Postal Unions, Associations & Labor News Archives

September 29, 2004- UPS, pilots union return to contract talks-United Parcel Service Inc. and its pilot union resumed contract negotiations with mediators on Monday as they tried to reach an accord on issues including scheduling, retirement and compensation.

September 29, 2004-Davis Pulls Change to Facilitate Keeping Unions Out of Homeland Security-Yesterday, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), the House chairman who oversees the civil service, yanked provisions from a pending 9/11 bill that would have made it easier for the president to exclude unions at the Department of Homeland Security. The provisions, which seemed likely to renew contentious debate over the role of unions at the departments of Homeland Security and Defense, had been part of a Republican bill that seeks to overhaul the government's intelligence community. The bill is scheduled for debate today by the House Government Reform Committee, which Davis heads, and the inclusion of the labor-management provisions had drawn objections from the National Treasury Employees Union.

September 28, 2004-DOL Issue Draft Regulations for Law that Safeguards Guard and Reserve Members' Jobs and Benefits-The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) today announced that it has published draft regulations in the Federal Register that interpret the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act of 1994 (USERRA). Congress passed USERRA to safeguard the employment rights and benefits of service members upon their return to civilian life. These regulations will spell out the rights of our returning service men and women and the responsibilities of employers to honor their service. This Administration will back up these first— time—ever USERRA regulations with aggressive outreach and enforcement." This action by the Department represents the first time regulations have been developed to help enforce USERRA since passage of the law in 1994. It is the latest in a series of proactive steps the department has taken to ensure job security for the largest group of mobilized National Guard and Reserve service members since World War II. Read the proposed regulations

September 27, 2004-Jimmy Carter: Conditions Don't Exist For Fair Election In Florida-Former President Jimmy Carter says that conditions for a fair election in Florida still don't exist. He says that the disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely. Carter's comments came in an opinion piece published Monday in the Washington Post. Touchscreen machines were introduced in Florida after the 2000 election, when punch-cards were responsible for delaying the outcome of the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Bush won the state by 537 votes, which gave him the presidency.

September 26, 2004-Five U.S. House members were in U.S. embassy in Baghdad when rocket exploded; none was injured -the visiting delegation are Democratic Reps. Mark Udall of Colorado, Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D and Republican Reps. Tom Osborne of Nebraska, Ernest Istook of Oklahoma and Scott Garrett of New Jersey.

September 25, 2004- A Crucial But Largely Ignored 2004 Campaign Issue: The Next President Is Likely to Appoint At Least Three Supreme Court Justices- Supreme Court nominations are among the most influential decisions a President can make: No other choices have longer (or, possibly, larger) impact on the workings of government, and the laws of the land. Yet surprisingly little has been said during the 2004 presidential race about this matter. Of course, the issue is still being discussed in the back rooms of the Capitol - but it has not played a public role.

September 25, 2004-Unions Go to Court to Protect Florida Voting Rights-As part of the union movement’s unprecedented national effort to ensure every vote is counted in the November election, the AFL-CIO joined with AFSCME and SEIU to ask a Florida court to force state election officials to count provisional ballots as long as they are cast in the county where the voter lives. The unions and the federation asked a state Circuit Court judge to issue a temporary injunction to stop state officials from enforcing a state law that requires destruction of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct

September 23, 2004- Labor unions remain a force come election time-This fall, union members are expected to once again be a major factor at the polls. Although their numbers are dwindling, labor's power at the ballot box remains - if its members turn out. By most assessments, close to a quarter of the votes in the 2000 presidential election came from union households.

September 23, 2004-

Unions Endorse, Members Bite Back: Federal union leaders are supporting the Kerry-Edwards ticket this year. But the unions don't speak for all their members, or the people they represent.

September 23, 2004-CREW Files FEC Complaint Against The November Fund- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regarding activity by the recently formed 527 organization, The November Fund. CREW's executive director Melanie Sloan stated "the November Fund and its corporate backers have made no secret that they are planning to spend $10 million to attack and oppose the candidacy of John Edwards and the democratic presidential ticket. Today, CREW is calling on the FEC to immediately investigate The November Fund and stop it from attempting to influence the presidential campaign." The complaint names Bush-Cheney '04 because of the strong Republican party ties of The November Funds' backers. Co-chair Craig Fuller has been working with the Bush Administration to prevent the importation of prescription drugs from Canada; co- chair William Brock is a former Republican Senator and Chair of the National Republican Committee and was appointed by President Bush to the West Coast Port Worker Lockout Panel; and Fund director Ken Rietz served as an advisor to President Bush's 2000 presidential campaign

September 19, 2004-CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say-After days of expressing confidence about the documents used in a "60 Minutes'' report that raised new questions about President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News officials have grave doubts about the authenticity of the material, network officials said last night

September 19, 2004-Bush, Kerry Tentatively OK Three Debates-The campaigns of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry tentatively have agreed to a series of three debates that both sides hope will give them momentum in the closing weeks of the presidential election campaign, a person familiar with the debate negotiations said Sunday night.

September 19, 2004-Schwarzenegger vetoes bills on minimum wage, megastores, drug testing -Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed bills Saturday that would have raised the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour, made Wal-Mart-like megastores more difficult to build and limited schools' ability to give students random drug tests. The Republican governor contended the minimum wage and megastore legislation would have hurt the state's economy and said drug testing policies should be left up to school officials

September 16, 2004-APWU Endorses the Million Worker March--Thousands of Americans are expected to gather at the Lincoln Memorial Oct. 17 for the Million Worker March, mobilizing union workers and anti-war demonstrators in a show of election-related concerns. March organizers cited universal health care, pension plans, the future of Social Security and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq as key issues to set before legislators. Sponsors of the march include the National Education Association; the Green Party; the Teamsters National Black Caucus; the International Longshore and Warehouse Union; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; APWU; NALC and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.

Million Worker March to Voice Labor Movement Concerns

September 16, 2004-Working America's Job Tracker Exposes Companies That outsource jobs -Users can use group's Web site to identify U.S.-based companies that have exported American jobs. A union group on Thursday unveiled a Web site that lets users identify more than 200,000 U.S.-based companies it says have exported American jobs or lost them because they were hurt by foreign trade. With hard data on the offshore outsourcing of American jobs sketchy, the Web site launched by the 60-union AFL-CIO and its Working America affiliate attempts to spotlight a hot-button issue that looms in the U.S. presidential election campaign. The AFL-CIO estimates that 2.7 million U.S. manufacturing jobs and 850,000 service jobs were shipped abroad since 2001. Job Tracker

September 16, 200-U.N. Secretary-General Annan calls U.S.-led war in Iraq 'illegal' -During the past 18 months, Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the United Nations has expressed many reservations about the war in Iraq. He has asserted that it was not in "conformity" with the U.N. Charter. He has "raised questions about the legitimacy" of the action by the United States and Britain to go to war without specific authority from the Security Council. But Annan's radio interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. Wednesday, in which he said for the first time that he believed the war was "illegal," set off a tempest of reaction and raised questions in a number of capitals about why he had chosen that moment to adopt more muscular language about the war.

September 15, 2004-Labor Allies Seek Derailment of OT Rules-Fresh from their triumph in the House, labor allies want the Senate to derail new Bush administration overtime rules that critics say would prevent 6 million American workers from getting the bonus pay. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he would take the first step in that direction Wednesday by forcing the Senate Appropriations Committee to take a campaign-season vote on whether to block the rules

September 14, 2004-Postal Workers to get Global Voice at UPU-UNI Postal - the global union that represents two and a half million postal workers worldwide - is expected to win observer status at the Universal Postal Union during the UPU Congress in Bucharest later this week. The Bern-based UPU is the 130-year-old international organisation that brings together governments and national postal operators in 190 countries and ensures the world's postal systems work together. The UPU - which is also a UN agency - plans to broaden its structure to involve stakeholders that include unions, customer and consumer groups and private postal companies

September 14, 2004-L.A., Washington Hotel Workers OK Strike-The threat of a strike by bellmen, housekeepers and other Southern California hotel employees loomed larger as an overwhelming majority of the workers gave their leaders a green light to call a walkout. About 75 percent of the roughly 3,000 employees, who have been working without a contract since June, voted Monday, with 83 percent choosing to authorize a strike, union spokesman Danny Feingold said Tuesday. No date was set for a walkout.

September 14, 2004-APWU, NPMHU Conventions Pass Resolutions to Oppose U.S. War and Occupation in Iraq -The growing antiwar movement within the AFL-CIO took another leap forward in the past two weeks when three major unions passed strong resolutions at their recent conventions, opposing the U.S. war in Iraq and calling for an end to the American occupation. They are Communications Workers of America (650,000 members), American Postal Workers Union (270,000) and Mail Handlers of the Laborers’ International Union (50,000).

September 14, 2004-9/11 Families Endorse John Kerry for President-Five September 11th families Tuesday endorsed John Kerry for president during a press conference in Washington, DC. The five women who lost their husbands in the World Trade Center on September 11th met Kerry last week and endorsed him today saying they believe that John Kerry has a stronger commitment to and will be more effective at fighting and winning the war on terror. The five women are committed to working over the next 49 days to elect John Kerry as president.

September 13, 2004-Federal government told to use leverage to improve health care -The federal government should use its power as a buyer of health care to spur improvements in quality, leaders of a local group said during a congressional hearing in Green Tree yesterday. Doing so would save both lives and money, said Karen Wolk Feinstein, chairwoman of the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative. "Improve quality and safety and you will lower cost, save lives and produce a healthier labor force," said Feinstein, whose group has coordinated quality improvement projects in the region. Feinstein was one of four experts invited to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives' Government Reform Subcommittee on the Civil Service. U.S. Reps. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and Tom Davis, R-Va., listened to the testimony. The subcommittee oversees the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers more than 8.6 million individuals, including 2.2 million federal and postal employees. Considering the federal work force, along with people covered by the Veterans Affairs Department, Medicare and Medicaid, the government has tremendous leverage to bring about change, Murphy said.

September 13, 2004-UPS hit with disability suit -Plaintiffs say UPS leaves some workers without jobs following disability claims

September 10, 2004-Risky E-Mails -Two federal employees could be disciplined for sending e-mail messages attempting to sway co-workers' votes in the upcoming presidential election. The Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency charged with investigating potential violations of the Hatch Act, a law limiting political activity in the federal workplace, last month filed two complaints at the Merit Systems Protection Board

September 10, 2004-Fraternal Order of Police Endorses Bush; President has 'Full Support' of Nation's Largest Police Labor Organization-For a candidate to receive the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, he must receive a two-third majority of the National Board, which comprises one Trustee from each of the organization's State Lodges. President Bush received the unanimous endorsement of the National Board. "Our National Board, and the more than 318,000 members of the F.O.P., are very well acquainted with the President's record with respect to law enforcement because he has made the F.O.P. a partner in crafting national law enforcement policy," Canterbury said. "He has always been there for the rank-and-file officer, and we are eager to be there for him in November."

September 9, 2004-House Dems Move to Block Overtime Rules- House Democrats led a revolt Thursday against a new Bush administration interpretation of who is eligible for overtime, moving to block just-implemented rules that critics argue could deprive millions of workers of their overtime pay. Democratic leaders said they had the votes, including sympathetic Republicans, to overturn a large portion of the rules, which were the first major redefinition of overtime eligibility in more than 50 years

September 9, 2004-Unions demand troops come home from Iraq-The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) passed resolutions in support of bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq just days before the death toll there rose above 1,000.

September 8, 2004-Labor's Beef with Bush-A few hours before Zell Miller and Dick Cheney stoked the GOP faithful at the Garden last Wednesday with red-meat attacks on the Democratic ticket, a pretty sizable group of voters who hadn't been heard from all week gathered nearby to protest Republican policies. Somehow, their gripes never made it to the evening news. In his speech to the rally, AFL-CIO president John Sweeney listed just some of the reasons why labor sees this election as a do-or-die struggle: 14 million Americans looking for a job who can't find one, 45 million without health insurance, median family incomes falling for the third straight year. "Our good manufacturing jobs are being shipped overseas, and now they're being followed by white-collar jobs. The few new jobs being created pay less, and they don't provide health benefits or pensions," he told the crowd

September 8, 2004-Senate blocks outsourcing of some federal jobs, adding to year-end woes -The Republican-led Senate ignored a White House veto threat Wednesday and voted to block President Bush from handing some Homeland Security Department jobs to private companies. A victory for Democrats and labor unions representing federal workers, the 49-47 vote was an embarrassing setback for Republicans and a bow to election-year pressures. And it further snarled efforts by GOP leaders to adjourn Congress for the year in October, before the Nov. 2 elections.

September 8, 2004-American Postal Workers Union Local # 618 Named Union of the Year-President Charlene Fleener had something extra to celebrate this Labor Day. Her union was named Monday as Local Union of the Year by the Wabash Valley Central Labor Council. Local 618 (Indiana) is a small one, about 130 members. "We're so small and we actually won," she said. "It gives a little one like us some recognition." The labor council is an organizational group for the AFL-CIO. It represents 28 unions in six counties, including some as large as 800 members in Bemis Local 1426.

September 7, 2004-Unions push to expand influence -Labor Day traditionally kicks off the crucial, final two months of campaigning in a presidential election year. This year, union members are looking for new ways to extend their influence, by getting members elected to local offices and by trying to oust an administration it finds particularly nettlesome. Organized labor has butted heads with the Bush administration on issues from changes in overtime rules to trade policy and the loss of manufacturing jobs. “I think … organized labor regards this as one of the most critical elections in history,” said Clete Daniel, labor history professor at Cornell University. “They are facing the most anti-union administration since the Reagan presidency.” James L. Chapman was one of a few hundred union members who walked Kansas City neighborhoods.

“The middle class is being eliminated by the policies of the present administration,” said Chapman, a member of American Postal Workers Union Local 67. “Since President Bush was elected, we've lost 21⁄2 million jobs. The 1 million jobs that have been created don't pay enough for those workers to take a vacation every now and then. We need to turn this around.”

Not all union members vote Democrat, of course.

In the last election, about 37 percent of voters living in union households voted for Bush. Judy Ancel, director of the Institute for Labor Studies in Kansas City, said the gun-control issue was a big factor for union workers who voted for Bush.

A Republican Party official in Missouri said the Bush campaign is not conceding the vote of rank-and-file union workers to Kerry.

“The Democrats and John Kerry are beholden to the labor bosses, who in turn contribute thousands of dollars to their campaign,” said Paul Sloca, spokesman for the Missouri Republican Party. “President Bush has a plan for workers, and he's taking that message out to workers in Missouri and around the country.”

September 7, 2004-New Website Offers Union-Made Goods and Services- The Union Label went digital today with a new web site offering shoppers an array of union-made gifts, from clothing and chocolates to computers, games and greeting cards. The web site, www.shopunionmade.org , launches on the eve of the fall and winter holidays, when shoppers will spend an estimated $1 trillion on gifts, food, drinks and other seasonal items, explained Matt Bates, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO Union Label & Service Trades Department. The all-union shopping site, however, will be a year-round operation because that is what consumers demand, he added. “Shoppers spent $56 billion in Internet sales last year, and on-line spending is doubling every two to three years. Everyday we receive email and calls from people who want to support good jobs by buying union-made goods and services. The web site will reach millions of people, 24 hours a day, with a quick convenient way to shop union,” Bates said. “The public is ready for this. People have seen millions of good jobs disappear and they are looking for ways to take a stand and make a difference,” he added. The AFL-CIO will target the peak of the holiday shopping season by promoting “Buy Union Week” Nov. 26 through Dec. 5. The newly-launched, all-union shopping site will be a cornerstone of that campaign.

September 7, 2004-CBO Projects $442 Billion Federal Deficit-biggest in American History -The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that this election-year's federal deficit will reach $422 billion, congressional aides said Tuesday, the highest ever, yet a smaller shortfall than analysts predicted earlier this year. "This is by far the biggest deficit in American history," said Thomas Kahn, Democratic staff director of the House Budget Committee. "There is no credible way Republicans can portray the record deficits they have created as good news."

September 5, 2004-Union Rights Triumph Over Intimidation-Comcast Reinstates Organizer-Stephen G. White, cable guy and union man, returns to work Thursday for a company that fired him six months ago. His employer, Comcast of Montgomery County, will post a legally required notice informing its workforce that "we will not fire Stephen White because he engaged in activities on behalf of the Communications Workers of America . . . " and vowing that Comcast will not interfere with workers' rights to "form, join, or assist a union." For the Communications Workers, the union representing White, his case is a lone star in a black night. Since 2002, when Comcast took over AT&T Broadband and inherited thousands of unionized workers, it has persuaded employees at workplace after workplace to abandon their unions. As a company training manual states, "Comcast does not feel union representation is in the best interest of its employees, customers, or shareholders." (White's father served as president of the National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees)

September 5, 2004-PROTECTING THE VOTE—The volunteers in the AFL-CIO’s My Vote, My Right campaign will be especially busy this week working to ensure everyone’s vote is counted in the 2004 elections. Voter rights advocacy coalitions of unions and community groups will monitor the Florida primary Aug. 31 and the Arizona primary Sept. 7 to identify and work to correct any voting problems that occur. Earlier this month, the Voter Protection Coalition, which includes the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, NAACP and People for the American Way (PFAW), filed suit to overturn a Florida state law requiring destruction of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct. To learn more about the My Vote, My Right campaign, click on . A new report released Aug. 25 said the Republican Party is mounting a campaign to keep African Americans and other people of color from voting in November. The report, The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Intimidation and Suppression in America Today, by PFAW Foundation and the NAACP, cites recent incidents that singled out voters based on their races. It cites the use in Orlando, Fla., of armed state police to question elderly black voters in their homes as part of an investigation into absentee ballots in the city’s March 2003 primaries. For a copy of the report, visit .

September 2, 2004-Protesters stand up in face of police, GOP platform-Protesters turned out in droves Tuesday, lining the sidewalks and the streets of midtown and Lower Manhattan to protest the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden. New York City police, in full riot gear - some toting shotguns with rubber bullets or tear gas - tried to control the mayhem. They formed barricades of metal and orange plastic around groups of protestors to control group size and traffic flow. The Associated Press reported more than 1,500 people have been arrested in convention-related protests. The American Postal Workers Union formed one of the more cohesive rallies of the day at a free speech zone on 8th Avenue and 30th Street from 2 a.m. to 5 p.m. to protest the Bush administration's plan to privatize the U.S. Postal Service. Only four blocks away, the rally was the closest licensed protest to the convention. Clarence Wall Jr., vice president of the New York Metro Postal Union, said the current administration is trying to change benefits and reduce wages through the formation of the Federal Postal Commission. "We are here to let [the RNC] know we are not going to stand for it," Wall said. "We feel that the Republican Party is no good for the average working man."

September 2, 2004 -Anti-RNC Demos Continue, Addressing Labor Issues, War, Media -Though it has been almost a week since demonstrations against the RNC began in New York City, the protests show no sign of abating. Among the many rallies held today were demonstrations by organized labor, an event put on by the National Organization for Women, and a march against the corporate media. Dennis O’Neill, an antiwar activist and member of the American Postal Workers Union, said this election is more important than any, even those in the Vietnam Era, which he lived through. O’Neill expects that labor will vote in larger numbers than the general population, and most of those votes will be cast for Kerry. But he worries that all the effort expended to elect Kerry may hurt other movements after the election, should Kerry win. "I think that labor’s anger toward Bush will be heard," O’Neill said. "But it’s important not to dissolve the momentum and action of other movements entirely into the ‘elect Kerry’ campaign. We’re going to be keeping Kerry honest once he’s elected. I think a general labor rally should be scheduled for the Saturday or Sunday directly after the election, no matter who wins."

August 25, 2004-Lawyer Advising Vets Quits Bush Campaign- One of President Bush's top lawyers resigned from his campaign Wednesday, a day after disclosing that he had given legal advice to a veterans group airing TV ads challenging Democrat John Kerry 's Vietnam War service. The guidance included checking ad scripts, the group said.

August 24, 2004-VA Memo Challenges Political Action on Duty- Last week, the Department of Veterans Affairs distributed a White House fact sheet to its employees heralding President Bush's accomplishments on veterans' issues. The VA said the memo -- distributed via e-mail to VA employees Aug. 16 -- was intended to arm public relations officers with information in case they received media inquiries. The fact sheet also was posted verbatim on the official Bush/Cheney campaign Web site under the banner, "Veterans for Bush." At the VA, the fact sheet raised legal questions. VA Secretary Anthony Principi instructed his staff to stop disseminating it and launched a legal review, the agency said. At issue was whether the Hatch Act, which bans political activity by federal employees while on duty and in a government office, was violated.

August 22, 2004-Federal Unions say court ruling would slash overtime-The three largest federal employee unions are seeking to reverse an appeals court ruling that the unions say would virtually eliminate overtime for almost all federal employees.

- Controversial Overtime Rules Take Effect

- America’s Workers Set to Protest Bush Overtime Pay Take-Away

August 22, 2004-Bush re-election will change US Supreme Court-Alabama Gov. Bob Riley told a Republican breakfast that President Bush's re-election will change the U.S. Supreme Court, described by the governor as "very liberal." Riley said because the next president could appoint up to three Supreme Court justices, the coming years could be a turning point for the Republican Party if Bush is re-elected.

August 16, 2004-Employers seek help as unemployment taxes soar-Employers seek repeal of surcharge -Employers want the federal government to ease their growing unemployment tax burden. They've asked Congress to repeal an unemployment tax surcharge that was imposed in 1976 to repay loans from the federal unemployment trust fund. This debt was repaid by 1987, but the surcharge remains in place.

August 14, 2004-45 LA Hotel Workers Arrested-Forty-five hotel workers were arrested today at a downtown Los Angeles demonstration meant to bring attention to their union contract dispute, a representative said. The union workers, who sat in a circle in the middle of a street, were expected to be cited and released for staying beyond the 30 minutes allotted for their demonstration, which started with about 2,000 union employees.

August 8, 2004-Labor Disputes Loom Over GOP Convention-The Republican National Convention is more than three weeks away but an unlikely group of demonstrators has already turned up to protest: off-duty police officers and firefighters agitating for a new labor contract.

August 8, 2004-G8 Labour Unions express dismay at President Bush's refusal to hear working people's viewpoint -The head of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD, representing 70 million workers in 30 nations, including members of trade unions in the G8 countries, expressed dismay today at President Bush's refusal to meet with an international trade union delegation at the June 8-10 G8 Summit. It was the first refusal by a host Head of Government to meet with labour leaders on the eve of a G8 Summit in 27 years . Even the late President Ronald Reagan, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President George H.W. Bush agreed to hold discussions with international union leaders before the G8 Summits they hosted in 1983, 1984 and 1990, respectively. Speaking as the Sea Island summit began, TUAC General Secretary John Evans said, "President Bush has shown total disrespect for the views of millions of working people by refusing consultation before a major meeting. It is particularly worrying, at a critical time in multilateral relations, when concerns over jobs and security are intense in all G8 countries and beyond, that he should slam the door in this way." Despite the refusal, the trade union statement has been distributed to officials in the US State Department and circulated to other G8 Delegations. It calls for concerted action on the economy, especially jobs, and renewed multilateral cooperation on peace and security issues.

August 5, 2004-LA Hotel Workers Rolling Out Red Carpet for APWU Delegates Later This Month--Members of the hotel and restaurant employees union in Los Angeles will be rolling out the red carpet for delegates to the American Postal Workers Union National Convention, according to an official of UNITE-HERE Local 11. And they're hoping for support in their contract battle with hotel bosses from the 3,000 APWU delegates who will descend on the city later this month.

August 5, 2004-Judge Orders OSHA to Disclose Injury/Illness Rates-A federal judge has ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to disclose for the first time the company names and the worker injury and illness rates of the American workplaces with the worst safety records. Up to now, the agency has published the names of the sites with worker injuries above an established norm, but not the injury rates for specific sites or any ranking to identify the worst offenders. In practice, it was difficult for reporters or the public to know where it was riskiest to work and whether the agency was effective in bringing about improvements

August 3, 2004-Federal, Postal Workers and Retirees should study Kerry's Health Plan Proposal-Current and retired feds should keep an eye on John Kerry's plan to give more people affordable health insurance. Kerry strikes a strong populist note by advocating that other Americans deserve the same health plan you now have

August 1, 2004-APWU Prevails in Maintenance Staffing (PS 4852 "Line J") Case-In an award dated July 12, 2004, National Arbitrator Shyam Das gave the APWU a long overdue and significant victory in the "Line J" case. The central point of the award in case number I94T-4I-C 98116745 is that the bargaining unit is entitled to the work (and work hours) shown on Form PS 4852. PS 4852 ("Workload Analysis and Summary") is a preprinted form designed to permit calculation of the building cleaning staffing requirement for postal facilities.

August 1, 2004-Stormy days lie ahead for labor-The composition of the workforce has fundamentally shifted to the lower-paid, service-oriented workers who represent many nationalities and are overwhelmingly immigrants. Many are women. Changes are needed..This will require a dramatic restructuring of the 13-million-member AFL-CIO and a fight-back strategy. Changes are beginning to take place. The recent merger of the 180,000 members of UNITE--the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Technical Employees--with the 260,000 members of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees to form UNITE HERE points in the right direction. Working in concert with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest union in the AFL-CIO with over 1,600,000 members, they have formed an alliance called the New Unity Partnership (NUP). That alliance also includes the Laborers International Union of North America and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, which is no longer a member of the AFL-CIO. Andy Stern, SEIU president, is the most outspoken leader of NUP. Stern has called for a broad-based organizing drive to take on Wal-Mart. At the same time, the call for a Million Worker March on Washington, set for Oct. 17, is spreading and drawing in sections of the workers, the communities and the anti-war movement. Can the changes percolating in the AFL-CIO and the MWM find common cause? This is the critical issue of the day.

July 29, 2004-US unions take up Iraqi labor cause-Iraqi workers and unions charge that the US is keeping wages low to attract foreign investors, as Washington plans the privatization of Iraq's economy. The Bush administration sees Iraq as a free-market beachhead into the Middle East and South Asia.

July 27, 2004-Kerry Benefits From Unions' Bush Loathing-John Kerry wasn't labor's first pick. Or its second. His nomination has forced some unions to hold their noses. But it's an election that is less about Kerry than ousting President Bush. "We cannot afford four more years of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and all their cronies," said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the second-largest union in the AFL-CIO with 1.5 million members. "They've attacked us enough," said McEntee, whose union endorsed Howard Dean in the primaries. "They've done enough damage to our country. It's time for them to go."

July 27, 2004-The Poll or the Shaft? While federal union leaders regularly endorse or at least embrace Democratic presidential candidates, year after year, internal polls tell them a slight majority of their members consider themselves as Republicans or, more often, independents. When President Nixon ran for reelection, several top union leaders, including then AFGE President John Griner and National Association of Letter Carriers president James L. Rademacher endorsed, as individuals, not as union presidents, his reelection. They said that Nixon had done more for federal workers, particularly postal employees and blue collar (wage grade) employees than any previous president, and he would get their vote.

July 26, 2004-Unions Not Concealing Aversion Toward Bush -After three years of playing defense against Bush administration attempts to outsource federal jobs and rewrite civil service rules, federal union activists see this week as their opportunity to go on the offensive. Major federal employee unions, such as AFGE, NTEU and the National Association of Letter Carriers, have endorsed Kerry for president. The endorsements were based on Kerry's voting record and the candidate's support for worker rights.

Clinton calls himself "foot soldier" in fight for Kerry, America-Former President Clinton, in a rare moment of self-criticism, said on Monday night that he, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney avoided the Vietnam War while John Kerry said, "Send me."

July 26, 2004- New overtime rules: favoring management? At least 6 million American workers will lose their right to overtime pay starting Aug. 23. At least that's what Ross Eisenbrey, an economist with the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington, charges. "It's the worst rollback in employee rights in 57 years," he says, harking back to the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, a bill that put some limitations on trade union activities.

July 24, 2004-House Bill Would Threaten Labor by Hampering Union Certification -Labor activists fear the future of union organizing could be in jeopardy if Congress passes a pending bill restructuring union elections. The Republican-sponsored Secret Ballot Protection Act (H.R. 4343) would ban card check elections, in which a workplace becomes unionized if a majority of employees sign union cards. Instead, the bill, currently awaiting review in a House subcommittee, would require that all union elections be conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), currently dominated by presidential appointees known for their hostility toward organized labor. Card check elections typically take less time than NLRB elections and are less costly. The employer just has to verify that a majority of workers signed union cards.Union leaders have expressed outrage over the proposed bill, which they say would allow employers to drag out the election process, increasing costs and causing organizers to lose crucial momentum

July 24, 2004- Labor leader: No plans to protest at convention - Delegates to next week’s Democratic National Convention and presidential candidate John Kerry will not have to cross picket lines of protesting police officers when they attend the four-day event. I can unequivocally say that there won’t be any picketing at the FleetCenter," Robert Haynes, the president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, said Friday, one day after an arbitrator settled a two-year contract dispute by awarding disgruntled Boston police with a four-year pay raise of 14.5 percent.

July 23, 2004-SoCal hotel workers' union files labor complaint with NLRB-The union representing nearly 3,000 Southern California hotel employees on Thursday filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board alleging management at nine hotels threatened and intimidated workers. Among other alleged violations, the hotels allegedly intimidated employees into quitting the union and pressured them into not participating in union-sponsored demonstrations. "There is a pattern that we see of the hotels, each of them, attempting to intimidate the employees," said Richard McCracken, an attorney for the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. "And by that intimidation, trying to pressure them to agree to the hotels' demands at the bargaining table." The hotels named in the complaints are the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, Hyatt West Hollywood, Westin Century Plaza, St. Regis, Sheraton Universal, Wilshire Grand Hotel & Centre, Millennium Biltmore, Regent Beverly Wilshire and Westin Bonaventure. The NRLB now must investigate the allegations to determine their merit. The union has previously filed complaints against the hotels with the NLRB. Earlier this month, the union accused the hotels of illegal bargaining tactics. The charges are currently under investigation. The union and the hotels have been negotiating terms of a new labor contract. The employees are working under a contract that expired June 1.

July 22, 2004-National APWU Convention Will Go On As Scheduled -Union Received Assurances From Hotel Management that APWU Delegates would not be subjected to any repercussions of the labor dispute during the convention.

July 22, 2004- 'Governator' Schwarzenegger Tries to Take Away Right to Sue Over Labor Law Violations from Workers -As the struggle to pass a state spending plan drags on, legislative leaders are trying to negotiate changes to a new labor law that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and business groups have linked to the budget battle. The governor claims that the law, which the California Chamber of Commerce derisively calls the "sue your boss" statute, has unleashed a torrent of frivolous litigation over alleged labor code violations. At the recent shopping center rally where the governor called Democrats blocking his proposed budget "girlie men," he also denounced the law as a job killer that "chases businesses way from California." The law allows private lawyers to sue employers for labor law violations. Proponents say it addresses a need for increased enforcement of the state's workplace regulations. (LA Times)

July 21, 2004-Wal-Mart Funds Bush Campaign, Costco Prefers Kerry -Executives at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp., competitors in the $76 billion U.S. warehouse-club market, have taken their rivalry to a new level: national politics. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer and owner of Sam's Club warehouse stores, gives more money to Republican candidates than any other company. Wal-Mart -- two-thirds of whose 3,580 stores are in the ``red states'' that voted for Bush in 2000 -- is backing White House policies on everything from trade to limiting overtime pay. Costco CEO Jim Sinegal is a Democrat who says Bush's $1.7 trillion in tax cuts unfairly benefit the wealthy. He opposed the Iraq war and supports Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts for president. And he's the only chief executive of a company in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to donate money to independent political groups formed to oust Bush, Internal Revenue Service records show.

July 20, 2004-Letter Carriers Union Endorses Kerry-Edwards Ticket- The 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers today endorsed the candidacy of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts for President and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina for Vice President in this November's election. Delegates at the union's 64th biennial convention gave overwhelming and rousing support to the Kerry-Edwards ticket on a resolution presented by the Massachusetts Association of Letter Carriers and second by North Carolina carriers. The vote was the first time the postal union had expressed a preference in this year's presidential race. It had abstained when the AFL-CIO endorsed Kerry earlier this year.

July 20, 2004-Gains to be made if GOP courts union members-What might surprise a lot of people is how many federal union members describe themselves as independents or Republicans. You won't find many of them in the national headquarters of the unions, or at union conventions, where most Republican speakers fear to tread. But at the rank-and-file level, which is where most people are, more than half swear they are not Democrats.

July 19, 2004- L.A. hotels, union head back to bargaining table-(Reuters) Representatives of Los Angeles hotels and a labor union will return to the bargaining table next week to try to talk their way out of an impasse declared by employers, both sides said on Friday. Talks broken off late last month are to resume on Tuesday, (July 20th) said Fred Muir, who represents nine hotels in the talks, and Hilda Delgado of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union. The union, representing about 3,000 workers at the nine hotels, has demanded a two-year deal that would expire at the same time as contracts in nine other U.S. and Canadian cities, arguing that workers need more leverage to bargain with national hotel companies. Hotels, including independents and ones flying the Hyatt Hotels and Starwood Hotels & Resorts flags, have insisted on a five-year deal. Both sides said they had not changed positions on the length of a new deal. Muir said both sides would return to the table, but "that doesn't mean we're still not at an impasse."

July 14, 2004-L.A. hotel workers get no vacation from labor strife-Mayor Jim Hahn urged the parties to return to the table for the good of a Los Angeles tourism economy only now recovering from the disaster that followed 9/11. But the sides were still not speaking after the Fourth of July holiday. The union is not yet talking strike. All nine hotels have agreed to lock out employees in the event of a walkout at any one hotel. The two sides will return to the bargaining table on July 20, union spokeswoman Hilda Delgado said. note: It is rumored APWU is still seeking alternatives for holding National Convention in the event the hotels labor dispute is not resolved.

July 14, 2004-New Study Attacks Bush's Overtime Rules -Disputing Bush administration estimates, a labor-backed think tank said Wednesday that new federal rules will remove overtime protections for at least 6 million U.S. workers. The study by the Economic Policy Institute was released a day after three former Labor Department officials said in a report requested by the AFL-CIO that "large numbers" of employees entitled to overtime would no longer get it when the new rules take effect Aug. 23.

July 14, 2004-How Socialist Unions Rule the Democratic Party -A SINGLE LABOR UNION HAS COMMITTED $65 MILLION to defeating President George W. Bush this November. This biggest union in the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which by year’s end will have 1.8 million members, at its June convention in San Francisco agreed to spend $40 million for more than 2,000 organizers to work full-time against President Bush in 17 key battleground states. It also plans to supply 50,000 “volunteers” from its members just prior to and on election day. And SEIU will spend an additional $25 million on voter registration, “education” and getting out the vote. Why is SEIU so bent on defeating President Bush?

July 13, 2004-Having stolen one election, will they postpone the next? Exactly 140 years after Lincoln insisted that postponing a federal election was a bigger threat to democracy than a Civil War that had already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to review Soaries' scheme to, well, put democracy under house arrest. Soaries wants the Bush administration to light a fire under Congress for emergency legislation that would give his newly minted agency the authority to reschedule federal elections if bin Laden happens to burp on Nov. 2. God forbid al-Qaida detonates a dirty bomb at a Topeka shopping mall on Election Day. A few people might be killed and dozens sent to hospitals with radiation burns. According to Soaries, any magnitude of terrorist attack would be a pretext for postponing the election for the tens of millions of Americans outside the blast area who would vote if allowed to. Twenty years ago, when nuclear war seemed more imminent than it does today, the U.S. Postal Service assured us that mail delivery and tax collection wouldn't skip a beat no matter how thick the mushroom clouds were

July 12, 2004-Special interests -- corporations, labor unions and causes -- are bankrolling lush parties at the Democratic National Convention in order to buy access to public officials who gather in Boston in late July to nominate John Kerry for president. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) who is an influential member when it comes to postal service issues, is being feted by Deutsche Post, the company with a controlling interest in DHL International, which competes with the U.S. Postal Service Davis said "there was not really anything'' he had to vote on that was directly Deutsche Post-related and he agreed to front the function because the company wanted "to make sure'' it had a presence at the convention. (Chicago Sun-Times)

July 11, 2004-Airports may apply for private screeners by end of year-Airports soon will be allowed to use private contractors to check passengers and baggage for weapons and explosives - a move that has opened a fault line in a nation where memories of the Sept. 11 attacks are still raw.

July 11, 2004-Labor Federation Looks Beyond Unions-These people will not be part of a traditional union that negotiates contracts covering wages and working conditions. Rather, they will be part of a fast-growing, newfangled advocacy group that will campaign alongside labor unions on many issues, like raising the minimum wage and fighting new rules that cut back on overtime pay. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. quietly began this effort last year in two cities and has expanded it to a total of 400 canvassers in 10 cities, including Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Tampa, Fla. The aim is to enlist one million nonunion people to join the labor federation's new community affiliate, Working America. Thousands of people who have signed up have joined hands with union members to send President Bush letters and e-mail messages opposing changes in overtime rules and urging an end to tax breaks that encourage companies to send jobs overseas.

July 09, 2004-Major labor unions merge-One day after a massive rally blocked traffic, thousands of union workers rally at a downtown hotel in a show of force after two major labor unions merged into one. The new union, called United Here, represents about 414,000 hotel workers across the U.S. and Canada. The new union is a result of a merger between the Clothing, Textiles and Laundry Union and members of The Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union. Delegates voted to approve the merger.

July 08, 2004-Judge upholds Calif. voting order-A federal judge has ruled that California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley did not violate any laws when he issued orders that make it harder for counties to use touch-screen voting machines. The judge denied motions for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against Shelley. The motions were filed by the American Association of People with Disabilities and other plaintiffs as part of a lawsuit against Shelley

July 06, 2004-NC Senator, VP Hopeful a Friend to Labor and Fed/Postal Workers- Senator John Edwards: "I believe that the pay received by postal workers is hard-earned and well deserved." "I support current law that prohibits private delivery companies from delivering to mailboxes." During his six years in the U.S. Senate, Senator Edwards has compiled a 98% voting record on issues of importance to the Federal workforce. " Sen. Edwards Mother, Bobbie is a retired Letter Carrier, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune and NY Times.

- Ex- Postal Commissioner, Who Led Edwards Search, May Get Top Post

July 06, 2004-Puerto Rican postal workers threaten strike??-On July 1, Davis Rios, president of the American Postal Workers union in Puerto Rico, threatened to organize a walkout if management insists on hiring only temporary and part-time employees, instead of full-time career workers at the island’s post offices. Rios reported that there are 340 unfilled vacancies in Puerto Rican post offices. He linked the lack of hiring to the introduction of automatic letter readers to accelerate the pace of the postal workforce without hiring more employees. Union sources have declared that they may introduce a motion for a nationwide job action in early August at the American Postal Workers convention in Long Beach, California.?? (note: There are several problems with this news story).

July 06, 2004-AFGE Applauds Choice of John Edwards as Vice Presidential Candidate; North Carolina Senator a Friend to Labor and Federal Workers-"During his six years in the U.S. Senate, Senator Edwards has compiled a 98-percent voting record on issues of importance to members of the American Federation of Government Employees," Gage explained. "You can't ask for any better than that. John Edwards' is the son of a textile worker and postal employee

July 06, 2004-Fewer Disabled in Federal Jobs-The number of federal employees with severe disabilities has declined by nearly 20 percent over the last decade, challenging the long-held notion that the federal government is a haven of opportunity for such workers. In fiscal 2003, federal agencies employed 25,551 workers who were deaf, blind, mentally ill or mentally retarded, or had other serious disabilities, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That was a 19.8 percent decrease from 31,860 such federal workers in fiscal 1994, the EEOC found. The steady decline far surpassed the 7.6 percent reduction in overall civilian federal employment during the period, to 2.42 million workers (including the U.S. Postal Service).

July 06, 2004-Union Opposes EEOC Call Center Plans-Local 216 of American Federation of Government Employees of the AFL-CIO is fighting a Bush Administration plan to outsource telemarketing for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC began accepting proposals from telemarketing vendors in April. The agency plans to consolidate field offices and hired a vendor to launch a pilot call center operations in early 2005. The EEOC’s staff of investigators presently field inbound calls and fear that outsourcing will lead to job loses.

July 04, 2004-Labor split between Edwards and Gephardt for Kerry's vice president -Walking a line between help and hindrance, influence and annoyance, organized labor factions are trying to gently nudge Dick Gephardt and John Edwards onto the Democratic presidential ticket. Despite labor's strong ties to Rep. Gephardt, unions aren't solidly behind him as John Kerry's pick for vice president. Some prefer Sen. John Edwards as the fresh face they think can bring energy and charisma to the ticket.

July 04, 2004-Court Okays E-Mail Snooping-In a blow to online privacy, a U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that e-mail stored on an ISP's computers is not protected by federal wiretap laws

July 02, 2004-US Lawmakers Request UN Observers for November 2 Presidential Election - Several members of the House of Representatives have requested the United Nations to send observers to monitor the November 2 US presidential election to avoid a contentious vote like in 2000, when the outcome was decided by Florida.

June 30, 2004- Nearly 330 Delegates Certified for Mail Handlers 2004 National Convention

June 30, 2004-Army Recalling Thousands Who Left Service-Digging deeper for help in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army is recalling to active duty about 5,600 people who recently left the service and still have a reserve obligation. In a new sign of the strain the insurgency in Iraq has put on the U.S. military, Army officials said Tuesday the involuntary callups will begin in July and run through December. It is the first sizable activation of the Individual Ready Reserve since the 1991 Gulf War, though several hundred people have voluntarily returned to service since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks

June 29, 2004-Federal Lawsuit Claims Labor Unions Violated License-Plate Laws-In what may be the first of many such lawsuits, workers have sued two national labor unions for alleged violations of the federal "Driver's Privacy Protection Act," a law that prohibits the release and use of personal information based on license plate and vehicle-registration data.

June 28, 2004- Union Leaders Earn Six Figures-According to Dept of Labor data compiled by Political Money Line, the leaders of America's labor unions are well-paid. Salary for Postal Union Presidents : NALC Young ($149,517) APWU Burrus ( $140,746) NPMHU Hegarty ($132,640) NRLCA Baffa ($113,244) NAPFE McGee ($73,539) (Postal Union Presidents are some of the lowest paid out of the 140 international labor unions analyzed). Also, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated international unions reported a combined membership of 13.2 million. APWU reported the largest drop in members, down 53,754.

Union

Receipts

Assets

Members

Rpt Thru

President

Salary

Sal & Pmts

NALC	$773,972,904	$351,545,679	294,315	297,150	03/31/2003	William Young	$149,517	$163,625
NRLCA	$22,099,093	$15,094,536	101,810	100,652	06/30/2003	Gus Baffa	$113,244	$166,264

NAPFE	$4,981,297	$2,911,650	11,894	11,894	12/31/2003	James McGee	$73,539	$77,512
NPMHU	$57,537,814	$37,001,881	345,152	388,480	12/31/2003	John Hegarty	$132,640	$182,357

APWU

$135,534,307

$33,900,159

239,147

292,901

12/31/2003

William Burrus

$140,746

$158,266

source: DOL (bold member numbers taken from each Union's previous year LM-2 report)

June 28, 2004-Contract Dispute Looms at Calif. Hotels Scheduled to Host APWU National Convention -Nine Southern Calif. hotels agree to lock out workers if contract dispute leads to strike. One of the hotels, Westin Bonaventure said a postal employees union which had scheduled an August (23-27) convention that will account for 22,000 room nights had called to ask about talks

June 28, 2004-New Union Coordinator Software from Union Built PC, Inc. -Union Built PC, Inc. releases software for calendar and meeting scheduling, with the ability to track, store, and report the new LM 2 categories specified by the Department of Labor (DOL). The new DOL rules will force unions to track staff time and expenses by five distinct categories (for example, "Political Activities and Lobbying," and "Administrative Overhead") that they then have to report out at the end of the year. The DOL itself estimated that these additional rules and tracking items will add approximately 4 months of staff time to local and International unions' yearly workload. The unfortunate part of all this is that the Republican effort to burden labor unions with even more administrative tasks and reporting succeeded. It was fought back briefly, but we have to live under it now," said Rich Mata, Recording Secretary of UWUA Local 223 in Dearborn, Michigan. "This package does the trick for us, and it saves us months of administrative staff time." "We have calculated it very carefully, and we estimate our software will gain those locals back at least 3 of those 4 months. It's that good," says Pete Marchese, East coast Regional Coordinator for Union Built PC, Inc. and retiree from CWA Local 1101 in New York. "Additionally, as a company we focus on and have decades of experience with labor unions, so we know what they face on a daily basis." To arrange a demo or an on-site consultation, contact Union Built PC at http://www.unioncoordinator.com , or (877) 728-6466.

June 27, 2004-House committee votes to block EEOC reform-Legislation making its way through Congress would require the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to notify lawmakers before opening a national call center or closing field offices. The House Appropriations Committee passed the legislation June 23 as part of the bill funding the EEOC next year. Language in the fiscal 2005 Commerce, Justice, State and judiciary appropriations bill prohibits the EEOC from executing any work force “repositioning or reorganization” unless it notifies the subcommittee in charge of the bill in advance

June 25, 2004-Major federal employee union backs Kerry -Late Friday, the American Federation of Government Employees endorsed Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., for president after a formal vote of about 600 delegates attending an organizing and mobilizing conference in Pittsburgh.

June 24, 2004-Group criticizes conditions at Nation's Largest Uniform Supplier-The National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, a faith-based advocacy group, issued a report criticizing the treatment of workers at Cintas Corp., the nation's largest uniform supplier. The Chicago-based group's report cited workers' complaints about pay, treatment by bosses and workplace safety. For the last 16 months, the union UNITE has been trying to organize Cintas, which has 27,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada. Only 700 of those workers belong to a union, according to the company. Cintas markets uniforms for the U.S. Postal Service under the Brookfield and U.S. Uniforms brand names. see report

Union workers hold rally amid contract talks- Phil Vaughn, president of NALC Branch 30; and Andrea Chapman, president of APWU Local 67 join rally.

June 23, 2004-Letter Carriers' Union Convention Scheduled for Honolulu July 19-23; Over 8,000 Delegates Registered to Attend Sessions-Among speakers scheduled to address convention sessions are: U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and Danny Davis (D-IL); Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers union; Dale Holton, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association; Deborah Bourque, national president, Canadian Union of Postal Workers; Philip Bowyer, Deputy General Secretary, Union Network International; Michael J. Critelli, chairman and CEO, Pitney Bowes, Inc., and H. Robert Wientzen, president and CEO, Direct Marketing Association.

June 22, 2004-Union Leader Urges AFL-CIO Reform -Federation Is Outdated, SEIU Head Says-The AFL-CIO has failed to keep up with the changing workplace and must be radically reinvigorated -- or replaced -- if the labor movement is to survive, the president of the nation's largest union said yesterday. A loose federation of 13 million union workers, the AFL-CIO wields little control over the 65 individual unions that are its members and has not been effective at creating a single, powerful voice for American organized labor, Andrew L. Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), told a national convention of his union in San Francisco. It has no enforceable standards to stop a union from conspiring with employers to keep another stronger union out or from negotiating contracts with lower pay and standards."

June 22, 2004- Unions Set to Offer New Strategy-The leaders expect the New Unity Partnership to consolidate the labor organizations. Presidents of several of the nation's largest and fastest-growing unions are expected to lay out plans at conventions this week and in July for fundamental changes in the structure and direction of the labor movement, changes that could result in a massive union consolidation and an overhaul of the AFL-CIO. Heading organizations that represent janitors, hotel maids, carpenters, laundry workers and others, the five presidents have been quietly meeting for nearly a year to discuss what they call the New Unity Partnership. They envision a massive consolidation of unions in the U.S. — from about 65 to 15 — and a more national and global approach to organizing and bargaining. "The world is changing, and if the labor movement doesn't start thinking more strategically, we're not going to have a future."

June 22, 2004-Largest Private Employer Meets Largest Civil Rights Case-Judge Approves Wal-Mart Class Action Case-A federal judge on Tuesday approved class-action status for a sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that has become the largest private civil rights case in U.S. history. It could represent as many as 1.6 million current and former female employees of the retailing giant.

June 22, 2004- Outsourcing Firms Focus of Unions-The Service Employees International Union, which built itself into the nation's largest union by aggressively organizing janitors and home-care workers, plans to take on three fast-growing outsourcing companies in its biggest campaign ever.

June 21, 2004-Google Adwords Censors Labor Unions -"In another move towards right-wing and corporate censorship that has become the norm, Google has terminated a paid ad that encouraged unionization of Wal-mart. "

June 21, 2004-UPS, pilots ask mediator to supervise contract negotiations -UPS and its pilots union said Monday they will ask a federal mediator to supervise contract negotiations because the two sides have not been able to agree on compensation, benefits and scheduling.

June 18, 2004-Former Local APWU Treasurer Indicted for Embezzlement in Miss. Federal Court-On April 6, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, an indictment was filed against former treasurer of American Postal Workers Local #968, charging him with one count of embezzling $14,483.50 in union funds. The charge follows an investigation by the New Orleans District Office of the Dept. of Labor. [OLMS, 4/20/04]

June 17, 2004-Study: States, fed not assuring enough sick leave-States and the federal government are doing a poor job of making sure employees get paid sick leave, according to a report by the National Partnership for Women and Families. The study awarded the federal government a grade of C-. Federal workers get 13 paid sick days a year, more than some in the private sector, but no better than what many states offer their own employees. And the federal government, unlike many states, does not require private employers to provide any paid sick leave, the study noted.

June 16, 2004-House Democrats unveil plan to help workers-House Democrats are unveiling an election-year plan to stem the loss of jobs overseas, encourage high-skilled employment at home and ease the pain the global market can inflict on American workers. Officials said the cost of the proposals, $125 billion over 10 years, would be covered by repealing tax breaks that go to firms sending jobs overseas. "To stop the hemorrhaging of American jobs, we must close these tax loopholes, invest in our people and create the new technologies that will lead to tomorrow's jobs," the California Democrat said in advance of the news conference.

June 15, 2004-More than 100 members of Congress are urging a House Appropriations subcommittee to reject an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) request to use funding from its fiscal 2005 appropriation to set up a privatized national customer service center and close and consolidate field offices. On October 27, 2003 EEOC Chair Cari Dominguez launched an “initial restructuring proposal” that would, among other things, establish a privatized national call center for handling questions from the public on legal rights and protections. The EEOC also would eliminate federal workers’ rights to a hearing, create an electronic filing system for claims that would shut out workers, and cut funding for investigations and litigation.

June 13, 2004-Labor attorney asked to revise Springfield MASS. bailout package-State Rep. Karen Spilka is the only member of the Legislature who is a labor lawyer, so it makes sense that labor unions asked the Ashland Democrat to help them fight a controversial piece of a $50 million state bailout package for the city of Springfield. The legislation, which stalled in the House of Representatives last week, includes a provision that would allow the city to suspend the collective bargaining rights of its unionized workers. Some Democratic members of the House, including Spilka and Rep. Deborah Blumer, D-Framingham, have been working behind the scenes to delete that provision, which is contained in Gov Mitt Romney's version of the bill.

June 13, 2004-Unions being used in outsourcing fight-During his 15 years with The Boeing Co., Stephen Gentry never pictured himself wearing the union label. Then the computer programmer from Auburn, Wash., was laid off last summer after training his replacement, a high-tech worker in India. Now Gentry, who hasn't worked since, is among those convinced that America's white-collar workers have to band together to keep their futures from being exported to places where skilled labor comes cheap. "I don't see any other options," said Gentry, 52, who's joined a Seattle-based union trying to organize tech workers around the country. "There's no loyalty anymore. I feel my job was taken by corporate greed." While union membership in the public sector has held steady over the last 20 years, private sector membership has slipped

June 11, 2004-Boston police union picket may provide voters reason to re-elect Bush-Despite picket signs that say ``No contract, No convention,'' in all likelihood the police union won't stop the Democratic National Convention from being held in Boston. Some combination of court orders, jawboning and breaking of union ranks will allow work to continue, fitfully and possibly with a job less well done than hoped for, but enough to allow the event to proceed. Even so, this mess is already a public relations disaster for the Democrats, and it could get worse. If the city and the union aren't able to come to terms on a contract within the next six weeks, John Kerry [related, bio] could well see his prospects for election undone. Rather than a five-day commercial for the Democratic Party, picket lines and demonstrations by Boston cops at the convention may well provide voters nationwide with the best reason yet to re-elect George W. Bush. Which is why now may be the time for national Democrats, including John Kerry, to play hardball. Why is that? Because one of the Democratic Party's greatest strengths - its unwavering support of workers and unions - is also one of its greatest weaknesses.

June 11, 2004-Labor unions begin early, unprecedented push to defeat Bush-Jobs are sending union members to the streets and, labor leaders hope, to the polls in November for Democrat John Kerry. In labor's largest election mobilization effort so far, thousands of union members will knock on tens of thousands of doors Saturday, in what ultimately will be nearly 100 cities by month's end to talk about the loss of good-paying jobs, the economy, health care and the presidential election. "This is the earliest walk we've ever done and the largest walk of this magnitude," said Karen Ackerman, the AFL-CIO's political director. Voter mobilization on behalf of Democrats is what labor does best, and union member-to-member contact, research shows, influences both turnout and vote. The AFL-CIO is spending a record $44 million on get-out-the-vote efforts to defeat President Bush, concentrating heavily on 17 battleground states. The tab doesn't include the multimillion-dollar political budgets of the federation's 61 unions.

June 10, 2004-Opinion:Giving federal workers a holiday mocks Reagan, what he stood for-why it is so hard to justify virtually all federal workers should get a holiday because of his passing, especially when everything we know about voting behavior makes it likely a majority of them considered him more a sinner than a saint.I could not be a greater admirer of our 40th president. He deserves every conceivable honor, including a state funeral with all the attendant pomp and circumstance

June 9, 2004-Reagan presidency pivotal for unions-Workers: Organized labor's situation worsened under his administration-Ronald Reagan's presidency signaled a critical period for organized labor, a time when unions began shrinking at a much faster pace and it became more acceptable for businesses to fight off labor organizations. But what remains in dispute about his legacy is whether the former president's actions triggered a decline in union membership or accelerated a trend that was had already begun (Chicago Tribune registration required)

Reagan remembered for new era of union-busting-Workday Minnesota

June 9, 2004-Supreme Court rules against pension plan-The Supreme Court ruled Monday that pensions cannot reduce benefits for workers who retire early and receive benefits while continuing to work at another job. The case involved two Illinois construction workers, Thomas Heinz and Richard Schmitt, who were both 39 when they took early retirement in 1996, then became supervisors in the construction industry. In the written opinion, Justice David Souter said the workers accrued retirement benefits under a plan that let them supplement retirement income by certain types of employment, and it was reasonable for them to rely on those terms in planning retirement.

June 9, 2004-Mail Handlers Named as Primary Craft for Automated Package Processing System Staffing (PDF) -In a letter dated June 2, 2004 from John Dockins, USPS Manager Contract Administration, APWU and NPMHU learned USPS has identified mail handlers as the primary craft to perform work associated with APPS. USPS also determined the appropriate level to perform activities associated with the APPS is Level 4. "It is the position of the APWU this piece of mail processing equipment should be staffed by clerks" Video overview

June 9, 2004- Labor ruling could open casinos to union organizers - A federal labor ruling could open the door to unions trying to organize workers at Connecticut's two Indian-owned casinos. The National Labor Relations Board last week issued a decision in a California case that ends a longstanding precedent that excluded American Indian employers from federal labor law.

June 8, 2004-AFL-CIO Launches Campaign for Workers' Freedom - The AFL-CIO is launching a Voice@Work Campaign with a Week of Action June 28-July 4 during which union members are being urged to push for restoration of workers' freedom to form unions. Focus of the effort is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, co-authored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA). The bills (S. 1925) and (H.R. 3619) would require companies to recognize unions when a majority of employees sign authorization cards, and require mediation and binding arbitration if an initial contract agreement is not reached within a year.

June 8, 2004-Wal-Mart Plans Changes to Some Labor Practices - Responding to a year of criticism over its labor practices, Wal-Mart Stores announced on Friday that it would make several changes at the corporate and store levels to improve conditions for its workers. The changes, outlined at the annual shareholders' meeting here by the chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., include the establishment of a compliance group that will oversee workers' pay, their hours and even whether they take breaks. Wal-Mart is testing a program that will alert cashiers, for example, when it is time for a meal break and shut down their cash registers if they do not respond. The announcement comes at a time when Wal-Mart - the largest company in the nation, with $256 billion in sales last year - is keenly concerned about its public image. The company increasingly finds itself on the defensive, whether it is trying to build a store or responding to accusations that its style of doing business has broken the law.

June 5, 2004-Court upholds NLRB ruling that USPS did not violate NLRA-The American Postal Workers Union petitioned for review of an order of the National Labor Relations Board holding USPS did not violate § 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1), by ejecting two nonemployee union organizers from its Bulk Mail Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Because the NLRB had a rational basis for its decision, the court denied APWU Atlanta, Georgia Local's petition for review.

June 4, 2004-12/60 Work Limitations and the Appropriate Remedy for Exceeding the Ceiling-As management continues to right size our work force we will see an increase in overtime hours to cover the shortage in the workforce. Along with this increase of overtime come increasing attempts by management to deny the Bargaining Unit of its rights. Article 8 overtime provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement has been arbitrated and been put to rest, I thought… I see some of the same issues that we fought hard and long for resurfacing. The question of working over 60 hours within a service week continues to surface even after being settled 16 years ago. The issue of 12/60 work hour limitations and the appropriate remedy when management allows you to work beyond the daily/weekly work limitation has been a problem since the 1988 settlement.

June 3, 2004-June 2004 Contract Talk (pdf) -Local managers often attempt to discipline letter carriers for failure to meet standards. Whether called “18 and 8,” “percent to standard,” “demonstrated performance,” or by some other such term, this is never just cause for discipline. NALC and the Postal Service have jointly agreed that failure to meet standards, by itself, is not used by the parties in conjunction with other management records and procedures to support or refute any performance-related discipline. This does not change the principle that, pursuant to Section 242.332 of the M-39, “No carrier shall be disciplined for failure to meet standards, except in cases of unsatisfactory effort which must be based on documented, unacceptable conduct that led to the carrier’s failure to meet office standards.”

June 3, 2004-Book- Web of Betrayal : A Work Saga for the 21st Century Wendy Ghannam is a former federal employee turned whistleblower. She suffered a disability from her job and was basically threatened, denied her rights, denied her compensation and made unemployable because of her former work arena in the U.S. federal gov't. If you work for anyone but yourself, you'll find this book a "legal-like" treasure. It gives you all the information you need about all the agencies involved, and the laws that are in place to protect workers' rights. Federal workers are in for the bronco ride of their lives right now. They are slowly witnessing the obliteration of their lifetime achievements and hoped-for workplace solidarity and full-scale employment protections. The Bush Administration and its business "as usual" cronies want to rid us from the spectrum of America's elitism of employment. To the average fed: Get ready to be outsourced, esp. if you become injured on your job!! About the author: Wendy Ghannam won an EEOC based discrimination claim against USAID (U.S. Agency for Int'l Development) for job non-accommodation. She is an avid writer and speaker about what is going on inside the federal work arena today. Her book, WEB of BETRAYAL, outlines what it took to win an EEO case after eight years of litigation.

Federal Workers Beware!!

June 2, 2004-Workers: Quebecor Broke Promise to Respect Rights -Employees at Quebecor World's Covington, TN, and Olive Branch, MS, facilities and the Graphic Communications International Union filed 15 new charges June 1 with the National Labor Relations Board, officials with the AFL-CIO confirmed yesterday. The charges claim unlawful threats of plant closure, disparate treatment of workers who want to form a union, surveillance of employees and the promise of additional benefits to workers who don't support the union. Quebecor workers are trying to unionize through GCIU as part of the Justice@Quebecor campaign, begun in December. Quebecor, Montreal, is the world's second-largest commercial printer and employs 39,000 in plants worldwide.

June 02, 2004-Germany Postal Service Reaches Pay Deal for 160,000 workers-Germany's Deutsche Post mail service and union negotiators reached a two-year pay deal for mail delivery workers Wednesday, heading off a threat of widespread strikes. The deal, reached after an all-night bargaining session, will see 160,000 workers get a raise of 2.7 percent starting Nov. 1, followed by another 2.3 percent from November 2005. Postal workers also will get two one-time payments of 65 euros ($80).

June 1, 2004-House Republicans Grant OSHA Relief to Small Business Owners - One of the business community's biggest complaints about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been what it perceives to be the unfairness of the agency going after small employers who don't have the resources to fight citations. The claim has been that small businesses pay because they don't have the time or money to fight. Republicans in the House have taken the complaints seriously, pushing through provisions -- with some help from Democrats -- that will give employers more time to fight citations, make it easier to recoup legal fees if they win a case against OSHA, and not allow the agency to have the final word in how a standard is applied.

June 1, 2004- National Mail Handlers Union Opposed to Provisions in Senate Postal Reform Bill- "First, the NPMHU opposes provisions that would single out postal employees and cut their workers' compensation benefits for future injuries or illnesses. One part of the Senate bill would deny compensation to injured workers during the first three days an employee misses work. Mail handlers and other postal employees would have to use sick or annual leave or take leave without pay, even though they have completely legitimate compensation claims. The NPMHU also opposes a change that potentially could reduce workers’ compensation payments for future job-related illnesses or injuries, by requiring the employee at the age of sixty-five either to retire on regular retirement or accept only a fifty percent OWCP benefit. Again, this proposed language has been included in the Senate bill only with regard to postal employees, and would not apply to federal workers covered by the Federal Employees Compensation Act that governs OWCP." "Second, the NPMHU is opposed to "worksharing" language in the Senate bill that could open the door to more "outsourcing" of career postal jobs to private mailing companies." "The House bill that was introduced earlier in May, H.R. 4341, leaves OWCP in tact. It also rejects outsourcing that causes the Postal Service to lose money. The NPMHU generally supports the current House version, as it is more favorable to mail handlers and other postal employees."