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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines 1-19-2002 |
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by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
19 Jan 2002
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Headlines as broadcast on the Illinois Labor Hour on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. Stories: Changes in Hiring Practices Likely , State Developmental Center Supporters Rally Against Governor, State Drivers Education Courses to Feature Construction Zone Safety, Airport Security Workers to be Denied Rights Despite Federal Employment, Organizing Victories |
Changes in Hiring Practices Likely
Changes in hiring practices by the city of Urbana in order to increase the diversity of city employees received preliminary support from the city council on Jan. 14. A recent report from the Urbana Human Relations Commission indicated that all of the full time city employees hired in 2000 were white. The city council is considering new civil service procedures that would result in a work force reflecting the racial and ethnic makeup of the city's population. Among the measures proposed are the creation of a larger hiring pool, a preference for local residents, and seeking applications from current part-time or temporary employees before advertising vacancies. A vote on the proposal will be taken on Feb. 4.
State Developmental Center Supporters Rally Against Governor
About a thousand people attended a rally organized by AFSCME Local 425 on Jan. 12 protesting Gov. Ryan's plan to downsize or close the Lincoln Developmental Center. The Center lost its Medicaid funding last November after officials found problems. Certification was restored by the next month, but regulators say it still is not totally in compliance. Speakers at the rally included union and city officials and state legislators as well as parents of youths at the facility. Of the 15,200 residents of Lincoln, 9,200 have signed a petition asking that the Center remain open.
State Drivers Education Courses to Feature Construction Zone Safety
The January 9 issue of Construction Labor Report says that a new Illinois law requires that drivers education programs include training on traffic safety in construction zones. In the first 11 months of 2001, 32 highway construction workers died in construction zone traffic accidents. Similar legislation was passed by the General Assembly last year but vetoed by the Governor, who said it was already a part of the state school code and therefore unneeded. The veto was overridden at the end of November.
Airport Security Workers to be Denied Rights, Despite Federal Employment
As airports came upon their first major test under a new federal law to improve airport security, the mainstream press reported on delays--or the lack of delays--at US airports. However, the American Federation of Government Employees are drawing attention to shortcomings in the Aviation Transportation and Security Act that denies signed by the President last November 19. The government employees' union declared victory when congress mandated that all 28,000 airport security workers would become government employees, however the fine print of the law revealed that those 28,000 workers will be treated as second-class citizens. Because the law exempts the workers from the federal civil service system and places their terms and conditions of employment under direct control of the Secretary of Transportation, the workers will not have the pay, health and life insurance, retirement benefits, workers compensation, equal employment opportunity rights, rights to organize and be represented by unions, and whistleblower protections that other federal workers enjoy. Nonetheless, AFGE says it will work with the presdient to ensure that airport screeners are treated as equitably as possible. The American Civil Liberties Union and several groups representing immigrant workers also have problems with the airport security bill. Last week, the ACLU filed suit in a federal court in Los Angeles challenging a clause in the bill requiring that airport baggage screeners be US citizens. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of nine airport screeners who have permanent U.S. residency and are due to be fired when the law goes into effect Nov. 19. The ACLU said the legal challenge was also meant to protect thousands of other legal aliens working in airport security, who would otherwise lose their jobs when the law takes effect. The ACLU said that about 5,000 non-U.S. citizens, about one in four of all U.S. airport screeners, would be fired because of the new law. One of the plaintiffs, a 21-year old immigrant from El Salvador, pointed out that, quote, "It doesn't make sense that I can serve my country in the Army but not work in an airport as a screener.''
http://www.afge.org/Documents/Bull17-11.pdf
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20020117/ts/rights_airports_dc_1.html
Organizing Victories
The AFL-CIO reported on a few organizing victories this week, including 160 staff members at St. Mary's College of Maryland, who voted for AFSCME. The January 10 victory makes St. Mary's College the eighth Maryland campus since November to choose the union. Sally Davies, chair of AFSCME's statewide university steering committee commented that "The overwhelming margin of victory shows conclusively that there is a deep desire among higher education staff for a voice on the job." Second, homecare workers in Peoria cast an overwhelming majority of ballots in favor of union representation in early January. More than 130 caregivers employed by Homecare Personal Services, Incorporated in Peoria, voted to join SEIU Local 880. Member-organizers discussed key issues such as low wages and travel costs when they spoke with fellow workers during home visits and at paycheck pickup points. Third, 61 truck drivers seeking better wages, benefits and working conditions in Quincy, Illinois voted for collective bargaining in late December. 61 truck drivers for Amcon Distributing Co. in Quincy, voted for a voice at work with International Association of Machinists Local 822.
The International Chemical, Energy, and Mine Workers' union announced that multinational glass and ceramics maker Saint-Gobain will soon begin collective bargaining with the UAW for a first agreement covering 850 workers at the company's facility in Worcester, Massachusetts. France-based Saint-Gobain informed the union of this decision on Wednesday, marking a major victory for a UAW campaign that mobilised strong global trade union support. The company tried using the courts to overturn an August 24 election where the majority of the workers voted for of UAW representation. And, finally, just last Wednesday, some 500 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs working for the Boston Healthcare Systems chose the American Federation of Government Employees as their collective bargaining agent. Psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, pharmacists, and other non-nurse professionals are included in the bargaining group. AFGE's national President Bobby Harnage said in a statement that union's efforts to improve the quality of health care are bolstered when health care workers join the union.
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