Publications

July 21, 2004

Call sign: WFSE

Nearly 400 non-supervisory workers from two state agencies have formed a union with the Washington Federation of State Employees/Council 28. At the Department of Information Services, 282 workers voted 154 to 79; at the Department of Fish and Wildlife (91 workers), 52 to 12.

NUHHCE lovers

In New Jersey, 60 registered nurses and licensed practical nurses from Correctional Medical Services voted 27 to 21 to join the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees/Local 1199-J.

Branching out

SNEA/AFSCME Local 4041, which represents 3,350 Nevada state workers, is reaching out to local government employees. SNEA's latest victory in that area: 21 administrative workers in Storey County, who recently signed a petition for representation. The union also represents public workers in Lincoln County and the city of West Wendover.

Contract News

A contract, at last!

About 4,000 clerks, social workers, mechanics and other employees of Westchester County, N.Y. — members of Local 860 of CSEA — have a new four-year contract that includes retroactive raises totaling 12 percent. The employees have been without a contract since December 2001. The deal also includes increases in longevity payments and tuition reimbursements; improvements in optical and dental care; and a payroll deduction for PEOPLE. Although CSEA agreed to some increases in medical co-pays, it was able to maintain zero monthly premiums.

 

New deal

The latest first-contract settlement coming out of the Maryland state university organizing campaign covers 1,000 professional staff at the system's flagship campus in College Park. After more than a year at the bargaining table, members secured their first raise in two years: an immediate $752 with an additional 2.5-percent merit hike for fiscal 2005. Negotiations for a wage reopener in FY '06 will begin this summer. The deal also includes additional leave days and much-needed recall rights, and it locks in popular tuition benefits. Earlier this year, the campus' 1,800 service, maintenance and office support staff won their first agreement. In each case, it took public demonstrations, political lobbying and community outreach by the members to move the administration to an agreement. Nearly 5,000 of the 6,000 university employees who organized in 2001-2003 now have contracts.

 

Big jump

About 500 workers employed by Duluth, Mich., who received no salary increase in 2003, will get a wage hike of nearly 10 percent by 2006 under a new contract the city council has approved. The contract, which covers members of Local 66 (Council 96), bumps salaries by 1.5 percent in 2004 and by 4 percent in 2005 and 2006. Council Dir. Eric Lehto said the contract is "fairly fair" — considering "what other public employers in the area are doing."

A different kind of strike

Joseph Martin, a member of Massachusetts Local 1736 (Council 93), was one of numerous workers who began a 24-hour hunger strike on Monday of this week to protest anti-union actions by Lucent Technologies. The company has eliminated more than 100,000 jobs over the past decade, including several thousand at its North Andover facility. In protest, Gary Nilsson, president of CWA Local 1365, who has witnessed the loss of 90 percent of his members due to job cuts at Lucent, began a hunger strike that has lasted some 20 days. The protesters have been subsisting on liquids and supplements. Martin and at least four members of the North Shore Labor Council joined in to show their support for Nilsson's action.

Onshore push

Having failed to persuade the Florida legislature to force companies that seek state contracts to keep those jobs in state, the Senate's Democratic caucus is trying another tactic. Unless state agencies disclose data on contracts with companies that are sending jobs elsewhere - such as offshore - the Democrats will sue the agencies to obtain the information. In Michigan, meanwhile, Governor Granholm (D) has issued executive orders to ban the giving of state contracts to firms that send work overseas and to give strong preference to in-state companies.

March for justice

Several hundred members of AFSCME Local 3299 who work at UCLA, and their supporters, marched through the West Los Angeles campus recently in a rally to demand a fair contract. The union represents some 17,000 patient care and service workers employed by the University of California system. The service workers' contract expired June 30. UC and the union are in mediation over wages and career-advancement opportunities for longtime employees.

Off to a good start

Connecticut's new governor, Jodi Rell (R), is attempting to establish a better relationship with state employees than her predecessor, John G. Rowland, who resigned in disgrace last month. Rell expressed her support for public workers in an e-mail message to executive-branch employees who are members of Council 4. The governor wrote: "I've seen first-hand the tremendous contributions all of you are making, every day, to the lives of people across this state. I thank you for your dedication and commitment."


 

 

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