Victory for Smithfield workers, Rico suit dropped, workers to get union vote!

"Truth, Justice and the American way" - narrator, Superman TV series

One Rico suit against unions and their supporters has been dropped, workers finally big winners, imagine we live in a world that just being able to get a union election is a major victory

From Metro DC Labor Council:

WORKERS WIN AT SMITHFIELD!
(10/27/08 6:20P) In a huge win for organized labor, Smithfield Foods dropped a racketeering lawsuit against union organizers Monday and agreed to let them hold a union election at the world's largest hog slaughterhouse. "In return, the United Food and Commercial Workers union agreed to end a publicity campaign against Smithfield that included calls for product boycotts to support its calls for an organizing election at the slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, N.C.," reported the Associated Press Monday afternoon. Smithfield -- the nation's largest pork producer -- estimated that the Justice at Smithfield campaign – which included a major focus on DC-area customers who make up one of Smithfield's largest markets -- cost it about $900 million. "The metro-area labor movement has been deeply involved in this struggle since it was launched over two years ago," said Metro Washington Council President Jos Williams. "Every local activist and labor supporter who turned out to rally, leaflet or march for Justice at Smithfield should be proud of their role in this win." The agreement was announced by Smithfield and the UFCW in a joint statement as the company's lawsuit was about to go to trial Monday in federal court. In a joint statement, Smithfield and the union said they "have agreed on what both parties believe to be a fair election process" on union representation at the Tar Heel plant. The settlement was sealed, and U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne ordered the parties to say nothing further about the deal until after the union election. It was unclear when that election would take place.
- click here for Larry O'Dell's complete AP report. Photo: At the June 19 Justice at Smithfield campaign launch in DC; photo by Tiye Kinlow

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.

Safety Workers Bill dropped for the moment, hard core anti-worker conservatives playing games

UPDATE To: Victory: Senate vote's overwhelmingly in favor of America's public safety workers (5/13/08)

According to the Associated Press this Bill has been dropped for the time being, from The NY Times (5/15/08):

Democrats drop first - responder bill
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democrats on Thursday dropped a bill allowing all police, firefighters and other first responders to unionize after Republicans complained they didn't get enough time to offer amendments.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he did not have enough votes to force final consideration of the bill.

The two top senators on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., will try to work out an agreement before the bill comes back for consideration, Reid said.

The bill would guarantee public safety officers the right to join unions and bargain over wages, hours and conditions of employment. It also would ban them from going on strike.

Two states, Virginia and North Carolina, prohibit public safety officers from collective bargaining. At least 20 other states don't fully protect collective bargaining rights for firefighters, police officers, corrections officers and emergency medical service workers, supporters said.

States could exempt towns with fewer than 5,000 people or fewer than 25 full-time employees.

''I know there are diverse views on this issue,'' Kennedy said. ''We'll try to work out an orderly process and proceed.''

Sources say, that while there is strong bipartisan support, 11 Republicans are co-sponsors of the Bill, there is also fierce opposition, particularly from Enzi, DeMint and Vitter who have essentially been filibustering by amendment. The Bill will be brought up again right before or after Senate recess.

Victory: Senate vote's overwhelmingly in favor of America's public safety workers

UPDATED AT Safety Workers Bill dropped for the moment, hard core anti-worker conservatives playing games

Yesterday I asked you to join with American Rights at Work to contact your Senator and ask them to approve the bill that would allow basic collective bargaining for public safety officers. Today it has been approved by a Veto-proof margin.

From AFL-CIO Now Blog (5/13/08):

The U.S. Senate today moved a step closer to approving legislation that would protect the collective bargaining rights of tens of thousands of firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other public safety officers.

By a 69–29 vote, the Senate killed a filibuster led by several extreme anti-worker Republican senators against the workers’ rights bill. Eighteen Republicans joined all Democrats in backing the move to end the filibuster. The vote on final passage is expected later this week.

Some 20 states do not fully protect the bargaining rights of firefighters, police officers and other first responders. Two states—Virginia and North Carolina—prohibit public safety employees from collectively bargaining.

With final passage near certain, the only thing that stands in the first responders’ path to securing the workplace rights most other workers enjoy is a veto threat from the Bush administration. But today’s veto-proof vote, coupled with last July’s 314–97 House vote, provides more than the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to overturn a veto.

North Carolina's anti worker measures now losing ground

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

• 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)

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina's anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original "North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? - Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively" from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada's NUPGE - National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

'International disgrace'

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

U.S. Lawmakers worried about safety after Charlotte Observers expose on the poultry industry

You may have noticed this masterpiece of investigative journalism which was reported on here at Joe's Union Review in the article entitled NC: The Human Cost of the poultry Industry by The Charlotte observer

Well the story has been published in full at the Observer and as of an article published on Feb. 4th at The Observer, the US Senate and House committees are now planning hearings on workersafety in the poultry industry.

U.S. Senate and House committees, spurred by an Observer report on N.C. poultry giant House of Raeford Farms, are planning hearings on worker safety in the poultry industry, congressional leaders and aides said.

"All Americans should be horrified at the conditions reported in this investigation," Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said in an e-mail. He said he plans to hold a hearing this spring.

In a six-part series that began last Sunday, the Observer reported that House of Raeford, which has seven processing plants in the Carolinas, had masked the extent of injuries behind its plant walls.

You can catch the report and related articles in it's entirety at The Charlotte Observer

North Carolina who was recently sued by Mexico for labor rights violations is at it again, coercing county employee out of Worker Compensation.

Not a labor friendly state by a long shot

North Carolina already has a law which prevents any government agency—state, county, or local—from negotiating with an organized group representing its employees. This prevents these agencies from engaging in business practices as they see fit, and it prevents workers from joining forces to protect their rights.

From my article at UnionReview (11-10-07): North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? - Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively

The ILO (International Labor Organisation) had filed a complaint in Oct.06 - and now (11-07) Mexico's government has called for immediate answers to questions on the progress in gaining collective bargaining rights for public sector workers in the US state of North Carolina.

The US, Mexico, and Canada share the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in which a side accord, the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC), is being used to challenge the lack of labor rights in North Carolina.

Now comes even more news from WVEC.Com(ABC local news in NC) on how bad being a civil servant in North Carolina can be:

Injured man fighting for workman's comp
Reported by: Lindsey Roberts
Television Link

HERTFORD CO., NC – An employee for the county is fighting over worker's compensation. He's asked to remain anonymous.

"When I had the accident I could tell then I was hurt," he said. "They x-rayed and said everything was going to be fine -- it was just probably going to be sore a right good little while."

He says he followed county policy and filled out an accident report, but the next day, he says he received a call from the county saying if he wanted to get paid, he’d have to file the claim on his personal insurance.

He says Hertford County never filed a worker's compensation claim."No, I have not seen one,” he said. “No, nothing but the little county form."He added, “It's just kind of frustrating knowing we are probably going to have to come out of pocket with the deductible after we were hurt on county property."

Everett Thompson practices law in Elizabeth City, NC and handles personal injury and worker's compensation cases. He says the laws are designed to protect the employee. That means if claims are filed, the employee pays no medical expenses.

"Worker's compensation insurance rates are determined by the number of claims they have, so the more claims, the higher the rate, so it would be more expensive for the employer if they have more claims so they might want to encourage their employees not to file."

That practice is illegal. (Read More)

Makes me glad I live in one of those bad old "forced-unionism state's", this comes on the heels of another story that the Charlotte Observer has been covering about a poultry meat packing plant in North Carolina that appears on paper to be safer than a toy store. Hey look below where NC stands on workers rights.