We invite you to contribute short items to this column as a way for other fighting workers around the world to read about and learn from these important struggles. Jot down a few lines about what is happening in your union, at your workplace, or other workplaces in your area, including interesting political discussions.

TACOMA, Washington - "One day longer!" was a popular chant among the 200 strikers and supporters who rallied in front of the Kaiser Aluminum plant here October 18. It was the 19th day of the strike by 3,000 members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) against Kaiser plants in Louisiana, Ohio, and Washington state. The Tacoma plant employs 300 union workers and, according to USWA Local 7945, not one has crossed the picket line to join the strikebreakers Kaiser has moved onto the grounds of the plant.

The rally began with a few local politicians who are running for office speaking to the strikers and pledging support. Union officers urged strikers to turn out to vote in the upcoming elections.

Jim Woodward, a staff representative for USWA District 11, announced that two volunteers from each of the striking locals would be going to California to protest at the offices of Kaiser president Ray Milchovich. The crowd cheered when Woodward said the ship in the Port of Tacoma delivering alumina ore for production had been "tied up for 10 days, when it should be cleaned up and heading out."

The local has held successful pickets at the port over the past week, delaying the delivery of ore to both Tacoma and the smelter in Spokane.

The rally organizers then turned the program over to the strikers and their supporters, making the microphone open to anyone who wanted to speak. Several strikers took to the microphone to express their determination to win the strike and to reach out for solidarity. Neil, a pot operator on strike, said "We want a fair wage for what we are doing. We need all the unions to get together. We need an international movement of workers - not let them play us off against each other like they do now."

John Walston, chairman of the strike committee and vice president of USWA Local 7945, said "Our position here is to dig in. We have to go to each other. We have to go to our families." He then led chants including "Who are we? Steelworkers! What do we want? Contract!" and "One day longer!" Kaiser Aluminum demands include eliminating some jobs and contracting out others. The company has proposed annual pay raises of just 2.3 percent over the five-year contract, which workers consider inadequate.

Several members of other unions turned out to support the strikers, including the United Transportation Union; the Carpenters Union; the International Association of Machinists (IAM), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; and the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU). Many of the supporters also took the mike to express their solidarity.

The ILWU local in Tacoma has been sponsoring picnics for the strikers and their families. They are the workers at the Port of Tacoma who unload ships that supply Kaiser. One rank-and-file member of the ILWU told the rally, "[If] you stand shoulder to shoulder, nothing can beat you.. We have a saying in the Longshoremen's union `an injury to one is an injury to all' and we don't just say that, we mean it."

Others who addressed the rally included a young rank-and-file worker from the IAM local at Boeing, representatives from Jobs with Justice, and supporters from Canada. The union local's lawyer also addressed the rally. Last week Kaiser got a temporary injunction against the strikers, which limits the number of pickets on the main driveway going into the plant to four. The lawyer said the company was having a hard time getting a permanent injunction due to the discipline on the picket lines. He invited all the workers and their families to come to a hearing scheduled during the week on Kaiser's request for a permanent injunction.

After the rally, police used a loudspeaker from across the street to tell workers to move off of the driveway as they gathered to talk and keep the picket line going into the night. Kaiser has hired security guards to videotape the strikers and to escort scabs and management past the picket line into the plant.

London rail workers demand overtime pay
LONDON - "We were prepared to work weekends but we want overtime, at least 2 [more than] the hourly rate," said Stephen Kelly, a shop steward for the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Workers Union (AEEU) members building the Jubilee subway line extension, out of Waterloo Station.

The electricians working on the extension voted at a mass meeting to work a five-day week. They took this decision days after the September 28 European Union directive stating that the maximum working week should be no more than 48 hours. Kelly explained that all 600 AEEU members at 12 sites are supporting the action and losing about 200 a week.

"The dispute is about hours, not money. We want to have the choice to work the hours we want, not the hours the bosses want. If we didn't have a union they would have sacked us for doing this," Kelly said. "This is an unofficial action," he added. "We'd like to spread this action across London, because there is a major boom in the construction industry. We feel it's the time to get workers rights and conditions back."

Drake & Scull, the contractors at the sites, demand workers put in a 45-hour week, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. They're paid overtime after 40 hours. Glen Fletcher, an electrician's mate who works at the Waterloo site, said, "What the firm really wants is for us to work a 12-hour day, seven days a week." Shop stewards met with the company October 16 to put forward their demands. Another mass meeting will be called to decide the next stages in the fight.

Nursing home strikers demonstrate in Boston
BRIGHTON, Massachusetts -About 200 striking workers and supporters picketed and rallied in a steady rain October 8 outside the SunRise Care and Rehabilitation Home, a nursing home for the elderly in this suburb of Boston. The chain has 36 homes in Massachusetts. About 150 members of Local 285 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) struck the facility over pay - the starting wage is $7.10 per hour - and habitual short staffing. The strikers include certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, and registered nurses. Many of the workers are Haitian.

Luc, a Haitian-born worker and union activist, reported to the crowd, "We have employees with 20 years seniority and only making $10 an hour. Sometimes the staffing is so short I've been responsible for 25 patients at a time. It's impossible to care for people under those conditions."

The company has been hiring replacement workers.

The protest was organized by the Jobs with Justice Campaign. Several union delegations were present - students from Harvard, numerous city council members and state representatives, and prominent clergy. SEIU members from other homes in the SunRise chain were also present. Doug Daugherty, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, gave greetings and promised a $10,000 check to SEIU Local 285's hardship fund. Greetings were also given by Tom Buffenbarger, international president of the International Association of Machinists. Anna Burger, from the international executive board of the SEIU, announced a campaign of rotating picket lines at nursing homes around the country if SunRise does not bargain in good faith.

Six strike supporters sat in at the front lobby at the end of the rally and were arrested.

Workers are picketing each day from 6:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Protests took place October 24 at the Brighton nursing home and the company's Glenwood home in nearby Lowell.

Estelle DeBates in Seattle; Rose Knight and Shellia Kennedy, members of the Rail Maritime & Transport Union in London; and M.J. Rahn in Boston contributed to this column.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home