Labor notes:

Major win for UAW -- Standing strong after a two-day strike, UAW members at auto parts supplier Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) on June 14 won ground-breaking victories in their quest for a voice on the job. At company plants in Shreveport, La., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Earth City, Mo., workers ratified a first contract.

In addition to important economic gains, the company recognized the union at its Norwood, Ohio, plant based on card-checks of the 155 employees. It also agreed to remain neutral and honor workers' choices by card-check at 26 other plants employing 8,000 workers. "UAW members from local unions all over the country were on the picket lines in four states supporting JCI workers," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. "When people join our union, we say they're joining an organization of workers who are going to be there whenever necessary – and we mean it."

Bountiful spring -- Thousands of workers won a voice on the job with SEIU in May and June. A strong majority of 10,000 home care workers in Fresno, Calif., voted to join Local 250 June 10, as did the majority of 560 technicians at three Catholic Healthcare West hospitals in Northern California. More than 1,300 janitors in the neighborhoods surrounding Chicago, Washington, D.C., Seattle and St. Louis won union recognition through card-checks, in which an employer agrees to recognize the union after a majority of workers sign union authorization cards.

Other recent election victories include: 160 paramedics and emergency medical technicians employed by AMR in Las Vegas, who voted for Local 1107; 63 patient care assistants at Detroit Medical Center, who joined Local 79; and 50 employees of the City of Duarte, Calif., who chose Local 347.

ENRON workers win severance fight -- A months-long campaign to win fair severance pay for some 4,200 former Enron workers has come to an historic and successful conclusion. Although workers' claims generally are dismissed in corporate bankruptcies, the workers, Enron and Enron's creditors agreed on a plan that adds about $34 million to initial severance levels.

The agreement, which must be approved by the federal bankruptcy court, grants workers up to $13,500 each in severance, up from the previous maximum of $4,500. The agreement also provides for the possible recapture for the workers of some $80 million paid to Enron executives in so-called retention bonuses on the eve of the company's bankruptcy.

After Enron workers began their campaign to win a fair severance settlement, Enron attorneys reportedly scoffed at the workers' case and said the workers would never see a penny above the initial figure. The AFL-CIO and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition mobilized their members to support the Enron workers in their struggle for fairness.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson said the AFL-CIO became involved in the fight for justice for nonunion Enron workers because "unions exist to improve the lives of working families." The AFL-CIO paid all legal fees in the case and will receive no compensation from the agreement for legal services.

Union members leafleted banks of creditors' committee members in cities across the country and members of the Working Families e-Activist Network sent more than 55,000 faxes and phone calls urging members of the creditors' committee and Enron executives to support a fair severance package for the former employees.

Asbestos workers rally -- Hundreds of union members and community and civic leaders rallied in Milwaukee June 14 to help asbestos workers gain safer workplaces and better pay and benefits. About 1,200 mostly immigrant Wisconsin asbestos workers are seeking a voice on the job with the Laborers, which has brought justice and union contracts to asbestos workers on Long Island and in New Jersey and Los Angeles.

Prescription drug plans unveiled -- House and Senate Democrats have unveiled their plans for Medicare prescription drug benefits. Both plans call for Medicare to pick up a large portion of beneficiaries' prescription costs, set a cap on out-of-pocket expenses and carry a $25-a-month premium.

A House Republican proposal would call for higher premiums and force seniors to pay a huge portion of their prescription drug bills out of their own pockets and to enter into HMO-type plans to get coverage. For more information, visit www.fairdrugprices.org.

Senate blocks gift for rich -- Legislation backed by the Bush administration to permanently eliminate estate taxes for millionaires and billionaires has failed, by a 54-44 margin, to win Senate approval. Senate rules required 60 votes for passage of the tax giveaway.

Currently, fewer than 2 percent of estates pay such taxes. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said that with the nation facing high unemployment, an uncertain economic outlook, projected federal deficits and the need to strengthen Social Security and Medicare as the baby boom generation readies to retire, "Now is not the time to lock in federal giveaways to the rich."

Fighting hate -- Civil rights activists vowed to continue fighting for tougher hate crimes laws after Senate Republicans blocked a move to consider the bill June 12. The bill, S.625, The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, would strengthen the federal hate crimes laws and broaden them to include offenses involving sexual orientation, gender and disabilities.

"Despite bipartisan support for stronger hate crimes legislation, once again partisan politics have prevented this from becoming a reality," said Luisa Blue, president of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance.

Homeland and union security -- Federal workers are concerned that President George W. Bush's proposal for a homeland security department may mask an attempt to weaken or remove their collective bargaining rights. The proposal calls for "significant flexibility" in hiring, firing, setting pay scales and other worker issues -- which now are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

"The homeland security effort needs a secure workforce," American Federation of Government Employees President Bobby L. Harnage said. The plan would transfer some 170,000 employees--more than half of whom are union members -- from some 20 agencies into one new department. A White House spokesman refused to say June 12 whether the workers would be allowed to maintain their union representation rights.

'Slap in face' -- President Bush's June 4 executive order stripping the nation's air traffic control system of its designation as an "inherently governmental" operation opens the door to privatizing the air traffic system, said Transport Workers President Sonny Hall.

The action is the "ultimate slap in the face" to controllers who have "performed with enormous courage and efficiency in the months since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11," said Hall, who also heads the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department. The order is a "giant step backward for America's homeland defense," said Michael D. Fanfalone, president of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists, an affiliate of the Marine Engineers. For more information, visit http://www.natca.org or http://www.passnational.org.

Dawn of New Era -- After an 11-month strike, 300 members of Communications Workers of America Local 14177 reached a tentative agreement with New Era Cap Co., which makes caps for campus and Major League Baseball teams.

Activists at 10 colleges convinced administrators to drop contracts for baseball caps with the company during the strike, and U.S. Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote a letter to the baseball commissioner urging him to hold New Era to a high standard.

Winning a living wage -- After a spirited three-year campaign by unions, community groups and religious leaders, the Montgomery County (Md.) Council on June 11 passed a living wage ordinance that will ensure workers employed by county contractors earn $10.50 an hour.

Montgomery, the 13th richest county in the nation according to the 2000 census, joins more than 70 other municipalities in ensuring tax dollars are not used to pay poverty wages.