Nearly 90,000 employees won the right to organize through card check. They range from traditionally blue-collar jobs to 'new economy' underclass jobs.
According to the
Charleston Gazette (via
Labourstart), this week the Teamsters won the right to represent as many as 15,000 haulers and workers at UPS. The employees used to work for a company that UPS bought out. If a majority of the employees sign up with the union via union cards or membership forms the Teamsters are in. This will cement their dominance within the company and move to put pressure on their campaign at
FedEx to organize their haulers and workers. So that's a big deal.
Secondly, and (more interesting to my mind) is the fact that 52,000 Day Care Workers in New York State are now being called 'employees' by the state legislature. Why is this a big deal? They're independent contractors who provide day care services in typically poor neighborhoods. They themselves work for poverty wages. Reclassifying them as employees gives them the right to organize and bargain collectively with the State of New York. In other words, 52,000 poor women are about to get a big raise. We did the same thing in Illinois last year, and it was the result of creative organizing and legislative pressure by the SEIU. By the end of their contract in 2007, their wages will have risen from 7.25 an hour to 9.35.
That's pretty good, on my block.