Union – RI Future

August 11, 2016August 18, 2016

J. Goodison employees fight to form a labor union

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In an attempt to convince management to recognize their efforts to form a labor union, employees of J. Goodison held an early-morning rally outside of the Quonset ship repair business.

“We need a union because of the respect that we need and the unity that we need and because of the good salary that we need,” said David Ozuna, who speaks little English and used a translator to communicate with the media.

So far, 32 employees have signed union cards with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, District 11. They are primarily sandblasters and hydroblasters, though they perform a variety of chores for Goodison, which does work primarily for the federal government. Sandblasters remove paint from boat hulls. The paint is often highly toxic and sandblasting itself can cause permanent skin and/or eye injuries. It’s very difficult and dangerous work that takes a toll on a body. Starting wages for these workers is between $10 and $12 an hour.

“They don’t give us the safety and the protection that we need to do our job,” said Osuna.

More than 30 workers, in addition to an equal or greater number of union organizers and progressive activists, held court on the Quonset-area road leading to Goodison starting at 6:30 this morning. They chanted, gave motivational speeches and, using a megaphone, implored company officials – who watched the action from afar – to negotiate with the workers.

“The company is going to try to divide you,” said union organizer Sam Marvin. “They are going to try to divide the strength you are showing today. The important thing is you have to be strong today, you’ll have to be stronger tomorrow and you’ll have to be stronger the next day. But you’re going to win this campaign and we’re going to be there with you.”

Another organizer said, “There are two ways the company is going to fight: with fear and with lies. You are going to win with solidarity and the truth.”

One woman who said she came on behalf of her church said, “What you are doing is hard, it is a struggle, but it is of God.”

State Representative Aaron Regunberg, who came from Providence to stand with the workers, said, “I am proud to join you all this morning. I am proud of all the workers who are standing up today to say you deserve better. You know they are not going to give you what you deserve, you have to win it. This is what the labor movement is all about. Keep fighting until you have what you deserve.” He told the employees that there are many in the General Assembly who support their struggle.

So far, 32 Goodison employees have signed union cards, said Jobs With Justice organizer Mike Araujo. There are 55 total employees at Goodison and about 40 have expressed interest in forming a union, he said. The employees and Jobs With Justice have been asking management to voluntarily recognize their union and they plan to file for an election this week, Araujo said. After they file for the election, they have two weeks to hold a vote. If a majority of employees vote for a union, Goodison then has one year to negotiate a contract with the union.

According to the company’s website: “J. Goodison Company was founded in 1999 and incorporated in 2001. It is a veteran-owned small business that has grown from its humble beginnings as a father and son operation to an organization that supports 30 full time employees and an additional 25-50 skilled labor and trade subcontractors. The Company’s list of clients includes but is not limited to government clients such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, NOAA, and the U.S. Parks Department. Similarly, the commercial clients list includes Senesco Marine, Boston Towing & Transportation, and Electric Boat to name a few. J. Goodison Company holds a GSA Contract and 9 Multi-Year IDIQ (Indefinitely Delivery Indefinitely Quantity) contracts with the U.S. Coast Guard.”

September 10, 2015May 7, 2016

The Verizon, union standoff and the future of privacy

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Within the past few years, the issue of privacy in telecommunications has become a major controversy. Following the revelations by Edward Snowden and the WikiLeaks organization, the role of the providers in collaboration with the National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies has become a subject of debate. On August 28, Jenna McLaughlin of The Intercept published a story on the ruling by the US Court of Appeals regarding bulk metadata collection by the government which involved Verizon’s cooperation.

Part 1: The Verizon, union standoff and the future of labor
Part 2: The Verizon, union standoff and the future of customer service, copper

My sources revealed to me that union members on the ground level of customer service have been able to access tools that collect metadata in ways that disturb them. There is one tool in particular, called the ‘spy tool’ or the ‘creepy tool’, that could be used in an improper fashion. Approval for its use is to be found in the small print of the Terms of Services agreement under the guise of ‘marketing’. The union does not have an official position on not using this tool, but some union members savvy of privacy ethics refuse to use it.

This tool is one which has the capability to allow the technicians to see how many television set-top boxes are within a residence. In many cases, the installation technician or customers will label the boxes based on the room, meaning therefore the customer service technician can see what someone watches in which rooms. The tool works as an aggregator and creates a profile of the customer, showing hours of television watched, what channels, how long on each channel, and other material. This sort of data collection and profiling is easy to gather and use in fashions that would be extremely dangerous. For example, if a stalker had access to this data, the person would be able to see what room their intended victim spends time in the most, at what hours, and, by understanding whether the person is watching a movie channel or one that is playing music, what level of attention is paid to the program. And in this era of cyber attacks and hacking, it is not a remote possibility that such instances could occur.

Some union members actively oppose using these tools because it causes technicians to ‘cross crafts’, something that leads to weakening of the union bargaining position. However, the obvious concerns over privacy and security are something that the union could address and take up as a cause, which is not without historical precedent.

An interesting example of unions taking up prominent civil liberties issues is the instance of their role in the racism struggles of African Americans. The American Federation of Labor collaborated with the government in the enforcement of segregation in the Gilded Age, leading to the formation of rival unions, such as the Industrial Workers of the World and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, both of which saw their ranks grow precisely because of their anti-racism positions. After the Red Scare and the merger of the AFL and the CIO, the leadership of the Civil Rights Movement were able to get key endorsements and support from labor. Indeed, a major backbone of the March on Washington was a large contingent of labor union members. Figures like A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin had cut their teeth in the labor organization movement of the 1930’s and ’40’s. Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act in part because of progressive voices from within the remnants of the New Deal coalition pledged their political support in the 1964 election against Barry Goldwater.

The 1963 March on Washington. The men in white hats behind King were members of the United Auto Workers.

Also in that case, there were both practical results for their union members, ending disparities in the lives of their members, and wider social results, collapsing the Jim Crow system. There are real issues to contend with, going up against the will of the military-police-industrial complex is fraught with major challenges. But after years of being championed by anti-union libertarians like Rand Paul, there would be a great level of support gained by labor if they took up the cause of privacy protection.

This is a fight we all need to be concerned about. In the next term, the Supreme Court is hearing a case that was tailor-made to decimate the Abood decision and revoke the right of unions to collect dues in public-sector workplaces. The Verizon struggle, if lost by the workers, would have the same effect on private-sector unions. If you have any ability, whether it be through money, agitation, or just a FaceBook post, stand in solidarity with Verizon workers. The stakes are too high to sit this one out.

Visit the Stand Up To Verizon website by clicking here.

The CWA can be reached at 401-275-0760.

The IBEW can be reached at 401-946-9900.

September 8, 2015May 7, 2016

The Verizon, union standoff and the future of customer service

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Previously I posted a story regarding the current standoff between the IBEW and CWA with Verizon in regards to its impact on the labor movement. This post will discuss how a strong unionized workforce impacts the customer service of subscribers.

The issue of customer service is fundamentally an issue of unionized labor. If the call centers are unionized, then the customers will get quality service. Furthermore, if the service is union-certified, it carries with it a level of insurance that can be the difference between life and death. That might strike some as a bit hyperbolic, but anyone who has ever dialed 911 knows exactly what I mean.

The company has engaged in a series of practices intentionally meant to break the union, including the roll-out of automation tools that have hindered the ability of unionized workers and shortened shifts. For readers who are Verizon customers, they probably have begun to experience instances when they 4 out of 5 times have quality customer service, but then 1 out of 5 times they have had awful service. This is not an accident, it is because the company has been redirecting calls to non-union contractor offices either at vendor centers within the US or in Latin America where the labor force has no access to the services they are supporting. This is particularly gruesome because these laborers are subjected to brutal work regimens for little money and can be disciplined if calls last longer than a few minutes.

One source told me “If Verizon really cared about working families, they wouldn’t be paying basically what equates to slave wages in South America and minimum wages to folks in other vendor centers.” Should Verizon break the unions, customer service, which they do not care about, would drop significantly and it would be equivalent to Time Warner or Comcast, who have totally non-union help lines. A source told me that s/he sees the work of non-union customer service reps in the files of people s/he works with. S/he said there are problem-solving steps skipped, wrong answers, and a lack of literacy in the products being serviced because these workers are so poor they do not have access to these first-world niceties.

But there are other issues to consider. Currently, our internet and cable in America is the highest-priced for the lowest-quality service in the developed world. In comparison to South Korea, a nation that only exists because of the American military presence in the Pacific, we are a joke. Even Google Fiber and municipally-owned internet services embarrass Verizon. This lack of quality can be attributed to what is labelled by many as the ‘oligopoly’. In essence, the major cable companies have conspired to fix the prices and speeds of the utilities so to maximize profits and minimize user satisfaction. Our existing infrastructure is capable of much higher capacities but is intentionally prevented from reaching full potential by the corporations’ collusion and greed. A unionized workforce helps serve as a final barrier to complete corporate hegemony and consumer robbery.

But also consider the aforementioned copper cable. Currently, Verizon is allowing the existing lines, some of which are literally wrapped in paper, to rot. This is so they can roll out a wireless service that would cut back the necessary unionized workers significantly. The proposed method would be Verizon installs on every house an LTE X antennae that receives the broadcast video and data signals. Leaving aside the obvious health concerns to be raised by flooding the area with that many electro-magnetic bursts of energy, there is the issue of quality of service. Wireless phone service is inferior to copper cable, with higher wait times and fewer amenities. Also, important health and safety services, such as LifeAlert and 911, do not always work with wireless in the same fashion they do with copper cable. And when you are in a health emergency where seconds can mean life or death, a little bit of lag can result in a lot of grief.

Some of the infrastructure for wireless calling that would end copper cable as we know it has already been put in place. For example, in New York, Verizon Voice Link has already begun the roll-out of wireless-based landline phone service in certain circumstances. The Verizon Quantum TV set-top boxes contain chips that are unactivated but would serve as wireless IP set-tops and contain technology that could be used by the cellular network. Verizon claims this is about everything from customer satisfaction to environmental concerns. But the bottom line is simply busting the union and maximizing profits from the established LTE-X network.

As previously mentioned, it is vital that both customers and non-customers reach out to both Verizon and the unions to express solidarity. If you are a member of a faith community, consider both offering prayers and raising funds for the union should they strike. If you are a community leader, express public solidarity. Write your local newspaper, post on social networks, make a public show of solidarity. This is a winnable battle if the people unite.

Read the first part in this series here.

Visit the Stand Up To Verizon website by clicking here.

The CWA can be reached at 401-275-0760.

The IBEW can be reached at 401-946-9900.

December 9, 2014December 9, 2014

Students occupy admin offices to support Brown library workers

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At 3:40 p.m. on December 8, 30 students from Brown University locked arms, entered the library administration offices in the Rockefeller Library, and said, “We’re students in solidarity with library workers.” They were delivering a message to Harriette Hemmasi, the head librarian at Brown, as well as other upper library administrators. Hemmasi was not available.

With the hallway completely packed, Stoni Thomson—a member of the Student Labor Alliance at Brown—began, “I don’t know who is in charge here, but we have a message to deliver.”

The library administrators who were available did not respond and remained in their offices. One continued looking at his computer screen. Another sat in his chair and watched the chain of students file by his door.

Not swayed, the students in unison firmly stated, “We’re here to show our support of Brown library workers. We won’t stop until Brown agrees to a fair contract. And you haven’t seen anything yet. So now we’re going to “study-in.” We’re going to study here as a show of support to library workers.”

A solidarity clap began.

When the clapping subsided, Associate Librarian David Banush came out of his office and said, “This is not a public space for you to study in.” The students responded by sitting down and began study-ing in. Banush went back in his office and closed the door. Soon all the other library administrators’ doors closed.

A few minutes later, a Brown University public safety officer arrived and told the students they were creating a fire hazard. There was more clapping.

After the demonstration, Patrick Hutchinson, a library union worker, said, “I’ve been a union member for 40 years now…and this level of solidarity from the students is just unbelievable to me. It’s fabulous. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

This demonstration was done in support of library union workers who are currently in ongoing negotiations with Brown University. The previous contract ended September 31, 2014. Library union workers have been working without a new contract since then. The main concern for the union is staffing. Many areas in the library are currently understaffed. The union is also asking to be included in new work created by the library in its effort to remain current and relevant to the academic needs of Brown students.

I should add that my perspective on all this is very biased. I am a union member in the Brown library and I have been a part of the union negotiating team. In fact, my biases are so extreme and deep that I wholeheartedly applaud and support everything the students did in their demonstration of solidarity with library workers.

Video (and above photo) by Shirin Adhami:

November 28, 2014November 28, 2014

Black Friday Walmart protest in Providence

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About ten people turned out in the freezing cold in Providence Friday morning to protest the low wages and immoral business practices of Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer. Organized locally by members of Occupy Providence and attended by group members and allies, the small protest made an oversized impression with the public, if the honking of horns and positive response of the passing motorists was any indication.

The eye catching paper maché wolf, which made its first public appearance at the People’s Climate March in New York City in September was brought by Pia Ward of FANG (Fighting Against Natural Gas.)

This year’s Black Friday Walmart protests were organized nationally by OUR Walmart (Organization United for Respect at Walmart), a group fighting for a $15 minimum wage and fair scheduling practices of the kind recently enacted into law as the Retail Workers Bill of Rights in San Francisco. The organization of Walmart workers in Rhode Island has been lagging as compared to efforts in some states.

Marcia Taylor entered the store and attempted to deliver a letter to the store manager. She tells her story in the video below.

March 24, 2014March 26, 2014

Justin Katz: Management isn’t perfect after all

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The Procaccianti Group, the multinational real estate holdings corporation that owns the Hilton and Renaissance hotels in Providence where workers have been protesting and organizing a labor union to demand more humane working conditions, should treat their employees better, agreed Justin Katz and I on last week’s NBC 10 Wingmen.

“In a given circumstance, perhaps they should” form a union, Katz said and said the way they have been treated is “garbage from [employers].”

Katz deserves a lot of credit for this admission. Richard MacAdams, one of the board members for the vehemently anti-union political advocacy group he works for, is also on the chief legal counsel for the Procaccianti Group. I respect Katz for speaking his truth on this issue for the same reasons I respect the fired Hilton Providence workers for speaking theirs.

But, as per every episode, we also had some disagreement. Katz would prefer the invisible hand of the free market create better working conditions for the Hilton employees.

“What I don’t like the union union debate the way it sets it up unions have power to counteract business power,” he said. “If a company isn’t valuing its workers then that’s a problem with the company and we have to create an economic environment in which they suffer for that.”

In theory, everyone agrees I suppose. But from a practical point of view, unfettered capitalism simply doesn’t have an effective way to compel a multinational holdings company to pay poor people a living wage without workers organizing and making a stink about it.

News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England

March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

Coventry fire fighters take anti-union effort to state Supreme Court

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Central Coventry fire fighters aren’t giving up on the residents they protect. On Friday, they filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court to keep the embattled fire district operational.

“We believe there is no need for liquidation,” said Central Coventry union president David Gorman, adding that it would be dangerous and expensive for residents if the rural town’s largest and busiest fire district is eliminated.

“There is still no plan in place to provide protection,” Gorman said. “Everybody needs funding, no matter who answers the calls.”

Liquidating the district, he said, will prove more expensive than keeping it operational. He expects taxpayers will be responsible for the $8 million in contract obligations they have agreed to, and the state pension board would require retirement obligations, between $6 and $9 million, would need to be funded too.

Gorman said he has tried to negotiate with the local fire district board, but they won’t talk with him. “We believe we can make the budget numbers work but we haven’t been given the opportunity to do that for the past two years. I gave them a dollar and they never asked for two, or a dollar ten. They won’t talk to us. They want a new paradigm that doesn’t include union fire fighters.”

In a letter to fire district residents, The Central Coventry Citizens Taskforce for Fire Protection said fire commissioners did negotiate with the union. “Although the New Board tried to gets (sic) costs under control and save it, the level of concessions from the fire fighters union – where the bulk of the costs are – was simply insufficient.”

Gorman said the budget crunch in the Central Coventry Fire District began with a clerical error on a commercial tax bill. The error happened in 2010 and wasn’t remedied until an audit discovered one commercial property was not being billed, Gorman said. By then it had ballooned into $2.4 million deficit.

Rep. Patricia Morgan, a West Warwick Republican who represents a slice of Coventry, and anti-union activist Chuck Newton are leading a campaign to close the fire district. Gorman said the clerical error has been misrepresented as overspending. He said Morgan and Newton “hand-picked” anti-union residents to run for the fire district board and it is now “controlled” by the small government group that authored the above letter.

Newton, an East Greenwich resident, was instrumental in closing the fire district in that town. He was employed at the State House by the House GOP caucus but was fired for making a fake Facebook page about Rep. Scott Guthrie, who is a former North Kingstown fire fighter.

Gorman said both Newton and Morgan, neither of whom live in Coventry, are more concerned with busting the union than fixing the fire district. “It’s really shameful what they have done to this community,” he said.

March 15, 2014March 17, 2014

Workers demand human rights at Hilton Providence

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The first thing I noticed as I approached the Hilton Providence on Friday evening was the rented U-Haul truck parked conspicuously between the sidewalk where unionizing workers were staging their protest and the main entrance to the hotel.

The truck, placed so as to spare hotel management and guests the sight of underpaid and overworked employees advocating for fair wages and treatment, became a source of amusement and jokes among the protesters. When a gigantic 18-wheeler rumbled by emblazoned with a large “Teamsters” logo, chants of “We’ve got a bigger truck!” began, followed by laughter.

To highlight the abuse of workers rights alleged to take place at the hotel by the workers on the picket line, the protesters held a mock funeral for the United States Constitution. The document had a good run, said the protesters, only to be murdered by the Prociaccianti Group that owns and manages the hotel. Speaking in memory of the Constitution were Adrienne Jones, interviewed here at RI Future last Monday, and Krystle Martin, whose interview will be on this sight shortly, as well as many other workers and Providence Councilperson Carmen Castillo.

Since the unionization effort began, three union leaders have lost their jobs at the Hilton Providence and eight workers have been reprimanded, according to the organizers, so the Prociaccianti Group appears to be playing union busting hardball. Two of the fired workers, the aforementioned Jones and Martin, are single moms, leading some on the picket line to assert that the Hilton is targeting single mothers, who are more vulnerable economically. It’s hard to imagine more deplorable behavior.

Forming a union is an essential human right, and whatever efforts the hotel is undertaking to squelch the union is morally indefensible. The Prociaccianti Group is already bleeding business. The Unitarian Universalist General Assembly is bringing thousands of people to the Providence area this Summer, and they are not staying at the Hilton or the Renaissance (where workers are also batting for their right to unionize) in response to the hotel’s treatment of its workers. More groups are sure to follow.

Meanwhile, local media, including the rapidly declining Providence Journal and local TV news continue to ignore the plight of workers fighting for their rights, leaving coverage of this developing story to the Brown Daily Herald and RI Future. Stories about real human suffering and economic exploitation are beneath their notice, it seems.

March 14, 2014March 17, 2014

Hotel, fast food workers stand up for rights in RI

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There’s a bit of low-wage worker uprising happening here in Rhode Island.

Hilton Providence employees are holding an action to support their coworkers who were they say were fired for speaking out about the need for a labor union. A tweet from Unite Here 217 organizer Andrew Tillet-Saks called it a “Funeral for US Constitution to protest mass firings.” On Monday, Steve Ahlquist interviewed Adrienne Jones, who said she was fired from the Hilton Providence for speaking out. On Tuesday it was learned two employees were fired for speaking out about the work conditions at the downtown Providence hotel and seven others were disciplined.

And on Tuesday, the Rhode Island fight for $15 an hour for fast food workers moves from a Wendy’s in Warwick to a McDonald’s in Providence, where activists (I’m not sure about workers yet) will protest in solidarity with the McDonalds workers in California, Michaigan and New York are suing the corporation saying they were “illegally underpaid employees by erasing hours from their timecards, not paying overtime and ordering them to work off the clock.”

This from Rhode Island Jobs With Justice:

Fast-food workers have been at the forefront for economic justice. They’ve gone on strike, fighting for $15 and the right to form a union, fueling a national debate on income inequality and creating momentum to raise wages.

But in addition to not paying a decent wage, fast-food companies are making it even harder for their workers to afford even the basic necessities by stealing their wages. That’s why fast-food workers are making their voices heard again.

Join fast food workers from RI and community allies on TUESDAY, MARCH 18th, at 12:30, at the McDonald’s at 343 Broad St. in Providence, as we stand in solidarity with workers across the country who filed a national law-suit against wage theft at McDonald’s!

March 11, 2014March 17, 2014

Hilton employees say at least two have been fired for supporting union

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Adrienne Jones isn’t the only one. According to a press release from Unite Here Local 217 two people have been fired from the Hilton Hotel in Providence for supporting an effort to form a union and several others disciplined. Nick Spino, who delivered room service, was the other.

“Since workers presenting management with their petition February 18^th, management has terminated two public leaders for arbitrary reasons, suspended-pending-termination another, and issued arbitrary discipline to no less than seven workers at the forefront of the workers’ campaign for better jobs,” according to the release from Andrew Tillett-Saks.

The email said a follow-up action – a “‘mock funeral for the United States Constitution’ to bring light to the hotel’s trampling of workers’ freedom of speech” – involving “terminated workers, their co-workers, and other area hotel workers” is being organized.

Earlier this week, Steve Ahlquist reported that Adrienne Jones feels she was fired for supporting the effort to organize a union. Krystle Martin, a barrista at the Hilton Starbucks agrees.

“The company is firing many of us who they see as leaders of the efforts to make these livable jobs,” she said according to the press release. “We shouldn’t be mistreated at work just because we want to have decent jobs. Bottom line, this is illegal but they think they’re above the law.”

Watch video and see pictures of the Feb. 18 action here.

March 10, 2014March 11, 2014

Adrienne Jones says she was fired from Providence Hilton for supporting union organizing effort

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Adrienne Jones says she was fired from her job at the Providence Hilton for supporting the effort of her colleagues to form a union.

She’s a lifelong Providence native and a graduate of Hope High School, CCRI and the Boston Bartending School. A divorced mom with a seven year old son, she has that easy gift of conversation and storytelling all the best bartenders have.

“I used to be anti-union,” says Jones, “I was a business student at CCRI, and in those classes we were taught that unions might have been necessary in the past, but that today modern labor laws provided more than enough protection for workers. My eyes have been opened. Now I’m fully committed to unions and fighting for worker’s rights.”

Jones has worked as a bartender for The Procaccianti Group (TPG) for the last 6 years. From March 2008 to October 2013 she worked at the Wyndham Garden in India Point, then moved to the Hilton Downtown.

“When I made the move over to the Hilton,” says Jones, “I was hoping to work 30-35 hours a week and be able to support myself more comfortably than I was at the Wyndham where I was only working about 20 hours a week. I was looking forward to making a vertical move and ending my dependence on state subsidized programs to help support my son and myself.”

Shortly after I making her move, Jones became aware of what she called “abhorrent” working conditions at the Hilton.

“I was made to work 15+ hour days without a break, over 50 hours a week,” she said. “Managers refuse to put shock absorbent mats behind the bar to make the long hours on our feet a little easier. Management would leave early on nights when we were unbelievably busy and we needed them most. I could go on just about the problems that happened in the restaurant alone…”

In her many years of working in the service industry, Jones has never witnessed a turnover rate as high as she has seen at the Hilton. High turnover is usually related to employee dissatisfaction, poor pay, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions, lack of promotion and career opportunities or conflict with management, among other reasons.

Jones is not alone in her feeling that employment conditions at the hotel were unfair and even illegal. “Recently, a housekeeper, who is pregnant with twins, brought in a note from a doctor asking her bosses to put her on light duty. She expressed to her manager that she wanted to work until the end of her pregnancy so she could take her vacation time when the babies were born. However, management completely ignored her request and gave her even more rooms to clean per day.”

To the workers at the Hilton, this seemed like retaliation, and worse. “After all,” adds Jones, “if she quits before the babies are born, the hotel won’t have to pay for her time off, right?”

With complaints piling up about the unfair and abusive employment practices, the employees started to talk seriously about unionizing, to protect themselves and improve their working conditions. Jones found herself on the organizing committee for the union campaign currently going on at the Hilton.

“I have recruited several of my colleagues to sign the union’s petition and have attended committee meetings at the union office. On February 18, the union “blitzed” the hotel management by trying to present the petition, which 70% of Hilton employees signed, making the campaign public.”

Doug Koenig, the Hilton’s General Manager, refused to accept the petition, instead calling on the Providence Police Department and private security to bar union representatives from the hotel. Jones was unable to participate in that action because she was inside the hotel, working at the bar. The bar was extremely busy that night because there was a Providence College basketball game going on at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center next door. Event though she was not part of the union action that night, “It was obvious [to the hotel management] that I was a supporter,” says Jones.

Working part time at the Wyndham meant that Jones did not qualify to receive benefits. After three months working full time at the Hilton, however, she became entitled to benefits starting March 1st. “Three weeks paid vacation, health/dental/vision coverage and enrollment in their 401K,” says Jones wistfully, “benefits I have earned.”

Jones was terminated by the Hilton on February 26th, three days before her benefits kicked in. She thinks it was for supporting the union. They accused her of being late for a staff meeting which was scheduled on her day off.

“There had never been any issues with me in the past and this was the first time I had been in any kind of trouble at the Hilton,” she said. “It’s clear to everyone I worked with that I was terminated for being a Union supporter. I am the third person to have lost their job since then for supporting the Union.”

Despite laws that make it illegal for employers to fire workers seeking to form a union, John Schmitt and Ben Zipperer, in a paper for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, estimate that almost one in seven union organizers or activists can expect to be fired as a result of their activities.

Jones has filed for unemployment and is waiting to hear back from the Department of Labor and Training regarding that. If she is denied, she will have to go through an appeal process before being eligible. In the meantime, she is searching for a new job and she and her son are getting by on her savings.

“I was born and raised in Providence. This is my home,” says Jones, “I want to be proud of being a Providence native, but I have been penalized for exercising my freedom of speech. I have filed a case with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and with the attorney for the Local 217. I am hoping to get my job back, be compensated for lost wages and receive the benefits I worked so hard for the past 6 years.”

September 21, 2013September 23, 2013

Wingmen: Should child care providers unionize

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To organize or not to organize, that is the question before Justin Katz and I on NBC 10 Wingmen this week.

I can hardly think of any sector of the Rhode Island economy that needs a raise more than the childcare providers who take care low-income children while their parents go to work. They make about $20,000 a year.

Katz, on the other hand, thinks it will be some sort of economic catastrophe if these 600 people can bargain collectively. At least he didn’t call them babysitters! Watch this week’s episode of NBC 10 Wingmen to see our relatively contentious debate on the issue:

News, Weather and Classifieds for Southern New England

April 29, 2013April 29, 2013

Remember Seth Luther

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UPDATE April 29, 2013:

Today is the 150th anniversary of Seth Luther’s death. Since last year’s post, records have been found locating Luther possible final resting place in Brattleboro, Vermont. A WIKI page is in formation, and other plans to follow. Here is a great link to a 1974 essay by on Luther by Carl Gersuny called “Seth Luther – The Road From Chepachet.”

In the week we celebrate the signing of the marriage equality bill, let us remember this great organizer and agitator with what he said so many years ago:

“It is the first duty of an American citizen to hate injustice in all its forms.”

Original Post April 29, 2012:

Today is the anniversary of the death of Seth Luther. He died on April 29, 1863.

Who?

Seth Luther*: Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame inductee; Union Organizer; leader of the Dorr Rebellion and radical of the worst sort. On the weekend that we celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence it also seems appropriate to look a little farther back to our roots here in Rhode Island. As the saying goes, the most radical idea in America today is a long memory.

“Peaceably if we can, Forcibly if we must!”

Luther was an itinerant organizer and agitator whose father fought in the American Revolution. He spent time on what was then the American Frontier and Deep South before coming home to try and establish roots and a career as a carpenter. His passion for justice and the rights of the oppressed led him to join the nascent labor movement as a speech maker and organizer.

In a speech he delivered in Boston in 1834, Luther said:

“It is true, a Rhode Island Nabob said, in a public document, ‘The poor must work or starve, and the rich will take care of themselves.’ But I venture to assert, that the rich never did take care of themselves or their property, in peace or war. It is protected by the laboring, the producing class. It is created by the laborer, drawn out of his hands by the means of bad laws and then forsooth he must protect it at the expense of his health, oftentimes of his life, for the benefit of those, who will have nothing to do with the creation of wealth or its protection after it’s created.”

Luther could just as easily be describing the conditions working people face today. In another parallel to the conditions organizers face, then and now. When Luther died, by then a broken man, this was the commentary The Providence Journal added to the notice of his death:

“He was natural radical, dissatisfied with all existing institutions about him, and labored under the not uncommon delusion that it was his special mission to set things right…His ideal of a pure democracy seemed to be that blessed state wherein the idle, the thriftless, and the profligate should enjoy all the fruits of the labor of the industrious, the frugal, and the virtuous. The possessors of property everywhere he looked upon as banded robbers, who he hated as born enemies of the human race. He had considerable talent for both writing and speaking; but he was too violent, willful, and headstrong to accomplish any good. Soon after the troubles of ’42, he became insane, and was sent to the Dexter Asylum, where he remained until 1848, when the Butler Hospital was opened for patients. He was then removed to that institution by the city, where he remained for ten years; thence to Brattleboro where he has just closed his worse than useless life.”

Would you expect anything less?

*Source: Peaceably if we can, Forcibly if we must! Writings by and about Seth Luther. Edited by Scott Molly, Carl Gersuny, and Robert Macieski and published by the Rhode Island Labor History Society, 1998.

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013

Broken Promises in NK

NKFFA Firefighters, family & friends Tunnel to Towers 2012

Negotiations between the Town of North Kingstown and its firefighters union, IAFF Local 1651 on Wednesday ended in a mutually agreed tentative agreement. Right?

After all, Wednesday’s ten hour session at the bargaining table resulted in a Tentative Agreement, dated and signed by Town Manager, Michael Embury and the union’s representative, President Raymond Furtado. Handshakes were made and the parties left negotiations with the agreement that both parties would take the agreement back to their organizations for ratification. Right?

On Friday evening, that’s just what the North Kingstown Firefighters Association (NKFFA) did. Firefighters, union leaders and members met to ratify the agreement, returning the town’s fire personnel to their previous shift structure as ordered by Superior Court Judge Brian J. Stern on December 14, 2012. After deliberating and consideration, the membership ratified a temporary agreement saving the town damages in excess of $1 million. The good faith effort by union personnel in ending the standoff was thwarted just a few hours later.

The town council, meeting on Saturday morning in executive session, flip flopped on that agreement, voting 5-0 not to ratify. Tentative agreements are clearly tentative in North Kingstown.

Town Manager, Michael Embury in press release noted that after calling for a motion to approve, council president Liz Dolan received no response. Motion was then made by Dolan’s fellow Republican Kerri McKay to “not approve” the tentative agreement and seconded by Democrat, Richard Welch. All members, including Carol Hueston, who sat in on negotiations, voted to not approve the contract.

The firefighters plan to return to court to seek entry of order under Judge Stern’s December decision.

August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

Remember the Battle of the Gravestones in Saylesville

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In 1934, during the height of the Depression and one of the largest national strikes in history, 4 unarmed Rhode Island workers were killed by State Police and Militia Men called out by Governor TF Green to protect the Saylesville Bleachery in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It wasn’t a “strike,” he declared, but a “communist insurrection.”

Militia attacking striking workers from behind gravestones in Saylesville, Rhode Island.

Whatever. Four workers were cut down in the street. You can still see the bullet holes in the gravestones from the high powered guns used against the strikers and each labor day some of us gather to remind the powers that be that we are not all dead and buried. This year Maureen Martin, Secretary-Treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO will deliver the address at the memorial to the martyrs created by the Rhode Island Labor History Society to memorialize what is known as The Battle of the Gravestones.

The monument is located in Moshassuck Cemetery, 978 Lonsdale Avenue in Central Falls.

All are invited to a ceremony honoring the event and those who lost their lives.

You can register for the event on Facebook.

If you like, you can see actual newsreel video of the street battle here.

CIVIL WAR AT SAYLESVILLE

July 9, 2012July 9, 2012

Tuesday Rally to Support NK School Custodians

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Flyer courtesy of the Ecumenical Students for a Living Wage.

A rally in support of the North Kingstown custodians has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 10 at 6 p.m. at the North Kingstown School Administration Building, 100 Fairway, Drive North Kingstown.

GCA Services, is the national privately owned company from Knoxville, Tennessee. The North Kingston School Committee voted privatize custodial services and turn over operations to GCA. Who are they? Writing about the situation on Change.Org, Local Union President Sandie Blankenship tells us:

My co-workers and I made $1.3 million in concessions to the district. And when the committee sought an additional $400,000, we all pitched in, took a big hit, and came up with the money the committee sought.

So if it is not about money, what is it about? It is about power and the capacity of the powerful to limit workers from having any say about their working conditions. It’s about silencing our voices.

But we will not be silenced.

GCA will slash wages and other benefits. However, most devastating to our members is the loss of traditional health insurance which GCA will replace with a limited benefit plan.

The difference between what we all think of as insurance (Blue Cross, United Healthcare, etc.) and limited benefit plans? With typical insurance coverage – the sort we are all used to – our costs were covered once we paid our deductible. So if someone’s child had to go to the hospital, the family could focus on treatment and care and not costs. If the bill reached $5000, those costs were covered once we paid our deductible.

That’s not so with a limited benefit plan. GCA’s coverage (provided by Symetra, a life insurance company, not a health insurance company) will pay a flat $500. The rest is on the family.

That’s a short road to poverty.

We also have serious concerns about the company the five committee members plan to hire: GCA Services. Their record troubles us. Independent news services – found with a quick Google search – have documented the serious problems with GCA, including hiring and placing a registered sex offender in a Texas middle school despite GCA’s screening efforts.
GCA Services profits by cutting wages, cutting benefits, and cutting corners.

In a recent (December 16, 2011, cases 28-CA-23513 and 28-CA-62481) decision from the NLRB and gives you a good indication how GCA treats its employees. The National Labor Relations Board ordered* GCA Services to “cease and desist” enforcing its rule (contained in GCA’s employee handbook) that prohibited GCA employees from encouraging or soliciting “membership in…organizations (meaning Unions) on work time or in work areas.”

GCA was ordered to

• Stop interrogating employees about Union membership;
• Stop interrogating employees about Union activities;
• Stop enforcing rules that prohibited employees from speaking about the Union;
• Stop engaging in surveillance of its employees to discover their Union activities;
• Stop threatening employees that it will not discuss with or grant its employees pay raises or improved benefits until they cease support for the Union;
• Stop threatening employees by inviting them to quit their employment because of their Union activities;
• Stop maintaining a rule that prohibited employees from discussing their wages with fellow employees;
• Stop threatening its employees with transfers to isolate employees from fellow employees for the purpose of interfering with their Union activities;
• Stop maintaining a rule requiring employees to surrender their personal phones to GCA so that GCA could discover and ascertain with whom its employees speak and text; and,
• Stop discharging employees in order to discourage membership in the Union.

You can do two things to help the North Kingstown Custodians:

1. Sign the Change.Org petition to send message that races to the bottom strategies don’t help Rhode Island;

2. Come to the Rally to show your support for the workers Tuesday night.

May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

‘Unions Buy Local’ Campaign Set to Launch

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Two of Rhode Island’s largest unions, NEARI and the RI Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, are launching a new Unions Buy Local campaign just prior to this Mother’s Day weekend. Shopping locally makes sense as we try to work with our neighbors to help grow our local – and state – economies.

Rhode Island union members and other working people have the real purchasing power in the state, much more so than wealthy individuals. We want to use that purchasing power to support local businesses and jobs for local workers in these businesses – and strengthen ties within our local communities.

Participation is simple – members will just pass a “union buck” whenever they spend money at a local business, dine at a local restaurant, or pay for a local service. The project will roll out in three locations next week: Thursday in Warren, Friday in South Kingstown, and Saturday in North Kingstown. More towns will be announced over the next few weeks. The campaign will continue between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

Union members know they fight for all working people when they engage in contract fights and legislative battles on issues like increasing the minimum wage or protecting workplace safety. Too often, Big Business tries to pit Main Street businesses against the interests of organized labor. But as is becoming clearer to more Americans, the interests of Wall Street business and Main Street business are truly divergent. That’s why it is a shame that here in Rhode Island, groups like EngageRI tried to severely diminish the purchasing power of retirees and working people in general – something that will truly hurt local business.

Unions Buy Local is a positive way for the working people of Rhode Island to demonstrate to local merchants and shop owners how much teachers and public employees contribute to the local economy. As NEARI President Larry Purtill said in the latest edition of the NEARI magazine Newsline:

“If we want local business owners and workers to support us and our financial security at budget time, then we have to support theirs. Everybody wins in this campaign. We will not be asking business owners to do anything but open their doors and understand we want to help them. All we ask in return is for those who have been critical of union and public employees to stop and think before they act. There are always ramifications to every position one takes.”