December 23, 2005

Reporting organizing wins in ...

Pennsylvania, where 252 employees of Centre Crest Nursing Home in Bellefonte voted to join Council 13; the nurses, nurses' aides, and laundry, clerical and dietary workers had to overcome a bitter anti-union campaign. Indianapolis, Indiana, where 111 employees of Wishard Memorial Hospital joined Local 2065 (Council 62) after a week-long organizing blitz. Ohio, where 51 employees at the Licking County Child Support Enforcement Agency formed a union with Council 8. Wisconsin, where 31 Two Rivers employees who work at the city hall and public library voted to join Council 40's Local 76 — one of the state's oldest. Also, eight employees of the tiny Village of Hustisford in Dodge County voted unanimously earlier this month to join Council 40. The workers, who perform clerical, electrical, public works and water/wastewater functions, were motivated by management's threats to cut sick leave and increase their contributions to health insurance. Washington state, where 26 vocational rehabilitation supervisors in the Department of Social and Health Services formed a unit with Council 28.

 

We have contracts ...

In Minnesota, some 5,000 Hennepin County employees in six Council 5 locals ratified their best two-year contract in 17 years. The majority will receive a 4- percent pay raise in 2006 and 2007, while 30 percent will also receive a 1- to 3-percent "market adjustment" to bring certain job classifications to marketplace levels. In Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, about 400 employees of the Cedar Haven Nursing Home, represented by Local 2732 (Council 89), will get 3 percent raises each year of a five-year agreement. In New York, 500 state Canal Corporation employees — members of CSEA/Local 1000 — have ratified a five-year deal that raises their wages 13 to 14.5 percent, based on salary grade. Also, 300 CSEA members employed by the Town of Southampton will get a 15.9 percent increase over four years plus enhancements such as a night differential for public safety dispatchers. Wisconsin Council 40 reports that 230 Clearview Nursing Home employees (Local 1576), plus 130 Dodge County Law Enforcement employees (Locals 1323B and E), all will get a 3 percent raise retroactive from Jan. 1, plus another 3 percent starting Jan. 1, 2006 and a wage reopener in 2007; about 80 Marshfield school district custodians — members of Local 929 — will receive 3 percent raises in each of the next three years and 3 percent retroactive to last July.

Child care partners

Commissioners in St. Louis County (Minn.) have agreed to work with Council 5 to improve the wages and working conditions of the county's 420 home-based licensed child care providers — the majority of whom have signed cards saying they want to join the union. In a resolution approved earlier this month, county officials agreed to support efforts by Council 5 and AFSCME's national child care organization, Child Care Providers Together (CCPT), to lobby state lawmakers and the federal government on behalf of the providers, who earn a statewide average of only $2.83 an hour. "For decades our union has teamed up with county governments to improve service delivery," said Council 5 Exec. Dir. Eliot Seide. "Our newest partnership will lead the way to improved child care."

Lenhard for the F.E.C.

Robert D. Lenhard, AFSCME International's associate general counsel, has been nominated by President Bush to become a member of the Federal Election Commission. A Democratic selection for the six-member bipartisan panel, Lenhard will serve out the remainder of a six-year term expiring April 30, 2011. He was first proposed for the job in 2003 by Democratic leaders in Congress. Lenhard began work at AFSCME in 1991 after representing the union at the law firm of Kirschner Weinberg & Dempsey.

'Living wage' lives on

Adhering to the city's newly validated Living Wage Ordinance City, officials in Santa Fe, N.M., have approved a $1 hike (to $9.50) in the hourly minimum wage applicable to local businesses that employ at least 25 workers. The increase, effective Jan. 1, passed over appeals by business interests for a delay. The Living Wage Ordinance, passed in 2003 with strong support by Local 3999 and Council 18, was recently declared constitutional by the state Court of Appeals.

Privatization battles

Two councils are fighting outsourcing in court. Michigan Council 25 filed suit to prevent the Detroit Zoo — where Local 542 represents 151 employees — from being turned over to the Detroit Zoological Society. The transfer agreement, the union argues, fails to specify that the new operator will honor their contract. In Indiana, Council 62 has gone to Superior Court to block the state from outsourcing the Fort Wayne State Developmental Center to Pennsylvania-based Liberty Healthcare Corp. on Jan. 1. Local 615 represents about 300 employees at the facility.

Perreira promoted

The new president of Hawaii's State AFL-CIO is Randy Perreira, deputy executive director of Hawaii Government Employees Association/AFSCME Local 152. Perreira, who has been with the HGEA for 22 years, served several terms as vice president of the union umbrella group, which represents more than 80,000 workers from more than 60 labor unions. Elected at the organization's 21st Biennial Convention, Perreira replaces Harold Dias Jr., president since 2001.