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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 ::
SEIU meets in San Francisco - pledges to organise 100,000 security officers Union Network International
In the lead-up to the SEIU Convention, on Saturday, June 19, around 15,000 people marched across San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to support demands for universal health care coverage in the USA. Marchers could see a giant banner hung beneath a helicopter in support of their demands.------------------------------------------- posted 6:23 AM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
One big union? by Mike Martin, Straight Goods
Move afoot to reconfigure US unions into a New Unity Partnership.
Some labour observers see the Carpenters Union and its outspoken president, Douglas McCarron, as being at least the kingmaker, if not future king, of this initiative. McCarron took his union out of the AFL-CIO three years ago. He has hinted at forming a rival central labour body ever since. His biggest bone of contention was that he resented having to pay for the national, state and local structures that were necessary to maintain the AFL-CIO. His proposed solution was to put this money into organizing instead.
That is one of the key principles of the NUP, which also proposes to allocate 77% of its resources to organizing. It would eliminate elections to the State Federations and Central Labor Councils, and get rid of or reduce a majority of the AFL-CIO's 19 national departments that do not contribute directly to organizing efforts, including those dealing with public relations, publications, education and health and safety.-------------------------------------------
Federal Lawsuit Claims Labor Unions Violated License-Plate Laws PR Newswire
Workers at the Allentown operation of Cintas Corporation filed the federal
lawsuit against UNITE, a textile-workers' union, and the Teamsters after the employees suspected that the unions and their organizers illegally obtained personal information about individuals from license plates and other vehicle- registration data. The unions have been attempting to organize Cintas' employees nationally.-------------------------------------------
Blogging With The Boss's Blessing Business Week
Increasingly, execs see employee blogs as a way to transform a transaction with a faceless behemoth into a personal relationship with an employee. Blogs are also hyper efficient at driving product innovation. And they create loyal audiences. Once people get hooked, they keep coming back for more. 'This is nothing less than revolutionary,' says Dave Winer, a fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.
It's revolutionary because companies have usually been more concerned with controlling their message than conversing with customers. Blogging changes that by establishing 'a connection through real human beings speaking like real human beings, which is something companies have forgotten how to do,' says David Weinberger, the Boston-based co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto.
Microsoft has been one of the biggest evangelists. A year ago, it had about 100 corporate bloggers. Today there are 800.-------------------------------------------
Manufacturing Leader Favors Detroit River Tunnel Partnership Jobs Tunnel PRNewswire
Its broad range of supporters include UAW international president Ron
Gettelfinger, International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president James P. Hoffa, Michigan AFL-CIO president Mark Gaffney, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Reps. John Dingell and John Conyers, Wayne County Executive Robert A. Ficano, Detroit Renaissance, The Detroit News and manufacturing firms on both sides of the border.
More details are at http://www.thejobstunnel.com-------------------------------------------
Hammond man dies at steel plant Munster Times, IN
EAST CHICAGO -- For the second time this month, a steelworker died while on the job at an area steel plant.
Edward Hall, 62, of Hammond, was killed about 10:30 a.m. Monday morning while he was working in the basic oxygen furnace area at International Steel Group Inc.'s Indiana Harbor plant in East Chicago.
Hall, a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 1011, died after he was run over and crushed by a submarine car which transfers hot metal within the plant, according to a spokesman for United Steelworkers of America Local 1011, which represents the plant's union work force.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 ::Job-site fatalities prompt OSHA outreach By Martin B. Cassidy, Greenwich Time, CT
Between Oct. 1 and June 23, the Bridgeport OSHA office investigated 20 accidents in Fairfield, New Haven and Middlesex counties, six of them fatal, said John Chavez, a spokesperson for the OSHA's Boston office. For the same period statewide, the agency investigated 31 accidents with serious injuries statewide, 13 of them being fatal.
The Bridgeport office usually averages about four or five accidents each year that Kowalski terms 'catastrophic,' meaning there were fatalities or three or more people were injured in a single incident.
In response to the recent increase in fatalities, the office is putting more focus on education and prevention of falls, he said.
'Regrettably, there are a lot of falls where people are sustaining injuries,' Kowalski said. 'Normally, the accidents occur because there was a lack of safety equipment.'-------------------------------------------
Many Union Leaders Earn Six Figures By LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer
Starting Thursday, however, unions with annual receipts of $250,000 or more will have to file their next reports electronically, using a new, detailed form. Reports are due 90 days after a union's budget year ends.
Unions will have to detail transactions of more than $5,000 for politics, gifts, administration, member representation activities and benefits. For the first time, larger unions also will be required to disclose finances of related trusts.
Unions sued the department to block the new forms but lost. They claimed the requirements were burdensome, and the release of detailed finances would give an advantage to companies fighting unionization attempts.
Labor Money Glance By The Associated Press
The 20 highest-paid labor leaders by annual base salary according to unions' 2003 financial disclosure reports:
(#7) $335,569: Douglas McCarron, United Brotherhood of Carpenters, 523,271 members.-------------------------------------------
Low-Wage Nation Labor Research Association
The change in industrial composition and the drop in unionization has reduced benefit coverage. About 60 percent of the rise in both the proportion and rate of uninsured workers nationally who are employed by large firms can be attributed to the decline in manufacturing jobs and unionization rates, according to The Commonwealth Fund study.-------------------------------------------
Chemical depot to begin destroying old Cold War weapons By JEFF BARNARD, AP/KATU 2 Portland OR
Construction and testing of the Umatilla incinerator had problems, too. Construction workers claiming they were exposed to nerve agent while building the plant in 1999 have won the first round of their lawsuit against the Army. A federal judge ruled the government was negligent in providing emergency response when the workers became mysteriously ill.
The Army and Washington Demilitarization Co., which built and operates the incinerator, were fined $185,000 for bypassing safety systems during furnace testing last year.-------------------------------------------
Ford pickup truck plant in Oakville, Ontario, closes Detroit Free Press
The Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents workers at the factory, tried to save the plant in collective bargaining sessions held in the fall of 2002, but reluctantly accepted its eventual closure in exchange for protection of jobs. About 700 workers have accepted early retirement packages and some 500 will transfer to the adjacent Freestar minivan plant in Oakville.
But the union also said closing the truck plant was based on a "political decision," because Ford no longer had to have as much manufacturing in Canada with the dismantling of the Auto Pact several years ago. That pact forced car companies to make a number of vehicles and parts here equal to the value of vehicles they sold here. It was later struck down by the World Trade Organization.-------------------------------------------
Ottoville collector plots history of Ohio tools Toledo Blade, OH
Mr. Devitt organized the book by cities so readers can see at a glance what was manufactured in their hometown. Toledo's entry covers 20 pages.
Ironically, Ottoville, where Mr. Devitt lives, is not listed; that area's history is largely agricultural rather than industrial, and Mr. Devitt only has one tool in his collection that was made in Putnam County.
He illustrated what is essentially a 388-page list with 2,500 pictures and drawings, from simple axes to highly complex threshing machines.
Wooden planes used by carpenters to shave a wood surface are his favorite.
He has about 500, and his nickname - Just Plane Jack - is a reference to them.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, June 28, 2004 ::Kerry Won't Cross Picket Line for Speech By Theo Emery, AP
BOSTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Sunday canceled an appearance at the U.S. Conference of Mayors rather than cross a promised police union picket line at the event.
"I don't cross picket lines. I never have,'' Kerry said as he left mass Sunday night at Our Lady of Good Voyage chapel in South Boston.
His decision came hours after Boston Mayor Thomas Menino called on Kerry to attend, calling the conference ``an important event for urban America,'' and saying the pickets set up by the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association and other union members did not constitute a legitimate picket line.
Romney crosses line, to ovation from mayors Boston Globe
Romney, who is leading the Massachusetts effort to reelect President Bush, said he made the appearance to support Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino in his fight with the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association.-------------------------------------------
Coffee Creek civil suit in the works? By Steve Walsh, Gary Post Tribune, IN
Guilty pleas in the Coffee Creek scandal are not likely to be the end of the road for those involved in the failed $10 million carpenters union pension fund deal.
U.S. Department of Labor officials have talked to rank-and-file union members about plans to file a civil suit - after the criminal cases have finished - against the people responsible for buying the land for the Northwest Indiana Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Fund Trust in May 1999.
An ad hoc group of rank-and-file union members has expressed the members' dissatisfaction with the lack of explanation from leadership about the transaction where the pension fund bought 55 acres for $10 million in the Morgan's Corner section of the Coffee Creek development in Chesterton.-------------------------------------------
Deja radical vu Michael Senft, The Arizona Republic
And just as MC5 stood on the front lines in 1968, performing at Chicago's Lincoln Park during the Democratic convention, shortly before the riot squads advanced and the tear gas rolled in, Kramer promises DKT/MC5 will perform in New York at the Republican convention this summer:
'It's time for some radical action.'-------------------------------------------
Rat Bastards Cleveland Scene Weekly, OH
But there are problems afoot at the Cedar Lee. Owner Jon Forman fired all his union employees in April. He claimed he no longer had any employees, since everyone who works for him is now officially a "manager." The punk selling you popcorn? He's a "concessions manager." The pimply kid taking tickets? That's the "floor manager."
Forman's company, Cleveland Cinemas, also manages the theaters at Tower City and Shaker Square, as well as Chagrin Cinemas, where all the unionized projectionists were fired, too. The move allowed Forman to cut wages from $15 an hour to between $7 and $10, says John Galinac, business agent for Local 160.
The union has filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, and the case looks pretty open-and-shut. "You cannot fire people for being in a union," says Patricia Gilbert, spokeswoman for the board.
But as the cases languish in the federal bureaucracy, the union decided to run a little street protest. So they broke out the giant inflatable rat, a key accessory to any stylish labor action.-------------------------------------------
A Global Vision for Labor By Harold Meyerson, American Prospect
Currently, the AFL-CIO has 65 member unions, the vast majority too small to fund organizing campaigns, though some -- or their locals -- have been known to pick up new members when employers, facing the prospect of real unionization by the likes of the SEIU, have cut sweetheart deals with them. Stern would like to see the unions consolidated into about 15, with clear sectoral responsibilities and enough resources to organize. On Monday Stern told his delegates that it was time either to 'change the AFL-CIO or build something stronger.' At that, the floor erupted; delegates stood and whooped for a full minute.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, June 27, 2004 ::Service Employees back withdrawal from Iraq Workday Minnesota
One of the country's largest labor unions, the Service Employees International Union, is calling for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
The strongly worded resolution, passed June 22 by voice vote among 4,000 delegates at the 1.388-million member union's convention in San Francisco, demands 'an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.' And it advocates 'supporting our troops and our families by bringing our troops home safely (and) by not recklessly putting them in harm's way.'
Ending U.S. troop involvement in Iraq must go hand-in-hand with--and is absolutely needed for--social justice and protecting human rights at home. A withdrawal and emphasis on those rights would be 'promoting democracy, not subverting it,' SEIU declared.-------------------------------------------
IBEW Local Union 21 Reaches Settlement with SBC PR Newswire
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union 21 announced that it has reached a tentative 5-year agreement with SBC Communications.
SBC Announces New Labor Contract With IBEW BUSINESS WIRE-------------------------------------------
SEIU leader calls for changes in labor movement By Mark Gruenberg via Workday Minnesota
'Today, our employers have changed, our industries have changed and the world has certainly changed, but the labor movement's structure and culture sadly stayed the same. John Sweeney has proven that the problem is not who captains the ship but that the ship was not built to navigate the storms of the modern world,' Stern told delegates, who represent 1.388 million members.
Stern called the federation 'a loose trade association of 65 separate and autonomous unions instead of a strong, united organization.' That looseness won't work any more, he said.
'The time is long overdue that we join with our union allies and either transform the AFL-CIO or build something stronger that can really change workers' lives,' Stern declared.
Stern did not spell out details of a new structure. He is working with four other presidents--Terry O'Sullivan of the Laborers, Douglas McCarron of the Carpenters, John Wilhelm of HERE and Bruce Raynor of UNITE--to restructure and boost inter-union cooperation. All but the Carpenters are AFL-CIO members.-------------------------------------------
IWA Merger Madness Maybe Losing Steam Members for Democracy ufcw.net
This adventure story is about some working peoples' passion about the love for their union the IWA- the Industrial Wood and Allied Workers of Canada.
Ken Neumann, Canadian Director for of the United Steelworkers of America wants - it would seem - people to forget the pride that I.W.A. members have in their union when he says:
'Sometimes it's not what's in the name, it's what the institution has the ability to do and what services it provides.'
Is Neumann implying that the I.W.A was not and cannot effectively serve its members? Perhaps if the I.W.A. must merge it would be better off with a democratic Canadian union like say the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) rather than the Steelworkers.
The I.W.A might be small compared to unions like the Steelworkers, but it is the IWA members' union. It is a union blooming with history and tradition and it is one hundred percent Canadian, with no international union burdens, financial or otherwise. Perhaps all that is or was wrong with the IWA is that is was led by a neo liberal wanna-be sympathizer!
The International Woodworkers of America (I.W. of A.) was formed in 1937 by members and locals that pulled away from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners in the United States and Canada. The I.W. of A. of long ago represented the loggers and mill workers in Canada as well as the United States.-------------------------------------------
COPE: Canadian OPEIU Wants To Be Free Members for Democracy ufcw.net
Autocratic International Union Wants To Stop Them
Real rank-and-file autonomy means being prepared and willing to fight for the members' interests regardless of the wishes of the union bureaucracy. To achieve rank and file autonomy fighting against the bureaucracy may be required. This is a story about the pursuit of autonomy by a union, its locals and the rank-and-file members within the Canadian section of the OPEIU. This story may be of particular interest members of IWA Canada who will be thinking about the proposed merger of their union with the United Steelworkers of America this summer.
The Office and Professional Employees' International Union (OPEIU) has 115 Locals in the United States and approximately 55 in Canada. OPEIU was one of the first international unions to establish, within its constitution, the right of local unions in Canada to establish their own autonomous national union, if that should be the desire of the majority of Canadian members.
OPEIU Local 378 led by President Jerri New is a local that had just that desire: To be autonomous.-------------------------------------------
Striking Utah coal miners on labor tour in Pacific Northwest The Militant, NY July 6 edition
Longshore union expands support for UMWA strike
CW Mining, also known as Co-Op, began firing the miners most active in trying to bring in the UMWA. “They tried to fire me,” Salazar explained, “but my co-workers protested and I got my job back.” But the intimidation continued. “Another co-worker was fired. The company tried to hide behind the charge that the worker wasn’t doing his job well but we know it was because of his union activism. When the company realized how solid we were the company said ‘fine, you’re all fired’ and called police to get us off the property.”-------------------------------------------
Women struggling to make gains in construction industry By Eve Mitchell, Oakland Tribune, CA
Depending on the trade, union jobs pay anywhere from $20 to $40 an hour and include generous health and retirement benefits.
For example, a journey-level union electrician makes about $37 an hour. (Nonunion jobs generally pay less and may not include benefits.)
Despite affirmative action efforts to recruit women in construction that began in earnest in 1978, there is still a low number of women working in the trades. This comes at a time when the construction industry is bracing for a nationwide labor shortage in the coming years as an aging work force starts to retire.
In the last five years, for every four people leaving the trades, by retirement or for other reasons, only one new person is being trained in apprenticeship programs to replace them.
'Women could be the greatest untapped resource for filling that gap. It's not happening,' said Beth Youhn, director of Oakland-based Tradeswomen Inc.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, June 26, 2004 ::Teens build on skills in camp By Jill Steinke, Stevens Point Journal, WI
The Building Construction Camp teaches ninth-graders how to build a structure, put on a roof and install a garage door. The class of 15 boys is building a shed during a two-week period. The idea for the summer class stems from Dave Rasmussen's goal to create a skilled trades camp, which would include courses on plumbing, electricity and all other aspects of building. The class is a condensed version of the technology and engineering course he teaches during the regular school year.-------------------------------------------
Contractor Negligence, Defective Supports Among Charges in Wrongful Death Civil Action Filed As Result of Deadly Collapse of Tropicana Garage in Atlantic City U.S. Newswire
Attorneys representing the families of the four construction workers killed in the October 30, 2003, collapse of the Tropicana Casino and Resort garage have filed a consolidated civil action alleging that numerous defendants -- including the casino, the garage general contractor, concrete subcontractor, and site engineers -- were responsible for the deaths and injuries to dozens of other construction workers through their negligence, co-lead counsel Robert J. Mongeluzzi and Paul D'Amato announced following the filing in the Atlantic County Superior Court of New Jersey of a Form Master Complaint.
According to the complaint, the deaths were caused by the "defendants negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, and other liability-producing conduct" which resulted in "numerous stories of the 10-story parking garage in which they were working suddenly and without warning collapsing."
The complaint faults the defendants with improperly installing the pre-cast Filigree concrete slabs "in an effort to save time and money and increase defendants' profits." The attorneys said it was well known on the job site that the contractors were cutting corners, transporting much-needed supporting screw jacks, shoring and bracing back and forth between Tropicana and another casino construction project.-------------------------------------------
California retirees applaud BC Carpenters Council June 2004 On the Level
Dear Sirs:
We, the members of Carpenters Retirees Club #20 of Orange County, California, were a chartered organization of the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. I say were because since Douglas McCarron took over we are no longer recognized as chartered.
Nevertheless, we wish to send to you our congratulations for standing up to Douglas McCarron and stopping him from taking over the British Columbia Council of Carpenters. We applaud you taking him to court.
Our Local Unions, 2203 Anaheim and 1815 Santa Ana, never had a chance to fight. They came in and put everyone out of the union offices and padlocked the doors. They confiscated the money in the bank, plus the building, selling it and pocketed the money. Not a move suggesting a democratic organization.
We have been asking for a raise in the monthly pension for 15 years and have not received an increase even though there was plenty of money in the Trust, which now seems to be disappearing. None of the politicians we have asked for help seem to be able to help us.
So we congratulate you for taking your problem to the courts and winning over Douglas McCarron. We would appreciate hearing from you. Maybe we could use some pointers from you on pursuing your objective.
Thank you.
Edward Santry
President, Retirees Club #20, Irvine California
================
Court Costs awarded to BC
photo: BC Provincial Council of Carpenters Secretary-treasurer Dave Flynn and President Len Embree celebrate receiving a $60,000 cheque from the UBCJA for costs awarded in the 10B lawsuit that BC Carpenters won last year. The judgment stated that International President Douglas McCarron acted in bad faith when he attempted to seize the BC Carpenters’ books and records.-------------------------------------------
I-280 project cited for safety violations By GARY T. PAKULSKI, Toledo Blade, OH
A month after four workers died at a Toledo bridge construction project last winter, federal inspectors visiting the work site said they found serious safety hazards that exposed workers to possible injury and even death.
The problems were discovered during a routine yearly inspection that was unrelated to a fatal accident at the I-280 Maumee River Crossing project on Feb. 16.
PROJECT CITATIONS
• Tripping hazards created by walkways blocked with lumber, pipes, chain, and other material
• Opening in scaffold platform not properly protected, exposing workers to a possible fall
• Proper precautions not taken to protect workers from possibility of being struck by falling building materials
• Improper precautions taken to protect workers 14 feet below from equipment and materials protruding through guardrail
• Workers exposed to possible impalement at off-site facility because protruding steel bars were not adequately guarded.-------------------------------------------
Ironworker Tells Story of Survival WTOL-TV
A Toledo ironworker, who survived the I-280 truss collapse is telling his story for the first time. On a cold February day, a 2-million-pound launching truss collapsed at the Maumee River Crossing Construction project in east Toledo. 4 ironworkers were killed, and 4 other men were hurt. One of the most critically hurt was 26-year-old Josh Collins. Today, he spoke with News 11's Bob Jones.
Josh says it's still a 'day by day' struggle. Josh is out of a wheelchair and using a cane. It takes three titanium plates and 8 screws to keep his neck intact. 11 broken bones in his hips and spine are healing. But, Josh is alive. 'I've come along way. I don't believe I should have survived that accident, but God has other plans in store for me,' he said.-------------------------------------------
Kerry Proposes to Raise Minimum Wage To $7 an Hour by 2007. Is That Enough? LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
If Kerry expects his proposal to solidify his standing with organized labor, he will be disappointed. The AFL-CIO had no comment about it on its Web site, but it is safe to say that it is not being received with enthusiasm. It’s seen as a vague political promise, nothing more. President Clinton also proposed raising the minimum rate, but he never put up a fight for it.
Kerry did not note that many cities and states have raised their minimum pay scales above the $7 hourly rate, as the movement for a “living wage” keeps gathering momentum in various parts of the country. Nor did he mention the need for supplementary health-care benefits, which few of the working poor receive.
Opposition to raising the minimum wage has come mainly from lobbyists of fast food and supermarket chains, as well as restaurants and hotels, who thrive on cheap labor. These special interests are among the major contributors to the political campaigns of both Republicans and Democrats, assuring them access to the White House no matter who wins the election.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, June 25, 2004 ::Bakery conviction prompts need for programs to prevent heat stress Canadian Occupational Safety magazine
The tragic death of the bakery worker in Barrie is a reminder of the seriousness of the risks associated with heat stress for workers. The charge against the bakery is a clear indication that OHS regulators will hold employers accountable to prevent injury and death from heat stress, and sends a strong message that the courts will impose legal liability for a failure to have an effective heat stress program that includes training for supervisors and employees.
If the Weston case offers a lesson to employers, it's to address hot work environments in a pro-active manner. Doing this will prevent workers from becoming ill due to heat exposure, minimize work refusals and downtime, and add to the company's legal defence of due diligence.-------------------------------------------
The curse of confined space Canadian Occupational Safety magazine
For McManus, the best definition has to include the boundary surface. He says the boundary surface does not have to be substantive: it can be as thin as a piece of paper. But inside that boundary things can happen. The boundary can trap a hazardous atmosphere. In fact, the boundary surface that envelopes a piece of working machinery is invisible, but if you enter that space you become vulnerable to contact with rotating equipment, moving sharp edges, articulating arms and levers and other parts that can both provide injury and prevent escape.
For the most part, however, confined spaces are distinguished from "normal" working spaces by the function of the space. "Confined spaces do not distinguish themselves by size, shape or the nature of work activity. Some are large; some are small; others are completely enclosed," says McManus. Some house equipment; others store liquid and solid bulk materials. Chemical processes occur in others...."
One notable distinction that sets confined spaces apart from "normal" work spaces, says McManus, is the nature and severity of accidents that occur in them.
"Accidents that occur in confined spaces often are more severe than those that occur in 'normal' work spaces," says McManus. "Like a trap that is set and ready to spring, the hazardous condition that causes the accident acts rapidly, often without prior warning, and often injuring or killing more than one victim. Further, after the accident has occurred, conditions often return to 'normal,' as if nothing has happened."-------------------------------------------
Union rallies as Con Ed strike deadline looms By LUKAS I. ALPERT, AP, Newsday
Chanting 'No contract, no lights,' members of several unions rallied alongside Consolidated Edison utility workers Thursday in support of their quest for a new contract as their strike deadline drew near.
The Con Ed union's leaders said they were prepared to work hard for a contract before the Saturday midnight deadline but were ready to strike.
'We are ready to roll up our sleeves and not sleep for the next few days, but we're prepared to do what we have to,' said Manny Hellin, president of Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers of America. 'We work for a good company, but as they reap their benefits we feel we deserve our share.'-------------------------------------------
Con Ed Workers Burned in Manhole WABC-TV, NY
The two men had been working in the manhole along a service road. Con Ed officials say they are still trying to determine what actually caused the incident. But you utility union officials representing the workers in Local 1-2 -- whose contract expires shortly -- are calling for more inspections of manholes.
Mark Williams, Union Business Agent: 'It's just a roll of the dice before one of our employees is going to be in those manholes They need to do more inspections. They need to go in there, and they need to actually look at this.'
Con Ed officials say, they are committed to checking all underground structures annually.-------------------------------------------
beyond irony - the braindead press release of the month goes to The Creosote Council:
Industry Defends Creosote, Condemns Unfounded Bills Market Wire
'The bills' very selective restrictions on creosote were inspired by Dockbuilders Local 1456 of the New York City District of Carpenters, which alleged health hazards from creosote-treated wood without any scientific justification. In fact, this small faction of the labor movement announced that it had commissioned a study to 'prove the long term harm' from creosote but failed to release any results. Current scientific evidence clearly shows that creosote and creosote-treated wood do not pose a hazard to human health or to the environment when used properly, in accordance with labeling approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
... especially in light of this article (and it's related sidebar links) from late May:
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.-------------------------------------------
June 2004 On the Level British Columbia Carpenters Union Newsletter
California retirees applaud Council
Dear Sirs:
We, the members of Carpenters Retirees Club #20 of Orange County, California, were a chartered organization of the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. I say were because since Douglas McCarron took over we are no longer recognized as chartered.
Nevertheless, we wish to send to you our congratulations for standing up to Douglas McCarron and stopping him from taking over the British Columbia Council of Carpenters. We applaud you taking him to court.
Our Local Unions, 2203 Anaheim and 1815 Santa Ana, never had a chance to fight. They came in and put everyone out of the union offices and padlocked the doors. They confiscated the money in the bank, plus the building, selling it and pocketed the money. Not a move suggesting a democratic organization.
We have been asking for a raise in the monthly pension for 15 years and have not received an increase even though there was plenty of money in the Trust, which now seems to be disappearing. None of the politicians we have asked for help seem to be able to help us.
So we congratulate you for taking your problem to the courts and winning over Douglas McCarron. We would appreciate hearing from you. Maybe we could use some pointers from you on pursuing your objective.
Thank you.
Edward Santry
President, Retirees Club #20, Irvine California-------------------------------------------
Comdex postponement will have only slight effect on unions: "By Alana Roberts , Las Vegas SUN
William Harris, financial secretary-treasurer of Carpenters Local 1780, said he hopes the show's owner MediaLive International is able to reorganize the show quickly.
'I would hope they would repackage it and it goes for this year,' Harris said.
He said the union sent between 200 and 250 workers to install booths at Comdex 2003, with another 50 working to build the sets. He said Comdex has a major impact on the Las Vegas economy, but that construction workers will not suffer much by its postponement.-------------------------------------------
Union workers gather to picket at Friends Home construction site By BEN SCHNEIDER, Today's Sunbeam, NJ
Tony Clemente, one of the protesters from the Union Carpenters Local 542, said Alessio Azzari Inc. is the non-union firm undertaking the Friends Home carpentry project.
The project is part of a major expansion of the facilities at the Friends Home, a long-established nursing home in Woodstown.
John Jackson, council representative for the New Jersey Regional Council of Carpenters, said the union's goal was to increase the jobs available to the carpenters of Local 542, the vast majority of whom live in Salem County.
'We don't want our guys to travel to Tennessee or Texas to find some work,' he said.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, June 24, 2004 ::CN Tower Turns 28 And Innovative Glass Floor Turns 10 Canada NewsWire
It took three months to engineer and test the floor to ensure its safety and durability. In keeping with the CN Tower's high safety standards, the Floor continues to undergo safety and durability tests on a regular basis. To provide the clearest view possible, a protective surface panel is changed every year.
Three workmen spent 10 days installing the floor piece by piece framed within a steel grid. Installation was conducted without a false floor underneath because there would be no way of removing it later. Thus the installation team was suspended in mid air by safety ropes where they could feel the winds whipping around them and see the 342 m (1,122 ft) distance down to the ground.-------------------------------------------
Hoffa Statement on Resigning from the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations PRNewswire
June 24, 2004
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I write you today to tender my resignation from the President's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN).
For quite some time, I have been uncomfortable being associated in any way with your Administration's full-fledged attack on workers' rights, social justice, and economic common sense. While I had hoped that the Teamsters could maintain some semblance of a working relationship with your administration through my service on ACTPN, your decision to sign the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) leaves me with no choice but to resign.-------------------------------------------
Major Union Takes Organizing Drive to Web By Leigh Strope, AP
One of the country's largest unions is taking its organizing drive to the Internet, creating a new, virtual labor organization that isn't tied to a work site or dependent on employer recognition.
The Service Employees International Union's new affiliate, called PurpleOcean.org, was disclosed Tuesday at the union's convention in San Francisco. The union's trademark color is purple.
The new group 'is a radical new way to think about organized labor,' said Andy Stern, president of SEIU, the largest union under the AFL-CIO umbrella with 1.6 million members.-------------------------------------------
Woodworkers National Executive Board overwhelmingly approves tentative merger with United Steelworkers Canada NewsWire
The National Executive Board of the Industrial Wood and Allied Workers of Canada (IWA) has approved the terms of a tentative merger agreement with the United Steelworkers of America.
The agreement was reached earlier this month by the two unions' merger committees and is now subject to a referendum ballot of the IWA's 55,000 members across Canada. The balloting will begin July 12 and is expected to be completed by August 27.
"If this merger is approved by our membership, the combined force of the Steelworkers and the IWA will create the largest and most progressive industrial union in Canada," said IWA President Norman Rivard. "A merger also represents great diversity, with members working in wood, metals, mining, transportation, trades and services. The addition of our membership would create the Steelworkers' largest membership in the manufacturing sector."-------------------------------------------
COPE378.ca - Canadian Office & Professional Employees' Union, Local 378
CANADIAN OPEIU AUTONOMY:
Our Name has Changed! The Office & Professional Employee's International Union Loc. 378 is now the Canadian Office & Professional Employees' Union, Loc. 378! See the bulletins below for full details.
Loc. 378 Canadian Autonomy Bulletins:
Jun 21, 2004 : News Release: New Canadian Union Formed
Jun 21, 2004 : Welcome to Our New Canadian Executive Board!
Jun 21, 2004 : Bulletin to All Members re Canadian Autonomy and New Name!
Jun 20, 2004 : News Release: Declaration of Canadian Independence!-------------------------------------------
Construction worker killed by test train By DAVE PHILLIPS, Orange Bulletin, CT
Prior to the work being started, a Class A electrician terminated electricity to the area at about 11 p.m. O&G workers in the vicinity of high voltage power lines began removing timbers of wood underneath the I-95 project.
'Without electricity, no electric trains can go through, but instead a diesel test train came around the corner,' said East Haven Assistant Fire Chief Paul Cahill, who could not recall such an accident, only kids being hit by a train about 15 years ago. 'When it hit, it also hit the lumbers, the wood and the boom, the whole upper section and propelled into three bays down. The train continued forward, striking the other manlift with two employees in it. Another manlift from the other side was struck, but a worker powered away as fast as possible.'-------------------------------------------
Man dies from injuries at energy plant Sioux City Journal
Boykin was working for Safway Services Inc. of Omaha, a company that provides scaffold sales, rentals, labor services and design, when the accident occurred, according to a Safway official. The company had no other comment about the death.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 ::1940 mural in Wilmington's post office getting facelift Wilmington Morning Star, NC
Before-and-after pictures of postal restorations are available at the company's Web site, www.parmaconservation.com. Click on 'murals,' then 'New Deal Post Office Murals.'
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Wasteful or worthwhile, Wicks law endures By JAY GALLAGHER, The Journal News.com, NY
"If there was not a Wicks law, I would go out of business," said Louis Coppola, whose plumbing firm, L.J. Coppola of Thornwood, did the plumbing work at White Plains High School.
"I don't like to be shopped on every price I put in," he said. With Wicks, "I can bid what I think the job is worth and if I don't get it I move on."
More important politically than the subcontractors are the union plumbers, electricians and sheet metal workers, many of whom earn more than $60 an hour on projects like this. They also don't want the law changed.
"The main concern for union members working for subcontractors is there are places in the state where there are no union general contractors," said Denis Hughes, president of the state AFL-CIO, which opposes any change. "They purposely don't want union guys on the job. So a union contractor will never get the work without Wicks."
Law boosts building costs; Firms liable whenever worker injured in fall By JAY GALLAGHER, Utica Observer Dispatch, NY
Because of a unique New York statute known as 'the scaffold law' that holds builders absolutely liable in most instances for injuries caused by falls on work sites, some contractors are having trouble getting liability insurance. And when they can get it, it is so expensive that it adds as much as $10,000 to the cost of building a home, they say.-------------------------------------------
New Canadian union outraged by U.S. International union serving legal action in Florida District Court to attempt to stop Canadian members of OPEIU from forming separate union Canada NewsWire
International sends process servers and staff to break up COPE Canadian union members' meetings to deliver writs against Canadian Executive
The Canadian Office and Professional Employees' Union (COPE) was formed June 20 after 74% of the Canadian members of the Office & Professional Employees' International Union (OPEIU) signed forms authorizing Canadian autonomy, a right that is contained in the OPEIU constitution. It has been recognized by the Canadian Labour Congress.
But on Tuesday, International union representatives accompanied by court process servers arrived at the Florida hotel where COPE members were meeting and attempted to serve writs on the union, bursting into a COPE membership meeting without permission or notice. The OPEIU legal action seeks a court order that the Canadian union's separation from the U.S. union be declared null and void and seeks damages against the individual executive members of COPE.
"We are absolutely outraged by the actions of the U.S. union in attempting to stop Canadian members from exercising their democratic right to separate and form a Canadian union," said COPE president Jerri New. "For OPEIU to try and have a Florida Court tell Canadian workers in Canada that they cannot form their own Canadian union is beneath contempt and illustrates why our members have strongly decided to separate from OPEIU."-------------------------------------------
US gang trumps up charges against Local 1995 By Len Embree, June 2004 On the Level, British Columbia Carpenters Union
An attempt to explain all the gyrations these characters are going through in their attack is almost impossible to put into print. What I can say is that the end result is that McCarron has informed Local Union 1995 Vancouver-New Westminster that he is calling a trusteeship hearing to address - get ready for it, again - their not swearing in the duly elected officers of 1995 to allegiance to himself (McCarron), remitting per capita tax payments late, and the "killer": changing the membership number of David Wright! Oh, and I almost forgot, not giving a member (David Wright) a copy of the International Constitution when he asked for one.
All of the foregoing, of course, instigated and put into play by no other than David Wright himself. Did I forget to mention, by the way, that David Wright is an International Representative, hired by and reporting to Douglas McCarron? He most likely has a bundle of International Constitutions under his pillow. This is the same Wright who recently was appointed, along with Doug Urquhart, to act as Business Agents for the eighty-some members of Local 1907 in the Fraser Valley.
Quite humorous, but also quite sobering when it is realized that this gang from the US is prepared to place the largest Local Union in our province under trusteeship and remove officers who were duly elected in a democratic process (despite the International's well-financed campaign against them), on some phoney, trumped-up issues that McCarron's agents manufactured, and then appoint some cronies to run the Local Union on their behalf. This, all to take place in a country foreign to them. I'm not surprised, but I need to say very clearly that this is not Iraq; it's not Ontario, nor is it even Alberta. It's British Columbia - Canada! They cannot win this fight, regardless of their arrogance and presumption of power.-------------------------------------------
Real world skills: Trapper Creek Job Corps prepares students with marketable vo-tech trades By JENNY JOHNSON, Ravalli Republic, MT
Bailey is one of two union carpenters at the Trapper Creek center who provides training in a variety of trades from culinary arts to masonry. He spotted Roberts at a cattle show and suggested he enter the program.
'He was a smart kid and a very hard worker,' Bailey said.
Roberts was a high school graduate who wanted a trade and didn't have any money to buy training at a school, Bailey said. So he got it from the federal government.
Trapper Creek Job Corps is one of 118 centers across the U.S. that assist students from the ages of 16 to 24 in acquiring career skills and entering the workforce. The centers attract a diverse group of students, including those who have gotten 'off track' either with school or the law and those who want to learn a trade in order to live independently.-------------------------------------------
'Star' sites encourage safe plants BY BETH FITZGERALD, Newark Star Ledger, NJ
Ever since Congress created OSHA in 1970, critics have said the agency's staff is too small and its enforcement muscle too weak to adequately safeguard workers at the nation's 7 million workplaces. In February, the agency says next year's $461.6 million budget doesn't include any increase in this year's 37,700 workplace inspections nationwide.
Fans of Star certification say voluntary compliance attacks the problem at its roots, rallying employers to the cause of workplace safety instead of relying on fines and penalties after the damage is done.
'At OSHA, we talk about the triple bottom line -- how investing in safety and health adds value to your business, your workers and your community,' says Robert Kulick, an agency area officer based in Avenel. 'Avoiding injury and illness saves money on workers' compensation, absenteeism and a lot of hidden costs. We estimate that for every $1 you spend on safety, you get back $3 to $6 in profit.'
But critics counter OSHA's already-stretched resources should be deployed against employers that willfully violate safety and health rules, instead of encouraging good workplaces to achieve at an even higher level.-------------------------------------------
Sting-Free: Saving Carpenters Abused Hands; Shocked by Repeated Hammering and Drilling, High-Tech Tool Grip Absorbs Vibration Business Wire
Carpenters testing the Sting-Free tool grip verify it absorbs most of the shock and sting. Using the grip gives them confidence, added stability, increased fluidity of movement, and a more tactile feel. The next morning they are no longer in pain from the previous days work. (Tool grips will be sent to media, construction companies, and unions requesting samples.)-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 ::Opposition Mounts to NIOSH Reorganization Occupational Hazards
Occupational safety and health organizations, labor unions, academics, independent consultants and staff members from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are expressing opposition to the administration's reorganization of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) because they believe the change will dilute NIOSH's research capabilities.-------------------------------------------
B.C. smelter linked to mercury in Columbia River AP, Seattle Times
Newly obtained documents reveal the Teck Cominco smelter in British Columbia dumped tons of highly toxic mercury into the Columbia River for decades.
The smelter's record of dumping contaminated slag, a smelting byproduct, has been known for years.
But documents The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review obtained from British Columbia's Ministry of the Environment shed new light on the extent of mercury releases from the lead-zinc smelter in Trail, B.C., about six miles north of the Washington border.
Calculations based on two Canadian estimates indicate that 1.6 tons to 3.6 tons of mercury had been discharged into the river each year since the 1940s, the newspaper reported.-------------------------------------------
Union Leader Urges AFL-CIO Reform By Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post, DC
Federation Is Outdated, SEIU Head Says
The AFL-CIO has failed to keep up with the changing workplace and must be radically reinvigorated -- or replaced -- if the labor movement is to survive, the president of the nation's largest union said yesterday.
A loose federation of 13 million union workers, the AFL-CIO wields little control over the 65 individual unions that are its members and has not been effective at creating a single, powerful voice for American organized labor, Andrew L. Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), told a national convention of his union in San Francisco.
'Our employers have changed, our industries have changed and the world has certainly changed, but the labor movement's structure and culture have sadly stayed the same.' Union activists must 'either transform the AFL-CIO or build something stronger that can really change workers' lives,' Stern said.-------------------------------------------
Highrise accident injures three workers CBC British Columbia, Canada
"Upon arrival, we found the the scaffolding, on the ground - and three workers with injuries varying between first and three degree burns. And those burns are to various parts of their bodies.
"There's been some very heavy damage to the scaffolding," he says. "There's safety netting around it that's completely melted and blown away."-------------------------------------------
Congressional Committee Considers Gender Equality in Vocational Education Feminist Daily News Wire
A study by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) reveals that women are generally encouraged to enter low-paying jobs such as cosmetology, health care, and child care while men overwhelmingly dominate high-wage, high-tech jobs, becoming electricians, welders, and carpenters. Previous versions of the Perkins Act mandated and funded State Sex Equity Coordinators who encouraged women and men to pursue non-traditional occupations (NTOs) in fields that have typically been dominated by the opposite gender.-------------------------------------------
NS native activist Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash to be buried Canadian Press
Aquash, an American Indian Movement activist who was killed in 1975 in South Dakota, is revered among many Mi'kmaq in Canada as a champion of native women's rights.
Her unidentified body was found on South Dakota's Pine Ridge reservation in February 1976 and buried as Jane Doe.
She was exhumed when tests determined her identity and was reburied in South Dakota. Her family exhumed her body again in April and returned it to Canada.-------------------------------------------
Chrysler Ontario plant in overdrive By GREG KEENAN, The Globe and Mail
It has been a few years since the Chrysler group had a hot car - let alone a hot sedan - but its 300C model is roaring out of dealers' lots and has turned the Brampton, Ont., assembly plant into a seven-day-a-week operation.
Sales are surging so much that the auto maker - part of DaimlerChrysler AG - has asked members of the Canadian Auto Workers union to cut the standard two-week summer shutdown next month to a one-week holiday.
"It's all about having a hot product," said CAW president Buzz Hargrove, who added that the union is canvassing its members to determine whether enough will agree to take their holidays at some other time so the plant can operate for the extra week.-------------------------------------------
Ironworker enjoys working on glass 'puzzle' By Brad Stanhope, Fairfield Daily Republic, CA
The glass comes in sections and Davidson, other ironworkers and glaziers work together to place them in the correct place. It takes about four hours to install the largest ones, he said.
'The smaller ones are for two to four hours,' he says. 'It's a slow process.'
To the layman, it looks almost impossible. But that's not so.
'It's like a puzzle - it all fits together,' he says.
Davidson grew up in Michigan and moved to Northern California at 18, where he began working in his union.
'I started working rods and rebar,' he says. 'I found a place in the trade. It's a tough trade - but it's easy on the body.'-------------------------------------------
Union dispute slows Lodi Unified projects By Neil Gonzales, Stockton Record, CA
The Manteca-based Carpenters union Local 25 plans to picket this week at the Ronald McNair High School site just north of Stockton or at another Lodi Unified project. The union already picketed at McNair a week ago, stopping much of the work there for a day.
'We do plan to protest again,' union field representative Andrew Uvalles said.
'Wherever Diede is at, we got the right to protest.'
Uvalles accuses Diede, a nonunion construction company based in Lodi, of firing workers who have expressed interest in organizing and of underpaying workers.-------------------------------------------
The Bush Administration Makes Another Mistake By Keith Vance, Democratic Underground
The irony is that when the Bush administration took office they were supposed to be the administration that had their act together - the CEO's were in charge. No more days of the Clinton pizza boxes in the Oval Office and the White House resembling a fraternity; the Bush team were professionals who were thorough and on top of things.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, June 21, 2004 ::Special Nail Could Keep Roof On In Hurricane By NEIL JOHNSON, Tampa Tribune, FL
"They spiral going in like a screw and they hold a lot better,'' he said.
What can be more important than the type of nail is that a roofing inspection ensure carpenters hit the truss when driving in the nails.
"After Andrew, we found lots of sheets of plywood where the nails missed,'' Glenn said.
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Leaders to push for labor overhaul By Nancy Cleeland, Los Angeles Times
"Some people say it will just create more undemocratic structures," said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "But you have to do something. The union movement is in such a crisis today."
Indeed, a decade after John Sweeney won the presidency of the AFL-CIO on a platform of organizing new members, unions have continued in their three-decade decline. The union share of the private work force was 8.2 percent last year, down from 8.6 percent in 2002.
Few doubt that with that kind of showing, labor needs to start doing things differently. But many would prefer the change to happen through the AFL-CIO, the federation of 65 unions formed nearly 50 years ago by a merger of two labor organizations.
"We understand that there are great changes that have yet to be made and are desperately needed, and we need their help to make it happen," said Stewart Acuff, organizing director for the AFL-CIO. Clearly worried about the prospect of a rupture in organized labor, he added, "We are ever mindful of the absolute necessity of unity."
One of the five union presidents has already gone his own way. Doug McCarron, president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, left the AFL-CIO three years ago saying he could use his union's membership money better for organizing. Since then, he said, the union membership has grown -- to 538,000 currently -- while most other unions have lost members.
"The world is changing," he said, "and, if the labor movement doesn't start thinking more strategically, we're not going to have a future."-------------------------------------------
UFCW 1518 Supports Locked Out Nelson City Workers; BBQ And Rally On Monday
UFCW Local 1518 President Brooke Sundin commented that the lockout has not gone unnoticed by the rest of the labour movement in BC.
“Our Union supports the Nelson city workers fully and completely,” said Sundin. “The mean-spirited actions taken by Nelson’s city officials are very short-sighted, and are certainly not in the best interests of anybody, especially the citizens of Nelson.”
“This is unprecedented,” says Barry O’Neill, CUPE BC President, whose union represents Nelson’s city workers. “I certainly haven’t come across a municipal lockout in my quarter century in BC’s labour movement.” CUPE BC is the largest union in the province and of its 70,000 members, 26,000 are municipal workers.-------------------------------------------
The Weeky Toll: Fathers Day Edition Confined Space
Lots of sons to grow up without fathers, fathers who will bury their sons.-------------------------------------------
Union label resists fading By RENITA FENNICK, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA
Pennsylvania, historically a union stronghold, remained above the national average despite experiencing a slightly bigger dip in the percentage of union members in the work force. In 2003, 15.1 percent of workers in the state belonged to unions, a drop from 15.6 percent the previous year.
But membership at some unions, like Teamsters Union Local 401, Wilkes-Barre, which represents about 1,800 individuals, is increasing.
'We're fortunate that we haven't followed the trend,' said Patrick Connors, secretary/treasurer and business manager of Local 401. 'We're at a higher number than we were in the early '90s, one of the few (unions) that is.'
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers increased its ranks by more than 20 percent in the last decade, business manager Henry Stanski said. The Wilkes-Barre-based local, which represents line workers, had about 490 members a decade ago. Today, there are about 600 members, Stanski said.-------------------------------------------
Bush and the Timken Plant, a Year Later By Christopher Brauchli, CounterPunch
Mr. Bush spoke at the plant in April of 2003. The future of the company looked bright for the "families that work here" as Mr. Bush said. Then a strange thing happened.
On May 16, 2004, slightly more than a year after Mr. Bush’s visit, Mr. Timken decided to close the plant in which Mr. Bush spoke and two other Timken plants in the Canton area. He made the decision even though the tax cut passed and even though he saved $59,000 in taxes as a result of its passage. The closure had nothing to do with the fact that the tax cut didn’t provide the promised benefits. It had to do with the fact that Mr. Timken decided to close the plant.
Closing the plant means that 1,300 people who were told by the president one year earlier that they had a bright future now have neither bright future nor jobs.-------------------------------------------
Workers reverse vote, accept cuts By Ben Cunningham, The Grand Rapids Press
The 'stand-up' vote proved controversial. At the time, Don Oetman, the United Auto Workers regional director, expressed concern over the validity of the result and said a secret ballot may have to be used.
Oetman on Saturday said members 'made the tough choices necessary to keeping Federal-Mogul in Greenville.' UAW Local 2017 President Jeff Davis declined to comment.-------------------------------------------
Builders protest law on liability By Jay Gallagher, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
But if New York has more worker-injury lawsuits than other states, it is also safer than most states for construction work, according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics figures used in a study done by the state Trial Lawyers Association. The scaffold law, the lawyers say, is the reason.
The state had fewer than five nonfatal injuries per 100 workers in 2001, lower than all states except Louisiana, which had fewer than 4.5, according to the study.
A year earlier, 30 of the 1,183 construction deaths in the country were in New York. That was 2.5 percent of the total, while the state accounts for almost 7 percent of the nation’s population.
”New York state’s unique Scaffold Law has been a significant factor in achieving this success,” the trial lawyers state in their report.
But builders say that other factors, such as responsible contractors, might be behind the better safety record.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, June 20, 2004 ::Summer Electrical Safety Tips for Kids Occupational Hazards
'It is important that parents make electrical safety a priority for summer, especially as kids begin a three-month journey of newfound freedom,' said Frank Clark, president of ComEd. 'We encourage parents to sit down with their kids and visit www.comedsafety.com for electric safety lessons taught through fun, interactive games as well as review our safety basics checklist with everyone in their family.'-------------------------------------------
LaborFest 2004 Schedule San Francisco - July, 2004
July 5 (Monday) 7:30 PM $10-20
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
From Wharf Rats to The Lords of The Docks
World Premier by Haskell Wexler
LaborFest opens with the world premier of Haskell Wexler’s From Wharf Rats to The Lords of the Docks with actor Ian Ruskin. The film is based on the life of Harry Bridges and his struggle to defend and organize the longshoremen on the West Coast. The cast includes Pete Seeger, Ed Asner and ILWU longshore workers. It makes history live for working people today who face growing threats on their lives and those of their families.
July 6 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM $5-7
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Labor’s Turning Point: The Minneapolis Truck Strikes of 1934 - A Rank and File
By John De Graaf 1981 (44 min.)
This film is the only documentary on the historic Minneapolis Teamster general strike. This powerful strike led by the rank and file provided the game plan according to Jimmy Hoffa for the organization of the Teamsters nationally. Local 574 in Minneapolis was the local in July 1934 that successfully challenged the companies, politicians and national guard in winning union recognition for thousands of teamsters. It also cost the lives of two workers.-------------------------------------------
Bowling at Bush By LAEL LOEWENSTEIN, New York Daily News
Most people know Michael Moore as the oversize, outspoken muckraker who uses his trademark irony to expose corporate and political corruption. He berated President Bush in his 2003 Oscar speech, grilled the National Rifle Association in "Bowling for Columbine" and skewered GM's corporate downsizing in "Roger & Me."-------------------------------------------
In solidarity Joe Keithley/D.O.A. CUPE Nelson lockout blog
Sisters and brothers
Hang in there, keep up the fight
You won't stand alone!
In solidarity Joe Keithley/D.O.A.-------------------------------------------
Unions protest at Kohl's By Joy Davia, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Area unions are protesting Kohl’s use of contractors who they say give workers unfair wages and benefits.
The Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters Local 85 has been picketing at Kohl’s new site on West Henrietta Road in Henrietta. Gypsum Systems is renovating for Kohl’s the building that once housed the Hechinger home center, said Charles Peaslee, a union representative. But Gypsum doesn’t give all its workers health insurance, he said.
”This makes it hard for a legitimate contractor to bid against them,” Peaslee said.-------------------------------------------
Construction union claims harassment By Jason Dowling, The Age, Australia
The construction industry's biggest union yesterday slammed plans by the builder Multiplex to release the banking details of some of its workers to the Building Industry Taskforce, describing the move as an 'invasion of privacy' and 'harassment'.
Multiplex will provide the information on Tuesday, following a request from the taskforce backed by the threat of legal action, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said.
But the union said it would appear at an urgent hearing in the Federal Court on Monday to prevent Multiplex releasing the information.
'We believe it a gross invasion of our members' privacy and it is just a case of the taskforce trying to flex its muscle and intimidate people,' the union's state secretary, Martin Kingham, said yesterday.-------------------------------------------
Hardhats & activists cheer on Ratner plan By BILL FARRELL, New York Daily News
Energized by the prospect of 15,000 construction jobs, 10,000 permanent jobs and the project's proposed housing component, the noontime crowd roared their approval at every mention of job and housing opportunities.-------------------------------------------
Progress reported on steelworkers' contract BY LEE BLOOMQUIST, Duluth News Tribune
NEGOTIATIONS: Contracting work to private firms and health care costs remain on the bargaining table.
Negotiators for Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and the United Steelworkers of America left Pittsburgh on Friday without a new labor agreement that would cover about 2,200 hourly workers at four taconite mines in Minnesota and Michigan.-------------------------------------------
Human fireball horror By Nick Sharpe, South Wales Echo, UK
The inquest heard that the father of two's lorry crashed down a steep slag heap at Sims Metal on Rover Way, Cardiff, on April 25, 2002. He had been transporting molten slag from a furnace at the ASW steelworks.
His twin brother, Selwyn Parsons, who had been driving the same lorry on an earlier shift said he had filled the tank with fuel that morning but that the cap was loose.
He told the inquest: 'You can get a bit of diesel coming out because it is loose. It is loose because the machines are old.'
Colin Wakeham, who works for the company that makes the Heathfield H33 lorry, said it had been 'grossly overloaded'.
The inquest heard that the total weight was probably 15 per cent higher than recommended.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, June 19, 2004 ::Crazy Horse History and Correct Web Site By Amanda Baker, Useless-Knowledge.com
1988
Blocking-out Crazy Horse's face begins, starting to remove the protective rock left by Korczak. Comprehensive measurement continues on the head and face. Weathered 'Slow Man at Work' scaffold in front of face removed. Major new mt. road built. June 3rd S. D. Gov. George S. Mickelson and Ruth Ziolkowski set off Memorial's 40th anniversary blast; when he was seven years old, he had helped his father, Gov. George T. Mickelson, set off the first blast on Crazy Horse. US WEST Foundation pledges $50,000 over five years to Scholarship Program. First computer for development of computer assisted design (CAD) program to augment measurement on the mt. donated by Apple Computer, Inc.-------------------------------------------
Ohio's Stark County Steelworkers Joining Door-to-Door AFL-CIO Mobilization for Jobs, Healthcare on June 26 U.S. Newswire
Following the rally, union volunteers will proceed with their door-to-door visits in Canton, Massillon and outlying areas. Reporters, photographers and TV crews are welcome to follow. The Stark County summer block walk is part of a national AFL-CIO's Labor 2004 program to talk to members, comparing views of U.S. presidential candidates Senator John Kerry and President Bush.
'Ohio's working people have been hammered with offshoring of good jobs and soaring health care costs, ' Jasionowski said. 'And now, Timken steelworkers are threatened with their future job and healthcare security following company-restructuring announcements. Our Steelworkers are anxious to get everyone registered and educated about these issues.'-------------------------------------------
Building on Experience - Skills center students build garage at barracks By JEFFREY MIZE, Columbian, WA
Today is the final day of class. The garage's roof is complete, but the city will need to have a contractor finish the last bit of siding, as well as wire the garage for electricity and hang doors on each of the six bays.-------------------------------------------
Teamsters Fight to Protect Healthcare at Coca-Cola's Biggest Bottler PR Newswire
Teamsters demonstrated unity to protect employee healthcare at Coca-Cola Enterprises 'CCE' today in locations across the county. Distribution and production workers protested the company's attempts to cut benefits and dramatically raise the workers' share of healthcare costs, an issue that is reaching fever pitch in San Diego and elsewhere and could spark work stoppages.-------------------------------------------
Hardhat's miracle fall BY TONY SCLAFANI, New York Daily News
A throng of firefighters attends to construction worker Mamadou Diouf, who fell 6 stories at Brooklyn work site.
A construction worker miraculously survived a six-story plunge in Brooklyn yesterday when the roof of a building under construction collapsed, officials said.
Mamadou Diouf, 34, was buried under a pile of wood and cement before firefighters rescued him at 3030 Emmons Ave. in Sheepshead Bay, fire officials said. Diouf fell 60 feet, leaving him with multiple injuries, including possible fractured legs.
He was rushed to Lutheran Medical Center in stable but serious condition. Fire officials blamed the accident on shoddy work that left the wooden roof unstable.-------------------------------------------
Steel structure collapses By DAVID HERMANN, The Press-Enterprise
INDIO - Workers escaped serious injury Wednesday when the steel superstructure of a 100,000-square-foot special events center under construction at the Fantasy Springs Casino collapsed.
The only person injured in the 12:45 p.m. collapse was a construction worker who tripped and cut his hand while trying to get out of the way of the falling beams, said officials with the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, which owns the casino.-------------------------------------------
Improper bracing cited by agency in church collapse By Erica Solvig, The Cincinnati Enquirer
Proper bracing wasn't used at a church construction site when the roof collapsed, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.
That was among the three 'serious' violations for which OSHA cited E.W. Construction of Harveysburg after investigation of a May 21 collapse that injured four construction workers who were connecting roof trussses. OSHA fined the company $4,500.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, June 18, 2004 ::'I Heard You Paint Houses': Killing Jimmy Hoffa By BRYAN BURROUGH, New York Times Sunday Book Review
Sheeran's account of Hoffa's killing certainly appears credible. The Teamsters chief, seeking to reclaim the union's presidency after a prison term, drew his death sentence by loudly threatening to expose Mafiosi feeding at the Teamsters trough; as a confidant of both Hoffa and the mob bosses who wanted him dead, Sheeran says, he received the message he could either kill Hoffa or be killed himself.-------------------------------------------
As the Nation Paid Its Respect to Reagan, Media Downplay His Anti-Labor Record LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
While Ronald Reagan was eulogized as a charismatic, upbeat and beloved personality during the five-day funeral program of homage in his honor, hardly any mention was made that he was the first U.S. president to break a strike by a labor organization. There were no comments whatever about Reagan from the AFL-CIO or its major affiliates.
In 1981, President Reagan fired 10,000 federal air-traffic controllers who had gone on strike for higher wages and better working conditions. Then he refused to allow any of the strikers to return to their jobs. It destroyed their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) and had a demoralizing effect on the entire labor movement for years.-------------------------------------------
Construction still among most dangerous jobs By Brian Johnson, Twin Cities Finance and Commerce, MN
The 70-page report, released in May, examines job-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities in Minnesota from 1998 through 2002. It’s based on two studies conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — the Survey of Occupational Injuries and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
Construction ranked second behind agriculture/forestry/fishing when it came to job-related deaths from 1998 to 2002. Seventy-eight construction workers died on Minnesota job sites during those years, the report noted, while 92 fatalities occurred in agriculture/forestry/fishing.
Although construction accounted for only 5.6 percent of private-sector employment, the reported showed that 9.2 percent of all work-related injury and illness cases were in the construction industry.-------------------------------------------
China Reports 41,000 Workplace Deaths Occupational Hazards
China's State Administration of Work Safety is reporting 41,000 workplace deaths during the first four months of 2004, which is the same number logged for the same time period in 2003.
According to Xinhua, China's government-run news agency, the State Administration of Work Safety reported 310,000 work-related accidents occurred during the first quarter of 2004, including a 12.8 percent reduction in mine accidents and a 12.3 percent reduction in manufacturing.
In 2003, the State Administration of Work Safety reported 963,976 work-related accidents in China, with 136,340 fatalities. That number was a decrease of 2,591 fatalities from 2002.-------------------------------------------
Rail worker's union loses patience with 'Australian bully boys' Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand
The Rail & Maritime Transport Union says it has lost patience with the 'Australian bully boys' who bought Tranz Rail, and with Finance Minister Michael Cullen's dealings with them.
On Wednesday, Dr Cullen lambasted Toll Holdings for dragging its feet on implementing an agreement for the Government to buy back the railway network as a June 30 deadline looms.
The attack came at the same time as a hardening of the union attitude to the company that bought 84.2 per cent of Tranz Rail last year, recently changing the name of the company to Toll NZ.
Union general secretary Wayne Butson, who welcomed the Australians on arrival as less ideological than Tranz Rail's old management, said: 'I'm sick to the back teeth with the absolute arrogance of Toll NZ.'-------------------------------------------
City workers locked out for first time in BC lockoutnelson weblog, CUPE BC release
In support and solidarity, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1518 has generously offered to provide food and refreshments for the bbq to feed all those in attendance. Organized labour from across the province have been sending in letters of support, donating lockout support funds, and joining the picketlines.
“This is one fight the City of Nelson will regret picking,” says O’Neill. “The sooner they get back to the bargaining table, the better for everyone.”
CUPE 339 represents the City of Nelson’s 74 city workers who haven’t had a labour dispute in their 55-year history.-------------------------------------------
Union pickets Kohl's site here By Joy Davia, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
An area union is picketing the Kohl’s construction site on West Henrietta Road in Henrietta.
The Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters Local 85 is upset that the discount department store chain, which is based in Wisconsin, is using contractors who typically give their workers substandard wages and benefits, said Charles Peaslee, a union representative.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, June 17, 2004 ::CV inventor promises ease with new carpenter contraption By David Taylor, North Channel Sun, TX
'The first time I thought about it I was three stories up on an extension ladder and I had my caulk gun, but had left my hammer down on the ground,' Gaddy said. He realized then if he had a hammerhead on the other end of his caulk gun, he'd be better off.
The new tool is simple and straightforward in use. The caulk gun element operates in the same manner as any standard caulk gun, dispensing a line of caulk at the squeeze of the trigger.
To use the hammerhead, the consumer would grasp the tube of caulk loaded in the gun and, using the tube as a handle, swing the unit as with any hammer.-------------------------------------------
Feds may stunt union organizing campaigns By Ed Garsten / The Detroit News
The United Auto Workers union’s most effective tool to organize new members is under scrutiny from the National Labor Relations Board.
The board voted 3-2 late Monday to review neutrality pacts, where companies agree to recognize the union if a majority of workers sign cards supporting the union.
If the Republican-controlled NLRB limits the so-called card check agreements, it would be a major blow to the UAW, which is already struggling to stem membership losses.
Critics say workers often are coerced into signing cards and secret ballot elections are a fairer way to determine whether union representation is desired.
CyberSurvey
Unionization method
In so-called neutrality agreements, an employer gives a union the right to recruit on company property. The company agrees to recognize the union if a majority of workers sign cards, instead of holding secret ballot elections. The NLRB is reconsidering this practice. Do you think card checks are a fair way to select union representation?
Yes
No-------------------------------------------
Union apprentices to get college credit Newsday.com
Electrical workers will be eligible this year. Plumbers, pipefitters, air conditioning and refrigeration workers, carpenters, telecommunications technology workers and operating engineers will be eligible in January.
'Through this program, thousands of the workers we represent will be offered the opportunity to enrich themselves through college education, while businesses in this state, or those seeking to relocate here, will have access to the nation's most skilled and highly educated workforce,' said Charles Wowkanech, president of the New Jersey AFL-CIO.-------------------------------------------
Labor's Democrat Problem By Jonathan Tasini, TomPaine.com
So, let's start by asking: Would you be willing to work without a contract for two years? The cops do not have the right to strike; it's written in the law as a prohibition. (Well, the truth is that few people really have the effective right to strike in America; a guy named Ronald Reagan took care of that). So, instead, the police are using what little leverage they have, a once-every-four-years convention, to apply some pressure. Is there no shame among politicians who, for political gain, run to the side of policemen when they save lives, from collapsing towers in New York City to the prosaic neighborhood home, yet will deny them a fair living or at least chastise them when they exercise their constitutional right to free speech?-------------------------------------------
Dozens Arrested In Hotel Strike NBC5.com, IL
'I have worked here at the Congress for 25 years,' said another striking worker. 'They cut my salary by 7 percent. They took away my health benefits and no pension. And then they insisted upon bringing in non-union workers.'-------------------------------------------
Labor board: Nonunion workers lack right to have co-worker attend disciplinary meetings Associated Press
In a 3-2 decision last week that was announced Tuesday, the board overruled a 2000 case that extended to nonunion workers the right, under the National Labor Relations Act, to have a co-worker present when they think the meeting might result in discipline.-------------------------------------------
Unbrand America unbrandamerica.org
This July 4, culture jammers across the globe will deliver a blast of symbolic disobedience: we're trading the Stars-and-Stripes for Brands-and-Bands -- the symbol of all that's wrong with America. Imagine, tens of thousands of Corporate America flags waving over parades and over highways, in front of Wal-Mart and the White House -- a rallying point for a public ready for change...-------------------------------------------
The America We Know Mike Konopacki cartoon-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 ::Study questions 7E7 incentives By Bryan Corliss, Everett Herald, WA
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray quickly got on board with an Airbus-bashing speech on the Senate floor in which she called the European jet builders every nasty name short of "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" (as Homer Simpson refers to the French).
In a speech she titled "Will the Last Aerospace Worker Leaving America Turn Out the Lights," she accused Airbus of stealing jobs, lying to Congress and threatening the future of the American way of life.-------------------------------------------
Advocates decry workers' deaths By Bryan Virasami and Graham Rayman, Newsday, NY
The death of a Chinese immigrant construction worker, the 14th such laborer killed in the city in the past five years, has triggered new calls for stiffer criminal charges against unscrupulous contractors.
The human cost of some contractors cutting corners to save money has become all too familiar, but few tangible changes have resulted even after the string of deaths.
According to a Newsday count, the 44-year-old immigrant who friends identified as Jian Quo Shen, killed when a concrete wall collapsed over him June 7, was at least the 14th such worker killed since Mexican laborer Eduardo Daniel Gutierrez drowned in wet cement at a Williamsburg site in November 1999.
"It's a recurring story," said Assemb. Brian McLaughlin (D-Flushing), president of the New York City Central Labor Council. "Nothing has been done. What's more alarming is the appearance that there is even more and more evidence of workplace tragedies."-------------------------------------------
OSHA fines company after fatal collapse; owner to contest findings By HERB MEEKER, Mattoon Journal, IL
The OSHA citations claim that Swearingen Excavating of Mattoon lacked an adequate health/safety education program for its employees, and did not conduct proper training to help employees in the "avoidance of unsafe conditions," according to Bill Hancock, OSHA acting area director.
In addition, OSHA claims there were not enough inspections of the job site at 1716 Broadway Ave. by a competent person with knowledge of demolition hazards, and there was no engineering survey of framing, floors and walls to help avoid an unplanned collapse of the structure, Hancock added. The demolition workers were on the second floor of the structure when the collapse occurred.-------------------------------------------
Cut pay to stay open? Union says no thanks By Rick Wilson, The Grand Rapids Press
Some Local 2017 union members expressed frustration with their leadership, saying they were told by Don Oetman, director of UAW District 1-D, that Sunday's "stand-up" vote in public may not be valid. Members said Oetman told the gathering that a secret ballot might have to be held because of concerns some members may have been intimidated into rejecting the company's offer.
Oetman declined comment after the meeting. Davis said the international union would have to prove the vote was invalid before he would call for a secret ballot, and several among the membership agreed.
"We had a stand-up vote last time and that was good enough," said Dave Munger, 52, who has worked at the plant for 26 years. "It's not like it was close. What do they want?"
Greenville also faces the loss of 2,700 jobs at its Electrolux plant. The Swedish-based appliance maker plans to move refrigerator production to Mexico.-------------------------------------------
UNION WORKERS FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: Dem. Nat'l Convention: Specter of picket lines By Stevan Kirschbaum, Readville Chief Steward, USWA Local 8751, Boston/AxisofLogic
According to Steve Gillis, president of USWA Local 8751, Boston school bus union, "This vote sends a message to the city and the corporations that Boston unions stand united. An injury to one is an injury to all."
The steel union local represents over 1,300 school bus drivers and monitors, the overwhelming majority from the Haitian, African American, Cape Verdean and Latino communities. They provide a vital safety service to the city of Boston and are fighting for economic justice from First Student, Inc.-------------------------------------------
B.C. ferry maintenance workers officially locked out nupge.ca
It's official. Just as the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers' Union warned two weeks ago, Deas Pacific Marine has locked out ferry maintenance workers.The union, an affiliate of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE), will now seek permission from the provincial labour board to extend picketing beyond the Deas Pacific premises to West Coast ferry terminals. More than 160 workers are off the job.
Deas Pacific is a subsidiary of B.C. Ferries, the private sector company that took over West Coast ferry operations after the right-wing government of Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell came to power.-------------------------------------------
Calling fries fresh veggies half-baked, critics argue By Andrew Martin, Chicago Tribune
Tim Elliott, a Chicago attorney who recently challenged the revision in a Texas federal courtroom on behalf of a bankrupt food distributor, said defining french fries as fresh vegetables defies common sense.
'I find it pretty outrageous, really,' said Elliott, who argues that the Batter-Coating Rule is so vague that chocolate-covered cherries, packed in a candy box, would qualify as fresh fruit.
'This is something that only lawyers could do,' he said, pointing to a stack of legal documents debating the french-fry rule change.
'There must be 100 pages there about something you could summarize in one paragraph: batter-coated french fries are not fresh vegetables.'-------------------------------------------
Firefighters help build houses for Habitat Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, IA
They've seen how quickly a fire can destroy a house, but on Thursday, some Council Bluffs firefighters got a taste of what it's like to build one.
About 25 firefighters, members of the International Association of Firefighters Local 15, spent most of Thursday working on two houses for Habitat for Humanity.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 ::D.A.D.'s Day
Dollars Against Diabetes (DAD’s Day) is an annual campaign spearheaded by the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
Carpenters plan ‘Solidarity Ride Against Diabetes’ Workday Minnesota
DEADWOOD, S.D. — The Lakes & Plains Regional Council of Carpenters and Joiners is partnering with other construction trades for a motorcycle “Solidarity Ride Against Diabetes” in the Black Hills of South Dakota.-------------------------------------------
Movers caught up in two-union battle By Kathy Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal
Carpenters, Teamsters spar
On April 6, an employee called Teamsters Local 150 asking if the union could send someone to talk to workers. Business representative Ed Rogers met with them in the parking lot two days later. Twenty-two out of 24 workers signed cards saying they wanted Teamster representation.
Rogers talked to the owners the same day, asked for recognition and got it.
Then the Teamsters heard from the carpenters union. A flap at the local level over who had jurisdiction to organize the company moved up the food chain. A memo April 12 from McCarron to Hoffa includes a lengthy timeline of action by the carpenters to organize Petrini Van and Storage.
Ultimately, the two unions smoothed things over.
"We are interested in making sure people who are doing modular furniture installation are making decent wages and benefits," said carpenters spokesman Paul Cohen. "We are not looking to organize somebody already represented by another union. Frankly, if these companies were signatories with the Teamsters, we would not be there. It's not like the Teamsters had this arena organized and we stepped into their territory."
Jurisdictional issues happen all the time, said Rogers. "We have good relations with the carpenters and work side-by-side with them on some contracts."
But there are limits.-------------------------------------------
