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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Labor Hour Headlines 9-21-01 |
Current rating: 0 |
by Peter Miller
Email: peterm (nospam) shout.net (unverified!)
Phone: 217-344-8820
Address: 218 W. Main St., Urbana, IL 61801 |
23 Sep 2001
Modified: 25 Sep 2001 |
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Headlines as broadcast during the Illinois Labor Hour, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Champaign. |
This week's edition of the AFL-CIO's on-line newsletter, Work in Progress focused on union involvement in digging out from the attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. Included in the update were mentions of the following unions:
FIRE FIGHTERS: In New York City last weekend, the families, colleagues and friends of the more than 300 Fire Fighters missing and presumed dead in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center gathered for the first of what will be a tragic series of many funerals. Also, refusing to bow to the terrorists' attack, the IAFF held its annual IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colo., Sept. 15.
IRON WORKERS: At the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Iron Workers headquarters in Washington, D.C., has purchased essential recovery equipment needed to cut through the millions of tons of rubble. The Iron Workers union has set up three teams of recovery volunteers, which will be rotated into south Manhattan.
LABORERS: Volunteers from all 16 New York City Laborers local unions are helping in the recovery operation, including Local 78, which specializes in asbestos handling. The World Trade Center buildings contained a huge amount of the material, according to reports.
BAKERY, CONFECTIONERY, TOBACCO WORKERS & GRAIN MILLERS: BCTMG Local 3 and Local 50 were contacted by New York emergency shelters and asked if they could obtain paper masks and gloves used by BCTMG workers in bakeries to donate to volunteers and workers at the World Trade Center rescue effort. The locals contacted union-contracted bakeries in the region and obtained 20,000 masks. They then helped distribute the face masks to rescue workers in various points in Manhattan.
SEIU: Thousands of health care workers responded in the hours and days following the attack. SEIU Local 1199NY, the SEIU Committee of Interns and Residents and the SEIU Doctors' Alliance are providing 24-hour emergency medical service.
UAN: Members of the New York State Nurses Association, part of the United American Nurses, have been caring for World Trade Center victims in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey hospitals.
MARITIME UNIONS: Maritime union members are aboard the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort, which went to the scene in New York. Also, union members worked on the Staten Island ferries to evacuate people from south Manhattan. Some Seafarers have assisted in the grim task of carrying bodies from the scene to a temporary morgue in New Jersey.
TEAMSTERS, POSTAL WORKERS: In Detroit, more than a dozen tractor trailers loaded with relief supplies were dispatched to New York City. Teamster and Postal Worker members loaded the respirators and other medical supplies, rescue tools, work clothes (including gloves and shoes) and water supplies for rescue workers. Teamsters drove the trucks to New York.
UNIONS AND THE RED CROSS: AFL-CIO Community Service Red Cross liaisons are on the ground in New York assisting in coordination efforts between the Red Cross and union disaster relief efforts. At the request of the Red Cross, AFL-CIO staff helped locate space for a Compassion Care Center to provide counseling to families of the victims. The Red Cross called the Teamsters to request a truck and drivers to pick up communications equipment at a warehouse in Memphis, Tenn., and drive it to New York. Teamster members employed at UPS responded to the call and the equipment has been delivered.
Starbuck's Penalizes Worker Stranded by Attacks
At least one employer is using the September eleventh attacks as an excuse to discipline and possibly fire union supporters, according to a report at the Seattle Independent Media Center. Don Goodson, an employee at a Starbucks coffee roasting plant near Seattle was on vacation in Austin, Texas when all air traffic in the nation was halted on September eleventh. Since he couldn't return to work on the twelfth as scheduled, he called his supervisor and explained his situation. But cancellation of all air traffic in the nation wasn't an adequate excuse for Starbuck's, and when Goodson returned to work, he received three demerits in his personnel file. A total of nine demerits is needed to fire an employee. Starbuck's spokesperson Audrey Lincoff told the Illinois Labor Hour that she would not comment on the incident, although Starbucks issued a statement saying that the corporation would not automatically fire employees who missed work due to the attacks. Goodson has been an activist in the Operating Engineers' union, which successfully organized a local at Starbuck's Kent, Washington roasting facility two years ago, but has failed to reach agreement on a first contract. Workers accuse Starbucks of stalling negotiations in order to decertify the union. During the contract negotiations, Starbucks has offered benefits improvements to non-union workers, while denying those benefits to union employees. About the incident, Goodson commented, quote, "It astounds me that they can go about treating people this way and get away with it," unquote.
http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=7093&group=webcast
Ironworker Dies from Injuries in Accident
On Sept. 18 a contract worker was killed while working at Ameren Energy Generating's Coffeen Power Station. The ironworker, who was employed by Phillips-Getschow of Joliet, was part of a crew removing a large crusher cage from the coal crusher house when the cage came loose from an overhead trolley, striking him in the chest and pinning him. The incident is under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
French Fertilizer Factory Explodes
The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions reported yesterday on an explosion at a fertilizer plant in France that killed twenty five and injured six hundred fifty. Fifteen to twenty people are missing. The explosion in the city of Toulouse happened at about 10 in the morning, local time. The explosion registered 3.4 on the Richter scale in various parts of France. It has severely damaged buildings in a wide area surrounding the plant. More than 2,000 people had to leave their homes yesterday, and about 1,400 spent last night in emergency reception centres. After the explosion, city residents were warned to stay indoors due to the spread of a chemical cloud, but the alert was ended this morning. In response, the French chemical workers' union issued a statement articulating the need for better chemical safety and calling for an investigation to see if the disaster is the result of widespread cost cutting in the chemical industry. The union also voiced support for a continent-wide chemical safety program currently being drawn up, but which is being opposed by employers. The factory was owned by TotalFinaElf.
China and Taiwan Cleared for Entry to WTO
On Monday, The World Trade Organization formally agreed to terms for China's membership in the world's most powerful political group. The agreement required fifteen years of negotiations and resulted in a nine hundred page document that the WTO's 142 members will need to approve. China won't become a formal members until November, when the WTO holds is ministerial meeting in the middle eastern kingdom of Qatar. Both China and the WTO hailed the decision as a major step toward increased globalization. Immediately following the agreement with China, Taiwan also received clearance to join the WTO. While talks with Taiwan were completed early in 2000, the agreement was delayed so that China could join, first. The terms of Taiwan's free trade membership filled twelve hundred pages.
http://www.iatp.org/
ILO to Hold Global Strategy Meeting
Next week, the International Labor Organization will hold a meeting to strategize about ways to incorporate social concerns and core labor standards into the policies and operations of global financial institutions. Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have failed to address the negative consequences of globalization on workers around the world, according to a statement by the United Nations body. Discussions will include the presentation of a paper entitled "Trade unions and the global economy: an unfinished story", which points to a number of instances where global financial policies run contrary to ILO core Conventions, namely on the right to collective bargaining, and to universally-accepted social protections. Special emphasis will also be placed on making the WTO more responsive to the needs and demands of workers, ahead of the fourth ministerial conference of the WTO to be held in Qatar at the beginning of November.
(http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actrav/papers/swpbw_01.htm)
Played a Role in Decatur Labor Conflict
On September 14, Rev. Martin Mangan died at age 71 in his home, after a long struggle with colon cancer. Mangan was the pastor of St. James Catholic Church in Decatur. Father Mangan was active in supporting workers who were involved in the labor disputes in Decatur in the late 1990s. He participated in prayer vigils on behalf of workers and spoke to company executives about their concerns. He once chained himself to a factory fence at A.E. Staley Manufacturing for 12 hours to demonstrate his opposition to 12-hour shifts for workers. He was honored on Labor Day 2001 for his work for social justice, becoming the first recipient of an award established by union and community groups that was named after him. Father Mangan was born in Springfield and served in parishes in Granite City, Tuscola, Highland, Taylorville, and Mt. Sterling. (Chicago Tribune, September 17, 2001, section 2, p 13)
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by Kay
us2forever (nospam) mindspring.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
25 Sep 2001
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We are in the midst of making a wall hanging for the Union Iron Workers at the WTC. However, we have no idea where to send it and to whom. Can you help?
Kay |
