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Important victory in the South
Sanitation workers force mayor to meet demands
By
Peter Gilbert
Raleigh, N.C.
Published Oct 7, 2006 12:38 AM
Raleigh sanitation workers have
taken a step forward and forced Mayor Charles Meeker to meet with the union to
discuss their demands.
The elected
workers’ committee and union representatives met with the mayor on Sept.
26 demanding an end to forced overtime, time-and-a-half pay for all overtime,
immediate hiring of all temporary city workers as permanent workers, an end to
bosses’ harassment, and the right to
organize.
The city has hired at least 10
temporary workers to full-time positions, and committed to hire more. The city
has also been forced to pay the workers regular overtime pay.
Workers will meet with the mayor again
Oct. 3 to further press their
demands.
The North Carolina Public
Service Workers’ Union, United Electrical Local 150, represents a large
majority of sanitation workers, as well as other city workers in Raleigh and
throughout the state along with a variety of other public-sector workers. North
Carolina is the only state with a law preventing any public workers from having
a contract—a relic of the racist Jim Crow era and a clear violation of the
workers’ human rights.
The
courageous work stoppage of the sanitation workers that took place for several
hours on Sept. 13 and their struggle for justice that continues to gain momentum
are a first step toward pushing back a century of anti-worker laws and racist
repression in the U.S. South.
The spirit
of these workers, taking a stand for dignity to improve their conditions, is
resonating with workers across the South and the entire United States. When the
most oppressed sector of the work force, low-paid Black sanitation workers, take
such a stand it encourages the working class as a
whole.
Workers across North Carolina and
other city workers are being drawn further into this struggle. They are building
power to overturn the state’s racist anti-worker laws. Solidarity
statements are also coming in from fighting unions across the
country.
Building community
solidarity
Inspired by the
sanitation workers’ struggle, community groups and leaders are coming
together. Anti-war and anti-racist activists have covered the city with signs
and leaflets. Supporters and activists with Raleigh FIST—the youth group
Fight Imperialism Stand Together—travel the city every day in a sound
truck, holding street meetings, distributing yard signs, and building visible
solidarity with the workers.
Union
supporters from the International Action Center in New York and Atlanta have
traveled to Raleigh to help in the fight. Activists in at least four other
cities have helped organize through computer help. The North Carolina conference
of the NAACP has been very vocal in its support of the sanitation workers; its
president, Rev. Dr. William Barber, serves as UE-150’s most vocal champion
in the fight for full collective-bargaining rights.
Ministers at Black churches from across
the state have motivated their congregations and are organizing mass support for
these workers. Residents across the city have expressed continuous solidarity,
putting signs on their trashcans or in their yards, honking and waving at the
trucks, offering cookies and coffee to the workers on their
routes.
Although the workers have now
won significant gains, and continue to meet and confer with the mayor and other
city officials, they have their eyes constantly on a larger struggle—that
is to win full union recognition, collective-bargaining rights, and to help
organize all unorganized workers in the U.S.
South.
The writer is an organizer
with Raleigh FIST. Contact
[email protected]
for more information.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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