Labor Day 2008

Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882 and became a national holiday in 1894, but sometimes we forget that it means more than just watermelon, barbecues, and beer. Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is a national celebration dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.

We have set aside this day to honor the working men and women whose energy, talent, creativity, and determination are the foundations of freedom and prosperity enjoyed by generations of Americans and who fought to bring justice and dignity to the workplace.

Yet, we must not become self-satisfied or complacent. As we celebrate Labor Day, let us recommit ourselves to raising the minimum wage to a living wage, to promoting training and continuing education for workers, to providing affordable health care to every family, to organizing all workers, to demanding equal pay for women and fair pay for everyone, and to building a stronger national community.

We must continue to recognize the importance of maintaining dignity, securing economic justice in the workplace, making the American Dream a reality for all our people, and building a brighter future for our children.

The vital force of labor has brought us closer to the realization of our ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation and our state pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

Lindsley Smith at Democratic Convention

AFSCME Local 965 member Lindsley Smith is a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. She is among 150 members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees from across the country serving as Delegates, Alternates, and Committee Members at the 2008 Convention.

At the AFSCME Caucus meeting on Monday she met with AFSCME International President Gerald McEntee about plans for the 2008 general election campaign to elect Barack Obama and members of the U.S. House and Senate to stop the filibuster of important legislation. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius addressed the AFSCME delegates on Monday and praised the organizational work of our union to improve public service and the lives of working families everywhere.

Lioneld Jordan Awarded Diversity Certification

AFSCME Local 965 member Lioneld Jordan was among seven members of the University of Arkansas staff who earned diversity certificates, after completing 20 hours of combined classroom training, self-study, and community service, as well as writing a Personal Impact Statement that specifies his or her plan to personally increase inclusiveness on campus.

Jordan, a Zone Supervisor with the Facilities Management Department, received the Diversity Certification on June 20th, 2008. Only 75 university employees have earned diversity certification since the program began in 2005.

In March, Jordan also received the Torchbearer Award for Exemplary Community Service to Northwest Arkansas from Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at the University of Arkansas. Past winners of this prestigious award include Dr.Merlin Augustine, Dr. Gordon Morgan, and P&G Global Wal-Mart President Jeff Schomburger.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

August 3, 1962. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees grants Charter to Local 965 to represent employees of the University of Arkansas. The ceremony was held at the Women's Exhibition Building on the Washington County Fairgrounds. Speakers at the event included Arkansas AFL-CIO President George Ellison, Arkansas Department of Labor Director Bill Laney, AFSCME International Organizer Arthur Whaley, Arkansas AFL-CIO Organizer Schuyler Smith, and Northwest Arkansas Joint Labor Council President Bob Parker of Food Handlers' Local 425.

The Charter ceremony sanctioned the effort that began in June when University of Arkansas physical plant and food services employees requested assistance in organizing and became a reality when 55 UA employees formally paid dues and elected officers of the Arkansas Public Employees Union on July 12. Rex Rice, UA Physical Plant employee and a former coal miner, was elected the first President of Local 965 and said the workers had already proposed a grievance procedure for addressing problems with University policies and their administration and that improvements in job classifications and pay scales were the immediate goals. Other founding officers of the Local were Willis Fields, Vice President; Raymond Rogers, Treasurer; and Rachel Campbell, Secretary.

AFSCME Local 965 received an expanded Charter in April 1966 and is now authorized to organize and represent all state, county, and city employees, except public school teachers and firefighters, in Washington, Benton, Carroll, and Madison counties.

Happy 46th Anniversary to us!

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

August 1, 1887. The Order of Railway Conductors in Arkansas receive charter signed by Grand Chief Conductor A. S. Wheator.

August 1, 1925. More than 200 UMWA miners and their families hold rally on public square at Greenwood to protest Greenwood Coal Co. reduction of wage scale back to 1917 levels.

August 1, 1940 Carpenters and Joiners business agent Fred Burt announced that union had accepted 2 cent per hour wage increase and would end strike against Crossett Lumber Company begun June 4.

August 1, 1990. The National Labor Relations Board filed its third unfair labor practices complaint against Morrilton Plastics Products Inc. of Morrilton.

House Passes Paycheck Fairness Act

House Democrats pushed through legislation tonight that would give women new tools to combat pay discrimination. The pay equity bill, which passed by a 247-178 vote, would treat gender discrimination involving pay in the same category as race, disability and age discrimination. It would provide for compensatory and punitive damages, ban employers from retaliating against workers who share their salary with colleagues, and force employers to prove that paying a women less than a man is job-related and necessary.

A study by the UA Faculty Senate documented that the University of Arkansas paid female Assistant Professors about $11,000 per year less than their male colleagues. Chancellor John White failed to address and correct the problem, even after it was called to his attention by AFSCME Local 965. We are hopeful that Chancellor David Gearhart, who assumed office this month, will be committed to ending gender discrimination and achieving pay equity. It has been the law since 1963, and enactment of the Paycheck Fairness Act could strengthen the rights of women in the workplace.

"This is a historic step forward in the fight for equal rights for women," said Democratic Congressman George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, but companies continually have found ways around it. Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro said, "Just because something is illegal, does not mean that it does not continue to happen." The Institute of Women's Policy Research says wage disparity will cost a woman as much as $2 million over her lifetime in lost wages.

Republicans said women did not need additional legal protection, and the legislation would benefit trial lawyers, who could get legal fees when they win pay discrimination cases against corporations. George Bush has threatened to veto the legislation.

The bill passed by 247-178. All 178 voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act were Republicans, including our own Representative John Boozman of Rogers.

NWACC Hosts Workplace Safety Training

Unions have been demanding safe working conditions for their members for generations, and there have been significant improvements brought about by state and federal legislative victories. To help close the gap between the promise of the law and the realities in the workplace, Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville is hosting a Workers' Safety Conference on August 14th, from 7:15 am-2:30 pm. It is sponsored by the NWA Safety and Health Advisory Council and will include presentations by the Arkansas Department of Labor, the U.S. Labor Department, and the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission.

The seminar is designed for hourly employees, and private businesses and public agencies interested in maintaining a safe and healthful workplace are encouraged to attend and send their employees. The registration fee of $20 covers lunch and materials. For more information, contact Juanita Matlock at 501.682.9090 or email her at juanita.matlock@arkansas.gov

AFSCME Local 965 commends the administration of Northwest Arkansas Community College for hosting this conference on worker safety on the job. We hope that the University of Arkansas will soon remember the essential role of workers in our economy and be interested in offering programs that benefit hourly workers by increasing their skills and improving their quality of life.

AFSCME Convention This Week

This week nearly 6,000 delegates, alternates and guests have gathered in San Francisco for AFSCME's 38th International Convention. The Convention, with the theme of "We Make America Happen," convenes today and runs through Friday. Senator Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore will be featured Convention speakers. Senator Barack Obama will address the AFSCME Convention live via satellite on Thursday.

In his keynote address today, president Gerald McEntee told the crowd that, “Together we will build an even more powerful union! Together we will reach out and organize the unorganized! We will negotiate contracts that make our families strong! Together we will fight for a new America!”

President McEntee's speech set the stage for the week by calling on attendees to continue implementing the sweeping measures of the Power to Win plan, and to work harder than ever before to take back the White House for America's working families. A major part of the plan includes building public support for the vital services we provide. The union's new tagline, "We Make America Happen," captures the critical role AFSCME members play in making our communities better places to work, live and raise a family. This theme will be the focus of our Convention, including the many educational workshops and action center booths, which cover such topics as political action, retirement, and our campaign to guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

This Convention also will be the most environmentally-friendly gathering in AFSCME history. Key Convention materials were printed on recycled paper using eco-friendly, soy-based ink, reusuable water bottles were provided to delegates and information traditionally provided as handouts were instead given to delegates electronically on a computer flash drive.

Convention highlights and video will be providing daily on Greenline, the national AFSCME blog, and on the website at www.afscme.org/convention.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

July 27, 1897. James R. Sovereign of Sulphur Springs, Grant Master Workman of the Knights of Labor, attends United Labor Conference in Wheeling, West Virginia.

July 27, 1936. Ella Reeve Bloor speaks to meeting of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union local at Alder Springs.

July 27, 1953. Employees of Southern Lumber Company of Warren go out on strike for fair wages.

July 27, 2000. Federal Judge Howard Sachs finds that management attorneys and lobbyists from the Chamber of Commerce had been working through Governor Mike Huckabee's office to get "liberal" Workers Compensation Commission Administrative Law Judge Eileen Harrison fired because of her sympathy with injured workers.

Paycheck Fairness Act

The University of Arkansas administration has failed to address our request for fair pay for all and continues to pay women faculty members less than their male colleagues. The House is expected to vote next week (the week of July 28) on the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338), providing a critical opportunity for Congress to make real progress on pay equity. Even if you have contacted Congressman Boozman about this legislation before, we now ask you again to urge him to vote yes on this legislation and oppose any attempts to weaken it.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, closing loop holes and improving the law's effectiveness. The Paycheck Fairness Act would, among other things, deter wage discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations, and by prohibiting retaliation against workers who inquire about employers' wage practices or disclose their own wages. The bill also requires employers to show that wage gaps are truly a result of factors other than sex, collect better data on wages, reinstate activities that promote equal pay at the Department of Labor, and develop training for women and girls on salary negotiations. The bill's measured approach ensures that women can obtain the same remedies as those discriminated against based on race.

The 2007 AAUW report, Behind the Pay Gap, shows that just one year out of college, women working full time already earn less than their male colleagues, even when they have the same major and occupation. Ten years after graduation, the pay gap widens. With a record 70 million women in the workforce, wage discrimination hurts the majority of American families. In addition, wage discrimination lowers total lifetime earnings, reducing women's benefits from Social Security and pension plans and inhibiting their ability to save not only for retirement but for other lifetime goals such as buying a home and paying for a college education.

Equal pay for equal work is a simple matter of justice for women, and a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act is a critical step forward in our goal to close the persistent and sizable wage gaps between men and women.

Take Action! To urge Congressman Boozman to support the Paycheck Fairness Act when it comes up for a vote next week, simply CLICK HERE, enter your zip code and click "Go!" to be taken to the "Take Action" section. There you can compose and send your message.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

July 25,1938. David Spears, United Furniture Workers, addresses Arkansas Congress for Social and Economic Progress in Little Rock and says that Fort Smith had become "one of the strongest CIO towns in the country."

July 25, 1960. Local Union No. 700 IBEW (AFL-CIO) goes out on strike against Baldor Electric Company plant in Fort Smith after contract negotiations stall.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

July 24, 1920. Dr. David Y. Thomas, UA Professor of History, gives address in University of Arkansas Chapel on "Labor and the State," reviewing improved working conditions resulting from legislation secured through the efforts of organized labor, but he lamented that Arkansas still had no workman's compensation law to protect employees injured on the job or to provide death benefits for the families of workers killed in mining and industrial accidents.

Summer Reading for Union Members

Mother Jones said it best: "Sit down and read. Educate yourself for the coming conflicts."

Feeling crunched, squeezed, squandered and screwed by the outright barbarous? Build your summer reading list around these must-reads from The Union Shop—and gear up for the political change we must make to turn around America. These titles offer plenty of food for thought.

Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class and What We Can Do About It, by Thom Hartmann.
Air America Radio host Hartmann writes that our middle class has been dismantled over the past 25 years and replaced by a system to line the pockets of the super-rich and big corporations. He details the weakening of the safety nets for working people and argues that an empowered, educated middle class is crucial to a functioning democracy. $22.95
Find Out More and Order Today

Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries), by Jared Bernstein.
As Bernstein says, "economics has been hijacked by the rich and powerful, and it has been forged into a tool that is being used against the rest of us." Bernstein, senior economist and director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., offers lay people tangible insight into what it takes to ensure that those who make it work also share its rewards. $26.95
Find Out More and Order Today

The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker, by Steven Greenhouse.
America's workers are being squeezed by declining wages, rising health care costs, evaporating pensions, job insecurity and globalization, according to Greenhouse, who covers workplace issues for The New York Times. The book takes a probing—and often shocking—look at why, in the world's most affluent nation, so many corporations are intent on squeezing their workers dry. $25.95
Find Out More and Order Today

The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences, by Louis Uchitelle.
An eye-opening account of the devastating impact of layoffs on individuals at all income levels, this book traces the rise of job security in the United States to its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s and the factors that caused a U-turn beginning in the 1970s. Uchitelle gives specific recommendations for policies that encourage companies to restrict layoffs and create jobs. $25.95
Find Out More and Order Today

Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign, by Michael K. Honey. The author combines labor history with civil rights history in a moving and meticulous account of the sanitation workers' strike that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis in early 1968. Honey painstakingly recreates the explosive situation into which King stepped after 1,300 sanitation workers, almost all of them African American, went on strike, including marches and sermons, King's assassination and its violent aftermath. $17.95 paperback. Find Out More and Order Today

Lioneld Jordan Honored by OMNI

Local 965 member Lioneld Jordan was recognized as a Nominee at OMNI's 2008 Peace & Justice Heroes Awards Banquet at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on June14th. In announcing the awards, OMNI spokesperson Gladys Tiffany said, "The second Nominee doesn’t need much introduction to Northwest Arkansas people. Lioneld Jordan has been a public servant in Fayetteville for many years, advancing the fundamental values of peace, justice, and ecology in our community.

"During his eight years on the City Council, Lioneld has supported the preservation of Mt. Sequoyah Woods and the Brooks-Hummell Natural Area, as well as the hillside development ordinance. As chair of the Street Committee, he took the leadership in advocating road impact fees to address the effects of sprawl, has supported bikeway and trails as alternative systems, and led the efforts to designate Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.

"Lioneld has been a strong voice for social and economic justice. He has been a member of the advisory board of the Seven Hills Homeless Shelter and has worked to assure affordable housing in the city. As president of the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council, he has instituted the Citizen Leadership Academy to train advocates and give a voice to those less fortunate, and as former president of his local union, he initiated the monthly food drive, the campus-city street trash pickup project, the community service awards, and the Christmas toy drive, while fighting for workers’ rights and job security.

"Thank you Lioneld for your years of service in Northwest Arkansas."

General Clark Stands with AFSCME

Retired General Wesley Clark is the latest of a growing group of speakers to take a stand in support of AFSCME members and cancel their scheduled appearance at UCLA’s commencement ceremonies this weekend unless 20,000 UC workers receive of a fair contract. Former President Bill Clinton confirmed his cancellation on Tuesday and was joined by Congresswoman Hilda Solis and Congressman Henry Waxman who were also scheduled at UCLA this weekend. Students, workers and community supporters are planning to picket at commencement ceremonies across the state this weekend.

"I am disappointed that I will not be able to be a commencement speaker, but I won't cross the picket line. The students who are graduating, along with their parents who support them should be congratulated on their achievement. My hope is this dispute will come to a resolution very soon," Clark said.

The 20,000 patient care and service workers do everything from assisting in surgeries to cleaning dorm rooms in the University of California’s ten campus/five hospital system. They have been negotiating for a fair contract since August, 2007, and 96% of UC service workers are low-income eligible for at least one of the following public assistance programs: food stamps, WIC, public housing subsidies, and reduced lunch. Many work 2-3 jobs to meet their families’ basic needs. This is contributing to high-turnover, staffing shortages, and over-reliance on temps which can affect patient care as extra time is needed to train the constant flow of new staff.

Graduations at other UC campuses have also been affected by this show of solidarity with UC workers, including Speaker Emeritus of the California Assembly Fabian Núñez’s cancellation on Wednesday at UC Davis. Robert Kennedy Jr., Assemblyman John Laird, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Angela Davis and many notable professors have also pledged to cancel unless the contract is settled. This represents speakers at nearly all UC campuses where graduations are scheduled.

Clinton Cancels UCLA Commencement Address; Refuses to Cross Picket Line

Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday canceled a commencement speech at the University of California, Los Angeles, because of the lingering labor dispute in which UCLA administrators have refused to guarantee decent wages to staff employees represented by Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The 20,000 workers involved in the wage dispute range from technicians at UC medical facilities to janitors and landscapers.

"While I'm honored to be invited and was really looking forward to speaking at UCLA's commencement ceremonies, I can't cross the picket line," Clinton said. The former president was scheduled to address 4,000 graduating seniors this Friday, but his office said he would not appear. "Due to the ongoing labor dispute, he regrets that he will be unable to participate in commencement this year and he wishes the UCLA graduates the best of luck," Clinton's office said a statement.

Though AFSCME and the university are currently in mediation to negotiate better wages, Union president Lakesha Harrison said that the problem lies with the UC’s priorities, not a lack of resources. The UC administrators admitted that they have the money, but it “would be irresponsible to spend it on the workers,” Harrison said.

Harrison said that massive executive raises and bonuses take the priority away from the workers, many of whom qualify for government aid. “They’re not making the workers a priority. ... They’re not making the patients a priority, and they’re not making the students a priority; they’re making the executives a priority.”

About 20 students and workers began a three-day fast at UCLA today to call for a new contract for UC health care and service workers, and the group presented 1,000 petition signatures supporting former President Bill Clinton's refusal to cross a picket line to speak at the university's commencement ceremony. "I am participating in this three-day fast because I feel that the University of California is creating poverty in our communities," graduating senior David Chavez said. "Costs go up, wages remain the same and these families have to make hard choices on how to survive."

Former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez also canceled a commencement speech at UC Davis scheduled for today because of the labor dispute.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

June 4, 1962. Arkansas Supreme Court rules that union "hiring halls" are illegal under Amendment 34 and Act 101 of 1947, and, therefore, IBEW Local 295 pickets advocating such can be enjoined.

June 4, 1940. Strike by Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 2590 sawmill workers at Crossett Lumber Company, lasts 58 days.

June 4, 1996. In race for Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, State Senator Luther Hardin charged that Attorney General Winston Bryant was tool of "big labor bosses", and Bryant replied Hardin was "controlled by big timber, big utilities and big poultry." Bryant subsequently won nomination; Hardin switched to GOP and joined cabinet of Governor Mike Huckabee.

Tulsa Employees Join AFSCME

The 800 office-technical and administrative-technical employees in Tulsa, Okla., now have a voice on the job after joining AFSCME Local 1180.

Says Laureen Gilroy, who works in the city’s Public Works Department:

Forming a union is our legal and democratic right, and we decided to exercise that right. Having a union means that we can work to improve conditions on the job and give employees a voice at work.

A majority of the employees submitted union interest ballots to the state’s Public Employees Relations Board this month. State law allows municipal employees in Oklahoma cities with populations of more than 35,000 to form unions.

Local 1180 President Mark Stodghill said he is proud to have the employees join the union.

They have gone much too long without a strong, organized voice in the workplace. Now it’s time that the union members of this new unit all roll up their sleeves and get their first contract to cement their rights as employees represented by a union.

The new union members join the city’s 911 operators, airport police and municipal labor and trades employees as members of Local 1180.

All state, county, and municipal employees in Northwest Arkansas are eligible for membership in AFSCME Local 965. For information on joining or assistance in organizing your workplace, send an email request to the Arkansas Public Employees Union apeu965@yahoo.com

Ask a Working Woman

Do you love your work but hate your job? Do you have ideas—big or small—about how to make things better? It’s time for working women to sound off about what would make their work lives easier.

AFSCME Local 965, the AFL-CIO and our community affiliate, Working America, want to know what it’s like to be a working woman in America this election year. If you’re a working woman, please take a moment to complete the 2008 Ask a Working Woman survey.

We’ll pass the results on to politicians, women’s rights and labor organizations who will use them to advocate for women across the country over the next two years.

So click here now to take the survey. It is short, easy (we promise) and will serve as an invaluable tool for moving working women’s issues into the national dialogue.

If you’re not a working woman, forward this e-mail to your sister, your mother, your co-workers and your friends to make sure their voices are heard.

Send the survey to a working woman you know and make sure her voice is heard.

Thanks for helping lead the way for women in the workplace. Together, we can make lasting change.

In support of working women everywhere,

AFSCME Local 965 and the Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO

Unions Help Women with Caregiving Responsibilities

As people are discovering the challenges of balancing a career with caregiving responsibilities, unions have stepped up to help, Women’s eNews reported. The programs and benefits offered by unions are appealing to women, as they provide assistance that makes managing both a career and a family possible. Some unions have a child and elder care fund and monthly health care allocations, which members fund themselves and have access to if needed. Even more, they provide benefits regarding paid and unpaid leave that go beyond those required by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. While President Bush has proposed changes to the FMLA that would restrict it, both Sens. Clinton and Obama have made it clear that they would like to extend the benefits of the act to companies with only 25 employees, as opposed to 50. Some predict that over time more unions will follow the example set by such unions as UNITE HERE Local 2, Cleveland Teachers Union Local, and California State Employees Local.

The American Association of University Women believes that creating work environments that help employees balance the responsibilities of work and family is good public policy—good for workers, good for families, and good for business. AAUW’s 2007-2009 Public Policy Program supports greater access to benefits that provide such an environment. To read more on AAUW’s position regarding the workers’ benefits and the FMLA, read their position paper on family friendly workplaces.