www.goiam.org
Tuesday, March 12, 2002
Machinists Strike for
Job Security at Lockheed
Angered over managements’ refusal to protect jobs, 2,800 IAM members in
three locations struck Lockheed Martin this week, halting operations at
one of the defense/aerospace firm’s largest U.S. facilities.
“Only 12 years ago, more than 14,000 IAM members worked for Lockheed
Martin in Georgia, Mississippi and West Virginia. Today, there are only
2,800 IAM jobs left, and all the company wanted to discuss were ways to
outsource and subcontract even more jobs,” said IAM Aerospace
Coordinator John Crowdis.
The strike affects the massive aerospace shop in Marietta, GA
(represented by IAM Local 709) and two “feeder plants” in Meridian, MS
and Clarksburg, WV, represented by Locals 2386 and 1027, respectively.
The members rejected the contract by 78% and voted by an 82% margin to
strike.
“The company can easily afford some basic job security protections.
Lockheed Martin just won the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter contract,
the largest defense contract in U.S. history. That’s on top of winning
the F-22, which will replace the F-15,” he continued.
“We are on strike because the biggest defense company on earth wants the
freedom to wipe out good-paying, skilled jobs in Georgia. We say they
owe us and this community much better than that,” Crowdis said.
Related Links:
Local Lodge 166
Local Lodge 709
Local Lodge 2386
Local Lodge 2786
District 725
IAM Aerospace
Union
Fights for Jobs Upgrade
Union
reps from NFFE Local 1781 know that dispatchers at the Camino
Interagency Emergency Command Center (ECC) in Camino, CA, are grossly
under-paid for the work they do and they are determined to do something
about it.
The USDA Forest Service used an outdated job description to classify the
positions, the union believes. The agency ranks the positions as GS-7s.
“We maintain they should be GS-9s,” says Erik Holst, Local 1781
president.
“All across the board, our fire personnel are underpaid,” explains Randy
Meyer, a member of the union’s grievance committee. Firefighter pay
ranges from $10 to $12 an hour, he said, “and for that, they put their
lives on the line.”
Related Links:
Forest Service
Council News
Rail Talks Back on Track
Negotiations
for a new agreement on the nation’s railroads have been slated for March 13 and
14, reports Robert Reynolds, president and directing general chairman, IAM
District 19. “This is a tedious process,” he notes. “If no progress is made
here, we will devote our full efforts to applying pressure to the National
Mediation Board and to Congress to move these talks along.”
Unions Launch Global Organizing Effort
Women workers
around the world may find it easier to organize as free trade unions launch a
global organizing campaign under the slogan “Unions for Women, Women for
Unions”, notes Cheryl Eastburn, IAM Women’s Dept. director.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the AFL-CIO and
the Coalition of Labor Union Women hopes to double the number of women members
and to improve working conditions for women in the trade union movement.
The campaign will contribute significantly to the effort to achieve genuine
equality between men and women at every level. The number of women union members
is at an all-time high of 6.77 million, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. Women make up nearly 42 percent of union membership worldwide and
unions continue to step up organizing efforts for women members.
OPM
Sets Leave Rules in 9-11 Aftermath
The Office of
Personnel Management issued final regulations regarding annual leave that are
intended to aid workers responding to the terrorist attacks Sept. 11. The new
rules make it possible to restore excess annual leave that could not be taken
because of the attacks and the emergency arising from them.
While there are some limitations, most affected federal workers should be able
to recoup any lost leave time forfeited under earlier regulations. The final
regulations are effective April 3. Additional information is available from
Sharon Herzberg at 202-606-2858 or email at
payleave@opm.gov.
Lockheed Martin Stands by Enron Director
Overseeing the largest – and potentially most criminal –
business bankruptcy in history would seem to disqualify someone as a
director of other corporations.
Apparently, Lockheed Martin does not agree.
IP Buffenbarger twice asked CEO Vance Coffman to
remove Frank Savage from the Board of Directors. Savage serves on the
Board of Directors for Enron.
But Coffman refused, telling Buffenbarger in a
letter this week that “Savage enjoys a long and distinguished
association with our Corporation…He has been instrumental in creating
Corporate financial disclosure practices that are commonly considered
exemplary in our industry.”
“Where were Frank Savage’s exemplary financial practices while Enron
was being looted from the inside? He was a director. Was he even
paying attention? This is not the sort of job performance a company
like Lockheed Martin should endorse,” said Buffenbarger.
|