Publications

January 25, 2006

A GREAT WIN IN IOWA

AFSCME/Child Care Providers Together (CCPT) has turned in thousands of signed cards demonstrating overwhelming support from the state's 6,000 registered family child care providers — just one day after Governor Vilsack (D) signed an executive order permitting them to organize and negotiate for better wages, benefits and improvements in Iowa's child care system. If certified to represent the providers, AFSCME/CCPT will "meet and confer" with state officials to develop a contract. The providers, who have been building their union with AFSCME during the past year, then will have a voice in the decisions that affect their work. Meanwhile, AFSCME's efforts have been complicated by the last-minute intervention of SEIU, which is also attempting to represent the providers despite their lack of support for SEIU.

REPORTING ORGANIZING WINS IN ...

Illinois, where 248 clerical, technical and professional workers employed by the state Toll Highway Authority joined Council 31 this month through card check; since last October, 154 other state workers, including accountant supervisors, staff development specialists and public information coordinators have chosen to form a union with the council via the same route; more than 1,000 state employees have joined the council's existing bargaining units since card check was authorized there in 2003. North Dakota, a state with no collective bargaining law, where 80 dues-paying members from maximum- and minimum-security facilities in Bismarck joined Council 59 on Jan. 1; in so doing, the group became the union's first statewide correctional unit; total membership has since grown to around 100, says Council Exec. Dir. Paul Aylward; organizing is also underway at a medium-security prison in Jamestown.

OREGON STRIKE PAYS OFF

Some 330 employees of Josephine County, represented by Local 3694 (Council 75), have overwhelmingly ratified a new contract that followed a four-day strike two weeks ago. The agreement — retroactive to July 1, 2005, and running through June 30, 2007 — still must be approved by county commissioners, who will meet to discuss it on Jan. 25. Contract details were not immediately available. The workers, employed primarily in the Mental Health, Public Health and Community Justice departments, demanded action with their feet when talks broke down. Local 3694 expanded its picket lines to neighboring Jackson County to protest the latter's sending managers and non-union personnel to fill jobs at some Josephine County agencies.

PRESSURE BUILDS

Some 400 employees of the Human Services Department of Allegheny County, Pa., voted to authorize a strike if their contract negotiations fail to produce an acceptable result. No date has been set, and Richard Caponi, director of Council 84, remains hopeful that talks will still prove successful. The last contract expired Dec. 31, 2004.

KEEP IT OPEN!

Indiana Council 62 and the International are fighting in court to stop the state from closing Silvercrest Children's Development Center in the town of New Albany. The lawsuit requests both a temporary and a permanent injunction to prevent the closure, which would result in about 50 disabled children — many with autism — being shipped elsewhere, plus the loss of all the jobs of the workers who care for them; their local, 3734, represents about 50 direct care aides and nurses. Parents and guardians have joined the suit, which claims that the state cannot close the center without the approval of the legislature.

NATION AT RISK

AFSCME and several other unions are asking the Bush administration to issue an "emergency temporary standard" to protect Americans – including 15 million health care workers and first responders — in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak. President McEntee says the administration's voluntary-guidance plan provides a woeful lack of protection, supplies insufficient information on respiratory protections and downgrades previous health standards. Other signatories to the petition: the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, Communications Workers of America, United American Nurses and United Steelworkers. For more, check the Web: www.afscme.org/health/panflu.htm.

'UNION SPRING BREAK'

AFSCME is offering its first-ever Union Spring Break, a weeklong crash course in organizing for college seniors. In five intensive days in class and on a real campaign, they will learn the nuts and bolts of organizing, working side by side with AFSCME organizers. Help us identify outstanding young men and women who would be interested in participating in this fast-paced, fun and meaningful experience. Applications must be received by Feb. 28. There are three sessions in March: 12-17, 19-24 and 26-31. Spread the word to friends, neighbors, relatives or any other promising college senior who wants to make a difference; point them to www.unionspringbreak.org.

ANOTHER STEP FOR BELLEFONTAINE

Parents and friends of the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, near St. Louis, Mo., filed suit recently as part of the ongoing effort to keep the 81-year-old facility open. Council 72 has also been pressing the legislature to save it in the face of closure efforts by Governor Blunt (R).


 

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