Toledo-Lucas County Public Library- APLE, UAW Local 5242

APLE, UAW Local 5242, represents librarians and other professional staff of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system.

Our members are dedicated employees who enable TLCPL to provide quality service to our patrons.

In 1984, staff members of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library felt the need to become an organized bargaining unit. Looking for more say in their jobs, better safety, increased job security and respect, the Association of Public Library Employees was organized. APLE was officially recognized to represent librarians and other professional staff in 1987.

APLE in 2003 joined the UAW along with the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel (TAAP), which represents Toledo public school principals and other administrators and supervisors and professionals for the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA). 20 years of service says a great deal about our organization and our continuing service to our members.

Anchorage School District (includes Librarians)

Representatives from the Anchorage School District and the Anchorage Education Association will discuss contract negotiations Tuesday at district headquarters, officials say.

This marks the first formal meeting between both sides since the end of May, when a tentative agreement was reached but voted down 2-to-1 after it was presented to teachers at a June 5 general membership meeting.

..."We're making ourselves available any and every day between today and Aug. 17, when teachers report back to their classrooms to get ready for the new school year," said Ron Fuhrer, president of the AEA, which represents more than 3,400 of the district's teachers, librarians, school nurses, counselors and occupational and physical therapists. "That includes weekends - which should tell you how committed we are to achieving a fair contract before school starts this fall."

Indianapolis-Marion County library workers want a union to address morale, working conditions, and the future of their library.

Indianapolis-Marion County library workers want a union to address morale, working conditions, and the future of their library. But the library board won’t recognize their union!

Help library workers get a voice!

Statement of Saul Schniderman Representing the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910

The Committee on House Administration held an oversight hearing on the Library of Congress on Thursday, July 27, 2006. A webcast is available on the Committee website at http://cha.house.gov

===========

Statement of Saul Schniderman

representing

The Library of Congress Professional Guild

AFSCME Local 2910

before the Committee on House Administration

concerning the

World Digital Library

July 27, 2006

Chairman Ehlers and Ranking Minority Member Millender-McDonald,

My name is Saul Schniderman and I am the president of the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910 representing over 1600 professional employees working at the Library of Congress. These employees are dedicated to providing the best possible service to Congress and to the American people.

On November 22, 2005, James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, proposed to create a "World Digital Library" for the purpose of bringing people together "by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking." On the same day Sergey Brin, the multi-billionaire cofounder of Google, Inc., announced that Google was contributing three million dollars to the project. "Google supports the World Digital Library," he said, "because we share a common mission of making the world’'s information universally accessible and useful."

In fact, the Library'’s mission is not the same as Google'’s mission. Mr.Brin says that Google'’s mission is to "organize all of the world’'s information and make it universally accessible and useful." Google has taken on a monumental task for one corporation, especially considering the copyright restrictions inherent in such a project. The Library of Congress’ mission, on the other hand, seems to be more realistic and focused: "to makes its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations." The Library’'s mission is based on public service and reflects traditional democratic values of privacy rights, intellectual freedom, and open access.

In the past year, Library staff members have been hearing all sorts of pronouncements from top management that drastic changes are afoot and that the Library is in the process of making a "transition" to digital formats.

"Providing access" to our collections, we are told, means digitizing them so that they are not "confined" within our Capitol Hill walls. The World Digital Library project has been announced and the Library will increasingly digitize its special collections for worldwide access on the open Internet. It’'s all part of a new vision for the Library of Congress.

But it’s also a fact that the Library cannot digitize the vast bulk of it’s holdings while the U.S. copyright law remains in effect. Any digital project is faced with this obstacle: you can'’t reproduce content on the Internet without first seeking permission from its author. The popular LC American Memory digitization project is boxed in by this copyright

restriction and so its digital materials are either in the public domain or are made available with special permission.

We would therefore caution Congress not to regard the digitization of collections as the Library’'s central mission or core function. For example, our highly regarded American Memory project has digitized about 10 million items; but the way "items" are being counted needs qualification.

Sometimes a scanned item is a photograph, a map, or a manuscript page. On the print side, the Library receives 1,200 new books every working day. The Library'’s vast collection of 20 million copyright-protected books cannot be digitized for free distribution on the Internet; it remains freely available only to onsite researchers and to other library users throughout the country via inter-library loan.

The point is this: while digitization projects are useful and prestigious, they provide access to only a microscopic portion of the Library'’s collections, and for that reason should not be regarded as core functions that are more important than existing operations, such as our cataloging

and classification work. In it’s rush to "transition" to the digital age, the Library should not lose sight of its core mission nor abandon its traditional base.

Our union was established at the Library in 1976 and we represent both catalogers (print) and conversion specialists (digital). Many of us have spent our entire careers at the Library and have witnessed significant changes over the years. But when the Library hires consultants for a "Digital Competencies Development Project," and a "Workforce

Transformation Initiative," we wonder out loud: what are they really talking about? Where are they leading us? And why?

Part of Library management’'s vision of a "digital library" is an
assumption that collections that are digitized and "freed" from their physical locations on Capitol Hill can be made accessible to the world through the Google search box. This gets a bit complicated so I urge the Committee to visit our website at www.guild2910.org for a more in-depth

discussion of whether Google’'s keyword searching will eliminate the need for LC cataloging and classification.

The problem with the Google keyword search box is this: it is limited in that it displays the search results in "relevance ranked" order yet cannot adequately separate the wheat from the chaff. Google may be great for the quick information seeker, great for business, great for online consumers,great for the undergraduate student sitting in his or her dorm room cramming for a term paper due tomorrow. But it’ is not great for the serious researcher who wants an overview of sources relevant to a particular topic. It is not great for the scholar who needs to do extensive and in-depth research.

Typing key words into a Google search box provides access to digitized information through "relevance ranking." When you search on Google your "hits" are "ranked" through an automatic computer algorithm, determined primarily by counting the number of other Internet sites that link to the
sites retrieved by the keywords you typed into the box. When I type the words "capital punishment" in the Google box I get over 10 million "hits" ranked according to relevance. Even if I refine my search under Google'’s
Advanced Search technique, I still retrieve all sorts of digital materials of no interest to me. In short, I can'’t discern the wheat from the chaff and, after a while, I give up on Google and try something else.

This is why scholars utilize the Library of Congress online catalog or come to the Library to conduct research. Catalogers at the Library create standardized category terms that "round up" all works on the same subject – no matter which keywords their authors have used, and no matter which languages the authors have written in. Because Library catalogers utilize conceptual categories known as "subject headings" researchers are able to systematically retrieve all of the works relevant to their topic, not just
those that have the exact words the searcher could think of. Google searching, essentially, is confined to retrieving only the words that get typed in.

For example: if you searched the subject "capital punishment" in a Library of Congress catalog, the catalog would round up such titles as "The Ultimate Coercive Sanction," "To Kill and Be Killed," "Habeas Corpus
Issues," "Fatal Error," "A Life for a Life," and many others in both English and a variety of other languages. This is because trained LC catalogers have applied a conceptual cataloging and classification scheme,not a computer algorithm that just looks at keystrokes. It is no wonder
that thousands of libraries throughout the nation, large and small, depend upon LC bibliographic records for their quality and accuracy, as the best alternative to Google searching. And it is no wonder that, quite recently, the Executive Board of the American Library Association praised LC cataloging but also raised serious questions about management'’s

apparent willingness to radically change, or even give up entirely, the practice of supplying LC subject headings .

Because of its design, Google searching gives you a super speedy retrieval of "hits." Unfortunately, the search results are often incomplete, haphazard, indiscriminate and largely confined to English language sources. AFSCME member Thomas Mann, a veteran reference librarian in the Main Reading Room and the author of The Oxford Guide to Library Research wonders if the national library of the United States is "giving away the birthright of American scholars in exchange for a mess of Internet pottage." His paper can be viewed on our Web page.

The Library of Congress is the nation’'s oldest cultural institution. It is loved by the American people, by the Congress, and by the staff who work here. The World Digital Library may be very prestigious, but despite the grandeur of its name, only a very small percentage of our collection
can be made available over the Internet because of copyright
restrictions. Such projects should not be allowed to displace core library functions.

If we go forward with Google, Inc., let’s respect each other'’s

competencies and unique roles in society. But let us always maintain support for the Library of Congress and its mission.

##

The Library of Congress Professional Guild

AFSCME Local 2910

www.guild2910.org

guild@loc.gov

mail stop 9994

phone: (202) 707-6493 or (202) 707-1304

fax: (202) 707-1873

Room no. LM G-41

Library of Congress

Washington, DC 20540-9994

"Opinions expressed are those of the authors, and are not official

statements by the Library of Congress."

Vancouver Public Library Trio at Workers Out! Conference

MONTREAL — If Peter DeGroot, Doug Klohn and Tara Robertson find themselves singing “Solidarity Forever” this week, the words will have added meaning.

The trio of library workers, all members of CUPE 391 (Vancouver Public Library) are in Montreal to attend Workers Out!: Making the Difference, an international conference of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) union members.

Workers Out! concentrates on developing an international strategic plan to help our unions worldwide in taking up the struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the workplace and in the broader society.

The workshops build towards the development of understanding issues faced around the world; of an analysis of methods of organising used to advance LGBT issues; of an appreciation of the international structures and a series of goals and strategies to further the international movement’s work to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

They Get Cake. We Eat Crumbs

They Get Cake: We Eat Crumbs by
Jonathan Tasini.

Jonathan Tasini.is the president of the Economic Future Group, a national consulting group. He is a trategist, organizer, activist, commentator and writer, primarily focusing his energies on the topics of work, labor and the economy.

See Working Life website.

Bush Nominates Industry Friendly Correll to OSM

The nation’s largest environmental group says the Bush administration is burying any hope of implementing better coal-mining policies after nominating an industry-friendly candidate to the federal agency charged with setting environmental standards for surface-mining operations. The Sierra Club is opposing Bush’s nomination of John Correll to direct the US Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining (OSM). The environmental watchdog maintains that Correll’s record of weakening industry regulations and dismantling health and safety standards endangers public health and the environment.

Quinnipiac University Had Stripped Librarians-- Now Goes After Entire Union

The American Federation of Teachers prepared at its national meeting to censure the (Connecticut)Quinnipiac University and to begin a campaign to win back collective bargaining rights. AFT officials say that Quinnipiac has already taken advantage of its union-free status to strip librarians of certain rights, including the right to seek tenure. “This is a matter of principle and democracy,” said Rob Callahan, a national organizer for the AFT.

The American Federation of Teachers, at its biennial convention in Boston, called for a restoration of union bargaining rights after the private university in Hamden won a National Labor Relations Board ruling to decertify the union earlier this year.

BLUEPRINT FOR FAILURE: A STAR SPECIAL REPORT

A report on Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library construction. Same library where staff have been denied the right to organize.

BLUEPRINT FOR FAILURE: A STAR SPECIAL REPORT

What library officials had hoped by now would be the crown jewel of Indianapolis' library system has instead become a royal mess.

In the nearly four years since leaders broke ground to expand the Central Library, the project has been plagued with problems. Engineers are still trying to fix gaping holes in the underground parking garage that doubles as the foundation for a new six-story building. They've also had to adjust the building's design to deal with a faulty survey mark that caused the garage to be built six inches too far south.

The project is two years behind schedule, more than $50 million over budget, mired in expensive lawsuits and rife with allegations of mismanagement, fraud and conflict of interest.

To avoid running out of money, the Indianapolis-Marion County Library Board has shelved plans for new branches in Center and Lawrence townships as well as a high-tech security system. A tax increase to homeowners and businesses is also likely.

A months-long review of records and court documents, and interviews with people involved in the project, suggest that at the root of these problems was an ill-fated decision by the Library Board to undertake the Central Library expansion without a general contractor to hire and oversee more than 60 contractors and assume legal responsibility for their work. READ THE ENTIRE REPORT.

Bush administration rejects union petition on Chinese labor practices

Statement by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Trumka on Bush Administration's Rejection of 301 Petition Against Chinese Government.July 21, 2006:

Today’s decision by the Bush Administration to reject the AFL-CIO’s 301 trade petition is a slap in the face to Chinese and American workers, who expect our government to uphold the law. In rejecting this petition, President Bush has shown once again that he is beholden to corporate interests at the expense of working families.

The AFL-CIO, Rep. Chris Smith (R- NJ) and Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD), with the support of 29 members of the Congress and 11 U.S. Senators, called on the Bush Administration in June to take action under the Trade Act of 1974 to end the brutal suppression of workers’ rights in China and stop the flow of good U.S. jobs overseas.

It’s a travesty that after five years of failed trade policy that have contributed to the loss of almost three million U.S. manufacturing jobs and a record trade deficit of $726 billion, the Administration continues to take no meaningful action to support America’s workers or stop the abuse of workers in China.

In its press release announcing its decision to reject the petition, USTR mentioned numerous meetings, letters, and money spent to address labor rights violations in China over the past two years. But there are very few concrete improvements in conditions for Chinese workers, Chinese labor laws, or even enforcement of those laws that USTR can point to. And certainly, the enormous and lopsided bilateral trade deficit continues to spiral upwards – as do the lost jobs associated with that imbalance.

It’s clear that the Administration’s assertion that it has a better way to address the well-documented workers’ rights violations in China is nothing more than hollow rhetoric. In failing to address the systematic abuse of China’s workers by the Chinese government and multinational corporations, the Bush Administration has effectively turned its back on America’s workers while condoning the mistreatment of workers worldwide.

America’s workers are committed to holding our leaders accountable for bad trade policies that result in the loss of jobs and the repression of workers’ rights. In June alone, nearly 70,000 letters from workers across the nation were sent to President Bush and Congress urging him to take action to halt the abuse of China’s workers.

The AFL-CIO will continue to work aggressively with Congress to push the Administration to protect and value workers’ rights everywhere and support fair trade policies that uplift workers in the U.S. and abroad.

Contact Steve Smith 202-637-5018
Copyright © 2006 AFL-CIO

Bush administration rejects union petition on Chinese labor practices.

The U-S Trade Representative is rejecting an AFL-CIO petition calling for an investigation of labor practices in China.

The labor federation had asked for a one-year probe into workers' rights in China, on grounds that that Chinese labor practices could amount to unfair trade. The AFL-CIO filed a similar petition in April of 2004, which was also rejected.

The Washington Post reports:

If the petition is rejected, the AFL-CIO will consider its legal options, including the possibility of filing a lawsuit demanding the government begin a probe, Lee said.

What is Going On at the Library of Congress?

Recent decisions by Library of Congress administrators to scale back cataloging have caused a firestorm of protest within the national library community and we've been promised more changes to come. In his essay,"What is Going on at the Library of Congress?" reference librarian Thomas Mann argues that systematic subject access to book collections available on site remains an essential mission to support scholarship, despite the unsound claims that the "digital age" is rendering books and catalogs obsolete.

Read Dr. Mann's essay (22 p.) on the website of the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME 2910

Staff Demonstrate for Right to a Union in Indianapolis

Library Board meeting gets loud
Session on budget cuts interrupted by union organizers.
--- Brendan O'Shaughnessy
brendan.oshaughnessy@indystar.com

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Board President Louis Mahern on Thursday threatened to clear a meeting room packed with employees chanting to be recognized as a union....
The conflict over union recognition provided the fireworks during a meeting to approve $25 million in bonds for cost overruns topping $40 million at the troubled Central Library expansion.... 50 library employees demonstrated inside and outside the Fountain Square Branch Library, interrupting the board meeting with chants of "Recognition now." The board has not recognized the employees' union effort, which now claims the support of 65 percent of 300 salaried employees.

While employees would bear the brunt of budget cuts, which include reducing the usual 2 percent raises by half and trimming spending on telephones, travel and training, the public won't be spared....

Library employees pushing for a union suggested their own cuts of about $1.2 million by trimmingthe costs of hiring temporary workers and consulting and legal services.
"Library employees want a voice in their future," said David Warrick, executive director of the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.

"Their efforts have been disrespected by this board. Now we are at the point where we don't ask, we demand notice and recognition."
Michael Torres, a library employee organizer, said confrontation was the next step because the board has not recognized a request to meet for several months.

..Read more
see IndyUnion.Org

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Board says: a union would lead to rising salary costs and less money for the book budget.

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Board President Louis Mahern on Thursday threatened to clear a meeting room packed with employees chanting to be recognized as a union.

Indianapolis -Plans for Informational Picket

In a story about the progress of the new library building WTHR Indianapolis reports:

While the proposed budget includes a one-percent pay raise for most employees, it also asks them to help cover higher health care premiums. As the board holds a public hearing Thursday, some employees will hold signs.

"I think they're concerned, they're concerned about their jobs and the future of the library," said David Warrick, AFSCME executive director.

Warrick says a majority of eligible employees want to unionize and they want the board's attention. They plan to picket before the meeting. "They feel they don't have a voice, they're kept in the dark. They feel like they're disrespected and they want a voice at the table," said Warrick.

For more details on the demonstration go to IndyLibraryUnion.com a website created by employees of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library who are on the organizing committee dedicated to creating a collective bargaining unit through AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, at IMCPL.

Union vs. Wal-Mart in B.C.

Union Squares Off Against Wal-Mart
The union that tried and failed to unionize employees at the Kamloops Wal-Mart store is preparing to battle the retailer on the provincial front.

Wal-Mart is gearing up to stop a union drive in the automotive department of its Surrey store on 88 Avenue.

The worldwide retailer is going to the B.C. Labour Relations Board in a bid to have the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) certification dismissed, said company spokesperson Andrew Pelletier.

The move is spurred by a recent board ruling in favour of Wal-Mart in the ongoing struggle between the company and the union.

Friends with Low-wages.

"Friends with Low Wages"

"Garth Brooks" learns the truth about how Wal-Mart treats its workers

Click to see "Friends with Low Wages"
The cartoon even ruffled a few feathers at Wal-Mart HQ in Bentonville. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman told an Arkansas newspaper that "it's a shame that this group would use this type of publicity stunt to take away from what we do to help working families save money every day."
Of course, what's really a shame is how far Wal-Mart will go to keep workers from standing up for themselves.
That's why we need your help -- we know you care about Wal-Mart workers' rights, but we're counting on you to spread the word and get Wal-Mart to clean up its act and end its unionbusting ways.
Please watch the video at www.walmartworkersrights.org -- and then afterwards, be sure to take action with American Rights at Work

SirsiDynix-ALA-APA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting Salaries and Status of Library Workers -2006

The annual SirsiDynix-ALA-APA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting Salaries and Status of Library Workers was presented to Jim Fish, Director of Baltimore County Public Library; AFSCME Local 1526 of the Boston Public Library; and Eileen Muller, president of the Brooklyn Library Guild, Local 1482 (honorable mention) on June 25th. This annual award for $5000 is sponsored by the SirsiDynix Corporation for an individual, group of individuals or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to improving the salary and status of library workers in a local, regional or national setting. Eileen Muller was represented by Alison Hendon. Muller worked to increase wages of more than 950 workers from Brooklyn Library Guild, Local 1482, including librarians.
The Boston Public Library AFSCME Local 1526 was able to raise support staff salaries by 10% through a lengthy effort. Elissa Cadillic, President, was pleased to announce that the $3000 award will be used to send library workers to conferences and training.
You can read the entire article and see a photo of the winners by subscribing to Library WorkLife.

FirstGroup to root out [U.S.] anti-union practices

FirstGroup, the bus and rail giant, yesterday pledged to stamp out management anti-union activities in its North American operation, amid claims that its staff there are toiling under poor working conditions.
Moir Lockhead, FirstGroup's chief executive, yesterday also confirmed the company was targeting the acquisition of a majority stake in Dutch public transport group Connexxion for its first foray into continental Europe.
"It is a big business with revenues of about e900m and it is just what we want."
The promise regarding its North American activities came at the group's annual meeting in Aberdeen, which lasted twice as long as usual because of employees and union leaders from the UK and US protesting the non-implementation of a company-wide human rights policy....The giant US Teamsters Union and the Service Employees International Union, two of the 11 unions the company has agreements with in North America, want the card system adopted which allows them to canvass individuals to sign up...."This company made its position on unions perfectly clear to me," she said.
"The day I applied for my job there was a document attached to my application which said the company would aggressively resist unionisation. This is the only time in my experience the company has kept its word."
She also maintained the buses were poorly maintained, drivers were overworked and the insurance benefits had been independently assessed as "not worth the paper they were written on".
She said in the run-up to a secret ballot for union recognition, which was achieved, every possible means of intimidation was used.
The AGM heard that John Lyons, the former Labour MP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, has just returned from the US, having been hired by First Group to investigate the claims.
He said: "The trade unions are right when they say there is all sorts of material which is anti-union. That was the case in Baltimore and Iowa."

Union Ovecomes Schwarzenegger Takeaways

Members of the SEIU 1000-- largest union of California state employees-- have voted by 94 percent to approve a new three-year contract which provides substantial wage increases and other improvements.

The agreement does not contain any of the takeaways demanded by Gov. Schwarzenegger, which would have cut the average state workers’ compensation by 14 percent.


The employees union have ratified what union officials called their biggest contract ever, a package that could be worth $500 million over three years.

The contract was approved by 94 percent of Service Employees International Union Local 1000's 85,000 members after a monthlong vote, the union said Saturday....Under the new contract, each SEIU 1000 member will get a one-time $1,000 bonus, which equates to about 2.3 percent of a typical union members' annual salary and will cost the state $85 million. They will get a 3.5 percent cost of living increase this year and between 2 percent and 4 percent next year.

In addition, nearly 18,000 state employees, including auditors, nurses, librarians and teachers, will get raises of between 5 percent and 10 percent to bring their salaries closer to what they could earn in the private sector.

US Labor Against the War (US LAW) Wins the Annual Eugene V. Debs/Norman Thomas/Michael Harrington Award

US Labor Against the War (US LAW) is recipient of the Annual Eugene V. Debs/Norman Thomas/Michael Harrington Award.

The 48th Annual Eugene V. Debs - Norman Thomas - Michael Harrington Dinner was held on Friday evening, April 28, at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, just across the Chicago River from the Loop. It was held on the eve of a major anti-war demonstration in New York City that drew some 350,000 participants. A few days later, on May 1st, there were demonstrations across the nation in support of immigrant rights. The march and rally in Chicago was estimated to have drawn nearly a half-million participants.

The honorees at the 2006 Dinner were particularly appropriate. Henry Tamarin was the President of UNITE HERE Local 1. Representing workers in the hospitality industry, particularly hotels, immigrants made up much of his membership, and in fact Local 1 had a sizable delegation in the May 1st march. For the first time, the Dinner honored an organization: U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW). USLAW was one of the initiators of the April 29th anti-war march in New York City.

International Bagel Bakers Union

Forthcoming documentary on the International Bagel Bakers Union of New York. The union, which was founded in 1907 and was one of the city's most powerful in its heyday, helped propel its 300 mostly Jewish, all-male members from typical immigrant poverty to the comfort of middle class at its height in the 1950s....The inception of the Local 338 — a secular, socialist and insular organization of mostly Polish immigrants — coincided with the labor movement that swept New York in the early part of the 20th century. Until the 1950s, meetings were held almost entirely in Yiddish, the mamaloshn of most of its members. "You had to either be born into or marry into the union, or have a relative who was a member," Goodman said. Members enjoyed benefits that many workers today would envy, including life insurance and comprehensive health care.

Contract for Librarians in SEIU Local 1000 [largest union of California state employees]

After nearly a year of sometimes strained negotiations, a tentative three-year contract agreement for state employees represented by the SEIU Local 1000 has recently been reached.

Included in the terms are an across-the-board salary increase, the first since July 2003. The previous contract expired on June 30 of last year.

Runaway Maids in Saudi Arabia

Nathan Newman at Labor Blog reports on the shame of the U.S. engaged in Free Trade with Rapists and Labor Abusers. He observes:

We may be dependent on the region for oil, but why would we think of making trade agreements with regimes that are some of the worst violators of labor rights in the world?

Cases of Asian maids running away and leaving their employers in desperate situations seem to be a growing phenomenon....
It seems that as soon as the workload increases and maids are asked to rub some extra elbow grease into their work then the women bail out and abort ship....The Ministry of Social Affairs and police deal with the responsibility of runaway maids at the Center for Maids Affairs. The center employs receptionists to follow up complaints and a number of female workers supervise detained maids and ensure the women are given food and shelter....it is perhaps time the government did something to maintain the rights of Saudi employers who are abused by their dishonest maids.

But it's not a new problem!
A Saudi Arabian official says that more than nineteen-thousand foreign maids ran away from their employers in 2000.Most of the maids are from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philipines.

Nepali House-maids in the Saudi Houses
Chandra S. Gurung suggests contracts and representation to help stave off exploitation.

During the first week of May 2005, I was stunned to read news in the leading English daily about an Indonesian maid, Nour Miyati, the 25-year-old woman whose gangrenous fingers were amputated after she was brutally beaten and locked in a bathroom by her Saudi employer. According to reports, Saudi sponsor had tied her up in the bathroom for a month so tightly her extremities became gangrenous due to insufficient blood supply. Amputation was the only way to save her life. Moreover, she had suffered broken teeth and an eye injury. The reason given for the punishment was that the maid had not cleaned the house properly.
Unless the Ministries of Labor from Nepal and KSA draft a new law under which a contract must be signed fulfilling the most appropriate conditions, the injustice towards Nepali maids in the Kingdom will continue. Our Government should stop these girls from leaving the country without prior agreement on the stipulated salary, fixed working hours and other genuine facilities with the government of KSA. The signed contract should also state that the sponsor must give the maid a day-off every week and provide her access to a telephone should she wish to seek the advice or help of her consulate or embassy.

Maid abuse part of Saudi way of life (Pipes).

National Education Workers' Union- Oaxaca

For the last six weeks, the roads leading to the central square of the city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico have been draped with blue tarp to protect the teachers camped out there from the sun and the heavy rains. Since a massive strike began in May, tens of thousands of teachers have poured into the city for demonstrations organized regularly by the National Education Workers' Union (SNTE), while hundreds of die-hards have spent night after night sleeping in the streets, blocking traffic, and forcing business to a standstill with their tarps and their bodies.

Baldwin Public Library Contract at an Impasse

Contract negotiations between the Baldwin Public Library Board of Trustees and the library's staff continue to stall after union employees said that the board has yet to float an acceptable offer in what has become a two-year dispute over salaries.
Employees have been working without a contract since 2004, and members of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) said that they earn 20 percent below the Nassau County average. In a sign of protest last year, workers began wearing black, and this past April workers held a demonstration outside the library demanding a "fair" raise....

The Nassau County Library Association conducted an annual voluntary survey of the county's libraries not long ago. The survey found that for the 2004-05 fiscal year, the average salary for an experienced librarian was more than $58,000, whereas in Baldwin, the same experienced librarians earned an average of $46,350.

--By Anthony Rifilato July 06, 2006

Strike Looms at Seton Hall

Nearly 225 office workers and support staff at Seton Hall University are threatening to strike if they do not get a new employment contract, union officials said yesterday.
University and union negotiators met with a federal mediator in the campus library in South Orange yesterday to try to settle the contract dispute, said Pat Hoffman, senior business representative for Local 153 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union..... The union's members, who serve as support staff in Seton Hall's administrative offices and libraries, earn an average salary of $27,000 a year, union officials said.
The 225 employees voted to allow their union to consider a strike last week, though the members would need to take a second vote to authorize a walkout. Their contract expired Friday, but was extended through today to allow the two sides to continue negotiating.

Pride at Work

National Pride At Work is affiliated as the newest constituency group of the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations.)

The purpose of Pride At Work is to mobilize mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBT Community around organizing for social and economic justice.

We see full equality for LGBT Workers in their workplaces and unions.

We work towards creating a Labor Movement that cherishes diversity, encourages openness, and ensures safety & dignity.

We aim to educate the LGBT Community about the benefits of union membership for LGBT working people, and to build support and solidarity for the union movement in the LGBT community.

We intend to do this in the spirit of the union movement's historic motto, "An Injury to One is An Injury to All." We oppose all forms of discrimination on the job and in our unions based on sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, religion or political views.

Bush National Labor Relations Board is Most Anti-Worker Labor Board in History

Mother Jones Commentary: A ruling by Bush's NLRB could weaken labor protections for hundreds of thousands of workers.

By Stewart Acuff and Sheldon Friedman

In a series of pending cases known as Kentucky River, the National Labor Relations Board could strip what remains of federal labor law protections from hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of workers whose jobs include even minor, incidental or occasional supervisory duties. The pending cases involve charge nurses in a hospital and a nursing home and lead workers in a manufacturing plant, but these workers, though they constitute a large group, could be just the tip of the iceberg.

The consequences of bad labor board rulings in these cases will reverberate far and wide, potentially stripping coverage in every nook and cranny of the workforce and creating innumerable new opportunities for mischief by employers and their hired gun consultants bent on denying workers' their fundamental human right to form a union.
...........For all these reasons and more, we must push back against the Bush labor board's assault on workers' rights. We in labor invite, encourage and urgently need support in this fight from people of good will throughout our country, in every major institution of American life. If you want a better, fairer and more just economy and society, please stand with workers in this important struggle.

Stewart Acuff is Director, AFL-CIO Organizing Department; Sheldon Friedman is Research Coordinator, AFL-CIO Voice@Work Campaign.

Lake Michigan College Librarians Get 8% Raise Over 3 Years.

BENTON HARBOR -- The Lake Michigan College board of trustees has approved a budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year of $27.6 million -- a 4 percent increase over the 2005-2006 budget....In other reports, the board also accepted a three-year contract agreement with the college's faculty union. Members of the LMC Education Association ratified the agreement June 22, with the contract going into effect Saturday.
The contract provides for a 2 percent wage increase for the 2006-2007 academic year and 2.5 percent wage increases for each of the two following years. It also provides a more streamlined performance evaluation system for annual faculty reviews.

GMB Members Win The Right To Collective Bargaining In The UK ASDA Wal-Mart Distribution Depots

GMB Members Win The Right To Collective Bargaining In The UK ASDA Wal-Mart Distribution Depots
UK: VICTORY AT WAL-MART

LabourStart reports. Wal-Mart is known to many of you as the ultimate "union-free" company. It
has been nearly impossible for trade unionists to get a foothold in the
company's US stores, though there have been some organizing victories in
Canada. A few years back, Wal-Mart acquired a British supermarket chain,
Asda, leading to concerns that the company's anti-union tactics would now
spread across the Atlantic. It is in this context that we must understand
-- and celebrate -- the victory announced this week by Britain's GMB
union.

In a word, the GMB established the right of workers to organize
collectively and be represented by unions of their choice at the
distribution depots of Asda. They achieved this by preparing for a
major strike. Not only did they win recognition from management for
current union members, they also won "access to all ASDA distribution
sites (current and future), with facilities for appropriate levels of
union workplace representatives, facilities to distribute union
literature, recruit into the union, present the union case during company
induction procedures" and more. For full details of this victory, read
the union press release here:

http://www.gmb.org.uk/Templates/PressItems.asp?NodeID=94098

THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT ENDORSED BY AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

(American Library Association Passed at the June, 2006 Annual Conference in New Orleans.

RESOLUTION ON SUPPORT FOR FREEDOM TO FORM UNIONS: THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT


WHEREAS, the ALA-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) believes that the right to form a union is a fundamental human right and that workers should have the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively without employer interference; and

WHEREAS, Human Rights Watch has documented that the United States has a poor record with respect to protection of these important rights, and

WHEREAS, the failure to protect freedom to form unions is exacting a heavy economic, social and political toll on workers and communities across the United States, such tolls including but not limited to suppressed wages, decreased job quality, worsened economic inequality, erosion of support for public education, the unraveling of public and private safety net protections, the denial of justice and democracy in the workplace, and decreased political participation; and

WHEREAS, the majority of library employees work in the public sector and therefore are covered by state collective bargaining laws which in many cases are even less protective of workers’ rights than the National Labor Relations Act; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association has an established policy, 54.10 Library Personnel Practices, Collective Bargaining, which affirms the right of eligible library employees to organize and bargain collectively.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the ALA-APA urge members of Congress to co-sponsor and actively support the Employee Free Choice Act; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that ALA-APA urge employers in both the public and private sector, especially within libraries and archives, to uphold and respect the fundamental human right of their employees to form unions and bargain collectively.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution be disseminated as deemed advisable by the ALA-APA Executive Director.

[Will have links and additional information soon].

Union Garners 10% Raise for Hillsborough County (FL) Media Specialists & Teachers

Hillsborough County's public school teachers will see their best pay raise in two decades - a 10 percent salary increase for the coming school year.The agreement struck Thursday between school administrators and the teachers union seeks to make Hillsborough more competitive with neighboring counties in recruiting and keeping teachers...
Negotiators at the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association touted a raise that comes with few strings attached. They agreed to eliminate one early release day in the fall. They also signed off on adding 20 minutes to teachers' days for planning during the 2007-08 school year. The time was not included in the salaries set for the 2006-07 year."We really thought the teachers deserved a clean 10 percent increase across the board," said Jean Clements, president of the teacher's union.

Milwaukee Librarian Retires Amidst Honor Among All

In a time when some public library directors and unions are in conflict it is good to learn that there can be other ways. If Milwaukee can do it, why not Indianpolis?
=============

As Milwaukee's longtime city librarian, Kathleen M. Huston has been lauded almost as often for her persuasive talents as for her administrative skills and dedication to the public library's role in a civilized, free society....After 37 years of working for the city's public library, the last 15 as its chief, Huston is retiring Friday.

The crowning glory of her stewardship is the $8.3 million public-private renovation of the Central Library, an extensive project completed in 2000. The renovation - preservation of the mosaic floors, construction of a grand staircase, new humanities and rare books sections, the whimsical and imaginatively decorated Betty Brinn Children's Room - drew admiring comments from all quarters, even from famed writer John Updike, who came to speak in 1999 at the library's Ben Franklin fund-raising dinner...Almost no one breathes a cross word about her. Those who have worked with her through the years - everyone from Paula Dorsey, president of the library employees union, to library foundation board member Arthur Harrington to former Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist - credit her with spotlighting literary programs and modernizing the Central Library and the 12 neighborhood branches at a time of prolonged budget cuts.

2004 - 06 Bargaining by Ontario Public Service Employees Union

2004 - 06 Bargaining by Ontario Public Service Employees Union



" Paddy Musson, president of Local 110
and co-ordinator of the provincial strike committee, speaks at the Fanshawe rally
March 23."

Ontario Faculty--Including Librarians--Vindicated in Arbitration

College faculty stand on quality education issues vindicated in arbitration award released today

TORONTO, June 28 /CNW/ - The union representing faculty at 24 Ontario
colleges says today's award by arbitrator William Kaplan vindicates the
faculty's fight for quality education.
The 8,900 teachers, counsellors and librarians, members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, went on strike for three weeks earlier this year over workload and salary. The strike was ended when the parties agreed to an arbitration process chaired by Kaplan.
In the award, OPSEU gained a task force on workload with an independent
chair to settle disputes, and competitive wage increases....Faculty will receive salary increases of 3 per cent retroactive to
Sept. 1, 2005, another 3 per cent on Sept. 1 2006, 3.5 per cent Sept. 1, 2007
and 4 per cent Sept. 1, 2008. With an additional step to be added to the grid
in April 2007, this will mean a 15.33 per cent increase in salary by Sept. 1,
2008 for college faculty.

Contra Costa Librarians (and others) on Strike for Pay and Benefits

(June 27) Picket lines gained steam in Contra Costa County this morning as thousands of government workers walked off the job for a 24-hour strike over pay and benefits.

Among those on strike are librarians, road crews, nursing assistants, engineers, public defenders, secretaries, social workers, mechanics and animal services workers.

Negotating for a First Time Contract for Librarians & Archivists at the University of Western Ontario

Librarians and Archivists Represented by UWOFA, Western's approximately 55 librarians and archivists continue to negotiate for a first contract.

UWOFA President Jane Toswell says following a large number of negotiating sessions in May and June, negotiations appear to be improving though "it's too early to say whether they are going well or not."

"Both sides are seeking agreement on the major issues of workload, appointments, academic freedom and promotion and tenure," she says. "A lot of work is being done at the table."

Administration representative Malcolm Ruddock says the negotiating teams have met for the equivalent of more than 10 full days since May 1 and have made progress on several issues.

"We continue to work toward a first collective agreement," says Ruddock. "The administration is hopeful an agreement can be achieved soon and remains committed to negotiating toward that goal."


University of Western Ontario Faculty Association

LIBRARIANS' & ARCHIVISTS' CARREL

AFSCME LOCAL 2083 PASSES RESOLUTION CALLING FOR PRESIDENT BUSH'S IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OR RESIGNATION FROM OFFICE

The 480-member union adopted the resolution on a 70-20 vote.
The union resolution also lambastes the president on other issues, including:
• "Entering into an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, based upon fabricated and erroneous information."
• "Approval of the use of torture ... in the interrogation of suspected terrorists."
• "The current political climate, which allows suppression, attack and even criminalization of dissent."


SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY EMPLOYEES OF AFSCME LOCAL 2083 PASS RESOLUTION CALLING FOR PRESIDENT BUSH'S IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OR RESIGNATION FROM OFFICE

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AFSCME Local 2083, the union of Seattle Public Library employees, has added their voice to the increasing public calls for censure, impeachment, and even the resignation of George W. Bush.

The Resolution (text follows) was passed in a vote by the general membership on April 7, 2006 and will be introduced at the American Library Association Annual Conference this week in New Orleans (June 22-28).

"As Library workers, we are concerned with this administration's moves to invade our patron's privacy with the USA PATRIOT ACT as well as the stifling political climate that restricts intellectual freedom. But it goes deeper than that," said Marty Hendley, a Librarian and union member who helped introduce the resolution, "The Bush Administration is operating outside the rule of law. They lie, they spy, they torture, it's exposed, and they politely inform us that they stand by their words and will do it again. At what point did this become acceptable to the American people? More people, more professions, need to stand up and tell Bush to step down."

The Resolution will also be introduced to International AFSCME at its next national convention in Chicago (August 6-10).

###

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Local 2083
P.O. Box 2306
Seattle, Washington 98111
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adopted April 7, 2006

RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE ACTIONS OF PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND CALLING FOR HIS IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OR RESIGNATION FROM OFFICE

WHEREAS, Democracy is a core value that defines, informs, and guides our professional practice and is the base on which rests the foundation of modern librarianship; and

WHEREAS, The American Library Association affirms the responsibility of the leaders of the United States to protect and preserve the freedoms that are the foundation of our democracy; (ALA Resolution on the USA Patriot Act and Related Measures That Infringe on the Rights of Public Library Users); and

WHEREAS, The actions of the current President, George W. Bush, have violated that responsibility in unprecedented ways that threaten the very foundation and form of a Democratic government. Those actions, many of which are indictably criminal, are as follows:

1. Entering into an illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, based upon fabricated and erroneous information;

2. Funding military operations in Iraq with billions of dollars, while cutting funding for human services in the US and failing to provide adequate aid for survivors of Hurricane Katrina;

3. Crafting of policies adopted since September 11, 2001, including provisions in the USA PATRIOT ACT (Public Law 107-56) and PATRIOT ACT II and related executive orders, regulations and actions which threaten fundamental rights and liberties by:

a) expanding the authority of federal agents to conduct so-called "sneak and peek" or "black bag" searches, in which the subject of the search warrant is unaware that his property has been searched, thereby increasing the likelihood that the activities of library users, including their use of computers to browse the Web or access e-mail, may be under government surveillance without their knowledge or consent

b) granting law enforcement and intelligence agencies broad access to personal medical, financial, library and education records with little if any judicial oversight;

c) permitting the FBI to conduct surveillance of religious services, internet chat rooms, political demonstrations, and other public meetings of any kind without having any evidence that a crime has been or may be committed;

d) diminishing personal privacy by removing important checks on government surveillance authority;

e) reducing the accountability of government to the public by increasing government secrecy;

f) granting expansive new immigration powers to the Attorney General which are subject to abuse, particularly with regard to immigrants from Arab, Muslim and South Asian countries.

g) expanding the definition of "terrorism" in a manner that threatens the constitutionally protected rights of Americans, and

4. Approval of the use of torture (including practices such as hooding, shackling, drugging, sleep deprivation, etc.) in the interrogation of suspected terrorists or their suspected accomplices in his "war on terror."

5. Illegal detainment of so called "enemy combatants" and others who are jailed on the merest suspicion, refusing them legal counsel and either holding them indefinitely or secretly deporting them.

6. Authorization of warrantless electronic surveillance of people within the United States, including U.S. citizens, by the National Security Agency (NSA).

7. Promoting policies that erode the division of Church and State.

8. Openly asserting executive power in attempts to override the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Judicial system, thus ignoring the system of checks and balances fundamental to democratic government.

WHEREAS, Librarians are among the preeminent defenders of intellectual freedom and government openness in the US; and

WHEREAS, Intellectual freedom, our primary value as librarians, is seriously violated by the current political climate which allows for suppression, attack and even criminalization of dissent; and

WHEREAS, The Library Bill of Rights states that Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas; and

WHEREAS, The broad social responsibilities of the American Library Association are, in part, defined in terms of the contribution that librarianship can make in ameliorating or solving the critical problems of society, and the willingness of the ALA to take a position on current critical issues with the relationship to libraries and library service set forth in the position statement (ALA Policy Manual, 1.1);

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That President George W. Bush, as the head of the administration that is leading the US in its current political direction, should immediately step down from the office of the President of the United States, whether by resignation or impeachment; and,

RESOLVED, That AFSCME Local 2083 calls on the administration and Congress to immediately fund badly needed human services, including the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, rather than continuing to spend billions on the war in Iraq; and,

RESOLVED, That AFSCME Local 2083 support growing movements, including the organized efforts of the group World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime, calling on President Bush to step down, whether by resignation or impeachment; and,

RESOLVED, That AFSCME Local 2083 will introduce this resolution at the AFSCME International Convention; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That this resolution be forwarded to the President of the United States, to the Attorney General of the United States, to Members of both Houses of Congress, to the library community, and to others as appropriate.

Dated April 7, 2006

AFSCME Local 2083
Seattle, Washington

###

Many Workers Killed Week of June 19/2006. Joe Hill Watch 6.

Workers continue at risk in every-day situations.
Overview of BLS Statistics on Worker Safety and Health

=========
A worker for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company was killed Thursday following an accident on the tracks in Gloucester.

ATLAS TOWNSHIP (WJRT) - (06/22/06)--A Genesee County Road Commission worker was killed when an SUV hit him in the middle of the road Thursday morning.

Johannesburg, South Africa, 06/22 - An explosion Wednesday at the GoldFields Beatrix Mine in the Free State left one mine worker killed and six others wounded, South Africa`s trade union Solidarity has disclosed.

A construction worker was run over and killed this afternoon in a construction zone along U.S. 301 in Queen Anne’s County, Md.

A routine operation turned tragic Sunday night when a Benton County Electric System employee, Jimmy Wagner, 30, was fatally injured while working to restore power to residents on Danville Road in Big Sandy.

One state transportation worker was killed and another critically injured Sunday when they were struck on the shoulder of Summit Bridge Road (Del. 896) by a motorist who lost control of his car while swatting at an insect, police said.

A Sauk Rapids city worker was killed Monday after he was struck by a vehicle as he emerged from a manhole at a work site, police said.John Michael Ehlinger, 55, of Avon died at St. Cloud Hospital. He was the assistant director of public works and was in charge of the water and sewer departments.

Joe Hill Watch.

AFL-CIO-ALA Library Service to Labor Groups-American Library Association Conference-June 25, 2006

S U N D A Y
June 25, 2006
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Race, Poverty, and Aging Baby Boomers

AFL-CIO-ALA Library Service to Labor Groups, RUSA The tragic aftermath of hurricane Katrina has laid bare the race and class disparities in this country like no other event in recent history. Twenty-eight percent of the residents of New Orleans lived below the poverty line prior to Katrina and 84% of them were African-American. Katrina demonstrated that along with race and class, age matters in America. While many aging Baby Boomers will be healthier and wealthier than their parents'generation, the number of older adults in poverty and at risk will increase significantly so that by 2008 there will be 6.7 million persons aged 55 or over below poverty, a 22% increase from 2000. This panel will present findings from recent research, explore implications for librarians, and provide an update on efforts to clean up and rebuild New Orleans.

Speakers: Andrew Sum, PhD, director, Center for Labor Market Studies,
Northeastern University; Monique Harden, Esq., co-director, Advocates for
Environmental Human Rights.

ALA-APA Chair- Statement on Resolutions-ALA Annual 2006

Resolution on Support for Freedom to form Unions: The Employee Free Choice Act.
Resolution on Support for Overtime Pay Protections.

Diane M. Fay, Chair
ALA-APA Standing Committee

I have had the opportunity to read emails which were posted to the ALACOUN, APACOUN, and APAUnion lists and thought that I’'d share some of my thoughts on the 2 resolutions which the Standing Committee voted at midwinter to submit to the APA Council for consideration...

I am a retired 34 year employee from the Boston Public Library and during that time was an active member of the Boston Public Library Employee Local No. 1526 AFSCME. I had the pleasure of serving as a Steward, Library Assistant Representative to the Executive Board, Vice President and then President of the local. I was also the chief negotiator for a number of contracts. At the same time, I served as the Chair of the AFSCME Boston Presidents Committee representing 12 Locals within the city, negotiated the citywide collective bargaining agreement for those locals, served on the AFSCME Council 93 Executive Board representing the states of Maine, New Hampshire , Vermont and Massachusetts. I then served as the President of AFSCME Council 93, as well as, a Vice President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. I also took part in the organizing drives at both U. Mass Worcester Medical Center and Harvard University which allowed the workers at those facilities to exercise the basic human right of deciding for themselves if they wanted to be part of a union. In addition, I attended the University of Massachusetts College of Public and Community Service majoring in Labor Studies with a concentration in legal advocacy; as well as, attending numerous courses and seminars on collective bargaining and arbitration.

Needless to say, I have a different perspective on both of the resolutions being brought forward by the committee.

ALA has always supported the basic concept of human rights .With regard to the first resolution; I see this as a basic right for workers to decide for themselves if they want to join a union. In 54.10 of the ALA Policy Manual, ALA already “affirms the right of eligible library employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers, or to refrain from organizing and bargaining collectively, without fear of reprisal.” I would suggest that this is meaningless unless we also publicly state we support this basic right.

Ann is correct that when conditions are improved for the private sector the trend has been that over the years we have seen the same in the public sector. There is a flip side to this and that is when conditions deteriorate in the private sector we have also seen this eventually in the public sector. Many of our state regulations mirror those at the federal level and as they are changed states look to do the same. That is why it is important to watch and act on what is taking place to insure that as we work to improve salaries of library workers these issues will not be blockers to our efforts. Ann is also right that when workers in the private sector make more, there is a stronger tax base which helps those of us in the public sector. It is a basic theory in economics. And she is also right that AFSCME and other unions have already organized workers in the private sector. As I stated, I worked on the Harvard organizing drive and today AFSCME represents workers in the libraries at Harvard who are covered by the NLRB.

Beyond that, I would share these thoughts with you. First, I don’t know if any of you have ever heard the term “an injury to one is an injury to all” but it is a common thread of thought within unions. And for me, if this has a negative impact on any library worker it has an impact on all of us within ALA. It is pretty basic. All members of ALA are not public sector librarians. ALA is an organization for all library workers and it is time that we start thinking about those in libraries who are not “librarians” in public libraries. If we want to continue to grow as an organization, we need to understand that all of the members of ALA need to be included.

Another area that we are missing when we look at these resolutions through Michael’s eyes is the issue of advocacy and coalition building as a means of moving forward with a better salaries agenda. Folks, it is obvious that we can not and will not be able to do this alone. We need to reach out and work with others. Part of reaching out is to identify who can help us. As the President of AFSCME Council 93, I had 6 staff members whose job it was to be at the state houses in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts to lobby for our workers.&nb sp; That included issue important to those members who worked in libraries. I also had the ability to pick up the phone and call President McIntee in Washington and ask that he assign staff from AFSCME’s headquarters to work on issues important to my members. But equally important, as a Vice President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, I could also count on the other members of the Mass AFL-CIO to have their staff help when I asked. But, in turn, I never failed to offer AFSCME’s assistance when they needed our help. One example that I can give you is when the State and Community College budget was hung up for a couple of sessions, I asked for the assistance of all of the unions at the Mass AFL-CI O and along with the Mass. AFL-CIO President Bob Haynes, they were at the state house in Boston meeting with legislators and working to get the vote to insure that the raises of my members went through. As a member of the AFL-CIO’s Executive Board, I was also part of their political caucus and we would send letters to the state reps and senators informing them that an upcoming vote was a labor vote and that any endorsement from our body would be weight against how their voting record matched up with our labor votes. If I had an issue coming before the state legislature that I wanted considered for recognition as a labor vote, I only had to pick up the phone and call President Haynes and it was done. And in some cases, before I could make that call, he would notice something on the agenda at the state house that he thought involved the library and wo uld call me to ask if we needed any help from him. By the way, President Haynes served on the Associates of the Boston Public Library during the 90’s.

And just as a point of information, AFSCME International in Washington, DC has a number of librarians on their Research Department staff. They are private sector workers and are covered by the NLRB.

As for the second resolution on the issue of overtime, I thought that I have cleaned up the language so that it was not “proposed” regulations. Both of these resolutions have been in the pipeline for some time and I actually picked them up when I became Chair of the Standing Committee and have been discussing them with the members since then. I don’t know if it is possible to make that change on what is printed for the APA Council Session but I will try to get that done. If I can’t, maybe a Councilor who is supportive of this resolution will offer an amendment to the wording that will make the correction for me.

I thank all of you for your consideration to the efforts of the committee and look forward to hearing the discussion during the session.

Diane




--
Diane M. Fay, Chair
ALA-APA Standing Committee

University of Guelph Faculty Association Will Improve Lot of Librarians and Faculty

Improving the lot of contract faculty at the U of G will be a high priority when the University of Guelph Faculty Association starts negotiating a first contract, which could happen very soon, says the association's president.

An Ontario Labour Relations Board hearing is set for Monday June 26 on issues related to the faculty association's desire to be certified as a formal trade union, said David Josephy. Members of the association, which represents about 830 faculty and professional librarians, voted in mid-May in favour of this.

University of Guelph Faculty Association. The UGFA is an association of University of Guelph Faculty and Librarian members. Our most important task is to represent the interests of faculty and librarians with the administration.

Help Indianapolis-Marion County Library Workers Get a Union

Help library workers get a voice

Indianapolis-Marion County library workers want a union to address morale, working conditions, and the future of our community’s library. But the library board won’t recognize their union!

Please send a letter to members of the library board letting them know, as a Marion County resident, that you support the workers and believe they should have a real voice at work. Ask the board to recognize the workers’ union!

See more at Indylibrarianunion.org

35.8% of Library Workers Covered by Collective Bargaining

The 2005 Survey of Librarian Salaries read, “Which of your library’s employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement?” We did not define “other professionals.” This question was asked to update data collected in the supplement to the 1997 Librarian Salary Survey. The 1997 study found some or all support and professional staff were covered by a collective bargaining agreement in 34.3% of the 891 libraries that responded. In the 2005 survey, 2040 public and academic libraries responded and at least one category of staff was covered in 35.8% (732) of libraries.



The results of the 2005 Survey of Librarian Salaries question about
library employees covered by collective bargaining is in the latest
issue of the ALA-APA Newsletter, Library Worklife -
http://www.ala-apa.org/newsletter/current.html#statistics

The full-text of the newsletter is available to ALA member libraries
that have an email on file with the ALA Membership Office (call
800-545-2433, x5 and ask for Vicki Williams or email jgrady@ala.org) and
to individuals who have a subscription ($35 a year for ALA members, $60
for non-members, $100 for non-ALA institutional members).

Bush Suspended Davis-Bacon & ALA Invites His Wife To Speak

Laura Bush has been invited to speak at the 2006 ALA Conference in New Orleans.
===========
Unionists and Supporters Remember Bush suspended Davis-Bacon after Katrina.

washingtonpost.com
Bush Suspends Pay Act In Areas Hit by Storm

By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 9, 2005; D03

President Bush yesterday suspended application of the federal law governing workers' pay on federal contracts in the Hurricane Katrina-damaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The action infuriated labor leaders and their Democratic supporters in Congress, who said it will lower wages and make it harder for union contractors to win bids.

The Davis-Bacon Act, passed in 1931 during the Great Depression, sets a minimum pay scale for workers on federal contracts by requiring contractors to pay the prevailing or average pay in the region. Suspension of the act will allow contractors to pay lower wages. Many Republicans have opposed Davis-Bacon, charging that it amounts to a taxpayer subsidy to unions.

In a letter to Congress, Bush said he has the power to suspend the law because of the national emergency caused by the hurricane: "I have found that the conditions caused by Hurricane Katrina constitute a 'national emergency.' "

Bush wrote that his decision is justified because Davis-Bacon increases construction costs, and suspension "will result in greater assistance to these devastated communities and will permit the employment of thousands of additional individuals."

AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney denounced the Bush announcement as "outrageous."

"Employers are all too eager to exploit workers," he said. "This is no time to make that easier. What a double tragedy it would be to allow the destruction of Hurricane Katrina to depress living standards even further."

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, accused Bush of "using the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to cut the wages of people desperately trying to rebuild their lives and their communities."

Miller said: "In New Orleans, where a quarter of the city was poor, the prevailing wage for construction labor is about $9 per hour, according to the Department of Labor. In effect, President Bush is saying that people should be paid less than $9 an hour to rebuild their communities."
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090802037_pf.html

SEIU Wins at University of Miami

The Service Employees International Union won the right to represent more than 400 janitors at the University of Miami on Thursday, creating the first union presence at the private school.

But the celebrations didn't last long, because the UM janitors used their union victory to spotlight new and ongoing union organizing efforts at local malls and at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale....SEIU has set its sights now on organizing more local employees of Boston-based Unicco Services Co., which has the contract to provide janitors for UM, NSU and a few local malls, including the Shops at Sunset Place and Dadeland....
The mall worker campaign is part of a national initiative recently launched by the union to organize malls owned by Simon Property Group, the largest mall operator in the country.

''I think we're hoping that the inspiration from the janitor's victory at the University of Miami is going to encourage not just workers at Nova but throughout the local area of Miami-Dade and Broward to realize that they too can try to lift themselves out of poverty,'' said Hiram Ruiz, Deputy Director of SEIU Local 11, which will now have the first members on its rolls since the local was created more than two years ago.

Canadian Union of Public Employees upset Calgary Public Library Board won’t allow employees access to branch jobs

The Calgary Public Library is in the preliminary planning stages for a new central library that will replace the outdated current central library. The new central library will act as the hub, heart, and pillar of support for the 16 branches, and future community locations. The new central library will be a civic landmark, an outstanding example of sustainable public architecture, and source of community pride in a growing city. The new central library will be a valued community asset, helping make Calgary and its downtown a special place where people want to be and do business.

The library board is refusing to include a letter of intent promising layoff protection for the duration of the central library closure.

The union representing 600 mostly female Library Board employees says construction of a new downtown library will result in layoffs.

Rhena Oake, President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1169, says the board is treating full-time and part-time employees differently.

The library is raising funds for a new building to replace the ageing structure at 616 MacLeod Trail SE. During construction, the library will pare down its downtown operations. All full-time staff will be sent out to branch locations but part-time employees, will not be given the same consideration.

“Some of these employees have been with the Library Board for years,” said Oake. “It amazes me that the board would cast these people aside after they have put so much into our libraries.”

Library Workers Committee, CUPE-Ontario, Supports Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Employees Unionization Efforts

The Indianapolis Star June 12, 2006
P.O. Box 145,
Indianapolis, IN 46206-0145
U.S.A.

On behalf of the over 4000 organized library workers in Ontario, I find it surprising that an institution presumably well-versed in modern labour relations as the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library would likely be should still resist the unionization of its staff.

The signatories to the UN and ILO conventions on workers' fundamental right to organize themselves may not include Indiana, but we are confident that the administration and board of the Library will recognize the enormous persuasive value of those conventions, as well as the practical value of allowing their workers a meaningful voice in their working lives, a voice which in fact be of assistance to the Library Board in serving its public.

We in Ontario will be following developments with great interest.

Yours truly

Steven Burdick
Chair, Library Workers Committee, CUPE-Ontario

California State Workers [Including Librarians] Authorize Strike

State workers authorize strike.
Rank-and-file members of state government's largest public employees union have authorized their representatives to call a strike if contract talks break down in their ongoing negotiations with the Schwarzenegger administration.

Service Employees International Union Local 1000 spokesman Danny Beagle said Monday that 85 percent of the members who voted gave their approval to call a strike, which would be the first of its kind in state history.

The SEIU website announces:

Outstanding issues include wages, the governor’s demand for increased employee health care contributions, and the union’s proposal for equity adjustments for workers whose pay has fallen far behind workers in comparable public and private sector jobs.

The most recent contract between SEIU Local 1000 and the state expired on June 30, 2005. Members last received a wage increase on July 1, 2003. Since that time, the cost of living has increased by up to 11 percent.

Strike ballots were mailed last month to all 87,000 state employees represented by Local 1000. Voting took place by return mail, and at scores of strike vote meetings in cities and communities around the state. Ballots were counted on Sunday, June 11.

Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Employees Seek Union Representation

Letter from the Organizing Committee.
==============

A core group of employees of Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library last July formed a committee seeking union representation through AFSCME, Local 62, Indianapolis. We reached majority three months ago and continue to receive signed cards.
A resolution was drafted and presented to the Library Board two months ago. Library Board President, Louis Mahern has publicly stated he is not in support of union representation, but other board member have expressed some supportive interest. Therefore the next phase is to gather public and outside support for the approaching 65% of staff that have signed union cards requesting involvment in the dramatic changes taking place in our library.
Briefly, the library is building a new Central Library which is now over 40 million dollars in overruns and delays, as well as lawsuits. To compound matters, newly hired Director, Linda Mielke has decided to deconstruct our Library's diverse and historic collection, and replace it with overstuffed shelves of popular material in all formats; to replace experienced librarians with hourly clerks, and reduce frontline support staff while increasing upper level management.
The staff at IMCPL believe we have no other recourse but to seek union representation through AFSCME and be allowed to participate in the direction of this library.
--Organizing Committee
Indianapolis
www.indylibraryunion.org

Congress: Week Ending June 9.

AFSCME Weekly Report
Legislation Department
June 9, 2006

Congress — Week ending June 9

Senate defeats repeal of estate tax. House-Senate conferees reach agreement on supplemental spending bill.

Ohio Foundry Worker Killed in Steel Pit. Joe Hill Watch. No.5.

A foundry worker was killed Thursday when he fell into an industrial pit and was covered in molten steel, authorities said.

Gordon Hickman, 41, was operating a massive ladle near the rim of the 35-foot pit just before noon when he fell into it, moments before the 2,600-degree steel was poured in, said Battalion Chief John Whitlatch of the Canton Fire Department.

A second employee at United Foundries Inc. suffered first- and second-degree burns over 20 percent of his body when went into the pit to try to save Hickman, Whitlatch said. The unidentified worker escaped the roughly 15-by-20-foot pit just as the steel was being poured.

It wasn't clear whether Hickman, of Homeworth, was killed by the fall or survived until the steel was poured. Whitlatch said the pour could not have been stopped in time.

Officials will have to wait several days until the steel cools to retrieve Hickman's remains.

The foundry produces large iron rollers used by steel mills. The company also has plants in Youngstown and South Africa.


Joe Hill Watch.

Spreading Democracy Empowers Unions-Change to Win

Spreading democracy empowers unions
--James P. Hoffa is president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Working people are under assault from all sides these days. Labor laws are stacked against us. Too many politicians don't understand -- or don't care about -- the needs of working families. Greed is the modus operandi of corporate leaders.

But don't think I'm giving up for a second! There are signs all around that, despite these obstacles, working people are successfully fighting back.

During the next three weeks, thousands of union members from all over the United States and Canada, from different industries, young and old, men and women, and of all races and ethnicities will come together as equals to actively steer the course of their unions.

Berkeley (CA) Public Library Director Out

Berkeley Daily Planet Reports on June 9, 2006:

After almost two years of staff-management strife, a page has turned at the Berkeley Public Library: Wednesday evening the Board of Trustees announced the departure of the embattled library director and the appointment of an interim replacement.

It took a joint meeting of the City Council and Board of Trustees to approve a settlement with Director Jackie Griffin, who had threatened to sue the city if she were fired and another closed-door session of the library board to approve the temporary appointment of Interim Director Roger Pearson.

Griffin’s four years and 10 months at the library brought the controversial and expensive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) check-out system, staff cut-backs and a host of complaints from library workers who say their input was ignored and that they faced retaliation for speaking out.

“The employees are thirsty for someone to listen to them, to be receptive to their ideas,” said Anes Lewis-Partridge, senior field representative from Service Employees International Union 535, addressing the Board of Trustees during the public portion of their meeting.

Additional coverage in the Mercury-Register.

No "Made in the U.S.A. " without Human Dignity

Made in the USA – No products can leave the CNMI stating or implying that they were “Made in the USA” unless the minimum wage was paid to the workers, all labor laws were obeyed, and no indentured servitude was allowed.
B) Minimum wage – The US minimum wage (as established by the Fair Labor Standards Act) applies in the CNMI, after the following transition period.

This is what the Human Dignity Act will enact.

Sex Slavery, Forced Abortions and Right-Wing Moralists--that is what the U.S. supported in the Mariannas thanks to Tom DeLay.
Now the suppressed report ,Security in Guam and the C.N.M.I. is available.

Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights -ICFTU Published for 2006

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights. 2006

The Bush Administration continued its efforts to undermine freedom of association and collective bargaining in the USA, helping to ensure that union-busting remained rife. One of the most notorious anti-union employers in the US, WalMart, spread its practices into Canada. Several provinces in Canada also took further steps to weaken workers’ rights. In common with other regions, systematic violations of workers’ rights in export processing zones was a prominent feature in Mexico and the Dominican Republic in particular, with multinational companies profiting from low wages and exploitative working conditions, especially in supply chains in the textiles and metals sectors.

Transplanted Hoosier Supports Indianapolis-Marion County Library Employees

James Solomon Benn (June 6, 2006) has sent a letter to the editor supporting library workers. This stands out:

"I will always consider Indianapolis my home. I am writing to lend public support for the library workers in Indianapolis who have stood up to changes they believe are detrimental to the library system and are organizing a union to have a voice in their futures."

Read the entire letter.

Bogus astroturf organization: The Center For Union Facts

Create a bogus astroturf organization called The Center For Union Facts and run a bunch of ads claiming that card check violates the American way because it takes away workers' right to a secret ballot election.

why?

Listening to workers is the last thing on corporate America's mind, and their fear is reflected in the "Secret Ballot Protection Act of 2005" introduced by South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint in the Senate and Congressman Charlie Norwood (R-GA) in the House, which would prohibit employers from recognizing a union based on card check instead of an election. Their bill as 5 co-sponsors in the Senate and 91 in the House. Norwood and DeMint's bill is competing with a bill introduced by Congressman George Miller (D-CA) in the House and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate, called the "Employee Free Choice Act," (S. 842 and H.R. 1696) which would require employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation. The bill would also toughen punishment for violating workers rights to organize a union. The bill has 43 co-sponsors in the Senate and 215 co-sponsors in the House.

NY City Librarians Testify for Living Wage

Living wage campaign Update

The heads of the three library systems testified at recent city council hearings on the Mayor’s proposed budget cuts. Brooklyn PL has already raised the salary rates of librarians, library assistants, and has created the technical resource specialist (TRS) as a promotional clerical title. At these hearings, Paul Le Clerc and Susan Kent testified that NYPL will also introduce the technical resource specialist in 2007.

The Queens borough Public library has indicated that the TRS title will be added and that library assistants, comparable to the IA title, will be reinstituted after being discontinued for many years. Queens mentioned that they will consider hiring clericals at the OAIII level, instead of Office Aide I. This has been a very important demand in Local 1930”s Living Wage Campaign. BPL has 200 fewer staff members since 9/11/01. NYPL is currently down 200 members also. As we are well aware, NYPL continues to expand service hours without adequate staff, resulting in more Saturday work.

Petitions could let 600 city workers join SEIU in Tempe

Petitions could let 600 city workers join union

Jahna Berry
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 3, 2006 12:00 AM

Tempe workers signed petitions that pave the way for about 600 employees, such as librarians and groundskeepers, to join a union.

If the signatures are verified, Service Employees International Union's ranks could grow from 200 Tempe workers to 800.

Union growth within Tempe could change the dynamics of city politics and affect the city's bottom line. Unions can play an influential role in local elections by injecting campaigns with donations. More union members could also strengthen employees' voices in wage and benefits issues, which impact the city budget.
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Word of the petitions came as the City Council unanimously approved a contract Thursday with 200 Public Works employees who were represented by the SEIU. The contract includes several gains for workers, including boosting the wage scale, adding more vacation days and offering a larger tool allowance....

City Manager is American Libraries columnist Will Manley .

"Which Side Are You On?"

The Nation. [posted May 25, 2006 (June 12, 2006 issue)].

The May 20 mine disaster, which killed five coal miners, occurred in Harlan County, Kentucky--infamous for its history of conflict between mine operators and miners. In the 1930s violent strikebusting by Harlan County coal companies against the fledgling United Mine Workers inspired Florence Reese's union anthem, "Which Side Are You On?"

The Bush Administration has made it clear which side it is on. Mine workers have faced increasingly unsafe conditions because of rollbacks of health and safety regulations, the appointment of former mining industry executives to federal mine safety agencies and the slashing of the budget and staff for safety inspection.

Eastern Oregon faculty could be first in Oregon to strike

Eastern Oregon faculty and librarians could be first in Oregon to strike


LA GRANDE, Ore. (AP) — Faculty and librarians at Eastern Oregon University could stage a precedent-setting strike at the La Grande school this fall, if contract negotiations prove unsuccessful.

This week, the union voted 61-6 to authorize its bargaining team to call a strike if they deem it necessary. It would be the first-ever strike at an Oregon university, though Western Oregon University in Monmouth came close this past year.