Governor Mitch Daniels Abandons his Pledge to Workers

Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana has spent the better part of the last three weeks strongly advocating divisive Right-to-Work legislation in Indiana. Indiana Republican leaders declared it their top legislative priority and Governor Daniels has walked hand-in-hand with them, vigorously championing the measure.

Governor Daniels’ support of this legislation is particularly troubling because it’s something he claimed for years he would never pursue. In 2006, during a speech at the Teamsters 135 Union Stewards Dinner, Governor Daniels said, “I'm a supporter of the labor laws we have in the state of Indiana. I'm not interested in changing any of them. Not the prevailing wage law and certainly not a right to work law. We can succeed in Indiana with laws we have respecting the rights of labor and free and fair competition for everybody.” Why the change of heart, Governor? Watch the video.

Workers' Memorial Day

Today, April 28th, is recognized around the world as Workers' Memorial Day.
Each year, 6,000 workers loose their lives on the job. Today, the National Labor College is breaking ground for a memorial to these everyday heroes in recognition for the sacrifice they have made.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Workers' Memorial will be attended by the new Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, America's new Secretary of Labor who is committed to putting the needs of working people at the heart of her Department.

UFCW members, young and old, work around dangerous equipment and in hazardous conditions. Like many workers, we work under immense pressure to get the job done and may not always have enough help. As a result, injuries occur. Sometimes these injuries are minor, but all too often they may result in death or traumatic injuries, such as amputations. Learn more about how you can Stay Safe at work.

According to the International Labor Organization:

-Each year, more than two million women and men die as a result of work-related accidents and diseases
-Workers suffer approximately 270 million occupational accidents each year, and fall victim to some 160 million incidents of work-related illnesses
-Hazardous substances kill 440,000 workers annually – asbestos claims 100,000 lives
-One worker dies every 15 seconds worldwide. 6,000 workers die every day. Work kills more people than wars.

According to the AFL-CIO blog, two congressional hearings today will focus on strengthening the nation’s workplace safety and health protections. The House Education and Labor Committee’s hearing is “Are OSHA’s Penalties Adequate to Deter Health and Safety Violations?” and the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Worker Safety’s hearing is “Introducing Meaningful Incentives for Safe Workplaces and Meaningful Roles for Victims and Their Families.” This is a significant change from the Bush administration. A report released April 1 revealed the Bush administration’s OSHA systematically failed to perform follow-up inspections for employers who put workers in serious danger. At 45 work sites where OSHA oversight was deficient, 58 workers subsequently were killed by job hazards. Click here to read the report. [pdf]

Hundreds Of Union Members To March In 56th Inaugural Parade

From Change To Win In Washington, DC:

January 20th is going to be an historic day!

Oh, you think, I knew that. That’s when we’re going to be swearing in our first-ever African-American President of the United States!

That’s true, but it’s not the only reason why Tuesday will be historic.

What else is happening? For the first time in living memory, members of America’s labor movement have been asked to march in the official Inaugural Parade, that’s what.

Representing America’s workers will be 265 union members from across Change to Win, the AFL-CIO, and the National Education Association (NEA), along with a 17-by-24 foot float built entirely by union workers and driven by a Teamster. The float will feature the “faces of labor” — a tribute every hard-working man and woman who gets up every day and goes to work. (In the photo above, you can see the faces as they wait to be mounted on the float.)

January 20 will be the start of a new era for American workers, so it’s fitting that hundreds of them will be marching alongside President-Elect Barack Obama to mark the occasion!

Happy New Year!

From all your brothers and sisters at UFCW, may your new year be filled with justice and peace. Happy 2009.

What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Passing the Employee Free Choice Act? Healthcare reform?

Sound off in the comments!

A Worker Tells His Story

"My name is Jose Guardado and I worked at the Nebraska Beef meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska for 8 years. I worked on the kill floor where we faced more than 2,500 steers each day.

"I came to this country to follow the American dream. I thought that in the most powerful country in the world, workers were free to express themselves. I thought the laws protected workers who wanted to form a union. I was wrong. Instead, I found that when employers break every law, abuse workers and silence our voices, no one does anything to stop them.

"My co-workers and I wanted a union at work to fight back against the dangerous working conditions, the lack of respect, and abusive treatment. We all signed cards showing our support for the UFCW.

"The law wasn't enough to stop Nebraska Beef from campaigning against us. The company terrified workers from standing up for their rights. They threatened to fire union supporters, threatened to call immigration and deport the Latinos and threatened to close the plant. They promised to slow the line down and treat everyone better. Nebraska Beef even brought in a bunch of strange workers on the day of the election just to get them to vote against the union.

"Workers were scared. No one wanted to lose their job. The company won the vote by a small number. The line was sped back up and no one was given what was promised to them.

"We need this law to protect workers' rights. We need this law to help workers who want to organize."

What's Wrong with this Message?

Commercials like this one misinform people about the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s time to set the record straight!

But first, check it out and see if you can catch the faulty reasoning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afjp4Cx-3W0

These commercials lead most people to think that unions want to replace the secret ballot election with a not secret ballot election. However, unions and workers agree that “democracy is something that should never be sacrificed.”

Bear with me.

Currently, the standard way to form a union involves two major steps.

1. Majority card sign-up: Before any election takes place, a majority of workers must sign cards saying that they want an election.
2. Elections: Workers vote (yes, with a secret ballot) on whether they want a union.

Sounds fair, right? The problem though, is that during the time between Steps 1 and 2, the employers wage their anti-union war. They might force workers to watch movies that lie about the union, tell people how to vote in the election, or even fire pro-union workers. This time period can last for months or even years, so you can imagine that when the election rolls around, many of the people who signed the cards in the first place might have changed their minds. And really, if the money you need to survive is being given to you by a person (your boss) who’s telling you how to vote, is this actually democracy?

So the solution proposed by Employee Free Choice Act is to allow workers to vote for the union using the same process that is already used in Step #1. If workers want a union, they sign a card. If they don’t want a union, they don’t sign a card. Democracy is still in place here, because a majority of workers need to sign cards for the union to win. This process is the same as the one we have always used; it just gets rid of the opportunity for employers to intimidate their workers.

But if this is the same process that is already in place, why are the anti-union people presenting it as something new and scary? Because without the employer intimidation process it would easier for workers to join unions, and harder for employers to hold on to all the power! Remember, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott admitted, "We like driving the car and we're not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us."

What Exactly is EFCA?

There’s a lot of talk about the Employee Free Choice Act these days. If you’ve heard about it in the news, you’ve probably also heard the words “secret ballot,” “majority sign-up,” or “card check.” These words are an important part of what this legislation hopes to do for workers. But there are other exciting parts of the Act as well. Here we lay out the basic idea of the Act so you can decide for yourself what you think about it.

1) The first major component of EFCA allows unions to form when the majority of workers sign cards in support of the union.

Right now unions generally start with this card signing process, but then they have an election. The main problem with this election is that it often occurs months or even years after the initial card sign-up. During this time the employers do all they can to frighten workers away from voting for the union, threatening to fire workers, or lying to them about what it would actually be like to be a union member.

2) EFCA makes it easier to resolve contract disputes between the workers and their employer.

Currently, if a company doesn’t like the demands that workers are making during contract negotiations, they might just refuse to come to any agreement. In this case, even if workers have voted overwhelmingly for a union, they might have to wait for years until they actually get any contract at all. With EFCA, there would be a fair way to resolve contract disputes.

3) EFCA increases penalties against employers who take illegal union-busting measures against workers.

It may surprise you to learn that many employers commit illegal actions or “Unfair Labor Practices” on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the current penalties for these acts are so minor, that they are basically just a slap on the wrist. For example, employers will continue to take the risk of having to pay a small fee if it means they can invent reasons to keep their employees from unionizing.

Know Your Rights at Work

Young Workers: working longer and later

A March 2007 study issued by the University of North Carolina reports young people (ages 14-18) working during the school year are averaging 16 hours of work per week.

The study, which interviewed more than 900 working teenagers, found teens working long hours in unsupervised -- and sometimes dangerous -- environments, some of which violate federal laws.

"Despite federal regulations prohibiting teens under 18 from using certain types of dangerous equipment such as slicers, dough mixers, box crushers and paper balers, or serving or selling alcohol in places where it is consumed, more than half of the boys and 43 percent of the girls said they had done work that was prohibited, the study found."

Study findings and results are published here.

As service industry jobs continue to grow, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates more than 18 million new jobs created in the service industry between 2004 and 2014, young workers are exposed more and more increasingly to job scenarios that violate their rights. Young workers are often working their first job, and employers often fail to provide them with basic training or information on their rights.

In union shops it is vital for existing union members to take the lead in introducing new employees to their basic workplace rights. Fostering these relationships early on can prevent members of corporate management from furthering and environment of misunderstanding and lack in information.

"We should let [young workers] know that the union is about a sense of power," said Kevin Blair a UFCW organizer. "The boss can't just push you around. It comes down to a dignity thing." Blair thinks the corporate system is "creating people who just follow the rules and ... never speak up."

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces laws providing five basic rights for job applicants and employees. The laws apply to applicants, employees and former employees, regardless of their citizenship or work authorization status. Full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees are protected if they work for a covered employer. All federal government agencies and most other employers with at least 15 employees are covered by our laws. Most unions and employment agencies also are covered. If you work for one of these employers, you have the right to:

-Work free of discrimination.
-Work free of harrassment.
-Complain about Job Discrimination Without Punishment.
-Request Workplace Changes for Your Religion or Disability.
-Keep Your Medical Information Private.

Union members often have additional protections in their union contracts as highlighted here on the MyUFCW site.

For a more detailed look at the core rights enforced by the EEOC and more information on other federal workplace laws visit www.youth.eeoc.gov.