When the heads of the nation’s insurance companies come to Washington, D.C., next week to plot strategies for killing real health care reform, they’ll be greeted by thousands of union members, community, health care and religious activists with one message: Stop. We’re sick of the obscene high rates and insurance company abuses. We want health care reform now. Read More>>

The jobless rate remained at 9.7 percent, with 36,000 jobs lost in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports today. The biggest hit came in construction, where employment fell by 64,000. Manufacturing remained steady but 18,000 jobs were lost in the information industry. Temporary help services added 48,000 jobs. Read More>>

As all of you know on January 28th, we met and celebrated the worker's victory at the Holiday Inn Express, Latham. An NLRB settlement had been reached including the reinstatement of the fired workers, full back pay and a new election. A month later the hotel is completely disregarding the law and the conditions we all fought so hard for.

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Local 471 has represented workers at the Saratoga Race Track for over 40 years.  The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has proposed changes, including the elimination of union jobs, for the 2010 racing season at the Saratoga Race Track.

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On Tuesday Feb 2, District Council 9 the IUPAT local 201, instituted a picket against Saban Painting, a subcontractor of U.W. Marx, General Contractor at the Mcclellan Campus of Ellis Hospital (600 Mcclellan Ave, Schenectady).

Local Labor came out by the hundreds to support the Holiday Inn Express workers in their victory celebration of a settlement of their NLRB charges. Congressman Paul Tonko a great friend and consistent supporter of labor was their as well as Congressman Scott Murphy, both of whom pledged to fight for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Braving freezing temperatures not far from the shore of the Hudson
River, members of IUE/CWA 81359 and local area labor picketed outside the Waterford, New YorkMomentive plant Janurary 12 2010, protesting the anniversary of drastic unilateral pay cuts imposed by Momentive Performance Materials in late 2008. Credit to Jon Flanders for the video.

CWA 1118 found out that Verizon was bringing 40 workers to the capital region to do work starting on Jan 7th, 2010. Verizon was going to put the workers up at the Holiday Inn Express in Latham, the same Holiday Inn that has been on strike! After some quick action and the promise that no CWA member would cross a picket line, Verizon backed down. At more than $4,000.00 dollars a day in bookings for Verizon, Jim Morrell takes yet another finacial hit for his anti-union behavior.  www.cwa1118.com

On Mother's day of 2009, in Selkirk, NY, locomotive remote control operator Jared Boehlke was killed while attempting a repair as the sole member of a yard switching crew. He left a wife and a 2 year old daughter.

Within days of Christmas 2009 Samuel Lundy was killed in a Burlington Northern Santa Fe yard while using locomotive remote control. He left a wife and three children.

Nominations for the Schenectady Area Labor Council are going to be at the Janurary Meeting on Monday the 11th at 6:00pm in the VFW on union street. For more more information email me at kevin@cdalf.org

Local 471 is proud to announce that we won a significant battle in our boycott of Jim Morrell's Holiday Inn Express in Latham. We have been turning guests away from the hotel for almost 6 months now, and just two weeks ago we succeeded in convincing Jim Morrell's biggest customer, GE, to pull their business.

There was a fantastic turnout for the Stony Brook Research assistants who have been waiting for their first contract for almost a year. After some picketing around the GIANT inflatable corporate pig, everyone was able to listen to some of the RA's that are on the bargaining committee. Video thanks to Jim McCasey

Members of Greater Capital Region Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as CDALF leaders, participated in a rally on 4/22 at the Capitol.  Workers were advocating for Assembly Bill A3705 which would clarify the definition of public work.

 

To see video of the event, click here. 

 

Click on the name of your Senator and Assemblymember and sign your name at the end of the email.  Make sure they know that you want local jobs for local people!

 

Click here for full list of Capital District Statewide Elected Leaders!