Vol. 78/No. 41      November 17, 2014

— Maggie Trowe

LA-area grocery workers demand a contract, respect
ARLETA, Calif. — More than 200 unionists rallied at the El Super market here Oct. 23 demanding a contract from the expanding grocery chain, which has 46 stores, seven of them union.

Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union have been without a contract since September 2013. El Super backed a petition to decertify the union filed with the National Labor Relations Board by a group of workers April 18 this year. Workers rejected the company’s “last, best and final offer” May 2.

“We want a just contract with 40 hours, a dignified wage and, above all, respect,” said Fermin Rodriguez, a shop steward and cashier at El Super.

Luis Meraz, who works at the store in Compton, another L.A. suburb, said many co-workers get only 32 hours per week. “You can’t live on that,” he said. “And workers get only two sick days, with a letter from the doctor. We want three days and no letter.” Other demands include seniority rights, affordable health benefits and paid sick leave.

— Betsey Stone

Movers in Illinois strike in fight for first contract
SKOKIE, Ill. — We, the workers at Golan’s Moving and Storage here, are on strike against the company because of an endless series of unfair labor practices, the most important of them being the company’s refusal to bargain in good faith with us for our first contract.

Last December we voted by 85 percent to be part of Teamsters Local 705. We need a union to address a variety of issues: the company doesn’t pay overtime until we’ve worked 80 hours; management carries out capricious disciplinary measures, including unauthorized deductions from our checks; an average of one hour out of every five we work is unpaid; we have no medical insurance; and we work in unsafe conditions.

Since the vote, Golan’s has been doing everything possible to stall negotiations, hoping workers would tire of waiting and give up on the union.

But we began a strike July 28 and we’ve been picketing every day. Roving teams follow scab crews to picket their work. Many replacement movers quit their jobs after they experience the same abusive treatment we denounce.

A month into the strike, the company convinced two drivers and a helper to cross the line. We felt betrayed. At first the scabs pretended they were happy with the deal. Then, one of them approached the union and asked for a second chance. We understood that to win the strike we needed them on our side. During a big moving job a few days later the three walked out, leaving the moving truck parked and the job unfinished.

We are not alone. Arise Chicago Working Center is helping build support and other unionists, including teachers, nurses and janitors, visit our picket line, which boosts morale.

We are developing a sense of a collective interest, learning to demand our rights. Golan’s is feeling the pressure.

— Augusto Rufasto

Phone workers in New England walk off the job
over concessions
PORTLAND, Maine — Some 2,000 phone and Internet workers at FairPoint Communications walked off the job across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont Oct. 17 after the company unilaterally imposed concessions. The strikers are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America.

The union’s contract with FairPoint expired Aug. 2. Later that month the company walked away from negotiations and froze its pension plan, ended medical benefits for retirees and required workers to begin paying for part of their health care benefits. The company also announced it would begin using contractors for some jobs.

“Everything is at an impasse in negotiations,” Cindy Hoard, a picket captain, said at the picket line.

Hoard said IBEW and CWA members who work at Verizon Business across the street have walked the picket line.

“Solidarity is the only thing we have. We’ve got to stick together,” Hoard said.

— Ted Leonard

Howard University workers rally against job outsourcing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Some 75 Howard University maintenance workers, members of SEIU Local 32BJ, marched Oct. 27 to protest the university’s move to outsource the jobs of nearly 200 cleaners, carpenters, painters, electricians and plumbers. Several weeks ago workers were told that starting Jan. 1, 2015, they will no longer be working for the university, but nationwide contractor Thompson Hospitality, raising questions about their wages, benefits and jobs.

“They have already been making cuts,” said electrician Jerome Davis. “There used to be eight licensed electricians here. Now we are down to one.”

Protesters marched to the administration building, chanting, “The money you pay the contractor, you should pay the workers!” and “When we fight we win!”

— James Harris

Locked-out uranium workers fault Honeywell for toxic
gas leak
Uranium hexafluoride was released into the atmosphere from Honeywell’s Metropolis, Illinois, nuclear conversion plant Oct. 26. The plant has been operated by strikebreakers since the company locked out 150 members of United Steelworkers Local 7-669 Aug. 2.

Local 7-669 President Stephen Lech, who posted a video of the gas release on the union’s website, condemned Honeywell’s response in a news release the next day. “Local citizens called 911 and were told that the company has reported the situation to be under control, while they watched the gaseous vapor leave the building and the site,” he said.

Honeywell acknowledged the gas release, but said it never left its property.

When uranium hexafluoride reacts with the atmosphere, it forms toxic uranyl fluoride and hydrofluoric acid, which can damage lungs and skin.

“Honeywell didn’t call people in the vicinity to tell them to shelter in place and close their windows until there’s an all-clear,” said Luckie Atkinson, a member of the local, in a phone interview.

— John Hawkins

Calif. farmworkers fight bosses’ union-busting drive
FRESNO, Calif. — Members of the United Farm Workers union who pick fruit for Gerawan Farming are fighting for their first contract and against a well-financed effort to drive out their union.

“We’re fighting for respect more than benefits,” Seberiano Salas, 32, told the Militant.

“The boss can fire you for any reason,” said Juan Cruz Lopez, another Gerawan worker. Salas and Cruz are members of the union’s negotiating committee.

Union supporters rallied here, as well as in Berkeley and Los Angeles. City councils in the latter two cities have passed resolutions of support.

In 1990 the fruit pickers voted in the UFW, but bosses didn’t enter contract negotiations until January 2013.

“When we asked for a dollar raise, they told us we were crazy,” said Primitivo Santiago, who was fired by the company. But as the fight for a contract gained strength, the company, still refusing to sign a pay agreement, raised wages from $9 to $11 per hour.

Gerawan crew bosses circulated anti-union petitions. The company paid employees to take part in anti-union rallies, and harassed, disciplined, and fired union supporters.

Over court challenges from the company, the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board imposed a contract in November 2013, but Gerawan has refused to implement it. A union decertification vote was held that same month, but the labor board impounded the ballots pending hearings that began here last month. The union has charged Gerawan management with intimidating witnesses scheduled to testify at the hearings.

On Sept. 28 Democratic Gov. Edmund Brown vetoed a union-supported bill that would have required prompt enforcement of contracts imposed by binding arbitration.

— Eric Simpson and Gerardo Sánchez

Postal unions plan National Day of Action Nov. 14
The four U.S. postal workers unions will join forces with labor allies for a national day of action Nov. 14 in their fight against union busting and cutbacks by the U.S. Postal Service. Rallies and press conferences are planned throughout the country.

The unions are protesting the planned closure or consolidation of 82 postal processing plants in January. Some 140 have been closed since 2012. More than 190,000 postal jobs have been eliminated since 2006, 630 post offices closed and 229 more scheduled to close by the end of the year.

— Kevin Cole