Labor Briefing

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... Cholera in Haiti SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 2016 5 • Open-ended nurse strike warn­ ing in Minnesota—At our deadline for this issue, Workday Minnesota report­ ed, “Nurses and supporters gathered Wednesday at a Minneapolis park for a solidarity rally before Monday’s sched­ uled strike by 4800 nurses against five Allina Health facilities. The unfair labor practice strike is set to start at 7 a.m. Monday, Labor Day. Picketing will take place around Abbott Northwestern, Mercy, Phillips Eye Institute, United, and Unity hospitals as well as Allina’s head­ quarters, the Minnesota Nurses Associa­ tion said.

“‘This is an open-ended strike,’ said Rose Roach, MNA executive director. ‘These nurses have never felt more dis­ respected and more devalued by this employer in their entire careers. They are mad.’

Nurses have been in talks with Allina Health since February. Hospital nego­ tiators would not offer new proposals or address outstanding nurse propos­ als without demanding concessions on nurses’ health insurance plans, the union said. Several unions, including Education Minnesota, AFSCME, SEIU, and the Unit­ ed Steelworkers, announced last week that they would picket with nurses in the event of a walkout.”

• Private school grad students win major NLRB ruling—In a reversal of policy set by a Bush-era board, the NLRB has ruled that grad student teaching and research assistants at private schools meet the definition of employees un­ der the Taft-Hartley Act covering most private-sector workers. This means they can organize unions and they can’t le­ gally be fired for taking collective action in their interests. It’s estimated that this ruling gives rights to at least 100,000 TAs and RAs. The status of these grad work­ ers in public schools depends on state labor laws.

• Temp rights also expanded—The Labor Board also fleshed out more de­ tails flowing from the landmark Brown­ ing-Ferris decision last year. Most at­ tention was then focused on “shared responsibility” of fast-food corporations with their franchised operations. The new clarifications will also apply to com­ panies that contract much—sometimes all—of their workers from third-party temp labor outfits. For example, this gives workers in the giant logistics belts now surrounding many cities more le­ gal rights—and leverage in dealing with their actual bosses who mostly have vul­ nerable consumer “brands.”

• A fashionable win—Labor Notes re­ ports, “The high turnover in retail makes organizing a huge challenge. But a thousand workers at eight Zara stores in Manhattan beat the odds and union­ ized. It’s a first for Zara workers in the U.S. The Spanish-owned fashion outlet had agreed to recognize the union after a majority of workers signed cards, a mile­ stone they reached in July.

They’ll be members of Retail Workers (RWDSU) Local 1102. Their win relied on international solidarity, in the form of an agreement between the retailer’s parent company and a global union. But equally crucial was the help of a New York City worker center, the Retail Action Project (RAP), that specializes in building work­ ers’ skills, including action on the job.”

• Labor “friend” shoots down $15 in Minneapolis—When labor-backed 15 Now and allies collected 20,000 signa­ tures to put a $15 minimum wage char­ ter amendment on the November ballot, they encountered more opposition than just the Chamber of Commerce. Demo­ cratic Mayor Betsy Hodges argued that the city didn’t have authority for such a measure under state law. After her objec­ tion was rejected by a Hennepin County judge, the city legal department found a friendly black robe on the state Supreme Court to prevent the proposal’s going to voters. Polling indicated this boost in wages for 100,000 working poor would have won 2-1.

• St. Paul sick leave ordinance de­ layed—In the other Twin City, an earned sick and safe time ordinance appears headed for council approval after some delay in editing language. It’s modeled on laws recently adopted by about 25 cities—including Minneapolis. It would require all St. Paul employers to provide an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked—with a 48 hour annual cap. Such modest local reforms have arisen because the USA is the only major industrial nation without national leg­ islation covering all workers. It would benefit 70,000 St. Paul workers who cur­ rently have no paid sick time. A final vote was expected Sept. 7.

• It’s in the bag—After being certified by the NLRB, over 200 full-time workers at a Virginia plant producing all Lipton products sold in the U.S. are now part of Attorney Joseph is part of a class suit launched on behalf of 2000 cholera victims and survivors filed in 2013 by the Institute for Justice and Democ­ racy in Haiti (IJDH), headquartered in Boston. On Aug. 18, responding to the IDJH suit, the U. S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the United Nations’ “immunity” claims.

The IJDH now has 90 days to decide whether to seek an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Said Brian Con­ cannon, Jr. Esq., executive director of IJDH, “Our goal has always been to secure remedies for victims, whether in or out of court and we will keep working through all available forums until that occurs.” Concannon added, “We want results on the ground: lives saved, and people compensated.”

In the courtroom, the Obama ad­ ministration took the side of the UN’s claims of so-called “immunity.” In fact, UN officials asked Obama’s Justice De­ partment to argue in court for legal immunity, which it did in July.

Haiti’s epidemic followed on the heels of the tragic 2010 earthquake (continued from page 4: “Haiti cholera outrage: UN guilty!”)

• No hang-up at AT&T—With the Ve­ rizon strike fresh in everyone’s mind, the Communication Workers of America peacefully settled a complicated bargain­ ing of four regional agreements covering 42,000 AT&T Mobility workers benefits. (Wages and conditions are negotiated separately, coming up next in two years.)

Defying the current bargaining trends, most workers will get at least a modest reduction in health insurance costs. CWA is in a stronger position in non-landline operations than at Verizon because of AT&T’s acquisition of already unionized Cingular several years ago. n If you have labor news that would be ap­ propriate for this column, please contact [email protected] centered in the Port-au-Prince capital, which killed over 200,000 Haitians, injured hundreds of thousands, and displaced 1.5 million. The human cost was magnified by decades of U.S. sup­ port to one corrupt and brutal regime after another, resulting in appalling housing, unemployment, a lack of health care, and generalized misery.

The current military occupation is one of many. In 2010, President Barack Obama ordered a 20,000-strong U.S. military-led occupation, using the UN as a fig leaf, to re-invade Haiti follow­ ing the earthquake. “Humanitarian” concerns were cited. Translation: Re­ construct Haiti according to a World Bank, neo-liberal sweatshop agenda.

Socialists say that the UN is merely a coalition of capitalist and imperial­ ist nations. Liberal Senator Bernie Sanders and Green Party candidate Jill Stein have both called for “multinational” interventions, when neces­ sary. Haiti proves them dead wrong.

Socialists demand, “U.S./UN out of Haiti!” As Cuban revolutionary leader Commander Fidel Castro has said: “In an oppressed country, even the dead cannot rest in peace.” n