Stewards Corner

  • A Contract Campaign Across Unions

    Author(s):
    Doug Swanson

    Excerpt:

    As Wisconsin faces a nearly $6 billion budget deficit, state employee unions are determined to make sure the crisis isn’t “solved” on our backs. All union contracts with the state will expire June 30. As we strategize, we’re remembering our successful campaign—“A Deal’s a Deal”—from 2003. . . .

    Body:

    As Wisconsin faces a nearly $6 billion budget deficit, state employee unions are determined to make sure the crisis isn’t “solved” on our backs. All union contracts with the state will expire June 30. As we strategize, we’re remembering our successful campaign—“A Deal’s a Deal”—from 2003.

    In February 2003 a joint committee of the Wisconsin legislature refused to approve 16 agreements that had been ratified by the members of six state employees’ unions. Over the years, state employees had consistently been used as punching bags by many of the legislators holding the contracts hostage.

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • How Republic Workers Occupied Their Plant

    Author(s):
    Leah Fried

    Excerpt:

    December 5 was to be the last day of work at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago. But managers soon realized that workers would not go quietly: they had voted to occupy the factory. . . .

    Body:

    December 5 was to be the last day of work at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago. But managers soon realized that workers would not go quietly: they had voted to occupy the factory.

    Members of United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 1110, they’d made plans to scatter throughout the plant, chain themselves to machines, and risk arrest. This is the story of how they did it.

    The occupation that won workers their back pay and the admiration of union members around the world didn’t happen out of the blue. It was the culmination of years of struggle to build a democratic, fighting union able to take on the boss.

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Understanding and Defending Past Practices

    Author(s):
    David Cohen

    Excerpt:

    Stewards need to know what a valid past practice is and what the past practices in their workplace are—to defend them from erosion by management. A past practice is any longstanding, frequent practice that is accepted and known by both union and management. . . .

    Body:

    Stewards need to know what a valid past practice is and what the past practices in their workplace are—to defend them from erosion by management. A past practice is any longstanding, frequent practice that is accepted and known by both union and management. Bona fide past practices are considered part of the contract, so grievances can be filed if management violates them. Be sure to check your contract for language that limits their use for grievances. In most cases management cannot end a past practice without first bargaining with the union. In some cases management must wait until contract negotiations to change a past practice.

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Handling Insubordination Grievances

    Author(s):
    David Cohen

    Excerpt:

    Ella was having a bad day. Her machines weren’t running right, but her foreman came over and said, “Ella, we need those machines up and running, and since Rafael is out today, I want you to start up his machines, too.” “No way,” said Ella. . . .

    Body:

    Ella was having a bad day. Her machines weren’t running right, but her foreman came over and said, “Ella, we need those machines up and running, and since Rafael is out today, I want you to start up his machines, too.”

    “No way,” said Ella. “I’ve got my hands full, and the contract says I don’t have to run extra machines except in emergencies.”

    “I’m telling you to get over there and start up those machines,” yelled her foreman. “If you don’t, you’ll be fired for insubordination.”

    Sally, the department steward, went to the supervisor’s office. “We have to talk about your foreman,” she said. “He’s threatening Ella and trying to make her run more machines than she’s supposed to.”

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Sympathy Strikes & the Law: Is Solidarity Legal?

    Author(s):
    Robert Schwartz

    Excerpt:

    I work at a company where the production workers and the technicians are in different unions. The techs' contract runs out this year while ours has a year to go. If the techs call a strike, can the production workers respect their picket lines? . . .

    Body:

    A Sympathy Strike Within the Same Local

    University of California public employees planned a strike this summer—and faced hurdles trying to organize a sympathy strike of their own members. UC workers are under California state law rather than the National Labor Relations Act.

    Contracts had expired for both service workers such as janitors and groundskeepers and for patient care workers at UC hospitals. Management was bargaining with the patient care workers, which meant they weren’t legally allowed to walk. But the service workers were at an impasse—and they called a five-day strike. The union, AFSCME Local 3299, knew the service workers’ strike would be more effective if the patient care workers stayed out, too. But, says UC Davis organizer Amy Hines, “We were not legally allowed to point patient care workers in that direction. Neither were board members. “We had Member Action Team leaders who aren’t on AFSCME pay, and they promoted solidarity strikes. As a result, then, it was a grassroots effort.”

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • 'Why Privatize? We Can Run It Better!'

    Author(s):
    Dave Cohen

    Excerpt:

    That’s the question United Electrical Workers Local 274 and the Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) asked when their wastewater treatment plant was threatened with privatization....

    Body:

    “Why privatize? We can run it better!” That’s the question United Electrical Workers Local 274 and the Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) asked when their wastewater treatment plant was threatened with privatization.

    The city council—called a Selectboard—in Montague, Massachusetts, a town of 8,500 in the western part of the state, was concerned about the treatment plant because it had lost a large industrial customer. But the Selectboard never thought to ask the people who worked there what to do.

    Instead, it solicited bids to privatize the plant in hopes of saving the town money. Soon four companies had handed in proposals, most of which promised big savings. Because of intense pressure from union members, none of the proposals called for layoffs or wage cuts (except, perhaps, cuts in management).

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • How To Lose Your Next Election — A Step-by-Step Guide

    Author(s):
    Dan Campbell

    Excerpt:

    Put these suggestions to work for you and it’s guaranteed: you’ll have no problem coming in dead last in your next election. These not-too-carefully guarded secrets have been tried and tested by many well-meaning former leaders. . . .

    Body:

    Editor’s note: Dan Campbell has been a co-chair of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a union organizer, a business agent, and an assistant to local presidents. Here he gives advice to new officers elected on a platform of reforming the union and mobilizing the members.

    Put these suggestions to work for you and it’s guaranteed: you’ll have no problem coming in dead last in your next election. These not-too-carefully guarded secrets have been tried and tested by many well-meaning former leaders.

    • SELL OUT TO THE EMPLOYERS

      Available Online:
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  • Building Strong Strike Support

    Author(s):
    Chris Kutalik

    Excerpt:

    During his time in Detroit, Labor Notes’ recently departed editor was a coordinator of strike support committees for the American Axle and Northwest mechanics strikes. Here he shares a few hard-earned tips on how (and how not) to build support committees. . . .

    Body:

    Editor’s Note: During his time in Detroit, Labor Notes’ recently departed editor was a coordinator of strike support committees for the American Axle and Northwest mechanics strikes. Here he shares a few hard-earned tips on how (and how not) to build support committees.

    Maureen Taylor of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization speaks at a June tribute for the American Axle strikers.

    As the clock struck 4 p.m., committee organizers paced anxiously around the empty banquet room. Dinners for 500 strikers and supporters sat simmering in unclaimed trays. By 4:30 the mostly still-empty room had reduced some of them to open worry.

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Let’s Talk Immigration in the Union

    Author(s):
    Tiffany Ten Eyck

    Excerpt:

    When New York’s governor announced last year that the state would stop asking people who wanted drivers licenses for proof of citizenship, a firestorm of anger erupted—so hot that the governor rescinded his proposal. . . .

    Body:
    Jim West/jimwestphoto.com

    When New York’s governor announced last year that the state would stop asking people who wanted drivers licenses for proof of citizenship, a firestorm of anger erupted—so hot that the governor rescinded his proposal.

    Guillermo Perez, a labor educator and the president of the Albany, New York, chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), was appalled.

    Available Online:
    Yes

  • Protecting Lesbian, Gay, and Transgender Members

    Author(s):
    Donna Cartwright

    Excerpt:

    Too many lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender workers are simply fired if they come out—or are “outed” involuntarily—at work. LGBT workers may be fired outright, or they may be harassed until they quit. In many states, they have no recourse under the law. . . .

    Body:

    Too many lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) workers are simply fired if they come out—or are “outed” involuntarily—at work. LGBT workers may be fired outright, or they may be harassed until they quit. In many states, they have no recourse under the law.

    Their unions are the only place they can turn to if they run into bias on the job, from discrimination to denial of benefits. Unions can prevent such treatment by negotiating for expanded nondiscrimination language.

    Many contracts already bar unfair treatment based on race, sex, religion, national origin, and other categories. These clauses should be expanded to include “sexual orientation,” which would protect gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers, and “gender identity and expression,” which would protect transgender workers.

    Available Online:
    Yes