Publications

May 21, 2004

The Canadian connection

Local 847 of CSEA/Local 1000 won raises of 3 percent each of the four years of its contract with Schenectady County, N.Y. But that's not all: It also reached a ground-breaking contract agreement that will allow the local's 1,000 members to buy prescription drugs from Canada. That unusual deal, the first of its kind in the state, provides that if a member chooses to purchase drugs through Canadian pharmacies, there is no cost to the employee. The county's incentive: prescription drug savings projected to be worth "hundreds of thousands of dollars," according to CSEA. The purchasing arrangement is between the individual and the Canadian pharmacy.

Bad medicine

CSEA as a whole has launched a statewide advertising blitz over the fiscal crisis in public hospitals and nursing homes. Radio and print ads, designed to counter service cutbacks and contracting out, carry a message echoed by this statement from CSEA President (and IVP) Danny Donohue: Under the proposed budget plan of Governor Pataki (R), "local taxpayers get a double shot of bad medicine — you'll pay more and still might see health care services cut in your community." The union, which represents about 60,000 health care workers, contends the governor's plan makes a bad situation worse by imposing a "sick tax" that would break the back of public hospitals and nursing homes.

Speeding locomotive

Council 79's organizing train continues to gather steam in hot and sunny Florida. In Washington County, 50 bus drivers won union representation after the school board voted unanimously to recognize their union via card check. At the University of Florida, nearly 1,200 operational-services employees voted by a whopping five to one margin to join the union. In 2004, more than 4,000 workers have organized with the council.

2 for '25'

Bad hitting numbers in baseball but good ones for organizers. In Michigan, two more units of workers have formed unions with Council 25. Eight caregivers from Detroit's Hamilton Nursing Home and 38 employees from the Highland Park School District now have their sights set on negotiating first contracts.

Kerry wows 'em ...

in Portland (Ore.), where an AFSCME-infused crowd estimated at 8,000 gave a rousing welcome to presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry and a key supporter, former candidate Howard Dean. Attendees included about 75 members from seven Council 75 locals. Kerry declared that America needs a President who understands that "working with other countries instead of going to war unilaterally is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength. This great nation of ours doesn't go to war because we want to, we go to war because we have to."

Rallying for respect

Hundreds of workers and students rallied throughout the nine-campus University of California system, where AFSCME Local 3299 represents approximately 17,000 patient care and service workers. UCLA's Daily Bruin reported that "a mass of green shirts flooded into De Neve Plaza" as demonstrators "assembled to demand higher wages and respect from administrative officials in the face of California's current budget cuts, with the workers' contracts currently up for renewal." UC has been in mediation with the union for the past three months.

Hear us roar

More than 10,000 Illinois state employees — members of Council 31 — joined informational picket lines across the state on May 17 to send an unmistakable message: AFSCME members demand a fair contract, won't accept takeaways and support their bargaining team. With the General Assembly's spring session running out, Council 31's bargaining committee hopes to reach a fair settlement for 37,000 state workers who are members of the union. The contract expires June 30.

Conn.: Wages for understaffing

A recent weekend of violence at a juvenile prison in Middletown, Conn., left 27 employees injured. Members of Local 2663 (Council 4), they filed for compensation following the incidents — the worst of its kind at a Connecticut juvenile-detention facility in more than a dozen years. The facility is supposed to be staffed with 17 on-duty officers. But union officials said recent retirements and budget cuts decimated its police force; last week, it was down to a measly six.

Hide and peek

Council 4 has filed a complaint on behalf of more than 300 Torrington city and housing authority employees following the discovery of video and listening devices concealed in the ceiling of an employee lounge. Torrington Housing Authority management, the complaint charges, "continues to attempt to interfere, restrain and coerce employees in the exercise of their rights." The camera was not removed from the break room until about 10 days after its detection. No explanation for its installation was given.

Correction

Last week's AIM reported that President McEntee, Secretary-Treasurer Lucy and a Michigan supreme court justice spoke at the recent California PEOPLE conference. They in fact spoke at a different PEOPLE event, in Michigan.


 

 

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