MULTIPLE CINGULAR VOICES—Employees at Cingular Wireless continue to show what happens when workers have a free choice to form a union: Nearly 16,000 Cingular employees who once worked for AT&T before the Cingular/AT&T merger have joined Communications Workers of America since August under an agreement in which Cingular agreed to honor the workers’ freedom to form a union when a majority signs authorization cards. More than 2,400 Cingular Wireless workers became the most recent to join CWA in late December and early January. The new CWA members include 1,288 Orlando, Fla., call center workers; 400 retail sales workers at several Pennsylvania locations; 158 sales and customer service workers in Hawaii; 151 retail sales reps in Colorado; 51 retail sales workers in Iowa; and 14 New Mexico sales workers.

COAST TO COAST, WORKERS CHOOSE AFSCME—More than 400 workers in four states voted to join AFSCME recently. In Bellefonte, Pa., 252 nurses, nursing aides and dietary, laundry and clerical workers at Centre Crest Nursing Home voted to join AFSCME Council 13. In Indianapolis, 111 workers at Wishard Memorial Hospital voted to join AFSCME Local 2065. Also, 31 municipal workers in Two Rivers, Wis., and eight employees of the Village of Hustisford voted to join AFSCME Council 40. Twenty-six vocational supervisors in Washington State’s Department of Social and Health Services chose AFSCME Council 28.

SYRACUSE FACULTY GAINS VOICE—Part-time and adjunct faculty members at Syracuse (N.Y.) University voted to join Adjuncts United, an affiliate of New York State United Teachers/AFT. Along with part-time faculty members, the 600 teachers include adjunct faculty—professionals outside of academia who teach classes in their fields of expertise.

TRUCK TECHS TUNE UP WITH IAM—In Hebron, Ohio, 12 automotive technicians at Center City International Trucks joined Machinists Local 1471.

CHAMBER FIGHTS MAJORITY SIGNING AGREEMENTS—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has stepped up its fight to outlaw majority sign-up agreements in which employers agree to honor the workers’ freedom to form a union when a majority signs authorization cards. According to news reports, the corporate business group is circulating a “briefing book” on Capitol Hill that claims to outline union tactics and strategies it says unfairly force employers to accept the workers’ choice to form a union. The group is supporting legislation that would make majority sign-up agreements illegal. Its lobbying efforts come as support for the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1696 and S. 842) has grown to 207 co-sponsors in the House and 42 in the Senate. Among other provisions, the act would strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. For more information on the Employee Free Choice Act, see www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/.   

HONORING DR. KING—The AFL-CIO’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday observance will draw hundreds of union and civil rights activists to Baton Rouge, La., Jan. 12–16 to honor the legacy of the civil rights giant. Events include community service and a march through Baton Rouge in honor of King, as well as panel discussion and dialogues on race and class. University of Pennsylvania professor Michael Eric Dyson, author of I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King Jr., will be a featured speaker. Events will take place at the Sheraton Baton Rouge Convention Center Hotel, the Laborer’s Local 1177 hall and the New Bethel Baptist Church. For more information, contact the AFL-CIO Civil, Human and Women’s Rights Department at 202-637-5274.

DEADLY MINE HAD SAFETY PROBLEMS—The Sago coal mine in Upshur County, W.Va., where 12 miners were killed after a Jan. 3 explosion, has a history of serious safety problems but the current and former owners have escaped significant fines for the safety violations. The Sago Mine is owned by the International Coal Group (ICG), which purchased it March 31, 2005, from Anker West Virginia Mining Co. In 64 inspections in 2005—56 of which were made after ICG purchased the mine—Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) inspectors cited the operators for 208 safety violations at the mine, including ventilation, roof support, escape-way and pre-shift safety exam violations. Yet the agency collected just $24,115 in fines or about $116 per violation. “The bitter truth is that this tragedy was not a surprise—both because the mine had a disturbing safety record, and because the Bush administration in Washington has been undercutting mine safety,” the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette (www.wvgazettemail.com/section/Editorials/2006010411) wrote in a Jan. 5 editorial. The Bush administration has cut funding and staff at MSHA since it took office in 2001. The miners at the Sago Mine did not have a union to back them up when they raised safety concerns. John Bennett, whose father was killed in the mine accident, told NBC’s “Today” show Jan. 5, “We have no protection for our workers. We need to get the United Mine Workers back in these coal mines to protect [against] these safety violations, to protect the workers.” For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/ns01052006.cfm.

REPORT DETAILS ALITO’S RECORD ON WORKERS’ RIGHTS—President George W. Bush’s nominee for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Samuel Alito, has a record of decisions and dissents as a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit that take an extremely narrow view of workers’ rights, an AFL-CIO analysis revealed. U.S. Senate confirmation hearings on Alito began Jan. 9. The federation opposes Alito’s nomination. From denying overtime pay to newspaper reporters and thwarting Congress’ efforts to guarantee all employees unpaid time off from their jobs for serious illnesses to putting roadblocks in the way of workers trying to remedy job discrimination, Alito has consistently sided against America’s workers, according to the analysis. Visit www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/upload/alito_review.pdf to examine Alito’s record in workers’ rights, civil rights and other important cases.  

WEALTHY’S TAX CUT ON HILL AGENDA—When Congress returns to work later this month, major unfinished business from last year—a $56 billion tax cut for the rich and some $40 billion in spending cuts from health, education, child support and other vital working family programs—will be some of the first items on the agenda. The working family spending cut bill passed the Senate 51–50 Dec. 21 when Vice President Dick Cheney cast the tie-breaking vote. Democrats were able to raise some objections to the bill that will force the House, which previously approved it, to vote again. The vote is scheduled for Feb. 1. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats will fight to derail the Bush administration-backed spending cut bill. Republican congressional leaders said they will convene a conference this month to combine a $56 billion House-passed tax cut bill and a somewhat smaller Senate-passed bill into a final version that likely will include the major House tax cuts for the wealthy, including capital gains, dividend and business tax cuts. More than 84 percent of the House tax cut bill would go to households with the top 20 percent of income.

IBM FREEZES PENSIONS—IBM Corp. will freeze its pension plans and replace workers’ retirement plans with 401(k) plans that are riskier and don’t guarantee the retirement benefits of traditional pensions. The change at the profitable IBM will take place in 2008, the company announced Jan. 6, and will affect about 120,000 workers. IBM’s action is the latest in a string of pension freezes by big U.S. corporations, including Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and Verizon. “The announcement by IBM to slash hard-earned pensions from some 120,000 employees fuels a devastating trend of large profitable employers choosing to retreat from their commitments to workers,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

BUSH DUCKS SENATE WITH RECESS APPOINTMENT—President Bush circumvented what would have been a contentious U.S. Senate confirmation hearing by using a recess appointment Jan. 4 to put Peter Kirsanow on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). “In his writings and during his prior public service, Mr. Kirsanow has taken stands against the minimum wage, affirmative action, prevailing wages, voting rights legislation and other basic protections for workers and citizens, and he has expressed a marked hostility to unions. Appointment of a person with such views to a key worker rights adjudication and enforcement position raises legitimate questions among workers about what to expect now from the NLRB,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. When Congress is out of session, the president is allowed to make appointments without confirmation hearings.

AN EXPENSIVE LUNCH FOR WAL-MART—Wal-Mart must pay $172 million to 116,000 current and former California workers for violating a state law that mandates at least a 30-minute unpaid meal break. A California Superior Court jury in Oakland, Calif., ruled for the workers Dec. 22 in the class-action lawsuit. “The message to Wal-Mart is it’s not acceptable to deprive your employees of meal breaks,” Jessica Grant, the lead attorney for the workers, told the Daily Labor Report. She said Wal-Mart’s own documents showed that executives knew the company was breaking the law and had known about the problems “for years, not only in California but across the United States. They took steps to conceal the problem while spending millions of dollars on TV” commercials proclaiming how well Wal-Mart treats its workers, she said.

PAY RAISES, SKY DOESN’T FALL—For years, opponents of higher minimum wages have claimed higher pay for low-wage workers will create job losses and hurt the economy. But a new report by the Institute of Industrial Relations at the University of California (UC), found that is not the case in San Francisco, where a 2003 voter-approved minimum wage law set the city’s wage floor at $8.82 an hour with annual adjustments for inflation. “We found that the San Francisco minimum wage policy has proved to be a very effective means of raising wages, without adverse effects on employment, business, or the city’s economy,” said Michael Reich, a UC economics professor and one of the study’s authors. The study found the higher wage law increased the pay of 54,000 workers while keeping their health benefits. “It means that other increases in the minimum wage in other cities or at the state level are likely to have similar effects,” he said. For more information, visit www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/01/02_livingwage.shtml.

DOWN THE WRONG PIPE—The jobs of thousands of U.S. workers who make steel pipes are in jeopardy after President Bush refused Dec. 30 to place limits on Chinese-made steel pipe imports flooding the U.S. market. “Our pipe workers and their families were delivered a stunning blow by President Bush in his refusal to enforce America’s trade laws after our government’s own investigation that showed China’s imports are unfairly surging into the U.S. market,” said USW International Union (www.steelworkers-usw.org/uswa/program/content/index.php) President Leo W. Gerard. The USW and seven steel pipe makers used a provision of U.S. trade law to ask the Bush administration to limit the imports because China’s unfair trade practices harm the U.S. economy and threaten jobs. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/ns01032006.cfm.

CLUW PROMOTES CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING—The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is urging union women to be screened for cervical cancer with a January Cervical Cancer Screening Month campaign. “The number one risk for cervical cancer is not being screened regularly. Although union members have health insurance, many are not aware that this is a cancer that is preventable through regular screening,” said Carolyn Jacobson, director of CLUW’s screening campaign. For more information and to download English and Spanish fliers promoting cervical cancer screening, visit www.cluw.org/.

IATSE REACHES NEW DEAL WITH PRODUCERS—The Theatrical Stage Employees have reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that will raise wages and increase the producers’ contributions to health and pension benefits. The Hollywood Basic Agreement covers some 30,000 IATSE members.

MEANY CENTER FOUNDER HOEHLER DIES—Fred K. Hoehler Jr., founding director of the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, now the National Labor College (NLC), died Jan. 4. He was 87. In the late 1960s, Meany, then president of the AFL-CIO, asked him to set up a labor leadership education program on such critical topics as collective bargaining, organizing and union communication, which grew into the Labor Studies Center. Hoehler became executive director of the Meany Center in 1969 and held the post until he retired in 1984. “Fred Hoehler really planted the seeds of excellence and commitment to broad-based education for workers. The labor movement owes much to his vision,” said NLC President Dr. Susan J. Schurman.

New this week at www.aflcio.org

ECONOMIC REALITY CHECK—While President Bush is touting a growing economy as proof that his economic policies are working, the “growing economy belongs to someone else—not to the regular working people of America. At the start of a new year, it’s a good time for an economic reality check,” wrote AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in his most recent Out Front website column. Find out more about the real economy of falling wages, growing family debt, rising health care costs, increased poverty and other bleak economic indicators at www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/outfront/economy.cfm.

PAYING A FAIR SHARE FOR HEALTH CARE—In more than 30 states, working families, their unions and community allies are joining the AFL-CIO’s Fair Share Health Care campaign to ensure the largest corporations, such as Wal-Mart, stop shifting health care insurance costs onto workers, taxpayers and other businesses. Activists will work with state legislators to win legislation to require companies to pay their fair share for health care. “A problem this big deserves a national solution, but the Washington of Tom DeLay and Bill Frist isn’t listening to working people, so we’re going to take it on state by state,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Some 46 million Americans have no health insurance and more companies are dropping employer-provided coverage. As more firms drop health insurance coverage, workers, taxpayers and other businesses are forced to pick up the tab. Some workers buy their own health insurance or pay out-of-pocket for health care costs. Other workers and their families are forced to turn to taxpayer-funded programs such as Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, costing taxpayers some $21 billion a year, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Fair Share Health Care legislation will require large corporations to spend a certain percentage of their payroll to provide health care benefits for their employees or pay into a state Fair Share Health Care Fund. The percent payroll employers need to spend on health coverage would be set by the state legislature or based on the average percentage paid by large employers in the state. Fair Share Health Care legislation will reduce taxpayers costs for covering workers of profitable employers, ease the financial strain states face in growing Medicaid costs and help level the playing field between companies that provide good jobs and benefits and those that don’t. “Why should a company like Wal-Mart—which made $10 billion last year alone—be able to force taxpayers to foot the bill for their health care costs?” Sweeney asked. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/issues/legislativealert/stateissues/healthcare/ns01052006.cfm.