Tuesday, November 8, 2005

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Labor issues you care about in streaming video
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Bush Nominee Facing Criticism
NOVEMBER 7, 2005 - Judge Samuel Alito Jr., who President Bush has nominated for the Supreme Court, is facing heavy criticism for testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee fifteen years ago.
Ready To Organize
OCTOBER 28, 2005 - Nearly a thousand IAM union activists from all over the US and Canada gathered in Chicago on October 5th for the start of a three day, first ever, Organizing Summit.
Davis-Bacon Act Reinstated
OCTOBER 27, 2005 - Bowing to pressure from working families and Democratic lawmakers, the Bush administration reinstated the Davis-Bacon Act yesterday.

Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks Dies

OCTOBER 25, 2005 - Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks passed away at the age of 92 on Monday. It was Parks refusal to surrender her bus seat to a white rider more than 50 years ago that helped launch the modern civil rights movement.

Bush Picks Greenspan Replacement
OCTOBER 25, 2005 - President Bush has selected conservative Ben Bernanke to replace retiring Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Union Advantage Continues to Grow

October 17, 2005 The Union advantage continues to grow most notably in the area of employer-paid benefits.

IAM Orginizing Summit - A Huge Success

OCTOBER 11, 2005 - The IAM held its first organizing summit in Chicago last week which turned out to be a huge success!

Organizing Summit Opens in Chicago
OCTOBER 5, 2005 - More than a thousand IAM union activists from the U.S. and Canada gathered in Chicago today for the start of a three day, first ever, organizing summit. The purpose - to layout goals and create strategies to build a bigger, better union.

Bush Lifts Wage Rules and Affirmative Action Plans for Katrina

SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 - Congress passed a relief bill earlier this month - sixty two billion dollars for the reconstruction of Hurricane Katrina – so far.

Victory for Boeing Machinsts

SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 - Boeing Machinists headed out to the polls on Thursday, September 29th to cast their vote after being on strike for four weeks.   

Boeing Machinists Ratify Contract

SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 - After four weeks off the job, Machinists working for Boeing voted to accept the company’s revised offer on Thursday. 

Boeing Machinists Reach Tentative Agreement
SEPTEMBER 26, 2005 - IAM negotiators and the Boeing Company have reached a tentative contract agreement after resuming negotiations this weekend.

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The IAM Supports International Human Rights Day

Once again, the IAM is supporting International Human Rights Day, December 10, which commemorates the anniversary of the ratification of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The declaration established the right of people in every nation to come together into unions and bargain contracts.

Although the U.S. had recognized those rights 13 years earlier with the National Labor Relations Act, many workers say those rights exist only on paper. Workers may have the legal right to form unions to negotiate for better benefits, pay and safety standards—but employers across the country routinely block their efforts with threats, coercion and intimidation.

To strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose a union, the union movement worked with a bipartisan coalition in creating the historic Employee Free Choice Act.

Introduced into Congress in April 2005, the act require s employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union.


IAM Wins Picket Fight in Alabama

The IAM won an important legal victory in Federal Court this week when a judge issued a permanent injunction that expanded free speech rights of striking Boeing workers in Huntsville, AL.

Lyndsey Pelligrini, two and a half years old, (left) joins her parents and their other six children on the picket line.

The IAM filed suit in U.S. District Court in Aniston, AL, charging the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority with placing excessive restrictions on the rights of IAM picketers on strike against Boeing in Huntsville. The Airport Authority limited the strikers to locations well away from the entrances to Boeing’s main facility.

In his decision, District Court Judge Robert Propst granted a permanent injunction allowing the strikers to picket the main gate of the facility, with reasonable restrictions regarding the number of picketers allowed.

The City of Huntsville and the Machinists union are continuing to meet in an attempt to resolve issues concerning adequate lighting at other locations, and to ensure that IAM members’ rights of assembly and free speech are observed and protected. 

The IAM is on strike against Boeing space and defense facilities in Alabama, Florida and California. Key issues in the strike include an attempt by Boeing to end retiree health care for new hires and increased healthcare costs for current employees.


Elections for NJ, VA Governor Today

Working families are making a final push to get worker-friendly candidates elected in gubernatorial races being held in Virginia and New Jersey on November 8. A democratic sweep will act as a springboard to garner support for democratic candidates in the 36 gubernatorial races in 2006.

In New Jersey, more than 7,000 union volunteers and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka are performing GOTV efforts to help Democratic candidate Jon Corzine defeat Republican Doug Forrester.

Union volunteers have are also distributing leaflets and performing GOTV efforts in Virginia, where Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore are running neck and neck. Kaine received last minute help from current Virginia Governor Mark Warner, while Kilgore may be hurt by an election-day appearance by President Bush, whose approval ratings continue to plunge.

Meanwhile, thousands of union members in California are working tirelessly to defeat Proposition 75, Gov. Schwarzenegger’s anti-worker initiative aimed to restrict political involvement by working families in their unions while doing nothing to limit giant corporations. Since January, union members have passed out over a million leaflets against Proposition 75 in their workplace, and made over 400,000 calls.


Federal Unions File Suit to Stop NSPS

A coalition of ten federal employee unions filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Columbia against the imposition of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) at the Department of Defense (DoD).

The new system, based on rules first imposed on workers at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is an unfair set of personnel rules that strip away collective bargaining rights and civil service protections for more than 700,000 civilian DoD workers. A federal judge recently ordered DHS to revamp major sections of the rules because they violated the law.

“These rules are so unfair to federal employees that even a Republican-appointed judge ruled against the Homeland Security Department,” said IAM Government Employees Director Frank Carelli. “The Defense Department is making the same blatant attempt to bust unions and we expect to stop DoD, too.”

IAM/NFFE is one of the ten unions filing suit. “Since the Pentagon first proposed NSPS, the unions have continually tried to have a meaningful discussion with DoD regarding the new personnel system, only to have our good-faith efforts rebuffed with claims we would not budge from the status quo,” said IAM/NFFE Federal District 1 President Richard Brown. “These regs demonstrate that DoD ignored the voice of its workers in the development of NSPS.”



IAM member Sue Eichstadt discussed the health care crisis with people she met on her 154 mile walk from Windom, Minnesota to St. Paul, Minnesota.

Minnesota Machinist Completes Health Care Walk

“When I get mad . . . I walk,” said Local 1956 member Sue Eichstadt, who recently completed a seven-day, 154 mile journey from Windom, Minnesota to the state capitol in St. Paul to help focus attention on the health care crisis and put pressure on state legislators.

Upon her arrival in St. Paul, Eichstadt’s daughter and a large group of supporters gathered to help her deliver hundreds of signatures from people she met at town hall meetings along the way.

Minnesota State Senator Linda Berglin and many other lawmakers accepted the signatures. Berglin, who chairs the Senate’s Health and Human Service Budget Division, said she will sponsor legislation to amend the Minnesota constitution to make health care a right.

When asked why she did this Eichstadt replied, “I don’t have all the answers, but for me an amendment to the Constitution for affordable health care is the best way to go.”

People “deserve to have health care,” said Eichstadt, who used her vacation time to complete the trek. “It’s a right.  I mean we have the right to hunt and fish, we should have the right to health care. I’m going to keep walking until we get the amendment.”


Bankrupt NWA Seeks Temporary Contract Changes

Northwest Airlines is asking a bankruptcy court to temporarily reduce the wages paid to IAM employees by 19 percent and to cut sick pay by 25 percent. This amounts to 60 percent of their final cost savings, a goal the IAM does not agree with.  The company is seeking to make these temporary changes effective November 16, 2005.

Northwest has stated that if the judge approves the temporary emergency relief, it will postpone its separate 1113(c) motion calling for the bankruptcy court to reject collective bargaining agreements for members of District 143 and other unions.

“The postponement of the 1113(c) trial allows us time to craft long-term solutions to Northwest’s financial problems,” said DePace. “Northwest’s crisis took years to develop and its problems will not be solved overnight. The IAM intends to utilize any additional time to obtain the best possible outcome for our members.”

Complete explanations of both the Sections 1113(c) and 1113(e) processes and a copy of Northwest’s 1113(e) filing are available on the District 143 website, www.iam143.org.



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The 2006 IAM Calendar
To buy a copy, send a check or money order for $7.00 to: 2006 IAM Calendar, c/o IAM Communications Dept., 9000 Machinists Place, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-2687. Bulk orders of the calendar are also available.


Workers Speak Out
on a wide variety of issues both in print and audion on the new Goiam. Memberscomment on: Jobs, China Trade, Social Security, and Organizing.


IAM Photo Contest Winners
Check out the winners of this year's IAM Photography Contest. LL 1189's Tambra Hughes entry, Ready to Weld, won an honorable mention in this year's contest.


The Winners
The results of this year’s IAM Newsletter & Website Contest are in. Contest winners will be presented awards at the IAM Communications Conference set for October 30 — November 2 in Wichita, Kansas.


Dell Discounts

IAM members are now eligible for discounts on Dell computers and laptops.


See who works for you, how the IAM is structured, and what services the IAM offers. Go to: IAM2005

FlatRateTech is an organization “created for and by Ford and Lincoln Mercury service technicians solely to speak as one loud voice rather than 50,000 smaller voices.” according to their website The fast-growing site offers forums for Ford customers, technicians and dealers to exchange information.

IAM
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Tom Buffenbarger
International President


Warren L. Mart
Secretary-Treasurer


Lee Pearson
GVP Western Territory


Dave Ritchie
GVP Canada


Robert Thayer
GVP Headquarters


Robert Roach,Jr.
GVP Transportation


Lynn Tucker
GVP Eastern Territory


Robert Martinez
GVP Southern Territory


James Brown
GVP Midwest Territory