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Vol. 71/No. 24      June 18, 2007

 
On the Picket Line
 
Union painters picket N.Y. hotel
for hiring nonunion contractor
NEW YORK, May 30—Members of International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9 (DC9) have been picketing the New York Hotel here for hiring Infinity Painting, a nonunion construction contractor based in Brooklyn. Next to a 30-foot-tall inflatable rat, about 20 workers carry signs each day, saying "Infinity Painting—Unfair."

"They have no health benefits and really low pay, " Luis Mejía, a painter and DC9 member, told the Militant today. "And they work over eight hours a day."

Picketer Phil Person said Infinity workers don't get proper safety equipment, displaying an air filter and mask these workers are not given by the boss.

"We need this picket to go on," DC9 member David Simmons said. "More pickets means more jobs."

—Eddie Beck

New Jersey workers sue
Wal-Mart for unpaid labor
>New Jersey's Supreme Court authorized a class-action lawsuit by 72,000 current and former Wal-Mart workers May 31. The state high court overturned rulings by two lower courts that had denied class-action status to the suit.

The lawsuit charges that the bosses forced workers to work off the clock through meal and rest breaks and locked them inside the stores after clocking out.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, faces 70 lawsuits over wages and hours nationally. Workers in Pennsylvania and California won $78 million and $172 million settlements, respectively, though Wal-Mart is appealing both verdicts. Workers in Pennsylvania are seeking an additional $72 million.

—Eddie Beck  
 
 
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