http://www.unitetheunion.com/news__events/latest_news/transport_secretary_must_inves.aspx?lang=en-gb&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Transport secretary must investigate standards on strike-busting BA planes
17th March 2010
Unite the union has written to Lord Adonis, transport secretary, to ask that he investigates British Airways' plans to deploy a strike-breaking crew. The union says the minister must take all steps to ensure that the reputation of UK aviation is not damaged by BA's determination to deploy under-trained novices as cabin crew during the strikes which loom this weekend.
Unite is calling on the minister to put two essential questions to the airline. Firstly, BA must demonstrate to him that they have taken all steps to ensure that those who are working on the planes have cleared stringent UK national security checks, checks which normally take three months to process. Secondly, BA must show that strike-breaking crew have been vetted in accordance with the security requirements of BA's destination countries, and that these countries have been properly advised of BA's intention to use fast-tracked stand-ins. Unite also wants these assurances to be placed in the public domain so that passengers can be confident that standards have not been compromised.

BA 'declares war' on union after talks fail
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/19/ba-strike-dates-union-talks
BA 'declares war' on union after talks fail
Dramatic escalation of dispute as three-day strike begins tomorrow morning
Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Friday 19 March 2010 21.20 GMT
BA has an extensive strike-breaking plan and is preparing to move passengers with the help of 1,000 volunteer cabin crew and 22 chartered jets. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
British Airways tonight threatened to suspend co-operation with Britain's largest trade union after last-ditch talks failed to prevent a three-day strike by cabin crew starting today.
In a dramatic escalation of the bitter industrial dispute with Unite, BA warned that it will scrap an agreement that gives shop stewards the use of company offices and time off to represent members – unless a new framework is drawn up.
One industrial relations expert said that ending the arrangement, which stipulates how much work BA employees can do for Unite and what facilities they use, would reduce co-operation to the "bare minimum".
The failure of the peace talks is a bitter blow to Gordon Brown, who was desperate to banish the spectre of large-scale industrial action 46 days before the likely election date.

British Airways strike threat: US Teamsters union weighs into cabin crew dispute
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/16/pensions-deficit-ba-strike-unite
British Airways strike threat: US union weighs into cabin crew dispute
Teamsters union to meet Unite leaders amid declaration of solidarity with UK workers
Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 March 2010 21.48 GMT
BA's pension deficit is commonly viewed as the greatest threat to the airline’s survival. Photograph: Tim Ockenden/PA
British Airways passengers face the threat of disruption on both sides of the Atlantic after the Teamsters, the powerful US trade union, confirmed last night it is meeting Unite representatives to discuss supporting a looming cabin crew strike.
Teamsters members have the potential to affect BA's lucrative US routes because they work on ground operations and aircraft services at major American airports. James P Hoffa, the Teamsters' general president, said he had been in contact with the Unite joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, to discuss the dispute as time runs out to avoid a three-day strike beginning on Saturday.
"We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Unite who are fighting for a fair contract at British Airways," said the Teamsters in a statement. "The Teamsters are an active member of the International Transport Workers Federation. ITF affiliates around the world are mobilising to support British Airways workers in their fight for passenger safety and worker respect."

New rules could boost union numbers for airlines
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-rules-could-boost-union-numbers-for-airlines-2010-03-16?reflink=MW_news_stmp
March 16, 2010, 10:16 a.m. EDT
New voting rules could boost union numbers for airlines
Carriers face higher labor costs as workers fight to regain lost wages
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A change in the way U.S. airline workers vote to organize could swell union numbers by the tens of thousands over the next two years and raise labor costs for the industry.
Under a new rule that could be announced as early as this week, the federal agency that referees labor-management relations for airlines would allow employees to organize if a majority votes in favor of unionization.
Reuters
Current rules by the National Mediation Board state that the majority of the entire workforce has to favor unionization, with absent ballots automatically counted as a "no" vote.
The change would align voting rules for airline labor -- governed under the Railway Labor Act -- more closely with those under the National Labor Relations Board.
The change in voting rules coincides with airline unions' ramped-up efforts to secure higher wages and benefits, drawing strength from a more labor-friendly administration in Washington as well as renewed industry growth after nearly two years of recession.

US UAL cabin crews will hold St Patrick's Day protest Against Outsourcing And Union Busting
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/us-cabin-crews-will-hold--st-patricks-day-protest-2096962.html
US cabin crews will hold St Patrick's Day protest
By Anne-Marie Walsh Industry Correspondent
Friday March 12 2010
AMERICAN cabin crews will protest on St Patrick's Day after accusing Aer Lingus and their employer of putting thousands of aviation jobs at risk.
United Airlines flight attendants will demonstrate against a landmark deal between their airline and the Irish carrier, claiming their jobs are being outsourced.
The US staff vowed to "vehemently" oppose the airlines' decision not to use existing staff on a new route betweenWashington and Madrid that launches on March 28. Aer Lingus is hiring non-union staff in the Washington area to man the new route as part of a corporate partnership with United Airlines announced last year.
Cabin crew demonstrations are being organised in Chicagoand Washington just days after Aer Lingus announced 230 compulsory redundancies among cabin crew in the Republic. Impact said the development in the US raised "very serious concerns" about future recruitment and conditions for cabin crew.

Angry US Airline Workers Want Wage Increases After Taking 25% Wage Cut
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703625304575116030010494148.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews
Labor Tensions Threaten Airline Recovery
As Industry Emerges From Recession, Unions Aim to Recoup Wages Cut Over Past Decade
By MIKE ESTERL and SUSAN CAREY
Increasingly turbulent labor negotiations are threatening to knock U.S. airlines off their recovery course just as the battered industry starts to emerge from a deep recession.
Airlines slashed pay and benefits over the past decade, often during stays in bankruptcy court. Now, their restive workers are pressing for wage increases, in some cases by double-digit percentages.
Illustrating the growing divide between labor and management, the largest union at AMR Corp.'s American Airlines asked federal mediators Thursday to release it from mediated talks with the airline. That could open the door to the first strike at a major U.S. carrier since 2005.
Both sides agree that never before have so many of the nation's airlines been in labor talks simultaneously. More than two-thirds of the industry's contracts are estimated to be up for renewal. Fifty-two employee groups spanning most major carriers already have taken their grievances to the National Mediation Board, which oversees labor relations at airlines.

SF MUNI TWU 250-A Driver Speaks Out: No Reaseon To Giveback-Our labor CREATES value! Operators are an asset not a liability
NO REASON TO GIVEBACK.
Our labor CREATES value! Operators are an asset not a liability.
SURPLUS VALUE.
The pay and benefits we receive represent only a portion of the value created by our labor. The portion of our labor value kept by the employer can be understood as SURPLUS VALUE.
The employer accumulates and keeps the total of all the employees surplus value.
In the private sector this accumulation of surplus value becomes "capital",
profit and bonuses for the exclusive use of the employer nand his class.
In the public sector this accumulation has to be understood in the context
of revenue / taxes. Public sector workers create value and services ,
which the public pays for with various fees, fares and taxes.
A CONTRADICTION.
There is an inherent contradiction in the public sector for the capitalists/ employers.
Unlike private profit, in the public sector the accumulation of our surplus value belongs to us -to the public. Since this is supposed to be a democracy, we can contend with the capitalists over how to use it.

SF "top-level labor" Pressuring TWU 250-A Drivers To Make Concessions
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/09/BA9O1CD86C.DTL
Sleep with the fish: San Francisco Supervisor Sean Elsbernd was walking to pick up his 8-month-old son at day care Monday evening when his cell phone rang.
It was a local labor leader, calling to inform the Sunset District supervisor that his political career "is over" if he continues with his efforts to pass a charter amendment ending the guarantee that Muni drivers be the second-best-paid transit operators in the nation.
Interesting to note that the call came just days after a top-level labor sit-down at which leaders urged the Muni union to consent to enough givebacks to take the wind out of Elsbernd's amendment and thus avoid a costly fight at the polls in November.
The problem is that the Transport Workers Union Local 250-A itself is in the midst of power struggle between the African American old guard and the newer Latino and Asian American members led by union President Irwin Lum, and no agreement - on anything - appears in sight.

Worker ID Card at Center of Immigration Plan-Demos Pushing National Biometric Card For All Workers "It is fundamentally a massive invasion of people's privacy,"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954904575110124037066854.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADNewsCollection
ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan
By LAURA MECKLER
Customs and Border Protection agent Jesus Gomez checks a passport at the vehicle crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California.
Lawmakers working to craft a new comprehensive immigration bill have settled on a way to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants: a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain.
Under the potentially controversial plan still taking shape in the Senate, all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would be issued an ID card with embedded information, such as fingerprints, to tie the card to the worker.
The ID card plan is one of several steps advocates of an immigration overhaul are taking to address concerns that have defeated similar bills in the past.
The uphill effort to pass a bill is being led by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who plan to meet with President Barack Obama as soon as this week to update him on their work. An administration official said the White House had no position on the biometric card.

Unions Seek to Pry Loose Transit Stimulus Funding At National Transit Meeting On Feb 27th
Unions Seek to Pry Loose Transit Stimulus Funding
Eye on Operational Needs
By ARI PAUL
LARRY HANLEY: Only Feds can help.
Representatives of transit unions from around the country gathered Feb. 27 at the headquarters of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ to discuss a national strategy to get the Federal Government to pump more money into mass transit, specifically for operational use.
Amalgamated Transit Union Vice President Larry Hanley said that transit systems in every major metropolitan area are facing layoffs—the Chicago Transit Authority has already laid off 1,100 workers—and that while the Federal Government has put stimulus money into transit, it has been restricted to capital construction budgets rather than day-today use.
‘Feds Handicapped Transit’
“They handicapped transit by saying that that money was restricted to new construction,” Mr. Hanley said of Congress and the White House.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Restrictions hurting systems.
As a result of the six-hour meeting, he said, transit union leaders and reps agreed that they needed a national lobbying campaign for more Federal money that would also involve working closely with rider advocacy and environmental groups.

YouTube - NYC TWU Local 100 Pres. John Samuelsen denounces MTA proposed service cuts, job elimination-"Targeted Attack Against New York Workers And Their Families"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs1R_HrWRkI&feature=player_embedded
TWU Local 100 Pres. John Samuelsen denounces MTA proposed service cuts, job elimination

3,000 NYC TWU 100 Workers and Transit Supports Rally And Speak Out Against Attacks "Hell no, Mr. Walder."
http://www.twulocal100.org/node/3743
Outside MTA Public Hearings, The Union’s Voice Rings Out
A powerful rally on March 4 put over 3,000 TWU Local 100 members in the streets outside the MTA’s Manhattan Public Hearing at FIT. We were joined by a large contingent of high school and college students, vociferously protesting the MTA’s planned elimination of student metrocards. TWU Local 100 got strong support from allies in the union movement and government, including New York State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes, PBA President Pat Lynch, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, the UFT's Michael Mandel, DC 37’s Oliver Gray, Teamsters Local 237's Gregory Floyd, and Public Advocate Bill DiBlasio, to name a few. (Watch this page for videos, coming soon.)
President John Samuelsen trenchantly criticized MTA cuts as blatant disregard of workers and the needs of citizens. He called upon members to speak in a single voice: "Hell no, Mr. Walder. We will fight your attempts to steal our jobs; we will fight your attacks on our students; you will not destroy our transit system."

Budget Woes Prompt Privatization Fights in Public Transit
http://labornotes.org/2010/02/budget-woes-prompt-privatization-fights-public-transit
Evan Rohar| March 1, 2010
In late January members of AFSCME Local 3299 surrounded a newly privatized non-union bus at a Berkeley lab. The University of California recently contracted out one bus line—but the union has stopped the administration's drive to privatize all service at Berkeley. Photo: Liz Perlman
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As budget-butchering legislators and executives slash away at public services and public workers, they’re reaching for a familiar tactic: privatization.
Privatization Watch, an information clearinghouse, counts 411 battles over privatization between 2008 and 2009, from a riot at a Kentucky prison provoked by a contractor’s lousy food to a Republican governor in Indiana who killed a billion-dollar contract to outsource welfare-benefits after big delays and denials to qualified applicants.
Only 30 proposed privatizations were stopped. But one arena where unions are generating outsized heat lately is transit.

Costa Rica: Dock workers mobilise against government interference in union
http://www.labournet.net/docks2/1003/costar1.html
Costa Rica: Dock workers mobilise against government interference in union
Report by Movement towards Socialism (MAS)
Published: 05/03/10
via Martin Ralph
Dock workers in Limon, the Caribbean region of Costa Rica, have had several days fighting against government interference in their union, Sintrajap.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security created on 15 January a new leadership for the organization, elected in an unofficial meeting, convened by the president of the company. On 23 February, Sintrajap general secretary, Ronaldo blear, was reported to be sacked.
His replacement, Douglas Brenes, is a friend of the government, who promotes the privatization of ports in the region. In exchange for the support of workers, the government even offered a “compensation” of $ 137 million to the port. Another objective is to attack the labor rights of the port.
In response to the authoritarian intervention in the labor movement, unions in the province of Limon plan to strike, in addition to entering in court to contest the possession of the leadership submissive to the government of Óscar Arias.

Militants win Philippine Airlines Ground Crew union elections after 12 year union struggle
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100228-255836/Militants-win-PAL-union-elections
Militants win PAL union elections
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 11:35:00 02/28/2010
Filed Under: Labor, Air Transport
MANILA, Philippines—Militants won a landslide victory in the elections for the Philippine Airlines (PAL) ground crew union on February 25, twelve years after the controversial moratorium in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) of 1998, the PAL Employees Association (Palea) said in a news release over the weekend.
“After 12 long years, PAL employees again have a union that will protect their rights and welfare, including job security,” said Gerry Rivera, who will assume the position of Palea president on March 29.
Rivera said his group, party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), campaigned on a platform of defending job security, will immediately face a challenge as PAL reportedly plans to spin off departments and lay off employees this coming April.
PM members won the top three national union positions and their local party called Sulong Paleans cornered 13 of the 21-member union board during the elections held last Thursday, February 25. But the ballots were only finally tallied Friday night with the winners proclaimed by the union Commission on Elections and representatives of the labor department’s Metro Manila office, the news release said.

NYC M.T.A. Delays A and E Plans for Reality Show on Subway Workers
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/nyregion/02reality.html?scp=1&sq=tv show transit&st=cse
And, Cut! Money Woes Delay a TV Reality Show on Subway Workers
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Published: March 1, 2010
It is not your typical subway series.
Who knows what drama lurks beneath the city? Transit officials may let the A&E network find out, but not immediately.
For months, officials at theMetropolitan Transportation Authorityhave been working with television producers on a reality show set in and around the New York City subway. The series, commissioned by the A&E network, would follow an ensemble cast of train conductors, station agents and other subway workers as they handle track fires, angry customers and the grind of running the country’s biggest mass transit system.
But as with many of the authority’s major projects, the show is now facing a delay. Citing hard financial times, transit officials said they were halting work on the show, even though shooting had started last month for a 15-minute sample episode — the first step toward a pilot and potentially a full season.
“I still want to do it at some point,” said Christopher Boylan, the authority’s top marketing officer. “It may not make sense to do it right away.”

Victory To The Tekel Workers In Turkey
Victory To The Tekel Workers In Turkey-Statement Of The TWSC
Our bay area Transport Workers Solidarity Committee TWSC is in solidarity with
your struggle for your jobs and justice. The US controlled International Monetary Fund-World
Bank and their policy of forcing privatization of public services and public institutions is a plague
on the workers of the world. It is organized to benefit the billionaires and we are aware
that the past privatization of your national telecom system was used by US government
officials like US Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger to personally benefit from
the destruction of publicly owned industries as an investor.
The policy of privatization and deregulation is a way of stealing from the people of a country and
workers in the United States also face similar attacks on our living conditions and benefits.
We support your fight and call for the re-nationalization of Tekel under the democratic control
of the workers.
We will be publicizing your struggle in the United States and urging US workers to
build support for your fight. A victory of your strike is a victory for all workers around the world and

SF TWU250-A Drivers & Riders Rally & March Against Attack On Transit Workers And Public
http://blip.tv/file/3287978
On March 1, 2010 in San Francisco hundreds of MUNI TWU 250-A drivers
and riders joined in rallies and a march to demand that the cutbacks and
attacks on Muni workers end. SF Mayor Newsom and his appointed MTA
board have sought to pit the TWU 250-A drivers against the public by
saying that unless they took concessions on their wages and pensions
the city would have to increase fares for the elderly, students and the
disabled. Already over 100 operators have been layed off by the city.
Produced by Labor Video Project, P.O. Box 720027, San Francisco, CA 94172
laborvideo.blip.tv www.laborvideo.org (415)282-1908

French air traffic controllers' strike latest European labor rebellion
http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/282318
French air traffic controllers' strike latest European labor trouble
A French air traffic controllers' strike has grounded dozens of flights in Paris, one of Europe's busiest air travel hubs. The first hints of spring appear to be bringing strike fever to Europe.
By Robert Marquand Staff writer
posted February 23, 2010 at 11:49 am EST
Paris —
With chills from a ghastly European winter in abeyance, thoughts on the continent are turning to labor strikes. This week, a French air traffic controllers' strike has roiled European travel, grounding half of the regional flights from Orly and a quarter from Charles DeGaulle, the two main Paris hubs, until Saturday.
French air traffic controllers, currently among the most well paid in Europe and required to work only 100 days a year, are angry at a proposal to consolidate air traffic control with some of their European neighbors, which they fear will lead to salary and benefit reductions.
Air travel-associated strikes in recent days have created delays and ticket-counter drama elsewhere as well. Pilots for Lufthansa ended a one-day strike last night, but there will be routing and delays until Friday, authorities say. In all, some 800 flights have been affected.

3/6 SF Forum-Report On The Struggles From Three Continents-Japan, US &
Turkey "The Global Struggle For Public Education, Against
Privatization & For Working Class Solidarity"
Report On The Struggles From Three Continents-Japan, US And Turkey
The Global Struggle
For Public Education, Against Privatization & For Working Class
Solidarity
Reports/Video/Songs
Saturday March 6, 2010 7:00 PM
522 Valencia St./16th St San Francisco
Donation Requested $5.00
Potluck
Funds will be sent to Tekel hunger strikers in Instanbul, Turkey
Join with Japanese Zengakuren students from who have been fighting
privatization and militarization. They are visiting the US to join in
the March 4, 2010 day of action and strikes. Also US transport
workers, Students and trade unionists and a Report & video on the
national struggle of the Turkish Tekel Workers
The global struggle against capitalism and the defense of the working
class is escalating internationally. A delegation of Japanese student
activists who are members of Zengakuren will report on the fight
against privatization of the Japanese universities and the repression
against workers and students fighting militarization as well as the