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Briefly . . .
ABC Pension Proposal Draws Fire
A proposal that would "eviscerate" workers' pensions is among issues that have prolonged bargaining between NABET-CWA and ABC covering 5,000 employees of the Disney-owned network, reported Vice President John Clark.
Talks were suspended in mid-May, and are now scheduled to resume June 3 in Chicago. The current contract expired on May 12.
Clark told the company that the package presents the union with "serious problems" if an agreement is to be reached. Clark also criticized the company for mischaracterizing various proposals in ABC's negotiating bulletins.
Members of the bargaining team returned to their home cities during the break in talks to hold meetings with the local members about what they called the "devastating" pension proposal and many other open issues.
Unions Reach Out to Chinese Daily News Workers
The two-year fight for fairness by workers at the Chinese Daily News near Los Angeles is getting help on a global scale from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, as part of a campaign for respect for workers around world.
The 150 employees at the Chinese-language newspaper have been battling a management campaign of fear and intimidation since voting for representation by TNG-CWA in March 2001. The newspaper is owned by the United Daily News Group of Taiwan.
The ICFTU campaign began May 1, involving a group of 12 global union federations representing more than 158 million workers. Unionists will march, mobilize and take action throughout Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia to support workers' rights.
To help the Chinese Daily News workers, the campaign is asking supporters to send a message to the newspaper's president, Min Shen Su, protesting the company's violations of workers' rights and urging it to respect the democratic will of employees. To participate, go to www.unionvoice.org/campaign/cdn_respect.
For more information on the "Respect" campaign, go to www.global-unions.org/special.asp?LN=E&page=may1.
New Weapon in Fair Trade Fight: Postcards
With a postcard or a few mouse clicks, CWA members can join activists throughout North and South America who are fighting to stop the damaging Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement.
CWA is distributing thousands of "Vote No" postcards and brochures to members via districts, sectors and locals. The cards call for "Good jobs in strong communities. Not NAFTA expansion."
The North American Free Trade Agreement has cost 750,000 American jobs while allowing U.S. companies to set up cheap factories in Mexico, where laws governing workers' rights, job safety, toxic waste and other community and environmental issues are nonexistent or not enforced.
"The FTAA is NAFTA all over again - but 10 times bigger," CWA's brochure says. "It would spread the damage NAFTA has done in three countries to 34 countries and some 800 million people."
The AFL-CIO will turn over the postcards from CWA and other unions to an FTAA meeting of the 34 countries' trade ministers in Miami in November. The meeting will continue to lay the groundwork for FTAA, which is expected to be fully developed and put to a vote in the U.S. Congress and other countries by 2005.
Two postcards are included in each FTAA brochure and members are encouraged to give any extras to family and friends.
A proposal that would "eviscerate" workers' pensions is among issues that have prolonged bargaining between NABET-CWA and ABC covering 5,000 employees of the Disney-owned network, reported Vice President John Clark.
Talks were suspended in mid-May, and are now scheduled to resume June 3 in Chicago. The current contract expired on May 12.
Clark told the company that the package presents the union with "serious problems" if an agreement is to be reached. Clark also criticized the company for mischaracterizing various proposals in ABC's negotiating bulletins.
Members of the bargaining team returned to their home cities during the break in talks to hold meetings with the local members about what they called the "devastating" pension proposal and many other open issues.
Unions Reach Out to Chinese Daily News Workers
The two-year fight for fairness by workers at the Chinese Daily News near Los Angeles is getting help on a global scale from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, as part of a campaign for respect for workers around world.
The 150 employees at the Chinese-language newspaper have been battling a management campaign of fear and intimidation since voting for representation by TNG-CWA in March 2001. The newspaper is owned by the United Daily News Group of Taiwan.
The ICFTU campaign began May 1, involving a group of 12 global union federations representing more than 158 million workers. Unionists will march, mobilize and take action throughout Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia to support workers' rights.
To help the Chinese Daily News workers, the campaign is asking supporters to send a message to the newspaper's president, Min Shen Su, protesting the company's violations of workers' rights and urging it to respect the democratic will of employees. To participate, go to www.unionvoice.org/campaign/cdn_respect.
For more information on the "Respect" campaign, go to www.global-unions.org/special.asp?LN=E&page=may1.
New Weapon in Fair Trade Fight: Postcards
With a postcard or a few mouse clicks, CWA members can join activists throughout North and South America who are fighting to stop the damaging Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement.
CWA is distributing thousands of "Vote No" postcards and brochures to members via districts, sectors and locals. The cards call for "Good jobs in strong communities. Not NAFTA expansion."
The North American Free Trade Agreement has cost 750,000 American jobs while allowing U.S. companies to set up cheap factories in Mexico, where laws governing workers' rights, job safety, toxic waste and other community and environmental issues are nonexistent or not enforced.
"The FTAA is NAFTA all over again - but 10 times bigger," CWA's brochure says. "It would spread the damage NAFTA has done in three countries to 34 countries and some 800 million people."
The AFL-CIO will turn over the postcards from CWA and other unions to an FTAA meeting of the 34 countries' trade ministers in Miami in November. The meeting will continue to lay the groundwork for FTAA, which is expected to be fully developed and put to a vote in the U.S. Congress and other countries by 2005.
Two postcards are included in each FTAA brochure and members are encouraged to give any extras to family and friends.