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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Headlines 8-11-01 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
11 Aug 2001
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. |
Bunge-Lauhoff Returns to Work
Union workers at the Bunge-Lauhoff grain processing factory in Danville voted to end their strike and return to work during a meeting last Sunday night. By a close vote of 95 to 78, workers accepted a contract that had some of the worst concessions removed. Many were unhappy with the final contract which freezes wages for some employees, and offers maximum raises of 9 percent over three years to other employees. At current inflation levels, 9 percent over three years represents a cut in real pay, so the contract has pay cuts for all employees, but this is still better than the offer that the union originally rejected. Managers also backed off of their insistence to reduce vacation time from 44 hours per year to 40 hours per year. Why did workers accept the contract? Union members who attended the meeting said that Bunge was threatening to bring in replacement workers to re-start production at the factory in preparation for the upcoming soybean harvest. Union members feared that if they remained on strike, the corporation would permanently replace all the workers. Because the strike was over economic issues, not unfair labor practices, labor law in the United States allows businesses to fire striking workers and hire permanent replacements.
30,000 Delta Employees Seek Unions
Earlier this year, pilots at Delta Air Lines used their union to become the highest-paid pilots in the industry. At the same time, pilots at Delta\'s regional subsidiary Comair went on strike so their starting pilots could earn more than sixteen thousand dollars per year. Delta fought that strike bitterly, but the pilots held out and won. It appears that success breeds success. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that two large groups of Delta Employees are organizing. Twenty thousand flight attendants are preparing to request a union election, and ten thousand mechanics are doing the same. Despite the tremendous gains that union pilots at Delta have won, Delta spokespeople express confusion at the organizing. A Delta vice president said, quote, \"We don\'t see what our folks could gain by being represented by unions,\" unquote.
Pilot Fatigue Problem Grows
How would you like to know your airline pilot is too tired to fly? The next time you get on an airplane, you might want to take a close look at your pilot\'s eyes and ask her if she\'s had enough sleep. A coalition of six different pilots\' unions last week lost an effort to enforce limits on the hours that pilots can fly without a break. The New York Times reported that managers at American Airlines did not technically break any laws when they required a two-pilot crew to fly more than 8 hours from Dallas, Texas to Honolulu, Hawaii. Normally those flights carry three people in the cockpit, but American cut corners and sent only two. The FAA has been working on fatigue guidelines for pilots since the early 1990\'s, but pilots are growing impatient. Last week, the coalition that\'s promoting well-rested pilots enlisted the support of congress, delivering a letter signed by 31 members of congress to the FAA, demanding action on fatigue rules.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/06/national/06FLY.html
Wal-Mart Sued--Again
Wal-Mart, the world\'s second largest corporation is facing anther discrimination lawsuit. This week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against Wal-Mart for discriminating against a job applicant in a wheelchair. The lawsuit claims that the corporation\'s Clinton, Missouri store refused even to accept a job application from a disabled man because of his disability. Wal-Mart responded that many of their employees are disabled, and their corporate policies don\'t allow discrimination. Since 1994, the EEOC has filed 17 lawsuits against Wal-Mart, the nation\'s largest retailer, for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mitsubishi Sued, Too
Another giant global corporation plagued by discrimination charges also faced a new lawsuit this week. At the Mistubishi Plant in Normal, five supervisors who were downsized say that they were discriminated against because of their age and their ethnic background. The lawsuit contends that Mitsubishi treated the plaintiffs less favorably than younger employees and replaced them with less experienced and less qualified younger workers. The suit also claims that the corporation discriminated against white supervisors, while favoring Japanese ones. This is the fourth suit filed against Mitsubishi in Normal. In 1996, over 300 women filed lawsuits resulting in the company paying $45 million in settlements, and in the company recently paid $3.4 million to settle a class-action suit by eleven people claiming racial discrimination.
Fast Track Coming
On July 31, Republicans in Congress conceded that they did not have sufficient votes to give President Bush what is called Fast Track Negotiating Authority. Fast Track bills have been used to pass radical trade pacts like NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the GATT, or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which is overseen by the World Trade Organization. Bush had hoped for the House to approve a fast track bill before its summer recess, which is currently underway, but House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas conceded that they didn\'t have the votes to win. Fast track opponents include environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and virtually all of organized labor. The AFL-CIO is encouraging members to contact their representatives to stop Fast Track, and the Teamsters devote a significant portion of their website to Fast Track opposition. Despite the temporary victory, fast track opponents warn that business lobbyists are gearing up for a major push in September, when Congress re-convenes. Corporate globalization supporters recognize that this is a do-or-die moment for them. It\'s believed that unless fast track is approved, the corporate agenda will founder, and the US will be forced to consider labor and environmental concerns in future trade agreements. Giving human rights the same importance as business rights is exactly the goal of progressives in the U.S. and around the world. Public Citizen\'s fair trade coordinator, Marguerite Strand states, quote, \" We can beat Fast Track if we keep our eye on the prize and muster all our energy [during August].\" More information about fair trade initiatives can be found on the web at www.tradewatch.org or by calling 367-1336.
PETER: ANWR-Labor
On August 1, 38 Democrats in the House of Representatives joined with 203 Republicans to approve George Bush\'s energy plan, which includes a provision for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Only sixteen Republicans voted against the bill. Among them was Tim Johnson. Labor played a significant role in the passage of the energy bill, and in the inclusion of oil exploration in environmentally sensitive areas of Alaska. On May 14, twenty three union leaders met with Vice President and former oil executive Dick Cheney to discuss the bill. Included in the meeting were the Teamsters\' James P. Hoffa, Carpenters\' President Doug McCarron, and leaders of the AFL-CIO\'s building and construction trades department. While they left the meeting without taking any official positions, their support for drilling in the arctic was clear, and it became clearer as the vote approached. In the final days, the Teamsters even ran the following radio advertisement in support of the legislation.
www.teamster.org>
Reuters Securities reports that energy employment is already at a 3-year high, with new oil exploration up 23 percent over last year. One pay-back labor received for supporting the bill was the re-establishment of project labor agreements. PLA\'s ensure high-quality jobs usually favoring unions, in return for a pledge not to strike. Bush outlawed PLA\'s when he first took office in February, but he backtracked in April when he allowed existing agreements to continue. The energy bill represents a return to Clinton-era labor agreements. The consequences of labor\'s support for short-term employment at the expense of the environment may have been calculated, as other critical issues draw near. The Senate will take up the energy bill at the same time that the House will be taking up a fast track trade bill, which both labor and environmental groups oppose. Some wonder how labor and environmentalists will be able to work together, fighting fast track in one room, when right next door they\'ll be fighting each other over arctic oil drilling.
Also during the program, we broadcast a half-hour documentary about a strike at a US clothing manufacturer, \"CWA Local 14177 and the New Era Cap Company,\" available at the A-Infos Radio Project: http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=3479
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