Labor Updates (10/06/08)

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Congress Approves Major Federal Funding Boost for Metro: Metro workers celebrated the passage of federal legislation Thursday that would provide $1.5 billion for the Metro system over the next ten years.  "The funding would help address the urgent capital improvement needs affecting our aging bus and rail systems," said ATU Local 689 President Jackie Jeter on the Local 689 website. "We have been pushing for buying new rail cars and buses, upgrading security systems, repairing crumbling station platforms and investing in the overall upkeep of Metro. The passage of H.R. 2095 marks an important step in winning victory for public and operator safety." The bill now goes before President Bush for final approval. GAO Workers Win First Contract: After voting overwhelmingly to unionize a year ago, workers at the Government Accountability Office reached an interim agreement with management last week. The contract creates, for the first time, stronger grievance procedures and the right to request informal meetings with their managers on disputes and to request union representation at meetings and discussions, reported Brittany R. Ballenstedt on the Government Executive website. It also provides for neutral third-party arbitration of grievance decisions. Workers - represented by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 1921 - began to organize after the GAO implemented a pay-for-performance system that eliminated cost-of-living increases and lowered the salaries of some workers. The union hopes to have a master contract signed and enacted by January. Click here for more on the agreement. DC Teachers Union Prez Profiled in Post: Washington Teachers Union Local 6 President George Parker was profiled in the Washington Post last Wednesday. The profile was released a day before DC Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced her “Plan B” proposal – that she imposed on teachers Friday – that allows her to end-run the union contract (Parker Fires Back at Rhee Over “Plan B” 10/03/08 UC). Click here to read the full profile. EFCA 'Million Member Mobilization' Campaign Nears Goal: Over 800,000 people have signed on to the "Million Member Mobilization" to support the Employee Free Choice Act. "Employers are waging increasingly vicious campaigns against workers who attempt to form a union to gain better working conditions," reports James Parks on the AFL-CIO Now Weblog. "Currently, the employer decides how workers can choose to join a union, and management almost always picks the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process," that allows "professional 'union-busters' [to] infiltrate a workplace, intimidating, misleading and harassing workers into voting against unionization." EFCA would provide an alternative to the NLRB election process, giving workers more freedom to form a union. Click here to support the Million Member Mobilization campaign.