The Militant - October 6, 2014 -- On the Picket Line

Vol. 78/No. 35 October 6, 2014

On the Picket Line

San Francisco taxi drivers join union
for first time in 40 years
SAN FRANCISCO — Taxi drivers here voted to join the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance Sept. 9, the first time cab drivers have unionized in 40 years.

Several hundred cab drivers gathered at the Plumbers and Steamfitters hall for the meeting. Some 150 signed up for the union. Bhairavi Desai, president of National Taxi Workers Alliance, and San Francisco Labor Council President Tim Paulson addressed the meeting.

Competition from Lyft and Uber, web-based companies that invite individuals with cars to seek riders through the “ride-share” and “car-hail” website, is undercutting licensed taxi drivers and driving down all drivers’ livelihoods.

“My cousin works for Lyft,” cab driver Tevye Nieto told the Militant outside the meeting. “He just had to replace the transmission in his own car. That’s a lot of money. When you drive for Lyft you have to pay insurance and maintain your own car.”

Taxi drivers in other U.S. cities and in other countries are fighting rate-busting by Uber and similar companies. In London, Paris, Berlin and Madrid thousands of drivers took part in strikes, marches or “go-slows” June 11.

— Eric Simpson

Golden Gate Bridge workers
take on attack on health care
SAN FRANCISCO — Fifty workers organized by the 13-union Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition held a spirited one-day unfair labor practice strike and picket at the south end of the bridge here Sept. 16. There are some 450 workers in the coalition, including bus mechanics, ferry captains, deckhands, electricians, laborers, and iron workers.

The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District bosses are demanding an increase in health care premiums that amounts to 2 percent of wages, which would wipe out most of the 3 percent wage raise they offered.

Coalition co-chair Alex Tonisson, a staff member of International Federation of Professional Technical Engineers Local 21, told the Militant that management is demanding a fourth concessionary contract in a row, while the district has increased revenue by laying off toll collectors and hiking tolls as ridership has increased.

“During negotiations in 2012 we came to an agreement with the district on retiree health care,” Art Gonzalez, a business representative for Auto Machinists Local 1414, told KQED news. “The district has decided not to honor that agreement, and last week we filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employee Relations Board.”

“They need to take us seriously,” Tonisson said. “The strike is showing that we are ready to go out, to fight for what’s right.”

— Jeff Powers

Atlanta musicians fight union-busting lockout
ATLANTA — Musicians from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra have been picketing outside the Woodruff Arts Center here since being locked out by management when their union contract expired Sept. 6. They were locked out in 2012 as well.

“Two years ago we accepted concessions,” Bruce Kenney, who plays the French horn and has been with the orchestra for 30 years, told the Militant Sept. 9. “We took a 15 percent pay cut then and a 10-week furlough. It’s not right that they’re doing this again.”

Paul Murphy, president of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Association — the negotiating committee of Atlanta Federation of Musicians Local 148-462 — said the small pay raise offered by management doesn’t cover the increase in the cost of health care. “This amounts to a 6 percent cut in our take-home pay,” the viola player said.

“Their offer is not acceptable. We’d be taking home $18,000 less a year than we made in 2012,” cellist Daniel Laufer said.

Kenney said Black and Caucasian musicians were in separate unions until the rise of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s. That’s why their local number is hyphenated.

The musicians are also fighting management’s demand to eliminate positions. The orchestra was reduced from 95 to 88 musicians two years ago and with attrition is down to 78.

“To me, it’s not so much about pay,” said violinist David Dillard. “They want to bust our union.”

Some symphony season ticket holders and friends of the musicians are walking the picket line as well. The orchestra’s 2014-15 season is scheduled to begin Sept. 25.

— Janice Lynn

Health workers at Care UK in Britain protest wage cuts
DONCASTER, England — Some 50 health care workers at the Care UK center here have carried out the latest in a series of strike actions protesting deep wage cuts. “I’ve been out from the start and I’ll be here ‘til the end,” Dennis James told the Militant Sept. 4 on the picket line.

Care UK took over the center, which cares for people with learning disabilities, from the National Health Service last September. The bosses slashed premium pay for night work and for work on weekends and holidays.

“I’ve lost around £5,500 ($9,036) a year. Some people have lost up to 35 percent of what they earned before,” said Dave Honeybone, lead steward and a care worker for 24 years.

Unison organizes some 150 members at Care UK out of 240 employees. More than 100 workers carried out the first strike action in February. Since then, some workers quit, disgusted by the wage cuts and management’s intransigence. Some of the 100 new workers hired at lower pay joined the latest action.

“We’ve lost so much,” Theresa Rollinson said at the Sept. 13 rally. “We don’t want to leave our service users. We want to be appreciated and see that reflected in our pay.”

Strikers have traveled around the country to broaden support, joining labor actions, political protests and picketing the London headquarters of Care UK and its parent company Bridgepoint Capital.

“We weren’t political before,” said Rollinson. “We’ve been thrown into a situation that’s become political.” More strikes are planned to coincide with an Oct. 14 local government strike and the Oct. 18 “Britain Needs a Pay Rise” demonstration called by the Trades Union Congress in London.

— Caroline Bellamy