Labor Briefing

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Two Wins For UE—The United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers registered two important victories from the National Labor Relations Board over the past month. The first was an award of two weeks’ back pay to 270 workers at bankrupt Republic Windows in Chi­ cago. This caps a seven-year struggle that began with a sit-down strike that drew international attention in December 2008.

After Bank of America cut off the line of credit of the owner—who later went to jail for fraud—he gave the workers only three days notice of a permanent plant closing and filed for bankruptcy. This violated the 60day notification requirements of the WARN Act. De­ manding the bank accept responsibility for the shut down the workers occupied their plant to prevent the equipment going elsewhere. The Cook County Sheriff refused to evict the strikers and the UE organized pro­ tests at Bank of America branches around the country.

Soon BoA agreed to pay $1.75 million to cover the notification violations but refused to pay already earned vacation, or negotiate a broader severance agreement, as specified in the UE contract. Although workers seldom are able to salvage anything during bankruptcy UE filed charges with the NLRB over this refusal to bargain. They also helped get Federal stimu­ lus money for a new owner to take over the plant. The second owner also failed but the workers then took it over as a worker-owned co-op—New Era Windows— in 2013 and it appears to be viable.

As expected, the wheels of justice moved slowly through the NLRB and bankruptcy court. But in the end the Labor Board succeeded in getting another $290,000. The Republic Windows workers were not made whole—but the combination of a courageous stand by the ranks, and tenacious pursuit by an adver­ sarial union, did win more than two $2 million and a worker-run plant that has kept some of them working.

The second victory came in a NLRB case in which charges had been filed against the union. As previous­ ly reported in “Labor Briefing,” an unofficial arm of the Israeli government masquerading as a “human rights” organization retained American shysters to claim UE was conducting an illegal boycott of Israel because of a resolution adopted at the most recent UE convention. They not only filed a complaint with the NLRB; they also publicly called on General Electric to disassociate themselves from this “attack on Jews” by abrogating their national contract with UE. A similar attack suc­ ceeded in getting the International Executive Board of the UAW to nullify a pro-Palestinian stand by a faculty union in California.

Like the UAW teachers, UE national convention del­ egates voted to endorse the international campaign in solidarity with persecuted Palestinians that includes calls for boycott, divestment, and sanctions aimed at institutions of the oppressive Zionist regime. It is similar to the long BDS campaign that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa. This move­ ment around Palestine has won wide support from organized labor throughout Europe, South Africa, and commodity health-care industry often run with less compassion than factories.

The Inquirer article was sparked by two big recent organizing victories—and a likely third in early Febru­ ary—by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. My attention was first drawn to the PASNAP during an exemplary 28-day strike vic­ tory they won in 2010 at Temple University Hospital. One of many take-back demands by the employer was a “gag rule” that would have prevented members from publicly complaining about patient care conditions. Temple spent millions on bringing in professional strikebreakers, but the union mobilized impressive solidarity from Temple University students, other unions, and community groups. Instead of take-backs, at the end of the day the union won solid gains across the board.

One of the recent union-organizing wins was at Hah­ nemann, where the union had suffered a bitter elec­ tion defeat in 2009. A nurse there told the Inquirer she had opposed that earlier union effort, believing that professionals had no need for collective bargaining. But deteriorating conditions on her job, and palpable union achievements at other hospitals, turned her around. She’s now a union activist.

This trend is not unique to Philadelphia. Unions of health care professionals are not only growing around the country—they have become among the most mili­ tant and effective forces in the labor movement.

Sick Teachers In Detroit—They’re not getting sick from the water like their colleagues in Flint may be. They are sick and tired of literally crumbling schools, often rat-infested, that are the venue for overcrowded (continued on page 5, in “Haitian dictator resigns as the people face election trap”)