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Statement of AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka on AFL-CIO Support for U S WEST Strikers
Statement by Richard L. Trumka, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer
on AFL-CIO Support for U S WEST Strikers, August 21, 1998
The 35,000 working men and women who are on strike at US West have the full backing of the AFL-CIO and of the 40 million union family members across the United States -- including the million and a half union members in the fourteen states where US West operates.
President John Sweeney and I are committed to providing complete support to these strikers: we're behind them with as much as it takes, for as long as it takes.
US West is requiring extreme and abusive levels of overtime each week, an attack on working families that has to stop.
The showdown that US West has forced on its workers is mirrored in fights faced by working families across the country. Everywhere we look, we see attempts by corporate America to slash workers' wages, curtail health benefits, and steal from workers' precious family time -- even as companies are seeing record profits.
Working Americans and their unions are successfully turning back these attempts to destroy good working conditions and standards of living. UPS was wrong, for example, when it thought it could wear down workers, and pressure them to accept part-time jobs as the norm. If US West is counting on wearing down its workers and imposing substandard working conditions, it's wrong too.
This week I met with Larry Cohen, CWA (Communications Workers of America) assistant to the president, and learned that US West's net income was $1.25 billion in 1997, a "terrific year" according to the CEO. This is a classic case of a company that has betrayed its standards, its workers and its customers.
I have asked the AFL-CIO Strategic Approaches Committee to meet in a special session within the next week to study the US West situation and to provide clear recommendations and leadership to the entire labor movement about the best ways to provide immediate and long- lasting support for these workers.
on AFL-CIO Support for U S WEST Strikers, August 21, 1998
The 35,000 working men and women who are on strike at US West have the full backing of the AFL-CIO and of the 40 million union family members across the United States -- including the million and a half union members in the fourteen states where US West operates.
President John Sweeney and I are committed to providing complete support to these strikers: we're behind them with as much as it takes, for as long as it takes.
US West is requiring extreme and abusive levels of overtime each week, an attack on working families that has to stop.
The showdown that US West has forced on its workers is mirrored in fights faced by working families across the country. Everywhere we look, we see attempts by corporate America to slash workers' wages, curtail health benefits, and steal from workers' precious family time -- even as companies are seeing record profits.
Working Americans and their unions are successfully turning back these attempts to destroy good working conditions and standards of living. UPS was wrong, for example, when it thought it could wear down workers, and pressure them to accept part-time jobs as the norm. If US West is counting on wearing down its workers and imposing substandard working conditions, it's wrong too.
This week I met with Larry Cohen, CWA (Communications Workers of America) assistant to the president, and learned that US West's net income was $1.25 billion in 1997, a "terrific year" according to the CEO. This is a classic case of a company that has betrayed its standards, its workers and its customers.
I have asked the AFL-CIO Strategic Approaches Committee to meet in a special session within the next week to study the US West situation and to provide clear recommendations and leadership to the entire labor movement about the best ways to provide immediate and long- lasting support for these workers.