September 7, 2010

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis calls on Mott's/Dr. Pepper Snapple and RWDSU to "get back to bargaining table and resume negotiations immediately."  Secretary Solis emphasizes that the Mott's workers "who have dedicated years of service to the company ... cannot afford the pay cut." 

Essay by Hilda L. Solis
September 4, 2010

Labor Day has come to mark the beginning of a political campaign, the end of summer or the start of a new school year. Sometimes, the only reminder we have of the holiday is the barrage of commercials promoting weekend sales. Pundits often use Labor Day to assess the status of the American labor movement — to provide a “state of the unions” if you will.

By Kismet Barksdale
Long Island Editor

September 6, 2010

The United Federation of Teachers and Merrick Charter School have reached an agreement in the case of 11 staff members dismissed this summer by the school.  The UFT charged that Merrick had fired the workers – who make up approximately one-third of the professional staff of the school -- for union activity.  The union had asked the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to order Merrick to rehire the fired staffers.

Under the terms of the agreement the UFT obtained the reinstatement of the teachers who wished to return to Merrick this fall.  They will be reinstated at their old salaries.  Other teachers and staff have had their cases resolved to their satisfaction.  Further details of the settlement remain confidential.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said:  “Teachers have a right to organize and bargain collectively, and we are happy to have confirmed that right for Merrick’s staff.”

By Neal Tepel

September 1, 2010
 
Preschool of America, a for-profit daycare company has declared war on workers at their schools.    Teacher’s Assistants at a branch of the Preschool of America located at 101 West End Avenue voted to join a union 10 to 3, on August 2, 2010. The election was certified by the National Labor Relations Board.  Following the vote, 8 workers at this school owned by Preschool were terminated.
 
The action by Preschool of America angered many parents, upset children and affected quality education at the center.  Parents were so enraged that 56 signed a petition calling on management to “cease and desist reprimanding, harassing and terminating” employees who seek union representation. Federal labor law prohibits firing, harassing or threatening workers who vote for or are engaged in union activities.


LAY FACULTY ASSOCIATION
588 NORTH STATE RD.
BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. 10510
914-944 4440                                                                           

September 1, 2010

Dear Friends of Labor,

We are local 255 of the Laborers International Union of North America. We represent the teachers of the Archdiocese of N.Y. Our union has represented teachers for over 40 years. 
  
 In 2007, after our contract expired, the Archdiocese decided to make the schools “independent.” Despite the fact that the school operations and budgets must be approved by the Archdiocese and they retain voting rights at each school, they contend they are “independent.”

The Amalgamated Transit Union's Larry Hanley raised thousands of dollars in a mid-Manhattan fundraiser highlighted by a who's who of NYC labor leaders and politicians. The event, at an Irish pub on 48th and Tenth Avenue, drew a crowd that pressed back against the regulars at the bar, nursing pints of Guiness Stout. The dapper David Dinkins, a former Mayor of the City, was first to praise Hanley. He was followed by New York's third highest-ranking public official Bill DiBlasio, the public advocate. John Liu, the City Comptroller, sent a representative.

Jackie Jeter, President of ATU Local 689, representing transit workers in Washington, DC, brought a number of her Executive Board members to the event, and gave a ringing endorsement of Hanley's candidacy for the top job in her international union. As Hanley stood with his wife and adult children, she said in part: "Larry Hanley is someone who can move us forward and step up to the plate to make the unpopular decisions when they have to be made. Right now, the ATU is in need of your leadership, and we want you to lead us forward. In Larry, I have found a friend I could look up to, who has the integrity to run the ATU."