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Vol. 79/No. 37 October 19, 2015
—ON THE PICKET LINE—
Maggie Trowe, Editor
Militant/Patrick Brown
Members of FIRST union picket Bunnings hardware store in Auckland, New
Zealand, and 16 others, during one-day strike Sept. 26, protesting boss
demand to impose “flexible” schedules.
Help the Militant cover labor struggles across the country!
ATI Steelworkers are locked out; major contracts in rail, auto, basic
steel and East Coast Verizon have expired or are approaching expiration.
I invite those involved in fights against concessions to contact me at
306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018; or (212) 244-4899; or
themilitant@xxxxxxx . We’ll work together to ensure your story is told.
— Emma Johnson
CUNY faculty, workers protest years of no wage hike, contract
NEW YORK — Hundreds of professors and teaching assistants, some holding
ringing alarm clocks, picketed Oct. 1 at 7:30 a.m. in a “contract
protest wake-up call” outside the apartment building here where City
University of New York Chancellor James Milliken lives.
They were joined by other area workers, including hotel workers fighting
for a union and participants in the campaign for $15 and a union, and
many students.
“Everything else is going up. Rent. Food. But we haven’t had a wage
increase,” said library worker Geng Lin, 32. “There are no serious
negotiations going on.”
The protest was organized by the Professional Staff Congress/Local 2334
of the American Federation of Teachers. The union represents some 25,000
faculty and staff at the City University system’s 24 campuses. The
teachers and 10,000 members of American Federation of State, Country and
Municipal Employees District Council 37, which organizes maintenance
workers, drivers and others at the university, have been without a
contract for five years and have had no wage increase in six. At the
same time, tuition has increased 38 percent.
The Professional Staff Congress is planning more actions, including a
mass protest Nov. 4.
—Seth Galinsky
Quebec teachers strike against concessions and education cuts
MONTREAL — After picketing French-language public schools here, in Laval
and other regions of Quebec, several thousand striking teachers and
students supporting them marched and rallied here Sept. 30. Some 34,000
unionists organized by the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement
(Autonomous Teachers Federation) held the first of three planned one-day
strikes protesting the concession contract and school budget cuts pushed
by the Quebec government.
“We’ve had more than 60 negotiating sessions with the government, but
they refuse to budge,” Badiâa Sekfali, who teaches French to adults,
told the Militant. “They want to freeze our salaries for two years and
give only a 1 percent increase each of the following three years.”
“The government subsidizes the private schools by 60 percent and cuts
the budget for public education,” said teacher Carole Kucherski at the
picket line in front of Ste-Cécile elementary school. “And they are
attacking our union contract, increasing hours from 32 to 40 a week
without a pay raise.”
The next day parents active in the campaign “I protect my public school”
organized human chains around more than 350 French- and English-language
schools with 35,000 participating across the province.
— Beverly Bernardo
New Zealand hardware store workers fight ‘flexible’ rosters
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Hundreds of workers at Bunnings hardware chain,
members of the FIRST union, are organizing strikes at stores across New
Zealand after rejecting company demands for more “flexible” rosters.
Workers at the Manukau store here walked off the job for two hours at
peak shopping time Sept. 26, joining supporters and workers from several
other stores in a lively 50-strong protest on the busy street in front.
Similar actions took place at 16 other stores the same day.
The national contract between Bunnings and FIRST expired in June. The
proposed new contract would change workers’ current fixed rosters to a
fortnightly schedule of between 10 and 80 hours, which could be changed
with two weeks’ notice. Under the previous contract the company had to
seek workers’ agreement before making any changes.
“Now we would have no say,” Cheryl, a worker at the Manukau store, who
asked that her last name not be used, told the Militant. She joined the
union after she and two other workers realized that for months they had
missed out on paid days off in lieu of public holidays they had worked.
“I’ve never been in a union before, but I’m happy we’re standing up for
our rights,” she said.
“About half of the workers at the store are now in the union. It has
grown a lot over the last few months,” shop steward Lina Manu said.
—Felicity Coggan
Related articles:
Lac-Mégantic rail safety fight is ‘needed now more than ever’
Fiat Chrysler workers vote down contract to protest two-tier wages
‘As long as ATI doesn’t budge, we’ll be out here’
Fast-food workers lead fight for $15 in Chicago suburbs
Fight frame-up of Quebec rail workers!
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