Author Archives for Ann Kammerer
Early in the morning of October 25th the Harvard University dining hall workers reached a tentative agreement with the university administration. The victory came after the dining service workers struck for twenty-one days. Workers picketed, marched, rallied and took arrests in acts of civil disobedience. The strike came to a close after a massive student walk out and an 8 hour sit-in of the human resources building.
On Wednesday, workers overwhelmingly voted yes on the collective bargaining agreement, and their final demands have been met:
- Workers will not be forced to bear the burden of increased health care costs. They will maintain high quality, affordable health insurance.
- All workers willing to work full time will be guaranteed $35,000 per year. This includes guaranteed income during the summer months when many workers are without work and do not have access to unemployment.
“I can report, coming out of our contract ratification meeting, that we achieved every goal without exception,” Brian Lang, Local 26 president, said. “It’s a testament to when working-class people make a decision to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘Enough is enough, and we’re not gonna take it anymore.’”
Read more.
In December 2015, workers at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas voted to unionize – but Mr. Trump chose not to honor the results of that election and has refused to negotiate a contract with his workers. Hoping to get Donald J. Trump to the Las Vegas negotiating table, UNITE HERE has launched a national boycott of Trump businesses.
Learn more at http://www.vegastravelalert.org/trump.
In Phoenix, UNITE HERE Local 631 and CASE Action have mobilized an inspiring committee of high school volunteers who are working to unseat Sheriff Joe Arpaio (“America’s meanest and most corrupt politician”) and defeat Donald Trump.
Read more.
Dozens of immigrant women and their allies rallied today at Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC. They demand equality, respect and an end to sexual harassment at DCA. A survey conducted by UNITE HERE during June 2016 of 94 food and retail workers raises concerns about the treatment of immigrant women at Reagan National Airport.
- Sexual harassment: Survey results show that 17% of immigrant mothers reported experiencing sexual harassment at work. 80% of women reporting having experienced harassment were immigrant women of Ethiopian origin.
- Access to healthcare: 43% of immigrant mothers working at the airport reported not having taken their kids to a doctor, dentist or eye doctor because of the cost while working at the airport. 39% of immigrant mothers working at the airport reported having had scheduling requests denied for personal illness or doctor’s appointment.
- Mothers stuck in poverty: 16% of mothers working at the airport reported that while working at their airport, their child had had experienced hunger because they were unable to afford more food. 39% of mothers working reported that while working at the airport, they have had to move in with friends or family due to loss of housing or economic hardship.
Immigrant workers at the restaurants and newsstands at Reagan National Airport have been organizing publicly for months. Conditions for workers at the airports serving the nation’s capital lag far behind thousands of food and retail workers in other U.S. airports. At 62 airports, 35,000 airport food and retail workers have won raises and affordable health insurance by organizing with UNITE HERE.
UNITE HERE will help implement part of a new $1.37 million contract between the U.S. Department of Labor and the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute to expand multi-employer apprenticeship programs in two important sectors with potential for job growth: manufacturing and hospitality.
UNITE HERE President D. Taylor said of the grant announcement, “This grant will help tremendously with our training efforts. UNITE HERE’s training programs are the foundation of helping our members achieve a middle class life and are great examples of how our members can advance with employers that participate and support these important training facility locations.”
Robust hospitality training programs in Boston, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas are key to UNITE HERE members moving forward and gaining new job opportunities in the hotel, food service and gaming industries.
Read more in the AFL-CIO Press Room
On the 15th anniversary of September 11, 2001, UNITE HERE remembers all those who lost their lives on that tragic day. We hold especially close the memory of our 43 sisters and brothers from UNITE HERE Local 100 who died while working at Windows on the World, a restaurant located at the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
In memory of our fallen brothers and sisters at Windows on the World:
- Sophia Buruwa Addo
- Shabbir Ahmed
- Antonio J. Alvarez
- Telmo Alvear
- Manuel O. Asitimbay
- Samuel Ayala
- Ivhan Luis Carpio Bautista
- Jesus Cabezas
- Manuel Gregorio Chavez
- Mohammed S. Chowdhury
- Jose De Pena
- Nancy Diaz
- Henry Fernandez
- Lucille Virgen Francis
- Enrique A. Gomez
- Jose B. Gomez
- Wilder Gomez
- Ysidro Hidalgo Tejada
- John Holland
- Francois Jean-Pierre
- Eliezer Jimenez Jr.
- Abdoulaye Kone
- Victor Kwarkye
- Jeffrey Latouche
- Lebardo Lopez
- Jan Maciejewski
- Manuel Mejia
- Antonio Melendez
- Nana Akwasi Minkah
- Martin Morales
- Blanca Morocho
- Jerome Nedd
- Juan Nieves Jr.
- Jose R. Nunez
- Isidro Ottenwalder
- Jesus Ovalles
- Victor Paz Gutierrez
- Alejo Perez
- Moises Rivas
- David B. Rodriguez Vargas
- Gilbert Ruiz
- Juan Salas
- Abdoul Karim Traore
The families and coworkers of those mostly immigrant workers talk about their loss, their dreams, and their challenges in the movie “Windows.”
(Via Philly.com)—The Trump Taj Mahal was Atlantic City’s tallest building when it opened in 1990, and Marc Scittina got in on the ground floor, hoping to ride an elevator up into the middle class.
Scittina, now 54 and living in Egg Harbor Township, did exactly that for most of his 26-year career as a unionized food server at the casino’s Players Club — but then the ride started going back down, fast.
At the start of last year, the owners of Trump Taj Mahal convinced a bankruptcy judge the only way to keep the gambling palace open was to strip nearly 1,000 union workers who’ve gone roughly a decade with no pay raise of their company health insurance and their pensions to boot.
Read the rest of the article.
“Our lives begin and end the day we became silent about things that matter.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” – Gandhi
This past week we were faced with horrific murders of innocent young black men and police officers in Dallas. We condemn murder of innocents and extend our heartfelt prayers for all of their families and community.
Dr. King repeatedly condemned violence and knew the power of a nonviolent movement. His insight and vision was not based on weakness but on strength and courage.
We have traveled a ways down the road, but this week reminds us how far we need to go.
Two years ago our Nation was confronted by events in Ferguson, Missouri that clearly demonstrated the lingering legacy of racism and unequal justice in American society. Since that time sadly we have witnessed incidents of police violence against black young men again and again. There have been endless dialogues and policy proposals, but this week we are confronted with the tragic deaths in Baton Rouge and Minnesota.
There can be no possible justification for violence against law enforcement, like what occurred in Dallas. Many of us have relatives and friends who serve in all forms of law enforcement. A thirst for violence only begets more violence.
The UNITE HERE family was recently affected by the tragic death of a member’s daughter in Orlando. Our member in Orlando, Francisca Flores, buried her daughter who was the victim of the massacre at Pulse nightclub.
In UNITE HERE we confront power and forces of oppression with collective action. Young black men getting killed is an affront to everything we stand for.
We fight everyday as a union for the dignity and fundamental rights of workers. We believe every man and woman has value and rights. We live in our communities and as a union, we must stand with our black community today. We also must condemn violence as a means for change.
As a Union we will confront and take on racism whenever we see it. If we see it in our union, we will fight it. If we see it in the workplace, we will fight it. If we see it in our cities, we will fight it.
Please get involved, in your cities and towns to make sure significant changes happen in the justice system, to guarantee the blood must stop. Dignity for all people, should not be a mirage but a reality.
Let us pray for the families who are burying their loved ones and dedicate ourselves for a more perfect and just society.
God bless.
This statement courtesy of our coalition partners in Orlando.
As we approach one month since the massacre at Pulse Nightclub and continue to be plagued with violence, it is clear that our elected leaders have failed us. Today, residents of Orlando begin a #SitInForThe49 to demand action of Sen. Marco Rubio and all elected officials who have contributed to the discrimination and violence that plagues our communities and nation.
Sen. Rubio claims he is “deeply impacted” by last month’s Pulse Nightclub Shooting, yet he continues to terrorize Orlando’s LGBTQ+ communities of color by adhering to a platform of so-called “conservative values” which discriminates, dehumanizes, and denies access to the American dream.
Opportunist political leaders have offered meaningless platitudes and political pandering in response to unspeakable violence. At best, politicians propose “No Fly No Buy” legislation that employs racial profiling and fails to address the most urgent needs of marginalized communities. We demand a comprehensive platform to address gun safety, equality, and community violence:
Gun Safety:
Gun manufacturers and the gun lobby generate profits from tragedies. Lawmakers must reject financial contributions from the NRA, implement universal background checks to close jarring loopholes, enact legislation making it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon or large capacity ammunition-feeding device, and allow federal research on gun violence.
Equality:
LGBTQ+ people of color are more likely to be the victims of hate crimes than any other minority group. The Pulse Nightclub massacre impacted those who suffer from discrimination, poverty wages, and an unjust immigration system. We demand not only an end to hateful rhetoric and policies that perpetuate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, and xenophobia; but the passage of a fully-inclusive national LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination law and comprehensive immigration reform.
Community Violence:
It is time to end the senseless and systematic murder of unarmed black and brown people at the hands of law enforcement. Lawmakers must end police brutality, develop a transparent database of law enforcement activity, repeal mandatory-minimums for nonviolent drug offenses, and institute after-school programs, living-wage jobs, and accessible higher education to cultivate brighter futures in our communities.
In honor of the lives lost here in Orlando, and all victims of institutional discrimination and rampant gun violence, we are staging a 49-hour sit-in to demand action from Sen. Marco Rubio and all local, state, and federal officials. We urge you to join us here in Orlando or stage your own sit in.
Workers cheered. The press swarmed. The Secret Service yelled at people to get on the sidewalk.
After her rally in front of the closed Trump Plaza on Wednesday afternoon, Hillary Clinton made a quick stop at the entrance of the Trump Taj Mahal to greet striking workers. Clinton shook hands for about five minutes.
“Workers are on strike at the Trump Taj Mahal,” Clinton said. “And we should all support them.”
Read the rest of the article.
Early in the morning of October 25th the Harvard University dining hall workers reached a tentative agreement with the university administration. The victory came after the dining service workers struck for twenty-one days. Workers picketed, marched, rallied and took arrests in acts of civil disobedience. The strike came to a close after a massive student walk out and an 8 hour sit-in of the human resources building.
