LaborIDyMesa, By JACK HENNING labor movement is hardly a working class move- The 12,000 were doomed as corporate debris. ment but a- Executive Secretary-Treasurer, rather movement ofthe employed mid- Social democracy would forbid that in a. civi- California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO dle class. lized nation. Lane Kirkland once observed that there is no In the years.ofFranklin Roosevelt and succeed- Capitalism was never designed for workers. American working class. ing presidents of his tradition, it would have been Whether in medieval trading or in its 18th Cen- That true in. the social sense. American held an outrageous violation of human rights. industrial it meant worker may be tury origins, workers are not cap touchers to those ofpomp and It is no wonder that American capital has won suppression. privilege. the hostility of the liberated millions of Eastern In the advanced nations of the west, two forces Europe. They are moving left. However, in the economic order,.class lines gov-. rose, in 19th Century resistance: -organized labor On this Labor Day bells should be ring- and political liberalism. ern. The working class lives subject to the consent alarm. of capital. inMi every union hail across the nation. Somehow between the dynamiting of the* Molly The Republican Party with its control of Con- McGuires in the Pennsylvania coal fields and the There is the recent example of the New York gress has released the powers of capitalism socialism of Gene Debs, America awakened to the banking merger'of two corporate giat:. Chase agintlabor, the poor, the minorities,. the aged, class struggle.* Manhattan and Chemical Banking. the haniape and the youth of America. In tandem, labor and liberals provided Ameri- Its perpetrators announced that business is It is the duty oflabor to lead'the counter revolu- can workers with a slice of middle-class eistence. business and that capital required the fring of tion. Either that or rind place in the museums of Indeed it has been argued that the American 12,000 employees in the merged institutions. past glories. Sessions Explore New. Vol. 38-No. 17 September 1. 1995 Tactis Increasing labor's political clout and bringing mopre. workers into the shelter of organized labor were the topics last week as trade unionists DebaeMaes Hstor from throughout the state convened at Los Angeles for a two-day confer- The first-ever public debate be- ence sponsored by the California tween candidates for the presidency Labor*Federation. of the AFL-CIO matched Thomas - more than 350 R. Donahue and John Sweeney Participants registered - had been warned of against each other last week in Los crises in both areas even before Ex- Angeles and involved an overflow ecutive* Secretary-Treasurer Jack audience of trade un1ionists in a fr-ee- Henning introduced the first of the wheeling, open microphone ques- conference speakers* early Thursday tion-and. answer session. afternoon in the Crystal Ballroomn Every seat was filled and of the Biltmore Hotel. standees had crowded in as Jack Thomas R. Donahue and John Henning,, executive secretary-trea- Sweeney, candidates for president of surer of the sponsoring California the AFL-CIO, stressed political ac- Labor Federation, called the session dion and organi*zing*the,unorganized to order at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug.- during their first public 'debate held 24, in the Crystal Ballroom of the Thursday .morning in the same Biltmore Hotel. location. Three hundred and fifty-two del- Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward, presi- egates from affiliated unions and dent pro temn of the State Senate, councils registered for the two-day who was introduced first -by Hen- state AFL-CIO conference that ning as the afternoon session got opened with the debate. Others, underway, served up a reminder that easily exceeding 100 in number, en- a one-vote Democratic majority in tered on guest credentials or simply the upper house of the* Legislature slipped in to be part of the historic Photo bv David Bacon is all that keeps a deluge of anti- and dramatic occasion. There was-a John Sweeney, left, and Tham Donahue,. right, flank debate Moderator Jack Brig center. worker legislation off the desk of welcome by Jim Wood, executive when Samuel Gompers regained the '"If we compare them to the Bib- president on Aug. 1 by the Execu- Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. secretary-treasurer of the Los An- presidency he had lost to John lical brothers, I cannot say which is tive Council following the-*retire- It means 1996 is a year of critical geles County Federaion of Labor. McBride of the Mine Workers the Cain, although I know that both of ment of Lane Kirland to complete challenge for the labor movement, Henning noted in his introduc- previous year. them are Able," Henning said. a term that expires with.the national he declaredinareview ofthe Sacra- tions that nothing like the debate The California AFL-CIO leader Sweeney, international president convention late next month in New mento scene and an assessment of had taken place in this century And pointed out' that the two present of the Service Employees, spoke York City. Convention delegates political strategies. it was as long ago as 1895, he, candidates truly can be said "to be first, the order being decided by a will elect either Donahue or Lockye Ispok_one Ay_aftr,&far- pointed out, that the last contested union brothers, coming out of the coin toss. He was folowed by Don- Sweeney as president. election for leadership of the Amer- 3ame Service Employees local in ahue, formner secretary-treasurer of Several certainties emerged from ican labor movement took place New York. the AFL-CIO, who was elected (Continued on Page 4) Labor Blunts GOP RecalVWeapo Labor is credited with de- being Central Valle and elsewher&' that gest contributor to right-wing can- railing the attempt* by ultra right- IErgonomics Victory Im-m sent. more than 250 volunteers to didates and causes in California. r wing Republicans to recall Assem- Iperiled in State Senatte. help US." The PACYs is Sen. Rob I bly Member Mike Machado, guiding light 0 r -Page 3 State Senate President'Pro Ibm Hurtt, R-Oange County, who last D-Stockton, and strike fear into the I Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward, congrat- week muscled aside moderate Ken hearts of any -legislator thinking Calaveras Counties Central Labor ulated union members for ""sending Mddy as head of the GOP in the about opposing them. Council. "We put tgther what we a message to those who would mis- Senate, vowing to seize control of Despite a massive and brutally called our L-Abor-to-Labor Program, use the democratic process.". Lock- the upper house in 1996 and clear '0 abusive advertising campaign fi- targeting the 24,000 union mem- yer,* at last week's state away the last obstacle to an ava- nanced with of GOP speakting S I huge injections bers living'within Machado's district AFL-CIO conference in Los An- lanche of'anti-worker legislation., U, cash fr-om other areas, San Joaquin through. precinct-walking, direct geles., added, that he doubted the I County voters retained Machado mail and bank I.] phone operations. super-conservatives would give up Willie L. Brown, Jr., Assembly I and rejected the right-wing's new "4Union mnembers responded with totally on* recall elections until their speaker emeritus, also praised "the intimidation tactics by a margin of eight-to-one support. Machado won money runs out hundreds of trade unionists from all nearly two-to one in the special by a two-to-one margin.,- and,'the Their financial resources are, in over the state who traveled to Stock- election held Thesday, Aug. 22. union vote* was. decisive," Beno' fact, considerable. A major backer ton in their identifying jackets and ."Organized labor pulled together declared. of the Machado recall. was the caps"' and matched volunteer, per- on this one," said Jimn Beno, secre- ""We want to thank again all the American Business Political Action son-to-person camppigning against tary-treasurer of the San Joaquin- labor councils in the Bay Area, Committee, which is by far the big- the big money of the Republicans. Maria Elena Durazo, left, and fuinereal figure lead L.A. protest aistm demnands by new owners of Bonaventure Hotel;pabers,lf,eveomr HERE 'Funeral' Wllarns Downtwi wan.A A mock funeral procession razo spelled out the impending Group, a family-owned, Taiwanese for thousands. through downtown Los Angeles crisis.I ployment, the size and facilities of the Bona- investment company. The downtown tourist industry; venture, will goelsewhere if the ho- served notice last week. that hotel The Bonaventure, which employs FIT is conces- still in the wake of the workers will fight to preserve their Group demanding suffering tel's new owners precipitate a labor more than 1,000 workers repre- sions from the Local 11 city-wide 1992 riots, is increasingly depen- dispute.t collective bargaining contracts at sentedby Local 11I and several other collective bargaining contract that dent upon business the the Bonaventure and warned the is from generated by Local 11 spokespersons said their unions, being purchased Eq- would impri hard-won job secu- Convention Center A big portion of union was continuimig to seek mean- business community that a major uitable Life Assurance Co. by FIT benefits and conditions of that labor dispute at the hotel could rity; em-. business, currently atatdby ingful negotiations with FIT Group. jeopardize the city's frile conven- tion industry. The procession started at the Bonaventure, whose distinctive cy- Marchers Arrested.. in -protest at S.F. .Hotel lindrical glass-clad towers contain A dozen hotel workers 'and and the Rev. Bill O'Don- more guest rooms than any other About 300 persons rallied at tresurer of the San Francisco La- Thomnpson hotel in Los Angeles. friends were arrested in San Fran- noon in San Francisco's Union bor Council; Chaivez-Thompson; nell, pasto of St. Joseph the Work- It moved west through afternoon cisco yesterday for blocking cable Square to-protest against the re- Mike Casey, president of Local 2 of man Catholic Parish in Berkeley, rush-hour traffic along both sides of car ftraks outside the Sir Francis opening of the Starlight Room in the Hotel Employees and Restarant and sat down on the Powell Street Street to the L.A. Conven- Drake Hotel during a protest against the. Sir Francis Drake, where Employees, and members of Local cable. car tracks. Figueroa union-busting *by the notorious Klirnpton tired union worker after 2 and Local 14 of the Service Em- tion Center led by President Maria Police -who had been Elena Durazo of HERE Local 11, Klimpton chain. purchasing the property ployees who were fired from the escorting- Drake by Plimpton- the march quicpkly moved in to ar- who was accompanied by a mem- Among those arrested was Linda The buy-and-fire tactics were de- rest the sitters. and remove them to ber symbolically attired and painted Chavez-Thompson, national vice nounCed by Speakers includingJaCk The crowd* protested at other Central Station where they were as the figure of death. Musicians president of AFSCME and candi- Henning, executive secreary-trea- Plimpton properties enroute to. the cited and released on their *own re- followed, along with pall bearers. dat for executive vice president of surer of the California Labor Feder- Drake, where a number of them cognizace pening appearances in At the Convention'Center, Du- the AFL-CIO. ation; Walter Johnson, secretary- linked arms with Chavez- Municipal Court. CTA Position The California Federation of NAFTA: WVorst Fears Come Tru Teachers announced this week that Labor's direst predictions about m through June of this year is more is seeking a temporary, full-time the North American Free Trade than twice the number who quali- communications director for up to Agreement are coming true, newly Even the 0onym HurtsI fled in all of 1994.- six months to replace a staffer on released U.S. trade figures show I' Acr4 The was that leave. NAfTA label wine is a market- and his partners projected sales of pro-NAFrA pitch The U.S. had a $6.9 defi- the would increase US. Candidates should submit res- billion ing failure, and the people who 1,000 cases a month, and the best agreement ume,. clippings and reeecs be- cit in trade with Mexico during the make it say union members. are to done is 150 cases. exports into a vital, expanding Mex- first five months of 1995. Last they've only ican US. fore Sept. 15 to CTA at One Kaiser year blarm Hes bAmingAtrade unionists be- economy;,tmltn pro- Plaza, Suite 1440, Oakland 94612. in the same period we bad a $885 The name was chosen as the duction and creating new jobs to million just cause NAFTA wine sales have gone offset lost as American surplus. North American Free Trade Agree- completely sour in major Midwest any jobs NAFITA supporters told us every ment was firms moved to Mexio to -take ad- Datebook sailing through Congress, markets where rusting factories of that $1lbillioninexportstoMexicotrade and the producers thought they give eloquent testimony to the flight vantage country's cheap SafWy Net 'Raining: Sept. 24, District mean 18,000 in the US. That labO4 Coumcil of Carpenters, Mbnteivy, jobs could cash in by associating their of unionmauatrn jobs across Executive Council: Jan. 23-24, 1996, means 124,000 US. jobs were lost wine with what appeared to be a the border into Mexico. But that scenario evaporated S.F Hilton to Mexico in the first five months of when the vital Mexican Aikport Hotel. very popular prgrm according to It is a glowing-testimonial to the supposedly Pre-Pdinmry COPE Convention: Jan. this year, according to an analysis Tom Brady of Sonoita, New Mex- power of labor's boycott weapon, economy collapsed last year, caus- 25, 1996, S.F Airport Hilion Hotel. by Charles McMillion an economist ico. "We came up with the name to diminished the ing drastic devaluation of the peso Executive Council: July 24-26, 1996, with MGB Information a only by possibility and LOS Angeles Hyatt Regency. Services, have some fun," Brady said. 4"It that Brady and'his aes are no widespread unemployment. Washington, D.C., business fore- was a Mexicans are not buying much of Biennial Convention: July 29-31, 1996, gimmick." better at making wine tha they are Los Angeks Hyatt Regency. casting firm, But name anything, especially not expensive the backfired. Brady at -choosing wine label. iprsfrom the US. And it is going to get worse. Jobs Publisers Notce are flowing south across the Mexi- us. auto and electronics manu- year, 35,339 American workers ures are because it is The California AFL-CIO can border at more than four times misleading facturers are hardest hit. Theyve News is were certified as eligible to receive known that only a fr-action of those seen sales in (ISSN: 0008-060) pub- the rate of a year ago, according to their Mexico drop by lished twice a month except benefits under aprga set up to eligible bother to sign up for as much as half in many cases. estimates reported by Cox News those who lose. their during the weeks of Thnsgv Service. help jobs be- NAFTA victim benefits. But the Meanwhile, devaluation of the ing, Christmas and New Year's cause of NAFTA according to the numbers do verify the alarming peso means Mexican goods cost In the first six months of this US. Department of Labor The fig- holidays by the CalfrnaLa- trend. The 35,339 certified January Americans half as much in dollars bor Federation, AFL-CIO, 417 as they did a year ago, and the U.S. Montgomery St., Suite 300, is deluged with cheaply-made Mex- San Francisco, CA 94104. Sec- Capital Cops in Newt!s ican products. ond dlass postage paid at San Entourage The feeble peso also means Mex- Francisco, Calif. -Individual Newt Gingrich didn't have Secret tel rooms exceeded $100,000. This copies. ican wages have been -cut in half subscription, $10 a year; cor- Service agents helping sell his new doesn't include their wages. Reportedly; the tour was a com- relative- to the dollar, luring more pAoerate,-$0P.QP1Pulica-s book in Yorba Linda, as reported in And although the budget-chop- mercial success. Gingich's promno- and. more US. employers. the Aug. 18 edition of California ping Republican speaker of the tional efforts are said to have netted ""You have bargain-basement la- AFL-CIO News. House justified the expense on the him $2.3 million in royalties al- bor, and the result is jobs are going what he had were plain-clothes ground that he needed and deserved ready. This would be more than half south,," saidHarleyShaiken, aUmi- members of the US. Capitol Police. bodyguards, the officers did get di- of the $4.5 million advance pay- versity of CAlitornia-Berkeley eco- But regardless of which agency rectly involved in selling Gingrich's ment that Gingrich gave back to nomic analyst. they work for, it cost taxpayers a bookq,"To Renew America." They media mogul Rupert Murdoch after Meanwhile, American workers bundle of money to send the.* Offi- were observedAug. 14attheNixon critics suggested the book publish- are jobless, fmle are destitute, cers along while Gingrich auto- Library in Yorba Linda inspecting ing deal was nothing more than a crime and social problems prolif- graphed books aid promoted sales sales slips to make certain that only payoff for shepherding legislation erate, businesses fail, schools are coasttocoast. The Ne,,w YorkDaily those who had cranked out $28.50 through Congress, that provided bankrupt, and communities strip- News estimated last week that the apiece for the book got into the multi-million-dollar tax breaks for -e of their tax bases are unable to cops' bill for air fare, meals and ho -room where Gingrich was signin Murdoch's pblsinpperations. cope with deepening crises. Ui Paoge 2 lt1, 5 Hiumbikoldt FlReembers'ft-sMry 3. Labor martyrs slain on a Eureka local politicians and police into line. picket line during the Redwood Employers recruited -and armed Lumber Strike of 1935 finally got a the Humboldt Nationals, drill-ed public monument during ceremo- them on the local high school foot- nies Aug. 19 in Eureka. ball. field., and agitated for -commu- nity support with tales of dangerous A plaque mounted on a pedestal radicals ready to pour into Eureka now marks the spot where Wilhelm to take'.over the town. A machine "Bfill" Kaarte.,.Paul Lampella and gun and tear. gas launchers were Harold Edlund - all Finnish- provided to the local police. American lumber workers .- were* The 200 or so* strikers at the fataly shot and scores of their fel- Holmes-Eureka Mill gate remained low workers fell wounded on June peaceful in the face of taunts and 21, 1935, under a hail of bullets threats until a tear gas canister fired fired fi-rm the ranks of Eureka pQ- fr-om within the ranks of police and lice and the so-called Humboldt Na- vigilantes struck and stunned* Jer-, tionals, a vigilante-like force re- rine Canarri, who was standing cruited and armed by the lumber with the pickets. When word.spread companies. that the finert woman had been The site now is an entrance to killed by a shotgun blast, strikers Bayshore Mall, a shopping center. turned in a body and advanced. Pb- Sixty years ago, it was the location lice and vigilante Humboldt Na- of the main gate of the Holmes-Eu- tionals fired indiscriminately, reka Mill, where a mass picketing wounding scores and killing the was called to demonstrate solidarity three. in the general strike seeking union The carnage among the workers recognition throughout the North- undoubtedly would have been, much west lumber industry. worse if a -heavy machine gun pro- TaIng part in the plaque dedica- vided by the lumber barons had not tion were veterans of the 1935 jammned.. strike, including Albin L Gruhn9 One hundred and fourteen were now president of the California La- arrested. Local..newspapers pub- bor Federation. lished reports that trucks loaded Richard Khamsi, business man- with radicals were, heading south ager of the Humboldt and Del Nonte from Oregon, and vigilantes Counties Central Labor Council, Frank Onstine, historian; Richard K9hamsi, bsns manager ofthe Humboldt-Del NwekCounties Central, blocked- highways, harassing and opened the program with a plea to Labor Council, and Albin I Gruhn, president of the CalfrnaLabor Federaton and 'veteran of the 1935 turning back anybod:y they thought "Remember our past, respect the. Redwood lumber ,stike, inspect plaque meoilzn tieslsii. on Eurea pce ie looked like a "radical sympathizer" sacrifices of our martyrs, and re- The . Finnish Federation Hall -Was solve to carry their values into the Great Lumber.Srieof 'Humboldt raided, and several rubber knives future for the benefit of our 'Ifthey (the slain.striers) were standing County, 1935,v" presented a histo- and wooden guns found among children...."9 here with us today% they'd have this -mes- rian's perspective- stage props were- displayed as evi- There were responses by The strike was called by Lumber dence of a "strikers'-arsenal." from the saege: Organize! Organize! Organizell9k and Sawmill Workers Local 2563 of speakers throughout -Albin J. Gruhn fifty-eight of the 114 arrested community. the United Brotherhood of Carpe- were charged with rioting. Seven Eureka Police Chief Arnold Mill- ters and Joiners. The local's demand facedjudges and juries in three sep- sap, whose, 1935 predecessor di- Gruhn, a member of the Sawmill Also speaking were Margy Lima for, A 'wage increase And ,improve- arate trials, all of which ended in rected the attack upon the strier, Workers- union at tAhe time of the Wilkenson, daughter of the -late ments in working conditions were acquittals or hung juries, before declared in an emotional address strike and subsequently secretary* of Mickey Lima; Assembly. Member patterned after demands in the lumber companies and localauthor- that such a tragedy. could not be the Eureka Federated Trades and Dan Hauser, D-Eureka-,Paty Oh- Northwest General Strike. ities gave up and dropped charges. reete. Labor Council, paid tribute to the man, chair of the Humboldt County A.B.. Hammond, owner, of the Nobody6ver was charged in the selfless solidarity of the slain Democratic Central Committee, biggest mill in the area, had'vowed strikers. and James Vick, chair of-the. First that he would "see grass grow mn "If they were sadn here with Assembly District Demnocratic'Cen- the streets of Eureka" rather than us today, they wouldhave this mes-' tral COmmittee recognize a union. Other lumber sage: 'Organize, Organize,, Orga- Frank Onfstine, -lumber worker, barons agreed, and their political nize,' "Gruhndeclared. union activist and author of ""The muscle and economic -clout brought Senate Show.,-down. on Ergnonc liii The Republican-sponsored bill to cans listened in silence a's *a parade dard-aimed at reducin*g worker in- Nichola's Petris and HOerschel AB 1979 by Knox would have undo labor's courtroom. victory in of labor* witnesses pleaded for er- juries. Employers, having gotten the Rosenthal. The Republicans are Bill enabled workers who. take time. off the fight for workplace ergonomics gonomics safety standards and* then procedural changes tkey wanted, Leonard, Richard Mountjoy and for personal obligations to make up safety standards has moved to the voted* ii unison'behind Pfingle'to now are atteming with the help of Hurtt. the time without earning overtime Senate side of the State Capitol. send AB 50 to the floor their GOP allies to renege on iury Back in the Assembly ,. there was pay, a current requirement of the Executive Secretary-Treasurer The bill would repeal the require- reduction measures that were- part a further demonsftrati last Wwk of law JackHeng of the CaliflorniaLa ment that the Cal-OSHA Standards of the 1993 deal. what a GOP majority, on the Labor A GOP bill to simply wipe all bor Federation spoke against the bill Board adopt a workplace ergo- The California Labor Federation and Employment Committee means eight-hour day legislation off the at its Assembly Appropriations nomics sadad"to. minimize fth won a major legal victory earlier to workers* of Cadiforia, books was defeated for this session Committee hearing, -reminditat instances- of injuriy from repetitive this year when the Sacramento The cm ItteWeublicans, led of the Legislature before Rep4ubli- the ergonomics measure had been motion." County Superior Court ruled fvor- by Pringle, blocked acmpomse cans- seized control of the Assembly approved as part -of the*.1993 That. requirement was a central ably in-the AFL-CIO suit to require. on the, eight-hour day that had the and -took 'over the committee workers compensation agreement element of the 1993 worimrs! com- the Cal-OSHA Standards Board to support* of business. interests. majority. which enjoyed the support of both pensation-reformIpacae designed stop. delaying and issue an ergo- ft showed that the Republicans The Senate. Industrial Relations parties and Governor Wilson. to reduce worker's compprmium nom-ics standard. AB 50 would nul- are interested only in total repeal, of Committee responded quickly to the Following the hearing,Heng costs through procedural changes* in lify that victory. Calfri' historic eight-hour day, revelations regarding a slave labor said the Federation is. calling for an the system and through measures- Committee Democrats are Chair- said Wally Knox, D-L.A.., the garment factory in El Monte by outpouring of opposition when con- including the ergonomics stan- person Hilda Solils, Milton Marks, committee chair passing SB 399 (Solis) on Wednes- sidered by the Industrial Relations day, August 30. Committee of the Senate. Assembly Bill 509, by Ross John- This bill would make garment is Pride at Work Conference in- S.F. manuactuersresponsible for wage son, R-Orange County, expected and hour law violations of the. sub- to be heard shortly before the Sen- The second nationwide Pride at for June 28 and 29, is to be held in' One of the principle purposes of use to sew clothes on Indfistrial contractors they ate Committee Rela- Work Conference. will be hosted conjunction with the 1996 Gay the Pride at Work Organization is to for them. The Committee held an tions where Democrats outnumber next June by the San, Francisco- Freedom Celebration.* It will con- bring lesbian and gay issues into the on fac- thanks to their extensive hearing the slave* Republicans 4-3-, based Lesbian/Gay Labor Alliance,* tinue the work of the naional orga- trade.unio0n moveMent and-to bring tory on Friday, August 25 in El one-vote over-all majority in the up- the national Pride at Work organiza- nization, which was founded last trade unOniOsm to unorganized les- Monte to- hear from the enslaved per house of the Legislature. tion announced this week. year at New York City during. the bian and gay workers, according to workers about their plight Sitting on the committee is Sen. The event,, tentatively scheduled Stonewall 25 Celebration. Nancy Woh1forth, co-chair of the Rob Huntt, the arch-conservative Lesbian/Gay Labor Alliance and Tebstifying for SB 399 was Jack foe of labor who seized leadership BusinessManager of Local 3 of the Henn,who said joint liability is of the Senate GOP last week. Union Yes Ballot at Office anid'Professional Employees the only real solutionm to, stopping The measure is one of the anti- -Pasadena. the exploitation of workers in the worker bills proposed in the GOP-_ Pasadena clericals, police assis- one of the affected garment industry, He was joined by Only 301. A plnigmeigis.scheduled of Al- controlled Assembly. Republicans tants and other mncplwddlers Pasadena city workers voted "no," 10 tin. to 2'p.m. on Stra,Sept. ChristinaVasquez UNITE7, now control the Assembly Commit- have. voted almost uaiosyto according to FredLowe, -LHUNA 169, in the Mission Street auditorium len- Davenport of SEIU and Barry tee on Labor and Employment. merge their-independent employee of UNITE,. formerly ILGWU. Broad (of the lIbantisters. Now on the committee is Curt association into Local 777 of the MitSonWarren, LIUNAriona WoMoirth. said all interested trade Th1e bill was opposed by an in- Ringle, the Orange *County right- United Public Employees ofCalif 'mnae dustry. associatio as well as by the sidmoeftand a dozen uinssare invited to atend. mmesof winger who took over as GOP As- nia, an affiliate of the Laborers California public'sectoremploye Details can be-obtained from th& Repubican ftheCom- sembly leaderjust as Hurt was talc- International Union of North orgaatons had comfe into0the La- Lesbian/Gay Labor Aliance, (415) mittee. ft passed 4 to 3 on- a party- ing control in the Senatea America..-*:* borers in -the. Past year. 861-0318. line vote., Assembly committee Republi- Page 3 Splbr1,19 Conference... COPE Director Richard Walsh tellsstaey (Continuedfrom Page 1) "To7o long we've blamed the Na- Maddy as GOP leader in the Senate. tional Labor Relations Board. If we With Curt Pringle, another Orange continue to* use the shop-by-shop County right-winger taking over as NLRB process, we'l continue to Assembly majority leader, the ultra- decline. We've got to target whole conservatives have taken the Re- sectors, entire industries," he said, publican Party captive at the State citing campaigns that have brought Capitol, he pointed out. thousands of drywallers and Right-to-work and contracting- framers into the Carpenters in out bills are waiting; so are attacks Southern California. on prevailing wage, the eight-hour Rank-and-filers must become or- day, overtime pay, and workplace ganizers, he added. health and safety regulations, Lock- ",We7ve got to make our members yer warned. realize that. their dues do not buy them a spectator seat in this But defeat of the right-wing GOP movement." attempt to recall. Assembly Member Al Bilk, president of the ARL- Mike Machado, D-Stockton, which Public was bankrolled Hurtt's free- CIO Employee Department, Wfie L. Brown,9 Jr. Dennis s by said organizing succeeds in the pub- SHughem, spending American Business Politi- Maxine D-Los An- demon- lic sector while faltering in the pri- Rep. Waters, cal Action Committee, vate sector because em- geles, presented an emotional de- strates that worker can best public power Rep. Maxine Waters ployers are inclined to obey labor fense of affirmative. action and de- the conservatives' dollars, he nounced Gov. Pete Wilson's anti- come in "We will laws. added. 1996, declaring In 1990, 18,000 workers were minority presidential campaign tac- Richard Walsh., national director win my house back." fired during organizing drives while tics during the conference luncheon of the AFL-CIO's Committee on Representative Jane Harman, only 90,000 voted for unions, he on Friday Political Education (COPE), told D-Los Angeles, analyzed next said. "',Don't let them divide us," Wa- conference participants that only year's congressional races. ters said. 19,000 strategically-placed Demo- "We must take back the house in ""This means somebody was fired cratic votes would have the She declared. "And we can illegally for every five who joined. The conference closed with an spared '96, Let's some teeth into the law nation from Newt Gingrich. .if we stay focused." put afternoon forum in which examples In fact, he said, the 1994 elec- We've got to insist upon first-class of recent organizing successes were The conference shifted to orga- We've got to. insist upon first-class presented by Robert L. Balgenorth, tions in no way constituted the "sea the in the Fri- change" that Republicans have been nizing unorganized rights for workers." president of the State Building and day session, which AFL-CIO re- Dorothy Shields, director of the Construction Trades Council of Cal- claiming because the shift to the gional director Dave Sickler opened right was by only two percent of the AFL-CIO Department of Educa- ifornia; Ernesto Medrono, Grand with the observation that "organiz- tion, said the labor movement must Lodge representative with the Inter- vote. time has come." show ing's finally avail itself of "the rich resource of national Association of Machinists Approval ratings clearly and that a majority of Americans be- Sickler's reference was to com- women workers who need us as we Aerospace Workers; Maria El- lieve the Republicans have gone too mitments by both AFL-CIO presi- need them." ena Durazo, president of Los An- far, Walsh added. dential candidates to aggressive, She added, "Women predom- geles Local 11 of the Hotel Em- Ernesto Medrono "We can save the presidency. We well-funded new organizing drives. inately vote for social justice issues ployees and Restaurant Employees, have a shot at taking back the House He warned that such drives must of the labor movement." and Eliseo Medina, president of the Medrono explained how theMI of Representatives. Fourteen million be carefully planned and precisely Dennis Hughes, president of Lo- California State Council of Service chinists are using innovative tech- union members can do it."1 executed. cal 428 of the United Food and Employees. niques and past experience to im- Willie L. Brown, Jr., Assembly "If we fail to organize smart., it Commercial Workers and vice pres- Balgenorth-described new tactics prove their success rate in speaker emeritus and labor-en- we waste our resources, we'll send a ident of the California Labor Feder- for reaching construction workers organizing drives. dorsed candidate for mayor of San powerful,message to employers and ation, describes success with mem- on non-union jobs. Medina warned that the labor Francisco, also praised labor's role unorganized workers that we cannot bers participating as volunteer Durazo told how member in- movement faces even more difficult in turning back the Machado recall. do it," Sicler said. "If we organize organizers and with immigrants or- volvement enabled Local 11 to bring times unless organizing expands of- Brown described the Stockton vic- smart, we can rebuild the labor ganizing and representing in hundreds of unorganized workers fered examples that give hope for tory as a harbinger of things to movement. workers fo their own ethnicity. at Hollywood Park race track. the future. Debate.. (Continuedfrom Page1)) through the news media.. still in office and entered the race votes of the 600 or so delegates who tions Workers vice president, who is the candidates' opening speeches, And while Donahue and for after Kirkland rebuttal remarks, replies to ques- president only will elect the next AFL-CIO presi- on Donahues slate,* against Presi- tions from the floor, and closing Sweeney declared that the ARL- stepped down. "Call me loyal," dent at next month's convention: dent Rich Trumnka of the United C10's Committee on Political Edu- Donahue replied. principal officers and board mem- Mine Workers, running with statements. cation must new counter also Both committed to estab- (COPE) develop Charges and charges bers of each international and na- Sweeney for secretary-treasurer, firmly to elect lawmakers committed were over programs pro- lishing aggressive new organizing ways exchanged tional affiliated union, and principal and Vice President Linda Chavez- campaigns including development to American workers,. neither en- posed by the two candidates. Dona- oficers of state federations, local Thompson of the American Federa- dorsed the idea of forming a sepa- hue charged Sweeney with repre- central bodies, and the AFL-CIO tion of State, 1County and Municipal of innovative techniques and re- porm cruitment and of the rate labor party. Both said, in an- senting as his own several support groups. Hes proposing that Employees and a vice president of training bright- swer to from the already in* effect. Sweeney identi- est new organizers the nation's questions floor., such a debate take place in Wash- the national AFL-CIO, who is run- and univer- that labor's best course is to fied Donahue with policies he de- ington, D.c., on Sept. 22,. the day ning on the Sweeney slate for exec- workplaces, colleges historic ties to the Dem- scribed as ineffective, and Donahue sities can provide. strengthen after the next scheduled meeting of utive vice president, a new office ocratic Party. contended that Sweeney, as a mem- the AFL-CIO Executive Council. that convention delegates will be Sweeney said he'd rework the ber of the Executive had AFL-CIO budget to provide how- There was confrontation over Council, Sweeney's campaign headquar- asked to create. which candidat truly offers change. helped shape them. ters announced Tlbesday that he is Donahue ever many millions of dollars such a Both caniates and ended Easterling accompanied pormwould cost and he chal- When Sweeney taxed Donahue with began calling for additional public debates to Los Angeles but took no part in being Kirkland's candidate, Dona- the debate by pledging to fully sup- between him and Donahue pat- lenged Donahue to promise the port their opponent if the opponent last week's debate. Neither Trumka same. Donahue, in response, chal- hue replied with a reminder that terned after the California debate nor Chavez-Thomipson was present Sweeney endorsed him to run is elected at -next month's before rank-and-file members and lenged Sweeney to tell which of the convention. at the L.A. debate. federation's current programs he against Kirkland earlier this year local leaders at various sites around In the meantime, Donahue and would sacrifice in order to carry out when Sweeney and other national Both have endorsed additional the country. Sweeney were heard together yes- his pledge without new income and international _presidents were public debate. before labor audi- Sweeney also has called for de- terday on National Public Radio's from affiliates. pressuring Kirkland to retire. ences, although under differing bates between the two principal Talk of the Nation. conditions. Both said the AFL-CIO president Later, during questions from the canidte'rung mates. Such de- They are scheduled for NBC's must become a spokesperson of na- floor, Donahue was asked why he Donahue has rene,wed his earlier bates apparently would pit AFL- Meet the Press on Sunday, Sept. 3, tional stature able to articulate announced his retirement as secre- proposal for a debate before the CIO Secretary-Treasurer Barbara and the McNeil-L.&hrer News Hour workers' needs and aspirations tary-treasurer while Kirkland was people most directly influencing the Easterling, the former Communica- on Labor Day Page 4 September 1, 1995