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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Headlines, 4-20-02 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
21 Apr 2002
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. Womens' Pay Equity Gap Criticized, RI Graduate Assistants Vote for Union, Tufts GAs Ratify Contract, Train Engineers Picket Remote Controlled Railways, Italian Workers Stage General Strike, State Budget Problems Worsen |
Womens' Pay Equity Gap Criticized
Last Tuesday, over a dozen community organizations gathered to draw attention to pay inequities for women. The groups attended a press conference organized by the Champaign County Health Care Consumers to unveil a new report about gender inequities at the University of Illinois. The report states that women are still paid an average of twenty seven percent less than men, and that the pay difference exists because employers still discriminate against women. They pay difference is even worse for minority women, with African American women earning forty five percent less than white men, and Latina women earning only half of what white men earn. The Health Care Consumers' report notes that a wage gap exists for faculty at the University of Illinois, with women full professors earning nearly fifteen percent less than their male counterparts, a larger difference than at most comparable universities. The university doesn't provide gender equity data on graduate assistants, academic professionals, or civil service employees. Finally, the report argues that the university's benefits package discriminates against women by excluding contraceptive coverage from its employee health insurance plans. Out-of-pocket costs ranging from $300 - $500 per year pose a major barrier to contraceptive access for women, a central component of women's health. The University of Illinois at Chicago, and eight of big ten universities do include contraceptive coverage in their health insurance plans.
http://www.prairienet.org/cchcc/
RI Graduate Assistants Vote for Union, Tufts GAs Ratify Contract
Graduate employee unions made the news this past week. On Tuesday, graduate assistants at the University of Rhode Island voted 190 to 20 for a union affiliated with the American Association of University Professors. The group sought better pay, improved resources, and greater representation in campus affairs. The AAUP already represents faculty at Rhode Island, and the university administration did not oppose the graduate assistants' efforts. On Friday last week, the president of the university stated that he respects the students' right to form a union. He observed, quote, "URI is an environment in which all but a handful of out employees belong to one collective bargaining unit or another. If this is the choice the students want to make, why can't we make the process work for them?" unquote! At Temple University in Philadelphia, a five-year struggle came to a close when graduate employees overwhelmingly approved their first union contract. The contract contains dramatic increases in base salaries and it improves health benefits for the five hundred of the university's six thousand graduate students. The agreement also provides health benefits for same-sex domestic partners. The Temple University Graduate Students' Association is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers.
http://www.tugsa.org/agreement.html
http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20020412_union11.4dc3568e.html
http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20020419_uri19.3e10c.html
Train Engineers Picket Remote Controlled Railways
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers picketed a shareholders' meeting for Union Pacific Corporation yesterday, protesting the company's experiment with remote-controlled locomotives. Corporate executives say they have been using the technology for over a decade. The union does not oppose the use of remote controlled trains, but rather their being controlled by unqualified operators. Flyers distributed at the meeting urge shareholders to insist that certified locomotive engineers contrinue to operate trains to ensure that safety is protected.
http://www.ble.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=3555
Italian Workers Stage General Strike
Imagine if in the United States, the AFLCIO called on all fifteen million union workers to stay off the job for a day to protest the government's policies, like the Labor Department's refusal to penalize employers who fire union activists, or massive tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of social services for the elderly and disabled. Workers in Italy did just that last week, as millions joined in a general strike across the country in protest at government plans to make it easier to fire workers. The strike was called by the country's three main union federations and brought parts of the country to a standstill. The strike led the nation's prime minister, a Ronald Reagan-type conservative, to agree to talks with the union leaders, but he stood firm with his demands to weaken the nation's labor laws. The unions argue that making it easier to fire employees will lead to a cascade of anti-worker legislation in Italy.
State Budget Problems Worsen
AFSCME Council 31 reports that the state's budget shortfall has grown by over $1.2 billion dollars since the Governor's budget address on February 20. The governor and legislative leaders have released a list of additional budget cuts over and above those in the original budget proposal, including more cuts in corrections, human services, the department of children and family services, natural resources, public aid and other state agencies. Hundreds of layoffs are expected. AFSCME and other state unions advocate alternative measures to increase revenues, rather than massive cuts to the state's safety nets and recreational areas. State-wide labor lobby days are scheduled for next Wednesday, April 24; and AFSCME will hold another lobby day on May 7.
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See also:
http://www.ilir.uiuc.edu/lii/
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