http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=6863&catid=&volume_id=317&issue_id=390&volume_num=42&issue_num=45

Cash from cabbies

Yellow Cab pushes driver prepayment plan that city officials say is illegal

By Maria Dinzeo

› news@sfbg.com

The largest taxicab company in San Francisco is trying to squeeze more money from its drivers, who say they're already being hit hard by increased gate fees and rising fuel costs.

Yellow Cab has ordered its drivers to prepay for the privilege of driving each month, amounting to thousands of dollars for full-time drivers. Compounding that financial hardship is the apparent intention of the company to use prepaid gate fees to change the employment status of its drivers from employees to independent contractors who are no longer entitled to unemployment insurance and workers' compensation coverage.

While local officials say Yellow Cab's new policy is illegal, they have little power to compel the company to abandon the plan, which was supposed to go into effect Aug. 15 but has now been moved to December under pressure from city officials and the United Taxicab Workers union. Drivers are also threatening to bring legal action to stop Yellow Cab, relying on a past ruling barring the company from requiring deposits from its drivers and misclassifying drivers as independent contractors.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7971114554624864182

No Peace No Work! ILWU Shuts Down West Coast Ports On May Day 2008

On May 2, 2008, ILWU shut down west coast ports to protest the war and commemorate May Day. This video shows some of the speakers at the May Day rally initiated by the ILWU Local 10 and interviews longshore workers about why they are taking action against the war on May Day 2008.
For more information on this action go to
http://maydayilwu.googlepages.com/home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw8lwKTguoo

Produced by the Labor Video Project
P.O. Box 720027
San Francisco, CA 94172
(415)282-1908
lvpsf@labornet.org

UNITY TWAC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Transit Workers Action Caucus, a group of AC Transit workers, is calling on all interested people to join them in protesting inhumane conditions on AC Transit buses. For years bus operators and passengers have suffered in the summer months from heat related stress. Now in these times of global warming and with the addition of the controversial Belgian Van Hool buses the situation has gotten worse.

In November of 2007 AC Transit was cited by Cal-OSHA for:

1. 3203(a) (6) Accident investigations not done for at least 7 employee injuries. Penalty imposed $335.

2. 3395(c) No water provided for bus drivers exposed to heat illness hazards. Penalty imposed $560.

3. 3395(d) No shade provided for bus driver exposed to heat illness hazards. Penalty imposed $560.

4. 3395(e) No heat illness procedures, no employee and Supervisor training on procedures and heat-related hazards. Penalty imposed $560.

AC Transit has appealed the citations claiming that the regulation is new to Transportation / Transit and will have widespread impact on many transit agencies. TWAC points out that most California transit agencies have air conditioned buses. Only 20% of AC’s buses have A/C but those buses are primarily used on Transbay routes - not the inner city routes that serve over 90% of AC riders and mostly communities of color. Despite four serious heat waves this spring and summer, AC Transit has done nothing to comply with the above regulations.

AA Flight attendant wins $1.2 million in suit for harassment & discrimination
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/18/BA7S11R9JJ.DTL&hw=discrimination&sn=001&sc=1000

Flight attendant wins $1.2 million in suit
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, July 18, 2008

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A federal court jury in San Francisco awarded more than $1.2 million in damages Thursday to a former American Airlines flight attendant who said the airline concocted reasons to fire her after she complained about an assault by a passenger.
The eight-member U.S. District Court jury found that American Airlines fired Greta Anderson in 2005 at least in part because of the company's belief that she was mentally disabled, even though she was able to do the job she had held since 1976. The jury awarded her $238,000 for wage losses and $1 million for emotional distress.
The airline said it dismissed Anderson for insubordination because she disobeyed supervisors' orders by repeatedly asking a psychiatrist for a copy of his report that found her unfit for duty. Company lawyers were unavailable for comment late Thursday, but Anderson's attorney, Gregory Redmond, said the airline's position during the trial left little doubt that it would appeal the verdict.

Flight Attendants Face High-Pressure Cabins : Growing Nightmare For Airline Workers
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92222458

BUSINESS
Flight Attendants Face High-Pressure Cabins

by Frank Langfitt

Audio for this story will be available at approx. 9:00 a.m. ET

Enlarge
Frank Langfitt/NPR
Erin Gailey has flown for Alaska Airlines for 25 years. She says the job of a flight attendant has changed dramatically.

Morning Edition, July 7, 2008 ·Flight attendants have one of the tougher jobs in America these days. Airline companies are reeling from high oil prices, and new baggage fees are annoying more customers. Caught in the middle is the flight attendant, the public face of an industry that's on the ropes.

When Stefannee Steffenhagen started working for Air Wisconsin — a US Airways commuter service — several years ago, she thought it was the beginning of what she called "that little-girl dream."

But the reality of the job doesn't quite measure up. In her brief career, Steffenhagen has seen a lot of change.

Today, she has fewer amenities to offer passengers, and they're increasingly angry about it. She says one of her toughest jobs is just getting women to put their purses in the overhead compartment.

http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/2290

News online

Tehran bus union man arrested in new attack

25 June 2008

The ITF has expressed acute concern following the arrest yesterday of Gholamreza Gholamhosseini, another member of its Iranian bus affiliate.

Gholamhosseini, a member of the Vahed Syndicate Executive Board
was arrested by police in Tehran while visiting Shirodi Stadium, where an event to mark Iran’s Women's Day was taking place. The gathering was sponsored by the municipality of Tehran and by the bus company, Sherkat Vahed.

Security personnel prevented Gholamhosseini from entering the stadium; police then apprehended him and took him to Gisha Police Station.

Today, June 25th, Judge Hassan Dehghan Dehnavi, who is also involved in the case of the union’s General Secretary Mansour Osanloo, ordered Gholamhosseini’s detention in Evin prison. Hassan Dehghan Dehnavi declared that Gholamhosseini, who is not charged with any crime, should be detained for an indefinite period whilst his case is investigated.

Gholamhosseini had been dismissed from the company for taking part in the strike action of January 2006. Although the court has ordered his reinstatement, the company is refusing to comply.

www.doro-chiba.org

Declaration of 59th Regular Central Committee of Doro-Chiba

Doro-Chiba adopted today a new policy of struggle on the 59th Regular Central Committee meeting held in the Union Hall. We have confirmed the achievement of the struggle of the first half of 2008, which was focused on crushing the corporate policy of enforcing the so-called “Life Cycle System” and outsourcing of inspection and repair work. The most outrageous corporate plan is the “Life Cycle System” that intends to deal with serious shortage of station personnel, a result of failure of the company, by a makeshift measure, that is, by periodically transferring drivers in rotation to the station duty. JR companies are fully responsible for all these precarious situations. They have put their absolute priority on greedily seeking profit by means of outsourcing and cutting down personnel costs in total negligence of rail safety. Currently, necessary driving personnel are barely maintained by sacrificing days off and forcing even elderly drivers of the retirement age to run the train at 130 km/h. Another deadly Amagasaki rail accident is inevitable and worsening working conditions as well as further outsourcing is anticipated.

NYC TWU 100 Pres "Actions Are Like That Of A Transit Boss" Charges That "Toussaint of Acting More Like A Manager Than A Union Leader"
http://www.thechief-leader.com/news/2008/0530/news/013.html
Some Grumbling in Ranks
TWU, 'Transit' Combine On Track-Safety Course

By ARI PAUL

Thousands of New York City Transit workers are going through day-long safety stand-downs, many of them led personally by the agency and Transport Workers Union Local 100 presidents, in an effort to increase work safety on the subway tracks.

Local 100 Photo

WORKING TOGETHER: Both Transport Workers Union Local 100 and New York City Transit have heralded the stand-downs as a successful collaborative effort that will change the authority's 'organizational culture.' Track Inspector Thomas Bodai instructs workers on the rule changes.

In May and June, all 7,000 of Local 100's Maintenance of Way members as well as supervisors and workers in the Rapid Transit Operators and Car Equipment have and will attend joint presentations by NYC Transit President Howard H. Roberts and Local 100 leader Roger Toussaint, and work in smaller groups to learn new track-safety rule changes.

2 Deaths Were Catalysts

Call For Solidarity By Istanbul Dockyard Strike

To: solidarity.limteris@googlemail.com
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 11:35 PM
Subject: URGENT CALL! STRIKE AT THE DOCYARDS IN ISTANBUL!

URGENT CALL! STRIKE AT THE DOCYARDS IN ISTANBUL!

The dockyard workers of Tuzla/Istanbul go on strike on the 16th of June against labour-related accidents. The strike is called by the dockyard workers' union LIMTER-IS.
The number of the dockyard workers, who died at accidents, has risen to 98 with the latest accident at Selahattin Arslan Dockyard, where 35 year old Ihsan Turhan lost his life.
In Turkey, 900 workers loose their lives every year in labour-related accidents in different sectors. 55 thousand workers have died in the last 60 years with the same reason and 145 thousand workers have become disabled.
The dockyard workers have been struggling against the increasing accidents under the leadership of their union Limter-Is for many years. This struggle has become even more intensified during the last months and in February the dockers went on a two-day-strike which found an important echo inside and outside the country.
In face of the fact that the dockyards' bosses and the government did not fulfil the promises given during that strike, Limter-Is has called for strike once again to solve the question.

Original posting

April 23: Workers at France's seven biggest ports went on strike today to protest a government plan to sell dock-equipment management to private companies and take staff off public payrolls.

Sixty-seven vessels including thirty-nine tankers stranded at the harbor's entrance. Government officials, port managers and union representatives are yet to tally the costs of the strike. A 17-day walkout last year in Marseille alone cost Manutention Generale Mediterraneenne, the port's biggest cargo- handler, ?1.5 million ($2.4 million).

The ports plan is set to threaten jobs and unions say there will be "serious economic consequences" if the government doesn't back down on its port reforms for which they say there is "no real economic and financial necessity".

Port workers pledged to intensify disruptions after today's one-day walkout. The CGT called for strikes three nights a week and an end to overtime work. Ports will be blocked during the nights of April 24 and 25, it said. Le Havre will be closed for 24 hours starting mid-day on May 26.