On the picket line

A first for Cablevision workers:
union representation

In a first for Cablevision, its installation workers in Brooklyn, N.Y., voted 180 to 86 on Jan. 27 to join Communication Workers Local 1109. But first they had to buck strong company opposition, which included an internal website called “Why Union Free?” and the requirement that workers attend anti-union meetings. The workers in the mostly nonunionized industry joined CWA because their wages are more than 30 percent lower than those of Verizon workers, whom CWA represents; they have been subject to arbitrary discipline and the company has refused to meet with them to hear their grievances; and they want better health and retirement benefits. The union campaign got outside help when supporters like the Rev. Al Sharpton and New York City public advocate, Bill de Blasio, signed a letter in mid-January telling the company to “respect Cablevision workers’ right to organize free from harassment and intimidation.” (New York Times, Jan. 27)

Nat’l protest of Cooper Tire lockout

Jan. 14 was a National Day of Action at more than 125 tire stores around the country. This was called to show solidarity with 1,051 members of Steelworkers Local 2071 who were locked out at Cooper Tire’s Findlay, Ohio, plant on Nov. 18. When the company was floundering in 2008, USW members agreed to sacrifice $31.2 million in concessions in their three-year contract. Since 2009, the state of Ohio granted $2.5 million in subsidies to shore up the company. That allowed Cooper to recover, with $448 million in operating profits and $360 million in before-tax income. To reward themselves, the top five executives split $9.5 million — the CEO gave himself a 211 percent raise — and awarded management with two salary hikes and double bonuses. What did they offer the workers? More concessions. No wonder the workers voted down the contract. That’s when corporate greed went into high gear, and Cooper locked out its highly skilled workforce and hired out-of-state scabs. The USW has taken its case to the National Labor Relations Board, charging Copper with unfair labor practices in bargaining and imposing the lockout. But the workers and their supporters aren’t waiting for the NLRB. They’re taking this blatant example of corporate greed directly to the 99%. Boycott Cooper Tires! (thestand.org, Jan. 17)

Students fight sweatshop
conditions in Cambodia

When members of the Ohio State University chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops found out that the university was negotiating to sign a 10-year deal with Silver Star Merchandising — the Dallas Cowboys’ merchandising unit — they immediately investigated how the apparel was made. They discovered that Cambodian workers are forced to work 10-hour days, six days a week, for a pittance — just 29 cents per hour. Ironically, their monthly take-home pay amounts to $100 — the cost of one Dallas Cowboys jacket! ESPN aired a story in early January about the hostile work environment, where supervisors yell at and insult the mostly female workforce for talking to co-workers or taking too long in the bathroom. USAS has started a campaign to expose these sweatshop conditions and stop other universities from considering deals with Silver Star. (usas.org, Jan. 8) If you want to be truly inspired by USAS, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary in February, read about the 11 campaigns, detailed on its website, where the students helped workers win their rights in 2011.

Picket Trader Joe’s to support
tomato workers

The Community/Farmworker Alliance NYC — one of many groups working around the country to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers — has called a protest at New York’s Union Square store on Feb. 12 to demand the national supermarket chain sign an agreement with CIW to pay at least one penny more per pound for tomatoes that the mostly immigrant workers pick. The CIW national campaign to end sweatshop conditions in Florida’s tomato fields has successfully convinced corporate giants like McDonald’s and Whole Foods to join the CIW cause. But TJ’s has resisted CIW for nearly two years. What takes the cake now is that TJ’s is opening its first Florida store on Immokalee Road, only 35 miles from CIW headquarters! The coalition plans to protest there Feb. 10-12, and as of Jan. 30, protests are planned in 33 cities. To sign a petition demanding that TJ’s CEO, Dan Bane, support the campaign, visit sumofus.org. To find out more about CIW and locate a protest near you, visit ciw-online.org.