LABOR

NYC TAXI DRIVERS, BARRED FROM UNIONS, JOIN CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL

AFL-CIO - They start each day $130 in the hole. They work 60 - 70 hours
a week in one of the most grueling and dangerous jobs around, all for
between $27,000 and $33,000 a year. They are New York City taxi drivers,
mostly immigrants from developing countries looking for a better life
for themselves and their families. And soon they will have the backing
of the 1 million members of the New York City Central Labor Council. The
council is expected next month to make the Taxi Workers' Alliance, which
represents 7,000 taxi drivers, its newest member - the first worker
center to affiliate with a central labor council.

In August, the AFL-CIO Executive Council adopted a resolution that paved
the way for worker centers to affiliate with AFL-CIO central labor
councils and state federations. The purpose of the action, as stated in
the resolution, was to connect to the worker center communities in a
structured and meaningful way and to develop new methods in partnership
with these centers in order to expose abuses and improve workplace
standards in various industries to the benefit of all workers - whether
union or nonunion; whether immigrant or born in the United States.

Half of the 200,000 taxi drivers in the United States work in New York
City, says Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the Taxi Workers'
Alliance. The drivers hope that by joining the central labor council
they can negotiate better benefits, especially health care. They
recognize, Desai says, there is power in being part of an organization:

Under rulings from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the
drivers are considered independent contractors, not employees, and
therefore do not have a right to unionize and negotiate contracts with
the taxi garages.

But that didn't stop the taxi workers from joining together for a better
life. In 1998, the New York Alliance organized a one-day strike of
nearly 40,000-licensed taxi drivers. In 2004, the alliance won a
historic victory when New York City established the first-ever living
wage standard for the city's 40,000-licensed yellow medallion taxicab
drivers.

Founded in 1998, the Taxi Workers Alliance has chapters in 19 cities,
including Los Angeles, Omaha, Neb., and San Antonio.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/11/28/taxi-drivers-line-up-to-join-new-york-clc/

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White Wall: Union Leadership Needs People of Color
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/120406LA.shtml
Over the past 50 years, labor unions have experienced a steady decline in
membership, and the dearth of people of color in leadership positions may be an
important cause, say some union organizers.

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Wal-Mart Girds for Showdown With New Congress on Unions, Trade
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/120406LB.shtml
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., long an ally of Republicans, has spent the last two years
ramping up political donations to Democrats. The company will soon find out
whether that bet will pay off.

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