On the picket line

ILWU Local 21 continues to defend jobs

The struggle of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 21 members to defend their jobs in Longview, Wash., continued Sept. 21. Nine women, all related to ILWU members, and Local 21 President Dan Coffman defied an injunction by sitting down on railroad tracks to prevent a train from delivering grain to a new facility where the EGT corporation has refused to hire ILWU members. After one woman protested that she was hurt during the arrest (her rotator cuff in one shoulder was torn), two union officers jumped to defend her and were later taken to the hospital after being viciously pepper sprayed.

In a prepared statement before his arrest, Coffman stated that the community pays “for law enforcement to protect the safety of local residents, not to act as private security detail for a multinational corporation that makes billions of dollars in profits every year.” A union statement noted that the police escort for the train — armed police from five area counties, an armored riot vehicle with a gun turret, and a SWAT team in black armored riot gear, including nightsticks and rifles — was “paid for by the very workers in the community of Cowlitz County that [EGT] is undermining and exploiting.” (The Daily News, Sept. 21)

So. Calif. grocery workers win contract

When 62,000 grocery workers in Southern California voted to strike Sept. 18 after six months of unproductive negotiations with Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons, the companies immediately capitulated. According to a Sept. 19 Food and Commercial Workers union statement: “We have attained our most important goal, which was continuing to provide comprehensive health care to the members and their families.” (Los Angeles Times, Sept. 19) The companies’ capitulation shows that they sure don’t want a repeat of the 141-day strike in 2003 by checkers, baggers, meatcutters and other grocery workers, when the three companies lost an estimated $2 billion.

D.C. commercial cleaners demand raises

Negotiations began the week of Sept. 12 for a new union contract covering about 16,000 commercial cleaners represented by Service Employees Local 32BJ in the Washington, D.C., region.

Three rallies were held in Maryland’s Montgomery County the week of Sept. 19. “Montgomery County’s office market is growing and can afford to provide hard-working cleaners a raise,” 32BJ delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez told a rally in Silver Spring on Sept. 22. Wages range from $9 per hour for part-time workers ($9,360 a year) to $12.60 for full-time cleaners ($26,208 a year). The latter amount is barely over the federal poverty line of $22,350 for a family of four.

More than 60,000 commercial cleaners from Hartford, Conn., to Virginia are united in this campaign to secure new contracts that raise wage and benefit standards. (Union City, online newsletter of the Washington Metro D.C. AFL-CIO, Sept. 23)

Hyatt workers end strike, escalate boycott

After the UNITE HERE Local 2 strike against Hyatt Hotels ended during a rally and march Sept. 14 in San Francisco, along with strikes by locals in Chicago, Honolulu and Los Angeles, the workers announced they are redoubling efforts to enforce consumer boycotts at 16 Hyatt hotels across the country. The union has calculated that the boycott has already cost Hyatt more than $20 million in convention and meeting business. A number of national organizations, including Families USA, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum and the National Women’s Health Network, as well as local organizations in each city, have pledged to honor the boycott.

N.J. public workers fight pension cuts

The Communication Workers and other unions representing New Jersey public workers filed a suit in federal court in early September to fight changes to employees’ pension plans. The unions charged Gov. Chris Christie and legislators with violating the New Jersey and U.S. constitutions in multiple ways. CWA New Jersey state director Hetty Rosenstein pointed out that workers have “earned every penny of their pensions, and if Trenton politicians won’t keep their promise, we have no choice but to go to court to force them to uphold their end of the bargain.” (CWA weekly online newsletter)

Robeson committed to equality, unions

Labor Arts is offering a new online museum exhibit that features Paul Robeson’s fight for equality and unions. The premier African-American artist of the 20th century, who is also renowned as a scholar, athlete, actor and activist, Robeson linked the achievement of equality for African Americans and other people of color with full equality for all workers. Through Robeson’s longtime affiliation with the National Maritime Union, he sought to improve the working conditions of sailors on merchant ships and end racial discrimination on U.S. vessels. The exhibit at laborarts.org features eight songs by Robeson, including “Joe Hill” and “Ol’ Man River.”