WORKERS WILL REMEMBER CAFTA BACKERS—Workers and their unions will remember the 15 Democrats and 202 Republicans who voted for the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)—passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in a 217–215 vote July 28, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. “Anyone of either party who gets labor’s support should be ashamed” for their vote against working families, said Sweeney. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said the House floor resembled the set of the 1960s TV show “Let’s Make A Deal” as the White House twisted arms and offered inducements for members to vote for CAFTA. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger praised the “fair-minded legislators from both parties who were able to resist enormous pressure and cast a vote against CAFTA.” President George W. Bush is expected to sign CAFTA this week. The deal, which was approved earlier by the Senate, will eliminate tariffs among the United States, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It will extend to Central America the disastrous job loss and environmental damage caused by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). U.S. workers lost more than 1 million jobs and real wages in Mexico have fallen as a result of NAFTA in the past 11 years, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
UNION MOVEMENT ON ‘STRONGER FOOTING’—The historic changes delegates approved at the AFL-CIO’s 25th Constitutional Convention last week in Chicago “put the union movement on a stronger footing…that will enable more working people to gain the benefits of union membership and to gain a stronger voice in the laws and policies that shape everyday life in America,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. During the four-day Convention, the more than 800 delegates from affiliated unions, state federations and central labor councils debated and approved resolutions and constitutional amendments centered on organizing, mobilizing for political and legislative power, strengthening state and local union movements, building leadership diversity and boosting workers’ economic power at home and around the globe.
Sweeney, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson were re-elected to four-year terms.
On the opening day of the Convention, SEIU and the Teamsters announced their disaffiliation from the AFL-CIO. While their action created a sense of anger among the delegates, it also energized them and boosted their commitment to unity and positive action for working families. “Despite the conflicts and even the divisions we’ve suffered, I think we all feel a new sense of clarity about our mission and new energy propelling us toward our goals,” Sweeney said.
The Convention voted to create a Strategic Organizing Fund, establish Industry Coordinating Committees to focus on strategic organizing and encourage union mergers. Delegates moved to strengthen member mobilization by building year-round capacity for member political and legislative action and increasing the Member Mobilization Fund, which does not include contributions to candidates. Delegates approved an increase in the per capita tax affiliates pay to the AFL-CIO and established a special fund for state and local labor federations.
On the Convention’s final morning, Sweeney threw open the Convention floor to a wide-ranging debate and discussion on rebuilding and strengthening state and local union movements. He outlined plans to examine and respond to the impact of disaffiliation on state local union movements, including appointing advisory committees to develop recommendations, using the newly created special fund and delinquent per capita taxes collected from international unions to assist state and local union movements and developing plans to achieve full and fair affiliation by all affiliated unions at the state and local levels.
Delegates voted to add representatives of the AFL-CIO’s six constituency groups to the General Board, to require the Executive Council and state and local labor councils to develop leadership diversity plans and to add vice president slots to the AFL-CIO Executive Council to increase racial and gender diversity.
Delegates also approved measures addressing an economic agenda for working families, the global economy, the fight to bring justice to Wal-Mart workers, the war in Iraq and other issues. For a complete look at Convention actions, visit www.aflcio.org.
UFCW QUITS—The United Food and Commercial workers announced its disaffiliation from the AFL-CIO July 29. The UFCW joins SEIU and the Teamsters in leaving the federation. “It’s a tragedy for working people. Because at a time when our corporate and conservative adversaries have created the most powerful anti-worker political machine in the history of our country, a divided movement hurts the hopes of working families for a better life,” AFL-CIO President Sweeney said at last week’s AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago.
RIGHTING A WRONG—Workers in Illinois now have a guaranteed right to picket and exercise their free speech rights under a new law Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) signed July 26 in front of nearly 2,000 delegates and guests at the AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago. Blagojevich said the new law was required because some municipalities have placed restrictions on picketing and free speech rights. “If hard-working men and women need to march on the street to let the public know about a labor dispute, they should be able to do so without interference,” he said.
IAFF STANDS WITH CONTROLLERS—Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger slammed the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) “attempt to pit one group of public safety workers against another” in the agency’s public relations campaign about contract negotiations with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. When negotiations for 14,500 controllers opened last month, the FAA staged 22 press conferences to complain about controllers’ salaries, using misleading information, according to NATCA. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey compared controller salaries with those of firefighters and police officers. Schaitberger called it “offensive” and said, “It shows that Ms. Blakey has no understanding of the most fundamental and critical pieces of public safety—that all agencies and jurisdictions must work and stand together in protecting our citizens.”
AFA-CWA UNITED IN ACTION—Flight Attendants-CWA members at United Airlines held demonstrations and informational picket actions at some 20 airports around the world July 28 to protest the airline’s termination of their pension plan as part of United’s bankruptcy proceedings. The demonstrators also called for replacement of the airline’s top management. In May, the airline dumped some $6.6 billion in unfunded pension liabilities (including some $1.5 billion for flight attendants’ pensions) onto the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC). Under PBGC’s formula, many of the airlines’ 120,000 current and former employees will see their promised pensions slashed by more than half. While the airlines’ other unions representing workers have negotiated new pension agreements with United, AFA-CWA, with some 20,000 United members, is pursing legal and legislative action.
UNIONS OPPOSE ADELPHIA BUYOUT—The Communications Workers of America and the Electrical Workers called on the Federal Communications Commission to deny the bid of Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc. to purchase bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp., the nation’s fifth largest cable company. If approved, Comcast and Time Warner would jointly control 59 percent of the cable industry. The unions contend the purchase would hurt consumers by restricting competition and reduce programming variety. Comcast workers also are fighting to win a voice at work with CWA, and Comcast is waging a bitter anti-union campaign.
BP EXPLOSION RAISES CONCERN—An explosion at BP’s facility in Texas City, Texas—the fourth at the plant in a year— “raises grave doubts about the company’s commitment to taking the urgent steps necessary to make that refinery safer,” United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said. The July 29 explosion followed a massive blast March 24 that killed 15 workers. The company refuses to disclose information about the March explosion that is crucial to educating workers and the public about safety concerns, the union said, and has tried to shift the blame for the deadly explosion to workers.
A DEFINING MOMENT—While many employers are dumping workers’ defined-benefit pension plans, the USW negotiated a new defined-benefit plan for more than 1,100 Local 4134 members at Lone Star Steel Co. in Lone Star, Texas. The new three-year pact, ratified July 20, replaces a defined-contribution 401(k) plan with a traditional pension plan, and provides profit-sharing and wage increases. For more information on retirement security and Social Security, visit www.aflcio.org/socialsecurity.
WAGES CONTINUE TO STALL—Although the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose more than 3.4 percent in the second quarter of 2005, wages and salaries grew by only 2.4 percent, the lowest level on record, and wages continue to lag behind inflation, according to a report by the EPI. With stagnant wages and rising inflation, the only way for workers to expand their paychecks’ buying power is to work more hours, the report said. For more on the report, GDP Picture, visit www.epinet.org.
ADA REACHES 15—The Americans with Disabilities Act has “opened the doors and torn down the walls of segregation and discrimination and the denial of equal employment opportunity” for individuals with disabilities, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said as the U.S. Senate passed a resolution commemorating the act’s 15th anniversary July 26. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) blasted the Bush administration for its failure to support rights for people with disabilities.
BCTD CONVENTION—The AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department’s 67th Convention will be held Aug. 9–10 in Boston, when building trades leaders from across the United States and Canada convene to take up resolutions and elect officers. For more information, visit www.bctd.org.
SAG APPROVES VOICE-OVER PACT—Members of the Screen Actors July 28 overwhelmingly ratified a three-and-a-half year agreement with major video game producers. The new contract covers actors who perform voice-over work for video games. The contract, which was negotiated jointly with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, includes a 36-percent increase in minimum pay over the term of the contract, with 25 percent to be immediately implemented. AFTRA approved the deal in June.
