News for the week of February 2-6, 1998If you have news related to the labor movement in Washington state that you would like to share via WSLC Reports Today, we encourage you to submit it by e-mail, by fax (206-285-5805) or by phone (206-281-8901)
News for the week of February 2-6, 1998Friday, 2/6/98 — Get ready for
the latest trade debate: MAI or "NAFTA on steroids"
Wednesday, 2/4/98 — Physicians'
union blasts Medalia HealthCare in Seattle
Tuesday, 2/3/98 — Several
important hearings for workers set for Wednesday in Olympia
Monday, 2/2/98 — "Rights" agency, El Centro de la Raza,
refuses staff's request for union
News from previous weeks:
January 26-30, 1998— January 19-23, 1998 — January 12-16, 1998 — January 5-9, 1998
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Get ready for the latest trade debate: MAI or "NAFTA on steroids"
Ralph Nader's Public Citizen, along with several labor and environmental groups, are sponsoring a debate on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), the newest international trade treaty that threatens to hasten the "race to the bottom" as nations would be pressured to lower living standards and weaken environmental safeguards in order to attract capital investment. The debate, "MAI: NAFTA on Steroids," will be Saturday, Feb. 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Seattle Central Community College, just north of Pine & Broadway.
The treaty would protect the rights of international investors without setting standards for fair treatment of workers, environmental standards or protection against anti-competitive practices. But most importantly, MAI would allow corporations to sue governments if they believe a national, state or local law violates MAI or poses a barrier to investment. Corporations could even bypass regular U.S. courts and take complaints to "international tribunals" or arbitration according to the rules set by the International Chamber of Commerce.
"This secretly concocted MAI treaty is all-out war by the transnational corporations on democracy itself," said Ronnie Dulger, co-chair of the Alliance for Democracy, an organization that has made fighting MAI its highest priority. "It is the second Cold War."
Reports indicate that the treaty has been drawn up secretly at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group that represents 27 of the richest nations and two Third World nations — South Korea and Mexico. Yet it was only in early 1997 that a preliminary draft was leaked and MAI became semi-public.
At the Feb 21 MAI debate in Seattle, the speakers will include Lori Wallach from Public Citizen and Dan Segliman from the Sierra Club on the anti-MAI side, and a representative of the Clinton administration's MAI negotiating team on the pro-MAI side.
For more information on MAI, as well as a draft of the treaty, see the Public Citizen web site.
Physicians' union blasts Medalia HealthCare in Seattle
A group of nearly 300 physicians trying to organize a union at Medalia HealthCare is urging the public to contact the company and ask them to stop spending valuable patient care dollars opposing their union organizing effort.
An overwhelming majority of the physicians have signed a petition requesting a fair campaign and election be held on whether they should be represented by the NW Physicians' Alliance, a local chapter of the United Salaried Physicians and Dentists, SEIU, AFL-CIO. The petition will be delivered to Medalia CEO Sandra Rorem and Medical Director Dr. David Bales.
On Dec. 29, the physicians requested certification by the National Labor Relations Board after filing authorization cards with the Seattle NLRB office. But Medalia has argued that all of the physicians it employs are supervisors and managers, and therefore not covered by the NLRA and unable to be certified as a union.
Current legal precedent supports the physicians' right to unionize, and their arguments against the organizing efforts are considered a frivolous attempt to delay the process, according to a statement released by the union.
"The Medalia Administration is wasting tens of thousands of patient care dollars trying to deny us our rights," said NW Physicians' Alliance member Sumner Schoenike, M.D. "We want the opportunity to vote for the union, but Medalia is using the NLRB hearing process to delay our vote."
CEO Rorem has received numerous letters of from community, labor and political leaders asking the company to withdraw its opposition to the union, but Medalia administrators refuse to meet with union representatives to discuss establishing a working relationship. Union activists and members of the public are encouraged to contact CEO Sandra Rorem and urge her to stop spending patient care dollars to fight the union and to remain neutral in the organizing process.
Several important hearings for workers set for Wednesday in Olympia
As Friday's 5 p.m. deadline looms for bills to pass out of policy committees in Olympia, there are a number of bills that working families should know about scheduled for hearings Wednesday. If you can afford to take a day off to make the trip to the State Capitol, it would be a perfect day to hear these important bills debated. They are:
— House Commerce and Labor Committee at 8 a.m. — A bill that would decriminalize agency rules violations, thereby lowering the standards and penalties for the enforcement of workplace safety and health.
— Senate Commerce and Labor Committee at 1:30 p.m. — SB 6577, a bill (identical to Initiative 688 filed last month) to raise the minimum wage in two steps to $6.50 an hour and have it adjust for inflation; SB 6512, a bill mandating equitable treatment for part-time workers, including pro-rated benefits; and SB 6498, a bill allowing the Department of Transportation to contract out maintenance service to the lowest bidder.
— Senate Law and Justice Committee at 1:30 p.m. — Initiative 200, the deceptively titled and worded Initiative to the Legislature that would end affirmative action as we know it in Washington state; and SB 6689, an alternative bill (supported by organized labor) that would reaffirm that hiring or enrollment using quotas and hiring unqualified people to meet racial or sexual "goals" would be illegal.
Anyone with personal stories or information that could help legislators as they consider these bills is encouraged to testify, but it is also important that as many working people as possible simply attend and "sign in" in opposition or support to these bills.
"Rights" agency, El Centro de la Raza, refuses staff's request for union
The battle between community service and rights agency El Centro de la Raza and the union attempting to organize its office workers, Office and Professional Employees Local 8, went public this weekend after the long-simmering dispute reached new heights of acrimony.
Although the organization has supported union causes many times in the past, El Centro's board and executive director Roberto Maestas have actively resisted efforts by their employees to get union representation. The dispute has landed the organization on the King County Labor Council's "Do Not Patronize" list and has earned them unfair-labor-practice charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board. Among other things, Maestas and El Centro stand accused of firing one employee for union organizing activities and intimidating and harassing others.
All this for an organization whose stated principles include supporting farm workers, factory workers, service workers and office workers in their struggle for collective bargaining rights, safety, benefits, and just wages and salaries.
That irony is not lost on Local 8. where sources indicated that because of El Centro's history of activism and advocacy for the underprivileged, they had purposely kept the dispute from "going public" in the hope that it would eventually be resolved. That hasn't happened, and now the union hopes that the public and the rest of the progressive community will bring pressure to bear on El Centro to cease anti-union tactics and organizing resistance.
It all began in September when a group of employees approached OPEIU Local 8 and asked for help in organizing a bargaining unit. As a courtesy, union organizers notified Maestas of the effort under way and "were surprised at his reaction. It wasn't favorable to the employees unionizing at that time," said Local 8's Phyllis Naiad.
Since then, El Centro's board has refused to acknowledge a petition signed by a majority of their workers requesting union representation, and has not responded to a request from Local 8 to set up a representation election, even though they were the ones who requested a formal election. Maestas told a reporter that some workers "have been fearful of unions because labor has not been open to minorities in general, and there has been an anti-union sentiment in general in minority communities." He went on to say he doesn't oppose unions.
It is not clear what he meant by saying "labor has not been open to minorities in general," given the facts that the union has actively responded to his employees' request for organizing assistance and that a majority of his staff has already told him they support the union.
If you have a news item regarding unions in Washington state that you would like to have posted on WSLC OnLine, please e-mail or fax a news release to (206) 285-5805.
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