This column is devoted to reporting the resistance by working people to the employers' assault on their living standards, working conditions, and unions.We invite you to contribute short items to this column as a way for other fighting workers around the world to read about and learn from these important struggles. Jot down a few lines about what is happening in your union, at your workplace, or other workplaces in your area, including interesting political discussions.
QUEENS, New York - "I'm willing to stay out as long as necessary," said an orderly picketing the Jamaica Hospital here. He was one of 6,000 orderlies, nurses' aides, and hospital clerks, members of Service Employees International Union Local 144, who walked off the job June 27. They are fighting demands by hospital management - the League of Voluntary Hospitals -
for a contract that would slash vacation and sick time 50 percent, lower wages for new hires by 35 percent, and deny some pension payments. On July 3, management broke off negotiations after the union rejected this contract proposal.
Nurses' aides picketing Mary Immaculate in Jamaica and St. Joseph's hospital in Flushing report that workers' morale remains high two weeks into the strike. One striking nurse at Mary Immaculate said, "Management is keeping us out here [on the picket line]... and if we don't fight they will never stop."
Strikers report instances of police using force against the pickets. "The cops are for the protection of management interests, not us, not the hospital patients. When management is not around they are nice; when an administrator comes outside the cops tell us, `Get up from the curb, no sitting on the sidewalk,' " one striker reported.
One young dietary assistant striking at Jamaica Hospital said another challenge facing the strikers is the replacement workers hired for the duration of the strike. "We say to the scabs what you're doing is wrong and that they are just using you. When we go back you'll be fired." Several strikers said they are concerned that patients are not receiving adequate care from undertrained and overworked replacements.
Postal workers fight privatization in Seattle
SEATTLE - Hundreds of postal workers and their supporters
staged spirited picket lines at several post offices in the
Puget Sound region June 19. In the largest action, more than 200
walked, chanted, and distributed informational leaflets at the
Queen Anne Hill station.
They were protesting plans by management to privatize the postal services. Postmaster General Marvin Runyon has announced plans to let private companies run 10 Priority Mail centers. These actions were called by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the American Postal Workers Union.
Workers carried signs reading, "Don't let Profiteers Run Away With Your Service," "America Deserves First Class Service, and "Keep your Post Office Public." They lined the sidewalk along the street, and many car drivers honked their horns in support. Popular chants included, "They say privatize, we say organize," and "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Marvin Runyon's got to go!" Runyon has drawn the wrath of postal workers by cutting wages for new employees $1 an hour and denying health-care insurance for 70,000 postal workers.
Bosses demand givebacks to reopen Quebec plant
STE. THERESE, Quebec - The fate of the strike-bound Kenworth
truck assembly plant here remains front page news as management
reveals sweeping concession demands.
Paccar, owner of Kenworth, is demanding a contract with the Canadian Autoworkers (CAW) that would last until November 2002. Local press also report they want each worker to submit to a 90- day probation period. Some workers have over 30 years experience.
CAW Local 728 went on strike in August 1995 for a better pension plan and against company demands for more control over the workplace.
Paccar announced in April it would close the plant and shift production to its plants in the U.S. and Mexico. Picketing was called off the second week of June.
During eight months on the picket line strikers fought back against the closing threat. They demonstrated in Ste. Therese, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City and kept their fight front-page news.
April 26, the Quebec and Canadian governments announced each would contribute $5 million in interest-free loans to modernize the plant. The QFL solidarity fund and Paccar promised $30 million.
The Quebec Deputy Prime Minister said "Now, the main obstacle is the union." He said it would have to offer concessions. Earlier union officials pledged five years of labor peace. The Toronto Globe and Mail reported that only 500 of the 850 workers would go back to work under the proposed contract.
London train drivers hold one-day strike
LONDON - "You've got to stand firm sometime - this world's
going crazy," said Jerry Mitchell, a train driver for London
Underground standing on a picket line at East Finchley. He was
participating in a one-day strike on June 27 by members of the
Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Footplatemen
(ASLEF). "We didn't want to strike," said Alan Gibson, a guard
(brakeman), standing next to him. "But you have to stand up for
your rights."
The dispute follows a breakdown in talks over the 1996 wage agreement, but workers are agreed on the main issue. "Last year they promised us an hour off the working week," said Finn Brennan. "Now we want it." London Underground drivers currently work 38.5 hours a week, but are at work for at least 44 hours including unpaid breaks.
Three one-day strikes have taken place, halting up to 75 percent of London Underground trains. Nine further strike days have been announced. On July 10, members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) voted by a five-to-one majority to join the strike.
Oil truckers press demands for safety
PHILADELPHIA - Some 30 members and supporters of Oil,
Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) Local 8-397 picketed outside
Sunoco's corporate headquarters here July 1. Local 8-397
represents some 700 drivers of oil tanker trucks who work for
Sun, Shell, Hess, and other Pennsylvania and New Jersey
refineries.
The pickets sought to bring to public attention Sun's demands for productivity increases in a new contract that pose a danger to public safety. "Sunoco wants to become the ValuJet of ground transportation," one sign warned. Another read, "Give us safety before SUNOCO gives you death." A flier distributed to passersby asked, "Do you want tank trucks loaded with 9,000 gallons of gasoline hustling around your community in order for the driver to reach a performance standard? We think not!"
According to chief steward John Zube, the union says drivers could only meet this quota by speeding and rushing through necessary safety checks. "This is not an issue of wages alone," Zube explained. "We won't be permitted to just slow down for safety and take a wage cut. Drivers who don't meet Sun's new standards would face disciplinary measures. This is what's happening throughout the industry. At Exxon there is a mandatory 50 hour week. If a worker misses the productivity standard twice in one month, they can be suspended for three days."
Jason Corley in New York; Scott Breen, member of International Association of Machinists Local 751A in Seattle; Monica Jones, member of CAW Local 728 in Ste. Therese; Martin Hill in London; and Pete Seidman, member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees in Philadelphia, contributed to this article.