"Big Box" retailer Target is known
to many for their policy of union busting,
even if not as famously as Wal-Mart. Check this
anti-union video Target shows employees. Use this
as a tool to counter the lies and distortions union busters use to scare
workers out of forming unions. One of the
best weapons against the shady business of "union avoidance" is to
expose them to the light of day. Target knows this, and
they routinely pull the video down every time it appears online.
Check it out while its still up
Here.
Here's the US Department of Labor's
online newsletter. Check it out
here.
National
Association of Letter Carriers #578 has
some space that could be used as a union hall or office space. The
building is located in Pooler just west of Highway 95. For more
information, contact Bob Covino at (912) 660 - 0222.
Workers often have an extremely difficult time overcoming employer
intimidation when they want to form a union. Even when they get
one, workers may have a hard time keeping their union,
as happened in 2008 in Savannah. Learn more about the
dirty tricks and lies many bosses use to crush workers' rights:
Union Busting 101 -
Click Here
"Center for Union Facts" Creator
Richard Berman Exposed -
Click Here
American Rights at Work's "Anti-Union
Network" -
Click Here
Rep. John Barrow has refused to co-sign on the Employee Free Choice Act
Call him today and remind him of his promise to be "on our
side" and lead the way for true labor law reform - and not to bow to
corporate pressure! His
Washington Office confirmed if the EFCA was voted on today, he would
"definitely" vote NO.
Let him know the voters outnumber the corporate lobbyists any day of the
week - especially election day!
(202) 225-2823 Washington
(912) 354-7282 Savannah

News
Feeds
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Today In Labor History
(brought to you by our friends at
BigLabor.com)
Today in labor history for the week of January 31, 2012
January 31
12,000 pecan shellers in San Antonio, Tex. -- mostly Latino
women -- walk off their jobs at 400 factories in what was to
become a three-month strike against wage cuts. Strike leader
Emma Tenayuca was eventually hounded out of the state - 1938
Ida M. Fuller is the first retiree to receive an old-age monthly
benefit check under the new Social Security law. She paid in
$24.75 between 1937 and 1939 on an income of $2,484; her first
check was for $22.54 - 1940
After scoring successes with representation elections conducted
under the protective oversight of the California Agricultural
Labor Relations Board, the United Farm Workers of America
officially ends its historic table grape, lettuce and wine
boycotts - 1978
[No
man in this century has had more of an impact on the lives of
Hispanic Americans, and especially farm workers, than the
legendary Cesar Chavez.
The Fight in the Fields tells
of Chavez and his union’s struggles: to raise farm worker pay
from .40 an hour; to win union recognition from savagely
resistant grape and lettuce growers; to stop the use of deadly
pesticides that were killing children in the fields. The
pacifist Chavez endured several month-long fasts to counteract
what he saw as a growing tendency toward violence in the farm
worker movement, and many think those heroic acts contributed to
his early death, at the age of 64. In the UCS bookstore now.]
Union and student pressure forces Harvard university to adopt
new labor policies raising wages for lowest-paid workers - 2002
Five months after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans school
board fires every teacher in the district in what the United
Teachers of New Orleans sees as an effort to break the union and
privatize the school system - 2005
February 01
Led by 23-year-old Kate Mullaney, the Collar Laundry Union forms
in Troy, N.Y, raises earnings for female laundry workers from
two dollars to 14 dollars a week - 1864
Bricklayers begin working eight-hour days - 1867

25,000 Paterson, NJ silk workers strike for eight-hour work day
and improved working conditions. 1,800 were arrested over the
course of the six-month walkout, led by the Wobblies. They
returned to work on their employers’ terms - 1913
The federal minimum wage increases to $1.60 per hour - 1968
International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers merge with Service
Employees International Union - 1995
February 02
Sixteen thousand silk workers in Paterson, NJ and 32,000 in
Lawrence, Mass. strike for shorter work week with no cut in pay
- 1919
[Women
have had to fight for their rightful place in American life --
the right to own property, to vote, to work in "men’s" jobs.
They’ve had to fight for their place in the labor movement as
well, and
Rocking the Boat: Union Women’s Voices
1915-1975 does a great job of recounting that
struggle. Brigid O Farrell and Joyce L. Kornbluh tell the
stories of eleven dedicated union women from a wide range of
backgrounds and how they dealt with issues of work, sex, fear,
leadership and tradition to become activists and leaders in
their unions. In the UCS bookstore now.]
Legal secretary Iris Rivera fired for refusing to make coffee;
secretaries across Chicago protest - 1977
The 170-day lockout (although management called it a strike) of
22,000 steelworkers by USX Corp. ends with a pay cut but greater
job security. It was the longest work stoppage in the history of
the U.S. steel industry - 1987
February 03
The US Supreme Court rules the United Hatters Union violated the
Sherman Antitrust Act by organizing a nationwide boycott of
Danbury Hatters of Connecticut - 1908
U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Wages and Hours (later Fair Labor
Standards) Act banning child labor and establishing the 40-hour
work week - 1941
February 04
"Big Bill" Haywood born in Salt Lake City, Utah: Leader of
Western Federation of Miners, Wobblies (IWW) founder - 1869
Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man
launched the 1955 Montgomery, Ala. bus boycott and the birth of
the civil rights movement, is born in Tuskeege, Ala. - 1913
Unemployment demonstrations take place in major U.S. cities -
1932
Thirty-seven thousand maritime workers on the West Coast strike
for wage increases - 1937
[In
Offensive Bargaining: Negotiating
Aggressively in Contract Campaigns, labor lawyer
David Rosenfeld shares his arsenal of tactics, contained in this
controlled-availability book, to deal with and overcome
employers who refuse to bargain in good faith. Rosenfeld,
partner in a well-known California labor law firm, has
represented unions in negotiations since 1973; here he shows you
how to fight fire with fire, and then some. In the UCS bookstore
now.]
President Barack Obama imposes $500,000 caps on senior executive
pay for the most distressed financial institutions receiving
federal bailout money, saying Americans are upset with
"executives being rewarded for failure." - 2009
February 05
First daily labor newspaper,
N.Y. Daily Sentinel,
begins publication - 1830
The movie Modern Times premieres. The tale of the tramp (Charlie
Chaplin) and his paramour (Paulette Goddard) mixed slapstick
comedy and social satire, as the couple struggled to overcome
the difficulties of the machine age, including, unemployment and
nerve-wracking factory work, and get along in modern times -
1937

President Bill Clinton signs the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The law requires most employers of 50 or more workers to grant
up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a family or medical emergency
- 1993
In what turns out to be a bad business decision, Circuit City
fires 3,900 experienced sales people because they're making too
much in commissions. Sales plummet. Six years later it declares
bankruptcy. Duh. - 2003
Sources:
Toil and Trouble,
by Thomas R. Brooks; American Labor Struggles, by Samuel Yellen;
IWW calendar, Solidarity Forever;
Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, edited by
Robert E. Weir and James P. Hanlan; Southwest Labor History
Archives/George Meany Center; Geov Parrish’s Radical History; workday
Minnesota; Andy Richards and Adam Wright,
AFL-CIO Washington DC Metro Council (graphics research). 
Issues & Actions
This comes
from our friends at Working America:
(Click
the red text for links)
Wow!
Last week we asked you to write your attorney general and
tell him or her we need a settlement that holds mortgage
banks accountable for the damage they've done. The
response was incredible! In a little more than a week,
more than 30,000 people have taken action—and the stories
they shared have been powerful. We need to keep this
momentum going;
will you take another action to ensure
a fair settlement?
The Justice Department official who is running settlement
talks on behalf of the federal government is Associate Attorney General
Thomas Perrelli. Mr. Perrelli, who wants a settlement before he leaves
his post in March, is an extremely important figure who has a lot of
power over the direction of any possible settlement. He needs to hear
from you.
Write Mr. Perrelli's office and let him know
you support a solution that puts working families first.
Misconduct by the nation's biggest banks gave us the
financial crisis, and this is our chance to hold them accountable. Time
is running out—a settlement is coming soon—and we have to get this
right.
Raise your voice again. We're fighting to keep millions
of people in their homes.
Write to U.S. Associate Attorney General Perrelli
and ask him to put homeowners before bankers' greed.
From our friends
at Wal-Mart Watch: Yesterday,
our friends from Warehouse Workers United challenged Walmart
to save jobs and adopt a Responsible Contractor Policy. They
rallied in Mira Loma, California outside of Schneider
Logistics, a Walmart contractor that is planning to fire
more than 100 workers at the end of February. The move comes
after workers participated in a lawsuit to recover stolen
wages. These workers deliver millions of pounds of goods
every year, moving items from warehouses to Walmart shelves
across the country.
I'm proud that members of OUR Walmart, UFCW Local 770, and
UFCW Local 1428 joined the demonstration. Now, I'm asking
you to stand with Warehouse Workers United and tell Walmart
to treat all employees with respect. Please
sign the petition and stay
tuned for more developments in this ongoing struggle.
Tell Cooper
Tires to end the lockout! .
Click Here

NO WAY on "Free Trade"!
Stop the US-Korea Free Trade
Agreement!
Click Here.
Bill Clinton
and Rahm Emmanuel brought us
NAFTA, George W. Bush Brought
us CAFTA. The results of these
so-called "free trade" agreements have been devastating.
Barack Obama doesn't want to be outdone, so he has brought us no
less than THREE new "free trade" agreements; with
Korea, Colombia and Panama.
Read about them
HERE. Contact your Senators and Representatives
HERE and tell them NO WAY on "FREE TRADE" and
REPEAL THESE AGREEMENTS!! 
Steelworkers at Honeywell Update: Members
ratify agreement, ending 13 month lockout.
Click Here

From
CREDO Action:
48 Senators, including Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Sen. Johnny Isakson, put
Big Oil before the American people and helped defeat a bill that would
have ended tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies.
Click here for more info and action instructions!

IKEA Update
Workers at Danville, Virginia facility vote
UNION YES!
Click Here

Rite Aid Update
After five long years, Rite Aid distribution center workers finally have
their union! for more info,
click here.

Wendy's & Arby's Update
So, good news for the Bakers Local 57 in Ohio - they now have a new
contract after over a year campaign of hand billing, letter writing, and
spreading the word on the internet.
For decades, these union represented workers had a positive relationship
with Wendy's. The trouble came then Arby's bought out Wendy's.
For more info on this successful campaign,
click here.

"Medicare for All" Health Care
"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you
cannot be too conservative." -
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"First they ignore you, then they
laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" - Mahatma
Gandhi
The Savannah
CLC and AFL-CIO support through resolutions a single payer, non-profit,
"Improved Medicare for All" system. "Everybody In, Nobody Out."
The Savannah CLC is a proud supporter of the
Labor for Single Payer Campaign.
Be sure to check our
Links &
Health Care Archives for lots of news and
commentary.
Latest News and Actions
Hijacked, Stolen Health Care Reform: Why Health Care Costs Will Not Be
Contained
(From Huffington Post, added here 8.3.10)
..Click for more info..
Wellpoint Executive turned Health Care Bill Author Heads to HHS
(From The Hill, added here 7.9.10)
..Click for more info..
Scare Tactics, Spin & Health Care
(From Counterpunch, added here 6.30.10)
..Click for more info..
U.S. Scores Dead Last in Health Care ...Again.
(From ABC News, added here 6.28.10)
..Click for more info..
Kevin Zeezse on Health Care: What Did We Get? Where are We? And, Where
do we go from here?
(From Huffington Post, added here 5.12.10)
..Click for more info..
3rd Largest Labor Council in Ohio Endorses HR 676
(From Unions for Single Payer, added here 5.12.10)
..Click for more info..
Round Two: The Battle for (Improved Medicare for All) Single Payer
(From Huffington Post, added here 5.10.10)
..Click for more info..
On Single Payer, Democrats Can't Be Trusted
(From Single Payer Action, added here 5.2.10)
..Click for more info..
'Frontline' fronts for Corporations, not the Public
(From PNHP, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..
Health Insurers Hedge Bets with Fast Food Stock
(From PNHP, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..
No Time to "Wait and See" on Health Law
(From PNHP, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..
Greens: Now its Time to Work for Real Health Reform - Medicare for All
(From Firedog Lake, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..

Employee Free Choice Act
"Let's
stand up to the business lobby that's been getting their friends in
Washington to block card check. I've fought
to pass the Employee Free Choice Act in the
Senate. And I will make it the law of the land when I'm President of the
United States of America."
-
Barack Obama (the candidate), speaking to the AFL-CIO in
2008. Working families in America are still waiting...
If this bill is introduced in the 2011 Congressional session, we'll be
sure to post information and news updates here.
"If you can't lower heaven, raise hell!" - Mother Jones
Rep. John Barrow has refused to co-sign on the Employee Free Choice Act
Call him today and remind him of his promise to be "on our
side" and lead the way for true labor law reform - and not to bow to
corporate pressure! His
Washington Office confirmed if the EFCA was voted on today, he would
"definitely" vote NO.
Let him know the voters outnumber the corporate lobbyists any day of the
week - especially election day!
(202) 225-2823 Washington
(912) 354-7282 Savannah
EFCA News and Actions
Be Sure to Check out our
EFCA News Archive
Harkin Hints Watered Down EFCA Could Move after 2010 Elections
(From The Hill, added here 6.28.10)
..Click for more info..
What Happened to the Employee Free Choice Act?
(From Firedog Lake, added here 4.28.10)
..Click for more info..
The Night they Drove Old EFCA Down
(From Working In These Times, added here 1.30.10)
..Click for more info..
Trumka Predicts EFCA Passage in 2010; Does Not Mention "Card Check"
(From AlterNet, added here 1.11.10)
..Click for more info..
2010 Last Chance for EFCA, Labor Advocate Says
(From Workday Minnesota, added here 1.11.10)
..Click for more info..

Wal-Mart
The World's Largest Retailer's unmatched record of anti-worker practices
earns the company a "Take Action!" section of its own. Also see the
Wal-Mart info on our Links page.
Explore the Issues...
From Wal-Mart
Watch: Nearly one hundred Wal-Mart Associates from
across the country traveled to Wal-Mart corporate headquarters.
They presented a declaration to Wal-Mart
executives, asking that the company respect their right to speak up
about problems they face in their stores, improve their wages and
working conditions, and treat all employees with respect.
View photos and a recap of the event at
OUR Wal-Mart’s website by clicking here.
The effort was an action taken by a new
Associate-led group, the Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart
(OUR Wal-Mart), which is seeking to improve the lives and working
conditions of Wal-Mart Associates in stores across the country.
The group is the largest ever of its type seeking to improve conditions
at Wal-Mart and broke in the news this past Wednesday in a story by the
New York Times.
If you’re a Wal-Mart Associate who is interested in this effort,
learn more about the Organization United for Respect at Wal-Mart by
clicking here.
Since 2005, we at Wal-Mart Watch have sought to hold Wal-Mart fully
accountable for its impact on communities, the American workforce, the
retail sector, the environment and our nation’s economy.
As the world’s retail industry leader, Wal-Mart sets standards for
wages, benefits and beyond. This movement of Wal-Mart Associates has the
potential for making a real difference in the lives of fellow employees
– and because of Wal-Mart ’s position as a retail leader, their actions
will have consequences that reach far beyond their stores.
A petition for supporters of these Associates is circulating at the
Making Change at Wal-Mart site.
Click here to sign the petition.
Wal-Mart Partners with Unions Abroad. What are they Waiting for at Home?
(From American Rights at Work, added here 6.8.11)
..Click for more info..
Call on Wal-Mart to be Honest About Political Giving
Join Wal-mart Watch in calling for complete transparency in the
company's political giving.
Walmart’s Executive Vice President for
Corporate Affairs and Government Relations says that the company's
politics were "relentlessly nonpartisan" during the 2008 presidential
election.
But according to a new
Wal-Mart Watch report, Wal-mart's Political Action Committee
and the Walton family continue to give overwhelmingly to Republicans.
When Walmart's PAC has given to Democrats, it was to those Democrats who
were more likely to vote against President Obama's agenda.
-
Wal-mart’s PAC and the Walton family continue to give overwhelmingly
to the GOP.
-
The primary area of increasing support for Democratic Party
candidates is among conservative Democrats in the House of
Representatives.
-
Blue Dog Coalition Democrats and members of the Tea Party are
overrepresented in Wal-mart PAC political giving while Progressive
Caucus Democrats are significantly under-represented.
-
Democrats supported by Wal-mart were much more likely to oppose key
elements of President Obama’s political agenda.
-
At the state level, the company and family further wield their vast
resources to undermine the interests of Wal-mart’s core customers
(working families) and associates.
As Wal-mart's Shareholder Meeting
approaches, now is the time to call on Wal-mart to let the public know
the truth about its political giving.