SFO restaurant owners and UNITE HERE Local 2 have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract!
The agreement provides for:
Strong job security protections in the event of restaurant closures or lease terminations
Affordable, quality healthcare for workers and their families each year of the agreement, which expires August 2019
Significant pension contributions increases
Fair wage increases during each year of the contract
Stronger union rights and leadership development training opportunities
The union membership at SFO will vote on contract ratification on Monday December 22, 2014.
Thank you to the members, union committee, community organizations, and labor allies who volunteered their time and efforts in making our campaign successful! The union makes us strong!
After nearly 6 months of negotiating, New England Joint Board members at Southwick Clothing in Haverhill, north of Boston, have ratified a new contract.
Over the next three years, health insurance costs will remain frozen while workers receive the same quality of coverage. Workers also proudly won union dental coverage, paid sick days, and a dollar per hour wage increase.
The mostly hotly contested issue in negotiations was the retirement plan, which the company wanted to gut and replace with a 401K. The workers remained united and ultimately won a 401K plan in which the company pays 60 cents for every hour worked and additionally will contribute 50 cents for every dollar an employee puts in.
The nearly 400 skilled garment workers make high-end clothing for Brooks Brothers and other major retailers. Hailing from a dozen countries and speaking as many languages, workers stuck together through months of demonstrations, letters to the corporate office, and building the union to win.
Among the millions of low-wage workers across the country calling for better wages, UNITE HERE food service workers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles recently brought new energy to their efforts to earn a dignified living.
On December 11, cooks, cashiers, baristas, and other campus food service workers authorized a strike by 88 percent. The Local 11 members are seeking a raise to $15 an hour over the new contract term.
According to USC, the average yearly wage for its hospitality workers is $18,895. The largest private university in the state, USC has an endowment of $3.9 billion dollars. You can read more about the action on campus in the student newspaper, The Daily Trojan. Or read the press release about the strike authorization vote.
UNITE HERE food service workers at the San Francisco and Miami airports stood together in a remarkable pair of actions last week in their fights for better healthcare, job security, and wages.
On December 11, nearly 1,000 restaurant workers at San Francisco International Airport went on a 48-hour strike, shutting down restaurants at terminals throughout the facility. The Local 2 members have been working without a contract for more than a year.
The next day, 350 HMS Host restaurant workers at Miami International Airport passed a strike authorization, the first in over 30 years for Local 355. These actions during the busy holiday travel season bring special emphasis to our members’ strength and power.
I am not going to add my voice to the post-election blame game. I’ve read all the excuses. Seen all the finger pointing. And heard all promises about how things will be different in 2016. Better Senatorial map. Presidential year turnout.
I will confine my criticism to a post-election analysis offered by the staff of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee: “The Democrats forgot their base.”
The result was Democratic voters staying home. They voted with their feet. Their tired feet. In my experience, people will give you what you give them. Democrats were afraid of losing their opportunity to stay in office—and ran scared. The results speak for themselves.
But last week’s action on immigration by the President signals a new brand of courage that could turn things around.
The 270,000 members of my union—the hospitality union—are mostly immigrants and people of color. In 2008, they took a chance on Obama, and UNITE HERE became the first union in the nation to endorse him. That endorsement paid off big time for him. In Nevada, UNITE HERE’s Culinary Union is the largest organization of immigrants in the state. In 2008, immigrant voters came to the polls in droves, turning a red state blue for Obama. They did it again in 2012.
The President’s decision to grant relief to millions of immigrants in this country, despite Republican threats, shows our members that their voices—their families—matter. Millions of lives will change from this one brave act, and it’s the kind of courage that will inspire our members to vote again. It’s what is needed if Democrats want to be the party for an entire generation of immigrants in America.
But this is just one act. If Democrats want to win back the base and impact national politics for years to come, it’s time to replace compromise with courage. It’s time for Democrats and their allies to stand up and fight for changes that really matter to people like my members.
The Republicans will propose to abolish the Affordable Care Act. They know that effort will fail. They are then preparing to offer proposals to “fix” it. Democrats should match each of the Republican proposals with principled stands of their own.
For example, if Republicans want to reduce taxes on medical devices, Democrats should demand elimination of the tax on non-profit union health plans. If Republicans want to delay the employer mandate, the Democrats should propose to delay the tax fine imposed on working people who can’t afford the insurance their employer offers and don’t qualify for the ObamaCare subsidy.
The Republicans will propose reducing corporate taxes. Democrats should counter by demanding that is only applicable for corporations that pay their employee $50,000 a year and provide decent benefits. Corporations that do so deserve better treatment under the tax code than corporations that do not.
Proposing minimal increases to the minimum wage polls well, but it doesn’t inspire. Wages are flat in this country. That needs to change. Instead of pushing for 50 cents an hour, Democrats should be pushing to increase income to at least $50,000 a year. No family can live and prosper in America on less—and shouldn’t have to.
Republicans are going to propose lessening regulation on business. Democrats should counter with an offer for lessening the regulation on employees trying to organize and bargain with their employer.
Republicans will propose more trade agreements. Democrats cooperated before with some weak labor improvements for workers in other countries but without winning any better working conditions for American workers of the corporations who benefit from such trade agreements. It is time for getting something real in return.
Let’s hope that President Obama’s actions last week won’t be the last brave act by Democratic leaders we see before the next election. The members of my union ask only for an opportunity to provide for their families. They have a long history of willingness to risk their livelihoods to win. To inspire them, we need political leaders who are willing to risk as much to improve our nation.
The governors of NY and NJ authorized an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 for thousands of airport workers early this year, However, many workers – including the over 7,000 catering and concession workers in LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports – were not included in the original mandate. On November 18, Local 100 members gathered with their political and community supporters at New York City’s JFK airport to call for an equal $10.10 minimum wage for ALL airport workers.
Along with airport workers, speakers included New York Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, State Senator James Sanders, and State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz.
In October, Sodexo workers at three different campuses joined UNITE HERE. On October 7th, over 100 dining workers at Emerson College in Boston joined Boston’s Local 26. Donna Papastavrou, a baker at Emerson, summed it up: “The work we do to feed the campus helps make Emerson strong. Our victory now makes us strong too. My coworkers and I are proud to be part of this community and to have stood together to win respect and a voice on the job. We now have the dignity we deserve.”
Curry College
Then, on October 15th, about 70 workers at Curry College in Massachusetts voted to join the New England Joint Board. Leading up to the election, Professor Patty Kean noted that “the Sodexo workers on campus are a vibrant and important member group of our community. They provide the kitchen, dining room, and living room hospitality for our students. Their smiles and hellos cheer our students; their relationships provide them with a sense of care and stability outside the classroom. They work as hard as any of us on campus.”
Finally, on October 30th, 60 Sodexo workers at Earlham College in Indiana voted to join Local 23. Todd Reda, a cook at Earlham, says that “for us at Earlham to stand up and take action has been a life-changing experience. This long, difficult campaign and the victories we’ve achieved have united us as a union of co-workers and friends forever.”
Earlham College
At the three campuses, students, faculty members, and alumni, in addition to Sodexo workers who are members of UNITE HERE elsewhere, enthusiastically supported the dining workers in their successful fight to win a fair process to organize.
Via L.A. Times–Like her or loathe her, there can be little doubt that Maria Elena Durazo has become one of the most powerful figures in Los Angeles politics and that she has lifted the plight of low-wage workers into the public consciousness. Durazo announced Wednesday that she is leaving her powerful position as leader of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, but her impact is likely to be felt in the region for a long time to come.
SEATTLE, WA – After organizing to join UNITE HERE Local 8, workers at the Experience Music Project (EMP) overwhelmingly ratified their first contract on October 27, 2014.
The catering and restaurant workers, at the landmark Seattle Center attraction, who are employed by Wolfgang Puck Catering, will receive substantial pay increases, lower-cost health benefits, and numerous other improvements to their working conditions.
“Now I will be able to have affordable health insurance!“ said negotiating committee member Maria Del Rosario, who has been a cook with Wolfgang Puck for 8 years.
Workers at the EMP join with other Seattle Center union members at the Space Needle and Key Arena.
“It is great to see more strong, living wage jobs in the Seattle Center. We look forward to working together to grow the union more and improve all jobs in the tourism industry in Seattle. Welcome to Local 8!” said Michael Hall, Elevator Operator at the Space Needle.
As Jason Walker makes his way from the bus stop on Canal Street to his job at Harrah’s Hotel, evidence of the wealth created by the hospitality and tourism industry is all around.
He walks through the shadows of towering hotels. Eager tourists board buses bound for swamp tours and plantation excursions. Tchotchke shops, despite the early hour, are already doing a brisk business plying gumbo-jazz-voodoo-Cajun kitsch.
Business seems to be booming everywhere but in Walker’s pocketbook. A houseman, he works as a bottom-rung gofer, stripping beds and running errands. He earns $10 an hour, although he’s had more than four years in the business. “My bank account stays on overdraft,” he joked.
Walker has had other jobs, but he always seemed to come back to working in the tourism trade. “That’s what was hiring,” he said, plus, it fit his personality.
Thin, with glasses that give him a bookish look, he exudes the kind of laid-back charm that helped New Orleans attract 9.28 million visitors in 2013, making it one of the top tourism destinations in the country.
Yet Walker has struggled to piece together a living in New Orleans’ biggest industry. At one point, he said, he was working jobs at two hotels in the Central Business District. Still, he couldn’t afford rent and became homeless. He slept in the break room at one of the hotels when he could. Sometimes he spent the night at the bus station. Since his mom moved back to town – her house was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina – he has lived with her.
SFO restaurant owners and UNITE HERE Local 2 have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract!
The President’s decision to grant relief to millions of immigrants in this country, despite Republican threats, shows our members that their voices—their families—matter. Millions of lives will change from this one brave act, and it’s the kind of courage that will inspire our members to vote again. It’s what is needed if Democrats want to be the party for an entire generation of immigrants in America.
