Raleigh Sanitation Workers Say Settlement Insufficient, Threaten Lawsuit

Greetings DHHS / Council Members,

This letter/e-mail serves to inform you of some of what came out of the council meeting that was held on January 20, 2007 in Goldsboro and the plans to move forward.. Other pertinent information will be forth-coming.

Denied Collective Bargaining, North Carolina Public Employees Turn More Militant

by Ashaki Binta

North Carolina Public Service Workers UNION UE-150 took ACTION and submited a written objection to the Office of State Personnel's proposed permanent Temporary Worker Rule on TUESDAY, JANUARY 16TH AT 5PM!
 
Union member workers and UE-150 officials  signed on to the objection quickly because the bosses could use this status to
divide and conquer,pitting one class of workers against another and replacing permanent workers with temps or use the
hiring of more temps to lessen the quality of permanent workers benefits. Our union'sproposal is make all temps permanent
after six (6) months.

BACKGROUND

In 2005, a lawsuit was filed by our Union allies at the Justice Center on behalf of four current and past "temporary" State
employees, challenging the State's misclassifying them as "temporary", even though they had each worked 3, 5 or 8 years
in that position/appointment. As you know, State workers classified as "temporary" do not receive any benefits. No paid
leave, no accrual of pension, etc.

The lawsuit is based in part on a state regulation that says that under no circumstances, may the State employ a "temporary" worker for more than 12 consecutive months. The reason for the regulation was to prevent the State from employing these
workers for 10 or even 20 years (as it had done), in this "no benefits/no roghts" "temporary" position. Rather than remedy its practice, the State now seeks to simply revise the regulation to allow it to continue to employ temporary workers if the
appointment "is critical to maintaining the level or quality of services provided by the agency." That exception is big enough to drive a truck through it.

 
The NC Justice Center and the private law firm are representing the workers. We are seeking class certification, but the lawsuit
was initially dismissed by a Superior Court Judge, prior to any ruling on class certification. The dismissal was appealed, a
hearing at Court of Appeals occurred in Sept. 2006 and we are hopeful that a ruling by the Court of Appeals will reinstate the lawsuit and allow it to continue.

For more information in joining our Union's effort for Social Justice call our Union President Angaza Laughinghouse at 919-231-2660 to set up a LUNCH & LEARN.....  

Union Meet and Confer Meeting with Governor’s Campaign

The North Carolina Public Service Workers Union - UE Local 150 recently won a historic victory through its International Workers Justice Campaign. We have won Executive Order 105... the recognition of our state workers’ union to have ”access to state facilities” and the right to “meet and confer” with the Governor’s office on issues of mutual concern prior to the annual convening of the NC General Assembly.

Legislative, budget, safety, staffing, health insurance, cost of living raises, our pensions are all issues that we will inform and mobilize state workers around, just like the Raleigh City sanitation workers organizing effort! Our union won these victories by education, mobilization and actions of state workers and community allies ( the late representative Bernard Allen, faith/church leaders, NAACP and its president Reverend William Barber, legislators like Janet Cowell, Dan Blue, community leaders like Margaret Rose Murray, Otvavia Rainey, Pastors David Foye, Nelson Johnson, Black Workers for Justice, HOPE Coalition and many more. We have visited and filed complaints with the Governor, visited, wrote, telephoned and lobbied legislators to discuss issues impacting us and our union is developing a Program of Action to organize a stronger active state workers membership of UE 150.

We have initiated lunch and learn meetings and “meet and confer ballots/surveys.” There is an agreement that most state workers have no input or voice in developing the budgets and policies in the agencies where they work. Proposals about raises, promotions, increases in the cost of health insurance, pension benefits, cuts in staff, overtime pay, and the treatment of women are made by department heads and managers without input or consideration of our needs. The meetings, discussions, ballots and surveys reflect unity thinking by our union members and supporters in state government. Meet and confer/budget meetings provide a good opportunity for all state workers to publicly define pressing issues and patterns that impact working conditions and quality of service.

It was agreed that state workers need to enter the 2007 legislative/budget process in their various agencies to begin involving state workers in publicly promoting and organizing around issues they face and to lay the foundation for building stronger UE 150 union chapters across the state.

The NC Public Service Workers Union - UE Local 150 state-wide leadership is proposing the following actions:

To have its union members/activists to help state workers organize MEET AND CONFER Ballot campaigns involving the following steps -
- Conducting a Ballot in agencies/ departments to identify the major issues workers want to see addressed in the upcoming meet and confer meeting with the Governor’s staff

- Gathering basic information on the issues to be presented at the Meet and Confer meetings

- Organizing a worker delegation to present the issues at the meetings

- Help to develop community allies in our comunity to support state workers proposals and demands

For additional information about setting up a Lunch and Learn meeting call the NC Public Service Workers Union represenative in your workplace or union President Angaza Laughinghouse send e-mail to fruitoflaborwcc(at)netscape.com You can also send mail to NCPSWU Local 150 P.O. Box 5574 Raleigh, NC 27650

UE Local 150/CAAMWU

A legal battle four years in the making ended in an instant, when a North Carolina judge ruled that 202 workers for Cummins Diesel were wrongly denied full bonuses by the company.

On July 19, Nash County Superior Court Judge Quentin Sumner granted a motion for summary judgment brought by UE Local 150/CAAMWU, representing 202 members and non-member workers, ruling that Cummins and Consolidated Diesel failed to pay the full year-end performance bonus workers were promised in 2002. The evidence showed that Cummins’ stock price had reached the goal that the company set for the bonuses, but that Cummins nevertheless paid only 70 percent of the promised bonus.

The judge’s ruling requires Cummins to pay the remaining 30 percent, plus interest accruing from February 2003. “The workers all across the plant were happy about the decision,” said Jim Wrenn, CAAMWU Recording Secretary and president of the Cummins Workers Unity Committee. “But we want to push Cummins to make sure that all of the workers, past and present, who didn’t receive the full bonus get it, not just the plaintiffs.” The workers showed their support throughout the process, and came out in force when the hearing was initially scheduled, bringing about 40 workers the courthouse on July 17. Even though they only found out about the rescheduled hearing the night before, they were able to call out 30 workers, despite the 2 P.M. start time coming right in the midst of the plant’s shift change.

The victory has help CAAMWU increase its membership at the plant, where it has operated as a non-majority representative. “We’ve already had a few people join up since the decision, and we’re going to work to bring in more,” said Wrenn.

The conference was hosted by Local 222 CILU/CIPU in Glastonbury, Connecticut November 17-21, 2006. Attendees had the opportunity to share experiences with other locals, hear reports from the UE delegation attending the 4th International Public Sector Convergence in Tokyo, Japan, to attend workshops on Fighting Privatization, Political Action, to enjoy the cultural presentation of movement and songs of solidarity by the Fruit of Labor. All activities provided for a very successful conference.

Durham Sanitation Workers Say “Stop the Double-Talk & Put it in Writing”

On Monday, Nov 27th, City of Durham Sanitation Workers started their trucks but, refused to let them roll until the new department director, Donald Long, met with them. The result was a 2 hour work delay. At issue was Long’s statement in the Durham Herald-Sun Newspaper over the weekend saying that the workers would not be paid 1 ½ time for working during the Thanksgiving holiday. The workers had been told the previous week that they would be paid at the 1½ time rate. At the worker demanded meeting that morning, Long again told the workers that they would be paid at the higher rate. When asked by some workers and union representative, Nathanette Mayo, to put it in writing in a memo to the workers, Long arrogantly refused to even address it!

The greater need is for a written holiday pay policy in the department. Management in the Sanitation department should confer with frontline workers in the department to establish this written policy. The city observes 8 holidays throughout the year and without a clear policy, this issue is sure to surface again. City workers deserve to know how they will be compensated when made to work during regularly observed holidays. Our union - UE 150 will be working with sanitation workers for resolution of this issue.

4th International Public Service Convergence
Tokyo, Japan Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2006


The convergence opened with reports and discussions for Japan and Mexico in the morning and Canada and the USA in the evening session. The reports covered the issues, challenges and struggles in their respective countries. Workshops included, “Struggle against Privatization”, “Fundamental Labor Rights”, “Unionization”, and “Peace and Justice.” The UE 150 representative to the Convergence, Larsene Taylor, also participated in a program which took her to two U.S. bases in Kanagawan, Japan and signed a petition in support of preserving Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. To get a copy of the entire report contact Larsene Taylor at larseneskat@bellsouth.net

UE Local 150 4th Statewide Convention
“Workers Rights are Human Rights”
Saturday, July 22, 2006 & Sunday, July 23, 2006
Fruit of Labor World Cultural Center
Raleigh, NC

Newly Elected Officers
President: Angaza Laughinghouse, Dept. of Admin/Raleigh
Vice President: Annie Dove, O’Berry/Dudley
Treasurer : Jim Wrenn, CAAMWU/CDC/Tarboro
Secretary: Larsene Taylor, Cherry/Goldsboro
Trustees: Evelyn Hill, NC State Univ/Raleigh; Tim Lackey, Charlotte City; Ethel Jones, CDC/Rocky Mount



New Officers just before taking oath of office
(pictured left to right) Larsene Taylor, Jim Wrenn,
Annie Dove, Angaza Laughinghouse