There are 15 million unemployed people in our country and another 9 million underemployed. In July, we lost another 131,000 jobs. That included 71,000 private-sector layoffs, but also 48,000 jobs eliminated by state and local governments. July’s dismal numbers follow those of June, when 221,000 people lost their jobs.
The vast majority of warehouse workers in Will County, Illinois – a huge hub for the logistics industry near Chicago – are temps who are paid poverty wages and receive no benefits. Those are among the findings in an eight-month study and survey of those workers on their economic status and working conditions conducted by Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ). The findings of that study were released by WWJ on August 16, in a report titled “Bad Jobs in Goods Movement: Warehouse Work in Will County.”
UE Local 170 members are mobilizing against efforts by the state to privatize information technology (IT) jobs. On July 14, nearly 100 state Office of Technology employees showed up for a union press conference outside their workplace in the Capitol Complex – turning it into a rally against outsourcing. UE members say that state’s plans would not only wipe out jobs, but would endanger the privacy of West Virginia residents.
With a 70 percent “yes” vote, members of newly-affiliated UE Local 735 employed at Autoline in Butler, Indiana on July 10 ratified a three-year agreement that was the result of hard-fought negotiations. Autoline workers voted in April to affiliate their independent union with UE, as they faced attacks by the employer on conditions in the shop and harsh concessionary demands at the bargaining table.
Members of UE Local 799 have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new two year contract that includes a wage increase, contract language improvements, and no concessions. Members of the local include the food service workers, maintenance workers, custodians, bus drivers, mechanics and dispatcher for the Delaware City Schools in Central Ohio. Wages were increased by 1.5 percent effective July 1, and there will be a wage and insurance re-opener on July 1, 2011. There were no changes to current health insurance.
Media Matters, the media research and watchdog website, has compiled a report on the growing trend of vicious, slanderous attacks on unions by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and other conservative media.
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| Global solidarity: Top: Eight UE young activists from Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Jersey were among the 21 UE marchers in |
UE Local 1021 members approved a new four-year contract with Kraco Enterprises on March 24 by a two-to-one margin. Over the term of the agreement members will receive $1 in wage increases. They also significantly held the line against the company’s attempt to shift the cost of healthcare premiums onto the workers.
UE Local 1103 members have ratified a new three-year contract with their employer, Tramont Corp. The workers, who manufacture diesel fuel tanks for industrial use, were able to overcome the company’s push for takeways and negotiate a contract with gains.
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