BY JOHN SARGE
DETROIT - "No scab papers" adorned the lead banners of
two marches, as tens of thousands of trade unionists, many
with their families, marched into the city center September
1. The parades were led by contingents of the newspaper
workers who struck this city's daily newspapers in July 1995
and are still fighting to regains their jobs. Most
contingents in the both marches displayed "No News or Free
Press Wanted Here" on floats, banners, and signs.
Teamsters and building trades unionists marched into downtown from the west, accompanied by the blast of air horns from the dozens of trucks and pieces of construction equipment. Most area unionists paraded in from the north, down Woodward Ave., the city's main street.
The largest contingent was made up of the dozens of United Auto Workers local unions. Some locals displayed the products they make, driving new trucks and cars or displays supplied by their employers. Others built floats celebrating their history. UAW Local 235, made up of workers from American Axle Manufacturing, one of the units recently sold off by General Motors, proudly announced its 60th anniversary. UAW Local 51, which struck Chrysler's Mound Road Engine plant last spring, distributed a large orange button like the one worn on the picket line declaring, "Strength in Solidarity."
The marches ended at this area's first "Labor Fest." Held in a small park with music, food, and a children's area, official displays were set up under tents by some unions, union-endorsed Democratic Party politicians, and organizations endorsed by the AFL-CIO, such as those protesting sweat shops or building support for the United Farm Workers campaign to organize strawberry workers. Other groups that were not invited into the tents, from the local Labor Party chapter to the Socialist Workers campaign, set up tables around the park.
The gathering gave people a chance to exchange experiences. Auto workers who have recently been on strike talked to teachers who had voted the week before to send their wage demands into binding arbitration, in face of a new Michigan law sharply increasing penalties for teachers who strike. Lots of people wanted to talk to newspaper workers. Gary Rushnell, a locked out, printer commented, "We felt down after the judge rejected ordering the newspapers to return us to work, but today gives us a real boost. It's great that so many people turned out. Maybe this - after the UPS strike and the march against union busting June 21 - will open up some corporate eyes."
John Sarge is a member of the UAW.
COPPERHILL, Tennessee - Some 250 strikers against Boliden Intertrade and their supporters marched and rallied here on Labor Day. Most of the 260 strikers are members of International Chemical Workers Union (ICWU) Local 401. Others belong to the Boilermakers, the International Association of Machinists, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Since the walkout began on April 30, 1996, only one union member has crossed the line.
Alton Welch, who worked as an acid plant operator for 24 years, told the Militant, "The issue here is flexibility - they are trying to take away seniority rights by making us do anything on any day. If we can't or don't know how to do the job, they want to be able to send us home without pay."
In 1987 the company closed down the mining, milling and smelter operations and laid off thousands. Since then the company has only run the acid plant, with just 300 workers.
Welch added, "The company hired 90 replacement workers a few months after the strike, and said that they are doing 110 percent production, but that's a lie. The plant can't survive on what they have working now and I don't care if it doesn't survive."
Delane Dills, with 36 years in the mine, said, "All retirees lost their medical coverage on our last contract in 1993. This was very cruel to us - how could old men go out and buy insurance?" The least senior striker has 22 years in the plant.
One sign on the rally stage read "IBEW Local 175 fighting against Swedish discrimination." A leaflet put out buy ICEW has the headline, "There is a war in Tennessee and Sweden's business forces are holding Union jobs Hostage!!!"
The mining operation has been bought and sold many times over the years. The sign and leaflet refer to the current owner: Boliden Intertrade, a division of the Swedish parent company Trelleborg AB.
Describing conditions in the plant, B.J. Taylor, a
striker with the Boilermakers, said, "In August 1996, 700 of
us were tested for asbestosis and 400, including myself,
came up positive. The union-hired lawyers said that none of
us met the criteria to receive any benefits. All that
asbestos is still in the plant."
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