The Militant - August 7, 2006 -- On the Picket Line

Vol. 70/No. 29 August 7, 2006

On the Picket Line

Waste Management strike in N.Y.
in its fourth month
NEW YORK—A strike by 115 workers against Waste Management is now into its fourth month. The company, one of the largest private trash collection companies in the area, serves 10,000 businesses. Teamsters Local 813, which represents the striking workers, is fighting company demands that the unionists must start paying for medical care coverage and that overtime no longer be guaranteed for Saturday work, according to a union news release. The previous three-year contract expired November 30. The workers have been on strike since April 3. On June 5 the National Labor Relations Board rejected the union’s charges that the company has been involved in unfair labor practices.

—Brian Williams

Flight attendants at Northwest
vote again on wage cuts
After rejecting a wage concession package by an 80 percent margin in June, Northwest Airlines flight attendants voted July 6 to switch unions from the Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA) to the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), which is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America. The vote was 4,349 for the AFA to 2,668 for the PFAA. AFA officials then announced July 17 that they had reached an agreement with Northwest on a $195 million concession package with deep wage cuts and work rule changes. Flight attendants are now voting on this proposal. Since November, attendants have been working under a 21 percent “temporary” pay cut imposed by Northwest.

—Brian Williams

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