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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines, 10-6-01 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
07 Oct 2001
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM Champaign. |
Nissan Workers Vote Against Collective Bargaining
The UAW suffered another setback in its efforts to organize in the southern United States when workers at the Nissan factory in Smyrna, Tennessee voted against collective bargaining by nearly a 2 to 1 margin. UAW officials had been optimistic about the October 3 vote, stating that they thought the company's anti-union campaign had offended nearly a thousand workers, moving them to the pro-union side. In addition, the union campaign showed workers that they make eight to nine thousand dollars a year less than union workers at General Motors, and that their health and retirement benefits were far inferior. UAW Vice President Bob King said that such confidence led the UAW to organize with only a small committee of workers from the factory, and he told the Nashville Busines Journal that the small committee was a mistake. Nissan announced one week before the vote that they were moving production of the top-line Maxima from Tokyo to Tennessee, raising production at the facility from 400,000 per year to 500,000. In official statements following the vote, UAW president Steve Yokich said, quote, "Nissan workers still need and deserve the seat at the decision-making table that only a union can provide," unquote, and he suggested that the UAW will try for another vote. The last vote at Nissan was in 1989, and workers voted against collective bargaining by a large majority then, as well. 5,700 workers are employed at the Smyrna, Tennessee Nissan factory.
http://www.uaw.org/news/newsarticle.cfm?ArtId=72
http://www.nissannews.com
http://nashville.bcentral.com/nashville/stories/2001/10/01/daily25.html
Fast Track Still Moving
After the President's trade representative declared last week that fast track opponents are un-American, the senior democrat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee issued stinging response, reprimanding the white house for using the September eleventh tragedies to advance a highly contentious trade agenda. This week, the US Trade representative apologized, but the next day, Republican leaders declared that the fast track bill could be up for a vote in Congress as soon as next week. Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas of California is the chief proponent of giving the president wide-ranging authority to negotiate trade agreements, a privilege which the constitution gives to Congress. The President will use Fast Track to promote a hemisphere-wide expansion of NAFTA and enlarge the scope of the World Trade Organization. Numerous conservative Democrats also support fast track laws. Fast Track opponents say that this is an inappropriate time to push a controversial issue like Fast Track. US Representative Tim Johnson, who sponsored an extreme version of the fast track bill, still supports the measure, according to a staffperson in his office. Johnson says he believes that the US will lose credibility to negotiate trade agreements if the president does not have fast track. Opponents respond to Johnson's arguments pointing out that the US Trade Representative's office is currently overwhelmed with requests for trade agreements, even though fast track is not in effect. On Friday CongressDaily reported that the bill will be delayed for a short time. The bill will not be revised until next Wednesday, but the president appears to be pushing the bill as part of his economic stimulus package, which includes tax breaks, free trade schemes, and subsidies to corporations.
Oklahoma passes right-to-work
Collective bargaining took another setback on September 25, when voters in Oklahoma approved right-to-work legislation. Right to work laws are heavily supported by businesses. Such laws require unions to provide union benefits to workers who refuse to join the union. In other states, unions can negotiate "fair share" fees whereby non-members must pay for those activities directly related to negotiating and enforcing a contract. Two weeks after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, Oklahomans voted by a 54 to 46 percent margin in favor of the measure, making the state the first in fifteen years to go right to work. Governor Frank Keating, was described by the Associated Press as "jubilant" over the outcome, saying, quote, "This is an affirmation of Oklahoma's greatness, Oklahoma's willingness to change," unquote. Keating campaigned with chambers of commerce across the state in favor of the measure. Businesspeople claimed that since neighboring states like Texas already had right -to-work laws, they could more easily attract businesses to their states. The anti-Right-to-Work campaign was coordinated by the state AFL-CIO and featured small business people, teachers, firefighters and others. Leaders of the Democratic majority in Oklahoma's Legislature worked toward getting the issue to the ballot box, but most Democratic officials were not visible in the campaign on either side. Oklahoma is the 22nd state to enact such a law. The National Right to Work Committee hopes their success will allow them to pass similar measures in five other states, including Indiana.
Grad Assistants Hold 'Work-In'
Graduate assistants at the University of Illinois in Urbana, who are represented by the Graduate Employees Organization, held a work-in on the quadrangle Oct. 3-4 in order to draw attention to their demands that the University recognize their union, reduce class sizes, improve teaching assistant training, and reconsider its connections to business corporations. The assistants conducted classes, held office hours, graded papers, and worked on their research in full sight of passing students and university managers. GEO spokespersons said that the union might go on strike to show the university administration how important their work is. The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board is holding hearings to determine the membership of a graduate assistant bargaining unit at the University. The GEO held a previous work-in in 1998.
UMass GEO Wins Favorable Decision from Labor Board
In other graduate assistant news, the Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst declared victory in a two year campaign to expand their union. The UMass GEO, an affiliate of the United Auto Workers, received a favorable ruling from the Massachusetts labor relations board that granted permission to assistants in the continuing education division to vote on union representation. The GEO also held job actions to pressure the university to recognize the workers' desire to join a union. While over 80 percent of the instructors in the division signed cards stating that they wanted to join the GEO, the university argued that since they were temp workers, they shouldn't be allowed to join.
Southern Illinois Hospital Illegally Refused to Negotiate--NLRB Takes 3 Years to Rule
Three years after a southern Illinois hospital illegally refused to negotiate with Laborers Local 508, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that the hospital committed an unfair labor practice. Local 508 represents 160 employees at the hospital, but the Marion Hospital Corporation refused to recognize the union when hospital managers produced a petition signed by fewer than half of the bargaining unit members. The NLRB determined that 7 of the petition signers were not in the bargaining unit, and another 6 signed after the hospital committed their unfair labor practice. The valid signatures were twelve percent short of a majority. The Board also found that the hospital violated the law by making unilateral changes in terms and conditions of employment after withdrawing recognition.
http://www.nlrb.gov/weeklysum/w2810.html#10 |
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www.weftfm.org
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