SIGN UP HERE—Some 1,025 workers gained a voice on the job recently with Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees through card-checks after a majority signed union authorization cards. At the Cache Creek Indian Bingo and Casino near Brooks, Calif., 500 employees joined the union. The 225 workers at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston joined Local 26. Another 200 employees of the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco are now members of Local 2 and 100 laundry and housekeeping workers at the Baltimore Wyndham Hotel joined Local 7.

APPLYING ONESELF—In elections in December and January, 550 professional and nonprofessional workers for the Institute of Applied Human Dynamics voted for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 338, RWDSU. The teachers, registered nurses, housekeepers and other workers assist adults and children with developmental disabilities at 17 locations in New York State.

COMMUNICATING THE UNION MESSAGE—The 425 technicians and support staff members at SBC Communication's Advanced Solutions Inc. in four states voted for Communications Workers of America Jan. 4. Also, 68 AT&T Broadband workers in Penn Hills, Pa., voted for Local 13000, and 62 in Dallas, voted for Local 6150. Local 13000 also won a vote by 32 Alltel Corp. workers in Brookville, Pa.

POLICE PICK SEIU—Four hundred U.S. Department of Defense police officers who protect naval facilities in Norfolk, Va., voted overwhelming in late January to join SEIU Local 5000, NAGE (National Association of Government Employees). Meanwhile, on Jan. 25, the majority of 70 nonprofessional staff members at the Dam Neck naval facility in Virginia Beach, Va., voted for NAGE.

ON A WIN STREAK—In the latest of a string of victories, the 370 office and service workers at University of Maryland, Baltimore County voted for AFSCME Feb. 8. The vote capped a difficult nine-month organizing campaign, with an administration and staff Senate offering a history of so-called "shared governance," as an alternative to real collective bargaining. More than 3,800 University of Maryland employees have chosen AFSCME since several unions worked to pass a state law allowing the workers a voice on the job last year.

SPEAKING UP FOR A UNION—A majority of the 26 sportscasters at Infinity/WXYT 1270 AM in Detroit voted in January to join Television and Radio Artists. They join the bargaining unit of co-workers at WWJ-AM Newsradio 950.

'NO MORE ENRONS'—The AFL-CIO called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to ban directors of the failed Enron Corp. from serving on other corporate boards. The SEC has authority to ask the federal courts to permanently bar directors from serving on boards of public companies if their actions undermined the integrity of the capital markets. "Enron's directors are currently overseeing billions of dollars in workers' retirement savings in more than 20 public companies...this is an imminent danger to workers' retirement savings and the SEC must act immediately to do their part to make sure there are no more Enrons," AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka said.

BUDGET TAPS SOCIAL SECURITY—President George W. Bush's fiscal year 2003 federal budget proposes big increases for the military and domestic defense. But it also spends more than $2 trillion of the Social Security and Medicare surpluses over the next decade to pay for Bush's millionaire tax cut passed last year and other federal programs and makes huge cuts in vital working family initiatives. While Bush's war and homeland defense efforts are supported widely, use of the Social Security and Medicare surpluses is not. "National security and homeland security need not come at the expense of Social Security. We can pursue terrorists and still pursue other priorities," said South Carolina Rep. John Spratt, ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. "It is plain that...the president has made choices...that have little or nothing to do with the war. Many of these choices reduce or eliminate protections and benefits for workers in order to pay for the administration's other priorities," said an AFL-CIO analysis of the budget. The U.S. Department of Labor discretionary budget is cut 7 percent. Many of the targeted programs offer critical help to working families that have lost jobs in the economic hardship and recession of the past year, while others are vital workplace safety and worker protection initiatives. While Bush proposes cutting overall worker training programs by 9 percent, he also is seeking increased funding to investigate unions. Transportation spending takes a huge hit in the budget, including a 29 percent cut in highway construction spending. Industry groups estimate that could cost 380,000 jobs during the next decade and delay needed infrastructure repairs. For a closer look at the budget's impact on working family programs, visit www.aflcio.org.

STIMULUS KILLED—Jobless workers could receive an extra 13 weeks of unemployment benefits after the U.S. Senate passed an extension last week and sent the measure to the U.S. House. The extension vote came after Senate Republican leaders blocked an economic stimulus bill that, in addition to extending unemployment benefits, would have expanded the program to workers who need help but currently do not qualify for benefits. The defeated bill also would have granted tax rebates to low-income families, created some tax breaks for business investment and provided $5 billion in aid to state Medicaid programs. Due to parliamentary maneuvering, the bill needed 60 votes to pass and fell short in a 56-39 vote. A Republican stimulus package was defeated 48-47.

ILLOGICAL SECURITY—The Bush administration's apparent plan to deny whistle-blower protections to federal airport security screeners is "out of step with the American people, ignores congressional intent and...defies logic," said Sonny Hall, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD). Hall urged the administration to reconsider "this ill-advised policy decision." It is a "bizarre and dangerous irony," he said, "that while the government is spending billions on aviation security it would consider denying these workers the basic right to speak out on security and safety threats."

PICKERING PICK SLAMMED—The AFL-CIO, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and other civil rights and women's groups have urged the Senate to reject President Bush's nomination of a controversial Mississippi judge to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. As a law student, current U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering wrote an article suggesting the state pass a law to criminalize interracial marriages. As a state legislator, he cast several votes that denied electoral opportunities to African Americans and as a judge he "has issued a number of rulings in the civil rights area that indicated a lack of appreciation for important civil rights protections," the AFL-CIO said in a statement last week. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Pickering's nomination last week.

OBJECTIONS TO UNION BUSTING—Eight House members sent a letter to President Bush objecting to his recent executive order that stripped more than 1,000 U.S. Department of Justice workers of their union representation. Bush cited national security concerns when he issued the order that affected several law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Most of the affected workers are clerical employees and were members of AFGE, AFSCME and the National Federation of Federal Employees, an SEIU affiliate.

STEEL CRISIS DEEPENS—With cheap foreign steel imports still flooding the U.S. market, employment in the steel industry continues to fall--down by 9,600 in January to 191,200, which is 43,600 below the level of January 1998, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "In contrast to the drop in the national unemployment rate in January, the dramatic increase in steel industry job losses clearly shows that the steel crisis is deepening," Steelworkers President Leo W. Gerard said. The union has asked the Bush administration to enact a package of import restrictions and financial aid to save the industry.

LABOR READY LOSES—Blue-collar, temporary worker agency giant Labor Ready saw its profits and the number of its offices shrink dramatically last year and prospects for 2002 appear the same, according to corporate executives who held a briefing on the company's financial picture last week. The company has faced several legal battles over its treatment of workers and violations of state workers' compensation laws. Also, Edward C. Sullivan, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, again called on the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen, which audits Labor Ready and handled the books of the failed Enron Corp., to answer questions about several of Labor Ready's business practices. "The Enron scandal shows that prevention and early intervention are better than ignoring danger signs so evident in Labor Ready's business practices," Sullivan said.

OLYMPIC PROBLEMS—The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions called on the International Olympic Committee to investigate official Olympic Games clothing supplier Marker Ltd. for reportedly producing the uniforms of the 2002 Winter Olympics torchbearers in Burma, where forced labor is widespread. In a letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge, ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder urged the committee to "disassociate itself from those trading with tyranny in Burma." For more information, visit www.icftu.org.

TYSON INDICTED—A federal grand jury in Tennessee has indicted poultry giant Tyson Foods Inc. and six former managers for allegedly conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country to work at 15 Tyson plants. The Dec. 11 indictment was handed down after a two-and-a-half year Immigration and Naturalization Service undercover investigation. For years, the AFL-CIO and affiliated unions have warned that companies are importing workers and paying them low wages for long hours. Tyson officials pleaded not guilty in a January court appearance. The trial is expected to begin soon.

DERAILING AMTRAK—TTD is urging Congress to reject the Amtrak Reform Council's (ARC) recommendation that Amtrak be broken up so private operators can compete for contracts to run specific routes. TTD President Sonny Hall called on Congress to appropriate at least $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2003 to give Amtrak and its workers a chance to succeed, saying, "It's time to address the real issue-Amtrak's 30-year track record of being forced to succeed despite anemic federal funding."

'10,000 GEORGES'—The powerful story of A. Philip Randolph and the 12-year battle to organize Pullman Co. porters is captured in "10,000 Black Men Named George," a movie to be aired Feb. 24 on Showtime at 8 p.m. EST. It will be rebroadcast on Showtime TOO on Feb. 26 at 9 p.m. EST. Randolph, portrayed by actor Andre Braugher, founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The movie's title comes from white passengers' routine practice at the time of disrespectfully calling all porters "George," the first name of the company's owner. There will be a special showing of the movie during the AFL-CIO's Executive Council meeting in New Orleans Feb. 26-27.