See the AFL-CIO Gulf Coast Worker Network Hurricane Relief Update for the latest hurricane relief efforts of the AFL-CIO and affiliate unions and visit www.aflcio.org/hurricane.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL CHARTS NEW DIRECTIONS—Acting on one of the most sweeping reforms passed by the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention, the AFL-CIO Executive Council announced a request by 10 unions to create a new Industry Coordinating Committee (ICC). The creation of the ICC is subject to the approval of the leadership of the 10 unions. The Arts, Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications ICC is the first announced since the AFL-CIO Convention, which drew up plans for ICCs to bring together unions that represent workers in an industry, occupation, region or by employer and develop an organizing plan as well as contract standards. The 10 unions in the ICC—Actors’ Equity, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Communications Workers of America, Theatrical Stage Employees, Electrical Workers, Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA, Screen Actors, The Newspaper Guild-CWA and the Writers Guild of America, East—represent nearly 1 million workers in these sectors. “For the first time, all of the major AFL-CIO unions in these sectors will work together to devise joint organizing and collective bargaining strategies in conjunction with their long-standing collaborative work on legislation and public policy,” said Paul Almeida, president of the federation’s Department for Professional Employees. The Executive Council, meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, also discussed its new national campaign, Rebuild America: Good Jobs and a Just Economy, to push for investment in the right priorities nationwide as well as in the areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The council also discussed ongoing negotiations with disaffiliated unions about Solidarity Charters that would allow their local unions to continue to participate in state federations and central labor councils. For more information on the Executive Council meeting, visit www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr10062005.cfm.

MORE CINGULAR WORKERS CHOOSE CWA—Another 604 former AT&T Wireless workers, now working for Cingular, chose to become part of a surge of high-tech, white-collar workers joining CWA. In Harrisburg, Pa., a large majority of the 452 employees at the Cingular call center signed authorization cards to join Local 13500. In Arizona, some 152 retail sales associates throughout the state gained a voice with locals 7019 and 7026. The workers won their union under an agreement reached by CWA and Cingular after the Cingular/AT&T merger in which the company agreed to a level playing field and to honor the workers’ freedom to form a union when a majority signs authorization cards. More than 6,100 have joined CWA since the beginning of August.

SHOWTIME FOR IATSE—After a 23-year effort, IATSE signed a contract with the Showtime Network’s division of Viacom Inc. for exclusive use of union crews on original programming produced in the United States and Canada. The agreement mirrors IATSE’s agreement with HBO and creates a level playing field for both pay-cable companies, said IATSE President Thomas Short. The union estimates one successful Showtime series would employ an average of 75 IATSE members.

MACHINISTS SET HIGH GOALS—The Machinists intend to gain 50,000 new members annually through an aggressive new organizing initiative highlighted at the union’s organizing summit Oct. 5–7 in Chicago. The union plans to develop new strategies for helping workers win a voice at work and build on a new level of commitment to organizing from local unions. IAM will support the effort by committing at least $3 million a year in new resources solely for organizing, President Thomas Buffenbarger said.

IBEW ORGANIZERS MAKE CONNECTIONS—More than 1,200 IBEW local union organizers, business managers and rank-and-file members took part in a three-day organizing conference in Las Vegas last week. Participants shared strategies on building local union organizing capacity in the construction industry and ways to improve communications skills and organizing methods to help workers in the professional and industrial sector win a voice at work.

NORTHWEST ATTENDANTS SEEK AFA—The Flight Attendants-CWA announced a campaign to represent Northwest Airlines flight attendants. A coalition of Northwest flight attendants approached AFA-CWA about forming a union. The more than 9,600 Northwest flight attendants are members of the unaffiliated Professional Flight Attendants Association.

HURRICANE RELIEF FUND PASSES GOAL—It took less than a month for the AFL-CIO Union Community Fund’s Hurricane Relief Fund to exceed its goal of raising $500,000 to help the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The fund collected more than $544,000 in donations by Oct. 11 and donations are still coming in. For more on the hurricane relief efforts of the AFL-CIO and affiliate unions, see the AFL-CIO Gulf Coast Worker Network Hurricane Relief Update and visit www.aflcio.org/hurricane.

BILL WOULD REVERSE DAVIS-BACON BAN—A group of 25 senators led by Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced legislation late last month to reverse President George W. Bush’s executive order suspending key wage protections for workers rebuilding the areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The Fair Wages for Hurricane Katrina Recovery Workers Act would ensure workers on federal rebuilding projects in the Gulf Coast are paid the prevailing local wage as required by the Davis-Bacon Act. Bush suspended the wage provisions Sept. 8 in one of his first acts after Katrina hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) introduced a similar bill in the House. Two Republican members of Congress, Steven C. LaTourette (Ohio) and Frank LoBiondo (N.J.) introduced a resolution Oct. 7 to force the White House to provide any communications regarding contracts in the Gulf Coast when Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon rules. Meanwhile, 37 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to Bush asking that the Davis-Bacon rules be reinstated. LaTourette, who authored the letter along with LoBiondo, and the 37 House Republicans plan to take action on the House floor the week of Oct. 17 if the Bush administration does not alter the policy.

JUDGE BLOCKS BUSH DHS PERSONNEL RULES—In a major victory for workers, a federal court denied the Department of Homeland Security’s request to fully implement its new personnel system, known as MaxHR, which would slash 160,000 employees’ collective bargaining and workplace rights and end civil service pay scales. The Bush administration had asked U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer to narrow her Aug. 12 ruling blocking the new personnel rules. On Oct. 7 Collyer declined the agency’s bid and accepted the unions’ argument that the rules would so curtail the negotiating process as to virtually eliminate it. In January, AFGE, along with the unaffiliated Treasury Employees Union, Federation of Federal Employees and the Association of Agriculture Employees filed suit challenging significant parts of the proposed personnel system on the basis that they violated the Homeland Security Act among other issues. In June, the unions filed a motion to stop the implementation of the rules.

ENERGY BILL IS PAYOLA FOR OIL COMPANIES—In a naked abuse of power, the Republican House leadership held open for 45 minutes what was supposed to be a five-minute vote on the energy bill to twist arms to get their members to switch votes. The Bush administration’s Gasoline for America’s Security Act, which passed Oct. 7 by a 212–210 margin, does nothing to lower gasoline prices and provides huge subsidies for oil companies. The Republican power grab “demonstrated once again that the Republican majority will go to any length to satisfy the greed of the energy companies over meeting the needs of the American people,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The bill also fails to take the bold steps needed to reshape the nation’s energy policy, members of Congress and union leaders said. “This [bill] would be a great advance if we were in the 1870s, but it is not up to the technology we have in 2005,” Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) told a telephone press conference sponsored by the Apollo Alliance. The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of national security, labor, environmental, civil rights and business leaders who are fighting for energy independence from foreign energy sources.

TEACHER SALARIES TRAIL INFLATION—For the first time since the 1999–2000 school year, the average teacher’s pay failed to keep up with inflation, according to AFT’s annual salary survey. The average pay for teachers in the 2003–2004 school year was $45,597, a 2.2 percent increase from the year before. The inflation rate for 2004 was 2.4 percent. The survey, released Oct. 6, shows over the past 10 years, teachers’ pay increased at a far slower rate than salaries for other professionals. For a copy of the report, visit www.aft.org/salary/index.htm.

AFL-CIO WEBSITE GIVES REAL DEAL ON DRUGS—In the latest AFL-CIO Point of View feature, Dr. Marcia Angell, author of The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It, shows how the nation’s drug companies spend far less on research and development than they claim, while channeling vast resources into influencing the type of drugs prescribed by medical professionals. The Point of View guest column is just one of several new features at the AFL-CIO’s redesigned website that provides updated news and information on a host of issues. It also includes special hurricane feature pages, which have covered national and local unions’ unprecedented fund-raising relief and support for survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.