Labor in Illinois

RESPECT Act Challenges Expansive Definition of "Supervisor"

The AFL-CIO supports a new bill, dubbed the Re-Employment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT), which challenges the National Labor Relations Board's expansive new definition of "supervisor." In three recent decisions collectively referred to as the Oakland cases, the NLRB ruled that a worker can be classified as a supervisor if he or she spends only 10 to 15 percent of his or her time in oversight duties. Supervisors are not protected by the NLRA. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said, "The NLRB defied congressional intent by reclassifying as 'supervisors' many workers with only low-level supervisory duties, professionals such as nurses, and other skilled craftsperson. The RESPECT Act will restore Congress's original intent, which was never to deny protection to these workers." The bill, introduced in the house by Robert Andrews (D-NJ) and Don Young (R-Alaska) has bipartisan support. The NLRB is currently holding dozens of cases that address the definition of supervisor, and 60 of them are union election cases. – The Labor Paper (5 April 2007): 1.

Chicago Nurses' Anti-trust Lawsuit Proceeds

Registered nurses in several Chicago area hospitals and chains won federal district court approval for pursuing their class action lawsuit against violations in the Sherman Antitrust Act. The nurses claim that these Chicago health care providers, some of whom maintain collective bargaining agreements and some who do not, have conspired to exchange compensation information and thereby depress their wages. The case involves the following hospitals and/or chains: Advocate Health Care, Children's Memorial Hospital, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Michael Reese Medical Center Corp., Doctors Community Healthcare Corp., Resurrection Health Care, and the University of Chicago Hospitals. – Daily Labor Report (4 April 2007): A-9.

Legislators Debate Immigration Restrictions for Highly Skilled Workers

Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act to encourage employers to recruit and retain US workers, improve wage standards, and enhance the audit authority of the Immigration and Naturalization services. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney affirmed the senators, arguing that under the current law, high-tech and other employers have driven down standards in working conditions and often facilitated the outsourcing of highly skilled jobs. However, advocates for business and educators in the Compete America coalition call for expansion and reform to the already very limited visas available through the H-1B and L-1 immigration programs. The STRIVE Act, introduced by Representatives Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), would increase the overall cap on employment-based visas from 140,000 to 290,000 per year. It would also increase the cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 115,000 per year. – Daily Labor Report (30 Mar 2007): A-15.

IAM and IAF Support Global Alliance of Boeing Unions

The International Association of Machinists (IAM) and International Metalworkers Foundation (IAF) sponsored the Boeing Workers World Conference, which included union representatives from seven countries where Boeing has major manufacturing operations. Built upon the precedent of other global alliances of unionized workers within a single corporation, such as those already in place at Goodyear and Exxon, the Boeing alliance will represent workers in the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy and Sweeden. The alliance is open to new member organizations that represent Boeing workers in countries that support free and independent trade union associations. Boeing's tentative plans for expanding into China, where the machinists are not confident free and independent trade unions are currently possible, is one provocation for the alliance's formation. – Daily Labor Report (2 Apr 2007): A-4.

Part-time Firefighters Fired After Attempts to Unionize

Part-time Firefighters and Paramedics in New Lenox Fire Protection District were voted Saturday to be replaced with temporary, contract workers. The decision follows the part-time workers' efforts to organize a union. Tim McDonald, vice president of Employees International Local 73, stated that an unfair labor practices grievance would be filed shortly. The New Lenox Fired Board denies that it ever recognized part-time workers as a collective bargaining unit. – www.firefightingnews.com (9 Apr 2007)

Rantoul Workers Face Plant Closings

Collins & Aikman, operator of three Rantoul automotive supply plants that employ 950, has announced its bankruptcy and the possibility of massive layoffs in case the sale falls through. Robert Bruce, Rantoul's economic development director, said he is optimistic and hopes that the plant's announcement about the possibility of closing is just "due diligence." Collins & Aikman is the largest employer in Rantoul, a community of around 13,000. About 650 of its workers are Teamsters. – Chicago Tribune (11 Apr 2007)

Immokalee Workers Reach Agreement with McDonalds

Florida field and farm workers, working within the Coalition of Imokalee Workers (CIW) and Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA), have won their demands for a penny more per pound to tomato harvesters and continued openness to labor negotiations. However, they will continue their ten day awareness-raising tour to bring continued attention to the human rights abuses in poor working conditions and to support those not fully represented by the new contract. The tour will stop in several states including Florida, New York, Illinois and California. Among the unions leaders supporting the campaign are John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO, Dolores Huerta of the United Farm Workers, and Jan Schakowsky of the SEIU. – Infoshop news (10 Apr 2007)

UAW Delegates Approve Bargaining Goals for Upcoming Year

Delegates to the United Auto Workers' bargaining convention approved a resolution that spells out bargaining goals that the union will pursue in talks with major domestic automakers later this year. On the list of priorities is "the maximum possible protection" for wages, health care, and pensions, limits on the use of temporary and contingent workers that create two-tier paying systems, continued lobbying for the Employee Free Choice Act, support for fellow workers globally, and provisoin of health and prescription drug coverage. – Labor Relations Week (5 Apr 2007)

Organized Labor Challenges Bush's Fast-Track Renewal Appeal

The AFL-CIO unveiled a lobbying campaign to challenge President Bush's "Fast Track" or Trade Promotion Authority, the unlimited prerogative the president currently has to negotiate trade pacts overseas without the input of organized labor. The Change to Win coalition passed a resolution that Congress, rather than the president alone, should have the authority to "help create standards that will stimulate development and maintain high standards and around the globe." The Economic Policy Institute released a study earlier this year that shows "fast track" presidential authority has hurt workers in Mexico, Canada and the United States. – The Labor Paper (5 Apr 2007): 13.

Southwest Airlines Critical of Privatizing Midway

Mayor Daley had hoped that leasing the city-operated Midway Airport to a private operator would bolster the city's underfunded pension plans and pay for infrastructure repairs and upkeep. Ron Ricks of Southwest Airlines, however, has argued that because Southwest contributed to rebuilding Midway into a modern, major hub of transportation, they should earn a percentage of the city's potential profits. Other airlines, who would also have to agree for the privatization plan to pass, raised questions about whether a private operator would truly improve productivity in reducing maintenance or emergency services. Ricks wrote in a letter to the City of Chicago in February, "While new information could change our minds, presently we believe that privatization is threatening to the interests of (Midway) and the airlines and passengers who rely upon it." – Crain's Chicago Business (2 April 2007): 1, 8.