On the picket line

LA area immigrant car washers to receive $1 million in back pay

Owners of eight carwashes in the Los Angeles area agreed Jan. 11 to a $1 million settlement to workers after failing to pay minimum wages or overtime for many years. The bosses routinely cheated the mostly Latino/a immigrant workers by creating false records of work hours and not paying wages to those who quit. Workers at two carwashes fought for and won union recognition by United Steelworkers Local 675 in 2011. In early November, a third wash agreed to the Local 675 contract signed by the previous owner. Workers at other carwashes have joined the CLEAN Carwash Campaign supported by the USW, the AFL-CIO and more than 100 community, faith and labor organizations in L.A. (blog.aflcio.org, Jan. 11)

First contract in 10 years for United flight attendants

United Airlines flight attendants negotiated their first contract since the airline filed for bankruptcy 10 years ago. Wages for the 15,000 workers will return to pre-bankruptcy levels, with 17.5 percent raises over the three-year contract. The workers, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), will immediately get a 10 percent wage increase and a $5,000 signing bonus. The workers defeated hundreds of concessions, including changes in health care coverage and pay protections, and won protections against involuntary furloughs and increased work schedule flexibility. (afanet.org, Jan. 12)

Struggle over Indiana RTW law

Hundreds of unionized Indiana workers, mobilized by the state AFL-CIO, denounced Gov. Mitch Daniels when he promoted the anti-union, right-to-work law during his state of the state address Jan. 10. The next day laid-off workers from Oklahoma testified at a news conference about how the RTW law passed there in 2001 has meant the loss of a third of that state’s manufacturing jobs in the past 10 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Later that week, around 7,500 people marched into the Indianapolis statehouse, waving placards and shouting “Veto!” to protest the RTW bill passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature.

Noting that this year’s Super Bowl will be played in Indianapolis, the National Football League Players Association issued a statement Jan. 6 that “it should be a time to shine in the national spotlight and highlight the hardworking families that make Indiana run instead of launching political attacks on their basic rights.” The statement also noted a recent Economic Policy Institute report showing the RTW law would cut wages for Indiana workers by $1,500 a year. In addition, six NLF players from Indiana sent personal letters to legislators denouncing the RTW bill. (blog.aflcio.org, Jan. 6, 10, 11)

RNs at NYC’s Mount Sinai Hospital ratify contract

Registered nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan ratified a four-year contract Jan. 6 that includes wage increases of 8 percent, a $1,500 lump sum upon signing, and two payments of $600 in December 2013 and 2014 to offset new health care premium contributions. The two parties also agreed to make preventing workplace violence a high priority. This is the fourth major contract successfully negotiated by the New York State Nurses Association on behalf of more than 10,000 RNs in New York City hospitals in the last two months. (nysna.net, Jan. 6)

NBC technical staff negotiate contract

It took nearly three years since the contract of the Broadcast Employees union (NABET-CWA) expired on March 31, 2009, for the 2,500 technical staff, news writers, maintenance and staging personnel at NBC Universal to negotiate a contract without draconian concessions to network and local television stations in New York; Chicago; Burbank, Calif.; and Washington, D.C., as well as NBC News and NBC Sports. The three-year contract offers a total of 8 percent wage increases, a signing bonus, layoff protections for staff, and conversion of a number of daily-hire jobs into full-time staff positions. (nabetcwa.org, Jan. 12)

NLRB upholds class action suits for workers

The National Labor Relations Board ruled on Jan. 8 that employers cannot prevent workers from filing work-related group or class action legal suits against them. The ruling, which bans employment agreements forcing workers to individually pursue claims through arbitration, applies to all nonmanagement private sector workers, union and nonunion. It’s estimated that more than 25 percent of nonunion workers have been forced to sign such agreements as a condition of employment. The Jan. 7 New York Times speculated that business organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will soon appeal the ruling.