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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines 2/24/01 |
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by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
25 Feb 2001
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Headlines from the Illinois Labor Hour on WEFT 90.1 FM. |
South Korean Protests
Workers at South Korea\'s Daewoo Motors are fighting the elimination of their jobs. This morning, thousands of people took to the streets in Bupyong, the site of Daewoo\'s main plant. When police stopped fifteen hundred demonstrators from assembling in the town\'s main square, the demonstration reportedly turned violent. Workers burned tires as they occupied an eight-lane boulevard, demanding an end to the layoffs. Reporters state that nobody was injured when an estimated 200 workers clashed with police. Some workers reportedly defended themselves with steel pipes. A south korean news agency reported on another demonstration in Pusan, 200 miles southeast of Seoul, where 700 labor activists marched through downtown streets to demand cancellation of the layoffs. Daewoo laid off 1,800 workers last week as part of a restructuring plan meant to sweeten a possible takeover deal with General Motors. General Motors, the world\'s largest corporation, says that the layoffs are a key condition of the takeover. The workers who lost their jobs immediately began a sit-in protest at the company\'s main plant. Police broke up the sit-in four days later, prompting the protesters to take to the streets. About 100 people have been arrested. Pictures of the demonstrations are available at the website of the Korean Confederation of trade Unions, www.kctu.org.
Supreme Court Denies State Workers Protection under ADA
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Americans with Disabilities Act on Wednesday, ruling that state workers cannot sue public colleges and other state entities for damages under the federal disability-rights law. The 5-to-4 ruling, which overturned a decision made last year by an appeals court, found that Congress had exceeded its authority when it let state workers sue for damages under the 1990 law. The 5-4 split was the same majority that ended last November\'s presidential election. In writing for the majority, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said that there was not enough evidence that states had discriminated against disabled people to override the 11th Amendment, which grants states broad protections against being sued in federal court. Lawyers for the state employees had argued that states\' discriminatory actions are widespread, and that the court should therefore invoke the 14th Amendment\'s equal-protection guarantees. \"In order to authorize private individuals to recover money damages against the States, there must be a pattern of discrimination by the states which violates the 14th Amendment, and the remedy imposed by Congress must be congruent and proportional to the targeted violation,\" Justice Rehnquist wrote. \"Those requirements are not met here.\" (From the Chronicle of Higher Education.)
SAG appoints new chief neogtiator.
On Friday, the Screen Actors Guild announced that a veteran union leader who led the screenwriters through a strike in 1988 will be its chief negotiator for upcoming contract talks with the television and film industries. The appointment of Brian Walton as chief negotiator moves SAG closer to the bargaining table as its contract is due to expire on June 30. The move also happens in the midst of difficult negotiations underway between the Writers Guild of America and the TV and film industries. The upcoming SAG contract negotiations are taking place amid a wave of labor militancy in the TV and film industries. Last year, SAG and its sister union, AFTRA, endured a six-month strike over advertising compensation. And while observers have anticipated a strike by the writers\' guild, negotiators for the two sides have held daily meetings for the past five weeks, leading to hopes that no strike will be necessary. SAG\'s new chief negotiator brings a past that is both conciliatory and militant. He led the union through a strike, but he also negotiated three contracts with the industry.
Samsonite flees U.S.
NAFTA eliminated more US manufacturing jobs this week, as the Samsonite luggage company announced it will close its only remaining manufacturing plants in the nation. Samsonite will fire 340 people and close plants in Denver and Tuscon Arizona, moving production to its plants in Mexico. Samsonite managers said that it\'s more expensive to manufacture in the United States. Many companies have moved manufacturing to countries like Mexico where workers earn lower wages and environmental and worker safety laws are seldom--if ever--enforced. All of Samsonite\'s manufacturing will take place at its 12 manufacturing facilities outside the United States, in Europe, India, China, and Mexico.
AFLCIO of Champaign County Endorses Candidates
At its monthly meeting on Wednesday, the AFL-CIO of Champaign County endorsed four candidates for local election. The central labor council made a surprising endorsement of challenger Danielle Chynoweth in the democratic primary in Urbana, deciding not to endorse the incumbent democrat on the city council. David Johnson, vice president of the labor council, said, quote, \"Danielle supports the prevailing wage, the living wage and the right to bargain collectively. She opposes using prison labor and outsourcing of government services to low-wage subcontractors. She\'s one hundred percent pro-labor.\" Also on Wednesday, the central labor body endorsed Esther Patt, and Laura Huth in Urbana, as well as Dennis Green in Champaign. Patt is a member of AFSCME local 3700, and Green is a member of Carpenters local 44.
Charles Bunting, Labor Exec for Air-Traffic Controllers
Charles Bunting, 49, a leader of the local chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, died Feb. 20 when his pickup truck overturned on a tollway embankment. A native of Michigan, Mr. Bunting began his career as a controller while in the Marine Corps in South Carolina. After President Reagan fired air traffic controllers who participated in the 1981 strike, Mr. Bunting took a job in Jackson MI, later moving to Cleveland, and then to the Terminal Radar Approach Control facility near Chicago. Mr. Bunting was a charter member of NATCA and served on the executive board of the local chapter as well as being elected facility representative in 1999. He was one of the controllers disciplined last year after an FAA investigation into a job action that caused flight delays on July 17. A memorial service will be held on February 24, 2001, at 11:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4848 Turner St., Rockford. Chicago Tribune, February 23, 2001, section 2, p 12
UI To Join Second Anti-Sweatshop Group
The chancellor at the University of Illinois at Urbana is expected to follow the advice of the campus\' licensing advisory committee and join the Fair Labor Association, an anti-sweatshop group that is investigating working conditions at a clothing factory in Mexico that manufactures University of Illinois sweat shirts as well as clothing for companies such as Reebok and Nike. The University also belongs to the Workers Rights Consortium, a group of 67 colleges and universities created last spring. Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, February 22, 2001, p B-1
Covenant Nurses Trying for a Union
Nurses at Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana are seeking representation by the Illinois Nurses Association. An INA spokesperson said that the nurses are concerned that cuts in staffing and supplies are having a negative effect on patient care at the hospital and that the changes introduced since 1997, when a merger created Provena Health, the parent company of the hospital, have worsened their relationship with management. The INA has a bargaining unit at a Provena hospital in Joliet. An official at Provena Covenant said that routine surveys of patients indicate that patients are highly satisfied with their care. Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, February 22, 2001, p A-1
Lewistown\'s LTD Strike Drags Into Fourth Month
Members of UAW Local 2263 have picketed at LTD Industries in Lewistown every work day during their strike, which began Nov. 1. The company manufactures tractor parts for Caterpillar. At issue in the negotiations are wages and a company proposal to make LTD an open shop. LTD\'s last offer included a 5-year agreement, with an annual 10 cents per hour raise and introduction of a \"productivity compensation plan\" that would award wage increases based on the company\'s net sales. The union has proposed an across-the-board profit sharing plan and wants the traditional 3-year contract. The UAW has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against LTD, alleging that the company has tried to threaten or coerce striking workers to return to work. About 11 replacement workers have been hired. Negotiations were last held on Jan. 28, and no further talks have been scheduled. Peoria Journal Star, February 18, 2001, p B3
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