Tag Archive | "worker’s rights"

100th Anniversary of Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Posted on 24 March 2011. Tags: , , ,

(Hartford) On Friday March 25th, a ceremony honoring the 146 workers who needlessly perished in a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in NYC will take place  at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, First Floor Atrium. at 4:30 p.m..There will be speakers and a performance by the Colchester Community Theatre.

For more info on the tragedy, check out: http://homefront.homestead.com/Triangle.html

photo courtesy of Steve Thornton

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RadioActive: Solidarity Rally at the Capitol

Posted on 05 March 2011. Tags: , , , , , , ,

Hundreds of union members and supporters gathered at the state Capitol in Hartford in solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, and to support rights of collective bargaining here in CT.

 

Click here to download the MP3

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Poll: Should unions be blamed for economic troubles?

Posted on 24 February 2011. Tags: , ,

Should states start going after public employee unions to balance their budgets?

  • No, unions are just being scapegoated due to corporate welfare and excessive military spending. (60%, 6 Votes)
  • No, the ability to collectively bargain must be maintained (30%, 3 Votes)
  • Yes, everyone needs to make sacrifices during these tough economic times (10%, 1 Votes)
  • Yes, unions have been making ouit like bandits for too long and it's time they give back. (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 10

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Poll closes Monday February 28th…check back for results

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21 Arrested During Rally for Spectrum Workers

Posted on 02 June 2010. Tags: , , ,

21 Arrested as Community Leaders Block Scabs to Support Strike

By Steve Thornton

(June 1) On the 48th day on strike at a Connecticut nursing home, twenty one community leaders, labor activists, clergy members and elected officials were arrested while blocking scab workers from entering and leaving the Park Place Health Center in Hartford.

“We are here today as witnesses for justice,” reads a statement released by the activists, who also cited Martin Luther King Jr.’s statement that civil disobedience “seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”

The human blockade is one of many solidarity actions that have been organized by area supporters who have also provided material and moral aid to the strikers on a regular basis.

The strike involves a total of four nursing homes in Hartford, Winsted, Derby and Ansonia which are organized by District 1199, New England Health Care Employees Union, SEIU.  The homes are owned by Spectrum Care, a local corporation run by Brian and Howard Dickstein and Sean Murphy.


Boss Commits Unfair Labor Practices
The labor action of almost 400 workers was triggered on April 15th, more than one year after their contracts expired. Over the last 12 months, the employer fired, suspended and intimidated dozens of workers who no longer had full union protections.  District 1199 has charged the company with massive unfair labor practices and has filed charges of illegal activity by Spectrum at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

“We have now successfully negotiated contracts with operators of 36 other nursing homes covering 4,000 long-term care workers in Connecticut – without any strikes or other job actions,” said District 1199 Vice President Almena Thompson.  “The union is the same, the contract terms very similar – the only difference is the company in question, Spectrum.”

“And Spectrum is the only company who has engaged in these massive Unfair Labor Practices – that’s why there are strikes at Spectrum’s homes, but were no strikes at any other nursing home.”


Dangerous Work, Poor Safety Record
Spectrum also has an abysmal health and safety record. On March 10, 2010 the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) sent letters to “15,000 workplaces [nationally] with the highest numbers of injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activities or job transfers.” All four of the Spectrum nursing homes on the strike deadline, plus a fifth home where the contract does not expire until 2011, received the OSHA notification. According to OSHA, “Workplaces receiving notifications had [illness and injury] rates more than twice the national average among all U.S. workplaces.”

Vice President Thompson said, “Among nursing home chains, Spectrum has one of the worst health and safety records in Connecticut, yet they want to slash pay for workers injured on the job to $10/hour if the nature of the injuries require lighter-duty work.”



Strikers’ Action Program
One hundred Hartford 1199 members (dietary, housekeeping and laundry workers, nurses and nurse aides) have maintained an active program of agitation both on and off the picket line:

– After intense worker lobbying, the Hartford City Council voted on May 24th to unanimously support the strikers, demanding that the Spectrum owners settle a fair contract, back off of their position that the strikers would be permanently replaced, and demanded that the company pay for police picket line overtime.

– The strikers have found creative ways to discourage outside workers from applying for jobs at the Park Place.  Most frequently, the potential scabs are approached before they cross the picket line and are talked out of stealing the strikers’ jobs.  But at least one striker placed one young man in a lawn chair and sat on him until he agreed to leave.  Another walked in front of a job seeker and “just acted crazy” witnesses said.  The applicant was so disturbed by the sight she turned around and left.

– Strikers have extended support to other labor causes as well.  More than 60 joined the Workers’ Memorial Day event at the State Capitol on April 28th.  Others joined Red Cross workers in nearby Farmington who walked in to their boss to deliver a ten-day strike notice.

– Each striking home has walked the others’ picket lines and sat in during contract  negotiations, which have continued despite the employer’s “surface” bargaining.




Support the striking Spectrum workers!

Visit www.seiu1199ne.org or call 860-549-1199
More photos: http://www.homestead.com/homefront

photos courtesy of Steve Thornton

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Rally to Support TJX/HomeGoods Distribution Center Workers

Posted on 02 March 2010. Tags: ,

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

2:00pm – 3:00pm

HomeGoods Distribution Center

1415 Blue Hills Avenue

Bloomfield, CT
Read the full story

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Comments

  • steve thornton: [April 16]– Marking one full year in struggle, nurses, nursing assistants and support staff at...
  • dave rozza: Maybe I should have added Libya to the mix… :/ http://english.aljazeera.ne...
  • Meghan Quinn: Mubarak is out! Celebrate Saturday 2/12 at 1 PM behind the State Capitol!
  • kevin: so with that kind of political support, any hope of ending this thing equitably any time soon?
  • steve thornton: (January 15) Former Hartford Mayor Carrie Saxon Perry told Spectrum workers and their supporters that...

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