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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Thursday, March 31, 2005 ::
Contractors oppose bill requiring safety training By KEVIN LANDRIGAN, Nashua Telegraph, NH
But Joseph Donohue of the state Carpenters Union said this training course would reduce accidents and save lives.
“What this comes down to is, what price you would put on the health of a carpenter?” Donohue asked rhetorically.------------------------------------------- posted 12:20 PM :: reference link ::
0 comments ::
Two ways of honoring Chavez By Greg Mellen, Long Beach Press-Telegram
The irony was that while Contreras, a Latino activist and union leader, was lauding 1st District Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal at the annual Cesar Chavez luncheon, Gonzales, a Latino activist, was protesting the treatment of Latinos, in part by Lowenthal, in the 1st District.
What would Chavez have thought?"-------------------------------------------
Join UFW's Virtual March! ufw.org
On March 31, we celebrate Cesar Chavez Day. Hundreds of marches and celebrations will take place throughout the U.S. honoring the life of this humble giant. 2005 is an historic year for Cesar’s UFW as we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the historic Delano Grape Strike. To honor the legacy of this historic event, a Virtual March fundraiser is being conducted online beginning this month and ending in December.-------------------------------------------
Pro-stadium union boss guilty of mob link New York Daily News
The verdict against Michael Forde, head of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, came nearly a year ago, but he continues to run the 25,000-member union because of a legal technicality.
Forde, who earns $223,054 a year for running the union, is listed as a key player in the Hudson Yards Coalition, a pro-Jets stadium consortium of labor and business leaders.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 ::Construction of stadium drawing fans By Jeffrey Tomich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Between 350 and 500 workers are on the job up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, depending on the work to be done, Loyd said. Crews are working 'selective overtime' when a specific task must be completed, he said.
Nearer completion, work will go on 24 hours a day, every day. The number of people on the project will reach about 900 for much of the finishing work.-------------------------------------------
Help Wanted: Space Colonists Need To Be More Than Astronauts By G. B. Leatherwood, Space.com
One suggestion is to start looking at the high school and community college programs for the trades. For example, in Hernando County, Florida, a new high school is in its third year of vocational and technical skills curricula. A new chapter of NSS is being considered by this school for those who might be interested in doing what they now do, but in space. Another suggestion is that the trade and crafts labor organizations be enlisted to research and develop apprenticeship programs for their members.-------------------------------------------
‘Good Jobs’ Is High on Labor’s Agenda, But What Can Unions Do to Create Them? LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
Let’s spend money on better schools, hospitals, affordable housing, parks and playgrounds. Let’s clean up the urban slums that breed crime and poverty. Let’s pour more money into the fight against cancer and other terrible diseases. There’s plenty of work to be done to make America a better place to live in for all of us.
Is this an impossible vision? Not so. It was realized in the darkest days of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The several million workers employed by the government on public works projects literally changed the face of the nation.
In less than two years, they built or improved 225,000 miles of roads, 36,000 schools, nearly 4,000 playgrounds and athletic fields, about 1,000 airports, and hundreds of hospitals, post offices, bridges, dams, courthouses and other needed facilities. And workers on these projects received the prevailing rate of wages.-------------------------------------------
hat tip: randomWalks flux
A New Guide Walks Homeowners Through the Process of Building 'Green' By Katherine Salant, washingtonpost
According to the product category summaries, even the most seemingly innocuous product can have its downside.
For example, cement is the critical ingredient that makes sand and gravel bind and become hardened concrete. Its manufacture is both energy intensive and polluting. When a ton of cement is made, up to a ton of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. The environmental effects of cement can be lessened, however, if the amount of cement mixed into concrete can be reduced without affecting its structural integrity.
One cement substitute is fly ash, itself an industrial waste created at coal-burning power plants. Moreover, fly ash actually strengthens the concrete because it changes its chemical properties. Concrete will be greener still if you substitute recycled glass fragments for gravel. The fragments are made in part from recycled glass bottles.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 ::State workers may lose 2 of their paid holidays Lynda Gledhill, San Francisco Chronicle
Cesar Chavez Day honoring the late labor leader is the most recent addition to the state holiday calendar. In 2002, Gov. Gray Davis signed the original bill, which called for courts and schools to shut down, too.
Concerned about the $90 million price tag to shut down all those services, Davis requested the more narrow version that included only state employees. It is recommended that schools spend part of their day teaching about the legacy of Chavez.
Some lawmakers were still concerned that state workers were getting a day off while farmworkers toiled in the field.-------------------------------------------
Sparks fly over plans for foreign workers By Sarah O'Donnell and Gordon Jaremko, Edmonton Journal
The dispute over foreign versus domestic workers is also about wages and workplace rules -- as well as a jurisdictional fight between the unions that have traditionally provided the skilled labour to the oilsands industry and the Christian Labour Association of Canada, an alternative association that is increasingly moving into the building trades' turf.
The Building Trades Council represents 40,000 tradespeople, including electricians, carpenters, boilermakers and pipefitters, through 23 Alberta union locals. Collectively, its members are the largest private-sector provider of training in Alberta, second only to the provincial government.
The Christian Labour Association -- whose name refers to Christian principles of fairness and integrity valued by the western European immigrants who founded the group -- is one of the fastest-growing unions in North America, but also allows non-unionized workers onto its job sites. About 10,800 of its 30,000 Canadian members are in Alberta.
Unions affiliated with the Building Trades Council won't allow their members to work at Christian Labour Association sites, citing lower pay rates and poorer working conditions. Ledcor Construction, the company that recently won the right to hire 680 foreign workers, uses Christian Labour Association workers.-------------------------------------------
State of Maine Slammed over Failure to Protect Rights of Workers Making Uniforms Supplied by Cintas Global Unions Website
Says ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney: “To earn the minimum wage, workers often have to work unpaid hours in order to meet the unrealistically high production quotas. Armed guards prevent them from leaving the plant until they have completed their production. The minimum wage is not enough to cover both transport and food, so there are many days when workers go hungry.-------------------------------------------
Major Organizing Issues: Overwork, Stress and Less Time for the Family LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
If the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions hope to re-establish their relevance to workers, they’ll have to produce answers that have appeal. Is a six-hour workday, 30-hour week utopian? Then how about a 7-hour day, 35-hour week, with limits on weekend work? More paid sick leave and vacations? If not these proposals, what else? Can we continue to ignore the problem? A new grass roots coalition, “Take Back Your Time,” is seeking legislation in 21 states to give workers paid sick leave or paid family leave to take care of infants or sick family members.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, March 28, 2005 ::'The great white waste of time' By Cristin Schmitz, National Post
It began with an eyebrow-raising cover story on Canada in the Weekly Standard. In 'Welcome to Canada: The Great White Waste of Time,' senior writer Matt Labash observes most Americans -- when they think of Canada at all -- regard it 'as North America's attic.''
==========
Welcome to Canada discussion, Vive le Canada
From the March 21, 2005 issue: The Great White Waste of Time.
by Matt Labash
03/21/2005, Volume 010, Issue 25
If we have bothered forming opinions at all about Canadians, they've tended toward easy pickings: that they are a docile, Zamboni-driving people who subsist on seal casserole and Molson. Their hobbies include wearing flannel, obsessing over American hegemony, exporting deadly Mad Cow disease and even deadlier Gordon Lightfoot and Nickelback albums. You can tell a lot about a nation's mediocrity index by learning that they invented synchronized swimming. Even more, by the fact that they're proud of it.
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Welcome to Canada by Matt Labash, The Weekly Standard
Being bloodthirsty Americans, we have naturally fired a few warning volleys in lieu of slapping them with a restraining order. A few years ago, my friend Jonah Goldberg from National Review wrote a piece elegantly titled 'Bomb Canada,' encouraging us to smack Soviet Canuckistan, as Pat Buchanan calls it, 'out of its shame-spiral' since 'that's what big brothers do.' Canadians responded as Canadians always will when faced with overt aggression. They wrote inordinate numbers of letters of concern, exercising what Canadian writer Douglas Coupland calls their 'almost universal editorial-page need to make disapproving clucks.'
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Zamboni nashville predators hockey glossary
The vehicle use to prepare the rink's ice surface before the game and after each period.-------------------------------------------
Report: 2-Inch Error Killed 2 BP Workers In 2004 Click2Houston.com
All 15 workers killed in the BP refinery explosion in Texas City Wednesday were identified Friday as federal investigators began searching for the cause of the fiery blast that also injured more than 100 people.-------------------------------------------
Union asks labour board to halt closure of unionized Québec Wal-Mart UFCW Canada
The UFCW Canada application has several components. The union has asked the QLRC to stay the closing of the Jonquière store until the Commission has rendered a decision on section 15 and subsequent sections of the Québec Labour Code concerning dismissals; and until the QLRC has rendered a decision on other charges filed against Wal-Mart of harassing employees who support the union.-------------------------------------------
Bikers to escort Vietnam memorial By KENN PETERS, Syracuse Post Standard, NY
Once the wall arrives at the Fairgrounds, the 240-foot-long faux-granite replica will be erected by members of Carpenters' Union Local 747.
Construction will require hundreds of man-hours and at least $7,000 in lumber, Lane said. A walkway will be built in front of the wall so visitors can make rubbings of the engraved names.-------------------------------------------
UConn to beef up anti-sweatshop labor with new co-op feature Newsday.com - AP
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The University of Connecticut will sell union-made T-shirts and other apparel in an effort to combat sweatshop labor that has produced college paraphernalia.
William Simpson, president and general manager of the UConn Co-op, said the bookstore has agreed to set up an area that will feature logo apparel made in the United States by unionized workers.-------------------------------------------
State probing whether workers were underpaid The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon
About 45 employees might have been underpaid by a total of $250,000, according to the bureau, which is still working on the investigation. For example, it appears employees who performed ironworker duties were paid carpenter rates of $27.64 an hour, and not the proper rate of $37.17, Hammond told The Oregonian newspaper.-------------------------------------------
Construction program for women gets national award Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, AK
After her participation in AWP, Bodding was accepted into the Northern Carpenters Local 1243 Apprenticeship program. AWP helped cover her initial tuition fees, offered food and fuel cards and gave Bodding a clothing voucher for work clothing and steel-toed boots.
Dietrich said local construction organizations have been supportive of the program and instrumental in its success. The Fairbanks Building and Construction Trades Council provides the five weeks of skill training while apprenticeships are administered jointly by unions and contractors.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, March 27, 2005 ::In Canada, Flashback to the '70s By Tomas Alex Tizon, LATimes
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an article about Nelson BC, the hometown of rawblogxport....
visit nelsonbc.ca-------------------------------------------
Labor Sings! Exhibit Labor Arts
When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun.
For what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
But the union makes us strong!-------------------------------------------
Condo protest swells By JOHN GALLAGHER, Detroit Free Press
About 100 unionized plumbers, electricians, carpenters, laborers and other tradespeople carrying balloons and signs picketed the Main Street Lofts condominium project at 11 Mile and Main Street. Friday's protest was the biggest on the site since unions began picketing the mostly nonunion job three weeks ago.
'We're bringing a little happiness to a sad situation, having some fun,' said Scott Lowes, business representative for the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters. Referring to the workers who were clearly visible, he added, 'We know for a fact that these guys are getting substandard wages for this area.'-------------------------------------------
Fences like Abe made still grace homes today By Maureen Gilmer, The Cincinnati Post
The traditional rail was split from a log cut 'three ax handles' long, which is about 11 feet. First the bark was peeled, itself an arduous task using wedges made of ironwood or another hardwood instead of the steel. A typical rail was from 4 to 5 inches square or triangular, depending on the size of the log.
Old fences began by one's laying the first rail right on the ground with a second set at angles for the joint. More rails were stacked this way until the fence was about eight rails high. That was the maximum height for freestanding fences. More height required two stabilizing posts or other reinforcement.-------------------------------------------
Dearth of skilled builders, illegal contractors stymie Florida rebuilding efforts South Florida Sun-Sentinel
'There is such a shortage of roofing materials, particularly shingles, that we're seeing many roofers driving to other parts of the country, as far away as Oklahoma and Michigan, and bringing back full truckloads of shingles,' said Palm Beach County Building Director Roland Holt. The problem, he said, is those shingles often don't comply with South Florida's stronger building codes.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, March 26, 2005 ::Lumber talks please officials By MARTIN O'HANLON AND DAN DUGAS, CP, London Free Press, Canada
Given that the 1996 Canada-U.S. softwood pact took six months to translate into legal paperwork, a new deal appears far off.
The union representing lumber workers was not impressed.
'Canadian negotiators have . . . blinders shielding them from reality,' said Cec Makowski of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
He said Canadian negotiators are linking a proposed export tax on softwood to an American proposal to eliminate public ownership of Canadian forests.-------------------------------------------
My interview with Jimmy Hoffa By Christopher Caen, San Francisco Examiner
I sure hope Hoffa likes to multitask. He has the day-to-day union matters to deal with, the drive for boxing and, oh yes, Social Security. You knew we were going to wind up here, right? Hoffa sees this as yet another step in the disintegration of workers' rights. From the attack on defined benefits to pension fund reform to Social Security, Hoffa explained the process of the slow erosion. And it is a slow process, one that happens over years without anyone noticing, since the movements are so slight. It hit Hoffa in the face when he went into a McDonald's to order a burger and saw a 75-year-old man working behind the counter. His golden years had turned into the Golden Arches.-------------------------------------------
Rainforest mafia floors Canadian homes The Asian Pacific Post, Canada
Undercover environmental investigators have unveiled what they are calling the “world‘s biggest timber smuggling racket“ claiming Canada is one of the leading importers of Merbau wood stolen from Indonesia‘s tropical forests.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak, an Indonesian eco-group, are now calling on Canada and the US to ban the importation of the wood which is turned into flooring products in China.
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Bamboo and rattan as wood substitutes By Doris Gaskell Nuyda, INQ7 Interactive, Philippines-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, March 25, 2005 ::Contractors cleared in wage dispute Fort Wayne News Sentinel, IN
“The real losers here are the workers,” said Mike Lauer, business agent for Carpenters Local 232, when he learned of Purdue’s action. His union’s members did not get work on the student housing project, but used it to raise awareness of the potential problems faced by itinerant workers.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart sells T-shirts that appear to use the premier's Maui mugshot Sean Holman, Vancouver Sun
Nine hundred of the shirts were manufactured in early January and distributed to Wal-Mart test stores across North America about two weeks ago.
But they'll soon be collectors' items.
'Obviously, they're changing the image on future products,' said Turitzin.
Calls to some B.C. Wal-Mart stores stocking the shirts were referred to the company's Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ont., which was closed.
News about the T-shirt first appeared on B.C.'s Independent Media Center Website and has been circulating on B.C. blogs ever since.
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babble: Was Gordon Campbell's mugshot put on Punisher T-shirts? posted by Rush, rabble.ca
Is this T-shirt for real or is this some stupid hoax: http://24.70.126.86/gc2.gif
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eBay - gordon campbell t-shirt
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more Gordo graphics...-------------------------------------------
Anniversary of a Tragedy By Jordan Barab, Confined Space
Today marks the 94th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire that killed 146 employees.-------------------------------------------
Union expects big crowd at today's protest in Royal Oak BY BILL LAITNER, Detroit Free Press
A picket line averaging about 50 union carpenters at a building site in downtown Royal Oak is expected to swell to several hundred today.
Members of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters, who've been at the site at 11 Mile and Main for about a month, said they'll be joined by union plumbers, sheet-metal workers, electricians and the Easter bunny.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, March 24, 2005 ::Island facing exodus of tradespeople to Fort McMurray By JIM BROWN, Journal Pioneer, Canada
CHARLOTTETOWN-When skilled tradespeople can earn hourly packages worth $38.85 -- nearly double what they get in unionized work-sites on P.E.I. -- it's not surprising dozens have pulled up stakes and moved to Fort McMurray, Alta., to work in two multi-billion dollar oil sands projects, says Paul Chiasson.
Chiasson is the business representative for Local 1338 of the P.E.I. Carpenters Union.-------------------------------------------
Look For The Union Label -- In Finance BusinessWeek
Labor's new plan to manage its own assets could set Wall Street back a bundle
Still, labor faces unique problems that other membership groups don't. For one thing, it's in the middle of an increasingly divisive leadership struggle that could muddle the attempt to unify its financial entities. O'Sullivan is part of a group led by Service Employees International Union President Andrew L. Stern that's unhappy with Sweeney's track record. In recent weeks, insiders say, Sweeney has privately told people that if the Laborers were ever to quit the AFL-CIO, as Stern has threatened to do, Sweeney would ask loyal unions to kick O'Sullivan out of his ULLICO job. Similarly, another Stern ally, United Brotherhood of Carpenters President Douglas J. McCarron, already split from the AFL-CIO four years ago. At the Las Vegas powwow, Sweeney took steps to remove the Carpenters from related AFL-CIO bodies. If he follows through, McCarron could yank the $500 million or so his union has invested in ULLICO and AFL-CIO housing investment trusts.-------------------------------------------
Flood of raw logs exported By Jeff Rud, Victoria Times Colonist
Raw log exports from British Columbia have more than doubled during the B.C. Liberals' first term compared to the previous four years under NDP rule, government records show.
That's a cause for concern because the exporting of raw logs means jobs are also being exported, government critics say. Instead of using the logs to make wood products here, they're being sent elsewhere for processing.-------------------------------------------
Builders left in lurch as skills pool shrinks By Guy Allenby, the Australian
The federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations last year catalogued in the National and State Skills Shortage Lists, shortages of carpenters and joiners, fibrous and solid plasterers, bricklayers, plumbers and cabinet makers.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, March 23, 2005 ::Death Toll in Texas Plant Blast Hits 15 By PAM EASTON, Leavenworth Times, KS
'Basically, it was one big boom,' he said. 'It's a shame that people have to get killed and hurt trying to make a dollar in these plants, but that's part of reality.'
The plant and town, population 40,000, have dealt with two other recent refinery accidents.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the refinery nearly $110,000 after two employees were burned to death by superheated water in September.-------------------------------------------
Sudden Death In The Steel Industry Confined Space
Herbie Tolman's wife, meanwhile, is facing life with $588 a week in workers compensation money she gets from the state. What hurts her most, she says, is that no one from U.S. Steel has ever called to apologize.'Not one person has called from Pittsburgh, not one person! Couldn't they have done that?' she wonders. 'Herbie was so proud of that job. He loved it so much. I still can't believe he's never coming back.'-------------------------------------------
Asbestos exposure case settled out of court By Sam Kusic, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Lowmaster worked as a union ironworker from 1953 to 1959 and a union sheet-metal worker from 1959 to 1995 at various commercial and industrial job sites in the county. During the time that Lowmaster was working, he inhaled asbestos dust and fibers, the lawsuit alleged.-------------------------------------------
Unions to Wal-Mart: The Gloves Are Off Guerrilla News Network
Wal-Mart and its wannabes are the GMs, Fords, Chryslers and U.S. Steels of our time. The great organizing drives of the 1930s were mounted around an understanding that there was a new industrial force reorganizing all of mass work. Wal-Mart and its clones have similarly restructured the nature of mass enterprise in service industries today, and therefore are transforming the fundamental business model that drives both domestic and international commerce.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 ::Burn Victim Settles With IBM, Contractor By RACHEL KONRAD, AP
An IBM supervisory engineer asked McNabb and another Fluor contractor to scavenge replacement parts from shutdown electrical equipment in a building where the electrical unit allegedly was labeled with a yellow 'out of service' tag. When McNabb applied his wrench to a piece of equipment, 12,400 volts exploded through his body, said his attorney Richard Alexander.-------------------------------------------
Audiotapes Spark Damages Claims In Hancock Scaffold Disaster NBC5.com
CHICAGO -- Hancock Center building managers were caught on audiotape allegedly admitting they knew a scaffold was unsafe before it collapsed, killing three people and injuring several others, attorneys for the plaintiffs said Monday while announcing their bid for punitive damages.-------------------------------------------
JCP&L strike ends, but anger remains BY TOM JOHNSON, Newark Star Ledger, NJ
After 98 days on the picket line, more than 1,300 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers returned to work Wednesday, ending the longest strike ever at the state's second- largest electric utility. Many remain angry, frustrated and unsure about their future with the utility.
Mending fences and repairing an already strained relationship between the union and FirstEnergy, the utility's parent, will take hard work, time and concerted efforts by both sides in the dispute, according to labor experts.
'Overcoming bad feelings on both sides of a labor dispute is a lot like betrayal in marriage,' said Allen Steinmetz, chief executive of Inward Strategic Consulting, a Massachusetts firm. 'There is little trust, poor communications, two sides to a story.'-------------------------------------------
Recognizing and Preventing Occupational Disease: An Online Poll CCOHS
CCOHS Forum 2005: New Strategies for Recognizing and Preventing Occupational Disease took place on March 3 & 4, 2005 in Toronto Canada. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) facilitated this first pan-Canadian, tripartite forum on occupational disease.
The delegates of the Forum participated in workshops where they developed new strategies to help in the recognition and prevention of occupational disease. The following surveys represent the results of their work. We invite you to add your voice by participating in this poll.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, March 21, 2005 ::UFCW Calls for ABC News to Drop WalMart as 'Only in America' Sponsor U.S. Newswire
'The UFCW, and all of working America, is deeply troubled by Wal-Mart's exploitation of ABC News,' stated Hansen. 'Wal-Mart's use of its 'Only in America' sponsorship is simply another cynical attempt to deceive customers about Wal-Mart's responsibility for sending more jobs overseas than any other American corporation and lowering U.S. wages.'-------------------------------------------
Job site in the sky King County Journal, WA
Since last July, when the crane went up, he has spent long days lifting and lowering tons of reinforcement steel and other building materials to keep the project growing.
He works six days a week, starting as early as 4:30 in the morning. Last week he logged 63 hours.
Union scale wages for a journeyman operator of the tallest cranes is $31.15 per hour.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart Buys "Get Out of Jail" Card Labor Blog
Prosecutors announced they were dropping all criminal charges against Wal-Mart for its use of contractors employing undocumented workers in exchange for paying an $11 million fine, a hefty sounding amount but a pittance for a company with $288.2 billion in sales last year. Let's put it this way-- this is an equivalent financial hit to an average person making $50,000 per year being hit with a $1.90 fine for illegal activity.
The double standard for corporate crime is astounding-- we destroy the lives of young people for minor drug crimes, but corporate executives can break the law and steal pay from their workers, and all they get it a financial slap on the wrist.-------------------------------------------
Art meets science: the worker's side of Brilliant By Dale West, Castlegar News, BC, Canada
The Kootenay Gallery of Art, History and Science opened for the 2005 season Friday night living up to its name with a "powerhouse" exhibit of black and white photographs of the Brilliant Dam expansion project.
Powerhouse, by Ursula Heller, is a close-up but artistic look at the construction of the new green energy source, focusing not as much on the physical structure but on those building it.
"We photograph the buildings, we photograph the big ships, but we forget the people who are actually doing it by hand," Heller told the opening night audience. As an added tribute to the workers, Heller did all her work by hand, printing all the photos in her little home darkroom, hand cutting every photo and receiving a little help from her husband who hand cut all the foam-core backing board. Even the mounting of the exhibit took over six hours to complete and required 500 hand-driven nails.
"It's celebrating industrial work," said Sandy Korman, gallery executive director.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, March 20, 2005 ::NDP demands action on former Zonolite plants CBC Manitoba
WINNIPEG – Federal NDP leader Jack Layton was in Winnipeg Friday to lead a campaign trying to force the federal government to clean up former vermiculite-processing plant sites across the country that could be contaminated with asbestos.
Zonolite, a popular type of insulation used in hundreds of thousands of Canadian homes, was made from the mineral vermiculite, which came from a W.R. Grace mine in Montana that was naturally contaminated with an extremely carcinogenic form of asbestos.-------------------------------------------
A Cartoonist Spins in his Grave By Daryl Cagle, SitNews, AK
Guild President Foley writes, 'In addition to being an ardent cartoonist, Herb Block also was an ardent trade unionist. That's why Herb left us the $50,000 ... Trade unions, like cartoonists, are also on the verge of extinction. Newspaper companies like Cox, Tribune, Gannett, etc., do their darndest to eliminate the Guild. Do you folks ever give consideration to that legacy of Herb Block when you give your awards for cartooning? I doubt it; nor would I expect it (even though I might wish it). And we would never, ever presume that you or any other group (such as The Herblock Foundation) was somehow 'dishonoring' Herb Block because it gave an award to a cartoonist or publication that was anti-union. Again, we wouldn't like it, but it wouldn't be our award to bestow.'-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart Canada Fined $500,000 for Failing to Follow Workplace Safety Protocols Occupational Hazards
Wal-Mart Canada Corp. has pleaded guilty to 25 charges of failing to notify the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board within 3 days of learning of injuries to its workers. The board fined Wal-Mart Canada $500,000.
Wal-Mart's failure to notify the board within the prescribed timeframe constitutes a violation under Section 152(3) of Canada's Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.-------------------------------------------
In wake of deaths, bill filed to save other workers' lives By Erin Dower, Somerville Journal, MA
A week after the U.S. Labor Department announced it is fining a Somerville floor contractor for its role in a fatal fire last year, state Rep. Pat Jehlen is trying to stiffen regulations for floor finishers.
Jehlen, D-Somerville, has proposed a state law that would require companies that use flammable or combustible liquids to be licensed by the division of fire safety.-------------------------------------------
Bribe in land deal results in prison term AP, Indianapolis Star
'I wish I could go back and stop the stupidity,' Kevin Pastrick told federal Judge Robert Miller Jr. before being sentenced Thursday.
Pastrick, former state Democratic Chairman Peter Manous and Gerry Nannenga, an official with the Northwest Indiana District Council of Carpenters Union, had pleaded guilty to charges they conspired to invest $10 million in union pension money to buy 55 acres in the Coffee Creek development south of Chesterton.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, March 19, 2005 ::2 workers die as crane collapses By Leila Fadel and Brian Builta, Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX
IRVING - Two construction workers were killed Saturday morning when the arm of a crane buckled and collapsed, sending three steel beams crashing to the ground.-------------------------------------------
What Happened To My Dad? By Jordan Barab, Confined Space
The Contra Costa Times ran a fascinating, yet heartbreaking series last week describing a virtual perfect storm of industtrial disaster that swallowed the lives of five men and left fourteen children without fathers -- a pipeline company that had recently purchased too many aging pipelines to keep track of, a low-bid contractor with a terrible safety record and a municipal utility, unaware and unconcerned about the contractor's safety record driving the contractor to hurry and get the job done.
The result:The blast threw Victor Rodriguez so high into the air that when he hit the pavement every bone in his skull shattered. His left leg, sternum and ribs broke.-------------------------------------------
Inside the House of Labor Review by Gene Carroll, ILCA
Rebels, Reformers and Racketeers: How Insurgents Transformed the Labor Movement By Herman Benson New York: Association for Union Democracy, 2004 216 pp. $17.50
WHILE THE LABOR MOVEMENT in the United States is a beacon for democracy, too often it fails as a beacon of democracy. Herman Benson makes this clear in his remarkable personal memoir, Rebels, Reformers and Racketeers: How Insurgents Transformed the Labor Movement.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, March 18, 2005 ::Steelworkers ratify three-year agreement with Canadian General-Tower Ltd. CNW Telbec
The agreement also irons out inequities for skilled trades, adding a 25-cent adjustment for electricians, machinists, millwrights, pipefitters, carpenters, powerhouse operators and oilers.
Shift premiums have been improved for both afternoons and nights, and a $1 premium has been added for lead hands.-------------------------------------------
The Myth of the Molly Maguires Workers Comp Insider
But the real find of my evening, and one that has kept me riveted, is the story of the Molly Maguires, a clandestine society of Irish miners who struggled against the brutal work conditions in the Pennsylvania coal mines. The story revolves around work conditions and work safety in the late 1800s, the early labor union movements, immigrant pitted against immigrant, murder, execution, and more. Depending on who tells the story, it is a tale of criminals or heroes.-------------------------------------------
Workplace Violence Litigation Threatens Business Occupational Hazards
OSHA has recommended the following steps to reduce the possibility of workplace violence-related death or injury:
* Employers should establish a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence against or by their employees. That means that if a serious incident occurs, one or more participants should be terminated.
* Companies should provide training so employees know what conduct is not acceptable, how to protect themselves, and what to do if they are victims.
* Where appropriate, adequate security measures should be implemented. Employers should secure the workplace, using photo identification badges, video surveillance, lighting, alarms, badges, and certified security personnel. Drop safes should be used to limit the amount of cash on hand. Appropriate field staff should be given cellular phones and hand-held alarms.-------------------------------------------
Union's inflatable rat marks site where it seeks pay data Indianapolis Star
The Indiana-Kentucky Regional Council of Carpenters this week parked its 12-foot inflatable rat in front of the Downtown Hilton, where the Portland, Ore.-based seafood restaurant chain McCormick & Schmick's is building a location.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, March 17, 2005 ::Developer keeps on hammering By Chip Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
It's no wonder that after completing a $50 million renovation of the landmark Rotunda Building in downtown Oakland four years ago, hometown developer Phil Tagami dedicated it to the workers who built it.
In the bowels of the eight-story, domed structure is a plaque with the names of each of the 2,000 construction workers who pounded a nail, hauled steel or put up sheetrock. It's both a dedication to the workers and a reminder of Tagami's own start in the business.-------------------------------------------
Stern-Hoffa Group Loses First Round, Seeking 50% Rebate for Organizing LaborTalk By Harry Kelber
A proposal by Teamster President James Hoffa to give international unions 50% of the per capita contributions they pay the national AFL-CIO, a rebate of $35 million, was rejected by the Executive Committee by a vote of 15 to 7.
Those voting for the 50% rebate included the four members of the recently disbanded New Union Partnership: Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees, the articulate leader of the group; Bruce Raynor and John Wilhelm, co-heads of Unite Here, and Terence O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers. They were joined by Hoffa, Joe Hanson, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, and Ron Gettelfinger, president of the Auto Workers.
Opposing the Stern-Hoffa proposal were leaders of communication workers, steel workers, public employees, machinists, teachers, electricians and nine other unions.-------------------------------------------
Where There's Smoke, You're Fired Workers Comp Insider
Unlike the use of illegal drugs, smoking is not an illegal activity per se. You just cannot do it in many places. Some of the pro-smoker websites point out that even where smoking is illegal (bars, for example), some judges have ruled that the bar owner has no obligation to enforce the statute.
Workplace fairness, a pro-smoker website, points out the downside of this type of discrimination. Across-the-board policies result in the termination of skilled employees, whose services are valued, even if they are at higher risk for prolonged illness and even if the cost of their healthcare is higher than other employees.-------------------------------------------
Defending labor's right to protest the war Jack Heyman, San Francisco Chronicle
Despite adversity posed by employers and the government, the ILWU has persevered in the struggle for justice for all workers. On Saturday, longshore workers are encouraging others to follow their lead in protesting the war and occupation and in defense of civil rights and social gains.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 ::Workers win back $1M BY BART JONES, Newsday, NY
Authorities said they were paid between $8 and $18.50 an hour, but should have received about $60 an hour including fringe benefits under state prevailing wage laws - a state-mandated wage for skilled workers on public works contracts.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart-Led Coalition Loses Push for 16 Hour Day for Truck Drivers By AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department
Amendment Threatened Highway Safety, Exploited Workers-------------------------------------------
Farmworkers Win Historic Deal After Boycotting Taco Bell by Duncan Campbell, the Guardian/UK
The deal between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands, the largest restaurant firm in the world, aims to improve the wages and conditions of the Florida tomato pickers, for years one of the most exploited groups in the US workforce, some of whose conditions have led to prosecutions under slavery laws.-------------------------------------------
OSHA Identifies Workplaces with High Injury Rates SafetyNext
The 14,000 sites are listed alphabetically, by state, on OSHA's web site at: http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/foia/hot_11.html.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 ::Dangerous cargo traveling through your neighborhood By Sean Sands, Business Gazette, MD
Supporters of the District's action are encouraging Marylanders in the suburbs to call their congressional representatives to get the federal government to act. 'If you have any kind of explosion [in Washington], it's not going to stop at the border,' said Joslyn Williams, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO. A chlorine gas cloud 'isn't going to stop at Eastern Avenue.'-------------------------------------------
UAW-Marine spat is absurd Kalamazoo Gazette, MI
The UAW reversed its decision Monday, but the Marines weren't placated. They have found an alternative place to park.-------------------------------------------
Can't Workers of the World Unite? By David Moberg, The Nation
The need for strategic, focused growth for power is undeniable. Stern rightly urges unions to build institutions that can match the power of global corporations and raise the standards for workers across an industry. But it is equally important to create a broad working-class movement for economic democracy driven by existing union members and newly recruited workers. Whatever compromise structural reforms they finally adopt, labor leaders must overcome their institutional rivalries to recognize that they have at least as much shared interest in the success of organizing as they do in political victory. The cheery side of labor's plight is that even though there are many obstacles to organizing, there's no shortage of opportunities. The next few months will test how labor plans to rise to that challenge.-------------------------------------------
Race to the Bottom By Liza Featherstone, The Nation
Wal-Mart is working for everyone,' read the newspaper ad, which ran in January in more than 100 newspapers nationwide, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. 'Some of our critics are working only for themselves.' The same day, the company launched walmartfacts.com, a website to counter criticism of the kind you may have read in this magazine. Along with some misleading information intended to make Wal-Mart's wages and benefits sound much better than they are, the new campaign materials feature many smiling African-American faces; the website explains, accurately, that Wal-Mart is a 'leading employer' of Hispanics and African-Americans.
As Jesse Jackson and other black leaders have pointed out in response to this boast, the slave plantation was once a 'leading employer' of African-Americans as well.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, March 14, 2005 ::Stelco's a circus - Steelmaker's "bankruptcy" profitable, but not for workers. by Mike Martin, Straight Goods
For its part, the Steelworkers have continued to be solid, steel-solid. They have challenged the company's bankruptcy plans and have been proven right. They worked with all the potential investors to come up with the best deal for workers and pensioners. And they never took their eyes off the prize, which was to protect the Stelco pension plan and hold the company intact.
In the spirit of co-operation that has characterized the USWA position all the way through this period, Local 8782 President Bill Ferguson said, 'If the company is prepared to engage the union as a full and equal participant, and keep the company together, we will roll-up our sleeves and get it done.'-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO Pushes Carpenters To Rejoin Or Risk Ouster from Building Trades By Sherie Winston, with Tony Illia in Las Vegas, ENR
It’s decision time again for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. The AFL-CIO Executive Council has given the 530,000-member union until the labor federation’s July convention to decide whether it will re-affiliate or risk being ousted from the building trades department.-------------------------------------------
U.S. kindles softwood scrap By LYNN MOORE, Montreal Gazette
An adequate show of goodwill would be the return to Canada of about $4.1 billion in duties, said Paul Krabbe, business development manager for Tembec Inc.
The entrenched U.S. position is 'truly an attack on rural Canada' where most of the forest-sector jobs are located, Krabbe said.
The 'U.S. coalition remains comfortable in making unreasonable demands on Canada' because it has the support of its government and together the two entities 'use legal ways to manipulate the duties and ignore what (NAFTA and WTO) have said in order to keep the duties extraordinary high,' Krabbe said.
It would be in North America's best interest to use the resources wasted on the softwood dispute to grow the industry for all, he added.-------------------------------------------
VICTIM IDENTIFIED BCTV KOOTENAYS NEWS
Mar 11 - -Officials have identified a worker who died at Teck Cominco's lead-zinc smelter in Trail while doing maintenance work on a boiler.
Dead is 41-year-old Neil Fraser, a Regina-based employee of Eveready Industrial Services.
A boiler project where the contract worker died on Tuesday remains shut down.
The company is still awaiting autopsy results...(BN)
==================
Fatality at Teck Cominco Trail Operations
TMTV/BCTV Kootenays Tuesday Mar 8.
TRAIL, BC, March 8 /CNW/ - Teck Cominco, Trail Operations regrets to announce that a worker employed by a contractor collapsed on site, was rushed to the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, and was pronounced dead at 6:34 am. The identity of the worker has not been released pending notification of next of kin. The cause of the fatality is not known at this time. Teck Cominco immediately notified the WCB, RCMP and the coroner and is cooperating fully in the investigation of the matter. The company stopped maintenance work immediately as a precautionary measure.
Arrangements have been made for the services of counselors for the work crews and the Emergency Response Team. On behalf of Teck Cominco, Mike Agg, General Manager of Trail Operations, expresses deepest sympathies to the worker's family and loved ones.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, March 13, 2005 ::OSHA has a Short Fuse on Arc Flash Consulting-Specifying Engineer
Arc flash, for the record, is a fiery explosion generated from live electrical equipment, such as a motor control center, that typically results from an improperly grounded electrical system.
OSHA currently does not require mandatory electrical upgrades, but it does require the wearing of bulky and uncomfortable PPG “beekeeper” suits that are unpopular with many plant maintenance personnel. The Catch 22, unfortunately, is enforcement, as the situation is very much like speeding; it’s only enforced when someone is caught.-------------------------------------------
Marines driven out of UAW lot By Eric Mayne / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers says Marine reservists should show a little more semper fi if they want to use the union's parking lot.
The Marine Corps motto means 'always faithful,' but the union says some reservists working out of a base on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit have been decidedly unfaithful to their fellow Americans by driving import cars and trucks.
So the UAW International will no longer allow members of the 1st Battalion 24th Marines to park at Solidarity House if they are driving foreign cars or displaying pro-President Bush bumper stickers.-------------------------------------------
At 78, she's at work in steel mill AP, Baltimore Sun
MANSFIELD, Ohio - Bonnie Rooks, a 78-year-old great-grandmother, was ready for her Friday night outing at the Moose club. Her hair was done, and her nails were long and fake and would have been a problem if she was on the job - at the steel mill.
Rooks may be the oldest woman working in a steel mill in North America. Chatting at her union hall and showing off her bright red nails, she talked about growing old at AK Steel Corp.'s plant in Mansfield.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, March 12, 2005 ::QFL backs UFCW Canada program to sponsor Wal-Mart workers in Jonquire UFCW
MONTRÉAL, QC – The Québec Federation of Labour (Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, FTQ) has asked its more than 5,000 affiliated unions to join in a program to sponsor Wal-Mart employees set to lose their jobs when the Jonquière Québec store closes on May 6, 2005. The sponsorship program will consist of both financial assistance and job-placement services.-------------------------------------------
Fired Wal-Mart Worker On Hunger Strike TheDenverChannel.com
A Polish immigrant involved in Poland's Solidarity movement in the 1980s is on a hunger strike after being fired from a Loveland, Colo., Wal-Mart Distribution Center.
Ryszard Tomtas was fired Tuesday for 'horseplay' he said, but he believes he was really fired because he was trying to organize a union at the center.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart proposal adds 700 parking spaces BY MICHAEL AMSEL, Asbury Park Press, NJ
Some union workers fear the Supercenter will hurt local supermarkets, including Super Foodtown in Toms River and ShopRite in Manchester.
But Seymour Kahn, a business representative for Carpenters Union Local 2018, said he has spoken with many of the 425 carpenters in his union and they are solidly behind the proposal.
'A lot of these same carpenters helped build Wal-Marts in Brick and Manahawkin,' Kahn said. 'These are good-paying construction jobs, solid work. Not only are you going to be employing a lot of people at this Supercenter, you are also going to get a lot of ratables for the township.'-------------------------------------------
Troublemakers Handbook 2 Homepage Labor Notes
This site is designed for workers who feel the need to do something about conditions at work. By “troublemaker” we mean someone who dares to defend her or his rights and those of fellow workers. That often means making waves and making management uncomfortable—so management tends to cause such brave souls “troublemakers.” Together, this site and the handbook are an organizing manual for workers who want justice from their employers and control over their lives at work.-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, March 11, 2005 ::Softwood Plywood Industry Celebrates 100th Anniversary CNW Telbec
The idea of using wood veneers to achieve special effects and to increase wood's natural strength and stiffness is almost as old as civilization. Ancient Egyptian and Chinese furniture, built with wood veneers, is displayed in museums. The English and French are reported to have worked wood on the general principle of plywood in the 17th and 18th centuries. And historians credit Czarist Russia for having made forms of plywood prior to the 20th century.
Early modern-era plywood was made of hardwoods and generally was used in decorative applications. But then in 1905, Portland Manufacturing Company, a small wooden box company along the shore of the Willamette River in Portland, Ore., produced what it called '3-ply veneer work' made of ubiquitous Pacific Northwest Douglas-fir. The product was displayed at the World's Fair held in Portland that year to commemorate the arrival of Lewis and Clark in Oregon 100 years earlier.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO to lay off 80 to 100 staffers The Washington Times
Mr. Sweeney took over the AFL-CIO in 1995 and placed renewed emphasis on organizing workers and rebuilding labor's strength.
Ten years later, the movement faces serious challenges as union membership declines. The percentage of workers in unions has fallen from about 16 percent in 1994 to 12.5 percent last year.
That's why Mr. Hoffa and his supporters pushed for more spending on organizing and giving unions more money to organize workers.
But Mr. Sweeney and his allies said repeatedly last week in Las Vegas that labor must also fund a vigorous political campaign. This year the AFL-CIO plans to stage an aggressive attack against President Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security.-------------------------------------------
Decrepit building, difficult problem BY DAVID RESS, Richmond Times Dispatch, VA
A tree grows out of a crumbling wall at the heart of a dispute between city officials and the property owner. Says one city official: 'Whether the tree is holding the wall or the wall is holding the tree, I can't tell.'-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, March 10, 2005 ::Scaffold death firm had been warned By Gavin McGregor, This is Local London, UK
A scaffolder fell 60ft to his death when a painting platform was wrongly set up to accommodate pot plants.
Joseph Phillips from Mitcham was killed and Leigh Williams from Wandsworth broke his leg when both plunged to ground level during a job in Belgravia.
The rig had been set too far from the edge of an apartment block because of the plants on a balcony, and it collapsed when counter weights were removed.-------------------------------------------
Newspaper: Construction company cited repeatedly for accidents, deaths San Francisco Chronicle
The newspaper cited records detailing how the company resisted investigations by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Records showed that when accidents occurred, Mountain Cascade refused to cooperate with investigators, closed sites and tried to convince Cal-OSHA to back away from investigations.
'We are very aware of their safety history, and it is not good,' said Dean Fryer, a Cal-OSHA spokesman. 'This company has past fatalities and some egregious violations.'-------------------------------------------
Safety worker injured in fall By Gabriel Margasak, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
HOBE SOUND · A construction safety inspector was critically injured Monday after falling through a stairwell at the site of a building collapse last year that killed two workers and injured several others.-------------------------------------------
Understanding OSHA BY KELBY HARTSON CARR, Northwest Indiana News
How do workers report a violation?
To get an on-site inspection, a worker must file a written complaint. They can request anonymity. First, the complaining worker must ensure that at least one of the following criteria is met for OSHA to investigate in person. There must be:
* a written, signed complaint by an employee or employee representative with enough detail to allow OSHA to determine a danger probably exists,
* an allegation that physical harm has happened due to a hazard that still exists,
* a report of an imminent danger,
* a complaint about a company in an industry covered by one of OSHA's special emphasis programs (details of which can be found at www.osha.gov/dcp/neps/nep-programs.html),
* inadequate response from an employer who has received information on the hazard through a phone or fax investigation,
* a complaint against an employer with a past history of egregious, willful or failure-to-abate OSHA citations in the last three years,
* referral from a whistle blower investigator, or
* complaint at a facility scheduled for an already ongoing OSHA inspection.
A worker can still complain, even if one of the above criteria is not met, but it may not merit an on-site inspection. Either way, workers can file complaints about OSHA violations by calling (317) 232-6300 or visiting www.in.gov/labor/wportal/jobsafetyhealth.htm for Indiana.
In Illinois, call (708) 891-3800 for Calumet City-area businesses or (847) 803-4800 for Chicago-area businesses, or file online at www.osha.gov/pls/osha7/eComplaintForm.html."-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 ::Attendant dragged to death over $12 theft The Globe and Mail
Vancouver — A gas station attendant earning minimum wage on the overnight shift was dragged seven kilometres to his death after he tried to stop a driver from stealing $12 worth of gas.-------------------------------------------
Fatality at Teck Cominco Trail Operation CNW Telbec
Teck Cominco, Trail Operations regrets to announce that a worker employed by a contractor collapsed on site, was rushed to the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, and was pronounced dead at 6:34 am. The identity of the worker has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
Smelter maintenance worker dies CBC British Columbia
A worker has collapsed and died while doing cleanup work in a boiler at Teck Cominco's lead-zinc smelter in Trail.-------------------------------------------
OSHA fines Big Dog in worker’s death By Julie Breaux, Odessa American, TX
Big Dog was cited with five serious violations, which include:
>> Failing to label circuit panel switches.
>> Failing to ensure electrical installations had a permanent and continuous path to ground.
>> Failing to cover exposed electrical wiring in circuit panels.
>> Failing to install or use flexible cables in accordance with manufacturer and national electrical code requirements.
>> And allowing exposed wiring on electrical outlets and switches on the rig location.
A serious violation is issued when there is a “substantial probability” that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazardous condition “about which the employer knew or should have known,” the release stated.-------------------------------------------
The price of life and limb BY MARC CHASE, Munster Times, IN
Indiana OSHA officials argue their main function is to educate companies on workplace safety and help prevent injuries and accidents -- not to impose big fines.
Some labor groups claim the low penalties are a sign that public safety agencies lack the teeth and will to enforce safety standards.
The wives and family of some of those lost in industrial accidents in the region -- as well as some surviving victims -- argue the low fines set by Indiana and federal OSHA officials show a lack of value placed on the lives and safety of workers here and throughout the country.
They also contend that such low fines send a message to violating companies that it's cheaper to commit the violations and pay the fines than to fix the problems.
Workplace safety watchdog needs to have more teeth Munster Times, IN
The issue: OSHA fines
The federal OSHA recommends a minimum fine of $1,500 per serious violation.
"They really just let the company get away with my son's death," said Hutman's mother, Rita Hutman of Lake Station.
"How they can bargain down fines when people's lives are involved is beyond me."
It's hard to argue with her logic.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 ::'Good riddance,' worker here says BY DEB GRUVER, The Wichita Eagle
'Good riddance,' said Ferguson, who's worked as a materials processor at Boeing for about 25 years.
Ferguson found it ironic that Stonecipher was brought on to deal with ethical problems at the company.
'I think sometimes there is a little justice in the world,' he said.
Ferguson said he disliked Stonecipher's attitude toward Boeing's work force.-------------------------------------------
ILO Core Conventions. The web, and global trade union organizing By Eric Lee, LabourStart
I think it's essential that these core conventions be accessible to trade unionists everywhere. That means they should be easy to find, and available in as many languages as possible.
Towards that end, there's now a new section of LabourStart located at http://www.labourstart.org/rights which will list in the simplest and clearest way possible all eight core conventions in every available language. As more languages become available, the list will expand. If you go online today and search Google for 'ILO core conventions', you'll see a little ad in the upper right corner of the page reading 'ILO core conventions: You have a legal right to join or form a trade union.' Click on that link and you're taken to LabourStart's new page with links to every ILO core convention.-------------------------------------------
Pressure Led to Shootings at Jeep By George Windau, Labor Notes
On February 1 the Toledo Blade ran an editorial asking DaimlerChrysler management to ease up on the workers at Jeep and quit creating undue job stress with long work days and work weeks of forced overtime.-------------------------------------------
TAKING WORKING PEOPLE OFF THE PLAYING FIELD By Mark Gruenberg, PAI, ILCA
LAS VEGAS--In the debate over how to revamp the AFL-CIO, someone finally saw the forest for the trees: Rich Trumka.
Because beyond all the details over cutting the number of unions, reducing the federation to 'core functions,' putting more money into organizing vs. putting more money into politics, are two key facts.
One is a fact every union leader at the federation's Executive Council meeting in Las Vegas articulated and agreed on: Moves to revamp the federation are needed to make it a more-effective voice for working men and women nationwide, if not a new 'mass movement' of workers, as some thinkers have urged.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, March 07, 2005 ::Labour group urges search for asbestos victims CBC Manitoba
WINNIPEG – The Manitoba Federation of Labour says the government should aggressively seek out workers who were unknowingly exposed to asbestos at a Winnipeg vermiculite plant between 1946 and 1990.
The Grant Industries plant processed vermiculite insulation from the W.R. Grace mine in Libby, Montana. Dozens of W.R. Grace employees across the United States have become sick and died from asbestosis and from a rare form of lung cancer.-------------------------------------------
The IWW Centennial, One Shipyard Workers Perspective By Arthur J. Miller, Infoshop News
What does the IWW mean to me as an industrial worker? It means the only hope for real industrial change. What do I think of the IWW's Centennial? One hundred years of workers like me resisting our bosses and trying to make a decent life and decent working conditions for all workers.
From the belly of ships to the grease pits of fast food joints, we labor for the benefit of a few. From the dark shafts of coalmines to the confined cubicles of office workers, our conditions serve to maximize profit. From the long-haul truck drivers to the janitors of office buildings, we are dehumanized as lowly servants of the rich. From the hot steel furnaces to the farms where our food is grown, our human existence only has value in our production. From every job from all the lands of the world, we suffer as a class to satisfy the greed of a few. Must this forever be the doomed fate of working people? No! We can as a class organize together and seize the tools of production and create a society where there is honor and respect for labor; where our conditions are set by us the workers who do the work. Our toil will no longer benefit a few parasites but rather where we will labor for the well-being of all. That is the hope the IWW brings to the working class even in the hardest of times.-------------------------------------------
Labor Debates Its Future by DAVID MOBERG, The Nation
'The fundamental question,' Cohen argues, 'is a voice at work--not only a voice, but effective participation in the way decisions are made at work.' If that's the goal, then internal union democracy is necessary but not sufficient. It's necessary because workers do want a union in which they ultimately make decisions and can check abuses of power, not simply a force working on their behalf. And a union in which members do not have a voice is not likely to provide the voice at work that an increasingly well-educated workforce wants. But democracy alone is not an organizing strategy. Unions need effective structures, organizers who can mobilize members, adequate resources, solidarity, strategy and leadership. Those are neither identical to democracy nor guaranteed by democracy. Ultimately, workers are not well served by either weak democratic or strong autocratic institutions.
The need for strategic, focused growth for power is undeniable. Stern rightly urges unions to build institutions that can match the power of global corporations and raise the standards for workers across an industry. But it is equally important to create a broad working-class movement for economic democracy driven by existing union members and newly recruited workers. Whatever compromise structural reforms they finally adopt, labor leaders must overcome their institutional rivalries to recognize that they have at least as much shared interest in the success of organizing as they do in political victory. The cheery side of labor's plight is that even though there are many obstacles to organizing, there's no shortage of opportunities. The next few months will test how labor plans to rise to that challenge.-------------------------------------------
:: Sunday, March 06, 2005 ::Union's hired 'protesters' disrupting business By Ruben Hernandez, The Business Journal of Phoenix
The Carpenters union admits most of the "protesters" are not actual union members. The union hires non-union, unemployed workers part-time -- far below union wages -- to hold banners and shout in unison at the top of their lungs.
And the carpenters' group has no worries about giving all unions a bad reputation. Other unions agree with the tactics.
Mike Vespoli, director of community affairs for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 99, said his union also hires non-union help for demonstrations.-------------------------------------------
His Hands Reattached, a Worker Is Overjoyed By Julia C. Mead, The New York Times
In a rare procedure, two teams of surgeons at Stony Brook University Medical Center simultaneously reattached Mr. Matias's hands during an 11-hour surgery. Mr. Matias, a machinist at Ultimate Display International, a factory in North Bay Shore, was operating a vacuum form machine, which presses plastic into parts for store displays, when the machine cut both his hands off cleanly at the wrists.-------------------------------------------
Labor's Inner War By Harold Meyerson, The Washington Post
LAS VEGAS - The era of bad feelings has descended on American labor.
The executive council meeting of the AFL-CIO that concluded here Thursday leaves the union movement divided into two angry camps, with three major unions considering leaving the federation. A coalition of unions led by the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters - the federation's biggest and third-largest union - failed to persuade their colleagues to back a Teamster proposal to rebate a sizable chunk of the AFL-CIO's budget to member unions. The coalition won the support of unions representing roughly 40 percent of the AFL-CIO's 13 million members, but AFL-CIO President John Sweeney got majority backing for a program that directed more resources to the federation's political program than to organizing.-------------------------------------------
Union applies for certification at Wal-Mart in Windsor UFCW Canada
A vote to certify a union at a Wal-Mart in Windsor could happen as early as next week in the wake of an application filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB).
On Monday the UFCW Canada union (United Food and Commercial Workers Canada) filed a certification application with the OLRB to represent workers at a Wal-Mart store at 7100 Tecumseh Road East in Windsor, Ontario.
Wal-Mart stores in Jonquière, and in St-Hyacinthe, Québec are already certified with UFCW Canada. They are the only unionized Wal-Mart stores in North America.-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, March 05, 2005 ::More on Old Wiring by Cllifford A. Popejoy, Fine Homebuilding
Old electrical wiring that’s been badly modified can be a quagmire of poor connections or failing components. Failing splices may be in a hidden junction box or not in a j-box at all. Even a visual inspection of every accessible splice or connection won’t tell me if all the connections are good. Also, old circuit breakers may be frozen and not be able to open under an overload condition. Both bad splices and bad breakers present fire safety hazards. How can an electrician find these problems before they erupt?-------------------------------------------
CARPENTERS GET 'DROP-DEAD' DEADLINE TO REJOIN AFL-CIO By Mark Gruenberg, PAI, ILCA Associate Member
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney gave the Carpenters a 'drop-dead deadline,' the federation's convention in July, to rejoin the federation or be evicted from all federation affiliates, including the Building Trades Department.
Confirming a reporter's talk with Building Trades President Ed Sullivan, Sweeney said he would 'enforce the (AFL-CIO) constitution' then. It requires unions to be wholly in or out.
At the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Las Vegas, Sullivan told Press Associates that, for his unions, getting the Carpenters back 'has been a subtext of' AFL-CIO revamp talks.
When Carpenters President Douglas McCarron withdrew his union several years ago, he said the AFL-CIO needed to reform and put more emphasis on organizing. Sweeney and McCarron have talked of its return, while the union stayed in the department.
'What Sweeney has proposed shows he, too, agrees on the need for reform. It's Doug's choice, now,' Sullivan said.-------------------------------------------
Solicitor of Labor: OSHA Will Expand Powers to Pursue 'Bad Actors' Occupational Hazards
A new program that gives OSHA greater powers to enforce safety rules throughout a corporation, including possible jail time for corporate officers, is likely to keep expanding, according to Howard Radzely, the top lawyer at the Department of Labor.
Speaking March 2 at the Midwinter meeting of the American Bar Associations' Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee meeting in Key West, Fla., Radzely outlined a range of tools the agency is using to go after 'bad actors.'-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, March 04, 2005 ::Women donning power tools to conquer home improvement tasks themselves Lynn Underwood, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Norma Vally, the 'Toolbelt Diva' who shows women tricks of the trade on the Discovery Home Channel, is just one of the inspirational female DIYers on the small screen.
'We want to teach women that with the right attitude and proper tools, you can get the job done yourself,' Vally said.
And Web sites by and for women do-it-yourselfers are springing up, as well. One Web site, Be Jane, sprang from trial and error. Heidi Baker, a site founder, said that when she was revamping her San Diego condo four years ago, she found little how-to help. So she picked up a cordless drill and got to work.-------------------------------------------
The New AFL-CIO: Wither Safety & Health? By Jordan Barab, Confined Space
And lets not forget symbolism. There is probably no issue more central to the founding of the labor movement in this country than the issue of safety on the job. Look back at any of the early stories of the founding of the American labor movement and you'll find workplace safety and health concerns. The history of the Mineworkers, the Steelworkers, the Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers and many other early unions is also the story of workplace safety. The 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike was sparked by two workplace fatalities. So what message are we sending to American workers (and the enemies of American workers) if we devalue the importance of the issue upon which the labor movement was founded. It's hard to 'Mourn for the Dead, Fight like hell for the living' from the perspective of the legislative department.-------------------------------------------
Labor Chief and Critics Quarrel Anew By STEVEN GREENHOUSE, New York Times
Tensions grew so fierce on Monday that Mr. Stern swore at Mr. McEntee at a committee meeting when they were arguing about which union should organize 45,000 child-care workers in the Midwest.
On his Web log on Tuesday, Mr. Stern expressed dismay with the meeting here and hinted at a continued interest in leaving the federation.
'Sadly,' he wrote, 'many other unions believe we should just do more of the same and somehow we will get a different result. Some said labor's decline is the fault of politicians or society or the system or, well, just about anything except themselves.'-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, March 03, 2005 ::How to Write a Union Song posted by Ray Tickson, ILCA
This BC Carpenters Union bursary winning essay by Svea Vikander from Victoria is an analysis of the form and content of union songs in recent times.
Noted modem music scholar Mark Gregory recently asked, 'How do you write a union song?' Superficially, this question is easy to answer. Union songs promote unity and union enthusiasm among labourers; and they are usually vocal. However, beneath these similarities, the form, structure and themes of union songs could not be more diverse. Waltzing Matilda. English ballads. African chants. If one wishes to write a union song, one must examine not only the commonalities among union songs, but also their differences.-------------------------------------------
Unions vow to press for reform By William Glanz, The Washington Times
Union leaders feel strongly that they are embracing a reformist agenda. Perhaps grudgingly, they credit Mr. Stern with forcing them to deal with difficult issues of reform.
The departure of the SEIU would have been the first major defection since the United Brotherhood of Carpenters quit in 2001 because union President Douglas McCarron disapproved of Mr. Sweeney's policies.-------------------------------------------
Construction sites on sniper alert DeHavilland, UK
Security at three London construction sites has been tightened after extortionists threatened to shoot crane drivers unless £20 million was paid.
Developer Multiplex received the threat at its head office in Australia about four weeks ago. The threat is believed to be linked to the Russian mafia but did not specify which sites would be targeted.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 ::Egyptian Asbestos Workers Dying of Cancer By Aaron Glantz, Guerrilla News Network
The asbestos workers have been camped out here since September 2004 to demand basic workplace safeguards like gloves and masks. “The factory did not even wash the asbestos off our clothes when we left work,” explains Zaid Abdel Latif, the workers leader, one of the few men at the camp who is not sick. “So we tracked the asbestos to our children. And there was no ventilation in the factory to suck the asbestos away so we breathed it all in.”-------------------------------------------
Northeast's oldest shipyard fights to survive base closings By RYAN LENZ, AP, MaineToday.com
"To me, closing Portsmouth would be like having my house burn down," said Paul O'Connor, an electrician and union leader. "Your home is so much more than a place to stay when it's raining. The shipyard is so much more than a place to work."-------------------------------------------
Baucus takes mining talks to Canada By MICHAEL JAMISON, The Missoulian, MT
But local Canadian legislator Bill Bennett wasn't feeling the gracious host, and seemed unmoved by the senator's words.
'You're actually not welcome here,' Bennett said by way of introduction, raising a cheer from the small crowd.
Bennett said he and others were angry about tariffs the United States imposes on Canadian timber imports, said the provinces were frustrated by America's refusal to allow beef to cross the border following a mad cow scare. And, he said, he was not much interested in what Montana had to say about Canadian coal mines.
'I wouldn't dream of coming to Montana to tell you how to manage your natural resources,' Bennett said.-------------------------------------------
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:: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 ::Strengthening Our Union Movement For The Future AFL-CIO
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETS--The AFL-CIO Executive Council will examine ways to strengthen America's union movement for the future and make the concerns of working families a top national priority at its March 1-3 winter meeting in Las Vegas. In addition to proposals for change, the council's agenda includes stopping President George W. Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security, the campaign for good jobs and against the Wal-Martization of jobs and restoring workers' freedom to form unions. New proposals for change from unions and others are posted on the AFL-CIO's website that examines ways to strengthen the union movement for the future. Visit http://www.aflcio.org/ourfuture to read the proposals and comments and post your own comments.-------------------------------------------
AFL-CIO Chief to Seek 3rd Term as Labor Ponders Future Nancy Cleeland, Los Angeles Times
Nelson Lichtenstein, a UC Santa Barbara history professor and an authority on the U.S. labor movement, said the debate was long overdue.
American union leadership was 'extraordinarily complacent' from 1950 to 1995, he said. 'At least now people know there's a crisis. It means that wider and wider circles are involved in the discussion, and that's a good thing. This is the kind of debate that took place in the '30s and, to a lesser extent, in the '60s when the United Auto Workers quit over how to get the movement dynamic again.'
However, Lichtenstein added, reforms may not halt the slide. 'Labor could become completely irrelevant,' he said. 'In fact, I think that's already happening.'-------------------------------------------
OSHA Fines Massachusetts Contractor $60,000 for Silica Hazards Occupational Hazards
On Aug. 17, 2004, employees of NER Construction Management Inc. were repointing Xavier Hall, a grinding operation that produced and engulfed them in clouds of silica-containing brick dust, according to the agency. OSHA standards require that effective engineering controls, such as wet cutting saws, vacuum grinders or other types of local exhaust ventilation first be used to reduce dust levels below permissible exposure limits. No controls were in place or in use at the time, the agency says.
Though the exposed employees wore respirators, those devices alone were insufficient protection. The silica hazard was aggravated by the company's failure to medically evaluate all workers to determine if they could safely use respirators and by its failure to perform fit-testing to ensure that the respirators had a proper seal.
Silica is a human lung carcinogen. Prolonged inhalation can lead to silicosis, a disabling and potentially fatal scarring of the lungs that reduces their ability to take in oxygen.-------------------------------------------
Wal-Mart intimidated unionists, board rules By BERTRAND MAROTTE, The Globe and Mail
The Quebec Labour Relations Board has ordered retailing titan Wal-Mart to stop intimidating and harassing employees who are trying to organize fellow workers at a store in the Quebec City suburb of Ste-Foy on their lunch and coffee breaks.
Union officials cheered the decision as a morale-booster in their campaign to unionize targeted Quebec stores. Wal-Mart's recent decision to shut its Jonquière store, where the union was trying to negotiate the first collective agreement in North America, sent a chill over the aggressive unionizing drive.
Wal-Mart told to stop harassing workers to try to unionize Reuters
In a decision Thursday, board commissioner Louis Garant said he found that Wal-Mart Canada tried to hinder the formation of a union at a store in Sainte-Foy, a borough of the provincial capital, Quebec City.
In his reasons for the decision, Garant said Wal-Mart (Research) officials intimidated three female employees, seeking to prevent them from exercising their rights under the labor code to form a union.
In a statement, the United Food and Commercial Workers union said the decision showed Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, cannot violate workers' fundamental rights without paying the consequences.-------------------------------------------
Local companies defraud workers By Carmen Cardinal, Kansas City Dos Mundos, MO
The union is adamant that they don’t want these 11 workers caught in the crossfire. Sometimes employees who don’t speak English sign the 1099s, unaware of the responsibilities they are bringing upon themselves.
“This involves someone coming forward,” Sanders said. “We need proof that individuals are being defrauded. I want to turn it around and create a unit for this purpose.”
He hopes to have one running in 60 days. Prosecuting a corporation would be problematic, however: One cannot put a corporation into jail.
“We need a good test case,” he said.-------------------------------------------
