Vol. 72/No. 29      July 21, 2008

UNISON reports that 250,000 council workers, most of them women, earn less than £6.50 an hour (about US $12). The union is demanding a 6 percent pay rise or 50 pence an hour, whichever is higher. Inflation is already at 4.3 percent.

An April report by the London Times listed some of the realities facing working people over the last year: a 21.7 percent increase on a liter of unleaded petrol; 6 percent increase on a weekly food shop; 17.6 percent increase in the cost of milk, cheese, and eggs; and a 15 percent energy increase.

—Celia Pugh

Locked-out unionists
raise safety concerns
MONTREAL—A petition raising safety concerns about the operation of the Petro-Canada refinery in Montreal was presented to city council June 16 by a delegation representing 260 locked-out workers. They are members of Local 175 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

The petition, signed by 5,131 people who live in the area, demands that the government ensure regular inspections are carried out and verify the competence of those who are operating the refinery.

Since the beginning of the Nov. 17, 2007 lockout, the company has been operating the refinery using management and strikebreakers, despite several rulings that the use of strikebreakers violates the Labor Code.

—Joe Young

Boston food workers
in strike against Aramark
BOSTON—Some 350 food service workers struck Aramark Corporation at the two convention centers here June 21-23. UNITE/HERE Local 26 called the three day-walkout to publicize charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board and a boycott of Aramark.

The union has been without a contract since last October. The company has fired three union activists, including two negotiating committee members, for their union activity; threatened to fire employees for talking about the union while at work; ripped union literature out of the hands of workers; and threatened to take away benefits for raising workplace issues.

On June 23 more than 300 workers and their supporters rallied in front of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Daryl Singletary, a food service worker on strike, said, "For all the managers looking out the windows, or hiding out around corners, we are not afraid of you! We have union power!"

—Ted Leonard
and Laura Garza

Colorado crane collapse
injures ironworker
DENVER, Colorado—A June 17 crane collapse at the construction site of Viceroy Resort Residences in Snowmass, Colorado, injured an ironworker who fell 6 to 8 feet from a crossbeam. The media reported the worker, who was hospitalized, was wearing a safety harness.

The collapse occurred as the crane, which is capable of lifting up to 45,000 pounds, collapsed while lifting a pot of waterproofing tar that weighed nearly 10,000 pounds.

For two days the 140 workers at the site were laid off while the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) conducted an investigation. An official cause of the accident has yet to be determined as OSHA has up to six months to issue a report on the case.

—John Banister  
 
 
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