Fed up workers are ‘digging in’

The Great Lakes Region, including Ohio, is considered an area of high union density. It was pivotal to the organizing drives of the 1930s and 1940s. Thus, it may come as a surprise that here, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hourly compensation for workers in private industry lags behind the national average. Clearly the decades-long anti-labor assault has taken its toll.

However, a fighting mood is beginning to emerge throughout Ohio. “It is tough, but the resolve is clear,” stated Larry Vellequette, spokesperson for the Toledo Council of Newspaper Unions. “We’re basically digging in,” remarked David Prentice, representing USWA Local 2 on strike against Goodyear.

In response to AK Steel’s demand that locked-out workers return to work alongside scabs, International Association of Machinists (IAM) member Ed Barker said it would be “not safe at all.”

Two hundred workers have been locked out by the Toledo Blade since August, and another 400 are working without a contract.

StoptheBlade.com lists Blade management’s Ten Worst Demands. These include a 13 percent pay cut, $400 in monthly health care costs, management’s unilateral right to subcontract work, the right to replace all full-time workers with part timers, elimination of seniority rights, limits on free speech for workers, and the “elimination of a meaningful grievance procedure.”

The day the lockout began, a Blade editorial called this union-busting tactic “a legitimate tool in collective bargaining.”

Since the lockout began and an All Fronts Boycott was launched, circulation has dropped 15 percent and 10,000 readers have cancelled their subscriptions.

Two hundred and fifty local businesses have stopped advertising, despite the Blade offering free ad space. Politicians have refused endorsements. This past Labor Day, support was so high Vellequette called it “one great big giant hug.”

Meanwhile the eight-month lockout at AK Steel in Middletown continues. On Oct. 18, IAM members rejected in a two-to-one vote what AK bosses called a “clarified proposal.” It was basically the same deal turned down Sept. 24. Despite the obvious hardship, workers won’t give up pension guarantees or seniority rights and they don’t want to be “retrained” by strikebreakers. Churches and local businesses are doing what they can to assist in this town of 53,000 where everyone knows someone affected by the lockout.

In Cleveland, the low-paid maintenance workers in public housing are making their exploitation a matter of public concern. On Oct. 10, members of AFSCME Local 1355 marched on the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, demanding a 34 percent raise. Charging racism, these maintenance workers need that much to achieve parity with those doing similar work in Lorain County and elsewhere. “I’ve got people eating in soup kitchens,” stated Local 1355 President David Patterson.

On Oct. 18 workers marched on the home of Mayor Frank Jackson, demanding he intervene. Supporter and community activist Art McKoy was arrested and held overnight.

In Akron and Marysville, Goodyear strikers are also ready for the long battle ahead. There are also smaller strikes, such as one begun Sept. 8 against PolyOne in Avon, where the UAW has been trying since March 2005 to get a first contract. In every corner of the state, labor is telling capital, enough is enough.