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UAW’s Plan: Tap Into Worker Discontent, Focus on Social Justice
Participants in the Detroit March for Jobs, Justice and Peace which was held on August 28, 2010. The event was co-sponsored by the UAW and the Rainbow/Push Coalition and drew over 5,000 workers and community people. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
UAW’s plan: Tap into worker discontent, focus on social justice
Union makes a bid to reinvent itself
BY BRENT SNAVELY
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
On this Labor Day weekend, the role of those who advocate for workers and those who want to work — such as the UAW — has never been more important.
U.S. unemployment stands at 9.6%, with Michigan at 13.1%.
Those who do have jobs are often anxious about losing them and watching their benefits decline. Incomes are down. And working or not, many people are finding health care expensive or are lacking coverage altogether. For many, retirement seems but a dream.
With four new leaders at its helm, including UAW President Bob King, the union is trying to tap into this worker discontent and recommit itself to broader social-justice issues in an effort to rejuvenate its sunken membership levels.
“I think Bob’s leadership team came in with unusual energy,” said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California-Berkeley. “They understand the severity of the current situation.”
Dennis Williams, the UAW’s new secretary-treasurer, said the UAW feels compelled to revamp itself.
“It is our obligation … to move social programs forward — not just for our members — but for society,” he said. “And that includes good jobs here in America, and that is one of the things that we are fighting for.”
To that end, the UAW is planning an aggressive agenda to restore some jobs and benefits in next year’s talks with the Detroit Three.
UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles said the union has been picking up momentum. “We have been able to do more in 2 1/2 months than I have seen in eight years,” Settles said.
Read more: UAW’s plan: Tap into worker discontent, focus on social justice | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20100905/BUSINESS01/9050551/1318/UAW-makes-a-bid-to-reinvent-itself#ixzz0yfKSWBIt
Union’s new leaders hit ground running
Organizing Asian plants, pacts with Detroit 3 key issues
BY BRENT SNAVELY
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
The three newest members of the UAW’s new leadership team, elected in June, were still looking for places to live in August and moving boxes around their offices at Solidarity House in downtown Detroit.
But those hurdles have hardly slowed them down.
In the two months since they were elected to be part of the UAW’s new leadership team, led by Bob King, who also was elected as the new president in June, the UAW has:
⢠Captured new members. That includes 6,500 higher education workers in California — an important development as the UAW tries to rebuild its membership, which dropped to fewer than 400,000 in 2009 from its high of 1.5 million members in 1979.
⢠Closed on important new deals. That includes a first labor contract for 700 members who work for an Atlantic City casino.
⢠Raised its profile. It organized a march commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 rally in downtown Detroit that drew together a coalition of more than 40 unions and religious organizations.
The UAW has also been speaking out more aggressively on behalf of postal workers upset over the prospect of losing a Saturday workday and other global worker issues.
In the past, “I just think we have been very dormant and very, very quiet,” said Jimmy Settles, who is serving in his third term as a UAW vice president. He said he’s now more excited than ever about the union’s direction.
⢠Not backed down from its challenges. The UAW announced that it is developing a set of principles to commit to fair union elections that it might use to pressure the Asian automakers, which the UAW has struggled to organize, and other corporations.
⢠Started informal discussions with General Motors and Ford about contract issues in advance of next year’s negotiations for a new labor contract.
‘On the same page’
In an interview with the Free Press, UAW Vice President Joe Ashton, who is still shopping for a place to live in downtown Detroit, said that he met with incoming GM CEO Dan Akerson, six days after he was named to succeed Ed Whitacre as CEO.
“I think we are both on the same page,” Ashton said of Akerson. “For GM to be successful, it has to be a joint program between the company and the union.”
Ashton said the UAW has already asked GM to in-house jobs from suppliers back into GM plants, as it has done at some facilities since 2007.
The union has had some recent success in this area. In August, Ford announced plans to bring 1,975 jobs into its plants to do work previously performed by suppliers — 25% more, the company said, than required by its 2007 contract.
“One of our contract proposals will be to bring additional jobs back in-house,” Ashton said.
Seeking restorations
Generally speaking, union leaders intend to seek the restoration of some benefits and jobs lost in recent years, especially as the Detroit Three show signs of improving health.
Last May, before GM and Chrysler took their quick trips through bankruptcy, UAW members ratified contract changes that included a commitment to agree to labor costs comparable to competitors, including Asian automakers, through 2015.
The contract changes also committed the union to binding arbitration to resolve disputes over wage and benefit increases — essentially, a no-strike clause.
The GM and Chrysler bankruptcies left the automakers partly owned by the U.S. government, which could make next year’s talks politically sensitive.
The union might risk a backlash from taxpayers if it pushes hard for a restoration of benefits, said Brad Coulter, director of O’Keefe & Associates, a financial consulting firm.
“The UAW leadership seems to indicate they understand that,” he said. “But does the rank and file get it?”
Ashton said the political environment will have no impact on the UAW’s approach. “The only restriction that the government really has on us is our ability to strike,” Ashton said. “And I would hope that that’s a tool that we no longer need.”
Sean McAlinden, economist for the Center for Automotive Research, said that no-strike clause could explain the UAW’s desire to renew its organizing efforts with the Asian automakers.
In August, King said the union is developing a set of principles that it plans to ask corporations to sign during a union election. The principles would commit the company to an election without threats or intimidation.
In the past, Asian automakers have provided bonuses prior to elections to fend off union organization, McAlinden said. So even if the UAW loses an election, it could force their labor costs to increase.
Newly elected UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada, who successfully organized Mexican Industries in 1999, as well as some other suppliers, said she is eager for the UAW’s board to approve the principles.
“We need to increase our organizing,” Estrada said. “We need more organizers out there talking to workers.”
Financial shortcomings
At the same time, the union also has its own internal financial difficulties to manage.
This year, the UAW cut its UAW International staff by 130 workers through attrition and an early retirement incentive. The union now has a staff of about 325 at its headquarters on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, according to an internal UAW report.
Dennis Williams, the UAW’s newly elected secretary-treasurer, said no additional buyouts or significant staff cuts are on the horizon.
The UAW also may decide to keep, rather than sell, the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center, better known as Black Lake, in Onaway. “While we are evaluating Black Lake, we also see value in keeping Black Lake,” Williams said.
The union hired a real estate adviser to market the property for a possible sale. But Williams said the value of the resort must also be measured by the benefits it provides to UAW members from different industries and regions of the country.
If the economy recovers and the union gains members, Williams said, the union may be better off keeping Black Lake and may even look for ways to make it better.
“It is not just property,” Williams said. “It has value to who we are as an institution and whatever decision we make regarding Black Lake has to take into consideration that value.”
Contact BRENT SNAVELY: 313-222-6512 or bsnavely@freepress.com
More CO2 means more poison ivy
Rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may threaten climate change and be bad news for humans but poison ivy likes it, U.S. researchers say.
A report in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives last year said the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has grown by 22 percent since 1960, not so good for humans but great for poison ivy and other vines, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
In a study in Durham, N.C., a researcher simulated the carbon dioxide content in the air 50 years ago, today and — using projections — for the year 2050.
“Tree seedlings grew 8 (percent) to 12 percent more, with more C02,” Jacqueline Mohan, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia, said. 
“Poison ivy grew 149 percent more. Poison ivy is getting bigger, faster and nastier.”
Plants survive by converting carbon dioxide into carbohydrates through sunlight-fueled photosynthesis.
“Vines are particularly adapted to take advantage of higher CO2 in the atmosphere,” Mohan said, since they 
“can increase their rate of photosynthesis to make more green leafy tissue,” which allows them to grow more and put out even more leafy tissue.
Most people are allergic to the oil poison ivy produces, urushiol. The oil is present in all parts of the plant — stems, berries, roots and leaves — during any season.
“Even in dead poison ivy the oil is still active,” Georgetown University professor of nursing and health studies Laura Anderko, said.
The age of the plant doesn’t matter.
“The Japanese have a 500-year-old poison ivy specimen that can induce a rash,” said Lewis Ziska, a plant physiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Source:
SeedDaily, “More CO2 means more poison ivy“, accessed September 3, 2010
From the Inbox: Another Oil Explosion - Will the Senate Act?
Inaction Is Not an Option! Thousands of birds were killed or injured as a result of the worst oil catastrophe in U.S. history. The Senate must act to prevent the next tragedy. Another oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico has exploded1. This latest incident underscores the risks of offshore oil drilling — and the urgent need for the U.S. Senate to pass critical legislation to help protect our wildlife and prevent the next oil catastrophe. The wildlife death toll from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster has been staggering: more than 5,300 birds, 550 threatened and endangered sea turtles, 80 dolphins and other marine mammals.2 Hundreds of miles of coastline fouled with oil, including several National Wildlife Refuges — havens for our most precious wildlife. But the long-term effects — on our wildlife, our fisheries and our coastal economies — wonât be known for years. Please be a voice for our wildlife. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and urge the Senate to take immediate action on legislation to strongly respond to the Gulf oil disaster. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a strong bill responding to the worst oil spill in U.S. history. But the Senate is dragging its collective feet — and may not even pass their version of the bill at all this year. This is unacceptable. Take action now. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Even after nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil gushed into Gulf waters, followed by millions of gallons of chemical dispersants3, oil companies are taking even bigger risks by drilling further out and deeper down into the Gulf.4 The question isnât if the next oil catastrophe will happen, but when — and will we be prepared? The Senate must follow the Houseâs lead by passing legislation that will reform offshore drilling and safeguard our wildlife and wild places. Let your senators know that after the worst oil disaster in U.S. history, inaction is not an option. For the Wild Ones, Marcia Lesky
Please write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and urge your senators to pass the Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Accountability Act (S. 3663).
As they prepare to return to Washington, DC this month, our wildlife needs the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to help wildlife affected by the Gulf oil disaster — and prevent the next devastating catastrophe.
Director, National Outreach
Defenders of Wildlife
From the Inbox: Vote: Great Outdoors, Great Ideas
Vote for Our Great Outdoors Pristine habitat is essential to the survival of imperiled lynx and other wildlife. Lynx. Wolves. Polar bears. Each of these wondrous, imperiled animals relies on Americaâs great outdoors to survive⦠and they are all counting on you to speak out and vote in an unprecedented effort by federal officials to collect citizen input on the management and preservation of Americaâs great wild spaces. In response to the Obama Administrationâs Great Outdoors initiative, Defenders of Wildlifeâs staff of experts has put together a series of ideas, and we need your vote to make them a reality. Help wildlife conservation be one of the top 10 ideas for Americaâs Great Outdoors! Please register as a member of the Great Outdoors America Community and cast your vote for one of these great ideas (details voting instructions are listed below this list): Idea #1: Protect and Restore Ecosystems that are Resilient to Climate Change. The decisions we make today may well determine the fate of imperiled polar bears, lynx, wolverines and other animals threatened by climate change. Idea #2: Focus Federal Resources on Key Places. Whether itâs the treasured watershed of the Chesapeake Bay or Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada Mountains that provide most of Californiaâs water supply, some places â due to their ecological importance or their iconic status â are of key importance to the nation. The administrationâs approach to conservation should focus on these key landscapes into which we will make our biggest investment. Places like the Chesapeake Bay are home to bald eagles and other quintessential American wildlife. Idea #3: National Wildlife Refuges are an essential part of Americaâs Great Outdoors. Research shows that these refuges and efforts on nearby private and public lands have been essential to our success in restoring and conserving ducks and other waterfowl. The Refuge System should be at the center of this administrationâs Great Outdoors conservation initiative, through the creation of new refuges and expanded support for existing refuges. Our National Wildlife Refuges provide essential habitat for ducks and other waterfowl. How to Cast Your Vote 1. Click on any of the links above. 2. Click the âPromoteâ link. Just click on the green text (as highlighted below) to cast your vote for our wildlife and the wild places they need to survive. 3. Register your name and email address. Verify your vote by providing your name and email address. 4. Cast another vote! Click another link to make your voice heard: Americaâs great outdoors are one of the most important and treasured parts of our county. Please cast your vote today and help us preserve these special places for future generations. For the Wild Ones, Tim Male
To assist fish, wildlife and other natural resources and human communities to adapt to climate change, any initiative must include the conservation of large, connected landscapes to help build resiliency.
Vice President of Conservation Policy
Defenders of Wildlife
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