North Carolina’s Union Movement

“Angel Tree” list for striking members

Having been on strike since July 20, 2008, the many union members of Machinist Lodge W369 in Moncure, NC aren’t expecting to have a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year.

We wanted to give our readers and members from across the state an opportunity to help. The NC A. Philip Randolph Institute (NC APRI) has collected the wishes of workers walking the picket lines, and we have compiled them here for viewing.

Some wishes are for toys for children or gifts for spouses. Many wishes are for money to help pay basic expenses like transportation and shelter or gift cards to buy food.

If you would be interested in adopting a striker for the Holidays, contact the NC APRI at ncapri@earthlink.net and leave your name and phone number and who you would like to adopt.

For more information, contact business agent Melvin Montford at (901) 619-1987.

Rally planned for Saturday, Dec. 20

The strike at Moncure Plywood enter its sixth month on Saturday. The stakes for workers who have been out on the picket line since July have never been higher. The company is intent on using the strike to break the union rather than come to an agreement.

We cannot let that happen. Join us to rally support for the human rights of Moncure Plywood workers, members of IAMAW Local Lodge W369. You can bring your wish list gifts to the rally.

What: Rally to support striking workers

When: Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 12 noon

Where: Court House Circle at intersection of NC-64 and US-15/501 in downtown Pittsboro, NC (map it)

Supporters of justice marched on company share holders meeting in 2007.

Workers vote to join UFCW

After 16 long years, workers at the world’s largest meat processing plant will finally get their union.

Last night, the company announced the results of an NLRB supervised election—2,041 ’Yes’ votes for UFCW to 1,879 ‘No’ votes.

Organizing at the Bladen County plant began almost as soon as it opened in 1992. After two failed election attempts in 1994 and 1997, in which the company was found to have repeatedly broken the law, the union launched the Justice @ Smithfield campaign to raise public awareness about abuses at the plant.

Victory came after the company and union settled a lawsuit earlier this year which paved the way for a fair election process. The Tar Heel, NC plant now joins the majority of Smithfield operations where a union is already recognized.

From the UFCW press release:

“When workers have a fair process, they choose a voice on the job,” said UFCW Director of Organizing Pat O’Neill. “This is a great victory for the Tar Heel workers. I know they are looking forward to sitting down at the bargaining table with Smithfield to negotiate a contract. The UFCW has constructive union contracts with Smithfield plants around the country. Those union contracts benefit workers, the company and the community. We believe the workers here in Tar Heel can achieve a similar agreement.”

Ronnie Ann Simmons, a veteran of 13 years at the plant said, “We are thrilled. This moment has been a long time coming. We stuck together, and now we have a say on the job.”

Workers at 26 Smithfield-owned facilities around the country already have UFCW representation.

Company spokesman Dennis Pittman, who announced the results, told the News & Observer the election was conducted fairly, adding, “We respect the employees’ decision and look forward to working together.”

Workers have voted to have a voice on the job, and we hope the company will stand by its commitment to respect what they have to say and negotiate in good faith with the union on a first-contract.

The NC State AFL-CIO has for many years now stood in solidarity with the workers at Smithfield Packing, and we will continue to do so.

Congratulations to the new union members at Smithfield Packing in Tar Heel, NC. Your courage and determination to form your union is an inspiration to the entire labor movement. Congratulations also to the UFCW, which never gave up on what has been a very long campaign.

Rally for workers at Moncure Plywood

The strike at Moncure Plywood is about to enter its sixth month. The stakes for workers who have been out on the picket line since July have never been higher. The company is intent on using the strike to break the union rather than come to an agreement.

We cannot let that happen. Join us to rally support for the human rights of Moncure Plywood workers, members of IAMAW Local Lodge W369.

What: Rally to support striking workers

When: Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 12 noon

Where: Court House Circle at intersection of NC-64 and US-15/501 in downtown Pittsboro, NC (map it)

Call the company, let them know you’re watching

Community support is needed to demand Atlas Holdings (www.atlasholdingsllc.com), the company that owns Moncure Plywood, respect the human rights of its workers.

The company thinks no one outside the union cares about what it’s doing to its workers in Moncure. You can tell them otherwise.

Use the contact information below to send a message:

I am contacting you to demand your company treat the workers in Moncure with dignity and respect. You should bargain in good faith with their union and return IAM members to work.

Workers at Moncure Plywood, members of IAMAW Lodge W369, have been on strike since July 20, when the company gave a take-it-or-leave-it final contract offer.

Workers have rejected the company’s demand for 60-hour work weeks, undermining seniority rights, increasing health insurance premiums by over 300 percent, and giving fewer holidays off.

The company has used fear, racism and favoritism to try to pit workers against each other. In September, union members found a noose hanging just inside the plant gate, near where they walk the picket line.

You can help strikers win a fair contract

Four months is a long time for anyone to be out on strike, but it only gets harder to be out of work this time of year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching.

Show solidarity with the union members at Moncure Plywood. The local union needs supporters to walk the picket line and financial assistance to back the striking workers.

The plant is located at 306 Corinth Rd, Moncure, NC in Chatham County - about a 30 minute drive south-west from Raleigh.

You can make a contribution by sending a check to:

IAMAW Local Lodge W369
P.O. Box 318
Moncure, NC 27559

Contact Melvin Montford (901) 619-1987 or IAM W369 President Lewis Cameron (919) 770-5836 for more information.

The Associated Press and News & Observer are reporting that the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and Smithfield foods have reached a settlement in the company’s lawsuit to end the union’s community outreach campaign, Justice @ Smithfield.

Election agreed to for Tar Heel plant

Since the Tar Heel plant opened in 1992, the UFCW has tried to organize workers in two elections - in 1994 and 1997. As part of the settlement, the union and company have agreed to a third election, likely to be held later this year.

For more information, read the about the settlement and the upcoming election.

Local 5287 defeats decertification by wide margin

With so much time and energy focused on our campaign to Turn Around America, there’s important news on the solidarity front in North Carolina’s union movement.

Good news from High Point - workers at Thomas Built Buses voted overwhelmingly to keep their union, defeating a decertification campaign launched by National Right to Work - 67 percent to 33 percent.

UAW has the full story on its web site.

Strike enters third month

The workers voted overwhelmingly to strike on July 20 after bosses gave a take-it-or-leave-it final contract offer that would mandate 60-hour work weeks, weaken the seniority clause in a way that could lend itself to favoritism, discrimination and racism, increase health insurance premiums by over 300 percent, and give fewer holidays off. Workers also raised concerns about unfair labor practices and safety violations.

Now is the time for us to show our solidarity with the union members at Moncure Plywood. Local Lodge W369 is asking for our help, including supporters to walk the picket line. The plant is located at 306 Corinth Rd, Moncure, NC in Chatham County - about a 30 minute drive south-west from Raleigh.

The striking Moncure workers also need our financial support. You can make a contribution by sending a check to:

IAMAW Local Lodge W369
P.O. Box 318
Moncure, NC 27559

For More Information Contact: Melvin Montford (901) 619-1967 or IAM W369 President Lewis Cameron (919) 770-5836

Community Support Needed to Win Justice

Workers at the Moncure Plywood factory in Chatham County are under attack by their bosses and were forced out on strike. Now they need the support of our community.

What: Rally to support Moncure Plywood Workers
When: Tuesday, August 26th, 5:30pm
Where: downtown Pittsboro, NC

Download the community outreach flyer, available in both english and spanish.

The workers voted overwhelmingly to strike on July 20 after bosses gave a take-it-or-leave-it final contract offer that would mandate 60-hour work weeks, weaken the seniority clause in a way that could lend itself to favoritism, discrimination and racism, increase health insurance premiums by over 300 percent, and give fewer holidays off. Workers also raised concerns about unfair labor practices and safety violations.

The striking Moncure Plywood workers in Chatham County are organized in the union IAM local W369.

“With a 60-hour mandatory clause, they could work people seven consecutive days for weeks without a day off,” said Melvin Montford, IAMAW business representative, to a reporter with the News & Observer. “Even the slaves got off on Sunday.”

IAM local W369 President, Lewis Cameron expressed concern that community members may think they were striking just to get more money, although well deserved, he reiterated, “we are just trying to secure our rights to a decent job and to work with dignity.”

Unsafe Working Conditions

Last year the company was fined $37,000 for safety violations. Some wood cutting machines had no guards leading to one worker losing his thumb. There were holes in the concrete and water on the floor around dangerous machines. The plant was also found to have too much dust, a similar condition that contributed to the death of 25 workers in a fire at Imperial Chicken plant in Hamlet, NC in 1991.

There have been seven serious injuries in the past year and two workers were out of work for operations from repetitive motion injuries. Many workers are also forced to work when they are sick.

Bosses Using Racism to Divide Workers

In a plant that was 60% African American and 30% Latin@ before the strike, there was only one African American supervisor. Three African American supervisors were fired two years ago with little reasoning.

Bosses had told Latin@ workers that if they joined the union, they would be fired. The first time the bosses published any literature in Spanish, was just before the strike to tell lies about the union.

Since the strike, bosses have stated that they would not hire any more Black workers. In an atmosphere of anti-immigrant hysteria whipped up by the media to demonize immigrant workers and increased raids by armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on work sites hiring many Latin@ workers, it is understandable how easy it is for bosses to intimidate immigrant workers and make them fearful of joining the union.

The bosses are using this to hold back all workers – Black, Latino and white! We must unite to overcome this racist attack.

Solidarity Support Needed

Now is the time for us to show our solidarity with the union members at Moncure Plywood. Local Lodge W369 is asking for our help, including water, food, and supporters to walk the picket line. The plant is located at 306 Corinth Rd, Moncure, NC in Chatham County - about a 30 minute drive south-west from Raleigh.

The striking Moncure workers also need our financial support. You can make a contribution by sending a check to:

IAMAW Local Lodge W369
P.O. Box 318
Moncure, NC 27559

For More Information Contact: Melvin Montford (901) 619-1967 or IAM W369 President Lewis Cameron (919) 770-5836

Visit our photostream for pictures from the strike line .

Union workers at Moncure Plywood in Chatham County remain on strike and have been since July 20. The wood workers are members of IAMAW Local Lodge W369.

We need to show our solidarity with the union members at Moncure Plywood. Local Lodge W369 is asking for our help, including donations of water, food, and supporters to walk the picket line.

The plant is located at 306 Corinth Rd, Moncure, NC in Chatham County - about a 30 minute drive southwest from Raleigh.

Union workers at Moncure Plywood in Chatham County are on strike. The wood workers are members of IAMAW Local Lodge W369. Lewis Cameron, the local president, has worked at the plant for 35 years.

Check our photostream for pictures from the strike line.

“They treat us like dogs,” Cameron said of Wood Resources, the company that bought the plant, which produces hardwood plywood used in upholstered furniture, from Weyerhaeuser in December 2004. Management’s relationship with the union and working conditions in the plant have since deteriorated.

“They have stripped us of our dignity,” Cameron added in a statement to the Sanford Herald.

Picketing outside the plant began on Sunday at 9 p.m., and 90 percent of the 206 workers in the bargaining unit have refused to cross picket lines.

The strike came after the union rejected the company’s last take-it-or-leave-it offer. Workers are protesting hikes in their insurance premiums, the company’s hiring of temporary workers, the elimination of seniority rights, and - unbelievably - a mandatory 60-hour work week.

“With a 60-hour mandatory clause, they could work people seven consecutive days for weeks without a day off,” said Melvin Montford, IAMAW business representative, to a reporter with the News & Observer. “Even the slaves got off on Sunday.”

Solidarity Support Needed

Now is the time for us to show our solidarity with the union members at Moncure Plywood. Local Lodge W369 is asking for our help, including water, food, and supporters to walk the picket line.

The plant is located at 306 Corinth Rd, Moncure, NC in Chatham County - about a 30 minute drive southwest from Raleigh.

The textile industry was once the lifeblood of small towns like Roanoke Rapids, where Crystal Lee Sutton grew up and raised three children. At the J.P. Stevens mill where Sutton worked, she earned just $2.65 an hour toiling under poor conditions.

Then, in 1973, Sutton met a coal miner turned organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU), Eli Zivkovich. Sutton knew she and her coworkers at the mill deserved better wages, a safe workplace, and respect on the job. When Zivkovich asked her to help organize the Stevens mill, Sutton dedicated herself to the task.

It was the beginning of her journey as a champion of workers’ rights and the union movement that led to victory in Roanoke Rapids, an eventual contract with J.P. Stevens after a 10-year boycott, and inspired the Hollywood blockbuster and Oscar winning film of 1979, Norma Rae.

Sutton, now 67 and living in Burlington, NC is in a new struggle for her life. Crystal has Meniginoma, a usually benign cancer that, unfortunately for her, is life threatening. Sutton disclosed her condition in a recent interview with the Burlington Times-News. “I call my cancer a journey and it is interesting to see where it goes,” she said. “It reminds you to live each day to the best you can. You are so much more appreciative of tiny things.”

After initially being denied coverage by her insurance company for life saving treatment, Sutton is now on drug and chemo therapies and has undergone two surgeries. Her husband of 30 years, Lewis Sutton, Jr is working two jobs to afford her medical care.

We encourage our readers and affiliated unions to join us by informing their membership about the struggle of the real ‘Norma Rae’ and pass motions to donate to Crystal’s medical fund. Supporting Crystal Lee Sutton is the least we can do for a woman who has done so much to advance the cause of worker’s rights and unionism right here in our own back yard.

“It is not necessary I be remembered as anything, but I would like to be remembered as a woman who deeply cared for the working poor and the poor people of the U.S. and the world.” –Crystal Lee Sutton

The NC State AFL-CIO will be making a contribution toward Crystal Lee Sutton’s medical care. Join us and send your donation to:

Crystal Lee Sutton Foundation
Truliant Federal Credit
P.O. Box 26000
Winston-Salem, NC 27114

While Reynolds Tobacco makes billions of dollars, the farm workers who harvest their tobacco live in abject poverty, suffer from nicotine poisoning and exposure to deadly pesticides, face racism and harassment, and have few enforceable human rights protections.

FLOC, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, is calling on Reynolds to meet and work together to improve living and working conditions for these workers. They need our support to win this campaign.

Join FLOC for an evening of music and conversation with farm worker leaders to support the campaign for union recognition and a contract at Reynolds Tobacco.

What: Benefit Mixer with FLOC President Baldemar Velazquez
When: Friday, July 11 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Eno River Unitarian Universalist Church, 4907 Garrett Rd, Durham, NC

For more information, contact Eric Jones at 336-662-5333 or Nick Wood at 919-616-0889 or email flocnc@floc.com.

Call for Religious Leaders to Stand with FLOC

In support of the tens of thousands of farm workers in the Southeast who plant, tend, and harvest tobacco for RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, the National Farm Worker Ministry is urging religious leaders around the country to call on the tobacco giant to work with farm worker representatives.

It is time now to add the voices of many religious leaders to this call for justice. Tobacco farm workers need signers onto an “Open Letter by Religious Leaders to Ms. Susan Ivey, Reynolds American Inc. and RAI Board of Directors” by Monday, July 7.

We encourage our members who regularly attend religious service to ask their leaders to sign-on to the letter. To read the letter click here. Background information is available online here.

For further information, contact Virginia Nesmith, Executive Director, National Farm Worker Ministry at 314-726-6470, vnesmith@nfwm.org.

Question:

What do these three public servants have in common?

Answer:

They are denied the same negotiation rights as employees
working in the private sector.

Virtual Lobby for H.O.P.E.

Take action and send a pre-written (but editable) letter to the House Appropriations Committee and to your NC House and Senate member. You will be asking them to support House Bill 1583 and the heroes who are asking for our respect.

Make your voice heard by firing off a letter to the House Appropriations Committee and to your NC House and Senate member in support of HB 1583.

June 11 is Public Employee Lobby Day

On the morning of June 11, 2008, supporters of public employees will gather at the General Assembly in Raleigh to lobby for HOPE. We will press for passage of House Bill 1583, which would restore contract rights for state and local government workers.

What: Lobby for HOPE and Collective Bargaining for Public Employees

When: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 9 am, press conference at 11 am

Where: AFL-CIO members will meet outside the Legislature, 16 W Jones St, Raleigh at 9 am

This Saturday, the day before Mother’s Day, letter carriers will conduct the largest one-day food drive in the nation, having delivered over 70 million pounds of food to community food banks, pantries and shelters in each of the past four years.

What: 16th Annual NALC Food Drive

When: This Saturday, May 10, 2008

Where: mailboxes across the nation

How you can help: Place bags of nonperishable food items at your mailbox. Your letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to local food banks.

On May 10th North Carolina Letter Carriers will carry with them more than just mail - they will carry the kindness and generosity of thousands of working men and women across our state. We hope you will join in making 2008 their most successful year ever.

Our members at PASS (Professional Airways Systems Specialists) of NC need our help to secure passage in the Senate of FAA Reauthorization (S. 1300).

The House has passed its version of FAA Reauthorization back in September 2007. It is time for the Senate to stop dragging its feet and pass the Senate version before several important provisions of FAA reauthorization can become law.

We encourage our members to take action to support PASS. You can fire off a letter to your Senators here.

Reynolds still refuses to meet with FLOC to discuss the plight of their tobacco field workers. FLOC supporters will gather Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at the Reynolds American Plaza Building, RAI’s corporate offices, on 401 N Main Street, Winston-Salem, NC.

What: Take action at Reynolds shareholder meeting

When: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 8:00 AM

Where: Reynolds American Plaza, 401 N Main St, Winston-Salem, NC

There are two important areas of participation the day of the shareholders meeting:

1. Fifty or more people will act as “proxies” and enter the shareholders meeting with FLOC to participate. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS ASAP so we can process the paperwork to enter the meeting. Email flocnc@floc.com or call organizer Evan Hughes at 919-360-4410 to volunteer or with any questions.
2. There will be a simultaneous event outside the shareholders meeting to bring the message of Justice to the general public. This is your chance to get creative and make signs, puppets, and banners.

Download the flyer for this event.

Next Tuesday, April 29th, members of the Alliance @ IBM, a division of CWA, and their supporters will take action with a picket line and rally outside the IBM shareholders meeting in Charlotte.

What: IBM Stockholder action and picket line

When: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Time: 8:30 am picket line and 12:30 pm rally

Where: Charlotte Convention Center, 501 South College St, Charlotte, NC

Download the flyer for this event.

2008 will surely be the most expensive election in history, and political parties at every level will need to raise and spend vast sums of money to secure victories in November.

But when Theresa Kostrzewa, contract lobbyist for Smithfield Foods and Smithfield Packing, came with check in hand, the NC Democratic Party said, “Thanks but no thanks.”

In typical fashion for a company that profits from the abuse of their workers, Smithfield responded with threats and intimidation. Well the NCDP is apparently not to be cowed by Smithfield.

Party Chair Jerry Meek wrote a scathing indictment of Smithfield and the company’s history of law breaking, union busting, and malicious corporate behavior. You can view the letter in PDF here.

Last October we told you about a new campaign to pressure Reynolds American Tobacco to recognize FLOC as the bargaining representative for the hundreds of field workers that pick the tobacco Reynolds uses in their products. Reynolds still refuses to meet with the union to discuss the plight of their workers.

The time has come to take the campaign to the next level - to the Reynolds shareholders meeting. FLOC supporters will gather Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at the Reynolds American Plaza Building, RAI’s corporate offices, on 401 N Main Street, Winston-Salem, NC.

There are two important areas of participation the day of the shareholders meeting:

1. Fifty or more people will act as “proxies” and enter the shareholders meeting with FLOC to participate. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS ASAP so we can process the paperwork to enter the meeting. Email flocnc@floc.com or call organizer Evan Hughes at 919-360-4410 to volunteer or with any questions.
2. There will be a simultaneous event outside the shareholders meeting to bring the message of Justice to the general public. This your chance to get creative and make signs, puppets, and banners. More information on rally-art parties to come.

We are looking forward to an exciting event that will make clear that FLOC and farmworkers will not back down until Reynolds comes to the table to discuss the deplorable conditions in the tobacco harvest.

What: Take action at Reynolds shareholder meeting

When: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 8:00 AM

Where: Reynolds American Plaza, 401 N Main St, Winston-Salem, NC

The North Carolina HOPE Coalition is co-sponsoring a teach-in on collective bargaining rights with the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change and Traction. Scheduled for April 3rd on the campus of North Carolina Central University, the teach-in is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary Martin Luther King, Jr’s stand with public employees in Memphis, TN.

What: A teach-in on Collective Bargaining at North Carolina Central University

When: Thursday, April 3, 2008 from 7 to 9 pm

Where: NCCU Student Union building

On April 3, 1968, Dr. King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, TN. King had returned to Memphis to support striking public sector workers in the city sanitation department. The public employees had been on strike since they walked off the job February 12 of that year to protest dangerous working conditions, poverty level wages, a lack of respect on the job, and to demand recognition of their union. The next day, April 4, 1968, King was assassinated.

A little over a week later the sanitation workers and their representatives reached an agreement with the City of Memphis to recognize the union, AFSCME, and bargain over the conditions of employment, thereby ending the strike.

Public employees in North Carolina have no right to collective bargaining due to a now 50-year old law that bans state, county, and local governments from entering into contracts with their employees. Repeal of the statue, GS 95-98 is a top priority of the HOPE Coalition, of which the NC State AFL-CIO is a charter member.

At the teach-in you can learn more about collective bargaining - what it means, why it’s matters, and how to secure it for NC public employees. The session will include a brief video on Dr. King and will include food and refreshments. Attendance is open to the public, and there is no cost to attend this event.

Download the flyer for this event.

Sign-on For HOPE

Our effort to gather signatures onto an open letter to members of the General Assembly continues. You can see the list of signers as of April 1, 2008 at the HOPE website.

If you have yet to join this effort, it’s not too late to add your signature, today!