New Rose Honors UFW Founder Cesar Chavez
Gardeners who want the union label on their flowers may want to
check this one out. Farm Workers members have teamed up with
California flower grower Bear Creek to develop a rose dedicated to
the memory of UFW founder Cesar Chavez. Ten percent of the
proceeds from sale of the lustrous red rose go to the Cesar A.
Chavez Foundation, which educates young people about the union
leader’s legacy.To order, call 800-292-4769 or visit
www.jacksonandperkins.com.
American Standoff
Driven by the inspiring stories of three determined rank-and-file
workers who are willing to put everything on the line, American
Standoff captures the Teamsters union's high-stakes battle against
trucking giant Overnite Transportation.
HBO, June 10, 8pm
Three West Coast governors
–
John A. Kitzhaber,
Gary Locke and
Gray Davis -- were interviewed recently on the IAM’s Third Shift program. Jobs, healthcare and college costs were some
of the issues affecting working families that the governors addressed.
Find out about health care in your state:
The Kaiser Family
Foundation's State Health Facts Online
resource contains the latest state-level data on demographics,
health, and health policy, including health coverage, access,
financing, and state legislation. |
Get Your Convention Gear
Check out gear for the
2004
IAM Convention
The IAM
Executive Council
International President
R.
Thomas Buffenbarger
Secretary Treasurer
Donald
E. Wharton
GVP Western
Territory
Lee
Pearson
GVP Canada
Dave
Ritchie
GVP Midwest
Territory
Alex
M. Bay
GVP Headquarters
Robert
V. Thayer
GVP Southern
Territory
George
Hooper
GVP Eastern
Territory
Warren
L. Mart
GVP Transportation
Robert
Roach, Jr.
|
Friday, June 7, 2002
RX
Express Off to Great Start
The RX Express, organized by the
Alliance for Retired Americans, roared
off to a great start. Four busloads of senior citizens, from
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ohio, have made the trip to Canada
to buy prescription drugs at costs far lower than in the United States.
“These trips are
needed to draw attention in Congress,” said George Kourpias, Alliance
president. “Congress needs to act on a Medicare prescription drug
benefit so our seniors don’t have to make these trips.”
The trips have drawn
considerable publicity to the plight of seniors, noted Alliance
officials, and local politicians have hurried to associate themselves
with the cause, they say.
Despite a pledge by
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL, on May 1 that a drug benefit bill
would be passed by the Memorial Day recess; no such legislation has made
it to the floor.
Byline Strike Slams Washington Post
Reporters,
photographers, columnists, critics and artists mounted a two-day byline
strike against the Washington Post, which has been seen as a
bastion of liberalism since its Watergate exposures that toppled
President Richard Nixon.
The Post
staffers, represented by the Newspaper Guild, have been working without
a contract since mid-May. Talks stalled over the newspaper’s demands for
concessions and its insistence on imposing new restrictions on union
activities, a spokesman said.
During those heady
Watergate days, the Post had 12 unions, including a strong Guild,
with a union security clause that guaranteed 80 percent union membership
and—not coincidently—the highest newspaper wage scale in the United
States. Today, all that remains is the Guild, which lost its 80 percent
guarantee in previous negotiations, and the tiny remnants of six smaller
unions.
Despite its enormous
wealth and over-funded pension fund, the Post’s wage offer calls
for a zero percent wage increase the first year and pay hikes
ranging between 1 and 2 percent in the second and third years.
“We stand behind our
brothers and sisters in this fight,” pledged IP Tom Buffenbarger. “We
support their demands for a fair contract and an end to union-busting at
the Post.” As a first step, he offered Guild representatives free
use of the IAM’s studio and all facilities to help them make their
voices heard.
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