Machinists File Lawsuit to Save Jobs

by Joelle Fishman

Reprinted from People's Weekly World Online 9/24/09

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Workers, elected officials and the entire labor movement are rallying to the aid of International Association of Machinists District 26 in their efforts, including a lawsuit, to save 1,050 jobs at two profitable Pratt & Whitney repair facilities in Connecticut. Parent company United Technologies (UTC) plans to outsource the jobs to Singapore and Japan where universal health care reduces labor costs.

"This is pure corporate greed. They just want to make more money," said one of the workers at the recent Connecticut AFL-CIO convention. Anger is high on the shop floor and workers are mobilized. Despite the millions of dollars the two operations have made for P&W and UTC, the company says it is moving for even higher profits.

After weeks of talks in which the union offered major concessions to keep the jobs in Connecticut, the company, which produces and maintains jet engines for commercial and military aircraft, announced it would not change its plans. The repair facility in Cheshire is slated to close by 2011 and a smaller repair unit in East Hartford is slated to close next year.

A "Workplace Guarantees Clause" in the union contract requires the company to meet with the union and make every reasonable effort to preserve work. The lawsuit has been filed on the basis that the company's decision was made prior to those talks.

In 1999 the IAM won a similar suit to save parts repair work in the East Hartford plant. In a dramatic result, trucks on their way to Texas had to turn around and replace the equipment in the East Hartford plant, where the work continues today. Union leaders say they expect to win this lawsuit as well.

State Treasurer Denise Nappier has called upon the top executives at UTC to reduce their compensation to save the 1,050 jobs at Pratt and the probable 5,000 additional jobs that would be lost in a ripple effect. She said the $20 million additional savings the corporation is seeking can be found in the $70 million compensation received by the company's top five executives in 2008.

During negotiations the union offered $80 million in wage cuts and other savings to the company and the State of Connecticut offered $100 million in assistance over five years.

On Sept. 22 union leaders were joined by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal at a press conference announcing the legal challenge to stop Pratt's plans to eliminate the Connecticut repair shop jobs. They emphasized that the company had apparently made its decision prior to the meet-and-confer process and never seriously considered any other alternatives.

At the biennial convention of the Connecticut AFL-CIO earlier this month, a resolution of solidarity was unanimously passed, calling for an investigation into the flight of capital. To revitalize manufacturing in this country, the resolution urged support for the TRADE Act introduced to Congress this year, which would set new rules for U.S. trade pacts including enforceable labor standards.

Speaking from the floor, IAM leader Bill Shortell said this latest attempt to take a third of the remaining workforce out of the state and country by a profitable company receiving government contracts is being opposed by the entire congressional delegation. "We need legislative tools," he said. "The multinationals have no nation. The Trade Act must be passed. Corporations must be controlled."

Ron Front, who works in the Middletown P&W plant, emphasized, "This affects every single one of us. We have to stop them now. Sending work overseas is unacceptable."

Sal Luciano, president of AFSCME Council 4, called for a strong message to the company. He said, "Pratt & Whitney is threatening to take the jobs to Japan and Singapore. Both have universal health care. It is happening to the rest of us, cutting down to the bottom."

The convention also unanimously passed a resolution in support of single-payer health care and held a rally demanding passage of health care reform with a public option.

Immigration Forum Fosters Workers' Unity

by Joelle Fishman

As white supremacist anti-immigrant hate groups increase their targeting of New Haven and adjacent East Haven, a dialogue was held this week addressing the need for unity of workers of all racial and national backgrounds.

The historical background presented by Dr. Kenneth Brown, diversity training consultant from Maryland, led to a lively and productive exchange with the audience.

The meeting, organized by the Center for New Community, was held in the historic African American Dixwell neighborhood at Beulah Heights First Pentecostal Church and was welcomed by Bishop Theodore Brooks.

Brown expanded on the history of racism in our nation, built on slavery and on the exploitation of immigrants, and gave examples of how unity against racism has led to social progress. Recalling how the Irish and then the Italians were victims of super exploitation and were pitted against one another and against African Americans when they first came to the United States, he said they soon discovered that they had to get together in order to improve their conditions.

Brown gave the example of the early years of the auto workers union in Detroit when Henry Ford hired African American workers from the South as strike breakers. But when African American and white workers united in the UAW, “Ford lost his juice,” said Brown.

Today, exploited Mexican immigrants are picking apples in Michigan, said Brown, pointing out that while they must pay into Social Security, they can never collect. Referring to US trade policy, he asked the audience to consider why Latin America is in poverty conditions which are driving people to this country to survive.

“Why are we talking about hard working immigrants ‘taking our jobs?’” he asked the audience.

Alan Felder, a member of the service and maintenance union at Yale University, Local 35, and an independent plumber, said immigrants have most of the jobs in construction. When asked if Black workers had those jobs before, the answer was no.

New Haven needs to talk about how to get contractors to not exploit anyone, said Brown, adding that until the entire community gets together to fight exploitation, the contractor will just enjoy himself out on his yacht. The issue, said Brown, is that there should be jobs for everyone in New Haven.

Felder has made a name for himself as an African American who joined with the anti-immigrant Community Watch Dog Project to protest the municipal ID card issued in New Haven to allow everyone who lives in the city, regardless of status, a photo ID for business and public services. While saying he learned a lot at the meeting, he continued to maintain an “enforcement first” approach to undocumented workers.

A number of Felder's co-workers from Local 35, also at the meeting, expressed appreciation for the methodical and common sense approach presented by Brown. Local 35 has been a strong voice for immigrant rights and for workers unity in New Haven.

At the end of the meeting Brown walked to a group of Latino immigrants and asked each one to tell their story. “Wouldn't you want to know such hard working fine people?” he said to everyone in the church.

The dialogue was organized by Brown's son, Ken Brown Jr., who moved to New Haven several months ago to work on building unity—among African Americans, immigrants and all segments of the community—against anti-immigrant hate. He thanked his father profusely and left the meeting with the challenge to continue the process of coming together.

Reprinted from People's Weekly World

A Message from Working America

An important step toward restoring balance and fairness to our economy was taken today—the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Your senators, Sen. Dodd and Sen. Lieberman, helped lead the way by adding their names as co-sponsors.

Thank Sen. Dodd and Sen. Lieberman for co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act.

Now that the fight has moved to the halls of Congress, we need to take our campaign to the next level—and give more workers a shot at the American Dream. Congress will debate and vote on this important bill soon.

Your senators' decision to co-sponsor this bill is critical to demonstrating the broad support for the Employee Free Choice Act. With Big Business interests spending tens of millions of dollars pressuring members of Congress to oppose this bill, you should be proud that Sen. Dodd and Sen. Lieberman are both fighting for working families.

The decision to co-sponsor the bill was not an easy one for senators and it's critical they hear from their constituents today.

With the most pro-worker Congress in years, and President Obama committed to the cause, this is our best chance yet to pass this bill. But it’s anything but a done deal. Corporate special interests are twisting arms, spending millions on misleading ads and spreading lies and propaganda to block the bill.

Senators frequently talk to each other about how their constituents react to their votes and other actions. If we send enough thank you letters to Sen. Dodd and Sen. Lieberman, they'll be able to tell other senators how popular the Employee Free Choice Act is among their constituents.

Thank Sen. Dodd and Sen. Lieberman right now.

The stakes couldn’t be higher—giving more workers a fair chance to bargain for better pay, benefits and job security will help restore the struggling middle class and make the economy work for everyone.

In solidarity,

Working America, AFL-CIO

P.S. It’s been two years since corporate lobbyists undermined the middle class and blocked this bill. They were backed by the same union-busters and greedy CEOs who ran this economy into the ground—and they will stop at nothing to keep workers from getting a fair shake. Thank your senators today.

PETITIONS AVAILABLE: Call (203) 624-8664

No Cuts - No Layoffs - Tax the Rich

Mark Your Calendar

Better Choices for Connecticut – Rally at the State Capitol

March 25, 4:30 p.m.

Join with neighbors, friends, community groups, public service providers and consumers to support these Better Choices for our State Budget. Stop the cuts, enact fair taxes, and help Connecticut overcome this economic crisis.

Ø Increase income tax rates for those who can best afford it

Ø Close corporate tax loopholes

Ø Stop cuts in vital services when they are needed the most

Better Choices for Connecticut is a community coalition working to help Connecticut make smarter choices on ways to improve the state’s imbalanced revenue system so that it: Advances opportunity for shared prosperity for all Connecticut residents - Preserves services for children, families and the elderly - Creates and sustains good jobs - Reinvests in the middle class and our communities.

For more information contact Maggie Adair – madair@cahs.org or Bill Meyerson - bmeyerson@seiu1199ne.org

International Women's Day 2009: Women Need a Union

by Joelle Fishman

March 8 International Women's Day was born of the struggles of women in the textile mills in our country at the turn of the last century. They fought and died for better wages and working conditions, an end to child labor, and the right to vote.

First adopted as a celebration to be held around the world at an international socialist conference in 1910, International Women's Day was recognized by the United Nations in 1978.

The appointment of Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor with an overwhelming vote despite right-wing opposition, is a great victory to celebrate this International Women's Day.

Women voted in large numbers for change in 2008, and were an important part of the labor and people's alliance that elected Barack Obama and a stronger Congress.

It is no wonder that Hilda Solis, born into a working class, union, immigrant family, a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was given a standing ovation on her first day at work in the Labor Department. What a breath of fresh air after years of being run as an anti-labor, anti-union department under Reagan and Bush.

"I'll work to strengthen our unions and support every American in our nation's diverse workforce," says Solis.

Millions of women, including many single mothers, are in desperate need of a union in their workplaces today. For three decades corporations have been given a free ride on deteriorating health and safety standards, while wages and benefits have been falling through the floor.

Union membership helps raise workers' pay and narrow the income gap. Union women earn 32 percent more than non-union women. African American union members earn 28 percent more than their non-union counterparts. For Latino workers the union advantage equals 43 percent.

The best celebration of International Women's Day is to make a call to Congress for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act which would remove many of the barriers that have been placed in the way of workers forming a union. It is being re-introduced into Congress next week.

Call your Congressional Representatives and ask them to be leaders to get the Employee Free Choice Act passed this year.

Remember the message of the courageous women textile workers who went on strike in 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts in protest of a pay cut. Their banner "we want bread and roses, too,"
inspired this poem by James Oppenheimer, later turned into a song:

Bread and Roses

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,

Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,

For the people hear us singing "Bread and roses, bread and roses."


As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women's children and we mother them again,

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread but give us roses!


As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead

Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.

Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.

Yes it is bread we fight for but we fight for roses too!


As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.

The rising of the woman means the rising of the race.

No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil where one reposes,

But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses!

Reprinted from the on-line edition of the People's Weekly World, March 8, 2009

Republic Windows Workers Come to Connecticut

by Dorothy Johnson

UE Local 1110 president Armando Robles and other officers recently toured the country to make public their sit-in at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago which won a severance package.

In early February they came to Connecticut. The tour was sponsored by Jobs with Justice chapters to let workers know if companies don’t abide by the law you must make them do the right thing.

While in Connecticut they told their story at a press conference at the state capitol and at a community and labor meeting at the First and Summerfield Methodist Church in New Haven.

Workers at Republic Windows and Doors refused to accept the owners closing of the plant without getting their due advance notice and benefits. Several weeks before the plant closing was announced workers discovered that equipment had been leaving the facility. Some of the workers decided to follow the truck driver to find out where they were taking the equipment. They spoke to the driver and he said he was told to move the equipment. Workers realized that the plant would be closing very soon.

About 240 workers were employed there at the time. Disregarding the law requiring a WARN notice, Republic Windows called the workers and told them the plant was going to close and this is your last pay check.

Robles and Local 1110 vice president Melvin Macklin said they responded, “no way, the workers are going to get what is due to them.” They went to the union office and did a little strategy. They decided to sit in for as long as it takes to get what’s due to them and their respect.

They began a 24 hour sit-in in early December. The company called the police to tell them they had to exit the building. Robles stated to the police this is not your fight, it is between the company and the workers. The police went back to their cars. Worker brought their children to help in the protest. Numerous visitors come into the shop to bring food, sleeping bags, and music.

Robles said that when his shift was over he would go home, take a shower, and then quickly return. The Rev. Jesse Jackson was there in support of the workers.

Macklin said when he told his wife about the plan to sit in, she said “no, you will be arrested.” He replied, “ what do you have to lose?” Once President Obama threw his support to the workers, his wife said it was okay. Some workers didn’t want to take part in the sit-in. Once seeing their co-workers on tv they decided to join their co-workers.

Sit-ins in America don’t happen that often. Since the 1930's we haven’t had many. When you’re forced to sit-in for your bread and butter workers realize it’s the right thing to do.

As a result of the sit-in the workers achieved a victory. They got a severance package, but knowing how the economy is today that won’t last long.

UE Local 1110 has been in negotiations with a California company to see if they could re-open the plant. They are hoping that if this happens all the workers will be hired back. They will have to go through bankruptcy court to get it approved. They are hoping that by March they will have confirmation for the company to re-open.

Reprinted from the on-line edition of the People's Weekly World, Feb 23, 2009

No Cuts in Services - No Layoffs of Workers

A big mobilization is underway in Connecticut to stop dire cuts in services and layoffs of state workers proposed by Gov. Rell. One state union, SEIU, called together 200 members for a legislative accountability session. The meeting was led by Carmen Boudier, President 1199 New England Health Care Employee Union and Paul Filson, SEIU State Council Director. Five State Legislators attended the meeting and promised to work with SEIU and the coalition of unions and community groups.

Carmen Boudier noted that a series of legislative accountability sessions are planned for all over the State of Connecticut. She said that SEIU will join with others to fight for a budget that defends jobs and services in these bad economic times. There was a clear message to pass a progressive income tax and to close tax loopholes. All the state unions are meeting with their members to mobilize for a budget that meets peoples needs. It is past due time for a progressive tax structure in our richest state so that the needs of all those who live in Connecticut are met.

-- Tom Connolly

Call to Action -- Where From Here?

Election of Our Lifetime--Where from Here?, Dec 7, 2008
Call to Action by Blair Bertaccini

On November 7 of this year, we the people of the United States took a great step forward to make an economic and social agenda for the workers of this country. How many of us have said to ourselves and others, “I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime”?

The “it” not just refers to the election of Barack Obama but to the movement that was created to elect him and host of pro-worker candidates at the national, state and local level.

To make this moment truly incredible we have still have a lot left to do.

The corporations and the rich have controlled our politics for decades to win many changes that have benefited a miserable minority of our population to the detriment of everyone in this room and the tens of millions like us around our great nation.

On November 7 we put a halt to this agenda. Now it is time to make the changes that our nation cries out for.

So what should be on our agenda now?

Our struggles over a long span of years show where we need to go. We have many heroes and heroines of the people’s struggles that have shown the way. Merrilee Milstein was certainly one of these. Her efforts and those of thousands of others who were not with us in the flesh on November 7 were certainly in our hearts and minds.

Merrilee was certainly a bold fighter and we must be bold now. We cannot listen to many of those in the media and positions of power who tell us that these times are so dire that we must moderate our agenda because the resources are not available to accomplish many goals that were spoken about during this recent political campaign.

Here are some that I am sure our on the minds of everyone in this room.

We must get the Employee Free Choice Act on President Obama’s desk as soon as possible. This act will give those of us in the union movement new tools to organize tens of millions of workers into unions. Every worker in America deserves to have one of these: a union contract. This is mine. It gives me respect on the job and decent standard of living. In fact I felt that maybe my local isn’t doing something right when some political pundits recently complained the United Automobile Workers inch thick contract. I measured mine and its only 3/8 of an inch. We shouldn’t be apologetic about inch thick contracts, that’s an inch of protection, an inch of rights on the job and good wages!

So the workers of America need EFCA. It is a vital part of any economic stimulus package.

We must be clear to our elected officials, now is not the time to cut spending, now is the time to spend lots of money on legislation that creates jobs in the sectors of our economy that need it; rebuilding our infrastructure, our mass transit systems, our streets and roads, sewers and water treatment plants; green industries that are almost necessary to save our planet and ourselves.

Universal health care is something else that cannot wait. We need health care system that brings affordable and comprehensive health care to every person living in this country regardless of income or immigration status. We do not have a health care system now, the word system means some type of coordinated program, we don’t have that. We can fight for this change on both the state and national level. We have to tell our representatives that this change that cannot wait to some undetermined point in the future. We must end this national disgrace as soon as possible.

The Iraq war must end as soon as possible. This war is a crime against the people of Iraq for all the death and destruction that has been inflicted on them and it is a crime against the American people for all the resources that have been wasted there and continue to be wasted no matter how well the situation has supposedly improved.

We must prepare ourselves for these struggles and we cannot let up until we win. Our enemies will not give up easily.

We need to keep ourselves informed about what is happening around our nation and the world how our fellow workers are engaging themselves to win the victories that we can achieve.

The People’s Weekly World is important and I would say an indispensable tool to do this. It is a paper that declares its allegiance to the people’s struggles that calls for the unity of the working class that says a people’s agenda can be achieved.

It is a paper that said that united working class could win this election long before others thought it possible.

Everyone here should have a subscription to this paper. You’re making a political statement when you get a subscription to the PWW. You’re saying “I’m ready to fight”.

I want to thank everyone for coming here this snowy afternoon and I look forward to seeing you all on the frontlines of our battles for a better world.

Goodwin Workers Get Support

A spirited rally of 200 in support of the workers at the Goodwin Hotel in Hartford took place on Wednesday. CT AFL-CIO president John Olson, Mayor Perez and Councilman Larry Deutsch
all supported the workers demands. Goodwin has been open since 1989 and will close Dec. 31, this year. The demands are for: 1. Severance Pay 2. Health Care 3. Recall Rights. The march went around the Goodwin Hotel. The Mayor also pledged to look for other investors and to fight to insure that the new hotel is union and the recalls are honored.

The lesson from the sit-in by Republic Window workers in Chicago is that with united action the demands of the workers can be won. Hopefully in this case jobs will be retained with a new owner. These workers deserve full support.

-- Tom Connolly

Connecticut conference highlights Declaration of Human Rights anniversary

by Joelle Fishman

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A coalition of labor, peace, civil rights and human rights organizations in Connecticut will join in the international commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a conference at Quinnipiac University on Saturday, Dec. 6.

Rep. John Conyers, chair of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives and sponsor of HR 676 for universal single payer healthcare, will be keynote speaker.

Conference convener, Al Marder, had recently returned from the European Theater in the fight against fascism during World War II when the Declaration was adopted. It made an indelible impression on him. He now chairs the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities of the United Nations, and leads many local organizations concerned with peace and equality.

“Look back historically,” he says. “Even though the cold war was starting, the United Nations was laying out a vision of the future. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights would change our society drastically.”

Marder points out that, “while the State Department uses the Declaration to talk only about free speech, they never mention the obligations of jobs, education, medical care, gender equality, peace, and all the requirements for the full expression of the human personality.”

The Connecticut conference, called around the theme “Fulfilling the Promise,” is bringing together activists from a wide range of groups and relating their issues with the Declaration of Human Rights.

Connecticut AFL-CIO president John Olsen says popularizing the Declaration gives strength to the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act and the rights of workers to form unions. A resolution in support was passed at their convention.

In addition to the plenary speech by Rep. Conyers and a presentation on the Declaration by Prof. James Silk of the Yale School of Law, the conference will feature six workshops highlighting the right to a living wage, the peace economy as key to sustainability, social and economic struggles in Connecticut, and issues of political injustice and humanizing the judicial system.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Eleanor Roosevelt, drawing upon the Constitution of the United States, was instrumental in drafting the document which enumerates the civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights necessary for the dignity and well being of all people and for world peace including every person’s human right to food, health care, housing and public education.

The steering committee, whose meetings were hosted at Planned Parenthood in New Haven, reached out widely. The conference has been endorsed by 45 organizations including the Connecticut Bar Association, Connecticut Library Association, Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, and a host of labor, peace and social justice groups.

The conference will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Alumni Hall on the Quinnipiac University campus. For information visit the conference website at http://udhr.net.

The following day, on Sunday, Dec. 7, Al Marder will be one of three honorees to receive the Amistad Award from the People’s Weekly World at a reception at 4:00 pm at the New Haven People’s Center, 37 Howe Street. Other recipients are Kathy Jackson, chairwoman of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists in Connecticut and Juan Hernandez, Assistant District Leader of SEIU 32 BJ Justice for Janitors. For information on this event call 203-624-8664 or visit ctpeoplebeforeprofits.blogspot.net.

Reprinted from Peoples Weeky World on-line http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/14077/

“The Election of Our Lifetime– Where from Here?”

Three labor and community leaders will be honored with the Amistad Award on Sunday, December 7 at 4:00 p.m. at the New Haven Peoples Center at 37 Howe Street, New Haven.

The annual award, presented by the People’s Weekly World, will recognize the accomplishments of Alfred Marder, Kathleen Jackson and Juan Hernandez for social change..

The public is invited to the afternoon reception whose theme is “The Election of Our Lifetime – Where from Here?” Community and labor activists from around the state will come together to celebrate change and begin the work of organizing in a new political climate to meet the pressing economic and social needs facing working families

The Irish music group Rabble Rousers, with Bill Collins and Gary MacConnie. will perform labor songs. Hartford area labor leader Merrilee Milstein who passed away in June will be remembered. An international gift table and home made buffet will round out the program.

Al Marder, chair of the Amistad Committee, Connecticut African American Freedom Trail and City of New Haven Peace Commission is being honored for his vision and steadfast activism for equality, peace and social justice.

Kathleen Jackson, chairwoman of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists in Connecticut, is being recognized for consistent organizing which has inspired activism and brought forth new grassroots leaders.

Juan Hernandez, assistant district leader of SEIU 32 BJ Justice for Janitors, has organized low wage and immigrant workers to win union recognition, respect and dignity on the job with his leadership, persistence and courage.

The reception is hosted by the Peoples Weekly World on the occasion of the 89th anniversary of the Communist Party USA. Tickets are $10 or what you can afford. For information call 203-624-8664.

Merrilee Milstein Day puts working families’ needs first

by Joelle Fishman

New Hampshire attracted a lot of excitement in 2004 as the only state in the country to flip from red to blue in the presidential elections. There was jubilation that night as Kerry defeated Bush by just over 9,000 votes, before the national results were counted.

What happened in New Hampshire? A big part was labor’s role.

“An anti-union right wing has been active in the New Hampshire State Legislature for years,” Merrilee Milstein, then AFL-CIO deputy northeast regional director, told the People’s Weekly World at the time (10/16/04).

She credited local unions and the help from neighboring states with “creating a new sense of the labor movement in New Hampshire. Thousands and thousands of people have been involved in a very personal way to fight George Bush and the right wing.”

As labor coordinator in New Hampshire, Merrilee didn’t go for the vote alone. She organized in a way to develop new leaders and lay the basis for a stronger, more united movement that could win better wages and working conditions and increase political power for working families.

When Merrilee died this June at age 61 it was devastating not only in Hartford, Conn., where she lived but in New Hampshire and elsewhere as well.

Like the song “Joe Hill is at your side,” the call went out from the New Hampshire AFL-CIO throughout the state and to Connecticut and Massachusetts for a special Merrilee Milstein Memorial Labor Walk on September 27 to honor “a great woman, great activist and great friend.”

SEIU had organized buses of volunteers from surrounding states, and also declared September 27 as “Merrilee Milstein Day.”

Honoring the memory of their union sister brought the New Hampshire AFL-CIO and SEIU together, even though they had been conducting separate election efforts.

Nearly 50 of Merrilee’s family and friends traveled to Nashua by van and car from Connecticut to knock on the doors of union members and talk about why Barack Obama’s election is so important for working families.

Mark MacKenzie, president of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, gave a big thank you. “I think for our members the choice is really clear,” he said. “Barack Obama supports the Employee Free Choice Act, he has made a commitment to put forth trade agreements that make sense, he is for universal health care, and he will make sure our pensions and retirements are kept secure.”

It was enjoyable to knock on doors and find voters who were enthusiastic and inspired by Obama’s historic candidacy, like the teacher who said her whole family was spreading the word. There were several families of divided opinion and others who declined to say. The most challenging conversations were with voters who did not want to support Obama because they were caught up in the lies and rumors undermining his integrity and patriotism. Those who were ready to discuss appreciated the comparison of McCain’s anti-worker record with Obama’s near perfect score.

It was exciting to be part of the quarter million union volunteers across the country, the biggest election mobilization in labor’s history, which has influenced the political climate in working class swing states and districts, laying the basis for a much larger labor movement.

The example set by labor’s top leaders talking directly with white sisters and brothers about how Obama represents their best chance for a secure future will have a lasting impact.

The idea that it takes unity and struggle to win big gains was something that Merrilee carried everywhere. Insisting on sharing this lesson earned her deep respect.

Merrilee was determined to win on the side of the working class. Her enthusiasm, creativity and persistence were contagious.

On election night 2004, after scores of volunteers had finished their assignments, word came that voters were leaving the polls because of long lines. Campaign workers were immediately dispatched to the polls with bags of candies, chips and other snacks to give encouragement and keep the parents and kids, older voters and young first time voters from leaving. It worked.

This year the chance to uproot ultra-right corporate political dominance is much greater. Voters want to be part of history. They see that the policies of the Bush administration, which McCain-Palin would continue, are bankrupting the country and endangering the world.

This year New Hampshire will not be alone. Merrilee would have been building for a landslide.

Labor’s giant effort along with massive organizing by African American, Latino, women’s and youth groups has turned historically Republican states’ House and Senate seats into battlegrounds, including the Senate seat in New Hampshire.

A landslide victory for Obama and Congress will open the door for big new struggles to organize workers into unions and place the needs of working families front and center in this economic crisis.

See related story: Merrilee Milstein mourned
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/13261/

From the People's Weekly World October 25, 2008

Key Facts about the Ballot Question
on a Constitutional Convention
from the CT Vote No Coalition:

Haga clic aquí para español

• The question on the ballot will read: “Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the State?” It doesn’t say anything about who goes to the convention or what will be proposed.

• State legislators appoint the delegates to the convention. Average citizens have no say in who goes. The politicians in Hartford will appoint lobbyists, special interests and party operatives – not regular citizens and taxpayers.

• Convention delegates can propose anything, without limits. Voters have no say in what is proposed at the convention. They will do what’s in their best interest,not the public interest.

• The group pushing for the convention is a political organization dedicated to banning marriage for gay people and outlawing abortion. They will use the convention to take away people’s rights.

• In other states, big businesses like health insurance companies and tobacco companies have used this process to get special tax breaks, overturn environmental laws and take away workers’ rights and benefits.

• The state constitution has been amended 30 times since 1970 – without holding a convention. We can make changes to the constitution without holding a taxpayer-funded convention.

• Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and other experts on the state constitution have come out against the convention.
  

McCain Links to Anti-Union Casino No Surprise to Workers

by Paul Neal

When scores of dealers and their supporters rallied at Connecticut’s Foxwoods Casino last May for their right to representation by United Auto Workers Region 9A, which they had voted for overwhelmingly, passersby were quick to honk in support.

A year earlier, Sen. John McCain enjoyed a gambling weekend at Foxwoods with lobbyists Scott Reed and Rick Davis, in seeming conflict of interest with his role as chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Davis is now McCain’s campaign manager.

Casino management ties to McCain, exposed last month in The New York Times, come as no surprise. McCain is an ardent foe of workers’ right to organize.

Foxwoods’ management is refusing to recognize the dealers’ union vote on the grounds that the casino, located on Mashantucket Pequot sovereign territory, should be exempt from National Labor Relations Board rulings.

Because the casino is a corporate entity at which nearly all workers and customers are not tribe members, a court ruled that the casino workers are covered by the NLRB.

Commenting on the ruling last year, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called that ruling a “historic victory” that “opens a new era for working men and women at tribal casinos in Connecticut and across the country.

“While we respect the principles of tribal sovereignty, this ruling guarantees that basic rights deserve respect, no matter who the employee,” Blumenthal said.

This week, casino management responded by filing an appeal of the NLRB order to negotiate a contract, and announced the layoff of 700 workers.

This billion dollar casino is the world’s largest, and Connecticut’s biggest private employer. The dealers’ union web site is in eight languages, indicating the diversity of the workforce.

Since the union election Foxwoods has been stalling for time, trying to create an atmosphere which causes dealers to quit or be fired. The management has also seen fit to award across-the-board raises to virtually every other occupation in the casino complex while dealers’ salaries have remained stagnant.

Dealers recruited from the original casino to work in the new MGM tower are required to serve a three-month probationary period which allows Foxwoods to fire them at will with no recourse for reinstatement at either casino. The net result of these firings is one less union dealer for Foxwoods to contend with.

Dealers have been required to meet certain physical characteristics in order to be considered for work in the MGM tower. Men are required to remove all facial hair and have a physique that can adorn the cover of GQ Magazine and women must have the proportions of a Barbie Doll.

As irritating as these requirements might seem, the issue that caused the Foxwoods dealers and the UAW to set up informational picket lines last May is the fact that Foxwoods separated Foxwoods and MGM dealers tips (tokes). “One casino, one union, one toke, no smoke” was the most popular chant, also addressing the demand for a smoke-free work environment. The UAW and the dealers feel that this is yet another attempt by Foxwoods to divide and destroy the solidarity of the dealers after their legally awarded election victory.

The May support rally was attended by local, state and national politicians and union officers including Connecticut AFL-CIO President John Olsen; UAW Region 9A Director Bob Madore and state Attorney General Blumenthal, as well as members of other unions and organizations. Of course, the real honored guests were the Foxwoods dealers themselves.

McCain’s ties to the gambling industry raise the stakes of the presidential election for the dealers as their struggle for a union contract continues.

From the People's Weekly World