Stop the senseless deaths on the California farms, 5 more deaths in the fields since the underage pregnant girl

On June 3rd. I wrote Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard, seems not much has changed.

You can help the California farm workers get to Sacramento by donating for their bus trip to California. This comes from fellow labor communicator TomP over at DailyKos.

Six California farm workers have died since May from what appears to be heat related causes. The latest one was Maria De Jesus Alvarez, 63, mother of nine, who died early this month. The first one to die was 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who died in May. Marie was about a month pregnant when she died, and likely did not ever know she was pregnant. The state fined the labor contractor $262,700 for failing to follow heat illness prevention regulations at the time Jimenez was stricken, but that won’t bring her back. And the deaths have continued at an accelerated pace since then.

You can help to end this tragedy. This Monday, August 18, more than 800 farm workers from throughout California want to go to Sacramento to lobby the Legislature on a key bill that will help them help themeselves. They want the chance to tell the Governor and their elected officials to support AB 2386, “Secret Ballot Elections for Farmworkers,” which has moved out of the assembly and which will be voted on that afternoon in the state senate.

I have been writing for months on the deaths of farm workers in California from the heat. Six farm workers deaths are being or have been investigated because of heat-related causes since May.

This brings to 15 the number of farm workers whose death have been investigated as heat-related since Governor Schwarzenegger took office.

You can learn more details of this continuing tragedy in these diaries:

Sixth Farm Worker Dies from the Heat this Summer in California. A Call for Action.

Another Farm Worker dies. Does anyone give a damn? The Netroots Do.

United Farm Workers Calls for Manslaughter Charges Against Company in Death of 17 Year Old

How many Farmworkers must die before someone cares??

Please Tell Fallen Farm Worker’s Family We Care

“How much is the life of a farm worker worth? Is it less than the life of any other human being?”

As UFW President Arturo S. Rodriguez said at the funeral of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez:

How much is the life of a farm worker worth? Is it less than the life of any other human being?

The state has fined the labor contractor for whom Maria Isabel worked:

Atwater-based Merced Farm Labor, the contractor investigated in the death of Lodi teen Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez last spring, was fined $262,700 by the state [in July] for failure to follow heat illness prevention regulations at the time Jimenez was stricken.

Jimenez, a 17-year-old pregnant farm laborer, collapsed May 14 in a Farmington vineyard operated by West Coast Grape Farming and died two days later. Her death from heatstroke was ruled an occupational death by the San Joaquin County coroner.

State fines labor firm over death

In honor of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, the march from Lodi, CA to Sacramento State Capitol, June 4, 2008:

Since then, five more farm workers have died from what appears to be heat-related causes.

August 2, 2008: Maria de Jesus Alvarez.

July 31, 2008: Jorge Herrera.

July 9, 2008: Ramiro Carrillo Rodriguez.

July 9, 2008: Abdon Felix Garcia.

June 20, 2008: Jose Macrena Hernandez.

Farm worker dies in Santa Maria, California. Television news report on the death of Jose Macrena Hernandez:

These deaths make it clear the state does not have the capacity to protect farm workers. With all the budget cuts and other issues in California now, the state, even if well intentioned, simply has not been able to protect these workers. So they must protect themselves.

We can make a difference and it will not take much.

The vital legislation that Speaker Emeritus Nunez has introduced–and the workers want to go to Sacramento and lobby for–protects farm workers’ right to a secret ballot election and will make it easier for farm workers to organize and enforce the laws that the state cannot enforce.

Please TAKE ACTION TODAY and ask California legislatures to support this vital bill..

If you can’t attend please make a donation to help the United Farm Workers rent 14 buses, additional vans, plus pay for food and other supplies which will cost in excess of $31,770 for the day.

There is nothing more powerful than hearing a farm worker story face-to-face, especially to lawmakers.

Doroteo Jimenez, grape worker and uncle of 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez who died in May explains why she must go to Sacremento.

I want to go to Sacramento and speak to the legislators.

My niece Maria Isabel died because growers treat us like tools instead of like people. I spoke up and I was unjustly fired. This needs to change now. I don’t want to see other families suffer like our family has. This bill can change farm workers’ lives for the better.

Please help us.

Margarita Hernandez, grape worker knows that that there must be changes in the workplace:

The reason for me to go to Sacramento is because I want changes in the working conditions at my job and the other companies. In the place where I work, Sun Pacific, we don’t have shade and the drinking water is without ice until 9 am—though they know that by that hour it is already hot.

There have been people have felt sick from the heat and the company people always ask if they feel bad because of something they ate…

I feel there is no respect for the farm worker, even though many farm workers have died. The companies don’t change their treatment towards the farm workers. That is why I am going to Sacramento. I have the hope that one day, we will be treated better.

Just to rent the buses and vans needed, will cost $26,570 and that does not cover the food and other supplies needed.

The UNF hopes that internet supporters would contribute $5,510 towards this expense. This will cover the transportation costs of 140 workers at $39.36 per worker. Let’s show them that Daily Kos can do it and more!

Can you make sure Doroteo, Margarita and others get seats on the bus?

When the union is strong, growers and labor contractors follow the California heat regulations, and lives can be saved. This bill is key to growing the union and, literally, saving lives.

Where farm workers are protected by union contracts, the laws are honored.

And when growers know it is easier for farm workers to organize and bring in the union, employers are much more careful about obeying the law because they don’t want to give the union an advantage.

So the answer, sisters and brothers, is self-help—making it easier for farm workers to organize so the laws on the books are the laws in the fields. Then more important human beings like Maria Isabel won’t have to die.

Remarks by Arturo S. Rodriguez, President, United Farm Workers of America, Honoring Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, June 4, 2008

Please help.

Please TAKE ACTION TODAY and ask California legislatures to support this vital bill.

If you can’t attend please make a donation to help the United Farm Workers rent 14 buses, additional vans, plus pay for food and other supplies which will cost in excess of $31,770 for the day.

Yesterday we mourned,
Today we act,
Tomorrow we will gain justice.

Si, Se Puede!

Underage and pregnant Mexican teen dies on California vinyard

“If you take her to a clinic,” the foreman said, “don’t say she was working [for the contractor]. Say she became sick because she was jogging to get exercise. Since she’s underage, it will create big problems for us.”

I got wind of this story from TrueBlueMajority at DailyKos from (5/29/08):

Pregnant farmworker dies due to safety violations
Funeral services were held yesterday in California for Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez. Vasquez Jimenez was a 17 year old woman working for a contracting company called Merced Farm Labor, and she died of overheating because rules about access to water, water breaks, and shade were ignored. Newspaper reports indicate her body temperature exceeded 108 degrees. She may not have known she was two months pregnant; her pregnancy was discovered as part of the investigation into her death.

Republicans and conservatives who claim to be “pro-life” while acting as though undocumented farmworkers are disposable people pushes all my righteous anger buttons. I predict we won’t see any outrage from the “pro-life” community about the unnecessary death of this young woman and her unborn child.

From the Sacramento Bee:

When Vasquez Jimenez collapsed, she had been on the job three days, pruning vines for $8 an hour in a vineyard owned by West Coast Grape Farming.

During eight hours of work beginning at 6 a.m. in heat that topped 95 degrees, Bautista said that workers were given only one water break, at 10:30 a.m. And the water was a 10-minute walk away – too far, he said, to keep up with the crew and avoid being scolded.

Vasquez Jimenez collapsed at 3:30 p.m., Bautista said, and for at least five minutes, the foreman did nothing but stare at the couple while Bautista cradled her.

Bautista said the foreman told him to place the teenager in the back seat of a van, which was hot inside, and put a wet cloth on her.

Later, Bautista said, the foreman told a driver to take the pair to a store to buy rubbing alcohol and apply it to see if it would revive Vasquez Jimenez. When that failed, the driver took the couple to a clinic in Lodi, Bautista said, where her body temperature had reached more than 108 degrees.

“The foreman told me to say that she wasn’t working for a contractor, that she got sick while exercising,” Bautista said in Spanish. “He said she was underage, and it would cause a lot of problems.”

Bautista and family members said that clinic staff rushed the girl to a hospital, where she was revived several times before finally succumbing two days later without ever regaining consciousness. Doctors later discovered she was two months pregnant.

the United Farm Workers website in memorializing her quotes from a speech by Cesar Chavez from 34 years ago when he reflected on whether these deaths are deliberate:

“They are deliberate,” Cesar said, “in the sense that they are the direct result of a farm labor system that treats workers like agricultural implements and not as human beings. These accidents happen because employers and labor contractors treat us as if we were not important human beings.”

But farm workers “are important human beings,” Cesar continued…

They are important because they are from us. We cherish them. We love them. We will miss them.

They are important because of the love they gave to their husbands, their children, their wives, their parents—all those who were close to them and who needed them.

They are important because of the work they do. They are not implements to be used and discarded. They are human beings who sweat and sacrifice to bring food to the tables of millions…of people throughout the world.

They are important because God made them, gave them life, and cares for them in life and death.

Which brings me to what UnionGal brought up in her version of the story:

How many more will it take for OSHA to do the right thing, for the states to enforce the law, for everyone to understand that the grapes on the table or in your juice or wine may be at the price of a human life or two? Isn’t that price too high to pay? It is, it’s too high, way too high.

I figure if you have been reading my stories in succession, you may notice a recent theme, there are less and less jobs for American citizens, and the trade off is slavery. Corporate American and the politicians are allowing everything that American workers, our original immigrants fought so valiantly for. It seems the only ones fighting for justice are unions and social activist. Which brings me to the next article about Glen Beck from CNN, who wrote a fantastic piece entitled “Commentary: Slavery alive and well in U.S.” (5/28/08) which brings up a lot of items discussed on this blog, including “Illegal immigrants aren’t employees, they’re corporate slaves” and that “fines should be much higher on employers that hire illegal workers”

Another tidbit of farmworker abuse that should be viewed is UnionGals “Sesame Street: Injustice Brought to Us By The Letter “U”” (5/20/08), heres a very small snip

Farm labor organizers say they have discovered more than 100 migrant fruit pickers living in a Central Valley cherry orchard where they have been sleeping outdoors and bathing in drainage ditches.

The American worker and all jobs here are being attacked, the writing is on the wall people, it is the fight that must be taken seriously by everyone. It’s not just industrial jobs, its the jobs that are still here, the meat cutting, construction, programming, nursing, everything.

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit

More than 40 North American labor unions file charges against North Carolina’s anti-union policies

I have been following this story for a while at UnionReview, heres the original “North Carolina Violates NAFTA ?? – Right to Freely Associate/Organize/Bargain Collectively” from 11/08

North Carolina is guilty of breaking a NAFTA side agreement which covers labor rights. One of those rights is freedom to form a union. North Carolina has not been in compliance. Now 40+ labor groups in the continent have filed suit against the US and North Carolina.

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAFTA, by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

From Canada’s NUPGE – National Union of Public and General Employees (4/22/08):

Labour groups charge U.S. with violating NAFTA labour standards

NUPGE one of 40 Canadian, U.S., and Mexican labour bodies filing formal charge under side agreement to international trade deal Ottawa (22 April 2008) – The 340,000-member National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), along with more than 40 other labour organizations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, will file a charge Wednesday against the U.S. under the North American Agreement for Labour Cooperation (NAALC), the labour side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The complaint will be lodged formally in Ottawa on Wednesday on behalf of the labour groups by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers /Association canadienne des avocats du mouvement syndical (CALL/ACAMS). (Participating organizations are listed below.)

James Clancy

The complaint charges that the state of North Carolina and the United States are violating the NAALC by denying 650,000 public employees the right to engage in collective bargaining.

The agreement requires the United States, Mexico and Canada to provide for “high labour standards” in their laws, and lists freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining among its core principles.

Labour ministers meeting

The complaint is being filed on the eve of a high-level political meeting in Ottawa between the labour ministers for the three countries. Members of the CALL/ACAMS will deliver the message personally to the ministers when they gather in Ottawa on Thursday April 24 for a luncheon to discuss the NAALC.

Susan Philpott, an executive board member of CALL/ACAMS, says all three NAFTA countries must take the complaint seriously.

“It is deeply troubling that the U.S. is willfully violating NAFTA labour standards,” says Philpott. “The Canadian government must seek to ensure its fellow NAFTA members honour their commitments and the rule of law, otherwise the integrity of NAFTA and the NAALC will be seriously compromised.”

NUPGE national president James Clancy is calling on Canada’s Labour Minister to step in personally and to forcefully remind his U.S. counterpart of their obligations under NAFTA.

“The government of North Carolina is trampling on NAFTA labour standards which Canada, the U.S and Mexico are obliged to respect and uphold,” says Clancy. “The Canadian government can’t turn a blind eye to such flagrant abuses. Canada must respond vigorously and at the highest levels.”

The North Carolina public employees are represented by the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union. The union, Local 150 of the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), represents state and municipal employees across North Carolina. It has been pressuring the North Carolina government to respect workers’ human rights and allow public employees to bargain collectively.

‘International disgrace’

Local 150 President Angaza Laughinghouse has expressed his union’s gratitude for the showing of international support.

“We are very pleased with the solidarity being extended to North Carolina public employees by unions from across the three NAFTA countries and around the globe. This shows that North Carolina’s continued denial of basic worker rights is an international disgrace. It’s an injustice and an embarrassment to this state that our elected officials must correct,” he said.

The NAALC complaint is being filed with the National Administrative Office (NAO) within Canada’s federal ministry of labour. Under NAFTA’s terms, the U.S., Canada and Mexico each established an NAO to act on complaints of violations of the NAALC.

The petitioners are asking the Canadian NAO to investigate North Carolina’s labour rights violations, and issue a report and recommendations for action. The actions requested by the labour organizations include North Carolina immediately repealing General Statute 95-98, replacing it with legislation that will guarantee public sector workers the right to organize, bargain collectively, and full freedom of association.

A similar complaint regarding the North Carolina bargaining ban was filed in October 2006 by a Mexican union, the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (Authentic Labour Front or FAT) along with 53 other labour organizations, mostly from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.

In October 2007 Mexico’s NAO accepted the complaint and launched an investigation. Mexico and Canada are North Carolina’s largest international trading partners. North Carolina’s combined annual exports to Canada and Mexico total $6.5 billion. NUPGE

Check out the NUPGE site to read more, and view a list of organizations involved in the suit