Video: SEIU President Andy Stern discusses The Employee Free Choice Act

Andy Stern, the President of The Service Employees International Union discusses the Employee Free Act with Meet The Bloggers host, Cenk Uygur, from 9/12/08.

Mike Fishman. President of 32BJ, speaks of whats wrong and what must be done to avert the collapse of the middle class in America

Just trying to put everything together. Please if you have some time, check out the other stories I tagged on this subject, while they're not the only related articles, I learned a lot of how we got here, and what it's going to take to get us out of this mess.

• The collapse of the middle class part 1: Letters from Vermont
• Video: The collapse of the middle class Part 2: Revealing lecture by Elizabeth Warren
• Ed Ott, Executive Director of NY Central Labor Council: Lifting the bottom can avert the collapse of the middle class
• Bill Moyers on LA Labor, the march and what it takes to get bye in today's America
  

Here again we have some more honest writing on the matter in an opinion piece by Mike Fishman(President 32/BJ), from City Limits entitled "Low wages, High wages and nothing in between" (7/28/08):

America must correct its vast earnings gap, or the 'working poor' will continue to include far too many of us.
Last week’s national minimum wage bump to $6.55 an hour didn’t affect New Yorkers who were already earning a higher $7.15 minimum set by the state. But the extra income does little for those who had been earning the previous federal minimum of $5.85 an hour – or the 6.1 million residents of New York state who are struggling to cover the skyrocketing prices of milk, bread and gas with low wages.

Today, nearly one-third of all Americans are trying to make ends meet on low wages. And the number of low-wage jobs – primarily service jobs in hotels, food prep, home health care and office cleaning – is growing. In the next decade, 5 million new jobs will pay poverty-level wages unless something is done.

Valentino Stronza, a security officer working at a Midtown office building owned by the Paramount Group, lives this struggle daily. He's doing his best to make ends meet, but earning only $10 an hour from Apollo Security isn't enough for him to provide the home he wants his son to have. To keep costs down, he and his son share a bedroom in his sister's apartment. He works overnight three days a week trying to put money aside so he and his son can move into their own place, but so far, the extra money has gone to paying off past medical expenses.

Valentino’s not alone – according to Mayor Bloomberg’s new poverty measurement, nearly one in four New Yorkers lives in poverty. Despite working hard to create better futures for their families, they are making little headway in an economy that's producing low-wage jobs like there's no tomorrow.

At the same time, this past year marked the fifth straight year in which the number of millionaires in our country grew – now at 10 million. The top 1 percent of households take home 21.8 percent of all income – more than double the 9 percent rate of 30 years ago. This is the highest concentration of income in the hands of the wealthiest 1 percent since 1928, a year before the great stock market crash.

At no time in our history has the disparity in income been so wide and in no other industrialized country does the disparity come close. CEO compensation is more than 400 times the take-home pay of an average American worker. For an industrialized country, there is no parallel to this growing income divide between the highest- and lowest-paid workers. Corporate executives in England make half as much as those in America, while the lowest-paid workers there earn a higher wage than their American counterparts.

As we look toward the upcoming election, which will put the fate of our country in new hands, we must demand national policies to change the direction of our economy. Pegging the minimum wage to a percentage of median income would raise it and then keep the lowest paid workers on pace with future increases of the rest of the workforce. Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit – a cost that would be offset by closing tax loopholes for the very wealthy – would also help those low-income families teetering on the brink of poverty.

Locally, a citywide policy requiring publicly financed development projects to pay prevailing wages and benefits to the workers who build and maintain the sites would ensure that newly created jobs provide what New York families need to get by. At Willets Point and Greenpoint-Williamsburg developments where these provisions have already been set in motion, hundreds of good jobs will be created for working New Yorkers.

Aside from government action, companies, particularly those benefiting from tax breaks, must raise pay in low-wage industries if we are to make an immediate and wide-scale impact on poverty. Government programs alone will fall short of the mark, and unions have shown they can work with business responsibly to bring low-wage workers out of poverty.

In New York, low-wage union workers make 16 percent more in wages than their non-union counterparts and are 25 percent more likely to get employer-paid health care and a pension. But joining a union can be hard for many workers who fear employer retribution. Federal passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan bill which would create a more neutral environment for workers to decide on union membership, would help low-wage workers join a union and get the raises they need.

Americans have long held to the notion that having a job means you can make ends meet. But unless steps are taken to address the growing imbalance in our economy, we could wake up one day in a city of just the very rich and the working poor.

- Mike Fishman

Mike Fishman is president of SEIU Local 32BJ, with more than 100,000 members, including 70,000 in New York City, making it the largest private sector union on the East Coast.

Joe's Union Review welcomes another Labor blog, a letter to the editor that made my day, SEIU performs ABBA at John McCain camp

Was noticing where my links were coming from and saw a new blog out there, I'm used to the US Chamber of Commerce and other anti-union agencies websites popping up unexpected, but it's always a pleasure to find yet another person who has been motivated enough to jump into the action and help promote our struggle, from the upcoming election and explaining that in his field videography, The Employee Free Choice Act is as necessary as in my own, the construction industry, so without further ado, a big welcome to Decision List, who's latest post is a great music video.

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON - NATALIE MERCHANT

Though many folks try to make things more complex than they really are, it really always comes down to a simple question.

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Hope to be reading more, and I hope he checks out Broadcast Union News, who has a lot of entertainment and broadcasting news.

Speaking of broadcasts, UnionGal posted a great video on her site, from 7/17, of a SEIU(Service Employees) theater production outside of John McCains headquarters on her site called "McCain as the "Loophole King"

Last week SEIU protested outside of McCain's campaign headquarters in Virginia. How they got ABBA to join them, I'll never know...

Richard at Union Review and Kirsten at UnionGal have been crazy busy, Richard attended Netroots Nation and Kirsten is running for office in DC, I will eventually be posting about all that sooner or later, I'm still reading through it, but I have a ton of stuff on my plate and a guy I worked with has passed away, a great guy who would give you the shirt off his back if you were in need, I feel really bad, I'm gonna miss him.

So I'm kinda doing all sorts of stuff, including getting more information about The Employee Free Choice Act petition for my own local to sign up, I'm meeting with the NYS AFL-CIO rep here in NYC tomorrow to get that stuff. Found a great article from over a year ago entitled "Who's afraid of The Employee Free Choice Act" from Common Dreams.

It's also nice to see Omaha Steve is still posting away at Democratic Underground, especially a letter to the editor he spotted from a The Providence Journal :

Brian Wilder: What union have brought us

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, July 17, 2008

It’s tiresome reading such nonsense as the letter from Steve Lemois (June 18) who claims to know what unions are doing.

Here are some of the programs and laws that union workers have fought hard to create, many of which we still protect from regular attack by wealthy interests: Social Security, Medicare, the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, child-labor laws, family/medical leave with employer-paid insurance, unemployment insurance, temporary-disability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and the minimum-wage law. And we have much more hard work ahead of us, such as the need for affordable access to health care for everyone and human-rights protections for workers making our products both here and abroad.

We union workers sure do manage to do an awful lot for non-union people while just “looking after our own behinds,” which Mr. Lemois claims is all we do. Can he even be serious?

BRIAN WILDER

Cranston

Spread the word people, the American worker, the heart of the labor movement, will not go down without a fight.

That's about it for now, sorry for the lapse in covering recent news, maybe if we had a few more writers, ah, but we can all just dream a little...

Hit the pocket books of working families, Schwarzenegger gearing up to hurt working class and retirees

"Every day I care for a blind man and a woman with mental disabilities. They're able to live alone, somewhat independently, with my help. Both my consumers would be doomed without services," "They would both be devastated if they were forced into nursing homes because of these cuts." -Rosie Byers, homecare worker in San Francisco.

You work all your life to retire and along the way you and your wife get sick, but you can make it in your own home with a little help, lord knows that my own mother needed home help when she was dying. In San Fransisco, CA., the budget cuts are being aimed at working families and retired, sick and those in need. Cutting jobs and reducing hours, wages and benefits for those that make the cut potentially hurts all San Fransisco residents.

From PRNewswire (6/14/08):

More Than 13,000 Home Healthcare Workers,
Clients Protest Governor's Cuts
Union Members Gather to Call, Write Letters to
Schwarzenegger Expressing Outrage

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An unprecedented
number of home healthcare workers rallied Saturday to protest Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to their hours of service, wages and
benefits. These dramatic reductions would force some of California's most
vulnerable workers and the people they serve deeper into poverty. It also
would force many clients out of their homes and into nursing facilities
prematurely.

In San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno, workers, their clients and
supporters gathered to write letters and make phone calls urging the
governor to lay down his budget ax and pledge to save these vital services
for seniors and people with disabilities. Thousands participated in the
demand that the governor craft a budget that's fair to all Californians,
and encouraged Republican lawmakers to withdraw their support of the latest
plan.

In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provides personal care and domestic
services to more than 408,000 seniors and disabled people, enabling them to
live in their homes. The program is funded by federal, state and county
governments.

In his most recent budget proposal, Schwarzenegger advocated
"permanently eliminating domestic and related services" to 84,000 people,
or 20 percent of all IHSS recipients.

The American Nightmare continues. Speaking of California...

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy - California Uber Alles (Live 1992)



The title translated is California above all others, it was written at a time when California had another pro-corporate Governor, Peter Wilson. While the names have changed, as have the times, the message is the same, sing along...

"At a time when AIDS is in a crisis,
I cut healthcare and I raise prices,
sales tax, snack tax, excise tax
Informational tax with a newspaper tax.

Hit the pocket books of working families,
increase tuition at the universities,
Some day I'll command all o' you,
even your kids are gonna pray to me in school,
Soon I'm gonna be the president
you might remember the last one this state sent"

I wish I heard this when it came out...the studio version is awesome

Names changed, story is the same, maybe even worse.

The Man behind the music

So who is the front man of this work?

Michael Franti, who continues his career as musician and movie maker, now with the band Spearhead, heres a live show from 2006:


You can find more free to listen music and audio files at the Internet Archive

Mall cleaners in 5 states get raises

Wage Hikes of up to 54% for hundreds of cleaners
From 32BJ/In The News (6/14/08):

New York, NY – Seventeen East Coast malls owned by Simon Property Group, North America’s largest publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), will soon be cleaned by workers earning better wages and benefits. Under a new agreement between Local 32BJ and Control Building Services, which employs nearly 400 cleaners at Simon’s East Coast malls, the wages and benefits of mall cleaners will be raised to match those of area office building cleaners in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

“Bringing the wages for cleaners at Simon malls into line with office building cleaners will enable hundreds of workers to climb out of poverty,” said Héctor Figueroa, Local 32BJ Secretary-Treasurer. "All workers deserve the wages needed to support themselves and families."

Simon Property Group is the largest publicly traded real estate company in the United States with over $3 billion in annual revenues and ownership interest in 380 properties around the world. Control Service Group, a private New Jersey-based company that provides cleaning and maintenance services to commercial and retail properties across the country, is a $300 million company that employs more than 8,000 people.

On May 1, 2008, cleaners at 13 of the 17 Simon malls covered under the agreement will begin earning wages on par with area office building cleaners. Wage increases for cleaners at the remaining four Long Island malls will go into effect on July 1, 2008. For many of the workers, who are earning the minimum wage, the first raise will be as much as 54 percent increase.

By October 1, 2008, fully employer paid family health care for full-time workers and a health benefit which includes life insurance, a prescription drug benefit and dental and optical insurance for part-time workers will go into effect.

Press Release (pdf)

Fireman, teachers, police, none are allowed into unions in North Carolina, stand in solidarity for public workers 6/11/08

North Carolina citizens and organizations are calling for the passage of House Bill 1583, which will grant North Carolina's public servants the collective bargaining rights they deserve.

North Carolina's anti-worker laws and failures of labor law enforcement have been reported on this site and at Union Review for a while now, from breaking the bylaws of NAFTA by outlawing collective bargaining and freedom of association for public employees, in which Mexico filed charges with the United Nations International Labor Organization, to the recent Charges filed by over 40 North American unions against the state to the blatant discrimination and disregard for safety standards in the states meat cutting industry . You can check out the stories below:

• Safety Workers Bill dropped for the moment, hard core anti-worker conservatives playing games
• Victory: Senate vote's overwhelmingly in favor of America's public safety workers
• More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina's anti-union policies (4/26/08)
• Doctors come forward to Congress explaining how they are coerced to mistreat and under treat injured workers (4/21/08)
• U.S. Lawmakers worried about safety after Charlotte Observers expose on the poultry industry(3/08/08)
  
• North Carolina who was recently sued by Mexico for labor rights violations is at it again, coercing county employee out of Worker Compensation. (2/14/08)
• NC: The Human Cost of the poultry Industry by The Charlotte observer(2/10/08)
  
• North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? - Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively (11/07)
• Who's the Greediest Grinch of 2007? (12/07)

Tomorrow the H.O.P.E Coalition (Hear Our Public Employees) are gathering to help pass House Bill 1583, which will grant North Carolina's public servants the collective bargaining rights they deserve.

Heres the scoop from PRNewswire - abridged (6/10/08):

The North Carolina H.O.P.E Coalition (Hear Our Public Employees)
will hold a Collective Bargaining Lobby Day and press conference
on Wednesday, June 11, at the NC Legislative Building in Raleigh
Scheduled speakers include Representative Dan Blue (D-Wake), public
employees and local Government officials

 WHY: A strong and growing coalition of North Carolina citizens and
organizations are calling for the passage of House Bill 1583, which will
grant North Carolina's public servants the collective bargaining rights
they deserve. Current NC law singles out public workers as second class
employees by denying them the same negotiation rights as employees working
in the private sector.

 The H.O.P.E. Coalition's core member organizations include NC State
AFL-CIO; American Federation of Teachers/NC; American Association of
University Professors/NC; International Union of Police Associations;
National Association of Social Workers - NC Chapter; NC Association of
Educators; Professional Firefighters and Paramedics of NC; Service
Employees International Union; State Employees Association of NC, SEIU
Local 2008; Teamsters Local 391; UE 150 - NC Public Service.

Firemen, teachers, police, none are allowed into unions in North Carolina, stand in solidarity for public workers 6/11/08

North Carolina citizens and organizations are calling for the passage of House Bill 1583, which will grant North Carolina's public servants the collective bargaining rights they deserve.

North Carolina's anti-worker laws and failures of labor law enforcement have been reported on this site and at Union Review for a while now, from breaking the bylaws of NAFTA by outlawing collective bargaining and freedom of association for public employees, in which Mexico filed charges with the United Nations International Labor Organization, to the recent Charges filed by over 40 North American unions against the state to the blatant discrimination and disregard for safety standards in the states meat cutting industry . You can check out the stories below:

• Safety Workers Bill dropped for the moment, hard core anti-worker conservatives playing games
• Victory: Senate vote's overwhelmingly in favor of America's public safety workers
• More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina's anti-union policies (4/26/08)
• Doctors come forward to Congress explaining how they are coerced to mistreat and under treat injured workers (4/21/08)
• U.S. Lawmakers worried about safety after Charlotte Observers expose on the poultry industry(3/08/08)
  
• North Carolina who was recently sued by Mexico for labor rights violations is at it again, coercing county employee out of Worker Compensation. (2/14/08)
• NC: The Human Cost of the poultry Industry by The Charlotte observer(2/10/08)
  
• North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? - Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively (11/07)
• Who's the Greediest Grinch of 2007? (12/07)

Tomorrow the H.O.P.E Coalition (Hear Our Public Employees) are gathering to help pass House Bill 1583, which will grant North Carolina's public servants the collective bargaining rights they deserve.

Heres the scoop from PRNewswire - abridged (6/10/08):

The North Carolina H.O.P.E Coalition (Hear Our Public Employees)
will hold a Collective Bargaining Lobby Day and press conference
on Wednesday, June 11, at the NC Legislative Building in Raleigh
Scheduled speakers include Representative Dan Blue (D-Wake), public
employees and local Government officials

 WHY: A strong and growing coalition of North Carolina citizens and
organizations are calling for the passage of House Bill 1583, which will
grant North Carolina's public servants the collective bargaining rights
they deserve. Current NC law singles out public workers as second class
employees by denying them the same negotiation rights as employees working
in the private sector.

 The H.O.P.E. Coalition's core member organizations include NC State
AFL-CIO; American Federation of Teachers/NC; American Association of
University Professors/NC; International Union of Police Associations;
National Association of Social Workers - NC Chapter; NC Association of
Educators; Professional Firefighters and Paramedics of NC; Service
Employees International Union; State Employees Association of NC, SEIU
Local 2008; Teamsters Local 391; UE 150 - NC Public Service.

Aramark, NY protests, strike at 3 locations and a New Haven, CT. Rally to oust the company on 4/14/08

From the Village Voice (4/10/08) :

Dressed in red amid the blues and grays of Wall Street, union leaders pounded drums and shouted over loudspeakers yesterday to add a voice of dissent among the limos and police protection that lined Front Street in the financial district during Goldman Sachs’ annual shareholders meeting. The Service Employees International Union organized the event to ask Sachs to pressure food service provider Aramark, in which the bank holds a 20% stake. As the rally went on outside the meeting, representatives from the union addressed shareholders to demand improved labor conditions at the food services giant. Current and former employees claim that Aramark provides unfair wages and fires workers who attempt to organize for better pay and benefits.

“I was trying to organize my co-workers so that we could get the things we need” said Antonio Gomez, a former worker at Houston’s Convention Center, where Aramark provides cleaning services. Gomez said he organized partly to remedy a lack of health care coverage and was subsequently fired by the company.

“When people would get sick or injured, [Aramark] would basically say ‘That’s your problem,’ and ‘If you can’t come to work, don’t bother coming back at all’” he said.

A press representative from Aramark declined to comment on these specific allegations, citing company policy on privacy, but disputed the union's claims more generally, saying that the company provides competitive wages and benefits. The company also said it has a 50-year relationship with unions nationwide, including SEIU.

“As a services business we rely on the quality of services provided by our employees, for that reason we make an effort to provide competitive wages” said Christine Grow, a press representative for Aramark. “A vast majority of our employees have access to health care benefits.”

The workers came to the Goldman Sachs meeting after a nationwide fact-finding tour of sites run by Aramark and say that they want to put a human face on the decisions Sachs makes as a primary stakeholder in Aramark. The union said many of these problems began when Aramark went private. Their list of concerns extends from the company shortchanging school districts in Detroit on bulk-order food to 33 major health-code violations at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA.
(continued)Read Full Story

From CNN Money (4/10/08) *Abridged

Late Wednesday afternoon, workers also went to the offices of Warburg Pincus and CCMP Capital, two of Aramark's other private-equity buyers, where they spoke to representatives of the firms. "They were polite enough to listen to us, but they said the big bosses were in a meeting," says Mark Williams, who works for Aramark at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

"Since the private equity deal, the company has become more arrogant," he says. "They seem tougher in union negotiations. They want us to work more to earn health-care benefits."

Some unionized Aramark workers in New York are also striking as part of a contract dispute, attracting attention from passersby with an eight-foot-tall inflatable skunk on 52nd Street. They work in three cafeterias, at the CBS Building in Midtown and two offices of the Bank of New York in lower Manhattan. At all three cafeterias the workers are employed by Aramark, not the tenants.

CBS (CBS, Fortune 500) and Bank of New York (BK, Fortune 500) spokespeople said their companies have no plans to get involved in the dispute. "Over the years, many CBS employees have gotten to know and appreciate the men and women employed in our cafeteria," says CBS spokesperson Shannon Jacobs. The cafeterias have stayed open during the protests.
(continued)Read Full Story

Meanwhile in New Haven, Connecticut, there is a rally to oust Aramark from the local school district

Mobilization Alert: Rally Against Aramark April 14 in New Haven

The campaign to expel the private company Aramark from New Haven’s public schools continues with an April 14 rally in front of New Haven City Hall on 165 Church St. Join New Haven public service workers and AFSCME International President Gerald McEntee on the steps of City Hall as we renew our call to stop corrupt privatization and incompetent outsourcing.

• Click here for the April 14 Rally Flyer.
• Click here for directions to New Haven City Hall.

Parents, students, and school employees are urging members of the New Haven Board of Alderman to cut all ties with the private contractor Aramark because of the company’s mismanagement of food services and facilities maintenance.

Aramark is under fire because of the poor quality of food services and facility management in the New Haven school system. New Haven has contracted with Aramark for the last 12 years — at a cost of millions to the taxpayers.

Community members are telling elected officials to return the New Haven school system to a self-management model that would save taxpayers millions and provide better services to the kids.

News stories on Aramark in New Haven:

• Click here to read “Chicken — and Company” — Blasted in the New Haven Independent.
• Click here to read “Aramark Excoriated at Aldermen’s Public Hearing” in the New Haven Register.
• Click here to watch ”Clean Schools” on Fox 61 News.
• Click here for a press release on Council 4’s billboard campaign pointing to the waste caused by bear proof dumpsters.
• Click here to read “Union billboards slam Aramark on trash bins” in the Feb. 12 New Haven Register.
• Click here to read “Trash Talkin” in the Feb. 13 New Haven Advocate.
• Click here to read “School board to seek new food, facilities pacts as unions rally against Aramark” in the Feb. 2 New Haven Register.
• Click here to read the editorial “City should end dealings with Aramark” co-authored by Council 4 Executive Director Sal Luciano and New Haven Central Labor Council President Bob Proto.
• Click here to read “Custodians Want Break with Aramark” in the Jan. 14 New Haven Register.
• Click here to read “School Custodians: Fire Aramark” in the Jan. 15 New Haven Independent.
• Click here to read “School Workers Petition to Cut Ties with Aramark” in the Jan. 15 New Haven Register.

Learn more about the perils of privatization and contracting out:

• Click here for AFSCME’s Privatization Website Resources.
• Click here for the daily AFSCME Privatization Update.
• Click here to read “Schools for Sale,” which examines the privatization of non-instructional school services.
• Click here for Council 4’s “Privatization Equals Corruption” site

SEIU and UNITE-HERE have united to hist a website called Facts On Aramark

Security officer campaign escalates; 17 arrested in act of civil disobedience

From Workday Minnesota (3/21/08)

Inside the lobby of U.S. Bancorp Center (above), a group of 17 linked arms and sat down in an act of non-violent civil disobedience. Javier Morillo-Alicea addressed the crowd outside the IDS Center: "We are here to protect and defend community standards..."

Minneapolis - Security officers and community allies filled the lobby of U.S. Bancorp Center in downtown Minneapolis late Thursday afternoon to support a fair contract and 17 were arrested in an act of civil disobedience. U.S. Bancorp was targeted by Service Employees International Union Local 26, which is seeking a new contract for 800 private security officers who work for five security contractors. Members voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to reject a contract offer because it failed to include affordable health insurance.

Katherine Blauvelt, Workers Interfaith Network (left) and Lisa Amman, ISAIAH, continued chanting after being handcuffed.

The employers' contract offer would have made health insurance even more expensive than the current contract.

"We are here today to protect and defend community standards and say people who protect multi-million dollar real estate ought to be able to provide for their families," said Javier Morillo-Alicea, addressing a crowd of about 100 union members and supporters outside the IDS Center at about 4:30 p.m.

The group marched across the street and rushed into the lobby of U.S. Bancorp Center, chanting, "What do we want? Health care. When do we want it? Now!"

A group of 17 sat down and linked arms. The crowd continued chanting. Police arrived within minutes. When the seated protestors refused to leave at the request of police, they were arrested. All arrested cooperated with police by presenting their wrists for handcuffing and by walking out of the building.

Outside, the crowd continued chanting while those arrested sat on the edge of a planter, awaiting police vehicles that soon would take them away.

"U.S. Bank, do the right thing!" the crowd chanted. Members of the group arrested also continued chanting.

The security officers' contract expired Jan. 1.

SEIU Local 26 staged a one-day strike Feb. 25 to put pressure on the employers to settle the contract.

"On that one-day strike, we said if it has to get bigger, it has to get bigger," Local 26 president Morillo-Alicea told the crowd Thursday.

The employers group termed the contract that was rejected as their "last, best final best offer."

"They're not prepared to move forward but we're prepared to do more," said Greg Nammacher, SEIU Local 26 program director, speaking to the crowd after police took the 17 people arrested away.

The 17 arrested included SEIU members and staff as well as community supporters from ISAIAH, Workers Interfaith Network, and TakeAction Minnesota.

Steve Share edits the Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council.
Photo by Steve Share, Minneapolis Labor Review

For more information
See the Workday special section on the Stand for Security campaign

Bronx, NY: Victory! SEIU 32BJ comes to terms for better contract after strike is called

Update to this mornings->Bronx NY: SEIU 32/BJ walking off the job, 4,000 now on strike!

WOW! Got the news at the New York Central Labor council, sources say the agreement came around 1:00AM. Hope they saw the story on the site. Though it needs member ratification, there is now a tentative agreement on the table.

From NY1 (9 hours ago on 3/20):

Video Link in Real Media format

A strike that would have put thousands of Bronx apartment building workers on the picket line has been avoided.

Local 32BJ announced Thursday morning that it had reached a tentative deal with the Bronx Realty Board after encouraging talks overnight.

Nearly 4,000 building workers threatened Wednesday to walk off the job. About 300 buildings would have been affected.

The new deal calls for a wage increase that amounts to $20 a week for the maintenance workers, porters, and doormen who have been working without a contract. Union leaders say that it is the largest increase ever negotiated with the Bronx Realty Advisory Board.

The new contract also calls for pension increases, along with improved health care and worker training programs.

"They reserve respect and dignity on the job," said Local 32BJ Executive Vice President Kyle Bragg. "One way of doing that is to be able to come to work with a peace of mind, knowing that you make a livable wage and that you have benefits in place that will provide security for yourselves and your family."

"We reached a package we were aiming for and I'm happy," said a union member.

Some local residents who spoke with NY1 said the workers deserve a fair wage.

"The building is clean and they keep in safe," said a Riverdale resident. "They're really great people."

"I hope the garbage doesn't pile up," said another. "But they work very hard and I don't understand why they don't get paid what they deserve."

The three-year contract still needs to be ratified by the union members.

I think the resident were going to be behind them 100%, Joe's Union Review and everyone who the guy who runs this site certainly was. Avoiding a strike is a victory for the workers and for the residents.

Bronx NY: SEIU 32/BJ walking off the job, 4,000 now on strike!

UPDATED: Strike Avoided->Bronx, NY: Victory! SEIU 32BJ comes to terms for better contract after strike is called

According to NY1 on my TV, the story hasn't made it to the web page yet

Negotiations between Service Employees International Union's Local 32BJ, representing 4,000 Bronx workers, and the Bronx Realty Advisory Board, representing landlords, which were resumed today have broken down.

UPDATE (2/20/08) from NY1:

Bronx Service Employees Will Go On Strike
The local union of 4,000 residential building workers in the Bronx will go on strike Thursday morning.

The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ said that talks with the Bronx Realty Advisory Board and independent building owners broke down.

About 300 residential buildings in the borough will be affected. The union includes maintenance workers, doormen, and porters.

Members say they want a pay increase and secure health insurance.

NY1 put out calls to the Bronx Realty Advisory Board but did not get a response.

Heres a story that was released before the strike was called, from News12 this morning:

Play the video

(03/19/08) SOUNDVIEW - Tenants in 500 Bronx buildings may soon have to throw out their own trash, go without repairs and open their own doors if contract talks fail Wednesday.

Nearly 4,000 Bronx building superintendents, porters, maintenance workers and doormen with the SEIU Local 32BJ are threatening to walk off the job.

The union has said it has until midnight, an extension from a March 14 deadline, to hammer out a deal with the Bronx Realty Advisory Board, which represents property owners.

The union claims workers in the borough are getting paid about $10 per hour, while their counterparts in other boroughs are being paid nearly twice that amount.

Workers are also demanding pension increases and health care benefits that are fully funded by employers.

SEIU Local 32BJ maintains the Bronx's real estate industry is booming, but workers who make it possible haven't seen the benefits.

I wish the workers good luck in their struggle, they are just looking for a living wage, it took $50 to fill my tank today, the tolls just got higher and now the local electric utility, (GIANT)Con(glomerate) Edison is getting a 5% hike, thats average of $4 a month for each household.

NY: 32BJ Bronx workers strike avoided, union still negotiating.

UPDATE: (3/19/08) Bronx NY: SEIU 32/BJ walking off the job, 4,000 now on strike!

UPDATE To-> NY: Join 32BJ SEIU to support their bargaining demands of decent wage increases on March 5th. in the Bronx (3/4/08)

The press likes to make some noise when they have available staff to cover a story, but the contract for the 500 Bronx members of 32BJ in the Bronx has expired without a whisper of media coverage. It took me outreaching to the communications department of SEIU 32BJ to get to the bottom of whats going on.

According to Matt Nerzig, Director of Communications of Local 32BJ of the SEIU "No new contract or strike - not yet. Talks are set to resume next week.".

The workers plight was reported on at Joe's Union review, thanks to the E-Mail correspondence of the NYC Central Labor Council, and this past Tuesday in the NY Daily News:

Building workers' union contract talks at impasse
by Bill Egbert daily news staff writer 3-11-08

Members of Local 32BJ vote to strike at Bronx County Courthouse last week. Their contract expires at midnight Friday.

Residents in 500 Bronx buildings could find themselves taking out their own garbage and mopping their halls by the end of this week, as contract talks between owners and building workers head down to the wire. Nearly 4,000 building workers could walk off the job at midnight Friday, when their current contract expires.

Members of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union voted last week to authorize a strike if the Bronx Realty Advisory Board didn't make a deal by a new contract deadline. "They're worried," porter German Rochez said of residents in his north Bronx building, "asking who will take out the garbage and things like that.

"I tell them that we need their support for a good contract," said Rochez, 40. "They understand. They have jobs like us and face the same kind of thing."

Bronx building workers have long negotiated a separate contract from workers in the rest of the city, mainly because rents - and landlord income - tend to be lower in the borough, though Bronx property values are starting to catch up. Workers are seeking a hike in the minimum-wage rate, now $10 an hour, and a pension increase. The average hourly wage for building workers in other boroughs, according to the union, is $18.69.

The negotiations come at a time when the Bronx real estate market is booming.

According to Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Bronx property values have jumped 76% in the past four years, rents have increased 17% since 2005 and the Bronx has the lowest vacancy rate in the city. Local 32BJ Vice President Kyle Bragg said SEIU - which merged three years ago with the union that started the two-tiered wage system - is trying to close that gap, but he acknowledged that will be a long-term project.
Read Full Story

I wish the Bronx workers good luck, avoiding a strike is a good thing, negotiating a good contract with better living wages would be even better.

Join the Unions and community organizations in 3-19 rally to reverse City and State funding cuts

Got this from my E-Mail

KEEP THE PROMISES! -TO BUILD MORE SCHOOLS -TO FUND FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN -TO LOWER CLASS SIZE -TO IMPROVE MIDDLE SCHOOLS -TO EXPAND ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS PROGRAMS -TO KEEP AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND TUTORING SERVICES We may face uncertain economic times ahead, but this much is certain: We must keep the promises to our kids. Show your support for the KEEP THE PROMISES COALITION BRING YOUR UNION'S BANNER! What: "Keep the Promises Coaliton Rally" Where: City Hall Park When: Wednesday,March 19th Time: 4:00PM

Click the picture below for leaflet, had to convert from PDF to JPG so it isn't very clear

Heres more info from New York Teacher from 2-14-08

‘Keep the Promises’ coalition forms to reverse city, state ed funding cuts

A diverse coalition of education advocacy groups, community organizations, clergy, labor unions and dozens of elected officials has launched a major campaign to fight state and city budget proposals that could cost New York City public schools $700 million.

Members of more than 60 community groups, parent organizations and unions, as well as some 40 state and city elected officials, gathered on the steps of City Hall on Feb. 10 to announce the formation of the “Keep the Promises” coalition in response to budget reductions and proposed cuts in education for city schools. The list of cuts includes the following:

• The city has imposed an immediate 1.75 percent cut to schools — a $100 million, midyear cut that will disrupt schools’ programs, schedules and staffing.
• The mayor’s 2009 budget proposal cuts New York City education by $324 million.
• The state budget proposes to give city schools nearly $200 million less than was expected in the Contract for Excellence, stalling progress in class size reduction, full-day pre-kindergarten expansion, improving middle schools and other programs and services.

The state is also proposing to cap building aid, which will slow school construction.  

“When government promises to safeguard the quality education of our children, parents and the public have a right to expect those promises to be honored,” UFT President Randi Weingarten said to reporters as she stood on the City Hall steps flanked by dozens of her coalition colleagues.

She said that “in the absence of an independent Board of Education and an independent schools chancellor, public school children need champions to intervene and protect them. That’s why we are part of this coalition launching this campaign.” Weingarten said the coalition would fight to have the funds restored because the city’s children deserve the quality education they’ve been promised.

“Make no mistake,” Weingarten added. “School-based educators would never dream of saying, ‘Now that we have less we will do less.’ Instead we will fight the school cuts.”

Geri D. Palast — executive director of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, which took the state to court to win increased funding for New York City schools — noted that after 13 years of litigation, New York State “legislated a promise” to add $2.35 billion in classroom operating aid for New York City over four years. At the same time, Mayor Bloomberg said the city would add $2.2 billion. The state also said it would provide $11.2 billion to subsidize the city’s $13.1 billion school construction plan to “finally fund the constitutional right to a sound, basic education,” Palast said.

However, she added, both the state and the city are proposing $700 million in cuts in these commitments. “Long overdue funding of these promises tied to accountability for this catch-up plan must be immunized from short-term economic fluctuations,” Palast said. “A generation of kids has already paid the price for delayed funding with their futures.” (Click for: Full Story)

NY: Join 32BJ SEIU to support their bargaining demands of decent wage increases on March 5th. in the Bronx

UPDATE->Bronx NY: SEIU 32/BJ walking off the job, 4,000 now on strike!(3/19)

SEIU LOCAL 32BJ BRONX MEMBERS FIGHTING FOR A GOOD CONTRACT This past December, 32BJ commercial members won a terrific contract thanks to in part to the support of our community and labor allies. Today, their residential members in the Bronx are engaged in their contract fight and we ask you to stand with them again. 32BJ represents about 4,000 workers in over 1,400 residential buildings in the Bronx. The current contracts for these members expire on March 14,2008. Their members take care of buildings as supers, doormen, porters and handymen. They are the hard-working people who take care of their tenants. Like most working people, they struggle to provide for their families. As the real estate industry has boomed in the Bronx, their members continue to struggle to get by. In the last few years, top investors have poured hundreds of millions of dollars in Bronx real estate. Huge new developments are being planned such as Gateway Center, Boricua Village and a new Yankee Stadium. Over 5,000 residential units began construction in 2007. Borough President Adolfo Carrion calculated that property values in the Bronx have jumped 76% in the last four years. But working people continue to be left behind. The Bronx residential members make dramatically less than other residential members in the City. The average wage is 20% lower in the Bronx and some Bronx workers are paid as low as $10/hr. Wage increases for Bronx members have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing, food, and transportation over the last three years. Their goal is to ensure that workers get their fair share. We ask for your support in this fight. Thank you in advance for your continued solidarity!

32BJ CONTRACT GOALS: Bronx members are demanding: -Decent wage increases -Maintaining their health insurance -Improved pension and other benefits JOIN 32 BJ FOR THEIR MARCH 5TH RALLY: On March 5th at 4pm, thousands of 32BJ members and their supporters will be marching on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx to support their bargaining demands of decent wage increases, and increased retirement benefits. The meeting place is Frank Sigel Park at 153rd Street and the Grand Concourse. The Bronx real estate market has been booming. Let's make sure Bronx workers get their fair share! Click here to download a flyer for the rally. *FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL GOURI SADHWANI AT GSADHWANI@SEIU32BJ.ORG OR 212-388-3967.

NY: Rally for Aramark cafeteria worker justice!!

Stand in solidarity with Aramark cafeteria worker's in the Campaign for Quality Services.

Note:Picture is from earlier Detroit campaign

Who: UNITE-HERE Local 100 members
Aramark Cafeteria Workers
SEIU 32BJ members

What: RALLY & MARCH

When: Wednesday, March 5th
3:30-4:30pm

Where: 80 Broadway, corner of Wall St. and Broadway

**This event is a joint project between SEIU and UNITE-HERE in the Campaign for Quality Services

Don't let this happen to your school district

‘NO to ARAMARK’s green eggs and ham!’

Detroit joins national protest against Aramark. / DIANE BUKOWSKI PHOTO By Diane Bukowski Special to The Michigan Citizen DETROIT — Dozens of demonstrators braved chilling winds outside the Detroit Public Schools Welcome Center Jan. 18 to kick off a national campaign aimed at dumping Aramark contracts at school districts, universities and hospitals. Members of the community, including DPS parents and state legislators, along with the unions UNITE/HERE, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Operating Engineers Local 547, Teamsters Council 43, and the Detroit Federation of Teachers, among others, called on the new school board and DPS Superintendent Connie Calloway to cut ties with Aramark.[more] You can read more at Facts On Aramark