NLRB Cites Boeing for Illegal South Carolina Move

Thu. April 21, 2011

In response to charges filed by the IAM, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), this week issued a blistering complaint against the Boeing Company, declaring their move to South Carolina was a violation of federal labor law and constituted illegal retaliation against IAM members employed by Boeing in the Puget Sound area.

The NLRB complaint cited repeated statements by senior Boeing executives that union members’ activity was the “overriding” factor in the decision to locate a 787 assembly line in South Carolina.

“A worker’s right to strike is a fundamental right guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act,” said NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon, who issued the complaint against Boeing. “We also recognize the rights of employers to make business decisions based on their economic interests, but they must do so within the law.”

According to the NLRB, Boeing’s conduct was “inherently destructive” of rights guaranteed to workers. As a remedy for the violation, the Board is seeking an order requiring Boeing to operate the second 787 line, including supply lines, with IAM members in the Puget Sound.

“Boeing’s decision to build a 787 assembly line in South Carolina sent a message that Boeing workers would suffer financial harm for exercising their collective bargaining rights,” said IAM Vice President Rich Michalski. “Federal labor law is clear: it’s illegal to threaten or penalize workers who engage in concerted activity, and it’s illegal in all 50 states.”

The decision by Boeing to locate a 787 assembly line in South Carolina followed years of 787 production delays and an extraordinary round of mid-contract talks in which the IAM proposed an 11-year agreement to provide Boeing with the labor stability it claimed was necessary to keep 787 production in the Puget Sound area.

Click here to read a statement from the NLRB announcing the complaint.

Click here to view full text of the NLRB complaint.

Click here to read a summary of facts in the case.

Single Carrier Ruling Issued for United Stock and Stores

Thu. April 21, 2011

The IAM welcomed this week’s National Mediation Board (NMB) single carrier ruling for the Stock and Stores classification at the recently combined United Airlines, Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia Airlines.

“We are very pleased with the NMB decision,” said IAM District 141 President and Directing General Chairman Rich Delaney. “The IAM is looking forward to welcoming all Stock and Stores employees as members of the Machinists Union.”

The NMB will proceed to address representation of the Stock and Stores craft or class following a 14-day period from today.

The IAM represents United’s 785 Stock and Stores employees while Continental’s 233 Stock and Stores employees, called Material Specialists, are unrepresented.

The IAM presented the NMB with sufficient evidence that the Continental Stock and Stores employees wanted to join the IAM last fall. The Board combined that case with the current single carrier application pending at the Board. Continental Micronesia’s 17 Stock and Stores employees are represented by another union.

AFL-CIO Paywatch Notes Runaway Pay for CEOs

Thu. April 21, 2011

The 2011 Executive Paywatch website shows CEOs at 299 U.S. companies earned a combined income of $3.4 billion in 2010. Viacom’s CEO Philippe P. Dauman earned $84.5 million alone last year, one of the highest among the executives.

“The disparity between CEO and workers’ pay has continued to grow to levels that are completely stunning,” said AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka. Trumka said the U.S. is facing “runaway CEO pay.”

According to the Federal Reserve, U.S. corporations held a record $1.93 trillion in cash on their balance sheets last year, but they are not investing to expand their companies, grow the real economy or create good middle-class jobs. Corporate CEOs are literally hoarding their company’s cash - except when it comes to their own paychecks.

Fortunately, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains new tools to help limit runaway CEO pay. Shareholders now have a “say-on-pay” vote on executive compensation, and companies must disclose the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay at each company.

For a list of the 100 highest-paid CEOs and more on the Executive Paywatch website, click here.

NFL says law firm can't bring new players to court

Apr 21, 9:12 PM EDT
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The NFL has rejected a law firm's request for a conflict-of-interest waiver to represent a group of players seeking to join the antitrust fight against the league.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Thursday the league notified the firm of the denial. The firm later was identified as Barnes & Thornburg of Indianapolis.

Aiello said it would be inappropriate to allow the firm to work with players in a claim against the NFL while one of its partners represents the league in music licensing for shows on NFL Network and NFL Films.

"While we do not know the specifics of the claims that would be asserted or the players who would be involved, we cannot consent to the firm's request to grant a waiver," Aiello said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Cafferty Faucher attorney Bryan Clobes has said his firm had "discussions about representing some additional players who want to have a voice" in the court fight. But Clobes said Thursday that the firm the NFL is referring to is not Cafferty Faucher, and stated that his firm has not represented the NFL in any matters.

Alvin Brown finds that a 'D' after your name complicates Jacksonville mayor run

The Democrat has to reach out to moderates on both sides in mayor's race.

Posted: April 22, 2011 - 12:00am
By Timothy J. Gibbons

At a news conference a few weeks ago, Jacksonville mayoral candidate Alvin Brown repeated a line he's used throughout his campaign.

"Government can't create jobs," he said, adding that it's something the private sector needs to do.

A moment later, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown stepped to the microphone, fuming over the governor's recent decision to reject $432 million in high-speed rail funding.

"Government can create jobs," she said, referring to the workers a rail project would hire.

Having different approaches is nothing new for the two Browns, who are not related: Alvin Brown's first foray into Jacksonville politics was running against Corrine Brown in 1994.

Like most of the city's Democratic establishment, though, the congresswoman strongly supports Brown, who's vying to become the first Democrat elected mayor in 20 years.

Now, Brown's challenge is to balance support from the party supporting him and the need to win crossover votes in a Republican-leaning town.

"All voters — Republican and Democratic and independent — care about quality education, about balancing the budget," he said. "The message is we're all in this together."

That effort got a boost last week when Republican fundraiser Peter Rummell announced he was supporting Brown, pledging to raise $300,000 for the campaign. On the other hand, as of the last filing period, about half of the money Brown raised came directly from the state Democratic Party, which is paying for his staff.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-04-22/story/alvin-brown-finds-d-after-your-name-complicates-jacksonville-mayor-run#ixzz1KFb5vUXd

Florida Morning: GOP pushes massive election law rewrite through

Submitted by Abel Harding on April 22, 2011 - 5:31am
Florida Morning
By Abel Harding (@abelharding, abel.harding@jacksonville.com)

GOP PUSHES MASSIVE ELECTION REWRITE THROUGH - "Florida lawmakers passed a dramatic overhaul of state election law Thursday night, a move that GOP legislators say will bring integrity to the process and one that Democrats counter will disenfranchise voters across the state. The measure, a major rewrite to the laws that govern the state's elections, passed 79-37. Among other things, the measure (HB 1355) would limit voters' ability to change their address at the polls, change third-party voter registration rules and make it more difficult for citizen groups to put amendments on the ballot. …Democrats blasted the measure, calling it an assault on voters' rights. In particular, they said it would severely limit the likelihood that the votes of college students or military personnel be counted. Under current law, a voter could change his or her address at the polling place, making it easy for college students who initially register at their parents' address but then choose to vote in the district where they attend school. The bill approved Thursday would only allow for an address change if it is within the same county, which would exclude most college students." South Florida Sun-Sentinel: http://bit.ly/gyCIIF

As OSHA Turns Forty, A Look Forward

AFL-CIO Media Outreach Fellow Nora Frederickson sends us this report on a discussion at the Center for American Progress on the future of Americans’ health and safety at work.

Since 1970, workers in every state have counted on workplace inspections, whistleblower protections, and standard safety regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to keep them safe at work. Today, unions and their partners in business are expanding their roles in helping OSHA protect workers today, according to panelists at “OSHA at 40,” a discussion at the Center for American Progress on Thursday featuring David Michaels, Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. In two separate panels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michael laid out OSHA’s plans for the future and talked with representatives from the labor, business and academic communities about how to adapt safety regulation for the changing workplace.

In her remarks, AFL-CIO Director of Safety and Health Peg Seminario highlighted the important role of working relationships between unions, OSHA, and employers in responding to unsafe workplaces and designing preemptive regulations.

When unions bargain with employers, one of the primary focuses is setting standards for safety and health. Unions fought to get OSHA passed in 1970, and when you look at standards set over the years, virtually all of those standards came because unions petitioned OSHA for them. Now, drawing on preexisting OSHA standards, unions and employers do the day-in, day-out work that can’t be covered by OSHA.

Global Union Movement Calls for End to Repression in Bahrain

by James Parks, Apr 21, 2011

The union movement around the world and in the United States is calling on the government of Bahrain to lift its state of emergency and halt its the all-out attack against union members.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) reports that thousands of workers have been dismissed for taking part in trade union activities in support of the peaceful calls for greater democracy and reform. More than 750 union members and half of the leaders of the General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions (GFBTU) also have been dismissed from their jobs.

Bahrain is sliding into absolute dictatorship, the ITUC says, and the “elimination of trade union activity is being given a high priority by those in the ruling circles who intend to complete the transformation of the country into a totalitarian state.”

You can take action now. Join LabourStart’s campaign here and send a letter to Bahrain’s king demanding an end to the attacks. Or click here to join the Building and Wood Worker’s International (BWI) in demanding the reinstatement of the union workers.

In a letter April 15 to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called for “urgent political intervention…to stop [Bahrain’s] descent into dictatorship.” Trumka said he was concerned about the “intense and escalating attack” on the GFBTU. Trumka adds:

The trade union movement in Bahrain is critical to democratic and peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic society…The Department should demand of its counterparts an end to the extraordinary repression taking place at the doorstep of one of America’s largest military installations (U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet). Any lesser response to this crisis undermines our moral authority.

Also today, the AFL-CIO filed a complaint with the Office of Trade & Labor Affairs over the failure of Bahrain’s government to comply with its commitments under the U.S.—Bahrain Free Trade Agreement by repressing peaceful protests and the attacks on the GFBTU. Click here to read Trumka’s letter and here for the FTA complaint.

Finally, the International Labor Organization (ILO), an arm of the United Nations condemned the crackdown on union members and announced it is sending a high-level mission to Bahrain to discuss the situation in the country.

Airline Unions Form Global Alliance

by James Parks, Apr 21, 2011

Fourteen airline unions from the United States and seven other countries have formed a cooperative global organization to give workers a stronger voice in dealing with the world’s major airlines.

The One World of Labor Council was created this week during a two-day meeting of union officials in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Transport Workers (TWU) and sponsored by the London-based International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).

The members of the council, which also includes the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), represent workers at American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Chile-based LAN Airlines, and several other carriers that belong to the oneworld global airline alliance.

Oneworld, whose carriers employ more than 300,000 workers, is one of three main international airline alliances that have been formed by most major airlines, including those in the United States. These alliances or “partner airlines” agreements function essentially like mergers. The “partners” routinely agree to change flights and routes and to share code, terminals and advertising. Some of the partnerships allow airlines to shift labor, offshore maintenance and avoid regulation.

These airline alliances pose threats as well as opportunities for workers, said TWU Vice President John Conley, who is coordinator of the council. Workers should share in corporate gains and “should not suffer dilution” of their labor contracts, Conley told a Washington, D.C. press conference yesterday.

In a statement, TWU President James Little said:

Employers in our industry have a global agenda. It’s imperative that working people also think globally–and act globally. If we are going to protect our members and compensate for labor laws that end at national borders, unions must begin to act multilaterally

“We know that the airlines are getting together, they’re working together,” and unions need to do the same to defend workers’ rights, said Gabriel Mocho Rodriguez, civil aviation secretary of the ITF.

Union officials who could not attend the Washington, D.C., meeting participated electronically, Rodriguez said. The unions agreed to extend “all possible support” to each other to achieve fair labor contracts and “the best safety standards,” Rodriguez said.

Linda White, assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Union, told reporters the common problems currently faced by airline unions around the world include a lack of job security, deteriorating working conditions, and outsourcing and offshoring of work.