Religion & Trade Unions

How many of us think about religion and unions or about religion and labor? This Zoom event looks interesting and I hope to attend. 

Here are some other great related resources to consider: the Catholic Labor Network, this recent article from the National Catholic Reporter, this statement from the United Church of Christ, this statement from AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, the Faith & Labor Committee of Portland Jobs with Justice, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, religioussocialism.org, and the AFL-CIO has produced a series of papers on unions and Islam and The Qur'an and worker justice that can be found with an internet search. The Progressive National Baptist Convention and the AFL-CIO have revived their partnership. 

Labor Solidarity Rally In Salem TOMORROW

 

What companies should NOT do in union contract negotiations (but they do it anyway)

Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 7250 in Minneapolis is in union contract negotiations with the Rove Pest Control company. I believe that this is the worker's first union contract. Bargaining reports issued by the union document that the company has done the following over five recent negotiations sessions:

* The Company refused to allow a CWA bargaining team alternate into the negotiation session in the absence of one of the core team members.

* The Company rejected the Union’s ground rules counter-proposal on bargaining team wages.

* The Company passed proposals on Management Rights, Probationary Period and the Union's Seniority proposal. The Union rejected proposals on Management Rights, and the company’s counter to recognition as both completely eliminated rights to every protection as represented workers.

* The Company has been slow to respond to Union requests for information.

* The Company finally removed the anti-union material posted on a bulletin board in the break room during a bargaining session after the Union and the Company reached a tentative agreement on mutual respect.

* The Union and the Company reached an agreement on a portion of the bargaining rules that the Union team presented. 

* The Company showed up at one early negotiating session with no new proposals to introduce, and instead presented counter-proposals to three proposals that the Union had offered previously. The Company rejected the Union's proposal on card check neutrality.

* The Union and the Company reached a tentative agreement on two of the proposals passed by the Union team on Mutual Respect and Union Representation.

The Union's response has been to say "Bah-Humbug!...Our team remains focused on achieving our first contract for the Union Represented workers at Rove Pest Control."

I think that our blog readers will agree that the company is using delay tactics and stonewalling and not negotiating in good faith. This is a textbook example of what many, or most, companies will do after workers vote for a union, put together their goals for negotiations, elect a negotiating committee and do their part. It's no big deal in most situations for companies to agree to mutual respect, ground rules for negotiations, and management's rights clauses in contracts---and then violate of not the letter of what has been agreed to, then the spirit of what has been agreed to. 

I hope that readers will agree with me that this demonstrates the need for changing the laws that block and frustrate union organizing and achieving union contracts. I also hope that folks will take a lesson here: we have to continually bring people along as we go through these processes and struggles, and the daily work of the union is to build the capacity for workers to fight back. The union is taking the high road where others might be bitter, go behind closed doors or not issue bargaining reports after every session or not take the fight to social media. Perhaps we should all resist or refuse to sign off on management's rights and no-strike contract language and insist that the one-page summary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provided by the United Nations be added as an addendum to every contract.

Local 7250 and CWA District 7 both know how to fight, and both are taking on some big fights right now. They need our solidarity.

Please join me in contacting the employer with a positive message supporting Local 7250.

This photo and most of the bargaining report text was

 taken from the CWA Local 7250 Facebook page. 

   

The opinions expressed here are not those of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO. 

Labor's Bookstore Sale Ends On 12/31. This Is A Great Resource For Union Stewards, Activists And Local Union Leaders

Labor's Bookstore is holding their end-of-year sale with a pretty good discount on orders, bit you need to get your order in on or before December 31 to get that discount. 

Labor's Bookstore should be a first-stop for pragmatic union stewards, local union activists, and local union leaders. They produce and market the kinds of books that you need in the variety of situations that you will face daily if you run for or hold local union office or function as a steward or active union member. They also do low-cost and effective trainings by Zoom.

People tend to put reading and studying off. We use the excuse that we're too busy or we hope that someone else will pick up the slack or it just seems easier to do the work ourselves or complain than it is to take action and bring others along with us.

Then we get busy or things start to fall apart.

Five of the worst experiences union stewards and activists have are sitting in meetings and realizing that they are unprepared, being told or believing that you didn't do your best job in defending a union member or the union because you were unprepared, hearing someone say that you sold them out, and being so busy and stressed that you're not bringing others along with you and taking offense at people who say that our first job is get others actively involved in running the union and doing the steward work. 

Do the reading, the studying, the organizing and the mobilizing now. You won't be able to do it later when things are falling apart or it's time for all hands on deck. Stressed, too-busy and unprepared people unintentionally weaken unions.

Labor's Bookstore is one of your first-stop and best resources.

Some sample titles:

Managing With Labor's Values by Ken Margolies

The Union Steward’s Complete Guide, 3rd edition

The Union Member's Complete Guide: Everything you need to know about

 working union - 2nd edition (2019) updated and revised

I Just Got Elected — Now What? A New Union Officer’s Handbook - 

4th edition, 2023 by Bill Barry

Outlaw Santa by Jennifer Thomas

This post was written by Jennifer Thomas and comes from Liberation Road.

Outlaw Santa by Jennifer Thomas

It was only a matter of time before the North Pole became an Amazon fulfillment center. The Elves had been transformed from whimsical joy-filled creatures into sleep-deprived back-sprained peeing-in-bottles warehouse workers, with gunmetal AI-run robots as their overseers. For the last few Christmases, Santa’s reindeer-powered sleigh had been replaced by a fleet of driverless flying trucks sporting menacing smiley logos.

Mrs. Claus had been railing for a decade about a possible hostile takeover of their sprawling gift-giving operation. She had seen it coming. “Wake up, Santa,” she would say. “We might be in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, but we’re not immune to rapacious global economic trends.”

At first Santa, ever the optimist, had just rolled his eyes at her diatribes—something their marriage counselor had advised him never to do—and returned to whittling and playing with the reindeer. But over time, he became radicalized as he saw the results of a wildly successful business model based on overconsumption and exploitation. He wrote gentle admonishments to children who had begun sending demand letters instead of wish lists. He signed petitions to stop the avalanche of plastic junk destined for the oceans. He even tried to stand up for the Elves, notifying OSHA and the Department of Labor about the working conditions.

But it was too little, too late. The company’s tentacles had already slithered into Toyland and squeezed it in a death grip, just as it had infested every nook and cranny of the economy down below. So much so that any protest, any action, any criticism of the company that could jeopardize the convenience of the shopper was deemed a threat to national security, and therefore illegal.

The twinkle in Santa’s eye faded and vanished; heartsick, he retreated to the deserted workshop. Mrs. Claus, though, was no slouch. Being somewhat diminutive with pointy ears, she knew she could pass for an Elf. In October she got hired at the warehouse, driving a fork truck after a two-hour “crash” course in its operation. The pace was brutal, but she managed to make friends all over the facility. “This place has made you forget your magic powers,” she told them. “At the very least, you’ve got strength in numbers. Besides, you’re bound to win because you’re on the moral high ground—having delighted children with your craftsmanship, among other things, for centuries, you know a thing or two about what fulfillment actually is.”

Mrs. Claus and her new comrades hatched a plot to carry out on Christmas Eve. They passed messages around hidden in their Elf hats, and conducted clandestine meetings in Elfish (a charming, mellifluous language Mrs. Claus had learned over the years). In late December it was all coming together. There was one seeming obstacle—Santa would have to participate for the plan to work. He was busy moping over at the Claus residence. How could they get him out of his funk and into action?

“I think I know,” said Mrs. Claus. After her shift ended, she went to talk to the reindeer. They were even more pissed off than the Elves, since they were out of a job completely now. The Elves used to take care of them throughout the year, brushing their coats and mucking out their stalls. The barn was now in complete disarray; Santa fed them their moss and shrubs but otherwise he was useless.

Mrs. Claus approached Blitzen, who didn’t have a very shiny nose but was the actual reindeer leader, and one of the only creatures Santa really trusted. She described the plan for Christmas Eve. Blitzen made a few tactical suggestions but was immediately on board. When Santa came out to the barn, they sat him down and explained what was to happen. His beard twitched in reluctance to get involved. But he shook when he laughed as the beauty of the plan finally dawned on him. He dragged the sleigh out of a corner of the barn and got to work polishing it up.

Christmas Eve came, as it always did. Out of the warehouse streamed the Elves, led by Mrs. Claus on her fork truck. The robot overlords beeped and flashed frantically, but to no effect. Dispensing with the trucks was the first order of business. First the Elves salvaged all the toys on them that weren’t complete pieces of junk. A few of the more tech-savvy Elves then set the GPS on each one to the East Siberian Sea, to which the trucks promptly took off and then plunged. The Elves planned to retrieve the wreckage later. Then Santa and the reindeer pulled up to the building in the sleigh, loaded with hand-made toys the Elves had hidden away in the workshop years before, on the advice of the prescient Mrs. Claus.

The Elves then handed Santa a package, tied up with ribbons and festooned with candy canes. “This is a proposition to deliver to our fellow warehouse workers at every single Amazon fulfillment center in the world, near and far,” they told him. “We are reminding them that, though they may not be Elves, they too have magic powers–but they have to get together and use them.” And Santa prepared to dispense his own messages throughout the world that would change Christmas forever. “You better watch out,” yelled Santa as he sailed into the air. “You can’t have infinite growth on a finite planet! And remember, today’s outlaw is tomorrow’s hero!”

Mrs. Claus blew him a kiss as she watched him fly away.

The Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Would Like To Share With You Our Special Recognition of Kwanzaa.

The information is from the National Museum of African American History and Culture – The web address is https://nmaahc.si.edu/kwanzaa:  

We call it Kwanzaa – The name actually comes from a Swahili phrase… Matunda Ya Kwanzaa – which means “First Fruits of the Harvest” and is rooted in first fruit celebrations which are found in cultures throughout Africa both in ancient and modern times.

December 26th begins the season of Kwanzaa!  A time for families and communities to come together to remember the past and to celebrate African American culture.

Created in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga, Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday that celebrates history, values, family, community, and culture. The ideas and concepts of Kwanzaa are expressed in the Swahili language, one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa.

The seven principles which form its core were drawn from communitarian values found throughout the African continent. 

These principles are: 

Umoja – Unity: To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.  -  (Dec. 26)  

• Song for reflection: Worth His Weight in Gold (Rally Round the Flag), Steel Pulse.  
• The corresponding candle is Black, placed in the #4 position (center) of the Kinara, and the first candle lit, and the only candle lit each day.

Kuujichagulia – Self-Determination: To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.  -  (Dec. 27)

• Song for reflection: I am the Black Gold of the Sun, Rotary Connection & Minnie Riperton.  
• The corresponding candle is Red, placed in the #3 position of the Kinara, and the 2nd candle lit.

Ujima – Collective Work and Responsibility: To build and maintain our community together and make our community’s problems our problems and to solve them together.  -  (Dec. 28)  

• Song for reflection: Optimistic, Sounds of Blackness.
• The corresponding candle is Green, placed in the #5 position of the Kinara, and the 3rd candle lit.

Ujama – Cooperative Economics:  To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.  -  (Dec. 29)

• Song for reflection: We’re a Winner, Curtis Mayfield,
• The corresponding candle is Red, placed in the #2 position of the Kinara, and the 4th candle lit.

Nia – Purpose:  To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.  -  (Dec. 30)

• Song for reflection: Higher Ground, Stevie Wonder.
• The corresponding candle is Green, placed in the #6 position of the Kinara, and the 5th candle lit.

Kuumba – Creativity:  To always do as much as we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.  -  (Dec. 31)

• Song for reflection: Africa, John Coltrane.
• The corresponding candle is Red, placed in the #1 position of the Kinara, and the 6th candle lit.

Imani – Faith:  To believe with all our hearts in our people and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.   -  (Jan 1).

• Song for reflection: Keep Your Head to the Sky, Earth, Wind, and Fire.
• The corresponding candle is Green, placed in the #7 position of the Kinara, and the 7th candle lit.

Listen to the lyrical interpretation of those principles as sung by “Sweet Honey in the Rock” in their song Seven Principles.  Original song  written by Bernice Johnson Reagon.

• Umoja – Unity that brings us together
• Kuujichagulia – We will determine who we are
• Ujima - Working and building our union
• Ujama – We’ll spend our money wisely
• Nia - We know the purpose of our lives
• Kuumba – All that we touch is more beautiful
• Imani – We believe that we can. We know that we can, We will any way that we can.

Kwanzaa is a time of learning, family, and celebration.

During the week of Kwanzaa, families and communities come together to share a feast, to honor the ancestors, affirm the bonds between them, and to celebrate African and African American culture. Each day they light a candle to highlight the principle of that day and to breathe meaning into the principles with various activities, such as reciting the sayings or writings of great black thinkers and writers, reciting original poetry, African drumming, and sharing a meal of African diaspora-inspired foods. The table is decorated with the essential symbols of Kwanzaa, such as the Kinara (Candle Holder), Mkeka (Mat), Muhindi (corn to represent the children), The colors of the Pan-African flag, red (the struggle), black (the people), and green (the future), are represented in spaces, as decorations and in the clothing worn. These colors were first proclaimed to be the colors for all people of the African diaspora by Marcus Garvey.

Meals play a large part in the celebration of Kwanzaa. Throughout the week, favorite African American dishes, as well as traditional African, Caribbean, and South American recipes, are on many menus, and served in many homes, churches, and celebrations.

On December 31, the sixth day of Kwanzaa, there is a large feast called Karamu. Just like other Kwanzaa meals, any dish can be included as part of the Karamu.

"HOLLA...For Labor!!!", Labor Radio In Salem & Portland, And The Oregon Chapter Of The Coalition For Black Trade Unionists

 

Over the past 10 years, the Oregon Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) has been working in collaboration with a labor continuum here in Oregon in the audio production of Labor Radio segments on KBOO Radio 90.7 FM. The continuum consists of seven contributors: Oregon CBTU, Jamie Partridge, Lane Poncy, Stephen Siegel, Tim EAnneMcD and Michael Cathcart. Our declarative statement of “highlighting the works of the working class, by the working class, for the working class” is broadcasted weekly at 6:00 pm on Monday night. Each week our storylines are labor intensive pieces relevant to organized labor and the impact on everyday workers. Our broadcasts reflect on the lives of actual workers involved in daily struggles and successes of lasting one day longer, contract negotiations, relevant legislative actions, union activism, and varied opinions on local, national, and sometimes international issues that buttress against ordinary workers as they go about making ends meet.

Recently within the past 2 years Oregon CBTU has expanded to include a rebroadcast of our
labor radio contributions on Willamette Wake Up, a weekday local public affairs program, on KMUZ Community Radio (88.5 & at 100.7 FM), fashionably coined as, “HOLLA FOR LABOR”. This new affiliation enables us to design labor radio segments more inclusive of the Mid-Willamette Valley workers.

The Oregon CBTU Labor Radio and HOLLA FOR LABOR segments consist of monthly ½ hour
segments featuring 3 on air contributors, Tina Turner-Morfitt, Dr. Audrey Terrell, and Deborah Hall. We are the 3 principal officers of Oregon CBTU. Each month our interviews feature guest which include a varied mix of activist from Oregon, the Pacific Northwest and national guest covering various topics. Our overall goal with each segment is “to make labor something you can feel again.”

Our most recent segment featured Dan Torres, the Executive Director of the Oregon Labor Candidate School. Brother Torres can be described as a political operative/organizer/strategist from Portland Oregon. He works in Labor, Democratic, and Progressive advocacy. He has 8 cycles of electoral experience ranging from State Rep races up to the United States Senate. He has worked 6 long sessions in various roles from legislative staff to advocacy and engagement, to lobbying. He has extensive experience in organizing, communications, electoral politics, field, data, training, leadership development, coalition building, collaboration, and political navigation and strives to maintains the program’s apolitical status in preparing future candidate seeking out leadership roles. The mission, vision and values of the Oregon Labor Candidate School are listed accordingly:

MISSION

The mission of the Oregon Labor Candidate School is to train leaders to be successful candidates for elected office. OLCS alumni will champion policies which positively impact all Oregonians, including, living wages, a superb education system, access to quality and affordable healthcare, a secure retirement, and to defend and grow the labor movement in Oregon. Our curriculum includes an equity lens, providing candidates with the tools to make justice-oriented policy decisions.

VISION

The vision of the Oregon Labor Candidate School is to increase the representation of union members in elected office who will champion policies which reflect the values of the labor movement and benefit working people in Oregon.

VALUES

Collective Action * Economic Fairness * Empowerment * Equity * Solidarity * Respect * Democracy * Justice

The 2024 electoral contest is quickly gaining on us. Tune into this segment of ‘HOLLA FOR LABOR’ to examine the rigorous process candidates will face in their bid to draft a successful campaign.

Join us for full segments of labor radio each month:

 KBOO Labor Radio (97.4 FM) at 6 pm the first Monday, of each month. The podcast can be found on https://kboo.fm/media/117754-labor-radio

 KMUZ Community Radio on Willamette Wake Up, the fourth Thursday of each month at 8 am. The podcast can be found on kmuz.org.

The Oregon AFL-CIO and the labor movement are celebrating a year of progress

The Oregon AFL-CIO has a post up marking a year of progress for the labor movement in Oregon. The introduction to the post says in part that "From a windfall of legislative wins during the 2023 Oregon Legislature, to supporting unions on strike around the state, to winning in local elections, to an exciting and inspiring 2023 Oregon AFL-CIO Convention, we are proud and fired up by everything Oregon Labor has done together this year." The Oregon AFL-CIO claims to have 288+ affiliated unions with more than 300,000 members and more than 7500 activists. It has been a good year for most of the labor movement.

The post goes through the 2023 legislative wins by labor and provides a legislative scorecard, it reviews union organizing victories and carries an announcement for the 2024 Oregon Labor Organizing Summit to be held on May 30, 2024 in Portland, reminds us of the strikes and collective bargaining struggles many of us went through in 2023, provides a look-back on the Oregon AFL-CIO's convention, and gives a brief closing statement on what to look forward to in 2024.  

Please read the post here and consider what is being said there and where you fit in. You are absolutely needed and encouraged to participate, learn and lead in 2024.

Some labor media and unions are also making predictions and celebrating wins in 2023. Working In These Times has a list of predictions for U.S. labor in 2024. The Remembering The Triangle Fire Coalition has a moving video up of the October Triangle Fire Memorial. The Metro Washington Labor Council is celebrating some great victories won by the American Federation of Government Employees, and wins by AFSCME.

The Metro Washington Labor Council also lists these union wins:

* Moon Rabbit workers and UNITE HERE Local 25 won union recognition and bargaining of a first contract from InterContinental Hotel Group after picketing for weeks and official calls for a public boycott.
* Compass workers at World Bank, Smithsonian, NIH, and DC universities won contracts with a $20 minimum wage with UNITE HERE Local 23.
* Kaiser Permanente workers went on strike and eventually ratified a landmark new contract with OPEIU Local 2.
* Unionized office cleaners with 32BJ SEIU won a new contract for more than 9,000 workers in the DC region with pay increases of over $3.50/hour.
* ACLU of DC staff unionized with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.
* Brookings Institution staff reached their first union agreement with NPEU.
* More Perfect Union staff ratified their first union contract with Washington-Baltimore News Guild.
* Staff at Solid State Books ratified their first ever union contract with UFCW Local 400.
* Grocery workers at Safeway and Giant ratified strong new contracts with UFCW Local 400.
* Nurses at George Washington University Hospital voted YES to form a union with the District of Columbia Nurses Association.
* Washington Post staff walked off the job for the first time in decades, calling on the company to bargain with the Post Guild.
* Starbucks workers throughout the region unionized with Starbucks Workers United and Workers United Mid-Atlantic Regional Joint Board.
* Maryland public employees won $13 million in back wages after AFSCME Maryland Council 3 filed complaints to the U.S. Department of Labor.
* Tens of thousands of TSA workers got the largest pay raise in decades thanks to bargaining from AFGE.
* Ironworkers at a number of work sites voted YES to unionize with the Ironworkers Union.
* Social Security Administration workers fought for better pay, staffing, and conditions with AFGE.
* Transit workers at Transdev, WMATA, Loudon County, Fairfax Connector, and National Express Transit fought for better wages with ATU Local 689.
* University System of Maryland workers continue bargaining for fair pay, better telework policies, and sustainable workloads with AFSCME Council 3.
* DC Public School teachers with Washington Teachers' Union continued working toward a new contract with the school system.
* Hotel workers at Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square continue to fight for union recognition with UNITE HERE Local 25.
* And Montgomery County passed a landmark bill to stabilize rent, with the support of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, UFCW 1994 MCGEO, UFCW Local 400, UNITE HERE Local 23, and UNITE HERE Local 25.

Washington, DC is far away, but I mention their report because it shows the power of cooperation between unions. An encouraging article on the national AFL-CIO blog goes into great detail on union contract wins in 2023 and shows scores of union wins.

See some great news from IATSE!

 

Closer to home, the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) shows that Washington State is the third most unionized state. A drop in some union's membership in 2022 doesn't take factor in the union organizing victories won in the state through 2023. A  WSLC report says "According to the latest (Bureau of Labor Statistics) report, Washington had 615,000 union members in 2022, representing 18 percent of the state’s workforce. Only New York and Hawaii had a higher percentage of union members in their workforces than Washington state. For 2021, the BLS estimated Washington had 629,000 union members and 19 percent union density." April Sims, President of the Washington State Labor Council, is quoted as saying, "As working people have reassessed their jobs and lives during the pandemic, unions have become more popular than ever,” Sims said. “There’s no question that more and more working people are organizing, but these latest statistics don’t reflect that because many of them have yet to get their first union contract or are still fighting in court for union recognition."

Communications Workers of America President Claude Cummings, Jr..

 Photo from the CWA website.

One of the most astute and pointed end-of-year union statements has come from Communications Workers of America President Claude Cummings, Jr. Looking ahead to 2024, Brother Cummings said, "And we’re just getting started. Next year will be one of unprecedented opportunities. We must use every resource at our disposal to bargain stronger contracts, organize more workers to join CWA, and elect pro-worker candidates to office. I want to take what we know in our hearts as union members – that when we work together, we are more powerful than those against us, and we will be even stronger in the future as we continue to build our relationships with our allies. As my work on your behalf takes me across the country, I plan to visit even more worksites so that I can understand the challenges you are facing and discuss what we can do to address them." He added a strong ask to support workers on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a strike that should be winning stronger support from within the national labor movement than it has.

This is not a complete list of the unions and allied organizations celebrating wins and looking forward to more wins in 2024, but I hope that it gives readers a taste for activism and progress.

Workers at Valley Ford Truck near Cleveland, Ohio are on strike a week before 

Christmas, saying the company hasn’t given them a fair contract. Photo from 

Sean McDonnell, Cleveland.com

Support for Salem-Keizer Classified Staff Teachers, A Great Radio Interview With Union Leaders, And A Union Rally On 12/28

Jamie Partridge, the ubiquitous Portland-area labor activist and one of the KBOO Labor Radio magnets, sent us a link to a radio interview that he recently did with Salem-Keizer area Salem-Keizer Education Association (SKEA) and Association of Salem Keizer Education Support Professionals (ASK ESP) member-leaders. Jamie is a member of the National Association of Letter Carries #82, Portland Democratic Socialists of America, and Portland Jobs with Justice so he brings some special background and context to his labor radio work. This is a strong interview that gets to the heart of what's going wrong in union contract negotiations between the unions and our school district. Understanding what's going on here seems fundamental to serving as a School Board Director or as a Salem or Keizer city councilperson or running as a candidate for a position on either body, but we have heard that the school board directors have been told not to talk to the unions and we're not aware of positive engagement from Salem or Keizer city councils.

Jamie Partridge's blurb advertising this great show reads as follows:

Rank-and-file leaders of Salem-Keizer education union discuss their struggles for fair union contracts and how they're getting strike ready.

Kimberly Reed Zauber and Geovanny Tolentino of the Salem-Keizer Education Association (SKEA, the certified teachers) plus Jeff Jabin and Brian Zauber Reed of the Association of Salem-Keizer Education Support Professionals are interviewed by Labor Radio host Jamie Partridge.

Go here to hear the interview.

Solidarity with performing artists needed!

 

New York City union sheet metal worker saves coworker's life

International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 28 apprentice Shanae Kemp is a hero and deserves recognition, props and honor for saving a life at work. “Whether you're a carpenter, a plumber, we see each other every day—we’re brothers and sisters,” Kemp says. “So we’re the only family that we really have at that moment. So it’s important to build those bonds because you never know, that person could save your life.”

Starbucks Workers United Calls Out The Human Rights Campaign, Questions Raised About Labor & Liberal Non-Profits

I won't pretend to understand all of the issues involved here, and I won't pretend to be a perfect empath, but at first read it seems that the relatively progressive and pro-LGBTQIA+ Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has gotten cozy with Starbucks even as a national union campaign calls on the company to negotiate with the workers where union elections have been held and the union has won and to follow the laws and generally do the right thing where the workers are concerned.

It may help readers to go here, here, here, and here for some context. The impression that I get from reading these sources is that Starbucks is feeling the squeeze from the union and its supporters during the holiday season and needs some goodwill and love from a liberal non-profit to boost flagging sales.

The HRC can't say that they have not heard of the union campaign because it is has been in the news for years now and because non-profits should be investigating who they're supporting before they start handing out commendations. It matters here that some of the most visible leaders of the union effort are LGBTQIA+ and that many workers supporting the effort support a ceasefire in Palestine/ Israel and other social justice and solidarity issues. Why does it matter? Because the HRC and most of its supporters also identify with movements for social justice. 

The union's criticism of HRC can be read as a challenge to the HRC and its supporters: Which side are you on? It seems that the HRC has taken a relatively progressive stand on events in Palestine/Israel, is close to the Biden administration despite pressure from activists, and has ties to other liberal non-profits and political groups. The HRC has won support from some in the labor movement, although I cannot find anything that tells me if HRC workers are represented by a union or not. We frequently hit a wall with liberal organizations that are right on many issues but will not deal with matters of class or encourage their workers to join a union or negotiate in good faith with a union that represents their workers.  

We in the labor movement do not have a perfect record here, but we have some leadership who understand the struggles for LGBTQIA+ liberation from their owned lived experience and we have a base and an ability to do more and better and we have Pride At Work and similar organizations in particular unions (see for instance SEIU Local 503's caucus, CWA-AFA, IBT LGBTQ Caucus) to lead us. 

In any case, Starbucks Workers United wants you to know about "what actual trans and queer workers have to say about their experience working at Starbucks."

The union press release mentioned above reads as follows:

 
We’re disappointed to see that the Humans Rights Campaign gave Starbucks a perfect score on their “Corporate Equality Index” again this year.

HRC seemingly ignored what actual queer and trans workers are saying about their experiences working for Starbucks. Members of our union’s Trans Rights Action Committee shared some of their stories on social media, and give an insight into the many systemic problems Starbucks has with their treatment of LGBTQIA+ workers - especially those who choose to exercise their legal right to organize.



Check out what queer and trans workers at Starbucks had to say, and help us call on the Human Rights Campaign to stand alongside organizing workers, many of which are members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

(Clicking on this graphic takes you to a union Instagram account in the

 original press release.)

Starbucks has repeatedly violated labor law hundreds of times according to the National Labor Relations Board. Companies that do wrong by their workers AND the law should NOT be celebrated as a fair employer.

Amplify the message to demand Starbucks to come to the bargaining table in good faith! As history has shown, labor rights are LGBTQIA+ rights - and you can stand up for your rights if you’re a Starbucks Partner or ally. Get in touch with our union to learn how and start organizing.

See you online,

Josie Serrano
Starbucks Workers United

Note: All graphics and the press release text used here comes from Starbucks Workers United. The opinions expressed here are not those of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO.

Marion County Democrats Can Use Your Help

This comes from the Marion County Democrats. This is probably a good opportunity for union people, so please consider taking the Dems up on it. And if you are a union person who picks this up, please let our Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter know that you're doing this great work and check in with us. Thanks!

 

IBEW Local 113 has produced a great video

Unions produce some great videos and some not-so-great ones. This video from IBEW Local 113 is one of the best basic labor videos that I have seen this year. This video shows viewers something about the work done by IBEW members and their commitment to doing good work, it takes us into how apprentices think about their work and their union, and it gives viewers some idea of what is needed in order to become an IBEW apprentice. In its own way the video celebrates equity, diversity and solidarity. 

Anheuser-Busch Teamsters nationwide have voted to authorize a strike if the beer giant fails to deliver on a fair agreement

On Saturday, Anheuser-Busch Teamsters nationwide voted by a resounding 99 percent to authorize a strike if the beer giant fails to deliver on a fair agreement. Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference Director Jeff Padellaro joined Local 469 members in Newark, N.J. on Saturday for the vote.

“Anheuser-Busch Teamsters here in New Jersey, and at 11 other breweries throughout the United States, have made their position clear. They want a fair contract, and if the company is not willing to provide that, they are ready to withhold their labor. Teamsters at Anheuser-Busch are steadfast in their demands for good wages, benefits, and job protections,” Padellaro said.

On November 16, Anheuser-Busch walked away from the table, and has refused to negotiate over job security. The current agreement expires February 29, 2024.

“Our members will get the contract they deserve at Anheuser-Busch, or there will be no beer flowing after the expiration of this contract,” Padellaro said.

#WeMakeTheBeer #WeCallTheShots

Photos and text from the IBT Facebook page.

A holiday reminder from SEIU Local 49

 

A Psalm of Solidarity for the Christmas Season

Please click on the graphic below in order to read it. The Battle of Homestead Foundation does great labor history work and deserve your support.  

 

From The Battle of Homestead Foundation

Happy Holidays! greetings from the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

https://cbtu.nationbuilder.com/

Move The Grocery, Farm, and Food Worker Stabilization Act In Oregon---And Let's Get To An Industrial Policy & A Green New Deal

The AFL-CIO posted the following press release today. If I am reading this correctly, and if  the proposal is as it is is described, this will be a great help to food supply chain workers here in Oregon, and would particularly help people here in the Mid-Willamette Valley. A press release from Senator Sherrod Brown's office says that "In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created the Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) Grant Program to help farm, grocery, and meatpacking workers with pandemic-related health and safety costs. The first of its kind, the FFWR Grant Program distributed nearly $680 million in competitive grant funding to meat processing, grocery store, and farm workers for expenses incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, FFWR was a one-time grant program. This legislation would make a similar program permanently available during disasters, including natural disasters."

I hope that unions, consumer groups, and progressive organizations here in Oregon get behind this proposal and push hard for it. We need this. Reports from the Oregon Food Bank and the Oregon Center for Public Policy talk about hunger in Oregon and how difficult it is for food banks to keep up with the needs of the people. 

That said, I am also concerned that we have a pro-labor President who is fighting an uphill battle, justifiable worries about inflation, and simple corporate greed pushing up prices and pulling back on services---and we have no industrial policy, no unitary plan in place to rein in wild profiteering and make the necessities of life like housing and healthcare and food and education and public safety affordable. We're talking about human rights here, not luxuries. I'll grant that the economic picture is mixed at the current moment (see here and here and here) but working-class people are still running from crisis to crisis and we're not feeling the impact of the good news that is out there regarding overall wage gains and slowing inflation. The reports mentioned above are real talk. This is having a negative impact on the Democrats and is making it harder to win legislative victories that benefit working-class people in the first place.

We need a forward-looking plan that gets us to well-paying union jobs in a green economy and that builds in equality and equity, housing, healthcare, food, education and public safety as undeniable human rights. As I see it, the present debate over industrial policy is being held captive by the far-right and the enemies of organized labor. We need to recapture that debate and own it. I believe that we would be in a much better place if we were debating how to best implement a national economic plan or policy that represented working-class needs than trying to affect discreet sectors of the economy one by one. And that said, let's get The Grocery, Farm, and Food Worker Stabilization Act passed!    

Here is the AFL-CIO press release:

The Grocery, Farm, and Food Worker Stabilization Act, proposed early last week by Sens. Sherrod Brown and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Rep. Nikki Budzinski, aims to provide support to food supply chain workers during emergencies like natural disasters. The legislation, if passed, would establish a permanent grant program and authorize the appropriation of $50 million to help cover disaster-related health and safety costs for front-line workers critical in efforts to keep food on tables across the country.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery and meatpacking workers—many represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)—were absolutely essential to keeping the rest of the country fed, just like they do when hurricanes and snowstorms strike. UFCW International President Marc Perrone applauded the bill and said in a press release that this dedicated fund would “provide critical funding for essential work during times of crisis and strengthen America’s food supply chain over the long run.”

Fostering pride through fostering a young person

 

Our Unions And Demands For A Ceasefire In Palestine/Israel

I have done a few posts here on our labor movement and demands for a ceasefire in Israel/Palestine. There are strong arguments on both sides of the issue, but I suspect that most union members don't know that our unions are involved in foreign affairs and international policies. At its best this union attention to international developments benefits working people the world over by building unity behind common demands. On the question of the ceasefire, though, the labor movement in the United States has a divided house.

That we have a divided house on this issue is not necessarily a bad thing. For generations our unions have had too little open discussion and a kind of enforced unity has sometimes prevailed. The pro-ceasefire faction in the labor movement is unique---and is probably interesting to many union members---because it is a coalition of experienced union members, many of whom have been active for almost 50 years, and young people who are new to the labor movement, many of whom organized their way in.  

I am a firm supporter of a ceasefire agreement and I fully support the unions, union leaders and union members who have acted with courage and dispatch to win broad union support for a ceasefire. In some unions, and in the AFL-CIO, this has meant bumping heads with union leaders and others who are opposed to a ceasefire agreement. The mainstream labor movement in the United States has been a longstanding supporter of Israel, and the ties that make that support possible are quite strong. The more progressive World Federation of Trade Unions takes a very different position. The International Trade Union Confederation essentially supports the position on the conflict taken by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Thus, the AFL-CIO is somewhat isolated within the world trade union movement. A recent but already dated summary of how world labor differs on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is here.

I attended two meetings about labor, the working-class in the United Sates and the ceasefire yesterday and found that our union members and friends who support a ceasefire are all over the map on why they support a ceasefire and how they hope to organize greater support for our position. I saw something of this recently when I attended a pro-Palestinian rally led by an organization that used the issue of the war to build itself rather than build unity for peace and justice in Palestine/Israel. They seemed to be doing an infomercial that said "We interrupt this war to tell you all about us." Those in the labor movement who are opposed to a ceasefire, or to unions taking a pro-ceasefire position, are more focused and unified in their game plans. And some of these voices in the labor movement have been good on other issues even while being wrong about the need for a ceasefire. Can either of the sides fighting this out tell us how supporting their positions builds our labor movement?

As we might expect, Labor Notes has a leading position in the effort to win unions to a pro-ceasefire position. The AFL-CIO position is briefly summarized here.

One of the meetings that I attended yesterday was sponsored by Communications Workers Of America Local 7250 and featured a talk by long-time Palestinian activist and trade unionist Imad Temeiza. He is a leader of the Palestinian Postal Service Workers Union. This union supports the movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) aimed at Israel. Brother Temeiza showed clips from cellphone videos made in Gaza recently that brought some people at the meeting to tears. It is a hard thing to see people suffering and children dying. A good introduction to Brother Temeiza's work can be found here:

The current issue of the Northwest Labor Press has a helpful article mentioning that "more local and national unions in the United States have issued statements calling for a cease-fire." The article expands on this by saying that "A letter sponsored by United Auto Workers, United Electrical Workers, and Seattle-based UFCW Local 3000 calls on President Joe Biden and Congress to push for an immediate cease-fire, and for the release of hostages taken by Hamas. More than 50 local unions have signed the letter, including some in Oregon and Washington: PROTEC17, AFT-Oregon, AFT Local 6069 (Coalition of Graduate Employees at OSU), New Seasons Labor Union, Oregon Education Association, Portland Association of Teachers, and UNITE HERE Local 8." My union, the National Writers Union, should be listed there as well.

The People's World online publication has an article dated December 15 that goes into greater detail regarding where our labor movement and some supportive politicians stand on the ceasefire and why they take the positions that they do. The People's World article explains that "Labor leaders from across the United States met in the capital on Thursday, Dec. 14, to demand President Joe Biden call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in occupied Palestine. Joined by Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., union members and national leaders assembled to make their demands for an end to the genocide in Gaza clear. Officially represented were the United Auto Workers, the American Postal Workers Union, United Electrical Workers, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and the National Labor Network for a Ceasefire. The event was called to build awareness and support for H.Res. 786, a ceasefire bill in Congress." As the article points out, something is moving when the National Education Association goes into action on the issue. The event that was held on December 14 can be seen on Representative Cori Bush's Facebook page. Representative Bush's press releases on the situation in Palestine/Israel can be found here.

Senator's Merkley's support for a ceasefire is explained here.

Photo taken from the Michigan Advance

The opinions expressed here do not reflect those of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO. 

Online opportunities and books for union stewards and activists to learn with

Labor's Bookstore continues to produce and sell online helpful union steward and activist Zoom trainings. These will help guide union members through organizing, taking leadership positions, negotiating contracts, representing workers in grievances, building a voice for everyone in a union local, holding to our shared working-class values, and dealing with difficult matters like FMLA and LOTS more. They also have a blog at https://www.laborsbookstore.com/blogs/news. 

The United Electrical workers has a review of  Claiming the City: A Global History of Workers’ Fight for Municipal Socialism by labor historian Shelton Stromquist on their website. I have not read the book, but the review draws out some aspects of our labor and political history that are relevant today. The UE store has a number of useful books, and some of these serve well as introductions to labor and union history. I recommend Labor's Untold Story, Them and Us, and So Long, Partner.

The Northwest Labor Press reports on some union wins and on-going struggles

The Northwest Labor Press is reporting several important union victories and on-going struggles in our region. Each link below contains a line from a Northwest Labor Press article and will take you to their great coverage of the events and the issues involved.

There are some common threads here. In most cases workers took risks in organizing, they reached out to coworkers and discussed the issues confronting them, the risks lessened as the heat in the workplace increased, and action followed. Action may not always bring home the goods, but not talking, acting and organizing will always lead to a loss. 

* About 20 Multnomah County dentists represented by AFSCME Local 88 ratified a new contract Dec. 6.

* Mechanics who maintain equipment at the Coffin Butte Landfill in Corvallis ended their strike Nov. 13 after two months on the picket line.

* International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5 reached a second tentative agreement with Powell’s Books on Nov. 22, about a month after workers rejected a previous offer from the independent bookstore. 

* Oregon Tradeswomen reached agreement with Machinists Local Lodge 63 on a first union contract. Ratified by workers Dec. 7, the three-year agreement takes effect Jan. 1. It spells out cost of living raises, establishes basic union rights like “just cause” discipline, and locks in an existing four-day 32-hour work week. Workers did agree to give up one unusual perk, the right to take up to a month of paid personal leave.

Photo from the Northwest Labor Press/Don McIntosh

Some photos from the union rally at Western Oregon University today

SEIU Local 503, OPEU held a rally today at Western Oregon University (WOU) in support of the union contract demands. The state universities are demanding givebacks from classified staff. In my opinion, if the union accepts these concessions all university workers, and eventually most public workers throughout Oregon, will be at risk of losing benefits and having to take backward steps in wages and working conditions. The president of the faculty union at WOU gave a strong voice to these concerns when she delivered a moving solidarity message. It was gratifying to see many members of the Western Oregon University Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2278, at the rally today.

The contract between the union and the state universities will not be settled by year's end, and if it is not settled by March then SEIU Local 503's members employed by the universities may strike.

See this article from the Northwest Labor Press for context. 

Union members from Local 503's bargaining team led chants and

 spoke from their hearts about their jobs and their union's demands. 

Oregon State Representative Tom Andersen (D.-Dist. 19) was there

 to support the workers and their union. He delivered a strong message

 of support and framed this as a social justice issue.

Long-time Local 503 member-leader Johnny Earl (University of Oregon

 sub-Local 085) roused everyone with a call to solidarity. That's SEIU Local 503's 

Executive Director Melissa Unger holding the bullhorn. 

 

A union member stepped up to lead a chant of her own that fired up

 the crowd.

Catherine Stearns is a retired Local 503, OPEU member, but she still puts in time

 as a union activist and still inspires everyone she meets. Her union jacket belonged to

 the  recently-departed union member-leader James Jacobsen. Brother Jacobsen provided

 leadership and guidance and a helping hand with good humor in his many years of activism.

He spoke with forthrightness and always came from a place of integrity. He and Sister Stearns 

were good friends and it was moving for me to see her wearing his union jacket. Yes, the sun

 was shining in her eyes when I took this photo, but Catherine does radiate light.