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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Monday, May 24, 2004 ::
a few posts more than usual today as it's a stat holiday in Canada - Victoria Day. while it's presumptious to speak for a monarch, one can assume that Queen Vicky would have not approved of the post below:------------------------------------------- posted 8:18 PM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
Bush, Whacked Elements of Style, by Lynn Yaeger, Village Voice
By way of further explanation, a visit to bodyasbillboard.com turns up this bluntly refreshing manifesto, which reads in part: 'Why? Because corporate America uses our bodies to advertise for companies where employees have no health benefits, work in hideous and dangerous conditions, are treated like shit and to boot, do not even make a living wage. . . . These companies should be paying us to wear their logos scrawled all over our bodies. The average American is exposed to over one thousand advertisements a day. This is fucking bullshit.'-------------------------------------------
Author booed for anti-Bush remarks BY BART JONES, Newsday.com
E.L. Doctorow, one of the most celebrated writers in America, was nearly booed off the stage at Hofstra University Sunday when he gave a commencement address lambasting President George W. Bush and effectively calling him a liar.
Booing that came mainly from the crowd in the stands became so intense that Doctorow stopped speaking at one point, showing no emotion as he stood silently and listened to the jeers. Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz intervened, and called on the audience to allow him to finish. He did, although some booing persisted.-------------------------------------------
Gates backs blogs for businesses BBC NEWS | Technology
E-mail messages could be too imposing or miss out key people who should be included, said Mr Gates.
Websites were a problem too, he added, because they demand that people visit them regularly to find out if anything has changed and require regular updating to avoid going stale.
These problems could be solved, said Mr Gates, by using blogs and Real Simple Syndication (RSS), that lets people know when a favourite journal is updated.
'What blogging and these notifications are about is that you make it very easy to communicate,' he said.
'The ultimate idea is that you should get the information you want when you want it.'-------------------------------------------
The Weekly Toll compiled by Jordan Barab, Confined Space
a list of American workers killed on the job...-------------------------------------------
rawblogXport is generated from nelson, bc, canada -- so here's a local union news article:
City workers say “no” to future job and service cuts in Nelson BC CUPE News
“We have given the city everything they have asked for, including sick leave reductions and a decrease in the minimum staffing level by four employees – saving the city $1.2 million,” says Bev Lapointe, CUPE 339 President. “You can’t get more helpful then that.”
“What we won’t agree to is opening up the door for the city to close the positions of the 21 city workers that will be retiring in the next 5 years. These jobs belong to the community.”
“Nelson is a town in need of good jobs and the maintenance of quality public services,” Lapointe explains. “While our jobs may be protected, it is only for the term of the agreement. It is our responsibility to make sure that future jobs don’t disappear and that city services are not cut to the core.”-------------------------------------------
Union hires immigrants for job site protests By Richard Ruelas, AZ Central
They stand outside for hours holding up a banner that says, 'Labor dispute.' But Rosa Hernandez and Irma Chavez think their own working conditions are just fine.
Sure, it's hot, there are no breaks and no opportunity to get lunch. But as immigrant workers, they're used to toiling long hours for low pay.
'We've had much harder jobs,' Hernandez, 38, said while leaning on a tall chair along East Van Buren Street.
The two are among dozens of women hired by the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters to carry out the union's demonstrations. It's sort of an 'outsourcing' of the protest.-------------------------------------------
Three carpenters' locals merging By MICHELLE STARR, York Daily Record, PA
About 250 members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 191 are saying goodbye to a long tradition in York County.
The local, chartered in 1886, has merged with local 492 in Reading and local 287 in Harrisburg to create a force of 1,400 members. The new local will be 214 — a designation arrived at by combining the first number of each of three old locals.-------------------------------------------
Labor Media May Be Our Best Hope Against the Corporate Version By David Swanson, ILCAonline.org
As documented by Andy Zipser, in an article titled 'The Labor Press: watchdog, lapdog, or canary in the mine shaft?' the labor movement has done this in the past. Indeed, the labor press was so large 50 years ago that the Wall Street Journal worried, prior to the 1952 elections, that 'the influence of the labor press could be a potent factor in determining voting results.' The labor press was important enough to prompt President-elect Jack Kennedy to send a message to the 1960 convention of the ILPA (predecessor to the ILCA), expressing his 'deep gratitude for the unprecedented support which the labor press gave to the Kennedy-Johnson ticket.'-------------------------------------------
Craven ordered to pay $300 fine By Denise Jewell, The Gloucester County Times, NJ
Craven was accused of throwing the fatal punch during a melee outside Aldelphia Restaurant, the popular nightclub and restaurant co-owned by Balis.
'Obviously everyone wishes they could turn back the hands of time,' Craven's defense attorney, Seth Belson, told the judge Thursday.
Belson, who said Craven had already served eight days in the county jail for the incident, said the trial process had left Craven unable to get a job and considering bankruptcy.
Craven was at the restaurant for a holiday party with co-workers from a local carpenter's union when the brawl occurred.-------------------------------------------
Delegates Amend By- Laws in Wake of Verdict NY local157.com
Under the current by-laws, If Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Atlas does impose sentence on June 30, and as a result Mike Forde must relinquish his post as EST, under Section 9 (C), the President would immediately become Executive Secretary- Treasurer Protem and because there is more than one year left to the term of office, would be required to call for nominations of District Council Officers, including Executive Secretary Treasurer (EST.), President and Vice President in order to comply with Section 9(C).
The amendment requires the approval of the Government, and the Government may rule that by amending section 9 (c) when there is fifty percent remaining (18 months) on the term of office of the EST, may deprive the membership of their democratic rights by denying the membership their right to vote.
In compliance with section 34 of the district council by-laws, President Thomassen called for the amendment to be voted on, hearing no questions, the delegate body voted and approved the amendment 76 to 5 in favor.
Whether the Forde administration will prevail, or whether the Government will find a way to object to this amendment, is now uncertain.-------------------------------------------
Unionist avoids jail term: A victory for workers' rights Sue Bolton, Green Left, Australia
“This is a victory for militant unionism in that the judge said that there was a legitimate grievance by those workers. He did not in any way excuse my behaviour and I've been given a suspended jail term. I have to accept that and I do accept that, but there was a legitimate grievance by those workers that were sacked. And that's the issue that's been lost in this whole campaign... Workers being sacked and replaced by casual labour and scabs.-------------------------------------------
Firefighter says 'knucklehead' stole sign from memorial site By NANCY J. SULOK, SouthBendTribune
Several other unions are volunteering to help with the labor, Janowiak said, including United Steel Workers of America Local 292, International Union of Bricklayers Local 4, Carpenters Union Local 413 and Cement Masons Local 101.-------------------------------------------
Front-of-the-bus activism by SU-JIN YIM, Oregonian
Zephyr draws more than 10,000 hits a month at www.zephyrmagazine.com. A chapter of a recent book distributed nationwide -- 'How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-politics, Un-boring Guide to Power' -- is written by board member Adam J. Smith. When California governor-wannabe Arianna Huffington came to town in early May, she asked for a bus ride and got it. Howard Dean, in town this week with presidential candidate John Kerry, even taped a short video for the project.
While the grass-roots group's profile is undeniably growing, 'the Bus Project is still in its infancy,' says Patrick Green, campaign director for the AFL-CIO, who calls himself an early doubter of the group.
'I thought they had kind of like a carnival atmosphere and seemed pretty disorganized. It was basically a nonprofessional group,' Green says. He changed his mind after the project proved it could draw young people to political events. But, he wonders, what kind of political power will the Bus Project become?-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, May 23, 2004 ::Mining Official Fired WKYT 27
Labor leaders in Kentucky were critical of the decision, saying Johnson has a record as a strong advocate for the safety of miners.
Kentucky AFL-CIO president Bill Londrigan said the firing was a payback by Governor Ernie Fletcher to coal operators who supported his election.-------------------------------------------
Creosote: 'Witch's brew' By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Bonita Daily News, FL
As creosote-related illnesses and deaths mount, an industry resists tougher regulation and fights for its survival
Faced with financial woes caused by a steady stream of lawsuits over health problems linked to CCA-treated playground equipment, the American Wood Preservers Institute, a leading industry advocate, shut its doors in late 2002.
That same year industrial giant Kerr-McGee — one of a handful of American creosote manufacturers and owner of six wood treatment plants — announced it was getting out of the wood products business entirely.
It too had suffered too many legal wounds.
In Vermont, telecommunications leader Verizon agreed last year to no longer use creosote-coated telephone poles after a three-year legal battle with local utilities and labor unions concerned about health risks.
And state legislators in New York and California have echoed those concerns in the past year, introducing proposals to ban the sale, manufacturing and use of creosote. While each of the proposals was not successful in 2003, supporters vow to keep up the fight.
"We plan to do everything we can to ban the use of this harmful product in the future," said Stephen McInnis, political director for the New York City District Council of Carpenters.-------------------------------------------
Deadly Paris airport roof collapse CNN.com International
Slabs of concrete and metal came crashing down from the ceiling onto a seated waiting area at about 7 a.m. Sunday (0500 GMT/1 a.m. ET).
Part of the raised terminal structure then collapsed onto airport service vehicles underneath.
The collapse left a hole 50 meters (yards) by 30 meters in the long, tunnel-like building.-------------------------------------------
Union vs. Non-Union: Training Is Key Factor to Worker Productivity SmartPros Accounting
There is a lingering misconception about union contractors that continues to sway the minds of some construction supervisors, building managers and owners, and engineers -- that the only difference between union and non-union shops is that union work costs more.
The Mechanical Contractors Association, which represents contractors who install service heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems, begs to differ. The only difference between union and non-union shops, says MCA, is productivity level.
"Productivity is a term most people throw around pretty freely these days. But when we use it, we back it up with proof," said Steve Lamb, executive vice president of MCA Chicago. "Union workers receive extensive training and so incur fewer injuries and lawsuits. Their quality workmanship results in greater productivity and timely results, and that adds up to savings."-------------------------------------------
Laborer Dies and 2 Are Hurt as Illegal Balcony Roof Falls By MICHAEL BRICK and DAVID W. CHEN, New York Times
A laborer was killed and two others were seriously injured yesterday when a balcony roof that was being illegally built at a new luxury condominium building in Brooklyn gave way, sending the workers tumbling three stories in a deluge of bricks and flowing concrete, the authorities said.
The primary contractor on the job, Big Apple Development and Construction of Bayside, Queens, has open violations and large unpaid fines from federal workplace safety regulators, including a $7,000 fine for an unsafe work site in Staten Island in 2002.
Laborer's Death Prompts Homicide Investigation By MICHAEL BRICK and JESS WISLOSKI, New York Times
Across the country, prosecutors in California have been more aggressive than others in pursuing convictions in connection with workplace deaths, but New York prosecutors have had some successes.
In January, Philip V. Minucci, a contractor, was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter charges in the deaths of five construction workers who were killed when a scaffold collapsed at a building in Gramercy Park in October 2001. Mr. Minucci admitted that he had designed the scaffold without regard for its safety.-------------------------------------------
Witte more to blame for deaths than Warren: WCB CBC North
The Board's lawyers argued all are at fault, but not equally, as they finished their closing arguments at the Giant mine civil trial on Friday.
Most to blame for the was the company that owned the Giant mine, Royal Oak, and its head, Peggy Witte.
The reason: Witte's decision to keep the mine open using replacement workers, despite escalating violence.
The Board's lawyers said Witte was more at fault for the deaths than Roger Warren. Warren is serving a life sentence for murdering the nine men.-------------------------------------------
HEU Members' Resolutions Too Hot To Handle MfD OpenForum
A series of resolutions tabled by the HEU Children's and Women's Local at a meeting of the Vancouver District Labour Council (VDLC) earlier this week, have been deferred until the VDLC's June meeting because executive board members found them 'too controversial'.
The resolutions call on the Labour Council to:
* Condemn the BC Federation of Labour for its failure to support striking HEU workers who were recently subject to back-to-work legislation that also imposed a 15% cut to their wages.
* Condemn the BC New Democratic Party for the praise it heaped on a deal brokered by BC labour leaders that accepted the 15% rollback.
* Demand that minutes of meetings of the directors of Concert Properties, a land development and real estate company connected to many BC union leaders, be made available to members of VDLC affiliates.-------------------------------------------
Greenpeace Prevails Against Ashcroft in Controversial Prosecution by Jim Lobe, Common Dreams
WASHINGTON - In a rebuke to the U.S. Justice Department, a federal judge in Miami Wednesday threw out a criminal case against the environmental-activist group, Greenpeace, which it had based on an obscure 1872 law against 'sailormongering' that it applied to a protest against a ship carrying 70 tons of illegally cut mahogany.-------------------------------------------
Working...And Poor BusinessWeek
At any moment, a boss pressured to pump profits can slash hours, shortchanging a family's grocery budget -- or conversely, force employees to work off the clock, wreaking havoc on child-care plans. Often, as they get close to putting in enough time to qualify for benefits, many see their schedules cut back. The time it takes to don uniforms, go to the bathroom, or take breaks routinely goes unpaid. Complain, and there is always someone younger, cheaper, and newer to the U.S. willing to do the work for less. Pittsburgh native Edward Plesniak, 36, lost his $10.68-an-hour union job as a janitor when the contractor fired all the union workers to make way for cheaper, nonunion labor. So far, Plesniak has been able to dredge up work only as a part-time floor waxer. The pay: $6.00 an hour, with no benefits. 'I feel like I'm in a nightmare,' says the married father of three. 'And I can't wake up.'
What's happening in the world's richest, most powerful country when so many families seem to be struggling? And what can be done?-------------------------------------------
Nurses of hazard By LAURA RASKIN, Bennington Banner, VT
'It was a major learning process for me,' said Kobelia of getting the company up to OSHA standards. She has spent most of the last two years in front of her computer, she said. She learned a lot about occupational health through the Internet, and became connected with the Vermont Association of Occupational Health Nurses that way.
'I'm still a novice - finding stuff I need to know and do,' she said.
Health and safety at the mill is key for Kobelia, she said, not least of all because an accident-free work zone keeps workers compensation down for the company.
'We have not had an accident since we bought the mill in 1990,' said Kobelia.
This is a wonderful record compared to the rest of the lumber industry, she said."-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, May 22, 2004 ::Union claims Stelco abusing workers' rights under bankruptcy protection By KEITH LESLIE, CBC News
Stelco is violating Ontario labour laws and basic human rights by using its court-ordered protection from bankruptcy to lay off injured and older workers, the union representing employees at the Hamilton-based steelmaker charged Friday.
The United Steelworkers of America said Stelco permanently laid off 150 workers, many of them injured and close to retirement, because it could use the federal Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to ignore seniority provisions in their collective agreements.
"Stelco wants to go under the wild west of CCAA where there are no rules and nothing enforceable," said Rolf Gerstenberger, president of Local 1005 at Hilton Works.-------------------------------------------
Anti-Bush tirade wins Cannes award By Joelle Diderich and Paul Majendie
CANNES, France (Reuters) - U.S. director Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' a savage indictment of President George W. Bush's handling of Iraq and the war on terror, has won the top award at the Cannes film festival.
'I have this great hope that things are going to change,' said Moore on Saturday after tearing into Bush with his emotion-charged documentary in the run-up to November's presidential election.
The Oscar-winning director, overwhelmed by the standing ovation given to his Palme d'Or best film award, said: 'I want to make sure if I do nothing else for this year that those who have died in Iraq have not died in vain.'
Bush Suffers Cuts, Bruises While Biking By DEB RIECHMANN, AP
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush suffered cuts and bruises early Saturday afternoon when he fell while mountain biking on his ranch, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.-------------------------------------------
Nail gun tragedies difficult to prevent: OSHA has no standards in place; training called best prevention By SEAN SMYTH, The Patriot Ledger
Death by nail gun is still a rare occurrence, but as an accident in Plymouth earlier this week showed, it's a risk users face each time they pick up the tool.
Once wielded only by carpenters and construction workers, nail guns are now a must-have tool for many do-it-yourselfers. But even seasoned professionals can and do get hurt - and sometimes killed.
Raymond L. Tassinari IV, 22, of Plymouth died Monday when a nail pierced his heart. Tassinari, a carpenter for Shawnlee Construction Co. of Plainville, was working with a nail gun on The Pinehills development in South Plymouth when it happened. Investigators called it a ‘‘freak'' accident.-------------------------------------------
Carpenters hosting seminar Lake Zurich Courier
The Chicago and Northeast Illinois District Council of Carpenters will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, at the Carpenter Training Center, 1256 Estes, in Elk Grove Village. Admission is free.
The union's best-trained carpenters from across the state will compete against each other in five different categories: General construction, interior systems, millwright, mill cabinet and flooring. Prospective people or current carpenters can also discover how to expand their skills and increase work opportunities through the Carpenter Skill Advancement Program.-------------------------------------------
hat tip: Anne Feeney, Whirled Retort
Northland Poster Collective
'Morally Treasonable', a quote from our 26th president, might come as a surprise to the current holder of the office.
Poster text: 'To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. - Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States.'-------------------------------------------
Climbing lumber prices are pushing up home, deck costs By Jeff Branscome, The Freelance Star
Price fluctuations in lumber forced Atlantic Homes to push prices up by about $1,000 per home this year, said Charles Caruso, director of purchasing for Atlantic Homes.
Some area builders and suppliers say gas prices are to blame for higher lumber costs, as more money is spent transporting the produce.
Others blame costlier lumber treatment methods on reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
Mike French, owner of Virginia Decking and Remodeling, said the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for price increases in treated lumber. At the end of last year, lumber treatment companies no longer could produce chromated copper arsenate, which was used to protect it against rot and pests.-------------------------------------------
Two powerful Unions join Haddock's race team NHRA News
Funny Car driver and team owner Terry Haddock has announced an associate sponsorship deal with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) for his Barrett Enterprises Chevrolet Camaro.
In conjunction, the Chicago and Northeast Illinois District Council of Carpenters has signed as a major associate sponsor for the two Chicago events, the NHRA Route 66 Nationals and the Carquest Auto Parts Nationals in the fall.
'Our association with Terry Haddock is a perfect fit,' said Earl J. Oliver, president of the Chicago and Northeast Illinois District Council of Carpenters. 'Terry is an ambitious young man with a dream and he is willing to work hard to reach his goals. Things weren't handed to him on a silver platter. He is an everyday guy that has to make things happen for him.'-------------------------------------------
INTAKE CHANNEL DAMAGE AT THE ARROW LAKES GENERATING STATION UNDER REPAIR Columbia Power Corporation News Release
Castlegar – Work to repair the damage to the concrete lining of the Arrow Lakes Generating Station’s intake channel continued throughout the weekend.
“Crews are working on temporary repairs to the damaged concrete in the bottom of the intake channel,” said Wally Penner, Executive Director of Community and Regional Affairs for Columbia Power Corporation. “Right now crews are laying down a layer of pea gravel over the damaged concrete to level the area. Once all the gravel is in place, crews will then cover it with a heavy-duty polyethylene fabric to seal out water, and cover the area with a 12-inch thick fabric inflatable “mattress”, which will be filled with concrete and used to hold the polyethylene sheeting in place.”-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, May 21, 2004 ::Construction Company Fined in Bridge Collapse CBS5.com
A Sacramento company will be fined nearly $20,000 for last December's deadly collapse of a bridge in Napa.
One worker for CC Myers of Rancho Cordova was killed when part of the under-construction span gave way.-------------------------------------------
SBC workers start strike over health care, outsourcing BY T.A. BADGER AP
CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson said the company's proposal would double the average worker's monthly health care expense to about $70.
And because SBC's revenue from its core local-phone service is dropping, the union wants its members to have access to jobs in growing areas within the company, among them Internet support and wireless data service. Outside contractors, including those with workers in low-wage overseas locations, now handle most of that work.-------------------------------------------
Senate Votes $170 Billion in Tax Breaks For Business; Zilch for Jobless Workers LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
It was disturbing to union members that Senator John Kerry, the AFL CIO’s candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, was the lone senator who failed to vote on the unemployment benefits issue, that might have made a difference in the outcome
Kerry was on the campaign trail when the vote was taken. He said that his vote would not have helped, since some of the Republicans who had voted for the amendment would have changed their minds if they thought the measure would pass. Nevertheless, Kerry’s absence from the voting is regarded as, at the very least, a symbolic blunder.
It is troubling how the AFL-CIO, with 13 million dues payers, who play such an important role in producing the goods and services of our economy, are treated with so little respect by Congress. In the 2000 election, union households accounted for a spectacular 26% of the total national vote. Yet organized labor has not won a single piece of legislation on its agenda in years, even when Democrats occupied the White House and both houses of Congress.
Why does the AFL-CIO spend many millions on candidates for high office, supplying them with thousands of volunteers -- and getting nothing in return, even when they win?
The Sweeney administration played this disgraceful, servile role in the presidential elections of 1996 and 2000. Are we going to get the same brush-off treatment in 2004, after we spend $44 million of dues-payer money? Isn’t it time for our national leaders to show some spine?-------------------------------------------
The 50-year pact will standardize pay By Mary Vorsino, Honolulu Star-Bulletin
The winning bidder of a $7 billion Army housing contract for Oahu has signed an unprecedented 50-year agreement with the islands' trade unions that pledges to standardize pay rates and working conditions for the project's workers.
'It's the first of its kind in the nation insofar as the 50 years go,' said Hawaii Carpenters Union Financial Business Representative Ron Taketa, who helped negotiate the pact. 'We can now move forward with recruiting and training programs to support the huge scope of the residential construction programs proposed for the military.'
The agreement means all construction workers employed at the project will be paid according to rates assigned to their trades annually by the federal government, putting competition between union and nonunion contractors on more even ground, Taketa said.-------------------------------------------
Adding jobs shouldn't mean less worker safety EDITORIAL, The Decatur Daily, AL
The Occupation Safety and Health Administration became law in 1970 because employers failed to adequately protect their workers.
The law's been under attack ever since, mainly by Republicans who represent business interests.
Four bills passed the House of Representatives this week that could weaken the law. Some of the reasons are ingenious. One, for instance, is supposed to make worker safety better because employers will voluntarily do things that promote good health and safety.
That, of course, ignores history and that OSHA became law because employers refused to voluntarily create a more wholesome work environment.-------------------------------------------
Health CEOs get pay hikes as worker pay slashed VANCOUVER SUN
Premier Gordon Campbell is defending big pay raises for senior health executives.
It has been revealed that some top health executives have got increases ranging from five to 18 per cent over the last two years.
The word comes after the government imposed a contract on the Hospital Employees' Union, forcing its members to take an 11-per-cent pay cut.-------------------------------------------
Beyond Emporium dome By J.K. Dineen, San Francisco Examiner
With several hundred flicks of the wrist, ironworker Guy Tunnell changed the city skyline Tuesday morning.
Tunnell, a rigger foreman with Sheedy Drayage Company, was behind the control panel as four hydraulic jacks slowly lifted the 500,000-pound historic Emporium Market dome 58 feet skyward, where it will become the centerpiece of the expanded Westfield San Francisco Centre.-------------------------------------------
Rescuing the Past Washington Post
The conspiracy to save Maryland's endangered African American history
Philip Reid was a slave, too. He was one of hundreds from Maryland who helped build the U.S. Capitol. In an ironic twist, Reid, a master ironworker, oversaw perhaps the most important task: hoisting the Statue of Freedom atop the dome in 1863. His master, Clark Mills, was paid $23,700 for the labor.-------------------------------------------
The cycle of life requires modification By Patrick Glendening, Kennett Paper, PA
When a knife severed Mark Ditchfield's spinal cord, he was forced to modify his life and, eventually, his motorcycle.
The union ironworker came to Philadelphia in 1988 after having built skyscrapers in California, Boston, New York and suburban Detroit.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, May 20, 2004 ::Sittin' on the dock of the bay / Dry-docked cruise ship seen as harbinger of S.F. repair revival San Francisco Chronicle
'We have a crew of 20 shipwrights working at Pier 70, about double the number we had before these cruise ships came in,'' said Paul Cohen, a spokesman for the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council. 'It's the biggest project our guys have seen in quite awhile.''-------------------------------------------
Steelworkers Outraged by Timken's Plant Closure Announcement Business Wire
United Steelworkers of America (USWA) officials today blasted Timken's surprise announcement today that it plans to close three bearing plants in Canton, Ohio that employ 1,300 workers. The union had been engaged with the Company in discussions designed to improve the cost-competitiveness of the plants.-------------------------------------------
CEP Demands Saw Log Guidelines Canada NewsWire
Ontario's largest forestry union is demanding that the Ontario government implement guidelines covering the use of logs harvested from provincial forests. Currently companies can determine on their own which trees are 'saw logs' and which can be taken directly from the forest for chipping and shipping to pulp mills.
'This practice is costing Ontario forestry workers jobs,' said Ontario Regional Vice President Cec Makowski of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada in a protest letter sent to Ontario Minister of Natural Resources, David Ramsey.-------------------------------------------
Craftsmen say the decision to skip college a fair trade BY VIRGINIA TERHUNE, Maryland Northeast Booster
Randy Affeld is a third-generation crane operator and long-time union member, but his children may not follow in his footsteps.
'I have a son who wants to go to college, he's not interested,' Affeld said. 'My grandfather, my uncles _ they were all operating engineers, but I think I'm the last one.'
The fact that increasing numbers of students are choosing college over construction is one reason why the Maryland Construction Trades Association held its third annual career day May 7 in White Marsh.-------------------------------------------
State snags another big Hollywood film New Mexico Business Weekly
Much of the movie will be filmed at the old New Mexico State Penitentiary just outside of Santa Fe. The prison, notorious for a 1980 riot that claimed 33 lives, was closed in 1999. Several movies have been shot there in the past two years, said Jon Hendry, who heads the New Mexico Tourism Department.
Hendry also said The Longest Yard could keep '100 carpenters, 40 painters and 40 greens people' busy and 'making union wages for a long time.'-------------------------------------------
Home fix-it group ready for annual projects Green Bay Press-Gazette - Tom Perry column
Over the past 10 years, more than 140 homes have been refurbished with volunteers contributing more than 100,000 work hours, said Sherry Schuldes, a volunteer from the Green Bay Packers administration.
To make sure the work gets done properly, local union electricians, plumbers and carpenters will be on hand at each project site.
Tradesmen, too
Mike Hendricks, business agent for Carpenters Local 1146, said Wednesday that about 75 skilled tradesmen will be volunteering their time.
Hendricks, who has been involved with Rebuilding Together for five years, said he always finds willing volunteers to give their time.-------------------------------------------
Human Resource Managers: Secret Weapon for Workplace Safety? Nah. Confined Space
This is a bit bizarre. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that “In only two years, the number of employees who say feeling safe at work is a priority to their job satisfaction has jumped 28 percent..”
So far so good. Why do we think this is?
"Terrorist warnings in the US and the wars in the Middle East have put employees' concerns for safety at the forefront," said Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR, president and CEO of SHRM.-------------------------------------------
Fatal plant accident revealed mistakes By AMY WIMMER SCHWARB, St. Petersburg Times, FL
CRYSTAL RIVER - When Progress Energy employees tried to open a valve at the company's coal plant on Jan. 29, they unleashed a torrent of pressure that had built up after the valve was improperly shut off days earlier.
That pressure, according to Progress Energy's internal investigation of the accident, was released in an explosion that shattered parts of a metal casing and killed Bill Bowers, a 20-year employee at the coal plant.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 ::Building Trades President Sullivan Continues Fight to Force Reform of Apprenticeship Programs BCTD: News Release
In October, 2003, a study of nonunion programs was conducted by the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, entitled “A Preliminary Report on Associated Builders and Contractors Apprenticeship Training: Flawed and Failing Initiatives.” Using U.S. Department of Labor data and other materials available to the public, the six-month study uncovered startling failures in the standards and completion rates of non-union apprenticeship programs sponsored by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).-------------------------------------------
IWA PRESIDENT RESIGNS POSITION;
UNION LEADERSHIP SUPPORT HAGGARD’S BID FOR MP LaborWire - Canada - The Joe Hill Dispatch
release available at Online@iwa.ca in pdf format
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 18, 2004
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA - IWA members and other Canadian working families have lost a strong leader with the resignation of president Dave Haggard, but will be the biggest winners should he be elected to Parliament, say the officers of the Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada (IWA).
“It is a loss to our organization to lose such a strong leader, but at the same time it is an opportunity for us and for workers in BC and across Canada to gain a voice in Parliament,” said IWA Canada secretary-treasurer Dave Tones. “His working-class perspective and his understanding of industrial and labour issues will advance the cause of all Canadian working people.”-------------------------------------------
'Significant Adverse Effects' WEB EXCLUSIVE By Jennifer Barrett, Newsweek
Graham, whose office was blocks from the World Trade Center, was able to get down to the Twin Towers so quickly after the first plane struck that he was standing across the street from the north tower when the second plane hit. Because of his unusual combination of medical and carpentry skills, Graham ended up staying at the site for more than nine months helping out, despite his own mounting health problems. His first sought treatment three weeks after the attacks. The initial diagnosis: respiratory problems including asthma, and chemical burns on his esophagus and throat.-------------------------------------------
Boeing makes final offer to machinists union By JIM SUHR, AP
ST. LOUIS - Boeing Co. on Tuesday gave what it calls its final contract offer to a union representing machinists and aerospace workers, setting up a weekend vote by the union's membership hours before the current contract expires.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' District 837 stressed that last month's strike authorization - backed by 98 percent of the roughly 1,250 union members who voted - was procedural and would not mean an immediate walkout if the latest offer is rejected Sunday.-------------------------------------------
Probe to Include GOP Donations By Thomas Edsall, Washington Post
A source familiar with the Senate committee's probe, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is confidential, said investigators want to know whether any part of the $500,000 came from an Indian tribe with casino interests that might be interested in taking sides in a gubernatorial contest.
Scanlon did not respond to requests for comment left on his cell phone voice mail and at his office on Capitol Hill. His attorney, Stephen L. Braga, said the money came from Scanlon and there is nothing in financial records showing that funds were transferred from a casino-owning tribe through Scanlon. Pamela J. Marple, one of Abramoff's attorneys, did not respond to a request for comment.-------------------------------------------
Convention head downplays concerns By Frank Phillips, Boston Globe
'Higher prices result from less competition and restricting construction to union-only firms cuts out the 80 percent of construction firms that choose not to sign with unions,' said Greg Beeman, the president of Associated Builders and Contractors of Massachusetts.
'I'm sure the DNC appreciates the $100,000 donation from Carpenters' Union and the other trade unions,' Beeman said, referring to a recent contribution from the regional carpenters' union. 'Unfortunately for them, it's not going to come close to offsetting the costs resulting from union-only construction at the convention site,' he said.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino accused Beeman and the ABC of playing politics with the cost issues.
He said the convention will benefit by hiring union workers because they are 'experts and properly licensed in their fields.'
'We are a union city,' Menino said. 'I would rather pay to have to well-trained experts do the jobs and get the benefits. . . . They are part of the community. They do a lot of community benefits.'-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 ::Sixteen Tons: Nuggets from the United Mine Workers of America. laborarts.org
In his 1946 ballad, writer-musician Merle Travis summoned his memories of life in the Muhlenberg County, Kentucky mines, where his father had worked. The recording of the song by Tennessee Ernie Ford achieved astronomical levels of popularity - 400,000 singles were sold during the first eleven days of its release.
The song helped to dramatize the difficult plight of the mine workers. It also helped focus attention on the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), which has been fighting since 1890 for a safe workplace, good wages, better conditions and fair representation. The UMWA also produced one of the genuine heroes of the American labor movement in its president, John L. Lewis, founder and leader of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). That organization made labor history during the 1930s and 40s when it organized tens of thousands of unorganized workers - native and foreign-born, men and women and black and white - in the major mass production industries of the nation, including steel, auto and rubber.-------------------------------------------
Forest union brass endorses leader running for federal Liberals By GREG JOYCE, Canadian Press
BURNABY, B.C. - The head of a powerful forest industry union who is running for the Liberals in the next federal election has received the endorsement of the union's executive.
Dave Haggard announced Tuesday he is stepping down as president of the 60,000-member Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada, almost a month after word leaked that he would stand in the suburban Vancouver-area riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam. Haggard was chosen by Prime Minister Paul Martin and other candidates in the riding stepped aside, avoiding a nomination battle.
If he loses in the election, expected to be called any day, Haggard said he will be out looking for a job.-------------------------------------------
Toyota proves union-resistant By Brett Clanton, The Detroit News
General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, fighting to stay competitive, have been looking for ways to cut soaring health care and pension costs.
Pro-union forces in Georgetown warn that the fortunes of the foreign automakers could turn overnight, leaving workers vulnerable to pay cuts or layoffs.
The arguments have yet to gain traction with most Toyota workers.
National UAW representatives abandoned their headquarters in a Georgetown hotel last month after only 37 percent of workers signed cards supporting UAW representation during a recruiting drive that began in November.-------------------------------------------
BUILDING BLOCKED: NYCHA RESIDENTS WANT THEIR JOBS By Ruth Ford, CityLimits.org
One year after a coalition of community groups, trade unions and public housing residents signed a historic agreement with the New York City Housing Authority to make way for the hiring of public housing residents on the agency’s construction sites, the authority still has not put tenants to work.
Members of the coalition, known as Trade Unions & Residents for Apprenticeship Development (TRADES), are now asking the City Council to compel NYCHA to live up to its agreement. Brooklyn Councilmember Diana Reyna, who chairs the subcommittee on public housing, will be holding a public hearing on June 9 on the agreement. The goals of the hearing are twofold, said Reyna’s chief of staff, Karl Camillucci: “Number one, it’s to educate tenants about the pre-apprenticeship program, and, two, to come up with a way that satisfies everyone’s interest in having the program move along to meet its objectives.”-------------------------------------------
Local workers get jobs at Lowe's By Greg Smith, Norwich Bulletin
'We're always happy when local people get work on local projects at area standard wages,' said Tim Sullivan, regional council representative of New England Regional Council of Carpenters in a written release. 'This is great for the state of Connecticut.'
The news comes after the Department of Labor, during an investigation into claims that workers at the site were not being paid minimum wage, found three subcontractors were not providing payroll records on site.
The three subcontractors, from Indiana, North Carolina and Tennessee, were hired by Duke Construction. They were fined $12,300 for the violation of state labor regulations that require payroll records on site.-------------------------------------------
Forestry ministers present new conditions to U.S. on softwood lumber By SANDRA CORDON, CBC News
Canada has challenged Washington's duties at both the World Trade Organization and under NAFTA.
But it's time to negotiate a lasting peace, said Carl Grenier of the Montreal-based Free Trade Lumber Council, which represents producers across the country.
'The hope is that we will not simply do as we've done before - negotiate a solution to this particular episode of the long dispute - but (instead) try and put it behind us permanently.
'If it's just a quick and dirty deal, it's less interesting and may be a very expensive thing to do.'
Ministers also backed away from a U.S. proposal that set quotas for Canadian imports as a possible interim measure towards full free trade.
'Quotas are dead,' said de Jong.-------------------------------------------
Feds asked to expand probe of Coffee Creek land deal By Steve Walsh, Gary Post Tribune
A citizens watchdog group is asking federal authorities to expand the probe into the Carpenters Union’s $10 million land deal in the wake of Kevin Pastrick’s guilty plea.
The call from the Citizens Action Coalition comes as the Northwest Indiana Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Fund Trust has admitted publically for the first time that the 55 acres bought from the Lake Erie Land co. is not worth half of what it invested since 1999.-------------------------------------------
Hoffa advises Kerry to run with Gephardt By Jim Vandehei, WASHINGTON POST
LAS VEGAS - Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry should tap Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri for vice president as a way to maximize union enthusiasm and turnout this fall, Teamsters President James Hoffa Jr. says.
Hoffa, in Las Vegas for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters annual conference, told reporters Sunday he has lobbied Kerry three or four times to pick Gephardt for his unwavering support of organized labor's political and policy agenda.-------------------------------------------
Hired Truck probe blocked by Hoffa BY TIM NOVAK, STEVE WARMBIR AND ROBERT HERGUTH, Chicago Sun Times
Teamsters President James P. Hoffa's administration blocked his investigators from putting Mayor Daley's scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program and other possible union-related corruption under a microscope, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
The non-union drivers who are the backbone of the Hired Truck Program were one area of concern of Hoffa's internal corruption unit.
But Hoffa's administration argues there was no need for a union investigation because the FBI already is conducting one and law enforcement is best equipped to handle a probe.-------------------------------------------
Bush Has Put the U.S. 'Back In the U.S.S.R.' By Alexei Bayer, Moscow Times, Russia
The Bush administration's foreign policy is even more worrisome. It rejects the traditional approach that served the United States so well in the past in favor of Soviet-style adventurism. During the Cold War, Washington pursued a policy of containment, opposing Soviet expansionism and preserving the status quo. Now, driven by newfound ideological zeal, the United States is bringing down foreign regimes and exporting freedom at gunpoint.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, May 17, 2004 ::New battle over unsafe waste sites By Melanie Payne, Sacramento Bee
Even the death of a worker hasn't been enough to shut down a local recycling center cited as an imminent danger and ordered closed by Sacramento County more than a year ago.
Sacramento resident Abraham Valdiva, 19, died May 8 after reaching into a conveyer at Florin Perkins Landfill to dislodge something and getting caught by a pulley, according to the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.-------------------------------------------
Carpenter built a path for future generations By AMY MARTINEZ STARKE, Oregonian
During the war, Alex worked in the shipyards. But job opportunities for African American men were few. Carpentry was Alex's love. He kept at it and was finally allowed to become an apprentice then journeyman carpenter, and he was one of the first African American union carpenters in the Portland area.-------------------------------------------
Congress may help small biz fight OSHA Philadelphia Business Journal
Democrats want OSHA to increase its fines against businesses and charge company owners with felonies in cases where workers die because management deliberately ignored safety standards.
"Causing the death of an employee on the job through willful violation of worker safety standards should not be treated as a trivial federal offense," says Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.
Criminalizing OSHA violations, however, could jeopardize the agency's progress on getting companies to enter into voluntary agreements to improve safety programs, says Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Workplace fatalities and injuries continue to drop every year -- a sign, he says, that OSHA's emphasis on compliance assistance along with enforcement is working.-------------------------------------------
Long weekend lives on By Mandi Zonneveldt, Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Construction workers have already enjoyed a four-day Australia Day weekend, six days off at Easter and a four-day Labour Day weekend.
They will have a mandated long weekend to recover from the AFL Grand Final and five days off, including Cup Day, for the Spring Racing Carnival.
CFMEU state secretary Martin Kingham did not wish to comment, but a CFMEU spokesman said the union fought for the extra RDOs so construction workers could spend time with their families.
'What people forget is it's not only a very dirty and dangerous job, but we often have to work on Saturday so that jobs will be completed,' he said. 'Without the RDOs, as we have found out in the past, our family lives disintegrate.'-------------------------------------------
Saving grace of the tall timber Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
If it wasn't for red cedar, the pioneers might have packed up and gone elsewhere, writes Steve Meacham.
'The tree that built a nation'? John McPhee admits it's a big call, but asks sceptics to consider one question. If Arthur Phillip and his First Fleet had not discovered Toona ciliata, would their colony have thrived?
The People v. Corporate Greed By Michael Donnelly, CounterPunch
Prior to Europeans arriving in the area, two million acres of Redwoods once covered the North Coast of California and Southern Oregon. The coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) is the tallest of evergreens, some growing to a diameter of 25 feet and a height of over 350 feet. The trees are naturally resistant to fire with diseases virtually unknown and insect damage insignificant thanks to the high tannin content of the wood. With thick bark and with branching and foliage starting high off the ground, the coastal Redwood is safe from all but the hottest fires, hence 'sempervirens,'- ever-green.-------------------------------------------
Bridge girder falls to I-70, killing 3 people in SUV By Steve Lipsher Jeffrey Leib and Brittany Anas, The Denver Post
Girders like the one installed on the C-470 bridge are tall, have a narrow base and are "inherently unstable" until the final bridge deck is installed on top of the structure, said Taka Kimura, a structural engineer and a bridge expert with the Colorado chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The 100-foot girder that fell Saturday was 6 feet high and 2 feet wide at its base, which sits on concrete supports, according to CDOT.
To stabilize single girders during bridge construction, it is necessary to brace them adequately onto existing structures or attach them to other new girders that are installed as part of the bridge work, Kimura said. A crane can also be used for support.
The girder was temporarily braced to the existing bridge with five metal bars spaced along the 100-foot length. The bracings, fastened to the bridge with 8- to 10-inch bolts, came loose as the girder collapsed.-------------------------------------------
Softwood counteroffer not seen any time soon By STEVEN CHASE, The Globe and Mail
'It would follow logically that the U.S. should immediately cease collecting the duties. If they do not, then one has to wonder, a) is there any point in negotiating at all and, b) why have a NAFTA treaty?'
Ontario Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay said he is not sure there is time to hammer out a settlement before a Canadian federal election and the U.S. presidential election season. 'I don't think there is the urgency.'-------------------------------------------
U.S. Trade Panel Finds in Favor of U.S. Color Television Industry PR Newswire
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously that the U.S. television industry was materially injured by the dramatic surge in television imports from China over the past three years. The vote jump-starts the collection of anti-dumping duties averaging 23% on the CTV imports.
According to Mike Bindas, President of the IUE-CWA, the union representing U.S. workers that manufacture CTVs, and a petitioner in the challenge against the imports, 'We are very pleased with the outcome. This decision will benefit the hundreds of U.S. workers whose jobs are threatened by the flood of unfair imports into our country.'
Edwin D. Hill, President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, expressed his approval of the decision. Said Hill, 'For once, we have scored a victory for the working people who have lost so much to unfair trade throughout the world. The imposition of these tariffs is the fair and right thing to do for the U.S. industry and its workers.'-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, May 16, 2004 ::Truckers taking to wireless Internet technology Holland Sentinel, MI
With about 70 percent of truckers owning computers and nearly two-thirds having Internet access at home, creating a way for truckers to get online while on the road seemed like a no-brainer, Meiusi said.
To make wireless Internet work, truck stops install antennas that serve as 'access points' on building roofs. All truckers need is Wi-Fi-capable computers. Inside the truck stops are kiosks where online access can be purchased by the hour, day, week, month or year. After they pay, the drivers are given a password to get online.-------------------------------------------
2 contemporary photos
1057x800 scan: Old Glory, on the job
photo: The War is Over-------------------------------------------
BLEEP THE PRESS: CAMERA MOVED OFF POWELL DURING RUSSERT GRILLING; AIDE ATTEMPTED TO CUT OFF INTERVIEW DRUDGE REPORT
13 minutes in to the interview, Miller attempted to pull the plug.
As Russert grilled Powell on his presentation at the UN of Iraq's alleged WMDs -- Miller moved the single remote camera off Powell.
"You're off," Miller announced.
"I am not off," Powell warned.
"No. They can't use it, they're editing it..." Miller said on an open microphone.
"Emily, get out of the way. Bring the camera back please," the secretary snapped.-------------------------------------------
Casino case put on Web By Larry Rulison, Philadelphia Business Journal
A Philadelphia law firm has taken the use of the Internet to a new level with the creation of a Web site solely dedicated to October's deadly collapse of the Tropicana Casino and Resort garage in Atlantic City.
The trial law firm of Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky created the site -- www.tropicanacollapse.com -- in connection with a lawsuit it has filed in Philadelphia against the casino and its contractors on behalf of families of two of the four construction workers killed in the Oct. 30 incident.-------------------------------------------
21 workers dead:
Illegal deal blamed in Henan deaths By Wu Gang (China Daily)
'Improper operations at the construction site and the lack of training of the workers caused the tragedy,' a spokesman for the municipal government of Anyang told the press Thursday.
The scaffolding fell when more than 30 workers were dismantling the steel framework beside the newly-finished 68-metre-tall chimney.
The scaffolding, used to lift construction materials was fastened to the ground with 16 ropes.
Two ropes on the north side were removed two days before the accident and undermined the stability of the structure, the municipal government spokesman said.
Moreover, continuous rain in the previous two days left the earth around the construction site loose.
The steel frame tilted and pulled out a fastening bolt at the foot, which led to the crash of the entire structure.
'I was entangled in the framework when it began to fall toward the northeast, and I was already on the ground before I could make any response,' the Beijing News quoted survivor Zhao Aijun as saying.
Zhao said he and his co-workers, not trained for mid-air working, were told to remove the scaffold or they would not be paid for previous work.
People need special training and a certificate for highrise operations.
The 30-plus workmen were assigned to stand on the scaffold 2.5 metres apart to pass down the removed steel tubes.
Most of the workers on the upper part fell or were crushed to death, while most workers below 10 metres survived.-------------------------------------------
Laid-off workers could lose job-training help By PATRICK CONDON, AP
Across the country, thousands of laid-off workers - many of them from smaller companies in thinly populated states - stand to lose job-retraining opportunities because of a little-noticed change in the way the government pays for such programs.
The new Labor Department rules, adopted earlier this year, bar the longtime practice under which states 'bundled' small groups of laid-off workers from separate companies to reach the threshold of 50 employees needed to obtain training dollars.
The rule change could make it more difficult for workers who lose jobs at small companies to get training help. Thinly populated states like Iowa will be hardest hit, since many people there work at smaller companies.-------------------------------------------
"Who Moved My Cheese" by David Johnson - Carpenters 44
McCarron, true to his orientation, is using corporate seminar tools, in an attempt to create sales people and lower level managers for "Team McCarron Incorporated ", out of elected delegates who are suppose to represent the rank and file who elected them.
Just another disgusting example of how LOW the once proud United Brotherhood of Carpenters has sank. If I didn't know any better, I would say that the national contractors association and corporate America has salted the UBC with one of their groomed puppets.-------------------------------------------
Current Work - A gallery of our readers' woodworking Fine Woodworking Magazine-------------------------------------------
Man angry at Verizon hurls phones CNN.com
Police said Perala took off his shirt and put on safety glasses before throwing around computers, phones and other items.-------------------------------------------
Union to vote on granting panel power to call strike BY PETER DUJARDIN, Hampton Roads Daily Press, VA
The Steelworkers union at Northrop Grumman Newport News has scheduled a strike-authorization vote that would give the union's bargaining committee the ability to call a walkout among hourly workers if the committee deems it necessary.
Union officials made clear that the authority to call a strike wouldn't necessarily mean that a walkout would happen - or even that it would be more likely. And any move by the bargaining committee to strike, they said, would only take place with a great deal of consultation with the rank and file.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, May 15, 2004 ::Timken to close plants: Canton factories no longer viable By KRISTY DOUGLAS, New Philadelphia Times Reporter, OH
After the announcement Friday, angry workers streaming from one century-old Canton plant blamed the company’s management for failing to negotiate with them to make the plants more competitive.
“There’s people who work in here who are third and fourth generation,” union Vice President Bill Wright said outside the plant as a worker shouted obscenities about Timken. “These are the people that made the original sacrifice to get the company into the position they are today.”
Gov. Bob Taft said he would speak with company and union officials to “encourage them to get back to the table to find a solution that keeps these good jobs in Ohio.”-------------------------------------------
Financial deal in Boeing lawsuit By JAMES WALLACE, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
The suit said she was an hourly worker in the tool and wire shops. It claims she was treated differently than men less qualified and in similar positions with regard to overtime opportunities, training and class experiences, and requirements for job promotion.
"She has been told that men get the overtime opportunity because they must support families," the suit said.
Beck was the only woman in her shop for nearly six years, according to the suit.
"When she reported for one of her assignments," according to the suit, "one of defendants' managers confirmed a shop steward's admission that she was 'brought to this shop to warm a seat.' Whenever she complained about gender-biased treatment, she ceased to get any significant job assignments and instead, consistent with what she had been told, she like other women got to 'sweep.' "
Male co-workers talked in her presence about female co-workers' anatomy, the suit said. Male co-workers, including one promoted to supervisor, told her they would like to come to her house and have sex with her, the suit claimed.
The suit said Beck was "shunned and ostracized, in retaliation for confronting Boeing about its illegal practices.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart discounts the truth in latest pronouncement UFCW Canada
TORONTO, ON – The leader of the union spearheading the effort to organize Wal-Mart workers in Canada has described the latest statements from a Wal-Mart Canada spokesperson as "a page out of George Orwell's novel 1984 and more proof that Wal-Mart is as dedicated to everyday, low ethics as they are to low prices," according to Michael J. Fraser, the national director of UFCW Canada (United Food and Commercial Workers Canada).
Fraser was reacting to a newspaper report published earlier this week in which Wal-Mart Canada spokesperson Andrew Pelletier was quoted as saying "Wal-Mart is an exemplary company with respect to working conditions."
"What a pack of lies. It's nothing but Orwellian doublespeak. They take the truth and turn it inside out," charged Fraser.
"What's exemplary about Wal-Mart managers making employees work overtime without pay? What's so commendable about Wal-Mart being charged and found guilty of unfair labour practices by the labour board in British Columbia, and the National Labor Relations Board in the United States over their union busting tactics like firing pro-union employees and threatening to close stores if a union was ever elected?"-------------------------------------------
AlterNet: Cheney Sings Wal-Mart's Praises By Paul Waldman, Gadflyer
It was fitting that Cheney came to hail the success of Wal-Mart, because there are few American institutions that so embody the Bush administration's vision of what the American economy should look like. Like Wal-Mart, the administration has done all it can to encourage the accumulation of great wealth in a few hands (and worked to make sure that wealth will not be subject to taxation), while the men and women who actually do the work receive obscenely low compensation. Like Wal-Mart, the administration has been unconcerned about the lack of health insurance in America, leaving people to fend for themselves in the private market (whose rates are ridiculously out of reach for Wal-Mart employees) or, more often, rely on costly emergency room care and federal poverty programs. Like Wal-Mart, the administration has waged unrelenting war on labor unions, lest ordinary people obtain a voice for fair treatment in the workplace and cut into corporate profits.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart: Stealing Health Care NathanNewman.org - News and Views
block quote: "[Wal-Mart spokesperson] said that while critics say 40 percent of Wal-Mart's workers do not have company health insurance, 90 percent of its employees have health benefits through some plan - perhaps a spouse's or through state Medicaid."
Read that quote carefully. What Wal-Mart is saying is first, they are depending on other companies to provide health care for their employees, thereby driving up health costs for other businesses-- a nice trick of unfair competition.
But secondly, this Wal-Mart spokesperson is admitting that a lot of their employees are paid so badly that they qualify for MEDICAID?!!! Essentially, Wal-Mart is stealing money from overburdened health care for the poor to subsidize their low-wage employment practices.
This is admission of guilt straight from the horse's mouth-- Wal-Mart admits they pay poverty wages and steal health care funds from the rest of us.
If you need any argument on why we need to make Wal-Mart a prime target for progressive organizing, this is the best reason.-------------------------------------------
Kevin Pastrick pleads guilty BY BILL DOLAN, Munster Times, IN
East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick's son, Kevin, pleaded guilty Friday to bribery and promised to cooperate with wide-ranging investigations that include his family's political legacy.
The 37-year-old man whose business profited from his breeding, worked U.S. District Court Magistrate Andrew Rodovich's courtroom with aplomb, greeting court personnel with smiles and paying his compliments to government investigators he knew.
Kevin Pastrick then admitted in open court he was guilty of paying a kickback in a conspiracy to invest $10 million of carpenter's union pension money in Coffee Creek, a Porter County land deal that earned him $600,000 in commissions.-------------------------------------------
Brunswick union local fights merger By TERRY DICKSON, The Times-Union
BRUNSWICK -- A carpenters and millwrights union has filed a lawsuit and is asking for a congressman's help in preventing its forced merger with another union based in Savannah.
Members of Carpenters and Millwrights Local 865 filed suit in U.S. District Court in Brunswick to stop an order from Douglas McCarron, general president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, that it merge with Local 256 in Savannah.
At a meeting Tuesday with U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., union members accused McCarron of heavy-handed practices and of wanting to get his hands on Local 865's treasury.
In a meeting of nearly 100 of the local's 370 members, leaders vowed to fight.
"The bottom line is Mr. McCarron wants our money,'' said Ed Lashley, a former financial secretary of the local.-------------------------------------------
Regional Carpenters, Lathers, Piledrivers and Millwrights Ratify New Contracts PR Newswire
Carpenters, lathers, piledrivers and millwrights in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota have ratified new contracts ranging from one to five years in length.
The Lakes and Plains Regional Council of Carpenters and Joiners which represents union carpenters, lathers, millwrights and floor coverers, made the announcement Friday regarding the new contracts.
'We are very pleased that a long, yet productive, negotiation process has been successfully completed,' said Scott Malcolm, executive secretary/treasurer of the Regional Council. 'Increasing health care costs were of great concern to both the union and the contractors. This added pressure to the negotiations. In the end, a satisfactory solution was agreed upon. Contractors also committed $1 million per year to Apprenticeship and Journeyperson upgrade training."-------------------------------------------
For young blue-collar workers, the job prospects are looking good, experts say BY CARRIE MASON-DRAFFEN, Newsday, NY
The workers in greatest demand will include carpenters, iron workers, cement masons and bricklayers.
At a construction apprenticeship competition in Manhattan last month, some participants were upbeat about their career choices.
Bayside resident Steven Barrick, a 28-year-old old millwright, took first place in his category by following blueprints requiring him to use precision tools to cut metal shafts to within one-thousandth of an inch.
He honed that skill during a four-year apprenticeship with the New York City District Council of Carpenters Labor Technical College, which sponsored the annual contest. He finished the program in January and will graduate in June. As a millwright he learned to read blueprints to install and maintain heavy equipment in industrial settings.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, May 14, 2004 ::'Adversaries' to build a village -- and perhaps respect for each other By Jim McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Young architects, builders and craft workers will build a 1920s-style village tomorrow as part of a daylong annual competition that has the side benefit of helping to break down stereotypes among professions.
Nine teams of randomly paired architects, contractors and carpenter apprentices will design and construct a series of storefronts, including a bakery, shoe store, ice cream parlor, hardware store and tavern.
The competition, open to the public, begins at 8 a.m. at the Carpenters Training Center at 222 Second St., Neville Island. Hammers will stop flying by about 3 p.m. when judges will rate each project on design, accuracy in scheduling and estimating and on construction quality.
The teams were introduced to each other two weeks ago to give them time to come up with a design and a building plan that fits a budget, said Ray Vogel, who directs a four-year apprentice program sponsored by the Carpenters District Council of Western Pennsylvania.-------------------------------------------
Labor Leader Arrested During Protest By Seattle Grocery Workers komo news
Stern, a lawyer and former gas company welder and pipefitter, said after being released he was preparing to lead a final song at the end of the rally when he was asked to leave a crowded sidewalk in front of a Safeway store on Capitol Hill.
'It's going to be three minutes and we will be gone,' Stern said he replied. 'It (the arrest) makes no sense.'
After the song was done, he was handcuffed and arrested on a charge of obstruction, a misdemeanor.
Several dozen of those attending the noontime rally organized by Jobs with Justice and Washington Citizen Action walked a few blocks to the precinct house and began picketing in front of 18 baton-wielding officers. No additional arrests were made.-------------------------------------------
Roofer dies in fall at school By ROBERT STERN, Trenton Times, NJ
Sixteen people die daily in the United States in workplace-related incidents, she said.
Scaffolding falls and construction generally are the most frequently cited violations of OSHA standards.
'Construction, of course, is inherently dangerous,' Dugan said.
Falls were the cause of 16 of the 129 workplace fatalities in New Jersey in 2002, the most recent year for which OSHA has statewide data, she said.
Last year, OSHA's office for the South Jersey region, which includes Trenton, conducted 17 fatality inspections, 10 of which were construction deaths.
So far this year, the same office has completed at least 10 fatality inspections, five of which were in construction, Dugan said.-------------------------------------------
Some Critics of Wal-Mart Joining Forces to Change It by Steven Greenhouse
John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, has recommended that the A.F.L.-C.I.O. focus on just two things after the November elections: politics and finding ways to press Wal-Mart to improve wages and benefits. Several A.F.L.-C.I.O. officials are expected to attend the Washington meeting.
"Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the U.S.,'' Mr. Wilhelm said. "It's incredibly pervasive in its race-to-the-bottom influence.''-------------------------------------------
Union Leaders' Firm Backed B.C. Liberals By charlie smith, Straight.com
Canada's top labour leader, Ken Georgetti, is on the board of a Vancouver-based development company that donated $16,665 to the B.C. Liberal party last year.
Concert Properties Ltd. is owned by 21 union and management pension funds; 13 of the company's 17 directors, including Georgetti, have extensive backgrounds in the labour movement.
According to Elections BC records, Concert Properties was the 35th-largest donor to the B.C. Liberal party, which has been led by Premier Gordon Campbell since 1993.-------------------------------------------
Jailed For Attacking Scabs By Stefanie Balogh, Australian
The County Court heard yesterday that Johnston wore a balaclava and was the ringleader of the raids. He told a manager he was 'dead', and threatened to 'kick the shit' out of Skilled Engineering.
'The use of balaclavas was particularly sinister and disconcerting, and had a, I'll use the word, terrifying effect on those present at Johnson Tiles,' Crown Prosector Bob Johnson said.
At the time, Johnston was the Victorian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and head of its Workers First faction.
The rampages divided Australia's union movement and eventually cost Johnston his job. Since then, the 47-year-old has become a cause celebre for ultra-militant unionism.-------------------------------------------
Sick worker, union issues dominate remembrance ceremony By Paul Parson, Oak Ridger, TN
Carl 'Bubba' Scarbrough said he realized it wasn't a 'pulpit for politickin',' but that didn't stop him from discussing current union woes during an event at Oak Ridge's First Presbyterian Church.
Scarbrough, president of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council, was one of two guest speakers Wednesday afternoon at a Workers' Memorial Day service at the church.
'We think we got a legit complaint,' Scarbrough told the 30-plus crowd, which consisted of several union members.
The ATLC chief said it appears the cost of health insurance is going up for workers at federal facilities while the amount of coverage is decreasing. Scarbrough's organization represents hourly workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.-------------------------------------------
Crane operators continue strike CBC Manitoba
WINNIPEG - Construction is still being delayed on some major projects in Winnipeg as members of the Operating Engineers of Manitoba continue their week-long strike.
Over the past week, union members have picketed several construction sites, including the MTS Centre downtown and the Health Sciences Centre.
Workers on the sites belong to several different unions. Union business manager Jim Murphy says until Wednesday, most other workers were honouring the picket lines. Now, however, he's heard some mechanical workers have started to cross picket lines at both locations.
"We get reports from workers who actually have to go and cross the picket lines because their employers are threatening them, that the morale is not good on the inside and productivity is down and things like that," he says.
Labourers and carpenters also cross the picket lines, he says, because they work directly for the contractor.
Murphy says rumours have been circulating that replacement workers will be brought in to take down two tower cranes at the Health Sciences Centre this weekend.-------------------------------------------
‘Women of steel’ vow to oust Bush By Tim Wheeler, People's Weekly World
Mother Jones, the legendary labor agitator, made an unexpected appearance May 2 at the “Women of Steel” election conference here aimed at ousting George W. Bush from the White House next Nov. 2.
Peering over her spectacles and wagging her finger at the 500 labor union women in the Omni-Shoreham Hotel ballroom, she exclaimed, “I’m not here to be a humanitarian. I’m here to be a hell-raiser.”
Actually, it was Sharon Stiller, assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and first woman to sit on the union’s executive board. She was dressed up as Mary Harris Jones, the Irish-born “Miners’ Angel,” the spirit of fightback for exploited workers in the early decades of the last century.
Clearly, the crowd was in a hell-raising mood. Most delegates wore lapel buttons calling on voters to dump Bush. They applauded every call for his removal.-------------------------------------------
Cock-Eyed View Of How to Defeat Bush LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
The AFL-CIO and its affiliated international unions have maintained a strict silence about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq for more than a year without ever explaining the reason for the information blackout. Virtually the entire labor press has suppressed news about Iraq and the war on terrorism in lock step with the AFL-CIO’s unwritten edict. Clearly, the AFL-CIO election strategy is to attack President Bush on domestic issues while giving him a blank check on his foreign policies. Here is how it must appear to union members:-------------------------------------------
Raw log exports allowed to continue CBC News
VANCOUVER - The B.C. Supreme Court has rejected a bid by a coalition of unions and conservation groups to stop the export of raw logs.
The coalition says the logs being sent out of the province to the U.S., Japan and China represent lost jobs in B.C.
The provincial government has allowed forest companies to export the equivalent of 28,000 truckloads of raw logs from Crown land in northern B.C.
And the judge ruled the B.C. cabinet has complete discretion to make that decision.
Greg Hall of the Pulp and Paper Woodworkers of Canada says the policy doesn't make economic sense.
'Sawmills and pulp mills around the province are having a serious problem obtaining fibre, and yet the government seems to say that there's all this surplus wood to be shipped out.'-------------------------------------------
U.S. firms pushing provinces back to table By STEVEN CHASE, The Globe and Mail
Weyerhaeuser and International Paper officials in late April visited British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta for joint meetings with provincial ministers responsible for the softwood file. In Victoria, the meeting included B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.
Both companies have significant Canadian operations, but International Paper is also a member of the hard-line U.S. timber lobby -- the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports -- that's responsible for launching the dispute.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, May 13, 2004 ::SweatFree Communities commondreams.org
BANGOR, ME - With the loss of US manufacturing jobs and trade issues taking center stage in the presidential candidate debate, anti-sweatshop activists across the country are pushing through a wave of historic reforms aimed at using tax dollars to promote fair trade and anti-sweatshop alternatives. Albany, NY will host many of the sweatfree movement?5s leaders when an array of anti-sweatshop activists arrive here this Friday for the first national "SweatFree Communities Conference," May 14-16. Former California State Senator Tom Hayden, co-director of the "No More Sweatshops" movement, is featured speaker on Saturday.-------------------------------------------
Striking Utah miners speak at UMWA locals in West BY GUILLERMO ESQUIVEL AND ANNE CARROLL, The Militant
HUNTINGTON, Utah—Coal miners on strike against C.W. Mining here were invited the first week of May to speak at several United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) locals in the region about their strike, which is into its seventh month.
On May 2, four of the coal strikers from the Huntington mine, known as Co-Op, spoke at the UMWA Local 1984 meeting in Rangely, Colorado. This local organizes coal miners at the Deserado mine, who had walked out for two months in 1999. Local 1984 has supported the Co-Op strikers with a shipment of food, financial donations, and by sending representatives to take part in solidarity rallies in Huntington.-------------------------------------------
Habitat for Humanity and Labor Launch 'Labor with Habitat Week' PRNewswire
Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) and the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, along with its 15 affiliated trade unions will launch a weeklong celebration, Labor with Habitat Week, May 17, to recognize a national partnership among the organizations.-------------------------------------------
Teamsters Corruption Scandal Widens CounterPunch Wire
In an April 21, 2004, letter to Teamster General Counsel Patrick Szymanski, the union's anti-corruption chief, Ed Stier, asserted that he produced evidence that '...Scalf's efforts to shut down our investigative activities were the result of pressure from Chicago-area Teamsters who in turn were acting at the instigation of racketeers.'
One week later, on April 28, Stier and the entire 'Project RISE' anti-corruption team of the union resigned in protest of the shutdown of the investigation.-------------------------------------------
Scaffolding collapse kills 21 in Henan By Wu Gang and Fu Jing, China Daily
Scaffolding at a newly-built industrial chimney in the Central China city of Anyang collapsed yesterday morning, leaving 21 workers dead and nine injured, the State work safety authority reported.
The tragedy occurred at about 9:20 am when a clinch bolt at the foot of the scaffolding loosened and the men fell from a height of 63 metres. Officials said the bolt's loosening was likely caused by rainfall that had made the ground slippery.-------------------------------------------
CNR charged in two-death bridge crash a year ago near McBride, B.C. CNEWS
The crash in a remote area of the Cariboo region near the Alberta border last May 14 killed the engineer and conductor, the only people on the 86-car eastbound train. Transport Canada said Tuesday that charges have been laid under the Railway Safety Act and the Canada Labour Code.
The Railway Safety Act charge alleges that Canada's largest railway company did not ensure that work on the line was done in accordance with sound engineering principles.
The Labour Code counts state that CN failed to ensure worker health and safety "by failing to ensure that the bridge structure at Mile 7.9 would support the loading of the train operating over it, the direct result of which was the death of two employees."-------------------------------------------
OSHA investigates worker's death WALB-TV, GA
25 year old Dwayne Andrew of Quitman was using the crane to move boxes at the plant Saturday when the crane started to collapse. He fell out the window and plunged 95 feet to the ground. OSHA is now investigating.-------------------------------------------
B.C. labour calls for Winter Olympic deal, but government favours competition Dirk Meissner, Canadian Press
The B.C. Federation of Labour, flanked by the building trades unions, said Tuesday that British Columbia has the opportunity to host a successful games in 2010 if business and labour can learn to work together.
Cost overruns, construction delays and labour problems, issues that have plagued many past Olympic venues, can all be wiped out in if business and labour negotiate a pre-games agreement, federation president Jim Sinclair told a news conference.-------------------------------------------
Labor Federation Invited to Visit China By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Newsday
Last month, the administration rejected the AFL-CIO's petition that it launch an unfair trade practices investigation into China's alleged labor rights abuses. The administration also said it would not agree to a request from manufacturing groups for a separate investigation into allegations that China is manipulating its currency to gain unfair trade advantages.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 ::Longshoremen Plan Mass Workers March on Washington By Jack Heyman, CounterPunch
The momentum for the longshoremen's call for the march seems to be growing with endorsements from the San Francisco Labor, Charleston (South Carolina), the Albany and Troy, New York Labor Councils, Long Island City Teamsters' Local 808, an IBEW local in Philadelphia, the Northern California Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Black Caucus of the Teamsters Union and other unions and community groups around the country. Danny Glover and Dick Gregory have signed on as well.-------------------------------------------
Worker Burned by Sulfuric Acid at Motiva Refinery Files Suit, Alleges Company Values Profits Over Safety U.S. Newswire
According to the complaint, Slingwine was told by company officials that the pipe was clear and, therefore, he could perform the maintenance without wearing a hazardous material suit, which provides head-to-toe protection. Not only was he saturated with acid, but the company's emergency response systems, including showers and alarms, failed to operate properly, according to the complaint that has been filed in Delaware's Superior Court.-------------------------------------------
WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING AT THE LABOR DEPT.? By JOHN CRUDELE, NYPOST
As staggering as the assumption about new companies was in March, the Labor Department got even more brazen in April.
Last Friday, it was disclosed that these imaginary jobs had been increased by 117,000 to 270,000 for the latest month - because, I guess, the stat jockeys got a vision from the gods of spring.
Without those extra 117,000 make-believe jobs, the total growth for April would have been just 171,000 - sub-par for an economy that's supposed to be growing at more than 4 percent a year, but right on the pros' targets.
Take away all 270,000 make-believe jobs and, well, you have the sort of pessimism that the political pollsters are seeing.
If I was the suspicious type (and if I thought Washington was smart enough), I'd suspect a nasty motive behind the sudden surge in these mystery jobs. But for now, let's just acknowledge their existence.-------------------------------------------
Switching yard accident sends 17 cars rumbling through Portland AP, Seattle Times
Though no one was injured, the incident in Portland stoked a long-simmering dispute between union members and Union Pacific, the nation's largest railroad, about use of the remotes.
Officials with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen say the remotes are unsafe and are contributing to a service slowdown across Union Pacific's 33,000-mile system. They say the incident raises concerns about the thoroughness of worker training as the railroad rushes to replace a rash of early retirees and accommodate a surge in business.
The worker at the controls during the January incident had been certified to operate a remote engine for only five days and had never before worked in that yard, according to the transcript of the subsequent investigation.-------------------------------------------
Air and Rail Machinists March to Protect Jobs in 'Day of Action' PRNewswire
Airline and railroad workers represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) today are participating in a march and rally in Washington, D.C. to bring attention to the IAM's Fight for Transportation Jobs. Specifically, the IAM is protesting the government's anti-worker policies and encouraging strong union member participation in this year's presidential election. IAM members are also handbilling passengers at major airports around the country.-------------------------------------------
Worker missing after fall from Cooper River Bridge By BRUCE SMITH, AP
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A construction worker was missing Tuesday after falling about 75 feet into the water from the $632 million Ravenel Bridge under construction between Charleston and Mount Pleasant.-------------------------------------------
Search continues for missing employee after sewage tank rupture By JOHN K. WILEY, AP
SPOKANE, Wash. -- A crane was brought in Tuesday to help in the unpleasant search for a treatment plant employee missing since a tank ruptured and its roof collapsed into millions of gallons of sewage.
Three other workers were injured in the Monday afternoon accident.-------------------------------------------
Republican chairwoman makes troubling point The Saginaw News
For decades, the union has insisted on equal pay for equal work, but in recent months the UAW has negotiated labor agreements with several major auto suppliers that allow those companies to pay new hires significantly less than existing workers.
DeVos told the Press that Michigan must go further by becoming a right-to-work state. That would mean workers would not have to join a union as a condition of employment.
She cited Alabama, South Carolina and Virginia --- all right-to-work states -- as 'much more hospitable' to business than Michigan. But are they?-------------------------------------------
A WINNING APPRENTICE By Julia Bauer, The Grand Rapids Press
He got into sheet metal training with the encouragement of his father-in-law, an ironworker. He also got after-hours training from Rod Bulthouse at the Sheet Metal Union's apprenticeship school in Muskegon.
As the national winner of the second-year apprentice contest, Fulton came home with $2,000 cash, a $5,000 annuity and a contribution of $500 to his 401(k) plan. Fulton plans to use the cash prize toward the purchase of a boat.
As a bonus, he got something any sheet-metal worker would love -- 'a brand-new Lincoln welder.'
Local 7 members are jubilant over Fulton's success, said business representative Douglas Adams.-------------------------------------------
GCIU opens merger talks with Teamsters Workday Minnesota
Following a vote by its executive board, which considered two unions, the Graphic Communications International Union opened merger talks with the Teamsters.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 ::Union protests health care costs in NIPSCO contract By Lisa Shidler, Gary Post Tribune
The United Steelworkers of America Locals 12775 and 13796 are bargaining with the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. for a new contract, and union leaders say the company is asking them to make severe concessions to health-care costs.
“These fights are about us, our health care and our dignity. The company needs to know why people deserve a decent retirement,’’ said Jim Robinson District 7 director. “That’s what we stand for. When you take on one steelworker, you take on all of them. We’ll stand strong with the brothers and sisters at NIPSCO.”-------------------------------------------
Unions step up effort to oust Bush from office BY RICK HAGLUND, Ann Arbor News
DETROIT - Although down to a rock-bottom low of representing just 8 percent of American private-sector workers, organized labor is poised to flex considerable muscle in the presidential race, political experts say.
Fueled by their loathing of President George Bush, unions are running television ads, knocking on voters' doors and spending tens of million of dollars in a sweeping effort to propel presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry into the White House.
'Unions will play a major role in this election,' United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger vowed in a speech last week to a group of Booth Newspapers editors and publishers in Lansing. 'It'll be a down-to-the-wire campaign.'-------------------------------------------
Labor laws figure in fatal crash By Melanie Payne Sacramento Bee
According to the California Labor Code, minors are prohibited from working past 12:30 a.m. or for more than eight hours in a day. They also must have a school-issued work permit.
Paradise High School, where Mouser was a senior, had not issued a work permit for him. And according to the California Highway Patrol report: 'The teenage youths had worked through the night and had not slept for more than 24 hours.'
These apparent violations of child labor laws have prompted the Department of Industrial Relations to launch an inquiry into the company that hired Mouser, Sterile Environment Technologies Inc., which is based in Kissimmee, Fla.-------------------------------------------
No apologies for quitting Teamsters mob probe BY JOSH MARGOLIN, Newark Star Ledger
The son of the corrupt and legendary labor boss Jimmy Hoffa wanted Stier's help in ending 10 years of federal oversight aimed at wiping out mob influence in the Teamsters. Impressed by what Stier said was a 'sincere commitment to cleaning up the union,' he agreed.
But after five years working for the Teamsters, Stier and his 20-member team of investigators and lawyers quit en masse April 28 after concluding that Hoffa wasn't willing to back them up in rooting out what they say is continued mob influence.
For a time, Stier said in an interview last week at his law office in Skillman, Hoffa 'seemed focused on what needed to be done.' But after several years, he said, 'Hoffa abandoned it. He sort of veered off course. He couldn't take the pressure ... against our continued investigations.'-------------------------------------------
Rats! Weiner becomes target By BY WILLIAM MURPHY, Newsday
The demonstration was very polite. Rough-looking laborers handed out yellow fliers to passersby, calling Weiner anti-union.
Catherine Frael, an aide to Weiner, handed out a white flier to anyone who got a yellow one.-------------------------------------------
Numerous small businesses can't even get coverage By Elizabeth Doran, Syracuse Post Standard
Blame it on something known as the scaffolding law, or Section 240-241 of the New York State Labor Law. The provisions of this law make contractors and building owners 'strictly liable' for any gravity-related worker injury, regardless of whether the employee is at fault. If there's a lawsuit, contractors are prohibited from presenting any evidence in court in their defense, regardless of their safety record.
'A worker can have snorted cocaine for lunch and smoked marijuana for dessert, and it doesn't matter,' said Marvin Mondlick, who recently shut his roofing business, Feldman Mondlick, because of soaring liability costs. 'The question just becomes how much does Feldman Mondlick have to pay?'
The law dates to the 1880s, when workers were building skyscrapers and there was no such thing as workers' compensation. While other states also had this law, New York is the only state that still has it on the books.-------------------------------------------
CNN FIGHTS UNION OVER CONVENTION By DON KAPLAN, New York Post
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is so far refusing to allow CNN and Fox News Network techniciains to install the miles of electrical cables needed to broadcast the convention to millions of viewers.
Both channels are non-union operations.-------------------------------------------
Can China protect its workers? By John Fabian Witt
China's coalmines are among the most dangerous places to work in the world. Chinese garment factories have repeatedly experienced disasters on a par with the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City a century ago, which killed 146 workers, all young women.
Conditions may well get worse before they get better. Even though China instituted new initiatives in industrial safety at the beginning of last year, official estimates indicate that industrial accident deaths increased by almost 10 percent last year.
Yet as the example of the Triangle fire suggests, the China's experience is not unprecedented. Until the recent Asian accident crisis, the poorest workplace safety record in world history belonged to the US in the 50 years following the American Civil War.
Coalmines in Pennsylvania in the 1860s -- where 6 percent of the workers were killed each year, 6 percent crippled, and another 6 percent temporarily disabled -- looked very much like the mines now operating in Shaanxi Province. Industry-wide, one American worker in 50 at the turn of the last century was killed or seriously disabled each year in work-related accidents. Accidents were the leading cause of death among workers in dozens of hazardous industries.-------------------------------------------
Woman heckles lions' den case By Riot Hlatshwayo and Taicy Maile, News24, South Africa
Hoedspruit - Hecklers briefly disrupted a Limpopo court appearance on Monday of three men accused of feeding a worker colleague to lions earlier this year.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, May 10, 2004 ::New Zealand: Unions train 6,000 safety reps Union Network International
Six thousand trade union health and safety reps have been trained in just one year in a bid to drive down New Zealand's alarming toll of workplace death and injury. Speaking ahead of international Workers' Memorial Day, Ross Wilson, president of the Council of Trade Unions, said latest figures for New Zealand show 73 workplace deaths between July 2002 and June 2003 - a fatality rate several times that in the UK.-------------------------------------------
Worker gets $15,000 fine for job fatality By JANE SIMS, London Free Press
A man who ran over a co-worker with a front-end loader has been fined $15,000 in one of Ontario's largest workplace penalties against an individual. Ross Hayter was fined $15,000, plus a 25-per-cent surcharge, after pleading guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice in London to operating equipment in an unsafe way.
The charge followed an accident at a London garbage-handling facility three years ago that ultimately led to the death of Jim Heard, 58.
An Ontario Labour Ministry prosecutor told Justice Gregory Pockele fellow workers had described Hayter's driving to ministry inspectors as 'rammy,' 'reckless' and 'always in a rush.'
Hayter's former employer, Canadian Waste Management Systems Inc., now Waste Management of Canada Corp., was fined $300,000 last week, plus a 25-per-cent surcharge, for failing to have a competent person operate equipment.-------------------------------------------
Help wanted at railroads; retirement surge expected AP, Raleigh News, NC
At the end of last year, about 220,000 workers were employed by the rail industry nationwide. About 40 percent of that labor force is eligible to retire by 2014, according to the Association of American Railroads.
The Washington-based trade group estimates that 80,000 new workers will be hired by the end of the decade and additional 60,000 employees will be added by 2014.
The number of rail workers eligible to retire was accelerated two years ago after Congress amended the Railroad Retirement Act to reduce the age at which workers with 30 years of service could receive full benefits from 62 to 60.
In recent years, the nationwide hiring slump made it easier for railroads to replace retirees when necessary. The recruiting challenges were masked by the economic downturn, which sapped strength from the manufacturing sector and allowed the industry to operate while letting its labor force shrink from attrition.-------------------------------------------
The welcoming party at McCormick Place BY ROBERT HERGUTH, TIM NOVAK AND STEVE WARMBIR, Chicago Sun Times
McPier's current chief, Leticia Peralta Davis, said the agency has no control over who is hired by the companies that set up the trade shows. But she said Mayor Daley and Gov. Blagojevich are pushing for more labor reforms at McCormick Place so Chicago remains the convention king.
Riggers typically are paid $24.15 an hour to move large machines or items. Becoming a rigger and getting steady work can require clout or connections, critics say. The convention center is the biggest source of jobs, but riggers also work at Rosemont's convention center and at hotels. They even moved the presses at the Sun-Times' new printing plant.
Of course, many of the 350 members of the riggers union are hard workers with clean pasts, union members emphasize, calling the rogues a few bad eggs. Thousands more people are hired as riggers temporarily under permits.
McCormick Place itself has a history of corruption that goes well beyond the riggers union.-------------------------------------------
Unions protest work site in Two Harbors BY SHARON ALMIRALL, Lake County News-Chronicle
“It’s an out-of-town owner bringing people from out of town to do the work. Some of the workers have said they’re coming from 400 miles away,” said Jim Stebe, business representative for the Bricklayers union No. 1 Minnesota, Chapter 3, and one of the protesters at the site on Monday.
Stebe said there are four members of the Duluth Building Trades Councils including laborers 1091, operating engineers 49, iron workers 512 and the bricklayers who are objecting to the construction.-------------------------------------------
Detroit man builds career as a carpenter By Karen Dybis / The Detroit News
The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights selected Lee as a pre-apprentice on the project, designed to give Detroit residents jobs in the skilled trade industry. Lee will spend a year on the site, which will be applied to his four-year apprenticeship.
“I want to get a hammer in my hand and get started,” Lee said. “I want to give back and be a participant in the growth of Detroit.”-------------------------------------------
Building Trades Seek Formal Changes to Apprenticeships By Sherie Winston, ENR
Long-running conflicts over the merits and standards of apprenticeship programs between unions and open shop groups may be coming to a head.
The AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Dept. has taken formal action, requesting that the Dept. of Labor establish specific graduation requirements by craft for construction apprenticeship programs. BCTD alleges that nonunion programs sponsored by the Associated Builders and Contractors have "startling failures in the standards and completion rates." The department issued a study of ABC programs in October 2003, highlighting the alleged flaws.-------------------------------------------
Power struggle splits UAW leaders, workers By Ed Garsten / The Detroit News
PONTIAC — Members of one of Michigan’s largest and most troubled union chapters — United Auto Workers Local 594 in Pontiac — are choosing sides in a bitter power struggle that has spawned a recall campaign and a libel lawsuit.
It’s the latest in a series of controversies at UAW Local 594, which represents 5,361 workers at the General Motors Corp.’s Pontiac truck factory and its nearby engineering and design complex.
The internal strife is centered on Local 594’s shop chairman Gene Austin. Critics say Austin failed to oppose GM plans to transfer 900 union jobs from Pontiac to its Warren technical center, and that he shut UAW Local 594 President Suzanne Brown out of critical negotiations.-------------------------------------------
Temporary guardrails revamp real estate construction By Paul Bianchina, Inman News
One often-ignored area of home construction safety is the installation of temporary guardrails to protect against accidental falls. Temporary guardrails are very easy and inexpensive to construct, and let you work safely and more comfortably in a variety of situations. Some common areas of the work site that would require a temporary guardrail include:
* Along the open edges of a second-story floor, before the walls are erected;
* Along the open edges of unfinished stairways;
* Around the stairway opening in an upper floor before the stairs are installed;
* Across open door openings prior to installation of the deck or other landing that will service that door;
* Across low window openings (closer than 39 inches off the floor), prior to installation of the window;
* Around upper-floor decks and porches;
* On roof structures around large skylight openings, prior to installation of the skylight;
* Around or alongside other openings in floors, walls, or roofs where the possibility of stepping through the opening and falling a distance of more than 30 inches is possible.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, May 09, 2004 ::Cement buyers hit with hard times By Valerie Miller, Las Vegas Business Press
Southern Nevada's cement is brought in from Southern California, Utah and, sometimes, Oregon. Some of that cement has been imported to California from overseas. Warren says the cement shortage is being caused by a perfect storm of events, including a decrease in imports from Pacific Rim countries in Asia, booming economies worldwide, power problems in California, increased shipping costs and problems with delays on the railroads.
Part of the problem is that the Pacific Rim nations of China and Thailand produce a huge amount of the world's cement, but are now using more of it at home as opposed to exporting it, he explains.
'China produces ten times the amount of cement [powder] as the U.S.,' Warren says. 'The U.S. produces eighty to eighty-five million tons of cement per year. China produces seven hundred million tons and exports about forty million tons ... China has cut their exports by fifty percent.'-------------------------------------------
Plywooding their trade AP, Longview Daily News, WA
Lumber prices are so high, said Michael Carliner, an economist with the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Homebuilders, that they are tearing the profit out of new construction.
'There's 300 wood panels in an average home. The wholesale price used to be $6. Now it's $17,' said Carliner.
In Springfield, a city surrounded by mills, the resurgence marks the first time in recent memory that the manufacturer, not the builder, called the shots.
'You can hear the sense of panic in people's voices when they have a job to fill and they can't find the wood in time. When you have 10 of them on hold, you know it's time to raise the price,' said Josh Gibeau, sales manager for McKenzie Forest Products.-------------------------------------------
No pink tools By CRAILLE MAGUIRE GILLIES, The Globe and Mail
What does every mother want? An ergonomically designed, lightweight power drill, of course
Indeed, you could argue that the feminization of the market has improved quality overall. The new trends in power tools include slimmer, more lightweight options and ergonomic modifications like gel-padded handles and rubber grips. Cordless drills come with built-in levels and magnets to hold screws. And, of course, they now come with keyless chucks, which means you can change drill bits without having to find that little L-shaped thingie.-------------------------------------------
'In the Name of Womanhood and Humanity...' By Geov Parrish, WorkingForChange.com
This year – as more and more mothers, in America as well as Iraq, mourn their fallen sons and daughters, lost to the insanity of organized violence – Julia Ward Howe's call for women to not allow their men to constantly play at war is suddenly back in fashion. Around the country, her original Mother's Day Proclamation will be the basis this year for parades, remembrances, and other events that try to reclaim the holiday's original spirit in a year when the United States' (male-dominated) government talks seriously not of avoiding war, but staying the course on the multiple ones we're already fighting.
The radical origins of Mother's Day – as a powerful feminist call against war, penned in the wake of the U.S. Civil War in 1870 – are fully compatible with the universal notion of honoring mothers.-------------------------------------------
Health fears have workers at Hanford seeking answers By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times
Bechtel officials have not required workers to wear any special protective gear. But Bechtel recently decided to install a new network of chemical monitors on the site. Those monitors will test for ammonia, nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds and also include a portable infrared unit to test for 150 other chemicals.
'We have thought that we were protected by distance and have no evidence of any harmful tank vapors,' said John Britton a Bechtel spokesman. 'But we are taking employee concerns seriously.'
The waste at the Hanford nuclear reservation is among the most hazardous in the world and includes a complex melange of liquids, thick slurries and saltlike cakes.
The waste-treatment project managed by Bechtel broke ground in October 2001. Employing more than 1,500 workers, this is the largest federal construction project in the United States and is expected to take 10 years to complete.-------------------------------------------
Ironworkers reunite for golden anniversary of bridge groundbreaking By John Flesher / AP, DetNews.com
ST. IGNACE -- Even as dignitaries broke ground May 7, 1954, skeptics considered the project farfetched: a bridge across the 5-mile-long, windswept waters separating Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas.
But on Friday, a crowd of retired laborers and officials who proved the doubters wrong joyfully celebrated the golden anniversary of the start of construction on the Mackinac Bridge.
“I still get goose bumps just looking at it,” said Mike Gleason, 75, of Gaylord, one of 3,500 crew members who did the risky work of constructing what remains the world’s third-longest suspension bridge. It spans the Straits of Mackinac, the intersection of Lakes Huron and Michigan.
During a ceremony on the north shore of the straits, authorities unveiled a gold-colored token coin engraved with images of the bridge on one side and several ironworkers on the other.-------------------------------------------
47th San Francisco International Film Festival By Sharon Mizota
His role as charismatic labor organizer Joe Kenehan in Matewan is a perfect example. John Sayles' 1987 classic about the fight to bring the union to the coal miners of 1920s West Virginia is gritty and big-hearted. You root for the little guys, the scrappy coal miners vs. the monolithic coal company and its piggish thugs, but not without first examining every facet of their struggle. Like many Sayles films, it's a tapestry of larger forces -- capitalism, greed, racism, immigration, religion, friendship, and courage -- distilled into a single, explosive historical moment.-------------------------------------------
Margaret Bourke-White: The Photography of Design Artdaily.com
She strode brazenly into a field dominated by men to become not only a famous photojournalist but also a celebrity personality. Trained in modernist compositional techniques, Bourke-White photographed with an artist’s eye, discovering beauty in the raw aesthetic of American industry and its factories. She romanticized the power of machines through close-ups, dramatic cross-lighting and unusual perspectives, presenting industrial environments as artful compositions.-------------------------------------------
Concrete casts new light in dull rooms optics.org news
“Thousands of optical glass fibers form a matrix and run parallel to each other between the two main surfaces of every block,” explained its inventor Áron Losonczi. “Shadows on the lighter side will appear with sharp outlines on the darker one. Even the colours remain the same. This special effect creates the general impression that the thickness and weight of a concrete wall will disappear.”-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, May 08, 2004 ::ST. LOUIS - Salute to working-class heroes By Tony Pecinovsky, People's Weekly World
This year's "Peace and Justice Awardees" included Harriet Weaver, a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 and the CBTU, who help lead the strike/lockout against 94 St. Louis-area grocery stores last fall; Mary Watkins, who helped win the release of J.B. Johnson, who was wrongfully convicted of robbery and murder in 1970 and spent 13 years in prison; and the Washington University Student Worker Alliance, which has started a campus- and community-wide campaign to force Washington University to pay all campus employees a living wage and to adhere to an ethical code of conduct.-------------------------------------------
Steelworkers National Policy Conference Vancouver April 21-24, 2004 uswa.ca
HAGGARD HIGH ON STEELWORKERS
Dave Haggard, national president of the 55,000-member Industrial, Wood and Allied Workers of Canada (IWA), said the 67-year-old union’s search for a merger partner led to one union that stood out among the rest – the United Steelworkers.
"Your union’s beliefs, the way you do business, and the way you challenge employers across this country, were very compelling for our national executive board," Haggard told NPC delegates, adding that any differences are cancelled out by how both unions care about members and their communities.
"The most important thing a union can do is to improve our members’ lives and to make their communities better places to live," he said.
The IWA National Executive Board decided in late February to enter into merger talks with the United Steelworkers. The IWA can be found on the Internet at www.iwa.ca.-------------------------------------------
BUSINESSMEN APPEAR IN COURT By ALISON SHAW, Aberdeen Evening Express, UK
A Building firm and three directors are facing criminal charges following the death of a workman.
Riverside Construction and the three businessmen allegedly broke health and safety laws while renovating Aberdeen's fire-hit Poundstretcher building.
Worker Erik Petersen, 34, was killed when the interior collapsed as work was being carried out the Union Street building. Now a criminal case has been brought to court and yesterday the three directors appeared in private before Sheriff Kenneth Stewart.-------------------------------------------
Contractor leaves after third death By Nate Reens, savannahnow.com
Tony Lugo, a welder who worked at Plant McIntosh under Yates, said the company's departure won't lure him back to the job.
Lugo said he's picking up his tools and paycheck today and heading for a South Carolina construction project.
"I think that job is jinxed," Lugo said. "For three people to die on one job is crazy. I'm superstitious and I'm not going back there."
Lugo, who said he was only six feet from Bethany when he plummeted to his death, believes Southern made the right decision to dissolve the contract. He thinks they should have done it after Boyett's fatality
"I'm not surprised," he said. "They kind of had to do something. They should have done it earlier after that second man died.-------------------------------------------
Union reps testify at Barnwell trial By Norb Franz, Macomb Daily
A Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters director testified Tuesday that he offered to install cabinets at a house that is the center of the government's case against a former Warren city councilman and a St. Clair County couple.-------------------------------------------
CN Rail wrong for punishing safe worker CBC British Columbia
More than a year before he died, CN rail disciplined Ken Lequesne for refusing to work in unsafe conditions. Now, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board has ruled CN breached the labour code.Lequesne died in a train wreck near McBride last May.
But Tim Secord of the United Transportation Union calls this a moral victory. "It's pretty important," Secord says. "It's a vindication. It also sends a message to the other employees that Ken Lequesne was right on the money when he exercised his right to refuse unsafe work, and that those other employees, if they find themselves in a similar situation, should consider doing the same thing."-------------------------------------------
Salt of the Earth Silver City Daily Press, NM
As in the film, 'Salt of the Earth,' the story of 'Esperanza' is told principally through the changes in the relationship between Ramon and Esperanza, a miner and his wife.
The opera premiered in August 2000, on the University of Wisconsin campus. It originated as a project of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and the Wisconsin Labor History Society. UW-Madison Music Professor Emeritus Karlos Moser of Musicians Local 166 was artistic director. Musical theater composer David Bishop of Musicians Local 802 composed the music. Librettist was Carlos Morton, Hispanic playwright and professor of theater in Los Angeles.
''Esperanza' is written as part of the movement to re-create a culture of union organizing in the country, a battle in which the arts, with their ability to stir emotions and evoke important truths, can play a critical role,' McElroy, manager of the original production, said. 'The opera deals with the enduring issues faced by our society, issues of race and class, and the relationship of men and women - all in the context of the gripping story of a strike whose outcome will determine the fate of an entire community.'-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO Offers an Anemic Response to Health-Care Crisis LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
Unions are finding it difficult to "hold the line" on health-care benefits, despite the urging of the AFL-CIO. The 60,000 striking and locked-out Southern California grocery workers endured a nearly five-month strike to maintain their benefits, but in the end had to make concessions.
There are 41 million Americans who lack medical coverage and millions more are being forced to give up their health insurance as premiums continue to soar.
The answer to this critical problem is universal health insurance, paid for by the federal government from tax revenues and administered by the states. Not only England and Canada, but every industrialized nation around the globe, provides health-care coverage to its population under such a system. Why can't the United States, the richest country in the world, do the same?-------------------------------------------
Union smells a rat By DONALD BERTRAND, New York Daily News
Several dozen union construction workers demonstrated at Rep. Anthony Weiner's office yesterday against his proposal to build a football stadium in Queens instead of Manhattan.
To show the extent of their ire over Weiner's proposal for a stadium in Willets Point near Shea Stadium, ironworkers from Local 580 brought with them a 10-foot inflatable rat, something usually reserved to protest nonunion work sites.
The workers held up signs saying: 'More jobs - less politics.'-------------------------------------------
C.Oregon builders committed to safe job sites Bend.com - Press Release
The Central Oregon Builders Association (COBA) recently held the first annual Safety Roadshow for its builders and friends to highlight COBA’s commitment to safe jobsites. Using a residential house under construction as a training aid, COBA members and other interested contractors were offered a tour that showcased jobsite safety and hazard awareness.-------------------------------------------
OSHA Accepting Comments on Site-Specific Targeting Program U.S. Newswire
OSHA is seeking public comment until July 6, on its Site-Specific Targeting (SST) inspection program to determine more accurately how the program is accomplishing its goal of targeting the nation's most hazardous workplaces for inspection.-------------------------------------------
Union calls for tough penalties to stop violence in the NHS Health and care, UK
'I think our members made it very clear today that they want more legal protection. They want a new law which would mean that anyone found guilty of an assault on a public sector worker would get the same tough penalties currently reserved for attacks on the police, and we will be campaigning hard to make sure they get it.'-------------------------------------------
Asbestos Talks End Without Agreement - Source By Susan Cornwell, Reuters
Talks aimed at creating a national fund to compensate U.S. asbestos victims have ended after no agreement was reached, a source familiar with the discussions said on Thursday.
"The talks are over, they couldn't reach agreement," the source, who asked not to be named, said of the sessions between business, labor and insurance representatives. The meetings had been mediated by a federal appeals judge, Edward Becker.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, May 07, 2004 ::Seal Rock staff plans own union By Joel Gallob, Newport News, OR
The four field workers and two full-time office staff at the Seal Rock Water District are in the process of becoming their own union. (One employee, Tom Donaty, as a field supervisor, is not part of the bargaining unit.)
'We filed with the Employment Relations Board,' said field crew member Curtis Hunter, 'under the name of the Seal Rock Public Employee Association, to become our own bargaining unit, our own union.'
-----------
The laborer's union dropped the Seal Rock staffers because the dues the union received from the small number of staffers were not, Hunter said, enough to cover the cost of union services, primarily those relating to grievances procedures.-------------------------------------------
Third worker dies at McIntosh site By Nate Reems, Savannah Morning News
'There's got to be something wrong out there,' said Bethany, whose brother, Joe Lynn Bethany, died in February after falling through an uncovered hole from an elevated construction platform. 'I don't know what it is, but something needs to be done.
'I hate to hear about this. I hate it for the family that's now going through the same thing we did. You'd think after the second one they would have shut the job down. Maybe this one will do it.'
Ryan Mackenzie, 21, of Newport, Maine, fell about 75 feet from scaffolding around 9:30 a.m., Effingham sheriff's Capt. Mike Bohannon said.-------------------------------------------
IMPROPER CLEANUP ALLEGED - Mercury in school
BY ELLEN YAN, New York Newsday
Mercury found by carpenters in a Brooklyn school was improperly wiped up with a towel by a clean-up crew and thrown in the trash, the carpenters' union charged yesterday.
In the dust and debris from ripping out rotting wood flooring, carpenters found about a thimble-sized amount of mercury in two spots of an old science lab at JHS 166 on Wednesday of last week. The room was being used as an office.
But while a School Construction Authority abatement crew was sent in, little else was done until this past Wednesday, when workers balked at orders to go back in, the union said.-------------------------------------------
Calif. Man Recovers After Nail Gun Mishap AP, Washington Post
LOS ANGELES - A construction worker had six nails driven into his head in an accident with a high-powered nail gun, but doctors said Wednesday they expect him to make a full recovery.
Isidro Mejia made his first public appearance Wednesday since the April 19 accident that left him with 3 1/2-inch nails embedded in his face, neck and skull. He told reporters in Spanish from his wheelchair that he does not remember much about the accident, but is grateful to be alive.-------------------------------------------
$100,000 fine 'just a joke' Gordon Kent, The Washington Post
Penalty for fatal accident angers paralysed worker
EDMONTON - An ironworker paralysed in a construction accident that killed one co-worker and injured another angrily described a $100,000 penalty imposed on his employer Wednesday as 'just a joke.'
'For a company, a $100,000 fine is not even a slap on the wrist,' Travis Houston told provincial court Judge Dave Tilley after Rampart Steel Ltd. admitted breaking the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
'One hundred thousand dollars for a man's life, and two other men's livelihoods taken away ... is a joke, it's just a joke.'-------------------------------------------
B.C. Liberals Deny Deceit, Plead Stupidity By charlie smith, Georgia Straight
You'll never hear a politician say, 'We're not Machiavellian. We're just stupid.' However, this message clearly underlies the B.C. Liberal government's spin campaign following its dispute with the Hospital Employees' Union.
It's a comforting thought for the public: Premier Gordon Campbell and Labour Minister Graham Bruce merely screwed up with Bill 37. They 'misjudged' the situation by inserting a clause requiring HEU members to pay back part of the money for work already performed during April.
It's more palatable than believing that a scheming, risk-addicted premier deliberately introduced this measure to trigger a provincial election. Such an election would have drawn the cash-strapped New Democratic Party into an expensive two-front war against Paul Martin's federal Liberals and Campbell's provincial Liberals.
Liberals Strike Out in HEU Dispute By bill tieleman, Georgia Straight
The last-minute deal is clearly not everything that hospital workers were hoping to achieve, and the 15-percent rollback will be very painful, as HEU leaders and Sinclair acknowledged. But the labour movement faced down a government that holds 74 of 79 seats in the legislature and still won significant concessions against all the odds.
If the same unity and energy can be harnessed in the May 17, 2005, provincial election, the days of arbitrarily imposed contracts and endless attacks on workers and others will be over.-------------------------------------------
Labor unrest seen threat to Reliant NY plant sale Reuters
The breakdown of labor talks could jeopardize a plan by Reliant Energy to sell three power plants in New York, a union local said on Thursday.
'The breakdown at the bargaining table could have serious implications on Reliant's ability to sell the three plants,' a statement issued by the Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers of America, AFL-CIO said.
A spokeswoman for Houston-based Reliant said the company was disappointed the union had made the dispute public, but said talks for a new contract would continue.-------------------------------------------
Workers' Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB - May 2004 americanrightsatwork.org
American Rights at Work Launches Workers' Rights Watch: Eye on the NLRB
Using the National Labor Relations Board's decisions, we will demonstrate how labor law is failing workers.-------------------------------------------
Paid Hours Continue to Grow Press Release: Statistics New Zealand
Carpenters and joiners salary and wage rates (including overtime) rose 0.9 percent in the March 2004 quarter. Carpenters and joiners salaries and wages have shown consistently high growth over the past year, increasing 4.3 percent from the March 2003 quarter to the March 2004 quarter. The rises are consistent with reported skill shortages in this area.-------------------------------------------
Hard hat required: Students discover construction trades By Cathy Flynn, Shrewsbury Chronicle, MA
"We want to teach kids about this industry," said Jamie Merloni, who runs the Laborer's Training Center. "Guidance counselors and teachers also need to know what makes these industries tick. Once they learn the trade, people can make $50,000 to $60,000 a year, and be protected by their union and by OSHA."
According to the Construction Industries of Massachusetts, an industry group and one of the day's sponsors, the construction industry faces a shortage of young, qualified workers. With the average skilled construction worker today being 48 years old, by 2008 the United States will have almost one million vacant construction trade jobs.-------------------------------------------
Learning to work - and paid for it By Shola Adenekan, BBC News
The skill shortage in the construction industry is stark. According to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), London alone needs 40,500 new construction workers in order to meet a target of 169,000 homes by 2006.
This includes 6,500 carpenters and joiners, 3,000 bricklayers, 2,500 painters and decorators, 1,000 plasterers, 1,500 roofers, 4,000 electricians and 3,500 plumbers.-------------------------------------------
Forget a job: grads must sell selves to new world of work By RON McGOWAN, Globe and Mail
Our ancestors were self-employed people who earned their livings as contractors, trades people, craftspeople and small business owners. When the concept of a job was introduced to them, they thought it was a crazy idea.
It's the ultimate irony that the job, which our ancestors saw as abhorrent, is something we've become addicted to, and are having great difficulty withdrawing from, now that it is in decline.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, May 06, 2004 ::Fight for your right By Jered Fisher, Daily Vanguard, OR
In the Back to Back Cafe, a worker owned cafe that shares a building with the IWW hall, ILWU Local Eight member Jack Mulcanhy was chatting with other longshore union members, telling a story about their union.
'We organized the unemployed in the 1930's ... only when workers banded together did they make gains.' Mulcanhy said. 'May Day is working class struggle to better our own working conditions.'-------------------------------------------
Filming starts at museum By Tom Yerace, Leader Times, PA
'Every Picture Tells A Story.'
It uses guest speakers to complement the museum's artwork and help the students in their study of Pennsylvania's history.
'It was the reason we chose them,' Mosher said.
He said bringing the children into the 'Valley Work: Scenes of Industry' exhibit, where paintings depict the steel industry in its prime, exposes them to part of the region's history and even the history of their families. Mosher said museum employees and crew members heard some of the children say, 'My grandad worked there,' as they viewed the paintings.
'More than that, they bring in a retired steelworker to tell them what it was like to live in those paintings,' Mosher said.
Today, the TV crew will explore the museum's collaboration with the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Corridor, by touring some of the defunct steel mill sites and meeting with The Newlanders, a music group that is researching the music of the steelworkers.-------------------------------------------
Editorial: Pyrrhic lumber victory TheStar.com
For its part, the American lumber industry, which has effectively directed Washington's strategy of harassment from the very beginning, issued an undisguised threat that it intended to drag out the dispute indefinitely.
While we would not presume to tell Canada's softwood producers what is in their best interests, the fact that the federal government is so ready to run back to the bargaining table says to us that it knows full well that NAFTA gives Canada no real power against the protectionists on the American side of the border.
It also says that the touted trade deal is, to a good extent, a sham.-------------------------------------------
Sellout: B.C. Federation of Labour and NDP betrays thousands of workers By Tom Hansen, General Strike News
If the HEU strike and protest movement had grown they may have become unmanageable. Gordon Campbell may have called a snapped election where the central issue would be: is it labour leaders who runs this province or is it elected government?
Such a scenario is a horrifying to the NDP and the Federation, so it was better to cut their losses and gut the strike.-------------------------------------------
B.C. points the way for other provinces By BRUCE LITTLE, The Globe and Mail
Canada's bookends, British Columbia and Newfoundland, could hardly be more different. One is wealthy, the other poor; one has little government debt, the other all too much; one has a budget that is almost balanced, the other a horrendous deficit.
But in the past month, they have shared the national spotlight for knock-down battles between their provincial governments and public sector unions.-------------------------------------------
HSABC urges an end destructive bargaining tactics Web posted by NUPGE
'The International Labour Organization found the Campbell government violated international labour laws back in 2001. At the time, the government scoffed at the ILO ruling, and last week they made it clear they have no regard for international laws.'-------------------------------------------
A strike against democracy By LARRY HAIVEN and JUDY HAIVEN, Globe and Mail
Recently two provincial governments have removed one of the most important democratic rights that Canadians enjoy - collective bargaining. Not only have British Columbia and Newfoundland arbitrarily ended public sector strikes that began legally, they have also imposed the terms of settlement on the workers through legislation. Such actions are part of a remarkably short-sighted and even dangerous trend.-------------------------------------------
CDC: Trench Collapse Still a Major Problem blog posted, Confined Space
The Centers for Disease Control has issued a report on trenching fatalities that concludes that deaths from trench cave-ins are still a serious problem despite the fact that compliance with OSHA's standard would prevent these deaths.-------------------------------------------
Road Ahead - Constructive Criticism By David K. Choo, Hawaii Business
The Pacific Resource Partnership’s Nobleza Magsanoc says that proper planning will keep the upcoming construction boom from going bust.
"We are looking closely at the labor supply. We represent union contractors, which are signatories with the Carpenters' Union. The union has made a commitment to train as many tradesmen as needed. We are in the process of building a training facility on Barbers Point. But the biggest concern that we have is that we want to be accurate about the industry's demand for labor. What we don't want is to bring in so many new workers, and then realize later on that there is no work for them. I've heard estimates as high as 70,000 new construction jobs in the state. That seems awfully high. I've polled our contractors and have worked closely with UH, and our estimate is more in the neighborhood of 7,000 to 10,000 new and replacement workers."-------------------------------------------
Corps: 'Not everyone is going to like' its river study By Edward Husar, Herald-Whig
Roger Schoenekase of Quincy, business representative for Local 189 of the Carpenters and Joiners Union, said the navigation improvements will create many new jobs for area workers.
'It's probably one of the biggest public works projects we'll see since Cannon Dam in Missouri,' he said.
Schoenekase also supports the environmental improvements to be carried out as part of the plan.
However, a coalition of 10 environmental groups has lambasted the study, charging that the corps has overestimated future river traffic, underestimated the growing domestic demand for grain and ignored the benefits of less expensive congestion management measures, such as traffic scheduling.-------------------------------------------
100th anniversary of Locust Gap mine fire Shamokin News Item, PA
“When coal was king, the miner was its servant,” she noted. “These men risked their lives daily to mine the black diamonds to feed their families and fuel our nation. Communities took pride in their miners, but worried daily about the well-being of the men who worked deep below the earth’s surface. On May 5, 1904, the community’s worst fear was realized.
“One hundred years have passed, but the legacy of the miner lives on in our communities,” she added. “On the 100th anniversary of this terrible disaster, let us remember these men and the miners whose sweat and courage helped build our communities and our nation.”-------------------------------------------
Mob stigma again haunts Teamsters By Richard A. Ryan, Detroit News
Edwin H. Stier, a highly respected former federal and state prosecutor who fought the mob passionately in New Jersey, and his team of investigators resigned last week as the union’s internal ethical watchdog, claiming that Teamsters President James P. Hoffa “is no longer committed” to cleaning up the union.
The accusations of being soft on organized crime could revive a public image of the old Teamsters under Hoffa’s father, the legendary James R. Hoffa, of a corrupt union dominated by the mob. The union agreed to government supervision in 1989 to settle a federal racketeering suit that charged the Teamsters had made a “devil’s pact” with organized crime.
Teamsters Call on U.S. Senate to Protect Overtime Rights PR Newswire
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters today called for the passage of an amendment being offered by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) that would protect working Americans from the Bush Administrations attempt to scale back the right to overtime pay.
The amendment would guarantee that workers eligible for overtime under current rules do not lose their overtime rights as a result of new regulations released by the Department of Labor this April.-------------------------------------------
Cleansing Your Pallet Paul Chippens, The New Yankee Redneck, The Toque
For most construction activities, like a new softwood floor, you'll want to take the pallets apart. But for your deck it's actually better to keep them together. Select one or two pallets with an even colour, or tone as they call it in the wood colour business, and throw them on the ground below your front door. There you go! It just don't get simpler than that.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 ::The tiny house solution By Glenn Roberts Jr, Inman News
Jim Reid's solution to the homeless problem in San Francisco: Tiny houses. His solution to the affordable-housing problem in San Francisco? You guessed it: Tiny Houses.
Reid built a fully equipped prototype, Shelter-One, to show how small a house could be -- and still be a home. The prototype, which has a 10-by-10 interior and cost about $12,000 to build, features a picket fence, a bed, a desk, a shower and bathtub, a combination washer-dryer unit and, yes, even the kitchen sink.
The Taming of the Shed By MITCHELL OWENS, New York Times
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands
FIVE years ago, Jennifer Sigler was visiting her parents in Baltimore when her husband, Wim Kloosterboer, a Dutch architect, called one morning to say he had found the house of their dreams: an old concrete-block utility shed sitting on a dike on the outskirts of this port city.-------------------------------------------
Sleaze in the Woodwork - Carpenter Chief Nailed By Tom Robbins, Village Voice
When a Manhattan jury last week found carpenters union head Michael Forde and another union official guilty of receiving a bribe, it was the second corruption conviction in a row for the top official of the city's 25,000-member carpenters union. Forde, the $216,000-a-year chief of the New York District Council of Carpenters, won election in 1999, promising to break with the bad old ways associated with his predecessor, Frederick Devine, who was found guilty of stealing union funds in 1998.
earlier article: bribe no problem, but a beer is another story...
A Mob Soprano Sings by Tom Robbins, Village Voice, Apr 20, 2004
The meeting took place sometime in April at the Hooters restaurant across the street from the hotel. Richard said he gave Rucereto an envelope containing $10,000 to give the officials as a down payment on the bribe. As he told the story, the four men took a table by the window, where they each ordered a beer. He made a special point of recalling a remark by Forde that he 'really shouldn't be having a beer because the union was cracking down on drinking on the job.'-------------------------------------------
Union reps urge Parchment to let developer continue plans kalamazoogazette
'We're looking at some major work here,' said Nate Bitely, who represents the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters Local 525.
He said Moch's development plan would provide $40 million in new construction plus a greatly expanded tax base for the city.
David Parker, agent for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 131, said the East Grand Rapids developer has promised the project would provide high-paying union jobs to everyone 'from the bricklayers down to the laborers.'-------------------------------------------
U.S. Jobs: Reach for the Stars ... or a Hammer By Ilana Mercer, Insight on the News
Telling America's young people that the best they can hope for is a career as a tradesman certainly casts a pall over an administration given to grandiose planning and posturing. Essentially, the mathematically precocious - youngsters with aptitudes for science, engineering or accounting - must be yanked down to earth. Reaching for the stars in the America of the future will be the exclusive province of American Idol participants.-------------------------------------------
B.C. minister: no plan to ensure labour peace leading up to 2010 Olympics By STEVE MERTL, CP
The problems in some trades are exacerbated by an aging workforce, with many approaching retirement by 2010.
That conceivably gives unions additional leverage as the Games approach, Les admitted.
But the province is moving to increase the supply of qualified tradespeople, he said, by easing entry into apprenticeships, working with Ottawa to channel skilled immigrants to the province and improving the economic climate to attract workers from elsewhere in Canada.-------------------------------------------
Topeka company agrees to OSHA fines in death of co-owner
Also in March, OSHA imposed $15,000 fines against Minneapolis-based Cargill for alleged violations of federal regulations linked to the death. Judy Freeman, director of OSHA's Wichita office, said Cargill contested the fine and the case remains open.
The accident happened Sept. 23, when Bailey and others were cleaning the bottom of an elevator bin that became clogged with grain.
A relative working with Bailey said Bailey put on a safety harness, which was tied to a rope. Bailey went inside the elevator to try to dislodge the clog and was buried beneath a mountain of soybeans.-------------------------------------------
We're not out of the softwoods yet Toronto Star
Even if they are wrong, as the World Trade Organization and a NAFTA panel have ruled in the past, American lumbermen have everything to gain and nothing to lose by stringing out every contentious issue to the bitter end.
A final dispute resolution would also harm U.S. lobbyists and lawyers who have made careers of fighting this battle over the past generation.
If the softwood lumber dispute was settled once and for all, some of them would have to find new employment. That's precisely what many Canadians have had to do since the massive anti-dumping and countervailing duties were imposed by the Americans. Thousands of them have been laid off, especially in British Columbia, our major exporter of softwood lumber. Mills have been mothballed, businesses have gone under and small towns have been decimated by restrictions on our lumber exports.
This is an edited version of an editorial from the Red Deer (Alta.) Advocate.-------------------------------------------
Nfld. unions march to legislature to declare death of collective bargaining Yahoo! News, CP
The strikers, in a last-minute bid to re-start contract talks, returned to work last week after 27 days off the job.
Union leaders said the march Tuesday was a symbol for the death of collective bargaining in Newfoundland.
Among the props: a horse-drawn carriage and a black coffin with a white cross on the lid. The coffin was carried up the steps of the legislature and propped up against the front door.
Under Bill 18, workers who fail to return to work face huge fines and even dismissal.-------------------------------------------
May is Labor History Month Labor Arts: What's New
We are pleased to announce our newest exhibit Images from the Waterfront, created in collaboration with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to celebrate Labor History Month 2004.-------------------------------------------
NIOSH Unveils New Dust Monitor to American Society of Safety Engineers PR Newswire
'With this new device the miners will know what the dust levels are immediately and reduce their chance of being harmed while on the job,' Dr. Wade said.-------------------------------------------
Worker has view of Athens preparations By DEREK GATOPOULOS, AP
The 54-year-old welder works on the hollow arches that will support the stadium roof created by Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish engineer whose steel-ribbed and see-through designs have given a modern look to airports, theaters and bridges in more than a dozen cities.
'This is a very difficult job. But I'm proud of it. It's a work of art,' said Garvriliadis, who's from near Ancient Olympia, birthplace of the original games.
Workers dangle from ropes, swing cranes and rush to install sunken tracks so the halves of the 17,000-ton roof can be rolled into place.
Inside the hollow arches, Garvriliadis clambers up wobbly metal stairs in the darkness of a tunnel to reach openings near the top.-------------------------------------------
State agency fights shady home repairs By Gary Nelson, East Valley Tribune, AZ
With only 27 inspectors to chase an army of mobile crooks, it might seem the odds are stacked against Torres’ agency. But Torres, a lawyer who has held the job for 14 months after being appointed by Gov. Janet Napolitano, has been thinking of novel ways to fight back.
One is to post the agency’s most-wanted home-repair swindlers on its Web site, www.rc.state.az.us. Of the eight whose names and pictures are posted, six are sought on arrest warrants sworn out in East Valley justice courts.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 ::Minority contractors seek 'level playing field' By Dave Alexander, MLive.com, MI
Members of a new minority construction contractors association say they will know when they've arrived. It's when they can act as general contractors and compete with other established companies for multimillion-dollar construction contracts.
But in the meantime, there's plenty of hard work and sub-contracts available for the group of about 12 businesses that make up the Disadvantaged Professional Contractors Association of Muskegon.-------------------------------------------
Health workers feel 'sold out' by their union leaders Cindy E. Harnett, Doug Ward and Frances Bula, Victoria Times Colonist; Vancouver Sun
"We went out and fought a long battle for eight days, sleep-deprived. Just so that we get news at 11 o'clock last night that we are shutting down the picket line.'
Walker said she did not know if a richer deal could have been won through prolonged public sector walkouts.
'We don't know if we could have got a better deal. But we wanted to vote on it.'
Trudie George, a birthing suite aide at Surrey Memorial Hospital, carried a sign saying: 'Black Monday for B.C. unions.'
'Bottom line: they sold us out,' George said. 'We want the resignations from all the provincial executive who voted to accept that crap.'-------------------------------------------
Hargrove dismisses union link to Giant deaths CBC North
YELLOWKNIFE - The president of the Canadian Auto Workers took the witness stand Monday at the Giant Mine civil trial in Yellowknife.
Buzz Hargrove answered charges that the union, through negligence, is partly responsible for nine deaths at the mine during a strike in 1992.-------------------------------------------
Unions welcome alternatives to right-wing radio Workday Minnesota
“There’s so much extremist radio out there and they care so little about the facts,” said Corinne Hoeft, High Ground’s executive producer. “The number one thing we hope to do is be an alternative to the extremist radio . . . a centrist radio station that someone from a union can listen to.”
Indeed, unions helped launch High Ground. Ads for the Carpenters Union and IBEW, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, can be heard on all three programs. Local union leaders have been frequent guests on High Ground.
“We at the Carpenters Union felt that having a different tone of the political conversation on talk radio was necessary,” said Ken Kelash, community liaison for the Lakes & Plains Regional Council of Carpenters. “We took a shot with Janet’s team and the ideas she had.”
For more information
Visit the High Ground website, www.highgroundradio.com-------------------------------------------
PEOPLE SKILLS The Persuaders By Richard McGill Murphy, Fortune: Small Business
Worried that your employees will join a union? Perhaps these gentlemen can help.
List is good at his job: Last year he fought 35 campaigns and won 32. His clients range from FORTUNE 500 corporations to tiny manufacturers with a dozen employees. People in List's line of work are often referred to as union busters, but he prefers to describe himself with such euphemisms as "educator" or "communication specialist." Although List gets paid (he won't say how much) to persuade workers that joining the union is not in their best interest, he's also reluctant to be called a persuader. "The unions would definitely play that against me," he says.-------------------------------------------
Celebration for true – and new – believers By Renee Viellaris, NEWS.com.au, Australia
THOUSANDS of unionists spilled into Roma Street Parkland yesterday after marching through Brisbane to celebrate Labour Day.
The Plumbers Union, a division of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbers Union, won the annual trophy for the best union contingent with its entourage of 200 in its centenary year.
Secretary Jorgen Gullestrup said the division had humble beginnings in 1904 with only 13 members.
In 1908 it won the best float, and shared its five crates of beer and several bottles of whisky with the carpenters' union.
'The next time they decided to take the money (prize),' Mr Gullestrup said.-------------------------------------------
Anger remains after B.C. health strike ends CANADIAN PRESS
HEU spokesman Darryl Pinkney in Nanaimo, where pickets were up at a transit yard, expressed anger at the settlement.
'Most of our members feel that it's not over. Most of our members feel that it's unfair and there's nothing that changed.'
Susan Barron, a lab technician at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, said she and her co-workers had been sold out by their own union.
'All I can say is we have the ability to bring in new leadership this fall and that's what we will be doing. We've been sold out.'-------------------------------------------
Atlanta: Report Back from Farm Workers Rally by prole cat, Infoshop News
The crowd defied the typical activist stereotypes. Evenly split between males and females, the group included blacks and Latinos, and ranged from small children with their young parents, to a trio of older balding anarchists. Members of at least three ideological organizations were present. I was especially impressed by the cross-union solidarity, noting that members of the Teamsters, Carpenters and Stage Hands unions joined in the rally. The only thing that was lacking, the only demographic that was not represented was the expensive attire of the ruling class.-------------------------------------------
left and right - your choice:
"No Democrat is Going to Beat Bushism" by Derek Seidman, Left Hook
An interview with Green Party activist Howie Hawkins
I’m a UPS truck unloader and active in Teamsters for a Democratic Union as well as the Green Party.
Labor Unions Are Struggling For Relevancy / VIEW FROM THE RIGHT By Adam Sparks, SF Gate
So, why are unions in trouble?-------------------------------------------
Mighty Mac's mighty men By Ron Fonger, Flint Journal
Sperry and Gleason are two surviving ironworkers who will be honored Friday with the unveiling of a new collector coin by the state Department of Transportation. A ceremony at Bridge View Park in St. Ignace will salute all workers who helped build the bridge and mark the 50th anniversary of the start of construction. The bridge now bears about 4.5 million crossings annually.
'Every year the bridge is tested ... and (the inspectors) tell us they are amazed at the condition,' said William H. Gnodtke, chairman of the Mackinac Bridge Authority. 'I think that's a tribute to the workers.'-------------------------------------------
Tropicana Penalty: Problem With OSHA, the Law or Both? By Jordan Barab, Confined Space
Last week OSHA announced citations against the contractors building the Atlantic City Tropicana parking garage that collapsed last October, killing 4 workers and injuring 21 others.
Engineers who studied the event concluded that the collapse was caused by the faulty installation of concrete floors after changes were made to the design to speed the job and save money. So it was not surprising that workers and the families were upset about OSHA's paltry $98,500 fine against the main contractor, Fabi Construction. The Fabi penalty included one willful citation for the deaths of four workers. OSHA made no announcement about whether or not it would seek a criminal prosecution.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, May 03, 2004 ::Firm facing court over death of A5 worker Shropshire Star, UK
Construction giant Balfour Beatty could be prosecuted following the death of a roadworker during the construction of the A5 bypass, a court heard.
Stephen Hayward, 43, died instantly during the work on a new roundabout at the Wolfshead B4396 junction with the A5 Nesscliffe bypass.
The stop go board operator was hit by a lorry while at work in October 2002.-------------------------------------------
Agreement reached on Bill 37 BCGEU
'Gordon Campbell caused this strike,' said Heyman. 'Health care workers in the BCGEU, HEU and other unions were hit hard by Bill 37, which was unprecedented, punitive, unfair and unbalanced. This legislation provoked not only health care workers and the labour movement, but also fair-minded citizens around the province. It was our united and co-ordinated action in support of HEU, BCGEU and other health care workers that caused the government to back down on the worst aspects of Bill 37.'
Unions back in court on Campbell government’s contract-breaking legislation BCGEU
“The case against government legislation tearing up collective agreements is about the right of workers to freely negotiate collective agreements under Canadian law,” said Heyman.
The unions’ case was launched in March, 2002 and argued in B.C. supreme Court by noted Victoria constitutional lawyer Joe Arvay in April 2003.
The International Labour Organization has strongly criticized the Campbell government for trampling on the rights of trade union members through Bill 29.-------------------------------------------
B.C. government, health union agree to cap layoffs, avert general strike By TIFFANY CRAWFORD AND JEREMY HAINSWORTH, CP
Union and government officials reached an agreement late Sunday to end an illegal walkout that threatened to balloon into a full general strike paralysing public services this week.
"We have concluded an arrangement, supported by the B.C. Federation of Labour, that will put an end to this dispute," Premier Gordon Campbell said. He called the deal fair and reasonable and said he expected services would resume as normal Monday.-------------------------------------------
B.C. employers win legal battle in fight against striking health workers By TIFFANY CRAWFORD, The Globe and Mail
The HEU has refused to budge from what it calls 'protest lines' at hospitals around the province.
Earlier Sunday, a lawyer for the employers, Nazeer Mitha, argued trade unions must not be seen to be above the law and cannot choose which laws to obey.
'Civil disobedience is not a defence to be in contempt of court,' he said in B.C. Supreme Court.
Despite the board's ruling and the back-to-work legislation, workers spent the weekend on the picket lines.
The employers' submissions suggested the union pay fines of $430,000 per day for its conduct.-------------------------------------------
Hundreds turn out for May Day Rally By SARAH LINN, AP, KATU 2 Portland OR
Hundreds of union members and others rallied Saturday for May Day, criticizing corporate America and calling on President Bush to improve his record on creating jobs and securing health care for low-income people.
'This is the worst administration for jobs in my memory,' said Susan Howard, who marched in the mild May sunshine with her 10-year-old daughter, Anna.
The marchers, who ranged from hardhatted carpenters to retired teachers and teenagers, gathered at North Park Blocks in Portland and then moved along the Willamette River waterfront.
'I wouldn't miss it,' said Hank Curl, 91, who lives in north Portland. He joined a carpenters' union in the 1930s and helped organize the former International Woodworkers of America union.
Curl said that unions should be praised for introducing the standards many American employees take for granted - the eight-hour work day, the 40-hour week and the weekend.-------------------------------------------
Companies embrace women's yen to remodel By Andrea Coombes, CBS.MarketWatch.com
What's bound to please women this Mother's Day?
Power tools, according to some retailers.
With women comprising half of residential customers at stores like Home Depot and Lowe's, and a home-remodeling market that reaps $125 billion a year, retailers, tool-makers and others are embracing the idea that women are a serious force in the home-improvement market.-------------------------------------------
Defend militant unionism, defend Craig Johnston! By Sue Bolton, Green Left, Australia
“Solidarity is an extension of unionism on the job. If you can't do something as an individual, you join a union and the collective does something. It's the same across the board. On different jobs and in different industries, some unions have more muscle than others. If the strong help the weak, it will come back 10-fold and others will help you, and if people keep doing that it will multiply.
“No-one can convince me that you can win anything without fighting for it. If you're not militant you get done over. That's been proved over hundreds of years. I've seen militant industrial action in the old metal workers union, in the Builders Labourers Federation and from different unions in different areas where they've made big gains through militancy.”
Johnston argued that the federal Coalition government is trying to criminalise industrial action. “They're trying to move everything out of the industrial section of the law into the criminal section. When an organiser goes onto a site, the government is trying to say that it is trespass, a criminal offence. If a union organiser says to a boss, `You owe a worker money. You've ripped them off. Pay up or I'll have a stoppage', that is considered coercion and threats so it's a criminal charge. The government is doing this because they want to say that unions are third parties. They want employers and employees to negotiate without unions.”-------------------------------------------
Increasing litigation forces builders to wise up By Sarah G. McC. Moïse, Charleston Business Journal
The typical situation he sees is the property owner coming down to the final components and deciding to cheat the contractor, who then cheats the subcontractors. “A month before the end of the job, the owner sees he doesn’t have enough money and starts complaining about stuff that doesn’t matter. The subcontractors are easy pickings.”-------------------------------------------
Lumber, plywood prices skyrocket By BERNARD SIMON, New York Times
Almost three-fifths of all structural wood panels now sold are oriented-strand board, or OSB, compared with a quarter in the early 1990s.
Prices of both OSB and plywood reached records one week last month. According to Random Lengths, a trade publication, 1,000 square feet of -inch OSB sells for $503 in the north-central United States; this time last year, the same amount cost $170. Half-inch four-ply southern pine plywood is up to $523 for 1,000 square feet, from $240 a year ago.-------------------------------------------
Study: Vibration from Powered-Tool Usage Leads to Artery Damage Occupational Hazards
Millions of people in the workplace are exposed to potential injuries from vibrations caused by powered-tools. Past studies have shown that years of working with hand-held powered-tools could cause hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), known as secondary Raynaud's disease of occupational origin.
HAVS is characterized by excessively reduced blood flow, limiting blood supply to the nerves, muscles, and tendons, and blanching of the fingers. The symptoms include pain, tingling and numbness of the hand, which progresses to loss of dexterity. All patients complain of excessive finger blanching when exposed to cold.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, May 02, 2004 ::Teens compete in backhoe rodeo By Jessica Hanthorn, Hampton Roads Daily Press, VA
At the competition, students at the vocational school race to complete with backhoes, the only equipment used at the event. But they aren't just trying for the fastest time, the biggest scoop of gravel or the most dextrous use of the controls.
In many cases, they are competing for jobs.
The contest judges are employers, mostly from local public works departments or construction firms. And some are looking to hire.-------------------------------------------
Steel, concrete and poetry: the making of a Bay Area landmark By Peter Hartlaub, SF Chronicle
When the American Experience documentary 'Golden Gate Bridge' premieres at 9 p.m. Monday on KQED, Bay Area residents will get a studious look at the most recognizable structure in the West. But they'll also get a tribute to the people who were on the scene in the 1930s -- including several who are still around.
'Golden Gate Bridge' director Ben Loeterman said San Francisco officials didn't have a formal list of surviving bridge workers, but he was hopeful that a few were still around. He found Kring after calling four or five of the main bridge engineers' students now living in the Midwest, one of whom had spoken to the veteran bridge-builder in recent years. "-------------------------------------------
Angry B.C. unions threaten general strike CTV News
British Columbia is readying itself for a full-blown general strike. Tens of thousands of unionized workers plan to walk off the job on Monday in support of the province's striking health care workers.
B.C. unions threaten general strike NATIONAL POST
Mr. Campbell appeared on television to appeal for calm.
'I understand this is difficult for workers,' the Premier said, urging the union to sit down with lawyers and an arbitrator to negotiate how a 15% cut in union wages and benefits should be handled.
'If a worker in the HEU would give up one of their nine weeks vacation and decided to go to a 40-hour week, there would be no hit on their paycheque,' Premier Campbell said.
May Day rally attacks Campbell Calgary Sun
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Vancouver's downtown core on Saturday to mark May Day with a march in protest of the Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell.-------------------------------------------
Can unions find footholds in a right to work Mississippi? Picayune Item, MS
One of history's ironies is that the charismatic Reuther, who was almost beaten to death at one Detroit plant for handing out union leaflets during the Great Depression, was enlisted by CEOs during World War II improve efficiency at aircraft and defense plants.
'His example meant so much in the Southern states,' said Clarence Brown, a Steelworkers organizer based in Birmingham, Ala. 'He understood that unions understand profits and productivity.'
Brown attended integrated union meetings during the 1960's as a young Alabama steelworker. 'But black and white workers were segregated on the steel mill floor,' Brown said. Reuther lobbied Southern labor unions to integrate the workplace as well as the union hall.-------------------------------------------
SWEENEY DELIVERS LABOR ADDRESS IN DETROIT: AFL-CIO chief rips Bush's record BY JOHN GALLAGHER, FREE PRESS
Quoting Martin Luther King Jr. on America's spiritual plight -- a land of 'guided missiles and unguided men' -- Sweeney called Bush 'the most unguided, misguided man in America.'
There was little new in Sweeney's oft-repeated criticism of Bush's Republican agenda, but the speech gave him a chance to make his points before a labor-friendly audience.-------------------------------------------
Tennille welder killed in accident By Lisa Ray, Texas City Sun
Ironically the accident occurred on the very day set aside to observe workers killed on the job. A worker’s memorial ceremony was held Wednesday in Texas City.-------------------------------------------
Monument, memorial draw 2,000 construction workers By JOHN CURRAN, AP
'Workers Memorial Day is not a day to determine blame,' said master of ceremonies Roy Foster, president of the Atlantic and Cape May County Central Labor Council. 'It's not a day for finger-pointing.'
But hard feelings simmered.
'OSHA Kills,' read one hand-lettered sign. 'No OSHA whitewash,' said another.
Joseph J. Hunt, president of the International Ironworkers union, told the crowd that the Tropicana deaths occurred as the result of an incident, not an accident.
'Accident' implies that it was inevitable, that nothing could have been done to prevent it. When our members die, it's an incident that should have and could have been protected,' he said.-------------------------------------------
Bridge worker falls & drowns New York Daily News
A worker sandblasting a Staten Island bridge fell 20 feet to the muddy waters below and drowned yesterday, officials said.
Bruno Diaz, 24, of Newark, and a partner were sandblasting and painting the bottom of the Fresh Kills Bridge on the West Shore Expressway when Diaz slipped off the scaffold and fell into the creek at 1:15 p.m., police said.
It was not clear whether he was wearing a safety harness.-------------------------------------------
Workers Rally at Canadian Embassy to Protest Quebecor World Mistreatment PR Newswire
Workers at Quebecor World, the Canadian-based printing giant, are trying to form a union with the Graphic Communications International Union (GCIU) at multiple sites throughout the United States. The workers have been facing harassment, intimidation, and threats from the company, according to a recent complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board.-------------------------------------------
The Wal-Mart Myth By Jonathan Tasini, TOMPAINE.com
The second nugget got far less attention, unless you're inclined to read the truly radical press: Business Week. In the April 12 issue, reporters Stanley Holmes and Wendy Zellner penned a terrific piece called, 'The Costco Way,' with an even more provocative sub-title: 'Higher wages mean higher profits. But try telling Wall Street.'-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, May 01, 2004 ::Woman Fired For Coffin Photo Returns Home KOMO TV, WA
SEATAC, Wash. -- A cargo worker fired by a military contractor after a newspaper published her photograph of coffins of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq has returned home.-------------------------------------------
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'Now you can walk down the street without stepping on the worker who made your shoes' By Bella English, Boston Globe
No Sweat Apparel is making a different kind of fashion statement with its sneakers that are being introduced today -- May Day -- in 14 stores around the country, including two in Cambridge. This marks the first major move of the product line into stores; it is sold largely online. 'Sneakers with soul? No Sweat.' It's one of the slogans that cofounder Neiman and his band of six employees -- only one full time -- live by. 'Now you can walk down the street without stepping on the worker who made your shoes,' says the fact sheet.-------------------------------------------
May Day parades gathers crowds around the world Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
'In China right now the most important thing is money, it is more important than the dignity of workers, than the rights of workers, the health of workers and the safety of workers,' Han Dongfang, director of the Hong Kong-based China Labor Bulletin said.
'May Day should be a day for awareness of labour issues and the difficulties workers are having, but now all the government wants to do is promote consumerism.'-------------------------------------------
May Day: Born of U.S. workers’ struggles By ALAN MAASS, Socialist Worker
Under the influence of the growing socialist movement in the U.S., labor turned to more militant tactics. "The way to get [the eight-hour day]," Peter McGuire of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners wrote in 1882, "is by organization...We want an enactment by the workingmen themselves that on a given day, eight hours should constitute a day’s work, and they ought to enforce it themselves."-------------------------------------------
MAY DAY- the Real Labor Day Collective Bellaciao, France
May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in every country except the United States, Canada, and South Africa. This despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the United States, with the fight for an eight-hour work day.-------------------------------------------
May Day message of 1886 still relevant By Gene Lawhorn, Carpenters Local 247, The Oregonian
In 1884 the United Brotherhood of Carpenters introduced a resolution on the convention floor of the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions. It called for a general strike to begin on May 1, 1886, for gaining the eight-hour workday as a standard for all workers in the United States.-------------------------------------------
May Day: Workers Celebrate Achievements By Ken Georgetti, Canada NewsWire
Canadian workers celebrate their unions' achievements in raising the standard of living of our families and improving the quality of life of our communities. We call on all governments to protect and promote our constitutional rights to belong to unions and to freely negotiate our working conditions.
The Canadian labour movement strives to translate in the political world the successes achieved in the workplace. Democratic governments should focus on the priorities of workers, because the majority of citizens are workers.-------------------------------------------
CUPE expects B.C. strikers to reach 70,000 CBC News
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members in Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna walked off their job Friday causing the closure of three city halls.
Across the province, 1,400 B.C. hydro technicians walked off the job in support of striking hospital workers.
360x412 - 720x824
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OSHA Cites 4 Companies in Parking Garage Collapse By ERIC LIPTON, New York Times
Kate Dugan, an OSHA spokeswoman, started a news conference in Marlton, N.J., the agency's regional headquarters, by expressing her sympathy to the families of the men killed. 'Unfortunately, people at OSHA do see this everyday, since 16 people a day do die on the job in this country,' she said.
The federal investigators did not issue a report detailing exactly why the 10-story garage collapsed on Oct. 30 while concrete was being poured for the top parking level. But the one willful violation and eight serious violations of safety standards provide a road map of sorts to the collapse of the 2,400-space garage.
While placing interconnected mats of steel rebar - which structurally supports the floor - the workers did not anchor the rebar into the vertical columns at the garage's edge, resulting in the filing of notices of violations against Fabi and Mitchell Bar Placement. Fabi was also cited for a willful violation for the improperly installed shoring. Site Blauvelt was cited for failing to do sufficient inspections to ensure that the reinforcing steel was properly installed. Keating was cited for not making sure its subcontractors had properly installed the shoring.-------------------------------------------
USWA's 'Women of Steel' from Industrial States Prepare for Election 2004 Issues at May 2-5 Forum U.S. Newswire
About 20 percent of the USWA's 1.2 million active and retired members in the U.S. and Canada are women employed in primary metals, rubber, glass, chemicals and service sector industries that include healthcare, utilities and technical services. PACE has 275,000 members in the same countries with 18 percent being women employed in paper, oil, chemical, automobile supply and atomic energy sectors.-------------------------------------------
Fur's flying on the Web over Neiman Marcus parody montereyherald.com
Why Neiman Marcus? Because Silver Spring, Md.-based Fund for Animals, seeking to use parody as a weapon in its fight against fur sales, dropped two letters -- 'm' and 'u' -- from the retailer's name, and replaced them with c, a and s to create a new name for its anti-fur Web sites: NeimanCarcass.-------------------------------------------
CAW not released from Giant Mine civil suit CBC North
Justice Arthur Lutz didn't rule on the ultimate issue of whether the Auto Workers are responsible in some way, but made it clear that the union won't be dropped from the trial.
He ruled there's enough evidence to argue a case that the union is liable.
With that, union lawyers will call witnesses on Monday, including CAW president Buzz Hargrove.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, April 30, 2004 ::Kootenay School of the Arts Year End Show 2004 Photographs by JP "Raven" Gregoire
Welcome to the Photo Page of the Kootenay School of the Arts Year End Show, held on April 23. These students are so talented... Enjoy these 16 pages of 139 photographs compliments of the Nelson Community web site. High resolution photos available upon request. © 2004 - Phone: 1.250.229-4171-------------------------------------------
Canada gets clear victory over the U.S. in softwood duty ruling By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun
But the American lumber industry says the Canadian win is only a setback and that even if it takes three, four or five attempts, they intend to keep fighting until they get an acceptable ruling.
And the U.S. government has already indicated it intends to file an extraordinary challenge over allegations of conflict of interest raised by the U.S. lumber lobby against one of the three Americans on the five-member panel that delivered