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News :: Labor |
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Labor Headlines 8-23-03 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
(No verified email address) |
25 Aug 2003
Modified: 01:44:06 PM |
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Headlines broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturday at 11 am on WEFT 90.1 FM. Illinois Increases Minimum Wage, Iraq: ICFTU Condemns horrific attack, calls for continued UN role in reconstruction, UFCW Loses Narrowly at Wal-Mart, Republican Homophobe Legislators Launch Petition Drive, Urbana Teachers Ratify Contract, Urbana Hires Fire Manager |
Illinois Increases Minimum Wage
Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich signed a bill increasing the minimum wage in Illinois to $6.50 per hour by 2005. The increase will amount to a raise of 26 percent over the current federal minimum of $5.15, which was established in 1997. Conservative news organizations including the News-Gazette focused their reports on unsubstantiated but often repeated claims that the increase will actually hurt workers by eliminating jobs. Republican State Representative Chapin Rose spoke out strongly against the increase. The US Department of Labor estimates that 97,000 Illinois workers earn the minimum wage or less, and report by the University of Illinois at Chicago says that nearly half a million workers earning less than $6.50 per hour will benefit from the raise. The minimum wage will increase in two steps: On January 1, 2004, it will increase to $5.50, and on January 1, 2005, it will increase to $6.50.
http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=2231
Iraq: ICFTU Condemns horrific attack, calls for continued UN role in reconstruction 20/8/2003
Brussels, August 20, 2003 (ICFTU OnLine): In a message of condolences to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, the ICFTU expressed its horror at yesterday's vicious attack on the UN's offices in Baghdad, which cost the lives of at least 18 people including UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira De Mello, and injured some 100 others. "This attack was aimed directly at the United Nations and its staff, whose role in reconstruction and democracy-building in Iraq is indispensable", said ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder, adding "the international trade union movement unreservedly condemns this appalling atrocity and calls for those responsible to be brought to justice as quickly as possible. We welcome the announcement by Secretary General Annan today that the UN will continue its work in the country". In the letter to Kofi Annan, the ICFTU paid tribute to the work of De Mello and his UN colleagues, and stressed the need for the UN's involvement in Iraq to be maintained and extended. The ICFTU represents 158 million workers in 231 affiliated organisations in 150 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org
UFCW Loses Narrowly at Wal-Mart
With two Wal-Mart's already in the area and a third planned for Urbana, the United Food and Commercial Workers re-affirmed its commitment to organize the first employees at Wal-Mart, the world's largest corporation. In a statement issued this week, the UFCW put a positive spin on an unsuccessful union election in Canada. Workers voted against union representation by a margin of 61 to 54. The UFCW says the small margin signals a growing movement of workers ready to organize. The Thompson, Manitoba, vote was the first opportunity for an entire store of Wal-Mart workers to vote as a group. Several recent union elections at U.S. Wal-Mart stores have been blocked by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) due to Wal- Mart's illegal actions to intimidate workers and suppress their efforts to get UFCW representation. Wal-Mart used a similar anti-union campaign in Manitoba that it's used elsewhere with managers harassing, intimating, and threatening workers with the loss of their jobs if they vote for the union.
Republican Homophobe Legislators Launch Petition Drive
A number of Republican state legislators re-affirmed their commitment to inequality last week when state representative Chapin Rose announced that he had launched a petition drive to prevent the University of Illinois from implementing domestic partner benefits for same-sex partners of university employees. After years of struggle, university employees successfully persuaded university trustees to implement the benefits earlier this year. Rose, a former University of Illinois student trustee and now a state representative from Mahomet, claimed that he is concerned about the cost of the benefits, and he was joined by about 30 Republicans including Rick Winkel, Bill Black, Shane Cultra, and Dale Righter in the petition. A university spokesperson defended the benefits saying they are a minor cost, that most other big-ten universities already offer domestic partner benefits, and that they are necessary to attract the best faculty and staff. The cost of the benefits is estimated at $400,000, a figure that the Republicans claim is too high, yet on Tuesday this week, the News-Gazette reported that the state would fund a $77 million improvement in student recreational facilities--a cost 200 times greater than domestic partner benefits--yet the Republican state senators and representatives issued no comment or criticism of the expense.
http://www.news-gazette.com/story.cfm?Number=14385
http://www.news-gazette.com/story.cfm?Number=14376
Urbana Teachers Ratify Contract
School will start as scheduled in Urbana, thanks to solidarity among the members of the Urbana Education Association and a school board willing to share some of its decisionmaking authority. On Tuesday, support staff and teachers voted to approve a one-year contract by a wide margin, according to union president Deb Tuttle. The new contract provides for average raises of 3.5 percent, and on the issue of health insurance, the district will contribute considerably more per teacher and the union will join the administration in negotiating for a health insurance plan. Currently, each school district negotiates separately for health insurance, but the Illinois Education Association and other unions have been attempting to create a state-wide insurance option for schools. It's predicted that purchasing insurance for such a large group could lead to dramatic cost and benefit improvements for education employees across the state. The Urbana school board unanimously approved the contract during its meeting on Tuesday night.
Urbana Hires Fire Manager
The City of Urbana again snubbed one of its leading firefighters in offering a promotion. On Monday this week, the Urbana City Council passed over Urbana firefighter and former union president Cheryl Horvath in hiring a division chief, instead choosing to hire an outside manager who lacks the qualifications that the city demands from internal candidates who it seeks to promote. Mike Humer of Tolono will be the new division chief. Humer managed an ambulance service recently and will continue working full-time as fire chief of the Tolono fire department after he accepts the new job. Firefighters Local 1147 members protested the decision to pass over Horvath since she is highly respected within the department, and she has eleven years experience as a municipal firefighter, while Humer has none. The unions contract says that in order to qualify for the division chief position, the candidate must have at least four years experience. The hiring decision was made by Urbana Mayor Tod Satterthwaite, Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Walden, and the fire chiefs of Urbana, Champaign, Bloomington, and Normal, and a representative from the U of I. Council members Danielle Chynoweth and Ruth Wyman voted against hiring Humer for the position.
http://www.news-gazette.com/story.cfm?Number=14389 |
