When I opened my e-mail this bright and beautiful morning, I got a surprise, a very pleasant one:
DC Jobs with Justice is hosting a community forum this Thursday on "Resistance and Recovery," featuring workers who staged and won a six-day sit-in strike at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago.
The forum will tell the story of how the action by United Electrical members, combined with nationwide support and mobilization, led to victory for workers, including benefits and a plan to reopen the plant. The workers will encourage others to resist corporate greed and call for an economic recovery that works for everyone, including collective bargaining, health care for all and investment for good green jobs. "We took this action because we really had no choice for our families," said Armando Robles, president of UE local 1110. "We won this struggle with popular support, but we are not stopping until we win good jobs for everyone across the country," added President Robles.
I'm hoping I can make it. I'd love to hear how they came to the realization that they had to stand up and stand together and how they actually were able to give each other support during those dark days on the floor.
The event will take place Thursday, April 16th, 6:30-8:30pm at First Rising Mt. Zion Church in Northwest DC.
For more information contact rcastel@dclabor.org or 202.974.8281. - report by Ruth Castel-Branco
I headed over to MSNBC for the latest news on the kidnapping of Captain David Phillips, but couldn't help reading up on Elkhart, Indiana, instead.
When discussion turns to the decline of the American manufacturing, labor unions inevitably come in for a full share of criticism.
That sentiment surfaced on Day 1 of the The Elkhart Project, with several readers offering the opinion that unions must be at least partly to blame for the economic mayhem being visited on the city and surrounding communities.
But in the case of Elkhart County, organized labor bears no responsibility for the precipitous decline of the RV industry for a simple reason: All the recreational vehicle manufacturers in the area run non-union shops.
In fact, there are very few union manufacturing jobs in the city at all.
There are manufacturing jobs in Elkhart. There's a musical instrument manufacturer and on April 1, 2006, 230 workers walked out on strike there:
Union officials said the strikers walked out when contract talks broke down over wages and benefits, with the company demanding 40 percent pay cuts and substantial reductions in vacation, retirement and health insurance.
Here's the thing, you have to vote to strike. In 2006, just a few months before I launched this blog, these workers just wanted the same contract. They wanted to work. The company wanted to crush the union. What better way to do it than to refuse to negotiate and force a strike vote? I suppose you could do what Kongsberg Automotive did, lock out the workers, illegally, but hey, whatever. More from Newsvine:
“We would have extended the current contract, we asked for nothing,” said Kish, who believes the company wanted to force a strike to destroy the union. “I call it corporate terrorism.”
Steinway Musical Instruments, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company that owns Conn-Selmer, declined to comment. The company has been trying since 2007 to get the union decertified, but the results of a disputed vote on the issue won’t be decided until President Obama fills vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board.
But, you can hear from the workers themselves:
I look at it this way, when you're loyal to your employer in good times and bad, then you deserve the same from them. Conn-Selmer clearly doesn't feel the same way. It doesn't seem much different from what happened to the Diamond Walnut workers, from American Rights at Work:
When the company started to have financial trouble in the 1980s and appealed to the workers for help, a sense of loyalty compelled them to assist. The workers and their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, approved of cuts of over 30 percent to their wages and benefits in order to keep the company afloat.
And then what happened? The company rebounded. They got back on their feet and then went back to the workers and after 4 years offered a 10 cent per hour increase. Sweet, huh? So, then what?
In September 1991, with no other recourse, the workers voted to strike. Without effective labor law to help them force Diamond to negotiate fairly, the striking workers and their union worked to draw public attention to their plight, beginning with a call for an international boycott of Diamond Walnut products.
I had boycott Diamond walnuts for a very long time. As a baker, it was a very difficult decision to make. But, I did it, until the scabs decided that they needed a union.
A break in the impasse began when Diamond's replacement workers realized that a union would help them improve their working conditions. In 2004, Diamond workers - including the strikers and their replacements - voted to retain union representation. Shortly afterwards, the company finally sought a resolution and negotiated a fair contact with the union. In March 2005, 750 workers ratified a new five-year contract that secured wage increases, stabilized healthcare costs, and offered a 401(k) plan, training programs, and English classes. Additionally, the strikers retained benefits and seniority when they returned to the plant, all without causing the replacement workers to lose their jobs.
Justice prevailed for the replacement workers seeking union representation. The same cannot be said for the striking workers who made significant sacrifices for their employer and for the struggle. Fewer than 30 of the original 600 striking workers returned to the plant to enjoy the benefits of the new contract. After 14 years of struggle, most of the original Diamond workers were forced to find other employment, or were simply too old to go back to work.
If you read comments on the Newsvine thread, you get to see how some (probably paid by anti-union groups or simply from the Chamber of Commerce) folks view the concept of unity, negotiating and collective bargaining. They claim things that just aren't true from unions time has come and gone to there's no need for them in a global economy.
There is no better time for unity than right now. Unions rose from the roots. When the owners of industry treated work as if it were useless and a commodity to be traded and when government came in and assisted owners by shooting workers, jailing them and harassing them, it was clear what we needed. A Voice. And that's what your union is for you. All you have to do is look to the Charleston 5, the American Axle Strike or the sit in at Republic Windows.
Greed is not an American value. And neither is anti-unionism, no matter how loud the anti-union voices are, it's not an American Value. This is the time for unions. Together we Bargain, Divided, We STARVE. Unions make us strong.
written by bendygirl
at Thursday, February 19, 2009
by shirah crossposted with permission from unbossed
The one bright spot within the economic gloom that surrounds so many of us was the Republic Window and Door worker sit in. By sitting in they stood up for their rights. By sitting in they got our attention and sent a lesson of what is possible by engaging in concerted acts of mutual aid and support.
UE Local 1110 announced today that the leading company in the green window business -- Serious Materials, based in Sunnyvale, California -- is in the final stages of working out an agreement to purchase the assets of Republic Windows and Doors. Members of UE Local 1110 staged a sit-in last month to win severance, health benefits and earned vacation pay, after the plant's previous owner shut down with only three days' notice to workers.
Though some details still need to be finalized, the union is told that the parties are very close to inking a deal. "We are all hopeful about the possibility of Serious reopening our plant. This would be a very happy ending to our struggle," said former Republic worker and Local 1110 Vice President Melvin Maclin.
Serious Materials is a leading manufacturer of energy saving green building products. Their stated mission is to reduce greenhouse gases by one billion tons annually. "These are the green-collar jobs we need for the future of our community," said Armando Robles, former Republic maintenance worker and president of Local 1110. Serious Materials and the union believe there is market in the Midwest for the energy efficient, super-insulating windows and commercial glass that Serious makes.
Serious has said that it hopes, after a ramp-up period, to eventually hire all of the former Republic workforce. For that to happen, however, the bankruptcy court must act quickly. The local fears that if the court delays, the business will evaporate and it will be difficult to re-hire anyone. "We hope that the creditors, trustee and judge will allow Serious to purchase the assets soon, so I and my co-workers can start making windows again," said Robles.
That was January 14. They continue to need support. You can show solidarity by keeping this story alive and even by donating to the cause through the Windows of Opportunity fund.
