On the picket line

Strike at Univ. of Miami

More than 900 service workers at the University of Miami in Florida went on strike March 1 to demand union representation as well as wage hikes, health benefits and workplace protections. The employees of Unicco Service Co. want to be represented by SEIU.

University President Donna Shalala—the former Secretary of Health and Human Resources under President Clinton—announced a minimum of 25 percent wage hikes on March 16. The university will immediately raise its current base pay from $6.40 an hour, the current state minimum wage. The new minimum pay for food service workers will be $8 an hour, housekeepers will make $8.55 an hour, and landscapers will make at least $9.30 an hour. Health care benefits, including medical, dental and vision plans, will be offered.

The university, which opposes the union, had previously disavowed any responsibility for payment and working conditions of its janitors, housekeepers, food servers and landscapers. Most are immigrants from the Caribbean and South America.

However, University of Miami’s announcement did not request that Unicco obey labor laws or resolve labor rights violations and workplace safety issues. That’s why the strike will continue, says SEIU Local 11, which has charged the company with two violations of labor law—using coercion to attempt to stop union organizing and intimidation during the strike. (SEIU press release, March 16)

University of Miami service workers are among the lowest paid in the country. In comparison, Unicco janitors at Harvard University earn $13 to $14 an hour and receive full health benefits. But winning that contract took an intense two-year struggle.

Teamsters rally behind Sikorsky strike

Thousands of Teamsters turned out March 9 to show support for the 3,600 workers in Local 1150 who have been on strike at Sikorsky Aircraft since Feb. 20. At company headquarters in Stratford, Conn., Teamsters President Jim Hoffa affirmed that all 1.4 million Teamsters stood behind the striking workers, who make helicopters and other advanced military and commercial equipment.

The main issue, as in so many strikes these days, is who will pay for health care. Though Sikorsky has offered a pay raise that keeps up with inflation, the workers chose to walk the line rather than have health care benefits—and therefore their paychecks—slashed.

Though union negotiators offered a new proposal on March 13, Sikorsky immediately rejected it, issuing a little-changed version of its original proposal. In the meantime the company refuses to come to the bargaining table. Call Sikorsky at 800-946-4337 and tell them to end the strike by meeting the workers’ just demands.

NYC building workers focus on health care

Contract talks started March 14 for 28,000 doormen, elevator operators and other workers who service 3,500 elite New York City apartment buildings. SEIU Local 32BJ’s contract expires on April 21. The last time the union went on strike was in 1991.

Next to wages, the biggest issue is health care costs. The Realty Advisory Board, which negotiates on behalf of building owners, claims owners are squeezed by spiraling fuel costs and rising taxes and wants a wage freeze in the first year of the contract to offset higher health care costs. Pointing to the high-flying residential real estate market, union negotiators nixed that, even though the 2004 contract for office building workers had such a wage freeze.

Union negotiators want to extend the apartment building contract to four years, so that it would expire at the same time as the office building contract, giving both unions more clout.