Southwest Airlines reaches 4-year contract with one union, but more labor fights loom
Southwest Airlines reached a four-year contract with its customer service agents and customer representatives, the Dallas-based airline announced Wednesday.
Union Partnerships With Progressive Groups Crucial To Labor Movement's Future, Experts Say
Labor leaders gathered to discuss the future of American unions and the critical keys to their survival at a University of Chicago panel discussion Thursday night. Progress Illinois details highlights from the talk.
Right to work’s value still hotly debated
New Mexico business associations are discussing the state’s need for a right-to-work law, spurred by New Mexico’s courtship of Tesla’s battery factory.
Why workers still need unions
A society with good, strong unions is more democratic than one without them.
Savvy Service Employees International Union 'keeps light on'
Donna Hoge walked to the U.S. Steel Tower, letter in hand, side-by-side with union officials.
... Her letter was addressed to the health care giant's CEO, Jeffrey Romoff, protesting the “poverty wages” paid to her and the 150 SEIU members at Sherwood Oaks, almost half of whom the union said made less than $10 per hour while Romoff earned $6.6 million in 2012.
Union labor losing ground in U.S.
It was, sure enough, labor unions in the early 20th century which caused the minimum wage, overtime pay, a 40 hour-5 day work week and the banishment of child labor. Plus, probably, a bunch of other things I’m leaving out.
Could This Be the Senate Race Where the Koch Brothers Meet Their Match?
Koch-affiliated money is pouring into Alaska like never before. Labor unions are going all out to fight back.
Viewpoint: People’s Veto of a Union-Busting Law Holds Lessons
This November marks the third anniversary of a major labor movement victory: the defeat of Ohio’s union-busting Senate Bill 5, 62 to 38 percent, in a public referendum. The people’s veto of SB 5 was a triumph of organization, and of labor’s ability to tell its story to ordinary people.
Civilian workers union rejects proposed labor deal with City of Omaha
A proposed labor deal between the City of Omaha and its civilian workers went to a vote of union members this week, but the proposal failed.
GOP sharpens knives to cut political spending by labor
...if Republicans win control of the Senate in November, with key lawmakers planning to reintroduce legislation that would effectively cripple the ability of unions to raise political funds.
End of the line for railroad conductors? Not so fast, unions say
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Austin firefighters union rejects labor contract with the city
The Austin Firefighters Association has rejected a labor contract with the city that was proposed after approximately three months of negotiations.
AFL-CIO rallies against Ky. GOP, right to work
In a preview of what could be a fight for the life of American labor unions, AFL-CIO International President Richard Trumka was in Kentucky last week to rally forces prior to the November elections.
American Airlines, US Airways Workers Vote Overwhelmingly To Join Union
Thousands of service agents at American Airlines unionized with their new colleagues at U.S. Airways on Tuesday, making the most of last year's airline mega-merger.
With Labor Unions Weakened, Everybody’s Working for the Weekend
Americans are working longer hours, with fewer benefits, than other laborers of the world.
Public Attitudes About Labor Unions, 1936-Today
Gallup has been asking the public about their approval of labor unions since 1936.
Thank a union worker
Written by Callie Vandewiele
It’s a familiar routine: Walking into work, stowing your coat near your desk or in the break room. Nabbing a cup of coffee and then wandering down the hall or across the floor.
You clock in, and start counting down. Two hours until your breather. Three hours, 59 minutes to lunch. Just under eight and a half hours until you are headed home — or into overtime.
Minimum wage or contracted double digits. It’s all the same, whether you work in a berry field, a high rise or a school. The American norm has become “working 9 to 5, five days a week.” Of course, not all our work schedules are so neat and tidy, but with Labor Day weekend coming up, it’s good to remember that American work weeks have not always had that standard.
At the height of the industrial revolution, entire families worked in factories. Men, women and their children were pulling 16-hour days six — and sometimes seven — days a week. Working conditions were brutal. Employees could be fired for getting sick or hurt. Wages were far below poverty level and families often went hungry, even with every member who could walk working.
It was in the 1790s, following in the tradition of Welsh Socialist reformer Robert Owen, that a group of carpenters in Philadelphia went on strike. Their demand? A work day that lasted from “6 to 6” and included two breaks for meals.
In the 1830s, the first general strike ever organized in the United States of America was headed by the Irish coal heavers, demanding a 10-hour work day. By the 1860s, the Chicago labor movement — one of the strongest in the nation — took up the cry, demanding an eight-hour work day and organizing protests and strikes throughout Illinois.
Their campaign was so successful that in 1869 President Grant signed the National Eight Hour Law Proclamation, a mostly symbolic gesture in support of the labor movement and its members.
On May 1, labor activist and Socialist party leader Albert Parsons led more than 80,000 marchers through Chicago on the first May Day Parade, all of them demanding a shorter workday and work breaks. Two years later, in 1886, the McCormick Plant Workers in Chicago went on strike, and on May 3 of that year, four union members were killed by police as they counter-protested the arrival of strike-breakers.
By 1890, the American Federation of Labor and the International Workingmen’s Association had agreed on an annual parade on May Day to recognize and support the efforts of union members and strikers across the world seeking to protect employee rights. By 1900, workers across the nation and across the trades had won the right to an eight-hour workday. In 1914, the Ford Motor Company reduced its shifts to eight hours and saw its profit margin double in two years as a result of the rising productivity of workers.
By mid-1915, in the shadow of World War I, strikers across the northeastern United States had brought the issue to national attention, and in 1916, Congress finally acted. The United States Adamson Act established an eight-hour workday for railroad workers, and included provisions for overtime pay, thus laying the groundwork for the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1937 — the standard to which every person who has ever worked an hourly job in the United States owes their 40-hour work week, standardized lunches and mandatory breaks.
As you pack up to head out on Labor Day, or get set to work a long holiday weekend, take some time to remember that the fight for the eight-hour workday spanned almost 150 years — and at points was violent and cost workers their lives. It sometimes seems impossible to imagine, but it’s a right for which American workers fought long and hard.
So enjoy that Labor Day picnic, and remember how important it is to protect hard-won rights that, more often than not, we simply take for granted.
Organize Scholarship Support From a Labor Union
More than 14.5 million American workers are in a union and have access to money for college and job training.
From postal workers to electricians, nearly every local union offers some kind of scholarship program for employees or their children.
By Matt Konrad
The coming Labor Day weekend signals the unofficial end of summer and the start of the school year for most students. It’s also a time to celebrate American labor and a perfect opportunity to explore scholarships available through the nation’s labor unions.
With 14.5 million current members, the nation’s unions cover a wide variety of workers, including more than 35 percent of public-sector employees. If you or one of your parents are among that group, the union can be an excellent place to find extra money for job training, certification or a college degree.
No matter which union you or your parents belong to, the Union Plus Scholarship Program should be the first stop for any scholarship seeker. Since 1992, Union Plus has awarded more than $3.6 million in scholarships to union members, retirees and their dependents.
Since Union Plus is a collaborative program started by the AFL-CIO, the application is open to students associated with a wide variety of unions. Scholarships range from $500 to $4,000 and while they’re not renewable, you can reapply each year you’re in school.
Union Plus Scholarships are open for application now through Jan. 31, 2015. While you’re there, check out the organization’s other resources, which include test-prep and textbook discounts, "Debt Eraser" grants and educational webinars.
Most nationwide unions sponsor scholarship competitions for members and their dependents, and these national contests can pay off in a big way.
If you have a parent who belongs to one of the two national postal workers’ unions, you’re in luck. The American Postal Workers Union offers high school seniors a four-year renewable scholarship worth $2,000 each year for college tuition. If you’re more interested in a vocational or technical education, you can apply for a $3,000 one-time award.
The National Association of Letter Carriers, a union of city-based mail carriers, offers five different options, including the $4,000 renewable William C. Doherty Scholarship.
Members and dependents of the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the two largest public services unions in the nation, also have a wide variety of scholarships to apply for. SEIU, which also covers health care and property-services workers, awards more than 50 annual scholarships via lottery, as well as competitive scholarships for those studying labor, the arts and social change. AFSCME provides college scholarship funding, along with internships and awards for short-term courses of study.
The national scholarships for union members and dependents don’t end there, either. Whether your parent is a teacher or a Teamster, there are nationwide competitions out there for you.
Of course, unions do much of their work on the local and regional levels, and their scholarship programs are no different. The United Auto Workers award a number of scholarships through the national union, through locals and through regional confederations.
One of the most lucrative is the $10,000 Richard T. Gosser Scholarship, offered to students in Ohio and Indiana by UAW Region 2B. High school seniors who plan to start college in the fall of 2015 can apply through Oct. 15.
On the city and community level, it pays to check every year with your or your parents’ local union. Just about every local offers scholarships, whether your parent is an electrician in Minneapolis, a camera operator in Hollywood or a grocery store employee in Washington.
Finally, some union-sponsored scholarships don’t even require union membership. The ILA Local 1408 Scholarship Fund was started in 1995 to benefit families of Jacksonville, Florida’s International Longshoreman Association. Since then, as college costs have continued to rise, the program has expanded, and now all high school seniors and returning college students in Jacksonville and four surrounding counties are invited to apply.
Happy Labor Day
As you're prepping the boat for the lake, or the grill for the BBQ, take a moment to reflect and remember the roots of Labor Day, which is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. For a brief history of this holiday, visit http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history.htm