Union - NH Labor News

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Begin Negotiations for a New Contract Today

By New Hampshire Labor News | June 10, 2013 - 10:43 am | Press Release, Union

DALLAS – Bargaining teams for Southwest’s flight attendants and the airline’s management will sit down in Dallas today to begin negotiations for a successor agreement. “We are committed to maintaining the industry’s leading contract for flight attendants and also ensuring the continued success of the airline,” said Audrey Stone, the new Transport Workers Union Local 556 president. TWU Local 556 represents the 11,000 flight attendants at Southwest.

Since the last major round of negotiations in 2009, the low-cost carrier, recognized as the most profitable domestic airline, has made a number of significant changes, including merging with AirTran and purchasing aircraft that can fly over water to international destinations. Southwest also has made major additions to its route map. The flight attendants’ contract became “amendable” on May 31. Under the Railway Labor Act, the federal law that sets collective bargaining rules for airline and railroad workers, contracts don’t have end dates; they become open to changes or, in other words, amendable.

“We have a strong negotiating team in place, and they have been hard at work for months preparing for these talks,” said Stone. The TWU bargaining team conducted multiple member surveys and traveled to all Southwest base cities to talk with flight attendants.

Southwest’s flight attendants’ union has gone through two transitions of officers in the past year. This month, Stone advanced to the union’s top position. Following this week’s contract talks, Stone, along with the rest of the negotiating team, will travel to nine cites where flight attendants are domiciled to brief members on the ongoing negotiations.

This has been an eventful month for Local 556; in addition to the start of bargaining and a transition of officers, the union is celebrating its successful effort to reverse a TSA policy proposal that would have allowed pocket knives, large sticks and clubs to be carried on commercial aircraft. TWU Local 556 was the first flight attendant group to speak out about the proposed policy change. Other unions, along with passenger groups, quickly joined the local in opposing the measure. After a three-month battle in the media, at local airports and in the halls of government, TSA rescinded the policy.

TWU Local 556 represents 11,000 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines. The Transport Workers Union of America represents 200,000 workers and retirees, primarily in commercial aviation, public transportation and passenger railroads and is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

This S#*^ Needs To Stop Before We Completely Destroy Each Other

By Matt Murray | June 8, 2013 - 7:01 am | Labor, Union

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Secretly I have been watching the situation unfold at US Airways. No I am not taking a trip. I have been following this because I am very dishearten to hear that the Teamsters are moving in to try to take the representation rights away from the Transportation Workers Union.

I was first alerted to this when I got a press release with this title, “Teamsters Raid on American Airlines Mechanics and Related Workers”. If you follow this blog regularly you probably already know that I did not post this press release like I do with many others.

Labor unions have serious problems in the eyes of the public. Many see us as outdated, worthless organizations that only promote laziness. Those of us who work inside labor movement know this is the farthest thing from the truth. Yet actions like this from the Teamster are dangerous to our movement. I want to make it very, very clear. I have great respect for all of the Teamsters I know. They are very hard-working men and women. The IBT has had it fair share of ups and downs over the years but anyone who stands up for workers is a winner in my book.

However I disagree greatly with this move by the IBT to go after jobs that are currently represented by the TWU. This make no sense whatsoever. We need to expand our ranks, not cannibalize them. This is also a very bad time to try to take these members away. US Airways and American Airlines are in the middle of a merger. When companies merge, there are usually job losses. Change unions during this delicate negotiation process could result in even more job losses.

The TWU Air Transport Director Garry Drummond had this to say about the upcoming elections:

“Many mechanics signed cards calling for an election between unions because they believe in democracy, ironically a vote for the Teamsters means that democracy would be suspended. If the Teamsters were to become the bargaining agent, under federal labor law, elections for new local leaders wouldn’t happen for as long as three years. Meanwhile critical negotiations with the ‘new’ American Airlines will take place before the end of the year. Workers at the new American would be voiceless during these crucial contract talks.”

I am reminded of the problems that the IBT has been having with Republic Airlines. They have gone for years now working without a contract. They even threatened to strike. Now is not the time to switch from one representative to another.

Workers deserve a voice in the workplace and these workers have already chosen who will represent them. Now the IBT is using the same tactics of the vulture capitalist that unions protect workers from. This corporate raiding is wrong and needs to stop. Let me reiterate, I have nothing against the IBT overall, I disagree with this raid on the US Airways workers. I hope for the sake of all the workers involved that the TWU retains their representation rights and this matter is ended.

We need to be working together, not fighting each other. We are all in this fight together. We all want what is best for the workers. This S@#$ has to stop.

Maine Lobstermen Applaud Senate Vote Against Dragging for Lobster

By New Hampshire Labor News | June 7, 2013 - 6:46 pm | Union

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Maine lobstermen commend the Maine Senate for today’s 28-7 vote against LD 1549, a bill that would allow ground fishermen to keep and sell lobsters they catch when dragging.

“We’re very pleased that the Senate voted down LD 1549 today,” said Rock Alley, a lobsterman from Jonesport and member of the Maine Lobstering Union.

“Dragging for lobsters is fundamentally damaging to the resource that we are working so hard to protect. As lobstermen, we need the Legislature to enact laws that will help us protect our industry. We want our children and grandchildren to have the chance to preserve our way of life on Maine’s islands and coast, and that depends on the sustainability of the industry,” Alley said.

Joel Pitcher is organizer with the Maine Lobstering Union.

“Today’s vote showed strong support here in Augusta for Maine’s hardworking lobstermen. We thank the Senators who opposed loosening dragging regulations and stood in support of a sustainable Maine lobster industry,” said Pitcher. “We will continue to work hard to ensure this bill meets final defeat,” he said.

NH Senate Play Parliamentary Politics With Your Paycheck

By New Hampshire Labor News | June 7, 2013 - 8:39 am | Labor, NH Senate, Union

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Last week we reported on how the NH House killed two bills (SB 100, SB 153) that were directly targeted at the NH Public Workers. In a sneaky parliamentary trick the Senate added both these bills as amendments.

“The Senate voted on 13-11 party line votes to add to these measures bills that would let employers issue payroll cards – not a paper check – to their employees, and to require all union bargaining contracts to get a vote of approval from the Legislative Fiscal Committee.”
(Kevin Landrigan — Nashua Telegraph)

SB 100 is a bill that would remove the option for workers to receive a paper paycheck and in turn would deliver your paycheck on a rechargeable debit card. The problem with this is that the debit card has fees associated with it. This means that you are going to have to pay to collect your own money.

“SB 100 would have been purposefully harmful to employees, creating additional fees and expenses for them to collect and use their paycheck, and specifically avoiding sharing that information upfront”
(Zandra Rice-Hawkins — Granite State Progress)

Last week the House killed SB 100 in a 253-93 vote. The language of SB 100 has been added “to a House bill barring employers from using credit histories in hiring decisions”

SB 153 is the even more contentious anti-union legislation. This bill would allow the budget oversight committee to either approve or deny any union contract with state employees. This was an attempt by the Senate President to insert the legislature into the collective bargaining process.

State Rep. Linda DiSilvestro (D-Manchester) said, “the proposed committee will politicize the negotiation process.”

Sb 153 was also killed by the House in a 191-135 vote. SB 153 was added “to a House bill barring businesses from demanding employees’ social media account passwords”

Neither of these bills have any support in the House. However the GOP led Senate believe these bills are important enough to resurrect them and attach them to a bill that must pass. This is dirty politics. This attempt to pass legislation that has already been killed by the House means it has no chance of actually sticking to the budget after the bill is reviewed by the ‘committee of conference’.

This partisan attack on workers by the Senate has not gone unnoticed and will not be tolerated.

Brace Yourself This May Hurt: NH Senate Moved Forward With Job Killing Budget

By Matt Murray | June 6, 2013 - 6:00 pm | Featured, Labor, NH Senate, Politics, Union

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Yesterday labor leaders from throughout New Hampshire stood in the Legislative Office Building urging NH Senators to restore the proposed cuts to the NH Budget.

Well as you have probably already heard the NH Senate passed their budget with millions in cuts. Yesterday at the press conference NH AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie stated:

“They are attacking New Hampshire middle class families by cutting jobs, cutting critical services and following an extreme agenda that comes from the same out of state special interests that fueled last session’s tea party behavior.”

Diana Lacey, President of the NH State Employees Association (SEIU 1984) really hit home in her explanation of these cuts.

“The Senate budget makes across-the-board cuts at DHHS and directs the Governor to reduce personnel costs by $50 million over the biennium. This means the elimination of as many as 700 jobs. These workers provide critical services, pay taxes and contribute to the state’s economy. They are real people that will go on the unemployment line and go from self-sustaining to potentially needing public assistance instead of providing vital services for the state.”

If you remember that the last budget under Bill O’Brien cost New Hampshire over 1000 jobs. This budget would add another 700 to that.

Labor is not the only ones who are loosing as a result of this budget vote. The Senate voted along party lines to reject the Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act. Their vote rejects the $2.5 Billion over the next seven years, to cover the cost of expanding the Medicaid program. So much for the state helping those needy families or the new jobs that would be created.

One other area that was noted at yesterdays press conference was the issue of Voter ID. You may not think this is a budget issue but it is. The State of New Hampshire will have to come up with over $11 million dollars to cover the costs of implementing phase two of the Voter ID law as passed last term. Jessica Clark from America Votes told the crowd:

“They are willing to cut jobs and harm critical programs in our state, but waste taxpayer money on needless Voter ID legislation, which is project to cost up to $11 million over the next four years. Senate Republicans need to turn away from their misguided budget priorities that will harm New Hampshire families and voters.”

After today’s vote Governor Hassan had these stern words for the Senate:

“While there are clearly areas of agreement around critical priorities such as higher education, mental health funding, and economic development, the budget passed by the Senate still falls short in a number of areas that are imperative to moving our state forward. The across-the-board cuts to Health and Human Services and employees will impact critical services and cause hundreds of layoffs, and the rejection of $2.5 billion in federal funds for Medicaid expansion undermines efforts to strengthen our economy and improve the health and financial wellbeing of New Hampshire’s working families.

“As the process moves forward, legislators will need to take a bipartisan approach, set ideology aside, and listen to the people of New Hampshire in order to reach a final a balanced budget that reinvests in the priorities needed to build a more innovative economic future.”

The Senate Democratic Leader, Sylvia Larsen released this statement after the vote:

“This budget will cost hundreds of jobs and eliminate critical services for Granite Staters by sweeping, across-the-board cuts. The Senate Republican Budget forces the Health and Human Services Commissioner to cut millions of dollars threatening funding for the developmental disability waitlist, the CHINS program, mental health care, community health centers, and family planning.”

“Although, I have serious concerns about this budget, I hope that by the end of the budget committee of conference, we in New Hampshire can rise above ideology and move forward with common sense solutions that meet the needs of our citizens.”

The budget process is far from over. Now that the Senate passed their version of the budget a ‘committee of conference’ will be created to work out the differences between the two budgets. This is where you can expect some serious fireworks and horse trading. The committee should be working to strengthen NH, not increasing our unemployment.

Unions Prevail In Fight To Keep ‘Knives Off Planes’

By Matt Murray | June 6, 2013 - 8:17 am | Politics, Union

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One of the biggest reasons workers join unions is to improve the safety of their working conditions. In some cases, the union stands up to oppose changes that would reduce the already safe conditions of their workers. This was the case after the Department of Homeland Security changed their policy to allow knives on commercial flights.

This policy change brought outrage from many of the organizations who represent workers in the aviation industry.

On May 6, The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) was one of nine organizations representing over 400,000 aviation professionals, passengers and law enforcement officers that filed a legal petition with Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, urging them to rescind the policy change and keep the knife ban in place.

“I commend Secretary Napolitano and Administrator Pistole for listening to our concerns and having the wisdom to withdraw this proposal in light of the grave safety and security risks to our members at TSA, to the flying public and aviation employees,” Cox said.

After today’s announcement to rescind the policy the Transportation Worker Union President James C. Little released this statement:

Three months ago, on March 5, and every day since, our union and others concerned about passenger safety urged that a policy shift that would allow sticks, knives and clubs on planes be reversed. The leadership of TSA listened and they should be commended for taking the advice of flight attendants and other workers at commercial airlines charged with passenger safety.

This is a very important issue to The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) who is the exclusive representative for the more than 45,000 Transportation Security Officers. TSO’s screen all commercial airline passengers, baggage and cargo.

AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. released this statement after today’s announcement:

“This decision is the right one for the safety and security of every Transportation Security Officer, airline passenger and aviation employee.”

“In addition to the lessons learned on 9/11 about the threat of terrorists armed with knives, our concern is for our members who are assaulted far too often by irate passengers. Keeping the knife ban will help keep those confrontations from escalating,” Cox said.

Iron Workers Call on Congress to Break Gridlock on Infrastructure

By New Hampshire Labor News | June 4, 2013 - 8:30 pm | Congress, Politics, Press Release, Union

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Washington, D.C. – Iron Workers’s General President Walter Wise issued a call Friday for Congress to address the problem of America’s crumbling infrastructure. “The collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington serves as a reminder that this can’t wait until after the next election,” said Wise, adding that “infrastructure maintenance and improvement is not a partisan issue.”

President Wise points to years of poor reports on the state of the country’s infrastructure to make the case that action on this issue is long overdue. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s bridges a grade of D+ this year. The Washington bridge collapse and the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minnesota illustrate the pressing safety threat posed by substandard bridges.

The Ironworkers have also called for high standards in bridge construction. They point to the San Francisco Area Bay Bridge, which has been built using substandard Chinese steel and fabrication. To date, the bridge has suffered numerous failures and delays related to its materials and construction. Amid continuing reports of these setbacks, the federal government has begun an investigation and California Governor Jerry Brown has called for a review of the California Department of Transportation.

Unfortunately, none of these problems can be addressed without congressional action. Senate gridlock resulting from an unprecedented 360 filibusters from the Republican minority has destroyed even the bi-partisanship normally associated with infrastructure investment and safety. “Unemployed construction workers and at-risk commuters are all waiting on Congress to do what’s right for the American people.” Wise concludes, “How much longer will they have to wait?”

About the Iron Workers: The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union, AFL-CIO, currently represents 120,000 ironworkers in North America who work on bridges, structural steel, ornamental, architectural, and miscellaneous metals, rebar, and in shops.

Even more workers die behind locked doors

By Liz Iacobucci | June 3, 2013 - 7:46 pm | Featured, Labor, Labor History, Union

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A blaze at a locked poultry slaughterhouse in northeast China has killed at least 119 workers. Read the Reuters story here.

Photo from US Fire Administration Report

Aftermath of the 1991 Imperial Foods chicken processing plant fire.

Does this sound just a little too familiar?

Two decades ago, 25 workers were killed in a fire at a poultry processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. Several exit doors were locked, trapping workers inside. “Reports have surfaced that workers inside the Hamlet Plant were afraid to say anything about safety conditions due to fear of being fired.” Read the FEMA Report on that fire here.

How many times is history going to repeat itself?

November 2012: 112 workers died behind locked doors in a garment factory fire outside Dhaka, Bangladesh

September 2012: 258 workers died behind locked doors in a garment factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan

December 2010: 25 workers died behind locked doors in a garment factory fire outside Dhaka, Bangladesh

March 2010: 21 workers died behind locked doors in a garment factory fire outside Dhaka, Bangladesh

April 2008: 55 workers died behind locked doors in a mattress factory fire in Casablanca, Morocco

September 2002: 45 workers died behind locked doors at a plastics factory fire in Lagos, Nigeria

(How many other workers’ deaths didn’t make the headlines?)

Corporations look after their profits, not their workers.

Read “How Unions Make Workplaces Safer” here.

How Can We Reshape The Labor Movement: Join The Conversation

By New Hampshire Labor News | June 3, 2013 - 9:25 am | AFL-CIO, Labor, Union

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Can unions get their members more active politically on issues throughout the year? Can—and should—unions mobilize members on a large scale to work on other tasks that could strengthen the labor movement, such as organizing new members or working on labor and community solidarity campaigns? What would unions need to change to pursue such a strategy aggressively? Does its structure impede progress?

These are the questions journalist David Moberg are posing as the AFL-CIO continues its crucial conversation about the future of working people and of unions at www.aflcio2013.org.

And on Tuesday, June 4 from 3-4 p.m. EDT, Moberg, a senior editor at In These Times, will be fielding questions on labor’s organizational structure and mobilization strategies. David Moberg is one of the most thoughtful commentators about the labor movement today, and we are pleased that he is joining us as a moderator of this discussion.

Please join the conversation at www.aflcio2013.org and forward this announcement to your network. We need broad and diverse voices to help shape the future of working people.

We’ve held four wonderful discussions online to date and the ideas generated through these conversations will be considered by our executive council and shaped into recommendations for action at the AFL-CIO convention in September.

Please help us convene a robust discussion on this important topic and add your voice: www.aflcio2013.org.

America’s “Race to the Bottom”: Boeing is still outsourcing

By Liz Iacobucci | June 1, 2013 - 11:26 am | Featured, Labor, Union

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Boeing Dreamliner Yesterday, the Boeing Company announced it would “create engineering centers for future work in South Carolina and possibly in Kiev, Ukraine.”

The perspective from Seattle, Washington:

The engineering union here — the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), which represents nearly 26,400 engineers and technical staff — has long decried Boeing’s outsourcing of engineering work to its design center in Moscow.

Boeing internal documents obtained by The Seattle Times in 2004 after the Moscow center was set up show the company could employ high-quality Russian engineers there at ‘approximately 1/3 to 1/5 of the U.S. cost.’

Remember, this is the Boeing Company – manufacturer of the problem-plagued Dreamliner 787. Read “Boeing Learns the Hard Way that Outsourcing Hurts in the Long Run” here.

Most of us would think that “lessons learned the hard way” would maybe change a corporation’s modus operandi.

Most of us would think that maintaining – or restoring? – a reputation for quality workmanship would be particularly important to an airplane manufacturer.

But right now, the American economy is caught in a race to the bottom. These days, CEOs aren’t interested in long-term corporate reputations. They’re interested in profits. And Boeing’s executives have been producing good profits – despite the Dreamliner mess, and despite lower sales.

How? They’ve been so very, very proficient at “controlling costs” – costs such as engineering and skilled manufacturing labor. Read “Boeing profit beats estimates despite 787 problems” here.

And Boeing has rewarded its executives handsomely for their ability to “control costs”. Last year, “key executive” compensation was up almost 55%. And the guy at the top? CEO Jim McNerney received almost $27.5 million. One person. One year. Almost $27.5 million.

(And that doesn’t even include what McNerney receives in Boeing corporate dividends. According to SEC filings, McNerney owns a few hundred thousand shares of Boeing stock, mostly received as part of his executive compensation. That means McNerney receives almost another quarter-million dollars, every time Boeing issues quarterly dividends. And guess what? Those dividends are taxed at a much lower rate than ordinary wages and salaries.)

So yes, America’s economy is still racing toward the bottom. Boeing is hiring engineers at 20 cents on the dollar — and planning even more outsourcing.

How much lower can we go?

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Category Archives: Union

Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants Begin Negotiations for a New Contract Today

This S#*^ Needs To Stop Before We Completely Destroy Each Other

Maine Lobstermen Applaud Senate Vote Against Dragging for Lobster

NH Senate Play Parliamentary Politics With Your Paycheck

Brace Yourself This May Hurt: NH Senate Moved Forward With Job Killing Budget

Unions Prevail In Fight To Keep ‘Knives Off Planes’

Iron Workers Call on Congress to Break Gridlock on Infrastructure

Even more workers die behind locked doors

How Can We Reshape The Labor Movement: Join The Conversation

America’s “Race to the Bottom”: Boeing is still outsourcing

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