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   Vol. 70/No. 2           January 16, 2006  
 
 
On the Picket Line
 
Northwest Airlines mechanics
vote to remain on strike

ST. PAUL, Minnesota—Mechanics and cleaners on strike since August 19 against Northwest Airlines rejected an offer December 30 to end the walkout. The unionists, members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), voted 1,258 to 965 against a contract that offered the strikers no jobs and would just reclassify them as laid off. Had strikers approved Northwest’s proposal they would have received four weeks’ severance pay and compensation for vacation time already accrued. In addition, Northwest promised not to challenge unemployment claims of strikers who had not taken other jobs. “I didn’t go on strike for a contract like this,” mechanic Mike Bauer told the Grand Forks Herald.

The company filed for bankruptcy in September and is seeking an additional $1.4 billion in pay and job cuts from the pilots, flight attendants, and ramp and baggage workers.

—Nelson Gonzalez  
 
Poultry workers in California
reaffirm fight for union rights

LIVINGSTON, California—Hundreds of Foster Farm poultry workers, their families, and supporters gathered December 18 for a holiday potluck dinner and union meeting. Members of the League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley, affiliated with the International Association of Machinists (IAM), continue their fight for union recognition and a decent contract.

At the potluck, Micaela Alvarado and Elivier Dealvaez, both coordinators for the union in the plant, explained the justice of their cause. They both showed repetitive motion injuries to their arms that resulted from the bosses’ speed-up of production. The workers are demanding a slower line speed to cut down on such injuries. The huge chicken plant processes 500,000 chickens a day.

The company has tried to intimidate workers by threatening to fire those who participated in three walkouts last month. No one has been fired, but 29 were demoted from their lead positions.

At a rally and picket line December 10 commemorating International Human Rights Day, Jim Beno, directing business agent of IAM District 190, pointed to the importance of the battle by workers at Foster Farms for the entire labor movement. It was held at a Dodge car dealership in Concord, California, where 22 workers are on strike to stop company cuts in medical and other benefits.

—Lea Sherman  
 
Stanford University workers
strike for a day in contract fight

STANFORD, California—Members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 715 struck Stanford University and its two hospitals on December 12. The hospital workers, who include nursing assistants, operating room assistants, food service workers, housekeepers, lab assistants, and others, have been working without a contract since November 13. Stanford wants to shift more health coverage costs to the workers, outsource union jobs, and transfer union workers to nonunion sites. The university also wants to shift employees’ pensions from a secure defined benefit plan to speculating on the stock market.

“Hospital workers were forced to take this action because Stanford refuses to bargain fairly for health care for our families, industry-standard wages, and secure jobs,” said Jesus Andrade, a hospital who is chair of the bargaining team. The union also wants to have some say in staffing levels, José Pérez pointed out. A lively rally and picket line drew support from others. Julio Solis, who worked 30 years in farm labor cutting lettuce and other crops, said, “I’ve never seen so much suffering among working people. The situation is getting worse.”

—Robert Dees  
 
Gas engineers in UK suspend
strikes to consider new offer

UDDINGSTON, Scotland—After a one-day strike December 12 by some 6,000 engineers employed by British Gas, members of the General, Municipal, and Boilermakers union have suspended further planned strike action to discuss a new company offer. Centrica, the parent company, has been seeking to close the final salary pension scheme to new entrants from the end of 2005. The new offer keeps open the final pension scheme for a further three months for 1,700 recent hires to join if they wish and £35 million (£1=US$1.73) extra funding for the pension fund.

—Pamela Holmes  
 
Greece: public sector workers
strike against new antilabor law

ATHENS, Greece—Thousands of public sector workers struck December 14-15 against a government draft law approved at a parliamentary session December 14. More than 5,000 union members rallied in downtown Athens the day of the vote. The new law denies newly hired public employees the right of permanent employment, which public sector workers have had until now. It also empowers government authorities to impose contract settlements in case of deadlock between the unions and the responsible state authority. Workers in public transportation, the state-owned oil refineries, electric company, phone company, state-owned banks, public education teachers, and civil servants joined the two-day strike.

—Georges Mehrabian  
 
 
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