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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Headlines, 6-1-02 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
01 Jun 2002
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign, IL. State Budget Evolves -- Situation for Workers Improves, Argentina Erupts in Protest, Racial Discrimination Leads to Closure of LIUNA Local, High-level Teamsters Barred from Union, U.S. Sues Northlake Trucking Firms, Provena Announces Job Cuts |
State Budget Evolves -- Situation for Workers Improves
Two weeks after this spring's legislative session was scheduled to end, legislators may be nearing resolution on the Illinois state budget. The Chicago Tribune reports that the budget may contain $260 million dollars in new spending, enough to offset many of the cuts to the state's funding of education, social services, and prisons. The entire legislature is running for re-election this year, and many fear that if they raise taxes, they won't be re-elected in November. An unwillingness to raise taxes has made it much harder for the legislature to deal with a $1.2 billion dollar budget shortfall in the current year, the worst budget crisis in fifty years. Legislators are reportedly raising new revenues by raising taxes on cigarettes by 40 cents per pack, raising taxes on goods sold in prisons, and raising taxes on gambling operations. The legislature also reduced the corporate tax break the state would have had to offer from George Bush's tax cut scheme. The legislature "decoupled" corporate taxes, so corporations' state taxes will not decrease, only their federal taxes will decrease. That change alone makes up over one sixth of the deficit, but corporate executives are howling that they want BOTH the state and federal tax cuts. In terms of state jobs, AFSCME Council 31 announced that the plan as it currently exists contains both good and bad news. AFSCME is pleased that two prisons, four prison work camps, and a mental health center remain in the budget, and they're pleased that the state is no longer trying to privatize prison food services. The plan restores about 25 percent of the jobs originally slated for cuts in the Department of Children and Family Services, and some money has been added back for county nursing homes. Early retirement plans may help reduce the need to lay off employees. The plan is not final, and AFSCME will post budget updates to its website as the discussions proceed. The AFSCME website is www.afscme31.org.
Argentina Erupts in Protest
Argentina's largest and most left-wing union federation led tens of thousands of people across the nation in protests against the government's handling of the country's economic crisis. Main roads were blocked, and thousands gathered outside the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. The BBC reported that they unions succeeded in organizing a truly nationwide protest with marches, demonstrations, work stoppages, and many road blocks in virtually all provinces. Protesters are angry at corrupt old-style politicians, spending cuts, and austerity programs mandated by global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has declared that Argentina will remain isolated until Argentina weakens laws designed to protect its citizens from foreign lenders who want to flee the country. Such capital flight led to the collapse of the South Korean economy in 1997. Currently, 25% of Argentines are unemployed, and half are living in poverty.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2015000/2015867.stm
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&574&e=6&u=/nm/20020524/wl_nm/argentina_dc_6
http://argentina.indymedia.org/
Racial Discrimination Leads to Closure of LIUNA Local
Racial discrimination on the part of an Ohio Laborer's union local has led the local to close up shop. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported on Friday that Laborer's local 496 will close its doors and sell its union hall as a result of systematic discrimination against black workers. The discrimination occurred during the construction of the Perry nuclear power plant which began around 1980. Fifty three plaintiffs filed a class action suit against the local, leading to a two million dollar judgment on behalf of the workers. Black workers were placed in a catch-22: they were told that they had to be union members in order to work on the plant, but that they couldn't become union members unless they had a job. Meanwhile, white workers were hired with no experience and put to work on the lucrative job.
http://www.laborers.org/Dealer_Blacks_5-1-99.html
http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/business/1022837582225760.xml
High-level Teamsters Barred from Union
A powerful leader of a Chicago Teamster local has been permanently barred from membership in the Teamsters by the federal government. William Hogan Junion, head of the 100,000-member Teamsters Joint Council 25 was found to have colluded with a non-union company in Chicago to help the company land lucrative trade show work in Las Vegas. Hogan's brother is an executive in the non-union temp company, and the company would have been competing with Teamsters Local 631 in Las Vegas for the convention work. Dane Passo, a special assistant to Teamsters international president James P. Hoffa, was also barred from the teamsters for his involvement. Hogan had been a candidate for an international vice president on Hoffa's slate until his indictment was issued. Union democracy advocates say the ruling by the government's Internal Review Board shows that the Teamsters are still not cleaned up, and that federal involvement is still needed. One of Hoffa's main campaign goals has been to eliminate federal oversight of the union, which began under the Reagan administration. Earlier this year, Teamster leaders persuaded a federal judge and the Bush administration lifted some oversight of the union. One week later, the Teamsters hosted Bush for an event to promote oil drilling in the arctic.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-team31.html
http://www.tdu.org/HoffaWatch/Hogan_Passo_Expelled/hogan_passo_expelled.html
U.S. Sues Northlake Trucking Firms
Women who complained about being required to take clients to a strip club will be represented by the federal government in an anti-discrimination suit. On May 21, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a suit against 2 jointly-owned trucking companies in Northlake, Illinois. The EEOC charges Custom Companies Inc. and Custom Distribution Network Inc. of sexual harassment and retaliation against female sales representatives. The suit alleges that the female workers were expected to entertain company clients at a strip club partly owned by the firm's chief executive. An attorney for the EEOC said that sales representatives were supposed to escort clients to the club and pressured to participate. The suit also alleges that one of the representatives who complained to her supervisor was forced to take a pay cut and was later fired after filing a complaint with the EEOC.
Chicago Tribune, May 29, 2002, section 3, p 3
Provena Announces Job Cuts
Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana said it will lay off about 34 employees, and that 38 others will be laid off in Danville. The cuts are being caused by cuts in Medicaid reimbursements from the state of Illinois and other budget problems. A spokesperson for the hospitals said that the layoffs would not affect any registered nurses or employees in direct patient care positions, and they hoped to transfer employees to available jobs at sister entities.
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, May 24, 2002, p A-1
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See also:
http://www.ilir.uiuc.edu/lii/
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