Worker Center V-P Raps War in Iraq & War at Home

Speech given at Montpelier Anti- War Demonstration Jan. 20th - rough transcript:

I’m Dawn Stanger. I’m a Teamster who works up at UPS and I’m Vice President of the Vermont Workers’ Center. The Workers’ Center usually struggles locally, trying to gain power for Vermont’s workers, but we can’t ignore global issues. We are an affiliate organization so many unions in Vermont support our work.

In the past the labor movement pretty much supported U.S. wars. But the military consumes half of our tax dollars, and gets our brothers and sisters killed, and we knew that Iraq had nothing to do with the crimes of 9/11. It was obvious that this would have a huge effect on our friends and co-workers who’d be called up. So we joined a group called U.S. Labor Against the War back in January of ‘03’. Shortly thereafter, Vermont’s AFL-CIO also affiliated with USLAW and there’s now hundreds of union locals across the country calling for Troops Out Now.

We tried to stop this war since before the start. We brought union officials from Iraq to tour the U.S. after the invasion, and they stopped in Montpelier and Burlington to talk to Vermonters about their hopes for their country. Saddam suppressed union organizing and killed activists, so they were glad he was gone. Their Iraq, the Iraq they remembered pre-invasion, was secular, religions easily intermarried, women could openly walk the streets and have jobs. Iraq’s labor movement has a long history, like ours, and shares the same fears; healthcare, education, retirement, privatization, poverty - the list goes on. Anyway, USLAW got the national AFL-CIO, the big union kahunas, to pass a resolution at their convention last year calling for the rapid return of our troops, and insisting on their proper care.

Death and violence still hang over Iraq, post-Saddam, and union leaders are still being murdered but their fears have multiplied a hundredfold. They say that they still have a chance to get back to that secular society, if we get out now. They see us as the cause of the sectarian violence. And USLAW sees no choice now but for the Democrats to cut off the funding. Bush is crazy, offering us an escalation. After that election. No way. Not one more life. Not one more dollar, but what it takes to bring them home safely. Iraqis voted for those who promised to get us to withdraw. Yet almost immediately, those they elected were singing a different tune. What happened, they must wonder.

We don’t wonder in the labor movement. Welcome Iraq, to democracy straight from the corporate boardroom. Shameless war profiteering, rampant corruption, millions of tax dollars missing - disappeared, while working families struggle with multiple deployments. More than 3000 deaths, 22,000 injuries, and terrible estrangement. 56,000 soldiers’ marriages have dissolved. Soldiers’ spouses have called our workers’ rights hotline, trying to hang onto jobs while suddenly juggling single parenthood. But there’s no law to cut them a break because U.S. laws protect business, not workers. Where unions are healthy, democracy is healthy. Unions are hurting in Iraq and here.

Congress created a fund to take care of the heroes of 9/11, workers who raced into Ground Zero before and after the EPA said it was safe. Then we discovered the truth; it wasn’t so safe and the EPA knew it. But they wanted Wall Street up and running. 32,000 workers are still suffering serious health effects, and their funds are running out, while we spend billions in Iraq. ¼ of this war’s budget would have fixed Social Security for 75 years. We maintain that Iraqis and us have the same enemy – greed.

And the conclusion is that we all need to struggle together, workers in every country. We need to try to make Reverend King proud of us as we root out racism and classism. We need to figure out a way to fix our democracies before we fly around the globe spreading bs. We’ve got imperial aims and we can’t even take care of ourselves, Katrina being the glaring example. I can’t believe they’re now talking about expanding the military – both parties. No. Not until the corporations get out of our government. They’re about to sign agreements to privatize Iraq’s oil - agreements meant to last 30 years. We‘re building military bases there, one of the things that has been acknowledged by the “terrorists” as a cause of terrorism. And we’re threatening Iran now with air strikes. Madness. Being done because someone, somewhere, sees a profit in it.

Bush is not the problem, though, but the symptom. The real disease is corporatism. A country that’s run by corporations is not one that cares about Vermonters who enlist for schooling, or because they can’t find a decent job. And the biggest risk is the moral and financial bankruptcy of the country. Where is the truth? We need to investigate how we got where we’re at, and pass laws to ensure we don’t get here again.

Individuals need to get active, agitate and talk and learn from each other until we’ve got our democracy fixed, not just the troops home, though that’s our first desire. We should not engage in any foreign ambitions, other than diplomacy for a long, long time, unless attacked, so that we can devote tax dollars and time into fixing the mess that it makes when corporations run our government and run workers into the ground.

We join Iraq’s workers in calling for justice in both countries. We urge you to join the Vermont Workers’ Center and help fight for justice here. The only changes that have happened to better this country have been forced upon the rulers by mass action from the rank and file below. So let’s go. Pass those town resolutions. Talk to your neighbors about it. Call Congress. Head to DC next weekend and just plain agitate ‘til the troops are home and the criminals prosecuted. Peace!

Verizon Sale Announced

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) learned
late on Monday, January 16, of Verizon’s plans to
announce today that they will be selling their Vermont
landlines to Fairpoint Communications. While details
are still emerging, it is a requirement that any such
action be approved by our Public Service Board. The
CWA intends to obtain party status in these hearings
to assure that the concerns of our members and Vermont
rate payers are addressed through the PSB process.
While testifying before the Vermont Senate Finance
Committee on January 9, PSD Commissioner David O’Brien
stated that any approval would be for a level of
service and access that is better than what we
currently have. He also stressed the importance of any
buyer having essential financial resources available.
Among the CWA concerns are:
- How can we protect telecom jobs, service quality,
and regional economic development that depends on
broadband connections?

- With Verizon leaving our state, what's the future of
high speed broadband service In Vermont?

- How should state legislators and regulators respond
to Verizon's abandonment of its "low-value" landline
customers?

- How can labor, small businesses and consumers fight
rural telecom red-lining and achieve hi-speed internet
access for all?
- Will the resulting fragmentation of the bargaining
unit have a harmful effect on contract negotiations in
2008?
As part of the effort to oppose the sale of Verizon’s
landlines in Vermont and to be included in the
regulatory process, the Communications Workers of
America Local 1400 and International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers Local 2326 are holding a
legislative reception in the Statehouse cafeteria on
Wednesday, January 25th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
CWA Research Economist Kenneth R. Peres, PhD will be
the featured speaker and local Vermont Verizon
employees will be present to discuss their concerns.
For more information, contact Ralph Montefusco at
802-598-5613.

------------------------------------------------------
Ralph J. Montefusco
172 Woodbury Road
Burlington, Vermont 05408
802-598-5613 (Cell Phone)
802-862-4085 (Home Phone)

COTS board needs to do the right thing

COTS board needs to do the right thing
Burlington Free Press
Published: Tuesday, December 12, 2006

By James Haslam

Here’s the point that the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) Board of Directors and some others have missed, the vast majority of the 46 COTS employees have already formed a union. Back in October they asked the COTS Board to recognize them as a union after over 80 percent signed up to join the UE (see COTS workers unhappy, BFP Nov 11), and when the Board refused and voted for a community election, on December 6th the COTS staff demonstrated support for their union by a vote of 31-2 (see COTS Workers Vote For Union, BFP Dec 7).

I have talked to a great many community members about this situation. Overwhelmingly, there's a great deal of respect for the work carried out by COTS. Many people closely familiar with the day-to-day work of the organization have commented that they are not surprised that the workers organized having sensed growing frustration of staff over a long period of time.

Some people, however, have wondered why would workers need a union at a nonprofit organization like COTS and a few have gone so far as to suggest that it is not a good idea (Bob Duncan's My Turn "Should COTS Workers Unionize?" Free Press, Dec. 2 and Sen. Hinda Miller's "Union is most expensive remedy," Free Press, Dec. 6). But they have missed the point, and the situation at COTS could perhaps help provide this community with good lessons about basic principles of social justice and democracy.

Every worker deserves respect. The right of workers to organize is a basic principle of democracy. It is not just an important right for some workers. Given our bare bones laws that scarcely protect workers, unions often make sense in every industry.

So how does a union help strengthen an organization? By providing better working conditions and job security there is less turnover and people are far less scared to point out big problems in the organization. This makes the organization healthy. Union nurses advocate for better patient care because they can without fear of retaliation. COTS workers have decided to form a union to advocate for needed improvements in the organization and in the critical service they provide to this community. Now they will be able to do so without fear of being fired. They will work on more of an even playing field, and COTS will be a stronger organization because of it.

If the COTS board had simply respected their staff's request back in October, imagine how different this story would be. This would not be a union "conflict" or "dispute". There would not be dozens of newspaper articles, letters and TV coverage devoted to this story. COTS would be solely focused on providing their important services and getting the message out to the community about the importance of donating to support this work.

As a social-justice organization, the COTS Board needs to stand by principles of workers' rights. If you believe in social justice and workers' rights for people, except when it comes to your own employees, you don't believe in workers' rights. The right to organize is a basic principle of democracy. If one is to believe in this basic right, it is by recognizing workers rights to make that decision for themselves.

COTS staff said they were willing to affirm their decision in a union election, and they did overwhelmingly. They do not want to have the board continue to drag this out. Now they are asking the board to respect their choice, negotiate a mutually agreed upon fair contract and get back to focusing on the important work they do everyday.

It is a real shame if the COTS board of directors continues to choose to unnecessarily make this a conflict and divert resources and energy away from the COTS staff's ability to best serve and advocate for their clients. It's time that COTS does the right thing by its employees, its clients and the community in which it does business. It's time COTS recognize the employees' organization and begin bargaining a Union contract.

James Haslam is the director of the Vermont Workers' Center -- Jobs With Justice. If you have questions or to learn more about workers' rights in Vermont email info@workerscenter.org.

Dec 11 COTS Employees' Organizing Committee Letter to COTS Board

TO: COTS Board of Directors
FROM: COTS Employees’ Organizing Committee
SUBJ: Our Future
DATE: December 11, 2006

As the people who spend the better part of our work lives in direct contact with our clients providing services, we believe we have a pretty good idea about what is working well within our organization and what could be improved. As the front line workers who implement COTS’ mission every day, we ought not to have to justify our commitment to the organization for which we work or for the clients for whom we provide services. We all made a conscious decision to choose this work – not because it’s easy (it’s incredibly difficult, stressful and emotionally draining), not because it’s lucrative (it’s a struggle for many of us to pay our own bills), and not even because it’s fulfilling (it’s our belief that the world be a better place without the acute need for the services we provide). We chose this work and this organization to work for because we do really believe in the “value and dignity of every human life.”

We believe that families who find themselves homeless should be kept safe and together. We believe that clients deserve not only a safe place to sleep and to navigate social services but also deserve the best services our organization can provide. It is precisely these beliefs which led us to our decision to form our Union. As we have been telling various members of the board since August, our organization is in crises because of deep internal issues which affect our morale and our ability to do our work. We sought ways in which to have real voice in our organization. We want COTS to be a healthier, safer place for both clients and employees. That’s why we formed a Union. It was not in the expectation of getting rich. It was not because we’re self-centered.

We formed a union because we want a voice, a real and protected voice, so that we can address six serious issues that we face in the workplace that are serving as obstacles to us doing our work. Of these six issues around which workers formed the Union, five deal directly with improving working conditions to allow us to provide better services. The sixth (livable wages) has long been a goal of COTS but we have been excluded from having a real voice in the dialogue about how we get there together. We have put forth a vision of COTS that strengthens COTS' mission: We organized because we want the respect and dignity that come from consistent treatment and fair treatment of all employees.
We want:
Job Security through a Just Cause Provision in Our Contract
An Equal Voice in Decision Making about Policies, Procedures, and Working Conditions that affect us on the Job
Accountability through Our Ability to Evaluate Management Annually and to Meet Regularly with the Board of Directors
A Safe and Healthy Workplace where Improvements and Remedies Happen in a Timely and Effective Manner
Adequate Staff to Ensure We are Providing Quality Services to our Clients
Livable Wages for ALL Employees (not just permanent staff)

As you can see, most of our issues are concerns which can be addressed in a Union Contract without reallocating large amounts of agency’s resources into staff salaries and benefits. We believe in COTS and its mission and want only to have a real voice in the organization in which we work. We are organizing a Union for our clients – not just for ourselves. Our clients deserve the type of workplaces that we are fighting for at COTS. As the COTS Board of Directors you are charged with overseeing this agency and doing what is best to help the organization achieve its mission. We are at a loss to understand how issuing inflammatory statements to the press and engaging in a public fight with the vast majority of your hard working and committed employees furthers COTS’ mission. We are at a loss to understand how refusing to deal with our Union, in good faith, helps COTS. We have been told by Rita Markley that donations are down since we started to organize our union. However, if we go back to the beginning of this process to October there could have been a very different message sent to the public that read something like, 'COTS Supports Workers' Rights'. There are many reasons why donations could be down this year ranging from the fact that we just had an important election that many people spent much money on; a recent headline about COTS receiving a $400,000 donation; and the fact that the Board drove the unionization into the public spotlight when it rejected our union rather than voluntarily recognizing it. We know that various people have said publicly and privately that they do not want contributions going to legal fees and other expenses to fight Unionization.

It’s worth noting, by the way, that if the board forces the Union to petition to the National Labor Relations Board, as they appear to be doing, for an election and if the Board continues to question and chose to litigate the composition of the bargaining unit, COTS would, no doubt, incur hefty legal fees. However, the board has a choice whether they channel resources toward fighting our union--they do not have to do it. Again, the Board of Directors had an opportunity back in October to quietly and respectfully recognize the Union and avoid any public dispute. Such an action would no doubt have eliminated any possibility that the workers’ unionization efforts could be linked to a loss in contributions. We also understand that COTS’ management is concerned about the fiscal impact of the Union on the agency. We know that the Board is concerned about the potential costs of collective bargaining and administration of a contract. We also know that there are a number of employers who choose NOT to employ expensive lawyers for negotiations and thus do not spend a large amount of money on negotiations. This fact in itself shows that Boards are faced with choices to spend money that could go toward strengthening our work, on legal fees. The Flynn Theater in Burlington and Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier routinely handle Union related issues without paid attorneys. Other Employers agree with the Union to an expedited bargaining process that reduces the amount of resources spent on bargaining. It is possible to negotiate a contract in a matter of weeks rather than months if both sides commit to a fair and quick process.

We believe that all of us – the Board of Directors and the staff – believe enough in COTS that we can work together to ensure that our limited resources are spent wisely and fairly and in ways that most benefit our clients. We also believe that a quick and fair resolution to our current dispute could actually strengthen COTS’ good name in our community by showing that this is an organization with leadership that goes above and beyond others to seriously respect workers' rights. We pledge that if the Board could see its way to do the right thing and recognize the Union based on the vast majority support the workers have now shown on two separate occasions for the Union, we will do whatever is in our power to make sure that our clients benefit from our new voice in the organization. Finally, we would like to ask once more that the Board reconsider its opposition to our proposed bargaining unit. There are three job positions which have been the subject of disagreement: substitutes, assistant managers/coordinators and the administrative assistant. Substitute employees are an integral and critical part of our workforce. Substitutes, aren't just called in to work shifts when needed--they are scheduled into the weekly work at COTS. When taken as a whole, substitutes worked an average of 150 hours a week so far this year. Our agency couldn’t function without our substitute employees and they deserve a voice within our organization and thus should be included in the bargaining unit. Assistant managers/coordinators also are correctly placed within the bargaining unit. There are six levels of hierarchy in a COTS organizational chart and we have included the two bottom tiers of the organization. Assistant managers/coordinators are on the 5th tier below the Board of Directors, the Executive Director, the Program Director and the Program Managers. If we take into account their position within this six tiered hierarchy we can see clearly that they have no real supervisory authority nor significant power. It may be the case that the Bush Administration disagrees but why would the COTS Board appeal to the administration that is vehemently opposed to workers' rights and is consistently exacerbating the gap between rich and poor? Finally, the administrative assistant is not a confidential employee as defined by law. This position is routinely excluded from management level discussions regarding labor relations issues and it would be easy, if the COTS ED and Board so chooses, to vote to protect this position in the Union rather than reject it.

For the good of the agency and the clients we serve, we need to resolve this matter immediately and put this matter behind us so that we can concentrate solely on our organization’s mission. We look forward to standing beside our Board as soon as possible in a public press conference to make the following joint announcement: "The COTS Board of Directors Stands Up for Workers' Rights, Recognizes Staff Union, and Vows to Work with COTS Staff Union to Strengthen COTS Fight to End Homelessness."