Pinnacle Airline pilots reject contract offer
September 24, 2009
(AP) - MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The pilots of Pinnacle Airlines Inc. have rejected a contract offer from the Memphis-based company. Pinnacle flies commuter connections for Delta Air Lines.

The Commercial Appeal said the rejection on Thursday sends the labor dispute back to the National Mediation Board.
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Possible Strike Hinges on Final Vote Tonight
September 24, 2009
by Shellie Nelson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Your child's ride to school Friday could depend on a vote Thursday by Olathe bus drivers.

Drivers in three other districts - Center, Mo.; Park Hill, Mo.; and Blue Valley, Kan. - have already voted to reject contract offers and approved a strike.
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Unions ramp up protests against city, schools
September 23, 2009
by Corey Williams

DETROIT - City workers and the mayor's office are approaching a weekend deadline on possible cuts to hundreds of jobs if unions don't agree to wage cuts and other concessions aimed at saving cash-starved Detroit from further fiscal misery.
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Hawaiian Airlines pilots authorise strike
September 12, 2009

Honolulu - Hawaiian Airlines pilots have voted to authorise a strike, although no walkout is imminent. The Hawaiian Airlines branch of the Air Line Pilots Association said yesterday that 98 percent of the pilots who voted authorised a strike if contract talks don't result in a new collective bargaining agreement for the union’s 400 members. Read More...

Tugboat Workers Strike Over Staffing
September 3, 2009
by Jennifer B. Lee

For the first time in nearly two decades, tugboat workers are going on strike.

The strike, which is over staffing levels on boats, is a fairly small one. It is against a small company called Kosnac, which has only about a dozen union employees and two boats.
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Oakland University cancels classes after professors strike
September 3, 2009
by Santiago Esparza and Jennifer Chambers
Rochester -- Oakland University has canceled classes until further notice because of a strike by professors.

Previously, the university told students to show up for classes today and wait 15 minutes to see if their professor showed up. If the professor did not show, they were free to leave.

The decision to cancel classes came before representatives of the professors' union and university negotiators began talks today with a mediator, which are happening now at the Michigan Employment Relations Commission offices in Detroit.
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Phone company workers go on strike
September 3, 2009
by Karen F. Mrnarevic

During World War II and immediately afterward, women comprised a majority of workers in the telephone industry. 72 percent of all telephone workers were women, most of whom worked as operators (making up 95 percent of all telephone operators), or in clerical positions. Perhaps due to a burgeoning sense of self worth in the workplace, brought on by the demands for women laborers during the war, women in the industry asserted themselves by organizing local, regional and statewide unions, through which they negotiated and enforced their own contracts. At the time, the tendency was for unions to organize not just based on shared industry but also by sex. As a result many of the newly formed locals were comprised exclusively of women.
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Hot-shot law firm Proskauer Rose quits MTA, says agency bigs too close to labor leaders
August 17, 2009
by Pete Donohue
A powerhouse law firm that has represented the MTA in labor negotiations for two decades abruptly quit after becoming concerned agency honchos were getting too friendly with labor, sources said.

Proskauer Rose was concerned transit officials weren't being candid about their dealings with the union, and the law firm feared it couldn't adequately represent the Metropolitan Transportation Authority if it was shut out of secret agreements between the two sides, sources said.
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Mayor Discusses Bemis Strike
August 17, 2009
by Patrick Fazio
The Bemis strike continues with no new negotiations scheduled. Union workers are still picketing at the Terre Haute plant after rejecting the latest contract Friday.

A Bemis spokesperson tells us the company is "ready to meet." But a union spokesperson says they've told the company they'll meet anytime.
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Teamsters strike Granite Construction projects in Reno area
August 17, 2009

Teamsters Local 533 drivers went on strike against industry-giant Granite Construction in California and Nevada at 5 p.m. Sunday. Advertisement

Picket lines went up at Granite's Nevada headquarters, 1900 Glendale Ave. in Sparks and at the Interstate 80 rehabilitation project at Floriston, Calif., just west of the Nevada border, union officials said.

In dispute is pay for about 60 truck drivers for whom Granite wants to cut pay on private sector work from $21 an hour to $13 an hour, the union said. The drivers deliver concrete and asphalt to construction sites and haul away debris. Their contract expired July 31 and an extension expired at midnight Saturday.
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San Fran mayor: Tentative pact reached in labor dispute that threatens a crippling rail strike
August 16, 2009

Tentative pact reached in labor dispute that threatens a crippling rail strike. Read More...

No end in sight for GPC lockout in Muscatine
August 16, 2009
by Doug Schorpp
MUSCATINE, Iowa - Nearly one year and counting. And for employees at the GPC plant in Muscatine, there is dim hope for an immediate end to a lockout that began Aug. 22, 2008.

Company spokeswoman Janet Sichterman said 360 people were locked out, with 300 of them being members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 86D. They have been locked out since their five-year contract with Grain Processing Corp., or GPC, expired a year ago. Read More...

Teamsters local asks UPS mechanics for strike vote
August 14, 2009

Teamsters Local 2727, the Kentucky union that represents airline mechanics at United Parcel Service Inc., has called on its members to conduct a strike vote.

The vote is expected to be taken by Sept. 14, the union said in a news release.

The union represents nearly 1,400 plane mechanics who work for UPS (NYSE: UPS). The union began informational picketing about the ongoing contract dispute in October 2008.
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Union members to picket Knox AT&T operations
August 14, 2009
By Bill Brewer
KNOXVILLE -- AT&T employees represented by Communication Workers of America, Local 3805 are planning an informational picket Saturday to protest the lack of a contract between the company and local workers.

Debbie Helsley, president of CWA, Local 3805, said members of the union, which represents 650 coworkers, will staff the picket line at AT&T’s offices at 410 Magnolia.

"Our contract expired last Saturday and we're working without a contract," Helsley said. "This is a company that made $12.9 billion in profit last year. We just feel like we deserve a fair and just contract." Read More...

Hotel workers gear up for rally as contract expires
August 14, 2009
By Tamara Barak Aparton
SAN FRANCISCO, LABOR, HOTELS, CONTRACT DISPUTES - A contract expires today for 9,000 San Francisco hotel workers - the same group whose 2004 strike and subsequent lockout by employers brought The City’s vital tourism industry to its knees.

About 1,000 workers and supporters are scheduled to rally at 4 p.m. today on Market Street between Third and Fourth streets before marching around Union Square hotels.
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INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL 459 STRIKES PENELEC/FIRST ENERGY
May 25, 2009
by LISA R. HOWELER

SAYRE - Penelec/First Energy employees in Sayre and Towanda joined other members of the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 459 Friday in a work stoppage called by the union Thursday night.

Employees in both areas took to the sidewalks with signs in hand early Friday morning and continued their strike throughout the day.

Negotiations broke down Thursday night according to Scott Surgeoner, spokesperson for First Energy, which is headquartered in Akron, Ohio.
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Phila. carpenters strike BIA
May 19, 2009

The Philadelphia Business Journal is reporting that The Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters is striking after the Building Industry Association rejected a proposal by the union that would allow shop stewards to be placed at project sites.

The two groups had been negotiating on a new contract for nearly three months. The carpenters contract expired April 30. No new negotiations are scheduled. Read More...

Union workers picket AT&T office in Waldorf
May 8, 2009

A couple dozen unionized AT&T workers picketed outside a company office in Waldorf on Thursday, demanding a new contract that would maintain their medical insurance, retirement benefits and pay raises.

Carrying signs that read, "Honk if you support health benefits," "Taking a stand for justice," and "AT&T=Corporate Greed," workers from AT&T locations in Waldorf and Fairfax, Va., gathered near the busy roadway in front of a large inflatable rat. Read More...

Labor dispute at Conectiv Plant raises security questions
April 30, 2009
By Jesse Chadderdon
Edgemoor, Del. - Union workers are upset about Conectiv Energy's hiring practices at its Edge Moor Power Plant - practices some fear could jeopardize security at northern Delaware's largest electric generation site.

Labor leaders say the company's recent hiring practices represent a "race to the bottom," with plant security being sacrificed for savings.
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Editorial comment: Make the cookie barons crumble
April 30, 2009

It's time for Riverdale/Kingsbridge residents to do more than buy cups of coffee for striking Stella D'oro workers on the picket line.

Members of Local 50 of the Bakery, Confectioners, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike on Aug. 13, after Brynwood Partners offered them a contract that reduced salaries, benefits, sick days, vacation and holidays.
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Union Calls City Opera Strike 'Likely' Given Demands
April 29, 2009

A strike may cripple the New York City Opera later this year if its new general manager and artistic director, George Steel, seeks extensive concessions, said the union representing opera singers, stage directors and other production staffers.

The American Guild of Musical Artists said in a memo to members that “given the changes that George Steel wants to make in our contract, members are advised that the possibility of a strike against New York City Opera is likely.”
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SK Hand Tools union members on strike today
April 1, 2009
By JARED ORZOLEK
Close to 70 workers at SK Hand Tools of Defiance, represented by the International Association of Machinists union, have hit the picket line after rejecting the company's latest contract offer.

The IAM workers went strike at midnight Tuesday after unanimously rejecting the contract and authorizing the strike, according to John Carr, IAM spokesman for Ohio.
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Eagle Point school union votes for strike
April 1, 2009

The Eagle Point school employees union has voted to go on strike after more than a year of contract talks.

The Mail Tribune newspaper in Medford reported that Eagle Point School District officials were disappointed by the union's decision because they felt progress had been made toward a settlement in recent days. Read More...

Cement finishers strike
April 1, 2009
by DOUG TUCKER

The cement finishers' union are on strike, bringing an unexpected halt to construction at Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums.

Mike Smith, chairman of the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, said he was awakened about 4 a.m. Wednesday with word of the action. He said he hoped to resolve the dispute and resume the $600 million renovation project on Thursday. Read More...

Bruno's to close 38 stores
March 30, 2009

Bankrupt Bruno's Supermarkets Inc. has informed the state that 38 of its 60 Alabama stores may close by mid May, affecting nearly 2,200 employees.

UFCW Local 371 has authorized a strike at 15 A&P locations.
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Possible AT&T worker strike could affect Lubbock economy
March 30, 2009

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Time is running out for members of the Communication Workers of America and AT&T to reach a deal. Their current contract expires Saturday at midnight. CWA Local 6203 President David Patton tells NewsChannel 11 that if they can't come to an agreement, around 350 line crews could stop working.

AT&T spokesman Walt Sharp tells us negotiations could come down to the last hour, and Patton says a strike would affect more than just the workers. He says it could have a negative affect on the Lubbock economy. "The company and the union has the same goals. We'd like everybody to be profitable. We'd like the company to be profitable, but we'd like them to share that with us also," Patton said.
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Boeing union recommends strike at Kansas plant
February 24, 2009

WICHITA, Kan. - The union representing engineers at the Boeing Co.'s military aircraft plant in Wichita is recommending its members reject the company's contract offer and go out on strike.

Negotiations broke down Tuesday between Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. Read More...

More rallies expected during AT&T contract bargaining
February 24, 2009
(The Beaumont Enterprise - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Union workers with AT&T Corp. are planning more mobilization rallies like the one Tuesday morning, said Gwen Spikes, Communications Workers of America Local No. 6139 president.

AT&T employees work under a labor agreement negotiated by the Communications Workers of America, the current version of which expires on April 4. The contract affects 400 workers in the Southeast Texas region, over half of them in downtown Beaumont. Read More...

Union rosters swell by 80,000 in Mass.
January 30, 2009
by Robert Gavin

Labor unions in Massachusetts added nearly 80,000 members last year and significantly increased the share of workers they represent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union membership grew to 458,000, or about 15.7 percent of workers in 2008, up from 379,000, or about 13.2 percent, in 2007. Nationally, union membership rose to 12.4 percent of workers from 12. 1 percent in 2007. Read More...

U.S. refinery workers poised to strike
January 30, 2009
HOUSTON - Some 30,000 U.S. refinery workers were preparing Friday to launch a strike that could affect about half the U.S.'s oil refining capacity and boost pump prices.

Nearly 10 per cent of U.S. refining capacity could be shut down within days if union officials fail to reach a deal before an existing contract expires just after midnight Sunday morning. Read More...

Union rejects Valero's contract offer
January 30, 2009
by Amy Moore

United Steelworkers International from Valero has rejected the company's contract offer.

The company, however, is not worrying.

"We're still hopeful we can reach an agreement without work stoppage. Part of the process is to go back and forth," he said of the negotiations. "We still have time." Read More...

Strike threat looms over Trop
January 29, 2009

ATLANTIC CITY - Slot technicians at The Tropicana Casino and Resort have authorized what would be the first strike in nearly three decades by workers who handle Atlantic City gambling equipment.

The 23 employees are represented by the United Auto Workers and voted Tuesday night, protesting the lack of a contract after more than a year of negotiations with the Tropicana, which is about to be sold in a bankruptcy auction. Read More...

Striking Metalworks employees plan public meeting
January 14, 2009
by Brian Mulherin

The striking Metalworks employees of Teamsters Local 406 will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Ramada Inn to familiarize community members with the issues that led to the ongoing strike.

Teamsters Business Representative Ellis Wood said this morning that he will present a short list of issues and will take questions from the public on the situation. Read More...

Vought gives striking workers ultimatum
January 7, 2009
(UPI Business News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Hundreds of striking Vought Aircraft Industries employees in Tennessee have been given an ultimatum: Return to work or lose their jobs to replacement workers.

Vought management notified the nearly 900 workers who have been on strike for 14 weeks in letters dated Jan. 3, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Wednesday.

This is so the company can continue on with its business, said Vought spokeswoman Lynne Warne. Read More...

Union gears up for negotiations with GM and Chrysler
January 7, 2009

DETROIT (Reuters) - United Auto Workers bargaining teams are arriving this week in Detroit as the union gears up for negotiations with General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Chrysler LLC, which are mandated to cut labor costs under a $17.4 billion federal bailout.

UAW leaders were converging for a series of internal meetings to prepare for talks with the automakers, who have until March 31 to wrangle steep labor-cost concessions from the UAW. Read More...

Lake-Lehman teachers to strike Monday
December 21, 2008

The chief negotiator for the teachers' union in the Lake-Lehman School District says teachers will strike after a last-minute bargaining session failed to result in a contract settlement. John Holland of the Lake-Lehman Education Association says the teachers' union and school board met Saturday but failed to come up with an agreement. He says the teachers will be on the picket line Monday. Read More...

Quantum of Solis
December 21, 2008

There is joy in Unionville this Christmas. Barack Obama's pick for Secretary of Labor -- Hilda Solis -- brings impeccable big labor credentials. The California Congresswoman first rode to power with labor backing against a fellow Democrat, has voted with the AFL-CIO 97% of the time, and got three-quarters of her campaign contributions from unions. Read More...

Unions Threatened Riots if No Bailout
December 16, 2008

by Warner Todd Huston
Last week, Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union, threatened to foster riots if the $900 billion bailout didn't get through Congress. "If we have Republicans who oppose us, we are going to take to the streets, we are going to occupy places. We are not going to allow any more of our members' lives to be destroyed," he warned in a conference call to journalists over the weekend. Read More...

Last Best Offer
December 16, 2008
by Jennifer Jefcoat

Members of United Steelworkers Local 3523 will stay on the picket line after overwhelmingly voting "no" to Thomas Steel's last best offer.

"The membership is dead set on trying to reach a decent agreement and one that they can live with," says Gary Steinbeck.

Grievance chairperson, Patsy Naples says" A lot of people say in this tough economy you should just take what you can get. What do you say to that? When I go to the markets and I try to get everything I can get you know what they tell me. This is what we want and this is what you have to pay. So I know that this is a tough economy, but I believe that they voted with their hearts." Read More...

Mayor Seeks $10 Million From Unions

by Mellisa Bailey
December 15, 2008
More city workers may end up in Eric Jones' shoes, as the mayor outlined a plan for a new round of layoffs if unions don't come up with concessions by the end of January.

Jones, who was laid off in September from his job as a city trash collector, showed up at City Hall with fellow union members to voice complaints about the DeStefano administration's approach to the fiscal crisis.
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Lessons From the Chicago Sit-In
December 15, 2008
by Alan B. Krueger

The sit-in at the Republic Windows & Doors factory in Chicago last week brought the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 - or WARN Act for short - to the forefront of attention. This law requires large employers (those with 100 or more employees) to provide 60 days of written advance notice prior to a plant closing or mass layoff. Read More...

Labor Fight Brewing at San Francisco Parking Garages
December 2, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Some 1,600 workers in San Francisco's public parking garages are calling for a strike authorization vote in response to the slow pace of contract negotiations, according to union leaders.

Members of Teamsters Local 665 are not happy with management proposals to create another tier for new hires, who would be paid lower wages than current employees. Read More...

Starbucks' baristas walk off the job
December 1, 2008

Baristas from Starbucks Coffee at Nicollet and Franklin walked off the floor one day last month to present a petition to management, signed by more than 500 concerned customers and community members, demanding that Starbucks hire a security guard to ensure the safety of its patrons and partners.

The workers in turn declared their affiliation with the Starbucks Workers Union, a campaign of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union, becoming the first Starbucks in Minneapolis and the second in Minnesota to go union. Read More...

Drivers strike at KC Budweiser distributor United Beverage
December 1, 2008
by James Dornbrook

Drivers for United Beverage Co., the company that distributes Budweiser to downtown Kansas City, went on strike Monday.

Richard Blevins, negotiator for Teamsters Local 838, said Monday that about 28 union truck drivers went on strike after negotiations for a new contract stalled. A picket line was set up at United Beverage’s headquarters at 1903 Woodland Ave.
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US airline labour flexes its muscles
November 25, 2008
By David Field

Heartened by the presidential victory of Democrat Barack Obama, US airline labour is flexing its muscle as it prepares to recoup its concessions of recent years. At American Airlines, flight attendants have threatened to strike when they are legally allowed, and the airline's pilots have pressed repeatedly for a federal declaration that their negotiations are at an impasse. And labour at normally placid Southwest Airlines has begun picketing. William Swelbar of the MIT airline programme says: "Never before have we seen such a convergence of 'amendable' dates. Because so many of the present contracts were negotiated during bankruptcy, we have many contracts coming up in a close period." This means that unions would be able to leverage their negotiations on progress at other carriers. Read More...

Strike hits day 20
November 17, 2008
By Kevin Braciszeski

Striking union members bundled up to picket at Ludington's Metalworks plant again this morning as their strike entered its 20th day.

"The only thing that’s changed is it’s snowing now,"" said Trenton Lynn, chief steward for the Teamsters Union Local 406.

Lynn said today he's not heard about any plans to reopen negotiations for a contract between the company and his union. Read More...

Retaliation vandalism reported in regard to strike
November 17, 2008
SALEM - A half dozen alleged incidents attributed to the strike at the American Standard plant occurred over the weekend.

Richard Hands, president of the local United Steelworkers union representing striking American Standard employees, reported at 3:15 p.m. Saturday two men he knows drove past pickets and told them there would be paybacks for the vandalism done to their property and and vehicles the night before.
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Unions plan organization push in Texas
November 16, 2008
By Dave Michaels

WASHINGTON - Emboldened by their role in electing Barack Obama, labor unions are pushing to make it easier to organize workers in states with historically low levels of union penetration, including Texas.

The unions, which include the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win coalition, enhanced their political muscle by campaigning heavily for Mr. Obama, who sponsored several labor-friendly bills during his brief career in the Senate. The unions want the next Congress to quickly pass a bill at the top of their shopping list: legislation that would allow unions to form as soon as a majority of workers sign cards saying they want one.
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UAW leader says no more concessions from workers
November 15, 2008
By Mark Williams

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Even as Detroit's Big Three teeter on collapse, United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said Saturday that workers will not make any more concessions and that getting the automakers back on their feet means figuring out a way to turn around the slumping economy.

"The focus has to be on the economy as a whole as opposed to a UAW contract," Gettelfinger told reporters on a conference call, noting the labor costs now make up 8 percent to 10 percent of the cost of a vehicle.

"We have made dramatic, dramatic changes and the UAW was applauded for that," he said.
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Union strikes again at Saint Louise
October 29, 2008
By Sara Suddes

Healthcare workers at Saint Louise Regional Hospital launched another 24-hour battle against "the bosses" Wednesday morning in tandem with union employees at four other Daughters of Charity hospitals and five Sutter Health facilities across the state. The strike cost the Daughters of Charity more than $1 million to bring in substitute workers, strikers and administrators estimated.
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Teamsters picket local UPS office
October 30, 2008
By Alex Davis

Several dozen members and supporters of the union that represents UPS airline mechanics are picketing outside the company’s offices on N. Hurstbourne Parkway to publicize a contract dispute.

As many as 100 members of Teamsters Local 2727 are expected later today, said Nancy Shircliff, the union’s office manager. She said the picket will remain in place until around 5 or 6 p.m.
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Labor movement gets boost from Boeing strike
November 3, 2008
by Karen West
The verdict is still out on who exactly won the Boeing Machinists strike of 2008, but it has nonetheless given a shot in the arm to a weakening organized labor movement in America.

“This is not a case where the union caved, even in these times with this type of job market and national pressure,’’ said Philip Dine, an expert on labor relations and author of “State of the Unions.’’ “This strike showed that labor can still hold its own.”
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Portage County bus drivers march in support of strike
November 4, 2008
By Jim Carney

FRANKLIN TWP.: A half-dozen bus drivers marched in front of the Portage Area Regional Transit Authority offices on Summit Street at lunchtime Monday.

The members of Local 037 of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees have been on strike against the Portage County bus system since August. Read More...

South Butler, union at impasse as strike continues
October 29, 2008
By Celanie Polanick

Another day of the teachers' strike, another day off school, and another negotiation session, and not much is new in the South Butler County School District.

Grayslake teachers give go-ahead for strike
October 28, 2008
By Madhu Krishnamurthy, Daily Herald Staff

The Grayslake Elementary District 46 teachers union voted Monday at a closed membership meeting to strike.

Though a strike date has not been set, the district's roughly 330 teachers serving seven schools and 4,317 students could walk out unless an agreement is reached before Thursday, Nov. 6.
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United Steelworkers Union Oil Workers Overwhelmingly Approve National Oil Bargaining Policy
October 28, 2008

BEAUMONT, Texas, Oct 28, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Oil workers from the United Steelworkers union (USW) overwhelmingly ratified the 2009 National Oil Bargaining policy and gave strike authorization to the union.

"This strong ratification of the oil policy and strike ratification shows how united and determined the membership is in getting a fair contract," International Vice President Gary Beevers said. "By adopting the policy, the local unions agree that their contracts will not conflict with it. Any deviation from the policy requires specific approval from the international president, me and the oil bargaining policy committee."
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Labor Disputes Plague Contract Negotiations
October 27, 2008
By Christine Sagar

AFSME Local 1433 is filing five unfair labor practices and five grievances against the city of Benton Harbor. But City Manager Richard Marsh says that wasn't until the city filed its own unfair labor practice first. He says the city's dispute is rooted in problems with the labor union's use of the media, hostile negotiation practices and lack of information from union leaders to employees.

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Capital Metro union rejects latest contract offer
October 27, 2008


Union workers at the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority rejected the transit agency's latest contract offer, paving the way for a possible strike.

Terry Garcia Crews, the general manager at Capital Metro unit who supervises union workers, says although workers with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1091 have rejected the contract, the agency expects that negotiations will resume. She says it’s unclear what the immediate timetable for negotiations will be.
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Zamtel workers go on strike, demand higher pay
October 27, 2008
By Michael Malakata , IDG News Service

Workers at the financially troubled Zambia Telecommunication (Zamtel) have gone on strike for the second time this year, demanding from management improved salaries and conditions of services.

In the process, the workers have paralyzed operations of the company, including Internet service provision.
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Boeing, striking union to restart talks
October 20, 2008

NEW YORK - Boeing Co and its striking machinists union said they will resume talks this week as they look to end a stoppage that has halted production at Boeing's Seattle-area plants for six-weeks.

The talks, convened by federal mediators, will start on Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., both sides said on Monday.
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Healthcare workers plan to strike
October 13, 2008

HEMET - Even as negotiations continue on a new contract, healthcare workers plan a 24-hour strike starting Monday at two area hospitals to protest what their union calls substandard healthcare and an alarming employee attrition rate.

The strike is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. at Menifee Valley Medical Center and Hemet Valley Medical Center, said Tadzio Garcia of the United Healthcare Workers-West chapter of the Service Employees International Union. Picket lines will be staffed for 12 hours.
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Strike continues at Advanced Food Products plant in Visalia
October 11, 2008
By Valerie Gibbons

After a week with workers on the picket line in front of the Advanced Food Products plant in Visalia, there's still no movement on a settlement.

About 100 members of Teamsters Local 517 walked off the job Monday to protest their company's latest contract offer.

The workers say they aren't looking for raises, just trying to keep the same benefit co-payment and hiring and firing practices that have been in force at the plant for years.
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More than 11,000 School Bus and Transit Workers Join the Teamsters in Less Than Two Years!
October 11, 2008


In just under two years since the Teamsters Union began its intense campaign to organize school bus and transit workers around the country, the Union announced this week that it has hit the 11,700 worker mark!

The most recent victory was in Olathe, Kansa as another 228 workers became Teamster members.

As this campaign rolls along, it is so critical for folks to realize that this union is organizing, and winning, in places where "union" is shunned ... places like rural Mississippi -- where three yards organized in the last month; and Jacksonville, Florida where more than 900 workers overwhelmingly chose the Union in that election earlier this year.
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Teamster strike big triggers picket-line violence
October 3, 2008

Militant union picks an expanding fight

A Teamster business agent was hit today by a truck driven by a replacement worker as she was picketing legally in support of striking Oak Harbor Freight Lines' trucking employees in Pasco. Police have charged the driver with assault.

Oak Harbor employees in the Northwest walked off the job Sept. 22 in response to hostile efforts by company representatives to bully and intimidate workers, which are unfair labor practices in violation of federal law. The Teamsters are picketing Oak Harbor Freight Lines' trucks in California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
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Qwest Workers Reject Proposed Three-Year Contract Deal
October 2, 2008

A new three-year contract proposal has been rejected by Qwest workers. Jesse Russell reports:

Qwest workers represented by the Communications Workers of America voted against a new three-year contract proposal on Tuesday.
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Unions Unleash the Troops for Obama
September 30, 2008

By Will Evans, Center for Investigative Reporting
The Secret Money blog is a joint project of the Center for Investigative Reporting and National Public Radio.

The nation’s most powerful labor unions are ratcheting up their efforts to elect Barack Obama with massive voter outreach campaigns.

The AFL-CIO labor federation announced a new assault on John McCain today, saying it will blanket battleground states with mail, phone calls and personal visits to sway swing voters in the Democratic direction.

A mailer (below) hammering McCain on his health care plan is going out to union voters in Colorado, Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida. The slogan on the back of the mailer says, “John McCain Isn’t For Us.”
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Seattle Daily Paper Drivers Vote to Strike
September 23, 2008

By Joe Strupp
NEW YORK Union drivers who deliver Seattle's two major daily papers have voted to authorize a strike, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The P-I reported late Monday online that Teamsters Local 174, which represents about 70 drivers, dispatchers and mechanics, voted to authorize a strike, which could occur as early as Oct. 21, after a required 30-day notice for contract termination.

"The move is the latest in about 10 months of negotiations between the Teamsters and The Seattle Times Co., which handles distribution of both papers," the P-I reported.
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Steelworkers OK national oil-bargaining policy
September 22, 2008

By DAN WALLACH
Delegates to the United Steelworkers of America's national oil bargaining conference in Pittsburgh have approved its policy committee's proposals for 2009.

Local unions, such as the groups representing workers at the ExxonMobil refinery in Beaumont and Valero Energy refinery in Port Arthur, will vote on ratification by Oct. 27.

Gary Beevers, USW's international vice president and resident of Southeast Texas resident, leads the national oil bargaining program.
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Pickets arrive at L.A. International Airport
September 19, 2008

By The Associated Press
A "cooling-off period" for cleaners and baggage handlers at Los Angeles International Airport has ended with a picket line.

Members of a Service Employees International local hit the bricks Friday at terminals housing Northwest, Alaska and Continental airlines.

It's the first protest since Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brokered the cooling-off period.
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Windsor nursing home workers to hold labor strike in Salinas tonight
September 16, 2008


Dozens of religious and community leaders will join nursing home workers Tuesday evening for a candlelight vigil at Skyline Care Center that could lead to a two-day strike.

The SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West announced the vigil this morning, saying they hope to urge Windsor CEOs Lee Samson and Lawrence Feigen to adopt proposals that will improve the care of residents and the rights of caregivers at their nursing homes.

Workers will also announce their plan to hold a two-day unfair labor practice strike at four nursing homes in Salinas and Monterey if Windsor management refuses to meet the union's demands.Read More...

Boeing strikers picket but also hunt, improve homes
September 8, 2008


By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Laura Myers

EVERETT, Washington (Reuters) - Visit a Boeing worker's picket line expecting to find hundreds of workers worried about putting bread on the table because they were driven to strike by an uncaring employer and you might be surprised.

Boeing strikes are different. There is a sense of ritual, a sense that this happens every few years -- and that both the company and the workers know that in a few weeks they will reach a compromise and be back building planes.Read More...

United Steelworkers on strike at TYK
September 3, 2008

By staff and wire report
United Steelworkers at TYK America Inc., a brick-making refractory in Jefferson, have been on strike since Aug. 9 in a dispute over health care costs, said Dennis Fleming, a union staff representative.

About 30 members of USW Local 5852-17 went on strike after working without a new contract since May 31, Fleming said.

The workers, who earn an average of $14 an hour, were offered wage increases of 40 cents an hour the first year, followed by hikes of 35 cents an hour and 40 cents in the following years.
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New state law requires 90-day notice to employees before plant closure or mass layoffs
September 2, 2008

By Pat Bailey
ALBANY, N.Y. (WKTV) - A new state law has been passed to help protect workers, requiring businesses to give their employees a 90-day notice prior to a plant closure or mass layoffs.

A job layoff notification already exists on the federal level, but this new state law is a tighter variation of that.

Under New York State law, businesses with at least 50 employees must now give a 90 notice of a plant closing or mass layoffs - the federal law was only 60 days for 100 employees.
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ArcelorMittal's U.S. union authorizes strike
August 28, 2008



Steelmaker ArcelorMittal's U.S. unionized employees voted in favor of a strike authorization on Wednesday, according to a statement from the United Steelworkers (USW).

The United Steelworkers union, which represents 14,000 ArcelorMittal employees, had asked members to vote to authorize a strike, as it has been unable to reach an agreement on a new contract with the Rotterdam, Netherlands-based steelmaker.

However, talks between the union and the company continue and the company said it remains committed to working with the USW to reach a settlement before the current contract expires on Sept. 1, including being prepared to continue negotations through the weekend, if necessary.Read More...

Workers Strike, Trash Piles Up, Waste Management Complains
August 28, 2008

By Erik Bilstad, Elizabeth Braun and Jay Sorgi
So who's picking up the trash?

A worker's strike at Waste Management is forcing garbage to pile up in many communities, and the company has responded to the strike with a legal complaint.

Waste Management has now filed an unfair labor practices charge against the union, accusing the union of failing to bargain in good faith.

Teamsters Local 200 have been working without a contract since April, and began picketing earlier this week, just days before the start of the Harley Davidson 105th anniversary celebration.

The union had already filed a similar complaint against the company. .
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LAX workers go on strike
August 28, 2008

By Leslie Sykes
LOS ANGELES INT'L AIRPORT (KABC) -- Airline service workers at Los Angeles International Airport went on strike Thursday. Three airlines are affected. However, the big concern is that the strike will spread to other carriers.

Twenty-five-hundred service employees at LAX are on strike. The three airlines affected are United, American and Southwest. The workers are not employed by LAX; they're employed by subcontractors. The workers walked off the job at 1:30 Thursday because they say they want higher wages and affordable health care.

These are the airline service workers who do the jobs from the curb to the cabin -- wheelchair attendants, skycaps, janitors and the like. They made their voices heard Thursday afternoon at LAX. They're accusing the companies they work for of civil rights abuses.
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Teamsters resume strike at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant



August 21, 2008

Teamsters union members resumed a strike at Ford Motor Co.'s Kentucky Truck Plant yesterday, accusing the automaker of using United Auto Workers members to load new vehicles on railcars.

"Officials at Ford have proven themselves to be liars," Teamsters Local 89 President Fred Zuckerman said. "We could be here awhile."

But Rocky Comito, president of UAW Local 862, said his members are not being trained by Ford to maintain, shuttle and load new Super Duty trucks and Ford Explorers for shipment to dealers.

UAW members have been driving the vehicles off assembly lines and parking them around both the truck plant on Chamberlain Lane and at the Louisville Assembly Plant on Fern Valley Road, he said.

Space to park the vehicles will be exhausted by Monday, Comito said, unless Ford hires a new hauling contractor suitable to the Teamsters, who have loaded new vehicles at both plants for decades. Read More...

Is Mickey Mouse a Bad Boss?



August 14, 2008

Some workers in the happiest place on earth sure think so. Despite the fact that the Micky Mouse franchise is making billions of dollars, they want to cut the benefits of workers clocking less than 30 hours a week.

Disney figures the can cut cost by denying health benefits to employees who work fewer than 30 hours or 5 days per week. Disney also proposes to force new hires into the more expensive Disney Signature Plan instead of the more affordable Union Health Plan, which now will force 2,300 hotel employees to pay between $1102 to $2641 per year to keep union health benefits. So who exactly will be affected, the housekeepers, bellmen, bartenders, dishwashers, and cooks who overwhelming are Latina/o and are employed at the Disneyland, Grand Californian, and Paradise Pier hotels. Read More...

Verizon workers rally for contract, vow to strike
July 31, 2008

With a Saturday contract deadline looming, several hundred Verizon Communications union workers staged a protest rally yesterday afternoon in Patchogue.

Members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have voted to approve a strike against Verizon if a new contract deal is not reached when the old one runs out on Saturday. That contract covers about 65,000 employees from New England to Virginia.

About 2,700 CWA workers are on Long Island, union officials said.

Negotiations are ongoing in Rye and in Washington, D.C.
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Verizon workers eye Aug. 2 strike deadline
July 28, 2008

Verizon workers say they are ready to strike if a new contract agreement is not in place by Aug. 2. The timing couldn't be worse for the company, which is rolling out its FiOS digital TV, phone and Internet service in New York City this week.

Verizon has been slowly rolling out its FiOS service in Orange County.
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Labor and Employment: Viewing Employees’ Text Messages May Be Illegal
July 23, 2008

An important case regarding employees’ privacy expectations in the workplace was decided on June 18, 2008 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In the case of Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Company, the court examined whether the Ontario Police Department had violated an employee’s right to privacy when its supervisors viewed the contents of his text messages that were transmitted using Department pagers.

The court held, among other things, that the Department’s written and oral policies regarding the monitoring of email, computer and text messages were overridden when a supervisor told the employees that he would audit their text messages only if the employees failed to pay for overages on the Department’s text-message provider’s plan. Because the employee at issue had paid all overages resulting from his use of pager text messages, the review of the employee’s text messages was deemed illegal.
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STRIKEBREAKER LAW STRUCK DOWN
June 6, 2008

A federal judge in Peoria, Ill., struck down portions of the state’s anti-strikebreaker law on May 14. The judge held the federal National Labor Relations Act pre-empted parts of the state’s Employment of Strikebreakers Act. The judge’s decision means companies in Illinois now can hire professional strikebreakers and day laborers during a strike.

Caterpillar Inc. filed the suit last July after an existing statute, which prohibited the hiring of professional strikebreakers during a strike, was amended to ban the use of day laborers as strikebreakers. Eight UAW locals in four states, including Illinois, are bargaining with the company for contracts to replace those that expired April 1.
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Organized labor divided on Clinton, Obama
May 1, 2008

(CNN) -- Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have aggressively courted organized labor, but unions are divided between the Democratic candidates.

Clinton and Obama frequently address issues that hit home for unions -- wages, protection of the right to form unions, health insurance, cutting taxes for the middle class and reworking trade agreements that some union members blame for job loss.

A union's endorsement can give a candidate's campaign a significant boost because union members often act as ground troops to canvass neighborhoods and work the phones.

Speaking in Portage, Indiana, Clinton on Wednesday told workers "the American labor movement built the middle class."

"I will fight with you and for you. And no state needs a president more who understands the importance of manufacturing and the significance of the labor union movement than Indiana," she said in her speech at Duneland Falls Steel Workers Local Union Hall.

Obama last month told union members in Pennsylvania he's "ready to play offense for organized labor."

"It's time we had a president who didn't choke saying the word 'union.' It's time we had a Democratic nominee who doesn't just talk about unions in the primary," he said.

"We need a president who knows it's the Department of Labor and not the Department of Management. A president who strengthens our unions by letting them do what they do best -- organize our workers."

Clinton has the support of many public sector unions, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union, the American Federation of Teachers and the United Farm Workers.

Obama has the support of the Service Employees International Union, Teamsters and Unite Here, which represents hotel and restaurant workers.

Unite Here's leader, Bruce Raynor, said he does not trust Clinton when she says she will rework the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"We have a big problem with believing that the Clintons are committed to free trade policies that would protect American jobs. That worries us," he said. "Sen. Obama, on the other hand, has been with us from day one."

Clinton has faced skepticism because her husband, former President Bill Clinton, supports a free trade agreement with Colombia. Clinton insists she staunchly opposes it.

"I don't think any married couple I know agrees on everything, and we disagree on this," she said last month.

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has argued that his plan to lower taxes should benefit all workers. Watch how McCain is courting blue-collar voters»

The AFL-CIO, the umbrella group for many major unions, has not endorsed a candidate, but the group has launched an aggressive attack against McCain.

The $53 million effort, called "McCain Revealed," aims to educate voters on the Arizona Republican senator's record, which the labor group says has been consistently anti-working families.

A Republican National Committee spokesman called on Obama and Clinton to denounce the AFL-CIO's efforts, saying it would be consistent with both senators' denunciations of special interest groups.

"The AFL-CIO's campaign against John McCain clearly demonstrates their priorities lie in attack politics as opposed to focusing on American families," RNC spokesman Alex Conant said.

"Voters looking for something new will find it in John McCain's campaign to help working families -- not the AFL-CIO's partisan attacks."
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SEIU members to go out on strike
Feb 25, 2008

Security officers who protect main downtown office buildings were set to walk out at 6 a.m. Monday following a breakdown in contract talks over the weekend. Service Employees International Union Local 26, the union representing some 750 security officers at large office buildings in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, said its members would strike to attain affordable health care.  

Saturday night "companies that employ security officers, including ABM, American, and Securitas, walked away from the bargaining table without reaching an agreement that provides affordable health insurance for officers and their families," the union announced Sunday.  

Working without a contract since Jan. 1, security officers voted Feb. 9 to authorize their bargaining committee to call a strike as a result of unfair labor practices. Teamsters Local 120, whose members drive delivery trucks, and the affiliate unions of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council have said that they will honor picket lines should security officers call a strike.  

Rallies to support the strikers will be held at 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday at 8th and Nicollet in downtown Minneapolis, the union said. In addition, the Workers Interfaith Network will hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Ameriprise Building, 7th St. and 2nd Ave., at 6 p.m. Monday.  

Health insurance premiums can be as high as $835 per month for security officers, the union said. As a result, only 13 security officers - just two percent - are enrolled in the family health insurance offered by their employer. Only 17 percent of security officers are enrolled in any health insurance from their employer.
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New Jersey enacts punitive plant closing notification law.

New Jersey employers are now subject to a plant closing notification law that is significantly more punitive than the existing federal WARN Act under a bill signed into law by Governor Corzine, which because effective on December, 20 2007.
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Union gives Goodyear 3-day notice to end contract

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United Steelworkers union on Monday said it has given Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) a required 72 hours notice to terminate its existing contract, increasing the possibility of a strike at its U.S. plants.
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Patricia Dunn, the embattled chairwoman of Hewlett-Packard Co., is stepping down over the scandal surrounding a probe into boardroom leaks, including details about the ousting of another high-profile woman, former HP chief executive Carly Fiorina.
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AFI International Group Inc. acquires majority interest of U.S.-based International Management Assistance Corporation (IMAC)
TORONTO, SEPTEMBER 2007
Merger of Canadian and American high risk security leaders creates first-ever North American labor dispute & business continuity giant

AFI International Group Inc. (AFI), Canada's largest high risk security and investigative services company has acquired a majority interest in U.S.-based International Management Assistance Corporation (IMAC security services).
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Splinter Group Plots New Course for Unions

ATLANTA - A recent split within the organized labor movement has broad ramifications for employers and employees alike. Over the past several months, the AFL-CIO has seen the greatest mass exodus in labor history, setting the stage for a new dialogue on unions and the role they play in the American workplace.
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Partisan politics has set the stage for a battle that may end in an amendment to those provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) that govern union organizing.
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Two of the labor movement’s largest and most influential unions have withdrawn their membership from the AFL-CIO.
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