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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Headlines 8-24-02 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!) |
24 Aug 2002
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. American's Job Satisfaction Declining, Nike Target of Indonesian Demonstration, Longshore Workers' Update, Enron Conviction Leads Way to Bigger Fish, CA Farm Workers Fight Big Money for Arbitration Law, South Korean Union Leaders Still in Jail |
American's Job Satisfaction Declining
American workers are becoming less satisfied with their jobs, according to a survey by the business-backed research group, the Conference Board. Only about half of 5,000 households surveyed by the group said they were happy with their jobs, a drop of nearly 20 percent from 1995. The decline happened for all workers across all income levels and age groups. Fairness at work seems to be a key factor, according to the survey. Workers are most dissatisfied with bonus plans and promotion policies, but they also expressed dissatisfaction with their limited opportunities for training. Although all workers are becoming less satisfied, heightened awareness was most common in two groups: Workers earning less than fifteen thousand dollars a year are the least satisfied, as are middle-aged workers--those between the ages of thirty five and forty four. The most satisfied workers are those in the highest income bracket studied, over fifty thousand dollars. Regionally, workers in New England encountered the largest decline in job satisfaction, while those in the Rocky Mountain region are the least disgruntled workers in America.
http://www.conference-board.org/search/dpress.cfm?pressid=4728
Nike Target of Indonesian Demonstration
The US embassy in Indonesia was the target of protests again last week. The British on-line news service Ananova reported that four thousand Indonesian workers marched to the US embassy to protest against planned production cuts at Nike-controlled factories. The cuts could cost seven thousand jobs. Workers demand that Nike compensate those who are laid-off. A spokesperson for the Indonesian Textile, Garment, and Leather Workers' Union said, quote, "Nike has no social responsibility. They are just exploiting the workers, getting their profit, and then leaving." unquote. Nike confirmed that it is ending contracts with one manufacturer in November, but they say they will continue working with 47 other factories, which employ 123,000 Indonesian workers. Nike says it will continue limited services, but it shifts responsibility to its contractor to provide other compensation.
http://www.ananova.com/business/story/sm_653774.html
ILWU
The International Longshore and Warehouse Workers' Union, in difficult negotiations with the coalition of west coast seaport owners, say that negotiations will resume on Monday. Support for the union continues to grow worldwide in response to George W. Bush's threat to break the union with the US military if a contract isn't reached. More than 200 leaders of global dockworker unions, representing 400,000 workers, have pledged support for the ILWU in its bargaining. The leaders signed a letter to George Bush demanding that he stop interfering with negotiations. The pledge came during the International Transport Workers federation's annual meeting in Vancouver last week. The ILWU's efforts are being supported by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who, along with Senator Ted Kennedy, sent a letter to George Bush, also demanding that he not interfere in contract negotiations. In Washington, hundreds of ILWU longshore workers piled into a hearing room to watch elected officials scrutinize Bush's plans to intervene. A top manager for the seaports said that the employers never asked Bush to intervene, however the owners refused to ask Bush to stay out. Regular weekly updates on the west coast negotiations and possible military intervention can be found at the ILWU website, www.ilwu.org.
Enron
Investigations into the world's second-largest bankruptcy took an important step forward last week when former Enron executive Michael Kopper pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering. Kopper is the first Enron executive to plead guilty of crimes related to the collapse of the $50 billion corporation. He admitted to creating fictional businesses designed to enrich himself and others at Enron at the expense of company employees and shareholders. Thousands lost their jobs and their life savings in the collapse of the corporation, whose top executives awarded themselves hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses in the year prior to the company's collapse. Kopper's plea agreement led quickly to federal action freezing accounts belonging to the family of his boss, Andrew Fastow, after his brother tried to move millions of dollars out of one of the accounts. Fastow and his wife, Lea, and his family's foundation face seizure of bank accounts of more than $14 million if prosecutors can show they are the product of money laundering when they were involved in the investments. Fastow was the company's chief financial officer. He and former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay are friends of President Bush.
CA Farm Workers Fight Big Money for Arbitration Law
California farm workers and their allies are on a ten-day march across the state, in a final effort to win new legal protections for farm worker union organizing. They're in the home stretch of the attempt to gain mediation and arbitration rights that will help them win contracts from growers who refuse to bargain after workers vote to unionize, a change that farm workers say they need. The UFW says that since 1975, farm workers have voted for unions 430 times, but far fewer than half--only 190--have reached contract settlements. One giant grower dragged out bargaining for decades. The bill that would allow an independent third party to intervene when negotiation stall has passed out of the legislature, with nearly every democrat voting for it. With a Democratic governor, one might think the workers have a smooth ride to the finish. But Governor Gray Davis, a new ally of California agribusiness, is threatening to veto the bill. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that agribusiness "hates" the bill, saying it will hurt relations between workers and employers. The Chronicle also reports that agribusiness has donated $105,000 to Davis' campaign between August 5 and August 15, the day the march began. That money comes atop another $1.5 million that agribusiness has donated to Davis in the past, but Davis says the money isn't influencing his position on the bill. Nonetheless, his staff members are not returning reporters' calls, and he hasn't indicated that he will sign the bill. The march concludes tomorrow at the California state capitol.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2002/08/15/MN196196.DTL#sections
http://www.ufw.org/politics.htm
South Korean Union Leaders Still in Jail
The International Metalworkers' Federation said the struggle for South Korean workers will continue, after the government refused to grant amnesty to trade union leaders. Workers hoped that on South Korea's independence day, August 15, the government would release over 50 South Korean trade unionists who the government imprisoned during nationwide protests against International Monetary Fund-mandated economic changes. One of those in jail is Dan Byung-ho, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a union federation like the American Congress of Industrial Organizations. The KCTU is now organizing a nationwide rally to protest the government's repression of trade unionists scheduled for next week, and the United Nations labor arm, the International Labor Organization, will send a delegation to South Korea in September to follow-up on recommendations it made to President Kim Dae-Jung's government.
http://www.imfmetal.org/main/index.cfm?id=47&lid=2&cid=7416
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