KC Labor Newsletter
Week In Review,
September 19, 2004
by Bill Onasch, webmaster,
kclabor.org
FLOC Wins Big Victory
Victory celebrations are few and far between for American labor these
days. But the Farm Labor
Organizing Committee (FLOC)
won a big one this past week. After an
intense five-year effort, marked by a consumer boycott, the union reached an
historic agreement with the North Carolina Grower's Association (NCGA) and the
Mount Olive Pickle Company, covering 8,000 Mexican "guest workers." This is the
first union contract ever won for this category of essentially indentured
servants. It is also the biggest organizing win in North Carolina history. FLOC
is among the most innovative and progressive unions on the scene today. They
were one of the first to affiliate to the
Labor Party
and FLOC president Baldemar Velasquez is a party Co-Chair.
Another One for the Books
A much smaller but strategically important victory was registered this
week at Borders Books in Minneapolis. Twenty UFCW Local 789 workers at the
Uptown Minneapolis store will be voting today for a first union contract. This
comes nearly two years after winning an NLRB representation election. This is
only the second Borders store to get a union contract. Workers at the flagship
store in Ann Arbor, Mich., ratified a contract in January after a seven-week
strike.
Thousands of Low Wage Workers Prepare
Strikes
2,500 New York home health aides employed by Premier Home Health Care
Services, the only major employer that has refused to negotiate a new contract
which calls for the hourly wage to reach $10 in the next few years, are likely
to strike Tuesday. Nearly all women immigrants, these 1199 members currently
earn $7.60 an hour–a truly poverty wage, especially in the Big Apple.
Thousands of UNITE-HERE hotel workers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. are also readying picket signs.
This Silent Majority Needs Voice
"Majority of those polled say they favor insurance system similar to
Canada and Britain to help combat rising costs and less coverage"–subhead line
in Newsday account on health care polling. Since they will find no
sympathy for this sentiment in the major parties we recommend checking out the
Labor Party
Just Health Care campaign.
How Bush Will Win I
"Kerry has run into two problems of his own making, aides say: He voted
to authorize the war in 2002, says today the war is wrong but will not take back
his vote; and he has yet to detail a markedly different strategy than Bush's for
ending the conflict. This has allowed the president to argue -- with great
success, Democrats say -- that Kerry and Bush basically agreed on the need to go
to war and see eye to eye on how to get out."–from the Washington Post.
How Bush Will Win II
"Women's rights activists have grown increasingly anxious that Sen. John
F. Kerry is failing to shore up a key constituency after recent polls showed
that female voters are backing him by just a small margin.…a Gallup poll
released last week showed Kerry beating Bush among women 50% to 46% — down from
a 15-point lead in June…For months, many Democrats have seen single women as a
potential key to a Kerry victory. When they vote, they tend to support
Democrats. But in 2000, more than 21 million single women did not cast
ballots…According to several activists, some of Kerry's aides have lobbied to
get the campaign to focus more directly on women's issues. But they said the
candidate's largely male group of advisors dismissed those entreaties, confident
in his lock on the women's vote."–from the Los Angeles Times.
No Workers Comp For Hoosier Scab On Wrong
Side Of Picket Line
A scab on his way out of work at Global Communication during an Indiana
strike made a perhaps ill-considered decision to get out of his car to challenge
picketing strikers. He claimed he got whacked over the head with a 2x4 and filed
for Worker Comp benefits. His grateful employer challenged his claim and an
appeals court sided with the company. Since he had already left the company’s
parking lot the judges ruled the scab’s injuries were not work related.
‘If You Get Paid Peanuts You Get Monkeys’
That was the slogan of hundreds of thousands of public sector strikers in
South Africa. The unions have challenged the government headed by their long
time ANC ally over wages. "You go tell Fraser-Moleketi [Public Service and
Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, who was roundly booed when
she tried to address strikers] that she can take her 6% and give it to her
dogs," said a union spokesman.
As usual, much of this material came from stories posted on the Daily Labor News Digest.
That’s all for this week.
Regards to all