May
2013 21
2013 21
IBEW Pres. Hill’s Op-Ed Supporting Retail and Fast Food Workers Strikes a Chord
In an interesting and well-crafted op-ed for The Huffington Post, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) International President Edwin Hill asks all workers in America to stand with low-wage workers in the fast food and retail industries to demand an end to exploitative pay practices. Hill notes the similarities between the...
May
2013 21
2013 21
Sheet Metal Workers in Ohio Sue 12 Banks Over Pension Fund Mismanagement
Sheet Metal Workers from Local 33 in Parma, Ohio are taking action against 12 major banks who they say have restrained competition for credit default swaps (CDS) between 2008 and 2011. Local 33′s Cleveland District Pension Plan has filed a lawsuit pursuing a jury trial and class action status to determine if the banks violated ...
May
2013 20
2013 20
OR Forestalls Nike Founder, Moves to Expand Prevailing Wages to Privately Funded College Projects
A bill requiring prevailing wages on all projects built on Oregon college campuses passed the state senate last week. House Bill 2646 flew through the House in a 27-2 landslide despite attempts from Nike founder and University of Oregon donor Phil Knight to have the bill pulled. State prevailing wage laws already cover publicly ...
May
2013 17
2013 17
Building Trades Join Union Protest Over Sale of Tribune Co. Newspapers to the Koch Brothers
The potential sale of the Los Angeles Times (LAT) to the Koch Brothers’ empire has sparked outrage from a wide array of onlookers with the newspaper’s employees apparently leading the charge. Both right-leaning Hot Air and the Washington Post write that at a recent in-house awards ceremony, LAT columnist Steve Lopez asked his fellow...
May
2013 17
2013 17
VIDEO: Union Electricians are Responsible for Maintaining Los Angeles’ 911 Emergency System
When something goes terribly wrong in Los Angeles, citizens call 911. But who does 911 call when they have an emergency of their own? Union workers, that’s who. A new video highlights this fact with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 45 members describing their work to keep 911 running at maximum efficiency...
May
2013 16
2013 16
New LiUNA! Training Center Adds “15,000 Square Feet of Pure Opportunity” for Delaware, New Jersey
Delaware Governor Jack Markell was on hand when the Laborers International Union of America (LiUNA!) opened its new training facility in Newark earlier this week. The facility is the 78th to open nationwide and the first to open in the Blue Hen State. The training center will help union members by providing free training and ...
May
2013 15
2013 15
KC Southern Railway Bucks Bargaining, Unilaterally Installs Surveillance Cameras in Trains
Claiming “management perrogative,” officials from the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) have announced that they will install inward facing cameras on all of their locomotives in the upcoming weeks. As this represents a signal of distrust and managerial overreach, worker representatives are not pleased. In a meeting with the...
May
2013 15
2013 15
STUDY: Union Apprentices 17% More Likely to Complete Apprenticeships than Non-Union Counterparts
In Canada, apprentices working with unions are more likely to complete training and move into the job market than their non-union peers according to a new report. Of the apprentices studied, 75 percent completed training that was run through a Joint Apprenticeship Training Trust (JATT) while only 58 percent completed training when apprenticing...
May
2013 15
2013 15
Mountain View, CA, Unlike Cities in MI and PA, Seeks to Expand Rather than Diminish the Prevailing Wage
In California, the Mountain View City Council is changing their stance on prevailing wage laws as they pertain to the building of affordable housing units. In the past, prevailing wage laws were limited to public works projects and capital improvements. In a 6-1 vote, however, the council has directed city staff to create a resolution ...
May
2013 14
2013 14
AFL-CIO’s Building Investment Trust Breaks Ground on Another Union-Paid-For Development
Ground has been broken in Hoboken, NJ on the $131 million Park Place development which will be paid for and developed by union workers. Park Place will house 212 rental units as well as retail and educational space. Using environmentally-friendly design it will become the second Hoboken building to achieve LEED-certified Gold status. The...
May
2013 14
2013 14
California’s SB 776 Moves to Assembly, Aims to Bring Non-Union Contractors into Labor Management Cooperation Act Compliance
Last week, the California State Senate approved Senate Bill 776 which will prevent non-union contractors from taking money out of workers’ paychecks to fund sham labor compliance committees. The bill was sponsored by the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) and was approved by a 24-10 margin. All 23 Democratic...
May
2013 13
2013 13
SF Sheet Metal Workers Organize 1.5 Million New Hours of Work Through Grassroots Activism
This is a cross-post via the Sheet Metal workers website… On February 3rd, hundreds of Local 104 members from across Northern California were joined by leaders and staff from across the United States and Canada for the local union’s Second Annual Campaign for Jobs Leadership Conference. The several hundred members who attended came...
