Grand Lodge Dues Increase
Based upon the annual statement published by the National Railway
Labor Conference, it has been determined that the average
straight-time hourly rate-of-pay for maintenance of way employees
during 1999 was $16.70. In accordance with Article XX, Section 3, of
the Grand Lodge Constitution and Bylaws, one and two-tenths (1.2) of
this amount added to the current Grand Lodge dues equals $20.04, which
rounded to the nearest 25 cents, results in Grand Lodge dues being
increased to $20.00 per month effective January 1, 2001.
Make It Work For All
World leaders must ensure that "globalization works for
everyone, not just the powerful and wealthy," Sonny Hall,
president of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department, told the
U.S. Department of Transportation's International Transportation
Symposium the first week of October. Hall also criticized
multinational corporations for "trampling on the basic rights and
freedoms of workers" and warned that "we must not allow
trade agreements to become vehicles for lowering standards."
New Logo for
Amtrak
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On July 6 Amtrak unveiled their new logo which apparently is
intended to be rails sweeping off into the horizon. This replaces the
red, white and blue arrow that has been Amtrak's symbol since 1971 and
which was often called the pointless arrow because it had tail
feathers but no point.
Created by the federal government to take over the nation's
intercity passenger rail services, the National Railroad Passenger
Corporation or Amtrak initiated operations on May 1, 1971. Today
Amtrak has over 24,000 employees and its 2,272 fleet of passenger cars
serves 45 states (except Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, South Dakota and
Wyoming).
Detroit Newspaper Strike
In May the United Methodist Church put its faith into action when
its international conference called for a boycott of Gannett-owned USA
Today in support of 600 Detroit newspaper workers. The Free Press,
owned by Knight-Ridder and the Detroit News, owned by Gannett, locked
out the workers four years ago following a strike.
On July 7 the newspaper workers suffered a significant loss in the
federal court of appeals when the court overturned the National Labor
Relations Board, which held that the strike was an unfair labor
practice strike, the strikers were entitled to their jobs back and the
permanent replacements had to go. The court gave the case to a panel
of three conservative Republican-appointed judges who gave newspaper
owners Gannett and Knight-Ridder a complete victory.
About 300 union members and supporters marched July 13 to mark the
fifth anniversary of the newspaper lockout and to protest the ruling.
The unions said they planned to appeal the ruling which overturned the
1998 NLRB finding. "It is difficult to have faith in a system
that so blindly ignores the facts that the NLRB took months to
investigate," said Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO President Donald
Boggs.
Also to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the strike,
songwriter and locked-out Free Pressreporter Stephen Jones released a
12-track CD of songs inspired by the strike. For more information or
to order a CD, contact Jones at 313-331-0798 or Shawn Ellis at
313-961-0800.
"The problem with the National Labor Relations Act is that it
is very long on promise, but very short on delivery," said
William B. Gould IV, former chairman of the NLRB in the October 1-15
issue of Metro Detroit Labor News. "The machinery for the
realization of these rights is quite illusory," said Gould who
tried to bring justice to the workers at the Detroit News and Free
Pressbefore his term of office ended in August 1998.
In particular, Gould attacked the delays in NLRB adjudications,
which he said had grown far more severe in the last 30 years. As for
changes for the better, Gould said, "we are never going to have
any changes in the current political environment." A critical
requirement to advancing labor law, he noted, is to have at least 60
U.S. senators lined up in favor of any bill that would improve things
in order to defeat a filibuster.
Asked about the July 7 decision Gould said, "that was an
extraordinary decision. It highlighted for me the ability of the human
mind to take any set of facts and reshape them and it highlighted the
importance of getting a good federal judiciary."
"Bread and Roses"
The Cannes Film Festival is one of the best-known and most
prestigious events in the world of cinema. One of the favorites at
this year's festival was "Bread and Roses," the story of Los
Angeles immigrant workers as seen through eyes of an office cleaner.
The film received a 10- minute standing ovation. And on June 15, SEIU
and Lion Gate Films hosted a special screening and reception for the
director and cast to commemorate Justice for Janitors Day 2000,
established to honor the 500 janitors brutally beaten in a June 15,
1990 demonstration that is captured in the film.
Organizing Goals Set by AFL-CIO Executive Council
The AFL-CIO Executive Council approved a statement outlining a new
organizing plan that sets a goal of one million new members a year.
The other three points of the plan, approved at the Council's August
1-2 meeting in Chicago, ask affiliates to set higher organizing goals;
call on the Council's Organizing Committee to regularly assess the new
plan's progress; and urge affiliates to monitor, report and share
information on their organizing campaigns. BMWE President Mac A.
Fleming is a member of the Council.
Steelworkers Go Back to Work at Kaiser
Some 2,900 USWA members are back at work at five Kaiser Aluminum
and Chemical Corp. plants after a new agreement worked out by an
arbitrator. The workers, who were locked out Jan. 14, 1999, returned
to the job 613 days later on Sept. 18, making it the longest lockout
in the union's history. Under the five-year agreement, workers will
receive wage increases of $3.42 an hour, improvements in pensions and
retiree health insurance and protections against subcontracting. The
NLRB issued a complaint against Kaiser for the lockout and is seeking
back pay for workers that could total $337 million.
Merger Creates Powerhouse
With a Sept. 21 vote by convention delegates, the IUE agreed to
merge with the Communications Workers of America, creating what is
sure to become an industrial organizing powerhouse, reported the
AFL-CIO's Work in Progress. "This merger strengthens the ability
of both unions to bargain effectively with the large, global
corporations that employ our members," said CWA President Morton
Bahr. IUE President Ed Fire praised CWA's commitment to strategic
organizing and said it would benefit all members of the newly merged
union and noted that "when we bargain in the future, CWA will be
the 800-pound gorilla right beside us and employers will take
note." Fire heads the new CWA Industrial Division after the
merger became effective Oct. 1.
A Dangerous Job
In 1999, at least 140 trade unionists were killed, 3,000 were
arrested, 1,500 were injured, beaten or tortured and 12,000 lost their
jobs for being members of unions, according to a study released in
September by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
"Throughout the world, as in the United States, joining a union
and standing up for workers' rights remains too difficult, too
dangerous and too deadly," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
The report, Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights 2000, is
available online at www.icftu.org or by writing ICFTU-ITS
Office, 1725 K Street, NW, Suite 425, Washington, DC 20006. The phone
number is 202-463-8573. |