balky Holstein from the Sunny Dene Ranch in Mabton, Yakima County.
---------------
Louthan, 44, said he's sorry to lose his job, because he enjoyed the work. "I did it because I liked to kill cows," he said. "I don't care if I'm hauling them, feeding them or killing them. As long as I'm around livestock, I'm happy. I'm a cowboy."-------------------------------------------
Unions reach everywhere for members By Stacey Hirsh
With their memberships in decline as their traditional stronghold of U.S. manufacturing has waned, unions have pursued new members beyond their original missions. Gaining new members has become a top priority for unions, so much so that the AFL-CIO now earmarks nearly one-third of its national budget for organizing, compared with less than 5 percent before John J. Sweeney became its president in 1995.
Some say unions' expanded reach dates back to about 50 years ago when the United Mine Workers of America created an offshoot to represent workers far from the coal mines, from factory laborers to New York City cabbies. But the shift has expanded in recent years and continues to generate disagreement among labor leaders and experts.-------------------------------------------
Questioning Labor History By David Moberg, In These Times
Many unionists and historians see in the post-World War II years an emergence of a labor-management accord that accepted unions as social institutions. Lichtenstein persuasively argues that this new regime was not born of victory but of a dictate imposed by defeat—of unions particularly and the left generally. After World War II, corporations returned to union hostility, aided by white Southern Democrats who had supported much of the New Deal but saw the new labor movement as a threat to their racially segregated order. The 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, passed by Congress over President Truman’s veto, undermined labor solidarity and militancy and gave employers the right to openly oppose workers’ decisions to organize.-------------------------------------------
'Troubled times' By JOHN SEEWER, AP
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who traveled to Toledo with Bush, said it's important to note that the president recognizes there are problems with the economy.
'Manufacturing is under siege,' Voinovich said. 'He's listening. A leader must recognize there's a problem. Too often leaders don't recognize there's a problem.'
Voinovich said Bush's emphasis on educating workers and reducing health care costs will go toward helping manufacturers.
About 300 protesters stood in temperatures that dipped into the single digits and set up an oversized, inflatable rat bearing the sign, 'Where are the jobs?'-------------------------------------------
“The Professionals” Hold All-Day Safety Stand Down news.navy.mil
The battalion’s Assistant Safety Officer, Steelworker 1st Class Darrell Essen, had two days to line up topics and subject matter experts. He opted against the traditional classroom setting for a more hands on, interactive approach.
“I wanted our people to actually see for themselves what some hazards are on the construction site, or in the equipment yard,” said Essen. “Talking about it in the classroom doesn’t have the same punch."
Ironically, Essen wanted Seabees to see what they couldn’t see. “The most dangerous hazards are the ones you can’t see,” he said, “like hidden electrical lines or underground water lines.”-------------------------------------------
Union local offers leaders generous salary package TONY VAN ALPHEN
A Toronto local has become the New York Yankees of union payrolls.
Forty-four individuals with the Laborers' International Union of North America Local 183 collected more than $100,000 each in salary and taxable benefits in 2002, according to the latest Ontario government filings.
And 10 of them received more than $160,000 in annual compensation, including lawyer Mark Lewis and business manager Tony Dionisio.-------------------------------------------
USWA, AK Steel reach final contract agreement mansfieldnewsjournal
PITTSBURGH -The United Steelworkers of America announced Monday that the Union had reached a final contract settlement with AK Steel Corporation, ending more than 52 months without a collective bargaining agreement, including a 39-month lockout of workers at the Company’s Mansfield facility.
“After over four years and significant management changes at the highest levels of AK Steel Corporation, the members of USWA Local 169 and their families in Mansfield have a contract,” said USWA International President Leo W. Gerard.
Ron Davis, president of Local 169, said he was somewhat surprised by the timing of the announcement.
“That agreement was reached between the International (union) and the company. We were left out of it. (The contract) is essentially the same one we signed in November of 2002. But now it’s official,” he said.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, January 26, 2004 ::Ergonomic experts boycott conference By David Kohn
For more than two decades, Barbara Silverstein has studied work-related injuries. Among her many subjects have been nurses, meatpackers, truckers, foundry workers, autoworkers, poultry processors and loggers.
So was she happy when the federal government decided to sponsor a two-day symposium on workplace ailments?
Quite the contrary.-------------------------------------------
Pleased with union win Letters, The Oregonian
As one who picketed in support of the striking Colorado steelworkers six years ago, I was heartened to read that Oregon Steel Mills finally had to settle with the United Steelworkers of America on terms that I am sure the company found most distasteful and humiliating ("Oregon Steel will pay $32 million to settle dispute").
Since Oregon Steel broke the steelworker local at its Portland plant some 15 years ago, it has followed a corporate policy of union busting at its other properties.
A sad fact of the strike and subsequent lockout at the Colorado plant is that it took more than six years for the National Labor Relations Board and its rulings to persuade Oregon Steel to settle with its workers, many of whom were socially and financially devastated by the company's activities.
IRV FLETCHER President emeritus, Oregon AFL-CIO Woodburn-------------------------------------------
WCB turned its back on workplace hero Steve Berry, The Province
Manager's life fell to pieces after saving worker from gunfire
Carmen Jacobsen was hailed a hero by the courts and police, but turned down for compensation by WCB when post-traumatic stress left her unemployable.-------------------------------------------
Visual Artist, Activist Martha Tabor Dies at 64 washingtonpost
Ms. Tabor held various jobs before she began to pursue art as a profession. In the 1960s, she taught English composition and literature at Frederick Community College. She took up welding in the 1970s and joined the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
She was hired to work on the construction of the Metro system and became active as a union organizer. It was about this time that she started taking pictures of her fellow laborers and became a social activist. She documented antiwar protests and civil rights marches as her photography gradually turned into a freelance business by the late 1970s.-------------------------------------------
Trucker offers wisdom for road By Larry Lewis, philly.com
The 22-year driver from Pennsburg wrote a guide to surviving driving.
Freer said he improved his communication skills by writing grievance reports for eight years as shop steward of Teamsters Local 773 in Allentown.-------------------------------------------
Alternative energy plan could create millions of jobs Workday Minnesota
WASHINGTON — Led by the Steelworkers, a coalition of 17 unions, top environmental groups and Congressional Democrats is advocating "The Apollo Project," an alternative energy plan they estimate would create 3.3 million jobs over 10 years.
The $300 billion plan, unveiled at a Washington press conference Jan. 14, "would reverse the bankrupt and outdated policies on both jobs and energy" now pursued by the government's ruling GOP, Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said.-------------------------------------------
Longtime Levi's workers face strange task of finding new jobs By Ron Wilson, San Antonio Express-News
The 800 workers averaged 17 years of service to Levi, Miller said. Because they had been there so long, it would be hard to find new jobs that paid as well.
Those coming out of 20 years at the plant were like people stepping out of a time capsule, he said.
Levi closes its last 2 plants in U.S. AP, Billings Gazette (Jan. 11)
This spring, San Francisco-based Levi's will complete the shift to contract production by shuttering its three remaining company-owned plants in Canada.
Walter Loeb, a retail analyst in New York, says the profitability of moving production to China and elsewhere is worth more than a symbolic presence in the United States, where Levi's had made jeans since the 1870s.
"Investors are not very sentimental these days," he said.
Always Low Wages by Brian Bolton, Sojourners Magazine/February 2004
Wal-Mart benefits from its lower-cost vendors, who manufacture many Wal-Mart products in Mexico, China, and Bangladesh. Laborers in these factories frequently work more than 80 hours per week for a few dollars a day. These factories are the reason apparel-maker Levi Strauss is closing its last U.S. manufacturing facilities this year. After 150 years of making jeans at 60 U.S. factories, Levi’s will sell only imported jeans and has introduced a low-price line at Wal-Mart in hopes of saving its failing business. When manufacturing jobs float overseas, many U.S. workers turn to one of Wal-Mart’s 1.3 million jobs—not much of a consolation prize.
‘Armies of Compassion’ By Arlene Getz, Newsweek
“Compassionate Capitalism: How Corporations Can Make Doing Good an Integral Part of Doing Well” (Career Press).
The book, co-authored by journalist Karen Southwick, looks at some of the companies that have adopted direct community service strategies. Hasbro is one: It allows employees four hours of paid time off a month to do community service. Levi Strauss teaches workers outside the United States about their rights. Starbucks works with farmers to set up buffers around biodiversity preserves in coffee-growing regions.-------------------------------------------
Labor Secretary Chao: U.N. a Threat to U.S.Wes Vernon, NewsMax
Chao cited a recent case where a labor union complained to the United Nations that the U.S. government was violating international law and international standards on the treatment of government employees.
The idea that tax-exempt U.N. and allied non-government organizations would presume to dictate to Americans how they live, work and conduct themselves on their internal business was a major theme late Thursday at CPAC, not only from Secretary Chao but also from panelists who preceded her.-------------------------------------------
Labor commissioner plows ahead Editorial, The Oregonian
Oregon Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner recently announced a change so simple, modest and self-explanatory that it won't strike most Oregonians as gutsy. It will strike them, instead, as long overdue.
The labor commissioner decreed that some of the hardest-working people in Oregon -- farmworkers -- deserve two 10-minute paid rest breaks, as well a 30-minute unpaid lunch break, each day. Obviously, we're not talking about lavish perks here. We're talking about humble guarantees for a humane working environment -- time, for instance, to go to the bathroom.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, January 25, 2004 ::Do Immigrants Really Take Jobs That Americans Won't Do? BY KATHERINE REYNOLDS LEWIS
True or false: Many foreign-born workers come to the United States for jobs that Americans don't want.
This argument in favor of immigration surfaces again and again, most recently in debate over President Bush's new plan to allow more temporary foreign workers. Without immigrants, it goes, there would be nobody to slaughter cattle, work in the fields, put up drywall or clean bathrooms.
But under standard economic theory, there's no such thing as a labor shortage, merely a shortage at the wage being offered, said Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank that favors immigration. Without immigrants, American companies would have to offer higher pay to attract prospective employees, Passel and others say.
Skilled worker shortage shows in Sits Vacant ads National Business Review
ANZ's New Zealand Chief Economist David Drage said the numbers show a continuing supply problem in the labour market.
'It appears that the strength of the labor market has prompted employers to continue advertising in December at higher levels than has historically been the norm,' he said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion showed businesses in all sectors were having difficulty finding both skilled and unskilled workers and said pressure was building to drive wages up.-------------------------------------------
Skilled-labour shortage could impact Games' job guarantee By Susan Lazaruk, The Province
'This is going to be a huge problem,' said Green. 'We guaranteed the Olympic committee that we would use local hiring and local procurement [of goods] and if we can't, then we're in violation of the Olympic bid we presented.'
He said there are two solutions: 'to train our people or bring in more people.'
He said recent B.C. government changes to the apprenticeship system, where apprentices can work without a full ticket, is causing the shortage of skilled tradespeople.
The shortage has existed for years and is expected to worsen as more baby-boomer trade workers retire and fewer young people take up trades and there are fewer shop classes offered in schools.
Provinces struggle to focus programs By WALLACE IMMEN, Globe and Mail
Alberta leads the way in getting apprentices trained and ready to work
For example:
Apprenticeship offices in British Columbia closed permanently last month as the province completely rebuilds its skills training system. A nine-member board from a variety of industry sectors will take over from a provincial government department to shape a new classroom training program. The government will provide $73-million to design courses that best meet the needs of industry and make it easier for people to stick with their apprenticeships.-------------------------------------------
The Weekly Toll posted by Jordan Barab, Confined Space
workplace fatalities...-------------------------------------------
Garage-collapse suit defendants seek venue change By MADELAINE VITALE
Robert J. Mongeluzzi, a Philadelphia attorney representing the widows of two of the workers, said he would fight a change of venue. He said he filed the claims in Superior Court in Philadelphia because of fear that with casinos employing so many people in the Atlantic City area, it could be impossible to get an unbiased jury pool in the resort.
In a wrongful-death lawsuit filed Nov. 26, the widows of collapse victims James P. Bigelow and Michael M. Wittland blamed the casino, Keating and concrete subcontractor Fabi Construction Inc., located in Egg Harbor Township, for the accident, claiming they switched to a cheaper and quicker construction plan despite warnings from workers who feared the garage ceilings did not have enough support.-------------------------------------------
Organized labor has a Latino face thecalifornian.com
Today's immigrants from Latin America are doing what the Irish, Germans, Italians, Jews and others did before them: Organizing to make their issues part of labor's agenda.
This can be seen in the flip-flops that the AFL-CIO and other labor organizations have done on immigration. Unions that once lobbied for closed borders because they believed immigrant labor would depress salaries and rob their members of jobs now are reaching out to newcomers to this country to swell the rank and file.
'What's happened is that we have awakened this monster,' said Linda Chavez-Thompson, the second-ranking official at the AFL-CIO.-------------------------------------------
Carpenters union seeks new training center By Dan Nakaso
The new center, which union officials plan to renovate and open by June, would augment the union's current programs that train up to 1,000 apprentice carpenters at community colleges across Hawai'i.
The Kalaeloa program is necessary to train enough carpenters to work on $2.2 billion worth of upcoming military housing construction that's expected to last 10 years, Taketa said.-------------------------------------------
U.S. targets Canadian pot laws Canadian Press
"There are a lot of things that can be done to accomplish the public policy objective of making sure young people don't have a criminal record because of one marijuana offence, but change the perception that's currently out there that `boy it's going to be a lot easier to get marijuana in Canada."'
Asked if that perception was solidified when Chretien mused about lighting up a joint after he left office, Cellucci reacted with a nod and sustained chuckle.-------------------------------------------
Iraq might not have had banned weapons: Powell AP
Secretary of State Colin Powell held out the possibility Saturday that prewar Iraq may not have possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Cheney: Weapons Search Needs Time Washington Post
Vice President Cheney said investigators in Iraq may still find weapons of mass destruction, reviving the possibility after nine months of searches.
Blair: Jury still out on Iraq WMD BBC
Tony Blair says he 'does not know' if he got it wrong on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. He said no one could be definitive at the moment, but insisted he had been right to act on intelligence about WMD.
No Iraq weapons, inspector says Marin Independent Journal
David Kay, who led the U.S. effort to find banned weapons in Iraq, said yesterday after stepping down from his post that he had concluded that Iraq had no stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons at the start of the war last year.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, January 24, 2004 ::I Have a Scream PR Newswire
A Kansas City entrepreneur is wasting no time designing buttons about the now notorious "Dean Scream." A new 3-inch round button design dubbed "I Have A Scream" is already available on her website at http://www.PoliticalShop.com.
Dean's scream spawns new doll By Roy Rivenburg, Los Angeles Times
Howard Dean's infamous Iowa scream is being immortalized in plastic. A Connecticut company that specializes in celebrity action figures has just unveiled a howling Dean doll.
Howard Dean, Internet Rock Star by Tricia Romano, Village Voice
Howard Dean's now-infamous concession speech after the Iowa caucuses might have gotten him dubbed as a loony in the mainstream press, but on the Internet it’s making him a rock star. Within a day of his pumped-up rant to Deanites—which ended with the Democratic presidential candidate yelping "Yeaarrrrrrrgh!" and sounding something like a drowning cat—myriad musical mixes of the speech made their way online.
On Language: Guns, God and Gays By WILLIAM SAFIRE, NYTimes
Where did Dean get this surefire attention-getter? Earliest use I can find on the Dow Jones database Factiva -- which sometimes out-googles Google -- is in 1996 at the A.F.L.-C.I.O. convention held annually in Bal Harbour, Fla. A Wall Street Journal reporter quoted ''one official'' as saying that the '96 election should be about ''jobs and wages, not guns, God and gays.'' My guess from reading the tea leaves in the article was that the official was Steve Rosenthal, then the political director of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. He now proudly asserts his coinage.
(An aside: President Nixon was once stiffed at that annual Florida labor conclave; the next time he was asked, his counsel Charles Colson put his advice in a slogan: ''Remember Bal Harbour!'')-------------------------------------------
Telus's animal ads change their spots by Brian Coxford, Global BC
VANCOUVER - One of TV's most successful promotions -- Telus's animal advertising campaign -- is being turned on its cute little head in a series of spoofs by the company's union.
'Customers are getting plucked,' squawks this parrot in one of the union ads spoofing the Telus campaign.
Controversial TV Spots Put TELUS on Notice TELECOMMUNICATIONS WORKERS UNION-------------------------------------------
Great molasses flood of 1919 remembered AP
Boston — Danny O'Brien looked at a photograph of firefighters knee-deep in molasses trying to rescue people trapped in a collapsed firehouse, and remembered his grandfather's tales of sticky horror.
“Those stories were something ... horses stuck in this sea of molasses, a lot of cars, people stuck, houses smashed to pieces,” said O'Brien, looking through a Boston Public Library exhibit commemorating the 85th anniversary of Boston's Great Molasses Flood, which killed 21 people and injured 150.-------------------------------------------
Dearborn factory believed to have produced dangerous asbestos AP
Federal officials are investigating a plant that may have processed a form of asbestos for nearly 50 years, putting workers and thousands of Michigan homeowners at risk.
Vermiculite arrived by trainloads for decades in Michigan from a mine in Libby, Mont. and was processed mainly into home insulation under the brand name Zonolite. The plant also made a fireproofing product called Mono-Kote.
The plant, Zono-lite/W.R. Grace, is the target of a federal investigation, begun in 2000.-------------------------------------------
Judge Upholds Union Finance Rule By LEIGH STROPE, AP
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday upheld a new Labor Department regulation requiring unions to disclose more details about their finances but she delayed the effective date to July 1.
The AFL-CIO sued in November, asking the judge to invalidate the rule, which was to take effect Jan. 1. The AFL-CIO contended Labor Secretary Elaine Chao did not have the authority to issue the rule or to require unions to report detailed transactions.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that the secretary did have the rulemaking authority and that the rule was 'reasonable, adequately explained and not arbitrary or capricious.'
Labor Department to issue overtime rules By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY
Efforts to block a government plan to change some workers' overtime pay fizzled Thursday with the passage of a massive federal spending bill.
An amendment that would have barred the Department of Labor from issuing all its changes to overtime regulations was stripped from an appropriations bill under threat of a veto.-------------------------------------------
Real estate agent accused in creation of phony firm By Michael Puente
Through Olympic Services, Ihle and Kevin Pastrick produced documents as a way to impede or obstruct an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, according to federal prosecutors.
The documents included unlawful payments made through Olympic Services to Gerry Nannenga, then a trustee of the Northwest Indiana District Council of Carpenters Pension Trust Fund.
Feds nab Pastrick's pal in Coffee Creek probe BY MEGGEN LINDSAY
Kevin Pastrick's business partner, Carl Paul Ihle Jr., 57, of Crown Point, was indicted Thursday in connection with the U.S. Department of Labor's investigation into fraudulent union investments at Porter County's Coffee Creek development.
Ihle, a real estate agent, is now the fourth person facing federal charges that stem from a 1999 investment of $10 million in union pension money from the Northwest Indiana District Council of Carpenters to buy land at Coffee Creek.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, January 23, 2004 ::Daughter Fights for Ailing Nuke Workers By CHERYL WITTENAUER, AP
A 3-year-old federal law requires the government to compensate workers in the nuclear weapons industry, or their survivors, for job-related cancer or other diseases. Workers from about 350 sites nationwide may qualify.
Ten sites are in Missouri, including the old Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. plant in St. Louis where Brock's father, Christopher Davis, worked from 1945 to 1960. The plant produced uranium dioxide for the Manhattan Project, exposing its workers to large doses of radiation.
Fallen bridge worker's mom: OSHA fine not enough
By REID MAGNEY / La Crosse Tribune
'What's bad is that my son was so proud to have that job, and less than three weeks later he was dead,' she said.-------------------------------------------
Yet Another Trench Death posted by Jordan Barab, Confined Space
"The accident that claimed DeHart's life reminds us that OSHNC regulations are not just another way for a government bureaucracy to harass employers and workers. They are in place because obeying those rules saves lives. If the ditch that collapsed on DeHart had been constructed according to OSHNC standards, DeHart would almost certainly be alive today. Yet, both employers and employees often ignore OSHNC regulations because complying would cost extra money or take additional time. The price for not doing so can be far more dear than an OSHNC fine."
This is the kind of writing that needs to appear in every local newspaper and television news whenever a worker is killed in this country. People need to be educated over and over again that these deaths are not inevitable, they're not really even accidents. They are crimes and should be treated accordingly.-------------------------------------------
Protest At Your Own Risk By Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive
In many places across George Bush's America, you may be losing your ability to exercise your lawful First Amendment rights of speech and assembly. Increasingly, some police departments, the FBI, and the Secret Service are engaging in the criminalization – or, at the very least, the marginalization – of dissent.
"We have not seen such a crackdown on First Amendment activities since the Vietnam War," says Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).-------------------------------------------
Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo, dies at 76 By CHRISTOPHER GRAFF, AP
His first television appearance came in 1948, when he played the voiceless, horn-honking Clarabell the Clown on the 'Howdy Doody Show,' a role he created and played for five years.-------------------------------------------
Bone-cold Bush protesters hot under the collar By RYAN E. SMITH, Toledo Blade
'I'm tired of our jobs going out of the United States and the economy going down the hole,' said John Wagner, a journeyman carpenter with Carpenters Local 1138.
Many of them gathered at the nearby hall for Local 50, Plumbers and Steamfitters, and chanted as they marched down Oregon Road to the college. The group carried signs such as 'Send Bush to the moon soon,' 'No more King George,' and 'Bush can't read this sign.'-------------------------------------------
LaborTalk for January 21, 2004 By Harry Kelber
In a stunning upset, Senator John Kerry won first place in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 19, garnering 38% of the vote. Former House minority leader Richard Gephardt, who had the support of some twenty AFL-CIO unions, finished a disappointing fourth, with only 11% of the vote. Soon after the results were made public, Gephardt announced he was withdrawing from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
There were two other major surprises. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, who had been the acknowledged front-runner for months, drew only 18%, a distant third to Senator John Edwards, who came in second with 31% of the votes.-------------------------------------------
Bridging the Labor-Environment Gap By Adam Werbach, In These Times
Although labor and environmental groups have partnered in the past to enact critical legislation—support by the Steelworkers was crucial to passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970, for instance—a portion of the blame for Republicans’ success nonetheless falls on the movements themselves.
“Trade unionists get so concerned with protecting jobs that are right there that they don’t look at how many jobs get created by cleaning up and preventing polluting activity,” says Al Zack, veteran leader of the United Food and Commercial Workers.-------------------------------------------
CEP JOURNALISTS NEED PROTECTION CEP Media Release
Prime Minister Paul Martin should immediately put an end to ‘police state’ tactics being employed by the RCMP and Canadian intelligence authorities in the Maher Arar case says the president of Canada’s largest union of media workers.
“We have gone from the unbelievable to the unacceptable in this ongoing saga of Canadian intelligence agencies run amok,” said Brian Payne, national president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada in reaction to the recent police raids on the Ottawa Citizen and the home of one of its reporters.-------------------------------------------
Fine proposed for Calif. company in Florida bridge worker's death AP Wire
OSHA also has proposed a $4,900 fine against the scaffold's manufacturer, United Form Services Inc., of Neodesha, Kan., alleging it failed to meet a design requirement to withstand a load four times its one-ton rating.
OSHA Offers Two New Compliance Assistance Web Tools U.S. Newswire
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced the availability of two new resources on the agency's website: MyOSHA, a tool to create personalized links to OSHA online resources; and Quick Start, a step-by-step guide to identify major OSHA requirements and guidance materials.-------------------------------------------
Tribe revives casino plan By Scott Morris
The tribe pressed on, using $5 million of a loan that was to eventually total $36 million to raze its 30-home village and purchase new homes elsewhere for tribal families.
But the source of that money, a Detroit carpenters union, became a sticking point for the state Gambling Commission. The union's trustees balked at state regulators' insistence on criminal background checks.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, January 22, 2004 ::Cross-border mining battle heats up By Mark Lowey
Kudos for Conoco, turmoil for Teck in Washington state
Call it a tale of two companies.
A mining firm from B.C. is battling federal U.S. environmental officials over a waste legacy in Washington state, while a Calgary oil company has won a rare honour for cleaning an old gold mine in the same state.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has slapped the Vancouver-based company with an enforcement order and is considering hauling the firm before a U.S. court if it doesn’t comply.
The U.S. federal agency wants Teck Cominco to fund a $10-million US study of slag, or smelting waste, in Lake Roosevelt in Washington state. The waste is discharged into the Columbia River from the firm’s lead and zinc smelter in Trail, B.C.
Court gives U.S. power over states on clean air By Laurie Asseo, Bloomberg News
The federal government can override some state decisions on enforcing the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court said in ruling the government could block a power generator at an Alaskan zinc mine owned by Teck Cominco Ltd.
The court ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had power to halt the construction on grounds Alaska officials didn't properly require Teck Cominco to use the "best available" pollution-control equipment. Alaska argued the clean-air law didn't allow the EPA to issue such an order. Vancouver-based Teck Cominco is the world's biggest zinc producer.-------------------------------------------
When Mainstream Media Tells Labor Stories By Jeff Epton, In These Times
Out of 386 labor-related Tribune stories, published between 1991 and 2001, researchers found that 77 percent of the “descriptors “ used to signify labor were negative. In the same stories researchers counted only 113 positive adjectives. The study, Evidence of “Class Anxiety” in the Chicago Tribune Coverage of Organized Labor, also found that stories about labor disputes were on the average nearly twice as long as stories about labor agreements. Stories in the sports section about player unions were by far the most frequent type of labor coverage in the paper during the period and 79 percent of those stories depicted labor in a negative light, the study’s authors wrote.-------------------------------------------
WTO reversal: Extra levy on Canadian lumber OK'd By Naomi Koppel, AP
GENEVA - A World Trade Organization appeals panel gave a boost to the United States Monday, reversing most of an earlier ruling that said U.S. special duties on Canadian lumber were illegal.
The panel agreed with U.S. claims that lumber from state-owned lands in Canada can be unfairly subsidized if provincial governments sell the wood at below-market price. Therefore the United States has the right to impose extra duties to prevent cheap Canadian wood harming U.S. manufacturers, the panel said.
It stressed, however, that Washington would still have to carry out more extensive investigations before it could justify imposing duties on some imports of logs.-------------------------------------------
BC Federation of Labour: Coming Events:
Modern Auto Plating Strikers Benefit Evening
Saturday January 24, 7:00 pm Maritime Labour Centre
Steelworkers - Two Years on the Picket Line Benefit Evening
Proceeds to benefit the members of USWA Local 2952 who have been on strike at Modern Auto Plating since January 24, 2002.
Featuring:
The comedy of The Laff Riot Girls
Music by Blues Cannon, all-union member band from Vancouver area
Appetizers and no-host bar
For information call 604-525-7481-------------------------------------------
Stadium demolition firm fined for safety violations By Jim McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Safety violations cited at 3 Rivers
Pittsburgh avidly followed the progress of the stadium's demolition in February 2001, and television news coverage of the event contributed to Bianchi Trison's brush with OSHA.
Robert Szymanski, the OSHA area director in Pittsburgh, and other OSHA staffers were alarmed when they saw an evening news program on Feb. 14 that showed a worker using a torch to cut a painted steel beam. Smoke fumes were visible and the worker wore no respirator.
The investigation began the next day.-------------------------------------------
Rescuers' heroic efforts could not save worker By Leslie Boyd
Donald DeHart had been working for Carolina Sewer & Drain of Fletcher, in a ditch about 12 feet deep and 3 or 4 feet wide.
The site appeared to be in violation of state OSHA standards, said Walker and OSHA investigators on the scene. Regulations say any trench deeper than 4 feet must be shored up on its sides or sloped to reduce the danger of collapse.
It also must have ramps, runways or other safe methods of access and egress, said Juan Santos, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Labor. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration is part of DOL.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, January 21, 2004 ::Heiress to announce leadership run today Tom Blackwell, National Post
She has been endorsed by such Conservative heavyweights as Brian Mulroney and Bill Davis, once raved about Pierre Trudeau after a dinner meeting with him, and is friends with Bill Clinton. A hard-nosed labour leader speaks highly of her, even though most of Magna's plants are not unionized.
'She's open to dialogue and she is not opposed to her employees joining our union,' said Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers.
To be or not to Belinda By John Bell, Socialist Worker
Look, I don’t think Stronach is stupid, nor do I buy the idea that behind that bland, blonde face is a "blank slate". She has lots of ideas, inherited along with her wealth and corporate power from her father.
The Stronach fortune is based, not on the brilliance of Frank nor the business acumen of Belinda, but on union busting.
Magna grew thanks to the concession contracts that the auto industry won beginning in the 1970’s, that allowed the big carmakers to buy their car parts from outsource, non-union shops. Magna remains a bastion of anti-union corporatism, thanks in large part to the legislative backing of the above listed political hacks.-------------------------------------------
Laboring for Justice in 2004 By Dorian T. Warren, In These Times
This is a critical year for the labor movement as it attempts to revitalize and transform itself into a national progressive political force. The outcome of several major organizing campaigns and unions’ impact on the end result of the fall elections will determine the course of economic and social justice for generations to come. Yet with much of the discussion focused on strategies for union growth and political mobilization, it is worthwhile to discuss what has plagued the American labor movement throughout its history: recognizing the multiple identities and injustices of its members and potential members.-------------------------------------------
Where have all the workers gone? By JOEL DRESANG
Manitowoc - The wood floor creaks in the empty union hall where Gary G. Miller sorts through the names of members of Steelworkers Local 6499, workers who were among the 900 whose jobs left here when Mirro closed its cookware plant last year.
Miller, the union's president, considers the fates of his co-workers. Many remain unemployed, he says. Some have taken retirement. Some, like him, are using government assistance to go to school. Some have found jobs, including a few, he says, at Wal-Mart.-------------------------------------------
Ottawa consulting provinces to try to restart softwood talks with U.S. By SANDRA CORDON, CBC News
A WTO appeals panel agreed with Washington's claim that lumber from lands owned by the provinces may be unfairly subsidized if the provinces sell the wood at below-market price.
Therefore the United States has the right to impose extra duties to prevent cheap Canadian wood from harming U.S. manufacturers, the panel said in its final decision.
It stressed, however, that Washington would still have to carry out more extensive investigations before it could justify imposing duties on some imports of logs.
Analysis: 2004 home decline clouds lumber By Hil Anderson, UPI
The disputed tariffs slapped on Canadian lumber imports by the United States were upheld Monday at a time when the U.S. homebuilding market is expected to cool off.
If the slowdown materializes as predicted, a decline in housing construction could cause a noticeable sag in the market price that is used to calculate the tariff.-------------------------------------------
Builder constructs home that won't sag, won't bow, won't rot By MATTHEW JONES, The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH - In Shane Straley's perfect world, houses would have no wood in them. Nary a stick.
They'd be built entirely of steel and concrete, strapping structures rising from the earth to withstand anything Mother Nature could concoct.
And they wouldn't squeak.
"I hate when you walk through a house and have squeaks," he said.
For Straley, who's made a career of steel, this isn't idle talk. He's serious about the squeaking.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 ::Smelter worker testifies at Flin Flon inquest CBC Manitoba
FLIN FLON - An inquest in Flin Flon heard emotional testimony Tuesday from a man who experienced the blast that eventually took the life of Steve Ewing.
Ewing was killed and 13 others injured in an explosion at the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting facility in Flin Flon in August 2000.-------------------------------------------
Court slams Walmart's use of 'dead peasant' insurance By Mark Gruenberg
NEW ORLEANS — One of Wal-Mart's long list of worker abuses--"dead peasants" insurance where it takes out life insurance policies on its low-level workers and collects the cash when they die--got a kick in the head in federal court.
That's because the estate of one dead worker, Douglas Sims, sued for damages, saying Wal-Mart robbed his heirs of money that was rightfully theirs. Lower federal courts agreed and, on Jan. 5, so did the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Workers assail Wal-Mart's night lock-in policy By Steven Greenhouse, New York Times
The reason for Rodriguez's delayed trip to the hospital was a little-known Wal-Mart policy: the lock-in. For more than 15 years, Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, has locked in overnight employees at some of its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. It is a policy that many employees say has created disconcerting situations, like when a worker in Indiana suffered a heart attack, when hurricanes hit in Florida and when workers' wives have gone into labor.-------------------------------------------
Fewer workplace injuries in Manitoba By ALLISON DUNFIELD, Globe and Mail Update
The study also examined the number of deaths in the workplace.
It found that 23 workers died on the job in 2000, 28 in 2001 and 17 in 2002.
Farm fatalities, which for the past 20 years represented about half of workplace injuries, have decreased substantially in the last two years.-------------------------------------------
Ontario Liberals tackle 60-hour work week By DARREN YOURK, Globe and Mail Update
The Ontario Liberal government kept a campaign promise Monday, announcing plans to roll back the 60-hour work week and give non-union employees more power to refuse overtime hours without worrying about job security.
While labour officials were cautiously optimistic about the announcement, they say the Liberals could do much more for Ontario workers.-------------------------------------------
Welcome to LostLabor.com
LOST LABOR: Images of Vanished American Workers 1900-1980 is a selection of 155 photographs excerpted from a collection of more than 1100 company histories, pamphlets, and technical brochures documenting America's business and corporate industrial history This collection has been assembled over the last 20 years and many of the titles are rare and difficult to find. Since the images document factories, machinery, and jobs that no longer exist, LOST LABOR provides an unusual visual and historical record of work in 20th century America.-------------------------------------------
AlterNet: Punk the Vote By Glenn BurnSilver, Fort Collins Weekly
Musicians from Pearl Jam to the Dixie Chicks have spoken out on issues from the war on Iraq to Bush's rollback of environmental safeguards. Now 'Fat Mike' Burkett, owner of Fat Wreck Chords and leader of the punk band NOFX, has taken things one step further. His new site, www.punkvoter.com, is a clearinghouse for anti-Bush information while simultaneously encouraging voter registration.-------------------------------------------
Division of labor By Trebor Banstetter, Star-Telegram
Disagreements run deep between rival unions vying to represent AA mechanics
Last year, the TWU even suspended two officials with the union's New York chapter for allegedly supporting the drive to switch unions. Supporters of the officials erected a 25-foot inflatable rat, dubbed Ralph, outside the union's headquarters during the 'trial' that led to the suspension. It was an ominous symbol of how emotional the labor schism has become, as the giant rat is typically displayed to criticize airline management.-------------------------------------------
Money troubles plague job-training center By PHIL FAIRBANKS
No one disputes the initial success of Buffalo's minority construction-job training center. More than 200 have graduated in two years, half of them now working as carpenters, painters and electricians.
So why is the training facility, the centerpiece of an effort to create a new generation of minority construction workers, at risk of closing?-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, January 19, 2004 ::Diagnosing a sinkhole a trial for homeowners By RON MATUS, SPTimes
'The next day, there's a hole again,' said McRae, 47, an artist and legal assistant. 'I'm like, 'Bunny's been here.''
Turns out, bunny wasn't to blame.
The earth was.
Workers pumped 31 truckloads of cement-like grout beneath McRae's home last month - enough, she jokes, to build a bomb shelter. McRae blames a sinkhole, though some experts say other natural forces could be the culprit.-------------------------------------------
King parade focuses on labor rights By GILLIAN FLACCUS, AP
LOS ANGELES -- City and state leaders and union officials rallied behind striking Southern California grocery workers at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade that highlighted King's commitment to labor rights.
Thousands gathered in balmy weather to watch the parade, in which high school marching bands and prancing horses shared the route with striking workers and a Teamsters truck that honked every few feet.
Organizers said nonunion retail giant Wal-Mart wanted to sponsor the parade for the slain civil rights leader, but city councilman Martin Ludlow intervened and asked the AFL-CIO and local unions to sponsor the parade.-------------------------------------------
"It's not our intention to create an unsafe workplace" By Jordan Barab, Confined Space
No one ever 'intends' to kill one of their employees. When you've got a lot of employees and they're working with a bunch of dangerous chemicals and doing a lot of hazardous work, it's hard to keep track of it all.
Thats one of the reasons that there are laws and standards and enforcement mechanisms that force employers to pay attention to the health and safety of their employees -- basic things like educating employees about the chemicals they are working with and minimizing their exposure.
Most work sites fail safety tests By Becky Pallack, ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Of the 8,000 homes built here last year, just 110 construction sites were inspected for safety compliance. Sixty-five percent had safety violations, such as shaky scaffolding, unsafe tools or insufficient training. Local enforcement inspectors focus on fall hazards, unsafe excavation pits and respiratory health, said Mark Norton, assistant OSHA director for Arizona. ( See accompanying story.)
Because the inspectors can't be everywhere, OSHA has changed its focus from enforcement to education in an effort to prevent accidents. Ideally, a better-trained work force will eliminate the need for frequent inspections, Norton said.-------------------------------------------
U.S. could be forced to lower duties By BARRIE McKENNA, Globe and Mail
WTO challenges softwood levy
The United States could be forced to drop its duties on Canadian softwood lumber by another notch in the wake of a key World Trade Organization decision.
In an interim ruling yesterday, the WTO upheld the right of the United States to impose anti-dumping duties on Canadian lumber, but the Geneva-based organization challenged the way Washington tallied its 8.38-per-cent levy.
Market pricing starts on Feb. 29 By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun
Environmentalists call timber policy 'absurd,' saying old-growth forests are threatened
The American lumber industry was quick to respond to the new pricing system for timber.
"It's certainly a move in the right direction," said John Ragosta, of the U.S. lobby group Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports.
"All we want is competition. Show us that it works. We have sort of given you the guideposts, we have shown you the goal line," he said referring to a department of commerce bulletin that outlines steps provinces need to take to reach free trade in lumber.-------------------------------------------
Gautier water towers get facelift By SHANE SCARA, GulfLive
'You should have seen it before we tracked through it,' said David Herb, a sandblaster and painter with Dixie Sandblasting. 'It looked all white like a nuclear bomb went off.'
The crew is almost done with the blasting. So far they have gone through 80 tons of sand.
Crew member Jerry Husted said the height doesn't bother him, but admitted their work is hazardous.
'You've gotta enjoy and pay attention to what you're doing,' Husted said. 'You don't get a second chance up there. You must put safety first.'-------------------------------------------
New ICFTU Report on United States: Serious violations of basic labour rights ICFTU Website
A new report on labour conditions in the US from the world’s largest trade union body, the ICFTU, denounces a serious record of continuing labour rights violations involving some of the world’s best-known companies such as Wal-Mart.
The ICFTU report has been produced to coincide with the 14-16 January WTO review of the trade policies of the US, which has ratified just two of the eight core labour conventions of the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO)– one of the worst rates of ratification in the world.-------------------------------------------
Construction council: Boycott Wal-Mart pjstar.com
Nearly 300 members of the West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council and other union members rallied outside the current Wal-Mart nearby to protest the presence of non-union, out-of-area contractors who are working on the new store at the intersection of Washington and McClugage roads.
'There's a lot of union people who are unemployed. This gives them a chance to vent their frustrations,' said Mike Everett, council president. 'We're educating the public and sending a message that we're not going to watch people from (outside the area) take local jobs. We're not that stupid.'-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, January 18, 2004 ::Home-builder admits diverting funds By ALAN WECHSLER
A Nassau contractor who built a couple's $600,000 dream house that an engineer later declared unsafe has pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny for spending building funds elsewhere.-------------------------------------------
Immigration’s Destruction Of America’s Middle Class By Frosty Wooldridge
Jack Johnson, not his real name, was in management before cutbacks. 'I am a heavy equipment operator today and we work in the refineries around Chicago,' he said. 'I work on the 'turn-a-rounds' that refineries have once a year when they shut operations down.'
His working arena includes several different trades--carpenters, operators, ironworkers, boilermakers, electricians and laborers. This particular refinery, Exxon-Mobil is non-union. In this area the only way to get enough help is to have employees fill what jobs they want filled. After the bulk of the work is finished, they start laying off all the union people they can. But what they do is disturbing from his standpoint.
'During this time,' he said, 'Exxon-Mobil has a company named Star-Con out of Manhattan, Illinois, which is totally non-union, to do a lot of the labor that involves very hazardous work. The people they bring in are illegal aliens that can't read, write or speak English.'-------------------------------------------
CBS Cuts MoveOn, Allows White House Ads During Super Bowl By Timothy Karr, MediaChannel.org
What's missing from America's premiere marketing spectacle will be an anti-Bush ad put forth by upstart advocacy group MoveOn.org. The group had hoped to buy airtime to run 'Child's Pay', a 30-second ad that criticizes the Bush administration's run-up of the federal deficit.
CBS on Thursday rejected a request from MoveOn to air the 30-second spot, saying 'Child's Pay' violated the network's policy against accepting advocacy advertising, a company spokesperson told reporters.
At the same time, CBS is allowing ads placed on the docket by the White House's anti-drug office.-------------------------------------------
Organize, Strategize, Revitalize By David Moberg, In These Times
Unions debate best way to revive labor’s fortunes
The years of denial are over. For several decades, as union membership declined as a share of the workforce, top union leaders refused to acknowledge the problem. Now, every labor leader, from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney down, agrees that rebuilding labor’s numbers will require unions to devote more resources to organizing. But the same leaders also agree that increasing membership alone isn’t enough. The central issue is how to organize to increase the power of workers.
“People are frustrated. Giant corporations are winning, workers losing, unions losing,” one union president, speaking off the record, lamented. “The question is what we do about it?”-------------------------------------------
OSHA: Welder's death was preventable By Norman Miller
"This was a tragedy that could have been avoided," said OSHA's area director, Richard Fazzio. "The company should have followed required safety procedures and informed workers about the dangers of the hazardous materials in the workplace."-------------------------------------------
Ministry Of Labour Slammed For Lack Of Action In Workplace Deaths OFL news release
'The Post Script in the Justice Keast's Decision is absolutely clear that rules have little practical effect for non-union workers,' said OFL president Wayne Samuelson. The Decision notes, 'Unionized workers in larger industrial companies, because of a more formal and structured approach to safety, are better protected.
'In a company with an organized union structure, Messrs. Hamilton, Buchanan (Lewis' co-workers) and Wheelan would not have stepped onto the job site without an intensive training and safety program.'
'What is important now is that everyone learns from this sad tragedy. It's not just employers and workers that have to learn. The Ministry of Labour itself, rather than simply prosecute the most vulnerable in the workplace, should better understand the economic and social factors that contribute to unsafe workplaces, in particular those of non-union and unorganized workplaces, and to develop strategies to reduce these subtle but deadly influences.'-------------------------------------------
Frigid Weather Paralyzing N.E. Region By M.R.F. Buckley
Big Dig workers were also on the job, but those operating heavy equipment beneath the old Central Artery had mufflers wrapped, turban-like, underneath their bright yellow hard hats. At Haymarket, other workers were unloading produce on forklifts in the frigid morning temperatures.
Ice sculptors and workers at Brookline Ice and Coal found that it was so harsh outside they were warmer inside the freezer, where the thermometers held steady at 20 degrees.
'The workers who bag the ice have found that when they have to go outside and load trucks and things like that, they come back in the ice house to get a little warmer,' said the company's Charlotte Ploss.
Northeast colder than Mars Cornell News
Temperature for Mars rover at lunchtime: 12 degrees; temperature in U.S. Northeast: minus 13 to 9 degrees
'Bundle up, hope for the best' By MARK PETERS, Portland Press Herald
On Portland's waterfront Friday, welders and iron workers faced harsh winds as they put beams in place for the new Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Some workers skipped their breaks because going into a warm construction trailer just made them feel colder when they went back outside.
Postal workers under fire for abandoning routes CTV.ca News Staff
"Is Canada Post being cold-hearted? Ha, ha, they are specialists at that," said Philippe Arbour, a Canadian Union of Postal Workers spokesman.
The union said its contract gives them the right to refuse work, but the employer said 20,000 workers in even colder parts of the country kept on the job.
The U.S. Postal Service motto about 'neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor hail' should apply in Canada. The union disagrees.
Outdoor workers layer it on thick to battle bitter cold By ALAN RAPPEPORT
Although it has been bitterly cold, all temperatures are relative.
'That's warm,' said Charlene Apangalook, an Eskimo from the village of Gambell, near Nome, Alaska. 'We go to 70 below zero. We have no choice. We have to go out and do work.'-------------------------------------------
