Seattle Unions Win Battle to Protect 200,000 Family-Wage Jobs

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/01/02/seattle-unions-win-battle-to-protect-200000-family-wage-jobs/

Lily Wilson-Codega, political organizer for the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council, sends us this report.

Along with environmental advocacy groups and industrial business, we in the Seattle-area union community celebrated a historic victory in recent days with the passage of the 2007 Industrial Jobs Initiative. The ordinance will institute protections for industrial businesses and jobs by limiting office and retail development encroaching on Seattle’s industrial zones.

Industry and manufacturing are the lifeblood of this local economy, bringing in $31 billion annually and generating a diverse spectrum of high-paying, family-wage jobs that employ a quarter of the city’s workforce.

Herald Ugles, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 19, explains:

The Port of Seattle and our maritime industrial core are such a critical resource for our community. For thousands for working people like myself, these jobs mean access to everything from homeownership to health care access. This was not something we could afford to lose.

As is the case for many municipalities, increasing pressure on industrial lands from real estate speculation has been chipping away at this vital economic resource. With hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake, the labor community mobilized a broad coalition to address the issue in what became a three-month land use battle at City Hall.

FULL story at link.

[gateley]

1. GO SEATTLE! nt

[LaStrega]

2. fabulous!

My union (GCIU Local 1M in Minneapolis) has taken some pretty brutal beatings over the last few years ... not to mention the local Writer's and Printer's unions.

*sigh*

But yay for you guys!

Oh and, I'm currently wearing my "A woman's place is in her union" Rosie the Riveter t-shirt. *fact*

[Omaha Steve]

3. I was organizing for the GAU (now the GCIU) local 520 when I was fired in 1980

Here is 3 & 1/2 years of my life in a nutshell. By the time the appellate court in St. Louis had upheld my case, I was with the City of Omaha, and turned down reinstatement.

My case from the NLRB: http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Board%20Decisions/261/261-38.pdf

I have a friend that represents (lawyer) the local GCIU.

OS

[LaStrega]

4. I've been fighting the Star Tribune ...

for a contract for nearly 3-years. The bastards.

Nevermind the over 500-people who've been fired or bought out in the last year.

Why oh why did I ever decide to go into newspaper?