On the picket line

Women’s case vs. Wal-Mart goes to Supreme Court

Hundreds of workers, women’s rights activists and labor allies demonstrated on the steps of the Supreme Court on March 29 chanting, “Wal-Mart women deserve fair pay! Hear their case without delay!” They were standing up for more than 1 million women employees who 10 years ago charged Wal-Mart with discrimination over pay and promotions. The court heard arguments on whether allegations of systemic discrimination by the billion-dollar global retailer constitute a class-action lawsuit. One Wal-Mart employee from New Jersey told the online newsletter Union City that she had witnessed male managers say things like, “If you wear a lower-cut blouse, you might get a promotion.” (Metro D.C. AFL-CIO online newsletter, March 30) The National Women’s Law Center, which co-authored an amicus brief in the case on behalf of 32 other organizations, issued a statement affirming “why the sexist treatment of Wal-Mart’s female employees was clearly discriminatory and why the case is so important to working women everywhere.” It added that if the Supreme Court agrees to let the case proceed as the largest class action in history, it “will send an important message that no company is too big or too powerful to be held accountable.” (NWLC online release, March 30)

Faculty at U.Wis.-River Falls votes union

Outraged by Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on collective bargaining, faculty at another University of Wisconsin campus, this time at River Falls, voted 148 to 16 on March 24 to join AFT-Wisconsin, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. “Our strength cannot be legislated away. Our strength is, and always has been, our collective voice — a voice that is stronger than ever,” said UW-RF political science professor Wes Chapin. UW faculty and academic staff fought for years to win the freedom to bargain collectively, which they finally achieved in 2009. Now faculty at five UW campuses (La Crosse joined on Feb. 24) have union representation. (blog.aflcio.org, March 24)

N.J. toll collectors defend jobs with sit-in

The more than 600 union workers who collect tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway are under attack. Gov. Chris Christie wants to privatize their jobs. When the New Jersey Turnpike Authority refused to negotiate with the Technical Engineers union Local 194 on March 29, about 50 IFPTE members staged a 40-minute sit-in with chants of “Negotiate, don’t dictate!” Their contract runs out June 30. On March 24 the IFPTE filed a suit to stop any vote or action toward privatization without first negotiating with the union, which has offered $16 million in concessions. Under a privatized system, toll collectors would make about $25,000 a year, which would be about $40,000 less than current wages. (N.J. Star-Ledger, March 29)

Revised air & rail union election rules nixed

It was no April Fools joke when the House of Representatives voted April 1 to repeal last year’s ruling from the National Mediation Board. The NMB ruled that elections for air and rail workers should be decided like other union elections — by a majority of the votes cast. (That ruling redressed a longtime reactionary law that any air or rail worker who did not vote in a union election was counted as a “no” vote.) The Communications Workers union, some of whose locals represent airline workers, issued a report the week of March 28 showing that not one member of Congress would have won the 2010 election if they had had to play by the same rules that Delta Airlines and FedEx want to impose on their workers! The White House announced March 30 that President Barack Obama would veto the bill. (blog.aflcio.org, March 28 and 31)

S.F. Labor Council endorses April 9-10 protests

On March 28 the San Francisco Labor Council unanimously endorsed a resolution that it join “the Bay Area Chapter of U.S. Labor Against the War and hundreds of social justice organizations nationwide calling for an immediate end to these wars, and endorsing the bicoastal marches and rallies occurring on April 9 in New York City and April 10 in San Francisco, sponsored by the United National Antiwar Committee.” The resolution detailed the tremendous financial drain imposed on working and oppressed people who are forced to pay for “a permanent war economy” while suffering from reduced services and attacks on collective bargaining rights.