On the picket line

‘No contract, no peace!’

More than 38,000 transit workers in New York City are on the move in their fight for a decent contract. After staging a heroic three-day strike in 2005, for which Transport Workers Union Local 100 was severely punished by the courts and city and state governments, the workers played by the book and submitted their latest contract to binding arbitration. When the arbitration panel recommended an 11 percent wage hike over three years—desperately needed to make up for piddling raises in the 2006 contract—the multimillion-dollar Metropolitan Transportation Authority appealed. A decision is scheduled for Oct. 20.

Thousands of workers—accompanied by the huge inflated rat that symbolizes a bad deal for workers—picketed outside MTA offices on Sept. 29 under the slogan “No contract, no peace!” On Oct. 14 they held a “Day of Outrage” with local actions at various transit hubs. A second day of outrage is planned for Oct. 28 with a march across the Brooklyn Bridge. (www.twulocal100.org)

Teachers rally against layoffs in D.C.

Several thousand teachers in D.C. schools and their supporters rallied at Freedom Plaza on Oct. 8 to protest layoffs, which were announced in early October, of 388 school employees, including 229 classroom teachers. Though supposedly needed to close a $43.9 million budget gap, the layoffs are really a purge of higher-paid veteran teachers, say Washington Teachers’ Union leaders. The day before the rally, WTU filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court to stop the city from implementing the cuts. The suit also challenges the hiring of 934 new teachers this summer, when newly hired teachers usually number 300. (Washington Post, Oct. 9)

Carhauler jobs in jeopardy

Part of the fallout from General Motors’ and Chrysler’s bailout and restructuring is that 5,000 Teamster carhauling jobs may be on the chopping block. Over the past year more than 1,000 carhauler jobs have already been lost. Chrysler has recently shifted 28 percent of its carhauling business—workers drive new vehicles from factories to dealers—to nonunion companies. And GM is demanding a 26 percent cost reduction from one union carrier. The union is worried that Ford may jump on the layoff bandwagon. The companies defend the layoffs and wage cuts by saying they need them to stay “competitive.” But that’s just a fig leaf. The bosses are determined to steal more of the value the workers create to boost profits and line their own pockets. In protest, the Teamsters held picket lines on Oct. 16 at 70 GM and Chrysler dealerships around the country. (Detroit News, Oct. 16)