May 7, 2008

Online Communications In Organizing:

The Delta AFA-CWA Case

What do you do when you have a strong organizing committee within a group of workers who are literally scattered to the four winds? If you're the flight attendants at Delta, you go online!

Organizers from AFA-CWA teamed up with Delta flight attendants to build www.deltaafa.org, a resource site jam-packed with videos, testimonials, letters of support from politicians and other unions, downloadable leaflets, and voting procedures. The union election ends May 28, and Delta has been engaging in some nasty tactics such as putting up posters in crew lounges encouraging flight attendants to rip up their election materials rather than vote.

The organizing committee of Delta flight attendants is undeterred. A video highlighting the Delta corporate executives' double-talk can be viewed here. Among the committee's other online offerings are: regular webcasts to answer workers' questions about the union, regular e-newsletters to the employees, and a web-based database to help committee members track support.

NLRB Chair Can Now Get Paid

Directly By Employers To Bust Unions

It's long been an open secret in the labor movement that the National Labor Relations Board under Bush has been staffed by people intent on destroying unions and workers' right to form unions. Now there's proof that at least one member of the Board has been waiting for the right moment to join forces with those who openly oppose workers' rights on the job: former NLRB Chair Robert Battista has left to work for Littler Mendelson. You can read the AP story here.

American Rights at Work has dug up and posted (on the blog Eye on the NLRB) a fascinating document called "Littler Mendelson's Do's and Don'ts." Here, then, is a list of ILCA's top five favorite union-busting tips from Littler Mendelson. The whole document is a riveting read; send in your favorite items to ilca@aflcio.org. Include your own description of how employers illegally disregard Littler Mendelson's advice--or follow it--with impunity.

ILCA's Top Five Union-Busting Tips from Littler Mendelson

5. "Tell employees that there will be no automatic pay increases, no automatic improvements in fringe benefits, and no automatic union contract if the union wins an election. Everything will depend on what happens in collective bargaining negotiations." ILCA notes that the Employee Free Choice Act would require that employers and unions agree on a first contract within a specific timeframe or else go to arbitration.

4. "Explain to employees that they will be required as union members to follow the orders of union officials; the will effectively have another 'boss.'"

3. "Remind employees that every person put between you and the person you are trying to talk to makes it more difficult to get your point across. Why not dispense with the middleman and talk directly with each other?"

2. "Point out the indirect costs of unionization that you want to avoid: executive time spent in bargaining sessions; work time of employees spent on union business; costs of hiring lawyers and other labor relations experts; Money spent on such costs obviously cannot go to the employees in higher wages."

1. "Emphasize that your employees are free to vote either for or against the union. The Company will not retaliate in any way against union supporters; thus, there is no reason to vote for the union simply to protect the jobs of open union adherents."

A Step Forward on Combustible Dust

Sometimes, out of tragedy comes progress--when the survivors and their allies organize to make needed changes. In March, the Insider highlighted the work of Tammy Miser and her organization, the United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities. Through petition drives, connecting with the news media, and working with unions and other allies, the USMWF struggled for several years to shine a national spotlight on the issue of combustible dust and other workplace hazards.

Then the February 7th Imperial Sugar explosion happened, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more.

Finally, Congress and others are paying attention. Last Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, which calls for new OSHA rules on combustible dust with strict penalties for violations.

Change to Win highlighted the legislation and other efforts to raise awareness about this issue at their CtWConnect blog. And the story has been covered in The Nation as well as on its radio program Radio Nation.

To get the Senate to pass the bill, more signatures are needed on the USMWF's petition, which you can sign at the CtWConnect blog post or at USMWF's site. For additional details, you can also read Mark Gruenberg's article on this legislative milestone in Swapping Stories.

No Peace, No Work

American West Coast longshore workers in the ILWU commemorated International Workers' Day on May 1st by taking the day off to protest the war in Iraq. Read articles by Dick Meister and Mark Gruenberg on this historic job action in Swapping Stories.

Union Workers Hit By Recession

Workers all over the country are feeling the pinch of hard times as gas prices go up and the housing market stagnates. In Swapping Stories this week, the spotlight is on the building trades, with two stories from the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, and a piece by Mark Gruenberg on the April unemployment figures.