Workers and activists got on the bus June 30th to support workers’ rights all over the Portland area. In a meticulously planned and executed all day bus tour, supporters went to seven actions to support workers’ rights. June 30th was important because thousands of workers had collective bargaining agreements expiring that day.
150 union members and community supporters boarded three buses at 9:30 am. We joined other workers at each of the seven stops along the way. Every action had its own unique flavor and creative twist. In between stops, participants were briefed on the next struggle and got a chance to practice chants and songs.
The buses’ first stop was a Georgia Pacific facility, represented by the Inland Boatman’s Union/ILWU where contract talks have been stalled. The owners are the infamous Koch brothers, so a piece of the action was singing “I’d Like to Buy the Kochs a World”, as well as a delegation to the employer.
Stop 2 was the Vancouver, Washington Hilton hotel, across the river, where workers are trying to raise
Portland Area Worker Rights Board hear testimony from Securitas worker and community members
Portland Jobs with Justice has been working hard to support Securitas workers who are organizing with Service Employees local 49. Since July we have helped organize for and participate in three delegations to management and organized a Workers’ Rights Board hearing and follow up from it.
Securitas,a multi-national corporation headquartered in Sweden, has signed a global agreement with UNI, the international union federation. This agreement commits them to remain neutral when workers organize and to recognize unions when workers organize. When presented with copies of the global agreement, local management didn’t know anything about it. Requests to discuss the situation were met with encouragement to call a phone number in Chicago.
In September, the 600+ workers in Portland reached majority support for their union and went back to local management asking that they recognize the union. Local management has thus far not recognized the union.
On December 9th, workers testified before a Workers’ Rights Board panel about their wages and working conditions and why they need a union. They also presented testimony about the
Since mid-August, Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee has been in solidarity with workers at ARC Automotive and CASCO PRODUCTS CORP who are in contract negotiations with Workers United.
The company’s proposals included freezing employees’ wages for 3 years, eliminating future pension benefits, drastically increasing employee contributions for health insurance while cutting benefits at the same time, using low wage “temporary” workers in place of regular employees, and eliminating basic employee rights on the job.
Most outrageous were their heavy-handed threats to move the plant elsewhere if the workers did not agree to their demands.
CASCO and their president, Ali El-Haj, are another example of corporate America’s “race to the bottom”, where jobs are moved to where workers are paid the least and have the fewest rights.
The hardworking men and women employed by ARC deserve fair pay and benefits for their labor. They have a basic right to fair, even handed treatment. They are entitled to work free from threats to their jobs for simply standing up for themselves and their families.
After rallying on Saturday, the membership rejected the Company’s proposal by a vote of 69 to 1. They were very resolved to stand up to the Company’s
Workers at Express Scripts, Inc. facilities in Bensalem, PA – members of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania – voted overwhelmingly on December 9th and 10th to ratify a settlement agreement that will preserve approximately 400 jobs at the Street Road facility, reversing the pharmacy benefit manager company’s announcement of plans to shutter all of its Bensalem operations.
In addition to maintaining most of the company’s workforce at the Street Road facility in Bensalem, the settlement provides a substantial severance package to approximately 500 workers facing layoff as a result of the closure of the Marshall Lane facility and some downsizing at Street Road.
No mistake about it – it’s a very sad state of affairs that many people who helped build ESI are still being laid off. But through the power of workers sticking together and engaging in a national campaign to garner support and pressure Express Script, the union was able to save 400 good jobs and win an excellent severance package for laid-off workers that most non-union workers might only dream about. “The support we got from the community, other labor unions and people across the country was overwhelming,” said Pam Rogers, President of SEIU Healthcare PA.
BOSTON—More than 90 union members, students and community activists jammed the SEIU Local 888 union hall here on Saturday for a “Troublemakers School” sponsored by Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.
IBEW Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey gave a rousing welcome to kick things off. “We’re not going to get labor’s problems solved in Washington or on Beacon Hill unless we take a page from the civil rights and gay rights movements,” said Calvey, a former New England telecom strike leader. “We’ve got to be a lot more aggressive so that politicians are forced to deal with our issues. We’ve got make our problems, their problems!”
Calvey was followed by a panel of local organizers from the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Angelica Laundry strike, Service Employees’ Local 1199′s Caritas hospital campaign and American Federation of Government Employee’s Transportation Safety Officers organizing drive. Their presentations were followed by a wide-ranging discussion about organizing strategies and reports from other workplace struggles. (To learn more about these campaigns, go to www.ufcwlocal1445.org/Open1445Intro2.htm; http://fairunionelections.org
Lakeside worker Lana Wegner-Harden, joined by SEIU Organizer Baschki Leo, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, and Tompkins County Workers' Center/JwJ Organizer, Linda Holzbaur Speaking at Tuesday Press Conference (Photo: Marty Luster, Photo News Service)
One hundred thirty workers at Lakeside Nursing Home in Ithaca announced Tuesday (supported by their union SEIU1199, Assemblyperson Barbara Lifton; Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson; Pastor Rich Rose of the First Baptist Church in Ithaca, the Workers’ Center, families of residents, and various community organizations) their intention to fight requirements by the new owners of Lakeside, the Peregrine Health Management Company. Health care workers at Lakeside have been told they must reapply for jobs, will have their wages lowered, and lose retirement pensions when Peregrine, take over as owners on November 1st.
The workers at Lakeside (to be renamed Cayuga Ridge LLC) demand that Peregrine guarantee the jobs and pensions of the healthcare-givers they have employed for the past nine years. Lana Wegner-Harden, an LPN at Lakeside for the past
