On the picket line

AT&T workers fighting back

AT&T issued its first quarter earnings report on April 22. Despite the bad economy the company showed a profit of $3.3 billion. Yet AT&T, which is leading all competitors in its field, has the greedy arrogance to demand that the 100,000 workers whose contracts expired on April 4 should make do with measly wage increases, pay much more for health care, and receive lower pension benefits. The workers, who have been mobilizing for a strike in workplaces from coast to coast, will have none of it. In fact hundreds of members of the Communications Workers union trekked to Dallas to picket AT&T’s April 24 shareholders’ meeting. Their leaflet exposed AT&T’s blatant class warfare: It showed the corporation trying to cut the workers’ standard of living while the bosses and shareholders live high on the hog. (AT&T had record profits of $12.9 billion in 2008!) It’s time for AT&T to stop the attack and fork over the wealth to those who created it!

SAG to vote on new contract

After a year of on-again, off-again negotiations—and much internal rancor and debate—the Screen Actors Guild’s national board voted narrowly to approve the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ latest offer on April 19. Though its members have lost millions of dollars by not working over the last year and the 10 percent wage increases over the next two years are essentially the same as those they voted down last June, the new contract does fulfill a primary SAG objective: for the first time it includes provisions for payment for work created for and transmitted over the Internet. SAG’s 120,000 members will vote on the contract in May. It will last through June 2011. That expiration date offers huge potential. It’s the same date on which other contracts will expire in other areas of the motion picture and television industry. In unity there is strength!

May Day work stoppage in Puerto Rico

Five major public sector unions in Puerto Rico (including the Federation of Puerto Rican Teachers) have called for an all-out work stoppage on the island on May Day. The unions are protesting the fact that by passing Law 7 the colonial government has suspended all public sector labor contracts for two years, nullifying all contractual rights and negotiated wage increases. Along with this repressive law loom layoffs, expected to total 30,000 to 60,000 workers over the next few years. “These fascistic and draconian measures will have a severe impact on the dire conditions already facing the Puerto Rican working class. Working class solidarity is needed,” writes Ángel González, FMPR Support Committee. (e-mail, April 20)

Commemorate workers on April 28

Not only is April 28 Workers Memorial Day, when workers remember the hundreds of men and women who are needlessly killed every year on the job due to the bosses’ greed and mismanagement; April 28 is also Equal Pay Day, when women demand to be paid fairly for their labor. Look for activities commemorating both in your area.

New unemployment resource

The AFL-CIO has just created a new Web site to help workers coping with layoffs and seeking jobs. Though it’s still in formation, check out www.unemploymentlifeline.org.

Stella D’Oro strike support

On April 16, six women took the message “Boycott Stella D’Oro! Stop attacks on unions, wages, and benefits!” to grocery shoppers in their Chelsea (Manhattan) neighborhood. The six, who are active in many unions, handed out leaflets and stickers. They supported Bakery Local 50’s strike (now over eight months long) against the bosses’ attempts to defeat the union, first with horrific contract “offers,” and now with temporary scab labor at the historic Bronx bakery. One activist convinced a small store’s owner not to order any more of the Italian-style biscuits and breadsticks for one month.

In other developments, a fundraiser held in Harlem on April 4 featured progressive artists from many genres. It collected over $4,000 for the strikers’ cause. The union’s unfair labor practices case against Stella D’Oro and Brynwood Partners will be heard by a National Labor Relations Board judge in May. The union asks supporters to call Board member Henrik Hartong III at 203-972-8082 or e-mail [email protected] and tell him to negotiate a fair contract now. Download leaflets at www.stelladorostrike2008.com using Adobe Acrobat. Several videos of strike rallies are available on YouTube.