—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Maggie Trowe, Editor

 

Calif. hospital maintenance workers strike for
first contract

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Some 100 unionists and family members picketed John Muir Medical Center here Aug. 5 in support of 18 maintenance workers who have been on strike since May 18.

The workers voted to join Stationary Engineers Local 39 in June 2014, becoming the first employees at the Walnut Creek hospital to unionize. John Muir settled the engineers’ contract at the nearby Concord facility last December, but refuses to agree to the same pay and benefits for the newly unionized workers here.

Unionists, including other hospital workers, hotel workers and steelworkers, came from across the Bay Area to join the rally. Lining busy Ygnacio Valley Road during evening rush hour, the pickets received honks and thumbs up from workers driving by.

Kyle Trombetta, one of the strikers with 13 years at the hospital, told the Militant that management is concerned that if their fight is successful the nurses might get inspired and organize next. “This is not just about us. We’re unionizing this place for the future.”

— Hank Scheer, member IUOE Stationary Engineers Local 39 in Martinez, California

New Zealand retail workers walk out for higher wages

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Some 30 workers and supporters rallied for two hours outside the Manukau branch of The Warehouse retail chain here Aug. 6. About 15 workers walked off the job, leaving managers to staff the store. They were joined by employees from other shifts and other unionists.

The workers were rejecting a 30-cent wage increase offered by the company in contract negotiations, FIRST Union organizer Dennis Maga said in a press release. The tiny increase would mean a majority of staff would remain at little above the minimum wage, he said.

Workers on the picket told the Militant that they were also concerned about understaffing, pressure to speed up and abuse by managers.

— Mike Tucker

Alberta concrete truck drivers end lockout, keep seniority

CALGARY, Alberta — Teamsters locked out by Burnco Rock Products Ltd. for three days voted 70-10 Aug. 13 to return to work after pushing back the company’s attack on seniority. The 96 concrete mixer truck drivers at five plants in Alberta, members of Teamsters Local 362, set up picket lines Aug. 10, days before a scheduled vote on a contract proposal from Burnco. The company produces aggregates, paving asphalt and ready-mix concrete.

The drivers voted 78-4 to authorize a strike July 30, shop steward Doug Dodd told the Militant on the picket line at the Shepard Place plant here Aug. 10. Workers carried signs that read, “On legal strike against lock-out.”

“To be perfectly blunt, they’re trying to break the union,” Dodd told CBC News Aug. 10. “We got guys that have worked here over 30 years and they want to be able to sit them at home, bring in whoever they want, whenever they want.”

“They’ve been trying to undermine seniority for a couple of years,” said Jim Carlson, a Burnco driver for 27 years.

Pickets described a steady campaign of company pressure over the past period, from increased disciplinary write-ups to the placement of cameras in the drivers’ room and the padlocking of a washroom.

Asked on the picket line if there was tension between the younger drivers and those with more seniority, Dodd pointed to some picketers, “I’m sure that was the company’s intention. But we’ve got some younger guys over there and they’re solid.”

It was the company that requested a meeting and brought a new proposal, Dodd told the Militant. After seeing the strength of picket line participation, “they came to the realization that it wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought, and their proposal was going to go down in flames,” he said, referring to the attack on seniority. The two-year contract has a 1 percent raise the first year and none in the second. Saturday overtime now will be paid only after 40 hours work.

— Katy LeRougetel

 
 
Related articles:
Steelworkers fight bosses’ demands for concessions
Solidarity actions set when contracts expire Sept. 1
Mineworkers protest Patriot’s attack on union
Nonunion construction deaths on rise in New York
Don Rasmussen: Stalwart of miners’ fight for safety
How coal miners’ struggles transformed union
 
 
 
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