Labor in Illinois

Week of Mar 19

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao Encourages HR Professionals to Help Defeat EFCA

US Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao encouraged the Society for Human Resource Management to aide in President Bush’s efforts to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. Chao said, “Please do not think that President Bush can simply wave the veto pen and the debate is over. It is very important that this bill be defeated on the Hill and defeated soundly. Proponents of this bill should not be allowed to harbor any hope that they can win in 2009.” Chao charges that the EFCA challenges “a worker’s freedom to vote in a private ballot election.” She challenged that NLRB mediation necessarily represents workers’ interests, and suggested that the Act prevents individual workers’ control over whether they are represented by a union. She encourages HR professionals to support President Bush’s immigration reform packages, including temporary worker programs, and reports that the Department of Labor is currently reviewing the Family and Medical Leave Act. – Daily Labor Report No. 49 (14 Mar 2007): A-1.

IBT Disputes Ratification of Allied/Yucaipa Concessions Deal

The ratification of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is necessary for the Allied Holdings trucking company, which has declared bankruptcy, to complete a “concessions deal” with the Los Angeles-based trucking firm, Yucaipa. In an agreement that IBT members may ratify in the coming weeks, truckers would take a 15 percent wage cut in return for Allied’s continuing contributions to previously committed union agreements, including health and pension plans. Fred Zuckerman, director of IBT’s carhaul division, has expressed support for the agreement, on behalf of Teamsters President James Hoffa, as the best alternative to keep Allied in business. Other teamsters, however, including John Thyer of St. Louis and members of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, have argued that Yucaipa does not require union concessions to turn Allied around. The bulk of Allied workers are concentrated in Detroit, Chicago, and Louisville, Kentucky. Union voting is expected to be higher in the coming weeks than it has been in previous elections. –Daily Labor Report No. 52 (19 March 2007): A-5-6.

Democrats Divided over State and Corporate Role in Providing Worker “Safety Net”

Democrats in Congress divide over the role of the State and corporations in providing a safety net for workers displaced by globalization and other economic restructuring. Representative Jim McDermott of Washington State has proposed “wage insurance,” a federal subsidy to workers who are forced, through globalization and other economic restructuring, to take jobs with lower pay. Under his plan, the government would pay up to 50 percent of the difference between a person’s old and new wage, with a maximum benefit of $10,000 per year, lasting as long as two years. New York Senator Charles Schumer, chair of the Joint Economic Committee, Robert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary, and Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, have critically supported the plan. However, Democrats who follow the demands of organized labor argue that the plan would subsidize corporations’ habit of retaining for shareholders the benefits of workplace productivity, and offering workers the lowest wages possible. Thea Lee, policy director of the AFL-CIO observed, “This seems to be giving up on the possibility of trying to get workers into better-paying jobs.” Meanwhile, House Republicans, including Representative Jerry Weller (R-IL) reject the proposal for other reasons. Weller argues that Congress would likely fund the program by cutting back on traditional unemployment insurance and on Trade Adjustment Assistance, a benefit and training program for executives (but not service workers or local suppliers) who lose jobs to foreign competition. New York Times columnist Edmund Andrews suggests that the disagreement between labor leaders and pro-globalization Democrats reflects “a schism among Democrats over globalization and trade,” and cites Schumer and Rubin’s ties to Wall Street. – New York Times (18 Mar 2007). http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/business/yourmoney/18view.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Classified Staff Move to Unionize at College of DuPage

Classified staff at the College of DuPage in Glenn Ellyn have begun the process of organizing a union to represent around 700 college employees, and affiliate with the Illinois Education Association. One example that classified staff could use their own bargaining mechanism, noted Karen Masterson, financial aide counselor and member of the Classified Personnel Association, is a recent administrative decision on vacation days. The College recently moved to close the campus between Christmas and New Years Day, which meant that many staff members lost their floating holidays in accord with their previously negotiated agreement.—(Chicago) Daily Herald (22 March 2007)