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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 79/No. 44 December 7, 2015
—ON THE PICKET LINE—
Maggie Trowe, Editor
Vonie Long
Locked-out Steelworkers stop truck at entrance to Allegheny Technologies
Inc. mill in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, during expanded picket and rally
Nov. 18. Lockout began Aug. 15.
Help make this column a voice of workers’ resistance!
This column is dedicated to giving voice to those engaged in battle and
building solidarity today — including workers fighting for $15 and a
union; locked-out ATI Steelworkers; auto, steel and Verizon workers
whose contracts have expired. I invite those involved in workers’
battles to contact me at 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY
10018; or (212) 244-4899; or themilitant@xxxxxxx. We’ll work together
to ensure your story is told.
— Maggie Trowe
NY dairy farmworkers fight firings, unsafe job conditions
PENN YAN, N.Y. — “We work 12 to 14 hours a day, and then if we get
injured they fire us,” Víctor Hernández, a dairy worker fired after he
was injured on the job, said during a special program at St. Mark’s
Episcopal Church here Nov. 8. “They treat us like we are a machine, not
a human being.”
Hernández was one of several dairy workers who spoke at a daylong event
to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of farmworker Marco
Antonio Ortiz Perez in the heart of the state’s milk-producing Finger
Lakes region.
Ortiz was killed when he was cleaning a silo and an auger — a large
rotating screw conveyor — tore off his arm and shoulder.
“Farmworkers shouldn’t have to work in unsafe conditions,” Gilberto
Reyes, who works at a nearby vineyard, told the Militant.
In addition to the farmworkers, organizers of the event included the St.
Mark’s Church, Worker Justice Center of New York, Unitarian Universalist
Congregations of Rochester and Canandaigua, Rural and Migrant
Ministries, and the Workers’ Center of Central New York.
— Maggie Trowe and Seth Galinsky
New Zealand health workers protest understaffing, 2-tier pay
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Chanting “Underfunded, overworked!” 300 health
workers struck for two hours and rallied near North Shore Hospital here
Nov. 10 against understaffing and two-tier wages, the first of a series
of two-hour strikes and rallies at Auckland’s public hospitals.
Some 3,000 members of the Public Service Association — laboratory
technicians, physiotherapists, social workers, pharmacists, dieticians
and others — are involved.
They are protesting plans by the city’s three district health boards to
extend some services from five to seven days a week with no increase in
staff and to pay new hires less. Placards and chants at the actions
condemned cuts in hospital funding, increasing workloads, staff
shortages and the undermining of patient care.
— Mike Tucker
Pa. Steelworkers hold expanded picket, rally against ATI
LATROBE, Pa. — Some 200 people, including a broad representation of
unionists and family members, joined locked-out members of United
Steelworkers Local 1138-6 in a picket and rally at the main gate of
Allegheny Technologies Inc. here Nov. 18.
ATI locked out 2,200 Steelworkers at 12 plants in six states Aug. 15.
The company seeks to slash health care, institute 12-hour shifts, cut
pensions, reduce wages and overtime pay and contract out more work.
In addition to Steelworkers, other unions participating included the
United Mine Workers of America, United Food and Commercial Workers and
United Auto Workers.
Members of the Greater Westmoreland Central Labor Council and USW
District 10 Director Bobby “Mac” McAuliffe were there.
Local 1138 member Alan Braden led chanting with a bullhorn. A few
vehicles slowly made way through the crowd and into the plant. The crowd
made it clear the action would be remembered and not forgiven. Donations
of firewood and money were dropped off during the rally. As the day’s
light began to fade, the unionists projected “Fair Contract Now” onto a
billboard-sized ATI sign.
Local 1138-6 President Lou Chillinsky commended his co-workers for
standing united, and said he was amazed at the amount of community and
labor support extended throughout the lockout.
The ATI workers “will get through this and will be stronger for it!”
Chillinsky said at a dinner afterwards. There was plenty of food
provided by members and local businesses. Two tables were loaded with
canned and packaged food, and monetary and gift cards were also donated.
Greater Westmoreland Central Labor Council gave $500.
The company is ending health care coverage of the locked-workers at the
end of this month.
— Vonie Long, USW Local 1165 president at ArcelorMittal mill in
Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Related articles:
Wis. UAW members: ‘Two-tier pay has to go!’
1,500 Kohler strikers, supporters march & rally
Verizon unionists rally against concession demands
Airport workers strike in 7 cities for $15 and union
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