GENERAL LABOR NEWS

Vol. 8, No. 2
April, 1999



	GENERAL LABOR NEWS Laborers' President Coia Is Cleared of 15 Charges, But Fined $100,000 After a three-year investigation, Arthur A. Coia, general president of the Laborers' International Union of America (LIUNA) was cleared of 15 of the 16 charges against him for his alleged association with organized crime members. He was, however, found guilty on one count of conflict of interest for buying an expensive Ferrari with improper financial assistance from a car dealer who was also a supplier for the union, for which he was fined $100,000. No union money was involved in the car transaction. Charges against Coia were filed in November 1997 by Robert D. Luskin, attorney and in-house prosecutor for the union's general executive board. Under the union's Ethics and Disciplinary Code, the case was tried before a hearing officer, Peter F. Vaira, a former U.S. Attorney, who announced his decision on March 9. Ironically, until the hearing officer's ruling, Justice Department officials had defended the in-house investigation, saying they believed the case "was thoroughly investigated" and vigorously prosecuted, although they were disappointed with the decision. In February 1995, the Justice Department issued a consent decree that allowed the union to root out corrupt practices through a range of internal reforms as a substitute for a government takeover, as in the case of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Since then, LIUNA has made enough progress in internal house cleaning to warrant the Justice Department's renewal of the so-called "oversight agreement" through January 31, 2000. LIUNA held its first general election for top officers in December 1996, in which the entire membership voted, not just convention delegates, and Coia was re-elected by a wide margin. "Since the internal reform movement began, more than 450 investigations have been opened with some 132 charges filed. The result has been that more than 189 people have been forced to leave the union and 31 trusteeships and supervisions have been imposed," said Michael Bearse, LIUNA's general counsel. Republican Party leaders were quick to denounce the handling of Coia's case, claiming that his close ties with President Clinton and LIUNA's big contributions to the Democratic Party saved him from removal, averted a government takeover and allowed the union to investigate itself. 23,000 at Disneyland Reluctantly Settle After twice rejecting contract proposals recommended by their officers, the 23,000 hourly employees at Walt Disney's entertainment complex in Orlando, Fla., finally approved the 30-month agreement by a 4-to-1 vote. The cause for the earlier rejections was that the contract required employees to pay an additional amount for their health-care coverage, which substantially cut into the wage increases in the contract. Faced with the Disney threat to impose its own contract proposals unilaterally, the employees, members of Service Employees Local 362, finally accepted a contract whose terms were not much different from the original offer. The 51,000 hourly workers employed at Disneyland belong to six unions affiliated with the Service Trades Council. Sweatshops: Lawsuits Hit Big Labels Three class-action suits against 18 companies, including some of the most famous brand names in the apparel industry and the nation's top retailers, are seeking damages of more than $1 billion for conspiring with factory owners in the Marianas Islands to supply them with apparel that is produced under inhuman conditions. Joining in the legal action on behalf of some 15,000 workers on the island are several human rights groups, including Sweatshop Watch and Global Change, and UNITE, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. Among the defendant companies are The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, Sears Roebuck and others who import about $1 billion annually from the Marianas. Because these islands, situated near the Philippines, have commonwealth status under the United States, the companies save millions on import duties. The islands' garment workers are mainly young women, recruited from China, the Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh. They are forced to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and they can be fined all or part of their sweatshop wages if they fail to meet production quotas. The lawsuits describe in detail the abominable conditions under which these women work and live. They are housed in dreary barracks, several to a room. Their compound is surrounded by barbed wire to prevent them from escaping. The 18 defendant companies are embarrassed, but most are not speaking for publication and others are denying any wrongdoing. 56% of Likely Voters Favor Unions A majority of likely voters (56.1 percent) believe that unions are a good thing for America, according to a poll sponsored by Labor Research Association (LRA). This is a distinct improvement in labor's public image when compared to the 49 percent favorable rating that unions received in 1995. Those who had a negative opinion of unions represented 28.5 percent of the total. The nationwide poll of the 993 likely voters has a 3.5 percent, plus or minus, margin of error. The poll showed no startling surprises. Those identifying themselves as "progressives" and "liberals" were in the sub-group that was 80 percent in support of labor. Other poll results: union members (79 percent), African-Americans (75.5 percent), Catholics (65.9 percent), voters living in the East (68.4 percent) and young voters to age 29 (72.7 percent.) A majority of those who identified themselves as Republicans and conservatives had an unfavorable view of unions. Greg Tarpinian, LRA's executive director, commented: "The numbers should be a boon to labor's efforts to get politicians to support policies that would strengthen the right of working people to organize." Paper and Oil Unions Form PACE A new union which hopes to be a pace-setter in organizing has adopted as its name a lively acronym, PACE, which stands for Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union. It brings together the 240,000-member United Paperworkers International Union and the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, which has about 80,000 members. Under the merger agreement, UPIU President Boyd Young will head the new union, while OCAW President Robert Wages will serve as executive vice president and be in charge of the organizing program. The merged union will have its headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., where UPIU's offices are now located. To finance the union's organizing effort, there will be a 50 cents a month assessment on the 320,000 members. Wages estimates that the union will have to organize 10,000 members a year "for us to stay even and grow." At present, there are 16 full-time organizers, 10 from UPIU and six from OCAW. However, the emphasis will be on training rank-and-file members as volunteer organizers. In developing a grass-roots organizing strategy, the union is being advised by Richard Bensinger, former director of the AFL-CIO's Organizing Department. The latest merger continues a trend within the AFL-CIO, which has reduced the number of affiliated unions from more than 100 to about 70. Health-Care Costs Still Keep Rising Health-care costs last year rose 6.1 percent, nearly twice as fast as the medical component of the consumer price index. But in 1999, the cost is expected to jump even higher, adding an average 9 percent, according to a survey of employers by William M. Mercer, Inc. The average cost of covering active and retired employees rose to $4,164 in 1998, from $3,924 in 1997, the data in the Mercer survey showed. The steep rise in health-care costs will compel many working families to drop their insurance and join the 43 million who also can't afford it. Moreover, health care has become a hot-button issue in collective bargaining, with employers insisting on unloading more of the costs onto their workers. In several cases, this issue has led to strikes. 3% Deferred Pay Boosts in 1999-2000 Workers covered by multi-year contracts will receive an average 3 percent increase for 1999 and possibly the same for the following year, according to a Bureau of National Affairs study of 1,428 collective bargaining agreements. The printing industry led all others with an average wage increase for 1999 of 7.2 percent in their current contracts. Next in line was construction with a 4 percent pay raise. Industries with the poorest record of deferred pay raises for this year were the rubber industry (1.1 percent) and insurance-finance (0.5 percent). Chrysler Workers Get $7,400 Profit Share More than 80,000 hourly and salaried workers employed by DaimlerChrysler in the United States will receive a lump sum of $7,400 under a profit-sharing formula agreed to by the United Auto Workers and the company. The profit-share was three-fifths greater than last year's average $4,600 payment. Ford, which also posted record profits in 1998, said it would hand out an average $6,100 to its employees. General Motors workers will receive a mere $200, partly because of heavy financial losses during the two work stoppages last summer. DaimlerChrysler is the U.S. Division of DaimlerChrysler AG, formed last year by a merger of Germany's Daimler-Benz and Detroit's Chrysler Corp.

GENERAL LABOR NEWS

Laborers' President Coia Is Cleared
of 15 Charges, But Fined $100,000

After a three-year investigation, Arthur A. Coia, general president of the Laborers' International Union of America (LIUNA) was cleared of 15 of the 16 charges against him for his alleged association with organized crime members. He was, however, found guilty on one count of conflict of interest for buying an expensive Ferrari with improper financial assistance from a car dealer who was also a supplier for the union, for which he was fined $100,000. No union money was involved in the car transaction.

Charges against Coia were filed in November 1997 by Robert D. Luskin, attorney and in-house prosecutor for the union's general executive board. Under the union's Ethics and Disciplinary Code, the case was tried before a hearing officer, Peter F. Vaira, a former U.S. Attorney, who announced his decision on March 9. Ironically, until the hearing officer's ruling, Justice Department officials had defended the in-house investigation, saying they believed the case "was thoroughly investigated" and vigorously prosecuted, although they were disappointed with the decision.

In February 1995, the Justice Department issued a consent decree that allowed the union to root out corrupt practices through a range of internal reforms as a substitute for a government takeover, as in the case of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Since then, LIUNA has made enough progress in internal house cleaning to warrant the Justice Department's renewal of the so-called "oversight agreement" through January 31, 2000. LIUNA held its first general election for top officers in December 1996, in which the entire membership voted, not just convention delegates, and Coia was re-elected by a wide margin.

"Since the internal reform movement began, more than 450 investigations have been opened with some 132 charges filed. The result has been that more than 189 people have been forced to leave the union and 31 trusteeships and supervisions have been imposed," said Michael Bearse, LIUNA's general counsel.

Republican Party leaders were quick to denounce the handling of Coia's case, claiming that his close ties with President Clinton and LIUNA's big contributions to the Democratic Party saved him from removal, averted a government takeover and allowed the union to investigate itself.

23,000 at Disneyland Reluctantly Settle

After twice rejecting contract proposals recommended by their officers, the 23,000 hourly employees at Walt Disney's entertainment complex in Orlando, Fla., finally approved the 30-month agreement by a 4-to-1 vote.

The cause for the earlier rejections was that the contract required employees to pay an additional amount for their health-care coverage, which substantially cut into the wage increases in the contract. Faced with the Disney threat to impose its own contract proposals unilaterally, the employees, members of Service Employees Local 362, finally accepted a contract whose terms were not much different from the original offer.

The 51,000 hourly workers employed at Disneyland belong to six unions affiliated with the Service Trades Council.

Sweatshops: Lawsuits Hit Big Labels

Three class-action suits against 18 companies, including some of the most famous brand names in the apparel industry and the nation's top retailers, are seeking damages of more than $1 billion for conspiring with factory owners in the Marianas Islands to supply them with apparel that is produced under inhuman conditions. Joining in the legal action on behalf of some 15,000 workers on the island are several human rights groups, including Sweatshop Watch and Global Change, and UNITE, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.

Among the defendant companies are The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, Sears Roebuck and others who import about $1 billion annually from the Marianas. Because these islands, situated near the Philippines, have commonwealth status under the United States, the companies save millions on import duties.

The islands' garment workers are mainly young women, recruited from China, the Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh. They are forced to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and they can be fined all or part of their sweatshop wages if they fail to meet production quotas.

The lawsuits describe in detail the abominable conditions under which these women work and live. They are housed in dreary barracks, several to a room. Their compound is surrounded by barbed wire to prevent them from escaping.

The 18 defendant companies are embarrassed, but most are not speaking for publication and others are denying any wrongdoing.

56% of Likely Voters Favor Unions

A majority of likely voters (56.1 percent) believe that unions are a good thing for America, according to a poll sponsored by Labor Research Association (LRA). This is a distinct improvement in labor's public image when compared to the 49 percent favorable rating that unions received in 1995. Those who had a negative opinion of unions represented 28.5 percent of the total. The nationwide poll of the 993 likely voters has a 3.5 percent, plus or minus, margin of error.

The poll showed no startling surprises. Those identifying themselves as "progressives" and "liberals" were in the sub-group that was 80 percent in support of labor. Other poll results: union members (79 percent), African-Americans (75.5 percent), Catholics (65.9 percent), voters living in the East (68.4 percent) and young voters to age 29 (72.7 percent.) A majority of those who identified themselves as Republicans and conservatives had an unfavorable view of unions.

Greg Tarpinian, LRA's executive director, commented: "The numbers should be a boon to labor's efforts to get politicians to support policies that would strengthen the right of working people to organize."

Paper and Oil Unions Form PACE

A new union which hopes to be a pace-setter in organizing has adopted as its name a lively acronym, PACE, which stands for Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union. It brings together the 240,000-member United Paperworkers International Union and the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, which has about 80,000 members.

Under the merger agreement, UPIU President Boyd Young will head the new union, while OCAW President Robert Wages will serve as executive vice president and be in charge of the organizing program. The merged union will have its headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., where UPIU's offices are now located.

To finance the union's organizing effort, there will be a 50 cents a month assessment on the 320,000 members. Wages estimates that the union will have to organize 10,000 members a year "for us to stay even and grow." At present, there are 16 full-time organizers, 10 from UPIU and six from OCAW. However, the emphasis will be on training rank-and-file members as volunteer organizers.

In developing a grass-roots organizing strategy, the union is being advised by Richard Bensinger, former director of the AFL-CIO's Organizing Department.

The latest merger continues a trend within the AFL-CIO, which has reduced the number of affiliated unions from more than 100 to about 70.

Health-Care Costs Still Keep Rising

Health-care costs last year rose 6.1 percent, nearly twice as fast as the medical component of the consumer price index. But in 1999, the cost is expected to jump even higher, adding an average 9 percent, according to a survey of employers by William M. Mercer, Inc. The average cost of covering active and retired employees rose to $4,164 in 1998, from $3,924 in 1997, the data in the Mercer survey showed.

The steep rise in health-care costs will compel many working families to drop their insurance and join the 43 million who also can't afford it. Moreover, health care has become a hot-button issue in collective bargaining, with employers insisting on unloading more of the costs onto their workers. In several cases, this issue has led to strikes.

3% Deferred Pay Boosts in 1999-2000

Workers covered by multi-year contracts will receive an average 3 percent increase for 1999 and possibly the same for the following year, according to a Bureau of National Affairs study of 1,428 collective bargaining agreements.

The printing industry led all others with an average wage increase for 1999 of 7.2 percent in their current contracts. Next in line was construction with a 4 percent pay raise. Industries with the poorest record of deferred pay raises for this year were the rubber industry (1.1 percent) and insurance-finance (0.5 percent).

Chrysler Workers Get $7,400 Profit Share

More than 80,000 hourly and salaried workers employed by DaimlerChrysler in the United States will receive a lump sum of $7,400 under a profit-sharing formula agreed to by the United Auto Workers and the company. The profit-share was three-fifths greater than last year's average $4,600 payment.

Ford, which also posted record profits in 1998, said it would hand out an average $6,100 to its employees. General Motors workers will receive a mere $200, partly because of heavy financial losses during the two work stoppages last summer.

DaimlerChrysler is the U.S. Division of DaimlerChrysler AG, formed last year by a merger of Germany's Daimler-Benz and Detroit's Chrysler Corp.

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