May 10th, 2006  MCPS teachers air negotiation frustrations  Teachers vented frustration at the slow pace of contract negotiations at Tuesday's Missoula County Public Schools board meeting.

Union leaders spoke of feeling “demeaned and undervalued” after 12 bargaining sessions with MCPS administrators. All but one of the other Class AA districts in the state have settled contracts already, most after one or two days of talks.

MCPS Personnel Director Larry Johnson said the school district's offer of 2.6 percent increases on a new base salary works out to $1.27 million in new spending next year. That's slightly more than the sum of $2,000 for each certified teacher approved by last year's special Legislative session. The union's proposal would cost about $2.14 million, he said. Missoulian

May 9th, 2006 UP, BNSF Announce Southern Powder River Basin Joint Line $100 Million Capacity Expansion Plan Union Pacific and BNSF Railway Company today announced plans to begin another significant capacity expansion on the jointly owned rail line serving the Southern Powder River Basin (SPRB) coal fields, the largest open-pit, low-sulfur coal reserves in North America.

Both railroads have agreed on preliminary work to construct more than 40 miles of third and fourth main line tracks, at a cost of about $100 million over the next two years, to meet current and future forecasted demand for Wyoming's Powder River Basin (PRB) coal. This project is in addition to the construction of 14 mile s of a third main line track completed in Spring 2005 and an additional 19 miles of the third main line currently under construction and scheduled to go into service later in May and be fully operational in September 2006. The total cost of this nearly 75-mile capacity expansion will be about $200 million, which is split between the line's two owners, Union Pacific and BNSF. BLET

May 8th, 2006 Illegal immigrants drive down wages  I read with disbelief the article about the so-called “May Day protest” march in Missoula held on May 1. It was reported that one of the signs being carried by a protesters read, “Living wages for Montanans.”

I have heard from some incredibly uninformed people during my tenure in the state Legislature, but this takes the cake.

Just last week, I was told by a Montana carpenter who works in the Flathead Basin that he showed up to a construction site recently looking to be hired for a project. He was told there was plenty of work, but the usual wage was $6 an hour - not the normal $15 an hour. Letter to the Editor, Rick Maedje, state rep, House of Representatives, Missoulian

May 5th, 2006  Spending bill would release Glacier road dollars  Senator Max Baucus says the Senate today passed a spending bill that clears up a bureaucratic glitch, responsible for holding up 50 million dollars in federal money for work on Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

The money was designated in last year's transportation bill for much-needed repair of the scenic road through the park. But the Federal Highway Administration refused to distribute the money because of the way the bill was worded.

The spending bill, now headed to a House-Senate conference, would fix the language to free up the dollars. The underlying legislation provides emergency money for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Gulf Coast hurricane recovery.

The bill would provide 12-and-a-half million dollars to Glacier National Park for each of the next four fiscal years. KPAX.COM

May 4th, 2006  Union group looks to squeeze AFL-CIO  A group of breakaway unions has advised its affiliates around the country to stop paying dues to state labor councils controlled by the AFL-CIO, a move local labor leaders fear could hurt organizing drives and political mobilization. Boston Globe

October 13th, 2005 Oregon AFL-CIO president resigns  Tim Nesbitt, Oregon AFL-CIO president, resigned, effective Nov. 18. "Since we joined the national debate about the reorganization of our union movement last December, I have found find myself thinking more of the big questions we're confronting: how to connect better with workers who don't have unions is one such question, of course. But so is finding new and better ways to represent working people in the political process. And, toughest of all, is how to counter what is happening to our jobs in the global economy. In thinking about those questions, I have reached three conclusions: that I am ready for new challenges, that our union movement is in good shape here in Oregon, and that our upcoming convention offers the best opportunity to make the transition to a new president for your federation," Nesbitt said Wednesday in his resignation letter.

Nesbitt, who has been president for six years, encouraged the organization's executive board to replace him with Tim Chamberlain, Gov. Ted Kulongoski's labor liaison and former president of the Fire Fighters Union Local 43 in Portland. Portland Biz Journal

October 12th, 2005  Davis-Bacon dispute highlights long-running debate over contractor wages  One of President Bush's first steps in response to Hurricane Katrina was to suspend the law that governs the wages of workers who construct federal facilities. The move means that contractors involved in federal reconstruction within the hurricane zone can pay workers less than the average wage for the Gulf Coast region.

The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act allows the president to take such unilateral action during national emergencies, but organized labor and its allies in Congress are furious nonetheless. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., has introduced a bill to overturn Bush's decision, and the measure now has 204 co-sponsors. On TPMCafe, a liberal Web log, Miller has called Bush "immoral" for, in effect, cutting the wages of Gulf Coast construction workers from an already low $7-to-$8 per hour to the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. GovExec.com

October 12th, 2005 New MSU-N electrician program earns praise A new electrical program will follow in the footsteps of a successful plumbing trade program at Montana State University-Northern in 2006.

In September, the state board of regents approved the program, which has been two years in the making and is the result of a collaborative effort between state and university officials and electricians across Montana.

A university official and a local electrician said Monday they hope the program will reverse a nationwide trend and bring more young workers into a field that has an aging workforce that is beginning to retire.

The trade program will be the first of its kind for aspiring electricians in Montana. Havre Daily News

October 4th, 2005 Breakaway Unions Hold Founding Convention in St Louis  Inaugurating a new era in American labor history, the Change-to-Win federation of labor unions held its founding convention in St. Louis on August 27. The convention capped a summer-long exodus of four of labor’s most progressive and activist unions from the formerly monolithic AFL-CIO: the Service Employees International Union, UNITE HERE, the Teamsters, and the United Food and Commercial Workers. Their departure represents a loss to the AFL-CIO of nearly one-third of its membership and nearly $30 million per year in revenue.

Uniting with the rebel unions to comprise Change-to-Win are also the Carpenters (UBC), who left the AFL-CIO in 2001, as well as the Laborers (LIUNA) and the United Farm Workers (UFW). Together at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis, this “G-7” group of diverse unions pledged to dedicate substantial resources to core-industry organizing drives (Wal-Mart is a major target), as well as cooperative campaigns to leverage each other’s strengths. Their allocation of dollars specifically ear-marked for organizing represents a significant departure from AFL-CIO fiscal philosophy, which instead advocates that a large portion of member dues go instead to the two major political parties.

Change-to-Win has no shortage of talent to implement its ambitious goals. Anna Burger, former Secretary-Treasurer of the SEIU and daughter of a Teamster, was elected Chairwoman of the new federation, giving her the honor to be the first woman ever elected to head a major labor federation. In her speech to the convention she railed against what she termed “the American Nightmare…choosing between bus-fare and breakfast, health-care or housing.” She pointed out how during Hurricane Katrina, “the working poor were left to fend for themselves. They struggled and many died as the flood waters rose because thy couldn’t afford the gas or bus fare to get out of town.” The solution she proposes is articulated in one word. Organize. Alternative Press Online

October 4th, 2005 The nation's biggest wage gap is in Montana  For women looking to narrow the gap between their salaries and men's wages, it pays to live in Nevada.

Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show that women in Nevada earn nearly 82 cents for every $1 men earn, compared with a national median of about 76 cents for every $1.

That comparatively small wage gap ranks Nevada fourth in the nation for women's earnings as a percentage of men's incomes, behind only California, Vermont and Maryland. The nation's biggest wage gap is in Montana, where women take home a median of 67 cents for every $1 men make.

Nevada's median annual salary among men is $37,785, compared with $30,830 among women. Nationally, men make a median of $41,194 a year, while women earn $31,374.

Jim Shabi, an economist with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said a heavily unionized service industry could contribute to higher earnings among women in Nevada. Las Vegas Sun

October 2nd, 2005  Workers win historic living wage class action suit  Low-wage laundry workers in San Leandro won a landmark lawsuit when an Alameda County judge upheld their living wage claim against Cintas Corp.

The Sept. 23 decision was the first class action living wage case decided by a U.S. court. It requires Cintas, the uniform rental giant, to pay more than $1 million in back wages and interest to 219 workers who washed and sorted uniforms, towels and mats between 1999 and 2003 at the Cincinnati-based company's San Leandro and Union City plants.

The workers' suit was based on the city of Hayward's living wage ordinance, which requires that companies that have city contracts of $25,000 or more pay their employees a living wage based on the Bay Area Consumer Price Index.

"What's significant is this is really the first large scale enforcement effort involving a large group of workers in a class action, the first of its type in the U.S.," said Paul Sonn, a lawyer and Deputy Director of the Poverty Program at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. MSNBC

October 2nd, 2005  Should union dues back political causes? California vote may affect other states' efforts to prevent unions' use of funds for liberal political ends.

"Unions all over the country have an investment in this fight because they know that if they can no longer raise money for Democratic candidates and causes, there is no other group on the left that can amass the kind of political war chests that Republicans raise," says Elizabeth Garrett, a law professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who tracks state initiatives.

Such has been the case in the state of Washington, where passage of a similar law in 1992 - by 72 percent of voters - led to a precipitous drop in political contributions from teacher union members in the first year: from 48,000 contributors to 8,000. When Utah passed a similar law in 2001, only 6.8 percent of teacher union members allowed their dues to be spent on politics. Christian Science Monitor

October 1st, 2005 Jobs with Justice builds labor-community power  Over 1,000 trade unionists, students, religious and community leaders from around the nation attended the Jobs with Justice (JwJ) annual meeting here Sept. 22-25.

Workshops covered the labor-community organization’s many concerns: Living Wage Now, Killer Coke, Building Coalitions, Taking Over Your Student Government, Protecting Public Workers, Justice for Immigrant Workers, Health Care Crisis 101, Grassroots Fundraising, Organizing OUT (LGBT).

JwJ-ers joined local union members and activists rallying at Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, which Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is trying to close. The health care facility employs around 900 union members who care for nearly 400 disabled, mentally ill and other dependent clients. People's Weekly World News

October 1st, 2005 Gulf Coast Union Leaders Demand Decent Pay for Workers  Gulf Coast union leaders called on the Republican governors of Alabama, Mississippi and Texas to persuade President George W. Bush to reverse his executive order allowing contractors to pay substandard wages to construction workers in the areas destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. AFL-CIO

October 1st, 2005 AFL-CIO calls for New Direction America needs a new direction. That's the theme of a new AFL-CIO initiative that spells out a plan for good jobs and a just economy nationwide, beginning with the rebuilding of hurricane decimated parts of the Gulf Coast. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. The AFL-CIO plan includes a coordinated union response to fight for support for working families, including unemployment compensation, job training and education. The labor federation wants a panel convened of former labor secretaries, union and community leaders to press for fair wages and responsible reconstruction priorities. Sweeney says extreme right-wingers are trying to use the hurricane tragedy to benefit financially and politically. Laborradio.org

October 1st, 2005 U.S. Labor Department Awards $10.3 Million for Safety and Health Training Grants The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today awarded more than $10.3 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to labor unions, community colleges and other nonprofit organizations for safety and health training and educational programs.

Montana Nurses Association, Helena, Mont. The association will develop a workplace violence prevention training program targeted to small business rural and frontier health care providers and their employees. The program will address identification, assessment and types of action plans needed to deal with workplace violence in rural Montana. Products include a self-study manual, Web-based self-study training, and workshops. $200,000. U. S. Newswire

October 1st, 2005 Fight for Survival of Union Rolls On at Northwest Airlines  The battle being waged at Northwest Airlines (NWA) by the independent Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) and its supporters rolls on into its second month. Northwest's management has increased the pressure on the 4,400 strikers, pushing demands further and further as the weeks progress, towards what a company spokesperson called "a permanent solution for that segment of the workforce."

Talks broke down September 11 after NWA pushed a proposal that AMFA Local 5 member Curt Booza characterized as an attempt "to completely eliminate us from the property."

NWA began moves to permanently replace strikers September 13. Shifting from its original proposal to cut over half of its 4,400 AMFA jobs (including all of the lower-paid cleaner jobs that employ a greater percentage of women and people of color), in mid-September NWA demanded a 75 percent job reduction.

Though AMFA negotiators appeared ready to accept large-scale job cuts, NWA refused to entertain the union's insistence on a 20-week severance packages for terminated workers. This refusal left negotiations at a stalemate, and workers remained on the lines. CounterPunch

September 21st, 2005  Board OKs revamp of state job training Despite accusations that they're rushing to judgment and grabbing control from local officials, members of Gov. Brian Schweitzer's new Workforce Investment Board voted Tuesday to overhaul how workplace training is run in Montana.

The board voted overwhelmingly to revamp the state's two-year work-force training work plan and turn it over to Schweitzer, who will submit it to the U.S. Department of Labor for approval. Supporters said the revised plan would chop unnecessary bureaucracy and free up an additional $1 million for job training, a claim questioned by defenders of the current system.

If approved, Montana will switch to a single statewide planning system to oversee workplace training and administration of federal and other grants. The state Labor Department would administer the program statewide and contract with local programs.

The current system, criticized by some as a bureaucratic nightmare but defended by others as effective, involves a state board with two separate local boards. A nonprofit group, Montana Job Training Partnership, now administers programs for the two boards, while the Labor Department receives and distributes federal job-training money.

Backers and opponents of the new plan acknowledged there has been an increasingly bitter turf battle over job-training programs and money between the state Labor Department and the partnership since its formation in 1990. Montana receives about $7.4 million in federal workplace training money annually - about half of what it collected four years ago.

If approved, the new plan would terminate the partnership, eliminating its 18 jobs, although some staff might be hired at the Labor Department, Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said.

The proposed changes come after a recent federal audit raised serious concerns about how federal money awarded to the state Labor Department was spent. The money was distributed to the partnership, which contracted with the Montana AFL-CIO's Project Challenge: Work Again program for laid-off workers. The audit found a lack of documentation of how the AFL-CIO program spent some money, and disallowed some costs. Billings Gazette

September 20th, 2005 Opposing unions find unity, set terms for getting along  Two unions that feuded earlier this year over which should organize home child-care workers and that are on opposite sides in the split at the AFL-CIO, have agreed not to raid each others' turfs and to team up on some activities.

The Service Employees International Union, which broke from the AFL-CIO in July, and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, a supporter of the AFL-CIO, said Monday they've signed a two-year pact agreeing:

*That neither union will attempt to raid, decertify or interfere with existing representation rights.

*To establish a joint committee to deal with jurisdiction issues.

*To establish a legally binding dispute resolution procedure. Chicago Sun-Times

September 19th, 2005 Teamsters, CWA cooperate across AFL-CIO/Change To Win divide  The Teamsters and the CWA - two unions on opposite sides of the Change To Win Coalition/AFl-CIO split - say they that they are forming a new Airline Customer Service Employee Association to jointly represent workers at America West and U.S. Airways when those airlines merge later this month. The CWA's Candice Johnson.

[Candice Johnson] : "CWA has always said that we will work with any union in the interests of promoting workers rights, of obtaining the best possible contract and working conditions for members. And that's what we believe this agreement will do."

The Teamsters Leigh Strope says members of the unions will vote on whether to approve the alliance. She believes its in the best interests of the workers.

[Leigh Strope] : "Well, we think this is a great example of unions working together in the best interests of their members. You know, it knocks down this popular perception that unions are at war and are at each other's throat." Laborradio.org

September 18th, 2005 Global workplace deaths vastly under-reported, says ILO  Some 2.2 million people die of work-related accidents and diseases each year, the International Labour Office (ILO) said in a new report to be issued Monday at the 17th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, adding this number may be vastly under estimated due to poor reporting and coverage systems in many countries.

"Occupational safety and health is vital to the dignity of work", said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Still, every day, on average, some 5,000 or more women and men around the world lose their lives because of work-related accidents and illness. Decent Work must be safe work, and we are a long way from achieving that goal."

What's more, the ILO report, entitled Decent Work - Safe Work, ILO Introductory Report to the XVIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, Orlando, USA, also warns that work-related malaria and other communicable diseases as well as cancers caused by hazardous substances are taking a huge toll, mostly in the developing world. The majority of the global workforce lacks legal or preventive safety or health measures, accident or illness compensation and has no access to occupational health services. International Labor Organization

September 18th, 2005  Detention officers campaign for better pay Like every officer and union representative picketing Friday, Harris believes a pay increase would boost officer recruitment. It might also lend appeal to a profession notorious for its skyscraping employee turnover rate, he said.

Since the detention facility opened six years ago, 117 employees have made tracks, moving on to other, more lucrative professions. Missoulian

September 16th, 2005 Workers, Activists Redouble Efforts to ‘Beat’ Wal-Mart A lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart alleging its suppliers in five countries are violating human rights standards set by the retail behemoth’s own code of conduct is the latest attempt to force the world’s largest corporation to reform its business practices. The suit is one of several new efforts that focus on workers’ rights at multiple stages of the store’s supply chain.

On Monday, the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) filed a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart on behalf of workers who produce garments and toys for the retailer in Swaziland, China, Nicaragua, Indonesia and Bangladesh. The suit alleges that the foreign workers, which include sewers, mechanics, machinists and quality inspectors are forced to work overtime, denied full overtime pay, and paid below their respective countries’ minimum wages. The suit also cites cases of alleged physical abuse of workers by supervisors. The plaintiffs also include California workers who accuse the company of unfair competitive practices, which have undermined worker’s benefits in their state. The New Standard

September 16th, 2005 Labor fights to preserve Davis-Bacon Among the litany of regulations in line to be eased or suspended during the daunting rebuilding process on the Gulf Coast are several that have greatly alarmed labor unions, whose furious lobbying efforts are hitting a brick wall of conservative might.

Union officials are concerned that President Bush’s Sept. 8 suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires federal contractors to pay construction workers a prevailing wage, was only the beginning. Further hurting the union cause is GOP lawmakers’ support for broad bureaucratic relaxation in the Labor Department, a push rooted in the long-standing bad blood between unions and Republican think tanks.

“I think this is a mean-spirited attack on the labor movement. The right wing has never been able to touch us in the legislative arena on Davis-Bacon. They saw an opportunity and took it,” said Don Kaniewski, political director for the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA).

The presidents of LIUNA, the carpenters union and the engineers union wrote to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) yesterday decrying the Davis-Bacon suspension. LIUNA and the carpenters belong to the new labor federation Change to Win, formed by unions seceded from the AFL-CIO, while the engineers remain AFL-CIO members. The Hill