On the picket line

D.C. workers crash bankers’ mtg.

“Where is the money? Where are the jobs?” demanded residential construction workers who disrupted the Mortgage Bankers Association Summit in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19. Those questions were specifically addressed to Pulte Mortgage CEO Debra Still who chaired the meeting. Led by the Sheet Metal Workers and the Painters and Allied Trades unions, the protesters targeted PulteGroup, the country’s largest homebuilder, which has received nearly $900 million from the federal government to create jobs and extend benefits to the unemployed. However, after spending $8 million on employee severance packages, Pulte told investors it plans to cut 350 more jobs and close a plant in Tolleson, Ariz. The demonstration was part of the national Building Justice Campaign (see poorlybuiltbypulte.info). Let’s hope the confrontation scared the you-know-what out of all MBA members. (Union City!, online newsletter of the Metro D.C. AFL-CIO, Jan 20)

Victory for tomato pickers

After 15 years of a bold, relentless campaign, Florida’s tomato pickers are set to earn roughly a penny more for every pound of the fruit they harvest. That means the 33,000 mostly Latino/a immigrant workers, who currently make between $10,000 and $12,000 a year, could make upwards of $17,000. The campaign, driven by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, finally wore down the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange. The trade association agreed not only to higher wages but increased workplace protections like minimum-wage guarantees and zero-tolerance policy on forced and child labor. That’s already had an impact, reported Leonel Perez, a 25-year-old from Guatemala who’s been picking tomatoes since 2005: “Even though it’s a small increase, we see that they’re treating us fairly. Now we’re working comfortably, and contractors can’t abuse their power or reprimand us unfairly.” (New York Times, Jan. 19) “Some labor experts,” reports the Times, “said the agreement could set a precedent for improving working conditions and pay in other parts of the agriculture and food industries, nationally and internationally.”

Nonfiction TV writers join Guild

The Writers Guild of America, East has forged new territory by signing up three groups of workers from nonfiction television studios. Writers, producers, associate producers and researchers at Lion Television joined WGAE the week of Jan. 24 after those at Atlas Media and ITV Studios led the way in early January. Despite a long, aggressive anti-union campaign by those companies, the workers “wanted to become union members to gain benefits like health care, pension, improved compensation and reasonable working hours.” (blog.aflcio.org)

Mobilize to defend D.C. jobs

On Jan. 20, the Metropolitan Washington Alliance for Progressive Solutions held a briefing by leaders of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 67. They reported that a major AFSCME rally is planned for March 14 in Annapolis, Md., as part of a statewide coalition to fight budget cuts. (Union City!, Jan. 21) On Jan. 21 leaders in Food and Commercial Workers Local 1994 met to discuss the latest bargaining negotiations with Montgomery County, Md. “The County wants to take away your right to bargain, to destroy your rights, but we’re going to fight back,” said UFCW President Joe Hansen. “We have a proven formula for success. It’s called solidarity, and we will stand together, we will fight together, and we will win together.” (Union City!, Jan. 24)

Amendments attacking workers’ rights nixed

Last November four states — Utah, South Dakota, South Carolina and Arizona — passed amendments requiring a secret ballot vote for union recognition. The amendments have already gone into effect in the first two states, and other states are considering passing them. However, on Jan. 13 the National Labor Relations Board, though not a bona fide friend of organized labor, threatened to sue the states if they do not acknowledge the amendments violate federally protected worker rights and the U.S. Constitution, which stipulates that federal law pre-empts conflicting state laws. The amendments were placed on the ballots by right-wing Republicans intent on killing the Employee Free Choice Act. (In These Times, Jan. 14)