Transport Workers Solidarity Committee

While UPS makes multimillionaire profit, they fire workers from UPS-Madrid Vallecas

http://www.litci.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1709:while-ups-makes-multimillionaire-profit-they-fire-workers-from-ups-vallecas&catid=22:spain
While UPS makes multimillionaire profit, they fire workers from UPS-Vallecas
Written by Worker’s Committee of UPS Vallecas
Tuesday, 31 August 2010 23:14
To UPS workers all over the world

Dear colleagues,

First of all, we want to inform you that on the 30th of july UPS started to fire the employees of Vallecas (Madrid), up to now, they have dismissed up to 18 colleagues.

During the last two years, the company has presented three Layoff Plans (said “ERE” in Spain, official procedure to request to the Administration the workers contract termination), in order to fire most of the employees of UPS Vallecas and to modify the working and financial conditions of the remaining ones, including to put an end to our signed up collective agreement.

After much struggle, the first two Layoff Plans and their respective legal appeals were defeated by the Administrations (Ministry of Labour and Madrid Regional Authority), that denied in a categorical way the existence of any reason for the dismissals. Finally the management of UPS resolved to withdraw the third one before the Administration would deny it again.

The Friendly Skies? Airline pilots work conditions and public safety
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRDUAx9ew04
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The Friendly Skies? Airline pilots work conditions and public safety
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thericksmithshow | August 31, 2010
Rick talks to MEC Chairman Chuck Martinak about the state of the airline industry since deregulation, working conditions, and the union's contract negotiations. The Rick Smith Show Where Working People Come to Talk
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9/1/2010 World action day to back Turkish UPS workers

World action day tomorrow backs Turkish UPS workers
Trade unions in over 40 cities worldwide will demonstrate their solidarity with sacked Turkish UPS workers tomorrow, September 1, in an action day coordinated by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation).

The international protest is being held in response to reported intimidation and sackings of workers who opted to join Turkey’s TÜMTIS trade union. Since April 2010, 157 employees of UPS Turkey have been dismissed without any application of the procedures specified by Turkish law. All of the dismissed workers are union members or were interested in union representation. On 2 July 2010, the conflict escalated even further when the manager of a sub-contractor fired shots at the office of a notary public in Izmir where, union representatives reported, he had been trying to force workers to resign their union membership (see www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/4662/region/1/section/0/order/1)

TÜMTIS President Kenan Ozturk explained: “UPS workers in Turkey face aggression. International support will send a clear message to UPS that anti-union activity is not acceptable. Global workers' solidarity can help to defeat an attack by employers.”

Activists tell shipping firm Zim -- Israeli ships not welcome in Vancouver
http://rabble.ca/news/2010/08/activists-tell-shipping-firm-zim-israeli-ships-not-welcome-vancouver
Activists tell shipping firm Zim -- Israeli ships not welcome in Vancouver
BY BOYCOTT ISRAELI APARTHEID COALITION | AUGUST 24, 2010

Vancouver - Port truck traffic slowed to a crawl along the Deltaport causeway as a group of about 50 protesters approached drivers with leaflets containing information about the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. They also offered the drivers coffee and muffins in a gesture of solidarity. The protesters were there to draw attention to the fact that the Israeli container ship Zim Djibouti had landed in Vancouver to unload its containers.
Zim is an Israeli shipping company, one of the largest in the world.
"This action was part of the growing international campaign to pressure Israel to comply with international law and stop killing innocent civilians," said Gordon Murray, spokesperson for the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Coalition (BIAC).
"Workers in South Africa, Scandinavia, the United States, Turkey and India have already responded to the Palestinian call for action to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza and the suffering it is causing," said Mike Krebs, BIAC's other spokesperson.

IBT BLET Rail Members Save the Right to Vote For Their Top Officers

http://tdu.org/blet-right-to-vote
BLET Members Save the Right to Vote
August 30, 2010: By an overwhelming vote of 6,305 to 2,452, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) in the Teamsters have saved the Right to Vote for their top officers.

BLET members won the Right to Vote in 2006, by a smaller margin and lower turnout.

That was before three of the union’s top officers left in disgrace for misusing tens of thousands of dollars of union funds, double-dipping on expenses, and soliciting a $20,000 bribe from an attorney.

Members Organize

In December, officials from Divisions 13, 98, 155, and 236 started circulating petitions to take away the Right to Vote, and the issue was put to a referendum vote. Behind the scenes, top BLET officers campaigned hard to take away members’ democratic rights.

Right away, rank-and-file members and local officers mobilized to protect their rights.

“The Right to Vote gives us the tools to hold our leaders accountable, punish officers who violate our trust, and root out corruption from our union,” said Hugh Sawyer, President of BLET Division 316 and a member of TDU’s Steering Committee, in a letter that was mailed to all BLET members.

AC Transit Bosses and Board Blames ATU 192 Drivers For Making Cuts In Service To Community

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/31/BAO31F5UPE.DTL
AC Transit pushes severe service cuts

Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Michael Macor / The Chronicle
AC Transit will propose, among other things, slashing its weekend service by half and eliminating some overnight lines.

AC Transit could slash its weekend service by half, eliminate all but two of its overnight bus lines and shorten service hours on all routes in a series of budget cuts the transit agency is blaming on its drivers' union.

The East Bay's largest bus transit agency plans to announce the proposed budget cuts at its Wednesday Board of Directors meeting in Oakland.

The transit district, enmeshed in a battle with its largest labor union, had planned to cut service by about 7 percent this month but put off those reductions after a judge prohibited the agency from imposing working conditions, designed to save $15.7 million, on its drivers and mechanics, and ordered them to let an arbitrator settle the contract dispute.

AC Transit officials said that they now need to make much deeper cuts - slashing service to a level not seen in at least 24 years, perhaps ever - in December.

New York Taxi Workers Alliance Appeal For Funds For Cab Driver Ahmed Sharif Family Support Fund

http://www.nytwa.org/
Home
Ahmed Sharif Family Support Fund

Stabbed cabbie out of work, worries about feeding family (CNN)

On behalf of the Sharif family, we would like to express our gratitude for the heart-warming support from our fellow New Yorkers and to our neighbors across the country. Many of you have generously sent in donations to the family through NYTWA. We thank you for this kindness and ask for further support.

Amount: $

Please write in the memo, "Ahmed Sharif Family."

Checks and money orders can be made payable to, "Ahmed Sharif"
Mail to:
Ahmed Sharif
c/o New York Taxi Workers Alliance
250 Fifth Avenue, Suite 310
NY, NY 10001

We will deliver the monies immediately to the family as they come in and send you a receipt signed by Ahmed for acknowledgment. Thank you.

No More Ahmed Sharifs! Support Taxi Workers Struggle for Protection!
Join Ahmed and the countless other driver victims of violence on the job and call for the state to enact the Taxi Driver Protection Act! The bill was passed with overwhelming support in the NYS Assembly and Senate, and is now awaiting the signature of the Governor. Call on Speaker Silver to send the bill to the Governor's desk for signing and call on the Governor to sign NOW!

Del Monte to shift port cargo from Camden to Gloucester- Attack On ILA Longshore Workers

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20100828_Del_Monte_to_shift_port_cargo_from_Camden_to_Gloucester.html
Posted on Sat, Aug. 28, 2010

Del Monte to shift port cargo from Camden to Gloucester

By Linda Loyd

Inquirer Staff Writer

In a move that changes labor dynamics on the Delaware River, Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. is shifting 75 ships and a half-million tons of banana cargo annually out of Camden and south to privately owned Gloucester Terminals L.L.C., which employs less-costly labor.

The switch is seen as devastating to the International Longshoremen's Union, which says it will lose 200 to 300 jobs, or 400,000 ILA labor hours a year on the river.

Although Del Monte's lease does not expire with South Jersey Port Corp. until 2020, its labor agreement with Delaware River Stevedores, which employs ILA workers in Camden, expires at the end of this year.

Six weeks ago, Del Monte challenged DRS and the longshoremen's union to come up with about 25 percent, or roughly $5 million, in wage savings, said Robert Palaima, president of Delaware River Stevedores.

Del Monte also asked South Jersey Port Corp., which runs the Broadway and Beckett Street Terminals in Camden, to come up with changes.

CA AFL-CIO Fed Endorsed Anti-Labor Mayor Newsom Attacks SF ATU 250 A Muni Drivers With New Fee-CA AFL-CIO And SFLC Endorsed Candidate For CA Lt. Governor

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/30/BAU61F4LNB.DTL
Time for Muni drivers to pay to park

Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross

Monday, August 30, 2010

MATIER & ROSS
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Alameda Fire Chief David Kapler's car troubles 08.22.10
More Matier & Ross »
Muni drivers, who recently refused to forgo their legally mandated pay raises, are about to be hit with an $80-a-month charge to park their cars at work.

The new fee to park at Muni yards comes to $960 a year, or about a third of drivers' 5.75 percent raise.

Until now, drivers were allowed to park for free at the city's bus yards.

So were most of the transit agency's other 2,000 employees, who will be hit with the same parking charges, according to a memo that Municipal Transportation Agency chiefNathaniel Ford just sent out with everyone's paychecks.

Agency spokesman Paul Rose insists that "this is not about paybacks. This is about finding alternative ways to improve our service for our customers."

American Mechanics Shoot Down Tentative Agreement, Move Closer to Strike

http://www.bnet.com/blog/airline-business/american-mechanics-shoot-down-tentative-agreement-move-closer-to-strike/2206
American Mechanics Shoot Down Tentative Agreement, Move Closer to Strike
By Brett Snyder | August 27, 2010Comments

The apparent labor peace atAmerican Airlines (AMR) is looking more like a temporary blip. In the latest development,American’s mechanics and stores clerks have handily defeated “tentative” contract terms presented by their union leaders, making a strike vote highly likely — even though the feds would most likely put the kibosh on any actual work stoppage.

Airline labor relationships are incredibly messy thanks to the governing Railway Labor Act. This law effectively means that airline (and rail) labor contracts never expire. They just become amendable, so there’s no urgency. Management and labor generally poke along at negotiations for years. In most cases, a tentative agreement will, at some point, be presented to the membership for a vote. If it fails, negotiations continue for a while longer until the sides declare an impasse and workers go on strike. The president can legally bar a strike, and with airlines growing larger and larger, it’s doubtful that the Obama administration would allow one at any of the big guys.