Congressman Stephen Lynch, Fall River Mayor William Flanagan and community leaders representing the Massachusetts Workers’ Rights Board reviewed a list of employees at Comcast’s Fall River and Fairhaven locations and then checked it against union authorization cards voluntarily signed by employees at the same locations requesting IBEW Local 2322 to represent them.

Based on their card count, an overwhelming majority of Comcast employees in the above named locations desire to unite in IBEW Local 2322.

Rep. Lynch and Mayor Flanagan sent a letter immediately afterwards, “urging Comcast management to respect the employee majority and voluntarily recognize IBEW Local 2322 as their representative and begin collective bargaining for an agreement covering their wages, benefits and working conditions.”

“We requested the certification because we wanted to prove beyond a doubt to management that a genuine majority of our co-workers want to form a union and begin collective bargaining,” said Brian Almeida, a Comcast technician from the Fall River office who stared with the company in 2001.

Almeida was

Continue reading New Comcast Workers’ Union Certified

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;

Continue reading 1,700 Long Island Bus Workers Win Union Representation!

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

Continue reading Community Fights Back Against BrucePAC’s Union-Busting

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

Continue reading Philadelphia Security Officers Union Wins Election!

Cross-posted  from Common Dreams.org.

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? 

Continue reading One Year After the Bank Bailout, We Still Need a People’s Economic Recovery

Cross-posted from the Philadelphia JwJ Blog.

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

Continue reading Will your tax money be used to intimidate workers?

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 Continue reading Lobby Day for the Employee Free Choice Act

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.

CALL TOLL-FREE at 1-888-318-1664 UPDATE:  The Capitol Switchboard is overwhelmed!  Follow this link to look up your Senator’s direct line. Tell your Senators to Support 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

Continue reading JwJ leaders visit Congress TODAY – CALL IN & back us up!

September 24-October 1, 2009

ONE YEAR AGO Congress & the Federal Reserve bailed-out Wall Street and the insurers, claiming they were “too big to fail.” ONE YEAR LATER…

JOIN US FOR A WEEK OF ACTION TO DEMAND JOBS, HOMES, HEALTH CARE, & A NEW ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE! 

Our Demands–

Jobs & the Unemployment Crisis: