August 21, 2014

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to blog@cwa-union.org or @CWANews. Follow the latest developments
at www.resistancegrowing.org.
Super Shuttle Drivers Move Closer to Justice
Bargaining Update
Peaceful Resistance in Ferguson
Nominate Young Women Workers for Berger-Marks Award
UCLA Professor Fined $10,000 for Death of Lab Worker
Bay News Rising Trains Next Generation of Journalists
CWA, Allies Enlist State Legislators in Fight Against TPP
Super Shuttle Drivers Move Closer to Justice
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The Denver SuperShuttle drivers took another step toward justice this week
when a division of the National Labor Relations Board advised the Colorado
regional office to order SuperShuttle to rescind the sham contract it imposed
on the 100 drivers and restore their lost wages and benefits.
The drivers are members of CWA Local 7777, organizing to overcome the
company's abuse and to gain a fair contract. SuperShuttle and parent
company Veolia have illegally harassed and even fired drivers.
Coinciding with the NLRB action, the Denver Worker's Rights Board has
issued its report and recommendations following a public hearing in June.
Community, faith and political leaders heard testimony from the drivers about
the company's unfair attacks as well as drivers' determination to make a
better life for themselves and their families.
In the report, the Board concluded that Denver SuperShuttle management is
in violation of basic human rights. The Board also found that there has been
clear retaliation against the drivers for union activity, that SuperShuttle is
arbitrarily imposing poverty wages, and that management has refused to
bargain in good faith by imposing an unfair contract on the drivers.
The Board recommended that SuperShuttle management rescind the unfair
and immoral contract imposed on the drivers, end all forms of retaliation
against the workers and begin treating all workers with dignity and respect.
The Denver Workers' Rights Board is a project of Jobs with Justice.
The NLRB's Region 27 in Colorado will now attempt to reach a settlement
with the company that is acceptable to the workers and CWA. Failure to
reach settlement could mean a trial.
Read the full report here.
Bargaining Update
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El Diario
In New York City, union and community activists rallied on the steps of City
Hall, demanding an end to the illegal firings and threats against workers at El
Diario members of TNG-CWA Local 31003 and calling for the
reinstatement of eight illegally fired workers.
NYC activists rally in support of El Diario workers.
El Diario employees joined members and leaders of the Newspaper Guild of
New York, NYC Central Labor Council, Labor Council for Latin American
Advancement, Newspaper Deliverers Union, NYS AFL-CIO, South Bronx
Community Congress and community members at the demonstration.
In June, El Diario's parent company, ImpreMedia, illegally fired eight El
Diario employees, the latest in a series of anti-union actions by management
to replace veteran journalists who have long covered the Latino communities
of New York.
The company has since hired several nonunion employees and continues to
threaten current workers who speak up. The Guild is seeking a court order to
require ImpreMedia to reinstate the eight employees while the dispute is
being litigated.
"We will continue to fight against El Diario's union-busting moves until these
journalists have been reinstated. The Newspaper Guild is doing everything it
can to save the jobs of its members and support high-quality journalism for a
Spanish-speaking audience," said TNG-CWA Local 31003 President Bill
O'Meara.
Peaceful Resistance in Ferguson
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CWA Local 6355 President Bradley Harmon sent us this dispatch from
Missouri:
CWA Local 6355 President Bradley Harmon.
CWA is part of the St. Louis community which includes the suburb Ferguson.
Ever since Police Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed black
teenager Michael Brown on Aug. 9, CWAers, like the rest of the St. Louis
community, have found themselves in a whirlwind.
St. Louis is one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. We used to be a
great industrial center and Ferguson used to be a middle-class community
where nearly everyone could find a good job.
But Ferguson was among the hardest hit communities by the foreclosure
crisis. Good union jobs in manufacturing and the service industry have been
moving overseas for decades. Public services have been slashed. The
school district that serves part of Ferguson has been taken over by the state
and is in the process of being privatized. The social services office where
CWA Local 6355 members work near Ferguson has seen staffing levels
drastically reduced. The state university in St. Louis County has increased
tuition and fees by nearly 300 percent since the Great Recession began.
Today, 47 percent of young black men in St. Louis can't find employment.
CWA activists with community allies demonstrate and sit in at the Wainwright Building in downtown St. Louis
calling on Gov. Jay Nixon to intervene and demilitarize the police response to demonstrations in Ferguson.
The Wainwright is home to CWA represented Missouri Department of Social Services employees and Nixon's
St. Louis office.
Photo credit: Mark Esters.
But CWA and other unions have been doing serious organizing in St. Louis
for several years. That organizing is part of the reason why a peaceful and
positive resistance has coalesced around the community grief and outrage at
Michael Brown's death. CWA Local 6355 has been working closely with a St.
Louis civil rights group, the Organization for Black Struggle, to fight back
against cuts to the Missouri Department of Social Services. CWA members
from every local in Missouri have participated in support actions with fast food
workers who belong to Show Me $15 in the fight for better wages and a union
at fast food restaurants.
Many of the leaders of the peaceful resistance movement in Ferguson have
developed organizing skills from the battles CWA members have fought. The
fight for justice for Michael Brown in Ferguson is being led by the people of
that community as it should be. But CWA members are part of that
community and, with our allies, are playing a major role for positive change.
CWAers have been in the streets with the people of Ferguson demanding
justice. CWA activists are supporting protest actions and voter registration
drives and exploring how the labor movement can better engage in the fight
for racial equality. Community alliances aren't always easy. Racial inequality
is an uncomfortable subject for many union members to address. But building
a movement for democracy and justice demands that we find common
ground and that we take our commitment to "be there" in allied organizations'
fights for justice seriously.
Nominate Young Women Workers for Berger-Marks Award
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In many workplaces today, it can take a lot of courage for a young woman to
stand up for what's right. Do you know someone who has shown that kind of
courage?
We are looking for working women 35 years or younger who stood up for
workers' rights and a voice in the workplace in the face of management
opposition. The nominee can be a young woman attempting to organize her
workplace or standing up for justice in an organized workplace.
The winner will get a $1,000 cash award. Nominate your candidate by August
28 at the foundation's website: http://www.bergermarks.org/.
This year the Berger-Marks Foundation has added a new Courageous Young
Worker Award. A panel of union, civic and activist leaders will make the final
selection and present the award in the fall.
UCLA Professor Fined $10,000 for Death of Lab Worker
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In a case that has transfixed the scientific community and mobilized health
and safety activists, UCLA professor Patrick Harran struck a deal with
prosecutors on criminal charges stemming from the 2008 laboratory fire that
killed 23-year-old Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji, a research assistant and
UPTE-CWA Local 9119 member.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Harran had faced up to 4 1/2 years in
prison if convicted of the four felony counts of willfully violating state
occupational health and safety standards in Sangji's death.
Instead, under a "deferred prosecution agreement," Harran has been ordered
to complete six months of community service and pay a $10,000 fine to the
burn center that treated Sangji. The charges against him will be dropped if he
completes his community service requirements in the next five years and his
lab has no further safety violations.
23-year-old Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji, a research assistant and UPTE-CWA Local 9119 member, was killed
in a laboratory fire in 2008.
The judge, apparently moved by testimony from Sangji's family and friends,
had doubled the fine and Harran's community service obligation. Sangji's
family and members of UPTE's Health and Safety Committee were
disappointed that the Los Angeles District Attorney chose to settle this case
rather than pursue a trial.
It's been a long fight for justice. UPTE-CWA leaders have been pushing
authorities to pursue Sangji's case since the accident. In December 2008,
Sangji was transferring t-butyl lithium a solution that combusts on contact
with air from one container to another, when her plastic syringe came apart.
The solution spilled onto Sanji and instantly burst into flames. She wasn't
wearing a lab coat because no one had instructed her to. And her rubber
gloves didn't provide any protection as the fire spread. Sangji suffered severe
burns and died 18 days later.
In July 2012, three felony counts against the University of California were
dropped when the Board of Regents agreed to improve lab safety programs
and endow a $500,000 scholarship in Sangji's name.
Naveen Sangji, sister of the victim, said the recent settlement is "barely a slap
on the wrist."
"Patrick Harran has been completely unrepentant about ordering Sheri to
perform an extremely dangerous experiment without providing her with
training or supervision as he is required by law," she said. "The University of
California leadership, perhaps because of its culpability, and perhaps
because of grant monies Harran brings in, has also refused to hold him
accountable. We do not understand how this man is allowed to continue
running a laboratory, and supervising students and researchers. We can only
hope that other young individuals are protected in the future."
As a result of serious incidents and deaths in academic labs, including the
Sangji case, the National Research Council issued a report last month that
stated, "Everyone involved in the academic chemical research enterprise
from researchers and principal investigators to university leadership has an
important role to play in establishing and promoting a strong, positive safety
culture." And in colleges across the country, the UCLA lab accident now
serves as a powerful case study in lab safety trainings.
Bay News Rising Trains Next Generation of Journalists
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The Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521, is reaching out to
the next generation of journalists to help them prepare for self-employment
and arm them with the information they need to advocate for themselves and
their fellow workers.
The innovative mentorship and training program is called Bay News Rising,
organized by local president and program manager Rebecca Rosen Lum and
project director Kat Anderson. The local hopes to ignite serious reporting on
labor, workplace issues, women's rights and other social justice topics by
students, and teach them how to receive fair treatment and fair pay on the
job. Like many workplaces, American newsrooms are changing as the
percentage of freelance and temporary workers grows.
Students from four universities participate in Bay News Rising.
With a grant from CWA and the Berger-Marks Foundation, the local selected
11 college students out of a pool of applicants from the graduate school of
journalism at the University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State
University, City College of SF and Oberlin College for the nine-week summer
program. Each student was paired with a "media mentor," all of whom were
professional journalists and union members.
The students began by organizing themselves and negotiating an agreement
with "management," the Guild local leaders, that covered working conditions,
student publication fees and a student freelance rate.
They heard from 16 journalism trailblazers and veterans, including
longtime New York Timesreporter Cynthia
Gorney, Frontline and ProPublica investigative reporter A.C. Thompson, and
David Weir, founder of the Center for Investigative Reporting. The group also
met with TNG-CWA acting secretary/treasurer Sara Steffens.
Check out baynewsrising.org, where the students' articles and other
information about the program are posted.
CWA, Allies Enlist State Legislators in Fight Against TPP
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CWA and allies held a training session in Minneapolis this week to spotlight
how the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal threatens state initiatives and
show state legislators what they can do about it. Speakers included
Minnesota State Rep. Sharon Anglin Treat, CWA Legislative Director Shane
Larson and Courtenay Lewis, Responsible Trade Campaign Representative
for the Sierra Club. The session, in a room packed with more than 50
legislators from around the country, was part of the National Conference of
State Legislatures 2014 Summit.
The TPP would have serious consequences for national, state and
community laws, because the trade deal as currently structured enables
multinational corporations to directly challenge any laws that might affect their
"expected future profits" in a secret court.
"Buy American" laws would be at risk, along with any other initiatives that
these corporations don't like, from minimum wage laws to environmental
standards.
CWA activists and allies are fighting back against TPP. Read more
at www.cwa-union.org/tpp.
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