APRIL
2001
2001
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APRIL
2001 |
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Workshops Covered Key IssuesHealth-and-safety issues Frank Mirer, director of the UAW Health and Safety Department, led the discussion in this workshop, chaired by Vice President Richard Shoemaker, which focused on preserving OSHA protections. He also gave delegates insight on what it took to pass the ergonomics standard. Mirer said that ergonomics problems cause more than half of the injuries among our members, so we will have to defend the OSHA standard and fight for aggressive enforcement.
And we must also continue to push for OSHA coverage of state and local government employees, who are currently exempt from any protections. Ted Evans, president of UAW Local 2232, works in the public sector for the city of Nashua in New Hampshire. They represent public works employees and road crews. Just last week, Evans said, a worker represented by his local was badly burned at a nearby wastewater treatment facility. Work-and-family workshop UAW Intl. Rep. Denise Osgood discussed issues and resources in one of the work-and-family workshops, chaired by UAW Vice President Elizabeth Bunn. Osgood cited examples of current programs and benefits, offered work-and-family initiatives, and discussed political action, such as extending and broadening family leave coverage. Debbie Williams, CAP chairman of UAW Local 2244, in Fremont, Calif., said finding dependable child care for workers on the swing shift at the NUMMI plant in northern California was difficult. They start work at 4:30 p.m. and finish in the early hours of the morning. But with the support of their employer, NUMMI workers have been taking advantage of a nearby child care facility where they can leave their kids from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. And they’ve been using the facility for 16 years. “We’re trying to better the lifestyles of our second shift workers,” Williams said. Child care costs consume a significant share of a working family’s budget. The latest Census Bureau figures show child care expenses amount to about 6 percent of income for better-off families with preschool children. The poorest families spend more than a quarter of their income on child care. Human rights The workshop on human rights covered a range of topics from affirmative action and hate crimes to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and immigration. Chaired by UAW Vice President Ron Gettelfinger, the workshop noted how GOP leaders in last year’s congressional sessions blocked passage of any hate crimes legislation. “All Americans deserve protection from hate,” said Ray Arguello, who talked about the tragic deaths of James Byrd in Texas and Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. Arguello said current federal and state laws do not go far enough. James Gholston Jr., UAW Local 550, in Indianapolis, Ind., said, “We need to educate our members about affirmative action.” Another delegate, Michael Piscione of UAW Local 2000, in Amherst, Ohio, noted that there are risks in speaking out in support of affirmative action. “If you’re vocal about it, you make yourself a target. We need more people to get involved,” Piscione said. On a lighter note, delegate Dave Estrada of UAW Local 699, in Saginaw, Mich., was the subject of some unintentional “bias” because of his white cowboy hat. “Just because I’m wearing this hat doesn’t mean I voted for Bush,” Estrada said with a grin. Government, the market and us With just about any issue--from health care to trade policy--you’ll find someone calling for a “market solution.” That’s another way of saying that government should stay on the sidelines. As a union, we don’t think that the market alone should set our wages or determine who does what job. In this workshop, chaired by UAW Region 9 Director Geri Ochocinska, the focus was on those two alternatives and the relationship between them. In one exercise, delegates were asked to come up with a list of what our government should do to improve society. And then they were asked what unions should do. Not surprisingly, both lists contained many common elements, showing how unions can raise the social conscience of government. Some of those included better worker education, job security, safety in the workplace, and more diversity.
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