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Updated 4/11/2004; 11:27:56 AM
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Wednesday, March 24, 2004 |
Labor Activists Promoting Agenda
By LEIGH STROPE AP Labor Writer
http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/other/1110/3-22-2004/20040322004502_50.html
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a labor version of the Magical Mystery Tour, a priest, creators of anti-offshoring Web sites, students and laid-off factory and technology workers are among the 51 Americans traveling through Rust Belt states this week to talk about their job struggles.
In red, white and blue flag-covered buses, the mood will be less than merry. For Kevin Gregory, 41, of Millinocket, Maine, getting laid off in January 2003 from the Great Northern Paper Mill after 17 years has meant depending regularly on food banks.
"I've had to swallow my pride and get help," said Gregory, who is representing his state on the "Show us the Jobs" tour organized by the AFL-CIO and Working America, an activist affiliate of the labor federation.
Every state and Washington, D.C., will have a representative on the tour, which leaves Wednesday from St. Louis on an eight-day journey through eight states hit hard with job losses.
"I think we need to get the word out there that the economy is not as rosy as people are saying," said Gregory, a union member who earned $21 an hour.
The trip equally is about politics, with stops planned in Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia - battleground states that could determine who wins the White House in November.
Polls consistently find the economy and jobs are the most important issues to voters, and Democrat John Kerry is considered best qualified to fix things over President Bush.
The economy is growing, but new jobs aren't being created. In fact, more than 2.2 million jobs have been lost since Bush took office in January 2001. Organized labor, which is spending millions to get Kerry elected, wants to hammer that home to voters. Some tour events, for example, will be held at foreclosed homes and empty factories.
"The real focus is on the fact that America has a jobs crisis," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "We think that we're on the wrong track when it comes to jobs, and the question is, can we turn it around?"
4:38:39 PM 
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Guild Victory in Security Banner Grievance
Press release from Local 2910, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO ("the Guild") representing library workers at the Library of Congress
3/24/2004
When you turned on your computer this morning did you take a close look at the security "banner" that appeared on your screen? Did you notice that something about it had changed? In case you don't remember, what the banner used to say was: "You do not have the right to privacy using any Library computer system, including the Internet or email services. Furthermore, your use of Library computer systems, for whatever purpose, is not secure, private or anonymous from Library officials. While using Library computer systems your use may be monitored."
The Guild took one look at that language and started typing up a grievance. The grievance was based on the fact that our negotiated contract with the Library said something quite different. It said that when you were using email you did have the right to privacy, unless the Library had an "operational need" to scrutinize it. It also stipulated that before the Library implemented a policy of surreptitious monitoring - of an employee's Internet use, for instance - it would have to bargain with the Guild over such a change in policy.
We are happy to report that we have settled our grievance with the Library. We were aided in our efforts by H. David Kelly, attorney for Beins, Axelrod, Kraft, Gleason & Gibson. According to Mr. Kelly, "In the context of a social and political climate where individuals are now expected to acquiesce in the evisceration of their fundamental liberties, the Guild has risen to the challenge in persuading the Library to re-affirm respect for its employees' privacy rights and those rights secured in the collective bargaining agreement."
9:00:48 AM
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