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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines, 6/23/01 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller and Omar Ricks
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
24 Jun 2001
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Headlines as broadcast Saturdays at 11 a.m. during the Illinois Labor Hour, broadcast on WEFT 90.1 FM in Champaign. Stories include: Fast Track Introduced, Wal-Mart Sued--again, Air Traffic Controller Suit Rejected, Bunge Strike: Two Sides to Return to Table, U Washington Grad Strike Ends, Chocolate-Makers to Assist Child Labor Study, Seventh Circuit Upholds NLRB Ruling that Firing Was Illegal, Contracts for Educators Yield Good Returns, Gas Workers OK Pact & End 3-Week Walkout, Court Refuses ISU Professor Pay Appeal, Central Illinois Trades Approve Contracts for Heavy Construction & Highway Projects |
Fast Track Introduced
Republicans in Congress last week began work to advance George Bush\'s corporate free-trade agenda. A bill to give the president \"fast track\" negotiating authority was introduced by Illinois congressman Phil Crane. Six other Illinois congressmen, including the fifteenth district\'s Tim Johnson and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. The fast track bill give the president Congress\' authority to negotiate treaties. With fast track, after the president finalizes a trade deal, congress can only vote to approve or reject the deal; they cannot modify it. The president and other corporate free trade supporters see fast track as essential to approving new trade deals like expansions to NAFTA and the World Trade Organization. Some in congress say they will only vote for such trade deals if the deals have strong protections for labor and the environment, but the Business Round Table, which has strong ties to Democrats, says it will oppose any such conditions. The business lobby also said it will hire grassroots organizers in one hundred seventy congressional districts to create the impression that the public supports the bill. Public Citizen, an organization founded by Ralph Nader is encouraging members of congress to sign a letter saying they oppose the fast track legislation. Fast track supporters hope to have a vote before the end of July.
http://www.tradewatch.org/FastTrack/action_on_fast_track.htm
Wal-Mart Suit
Wal-Mart is in trouble with the courts again, this week. In San Francisco, six women filed a class-action lawsuit against the corporate giant, accusing it of regularly discriminating against women workers in its Wal-Mart and Sam\'s Club stores. As many as 700,000 women may be eligible for compensation if the lawsuit succeeds. The plaintiffs state that although women comprise over seventy percent of the Wal-Mart workforce, they hold only ten percent of managerial positions. The suit also charges that Wal-Mart creates a \"sexually demeaning atmosphere\" for women employees who are told that \"women do not make good managers.\" Women are also told that their work has so little importance that \"a trained monkey\" could do their jobs. Wal-Mart responds that the store does not tolerate sex discrimination and that women hold two senior posts in the corporation. Charges of sex discrimination at Wal-Mart is nothing new. A search of the world wide web for the terms \"sex discrimination\" and Wal-Mart turns up over 400 hits, revealing numerous complaints of anti-woman policies and practices. Documents on the web include a charge with the Illinois Human Rights Commission that in 1995, Wal-Mart failed to stop harassment of a female worker at an Illinois store. A state appellate court upheld the ruling in 1999. In a second Wal-Mart ruling this week, a jury awarded fifty million dollars in punitive damages to a vendor that Wal-Mart treated unfairly. The Missouri court also awarded one point five million dollars in actual damages. Wal-Mart is the nation\'s second largest corporation, with over a million employees and thirty one hundred stores.
http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/AppellateCourt/1999/2ndDistrict/September/HTML/2981614.htm
Air Traffic Controller Suit Rejected
Twenty years ago, President Ronald Reagan fired air traffic controllers who staged a two day strike. He then barred them from ever being employed as air traffic controllers again. In 1993, President Clinton reversed Reagan\'s decision, allowing former strikers to re-apply for their jobs, but many say the government dragged its feet after the Clinton order. On Thursday, a federal court ruled that the air traffic controllers cannot file suit against the government for the eight-year delay in re-hiring, saying that a law approved last year forces them to take their claims to federal agencies, instead. Representatives for the union, PATCO, were disappointed by the ruling, but relieved to have a remedy. About 3600 air traffic controllers are still trying to seek re-employment as air traffic controllers.
http://www.patcounion.org/
http://www.natca.org/
Two Sides to Return to Table
A federal mediator will meet with both sides on June 25 to attempt to come to a settlement of the strike at Bunge Lauhoff Grain Co. in Danville which began on May 16. This is only the second time the parties will have met since the strike began. Workers at Bunge Lauhoff are represented by Local 6-0972 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers. Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, June 21, 2001, p C-9
U Washington Strike Ends--Temporarily
The strike by graduate assistants at the University of Washington ended a week ago Friday, after two weeks of picketing. Strikers ended their job action because their quarterly appointments ended, not because they were closer to an agreement. The UW grad assistants, who are represented by the United Auto Workers, kept open the possibility of striking again in the fall.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134307319_tastrike16m0.html
Chocolate-Makers to Assist Child Labor Study
On Friday, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association said it will help fund an inquiry into child labor in the cocoa industry. US Agency for International Development (USAID) will carry out the study which will also be funded by European cocoa organizations. An International Labor Organization report, released one week ago, said that up to 90 percent of the cocoa grown in the Ivory Coast exploits child labor, and many other west African nations employ thousands of children on cocoa plantations. Meanwhile, in the west African nations of Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, the governments have banned youth group trips and begun checking vehicles for child laborers.
Seventh Circuit Upholds NLRB Ruling that Firing Was Illegal
On Thursday, a federal appeals court in Chicago upheld a central Illinois bindery worker\'s right to organize a union. Earlier, a lower court ruled that Ted Steele, an hourly worker at Multi-Ad Services in Peoria, was fired in September of 1996 because he was trying to unionize workers there. The company claimed that they fired Steele for walking out of three meetings, but court arguments showed that Steele wasn\'t required to attend one of the meetings, and that another was not an actual meeting. Steele had worked at the printing company since 1989. He tried to encourage managers to bargain with himself and 14 other hourly employees at the company, but when his managers refused, Steele contacted a union and began organizing a union in the bindery. That was when Steele said the company began treating him and his fellow employees differently. Steele says his managers met with him and asked him why he wanted to start a union. They also discussed his future at the company and offered to arrange an interview for a promotion. On another occasion, a supervisor threatened to close the bindery, if the workers formed a union. Steele\'s union, Graphic Communications Union, Local 68C, argued that the company illegally threatened Steele for his union activity, and that violates the National Labor Relations Act. A three-judge appeals panel upheld the NLRB\'s order forcing the company to re-hire Steele, give him back pay, and remove any mention of his termination from his record.
Contracts for Educators Yield Good Returns
Tis the season for teachers\' union contract negotiation, and we have some results to report:
In Urbana, a new 2-year contract between teachers and the district was approved by the board on June 19. The teachers are represented by the Urbana Education Association. The new contract provides for overall salary increases of 5.5% per year for all teachers, plus an additional 2% increase for teachers already at the top of the scale. It also increases stipends for teachers in extra capacities, such as club sponsors. Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, June 20, 2001, p A-1
On the same day, Tuesday June 19, the school board unanimously approved a new 3-year contract for teachers and support staff in the district. The new contract provides for salary increases of 7% in the first year, 5.5% in the second year, and 4.5% in the third year for both teachers and support staff. Some improvements in language still need to be worked out, particularly regarding staffing for 2 new schools that will be built in the district. The teachers and support staff are represented by the Illinois Education Association. Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, June 21, 2001, p B-3
A contract for university professors at Western Illinois University will help make considerable progress toward pay equity for them. A tentative agreement was reached between the university and its faculty, who are represented by University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100. The new 4-year contract provides for a base salary increase of about 10.2% for faculty and academic support staff, with a wage reopener in the second year. Peoria Journal Star, June 21, 2001, p B5
Gas Workers OK Pact, End 3-Week Walkout
As we reported two weeks ago, on June 8, workers at Peoples Gas Co. in Chicago, who are represented by Gas Workers Union Local 18007 of the SEIU, ratified a new 4-year contract with the company, ending their 3-week strike. Details of the contract are now available. The new agreement provides for moderate wage increases and improved medical, dental, and pension benefits. An important issue in the strike was a company demand to eliminate overtime pay for Saturday hours. The new contract still eliminates the overtime but would limit the company\'s ability to force people to work Saturday shifts. In case of shortages, some workers could be required to work Saturday shifts, but they would have the option of choosing a 4-day, 10-hour workweek rather than a traditional 5-day workweek. Chicago Tribune, June 9, 2001, section 1, p 7; Daily Labor Report, #110, June 7, 2001, p A-1
Court Refuses ISU Professor Pay Appeal
On June 11, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its second decision in an age and gender discrimination case at Illinois State University. The decision allows an equal pay class-action lawsuit against the university to proceed. Several female professors sued the university for wage discrimination, but ISU claimed the women couldn\'t sue the university in a federal court because the US constitution prevents state governments from being sued in federal court. Last year, the court made a ruling in a different state\'s rights case involving age discrimination, and sent the ISU case back to a lower court for reconsideration. The Seventh Circuit ruled that the age discrimination decision did not affect the professors\' case, and the Supreme Court upheld that decision. Peoria Journal Star, June 12, 2001, p B5
Central Illinois Trades Approve Contracts for Heavy Construction, Highway Projects
Contracts for construction some workers building highways have been approved. New 3-year contracts have been reached between the Associated General Contractors and unions representing workers on heavy highway construction projects in Central Illinois. Settlements were reached with Operating Engineers Local 965 and Iron Workers Local 46 in Springfield, and Laborers\' District 5. Under the new contracts, wage increases range from 3.5% to 4.2% in the first year with combined wage and benefit increases of 4% in each of the succeeding years. This is slightly higher than the inflation rate, which is 3.6%. In addition, the Laborers\' agreement contains a provision raising the hourly premium pay by $1.50 for work between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Construction Labor Report, vol. 47, no. 2330, June 6, 2001, p 419
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See also:
www.ilir.uiuc.edu/lii/
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