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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Monday, May 31, 2004 ::
The Origins of Memorial Day Lee Ballinger and Dave Marsh, CounterPunch
Dave Brubeck on the Hypocrisy War in the Name of Freedom
Once again, discussion of the four freedoms has been driven underground, this time more by music industry cowardice and the likes of Clear Channel than by government edict. All we hear is the sound of guns when what we want is butter. We can no longer have both. If we allow another world war to take place, no one will be around to make an album to commemorate its 60th anniversary.------------------------------------------- posted 10:35 PM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
Civilian Women Played Major Role in World War II Victory By Rudi Williams, American Forces Press Service
No one knows what the outcome of World War II would have been if more than 18 million women hadn't worked in home-front defense industries to free men for overseas battlefields and to keep the nation running.
World War II factory worker Thelma M. Snyder believes the war would not have been won without the help of millions of women on the home front. And she's right, according to historians.-------------------------------------------
Contract talks to open between Cliffs, USWA By LEE BLOOMQUIST, Duluth News Tribune, MN
One concern is the company's decision to reduce the number of craft workers by hiring outside contractors, said Mike Woods, president of USWA Local 1938 in Virginia. Craft workers include maintenance mechanics, auto repairmen, iron workers and machinists. Having contractors perform additional work has often resulted in higher cost to the company, Woods said.
A backlog of hundreds of unsolved grievances at Minntac and Keewatin Taconite, and reducing the use of workers who have the skills to perform repair jobs, also remain important issues, he added.
'It's been a rough year. There have been quite a few problems,' Woods said.
Rich Rojeski, president of USWA Local 2705 at Hibbing Taconite, said Steelworkers don't want to negotiate a U.S. Steel-type contract that includes steel mills. Cleveland-Cliffs supplies taconite pellets to steel companies, but does not own any steel mills.-------------------------------------------
In race for oil, crews in peril By MARK PETERS and JOHN RICHARDSON, Press Herald, ME
In 2003, for example, there were 10 deaths and 41 injuries among offshore workers. The two major causes were helicopter crashes - the main mode of transportation to rigs and platforms - and workers falling from rigs into the water. Already this year, 10 people died in March when a helicopter carrying drilling contractors crashed into the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that working in the drilling and extraction of oil and gas is one of this country's more dangerous jobs. The department's numbers lump together onshore and offshore drilling, showing there are an average of 23 deaths per 100,000 workers annually. That's safer than farming and coal mining, but more dangerous than construction or factory work.-------------------------------------------
Buying union-made is tough sell in day of global free trade By Gregory Cancelada and Jack Naudi, Knight Ridder
Targeting the message is one reason the AFL-CIO isn't interested in an aggressive advertising campaign through mass media, Mercer said. At the same time, a mass-media campaign doesn't make much sense when products are so difficult to locate.
"I don't think that people are unreceptive to buying union-made. I think the problem is the frustration in finding the products," he said.
The reality, other union officials say, is that many products are no longer made by U.S. union workers.
To help consumers identify union-made products, Mercer's Union Label and Service Trades Department is overhauling and expanding a Web database on http://www.unionlabel.org.
"We're [also] putting together a union vacation travel plan," Mercer said. "If you want to go to New Mexico, it tells you which stores, hotels, car-rental agencies are union."-------------------------------------------
U.S. officials still refuse to recognize softwood decision backing Canada Canadian Press
The U.S. Commerce Department is sharply criticizing a NAFTA panel that ruled twice in Canada's favour in the multibillion-dollar softwood lumber dispute.
In a release Friday, the department's International Trade Commission said the trade panel has been unfair, exceeded its authority and violated U.S. law in deciding the American lumber industry hasn't proven it's suffering serious damage from Canadian exports.
-----------------------------------
U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
"The Commission's request for reconsideration on Softwood Lumber"
http://www.usitc.gov/7ops/nafta-swl.reqreconsider.pdf
Conclusion
Given the Panel’s violation of U.S. law and basic tenets of fairness in refusing to grant the Commission a reasonable amount of time to respond to the Panel’s determination, the Commission seeks a reconsideration of its request for an extension of time to reopen the record and to reply fully to the Panel’s determination. The Commission seeks a reconsideration in light of the all of the record evidence and the analysis provided by the Commission in its original determination and its remand determination of the Panel’s conclusions that:
1) the Commission’s determination that the U.S. softwood lumber industry is threatened with material injury is not supported by substantial evidence;
2) the Commission’s findings regarding Canadian producers’ excess production and projected increases in capacity, capacity utilization and production related to increases in imports were not supported by substantial evidence;
3) the Commission’s findings regarding the volume of imports and the rate of increase in the volume or market penetration of imports were not supported by substantial evidence;
4) the Commission’s determination that Canadian softwood lumber was entering the U.S. market at prices that are likely to have a significant depressing or suppressing effect on domestic prices was not supported by substantial evidence; and
5) the Commission’s finding that the domestic industry had curbed its overproduction was not supported by substantial evidence.-------------------------------------------
Doubt over Hoffa evidence Washington Times
On Friday, police and forensic investigators hauled away seven or eight foot-long pieces of wood floor and prepared it for FBI analysis, Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said.
Mr. Gorcyca said his team's chemical tests were inconclusive and he is "a little skeptical that we'll find anything of evidentiary value."
But he said: "If we can find sufficient DNA to analyze, and it matches Hoffa, then it would lend a tremendous amount of credibility to Sheeran's story."-------------------------------------------
Nelson city workers reject final offer Canadian Union of Public Employees
The overwhelming majority of city workers showed up for the final offer vote. “I’m very proud of our members. They have stood up under a lot of pressure from city management, including rumours of a lockout to fight for job security and the preservation of publicly owned and operated services in our community.”
CUPE 339 represents the City of Nelson’s 76 city workers who provide quality public service such as garbage pickup, snow removal, road repair and maintenance, sewage treatment, park maintenance and city finances.-------------------------------------------
Pending Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005 Congress.Org
College and Canada will not be options. In December 2001, Canada and the U.S. signed a 'smart border declaration,' which could be used to keep would-be draft dodgers in. Signed by Canada's minister of foreign affairs, John Manley, and U.S. Homeland Security director, Tom Ridge, the declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among other things, a 'pre-clearance agreement' of people entering and departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more equitable along gender and class lines also eliminates higher education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to postpone service until the end of their current semester. Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, May 30, 2004 ::ULLICO Inc. Reports First Quarterly Profit in 3 Years Business Wire
'ULLICO is now stabilized and the large losses of the past are behind us,' said Chairman Terence M. O'Sullivan. 'Sustaining and growing profits in future quarters will be challenging given the highly competitive nature of our markets. With our new focus, management discipline, and the continued strong support of our shareholders and customers, we feel we are up to the task.
'Just as important, we are now living up to the high ethical standards that we in organized labor have always demanded of the corporate world,' Chairman O'Sullivan concluded.-------------------------------------------
Postal Service Honors 'Greatest Generation' With Nationwide Issuance of National World War II Memorial Stamp PRNewswire
The Postal Service today joins the nation in honoring our World War II veterans and others who contributed to the cause of freedom with the issuance of 96 million postage stamps depicting the National World War II Memorial. The stamps are being issued both in Washington, DC -- the site of today's dedication of the Memorial -- and at Post Offices throughout the nation. The nationwide release affords local communities the opportunity to recognize veterans unable to attend the memorial dedication through similar ceremonies this Memorial Day weekend.-------------------------------------------
Individual donors made WWII memorial possible BY CHRIS VAUGHN, Knight Ridder
It is a rather peculiar irony that a $174 million memorial was built, and an estimated $195 million raised, for a monument honoring Americans who lived through the Depression, paid a quarter for movies and relished finding an orange in their Christmas stocking.
'I paid $3,000 for this house and lot,' Key said. 'I've been here 50 years.'
Key's generation was probably the last for which sacrifice was a fact of life, as ordinary as picking cotton by hand every fall.
They were a people who largely gave up gasoline, tires and sugar for almost four years, not to mention surrendering more than 405,000 young men to cemeteries to win a war against the Nazis and Japanese.-------------------------------------------
D-Day Dreamers By Torcuil Crichton, Sunday Herald, UK
Next Sunday will be the last big commemoration to involve the veterans of the conflict as time begins its final roll call of their ranks. It will be a piquant ceremony and one loaded with irony in having President George W Bush here to pay tribute to the fallen and to commemorate the bravest and most audacious military attack of modern times. Bush, and every president since Franklin D Roosevelt, has borrowed and built on the D-day story turning it into a myth of liberation to support US military intervention across the globe. Bush comes as the most isolated American president of our times, one who, in the harsh bomb-blasted reality of Iraq, has lost his way and shattered the credibility that sustained America as a liberator and bulwark against evil in the western world for almost 40 years.-------------------------------------------
UPPER W. SIDE WORKER CLINGS TO LIFE AFTER ELECTRIC SHOCK By BILL GALLAGHER and ZACH HABERMAN, New York Post
A 34-year-old immigrant construction worker suffered an electric shock that left him fighting for his life when he tried to dismantle a rain-soaked makeshift light fixture on an Upper West Side scaffolding yesterday, officials said.
Polish-born Slawomir Dytrych of Brooklyn was doing brickwork on the façade of 150 W. 74th St. when he climbed up a metal fence at 4:20 p.m. to dismantle an illegal light fixture that was allegedly installed by a tenant who felt the area was too dark, cops and witnesses said.
He was then jolted with 30 amperes of electricity when he touched a pole supporting the scaffolding while trying to unplug the shoddy light, cops said.
"He basically grounded himself out," said the owner of Epic Restoration, who did not want to give his name. "It was like a booby trap. It's horrible."
As the electricity coursed through Dytrych's body, a fellow worker grabbed a rubber garbage can and knocked him away from the pole, the owner said.-------------------------------------------
More Than 30,000 Electrical Shock Accidents Each Year Cause for Alarm Chief Engineer, United States
Most personnel are aware that there is a danger of electrical shock, even electrocution. It’s the one electrical hazard around which most electrical safety standards have been built. However, few people really understand just how little current is required to cause injury, even death. Actually, the current drawn by a 7.5W, 120V lamp, passing across the chest, from hand-to-hand or hand-to-foot, is enough to cause death by electrocution.
Think of electrical shock injuries as “icebergs,” where most of the injury is unseen, below the surface. Entrance and exit wounds are usually coagulated areas and might have some charring, or these areas might be missing, having “exploded” away from the body due to the level of energy present. The smaller the area of contact, the greater the heat produced. For a given current, damage in the limbs might be the greatest, due to the higher current flux per unit of cross-sectional area.
Within the body, the current can burn internal body parts in its path. This type of injury might be difficult to diagnose, as the only initial signs of injury are the entry and exit wounds. Damage to the internal issues, while not apparent immediately, might cause delayed internal tissue swelling and irritation. Prompt medical attention can minimize possible loss of blood circulation and the potential for amputation of the affected extremity, and can prevent death.-------------------------------------------
McWane, Employees, Indicted for Environmental Crimes Occupational Hazards
It sounds like a horror story – a modern-day horror story. In the dead of night, employees of McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co. in Birmingham, Ala. – allegedly acting under orders from their managers – secretly dumped millions of gallons of potentially harmful, contaminated water into Avondale Creek over a period of several years.
But their actions weren't so secret after all. The federal government has caught up with McWane Inc., and employees or former employees James Delk, Michael Devine, Charles "Barry" Robinson and Donald Bills. They were indicted May 25 by a federal grand jury for environmental crimes connected with the operation of the McWane Cast Iron Pipe Co. in Birmingham.-------------------------------------------
Union remains unhappy with shipyard BY PETER DUJARDIN, Hampton Roads Daily Press, VA
'We're not happy with their proposals,' said Local 8888's president, Alton H. Glass Sr., flanked by other union negotiators.
'The proposals that they have laid out are inadequate. They are not progressive, and they are not acceptable at this point.'
The contract between the Steelworkers, which represent 8,500 workers at the shipyard, and Northrop Grumman Newport News, a maker of aircraft carriers and submarines for the Navy, expires at midnight June 6.-------------------------------------------
New Standard Aimed at Public Safety Around Construction Sites Occupational Hazards
The A10.34 standard was approved by ANSI on Aug. 11, 2001, and will be published by ASSE during May 2004. The standard establishes necessary elements of a public hazard control plan, covering such issues as cutting, welding, forming and pouring concrete, blasting or pile-driving, hoisting, shoring and other activities that can jeopardize public safety.
The standard also covers preventing falling objects from harming the public by using barricades or nets; guarding the public from cranes, motor vehicles, barges or other machinery and equipment; alerting the public of loud impact noises from construction equipment; making sure that walkways near construction sites are both accessible and safe; properly storing hazardous materials and substances; assessing structures before drilling or trenching takes place; and developing emergency action plans at sites under construction. An appendix to the published standard is included, which features a sample non-mandatory public hazard protection plan checklist.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, May 29, 2004 ::Research Request: Do You Have a Broken Chair? Fine Woodworking Magazine
John Alexander seeks the donation, loan, or purchase of 18th- and early 19th-century Windsor or post-and-rung chairs that are damaged beyond repair, or any of their parts. He is particularly interested in Windsor chairs with H-stretcher understructure, legs, stretchers, seats and parts thereof. The parts will be used only for research and publication. All such parts, together with those already in his collection, will ultimately be donated to a responsible institution for preservation and study. Loans will be returned.-------------------------------------------
SF gallery owner targeted for painting of Iraqi prisoner abuse LISA LEFF, AP, San Francisco Chronicle
The irony of the attacks hasn't been lost on Haigh. Among the expressions of support she's received since shuttering the gallery, her favorite is an e-mail whose writer said, 'I'm sure that a few and dangerous minds don't understand that they have only mimicked the same perversity this painting had expressed.'
The abuse also has soured her on North Beach, the Italian-American neighborhood that spawned the Beat Generation. Long considered a bastion of free speech, it is also home to many old-time San Franciscans. Haigh believes 'it is the locals' who first took aim at her gallery since it's on a mostly residential street and she hadn't advertised Cowell's show when the threats started.
But others in the neighborhood have gone out of their way to offer encouragement and sympathy, among them poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of the famed City Lights bookstore. Outside the gallery on Friday, someone had left a bouquet of flowers along with a note reading, 'The woman who ran this gallery is a brave and honorable woman. ... She is a true American and a real patriot.'-------------------------------------------
Book prompts authorities to probe home for link in Hoffa case BY DAVID ASHENFELTER, Knight Ridder
Sheeran implied in the book that the Andretta brothers were in the house with Sal Briguglio when he walked in. The brothers were there to clean up the blood and had spread linoleum in the vestibule.
He said Hoffa's foster son, Charles (Chuckie) O'Brien arrived a short time later and picked up Sheeran and Briguglio. O'Brien drove them to the Red Fox to pick up Hoffa. Sheeran said Briguglio was there to keep an eye on him.
When they arrived at the Red Fox around 2:45 p.m., Sheeran said, Hoffa was angry he had been kept waiting. Sheeran said Hoffa had asked him to be at the meeting as protection.
Although Hoffa questioned why Giacalone and Provenzano hadn't picked him up personally, Sheeran said Hoffa got into the car because he trusted Sheeran and believed he would be driven to a meeting with Provenzano, Giacalone and Russell Bufalino.
After arriving at the house, Sheeran said he and Hoffa got out of the car and walked in as O'Brien and Briguglio drove away.
"When Jimmy saw that the house was empty, that nobody came out of any of the rooms to greet him, he knew right away what it was," the book quoted Sheeran as saying. "If Jimmy had taken his piece with him he would have gone for it. Jimmy was a fighter.
"He turned fast, still thinking we were together on the thing, that I was his backup," Sheeran continued. "Jimmy bumped into me hard. If he saw the piece in my hand he had to think I had it out to protect him. He took a quick step to go around me and get to the door. He reached for the knob and Jimmy Hoffa got shot twice at a decent range - not too close or the paint splatters back at you - in the back of the head behind his right ear. My friend didn't suffer."-------------------------------------------
3 carpenters union staffers convicted BY MARY OWEN, Detroit Free Press
Three Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters employees were found guilty in U.S. District Court in Detroit on Thursday of misusing union funds by directing workers to build part of a home on union time.
Sandra Williams, 45, and her husband, David Williams, 50, were found guilty of directing at least a dozen business agents to build the frame of their home in St. Clair County's China Township between December 1997 and April 1998. Sandra Williams is the union's executive administrative secretary. David Williams is a union employee.-------------------------------------------
WorkSafe: Push/Pull/Carry Calculator WCB BC
Introduction
Excessive force used during push, pull, or carry tasks can result in injury.
Use this calculator to estimate the suggested maximum:
* Force that can be used during pushing and pulling
* Weight that can be carried
choose a load scenario › Push - Pull - Carry-------------------------------------------
Collaborative Wings for American By Wendy Zellner, BusinessWeek Online
The goal is to create a permanent structure that will engage employees, even as managers and union leaders come and go. Overland President Robert L. Hughes says he's not trying to create a lovefest at American. "The focus is that it's in all the parties' interests to make this business work better," he explains.
To that end, a "joint leadership team" of senior managers and union officials meets every month to discuss strategy and finances, while another team communicates with employees through the company and union Web sites. Union heads also meet monthly with American's chief financial officer. Similar joint teams are being created at airports and maintenance bases. "We've never in the history of American had this type of information flow before," says James C. Little, director of the Transport Workers Union's air-transport division, which represents mechanics.-------------------------------------------
Two Air Canada unions delay vote plans, waiting for information By JOHN PARTRIDGE, The Globe and Mail
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Air Canada's largest union and the first to reach a cost-cutting pact -- worth $35.7-million -- has been the most adamant about wanting to see information on all the deals.
Dave Ritchie, who heads the IAM in Canada, said yesterday that he is not willing to schedule a road show to explain the deal to the approximately 11,500 Air Canada technical, ground service and clerical workers it represents until it has seen the package and is convinced all parties are sharing the pain of the cuts to the same degree.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, May 28, 2004 ::Bayside Contractor Cited After Fatal Brooklyn Balcony Collapse by Keach Hagey, Queens Chronicle, NY
“The plans showed the balconies to be recessed into the buildings, where the actual construction showed that these balconies were just built as extensions, not recessed,” said Jennifer Givner, spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings.
As of Friday, the department had dismantled three other similarly constructed balconies on the luxury condominium complex at 9718 Hamilton Parkway. “The Department of Buildings is performing a top to bottom inspection of all balconies, for this building and the adjacent building, which was built by the same company,” Givner added.
The collapsed platform was attached at the rear of the development, across from a park, where several witnesses heard the crash on Thursday, according to reports. As the steel beam supporting the platform gave way, it swung down onto a lower balcony and sent the workers and the flowing concrete falling, fire department officials said.-------------------------------------------
Reform Groups Build Pressure on Carpenter Leadership by Nick Robinson, Labor Notes
Concerns are mounting inside the Carpenters over International President Doug McCarron's controversial restructuring plan and other initiatives. Rank-and-file opposition has started to gel over moves by the International-moves, members say, have undermined democracy inside the union.
Since 1996, McCarron has merged numerous locals and consolidated them into regional and district councils headed by an Executive Secretary-Treasurer (EST) with the ability to hire and fire officers, negotiate contracts, and collect an hourly work-tax. Locals vote for District Council delegates, who then elect the highly powerful EST.
In some regions, members have waged highly effective campaigns, such as British Columbia, where last November members disaffiliated and literally turned out the lights and left (in a video widely circulated among reformers) when McCarron refused them the right vote on changes. When a rank-and-file slate won the executive board in Atlanta's Local 225, they were made to vote two more times, and then trusteed.
Other members simply leave because McCarron's emphasis on flexibility, job training, and restructuring parallel to contractors' regional structure hasn't benefited the membership. "They act as the union human resources department for construction contractors," said Cliff Willmeng of Chicago's Local 1.-------------------------------------------
Commentary: Let's put a real premium on workplace safety By Larry Sillanpa, Duluth Labor World editor
I'm not talking about the 'dead peasant' life insurance variety that the Wal-Marts and others have taken out and retained on workers even after they left that employment.
If a worker were killed on the job, the accidental death benefit would go to their survivors.
PACE and IBEW member Kerry Roe was killed at Sappi in Cloquet last November and Minnesota OSHA just fined the company $57,000 for bad practices that may have led to his death. Generally what happens next is the company appeals the fine and it is cut in half. What a great system! It has little power of inspection or enforcement and the devastated family is still left with their grief and the loss of the bread winner. Is there any deterrent under the current system?
If employers had to pay insurance premiums based partly on pay-offs for accidental deaths, I'd bet they'd improve safety and working conditions. Employers now have workers show up even if injured so they don't count as lost-time injuries and increase premiums.-------------------------------------------
WFSB Workers injured at construction site WFSB, CT
MERIDEN -- Federal inspectors are investigating why four construction workers were injured in Meriden today at a hotel under construction.
The four workers were on the third floor of the Holiday Inn Express when one slipped and grabbed a roofing truss for stability. It started a chain reaction, sending about a dozen trusses falling, with one hitting the other down the line.-------------------------------------------
Ralph Klein, cream pies and the limits of political protest National Union of Public and General Employees
Modern law courts taking dim view of slapstick stunts
Calgary - Canadian courts are not laughing along with individuals who think throwing pies at public figures is a good way to get a chuckle or make a political statement.
Christopher Peter Geoghegan, 24, who hit Alberta Premier Ralph Klein with a cream pie last last July 7 at a Calgary Stampede breakfast, pleaded guilty to an assault charge Wednesday in provincial court.
Now the Crown is asking for a 30-day jail sentence. The protester will find out Aug. 23 whether he ends up behind bars.
Crown prosecuror Harold Hagglund says a jail sentence is warranted because Goeghegan slammed Klein in the face with 'sucker-punch' force.
'The accused felt somehow he was licensed to act by the superiority of his (political) views,' Hagglund said. 'Citizens in a democracy expect their leaders to address them and be approachable ... (pie attacks) have a chilling or freezing effect in respect to our politicians.'-------------------------------------------
Teens build impressive homes BY LILLI KUZMA, Pioneer Press Online, IL
Vendafreddo is in his second year in the building homes project and is at a higher level than most students. He also works half-days in an independent study capacity.
'I'm definitely going into construction for a career,' he said. 'This program has been great for me. I went to an employment agency and was told I could get into the carpenters union with the experience I already have. I plan on going into an apprenticeship where I'll be paid while I'm learning. My family is very proud of me.'-------------------------------------------
Local 872 has some explaining to do, and the feds are listening closely By John L. Smith, Las Vegas Review-Journal
The complaint would be bad enough had Local 872 had a pristine history, but the 2003 election was its first in several years due to previous questions of leadership impropriety. It had operated under the supervision of the international. Previous union officials have run afoul of the rules, and Martin, who admits he backed unsuccessful challengers in the 2003 election, isn't afraid to take shots at the local's hierarchy.
He alleges, 'Members were never asked what kind of election they wanted, whether walk-in or mail-in ballots.' The eight-year union member says hundreds of ballots from that election are unaccounted for in the 3,000-member local.
Local 872 isn't the largest in the country, but its location and recent history make it among LIUNA's most visible offices. It's obvious from the interest of the Department of Labor and U.S. attorney that a lot of people are watching and don't like what they see.
The union has two choices: Fight the government in court, or pitch the elections and start over. It might be cheaper in the long run -- and an enhancement to its shaky credibility -- if it began anew.
Who knows, some day Local 872 will set a standard for free and fair elections.
Hey, brother, democracy begins at home.-------------------------------------------
Brightening union blues by Josh Mahan, Missoula Independent, MT
Two Missoula unions walked away from negotiating tables recently with one thing in common: satisfaction with their new contracts.
“It’s fair and a good agreement,” said Dennis Daneke of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. “I credit our contractors for sitting down and doing business with us in a fair and open way.”
Daneke was pleased that contractors will continue to provide health insurance, even as prices skyrocket.
“They came to the plate, ponied up, and helped us out,” said Daneke.
Members of Local #28 in Missoula and Kalispell ratified the contract with 89 percent voting in favor of the new agreement, which will affect 27 employers and almost 300 skilled-trade workers. The contract includes a 7.2 percent wage and benefit increase over two years, which will bring carpenter wages up to $18.70 per hour and millwright wages up to $20.30. Both will receive benefits that work out to $6.80 per hour, as well.-------------------------------------------
Contractor worker falls, dies at BP refinery By Nathan Smith, Galveston County Daily News, TX
Trevino had been employed as a mechanic and boilermaker by Koch Specialty Plant Services, a company specializing in retrofitting refineries, since 2000. On Tuesday morning, he had been working to install equipment inside the distillation tower, said a representative from Koch Industries.
The BP refinery at Texas City, located on FM 519, employs more than 1,500 workers with 30 process units.-------------------------------------------
Report: Bush Administration Dismantles Health and Safety Protections Occupational Hazards
Peter Infante, former director of OSHA's office of health standards, said that most OSHA employees with the qualifications to develop health standards had left the agency and have not been replaced, while the few who remain have been reassigned. As a result, the agency lacks the capacity to develop regulations, even if it wanted to.
"They're not interested in protecting workers, they're protecting industry, so that's why I left," said Infante, who quit the agency in 2000.-------------------------------------------
Productivity and the Ice Man: Understanding Outsourcing by Anthony B. Bradley, Acton Commentary, MI
The invention of Freon in 1928 and the introduction of electric refrigerators devastated the ice industry. Until this point, ice was taken from the rivers and ponds, cut into blocks and delivered to insulated storage buildings for summer use. Ice wagons, first on steel wheels and later on rubber tires, carried ice to customers’ homes. Because a 25-pound block of ice lasted only a few days, icemen kept busy making deliveries two or three times per week. These routes were so well traveled that new deliverymen in some cases simply gave free rein to the old iceman's horse, which was familiar with all the stops. General Motors’ Frigidaire “electric ice box” wiped out a whole set of occupations, including ice box manufacturers, ice gatherers, and the manufacturers of the tools and equipment needed to handle large blocks of ice. Who today would want to replace their frost free refrigerator-freezer with an ice box?-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, May 27, 2004 ::OSHA Offers Tips for Working in Hot Weather U.S. Newswire
'The hot weather can present additional hazards to those who work outdoors or in very hot environments,' said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. 'It's important that employers and workers know how to reduce heat related illnesses and fatalities. Simple precautions can often save lives.'
The combination of heat, humidity and physical labor can lead to fatalities. The two most serious forms of heat related illnesses are heat exhaustion (primarily from dehydration) and heat stroke, which could be fatal. Signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke need immediate attention. Recognizing those warning signs and taking quick action can make a difference in preventing a fatality.-------------------------------------------
Union workers picket Carpenters Association By Stephanie Todd, The BYU Newsnet, UT
Wednesday morning, members of Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters picketed on the corner Bulldog Blvd. and Canyon Road, after being removed from campus. The union said Okland General Contractors is engaging in unfair practices such as supporting a new union, the Utah Carpenters Association. Although the association has made many promises to laborers, members of the local chapters of the old union are unsure they can trust the promises of UCA.-------------------------------------------
Many jobs in Washington nearly female-free zones By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, AP, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Looking for a female petroleum engineer? A woman tire builder, streetcar driver or rail track layer?
Don't bother.
There are no women in any of those professions in Washington, according to the Washington State Employment Security agency.
Working with data from the 2000 census, the agency has come up with a list of 198 job categories that it considers 'nontraditional occupations for women.'
In six of those, including riggers and extraction workers, there are no women at all employed in this state, according to a quarterly report from the agency, released this week.-------------------------------------------
Carpenters union on shaky ground Opionion, by David A. Selden, Phoenix
Republic columnist Richard Ruelas stated that the carpenters union defended its hiring of non-English-speaking people for $8 per hour to hold protest signs by saying that the union will check the employees' immigration status every week ('Union hires immigrants for job site protests,' Local, Monday).
That is against the law. Employers cannot check the immigration status of their employees more often than the law requires merely because the employees don't speak English or they have the physical characteristics of an immigrant group.-------------------------------------------
Labor Officials Want To Improve Safety For Latino Workers Reporter: Cullen Browder, WRAL.com
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Latino workers are taking part in the most dangerous professions like construction and agriculture in North Carolina. Too many times, safety falls short, so officials are looking at ways to address the issue.
Officials claim someone is killed every eight days on a job site in North Carolina. Many times, the victims are Latino, who make up a staggering 70 percent of all construction workers in the state. Now, there is a new effort to improve their safety record.
Last week, a worker was killed at a Smithfield lumber company when he became trapped in a mountain of sawdust. In March, a laborer died in Holly Springs when he was crushed under a concrete culvert. That same day, another worker died at Carter-Finley Stadium when a steel reinforced column collapsed. All three workers were Latino.
Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Highlights Hispanic Worker Safety U.S. Newswire-------------------------------------------
Labor Department fines construction firm $230,000 San Antonio Business Journal
Some of the citations involved scaffold hazards, while other violations included failure to require employees to wear hard hats, lack of a hazard communication program, inadequate employee safety training and failure to provide injury and illness records.
'To ensure that injury and illness rates continue to decline, we must make sure that employers protect employees from work place hazards,' says U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. 'The significant penalty of $230,100 in this case demonstrates the administration's commitment the health and safety of American workers.'-------------------------------------------
Strite Industries Limited fined $50,000 for health and safety violation CNW Telbec
CAMBRIDGE, ON - On March 19, 2003, a worker was using an automatic lathe (a machine that shaped steel bars into precision parts) when the worker's right index finger was crushed against a steel bar. The accident occurred when the worker opened a door on the lathe and put a hand inside to remove the remainder of one steel bar and replace it with a new one. The worker mistakenly thought the machine was turned off. However, the machine had just paused and it restarted while the worker's hand was inside. A Ministry of Labour investigation found the lathe was equipped with an automatic 'interlock' guarding device (a device which automatically shut off the lathe's moving parts when the door was opened), but it failed to protect the worker because the device's 'on/off' switch on the control panel was in the 'off' position. The incident occurred at the company's plant on Shepherd Avenue in Cambridge.-------------------------------------------
Nesting owls throw wrench into bridge job By MATTHIAS GAFNI, Times-Herald, CA
Caltrans' Morton said they will listen to what Fish and Game tells them. And Fish and Game's Kozicki said her department wasn't addressing that federal protection act. Barn owls are not an endangered species.
Regardless, officials were still marveling Tuesday that the family was discovered at all, days before crews planned to lay massive amounts of concrete over the owls' nest.
'One of the Caltrans guys happened to look into the hole and he saw little faces of the barn owls,' Kozicki said.
The nest was hidden in a pipe that was part of the pier's falsework and buried beneath rebar webbing. The nest could have stayed in place, Kozicki said, if workers hadn't planned to cover it up with concrete.
So Tuesday, officials gathered all the poop, bones and nesting material from the nest and transported it to a similar pipe that will become the owl family's new digs, 30 feet away.-------------------------------------------
'Rosies' recall their contribution with pride By SIOBHAN MCDONOUGH, AP
Muriel Cincotta, 80, of Virginia, an original "Rosie the Riveter" in World War II, cheers at the unveiling at Arlington National Cemetery of a collection of 7,500 stories and 150 artifacts from Rosies.
Cincotta was one of almost a dozen Rosies at Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday. They shared stories of working long shifts on the home front to keep the country thriving, paving the path for future generations of women and proving that a woman could do a "man's work."
The original Rosie the Riveter, Rosie Will Monroe, worked on the assembly line at Ford Motor Co. in Ypsilanti, Mich., building B-29 and B-24 military planes. She caught the eye of Hollywood producers who were casting a "riveter" for a government film promoting the war effort. She starred as herself.
Her exposure in the film resulted in the "We Can Do It!" poster, and she came to symbolize the generation of women who entered the workplace during the war.
Woman recalls job as welder in Navy shipyard By MIKE O'ROURKE, Brainerd Dispatch
Her supervisor once asked Allickson if she'd volunteer for what promised to be an unpleasant task. A terrible smell was detected in the hull of a ship and a small hole was the only entry. The men's shoulders were too wide to squeeze through, but Allickson was asked to crawl through the hole to check out the smell. Fearing the worst -- the discovery of a body -- Allickson and her co-workers were relieved to discover the source of the unseemly smell was just a can of salmon.
There were, however, fun times for the pioneering women workers, who were personified by Rosie the Riveter, a hardworking woman who was unafraid to take on jobs that had been the realm of men. Swing shift dances were organized for the young women who worked odd shifts. Still wearing their work coveralls, the women shipyard workers danced to big band music from 11 p.m. 'until they all went home,' Allickson said.
'We Can Do It!' was the motto of Rosie the Riveter and Allickson lived up to that claim, never thinking of her contribution as anything extraordinary.-------------------------------------------
Iron Workers walk out in contract standoff By Michael Kuchta, Union Advocate
Charles E. Witt, business manager for Iron Workers Local 512, said employers represented by Associated General Contactors of Minnesota were refusing to negotiate until the union commits to pension concessions. Witt said members continue to work on projects covered by project labor agreements, but are 'withholding services' on all other projects.
The job action falls short of a full strike only in that Iron Workers are not staffing picket lines that could keep other Building Trades unions off the job as well. Witt said Local 512 would set up pickets only if contractors try to bring in other workers to do the union's work.-------------------------------------------
Quebec squares off against bullies By WALLACE IMMEN, The Globe and Mail
Companies are scrambling to comply with a new law against workplace 'psychological harassment'-- the only one of its kind in North America -- that goes into effect Tuesday.
Union leaders say the Quebec law and pressure from employees will make psychological harassment clauses a priority in bargaining for future collective agreements across Canada.
"This is going to raise the level of consciousness about people's right to harassment-free workplaces. People are not going to put up with it anywhere," says Gary Cwitko, Toronto-based national representative of the Communications, Energy & Paperworkers Union of Canada.-------------------------------------------
The Architectural Blame Game By CHRISTOPHER HAWTHORNE, NY Times
FISSURE. Cracking. Collapse.
Those were the distressing words — the ones no architect, engineer or builder ever wants to hear — that filled news accounts of a disaster early Sunday morning at Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, where part of the new Terminal 2E gave way, killing four people.
But there was another word buried just under the surface of those early reports: hubris. In their descriptions of the elliptical concrete, glass and steel terminal's "ultramodern" and "futuristic" design, journalists were at least implicitly making the case that its French architect, Paul Andreu, and his structural engineers might well turn out to be the primary culprits in its collapse.
In fact, by Wednesday, French officials were speculating that the blame would ultimately be laid, instead, at the feet of the contractors.
'When incidents like this happen, the press loves to trot out this morality play suggesting that the reason for the disaster is that the architect wanted to do something new or unusual,' said Terence Riley, chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan.
He added that after four workers were killed in the collapse of a garage at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City last fall, a building with much more straightforward design than Mr. Andreu is known for, 'nobody thought it had been caused by the architect.'-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 ::Michael Moore's Candid Camera by Frank Rich, New York Times
In one of the several pieces of startling video exhibited for the first time in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," we catch a candid glimpse of President Bush some 36 hours after his mother's breakfast TV interview — minutes before he makes his own prime-time TV address to take the nation to war in Iraq. He is sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. A makeup woman is doing his face. And Mr. Bush is having a high old time. He darts his eyes about and grins, as if he were playing a peek-a-boo game with someone just off-camera. He could be a teenager goofing with his buds to relieve the passing tedium of a haircut.
"In your wildest dreams you couldn't imagine Franklin Roosevelt behaving this way 30 seconds before declaring war, with grave decisions and their consequences at stake," said Mr. Moore in an interview before his new documentary's premiere at Cannes last Monday.-------------------------------------------
Worker falls from scaffolding by Nick Adams, St. George Daily Spectrum, UT
photo: Scaffolding from the south side of the Main Street Plaza lies in a twisted heap behind a construction fence along Tabernacle Street. One worker was injured when the scaffolding collapsed.
ST. GEORGE -- On the corner of Tabernacle and Main, three workmen on the third floor of the new Jennings Management, Inc., building stared Tuesday into the rubble of an accident from earlier that morning.
On the south side of the four-story brick building, the scaffolding collapsed at about 7:45 a.m. As the system of temporary platforms fell, a man on top of the scaffolding fell with it.
Rick Colbert, Hurricane, a brick mason, apparently was impaled on some type of metal object after his 40-foot fall. St. George Police Department Spokesman Craig Harding said Colbert was apparently conscious and breathing when emergency services arrived on scene.-------------------------------------------
Justice Dept. Rebuilt Abu Ghraib Prison To Be Model of U.S. Criminal System LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has 83,000 members who are employed in prisons, jails and other correction facilities. Known as AFSCME Corrections United (ACU), it conducts a continuing state-by-state fight against the privatization of prisons. It maintains that part of the prison problem is due to inadequate staffing, which makes for an unsafe workplace.
AFSCME Illinois Council 31, with 15,000 members, has a prison reform agenda that includes funding for a new maximum-security prison and a program for gang control in each correction facility. There is no evidence of self-criticism by the union of the many cruelties that prisoners are commonly subjected to.-------------------------------------------
Job-security accords seal SBC agreement Indianapolis Star
The settlement also guarantees no layoffs of employees now on the payroll for the life of the agreement and calls for rehiring of several hundred laid-off workers. SBC agreed to provide current CWA members with job offers elsewhere in the company if their jobs no longer are needed.
In addition, employees will receive raises of 2.3 percent per year on average for five years and lump sums averaging $300 per year, SBC said.
'SBC now has a labor agreement that provides us greater control over our cost structure and flexibility to meet our competitive challenges, while continuing to provide the outstanding wages and benefits that are hallmarks of this company,' said SBC Chairman and Chief Executive Edward E. Whitacre Jr.-------------------------------------------
Blame It on Olympic Fever By Chris Shaw, The Tyee
Could B.C. say no thanks to the Olympics? Denver did after being awarded them in 1970. Two years later, the city voted against hosting the winter Games. Concerns then (as now) focused on cost overruns and the environment. The IOC turned to Innsbruck to host only 12 years after its last Olympics.
Let’s give the 2010 Winter Games back to the IOC. They will find other takers and we will be off the hook for a far more disastrous financial misstep, perhaps the worst in British Columbia’s history.
Chris Shaw is a spokesperson for No Games 2010 and 2010 Watch-------------------------------------------
Worker training is Job 1 David Finlayson, The Edmonton Journal
The Alberta energy sector -- especially the oilsands -- will continue to draw heavily on the skilled labour pool in the near future. And 18 of 22 industries surveyed in the province say they will face shortages in the next five years. Pharmacy, agriculture, forestry, and oil and gas will be especially in demand.
But it's a more complex problem than large projects such as the oilsands and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics sucking up the trades in Western Canada, the report says.
An aging population and underutilization of immigrants, aboriginals and retirees also need to be addressed, it adds.
The shift among young people to 'cutting edge' careers rather than traditional trades is also a problem, despite the fact many of today's trades have high-tech elements and pay well, the report says.-------------------------------------------
Hammer Seller Keeps Pounding Away! PRNewswire
The Hammer Source, found at http://www.hammersource.com, announced that it now has over 500 different hammers available on its web site. A dot com company that has thrived and survived beyond the Internet bust, The Hammer Source has taken the phrase 'taking a pounding' to a new level. The Naperville, Illinois start up company has been banging away at finding new customers since the owners, Jennifer and Andrew Ayers bought the 70-year-old company five years ago.-------------------------------------------
Team 4 Investigates Turnpike Hiring By Jim Parsons, ThePittsburghChannel
While you might be pondering why a highway needs a staff of full-time plumbers on the payroll, there's something else you should know. The man who decided to hire Schauer is also his first cousin -- Joe Brimmeier, executive director of the turnpike commission.
Parsons: 'Can you explain why you hired your cousin?'
Brimmeier: 'I hired my cousin because he's the most qualified individual. He's a master plumber, a journeyman plumber out of the union. He's a certified nuclear welder.'
While most state government agencies forbid managers and executives from hiring relatives regardless of their qualifications, the turnpike commission does not.
Parsons: 'You have not backed off your position that you stated to me last fall, that you have no problem hiring people you know, even relatives of yours?'
Brimmeier: 'I have no problem doing that. My entire family is in the trades. I have carpenters, electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, sheetmetal workers. If I could hire every one of them, I would.'-------------------------------------------
Minnesota Rolls Out Red Carpet as Host of 'The Worst Political Ads in America' PR Newswire
Award categories include: Best (Worst) Use of an Animal, The Morphing Award, I Wish I Hadn't Said That, Playing the Race Card, The Scariest Commercial, Internet/Animation, and others. The most interesting awards of the night are 'The Daisy' for the worst ad produced and aired by a Democrat and 'The Willie' for the worst ad produced and aired by a Republican.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 ::Michigan unions unite to fight Wal-Mart By Tenisha Mercer, The Detroit News
“Wal-Mart is so big that we talk and plan about it every day,” Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, said during a visit to Detroit this week. “Organizing the auto industry was difficult, but you don’t give up. A Wal-Mart economy is about lower paychecks and no benefits, and America can’t succeed on that type of philosophy.”
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said the retailer is pro-employee rather than anti-union.
“We have nothing against the unions,” Williams said. “A lot of our customers are in unions. A lot of our associates are former union members. We just feel that a union would not add anything at all for our associates.”-------------------------------------------
Congressman Asks For Investigation Of Brunswick Union Merger News4Jax.com, Georgia
Following a meeting with members of Brunswick's Carpenters and Millwrights Local 865 May 11, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., has requested the U.S. Department of Labor investigate allegations by union members that they are being forced to merge with a Savannah union.
Kingston said Local 865 was forced to merge with Local 256 in Savannah by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Local 856 has since filed a lawsuit in Federal Court to halt the merger, claiming it is the target of unfair practices and an attempt to raid its treasury.
'It's hard to understand why Local 865 would be dissolved when it has money in the bank and owns a building and property,' Kingston said in a statement. 'I just want to make sure that these men and women are getting a fair shake so I have contacted the Labor Department and asked that they review what is going on.'-------------------------------------------
Union Leaders' Darkest Hours Members for Democracy ufcw.net
"The Fed" and the Fed Up
Judging from the comments posted by HEU and CUPE members on the official CUPE web site, the spin isn't doing much except making the members nauseous. It's this kind of intelligence-insulting bluster that continues to turn a lot of working people off of unions. Working people just aren't that stupid. It's not globalization that's turning them away from unions. It's union leaders' chronic bullshitting about what they're doing about it.
Jim Sinclair blames mainstream unions' low lumens on the evil neo-liberals and the shadows cast by capitalism's global agenda. For sure, globalization and its neoliberal enablers have working people by the throat but that's not the reason for workers' lack of enthusiasm for what passes for unions these days. Simply stating and restating the obvious isn't going to impress the millions who are being throttled by the capitalists. It doesn't take a social scientist to understand that poverty is bad for humanity.
What the lords of labour are doing - or not doing - about the corporate fat cats who are behind the globalization project, is what has brought the labour movement to its darkest hours. Workers are realizing that while the capitalists have them by throat with one hand, with the other hand they're patting their union leaders on their empty heads and throwing them a bone.-------------------------------------------
Climber used to tall orders By HENRY BREAN, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Before he became a steeplejack full time, Phelan spent 11 years as an ironworker, including a stint on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, where his co-workers took to calling him 'Spider-Man.'
'Back then, people weren't so concerned about tying off,' he said, referring to the safety harnesses steeplejacks are supposed to use.
One day, he missed his mark while swinging from one beam to another and had to catch himself with his fingertips to avoid a 200-foot fall to the water below.
'When you're younger, you're a lot more reckless,' he said. 'Now the top three priorities are safety, safety, safety.'-------------------------------------------
Housing hindered by lack of contractors By THOMAS LACOCK, The Casper Star Tribune, WY
The search for competent contractors has led contractors in Wyoming to set up a 14-week course to certify carpenters. The program, which got under way Monday for the first time, is set up through the Wyoming Contractors Association and run by Don Jackson of DLJ Inc.-------------------------------------------
International Code Council Building Safety Bulletin: Porch Inspections U.S. Newswire
As Memorial Day approaches, the International Code Council is issuing a building safety bulletin urging the public to examine the safety and stability of their porches and balconies. Homeowners, condominium owners and renters should inspect porches, balconies and decks at least twice a year for safety.
'Porch collapses last summer in Chicago and New York resulted in injuries and deaths,' said International Code Council CEO James Lee Witt. 'Taking steps to secure porches now can go a long way in preventing disasters in the future.'
The most common mistake found when building porches and balconies is nailing them to homes instead of using proper anchors. Building to code, which requires a permit and an inspection, will help ensure that the structure is safe.-------------------------------------------
Workplace Safety Pays Off on the Bottom Line Emediawire press release
“The first crucial step,” Lauby said, “is to conduct a complete, thorough walk-through of your facility. Check the walls, floors, first-aid kits and fire extinguishers. Ask managers if they have the documentation to show the appropriate employees have been trained in forklift safety, bloodborne pathogens or hazardous chemicals in your workplace.”
Lauby advises scrutinizing a different aspect of workplace safety every week so you don’t overlook a significant threat.
“Safety information is only useful if employees read it and retain it. Instead of making them struggle with OSHA jargon, legal terminology, and wordy regulations, use quick-read posters or videos. It’s your obligation as the employer to provide them a safe workplace.”-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, May 24, 2004 ::Proposed Occupational Health and Safety Amendments
WorkSafe BC written and oral submissions
Oral submissions (PDF)
Location Date of Transcript
Prince George March 9, 2004
Nanaimo March 11, 2004
Kelowna March 23, 2004
Richmond March 25, 2004
Nelson March 30, 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:-------------------------------------------
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.-------------------------------------------
