Hundreds of
nurses at the Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) in Bangor, ME
who are working to win a voice at work with the Machinists
union, could be barred from union membership by the upcoming
“Kentucky River” rulings from the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB).
The NLRB,
comprised solely of Bush appointees, is poised to rule on a trio
of cases known collectively as the “ Kentucky River” cases. The
rulings could bar EMMC nurses and thousands of others around the
country from joining unions by expanding the definition of
“supervisors” to include almost anyone who provides instruction
to another worker. Supervisors are traditionally denied the
right to union representation and collective bargaining.
The NLRB is
refusing to hear even oral arguments in the three cases that
could have an enormous impact on collective bargaining rights
for hundreds of thousands of workers.
Workers in
18 cities, including Bangor, will take to the streets during the
week of July 10 to bring attention to the actions of the
anti-worker actions of the NLRB. Click
here to send a message to your member of Congress and urge
them to tell Bush’s labor board to reverse its decision and
allow oral arguments in the “Kentucky River” cases.
In
solidarity,
Kevin
Cummings
IAM Communications – Western Territory
Request for support
through political action Via E-Mail
URGENT - FOR
IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION!
July 11, 2006
Your immediate attention and cooperation is urgently requested
to
print out, sign and return the attached petition. This same
petition
is being presented to the delegates at the 2006 CWA Convention
in Las Vegas.
The following letter from NABET-CWA Local 53 president Leroy
Jackson
briefly explains the situation and its overall importance to
union
workers everywhere.
Your signed petition along with your fellow brothers' and
sisters' is
critical and could be the deciding factor in getting a fair
hearing
before the National Labor Relations Board.
To assist us in showing an overwhelming outcry concerning this
injustice, please print out and distribute as many copies of the
petition as you can quickly get signed, i.e. your local staff
and
coworkers, family, neighbors, etc. and return the signed
petitions by
Monday, July 24 by mail or fax to:
NABET-CWA Local 53
1918 W. Burbank Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91506
Fax #: (818) 846-2306
Your petition(s) will be included with those gathered at the
2006 CWA
Convention for delivery to the National Labor Relations Board.
Thank you for your support,
The Unfair Labor Practices Strike Committee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local 53
1918 West Burbank Boulevard
Burbank, California 91506
(818) 846-0490
Facsimile (818) 846-2306
July 10, 2006
Dear CWA 68th Convention Attendee:
As you may be aware, NABET-CWA Local 59053 members employed by
the
National Captioning Institute at its Burbank, California offices
were
fired on January 31st, 2006 in order to avoid collective
bargaining.
Since then, this unit has been on an ULP Strike bringing intense
pain
to this employer far in excess ofany costs to settle the
contract.
Our wonderful Captioning Editors have put forth a valiant
battle,
considering we are down to 6 remaining fighters for the Union
cause.
If you believe that an injury to one is an injury to all, you
can
fully appreciate the fight being waged to stop employers from
firing
Union workers to get out of a Union contract.
In February, 2006, at the CWA District 9 Conference in San
Diego, our
International President Larry Cohen gave a heartfelt speech on
standing behind our CWA brothers and sisters in their time of
need,
and pointed out "whether 15 or 15 thousand", CWA will be there
in our
time of need. CWA has indeed been there, and with the help and
support
from NABET-CWA Sector President John Clark, CWA District 9 VP
Tony
Bixler, the entire CWA Executive Board, Locals all over the
country,and Staff representatives Paula Olson (NABET-CWA) and
Laura
Reynolds(CWA District 9), this small group of Union activists
have
continued to survive and wage the good fight all of this time.
On the backside of this letter is a petition we would like you
to
sign, giving support to what may be our final battle in this
campaign.
Despite all of the good things that have happened in support of
our
members, we have still been at the mercy of anti-worker
government
bureaucracies that have ignored blatant facts to find ways for
letting
NCI off the hook. NCI has been caught lying, cheating, and
highly
likely stealing from state and federal agencies such as
taxation,
deprived the deaf and hard-of-hearing community of top rate
captioning
services, and have done all of this under the veil of a
not-for-profit
company.
Please sign our petition, which will be delivered to the NLRB
urging
them to reconsider the decisions rendered that are depriving our
striking NCI terminated workers of the one thing they want the
most- a
chance to see NCI stand before a hearing board and try to lie
their
way out of this injustice. The truth will set this membership
free.
Leroy G. Jackson, Jr.
PRESIDENT
LGJ:as/opeiu-1 53/aficiodc
Convention-UT-NCI.doc
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEMAND FOR A COMPLETE AND OPEN
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD HEARING
We, the undersigned, are outraged at the denial for a complete
and
open hearing before the National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] on
behalf of the terminated NABET-CWA Local 53 union employees of
the
National Captioning Institute, Inc. [NCI]
We do not believe all evidence was fully investigated or taken
into
proper consideration. In this deplorable case, only union
workers
were dismissed and as a result union-certified work is currently
being
outsourced to non-union personnel in Los Angeles, across the
United
States and, far more reprehensible, by cheap overseas labor.
In denying the union request for a hearing before the full
members
ofthe NLRB, the General Counsel for the NLRB completely
disregarded
evidence questioning NCI's business dealings by declaring that
NCI
"did not sell any goods in the state (of California)." However,
paperwork presented during federally mediated negotiations
ultimately
revealed financial, tax and insurance discrepancies which have
since
prompted requests for further investigation by various
California
State agencies.
Over the last 3 years, NCI has received over $6.5 million in
federal
grants and has seen its revenue soar to upwards of $19 million
annually. Yet this same company, which operates under a
tax-exempt
banner, is dubiously claiming "economic distress" as cause for
firing
only its 14 union workers. As hardworking taxpayers, we are
deeply
concerned about this non-profit corporation's blatantly unfair
labor
practices, and we are disturbed and angered by the NLRB's
reluctance
to conduct a hearing to determine the truth.
Therefore, we hereby assert that nothing less than a complete
and open
hearing before the National Labor Relations Board will serve the
interests of fairness and equity, the critical responsibilities
mandated to the NLRB by the "Act."
NAME (PRINT) ___________________________________________________
AFFILIATION ____________________________________________________
SIGNATURE _____________________________________________________
