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Spotlight: Labor and Economic News Across the Country
Hollywoods Ad Strikes Out
Hollywood’s bad taste hit a new low recently in its fight against members of the Screen Actors Guild, who are striking over pay for work on commercials.
An ad in “Shoot” magazine in May featured a photograph of an elderly African woman’s wrinkled breasts with a caption that said “In South Africa, this is what SAG means,” mocking the acronym for the actors’ guild. The ad said that a leading commercial director was taking his business to South Africa because of the strike, which started May 1.
Actors and union leaders immediately condemned the ad, and the agency that placed it — owned by film directors Tony and Ridley Scott — apologized. Still, presidents of SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists wrote an open letter to the agency. “You have purposefully demeaned women, African-Americans and the elderly while pursuing an agenda of union busting,” they wrote, calling the ad “utterly horrifying.”
Meanwhile, some prominent figures in commercials are refusing to cross the actors’ picket lines. Golf star Tiger Woods canceled his appearance in a Nike commercial and Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra dropped out of a Dunkin’ Donuts shoot.
State Temps Organize in Oregon
Employers take note: Your days of skimping on benefits by hiring temporary workers may be numbered.
In a history-making vote, 600 temporary workers in Oregon’s state government have voted to join the Oregon Public Employees Union, Service Employees Local 503.
The workers are believed to be the first state temps anywhere to organize, and union leaders say they hope it sends a message to public and private employers nationwide. The Oregon workers are quickly gearing up to negotiate a contract that will provide benefits they’ve long been denied.
Union spokeswoman Sheila Engles said the union recognizes there’s a need for temporary workers at times. But too often, she told the Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal, “it has become a way to fill positions without having to provide any benefits, sick leave or vacation time.”
Steeled for Victory In Colorado
For three years, more than 1,000 locked-out workers at Rocky Mountain Steel in Pueblo, Col., have charged that they’re victims of the company’s illegal labor practices. In May, a judge said they’re right.
A ruling orders the company to give the workers their jobs back and pay them for every workday since the strike started in October 1997. The workers, members of the Steelworkers, made an unconditional offer to return to work two months later, but were locked out.
National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge Albert Metz found the company guilty of unfair labor practices, finding it threatened workers with job loss and even plant closure if they elected to go on strike.
The NLRB will “vigorously pursue” the case in court if the company fails to comply with the order, a spokesman told the Denver Post. The company (no surprise) plans to appeal.
Hollywood’s bad taste hit a new low recently in its fight against members of the Screen Actors Guild, who are striking over pay for work on commercials.
An ad in “Shoot” magazine in May featured a photograph of an elderly African woman’s wrinkled breasts with a caption that said “In South Africa, this is what SAG means,” mocking the acronym for the actors’ guild. The ad said that a leading commercial director was taking his business to South Africa because of the strike, which started May 1.
Actors and union leaders immediately condemned the ad, and the agency that placed it — owned by film directors Tony and Ridley Scott — apologized. Still, presidents of SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists wrote an open letter to the agency. “You have purposefully demeaned women, African-Americans and the elderly while pursuing an agenda of union busting,” they wrote, calling the ad “utterly horrifying.”
Meanwhile, some prominent figures in commercials are refusing to cross the actors’ picket lines. Golf star Tiger Woods canceled his appearance in a Nike commercial and Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra dropped out of a Dunkin’ Donuts shoot.
State Temps Organize in Oregon
Employers take note: Your days of skimping on benefits by hiring temporary workers may be numbered.
In a history-making vote, 600 temporary workers in Oregon’s state government have voted to join the Oregon Public Employees Union, Service Employees Local 503.
The workers are believed to be the first state temps anywhere to organize, and union leaders say they hope it sends a message to public and private employers nationwide. The Oregon workers are quickly gearing up to negotiate a contract that will provide benefits they’ve long been denied.
Union spokeswoman Sheila Engles said the union recognizes there’s a need for temporary workers at times. But too often, she told the Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal, “it has become a way to fill positions without having to provide any benefits, sick leave or vacation time.”
Steeled for Victory In Colorado
For three years, more than 1,000 locked-out workers at Rocky Mountain Steel in Pueblo, Col., have charged that they’re victims of the company’s illegal labor practices. In May, a judge said they’re right.
A ruling orders the company to give the workers their jobs back and pay them for every workday since the strike started in October 1997. The workers, members of the Steelworkers, made an unconditional offer to return to work two months later, but were locked out.
National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge Albert Metz found the company guilty of unfair labor practices, finding it threatened workers with job loss and even plant closure if they elected to go on strike.
The NLRB will “vigorously pursue” the case in court if the company fails to comply with the order, a spokesman told the Denver Post. The company (no surprise) plans to appeal.