On the picket line

Two-day strike of grad teaching assistants wins in Ill.

The Graduate Employees Organization, Local 6300 of the American Federation of Teachers/Illinois Federation of Teachers, voted Nov. 17 to end its two-day strike at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The GEO won a tentative agreement, which must still be approved by 2,600 GEO members, with gains in all four of GEO’s contract demands. The contract provides for a 10-percent wage increase over three years, raises in the minimum salary, increases in UIUC’s contribution to health-care premiums reaching 75 percent in the third year, and an additional two weeks of unpaid parental leave. GEO negotiators forced UIUC to drop regressive proposals for furloughs, “in-kind” payment, rescission of grievances related to discrimination, and a “scope of agreement” clause that would have prevented GEO from reopening bargaining if there were changes in employment conditions. GEO negotiators also pushed back UIUC’s attempt to further erode tuition waivers for GEO members. Calling this “a major victory for labor in the state of Illinois and the United States,” GEO also took a stand “with higher education labor unions across the nation opposing the ongoing corporatization and privatization of our public higher education system.” (www.uigeo.org)

Part-time faculty win historic first contract in Md.

It took members of Services Employees Local 500 bargaining committee, which represents part-time faculty at Maryland’s Montgomery College, two years of organizing and negotiating to win a decent contract. By mid-November they had won raises in compensation, job security and a new commitment to address pay inequity and lack of benefits. Part-time faculty teach nearly half of all classes at the college. As part-time English professor and Local 500 bargaining team member Victoria Baldassano told the Nov. 18 Union City, online newsletter of the Metro Washington AFL-CIO, “Together we’re changing the status quo and standing up for ourselves and for the students who depend on us.” The contract is the first collective-bargaining agreement for part-time faculty in any institution of higher education in Maryland.

Workers protest Bissell firing after voting union

After 70 warehouse workers in Joliet, Ill., told Bissell vacuum cleaner bosses on Oct. 29 that they had voted for representation by the United Electrical Workers, they were all fired on Nov. 6. The workers, with the help of UE and its affiliate Warehouse Workers for Justice, have filed state and federal charges against Bissell for violations of workers’ rights, including minimum wage laws. “This company has no respect for our rights,” said forklift driver Daniel Millan. “We will fight to force Bissell ... to follow the law and treat workers with dignity.” The workers have been organizing rallies, pickets and defense meetings throughout Illinois. Supporters even picketed Bissell headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich. Though Bissell has said it will continue to pay the workers through Jan. 9 to comply with federal laws mandating severance pay, the workers are determined to win their jobs back. To sign a petition demanding the workers’ reinstatement, visit ueunion.org.

Anti-sweatshop movement wins fight for Honduran workers

The anti-sweatshop student movement in this country won a huge victory for international solidarity on Nov. 17, when sportswear company Russell Athletic agreed to rehire 1,200 Honduran workers after closing its factory last January when the workers unionized. Since then United Students Against Sweatshops had lined up 89 colleges and universities to sever or suspend licensing agreements with Russell—some worth more than $1 million. Among many other activities, USAS picketed the NBA finals to protest the league’s licensing agreement with Russell and knocked on Warren Buffett’s door in Omaha, Neb., because his company owns Fruit of the Loom, Russell’s parent company. The Workers Rights Consortium, which represents USAS members at 170 universities, negotiated the agreement with Russell in tandem with union leaders in Honduras. Russell also agreed to stop opposing unionization at its seven other plants there. This victory comes after 10 years of organizing by USAS to get universities to adopt detailed codes of conduct for the factories used by licensees like Russell. As Moises Alvarado, president of the Honduran union, told the Nov. 18 New York Times: “For us, it was very important to receive the support of the universities. We are impressed by the social conscience of the students in the United States.” In light of the current political crisis in Honduras, with sham elections set to take place supported by U.S. imperialism, this victory is a welcome development.