On the picket line

Immigrant workers stage hunger strike

Remember after the government-made disaster following the disastrous hurricanes in 2005 that workers were needed in New Orleans to help rebuild the region? Well, some profit-hungry firms like Signal International decided to hire welders and pipe fitters from India to rebuild the shipping industry in the Gulf and not train the local population who desperately needed jobs to replace ones that were lost. So Signal lured more than 550 Indian workers with promises of permanent visas for themselves and their families, and the workers paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the privilege. However, when they arrived in New Orleans, the workers were forced to work for low wages, live in cramped, unsanitary housing, and pay exorbitant rent. They also discovered they only had “guest worker” visas.

To protest this modern-day slavery and expose this human trafficking chain, more than 100 of the workers quit their jobs at Signal on March 6. With the help of the Indian Workers Congress and the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity, affiliates of the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice, they are struggling not just for themselves but for all immigrant workers in the U.S. To call attention to that struggle, five brave workers started a hunger strike on May 14 in front of the White House. On May 21, joined by six more, the hunger strikers moved to the U.S. Capitol Building to shame Congress into calling hearings about Signal’s lies and crimes. (NOWRJ press release, May 21) To find out more about this struggle and to find ways to support these courageous workers, go to www.unionjustice.org.

Calif. Letter Carriers support Gulf Coast Reconstruction

On April 12, the California State Association of Letter Carriers, which represents more than 43,000 workers, adopted a strongly worded resolution supporting the implementation of a federally funded Gulf Coast Reconstruction Program. The resolution stipulated that such a program would include prevailing wages for workers, the right to organize, the right to return to the Gulf for all those who were displaced, a Gulf Coast Public Works Program similar to the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s, and national solidarity committees that would continue to struggle for a just reconstruction.

Casino workers rally

On May 17 casino workers and their supporters demonstrated at Foxwoods to demand that management recognize the United Auto Workers union as their official bargaining agent. Supporters from all over New England came to Connecticut to show solidarity with the workers, who voted to join the union last November and want to sign their first contract.

On June 21 the labor movement plans to rally at noon in downtown Atlantic City in support of casino dealers, slot technicians, keno and simulcast employees and other workers who are demanding fair contracts. (UAW press release, May 20) For more information, contact the UAW AC/Dealers at 609-340-0006.

Railroad worker wins $1.2 million injury suit

Railroad conductor James Kroon was injured July 3, 2003, when a 150-pound cab door fell off rusted hinges and knocked him off the car onto the ground 12 feet below. Because he feared being fired if he reported the injury, Kroon didn’t fill out a report form. When he finally requested a medical leave four months later, railroad officials told him to say the injury occurred off duty so he could collect 80 percent of his pay through worker’s comp. Only after he was disqualified from working by the railroad in 2006 did he report what really happened. It only took a Milwaukee County Circuit Court jury a little over six hours to rule in his favor. Kroon is due to receive $1.2 million from Wisconsin Central/Canadian National Railroad. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 19)