Over 1,700 Long Island bus workers won union representation last Friday after the workers launched a strong organizing drive with Teamsters Local 1205. The victory is the result of a hard fight by the workers, the union, and their allies. The employer, Baumann Bus, was in strong opposition to the union.
The workers—drivers, driver assistants, and mechanics—began organizing in the spring of 2009 and formed organizing committees in their nine different yards. The workers’ reasons for wanting a union were strong: they were not paid for the hours worked, were spending a large portion of their personal paychecks on health care, and experienced degrading workplace conditions. When the employers got word that the workers were organizing, they started attaching anti-union letters to their paychecks, boldly stating, “Don’t sign up with the Teamsters—tell them we don’t want them around here!”
The workers filed ten unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board before November 1st, 2009. The charges include: spying on workers who are speaking to one another about the union; telling Latino and Haitian workers that they must be U.S. citizens to vote in the union; and scaring the workers into believing that if a union is voted in, the company will
On November 3rd, members of the Mid-Willamette Valley Jobs with Justice came out to denounce the anti-union practices of BrucePAC, a private company that packages cooked meats in Silverton, OR. Over 40 community supporters showed at the main BrucePAC facility in Siverton to hand out information about the working condition and demanded an end to the intimidation and harrassment of the 350 workers. Workers there are trying to form a union with LIUNA Local 296.
The horror stories from workers sparked the community into action and is another example of why we need real labor law reform like the Employee Free Choice Act. More than 40 workers say they were fired for supporting the union organizing effort, female workers report being sexually harassed, and injured workers say they have been sent home and denied workers comp. BrucePac is also spending big money on union busting consultants to intimidate workers.
Workers that have been with the company several years still only make minimum wage! With current estimates showing BrucePAC having revenues close to $99 million in 2008, workers know Larry Bruce, President of BrucePAC, can do better.
The two year effort to form an independent labor union for the AlliedBarton security guards at the world famous Philadelphia Museum of Art finally resulted in a victory for the union this weekend. The formerly unionized guards lost their union in 1992 when the jobs were privatized by then Mayor Ed Rendell.
“It is hard for any group of workers to join a union,” says Cecelia Lynch, museum guard and union activist. “But we knew that it was the only hope that we had to fix the problems that we faced on the job.”
It is rare and difficult for a group of workers to form their own independent union.
The newly formed Philadelphia Security Officers Union (PSOU) was created by guards from around the city and by the Philadelphia Jobs with Justice over a two year period.
“We hope that AlliedBarton will now work with us to agree on a fair contract in a reasonable amount of time,” says Fabricio Rodriguez, Executive Director of Jobs with Justice.
The union provides some hope to a growing segment of Philadelphia’s workforce, private security guards. Guards currently lack union representation and have few opportunities to
One year ago Jobs with Justice, a coalition of labor and community organizations, took to the streets to oppose the Bush Administration’s bailout of Wall Street’s banks and other financial institutions. We warned against transferring public money to private banks through Bush’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) without some level of public ownership and control. But the TARP passed as is, entrusting the banks to put money back into the economy and help put the brakes on the recession.
Instead, these corporate criminals stole our money.
The banks said they needed taxpayer money to continue lending and to keep the economy running, yet they refuse to extend credit to viable companies like Hartmarx and Republic Windows and Doors. They are forcing small businesses to close and costing thousands of workers their jobs. Today, unemployment stands at 9.7%.
Mortgage lenders have failed to work with homeowners to curtail foreclosures, even those who qualify for refinancing. Today, nearly 1 in 25 homes is in foreclosure.
So what have the banks spent our taxpayer dollars on? Over the last year, we’ve watched one corporate scandal after another unfold. The bailed-out financial industry has paid outrageous executive salaries and bonuses, thrown
One of the main road blocks that workers face to exercising their rights on the job is the powerful and frightening coercive power that an employer has over an employee.
Imagine an election in which the party in power could force you to attend mandatory meetings to tell you why you should not vote for the other party. Imagine the party in power could also make you lose your job, and harass your neighbors who support the opposition party. The party in power could bring in professional campaigners (lawyers and anti-union consultants) to help them win their election. They were guaranteed access to the voters every day leading up to the election — but the opposition party could only campaign in secret and when their volunteers happened to catch other voters at home. Let’s say that the party in power could also sit you down, all by yourself, and interrogate you to see how you intended on voting?
Sounds pretty intimidating, huh? Well these are the troubles that the security guards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are bound to face in the next thirty days as they try to form a union.
Yesterday, hundreds of community, faith, student leaders came to Washington to tell their elected officials why they support the Employee Free Choice Act. Jobs with Justice activists from Pennsylvania, Missouri, Maine and Indiana joined others in a jam-packed 36 hours of training and lobbying.
Participants were welcomed Wednesday night by outgoing AFL-CIO president John Sweeney. On Thursday morning, Senator Harkin addressed the crowd with heart-felt remarks about his family’s life-long commitment to unions and workers’ issues. Harkin, who was just named Chairman of the House Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, brought a bittersweet message to the activists. “We will win strong labor law reform,” Harkin said, “but it may not happen this year.” Senator Harkin explained that health care would likely dominate the legislative calendar for the remainder of the year, but assured folks that the Employee Free Choice Act would immediately follow.
With the appointment of Harkin to lead the HELP Committee and President Obama’s Labor Day address reconfirming his support for the Bill, activists were energized to go out and meet with their Senators and Congressional Representatives. You can see
Our Day of Action JUST started – we need your help! Do your part to fight greedy CEOs and corporate lobbyists who are trying to kill the Employee Free Choice Act.
Soaring health care costs. Foreclosures on the rise. An uncertain future. And now, a so-called “jobless recovery.”
How did this happen? For years, we tried trickle-down economics. And it was a miserable failure. That’s why hundreds of state leaders are in Washington DC TODAY, fighting for the Employee Free Choice Act – so workers can fix our economy from the bottom up.
When more folks can negotiate for better wages, health care, and working conditions by joining a union, things get better for all of us. That’s what this bill is all about.
Will you back up local leaders on Capitol Hill today?
Over 300 state leaders who support the Employee Free Choice Act are on-the-ground today, meeting with their members of Congress in support of the Employee Free Choice
ONE YEAR AGO Congress & the Federal Reserve bailed-out Wall Street and the insurers, claiming they were “too big to fail.” ONE YEAR LATER…
Workers are losing their jobs, homes, healthcare, & retirement security
The Bailed-Out Banks continue to award executive bonuses while refusing to finance jobs and evicting renters and homeowners through foreclosures
Corporations still “own” Congress & are continuing with “business as usual” by blocking measures like health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act
The G-20, an international group of powerful bankers and governments, is meeting in Pittsburgh (9/24) to push for more of the same failed policies that created the economic crisis.
JOIN US FOR A WEEK OF ACTION TO DEMAND JOBS, HOMES, HEALTH CARE, & A NEW ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE!
When security officers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art rallied against a recent roll-back of their $0.25/hr raise, they never guessed that their efforts would become an example in the nationwide debate over the Employee Free Choice Act. That’s what happened after an article by Sarah Jaffe appeared on the website of The Nation Magazine.
The guards hope that the arrival of the museum’s new director, Timothy Rub, will prompt workplace improvements. Thus far, they have they tried to communicate with Mr. Rub via written letters and phone calls. Their requests remain unanswered, so the guards decided to translate their message into a language sympathetic to the ears of the museum leaders: art. Today, the film entitled “Welcoming Change: A Message To Timothy Rub,” directed by David Stuart Randle from local media organization Media Mobilizing Project, will be released on the internet and will premier on screen at 4205 Chestnut St at 6:30 pm. The film will also be mailed to 100 local churches.
The security guards, with the help of Philadelphia JwJ, began organizing in 2007 in
A sampling of what Jobs with Justice coalitions are working on this week.
JwJ coalitions across the country continued to engage in the health care debate. Central Indiana Jobs with Justice is forming a local grassroots group of activists to respond to the attacks on health insurance reform. Stay tuned next week for a more detailed account of the work they are doing.
September 24-October 1, 2009 
