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News :: Labor |
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Labor Headlines, 11-15-02 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
(No verified email address) |
17 Nov 2002
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Headlines broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. Homeland Security Dept Nears Approval, Bush to Privatize 850 K jobs, UBC Re-affiliates with Building & Construction Trades Dept?, S. Korean Police Arrest 10 Union Leaders, SIUC Faculty Prepare to Strike, Union Calls for More Money for Mental Health Centers, UI Grad Students Hear Pros, Cons of Unionization, Annc: NEA President Reg Weaver at ILIR on 11/20 (Wed.) |
Homeland Security Dept.
On Tuesday, George Bush claimed his first post-election victory, exactly one week after Democrats lost control of the Senate and fell further behind in the House. Four days ago, the House of Representatives approved Bush's plan for massive new bureaucracy, the Homeland Security Department. The department will oversee the functions of 170,000 federal workers, and under the terms of the house-approved bill, Bush will have the power to break the unions of about 85,000 of those workers and ignore due process protections for all 170,000. Bush, the nation's first "MBA President" demands total control over the hiring, firing, and working conditions of all employees in the new agency. The American Federation of Government Employees strongly opposes the bill as approved, pointing out that civil service rules allow employees to report on corruption without fear of losing their jobs. Bush's reorganization may undermine morale throughout the new homeland security department. The rights of workers responsible for homeland security drew barely a mention when commercial and public media reported on the bill's passage, and two conservative Democrats and one liberal Republican who previously stood up for workers' rights gave up their struggle, announcing they will concede to Bush's demands. Final passage of the Homeland Security bill is expected early next week.
Bush to Privatize 850 K jobs
Also in his first week after the mid-term election, George Bush announced that his corporate campaign funders will soon have a chance to profit from government work being performed by almost a million public employees. On Friday, the Bush administration announced that 850,000 federal jobs--nearly half of the federal civilian workforce--will be put up for bid by private contractors in coming years. Republican spokespeople said that the change will help save money on routine activities like mowing lawns, removing trash, running cafeterias, and printing paychecks. Bobby Harnage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees criticized the announcement, telling the New York Times, quote, "This administration is selling the federal government at bargain basement prices to their corporate friends, who then make campaign contributions back. This is not about saving money, it's about moving money to the private sector." Harnage said federal employees almost always have more expertise and experience than outside contractors do in the jobs that are put up for bid. He said there had been many cases in which private contractors either drove up the costs to the government or failed to do the job well. Conservatives claim that outsourcing has saved money in the past, but independent analysis isn't as clear. Frequently, private contractors issue very low bids to win contracts, then drive up their prices afterward. Private contractors also extract savings by paying low wages and offering few benefits.
www.afge.org
UBC Re-affiliates with Building & Construction Trades Dept?
In May, 2001, the Carpenters union left the AFL-CIO saying that not enough organizing was taking place, and since that time, the carpenters have joined with the Teamsters in forming close ties to the Bush administration. This week, reports are beginning to emerge that the Carpenters have struck a deal to re-affiliate, but not with the entire AFL-CIO. The carpenters would only join with the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. Details remain sketchy but David Johnson, a rank-and-file carpenter who is a leader in the grassroots Carpenters for a Democratic Union International observes that re-affiliation with only the building trades will mark a victory for anti-union forces since it will divide the building trades from the rest of the labor movement. Labor Educator Harry Kelber notes that if the reports are confirmed, the carpenters will have a problem. The AFL-CIO constitution prevents a union from affiliating with the Trades Department without being a member of the larger organization.
S. Korean Police Arrest 10 Union Leaders
The Seoul police a week ago Friday arrested 10 union leaders who organized a nationwide government employees' strike earlier this week, on charges of violating the public service law, officials said. Members of an outlawed civil service labor group, the Korea Government Employees Union, staged a two-day walkout, taking their annual leave Monday and Tuesday to protest government labor policies. The police also booked another four, including the union's director of education, without detention, after a judge refused to issue arrest warrants for them.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2002/11/09/200211090038.asp
SIUC Faculty Prepare to Strike
A strike vote scheduled for next week and a boisterous student rally in support of Professors at Southern Illinois University's Carbondale campus led to the resumption of contract negotiations yesterday. University President Walter Wendler announced to the press that the administration is offering a new proposal which doesn't include a raise for the current year but does include raises in following years. Negotiations between the Faculty Association, which is affiliated with the Illinois Education Association, and the administration broke off earlier this semester, despite the association's hopes of reaching a settlement by Halloween. Union president Morteza Danseshdoost was cautiously optimistic about the university's return to bargaining since 75 issues remain unresolved, but he said that the strike vote will proceed early next week. On Wednesday last week, students rallied in support of their professors. Gathering outside the president's office, students chanted, "One college, one fight, students and teachers now unite." Organized by the student government, protesters demanded fair and honest negotiating by the administration, an end to use of tuition money being paid to union-fighting lawyers, a decrease in administrative waste, hiring of new faculty to fill open positions, and access to the university's budget documents.
("Wendler, Wendler, you're a slob, let the teachers do their job," "2,4,6,8, Wendler must negotiate," and "Walter Wendler, he's our man. If he can't do it, fire him" were only a few of the chants presented at the picket.)
http://www.siucfa.org/
http://newshound.de.siu.edu/fall02/stories/storyReader$1577
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/rednews/2002/11/16/build/top/TOP001.html
http://newshound.de.siu.edu/fall02/stories/storyReader$1628
Union Calls for More Money for Mental Health Centers
AFSCME Council 31 will lobby next week during the fall legislative session for the passage of supplemental appropriations to the state budget to restore funding for mental health, including reopening both the Lincoln Developmental Center and the Zeller Mental Health Center. Union officials say that the $750 million in general obligation bonds already approved by the General Assembly, but not used by the Governor, could be tapped to pay for it. Council 31 also held public meetings this past week, pointing out that supposed cost savings from closing mental health facilities were an illusion. Many of the discharged patients, the union says, were simply shifted from mental health facilities to prisons, increasing both financial and social costs to the state.
UI Grad Students Hear Pros, Cons of Unionization
Graduate assistants at the University of Illinois in Urbana heard graduate employees from the University of Michigan and Cornell University, speakers from local campus groups, and the director of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations discuss the advantages and disadvantages of joining a union at a forum on Nov. 11. The forum was sponsored by the administration's Graduate Student Advisory Council. University of Illinois graduate assistants will vote in a representation election on Dec. 3 and 4.
www.ilir.uiuc.edu/lii/ |
