Archive for category: Updates

MASHANTUCKET, CT – Hundreds of employees of Foxwoods Resort and Casino are one step closer to having a voice in their workplace to speak up for fair wages and working conditions. An overwhelming majority of ESD employees signed cards authorizing union representation by the New England Joint Board of UNITE HERE, a union representing hospitality and gaming workers in New England. Now, the nearly 300 employees of the Environmental Services Department responsible for cleaning and maintaining the casino facilities will be eligible to vote in an election.

Noticing the positive impact other unions have made for workers at Foxwoods, ESD workers began their organizing with UNITE HERE over a year ago. ESD workers have many concerns about their working conditions and say that a union will give them the voice needed to win a better return on their hard work.

“Many of our Foxwoods coworkers have a union and we’ve seen what it’s been like for them to have a voice in the workplace,” says Pierre Tassi, a 10 year ESD worker. “As low wage workers having a say in our benefits and working conditions is critical. If other Foxwoods workers are allowed that voice, why shouldn’t we?”

The predominantly immigrant workforce cites the threat of outsourcing as a prime motivating factor for forming a union. After a department performing kitchen work for the casino was outsourced to a third party vendor last year resulting in drastic benefit changes, ESD workers became fearful they could suffer the same fate.

“We don’t make enough as it is. If our work is outsourced and our benefits get cut like we’ve seen happen to other departments it will be devastating,” said Monica Batty, a Groton resident and 6 year ESD worker. “We have to protect ourselves, and we know the best way to do that is by joining together in a union.”

ESD workers have endured months of anti-union campaigning from management. Last month ESD workers testified to management’s actions before a legislative hearing before the Connecticut General Assembly. The workers’ testimony supported proposed legislation which would outlaw the use of “captive audience meetings” by management in unionization drives. Workers testified to being compelled to attend frequent meetings in which they were lined up against a wall and forced to listen to anti-union talking points without the ability to refuse to attend. More recently, Foxwoods has orchestrated one-on-one meetings between supervisors and workers in which workers are called in to the office and subjected to interrogation about their union support without the opportunity to leave, conduct typically barred in NLRB elections. To add to the anti-union atmosphere, three pro-union workers have been suspended by the company in the last month.

Workers will make their choice to be represented by UNITE HERE in an election conducted under the auspices of the Mashantucket Employment Rights Office. The election date is set for Friday April 20^th.

 

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New York, NY – Donald Trump’s announcement today that Deferred Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA) will be terminated in six months barring congressional intervention is an astounding act of political cowardice, and a missed opportunity to make a significant step towards comprehensive immigration reform. Donald Trump has passed the buck to Congress on what even he has acknowledged is a humanitarian crisis, because of his lack of political courage. Donald Trump, by failing to perform as a leader, has placed the fates of the 800,000 law abiding, tax-paying immigrant workers with DACA status in the hands of a dysfunctional Congress.

FALL RIVER — The 157 workers laid off from Duro Textiles after their July vacation shut-down are still unsure of their fate.

“They say we’re one big family, but they left us high and dry,” said Erik Dopart, a maintenance mechanic for Duro for 31 years, and the local union president.
A group of workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 1208T and 1226T, started their Labor Day weekend by holding picket signs on Bay Street, between Duro’s facilities on Chace Street and Globe Mills Avenue, Friday morning.

The New England Joint Board UNITE HERE stands in solidarity with the 40,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America at Verizon in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region who have been on strike since mid-April.

 

After almost a year’s worth of negotiations Verizon has refused to offer workers a fair contract, instead demanding major concessions in job security and working conditions. Central to the dispute is Verizon’s plan to close customer service centers to offshore work to overseas call centers. This would eliminate stable union jobs that support strong communities. Additionally, Verizon is demanding that workers agree to work hundreds of miles away from their homes for as long as two months at a time placing an undue strain on families.

 

Verizon is responding viciously to the strike by hiring thousands of strike breakers enticing them with extremely high hourly wages and orchestrating a high profile public relations campaign to smear the efforts of the courageous strikers.

 

Our brothers and sisters with the IBEW and CWA are taking a brave step in confronting the flagrant greed of corporate America. In these times, when working people are being vilified, attacked, and denigrated, we must stand by our fellow workers and fight to protect the middle class and the jobs that support our families and communities. This is a battle for the very soul of our society. Do we allow corporations to erode our quality of life and continue to promote inequality, or do we fight for a better future where everyone has access to opportunity? The 10,000 members of the New England Joint Board are ready to stand beside our striking brothers and sisters for a more just and equal society.

 

The New England Joint Board calls on our 10,000 members to support our brothers and sisters who are on strike at Verizon by taking the pledge to not cross picket lines at Verizon Wireless stores: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/take-the-pledge-i-wont-cross-the-line