Tell Betsy Atkins to resign in protest
Our fellow union members at the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC, AFL-CIO) need our support in their campaign to get Reynolds American to do right by the tobacco workers who harvest the golden leaf.
Betsy Atkins is a board member at Reynolds, but despite her encouragement, Reynolds CEO, Susan [...]

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Sign the petition to give TSOs a Voice @ Work
Nine years is long enough for workers at the Transportation Security Administration to go without collective bargaining rights. Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has the power to grant this basic human right to Transportation Security Officers. The federal employees [...]

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One year into his presidency, still much more to do
On Wednesday, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union address. In his speech, the President recommitted his administration to economic recovery and job creation, announced bold new education initiatives, chided the Senate for being too slow to enact a series of reform bills passed [...]

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AFL-CIO President talks jobs, restoring the middle class, and health care
In a speech delivered to the National Press Club on Monday, National AFL-CIO President, Rich Trumka, said because of the failed policies of the past three decades, the United States is “a nation with profound, unaddressed structural economic problems on a long-term, downward [...]

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Bad politics, worse policy
The Senate health care “reform” bill raises revenue by taxing your employer-provided health insurance benefit. This excise tax will hit middle class families hard – particularly union households because our members are more likely to have health insurance through work.
Taxing health care benefits is bad politics, and it’s the wrong way to [...]

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AFL-CIO unveils 5-point plan to fix jobs crisis
It’s up to us, America’s unions, to lead the fight for solutions that will get us out of this crisis. The AFL-CIO has a five-point plan to create and save millions of jobs over the next year, starting as soon as Congress acts. It will take all [...]

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Celebrate the life and times of the real ‘Norma Rae’ and U-N-I-O-N
This Saturday, January 9, 2010, folks will come together in Greensboro, NC to celebrate the life of Crystal Lee Sutton, the real “Norma Rae”. John Wilhelm, President of UNITE HERE, will be the keynote speaker.
The celebration will include testimonials, videos, cultural presentations and comments [...]

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Retirees urge Congressman to support HCR
What present would you ask your member of Congress for this holiday season? How about living up to the campaign promises made to voters in 2008?
An organization of union retirees in North Carolina, the Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA), has something in mind — comprehensive health care reform.
“Give the gift [...]

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Brought to you by NC APRI
The North Carolina APRI has arranged for a health fair at their 4th quarter executive board meeting on Saturday, December 19, 2009.
There will be free blood pressure checks, glucose monitoring, and questions answered on many other general health issues. This is part of the NC APRI’s mission to eliminate [...]

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Save the Dates: January 14-18, 2010
Every year the national AFL-CIO observes the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with a conference. This year it was in Memphis, TN, the location of the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike at which King rallied for union rights and where he was later assassinated.
Next year labor leaders, rank-and-file members, [...]

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It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news of the passing of Donny Brown of IBT 391 in Greensboro. Donny served his union and its members at UPS in Greensboro for many years. On Wednesday he died from a stroke at age 48.
The family has made the following arrangements:
There will be a wake on [...]

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Mary Montford (left) with a client of the Raleigh APRI Food Bank, Cindy, a single mother of two adopted girls and college grad who has been unemployed over a year.

Remember the less fortunate when giving thanks this week
On Thursday most Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving with feasting and time spent with friends and family. Unfortunately, [...]

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URGENT: Town Hall on plant closing is Thursday (11/19)
We have received an urgent request for solidarity assistance from APWU Local 1807 in Hickory, NC. As we’ve highlighted in past email updates and in our recent newsletter, the U.S. Postal Service is cutting services and window hours, consolidating rural routes, and has even sought legislation [...]

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Geraldine Ritch lost her job to China, then her house to foreclosure in Hickory, NC (photo by Jim Bounds for Washington Post)

Western NC town has 15% unemployment, focus of report by Washington Post
North Carolina has lost more jobs – 90,000 – to foreign competition than any other state since 2002, according to the [...]

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Coalition promotes Pearl of Wisdom as worldwide symbol prevention
Women of Steel chapters around the state are educating union members about cervical cancer, which is highly preventable. The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) has a web site with facts about the disease.
Women of Steel and CLUW are members of the Pearl of Wisdom [...]

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Crystal Lee Sutton at her home in Burlington, N.C. Photo Credit: By Joseph Rodriguez — Associated Press

Icon of labor movement leaves a legacy of ‘UNION’
The day before the start of our state AFL-CIO convention in Atlantic Beach, we received notice that Crystal Lee Sutton, the real life Norma Rae, had entered hospice care in [...]

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U.S. Senator Kay Hagan

Elections, resolutions, and answering the call to action
At our recently concluded 52nd Annual Convention in Atlantic Beach, NC, delegates took action on a range of issues, including the election of officers and executive board members, approving resolutions to guide our work for the next year, and writing letters to the Congress in [...]

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Defends domestic tire makers from illegal Chinese trade practices
Responding to pleas for relief from the United Steelworkers union and for the strict enforcement of our trade agreements, President Obama slapped tariffs on imported Chinese tires on September 11, 2009.
The move came in response to a complaint filed by the USW with the International Trade Commission [...]

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Officer elections and the President in the House of Labor
Immediately following our state convention, the officers and other delegates from unions and Central Labor Councils across North Carolina headed to Pittsburgh, PA for the national convention of the AFL-CIO.
The national convention this year marked the end of John Sweeney’s tenure at the helm of the [...]

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We’re at the 52nd Annual Convention in Atlantic Beach this week. In addition to electing officers and executive board members, the convention is an educational opportunity for attending delegates.
Today we had a great panel discussion on Aid for Dislocated Workers.  Leading the panel was Roger Shackleford, Executive Director of the Division of Workforce Development in [...]

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Events to be held in Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Wilson
If you know of a Labor Day event being held where you live, please let us know so we can share the information with our readers.
Western NC Solidarity Picnic in Asheville (9/6)
The Western North Carolina Central Labor Council is organizing a Solidarity Picnic on the day [...]

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Amendment to Senate bill would devastate employee pay and benefits
We got a call today from NC APWU State Council President Larry Sorrells about an urgent need for support from our labor movement.
The United States Senate will vote on a bill next week that includes a provision which would be devastating to postal employees. From the [...]

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Thanks to ConCarbon for the tip on this great, very uplifting video to close out our email update. The theme music, written for a multi-media show by the same name, is about women’s labor history. Hopefully it will inspire you to keep struggling for progress, sought by so many for so long.
Watch the clip:

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Don’t delay – discount rate expires Saturday, August 8
We have negotiated significant savings on room rates at the location of our 52nd Annual Convention, the Sheraton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Hotel. However, those discounts are only available until August 8.
This year is an election year for our organization. High turnout is essential. If your local union [...]

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Fourth circuit appeals decision rejects company’s arguments
During major layoffs at Continental Tire in 2006, the union filed two grievances challenging both the company’s failure to provide the extended health insurance benefits and the accelerated distribution of pensions that it had promised. The company refused to arbitrate the grievances, and the union filed suit to force [...]

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Take Action: Understaffing at federal prisons is putting lives at risk
No one should go to work afraid for their life because of their manager’s willful disregard of the law.  Yet thousands of correctional workers in federal prisons do so every day, reporting for duty in facilities across the country where the ratio of inmates to [...]

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Employees will (finally) have a voice at work
Nearly 17 years since the world’s largest hog processing plant opened its doors, the 5,000 workers at Smithfield Foods in Tarheel, NC, who voted to form a union late last year, have now approved a collective bargaining agreement with the company.
The Raleigh News & Observer reports the [...]

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Triple Play at Lobby Day
On May 26 public employees and supporters from across North Carolina converged on Raleigh for HOPE’s second Collective Bargaining Lobby Day. Hundreds of people from 22 counties lobbied their legislators in person and through HOPE’s virtual lobby and call-in day.
Our strategy this year followed on three tracks: 1. Mock funeral for [...]

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Food drive is this weekend
Get out your cans, your boxes, your bags of non-perishable food gathering dust in your cupboard and put them in a bag next to your mailbox before your letter carrier delivers your mail on Saturday. The Letter Carriers will take care of the rest, and you’ll have done a little something [...]

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‘Why We Need Unions’ on Saturday, 5/9
The Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), one of several community groups to rally support for Moncure workers during their 8-month strike, is hosting a teach-in entitled “Corporate Rule, Bailouts & Greed: Why We Need Unions” in Chapel Hill on Saturday, May 9.
The teach-in will feature notable [...]

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FLOC demonstration at Reynolds shareholders meeting on May 6th
Join with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) at Reynolds Shareholders Meeting to show decision-makers that we support FLOC’s struggle.
Reynolds must address the injustices farm workers endure in their supply chain and give workers the respect they deserve!
What: Rally outside Reynolds American shareholders meeting
When: Wednesday, May 6, [...]

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Decades of struggle by workers and their unions have resulted in significant improvements in working conditions. However, the threat of going to work healthy and coming home severely injured – or not coming home at all – remains all too real.
According to estimates (PDF document)by the International Labor Organization (ILO), worldwide, 1 million workers suffer [...]

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Letter Carriers National Food Drive more important than ever
Saturday, May 9, 2009 – letter carriers in more than 10,000 cities and town across America will deliver much more than mail. They will also gather donations of non-perishable food in the largest one-day food drive in the nation, the 17th annual NALC Stamp Out Hunger Food [...]

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Personal stories from strike part of documentary studies presentation
The students of the class “Behind the Veil: Documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South” will present the story of the recent strike at Moncure Plywood, as told by the workers themselves.
What: Presentation on Victory at Moncure Plywood (download the flyer)
When: Wednesday, April 29, [...]

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Machinists of Local W369 to return to work
From the IAM web site:
Striking members of Local W369 in Moncure, North Carolina, will return to work at Moncure Plywood with their contract and their dignity intact after ratifying a new three-year contract that preserves seniority rights and sharply restricts the amount of forced [...]

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Ad book, ticket sales support community services

Mary Montford volunteers at the APRI Food Bank in Raleigh, NC

The North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) will hold its 35th Annual Awards Banquet on Friday, April 18, 2009 at the Hilton North Raleigh. Proceeds from this event will support voter registration, voter education, and community outreach programs [...]

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Join us on Monday, March 16, 2009
On Monday, March 16th, the faith based, social justice and labor community will come together to stand up for the Moncure workers who are standing up for us.
Download the flyer for this event. Please widely disseminate the flyer to friends, family, faith based organizations and list serves.
From the Moncure [...]

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Union Plus is a service of Union Privilege, which was established by the AFL-CIO to provide consumer benefits to members and retirees of participating labor unions. Union Plus has launched a special hotline for union members and their families that are struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments or facing possible home foreclosure.
Call the [...]

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READ: Front-page story lays bare pain inflicted by 7-month standoff
Readers of the News & Observer saw a front-page article in today’s paper on the strike at Moncure Plywood.
Entitled “Strikers Persist in Worst of Times”, the story focuses on how the protracted standoff with management and the tough economy are making life for workers walking the [...]

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Situation is critical for many strikers at Moncure Plywood
July 20, 2008 – union members of IAMAW Lodge W369 go on strike at Moncure Plywood. Six months later the company has done everything it can to avoid negotiating a fair contract for its workers, including hiring replacements.
Walking a picket line this long is finally taking its [...]

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