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AFL-CIO -
CWA -
Fire Fighters -
Journalists -
Longshoremen -
Machinists -
PNN Guild -
SPEEA -
Teamsters -
UAW -
WashTech
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September 2001
Americans work longest hours in the industrialized world: September 3, 2001 - The average American today is working 36 hours more each year than in 1990. And, as noted a couple headlines down, we're making less in the process.
Why? The corporate aristocrats tell us we need to work harder for less to remain competitive in the global economy. Question is, which global economy are they referring to?
"Each Australian, Canadian, Japanese and Mexican worker devotes about 100 hours a year - or 2.5 weeks - fewer to their job...Britons and Brazilians work 250 fewer hours (roughly six weeks) and Germans do 500 fewer hours, or about 12 weeks."
So when the corporate executives speak of the "global economy," they're not talking about their international competition, but ours': The 3rd World worker who competes with American workers for jobs. (Race is not the issue: this affects everybody in America, from the newest immigrant to a son or daughter of the Mayflower.)
How do the corporations get away with this? Because we don't impose the obligations of citizenship on corporations that we do on ourselves, as individuals. Not anymore. Why? Because they have the power and we don't. Unions: It's time to restore the balance of power. Guardian.
Giving until it hurts: September 2, 2001 - American employers are demanding a lot of charity from their employees: "Washington (state) residents give their employers well over $13 million a year in free work." From uncounted overtime to "permatemps" who are not eligible for benefits, employees really are giving at the office: "By one estimate, contract workers in Washington state forgo $200 million in such benefits every year." America's Unions: It's time. Seattle Times.
Labor Day statistics an insult! August 31, 2001 - Labor Day is turning into a back-handed compliment for American workers: "If the minimum wage had risen at the same pace as American productivity since 1968, it would be $13.80 an hour. ... If the minimum wage had risen at the same level pace as executive pay since 1990, it would be $25.50 an hour, not $5.15."
This Labor Day weekend while you're taking time off to relax with your family, think about how much harder you have to work to make ends meet than our parents and grandparents did in the 1950s and 1960s.
There's nothing communist, as some would have us believe, about asking for an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. Corporate executives pay lip-service to that sentiment, but tell us we need to make concessions for the sake of remaining competitive in the global economy. That might make a lot of sense if profits were down, but they're not: "If the minimum wage had risen at the same paces as domestic profits since 1968, it would be $13.02."
If American workers aren't benefiting from this, who is? The corporate lords and ladies, who are turning the rest of us into serfs: "If the average pay for production workers had risen at the same level as CEO pay since 1990, the annual salary would be $120,491, not $24,668."
We can wait until this disparity is so great that most Americans are literally so sick and tired that they have nothing left to lose from a backlash, or we can do something about it right now. America's Unions: It's time. Boston Globe.
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August 2001
Are unions making a come back? August 29, 2001 - It was bound to happen. As long as things were kinda, sorta okay, Americans have been content to let the corporate lords and ladies do their lord'n ladyship thing. But now that the economic homeland of the empire is faltering, the serfs are having some serious second thoughts as they watch the corporate fiefdoms move more operations and jobs abroad: "Americans' sympathy in labor disputes has tilted toward unions over companies in the past couple of years, according to an Associated Press poll taken at a time of job layoffs and economic uncertainty." Does this mean we will see a resurgence in union membership? A few torch and pitchfork mobs to accompany Michael Moore as he lobs muck at the lackeys power lunching at their anything-but-round tables in the thin aired heights of their glass and steel castles? Not yet: "Although public sentiment for the unions is on the rise, union membership is not." Maybe things have to get worse before the rabble will be sufficiently roused. Or maybe we need more rabble rousers. Or maybe we just need to sit our butts down and get to work this Labor Day weekend drinking beer and watching TV. Somebody pass the chips? Seattle P-I.
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July 2001
Australians working 50 hour weeks: July 1, 2001 - A few generations ago unions forced corporations to accept a 40-hour work week. Now that unions are so weak, corporations have reverted to their old habits. "The 38-hour working week is dead. Trade unions said only about a third of the Australian workforce work these hours and at least a quarter work more than 50 hours a week." You can support unions, or accept responsibility for the consequences. Sydney Morning Herald.
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June 2001
CWA - Opposing Verizon's Union busting activities: June 25, 2001 - Last year Verizon agreed to allow workers to organize. After signing the agreement, however, they have stalled with arbitration, filed a federal lawsuit, and are engaging in other union busting tactics. According to CWA President Morton Bahr, "By focusing its energy on violating workers' rights and trying to bust the union, Verizon is letting workers and consumers know that it can't be trusted." - CWA.
Free Agent, or Temp? June 14, 2001 - Now temps are "free agents." "About 30 million of us in this country could qualify as free agents, merely because we job hop, are self- reliant and independent and no longer feel loyalty to any one employer." Sounds sexy. But no matter how they dress it up, temping still takes power away from employees and hands it over to employers. Temps have no benefits, no security and virtually no rights. - Olympian.
Weyerhaeuser lays off returning strikers: June 2, 2001 - As strikers return to work, Weyerhaeuser begins issuing pink slips. "A company spokesman said the layoffs were due to poor market conditions." Probably because of the high interest rates. Oh, wait, interest rates are at a historic low and mortgage offices are busier than ever. "Union members said they thought the layoffs were retaliation for their picketing, which affected nearly 1,400 AWPPW workers at four locations." - Daily World.
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May 2001
Weyerhaeuser strikers arrested May 16, 2001 - Two more Weyerhaeuser workers were arrested. "One person was held for disorderly conduct; the other for resisting arrest, The Daily News of Longview reported." Okay, I'm not a police officer and I have nothing but respect for the men and women who walk the thin blue line, but how does a person get arrested for resisting arrest? - Olympian.
City of Olympia workers preparing to strike? May 16, 2001, 2001 - Members of Local 618 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees picketed outside Olympia city hall in Washington state to protest stalemate with the city over hiring policies and growing use of temporary workers. According to Ross Allen, chairman of the 150-member union, "They've acknowledged they have problems in these areas, but they've never done anything about it." - Olympian.
Connecticut Limousine drivers ready to strike: May 11, 2001, 2001 - Connecticut Limousine is trying to bust the union, saying most of their drivers no longer support the union and are not going to strike. But an officer of Local 145 has a different view. "Is there going to be a walkout? Yeah, definitely, because they've stopped talking and are trying to bust our union," Kevin O'Toole, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 145, said. - Newsday.com.
Weyerhaeuser workers continue strike: May 10, 2001, 2001 - Weyerhaeuser employees in Cosmopolis, Washignton state, are ready to strike for as long as it takes. "About 250 members of the Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers - along with about 1,100 hundred other union members at three locations in Washington and Oregon say they are ready for a long haul, but they hope it doesn't come to that." - Aberdeen Daily World.
Living wage for Harvard employees? May 3, 2001, 2001 - Momentum is growing for the 16-day-old student-led sit-in at Harvard. "Where's your horror? Where's your rage? Div school wants a living wage!" They are demanding a $10.25-per-hour minimum salary for Harvard workers. - Boston Globe.
Boeing breaking contract? May 2, 2001, 2001 - Machinists' Union claims Boeing is violating their labor agreement by ignoring rules about outsourcing. "The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 seeks an injunction to bar Boeing from transferring work from the Puget Sound area to outside suppliers or to certain Boeing sites around the nation." - Seattle Times.
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April 2001
Silence before the storm as Weyerhaeuser workers authorize strike: April 19, 2001 - Weyerhaeuser's Pulp & Paper Workers have the lowest pension of any mill and the company is trying to reduce medical benefits. "Nearly 1,400 Weyerhaeuser union members at Cosmopolis, Longview and North Bend, Ore., and Springfield, Ore., want better pension and health care plans, plus a wage increase to roughly match inflation." - Aberdeen Daily World.
Washington state public employees begin strike: April 18, 2001 - Asserting strikes by public employees are illegal, state officials threaten to sue if state employees go on strike. But the 19,000-member Washington Federation of State Employees is beginning a series of rolling walkouts which "will be carefully executed to avoid a lawsuit." - Seattle Times.
Colleges slowly losing to union efforts: April 18, 2001 - In the past Massachusetts colleges have successfully resisted efforts by professors to unionize by claiming full-time professors are actually management, but now part-time professors are unionizing. "Some part-timers didn't even realize that they were eligible to form a union. The Supreme Court's 1980 ruling in National Labor Relations Board v. Yeshiva University, however, rendered only full-time faculty, considered to hold managerial positions, ineligible." - Boston Globe.
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March 2001
Washington state public employees prepare to strike: March 30, 2001 - The Washington state legislature has offered state employees a 3.7% pay raise next year, but the new employment contract would also require employees to pay a larger share of their health care, effectively neutralizing the increase. According to Greg Devereux, executive director of the 19,000-member Washington Federation of State Employees, "It's kind of a Houdini-like game. You're giving people something with one hand and taking it away with the other. It's a hollow promise." - The Olympian.
Employment Relationship Survey: Help develop a new "New Deal" by participating in this survey. - Voices at Work.
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February 2001
Fixing sweatshops: Nike's admission of sweatshop conditions in its factories in Indonesia last week was surprising and significant for two reasons: First because of how bad the conditions were, and second because Nike owned up to them. - Miami Herald.
Disabling Workers: If private employers are required to make reasonable provisions for handicapped workers, should state governments also do the same? - Miami Herald.
Union deal for Chrysler: This case could rewrite labor law - International Herald Tribune.
Union lost in a flurry of pink slips: Many workers who try to form trade unions ... are spied on, harassed, pressured, threatened, suspended, fired, deported or otherwise victimized in reprisal for their exercise of the right to freedom of association - Seattle Times.
Little People VS. America Online: This case could rewrite labor law - Forbes.
AOL: Biggest Violator of Labor Laws Since the 1930s? - Net Slaves.
Strike could ground 400 million travelers: Northwest, United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines all facing strikes - Detroit News.
Short shrift for unions in Amazon's silicon jungle: Cuts targeted at growing union power - Independent.
Corporate leaders fear free ideas - Toronto Star.
Amazon accused of targeting union effort, probe demanded - Seattle P-I.
Amazon attempts to bribe laid-off employees: Union says don't do it! - New York Post.
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January 2001
Unions take to the Web - Christian Science Monitor.
Unions eye a new window for growth - Christian Science Monitor.
Hair-trigger layoffs: Companies are quicker to pass out pink slips than they used to be. Why? For one thing, unions are weaker - Christian Science Monitor.
Amazon.com to cut 1,300 jobs: Online retailer's response to unionization efforts? - Seattle P-I.
Will high-tech chaos finally give birth to unions? - C|Net.
Australia: 800 steelworkers strike over outsourcing - Sydney Morning Herald.
Dialectical U: The Post-Seattle Generation Gets Its Marx Druthers - Village Voice.
Unions Hit Lowest Point in 6 Decades - New York Times.
Staffing Agencies Routinely Reject Former Contractors' Unemployment Claims: Workers Appeal for What They've Earned - WashTech.
A Bill of Rights for Temporary Workers: Legislation Mandates Full Disclosure of Agency Markup Fees - WashTech.
Etown.com: Union vote at dot-com company postponed - C|Net.
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2000
IT Workers: Look for the Union label? November 2000 - ZD Net.
Day 2: Until we have a voice, it remains Day 1, November 2000 - Washington Alliance of Technology Workers.
Amazon.com reported to take anti-union steps, November 2000 - KING 5 TV.
UW teaching assistants plan to strike Monday, November 2000 - Union Record.
Amazon.com Customer Reps Seek CWA Representation, November 2000 - CWA.
Times accused of intimidating striking workers, November 2000 - Seattle Union Record.
Amazon's elves are trying to unionize as the holiday e-tail onslaught begins, November 2000 - Forbes.
Another Detroit? Seattle Times evokes strike 'boogeyman', November 2000 - Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
CWA's Bahr Calls for Tougher Hate Crime Law in Wake of Killing of Gay Union Member, November 2000 - Communication Workers of America.
Meet the new face of American unions, November 2000 - Seattle Times.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney Crashes Tacoma Company's Shareholder Meeting, October 2000 - The Stranger.
Workers of the Web, Unite!, October 2000 - Business 2.0.
Organized Labor Reawakens Online, October 2000 - Business 2.0.
National Labor Relations Board ruling extends new rights to non-union workers, October 2000 - Seattle Times.
LA Is Ground Zero for Labor Movement, October 2000 - Duluth News Tribune.
Unions flex muscle in tight times, October 2000 - Denver Post.
Don't hurry to write obituary for unions, October 2000 - Denver Business Journal.
Americans are working more hours, and are amassing more debt, September 2000 - Dallas Morning News.
The wolves are gathering, September 2000 - This link will take you to a column by Bonnie Greer at the Guardian site.
Labor Organizing as a Civil Right, September 2000 - This link will take you to an article at the American Prospect site.
Labor Wins a Temp Victory: Temps have right to organize, September 2000 - This link will take you to an article at the Progressive site.
The percentage of union members in the private economy has just dropped below 10 percent, August 2000 - This link will take you to a position paper at the Vote Nader site.
CWA, August 2000 - Retire Friday and back to work on Monday?
Falconbridge strike imminent?, July 2000 - This link will take you to a report at the Globe and Mail site.
New Internet community for union families, July 2000 - This link will take you to a press release on the CWA site.
Local workers still in struggle to unionize, June 2000 - This link will take you to an editorial at The Seattle Times site.
CWA, May 2000 - Individual involvement in broader political issues is important...to your livelihood.
Boeing Engineers on strike, February 2000 - What are the issues?
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1999
MCI WorldCom-Sprint Merger Anti-Competitive, November 1999 - This link will take you to a press release on the CWA site.
CWA & Co. win again, June 1999 - Gullible no more
Communication Workers of America (CWA), June 1999 - Beware the Enhanced Compensation Plan.
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