On the picket line

Georgia fire kills 13 workers

Airborne sugar dust ignited in the Imperial Sugar Co. refinery in Port Wentworth, Ga., near Savannah on Feb. 7. The blast killed 13 workers, eight immediately, and injured 14, with 11 still listed in critical condition nearly a month later. (www.wltx.com, March 4)

Fifteen months ago, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommended new regulations to prevent dust explosions. Their research showed 281 such explosions between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers and injured 718 others. A quarter of those explosions occurred in sugar plants similar to the Imperial site. (Savannah Morning News, March 4)

On March 3, two unions—the Food and Commercial Workers and the Teamsters—filed a petition with the Department of Labor demanding an emergency standard for dust-hazard controls. Also on March 3, legislation mandating safety regulations to prevent combustible-dust explosions was introduced in the House of Representatives. (Morris News Service, March 4)

Blacks, Latin@s win bias suit against NYC Parks Dept.

On Feb. 26, New York City agreed to settle a federal class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of 3,500 current and formerly employed Black and Latin@ workers who charged the Department of Parks and Recreation with systematic discrimination in awarding jobs and setting salaries. In addition to paying the workers more than $20 million in back pay and compensatory damages, the city also agreed to new pay scales, promotion practices and oversight procedures. (New York Times, Feb. 27)

Though the city did not admit to wrongdoing and long-time Parks commissioner Henry J. Stern denied charges of discrimination, court documents show that 92.9 percent of employees earning less than $20,000 a year were Black or Latin@ in 2000, while only 14.2 percent of those earning between $50,000 and $60,000 a year were Black and Latin@.

End modern-day slavery in the fields

The struggle of immigrant tomato pickers in Florida, led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, launched a new phase of its Campaign for Fair Food on Feb. 27. Its national petition calls on Burger King to join Taco Bell, McDonalds and other fast-food chains to work with the CIW to improve wages and working conditions and end human rights violations that amount to modern-day slavery in Florida fields. The petition also indicates that signers will be willing to boycott Burger King if the company doesn’t comply with CIW demands. The petitions will be presented to Burger King at its corporate headquarters in Miami later this spring.

To sign the petition, go to www.ciw-online.org. CIW notes that the petition honors the 200th anniversary of the 1808 U.S. ban against importing slaves and was inspired by strategies used by the abolitionist movement. Meanwhile, the Student/Farmworker Alliance, long-time supporters of CIW’s campaign, has called for a national day of action—on campuses, in schools and in communities—against Burger King on March 31.

Collective bargaining for academic workers

Two states are considering legislation that would allow academic workers the right to choose collective bargaining. On Feb. 19, the Wisconsin State Senate voted for legislation that would allow 17,000 faculty and academic staff in the University of Wisconsin system to form unions. On Feb. 20, the Maryland House of Delegates heard testimony from University of Maryland graduate employees on a bill that would give them and adjunct faculty—a total of 10,000 workers—the right to form unions. (American Federation of Teachers press release, Feb. 21)

Paid family leave in N.J.

On March 3, the New Jersey Senate passed a law making the state the third in the country to give workers the right to take paid leave to care for a newborn child or a sick relative. Gov. Jon S. Corzine says he will sign the law after it's approved by the Assembly later this month. It will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. (New York Times, March 4)

Payment for family leaves will be financed by payroll deductions that will cost every worker a maximum of 64 cents a week, or $33 a year. Workers will be eligible for two-thirds of their salary, up to a maximum of $524 a week, for six weeks. While that amount is nowhere near the $917 a week provided in California, it's more than double what Washington state will offer starting next year. It's important to note that the U.S. is the only capitalist country that does not provide extended paid family leave for workers. U.S. law only mandates six weeks of unpaid leave with no guaranteed job security.