On the picket line

CBTU stands with Trayvon Martin’s parents

The opening session of the 41st convention of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists in St. Louis gave a standing ovation May 24 to the parents of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old African American who was gunned down vigilante style in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26. Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin came to “thank Black workers” and urge them to continue supporting the fight for justice for their son. Fulton, who was a member of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union in Florida, told the convention, “I know how important unions are. So keep it going.” After talking about the pain of her son’s death and media attempts to “blame the victim,” she added, “It’s been a struggle keeping up the fight. But we believe justice will be done.” Martin, a native of East St. Louis, said racial profiling distressed him: “Sometimes I think the murders of our children don’t matter to America.” Fulton and Martin asked the CBTU to support the Justice for Trayvon Foundation (justicetm.org). (afl-cio.org, May 25)

Piedmont workers win first contract

It took the 3,500 fleet and passenger service agents at Piedmont Airlines 15 months to negotiate real improvements in pay and working conditions — and defeat a demand for a 33 percent increase in workers’ health care costs — in their first union contract. But the improvements in pay, job security and health care benefits announced May 31 are well worth the effort. For the first time, the agents will have a voice on the job through a grievance and arbitration system. There will also be a lump sum signing bonus, a new pay system with guaranteed 4 percent raises, and a longevity bonus each year for good attendance. (cwa-union.org, May 31)

Lockheed Martin & Caterpillar strikes continue

Striking members of International Association of Machinists Local 776 traveled all the way from Fort Worth, Texas, to the Lockheed Martin headquarters in Bethesda, Md., to protest the company’s demand to reduce health care benefits and gain subcontracting rights. But the deal breaker that compelled the workers to hit the bricks was the provision to drop defined-benefit pensions for newly hired workers. As one picket sign read, “Lockheed CEO gets pension, why not workers?” (goiamtexas.org, June 1) Some 3,800 Local 776 members, including those in southern Maryland and California, have been on strike since April 23. Washington, D.C., area unions swelled the picket line on May 25 in solidarity with IAM’s struggle. (Union City, Metro Washington AFL-CIO Council online newsletter, May 25)

Meanwhile, nearly 800 striking members of Machinists Local 851 in Joliet, Ill., stood firm when they voted overwhelmingly the week of May 28 to again reject a concession-packed contract from heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar. While the company made $4.9 billion in profits last year and $1.5 billion in the first quarter of this year, it is demanding that workers accept frozen wages, doubled health care premiums and cuts in key pension and seniority rights. The workers speculate that Caterpillar wants such outrageous cuts to pay for increased compensation for its CEO, whose salary jumped 60 percent in 2011 to nearly $17 million. “The practice of raising executive compensation to obscene levels while making it harder for working families to pay for basic medical expenses is impossible to justify at a company as successful as Caterpillar,” said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger at a recent rally for Local 851. (goiam.org, May 31)

Union wins contract after 10-month Sotheby’s lockout

It took a hard-fought campaign, which included many Occupy Wall Street actions both inside and outside of Sotheby’s, the international art auction house, to help 40 members of Teamsters Local 814 end a 10-month lockout in New York City. Thanks to OWS muscle, Sotheby’s blinked in April when it dumped its anti-union law firm, Jackson Lewis, and started to negotiate in earnest. That’s when George Miranda, president of Teamsters Joint Council 16, which represents more than 120,000 members in the New York area and Puerto Rico, brought that clout to the bargaining table. The contract, ratified on May 31, increases wages 1 percent each year, lifts the starting salary to $18.50 an hour, and maintains the workers’ job security and benefits, while granting the auction house more flexible scheduling and overtime provisions. Go Teamsters and OWS! (Crain’s, May 31)