A HEALTHY VICTORY FOR AFT—With support from religious and community groups and elected officials, a strong majority of 1,300 nurses at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., voted for a voice on the job with AFT Healthcare on Oct. 3. Leaders of the Vermont State Labor Council helped garner the support of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) and Gov. Howard Dean (D). "This monumental victory is a tremendous win for Fletcher Allen nurses and patients," said AFT President Sandra Feldman.

SEIU WINS FOR COURTS, KIDS—A majority of 500 nurses at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., voted for a voice on the job with SEIU on Sept. 27. Union leaders are confident that a count of challenged ballots will result in victory. A strong majority of 181 Superior Court workers in Santa Barbara County, Calif., voted 109-39 in late September to form a union with SEIU Local 620. By a 4-1 majority, 72 Community Action Marin child care workers in Marin County, Calif., voted Sept. 23 to join SEIU Local 949 in an effort to gain a voice for better pay and benefits and respect for their work.

HEAVENLY UNITE—In the most recent victory at Angelica, the nation's largest health care laundry, 250 workers in Rockmart, Ga., voted overwhelmingly for representation by UNITE's Southern Regional Joint Board last week. Issues that propelled the campaign include respect, wages, insurance and immigrant rights. The workers join more than 1,000 Angelica workers already in the union.

LABORERS CORRECT—By a unanimous vote, 21 correctional officers at the Vermilion County Juvenile Detention Center in Danville, Ill., voted to join Laborers Local 624 on Sept. 25.

WHITE HOUSE UNDERCUTS DOCKWORKERS—In an unprecedented action, President George W. Bush Monday ordered a board of inquiry under the federal Taft-Hartley Act in the case of 10,500 locked-out West Coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union dockworkers. This is the first time a president has moved toward a back-to-work injunction while union members were locked out of their jobs—not on strike. "This is the wrong decision," said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka. "The federal government has tipped the balance of power heavily in the employer's favor." The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) has refused to let the dockworkers do their jobs at 29 major West Coast ports since Sept. 29. On Oct. 6, federally mediated talks between the ILWU and the PMA broke down after the union agreed to—but the PMA refused —the mediators' urgent request to extend the expired contract for seven days and end the lockout. U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said the three-member Taft-Hartley board is expected to report to the president Oct. 8. Based on its findings, the president could direct the attorney general to seek a federal court injunction on the grounds that the lockout endangers national safety or health. If the court agrees, it could order the ports reopened and kept running by ILWU workers during a "cooling-off" period of up to 80 days. Visit http://www.aflcio.org/ for updates.

TEAMSTERS WINNING AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME—The Teamsters union is not dominated or heavily influenced by organized crime, according to a landmark independent internal investigation released Oct. 3. "Our study has found that organized crime is no longer the problem it once was in the Teamsters," said Edwin Stier, a former federal prosecutor who led the investigation. "The Teamsters union is serious about running a corruption-free union," said IBT President James P. Hoffa at a Washington, D.C., news conference to release the report. "It is proof that we are running a clean, above-board and democratic union."

JUSTICE FOR FARM WORKERS—In a landmark victory for California agricultural workers, Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Sept. 30 signed legislation providing mediation when growers unfairly drag out contract negotiations with farm workers who have voted for a union. Now "some of the poorest and most abused workers in California can win the life-changing benefits of union contracts for themselves and their families," said Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez, whose members and allies held vigils and marches in support of the legislation. Supported by activists from the California Labor Federation, Davis also signed several other pro-working family bills into law last month, including a requirement for more stringent plant-closing notification than federal law; a request for a study of the best ways to enforce wage and hour laws; a bill giving most workers paid leave to care for sick family members and new children; and one allowing cities and counties to apply local living wage standards to all state-funded development projects they administer. For more information, visit http://www.calaborfed.org/ and http://www.ufw.org/.

WORLDCOM WORKERS WIN—The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ruled Oct. 1 that nearly 9,000 laid-off WorldCom workers can be paid their full severance, commissions, health care, unpaid vacation and other monies owed. When WorldCom filed for bankruptcy in July, the company froze payments at $4,650 per worker. The employees' victory marks the second legal win for workers of scandal-ridden, bankrupt firms who were faced with losing their full severance and other funds. In the WorldCom and earlier Enron Corp. cases, the AFL-CIO stepped in to support the nonunion workers with legal assistance and advice as part of its campaign to put workers first and hold corporations accountable.

REPUBLICANS SAY NO TO SECURITY—For the fifth time in eight days, Senate Republicans blocked a vote on homeland security legislation because it did not provide President Bush with the unlimited authority he seeks to strip collective bargaining and civil service rights from the 170,000 workers who would make up the new department. With 60 votes needed to end debate and bring the bill to a vote, the move failed 52-45 on Oct. 1. Bush has threatened to veto any homeland security bill that did not grant him such authority. Bush and Senate Republicans also rejected a bipartisan compromise that gave Bush much of what he sought. The Senate is scheduled to adjourn Oct. 11. It is unlikely the Bush administration will seek a compromise or that Senate Republicans will allow a vote on the bill.

NO NEW YORK UNION-BUSTING BUCKS—New York state employers who receive state money cannot use the funds to either encourage or discourage workers' organizing drives. Gov. George Pataki (R) signed the union-backed legislation into law Oct. 1. New York State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes said the bill "ensures that taxpayer dollars will not be used to interfere with workers' constitutional right to join a union."

PROGRESS FOR BOSTON JANITORS—Striking janitors in Boston, members of SEIU Local 254, reached an interim agreement Oct. 4 with six cleaning contractors. The contractors agreed to provide part-time workers in large buildings with health coverage and full-time work. "Now that some companies have stepped forward to provide good jobs with health care for janitors, it's clear the others can too," said Rocio Saenz, deputy trustee of the local.

PINK SLIPS FOR POLITICIANS—On Oct. 19, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney will kick off the federation's "No More Business As Usual" national day of action with a rally and precinct walk in Baltimore. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka will be in Alabama and AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson will swing through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. UNITE President Bruce Raynor will lead an action in Maine. In some 100 events nationwide, union activists will urge working families to vote in November and give pink slips to lawmakers who go easy on corporate wrong-doers. For information, visit http://www.aflcio.org/ or e-mail Oct19@aflcio.org.

POVERTY AND BANKRUPTCY RISING—The safety nets for workers are deteriorating, leading to sharp hikes in poverty and personal bankruptcy, according to a new AFL-CIO report, Silence and Inaction in the Face of Ongoing Crisis Threaten Economic Recovery and Family Economic Security. The report calls on Congress to extend emergency unemployment benefits; enact health care cost reforms including a Medicare prescription drug benefit; create meaningful 401(k) reform; abandon proposals to privatize Social Security; provide financial relief to state governments; and raise the minimum wage. "The economic stimulus plan of last year has failed to create new jobs or provide adequate relief to workers who cannot find jobs," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr09302002.cfm.

TRANSPORT FUNDS SLASHED—More than 150,000 jobs could be lost if the Amtrak and highway funding cuts approved by the House Appropriations Committee are allowed to stand. The AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department has urged the full House to reject the cuts. Instead, it supports the spending bill adopted this summer by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which fully funds Amtrak at $1.2 billion and restores $8.6 billion President Bush cut from highway funds.

DAY LABORERS LACK PROTECTION—The nation's growing day laborer workforce is vulnerable to serious wage and job safety exploitation because the Department of Labor does not have the investigative tools and procedures to uncover such violations, according to a new report from the federal General Accounting Office. The report criticizes the Labor Department's lack of bilingual outreach to the mostly Hispanic workforce. The report, Labor's Efforts to Enforce Protections for Day Laborers Could Benefit from Better Data and Guidance, is available at www.gao.gov.

WAL-MART FOUND GUILTY—Wal-Mart was found guilty of violating federal labor laws in its campaign to deny workers a voice on the job at 14 Las Vegas-area stores. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge Albert Metz in late September ordered the giant retailer to stop preventing workers from distributing union materials, confiscating those materials, interrogating workers about their union views and threatening employees with loss of benefits. He also ordered the company to reverse disciplinary action against two pro-union workers. Wal-Mart workers are engaged in a nationwide campaign to win a voice on the job with the United Food and Commercial Workers. The NLRB has issued about 30 complaints against Wal-Mart for anti-worker actions.

UFCW PACKS IN A WIN—After a two-year struggle, leaders of UFCW Local 789 reached a tentative contract agreement with meatpacker Dakota Premium Foods in South St. Paul, Minn., in late September. The 200 workers are scheduled to vote on the contract Oct. 15. The four-year pact includes wage and health care improvements.

HERE IN HAWAII—The Hyatt Regency Waikiki in Honolulu agreed Sept. 25 with Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Local 5 on the same contract terms that members at two other major Hawaii hotels recently ratified. Awaiting approval by the Hyatt Regency Waikiki's 560 workers, the contract provides enhanced job security, a limit on subcontracting, workload standards and substantial wage and health and pension plan employer contributions. The local's attention now turns to securing the same contract for members at the Renaissance Ilikai and Ala Moana hotels.