Little progress has been made in negotiating a new contract for the local since the administration has refused to discuss wages or language improvements until the union agrees to the new health plan. The old contract expired in June. Members of the Teamsters local on campus joined the lines, as did members of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union, construction workers, and nonunion university staff. The 40 or so workers that I picketed with in the Medical area of the campus where I work were very energized by the action and many expressed the desire to do it again.

Sandi Sherman
Minneapolis, Minnesota
 
 
Food workers' victory
After eight days, the strikers at Bluebird Foods plants in New Zealand went back to work, having won an increased pay offer from the company. Their wages will increase by 4.25 percent this year and 3.6 percent the following year.

At the Auckland factory, workers maintained a 24-hour picket line during the strike. No production took place and no products left the warehouse. Several meetings were held to decide whether to stay out, with some 90 percent voting each time to remain on strike. Contrasting the company's use of "team methods" with the unity on the picket line, one worker joked, "We call the strike the best team-building exercise we've had."

Janet Roth
Auckland, New Zealand

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people.

Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home