New members reported in this week's WiP: 1,720
New members reported in WiP, year to date: 80,282

SEIU'S TENNESSEE TWANG--Some 885 workers recently gained a voice at work with SEIU. Nashville/Davidson County (Tenn.) public employees gained voluntary recognition with Local 205 June 8, including 320 at the Nashville/ Davidson County Correction Dept., 238 at the Nashville Development and Housing Authority and seven at Nashville Head Start. In Detroit, 160 commercial janitors working for 15 different contractors voted for Local 79 within the past six weeks. After management challenges delayed a vote count for more than a year, 160 workers at Gorham Nursing Home in Gorham, Maine, gained a voice at work June 15 when the National Labor Relations Board counted the ballots.

PICKING UP PACE—International solidarity from European unions helped 400 workers at Imerys industrial minerals plant in Sylacauga, Ala., gain a voice with PACE International Union June 22. Paris-based Imerys bought the plant and withdrew recognition of the union in 1999. With the help of unions representing Imerys employees in France and Great Britain, PACE launched a global campaign, which along with worker-to-worker organizing techniques led to the election victory.

AFSCME'S WARM WINS—The warm spring weather has AFSCME wins heating up, with 317 workers choosing the union. In Washington State, 53 nonprofessional employees of Skyline Community Hospital in White Salmon chose Council 2, as did 47 Skagit County Transit workers June 1 and 26 at the Southwest Suburban Sewer District. In Minnesota, 51 employees of Walker-Hackensack Schools voted for Council 60 June 18 and 49 employees of the Hennepin County Medical Center's Technical/Paraprofessional unit will have a voice on the job with Council 14 after a June 16 election. A majority of the 44 home care aides employed by Res-Care in Brownsville, Tenn., voted for Local 1733 June 2. Meanwhile, 33 employees at Lori Knapp, which provides services for Richland County (Wis.) Human Services, voted to join Council 40 on June 20, as did 14 workers at the Child Care Center Veterans Administration Area in Madison June 15.

MUSIC TO OUR EARS—The 118 teachers at Hollywood's Musicians Institute in Los Angeles voted to join Musicians Union Local 47 March 31 after management's decision to bring in union-busting consultants hit a sour note with workers.

CLEVELAND ROCKS A LIVING WAGE--The Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor and its community and religious allies celebrated a late-night victory June 19 after the Cleveland City Council passed a living-wage ordinance that takes effect in January. The law requires the city and some companies doing business with the city to pay workers an hourly rate of at least $8.20, rising to $8.70 next year and to $9.20 in 2002.

SAFETY, SENIORS IGNORED—As they raced toward a July 4 recess, congressional Republican leaders last week turned their backs on workplace safety and seniors who need help to buy prescription drugs. In the Senate, ignoring a threatened presidential veto and on a mostly party-line 57-41 vote, lawmakers approved an amendment to the fiscal 2001 Labor/Health and Human Services/Education spending bill that forbids the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from spending any funds on its proposed ergonomics standard. More than 600,000 workers a year suffer serious injuries from ergonomic hazards on the job. The Senate is expected to vote this week on the entire spending bill. The House approved its version of the bill with a ban on the ergonomics standard June 15. Meanwhile, on the prescription drug front, the House Ways and Means Committee approved a measure that relies on insurance companies instead of Medicare to provide prescription drug policies to seniors. The Republican bill, "offers seniors little hope of getting access to the essential but increasingly expensive drugs prescribed by their physicians," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said when the measure was introduced in April. The House is expected to vote on final passage this week. In one win for working families, the Senate June 20 passed 57-42 the anti-hate crimes bill as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act. The amendment adds actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender and disability to federal hate crimes laws, which currently include race, color, national origin and religion. The House is expected to take up the bill after the recess.

LIFELONG LEARNING—Vice President Al Gore's Lifelong Learning and Worker Training Initiative responds to the needs of today's working families, who "need increased investments in training and learning opportunities in order to advance and be secure,"AFL-CIO President John Sweeney  said June 23. The initiative would offer matching grants to states to develop worker skills, expand support for dislocated workers, give tax credits to employers who provide worker training, make tuition for training tax deductible and create new 401(j) accounts so employees can save for lifelong learning.

SEEKING LOWER DRUG COSTS—With Congress paralyzed over Medicare reforms, union, health care and senior activists are taking their case for lower prescription drug costs to the states. The AFL-CIO June 20 launched campaigns in 20 states to bring down the costs of medications working families need to stay healthy. The campaign was inspired by the passage of a law in Maine allowing the state to harness its bulk purchasing power to negotiate discounts for residents without shifting costs to taxpayers. For more information, check out the Center for Policy Alternatives at http://www.stateaction.org/issues/healthcare/prescription/index.cfm

GLOBAL SUPPORT—Unions representing General Electric workers around the world marched and held rallies June 23 to support the 14 unions currently negotiating with the company for a new nationwide agreement. The international day of solidarity came just two days before the current contract expired June 25. To keep up with the campaign for a fair contract, click on http://www.gecontract2000.com/.

GROWING STRONGER—The actors' strike continues to gain strength as major advertiser Lincoln Mercury announced June 21 that it will stop filming commercials for its 2001 model year until the strike is settled. The 135,000 members of the Screen Actors and the Television and Radio Artists struck the advertising industry May 1 over management demands to roll back residuals for commercials.

HOTEL STRIKE EXPANDS—Striking Minnesota members of Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Local 17 brought their pickets to a fifth Twin Cities-area hotel June 21. Since the unfair labor practices strike began June 16, about 1,000 hotel workers have walked out seeking better treatment and a fair contract. Vice President Gore visited a picket line in Bloomington June 21 and expressed support for improved wages and better health care for the workers.

MAYORAL SUPPORT—Denver Mayor Wellington Webb June 22 urged the Denver Regional Transit District not to use rail produced by Rocky Mountain Steel, because the Pueblo, Colo.-based company has disregarded the law, its workforce and its community. Webb's action follows a May finding by an administrative law judge that the mill violated federal labor laws when it locked out 1,100 Steelworkers in 1998.

STICKY PROBLEM—Health care workers in Veterans Affairs hospitals are being injured and put  at severe health risk from needle and other injuries, AFGE President Bobby L. Harnage told the House Education and Workforce subcommittee on workforce protection. Testifying in support of H.R. 1899, the Health Care Workers Needlestick  Injury Prevention Act, Harnage said that one in 32 workers at VA hospitals is injured by needles. Those workers treat veterans who are up to five times more likely than the average patient to carry the hepatitis C virus.

SIXTY YEARS IS ENOUGH—Saying 60 years of "irreparable emotional, medical and environmental damage is enough," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney last week issued an urgent appeal to President Clinton to end harmful bomb testing and maneuvers on the inhabited Puerto Rican island of Vieques. A civilian was killed last year when a U.S. Navy plane dropped a bomb and missed its target. Dozens of Puerto Rican union leaders, workers and their families were arrested June 22 for protesting the continued use of the island for target practice.

TENT CITY—Nearly 150 home care members of SEIU Local 434B, senior citizens, people with disabilities and their advocates raised a symbolic "tent city" in front of the Los Angeles County administration building June 21-23. Gov. Gray Davis (D) has proposed $100 million of state funds to match increased county funding for home care salaries and the demonstrators were urging supervisors to contribute their share.

FIGHTING NAFTA—The Steelworkers faced off with the federal government June 22 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, seeking to overturn the North American Free Trade Agreement. The union appealed a lower court ruling last July that upheld NAFTA, even though it was not ratified in 1993 by a two-thirds Senate vote as required by the U.S. Constitution. The appeals court is expected to rule in several months.

TWO WRONGS, NO RIGHTS—The Fair Labor Standards Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act fail to protect farm children adequately, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. The report, "Fingers to the Bone: United States Failure to Protect Child Farmworkers," found there is no limit on the number of hours children can work on farms and few protections against hazardous work and harmful pesticides. The group urged limiting farm work to children 14 and older, setting limits on hours of work and extending OSHA coverage to all farm workers. The report is available for $10 per copy from Human Rights Watch at 212-216-1220, or visit http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/crp/farmchild/index.htm

DOUBLE WIN—Workers in New York State gained two major victories recently. The State Assembly approved a bill June 15 that protects health care workers from retaliation by their employers for disclosing information regarding improper patient care. The New York whistle-blower bill is similar to one passed in Wisconsin last month. The lawmakers also significantly improved public workers' pension benefits June 18 by establishing a  permanent cost-of-living adjustment and eliminating employee contributions to their pensions.

COLLECTING A RECORD—Letter Carriers delivered their best annual food drive ever, collecting a record 64 million pounds of food—including a 1 million pound donation by Campbell Soup Co. This year's food drive, held May 13, broke last year's record by more than 5 million pounds. The Long Island, N.Y., Merged Branch 6000 was the food collection champ with 1.5 million pounds for food banks, pantries and shelters in that area. Boston Branch 34 was second, with more than 1.35 million pounds.

BLACK LUNG RULES PRAISED—New proposed federal rules governing the way black lung disability benefits are awarded will go a long way toward the Mine Workers' goal of "compensating all black lung victims and their widows more fairly," UMWA President Cecil Roberts said June 6. The Labor Department forwarded the rules to the Office of Management and Budget for review. Under current rules, only about 7 percent of black lung claimants win benefits.

MORE LIKE A BEACON—Electrical Workers Local 164 in New Jersey received the President's Service Award in a White House ceremony June 13. The award is sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation. Local 164 volunteers have performed numerous charitable projects, including home weatherstripping, lighting local school fields and fund-raising for breast cancer research.