MAKING THE UNION CALL—In Austin, Texas, 756 ­Cingular Wireless customer service employees gained a voice at work with Communications Workers of America Local 6132 Aug. 15. The workers won CWA representation through majority sign-up, in which an employer agrees to recognize the union when a majority of workers signs authorization cards. In New York, more than 400 Cingular sales employees working at 75 retail store locations throughout the state gained CWA representation Aug. 17 after another majority sign-up victory. In New Jersey, 211 mental health workers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey chose CWA Local 1040. The majority verification win was one of the first under a new state law that extends majority sign-up rights to several categories of workers, including such public employees as the university’s mental health workers, who provide services to prison inmates.

PUBLIC WORKERS CHOOSE AFSCME—Some 442 clerical, maintenance and service workers at the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Metropolitan Housing Authority chose a voice at work with AFSCME Council 8 recently. In Farmington, Conn., 80 municipal workers voted to join AFSCME Council 4. The employees work in several departments, including public works, parks, police and fire dispatch and the town hall. In North Haven, Conn., 17 police officers voted to join AFSCME Council 15 and the 13-member police force of Weare, N.H., voted to join AFSCME Council 93.

COOPERATIVE EFFORT SECURES WIN—For years, the nonunion workers at Claiborne Electrical Cooperative in ­Shreveport, La., often worked side by side with Electrical Workers to repair damage and restore power after severe Gulf storms and hurricanes. During one storm repair project this year, ­Claiborne workers asked what it would take to join the IBEW. On Aug. 4, after a successful organizing drive that beat back management’s intense anti-union drive, the 56 workers voted to join IBEW Local 194. On July 27, 62 Xcel Energy meter readers at 21 locations from Guymon, Okla., to Carlsbad, N.M., voted to join IBEW Local 602, based in Amarillo, Texas.

LIBERTY AND UNION—Twenty-three drivers and maintenance employees at Liberty Community Unit School District 2 in Liberty, Ill., won a voice at work with Machinists Local 822 when the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board recently certified their victory.

TEACHING LABOR DAY—Teachers for grades kindergarten through 12 can visit the American Labor Studies Center’s (ALSC) website (www.labor-studies.org) for curriculum materials and guides about Labor Day. The resources include Labor Day lesson plans for both elementary and secondary teachers; information on work and jobs, including history, facts, statistics, information on earnings, employment and wages and unions and leaders; and resources and information from the AFL-CIO, the Library of Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor. “Students should be provided with a deeper understanding of this significant day and the role that workers and their unions play in America’s economic, political, cultural and social life,” said ALSC Executive Director Paul Cole. (See last item for information on Labor Day mobilizations and actions.)

WAGES DOWN, PROFITS UP, BUSH SPINS—The Bush administration’s spin machine is working furiously to convince the American public the nation’s recent economic recovery is good news for all. But two recent studies show the economy is doing a lot better for Big Business than for working families. The Bush White House—in Crawford, Texas, during the president’s five-week vacation—hailed the news that some blue-collar wages rose 0.4 percent in July. But the Economic Policy Institute found those wages actually declined in July, as inflation sliced into the wage increase––and more. “The real hourly wages [adjusted for inflation] of those workers remain at almost the exact same level as when the current recovery began. In fact, real hourly earnings fell in all but two of the last 15 months,” EPI reported. Meanwhile, a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report showed Big Business is the big winner in this recovery. The report looked at seven standard economic indicators—including income from wages and salaries, employment and corporate profits—and compared their performance in this economic recovery with other post-World War II recoveries. Six of the seven indicators in this recovery are below the average for comparable post-war economic upturns. “The current period,” the report found, “has outperformed the average in only one respect: corporate profits, which have grown far more rapidly than average.” For information, visit www.epi.org and www.cbpp.org.

NYC BACKS GROCERY HEALTH CARE—The New York City Council approved legislation that sets minimum standards for employer contributions to worker health costs. The bill, which covers city grocery stores with 35 or more employees, passed Aug. 17 by a veto-proof 46–5 margin, with the support of most of the city’s major grocers. It requires employers to contribute $2.50 to $3 for health care for each hour an employee works, which is the average health care cost employers currently pay. In May, Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) vetoed a bill that would have required employers with more than 10,000 workers in the state to spend 8 percent of their payroll on worker health care costs or contribute to a special health care fund. Wal-Mart, the state’s largest employer with more than 10,000 Maryland workers, vigorously opposed the bill. Legislators will attempt to override the veto this fall.

CWA, QWEST AGREE—CWA has reached a tentative three-year agreement with Qwest Communications that the union says achieves the major objectives of a fair wage increase, protecting health security for both active employees and retirees and safeguarding against excessive hours of forced overtime, among other gains. The agreement covers 25,000 Qwest workers in 13 states and is subject to membership ratification. Among the highlights are a wage increase of 7.5 percent over the three-year contract term and continuation of employer-paid health care, with changes to the out-of-pocket cost structure that will reduce overall costs for many workers. For more information, visit www.cwa-union.org.

UNIONS RALLY FOR FIRED CATERERS—Global unions are mobilizing an e-mail campaign to support the 670 members of Great Britain’s Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) who were fired by airline caterer Gate Gourmet Aug. 10. The Daily Mirror of London reported Gate Gourmet’s effort was part of a 15-week timetable to provoke workers at London’s Heathrow Airport into striking so they could be replaced with lower-paid workers trained at secret bases before the incident. The company and union had been in negotiations to resolve the issues, but those talks broke off Aug. 16. For more information, visit www.tgwu.org.uk, and to send a message to Gate Gourmet urging the company to reinstate the workers, go to www.labourstart.org and click on UK: Gate Gourmet in the “Act NOW” column at left.

IBEW, VERIZON REACH PACT—Some 4,400 members of IBEW Local 824 in Tampa, Fla., will vote this month on a tentative five-year agreement with Verizon Communications. The workers include installation and repair technicians and customer service representatives. The new pact would provide a 4 percent lump-sum bonus and wage increases of 10.5 percent over the life of the agreement.

RETIREES TO RALLY ON CAPITOL HILL—The Alliance for Retired Americans will hold a massive Social Security rally and lobby day Sept. 8 on Capitol Hill as part of its National ­Legislative Conference Sept. 7–9 in Washington, D.C. The House is expected to take up Social Security legislation when it reconvenes next month. The “Respect and Protect Retirement Security” rally will send a message to lawmakers that seniors want real reform of Social Security, not privatization. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin will address the conference. To register for the conference, visit www.retiredamericans.org  or call Joni Jones at 1-888-373-6497.

GILBERT TO STEP DOWN—Melissa Gilbert, president of the Screen Actors for the past four years, announced she will not run for re-election. Gilbert’s successor will be elected in a mail ballot in September. Meanwhile, delegates to two entertainment union conventions recently re-elected their top leaders. The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada re-elected President Thomas F. Lee. Sam Folio was elected secretary-treasurer. Delegates to the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists convention re-elected President John Connolly, First Vice President Bob Edwards and Second Vice President Roberta Reardon.

NEW RULES = FLIGHT DELAYS—New Federal Aviation Administration restrictions will worsen flight delays greatly, the Air Traffic Controllers said. The restrictions, which take effect Oct. 1, would end the practice of allowing aircraft to hold on runways while awaiting takeoff clearance, a practice that is ­efficient and cuts down on unnecessary delays, according to NATCA. The rule will do nothing to address real safety concerns at the nation’s airports, NATCA President John Carr said.

LABOR DAY: REWARD WORK, RESPECT ­WORKERS—Labor Day 2005 is just two weeks away and union activists are preparing to launch a week of online action and other mobilizations to fight assaults on working families and demand that the nation’s employers and decision makers “Reward Work and Respect Workers.” During the Aug. 23–31 Labor Day 2005 Online Action Week, activists will urge lawmakers, corporate executives and others to protect workers and taxpayers from getting stuck with the bill when employers shirk their health care responsibilities, along with asking them to oppose Social Security privatization and stop the Wal-Marting of good jobs. Activists also will ask members of Congress to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act and will invite workers who don’t belong to AFL-CIO unions to join Working America, the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate. A downloadable Labor Day Toolkit—with fact sheets, action ideas, sample letters to the editor, a news release, clip art and more—is available at www.aflcio.org/laborday. Visit The Union Shop Online™ to order placards, banners and lapel stickers for your Labor Day events: www.aflcio.org/shop. Next week, the AFL-CIO will release a survey showing what’s on working Americans’ minds this Labor Day—and the findings aren’t pretty. In addition, union activists will team up with people of faith to talk about working family issues in congregations around the country during Labor in the Pulpit services over Labor Day weekend.