Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Round-the-Clock Bargaining Begins at Boeing

On August 15, IAM negotiators entered the Doubletree Hotel in SeaTac, Washington to begin round-the-clock bargaining with representatives of the Boeing Company. All subcommittees and the Main Table negotiators met throughout the day and meetings were scheduled into the evening.

Boeing has agreed to provide their last, best and final offer so that a summary of the offer, as well as a book with all proposed changes will be available on the morning of August 30, 2005.

Up-to-date information regarding IAM-Boeing negotiations is available at http://www.iam751.org./contract2005.

Big Win for Homeland Security Workers

In a major victory for 180,000 civilian workers at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a federal judge blocked the agency from implementing new rules that would significantly restrict collective bargaining rights. The IAM currently represents more than 1,000 DHS employees.

The ruling is in response to a lawsuit brought by the IAM and other unions representing government workers after the DHS unveiled sweeping changes to personnel rules governing how workers are paid, promoted and disciplined. The agency claimed the changes were needed to increase “flexibility” and to enhance national security.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer blocked the DHS regulations indefinitely, saying the new rules “failed in their obligation to ensure collective bargaining rights to DHS employees.”

The judge took special exception to language in the new regulations that gave DHS management the right to override any provision in a labor agreement by simple issuing a department-wide directive. Unions, she said, would be “bargaining on quicksand,” as the DHS would retain the right to absolve itself of contract obligations while the unions would remain bound.

The ruling could affect similar workplace rules being proposed as part of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) for more than 700,000 civilian workers employed at the Department of Defense.

Social Security Celebrates 70 Years of Service

August 14, 2005 marked the Social Security’s 70th anniversary, one of the most successful programs in U.S. history. At the signing ceremony in 1935, the United States was in the depths of the great Depression with record 20% unemployment rate and record poverty.

“The civilization of the past 100 years, with its startling industrial changes, has tended more and more to make life insecure,” said President Franklin Roosevelt.

“Young people have come to wonder what would be their lot in life when they came to old age. The man with a job has wondered how long the job would last. We can never insure 100 percent of the population against 100 percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against a poverty-ridden old age.”

Social Security has lived up to that promise and more. Today, nine out of 10 Americans 65 and older receive Social Security benefits and about two thirds of then get more than fifty percent of their income from the program. Without Social Security, almost half Americans over 65 would have incomes below the poverty line.

And Social Security isn’t just a retirement program. Of 48 million beneficiaries, 8.2 million get disability benefits and 6.6 million get survivor’s benefits. The odds are that three in 10 of today’s 20 year olds will become disabled before they reach age 67.

A video of FDR signing the Social Security Act

Pemco Workers Locked Out

About 200 IAM members who convert passenger aircraft into freight haulers at Pemco World Air Services in Dothan, Alabama, remain locked out after company representatives walked away from the bargaining table and ordered security guards to prevent union members from coming to work.

An earlier vote by members authorized strike action, however, negotiations were ongoing when the company moved to lock the employees out rather than respond to the union’s most recent proposal. The IAM contract covering the workers at Pemco expired at midnight on August 9, 2005.

The members of Local 1632 say the company demands are unwarranted. In a letter to IAM members, Pemco President Ray Bennett said, in part, “We have lost money for five years…”

But an article in the Dothan Eagle pointed out that Pemco officials were bragging about rising income and profits less than two years ago.

“Our members in Dothan have been expecting this,” said Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez. “It’s a strong group and we will give all the support necessary to make sure our members at Pemco pull through this lockout.”

IAM Members Make a Wish Come True

Sandy Herder and Bob Sullivan of IAM Local 1956 in Windom, Minnesota recently received Eagle Awards from the Toro Company in Windom, Minnesota for pride and excellence in their work at the plant. The pair received plaques and awards that included Disney World vacations.

Upon receiving their awards, Herder and Sullivan donated their trips to the "Make a Wish Foundation" for children with life-threatening medical conditions. The Foundation auctioned off the trips and as a result 14 children enjoyed trips to Disney World.

"We have a personal illness in our family and we could not take the trip. We donated the trip to the Make a Wish Foundation so that someone in need could use it,” said Sandy Herder.

“It is even better that 14 children could enjoy themselves and find a little happiness." Bob Sullivan said he was very happy to give these children the opportunity go to Disney World and make their dream come true.

Local 1956 President Richard Paplow praised both IAM members saying, "This is a great thing that they gave to a charitable organization,” adding that the Machinists Union has a long history of service to the community.

A. Phillip Randolph Group Targets Local Issues

The A. Phillip Randolph Institute (APRI) held their 2005 National Education Conference recently in New Orleans, Louisiana, where APRI National President Clayola Brown reaffirmed the civil rights organization’s year-round commitment to local communities.

“Whether it’s the need for a traffic light on the corner or referendum or union organizing campaign,” said Ms. Brown, “If it affects us, then APRI will be there.”

When APRI was founded in 1965 by A. Phillip Randolph and Baynard Rustin, it was as an organization of black trade unionists fighting for racial equality and economic justice.

More than 30 Machinists and TCU members joined the 600 union members at the APRI conference.

IAM Journal Examines ‘Ethical Practices’

The Summer 2005 issue of the IAM Journal looks back on the visionary work of former IAM President Al Hayes, a labor icon who helped guide the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955 and served as chairman of the AFL-CIO’s Ethical Practices Committee.

A vintage photograph on the cover of the Journal shows Hayes, who led the Machinists Union from 1949 to 1965, testifying before a congressional committee as part of the AFL-CIO effort to raise professional standards for union officers.

“The ethics of a businessman are not good enough for a trade union officer,” declared Hayes in 1957. “What might be admired as no more than ‘sharp practice’ or clever dealing when it is engaged by an employer, becomes corruption and unethical practice when indulged by a trade unionist.”

The latest issue of the Journal also includes a forum with the newly-elected IAM Executive Council members who discuss the challenges ahead and their plans to move the union forward during the next four years.