Published By AMERICAN INCOME LIFE & NATIONAL INCOME LIFE LETTER LABOR ADVISORY BOARD APRIL 2016 Vol. 48 No. 2

NEWS FROM THE trying to cut the benefits and job security of to begin a process that could result in the AFL-CIO, CTW, union workers. In addition, 20 U.S. Sena- company adopting neutrality toward orga- INTERNATIONAL & tors recently sent a letter to Verizon CEO nizing in its nearly 150 nonunion plants Lowell McAdam calling for the company across the U.S. and Canada. Siemens’ an- NATIONAL UNIONS to reach a fair agreement. “It’s in the best nual worldwide meeting will be held in interests of our constituents that Verizon June in Washington, D.C. and union lead- After nearly a year of negotia- and its unions reach a fair agreement that ers hope that the $100 billion company will tions, Communications Workers of Amer- supports good jobs and ensures that Verizon vote to adopt neutrality for organizing at ica and International Brotherhood of can move forward in investing in state-of- its remaining North American plants. The Electrical Workers intensified pressure on the-art broadband buildout for our commu- company employs 40,000 employees at 149 Verizon to reach a fair contract covering nities,” the senators said. “Verizon workers North American plants that are nonunion. 29,000 CWA and IBEW members in the are the backbone of this company, and ex- The purpose of the recent meeting was to northeast and east coast states. CWA also ecutives have lost sight of what makes this increase communications between global reported that negotiations lag for wireless company so profitable,” said national CWA manufacturing giant Siemens and its labor retail store workers in NY and Massachu- President Chris Shelton. stakeholders on both sides of the Atlan- setts who have been without a contract tic. Among the unions participating in the since August 1, 2015. In March, the unions Six unions representing Sie- meeting were the International Brother- launched a hard-hitting TV ad campaign mens workers in North America and the hood of Electrical Workers and the Inter- that criticized Verizon executives for earn- German union IG Metall met with com- national Association of Machinists. ing millions a year in compensation while pany officials in late February in Florida Bakery, Confectionery, Tobac- co Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) escalated the national boycott over Nabisco products made in Mexico following the layoff of the first 277 workers at the Southside Nabisco Chicago Bakery. More than half of the 1,200-plus jobs at the factory will be transferred to a lower-wage plant in Mexico. The BCTGM sent teams of the laid off workers around the country, focusing on large urban areas, to meet with unions, social organizations, churches, state labor federations, among others to promote its “Check the Label” campaign and continue to expand its coali- tion. The campaign encourages consumers to reject Nabisco products made in Mexico and instead buy those that are produced Verizon Wireless protest. Flickr.com photo used under Creative Commons from Thomas Altfather Good. in America in support of American jobs.

TERRY O'SULLIVAN, President - Laborers' International Union of North America, Chairman - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board VICTOR KAMBER, Vice President - American Income Life Insurance Company, Executive Director - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board ROGER SMITH, Chief Executive Officer - American Income Life Insurance Company, President - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board DENISE BOWYER, Vice President - American Income Life Insurance Company, Secretary - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board Pg 2 LABOR LETTER

“Nabisco’s plans to lay off American work- backbench, and it rewards their mates in the union Verdi. The union has organized fre- ers, put their jobs in Mexico and then return big property developers and construction quent strikes at Amazon warehouses across the products to the United States to sell is companies,” he said. Turnbull, meanwhile, Germany since May 2013 to force the re- the ultimate insult to both the American has threatened a July election if the Senate tailer to raise pay for warehouse workers worker and consumer,” said BCTGM In- did not agree to restore the ABCC. in accordance with collective bargaining ternational President David B. Durkee. The agreements in Germany’s mail order and national contract between Mondelēz Inter- A new study found that 17 per- retail sector. Amazon refuses to recognize national and more than 2,000 of its 4,000 cent, or one in six, of Hong Kong migrant the country’s collective pay agreements for union-represented workers expired on domestic workers surveyed are in forced la- the sector. Amazon employs around 9,000 February 29, 2016. bor. In “Coming Clean”, a first-of-its kind people in Germany which is the company’s report by the Justice Center Hong Kong, second-biggest market behind the United only 5.4 percent of the more than 1,000 States. The most recent strikes were held INTERNATIONAL domestic helpers surveyed showed no signs in the run-up to Christmas. In Leipzig, the LABOR NEWS of exploitation. “Unscrupulous recruitment union is calling for starting pay of 10.66 and placement agencies, brokers and mon- euros ($14) per hour, compared with 9.30 Nearly 200 London hospital eylenders, have a huge role to play, and lack euros now. In Bad Hersfeld, it wants pay of service workers, mostly female and migrant, of adequate regulation and of stiffer pen- 9.83 euros to be increased to 12.18. Verdi launched a one-day strike March 21 for alties on these agencies that overcharge is also is pressing for higher basic pay and big- a living wage. They are employed by U.S.- having a detrimental human rights impact ger supplements for night shifts. Amazon based Aramark at four mental health facili- on migrant domestic workers,” said Victoria founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is an outspo- ties where they work as cleaners and domes- Wisniewski Otero, co-author of the report. ken opponent of unions. tic staff. Many of Aramark’s London hospi- The yearlong study also found that of the tal employees are paid £7.38 an hour, more domestic workers in forced labor, one in than £2 below the London living wage set seven (14.0 percent) were trafficked into it. NATIONAL AND by the Greater London Authority. The strik- According to the survey, four out of 10 (39.3 POLITICAL EVENTS ers called for a new minimum hourly rate of percent) did not even have their own room £10 and better sick pay and overtime. They to sleep in, 35.2 percent shared a room with Employers now must disclose are represented by the GMB union which a child or an elderly person, and two per- outside consultants they hire to counter has been in negotiations with the company cent slept in a kitchen or communal space. workers’ union organizing efforts, accord- for weeks. “There’s a small proportion of “The survey findings provide much-needed ing to new rules released by the U.S. Labor the people who are striking who have been evidence to push for policy and legislative Department. First proposed in 2011, the union members for a number of years. But change around forced labor, human traf- new “persuader rule” required employers to the vast majority have not been in a union, ficking and domestic worker rights in Hong publicly report any actions, conduct or com- and they’ve never been on strike before,” said Kong,” said Piya Muqit, the executive direc- munications that are undertaken to, explic- union organizer Nadine Houghton. tor of the Justice Centre. itly or implicitly, directly or indirectly affect an employee’s decisions regarding his or Australian trade unions her representation or collective bargaining launched a blistering attack on Prime Minis- rights. “Workers should know who is behind ter Malcolm Turnbull for trying to resurrect an anti-union message. It’s a matter of basic a construction industry watchdog commis- fairness,” Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez sion abolished by Labour in 2012. Construc- said in a statement. “This new rule will al- tion, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, low workers to know whether the messages the country’s biggest construction union, is they’re hearing are coming directly from their leading the fight against the proposed re- employer or from a paid, third-party consul- instatement of the Australian Building and tant,” he added. “Full disclosure of persuader Construction Commission, created to moni- agreements gives workers the information tor union activities in the industry. National Domestic workers rally in Hong Kong. Flickr.com they need to make informed choices about construction division secretary Dave Noon- photo used under Creative Commons from IDWF. how they pursue their rights to organize and an told the news media the Prime Minister bargain collectively. As in all elections, more was being held hostage by his big business Workers at an Amazon.com information means better decisions.” backers and a conservative party that ap- warehouse in Germany launched a new peared “obsessed” with slashing workplace round of rolling strikes in a long-running Broad majorities of Republi- rights. “These undemocratic and repressive dispute with the giant retailer. The walkout can primary voters view their party as a laws help the government with its base, it by workers at the warehouse in Koblenz source of embarrassment, according to a re- helps them settle the ‘Taliban’ in the Liberal lasted three days and was called by the trade cent New York Times/CBS News national LABOR LETTER Pg 3 poll. The survey revealed they think the campaign is more negative than in the past and are alarmed by the harsh attacks of their presidential contenders. Despite these feelings, Donald Trump has picked up sup- port among Republicans with 46 percent saying they would like to see him as their party’s nominee. This approval rating is his highest since he declared his candidacy in June 2015. Fully three-quarters of Repub- lican primary voters expect Mr. Trump to be their party’s nominee. Compared with Republicans, far more Democratic primary voters see their side as unified and say the campaign has made them feel mostly proud of their party. The poll also found that half of all voters said they would be scared if Mr. Trump were elected president, and another 19 percent said they would be concerned. Hailed as the most significant Silica Rule rollout announcement. Flickr.com photo used under Creative Commons from safety and health standards in decades, the US Department of Labor. U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Ad- ministration issued new standards on silica General Assembly, according to Kentucky nurses want Kaiser to invest in the regional dust which causes silicosis, lung cancer and State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan specialty center and settle a fair contract other disabling diseases. The rules cut per- and Bill Finn, Kentucky State Building with strong patient care provisions similar missible levels of dust exposures in half for and Construction Trades Council direc- to what Kaiser has previously agreed in the manufacturing workers and even more for tor. Democrats hold a majority in the state CNA contract for 18,000 nurses in Cali- construction workers. Employers also are House by a 52-47 margin. The state Senate fornia. The nurses have received no cost-of- required to control dust through such mea- has a 27–11 pro-right-to-work Republican living or wage increases in the last six years sures as ventilation systems and water pu- majority. House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D) and voted to join CNA-NNU in June 2015. rifiers, to monitor exposures, train workers told the news media that unions were a big Kaiser claims that its last contract proposal and conduct medical exams. According to reason Democrats still have the legislature’s was “excellent”, but union members coun- OSHA, about 2.3 million workers are ex- lower chamber. “I don’t think you can over- ter that the hundreds of nurses that had posed to respirable crystalline silica in their state just how important organized labor reviewed the proposal felt “disrespected,” workplaces, including 2 million construc- was in the special elections,” he said. “They according to Kaiser Division Director at tion workers who drill, cut, crush, or grind gave us a strong foundation to work from, CNA, Karen Chan. silica-containing materials such as concrete and they were crucial for our ground game.” and stone, and 300,000 workers in general Kentucky is the South’s only non-right to The International Brotherhood industry operations such as brick manufac- work state and the Kentucky House is the of Teamsters, the Teamsters Airline Divi- turing, foundries, and hydraulic fracturing, only chamber in a southern legislature with sion and Teamsters Local 284 demanded also known as fracking. The rule, which goes a Democratic majority. today that NetJets, a Columbus, Ohio- into effect June 23, will save over 600 lives based luxury air carrier owned by Berkshire and prevent more than 900 new cases of Ending a weeklong strike Hathaway, halt a campaign of “unwarranted silicosis each year, OSHA said. March 22, 1,200 registered nurses demand- retaliation against their flight dispatchers ed a first contract that ends chronic under- for choosing union representation.” The staffing they say puts patients’ lives at risk at union is in contract negotiations with the REGIONAL & the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medi- company and accused NetJets of shifting LOCAL LABOR cal Center (LAMC). The nurses are repre- “its anti-worker agenda to the bargaining NEWS sented by the California Nurses Association table.” According to the Teamsters, the par- (CNA), an affiliate of the National Nurses ties remain far apart on job security, wages, Union-endorsed candidates United (NNU). They work at the main hos- insurance and benefits. Among other issues, won three of four special state House elec- pital for Kaiser Permanente patients requir- the union said company negotiators want tions in March which effectively blocks ing specialized and critical care in southern to replace dispatchers with automation pending “right to work” legislation in the California. According to the union, the and software programs. “The recent threat Pg 4 LABOR LETTER

“Public employees who are members of unions would be required to complete two separate authorizations each year,” Nixon’s veto message said. “Singling out union dues for these extra processes serves no benefi- cial purpose.” Teamsters President James P. Hoffa praised Gov. Nixon who, he said, “stood up for everyday Missourians against corporate interests.” “The Teamsters want to thank those who voted against this attack on working families. They displayed cour- age in the face of pressure from corporate special interests,” Hoffa said. SIGNIFICANT LEGAL AND NLRB RULINGS NetJets aircraft. Flickr.com photo used under Creative Commons from Eddie Maloney. By a 6-2 ruling, the Supreme to eliminate flight dispatcher jobs is just The New Jersey State AFL-CIO Court March 22 upheld a class action suit more of the same from this company that and its affiliated public employee unions involving more than 3,000 workers at a refuses to listen to and respect the voices presented a plan to the State Investment Tyson Foods Inc. pork processing plant of its workforce,” said Capt. David Bourne, Council on Wednesday to reduce “alterna- in Iowa who sought to band together in a Director of the Teamsters Airline Division. tive investments” in the state pension fund single lawsuit to recover overtime pay. As portfolio and reduce the management fees a result, the ruling sustained a $5.8 million paid to Wall Street firms. Alternative in- judgment against the Springdale, Arkansas- IN THE PUBLIC vestments include hedge funds and private based company. Writing for the majority, SECTOR equity. In FY15, 36 percent of the state’s Justice Anthony M. Kennedy rejected the pension funds were invested in alternatives company’s argument that plaintiffs could Architect of the Capitol Ste- such as hedge funds and private equity, said not use statistics to prove their case since phen T. Ayers recently told a Senate Appro- the state federation, compared to the na- the company did not keep detailed time priations subcommittee that the majority of tional average of 25 percent. The alternative records of workers putting on and remov- the roughly 90 restaurant workers serving investments managed by outside firms cost ing protective clothing prior to starting the U.S. Senate are at risk of being under- the state $701 million in fees and bonuses their shifts. The workers should not suffer paid. The workers are supported by Good in FY15 and $600 million the previous year. because Tyson failed to keep records, Ken- Jobs Nation, a project of the Change to Win “The performance of the alternative invest- nedy said citing a 1946 precedent, Anderson labor coalition. Employed by Restaurant As- ments does not justify their outrageous cost,” v. Mt. Clemens Pottery. The decision also sociates, they have demanded higher wages said New Jersey State AFL-CIO President limits the sweep of the court’s 2011 deci- for more than a year. In December, the firm’s Charles Wowkanech. “Let’s stop making sion in Walmart Stores v. Dukes which threw contract was renegotiated and appeared to Wall Street millionaires into Wall Street bil- out an enormous employment discrimina- deliver improved pay and benefits for work- lionaires and return to a responsible, tradi- tion class-action suit and made it harder for ers. But many were subsequently reclassified tional allocation of stocks and bonds.” workers, investors and consumers to pursue into new, lower-paying jobs which cheated class action suits. them out of the raises they were expecting. Missouri labor hailed Gov. Jay “We thought we were doing a good thing Nixon for his veto of legislation that would only to be surprised a week or two later to have restricted the ability of public em- LABOR LETTER learn that the pay rates we agreed to were ployee unions to collect dues from mem- provided through not going to be paid,” Ayers said at the hear- bers. The measure would have required ing. Paco Fabián, a spokesman for the coali- public employee union members to autho- tion, said, “There should be consequences for rize dues withholding each year. In veto- noncompliance in federal contracting. If it’s ing the measure, Nixon called the bill “...an happening right under the noses of lawmak- unnecessary burden on public employees” ers, then it’s likely happening all over the and noted it likely violated the equal pro- Protecting Working Families federal contracting system.” tection requirements of the Constitution. www.ailife.com AGENDAcanada APRIL 2016

tion of the weight and exertion. No doubt I or in the lining of the stomach (Peritoneal was breathing the fibers deep into my lungs. Mesothelioma). From when the symptoms “Pile them over there,” motioned the first appear, it is usually only a matter of foreman, “by the mixing trough.” The mix- weeks or months that the victim has left to Fred Clare ing trough was made from an 8’X4’ sheet live. They suffer extreme weight loss, with Eastern of plywood with scaffolding planks run- muscles rapidly wasting away, causing them Canadian VP, ning down the 8’ sides. The two 4’ planks to become weaker and weaker until they are International were sloped and formed the ends. It was unable to rise out of a chair or walk on their Association of Heat, the apprentice’s job to mix the cement and own without assistance. Frost Insulators & supply the journeymen with bucket after It’s not unusual that some fellow work Allied Workers bucket of the stuff. The color of the product mates, no matter how close they were, can- was blue-gray. not bring themselves around to visit meso- ASBESTOS: THE Because we were not supplied masks, thelioma victims, and if they do, it’s usu- our defense was to turn our heads away and ally just once. “That wasn’t him, that wasn’t INTERNAL TIME hold our breath as we poured the dry as- him!” is a recurring reaction that I have BOMB bestos into the mixing trough. A blue cloud witnessed. They just don’t know what to say. hung in the area so anyone working around How can you ask questions such as, “How I emigrated from England to Canada the area would have also inhaled those do you feel” or make a statement such as, in 1970 and that was when I was first ex- deadly fibers. “You’re looking better?” posed to asbestos. The human body is a marvelous organ. Another reaction you often hear is, “I I had started my apprenticeship and It can dissolve foreign particles or expel want to remember them as they were.” That signed my apprenticeship papers in 1967 them by coughing. Not asbestos though. is because the person they once knew has and like my father before me I became an Many of the finer particles become perma- now become a shell of their former self. That Insulator, or as they were known in the UK, nently lodged, hooking themselves into the is how much of a physical change those suf- a Lagger. The company I worked for special- surrounding tissue, and there they stay for fering from the disease go through. ized in doing cold work that used materials the rest of your life. Our defense system will such as cork and sometimes urethane. These unsuccessfully continue to try eliminating were materials that could handle the low those microscopic particles. temperatures required in the food process- Ironically, it is now known that it is this ing plants and breweries where we worked. defense mechanism that can actually lead to Asbestos was used in hot work ap- cancers and asbestosis. One of the reasons plications, so I had never worked with it that these fibers are so dangerous is they before immigrating to Canada. After my are very light and become airborne, waft- arrival, I continued working in my trade ing around on the slightest breeze from a and found that asbestos was used on nearly window or a draft from an open door where every project that was under construction, they can be inhaled by anyone unfortunate without exception! enough to be in the area. One of my first jobs was to unload Those people who are aware of the re- bags of what was called Johns Manville 352 sults of exposure to asbestos must learn to Asbestos cement or “Blue Mud,” as it was live with the thought that a time bomb is known in the trade. Unlike bags of regu- now inside their body. It becomes a ques- lar Portland cement, asbestos cement was tion of if, or when the telltale symptoms The International Association of Heat packed solid in rectangular boxed-shaped will appear. It normally starts with a cough and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers heavy paper bags that weighed about 75 lbs. that just doesn’t seem to go away, or they maintains a political presence in Canada and Because those paper bags were not sealed, it often experience a sudden shortness of the United States monitoring developments related to Mesothelioma that can have an was inevitable that some of the powdery as- breath while doing everyday activities that impact on industry and HIFA members. On bestos dust escaped onto the outside of the they normally didn’t give a second thought September 26, Mesothelioma Awareness packaging, making it impossible to carry to, such as walking short distances or Day, the Insulators Union wants to paint them without contaminating your clothes. climbing stairs. the world Blue. For more information go I remember unloading dozens of those Mesothelioma is a particularly nasty to the Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers webpage http://www.insulators.org heavy bags from trucks and then carrying cancer. The only cause is asbestos; there is and www.curemeso.org them on my shoulder up flights of stairs no known cure. It develops either in the lin- breathing hard and deep from the combina- ing of the lungs (Pleural Mesothelioma), Pg 2 AGENDA

Over the years, many of the people I have known and worked with have lost their lives to complications due to asbestos expo- sure. Statistics fail to show the devastating effect on family members who have lost love ones, nor do they take into account those who have died from asbestos disease when unsuspecting husbands and fathers brought it home on their clothes. This is not unusu- al, especially in shipyards, when the work- ers’ wives would wash the coveralls of their husbands. I personally knew an insulator, I’ll just call him Jack, whose wife contracted Mesothelioma and passed away before him. I cannot imagine the guilt he must have suf- fered as he witnessed her suffering. Howev- er, it was not too long after she passed that Winnipeg’s MayWorks Mesothelioma once again came knocking, Festival of Labour Arts this time taking Jack’s life. MFL International Women's AIL Public Relations Representative Leo The leading cause of death in the con- Day VanDenBussche (left) presents a $500 cheque to struction industry used to be from falls. Dave Sauer, President, Winnipeg Labour Council, Asbestos has now taken that number one Charlene Matheson, Co-Chair of the MFL Women's for the MayWorks Festival of Labour and the Committee and President of Unifor Local 830, Arts which will be held in May. Inspired by events position. Despite this, products that contain receives a contribution from AIL Public Relations surrounding the anniversary of the 1919 Winnipeg asbestos are still being imported into Cana- Representative Leo VanDenBussche, to support General Strike, MayWorks focuses on the art da. In fact, the supposed safe use of asbestos the International Women's Day march in Winnipeg, produced both by artists (with their depiction of the is still legal in Ontario and Quebec. Manitoba. (In January 1916, Manitoba became the working class life) and by workers with their own What is it going to take before asbestos first province to allow some women the right to vote.) interpretation of their lives and struggles. is once and for all banned in Canada?

Broadbent Institute Support Susan Fuldauer, Vice President of PR Field UNITE HERE Canada Scholarship Operations and Public Relations Representative AIL Canadian Director of Labour Relations, Daryl Barnett (right) presents a $5000.00 cheque to Nick Worhaug, Chase Robinson (right) present a cheque to Josh National Director UNITE HERE Canada for the union’s scholarship program. During the presentation, Barnett Bizjak, Director of Development of the Broadbent said, "UNITE HERE Canada and its affiliated locals form an important part of our communities’ social fiber Institute, to support the March Summit. and are a strong voice for workers and their families. Your Union has stood and continues to stand for the right of workers regarding the right to organize and freely negotiate collective agreements. These and other initiatives contribute to a strong middle class and an economy that works for families and ordinary Canadians. What better way to ensure union growth than by supporting union members and their families through the UNITE HERE Canada scholarship."