News

Working-class Americans, they weren’t.

But that’s what the National Association of Manufacturers wanted you to believe when you turned on the TV news or picked up your paper and saw pictures of folks in hard hats surrounding Republican leaders at a Capitol Hill news conference March 8.

In the aftermath of the Republican stampede that crushed the federal ergonomics rule in March, union leaders nationwide are vowing to defeat anti-worker members of Congress and fight even harder for rules to prevent crippling repetitive motion and strain injuries.

After years fighting a bitter union-busting campaign at a Buffalo-area nursing home, CWA Local 1168 has triumphed over high-powered lawyers and management tricks.

Workers at Sheridan Manor rejected the company’s attempt to decertify their bargaining unit, voting 56-42 for CWA in March.

More than 700 Cingular wireless workers in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin won CWA representation in a card check conducted Feb. 27 by the American Arbitration Association.

CWA members in Pennsylvania and Maryland are applauding a state Public Utility Commission decision March 22 to allow Verizon to stay in one piece, rather than force the company to split into wholesale and retail entities.