Thursday August 24, 2006

Vancouver Airport Strike Averted

A strike by 250 members of Local 16 employed as Perimeter Security Guards at Vancouver International Airport, Canada, was averted when Securiguard Services Inc. agreed to arbitration to settle the dispute.

The members of Local 16 have been trying to negotiate their first collective agreement with Securiguard for more than 12 months. “The company came to us less than two hours before our deadline asking if we would accept a mediator to settle this dispute,” said IAM General Chairperson Mike Clegg. “Our members were out in force ready to strike to back their demands for a first collective agreement, and I believe this show of force was the key to avoiding a potentially disruptive work stoppage.”

The two sides will meet with federal arbitrator Vince Ready in an effort to reach an agreement. If the two sides fail to reach an agreement, Ready will issue a decision that is binding. “The bottom line is that the company will have to give us our first collective agreement and that’s what we wanted in the first place,” said Clegg.

The members of Local 16 provide perimeter security at the airport, which includes checking suspicious packaged items and validating the identity of airport personnel. The IAM represents more than 5,500 workers at Vancouver International Airport employed by Air Canada, United Airlines, Securiguard Services and various fuelling and ground service operators.

Winchesters Bound for Overseas Production

Olin Corporation and the Herstal Group recently announced a deal to have a Herstal subsidiary manufacture Winchester rifles and shotguns. Left out of the announcement is the likely location of the new production – low-wage sweatshops in Turkey.

This concludes what was essentially a slow-motion version of the run-away shop, with Herstal and Olin going through an elaborate process designed to absolve them of corporate guilt for abandoning New Haven after more than 140 years of Winchester production, and leaving 186 dedicated, long-service employees without jobs.

“We made every effort to keep Winchester where it belongs, in New Haven,” said John Harrity, Director of GrowJobsCT. “Unfortunately, as many suspected all along, Herstal’s real agenda was to go through the motions so they could move Winchester overseas.”

The City of New Haven must now move quickly to find a new manufacturer to fill the Science Park location left vacant by Herstal, explained Harrity. “The most important thing now is to get Winchester workers back to work. The City of New Haven and the State of Connecticut need to roll up their sleeves and make this happen.”

HPWO Continues to Shine at Harley-Davidson

The successful alternative to traditional labor-management practices is what brought President Bush to Harley-Davidson’s Springettsbury, PA facility last week, where Local 175 represents 2,700 workers. After his tour and roundtable discussion with IAM members and management, Bush said: “I’m impressed by the fact that these people really enjoyed what they’re doing.”

But it wasn’t always enjoyable times. In 1981, Harley-Davidson was on the brink of bankruptcy. Facing enormous challenges, current Board Chair Jeff Bleustein and 12 other Harley executives bought the company from AMF, and began an incredible journey that led Harley to 20 consecutive years of record sales and earnings.

A good measure of that success is due to the remarkable relationship between labor and management, which grew into a High Performance Work Organization (HPWO) partnership agreement.

“The partnership with Harley-Davidson is a great model of labor and management working together,” said HPWO Director Don Kennedy. “Partnerships are a shared responsibility to build, strengthen and grow both the IAM and the companies where our members work. That’s what’s happening at all five Harley-Davidson manufacturing locations and at about 50 other IAM-represented companies throughout the U.S. and Canada.” For more information on HPWO, click on HPWO Partnerships at http://www.goiam.org/content.cfm?cID=313.

Congressional Voting Records Now Available Online

As the 2006 midterm Congressional races start to heat up, the AFL-CIO has released their 2006 interim voting record for Congress. Find out if your elected officials voted in favor of working families or corporate interests by visiting this site. http://www.aflcio.org/issues/legislativealert/votes/vr_all.cfm

The interim voting record has been updated to include the latest key votes cast in the House and Senate, including House Republicans’ attempt to shamelessly pair an increase in the minimum wage with a massive tax giveaway to wealthy families.

You can also find out how your Senators and House members voted on such key issues as the renewal of the Voting Rights Act, the passing of the flawed free trade deal with Oman, immigration, collective bargaining for the nation’s air traffic controllers, the Bush administration’s tax-cuts-for-the-rich, spending-cuts-for-education, health care, child care budget and more.

Health Care Make You Sick?

There is still time for working families to sound off about the high cost of health care and what changes they’d like to see made to the nation’s health care system. Congress established the Citizens’ Health Care Working Group to prepare recommendations for solving the nation’s health care crisis. Before the Final Recommendations are sent to Congress and the President, it is important that working families get a chance to speak up on this important national debate.

So far, the Working Group has received input from over 23,000 Americans at community meetings, public hearings and online responses. From that input, they formulated Interim Recommendations for addressing health care reform, which include:

All Americans should have affordable health care by 2012 as a matter of public policy.

All Americans should have access to a set of core health care services across the spectrum of care throughout their lifespan.

Everyone – employers, government, and individuals – must pay their fair share in our health care system.

Submit your comments by going to Citizens’ Health Care Working Group http://www.citizenshealthcare.gov/. The comment period ends August 31, 2006.

Mission Accomplished in Nagoya, Japan

A group of IAM members employed at the Bombardier Aerospace St. Laurent plant went to Nagoya, Japan recently to help Mitsubishi workers with fabrication work that had been contracted out. They came back with a deal that calls for 940 hours of the fabrication work to be returned and performed by fellow IAM members at the St. Laurent facility.

Two Wings, a division of Mitsubishi, had obtained the contract to fabricate a limited number of flight surfaces for the Challenger 300. Our members went to help, but also with the goal of bringing the work back to the Quebec plant.

The fabrication work that will return includes flaps, flaps support, main landing gear, leading edge, fairings and spoilers, according to Sylvain Hénault and Martin Busque, who were two of the numerous workers who took part in this mission.

The members enjoyed the experience working in Japan but will probably enjoy a better working experience here, closer to their families.

Seniors Singing the Donut Hole Blues

While many seniors expected to save money on prescription drugs under President Bush’s Medicare Part D plan, many are now paying more than ever thanks to the so-called “donut hole.” Medicare Part D doesn’t cover annual out-of-pocket expenses between $2,251 and $5,100. That $3,000 gap is referred to as “the donut hole.”

The Institute for America’s Future finds the average Medicare-eligible recipient will fall in the donut hole on September 22 this year, which will force seniors to pay full cost for their prescription drugs on top of Part D’s costly monthly premiums until they reach $5,100 in out-of-pocket expenses.

Not everyone is suffering. In just the first year, drug companies will make billions in excess profits because the Bush plan forbids Medicare from negotiating with drug companies for lower prices. For many drugs, Medicare insurers are paying more than double the prices paid by Veterans Administration and other agencies, who can negotiate for lower prices, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Democrats introduced an amendment in Congress to require Medicare to negotiate for lower prices, but it was defeated by the Republican majority. The Alliance for Retired Americans http://www.retiredamericans.org/ is pushing for passage of legislation in the House that would fix the donut-hole debacle. Co-sponsored by Reps. Marion Berry (D-AR) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), H.R.752 would require Medicare to negotiate for drug discounts. If common sense prevails, retirees would see real savings, as opposed to unabashed multi-billion dollar profits to drug companies and the insurance industry.