Sunday, February 27, 2005

Wal-Mart Shuts Down Store Rather Than Allow Union

For details see:

common dreams
The ledger
The Retail Bulletin
ICLA Online
NY Times
Wal-Mart's War on Workers
NY Times

The following letter is being circulated in protest. Please send an email (using the "email us!" link in the sidebar) if you'd like to have your name and info added to the letter.

We are very concerned about Wal-Mart's decision to close its store in Jonquiere, Quebec in the wake of its employees' opting for unionization and collective bargaining. The right to unionize and bargain collectively is not only a statutory right in Canada, but also a fundamental human right. Wal-Mart has a well documented policy of discouraging its employees from exercising this fundamental right and in frustrating its object when employees choose, nevertheless, to exercise it. We believe that respect for human rights is fundamental to good corporate citizenship. In order to conform to international human rights standards, Wal-Mart must cease its active opposition to unionization and instead recognize and deal fairly with leaders freely chosen by its employees with a view towards working out, in good faith, mutually acceptable solutions to issues raised.

Roy J. Adams, Professor Emeritus, McMaster University, Ontario
Larry Haiven, Professor, St. Mary’s University, Nova Scotia
Basu Sharma, Professor, University of New Brunswick
Bob Hebdon, Associate Professor, McGill University, Quebec
Kurt Wetzel, Professor, University of Saskatchewan
Yonatan Reshef, Professor, University of Alberta
Gregor Murray, Professor, Universite de Montreal, Quebec
Gilles Trudeau, Professor, Universite de Montreal, Quebec
Guylaine Vallee, Professor, Universite de Montreal, Quebec
Michel Hebert, Lecturer, Universite du Québec en Outaouais
Don Wells, Professor, McMaster University, Ontario
Harish Jain, Professor, McMaster University, Ontario
Jack Quarter, Professor, University of Toronto
David Cingranelli, Professor, Binghamton University, New York
Richard Hurd, Professor, Cornell Univerity
Elaine Bernard, Professor, Harvard University
Ruth Milkman, Professor, University of California at Los Angeles
Hugh Hindman, Professor, Appalachian State University, North Carolina
Richard Hyman, Professor, London School of Economicsm
Reuben Roth, Assistant Professor, Laurentian University, Ontario
Renaud Paquet, University of Quebec in Ottawa
Gerald Rosenblum, Emeritus Professor, McMaster University, Ontario
Gary Warner, Professor, McMaster University, Ontario
Joy Warner, Co-Chair, Hamilton-Burlington Kairos Committee, Ontario
John Whitman, Ph.D. student, University of Toronto
Jorge Sousa, Ph.D. student, University of Toronto
Jane Cudmore, Hamilton, Ontario
Bob Cook, Hamilton, Ontario
Ben Taal, Kairos Coordinating Committee, Great Lakes Region
Angela Miles, Professor, University of Toronto
Patrice Jalette, Professor, University of Montreal
Steven E. Abraham, Professor, State University of New York, Oswego
Elizabeth Gedge, Dept of Philosophy, McMaster University, Ontario
James A. Gross, Professor, Cornell University, New York
William Canak, Professor, Middle Tennesee State University
Arthur Hochner, Associate Professor, Temple University, Pennsylvania
Sam Lanfranco, Professor, York University, Ontario
Gerald Hunt, Associate Professor, Ryerson University, Ontario
Lawrence Root, Professor, University of Michigan
Howard Stanger, Associate Professor, Canisius College
Immanuel Ness, Professor, City University of New York
Bruce Nissen, Professor, Florida International University
Susan Stabile, St. John’s University, New York
Danielle Benoiton, North Bay, Ontario
Paul Clark, Professor, Penn State University
Joanne Lloyd, Brant Kairos Group, Ontario
Stewart Sweeney, University of South Australia
Ellen Dannin, Professor, Wayne State University, Michigan
Silvana Pozzebon, Associate Professor, HEC Montreal, Quebec
Michael Craig, Senior Organizer, Amnesty International, Toronto
Ann Martin, Senior Extension Associate, Cornell University
Anne Pollard, Hamilton, Ontario
David Montgomery, Emeritus Professor, Yale University
Donald Woodside, McMaster University, Ontario
Nancy Jackson, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
James Penney, Assistant Professor, Trent University, Ontario
David Jacobs, Professor, Hood College, Maryland
Marilyn Adams, Professor, Mohawk College, Ontario
Ann Frost, Associate Professor, University of Western Ontario
Karen McCrank, University of Toronto, Ontario
Vilma Donatelli, Development and Peace, Ontario
Risa Lieberwitz, Associate Professor, Cornell University
Wes Johnson, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Paul Adler, Professor, University of Southern California
Gerry Kirk, Sault St. Marie, Ontario
Richard Marens, Assistant Professor, California State University,
Raza Mire, William Patterson University, New Jersey
Nancy DiTomaso, Professor, Rutgers University, New Jersey
Jack Fiorito, Professor, Florida State University
Haideh Moghissi, York University, Ontario
Ray Markey, Professor, University of Woolongong, Australia
Atif Kubursi, Professor, McMaster University, Ontario
John C. Robertson, Professor Emeritus, McMaster Univeristy, Ontario
Rev. Joan L. Robertson, Hamilton, Ontario
Josie D’Amico, Hamilton, Ontario
Corliss Olson, University of Wisconsin
Laurie N. DiPadova-Stocks, Associate Professor, Park University
Sylvie Morel, Professor, University of Laval
Max B. Sawicky, Economists, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC
Leon Fink, Editor, Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas
Ian Towers, Ph.D. student, Carleton University, Ottawa
James Atleson, Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Buffalo
Jennifer Madsen, Anchorage, Alaska
Richard McIntyre, Professor, University of Rhode Island
Vilma Donatelli, Hamilton, Ontario
Frank Reid, Professor, University of Toronto
Clyde Summers, Emeritus Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Sarah Stookey, Doctoral Candidate, University of Massachusetts
Louis Chauvin, Lecturer, McGill University
Robert Kucheran, Caledonia, Ontario
Stephen Hughes, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Owen Darbishire, Oxford University, UK
Willy Brown, Professor, Cambridge University, UK
Beth Lyon, Assistant Professor, Villanova Univesity, Philadelphia
Catherine MacDonald, Nova Scotia
Eileen Appelbaum, Rutgers University, New Jersey
Thomas Kochan, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
Jan Johnstone, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Toronto
Bethany Sutton, Ottawa, Ontario
Rick Goodwin, Ottawa, Ontario
Jeanne S. McPherson, University of South Alabama
Roland Zullo, University of Michigan
Peter Archibald, McMaster University
Karen Szala-Meneok, Hamilton, Ontario
Constance deRoche, Professor, University College of Cape Breton
Elizabeth Wilson, University of Manchester
Pradeep Kumar, Professor, Queen’s University, Ontario
Emma Gardner, Germany
Joe Wallace, Professor, University of Limerick, Ireland
Brian Towers, Professor, Nottingham and Strathclyde Universities, UK
Doug Massey, Hamilton, Ontario
Thomas E. Terrill, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina
Harley Shaiken, Professor, University of California at Berkely
Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor, Stanford University, California
Daniel Golodner, Wayne State University, Michigan
Julius Getman, Professor, University of Texas
Richard N. Block, Professor, Michigan State University
Greg D. Squires, Professor, George Washington University, Washington, DC
John Revitte, Profesor, Michigan State University
Dorothy Sue Cobble, Professor, Rutgers University, New Jersey
Alex Johnstone, University of Western Ontario.
Pat Doherty, University of Ontario
Art Shostak, Emeritus Professor, Drexel University, Pennsylvania
Neill DeClerq, University of Wisconsin
Catherine MacDonald, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Con and Chris Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, DC
Kay Devine, University of Alberta
Steven Deutsch, Emeritus Professor, University of Oregon
George Gonos, Associate Professor, State University of New York, Potsdam, NY
Adrienne Eaton, Professor, Rutgers University, New Jersey
Roxana Ng, University of Toronto, Ontario
Judy Silver, University of Toronto, Ontario
Hoyt Wheeler, Professor, University of South Carolina
John Kervin, Professor, Unviersity of Toronto
Ran Chermesh, Ben-Gurion University, Israel
Andree Cote, National Association of Women and the Law
Michael Gent, Professor, Canisius College, Buffalo, NY
Cheryl Maranto, Associate Professor, Marquette University
Raymond Wiest, Professor, University of Manitoba
Michelle Kaminski, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
Berndt Keller, University of Constance, Constance, Germany
Philip Alston, Professor, New York University and past-chair, UN Commission on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Kiran Mirchandani, University of Toronto
Reynald Bourque, Professor, University of Montreal
Raymond Hogler, Professor, Colorado State University
Daniel Geagan, Professor, McMaster University
Celia Haig-Brown, Professor, York University, Ontario
Lance Compa, Professor, Cornell University, New York
George Tsogas, Senior Lecturer, Cass Business School, London, England
Melvin Rothbaum, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois
Jon Rogers, London, England
Charles McCollester, Professor, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Niki Gately, Hamilton, Ontario
Cynthia Nance, Associate Professor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
David Walsh, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Guy Bellemare, professor, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Louise Briand, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Noelle Stutt-Walsh, Milton, Ontario
Nancy Biagini, Santa Clara, California
Julie Dwyer-Young, Burlington, Ontario
Noam Chomsky, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
Richard Troy, Toronto, Ontario
Peter Samuel, Senior Lecturer, University of Wales, UK
Louis Favreau, professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Robert Plante Médecin-conseil en santé au travail et environnementale
Romaine Malenfant, professeure, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Normand Lapante, professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Denis Bourque, professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Guy Chiasson, professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Paul Leduc Browne, professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
Manfred W. Weiss, Professor, University of Frankfurt, Germany
Michel Grant, Professor, University of Quebec at Montreal
Emma Gardner, Hamburg, Germany
Meris K. Brookland, University of New Brunswick
Ann Marie Powers, Professor, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS
Diane Swanson, Professor, Kansas State University
John Taylor, Burlington, Ontario
John Godard, Professor, University of Manitoba
Jacques-Andre Lequin, University of Quebec at Ottawa
Sujan Vasavada, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC
Joydeep Roy, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC
Rebecca Gumbrell, Birkbeck College, UK
George Strauss, University of California at Berkely
Suzanne Bouclin, University of Ottawa
Lorraine Kraft, Calgary, Alberta
Chris and Mike Whatmore, North Bay, Ontario
James G. Scoville, Professor, University of Minnesota
Joan Mason-Grant, King’s University College, London, Ontario
Karl Klare, Professor, Northeastern University, Boston
David Goodings, Professor Emeritus, McMaster, Ontario
Eileen Foley, Senior Economists, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC
Joan Greer, Hamilton, Ontario
Siddiq Burney, Burlington, Ontario
Lee Prince, Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC
Brian Timlick, Manitoba
Andrew Jackson, Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa
Charles T. Schmidt Jr, Professor, University of Rhode Island
Robert Alpern, Co-Chair, Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community, Healdsburg, California
Goetz Wolff, Lecturer, UCLA. Los Angeles, California
Frances Beer, York University, Toronto, Ontario
Steve Frenkel, Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney, Australia
Luis Bueno, Professor, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico
Michael Fichter, Professor, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Thomas Greven, Professor, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Louise Rose Blume, Clermont, Georgia, USA
Larry Smoot, Washington, DC
David Kaplan, Seattle, Washington
Andrew Peterson, Washington, DC
Nelson Lichtenstein, Professor, University of California at Santa Barbara
Mina Dizdarevic, Hamilton, Ontario
Mike Groom, Hamilton, Ontario
Sylvia Groom, Hamilton, Ontario
Sumner Rosen, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, New York
Judith Davidoff, New York, New York
Joseph B. Rose, Professor, McMaster University
Judith Haiven, St. Mary’s University, Nova Scotia
Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Professor, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
Rod Hill, Professor, University of New Brunswick
Greg Albo, York University, Toronto
Marc Lavoie, University of Ottawa
Maxwell Cameron, University of British Columbia
Maria Carmen Galang, Associate Professor, University of Victoria, British Columbia
Mel Watkins, Adjunct Research Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa
Richard Allen, Hamilton, Ontario
Jane Zukovs, Ontario
Judith Ackerman,
Wendy Russell, Assistant Professor, Huron University College, London, Ontario
Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, Lecturer, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
Linda Kirnan, New York, NY
Joan McDonald, Haliburton, Ontario
Jesse Vorst, University of Manitoba, Canada
Kim Rohrbach, San Francisco
George Clark, Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Tessa Hebb, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
John Cornwall, Professor Emeritus, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Wendy Cornwall, Professor Emeritus, Mount St. Vincent University, Halifax, Canada
Pierre Verge, Professor Emeritus, Laval University, Quebec
Bodo Zeuner, Professor, Free University of Berlin, Germany
David Peetz, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
David Antill, University of Leicester, UK
Jean-Guy Loranger, Honorary Professor, University of Montreal
Thomas Offit, Assistant Professor, Baylor University
Beth Boerger, Kansas City, Missouri
Isik Zeytinoglu, Professor, McMaster Univeristy, Hamilton, Ontario
Robert Chernomas, Professor, University of Manitoba, Canada
Sandy Smith-Nonini, Assistant Professor, Elon University, North Carolina
Jan Kainer, Associate Professor, York University, Toronto, Canada
Ellie Perkins, Associate Professor, York University, Ontario
Rosemary Warskett, Associate Professor, Carleton University, Ontario
Judith Ackerman, New York, NY
David Doorey, Adjunct Professor, Queen’s University and University of Toronto, Ontario
Greg Saltzman, Professor Albion College and Research Scientist, University of Michigan
Carolyn Jones, Birkbeck University, UK
John Hendy QC, Visiting Professor, King’s College, London, UK
Mike Waghorne, Ferney-Voltaire, France
Hans Engelberts, Ferney-Voltaire, France
Robert T. O'Brien, PhD Candidate, Temple University

Sunday, February 13, 2005

UNITE HERE Hotel Contract Compaign Continues

UNITE HERE Hotel Contract Compaign Continues

By UNITE HERE, ILCA Member

Hotel workers in cities across North America are locked in battles with their employers, the global hotel companies that want to trap them in low-wage jobs. The details of each city’s fight are different, but the overall goals are the same: to improve and protect wages and benefits at unionized hotels and to help workers at non-union hotels join unions and gain a voice at work. San Francisco. The cooling off period agreed to by UNITE HERE Local 2 members in San Francisco and the 14 Multi-Employer Group (MEG) hotels at the end of the lockout ended on January 23, 2005. Local 2 and the hotels negotiated throughout the cooling off period and have continued those negotiations. A bargaining session is scheduled to take place next week.

The boycott of the San Francisco hotels has continued because the members of Local 2 are still working without a contract while the hotels persist in proposing major cuts in healthcare. Through the boycott, Local 2 members are sending the message that they will not accept a reduction in contract benefits while hotels are reporting such high profit margins.

Local 2 hotel workers and allies in San Francisco will hold a rally and picket line in Union Square on Monday, February 14th at 4:30 pm. The rally will highlight the hotel boycott and the workers' demand that the MEG stop cutting health care in their proposals.

Los Angeles. The Local 11 negotiating committee and the LA Hotel Employer's Council (EC) met last week to discuss a three-year term proposal that includes significantly improved wages and benefits over the union's two-year proposal (which remains actively on the table). The EC hotels rejected this offer and called off negotiations, only to announce soon after that they would make a counter proposal later in the afternoon. But the EC counter-proposal represented several steps backward from the hotels' previous negotiating stand: Rather than being retroactive to April 15, 2004, the hotels proposed a 5-year agreement from the date of agreement, with meager wage and benefit improvements. The hotels also wanted the union to agree, in effect, to a gag order prohibiting any form of economic action against the hotels, including handbilling or placing the hotel's name on a website or boycott list.

Local 11 made a counterproposal this week with two separate sets of proposals, one for a contact with a 2006 expiration date and another for a contract expiring in 2007.

Visit Hotel Workers United for more information