Labor Briefing

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were just following orders from their political bosses.

The immediate cause of the action, a blockade of the road­ way leading to their lands, which precipitated the kidnap­ ping, was an attempt by international clothing corporation Benneton to seize the Mapuche land with the connivance of the Argentine government. The colours of Benneton run red International Labour Defense believes that the campaign for the disclosure of Santiago Maldonado’s whereabouts rep­ resents a start to the building of international united-front campaigns in defending the prisoners and victims of the class war. Like its namesake, ILD believes that the motto, “An Inju­ ry to One is an Injury to All,” can serve as the basis of agree­ ment for all of the non-sectarian left and progressive forces globally to act in a coordinated way. The lives we save may be our own. n icy towards climate change. The bill was never passed. It was defeated in part thanks to the politicians’ lack of Most of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure is along the coast, which makes the topic of climate change very relevant. This infrastructure includes airports, hospitals, univer­ sities, water treatment plants, and power plants. It is a scientific concern that from the list previously men­ tioned only a few government entities have plans to ad­ dress climate change impacts (the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority and the Department of Natural and SA: Over a million Puerto Ricans (70% of the popula­ tion) were left without power by hurricane Irma, and over 150,000 lacked potable water. Maria knocked out the power grid completely. Can you discuss how the ex­ ploitation of Puerto Rico by U.S. capital has made the is­ OP: The perfect example for this is the cabotage law. Under the Jones Act of 1920, the U.S. government deter­ mined that the only merchant marine that Puerto Rico could use to receive or send merchandise abroad was that of the United States. This has a direct impact in our economy, because the U.S merchant marine is one of the This is also an issue of concern, because if for any rea­ son the port of Jacksonville, Fla.—which is the port we receive our merchandise from—were to close, the is­ land would be at a standstill. Puerto Rico imports 90% of its products (food, clothing, cars, among others) from there. In early Spetember, the Jacksonville port was closed because of Hurricane Irma. And so, Puerto Ricans Finally, the U.S. Congress had to issue a standstill on the cabotage law, so Puerto Rico could function. In the Trying to Stop Runaway Train—As recently as a few years ago, the biggest local in the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers had nearly 6000 members at General Electric’s locomo­ tive works in Erie, Pa. There is strong demand for locomotives and GE’s are most favored. But instead of rewarding their workforce with a sense of security, GE has chosen to relentlessly transfer work to other, non-union locations.

Just last year, GE destroyed 1400 UE 506 jobs in Erie. Even though these were skilled workers, most haven’t found work in the small Erie area. This is already having a big impact on the local economy. But in July, GE served notice that they would be eliminating 572 more jobs in Local 506 and 80 per­ cent of sister Local 618, representing quality assurance workers.

While GE and UE had some “off the record” exchanges about the new run­ away ploy, the union did not insist on formal negotiations. Instead they in­ voked the grievance procedure and announced their intention to strike in November. Stay tuned.

Will He Also Get His Name on an Airport?—There was still grumbling about adding Ronald Reagan—who fired striking air traffic controllers and destroyed their PATCO union—to a Labor Department Honor Roll when Trump announced the appointment of Peter Robb as general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board. Cur­ rently an anti-labor lawyer with Downs Rachlin Martin, Robb was Reagan’s lead attorney in the PATCO atrocity.

Iron Clad Agreement—According to Maine Public Radio, a strike was averted at the General Dynamics-owned Bath Iron Works shipyard when 700 mem­ bers of the Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association, affiliated with the UAW, ratified a new 4½-year agreement. It came after some compromise on a con­ tentious change of flexible work sched­ ules. The new deal provides two hourly raises totaling 5.8 percent and lump sum payments of $6000 dollars.

Carpenters Become a Pain—Tuc­ son.com reports that 160 union car­ penters dressed in neon safety green recently confronted a meeting of Ari­ zona’s Industrial Commission, a body that oversees a wide range of labor is­ (continued from page 10: “International Labour Defense — ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’”)

Act].

Cuba deals with hurricanes? ing to get richer at the expense of others’ suffering. to be, because hurricanes will keep occurring.

playing in the struggle for a sustainable earth? dispute the catastrophic consequences. sues, including the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The unionists were protesting sweetheart deals ADOSH has been making that are reducing penalties for OSHA violators. They also blasted the commission for not responding to complaints about the widespread practice in the construc­ tion industry in which workers are paid in cash off the books—resulting in wage theft, tax fraud, and dodging scrutiny of their hiring and safety practices.

Electric Resistance at Fremont— The once unionized auto plant in Fre­ mont, Calif., abandoned by General Mo­ tors and Toyota during the GM bank­ ruptcy, today is cranking out the allelectric Tesla as fast as they can get bat­ teries. The pace has resulted in a con­ siderably higher accident rate than the industry average. The UAW is conduct­ ing an organizing drive there but the management team hired by owner Elon Musk—seen by many as a less greedy 21st-century Thomas Edison—is play­ ing hard ball. Based on numerous com­ plaints of workers being intimidated distribute union leaflets on non-work time in non-work areas, the NLRB has issued complaints against the company and has schedule a hearing in Oakland on Nov. 14.

Traversing RtW—A Labor Notes ar­ ticle begins: “Nurses in rural northern Michigan made history August 9-10 when we won labor’s biggest organiz­ ing victory since ‘right to work’ took effect in the state in 2013. By a vote of 489-439, more than 1,000 RNs at Tra­ verse City’s Munson Medical Center, the area’s largest employer, will be repre­ sented by the Michigan Nurses Associa­ tion.”

Efficiency Experts—While the Nurs­ es can be proud of their achievement, 35,000 Michigan public-sector work­ ers got slapped down by the governorappointed Civil Service Commission. Oblivious to hundreds of protesting workers, the panel voted 3-1 to deny the unions the right to bargain over se­ niority relating to layoffs, job transfers, and overtime. The not very civil com­ missioners said such measures impede efficiency. n If you have a story suitable for Labor Briefing please contact billonasch@ kclabor.org

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