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Unite the Fight for Union Construction Jobs & Community Needs

$400 million in public funds for safe schools, not Gayle Benson

by Gavrielle Gemma

Construction union leaders recently opposed a demand to redirect the $400 million in public funds for the Superdome renovation to meet the dire needs of the community during this time of crisis. Once again the capitalists and their politicians have managed to pit workers against the community over seemingly opposing interests. This scenario will never play out in favor of workers or the community. A new way forward must be forged.

Big oil tells workers their fate is linked to oil production. They want to convince their workers that what’s good for BP or Exxon Mobil is good for you. The oil industry had record profits for years, got billions in subsidies from the government, and destroyed the coast. Bloody wars were fought to increase the wealth of company shareholders. But when prices drop, working class communities take the blow. Oil profits are in offshore bank accounts, not in the pockets of workers. The owners take those profits out of state and pay little if any taxes. Yet they expect oil workers to pledge their allegiance to the company.

The planet cannot survive continued fossil fuel production. Oil workers and their communities should take the lead now in a movement to secure jobs at equal wages in renewable energy. Instead of allowing tax exemptions and subsidies to big oil, they should support a transition to clean energy jobs with a guarantee for equal wages or better.

Only bosses benefit from getting public funds, tax exemptions.

The labor of tens of thousands of steel workers created enormous wealth, which has been used by company owners to bring in new hi-tech mini mills. Hundreds of thousands of workers lost their jobs, and communities were destroyed. Despite this, the union jumped to support the bosses’ scheme to get tariffs on steel imports. Have tariffs benefitted the workers? No.

Corporate tax cuts and public funded rip-offs have not created jobs.

As of 2018 Louisiana lost $12 billion in taxes due to the legislature giving their friends and contributors tax exemptions while these companies made lots of profit. That $12 billion could have been invested in housing, roads, and childcare, creating thousands of living wage jobs. Thousands of construction workers would have been needed.

The Trump tax cuts were sold on the basis that this would stimulate hiring and good wages. Most of that money went to huge executive salaries, investors’ dividends and stock buybacks. The very same companies that profited from the tax cuts laid off thousands of workers.

$400 million in public funds to make schools safe, hire construction workers.

Gayle Benson is the richest person in Louisiana. The Bensons got their wealth by ripping off the public by hundreds of millions of dollars. They were also exempted from sales and other taxes. The Superdome was built with public money but the revenue it has produced has not returned money to the benefit of the Parish.

Construction workers have been hard hit in this depression. Work for union members is especially hard to come by and often depends on publicly funded projects. It’s understandable the construction trades support this giveaway of public funds. But other workers are suffering also. There is enough for all if we fight together.

Together we should demand that public money used for school re-openings. The schools are not safe from COVID-19. School facilities are lacking in every way from plumbing, reconfiguring classrooms, and especially proper air filtering.

$400 million should be used to hire construction workers to make these schools safer. This would require carpenters, laborers, plumbers, steamfitters, HVAC, and more. The community would welcome this to protect the children, staff, and communities, and provide construction jobs.

The trades might answer: “That’s all in the future. We need to feed our families now!” No one expects workers not to show up for work at the Superdome. What we suggest is that at the same time they start a campaign for public funds for workers and communities now.

The labor movement—especially the construction trades—needs a new fighting strategy to win a better world for all working people.

*This author of this article was married for decades to a union steamfitter and knows the ups and downs of construction work, unemployment, loss of health benefits in down times, and the dangerous nature of this work.

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S&WB NEEDS A UNION, NOT PRIVATE CONTRACTORS

by Sanashihla

Sewerage and Water Board (S&WB) workers are right to collectively demand pay increases and safe work conditions. Too often the Mayor of New Orleans and the Executive Director of the S&WB (whose yearly pay recently increased from $265,000 to $295,000) hold press conferences touting “their” great work, but it’s the labor of the workers that really move the city forward.

The workers ought to be the ones administering the city-wide utility service. Their knowledge and expert skills make them the best authority to decide how the city’s resources are best used to meet the needs of the community.

In August, it was revealed that a private contractor named Olameter was hired to increase meter readings. A local reporter exposed that, “the contract calls for Olameter to be paid $37.97 per hour for each of the 20 workers being provided under the contract, with an expenditure cap of $500,000 over three months. S&WB meter readers are paid $13 an hour, though S&WB’s spokesperson, Courtney Barnes, maintains that the utility has been working to get the city’s Civil Service Commission to raise wages.

It’s not the workers who benefit when city contracts are awarded to the friends of city officials. The workers are cheated again when high utility bills cut into their already low wages. The way out of this exploitive situation is not to gripe about how bad things are, but to organize.

The S&WB workers shouldn’t wait on the Civil Service Commission to give raises. Raises can be won through worker solidarity and an organized effort to push workers’ demands. To wage this fight, the workers need an independent union.

“Where there is no union, fight for one. Where there is a union, fight to make it fight!”

It is the legal right of workers to unionize, even in a right to work state. Organized, the workers could decide that instead of hiring 20 temporary workers to be paid at twice the rate of full time workers, all employees would be hired full time on a permanent basis, with living wages and safe work conditions.

The S&WB workers don’t need the Civil Service Commission, nor private contractors, nor high paid overseers to direct and control them. The S&WB would operate so much more efficiently if the workers were in control.

Public support for S&WB workers is present, because this is the same S&WB that is notorious for guesstimating bills and overcharging residents. Support for S&WB workers will only rise when the workers unite in solidarity across departments and job roles and fight for their collective rights! When we fight, we win!

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Statement from Unions in Support of Work Stoppages for Black Lives

“Last week’s actions by professional athletes in the NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB, and professional tennis are a call to action for all of the labor movement.

“They remind us that when we strike to withhold our labor, we have the power to bring an unjust status quo to a grinding halt. The status quo–of police killing Black people, of armed white nationalists killing demonstrators, of millions sick and increasingly desperate–is clearly unjust, and it cannot continue.

“As unions representing millions of workers across the country, we stand in solidarity with our comrades on the courts, on the fields, and in the streets. We echo the call to local and federal government to divest from the police, to redistribute the stolen wealth of the billionaire class, and to invest in what our people need to live in peace, dignity, and abundance: universal health care and housing, public jobs programs and cash assistance, and safe working conditions.

“Progressive labor leaders stood with the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We have a long history of supporting the Black Freedom Movement and we will not stop now. The labor movement and the Movement for Black Lives are each other’s keepers, and we are ready to work together to do what we must to win justice for our people. We support the demands for racial justice echoing throughout this nation, and the simultaneous call for a more just economy. We will use our strength and influence to make sure organized labor is on the right side of history in this moment.”

Signed by:

AFSCME Local 526

AFSCME LOCAL 2822 Hennepin County Clerical

AFSCME 3800 – U of MN Clerical Workers

Autonomous Design Union

Berkeley Federation of Teachers

Campaign Workers Guild

Chicago Teachers Union

Committee of Interns & Residents/SEIU

Cook County College Teachers Union – Local 1600

Detroit Federation of Teachers

Fight for $15

ILWU Local 142

International Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

Labor Notes

Madison Teachers Incorporated

Massachusetts Teachers Association

Milwaukee Area Labor Council

Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association

Minnesota Workers United

National Union of Healthcare Workers

New Haven Teachers Association CTA, NEA

Nonprofit Professional Employees Union

NPMHU Local 322

Oakland Education Association

Peralta Federation of Teachers, AFT 1603

Pittsburgh LCLAA

Racine Educators United (REA-REAA)

Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania

Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rutgers PTLFC-AAUP-AFT, Local 6324

Saint Paul Federation of Educators Local #28

San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers

SEIU Healthcare IL/IN/MO/KS

SEIU Local 49

SEIU Local 73

SEIU Local 509

SEIU USWW

South Central Federation of Labor

Teamsters Local 251

UAW 2865

UFCW Local 7

Unemployed Workers United

UNITE HERE Local 274

UNITE HERE Local 2850

United Auto Workers Region 9A

United Educators of San Francisco

United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE)

United Teachers Los Angeles

United Teachers of Richmond

United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 36

Young Workers Committee of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council

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45,000 California Child Care Providers Win A Union to End Poverty Wages, Expand Service

Louisiana Child Care Workers Need a Union Too!

With a 97% yes vote for the union, childcare workers will be able to negotiate with the state for living wages, health care, and support services.

Nancy Harvey, childcare worker, said “We need a livable wage. It’s unfair and unjust for us to be caring for families and yet no one is caring for us.”

The union, Child Care Providers United, was supported by two unions, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Preschool childcare workers carry out one of the most important jobs yet they are grossly underpaid. Preschool teachers are six times more likely to live in poverty than K-12 teachers.

In California these workers receive payments from the state when they care for children from low-income families. Their union is fighting to get more funding for families. As of now, only 1 in 9 low income families receive subsidized care.

“For far too long, the needs of parents have been pitted against the needs of providers,” said Mary Ignatius, statewide organizer for Parent Voices California, a parent-led organization that advocates for more childcare subsidies. “Our providers are always sacrificing for families. I know that as they are getting to the table to improve their wages and livelihoods, I know at the same time they’ll be doing everything they can to improve access, because that’s who they want to serve, the most vulnerable children.” (Source: edsource.org)

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LGBTQ Workers Benefit from a Union

National union leaders and LGBTQ activists and allies at the Pride at Work Triennial Convention.

By Sally Jane Black

Whether it’s being fired for who we are or harassment over what bathroom we use, sexual assault from customers or offensive homophobic jokes from our bosses, LGBTQ workers often face hostile work environments, especially from bosses and owners. 22% of LGBTQ people face discrimination on the job, with LGBTQ people of color facing it far more often. Nearly half of all LGBTQ workers are in the closet at work because they fear discrimination.

To whom can you turn?

Laws Don’t Protect Us
Though Title VII laws were reinterpreted under Obama to allegedly protect LGBTQ workers, the current administration has rolled that back. The issue is now in the courts. There is no state-level law to protect you, and the city ordinance has no teeth (though the New Orleans Human Rights Commission has recently gained investigative powers, they still have no power to enforce the ordinance on the books). Even if there were laws to protect you, you don’t have the money to take anyone to court.

The cops won’t do anything. They’re on the side of the bosses. For most, there’s no way to fight back.

Solidarity is the Answer
In some workplaces, however, LGBTQ workers can turn to the union.
In 1988, workers in Boston organized and went on strike, taking on Harvard University. On their list of demands were raises, healthcare benefits, and protections for gay workers. The university came back with everything but the protections, and the workers refused to go back to work. After a few more days, Harvard conceded. They won the protections in their union contract.

Around the country, LGBTQ protections have become a common part of union contracts, and in union workplaces, LGBTQ workers have their contracts to protect them and the union to back them up.

“An Injury to One Is an Injury to All” is the spirit in which the organization Pride at Work fights against discrimination. Founded in 1994, Pride at Work supports LGBTQ union members around the country. The fight for workers’ rights must include ALL workers; by standing together, we win not just better wages and benefits, but protection from harassment, discrimination, and violence in the workplace. Only as organized workers standing in solidarity can we protect ourselves from homophobia and transphobia.

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Getting a Union is Part of the Freedom Struggle

34,000 unionized school personnel in Los Angeles made major gains in a strike this year.

Workers Have the Power—Let’s Use It!

Question: My wages suck and my boss treats me like sh*t. I never know how many hours or days I will work. I have no sick days or vacation pay. What can I do?
Answer: Under capitalism workers sell their labor to the boss. The boss then makes a profit from your labor. Unless you organize, the boss will pay you no more than the minimum. They can be racist or sexist and change all your conditions of work any way they want. There are few laws, and those that exist are hard to enforce. You can fight this with a union.

Question: That’s not right! We do all the work. Does it have to be this way?
Answer: No! I won’t say it’s easy, but you have to get together with the other workers at your job, stick together no matter what and make demands on the boss.

Question: Do we have to get a union to do that?
Answer: You can form a group of workers at your job first. You have a right to do that.

Question: Why get a union then?
Answer: It’s better to get a union because you’ll have more support. You will get a written contract that the boss signs and you can enforce it.

Question: I heard this is a “Right to Work” State. How is forming a union legal?
Answer: The bosses did get the politicians they pay off to pass a “right-to-work law.” The law is also called an “at will” law, which means the boss can fire you without reason. The law is wrong, but that law only limits on paper what unions can do. It does not ban unions.

The law in Louisiana says in Section 981: “All persons have and it shall be protected, in the exercise of the right to freely and without fear of penalty or reprisal, to form, join and assist a labor organization…”

Question: I heard a union just takes your money.
Answer: The boss says so you won’t want a union. Workers in unions or worker groups make much more than unorganized workers, plus benefits and more, so of course the boss says that.

Question: Can I get fired?
Answer: It’s illegal, but it happens. However, if you’ve organized the other workers and have solidarity and community support, the business can be pressured to rehire you. It is important to get other unions, other workers, family, and community involved.

Question: Why is this part of the freedom struggle?
Answer: Because organized workers have power. The power to fight for better wages, for a workplace without racism and sexual harassment, for sick pay and health benefits, for a right to fight a grievance against discipline or an unfair boss.

Question: Where can I get help doing this and learn how to get started?
Answer: Get in touch with Workers Voice, and we will help you get started: nolaworkersgroup@gmail.com.

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Union Workers Are Winning Gains

Working people fed up with low wages, high rent, and other injustices take note: You are not alone in your frustration. As the crisis of the global capitalist system continues, workers and op-pressed communities suffer. The upside is that more workers are fighting back by joining unions and going on strike.
This was becoming evident as even mainstream news outlets like CNN had to cover the incredible teacher strike wave of 2018, which has spilled over into 2019. Labor organizing among Amazon, USPS, and other workers also broke through into mass consciousness.

But now the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (the official federal agency that studies these things) has confirmed that the increase in labor activity is real.

According to a bureau news release on Feb. 8, there were at least 20 major work stoppages involving 485,000 workers in 2018. This is the biggest increase in the number of U.S. workers involved in work stoppages since 1986, when 533,000 workers engaged in strikes or walkouts. And this is the largest increase in the number of major work stoppages since 2007, a year that saw 21 such stop-pages, according to the bureau.

Ninety percent of striking workers in 2018 are in education, healthcare, or social assistance (e.g., childcare), fields not usually associated with militant labor activity. Strikes also occurred in many states often described as “conservative,” such as West Virginia and Kentucky. The longest major stoppage in 2018 involved the National Grid and United Steelworkers, began on June 25 and was on-going through 2018.

One aspect not covered by the bureau’s news release is the degree to which the strikes have been effective. The strike upturn is notable not only because of the number of workers involved, or the number of stoppages. It is also impressive that striking workers in 2018 tended to stick to their guns to the end, bosses to make concessions. Most of the big strikes that made the news resulted into new contracts, higher wages, and other gains.

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Unions Make Big Gains in Texas

As the present crisis of the capitalist world system continues, we are seeing organized struggle cropping up in places where movements have long seemed dormant. The increasing frequency of labor struggles in the south is a case in point.

Texas is usually described as a “conservative” and pro-business state. Like Louisiana, Texas workers lack many basic legal protections, whereas corporations are allowed to get away with barely paying taxes and health and safety regulations are scant. Texas has a poverty level close to that of Louisiana.

In 2017 alone, 81,000 Texas workers joined unions, increasing the states’ unionization level from 4 percent of the workforce to 4.7 percent. That’s still a low rate compared to some other states, but such growth in a single year is nothing to scoff at. It shows an increasing awareness on the part of the working class that we must organize and fight back.

It looks like the organizing is paying off, too. There have been big pushes for paid sick days in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas (Austin and San Antonio city councils have now passed ordinances mandating paid sick days, though reactionary state politicians who represent the bosses are challenging them in the courts). With the union, Unite Here!, 500 Hyatt employees won the first ever contract for workers in San Antonio’s famous River Walk tourist area in 2015. Despite challenges from the United Airlines bosses, United catering workers in Houston have made progress and will soon be able to vote on unionization, along with fellow employees in Newark, Denver, San Francisco, and Honolulu

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Teachers and Staff Across the Country Prove that Getting Organized and Going on Strike Works!

Business as usual in this country has been disrupted as a historic teacher strike wave has spread from West Virginia to Oklahoma. Teachers have gone on strike (all in supposedly-conservative states).

Teachers demonstrate in W. Virginia
It began in West Virginia on February 22, after Governor Justice signed legislation giving teachers a 2% pay increase. Teachers knew that this was inadequate to cover living costs and did not address other concerns, such as the long-time, intentional underfunding of public schools. With the support of parents and students, teachers and school staff shut down schools in all 55 counties for nine days. The teachers reached an agreement with the state, resulting in a 5% raise for all state workers and a freeze on raising health insurance costs.

Similar strikes have occurred in Kentucky, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado. In most of these states, it is “illegal” for public sector workers to go on strike. These teachers, are setting an incredible example of courage and determination. All workers—the poor, the oppressed, the unemployed, and imprisoned—can learn from this struggle. When the people get organized and act in unison, major change is possible.

The Latest on Oklahoma
The Oklahoma strike ended on April 11, after nearly two weeks. Oklahoma has been undergoing a crisis of education, as teachers have left the state in recent years due to low wages and underfunded schools where students have been forced to use battered, outdated textbooks and only attend school four days out of the week. The strike has forced the state legislature to raise oil taxes, bringing in $450 million for education. On average, teachers will receive a raise of $6,100 per year as a result of the new funding.

Teachers in Louisiana resist, too
Educators, school staff, students and families face terrible conditions in Louisiana–both in New Orleans and throughout the state. In January, Deyshia Hargrave, a middle school teacher in Vermillion Parish, made national news.
Hargrave stood up at a school board meeting and asked about teacher salaries, saying “I have a serious issue with a superintendent or any person in a position of leadership getting any type of raise. It’s a slap in the face to all the teachers, cafeteria workers, or any other support staff we have. We work very hard with very little to maintain the salaries that we have…We’re doing the work. The students are doing the work. At the top, that’s not where kids learn. It’s in the classroom.”

As a result, Hargrave was handcuffed and removed. Hargrave was not charged, and because of her courage, she received massive support online. A mass rally of educators and supporters was also held in Abbeville. Hargrave was one of the main speakers.