NYU'S UNION-BUSTING SLAMMED—Thousands of graduate employees and their supporters rallied at New York University (NYU) Aug. 31 to protest the university's refusal to bargain with more than 1,000 union graduate employees and teaching assistants and its decision to impose pay and work rules on the workers. Seventy-seven people were arrested, including AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn and UNITE HERE President Bruce Raynor, after they peacefully blocked the entrance to an NYU office building at the rally site. The rally coincided with the expiration of the four-year contract between the graduate employees, members of UAW Local 2110, and NYU. NYU announced Aug. 5 it no longer would recognize the graduate workers' union and ended bargaining. The university's decision came after the Republican-dominated National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed a Clinton administration ruling and abolished federal labor law protections for graduate employees. Nothing in the Bush administration's NLRB ruling, however, prohibited union recognition for grad employees. For more information, visit http://www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/.

ORGANIZING TOPS CLUW MEETING—Some 800 union women from 65 unions will build new strategies to boost member support for organizing at the local level when they meet in Detroit Sept. 14–17 at the Coalition of Labor Union Women's 13th biennial convention. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson are among the scheduled speakers. For more information, visit http://www.cluw.org.

SOLIDARITY CHARTERS APPROVED—The AFL-CIO Executive Council has approved the federation's innovative new plan to help unite the union movement through Solidarity Charters, President John Sweeney announced Aug. 29. Under the new Solidarity Charters, local unions of disaffiliated unions can apply to be part of central labor councils and state federations. Local unions that are part of the Carpenters, SEIU, Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers are eligible for Solidarity Charters. For detailed information, visit http://www.aflcio.org.

BIGGER RISKS FOR IMMIGRANT WORKERS—Immigrant workers are dying on the job at a far greater rate than native-born workers, a new AFL-CIO study reveals. Workplace fatalities among all foreign-born workers increased by 46 percent between 1992 and 2002 and Latino workers fared even worse, with a 58 percent jump in on-the-job deaths in the same time period, according to Immigrant Workers at Risk: The Urgent Need for Improved Workplace Safety and Health Policies and Programs. Between 1996 and 2000, the share of foreign-born employment increased by 22 percent, but the share of fatal occupational injuries among those workers jumped by 43 percent. For more information, visit http://www.aflcio.org/laborday and click on “Immigrant Workers at Risk” in the “Find Out More” column.

COHEN TAKES CWA HELM—Delegates to the Communications Workers of America convention in Chicago Aug. 29 elected Larry Cohen as president to succeed Morton Bahr. Cohen, 56, has served as executive vice president since 1998. Delegates also re-elected Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling.

JACK BARRY DIES—The union movement is mourning the Aug. 28 passing of John J. “Jack” Barry, 81, former president of the Electrical Workers. Barry, who led IBEW from 1986–2001, “served the best interests of his union and the best interests of all working families with tireless dedication, distinguished leadership and unparalleled devotion,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. IBEW President Ed Hill said Barry "showed all of us the way to a brighter future for working people...and we're all the better for it."

LUDLOW SUCCEEDS CONTRERAS—Martin Ludlow recently was elected executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, succeeding the late Miguel Contreras. Ludlow, the first African American to head the L.A. central labor body, served as the group's political director before being elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 2003.

SOLIDARNOSC REACHES 25 YEARS—The AFL-CIO joined with the global union movement to pay tribute to the first 25 years of Solidarnosc, the union formed in 1980 when shipyard workers in Gdansk, Poland, launched a strike that united the country and eventually toppled the communist dictatorship. “Solidarnosc showed that workers united can change their economy and their government,” said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, who attended the silver anniversary ceremonies in Gdansk Aug. 29. “We also honor the Polish working people for their key role in bringing down communism.”

TAX DODGERS—Some 46 large companies that earned a collective $31 billion in profits in 2003 paid no federal income tax, a new report by United for a Fair Economy revealed. The study, Executive Excess 2005—Defense Contractors Get More Bucks for the Bang, can be downloaded at http://www.faireconomy.org.

CHILD LABOR UNKNOWN TO MOST —The Child Labor Coalition has launched a national grassroots education and lobbying campaign to make Americans aware of the vast number of children who work as farm laborers. A recent survey by the group—a coalition of labor, civil rights, consumer and religious groups—found only 17 percent of those polled considered child labor a serious problem. But government figures show at least 430,000 children ages 12 to 17 work in agriculture—a number that likely is understated because government surveys do not count children younger than 12 who often work alongside their parents. For more information, visit http://www.stopchildlabor.org.

POVERTY UP— For the fourth straight year, family income in the United States stagnated, and for the fifth straight year, poverty increased, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The official poverty rate in 2004 was 12.7 percent, or 37 million people—1.1 million more than 2003. The median pay for full-time male workers dropped 2 percent in 2004; for women, the decrease was 1 percent.

ON LABOR DAY, ECONOMIC ANXIETY— Amid the traditional Labor Day picnics, parades and celebrations, America's workers are deeply anxious about the nation's economy, especially about wages that don't keep up with rising prices and the cost of health care, according to new survey results released by the AFL-CIO Aug. 30. The State of Working America survey, by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, found nearly three of five respondents (59 percent) are “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with the economic situation in the country today. Health care and retirement security top the list of major concerns, with 68 percent and 65 percent, respectively, saying the country is on the wrong track on those issues. Workers don't hold out much hope for the future, with nearly three-fifths of respondents (59 percent) saying they are “just somewhat confident” or “not that confident” they will be able to retire with financial security. “Working families are in a deep and growing economic crisis—and they know it, even if the Washington and Wall Street crowd doesn't,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. For more on the poll, visit http://www.aflcio.org. Throughout the Labor Day weekend, union members in more than 30 cities across the nation will speak at more than 500 congregations about the connections between their faith and the union movement as part of Labor in the Pulpits, sponsored by Interfaith Worker Justice and the AFL-CIO. In Washington, D.C., Labor in the Pulpits participants will speak about worker justice at more than 50 congregations Sept. 2–5. In Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony will lead a special Labor Day Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels. During the week leading up to Labor Day, e-activist union members turned up the heat on lawmakers, corporate executives and other decision makers during the Labor Day 2005 Online Action Week Aug. 23–31. The activists urged Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, to oppose President George W. Bush's plan to privatize Social Security and to stop the Wal-Marting of good jobs. They also encouraged workers who don't belong to unions to join Working America, the AFL-CIO's community affiliate.

Union Members Mobilize to Aid Working Families Devastated by Hurricane Katrina

Working families and their unions are rushing to bring relief, needed supplies and other assistance to the Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina.

“The labor movement has always been on the front lines in responding to these situations—and this situation demands an immediate and massive effort,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

• The AFL-CIO has created a special Hurricane Relief Fund as part of the Union Community Fund. Go to http://www.aflcio.org/hurricane to make a tax-deductible contribution and be part of the largest relief effort in the nation's history.
• Delegates to the CWA convention in Chicago voted to send up to $4 million in hurricane relief aid to help CWA families in the area.
• Several unions have established hurricane relief funds to aid their members' recovery. Visit their websites for more information: AFT (http://www.aft.org); Air Line Pilots (http://www.alpa.org); Fire Fighters (http://www.iaff.org); Machinists (http://www.iamaw.org); National Air Traffic Controllers Association (http://www.natca.org); and Postal Workers (http://www.apwu.org).
• AFGE has partnered with the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund to provide support and direct assistance to hurricane victims. Go to http://www.afge.org for more information or to http://www.feea.org to donate.
• The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors are asking members to contribute to the Actors' Fund of America or the Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund. Go to http://www.aftra.org or http://www.sag.org for more information.
• Go to http://www.aflcio.org/hurricane for information on other organizations that also are accepting donations for hurricane relief. Check that site regularly for updates.
• IAFF President Harold Schaitberger traveled to the disaster area Sept. 1 to help coordinate the union's relief effort at the IAFF Command Response Center. Several IAFF locals from around the country sent members for immediate rescue and recovery operations as part of urban search-and-rescue teams. In addition, many of the local firefighters and paramedics working around the clock in the disaster areas are IAFF members.
• NATCA is planning to organize caravans of relief supplies, including food, water, baby wipes, bug spray, generators and other critically needed supplies.