Tom Szymanski

STATE OF THE UNION: Labor goes global

editor — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Tired of global corporations using the old divide-and-conquer tactic, one of labor's largest unions, the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), recently joined forces with the largest labor union in the United Kingdom and Ireland to form Workers Uniting. The new union will utilize the combined power of more than 3.2 million members to confront and challenge capital's quest to lower labor standards and increase competition between workers in plants located across oceans.

We aren't the only ones facing job loss, outsourcing and lower standards of living. It's happening across the world thanks to corporate greed and the race to the bottom. Workers everywhere are struggling to hang onto decent wages, pensions and affordable health care. Corporations have a global labor pool these days and want us to fight each other for the scraps offered by global employers. We can't continue to let this happen.

The USWA and the UK's Unite the Union delegates approved the merger to become the first global labor organization to directly represent workers. Workers Uniting is not just an umbrella organization representing the interests of various national and international unions but a top-down and bottom-up member organization with members from different countries. Leadership and representatives are accountable to their memberships and expected to justify their actions to local unions.

STATE OF THE UNION: Why hire a union workforce?

editor — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

Construction is a complicated business. From planning and development through the final touches on a new facility, numerous factors play roles in ensuring a job finishes safely, on time and on budget. When the job is finished, the customer expects all of the electrical and mechanical systems to be installed properly and work as designed.

Customers, such as school boards, city governments or private business owners, are paying for architects, engineers, construction managers and quality materials to construct their buildings. Many times, conscientious customers will consider only the most qualified and reputable providers to perform their construction services. This is a responsible and respectable position to take, especially when dealing with taxpayers’ money that more often than not runs into the millions.

However, sometimes lost in the shuffle is a customer’s confidence in the quality, skill and training of the available workforce. From making an incorrect assumption that all construction workers are trained the same (if at all) to never having been informed about the importance of finding highly skilled workers, customers must be educated about the vast differences among the labor pool of construction workers.

STATE OF THE UNION: Who cares?

editor — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600

“The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.”
- Che Guevara

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Question: When is it going to stop? Answer: When you want it to stop. I hate to be so negative during the holiday season, but when are people going to get angry enough to put an end to the ridiculous state of affairs we live in today?

Is it that difficult to shut off the television, stop worshipping professional athletes and get involved? We hear it everyday – people complaining, people whining and people crying, yet they have never make any attempt to change the problem. What will it take for people to become frustrated enough that they demand and act for change?

STATE OF THE UNION: Speaking up for working families

editor — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The Fourth of July celebration in Bloomington once again focused on a parade that celebrated our country’s independence. In addition to the fire trucks, politicians and music, this year’s parade included an entry called “Bloomington Labor Unions and Working Families,” which marched in solidarity under one banner.

For the first time in recent memory, working people in Bloomington had representation for a holiday created by the struggles of artisans and craftsmen seeking freedom from the autocratic rule of the English upper class.

The revolution came on the heels of, and through the support of, working people tired of being pushed around by ruling elites and their soldier patsies.

STATE OF THE UNION: Immigrant workers have rights, too

editor — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Immigration reform has made its way into the political debate once again as Congress debates new adjustments to visas and worker amnesty. And employers with farm workers, hotel employees, construction workers and engineers have problems with some aspect of the bill because it doesn't satisfy their particular selfish needs.

According to the agricultural industry, the proposed McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform Bill would allow immigrant workers easy routes to leave their current employment and seek higher-paying jobs elsewhere, for example, in construction.

The result, they say, would be a labor shortage and higher consumer prices.

STATE OF THE UNION: Electrical safety in our community

editor — Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500

We assume government is there to protect and serve the community. It's easy to do because we take for granted some of the protective services it provides.

Government restaurant inspectors protect us from food contamination at local restaurants. They provide us with monthly reports on the cleanliness of the facilities they visit.

And the state mandates drivers pass a test to ensure they are not hazards to the driving public.

But what about your safety at home or where you shop or conduct business transactions? In particular, what about the safety issues prevalent in electrical work for residential and commercial customers?

The Iraqi labor movement is still working

publisher — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 08:35:01 -0500

State of the Union

The Iraq war continues to decimate the lives of thousands of innocent people. Working class and low-income people try to find a life without fear of imminent death and destruction awaiting them around the corner. These aren't just American soldiers, but the Iraqi civilians who are trying to put back their lives since the war started four years ago.

Before Saddam Hussein came to power and eliminated a historically vigorous trade union movement, unions were important players in the economic arena, supporting workers' rights in countering corporate and government influence.

Since the U.S. military invaded Iraq and the Bush administration's hand-picked corporate leaders took control of industry, the labor movement in Iraq has been reborn, but it is facing the same fights we find right here in America. Workers struggle to find jobs, to keep the jobs they now have from being privatized and to find ways to improve their economic standing under the assault of corporate monarchy.

Believe it or not, even under the stress of war and uncertainty, workers are fighting back and putting life back into the Iraq labor movement.

Does government help or hurt?

publisher — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 07:15:40 -0600

State of the Union

Who is protecting the non-union workers? The workers who receive their paychecks late, who are short-changed what's due them, who suffer from employers' bounced checks and those who are responsible for medical bills because mandatory Workers' Compensation Insurance was ignored?

What about company "401K savings plans" that accept paycheck deductions that cannot be withdrawn later because of "special rules" adopted by the company's owner? Who is verifying there aren't illegal deductions on employee paychecks for company expenses like gas, materials and safety equipment?

No one, that's who! Many times workers will be unaware of the creative accounting techniques developed by cheating employers, or the workers may know they are getting screwed but won't complain fearing reprisal or termination.

Believe me, especially in construction, it happens, and it happens often!

IU is being unfair to you and me

publisher — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 07:14:37 -0600

State of the Union

On Saturday, Jan. 27, members of the Bloomington community rallied before the IU basketball game to call attention to the university's plan to outsource good-paying jobs to private companies.

It was a cold and windy day, but workers, union members, church members and citizens concerned about keeping quality jobs in the community marched to the game and handed out leaflets and secured hundreds of signatures on petitions denouncing job outsourcing.

The power of people coming together to question, make their voices heard and fight for justice was displayed through an outpouring of passion and commitment. At least 200 community residents participated in educating the public about the potential loss of quality jobs that pay good wages, provide health care and support working families.

Conscience shopping in a capitalist world

publisher — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 07:19:12 -0600

State of the Union

It's the time of year again when we must decide how to spread Christmas cheer among family and friends. If shopping, an ingrained American custom confused as being a part of the Christmas spirit, is going to be part of your holiday activities, I hope you will think about the people who made those items you will be handing out and their working conditions.

Finding an organization or company that employs workers under fair working conditions should be given preference if we are doing the right thing at Christmas time. The basis for the holiday is to spread goodwill across the world and take care of those in need.

So how can shoppers be oblivious to where their gifts are coming from when the act of giving a gift is supposed to be a gesture of goodwill? Shouldn't funneling your money to an entity that is being responsible to its workers be a gesture of goodwill also?