The latest news
Last updated: January 15, 2012
Apply now for 2012 grants!
We now offer two types of grants
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| Over a dozen groups won Berger-Marks grants in 2011 |
The Berger-Marks Foundation is now accepting applications for 2012 grants. All applications must be filed through this web site using one of the forms you can view with the links below.
For social justice organizations,
Deadline is March 15!
The Berger-Marks Foundation is accepting grant applications through March 15, 2012, from organizations that are not unions but also promote workers' rights and have an impact on social justice.
The Foundation will assist such organizations with training, conferences and educational materials for women, with special consideration given to programs aimed at younger women workers.
Application form for organizations
Note: Unions, union federations, and councils should instead apply for our second type of grant, explained next:
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| UFCW steward school in Dodge City, Ks. |
There's a new union in Dodge City
UFCW is on a roll at beef processing plants
Some 2,500 workers at National Beef's slaughter and processing plant in Dodge City, Kansas, are now union, thanks to their strong vote on Nov. 3 and 4 to join The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). The UFCW had won an agreement from National Beef for a fair and balanced process for employees to decide on union representation. The union already represents workers at a nearby Cargill beef slaughter and processing plant.
JBS Michigan workers vote 4-1 to unionize
Just two weeks earlier around 1,000 workers at a JBS beef kill facility in Plainwell, Michigan had voted four-to-one for the UFCW.
New SEIU members win 'landmark agreement' with 19 Florida hospitals
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| SEIU1199 members vote on their first union contract |
On Dec. 6, new union members of SEIU1199 who work for 19 for-profit hospitals owned by HCA and Tenet Healthcare in Florida reaped big rewards from 12 months of talks and intense organizing. They voted enthusiastically for a landmark contract covering 10,000 nurses, service and technical workers that eases staffing levels and scheduling and gives workers more job security and input.
A key provision says that unionized workers won't be axed if the facility is sold. The contract also removes salary caps that had kept veteran employees from getting raises for years. New labor-management committees will give workers "a real voice"in discussing things like staffing levels and patient safety.
More health care workers go union
In Florida and at Illinois VA hospital
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| Nurses at Palmetto General Hospital celebrate union win |
Registered nurses at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah, Fla. voted overwhelmingly (86% of the tally) to join the state affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU) this November.
Why were they so sure they needed a union? RN Ailen Leiva aid they "see an urgent need to improve quality of care." The 500 Palmetto nurses want a stronger voice in patient care, improved staffing and better economic and workplace standards. The union, which now represents some 6,000 RNs in 15 Florida facilities, is lobbying the state to require decent nurse-to-patient ratios and stronger patient advocacy rights for RNs.
What Walmart gives...
Walmart can take away
Poof! Workers lose affordable health coverage
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| Protesters at Walmart HQ last fall; now their health plan is gutted |
| Marc F. Henning, Our Walmart |
When news got around in 2005 that Walmart associates got such pathetic pay and benefits that many of them had to go on Medicaid to get health care, it gave the company a much-deserved black eye. Over 9,600 Walmart employees were collecting Medicaid in Tennessee alone, reported the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Maryland got so fed up with subsidizing Walmart's lousy policies that it passed a law to make Walmart either pay more for employee health insurance or reimburse the Medicare fund.
Walmart got the message and with great fanfare it announced that qualifying workers could get health benefits so generous they wouldn't need Medicaid after all. Who would need a union with such a responsible employer?
But now, long after the dust settled, Walmart has changed its corporate mind.
Hey Walmart, we're b-a-a-a-ck!
Women fighting discrimination at Walmart file new lawsuit
When the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly shot down a lawsuit by Walmart women employees who charged the company with discriminating against women, it wasn't because women are treated fairly. it was for a technicality — the court's desire to limit national class-action lawsuits.
So the women are back, this time filing a lawsuit on behalf of 90,000 women currently or formerly employed at Walmart and Sam's Club stores in California and neighboring states.
For last-minute holiday shopping
Give a girl some union inspiration
Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson
This tale of a 13-year-old farm girl who goes to work in the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts when hard times hit her family could strike a nerve in today's economy (especially since at least one presidential candidate says he's eager to revive child labor). Even while working six days a week from dawn to dusk Lyddie learns to read — and to handle the menacing overseer.
"But when the working conditions begin to affect her friends' health, she has to make a choice. Will she speak up for better working conditions and risk her job — and her dream of reuniting her family? Or will she stay quiet until it is perhaps too late? A wonderful story of strength, courage and solidarity."
— Union Communication Services
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, by Doreen Cronin
NLRB votes to draft rules to streamline union elections — finally!
Republicans go ballistic
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| In 2006, unions rallied across the country for a more just NLRB |
| MI: AFL-CIO on Flickr |
They finally did it! On Dec. 1, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) voted 2-to-1 to draft rules to limit the hanky-panky that breaks out when workers ask for a union election — or as they put it, the "delays and unnecessary litigation in the pre-election process" that employers use to buy time for anti-union antics.
Union elections are typically delayed by 38 days after workers petition the Board to unionize. But when the boss decides to tie up the vote with frivolous lawsuits and complaints, the election is delayed an average 101 days, says NLRB Chair Gaston Pearce.
"As several employees testified at our hearing in July, that period can be disruptive and painful for all involved," Pearce added. So the Board wants to cut short the redundant and confusing legal roadblocks that employers too often erect to make it mighty hard to be a union supporter and sabotage the election.
What if the 99% give a big push to organizing unions?
Occupy movements help unions link up with people eager for change
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| Young people dancing in support of faculty strike in California |
| David Bacon |
If you're trying to unionize a workplace, it can be a long, uphill battle. So you might be surprised to learn that many of the strong unions we had in the mid-20th century got organized all at once, in a burst of energy and action that spread like wildfire across the country and across industries in one year, 1936.
What happened? It wasn't just that people were hurting in that depression year, says labor historian Steve Babson. And although the founding of the CIO labor federation and the victories in the 1936 elections of worker-friendly candidates helped, they were both a result of something even bigger:
"It was the labor movement's community base — the unemployed councils, ethnic halls, mutual aid societies, tenant organizations, co-ops, and left-wing parties — that linked all of these otherwise separate workplaces and infused them with a common purpose based on social class," says Babson. "The organizational experience of working people in the community fortified and connected their organizing efforts in the workplace."
Could something like that be springing up now?
"Occupy Wall Street has inspired 750 events around the world, and hundreds of (semi-)permanent encampments around the United States," reported Andy Kroll in Pacific Free Press on November 20.
"In so doing, the protests have wrestled the national discussion on the economy away from austerity and toward gaping income inequality (the 99% versus 1% theme), outsized executive compensation, and the plain buying and selling of American politicians by lobbyists and campaign donors.
"Mentions of the phrase 'income inequality' in print publications, web stories, and broadcast transcripts spiked from 91 times a week in early September to nearly 500 in late October, according to the website Politico — an increase of nearly 450%."
OPEIU files lawsuit to defend 1,200 new members
Allstate agents voted 94%-strong to join union
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| OPEIU President Michael Goodwin, NAPAA top officials and OPEIU leaders with the ballots |
Allstate insurance agents knew they needed help when the company imposed harsh "Expected Results" quotas that demanded more and more production from agents until many couldn't keep up. That's why members of the National Association of Professional Allstate Agents (NAPAA) voted by more than 94% to affiliate with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) this August. And now they're getting that help.
Allstate agents had reached a breaking point, especially after the company sacked unprecedented numbers of agents who had generated profits for the insurance company for decades.
Organizing wins: bus drivers, 20,000 corrections officers & restaurant workers
School bus union drive keeps criss-crossing the country
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| New union members in San Jose are school bus drivers & monitors |
A highlight of the organizing campaign for 80 Student Transportation of America (STA) workers in San Jose, Calif. was the "Speak Out" meeting where dozens of workers spoke in public about their concerns and working conditions, and explained why they needed a union. They explained how problems like the disrespect shown drivers, disregard for bus safety, and the lack of paid sick days were hurting both drivers and children.
"It felt good to tell people about our struggles and to have our community actually listen to us," said Kelly Watson. "Confronting issues like favoritism, no paid sick days and a lack of respect head on was very empowering. Speaking out gave us the inspiration we needed to come together and form our union."
On Nov. 9, they voted to join the Teamsters. Two weeks later, 116 workers at Durham School Services, also in San Jose, become Teamsters through a two-to-one vote. Many elected leaders and community activists came out in support of their drive.
In Ohio, non-union voters now favor union rights
When Ohio voters killed a law that would have crippled public service unions and stripped union members of benefits and rights, it wasn't just members who rallied to support union rights in November. People from households where no one belongs to a union voted for union rights and against a ban on collective bargaining by 52% to 48%, reveals a survey of 1,015 registered voters by pollster Guy Molyneux.
Wisconsin public unions win all six recertification elections
Members of 177 teachers unions also recertify unions,
Even under grossly unfair rules
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| dimmerswitch |
It isn't as easy to kill public employee unions as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his Republican buddies may have imagined. As soon as Walker took office, he aimed his guns at public service workers and pushed through a draconian law to cripple their unions. That triggered a revolt that now threatens his rule with a possible recall election.
Now many public workers have reaffirmed support for their unions. In mid-November, all six state employee unions seeking to recover their official status won recertification elections. That restored their ability to negotiate with the state — even though they're still not allowed to talk about anything but cost-of-living wage increases.
The new law says they can't negotiate any benefits or working conditions. It also removed the ability of unions to have dues automatically withheld from the paychecks of members who join. Under those conditions, some unions don't think it's worth it to recertify and are organizing for their lives in other ways.
New Hampshire defends union rights
Right-to-work-for-less law defeated by popular demand
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| AFL-CIO |
After New Hampshire's Republican legislature passed a so-called "right-to-work" bill last February that was aimed squarely at crippling the right of workers to organize strong unions, the Democratic Governor vetoed it. Then the fireworks began, as anti-union forces scrambled to get enough votes in the legislature to override the veto.
If the law had taken effect, workers would have been powerless to require that everyone represented by a union pay dues to the union that defends their rights and negotiates for them. That undermines worker clout so much that in the 22 states that have "right-to-work (for less)" laws, the average worker gets paid around $5,333 a year less than workers in other states, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many owners of small businesses didn't want to see that happen.
New York Times magazine spotlights women union leaders
How Rose Ann DeMoro faced down Governor Schwarzenegger
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| RoseAnn Demoro is leading a Heal America, Tax Wall Street movement |
Union women got some welcome recognition in the New York Times magazine in mid-November. Although the article headline "Redefining the Union Boss" referred to democratically elected leaders with the tired term, "Union boss," the substance of the article recognizes that through union elections, some exciting women leaders are rising.
One of them is RoseAnn DeMoro, who got her feet wet in the movement as the first woman organizer for the Teamsters Western Conference. Now executive director of the 170,000-member National Nurses United, DeMoro joined the California Nurses Association in 1986 and has been representing nurses ever since.
When former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger not only refused to enforce a llife-saving law requiring at least one nurse for every five patients, but also dismissed the nurses as "special interests" and bragged about "kicking their butts," DeMoro kicked his butt, and the public outrage she helped organize convinced the Governor to back down. Now DeMoro is spear-heading a movement called "Heal America, Tax Wall Street."
The Nurses' creative, impassioned approach "has inspired Occupy Wall Street," reported the Times.
Union breakthroughs at big discount furniture chain
Salespeople at seven Bob's Discount Furniture stores in New Hampshire, New York and Connecticut have voted to join the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union. More union votes are planned for Bob's hourly office, warehouse and caf? employees at the Farmingdale, N.Y. store and at Bob's in North Plainfield, N.J.
Bob's sales associates and other employees "are calling for fair commission formulas, affordable health care options and improved working conditions," the union said. "Currently, floor sales associates are paid strictly on commission, without any base wages." The retailer had recently changed its commission formula in a way that hurt longtime employees and is making workers pay more for health insurance.
This is quite a breakthrough. Bob's is No. 15 on Furniture/Today's Top 100 list, and runs 40 stores in seven Eastern states.
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“Helping to organize my co-workers into a union was a life changing journey.”
– Rebecca McGary, a worker at National Beef in Dodge City, Ks.
“We would like to congratulate our employees for exercising their rights under the National Labor Relations Act… The JBS management team respects our employees’ right to organize… We look forward to... our new relationship with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.”
– JBS management,
Plainwell, Michigan
"We made history in Florida last night, and it's something that I can give to my grandchildren. They can say Grandma was a part of that. We are changing the culture of Florida and that is awesome."
– Pat Diaz, RN at University Hospital in Broward County, member of 1199SEIU group that won their first contract
“I am looking forward to bargaining for improved staffing, which will decrease turnover. We need to recruit and retain experienced RNs in order to provide the safest patient care possible."
– Rose Campbell, intensive care nurse who voted union
at Florida's Palmetto General Hospital
“We’ve organized at 18 hospitals in Florida. I don’t know of any other private sector where there have been that kind of victories in a Southern state.”
– Monica Russo, regional director for SEIU Local 1199
"I pay $10 every two weeks, and it's going up to18. My deductible is $1000 and now, come January 1, it'll be $5000. I don't make that much money. I don't see how anybody thinks I can pay those bills.”
– Barbara Collins, Walmart associate, Placerville, Calif.,
in American Public Media
"This is unusual and is outside the bounds."
– Drew Altman, president and CEO, Kaiser Family Foundation
"There goes my food money. I don't have any choice, but I will have to pay for it. I am 60 years old and I can't start over."
– Bonnie Shoaf, Walmart department manager
Blue Ridge, Ga.
"The $69.7 billion held by the six Walton relatives of Walmart founders Sam and James Walton in 2007 was equal to the net worth of the bottom 30% of Americans."
"As it stands right now, only two thirds of all desired [NLRB union] elections ever get to that point.
"Why? Because employers spend a ton of money litigating these issues, going in front of the NLRB trying to stop these elections before they ever happen. This has got to change.
"There is a true value to unions, like them or not, and trying to tie them up by litigating them is ridiculous.”
– Journalist Rick Ungar,
Fox News forum
"The courage of boys in the working world has been dealt with often... but novels of this kind about girls are rare. Lyddie is outstanding... a rich story … full of life, full of lives, full of reality."
– New York Times book review
On the outcry from business when the NLRB said workers' rights must be posted:
"From the reactions of the corporate cry babies, you’d think that the NLRB had commanded businesses to pass out copies of the Communist Manifesto during lunch breaks… It is simply a summary of a 76-year old federal law...
"Big business has good reason to worry that if workers know their rights, they might actually try to exercise them."
– Peter Dreier, department chair, Occidental College, & Donald Cohen, chairperson of In the Public Interest;
"Enough is enough. It’s time to end the unfair economic policies in this country that benefit the few, and leave everyone else behind.”
– Vincent Alvarez, President, New York City Central Labor Council
"I respect the Occupiers. They have (like me) lost their jobs. Many have lost their homes...
"For many, it's when you don't have much more to lose that you're willing to cross the tracks even though there may be a train coming. ... So many of us have lost almost everything in this country -- our sense of self worth; our sense of patriotism and national pride. For these reasons The Occupy Revolution is a force to be reckoned with.
"We want our jobs back. We want our homes back. We want our livelihoods back. We want our savings back. We want our lives back. We want our country back. Go Occupiers!”
–cjzurcher, commenting on the Yale Daily News web site
“Speaking out was a very powerful experience. It taught us that we can’t be afraid...
“We’ve helped make this company profitable and we’re tired of the company just taking and taking from us."
– Ernie Bejarano, school bus driver with Durham since 2003
“I look forward to better benefits and being treated with respect on the job. My co-workers and I have really worked hard to come to this point and we're going to continue to work hard so we can secure a strong contract."
– Kelly Watson, Student Transportation worker,
San Jose, Calif.
"Over the last few decades, I have witnessed a middle-class revolution, thanks to the tireless efforts of strong, primarily female union leaders. Together in the flight attendant profession, we worked to ban discrimination in the workplace based on marriage, weight, sex and pregnancy. We worked to have smoking outlawed in airline cabins and to enact stronger safety guidelines to protect ourselves and our passengers. The tireless effort of union leaders brought equity and dignity to my profession. ..
“On Tuesday, American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection. As I help my colleagues navigate these difficult times, I draw on the strength of the women who came before me. “
– Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents 17,000 American Airlines workers.
From her letter in the New York Times Nov. 29
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| Dallas-Fort Worth agent Rosemary Capasso, is a CWA Union supporter |
The American Airlines bankruptcy also prompted the Communications Workers of America to file for an election to protect 9,700 customer service workers at American who have no union.
News on this page
- Apply now for 2012 grants!
- There's a new union in Dodge City
- New SEIU members win 'landmark agreement' with 19 Florida hospitals
- More health care workers go union
- What Walmart gives...
Walmart can take away - Hey Walmart, we're b-a-a-a-ck!
- Give a girl some union inspiration
- NLRB votes to draft rules to streamline union elections — finally!
- What if the 99% give a big push to organizing unions?
- OPEIU files lawsuit to defend 1,200 new members
- Organizing wins: bus drivers, 20,000 corrections officers & restaurant workers
- In Ohio, non-union voters now favor union rights
- Wisconsin public unions win all six recertification elections
- New Hampshire defends union rights
- New York Times magazine spotlights women union leaders
- Union breakthroughs at big discount furniture chain
More news
Grants awarded
March, 2011
2010 news