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The
UE News is published eight
times a year by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers
of America (UE).
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Nursing Home Employees
Seek UE Aid; Vote 78-44
Grafton County nursing home workers got to have their union,
and eat their cupcakes, too. Determined to stem the erosion of their benefits, the 150
nursing home employees voted overwhelmingly to join UE on Nov. 29, 1999.
Previous organizing efforts with other unions had failed ... (12/99)
Local
611 Extends, Improves
Contract At Newell Porcelain
As they proceeded with plans to
purchase Newell Porcelain, two management officials eagerly sought a
deal with UE Local 611. After all, Rick Stanley, sales manager,
and Dan Wolfe, controller, vividly recalled the 12 weeks in
1998 when union members fought for a decent contract. The result: a
contract extension with improvements in several areas ... (12/99)
Local
690 Members
Approve Kenson Contract
Kenson Plastics workers,
members of amalgamated UE Local 690, recently ratified a new
three-year contract that establishes a retirement plan for the first
time, adds an extra week of vacation and raises wages by a total of 90
cents. "I think it’s a very good contract we got, a very fair
contract," comments Local Pres. James Tew .. (12/99).
Local
234 Unity Crucial
In Fairbanks Negotiations
Insurance and pensions
emerged as major issues in recently concluded negotiations between UE
Local 234 and Fairbanks Scales. The intervention of a united
membership proved crucial to a successful outcome ... (12/99)
Local
1107 Takes Strong Stand
In Talks With New Owner
In negotiations this fall UE
Local 1107 faced a major assault on seniority as well as company
demands for significant changes in job classifications. This was the
UE local’s first time at the bargaining table since Farnam Sealing
was acquired by a German-Japanese partnership. "I think this is a
very good contract, but it couldn’t have been done without the rank
and file activity on the shop floor," says Local Pres. Glenn
Bush. "Keeping pressure on the company was crucial in these
very intense negotiations." ... (12/99)
Memorable
Gains Achieved
By Local 1161 At Spartek
Shop-floor activity by
UE Local 1161 members secured memorable gains in a new contract with
Spartek, Inc., a manufacturer of plastics products. "I think that
we did pretty well," says Local Pres. Karin Jandt.
"We got the biggest raise increase that I can remember."
(12/99)
Local
1112 Settles
Contract Without Staff
Taking to heart the
recommendation of the 64th UE Convention that locals handle more of
their own affairs, the UE Local 1112 negotiating committee
successfully completed negotiations with Badger Die Casting all on its
own. Keep your lawyer away from the table, UE local leaders told the
boss, and we will ask our staff representative to stay away, too, as
long as you make a serious effort to reach a fair settlement ...
(12/99)
World of Work:
World Labor News Roundup
INTERNATIONAL:
French workers battle for more
jobs to be created and more workers to be covered under that
country's new 35-hour workweek law .. A government
austerity plan in Germany sparks a demonstration by thousands
of workers. At issue: welfare and pension spending cuts even while
business gets a tax cut; high unemployment and rising prices ... The United
Kingdom is requiring at least 100 UK-based multinational
companies to develop works councils — a mechanism for
informing and consulting workers about transnational issues affecting
their jobs ... Michelin is in
trouble in France after simultaneously announcing a 17%
increase in profits and a 10% cutback in jobs (affecting more than
7,500 workers). The company says it was just "clumsy" ... Italian
unions are warning the government to expect demonstrations if
it proceeds with plans to cut pension spending as well as the planned privatization
of several state-owned enterprises, including the Rome Airports
Authority. (12/99)
Protestors
Urge:
‘Close School Of Assassins!’
Commemorating the 10th
anniversary of the slaughter of six Jesuit priests at the hands of
U.S. Army School of the Americas graduates, many thousands from around
the country protested outside the military training camp in Georgia in
the largest demonstration to date against a school regarded as a
training ground for assassins and dictators. The protestors included a
delegation from UE District 6 ... (12/99)
Living
Labor History in New Haven
The contributions of
working people, past and present, received recognition at the 1999 New
Haven Labor Greater Labor History Association awards presentation. UE
members had a prominent part in the day-long activities. Participants
visited sites associated with New Haven’s once significant
carriage-making and garment industries, Winchester Repeating Arms,
Yale University and Sargent Inc., home of UE Local 243. Today New
Haven’s largest manufacturing employer, Sargent is well-known
manufacturer of locks and architectural hardware ... (12/99)
Membership
Participation
Evident in District 11
Membership participation —
in the life of the union in the workplace, in strike support,
organizing, political action, international solidarity and the
district council itself — was a major theme of the District 11
Council at its fall meeting. Delegates celebrated the successful
outcome of the lengthy strike by Local 1187 members at Load King ...
(12/99)
Local
625 Adds Unit, New Members
A persistent UE Local 625
negotiating committee, backed by the union contract with the ABB Power
Circuit Breaker division, resulted in new union members ... (12/99)
Retirees
Recall Years Working
For ‘Best Union In the Country’
Their formal connection with
UE long past, several retired National office staff members in New
York City still see each other at birthday luncheons, where they have
a chance to reflect on their many decades of service to the union ...
(12/99)
In Virginia —
Marchers Demand Workers’
Rights, End to Corporate Greed
On the coldest day so far this
fall, with frigid winds sweeping through the Shenandoah Valley, 65
workers marched and rallied for a reinvigorated labor movement in
downtown Waynesboro, Virginia. Sponsored
by the UE-initiated Shenandoah Organizing Committee, the marchers
called for a living wage, universal health care, and improvements in
Virginia’s worst-in-the-nation workers’ compensation and
unemployment compensation ...
(11/99)
UE Committee Wins Reinstatement
For Unjustly Fired CDC Co-Worker
The Consolidated Diesel
Company Workers’ Unity Committee/UE successfully mounted a campaign
earlier this year to win reinstatement of a co-worker unjustly
terminated by the Cummins Engine division. A woman who
had been critically injured and hospitalized as a result of domestic
violence, was terminated because her "non-work related"
injury prevented the former temporary assembly-line worker from
completing a four-month assimilation period as a permanent technician
...
(11/99)
At Belgium
Meeting —
European Workers Back
Local 1107 In Negotiations
With Freudenberg
INTERNATIONAL: As UE Local 1107 members at Farnam Sealing negotiate for the
first time with the new owners of their plant, a German-Japanese multinational
partnership, they take some satisfaction from important new allies — the
thousands of European workers employed by the same firm. The Freudenberg European Works Council declared its support
for Local 1107 at a meeting in Brussels ... ALSO,
IN A SPECIAL UE NEWS INTERVIEW: the deputy chairperson of the Freudeneberg Co. European Works
Council describes working conditions at his workplace ...
(11/99)
High Plains Showdown
Ends In Union Victory
Local 1187 Wins Contract; Strike Ends:
Over nine long months, temperatures on the prairie picket line here
ranged from deep freeze to broiling hot. Tempers, however, remaining
near boiling, as the company’s illegal, bad-faith bargaining forced
workers to the picket line and so-called "permanent replacement
employees" took their place. Throughout those weeks, the members
of UE Local 1187 kept faith with themselves, the neighbors who
expressed good wishes, and the UE members across the country who
helped turned the showdown on the high plains into a union victory
(See also: Local 1187
Strike Support Page)
...
(11/99)
Unions, Community
Protest
UVM-Sponsored Unionbusting Seminar
Never mind that 42 million
Americans don’t have health insurance, or that overworked hospital
staff are concerned about protecting quality health care. Instead,
health executives would rather "diagnose trends towards
unionization." Almost 100 union and community members rallied
outside of the Sheraton Hotel in Burlington, Vt. on Nov. 6 against a
University of Vermont (UVM) sponsored course in unionbusting. The
two-day seminar featured such topics as "detecting early warning
signs of union activity" and "dissecting the union
agenda." ... (11/99)
ICEM World Congress
ICEM Unites & Organizes
To Face Globalization
INTERNATIONAL:
"Power is Ours and we will Unite and Organize."
With that ringing call, John Maitland closed the World
Congress of the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical,
Energy, Mine and General Unions (ICEM) in Durban, South Africa on November
5th. Some 800 union leaders from all continents took part in the
Congress, which mapped out a labor response to globalization. Here is the
ICEM's report on the main decision of the World Congress ...
(11/99)
In N.E. Etching
Company Talks —
Another Argument
For National Health Care
In another example of the need for
a single-payer health plan, the members of amalgamated UE Local 264 at
New England Etching found wage increases restricted by the hefty
insurance premium increase paid by their employer. The new one-year
contract raises wages by 34 cents an hour and continues medical and
dental insurance fully paid by the employer ... (11/99)
Local 172 Re-Engineers
Wilmot Pact
In recent negotiations with the
Wilmot Co., UE Local 172 members largely succeeded in their goal of
recouping concessions accepted in 1995 bargaining with a new owner.
Union members voted unanimously to ratify a new three-year agreement.
Starting from an average wage of $14.74, Local 172 members will see
general increases of 3 percent, 2 percent and 2 percent ... (11/99)
Pact with Holyoke
Machine
Follows Brief Stoppage
Holyoke Machine workers, members of
amalgamated UE Local 264, have ratified a three-year contract after a
brief strike. The agreement raises wages by 2.25 percent the first
year and 2 percent in the second year and again in the third. The
average wage will be $16.37 an hour. (11/99)
Local 264 Gains
Improvements
At Koegels & Sons
The members of amalgamated UE Local
264 employed by Charles Koegels and Sons unanimously ratified a new
one-year contract that raises wages by 25 cents an hour and extends
the employee-birthday enjoyed by full-time employees to part-timers.
(11/99)
Wide-Ranging Discussion
At District 1 Convention
Delegates to the 47th convention of
UE District One heard reports on organizing campaigns, Labor
Party-building, fights against plant closings and solidarity with
hurricane victims, in wide-ranging discussion and action ... (11/99)
District 2 Council
Celebrates
Entoleter Strike Victory
As host of the Oct. 29-30 UE
District Two Council meeting here, UE Local 299 had much to celebrate
in the successful conclusion of the 100-day Entoleter strike a little
more than two weeks earlier... (11/99)
District 6 Salutes
Warren
Union, Makes Plans For 2000
A bittersweet UE District Six
convention heard reports of successful union activity, made plans for
the year 2000 — and saluted the members of UE Locals 633 and 634
whose plant, Deluxe Metals, is slated for closing. Local 633 Pres. Gary
Zobrist spoke proudly of his co-workers’ long association with
UE, and thanked the union for its steadfast support of Deluxe workers’
struggles. During his working life, the local president said, he has
been a member of three other unions ... "I can tell you that this
union, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America —
period, independent — is the only true union I have ever belonged
to." (11/99)
District 7 Welcomes
Newly Organized Local 741
The District Seven Council meeting
here Oct. 16-17 welcomed Local 741, representing bus drivers,
custodians, cooks, secretaries and other staff of the Highland School
District in Ohio. District Pres. Joyce Clayborne, Reporting on
the decisions of 64th UE National Convention, Pres. Clayborne raised
the possibility of conducting a state political action conference
... (11/99)
Union Backs
Independent
Candidate In Virginia
PHOTOS: Sherry
Stanley, a member of
the Green and Labor Parties, received the UE backing in her
independent and unsuccessful candidacy for Virginia’s House of
Delegates in the 25th District ... (11/99)
Local 924 Retirees
Still Going Strong
General Electric may have closed
the plant here that made small motors for generations but the union
spirit is still strong. Two hundred and twenty-two retired members of
UE Local 924 and their guests attended the annual retirees’ dinner
... (11/99)
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North Carolina Floods
—
Relief in Solidarity
Members of UE Local 150, the North
Carolina Public Service Workers’ Union, were among those hard-hit by
the worst flooding in the state’s history. Responding quickly to the
disaster, this UE local is taking a leading role in a unique coalition
of labor, faith-based and community organizations working to provide
relief for residents — as well as organizing to ensure that flood
victims have a say in relief and reconstruction efforts. Find
out more ... and how you can help ... (10/99)
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UE a Perfect
Fit For
Independent Truckers’ Union
An Internet search for an
independent union connection brought the Bethlehem Drivers and
Dockworkers Union (BD&DU) to UE. And the employees of Penske
Transportation Services Inc. here liked what they saw. On Sunday, Oct.
3 these long-haul truck drivers and dockworkers voted unanimously to
affiliate their union with UE. "UE fit us to a 'T'" ...
(10/99)
Highland
Schools
Workers Choose UE
The cooks, custodians, bus
drivers, aides and secretaries of the Highland School District have
voted in a landslide victory for UE representation. This followed a
6-month UE campaign in which workers demanded a break from decades-old
favoritism and low wages in this rural Ohio school district. (10/99)
New
Hampshire Correctional
Officers Look To UE for Aid
Responding to the loss of
benefits, a Grafton County correctional officer circulated a petition
endorsing a meeting with a union organizer. Nineteen of the 30
officers signed that petition — and then contacted UE.
The correctional officers voted overwhelmingly to join UE ... (10/99)
Delaware
Schools Workers
Gain First Contract
"The choke hold is
broken!" That’s how custodian Jerry Miller describes the
new working conditions established with the first UE Local 799
contract covering the Delaware City Schools’ custodial, food
service, maintenance, and transportation employees. Miller says that
in his 24 years with the Delaware City Schools, no one in the
administration ever responded to the need for better wages, safer
conditions, and fair treatment before workers joined UE ... (10/99)
UE
Local 226 Members
Beat Give-Backs, Make Gains
For Local 226, like other UE
locals, health care emerged as the principal issue in recent
negotiations. Once again, the key to resolving this issue became
membership involvement, action, strength and determination. While not
all of the local’s goals were achieved, the final contract is
regarded as one of the best overall contract settlements in years ...
(10/99)
Local
893 Convention
Focuses On Growth
Although the membership of the
state-wide union is at an all-time high, UE Local 893, Iowa United
Professionals places critical importance on organizing. Addressing a
unified and positive state convention here September 25, Local Pres. Dan
Kelley said the times demand that "we get a lot bigger,
fast" by organizing private-sector social work agencies. ...
(10/99)
Local
124 Reaches
1-Year Pact with Genicom
Members of amalgamated UE Local
124 employed by Genicom have unanimously ratified a one-year agreement
calling for an immediate 3 percent wage increase. Combined with the 4
percent that employees already received earlier this year, that yields
a combined increase of 7 percent ... (10/99)
$1.50
Wage Hike Reached
By Local 155 in Contract With Laneko
Laneko Engineering Co.
employees, members of Machine Tool & Die Local 155, have ratified
a new three-year agreement by a two-to-one margin. The contract will
raise the average rate of $14.37 by 50 cents each year. Laneko workers
build tools and dies and produce metal stampings primarily for the
auto industry and perform precision machining of custom components for
aerospace and other applications ... (10/99)
Breakthroughs in Second
Contract with Aramark
In their second UE contract, Local 1121
members employed at Aramark gain an average pay increase of 5.1
percent in the first year, their first paid personal day and a good
local HMO to replace the company health insurance. Mobilization for
contract improvements began with a campaign to redress an old
injustice ... (10/99)
Evelyn
Bell: ‘A Dynamo
With Grace And Style’
1927-1999:
Evelyn Bell, regarded fondly by local officers and staff as a
"dynamo with grace and style," died July 25. For nearly four
decades on the staff of District Six as office manager and much more,
Bell devoted her considerable intelligence, skills and energy to the
union ... (10/99)
Ole Martinson:
‘Rank-and-File
Unionism At Its Best’
1910-1999:
Hilding Mauritz "Ole" Martinson,
a UE founder hailed as representing "the very best of everything
good about rank-and-file unionism," died September 25. He was 89
... (10/99)
Letter From London —
Labor in Government is Better, But ...
INTERNATIONAL: Unemployment
is down, some of the Thatcher-era damage to health care and social
services has been repaired and union membership is showing an upswing
as a result of the return to power of the Labuor Party in Britain, but
many trade unionists say the Labour Party still hasn't done enough,
according to our European correspondent Jeff Apter ...
(10/99)
On the Anniversary of the
Jesuit Murders —
'Close the School of the Assassins'
This November marks the tenth anniversary of the assassination
of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador
during that nation’s bloody civil war. Their assassins were Salvadoran
military officers, most of them graduates of the U.S. Army School of the
Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Georgia ... (10/99)
UE Ready for the Millennium —
Opening Doors
For Democracy
| UE
NEWS CONVENTION COVERAGE |
|
New Articles
Added to Our Coverage. For the 64th year in
a row, elected
rank-and-file delegates from UE locals around the country met
to determine their union's policy, elect UE's National Officers
and to charter the course for our union as we enter the new
millennium. Delegates celebrated the opening of a unique Workers' Rights
Center in Burlington's City Hall, reinforced our commitment to
building real international solidarity, reaffirmed UE's historic
commitment to militant, aggressive, democratic, rank-and-file
unionism and laid out an aggressive organizing plan. Here's our
coverage of what is, in itself, a unique event:
(9-10/99)
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ICEM World Congress —
World Union Congress
To Set Global Strategies
INTERNATIONAL: Union leaders from all parts of
the world will be tackling the issue of growing — and
increasingly concentrated — global corporate power at the
World Congress of the International Federation of Chemical,
Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) from November
3-5. Workers worldwide will be able to follow the Congress
through a special website set up by the ICEM. The theme of the
congress will be "Amandla
Awethu — Power is Ours" ...
(10/99)
64th Annual UE National
Convention —
No Endorsement Expected from Independent-Minded Delegates To
Independent United Electrical Workers’ Union Convention (Press
Release issued August 28th, 1999)
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At the University of Vermont —
UE - UVM Members
Win First Contract |
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A first union agreement approved
by UE Local 267
members achieves the goals set two years ago by the more than 350 service and
maintenance employees of the University of Vermont in launching their
organizing campaign: dignity and respect on the job, decent wages, better and
protected benefits, an effective grievance procedure, job security and the
ability to advance. "I think we bargained a good contract," says Norma
Sprague a custodian and a member of the local’s negotiating committee
... (8/99)
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UE Members
Celebrate First
Delaware Schools Contract
"The choke hold is
broken!" That’s how custodian Jerry Miller describes the
new working conditions established with the first UE Local 799
contract covering the Delaware City Schools’ custodial, food
service, maintenance, and transportation employees . Miller says that
in his 24 years with the Delaware City Schools, no one in the
administration ever responded to the need for better wages, safer
conditions, and fair treatment before workers joined UE ... (8/99)
Entoleter
Strikers March
Into Work with a Victory
Entoleter workers, members of
amalgamated UE Local 299, proudly marched back in to their plant,
ending a 100-day strike after unanimously ratifying a new contract. In
a significant victory, the union was able to achieve nearly all of its
major goals while successfully fighting off the company’s efforts to
force concessions from the union ... (8/99)
UE Local 150 Holds First
Constitutional Convention —
For Fairness,
Democracy & Power |
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They face a tough
battle in an anti-union state, but these UE Local 150 members are
determined to win "fairness, democracy and power" for public
sector workers in North Carolina. As much a civil rights movement as a
local union, the members of UE Local 150 recently concluded their
first constitutional convention and are determined to win a better
life for themselves and their co-workers. Here's
our early report on this historic event ...
(8/99)
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Solid Gains for Local 811
In U.S. Filter Agreement
Local 811 has reached a new three year agreement
with U.S. Filter that calls for a 3 percent wage increase in each year of the
new agreement, along with other improvements ... (8/99)
Local 1111 Ratifies
Allen-Bradley Contract
Entering negotiations under the threat of potentially hundreds
of layoffs, Local 1111 secured a fair contract with Rockwell International
containing job security and wage and benefit improvements. A unified
membership in the plant and a strong team at the bargaining table made
possible a positive outcome that includes enhanced early retirement options
virtually eliminating the layoff threat. The contract with Rockwell
International covers the 1,400 members of UE Local 1111 employed at
Allen-Bradley. ... (07/99)
Iowa Local Defends Jobs
Through Political Action
State income maintenance workers,
members of UE Local 893, Iowa United Professionals, are hailing the state’s
decision to officially terminate the X-PERT computer system. Six weeks
earlier, under pressure from the union, the state legislature withdrew
funding for the project. "The most important aspect of our victory over
X-PERT is that we demonstrated that it is possible to impact our working
conditions by political action," declared Local Vice Pres. Bill
Austin ... (07/99)
Iowa Labor Defeats
Business-Inspired
Amendments to State’s Constitution
UE and other unions led a strong,
come-from-behind campaign to defeat two tax-related amendments to the Iowa
constitution, both heavily favored to gain voter endorsement in a special
election. The amendments would have limited state government spending to 99
percent of revenues and required a 60 percent majority of the legislature to
raise taxes. "Everyone was surprised ..." (07/99)
The Struggle for Justice at
Glastic ...
Japanese Workers Include
UE Members' Struggle
PHOTO:
Workers’ struggles in Japan and the United
States coincided at the Kobe annual shareholders’ meting at the Kobe
International Conference in Japan. UE’s blue flags were hoisted despite a
downpour and UE letters were distributed to shareholders, as Japanese union
members who have their own fight with the multinational corporation took up the
cause of UE Local 758 ... (07/99)
International
Solidarity
On July 4th, Celebrating
Worker
Independence in Mexico |
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For five
Americans visiting Mexico, observation of the Fourth of July this year
carried unmistakable irony. These UE members spent that day with some
200 desperately poor and determined strikers who had declared their
independence — from a U.S.-based fruit company. Mostly women, the
Irapuato packers range in age from 13 to 80. For 50 cents an hour,
they cut, peeled, pitted and sometimes pureed fruit, working between
10-12 hours most days, up to 16-18 hours some days, seven days a week
... (07/99) |
Job-Killing Trade Deals
in Congress
Genl. Sec.-Treas. Bob Clark has
urged UE locals to act quickly in opposition to renewed attempts by big
business to enact legislation that will ease the way for further U.S.
manufacturing job loss. The Clinton Administration is working with Congress
on legislation (including the so-called "NAFTA for Africa" bill)
that would renew the president’s fast-track trade negotiating authority
without any linkage to workers’ rights or environmental protection ...
(07/99)
Funny Thing ... Business
Worries About "Blacklisting!"
If Uncle Sam were to make sure that federal
contracts were not awarded to labor-law-breaking employers, would that imply a
"blacklist"? Not the way we understand it! But the prospect of
requiring employers be law-abiding before being given taxpayers' dollars has
big-business supporters in Congress worried ... (07/99)
UE News Book Review
Promoting the Power
Of Union Democracy
What is a healthy relationship between
union members and local leaders? How far out front should the leaders be? Why don’t
members participate? Why do members participate? What is the importance
of fighting for gender and racial equality? How could meetings be made more
interesting and useful? These are among the questions tackled in Democracy Is
Power: Rebuilding Unions from the Bottom Up by Mike Parker and Martha
Gruelle, a new book from Labor Notes ... which gets a
"thumbs-up" from our reviewer ... (07/99)
UE Delegation Joins
CBC-GE Rally in Memphis
PHOTO:
A UE delegation in Memphis, Tenn. rallies on June 26
in opposition to General Electric’s closing of an IUE-represented lamp plant
and the company’s job-destruction policies. The UE members were attending an
expanded meeting of the Coordinated Bargaining Committee of GE Unions in
Memphis ... (07/99)
Local 332 Holds One-Day Strike
Over GE Policy Abuses
PHOTOS: On
June 7, UE Local 332 members struck the GE plant in Ft. Edward, N.Y. over the
company’s continuing abuse of temporary transfers of workers and violation of
seniority rights ... (07/99)
Cleveland Twist Drill
Workers Blast Kennametal
PHOTOS: Some
50 workers from the former Cleveland Twist Drill plant in Solon, Ohio
traveled by bus to the world headquarters of parent corporation Kennametal
Inc. in Latrobe, Pa. on June 15 to condemn the company’s plans to close
the plant at the cost of 165 jobs and protest an inadequate severance offer.
... (07/99)
International
World of Work News Roundup
Special to the UE News by Jeff
Apter in Paris: High unemployment and falling wages have led the
Japanese government propose creating more than 700,000 jobs ... Mixed results in a new contract covering 1.5 million workers in Italy's manufacturing
sector ... South Korean police have cracked down on the latest strike wave resulting from corporate downsizing and restructuring ...
The unelected European Commission is threatening to fine the French Government if that country does not repeal a law banning women from working night shifts ...
The cold war within Europe's trade union movement has ended with the CGT, France's biggest
union, bring accepted into the European Trade Union Confederation
...
(07/99)
District 1 Promotes
Union-Building, Labor Party
Building the union and organizing the Labor
Party were offered as the best responses to attacks on workers’ jobs and
living standards, during discussion at the UE District One Council meeting
in Elmira, NY. Although 275,000 jobs have been created over the last year,
the news media fails to talk about the 30,000 manufacturing jobs the United
States has lost each month during the same period, charged District Pres.
Connie Spinozzi. ...
(07/99)
Local 111 Rallies to Protest
Unfair Treatment of Members
PHOTO:
UE Local 111, ICW staged two rallies in recent months at the Gardner Cryogenics
division of Air Products and Chemicals Inc. A lunch-time rally on May 20 was
followed by a 35-minute rally after work on June 23. At issue were the unjust
layoff (out of seniority) of John Kulanko and the company’s refusal to
equalize overtime for the most senior worker in the plant, Grant Berger. ...
(07/99)
Local 770 Officers Plan
For Negotiations at Hendrickson
PHOTO:
Officers of UE Local 770 met recently to prepare for upcoming contract
negotiations with Hendrickson Truck Suspension Systems. Local 770 represents
workers at three Hendrickson plants in Kendallville and Butler, Indiana ...
(07/99)
UE Local 150 Set to Hold
First Constitutional Convention
It's a union. It's a
civil rights struggle. It's a dynamic movement to improve the lives of
public-sector workers in an anti-labor state. After two years of work,
UE Local 150, the North Carolina Public Service Workers' Union, is
ready to hold its first Constitutional Convention. Find
out more about this historic event, set to start July 30th ...
(07/99)
Durham,
N.C. City Workers Affiliate with UE
Joining UE's growing
statewide movement in North Carolina, members of the Durham
City Workers Union have voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with UE.
Organized for more than 40 years, they bring with them a proud history
of taking direct action to win gains for workers in this anti-labor
state ... (06/99)
N.C.
School Workers
Fight Racial Discrimination
Patterns of racial discrimination
have been the focus of a rally and public hearing sponsored by the
UE Local 150 chapter at the Eastern North Carolina School for the
Deaf. Progress has been reported at the school while workers at
other sites are asking how they, too, can correct problems they
experience on the job ... (06/99) Organizing
Blitz Boosts
UE Membership in North Carolina
A week-long intensive organizing
drive has expanded UE Local 150 membership from 6 to 11 of the 16
campuses of the University of North Carolina ... (06/99)
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Iowa Members Gain
Five Iowa School Districts
have new UE Contracts in UE Locals 893 and 865 — including a
first-ever UE contract for members who voted to affiliate last year
... Here are the details ... |
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New UE
Members In Keokuk
Schools Approve Contract
School employees in this Mississippi
River community overwhelmingly voted to adopt their first UE contract. The
Keokuk (Iowa) Educational Office Personnel union voted on Sept. 29, 1998 to
affiliate with UE; union members belong to amalgamated Local 893. Keokuk
employees gain pay increases ... (06/99)
Unity Critical in
Winning
Improvements for All
The support staff of Boone Community
Schools have ratified a new two-year agreement which includes
significant wage increases and improvements in key areas of contract
language. Members’ unity became crucial in resisting repeated
attempts by the school district to introduce a new wage schedule which
would have provided large raises for some but tiny increases for the
majority ... (06/99)
Second
Contract Wins
Wage, Insurance Progress
Second-ever contract
negotiations for members of amalgamated UE Local 893 employed by the Urbandale
School District resulted in significant gains in wages and
insurance. UE members united in support of their negotiating committee
and rallied around a demand for progress on insurance — and not at
the expense of wage increases ... (06/99)
Glenwood
Schools Workers
Win 'Gains Not Givebacks'
Local 865 members fought hard
— and successfully — for a contract with wage and benefit gains
exceeding the Glenwood School District’s 3.2 percent
allowable growth. With the school district experiencing about half of
its usual projected budget growth, the administration began
negotiations with a proposal for ten-cent pay increases and deep cuts
in insurance coverage. But, members united behind their negotiating
committee in a struggle to make their new contract one of gains, not
givebacks ... (06/99)
A
Solid Contract
In a Tough Year
Members of amalgamated UE Local
893 employed by the Adel-DeSoto-Minburn (ADM) School District
entered wage negotiations this year with the district projecting negative
budget growth. Fearing tiny pay raises or a wage freeze, union members
elected a negotiating committee united by determination to force the
school board to find money for respectable wage increases ...
(06/99) |
Local 1139 Members At General
Foam Okay One-Year Pact
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—
General Foam workers, members of amalgamated UE Local 1139, recently
ratified a new one-year contract with the company’s new management. The
agreement provides a 4 percent wage increase and makes no change in
insurance costs. The contract was negotiated by Jimmy Williams and Field
Org. Rocco DeMaio. (06/99)
Local 243 Celebrates
60 Proud Years
On June 5, more than 350 members, retirees and
friends of UE Local 243 in New Haven, Conn., came together to celebrate 60 years
of hard work and struggle to improve the conditions of workers at Sargent and
Company. Gathered together were the men and women who have made Sargent a
well-known and respected manufacturer of building hardware. Local 243 was
chartered by UE on May 15, 1939 ... (06/99) GEB Backs Revised Plan,
Organizing Task Force
The quarterly meeting of the UE General
Executive Board continued high-level discussions on improving the union’s
overall work and strengthening its finances. Also covered: the creation of a
new task force on organizing; retaining UE's annual national conventions;
Education and Political Action ... (06/99) UE
Walks Wisconsin's Capitol Halls
Delegates from seven UE locals in Wisconsin
gathered in the state capital recently for the state’s first UE Political
Action Day in many years. In face-to-face meetings with a number of state
legislators, the UE members generally found a good reception to their
presentation of UE’s "New Priorities" program for
Wisconsin ... (06/99) Unionbusting
Exposed
THE STRUGGLE AT GLASTIC CONTINUES:
UE exposed Kobe Steel's unionbusting with leafleting outside the Japanese
corporation’s U.S. headquarters in New York City. Meanwhile, at Kobe
plants in Ohio and Indiana on ‘Kobe Workers’ Solidarity Day,’ members
of UE and three other unions — PACE, UFCW and USWA — wore solidarity
stickers to let their bosses know they stand united for justice. (06/99) Japanese
Unions
Demonstrate Real Solidarity
Assistance by Japanese unions to UE
struggles is a potent reminder that international solidarity is not a
one-way street. Several Japanese unions are coming to UE’s aid in a first
contract struggle, while UE’s sister union in Japan intervened to help
overturn an unjust firing at a Wisconsin plant owned by a Japanese
corporation. (06/99) Zenroren
Will Send Delegation
To UE's National Convention
A delegation from Zenroren — the
Japanese National Confederation of Trade Unions — will attend the 64th UE
National Convention in Burlington, Vt., Aug. 29-Sept. 2, Genl. Sec.-Treas.
Bob Clark has announced ... (06/99)
UE Political
Action Conference Tells Congress —
'Get Back to the People's
Business!'
Get back to the people’s business! Representatives of UE locals
from Los Angeles to Boston assembled in the nation’s capital to
deliver that message to Congress. And over the next three days they
made their voices heard in visits to dozens of Congressional offices.
The UE Political Action Conference drew delegates from every UE
district. These rank-and-file representatives confidently confronted
the powerful with a demand for attention to working-class concerns ...
(05/99)
GTD
Workers Gain $1.65
Over 3 Years in UE
Contract with New Owner
Greenfield Tap and Die workers, members
of amalgamated UE Local 274, prevailed in their first negotiations with the plant’s new owners, Kennametal.
The contract calls for general wage increases totaling $1.65 over three
years; a majority of UE members at will receive an 85-cent hourly increase the first year.
In a significant victory, union members persuaded the company to lock in current health insurance costs for the next three
years ... (05/99)
Local 111 Prevails with
Contract Despite Layoffs
An overwhelming majority of UE Local 111
members recently ratified a new two-year agreement with Gardner Cryogenics. The UE members who work at plants here and in Bethlehem build and refurbish large containers and truck trailers that transport liquid helium.
Despite layoffs stemming from the so-called Asian crisis and the
sluggish European economy, the members and negotiating committee were determined to secure a fair
settlement ... (05/99) 'Rally for
Justice' Keeps Pressure
On Glastic For First Contract
Joined by dozens
of supporters, Glastic plastics workers, members of new UE Local 758,
take their fight for a first contract to Glastic Corp. headquarters in
Cleveland, Ohio. Last fall, workers at Glastic
Plastics voted to join UE — but the plant management has been intent on refusing to
abide by this legal and democratic decision, thwarting attempts to bargain a first
contract. (05/99)
On Strike Since May 3
—
Entoleter Workers
Fight Takeaways
PHOTOS:
The 16 members of amalgamated UE Local 299 at Entoleter Inc. in Hamden, Conn. have been on strike since May 3. They are fighting the company’s proposed health insurance givebacks and attempts to eliminate insurance when workers are out on workers’ compensation
... (05/99)
GE Retirees Send
Message to Stockholders
Aboard a bus bound for the General Electric
stockholders meeting in Cleveland, Don Kelley announced to his fellow retirees that if possible he intended to speak directly to CEO Jack Welch. Some laughed.
But Kelley was serious. Before the meeting in the International Exposition Center got underway, the Erie GE retiree saw Welch and took the opportunity to speak directly to
him. The issue? Despite an overfunded pension plan, GE retirees haven't seen
a cost-of-living adjustment since 1996 (only the second this decade) ...
(05/99)
Labor Department
Workshop —
Training for Financial
Secretaries and Trustees ...
PHOTO: Trustees and financial secretaries from Districts Six and Seven attended a one-day training session in Pittsburgh on April 16, arranged by the Labor Dept. and
Genl. Sec.-Treas. Bob Clark.
UE Print Shop
Prints
Union's Convention Book
UE members at Common Wealth Printing,
a worker-owned cooperative in Hadley, Mass. have printed the Proceedings of the
63rd UE Convention. The Convention Proceedings contain the Officers’ Report and Policy as well as the proceedings of the
convention ... (05/99)
Listen on the Internet!
Labor Party Kicks Off
Just Healthcare Campaign
With June 6th Radio Call-In
The Labor Party officially kicks off its Just Healthcare campaign with a nationwide radio
program on Sunday, June 6. The two-hour radio program is just the beginning of an intensive campaign that will include creation of a "Committee of a Million" for Just Healthcare, local hearings, local and state referenda and other activities.
The national radio call-in show will start at noon, Eastern time ...
(05/99)
UE General Executive Board Issues:
Statement on the Kosovo Crisis
(Press release issued April 30, 1999)
Rank-and-File Support
Key —
Delaware, Ohio Schools
Workers Vote to Join UE |
 |
|
‘No Stopping Us Now!’ Workers employed by the Delaware
(Ohio) City School District had to wait nearly a year to vote for UE representation. But
bureaucratic delays and a heavy-handed anti-union blitz only intensified their UE spirit.
"The administration just doesn’t get it," exclaimed bus driver Sandy
Barrows ... "We’re like a runaway freight train and there’s no stopping us
now!" The food service, custodial, maintenance and
transportation workers chose UE by a strong 61 percent majority ... (04/99) |
Rally for First Contract
At Glastic Plastics
Last fall, workers at Glastic
Plastics voted to join UE — but the plant management has been intent on refusing to
abide by this legal and democratic decision, thwarting attempts to bargain a first
contract. Supported by allies from UE, PACE and UAW locals, Glastic workers rallied
outside the plant where UE General Secretary-Treasurer Bob Clark told the new UE members
their national union is firmly behind them ... (04/99)
Local 1187 Strike
In Third Month
The Load King division of CMI in Elk Point, S.D. is
still shut down, as Local 1187 members continue an unfair labor practice strike that began
Feb. 9. Local 1187 members are standing strong, united in their determination to force the
company to bargain in good faith — but assistance is appreciated. Here's
how you can help with both financial contributions and messages of support.
... (04/99)
Pyramid Workers Keep
Saturdays Free, Gain
Improvements in New Contract
Pyramid Plastics workers, members of amalgamated UE
Local 683, ratified a new three-year agreement on Feb. 26. The gains in the contract
didn’t come easily — it took leaflets in the plant, button-wearing, signs in
cars, plant-gate meetings and near-unanimous membership meetings for the company to
realize that workers were serious about a decent settlement ... (04/99)
Local 1421 Wins Improvements
In Latest Graham Packaging Pact
Graham Packaging workers, members of amalgamated UE
Local 1421, ratified a three-year agreement on March 3, that includes significant
improvements in wages and benefits. Shop solidarity was critical throughout the
negotiations as workers at Graham Packaging fought back attempts by their
multinational-employer to force employee contributions to their health insurance and a
four-year contract ... (04/99)
Local 1139 Reaches
Contract with Thiele
Despite Hard Times
With their employer genuinely experiencing hard
times, the members of amalgamated UE Local 1139 employed by Thiele Engineering agreed to
modifications in production practices and the pension plan in recent negotiations ...
(04/99)
No Surprises as UE
Local Leaders Briefed
On GE’s Billions in Profit
Leaders of UE locals in the General Electric chain
were not surprised to learn that their employer is doing very, very well when they
received a detailed report on the company’s finances at a meeting of the union’s
GE Conference Board. GE revenues are up 20 percent since 1996, 80 percent since 1993. GE
enjoyed net profits of $9.3 billion in 1998 — 13 percent better than 1997 and a gain
of 28 percent since 1996 ... (04/99)
International
Encountering a Commitment
To Democracy in Mexico
Two UE rank-and-file leaders were among labor
and community leaders from eight states visiting Mexico in a trip organized by UE and
hosted by the Authentic Labor Front (FAT), Mexico’s national independent labor
federation. The delegation toured factories organized by FAT, visited FAT-affiliated
cooperatives, met with the head of Mexico City’s labor department and participated in
International Women’s Day celebrations ... (04/99)
International
World of Work News Roundup
Special to the UE News by Jeff Apter in Paris:
Pay hikes for German metalworkers and public service employees ... protections for
Europe's "short-term" workers ... a underground union forms in China ... a
Korean Confederation of trade Unions has given up trying to work with an important
government-employer committee and in France, Renault agrees to a 35 hour workweek but
earns the anger of its largest union over job losses ... (04/99)
For Milwaukee UE Member —
Kosovo Refugees’ Plight
A Phone Call Away
For UE Local 1172 member Frieda Abasovksi, the
horror behind the heart-rendering scenes of refugee Kosovar Albanians seen on the TV news
is only a family phone call away. The Everbrite worker is an ethnic Albanian from
Macdeonia; her brother and sister, still living there, in recent days have taken in
refugee Kosovars ... (04/99)
Rank-and-File Democracy in
Action —
Wisconsin Training Sessions
Building Rank-and-File Unonism
PHOTOS: UE Leadership training
sessions in Wisconsin covered the basics of rank-and-file unionism. Sessions took place in
Milwaukee and Necedah ... (04/99)
Ruth Newell Dies;
Pioneering 1940s Organizer
Ruth Newell, an outstanding UE organizer in the
1940s whose work for the union continued intermittently into the early 1970s, died March
13. She was the mother of former UE Genl. Sec.-Treas. Amy Newell ... (04/99)
District 2 Council
Enthusiastic About Organizing
Southeastern Massachusetts’ heaviest
snowfall of the season didn’t prevent delegates from arriving to the District Two
Council meeting on Feb. 26 or dampen their enthusiasm. In fact, delegates from Boston,
North Shore and Taunton area locals met at 10 a.m. prior to the start of the council
meeting to discuss rank-and-file involvement in organizing with UE Dir. of Org. Bob
Kingsley, Intl. Rep. Harry Authelet and District Pres. Judy Atkins ...
(04/99)
Labor Party Chapter
Gives Santorum "Most
Foolish Policy" Award
PHOTOS: The Pittsburgh Metro Chapter
of the Labor Party celebrated April Fools Day by attempting to present U.S. Sen. Rick
Santorum (R., Pa.) the "Most Foolish Public Policy Initiative of the Year" award
because of his advocacy of Social Security privatization ...
(04/99)
Former Employer Pays $2,250
—
Local 264 Retiree
Insists on Vacation Pay
Edward Grzyb, a retired member of UE Local 264, had
the union’s backing in his successful attempt to collect payment from his former boss
... (04/99)
New Officers For UE Local 212
PHOTO: District 2 Pres. Judy Atkins
administers the oath of office to UE Local 212 officers in Dalton, Mass ...
(04/99)
Thirty Years in Office!
PHOTO: Local 714 members wonder how many locals have
an officer as dedicated as Robert Lee Gillette, who has served as UE Local 714's recording
secretary for 30 years ... (04/99)
The Blacklist and Its Victims
The decision of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences to present a lifetime achievement award on March 21 to director Elia
Kazan drew many protests. Kazan informed on friends and co-workers in the 1950's and,
as a result, those former friends and co-workers were victimized by the Cold War blacklist
operating in Hollywood. For perspective on those events, we turned to the writing of
Charles Kerns, whose column on television and film appeared in the UE NEWS for many
years. ... (04/99)
Second Contract
—
'UE Works' for
University of Iowa
Graduate Employees
Nearly half of the classes at the University
of Iowa are taught by teaching assistants and a great deal of the University’s
world-class research is performed by research assistants, giving power to UE Local 896's
claim: "UI Works Because We Do!" In negotiations for a second contract, the
local succeeded in fighting off important contract language concessions, winning
improvements in salaries and health insurance and a long-sought non-discrimination clause
... (03/99)
CMI's Unfair Labor
Practices Spark Strike
Unfair labor practices committed by the Load
King division of CMI during the course of contract negotiations have forced UE Local 1187
members in Elk Point, S.D. to the picket lines. And a strike in South Dakota during the
winter months can mean extremes in weather and temperature. Local 1187 members voted
nearly unanimously in a secret-ballot vote to launch their strike on Feb. 9 ... (03/99)
Local 893 Approves New
Agreement With State Of Iowa
A new two-year contract covering some 2,300 State of
Iowa employees — among them social workers, income maintenance workers, corrections
counselors, vocational rehabilitation staff and scientists — has been overwhelmingly
approved by members of UE Local 893, Iowa United Professionals. The new contract provides
3 percent across-the-board wage increase this July and a second 3 percent increase in July
2000 ... (03/99)
Local 791-Ohio Turnpike
—
Contracts Strengthen Unity
Of Part-Time, Full-Time Workers
Ohio Turnpike workers, members of UE Local
791, have negotiated and approved two new three-year contracts — one covering 600
full-time toll collectors and maintenance workers, the other covering 290 part-time toll
collectors. Both agreements provide 3 percent wage increases each year ... (03/99)
Spencer School Staff
Gain First Contract
Spencer Community School District support
staff, members of UE Local 821, have negotiated a first contract. The more than 110
workers each gain a 75-cent raise in their one-year agreement, which establishes a
grievance procedure, the right to arbitrate grievances, seniority rights, paid holidays,
sick days and paid vacations. ... (03/99)
New UE Contract Gives
Winneshiek Road Crew
$1.50 Over 3 Years
The Winneshiek County road crew, members of UE Local
869, have ratified a new contract with the county that will add 50 cents to hourly wages
in each of the three years covered by the agreement. ...
(03/99)
Local 155 President
Ray Spinozzi Dies
A man who will be sadly missed by UE, Remo P.
"Ray" Spinozzi, a long-time UE member and current president of Machine Tool
& Die Local 155, died March 4 due to complications following coronary bypass surgery.
The husband of UE Genl. Vice Pres. Connie Spinozzi, Ray Spinozzi was 68. ... (03/99)
District 6 Wonders:
Where's the Economic Boom?
Where’s the economic boom? That question
appeared repeatedly at the District Six Council meeting here Feb. 20 as speakers pointed
to the threats against Social Security, employer attacks on health insurance, on and off
again overtime, layoffs and plant closings. A strong union remains the best defense during
boom or bust, delegates agreed ... (03/99)
District 10 Meets, Reaffirms
Commitment to Building the Union
Delegates from all over the state of California came
together at District 10’s council meeting where the UE leaders reaffirmed their
commitment to organize, build the Labor Party, strengthen international solidarity and to
move towards greater rank-and-file self-sufficiency ... (03/99)
Union Action, Policy
Discussed by District 11
Economic action and political action in defense of
working people dominated reports to the UE District 11 Council meeting in Milwaukee, with
delegates also dealing with important internal union issues ... (03/99)
UE Members Among 400
At Jobs with Justice Conference
PHOTOS:
UE members were among the more than 600 delegates to the national Jobs with Justice
conference in Louisville, Ky. Feb. 26-28. Many are calling this the most energetic and
successful Jobs with Justice national conference yet ... (03/99)
The Global Economy —
An International View
From Mexico
Speaking at the UE District 11 hall, Bertha Lujan,
director of the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT), a federation of independent unions in
Mexico, addresses how the global economy has impacted workers and poor people in her
country. Lujan's address was part of a tour sponsored by the Mexico Solidarity Network,
a coalition of 72 organizations that "support struggles for democracy, justice
and human rights in Mexico." Special to the UE Web by Hal Sutton, UAW Local 1268.
(02/99)
At University of North
Carolina —
Local 150 Demands
Justice on Campuses
Despite working in a state which outlaws bargaining
between unions and state institutions, hundreds of housekeepers, groundskeepers,
maintenance workers and other employees of the University of North Carolina are fighting
for better working conditions and living standards as members of the North Carolina Public
Service Workers Union, UE Local 150. They are organizing, struggling and — against
the odds — winning ... (02/99)
New Contract Improves
Wages, Benefits at Chasen
The members of amalgamated UE Local 404
employed by M. Chasen and Son at plants here and in Irvington on Jan. 9 ratified a new
five-year contract that will substantially improve wages and insurance ... (02/99)
GEB Weighs Schedule
Change, Recruitment Plan
The union’s General Executive Board weighed
organizational, financial and political issues at its regularly scheduled quarterly
meeting in Pittsburgh ... (02/99)
International
Women Educate Each
Other, Across Borders
When women from UE and the Canadian Auto
Workers joined the women assembled near Mexico City for a week-long women’s
leadership training conducted by the Authentic Labor Front (FAT), the clash of cultures
was not only along international boundaries. The diverse group of women participated in a
series of intensive workshops designed to liberate, motivate and train women for
leadership in Mexico's male-dominated society. ... (02/99)
Annual Political Action Day —
Iowa UE Members Greet
Governor, Lawmakers
The unusually mild, sunny weather here
matched the mood of union members gathering in the state capital for the annual UE
Political Action Day. With the cloud of the labor-hostile Branstad administration lifted
after 16 years, the representatives of more than 6,000 working families from each of the
state’s 99 counties looked forward to positive changes. ... (02/99)
Vermont's Largest City Council
Endorses Organizing Rights,
Card Check Recognition
The Burlington City Council has endorsed the right of
workers to organize and called on employers to recognize unions where a majority of their
employees have signed union cards. Residents of the city’s Old North End got the good
news delivered to their doorsteps when a team of rank-and-file UE members, staff and
national leaders canvassed the neighborhood. ... (02/99)
Cartoon Feature
Impeachment Process
UE News Cartoonist Gary Huck offers a look back at the
historic — and bizarre — last thirteen months in Washington ... (02/99)
Special Offer to Unionists
All Ten Volumes of Foner's
Labor Movement History Available
All ten volumes of The History of the
Labor Movement of the United States by the late Philip S. Foner are again in
print and are being offered at a special price to union members. This impressive series
examines the history of U.S. trade unionism in remarkable detail, from the colonial era to
the eve of the Great Depression. ... (02/99)
Global Economy Claims New Victims —
U.S. Firm Moves Jobs
From Ireland to Morocco
The global economy claimed 770 more victims
in December, as workers at four Fruit of the Loom factories in Ireland learned two weeks
before Christmas the plants would close in January. ... (02/99)
New Officers for Local 707
PHOTO: The
members of UE Local 707, representing GE Service Shop workers oin Cleveland, have elected
new officers ... (02/99)
Contract Ends
Decades-Long Saga
Workers employed by Jamestown Industries are
enjoying the dollars-and-cents gains of their first UE contract, an agreement they
achieved through their own dogged perseverance through ownership changes, bizarre business
disputes, firings and attacks on their union. "We can feel proud about
ourselves," says Local 794 Pres. Larry Jamason, a 12-year company veteran.
"We got a decent pay raise. It’s better working in there now. We’ve got the
power, we’re union!" ... (01/99)
National Van Strike Settled
Local 404 members employed by National Van
Equipment Co., in Long Island City, Queens, returned to work on Jan. 19 after a 18-day
strike for health care insurance and dignity on the job. These union members, all of whom
are immigrants, walked back together wearing UE t-shirts bearing a Spanish motto that
translates "not one step backward, never give up!" ... (01/99)
Local 404 Prevails in
18-Day Strike at Medin Corp
Even as Local 404 members employed by the Medin
Corp. were voting on Nov. 2 to reject the company’s unionbusting proposals, guards
were taking up positions around the plant ... in the end, solidarity and unity carried the
day as the unionbusting effort was defeated a new contract was signed ... (01/99)
Local 1135 Makes Gains
In Third Contract with Tulip
Local 1135 members have overwhelmingly
ratified a new three-year contract with Tulip Corp., gaining significant improvements in
wages, retirement savings contributions, and safety. This is the third contract between
the union and the company ... (01/99)
Old Rochester School Workers
Clean Up with First Contract
The fifteen service and maintenance workers
of Old Rochester Regional School district, members of UE Local 248, recently settled their
first union contract. Despite their small size and the School Committee’s attempts to
delay, divide, and diminish this first contract, these new UE members held fast to an
agreement that doesn’t get everything they wanted but makes significant gains in some
key areas and brings them closer to the average wage and benefit levels for school
custodial and maintenance workers in southeastern Massachusetts ... (01/99)
UE-GE Leaders
Hear Call to Action
Leaders from UE locals in the General
Electric chain heard a call to action on organizing, political action and preparations for
national bargaining when the UE-GE Conference Board met in Pittsburgh ... (01/99)
Canadian Agency Upholds
Unions in Echlin Case
UE NEWS INTERNATIONAL: The
Canadian agency that administers the NAFTA labor side agreement has charged the Mexican
government with failing to enforce its own laws and regulations when workers at the
U.S.-owned ITAPSA automotive plant tried to organize an independent union. ... (01/99)
World of Work News Roundup ...
UE NEWS INTERNATIONAL: The Euro prompts a new joint collective bargaining strategy among Europe's
unions — a British study says part-time jobs will account for a third of all
employment by the year 2010 — workers in Spain are demanding a 35-hour work week to
combat a 19% unemployment rate — Japanese automakers pursue alliances — German
unions propose job-sharing to spur higher employment ... and more ... in the World of Work
... (01/99)
Despite Economic Growth,
Poor Are Getting Poorer
A strong showing in the stock market and
escalating corporate profits are no answer for poverty. Economic growth in the 1990s has
made a few people rich and left most Americans just getting by or worse. On average, the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports poor families became poorer in 1997 —
probably due (at least in part) to the weakening of safety net programs ... (01/99)
Honoring the Dream
PHOTO: A Local 506
contingent, joined by Genl. Sec.-Treas. Bob Clark, took part in the annual Erie, Pa.
Martin Luther King Day March on Jan. 18. Despite rain and snow, a long line of marchers
paraded through the streets of Pennsylvania’s third-largest city ... (01/99)
District 2 Officers
PHOTO: The officers and
executive board of District 2 take the oath of office from Genl. Pres. John Hovis at the
conclusion of the council meeting in Glens Falls, N.Y. ... Delegates honored three recent
retirees — Bernie Leonka, Web Chapman and Mary Hudak, all long-time officers of host
Local 332. (01/99)
Marshall Perlin Dies at 79
Marshall 'Mike' Perlin, a nationally known civil
liberties attorney who had a long a long association with UE, died Dec. 31 at age 79. ...
(01/99)
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