Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, July 19, workers answered the call by the North Florida Future Labor Leaders to protest HR 86, the NOSHA Act, which would abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Union teachers, plumbers, electricians, warehouse workers and city employees gathered at the steps of Jacksonville city to demand, “No to NOSHA.”

Shayne Tremblay, president of the North Florida Future Labor Leaders (NFFLL) and a rank-and-file electrician with IBEW Local 177 stated, “Prior to the Occupational Safety and Health Act being signed into law, this country was facing an epidemic of workers getting injured and dying on the job. OSHA was passed to stop this by holding companies accountable for the safety and health of their workers. Abolishing OSHA would set us back in time to a period where companies can treat workers as disposable again.”

Though OSHA protections are often thought about in the context of heavy industry and construction, OSHA covers all workers in the U.S.

Ashleigh Rondon, a rank-and-file plumber and member of UA Local 234, stated, “Workers won’t be safe unless we have regulations requiring their safety. The companies we work for are only looking out for themselves. And that goes for any industry – healthcare, construction, factory workers, anybody. Everybody needs OSHA. We need OSHA to ensure people make it home in one piece.”

Alysin Allmon, a rank-and-file Teamster, described how unorganized workers are especially at risk, “Many of us here are covered by unions that guarantee us safe working conditions and even healthcare. But many people who would be affected, if they got hurt, may not get help because they can't afford to, may not ever receive compensation because the companies possibly wouldn't have to. Agencies like OSHA prevent these accidents that could easily put people out of work, or result in deaths.”

Mike Sterling of IBEW 2358 and a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists told the crowd, “OSHA is a government that we pay for; its purpose is to ensure that companies don’t put profit over people. Let’s send a message to Washington that worker safety is nothing to mess with.”

Between speeches, anyone within earshot of City Hall could hear union workers chanting “Who’s got the power? We got the power! What kind of power? Worker power!” The rally concluded with a booming chant of “No to NOSHA! Kill the bill!”

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #Labor #OSHA #NFFLL #IBEW

El Paso, TX – Close to 500 marchers came together in San Jacinto Plaza in El Paso, March 31, for the Cesar Chavez Memorial March for Democracy and Against Fascism. “The Constitutional rights I have today, I want to have tomorrow and the future. Trump is trying to make that impossible!” said Irma Camacho, the rally emcee. The protest included community groups and labor representatives from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2416.

Carlos Marentes, founder of the Union de Trabajadores Agricolas Fronterizos told the crowd, “This has got to be the beginning of journey, of a struggle not just against Trump but an entire system of exploitation!”

#ElPasoTX #TX #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #Labor #IBEW

Tacoma, WA – On September 4, members of the IBEW Local 46 and community members picketed at the Tacoma location of Auto-Chlor to demand an end to illegal firing and intimidations and for the company to acknowledge workers’ lawful right to organize.

“We are tired of the always increasing workloads, pressure to get more done with less, more and more time away from our families, and not being compensated at market value for our skills and the profits we bring to the company,” said Dametrius Ballarad, an Auto-Chlor technician.

Talison Crosby, a member of Teamsters Local 174, said, “I'm out here today because as a rank-and-file Teamster, I know the power of a union. We gotta stand with our siblings in the working class who are fighting for what's right. Tacoma is a proud union town, and we won't let this union-busting go unchallenged!”

Wrapping up the picket, community member Sean Renning commented, “The sentiment was one of solidarity and visibility. We were there to show the workers of Auto-Chlor that they're not alone and that they have our support in the struggle for fair pay and working conditions.”

“Ultimately our goal as a labor union is to elevate the industry in which we represent working-class people,” said Shannon Hagen, senior organizer with IBEW Local 46.

#TacomaWA #WA #Labor #IBEW

Asheville, NC – SITEL workers and community members came out on the afternoon of Sept. 5 for a lively picket, supporting SITEL workers’ right to organize. Picketers held signs opposing SITEL’s union busting practices. One read, “United we bargain – divided we beg.”

SITEL operates 29 call centers in the U.S., as well in 25 other countries. The corporation is notorious for low wages and poor working conditions. At the call center in Asheville, brave workers are taking a stand and organizing a union drive with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). “We face a corporation known for its rabid anti-union stance. SITEL is a global poverty broker that strategically opens sites based on a predatory business strategy of exploiting vulnerable labor populations for profit,” says Ken Ashworth, an employee at the facility.

What began as a struggle over grossly inadequate restroom facilities has developed into a yearlong struggle for respect, better benefits and good wages.

“My wife Shana has worked for SITEL for over three years now, and still only makes $9.50 an hour,” said Ed Williams. “It’s bad enough that we have to decide if we feed the family or pay for gas for her to get to work.” As a slap in the face, rather than increasing workers' wages so they do not have to make such hard choices, SITEL has an employee sponsored food panty for its workers. All the while the CEO receives bonuses of $750,000 a year.

“We organized the picket today because SITEL is trying everything it can to scare us from organizing,” says union organizer Sarah Buchner. “They have brought in ‘union avoidance consultants’ to hold captive audience meetings as a means to spread misinformation and create fear about the role of unions.”

Rebecca Smith and Pat O’mara, who identified themselves as ex-Teamsters, are ‘union avoidance consultants.’ SITEL is paying them over $3,000 a day to try to convince workers that a union will not help them and create divisions between the workers. They are lying to the workers, and they are bought and paid for by SITEL.

On Sept. 5, during the shift change from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., SITEL workers, together with dozens of friends, family and community supporters, held a picket outside the call the center to show the company that they knew exactly what unions are for – organizing and fighting back.

Not long after the picket assembled, SITEL management called the police, hoping they could scare the picketers into silence. In the face of this scare tactic with threats of arrest, the union supporters stood their ground. After a long discussion between leading workers, IBEW representatives, the city attorney and the police, the police finally admitted that the workers had the right to picket on the sidewalk off SITEL’s property and the demonstration continued. As cars passed they honked in support and drivers raised their fists in solidarity.

In August, SITEL settled several unfair labor practice claims, one regarding maintaining and enforcing an illegal social media policy. The full text of the settlement can be read here (http://organizesitelasheville.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/sitel-posts-settlement-notice-on-labor-charges/). Notice of this has been posted on bulletin boards at the Asheville location and on the company intranet nationwide.

#AshevilleNC #unionBusting #classStruggleUnionism #IBEW #SITEL

Jacksonville, FL – Over 200 supporters of Jobs for Jacksonville rallied to protest Turner Construction's unjust and unlawful labor practices, Jan. 26. Union members from the Carpenters, IBEW, Boilermakers, Sheet Metal Workers and the Teamsters are waging a campaign against Turner Construction. Turner refuses to hire out-of-work construction workers in Jacksonville for the Duval County Courthouse building project. This is a blatant breach of Turner Construction's contract, which promised to provide many jobs for the economically hurting building trades people in Jacksonville.

After the workers rallied at the construction site, they marched over to Jacksonville's City Hall chanting, “Mayor Peyton sold us out, Turner get the hell out!” They rallied one more time on the steps of City Hall before flooding the City Council Chambers with red shirts reading “Jobs for Jacksonville!” During the meeting of the Jacksonville City Council, workers from many backgrounds and nationalities spoke, denouncing the council's failure to take action against Turner's breach of contract and threatening to return to the chambers with hundreds more if justice did not prevail and the workers' right to jobs was not respected, as per the contract that managers of Turner Construction signed.

The workers were joined by members of Gainesville Area Students for a Democratic Society, who traveled to Jacksonville to support them. The students came armed with demands that money go towards building jobs and education, not wars and occupation. When asked for the reason why he supported the rally, SDS member Jared Hamil replied, “These workers work harder than most, aren't given a living wage and are the first to lose their jobs during an economic recession. To not support these workers would mean turning your back on people who are struggling for the same things we're all fighting for. Companies like Turner Construction want to divide people so they can get rich while we fight each other. That's why students and workers should support each other in their struggles.”

While some of the workers present at the rally were led by the managers of Turner Construction to believe that it was immigrant labor that kept them from being hired for the building project, leaders of the rally were quick to point out that unions should organize workers of all nationalities if they wanted to win and be treated with respect by companies like Turner Construction. If there was a problem getting jobs, then it was a problem the bosses created, not other workers, leaders of the rally said. John Parker, President of the Sheet Metal Workers Union Local #435 in Jacksonville, proposed that unions should organize all workers regardless if they are immigrants, because that's the only way to make sure the bosses hire people fairly and pay a living wage to everybody.

Overall, the rally proved how powerful workers can be once they band together. The workers of Jacksonville are one step closer to justice because of it.

#JacksonvilleFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Teamsters #IBEW #Carpenters #SheetMetalWorkers #TurnerConstruction #MayorPeyton