On the picket line

House passes two pay-equity bills

On Jan. 9 the new House of Representatives passed two bills promoting pay equity for women. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act counters the reactionary 2007 Supreme Court decision that severely limited the period when women could sue for job discrimination. The bill allows a woman to sue with each new paycheck based on a past discriminatory pay rate.

The Paycheck Fairness Act strengthens the 1963 Equal Pay Act requiring equal pay for equal work. (New York Times, Jan. 10) According to a recent study by the Center for American Progress, women earn approximately $434,000 less on average than men over a 40-year period. While today women average 78 cents for every dollar a man earns, that doesn’t take into account that both women and men of color earn significantly less than white men.

A report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that if women were paid fairly, single women’s income would rise by 13.4 percent, single mothers would earn 17 percent more, and married women’s income would increase by 6 percent. These wage increases would reduce poverty levels for single mothers by over 50 percent.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are lobbying senators to oppose both bills. Stay tuned.

ILWU supports Cuban Five

Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in San Francisco sent a letter Jan. 15 to President-elect Barack Obama in support of the Cuban Five. ILWU President Melvin Mackay asked Obama to look into the case of the Five and allow visas for the spouses of Gerardo Hernández and René González. Mackay writes: “We appeal to your sense of justice and ask you to act immediately to put an end to this travesty of justice. We know that if you learn about the case, you will understand that the Cuban Five are innocent. We as a nation would do anything to defend ourselves against terrorism. For doing precisely that, the Cuban Five have already spent 10 years in prison; it is time for them to return home to their families in Cuba. Until then we ask you to intervene to grant visas to Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez to visit their husbands in prison.” To read the entire letter, go to laborexchange.blogspot.com.

Sign petition supporting EFCA

The Employee Free Choice Act is at the top of organized labor’s agenda in 2009. The law would make it easier for workers to join unions. If a majority of workers signed cards authorizing a union, they wouldn’t need to hold an election, where bosses all too often intimidate, harass and threaten workers to vote against a union. President Obama has promised to sign the EFCA, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is waging war against it. It’s up to everyone who favors workers’ right to bargain collectively to push for passage of this bill. To sign a petition supporting EFCA, go to http://freechoiceact.org/aft.

Wal-Mart to pay $352-$640 million over wage violations

In agreeing to what’s called the largest settlement covering wage violations, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest, multibillion-dollar (anti-union) retailer, agreed on Dec. 23 to pay at least $352 million, and as much as $640 million, to settle 63 lawsuits pending in federal and state courts in 42 states. All suits charged Wal-Mart with forcing employees to work off the clock; now only 12 wage-and-hour lawsuits are still pending. (New York Times, Dec. 24) What a difference passage of the EFCA would mean to the thousands of Wal-Mart workers in the U.S., in addition to the millions in linked industries around the world, who would finally be able to negotiate decent contracts.

Proud day for union labor!

What hasn’t been reported in the corporate press is that the heroic workers who joined together to save the lives of 155 passengers and crew on board US Airways Flight 1549 on Jan. 15 were all union workers. The pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, ferryboat crews and firefighters all belong to unions that stress safety and service. (alternet.org, Jan. 16) Only union labor could have pulled off such a “miracle.”