The Western Kentucky Worker

Official newsletter of the Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO

Prepared by Berry Craig, KEA-NEA and AFT- Kentucky

Volume 8, Number 2, February 2007

Incumbents expected to be reelected at January meeting

Elections for new officers are expected to go quickly at the January council meeting.

All incumbents were nominated without opposition. But Howard “Bubba” Dawes was nominated to succeed the late Lewis Hicks as COPE director. Nathan Torian was nominated to replace Hicks as a council trustee. Dawes and Torian have no opposition.

The other nominees are Jeff Wiggins, president; Benny Adair, vice president; Hardy Williams, recording secretary; Donna Steele, financial secretary-treasurer; Berry Craig, sergeant-at-arms; and Trustees Bonnie Edwards, Wayne Chambers, David Childress and George Wiggins.

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Reynolds and Miller nominated for W.C. Young Award

A retired national labor leader and a veteran county judge-executive have been nominated for the 2007 W.C. Young Award.

The nominees are Bob Reynolds of Paducah , retired president and general chairman of IAM District 19; and Mike Miller of Benton , the Marshall County judge-executive.

Additional nominations can be made at the February council meeting. The executive board will name the award recipient from the nominees, and the annual W.C. Young Award dinner will be in April.

The Young Award is the highest honor the council bestows. It is named for the late W.C. Young, a national labor and civil rights leader from Paducah .

Reynolds joined the IAM at the old Illinois Central Railroad repair shops in Paducah in the 1960s. He advanced to national leadership.

Unions consider Miller a strong ally. He is also a leader in the state Democratic Party.            

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Council's ‘Rock of Labor' might be Mayfield bound

The “Rock of Labor” may have found a home.

It looks like the boulder is headed to the Graves County courthouse lawn where it will be erected as a memorial to Steelworkers Local 665, the union at the Continental General Tire plant, which was expected to close on Feb. 1. Wayne Chambers, Local 665 vice president, said the union is working with a Marshall County monument company to get the stone engraved.

“I talked to [Graves County Judge-Executive] Tony Smith, and he doesn't think there should be any problem getting the marker put up at the courthouse,” Chambers said. “That would be a great place for it.”

Chambers also expects the Steelworkers to charter a retirees' chapter for tire plant workers. “We've already got enough signatures on a charter application,” he said.

The retirees' group is called Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees, or SOAR for short. The USW started SOAR in 1985 “to address the escalating social, economic and political concerns of Steelworker retirees and their families.” SOAR has several local chapters in the U.S. and Canada .

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Delegates to vote on proposed charter amendment

The council executive board voted to amend the council charter to permit up to three members of one union to serve on the panel.

The current charter reads, “…no more than two members of the same local or national or international union may serve as officers of the executive board of the council.”

The board recommended the change because of the merger of the PACE and the United Rubber Workers unions with the Steelworkers and because of declining participation from certain other unions.

“We are supposed to be where all AFL-CIO affiliated unions in our area come together,” said Jeff Wiggins, council president. “Right now, delegates from only a few unions regularly attend our meetings.
“We hope to get better participation. But we feel that in the meantime, all we can do is amend our charter.”

Delegates will have to approve the recommendation for it to take effect.

In other business at the January meeting, delegates voted to donate $100 to help pay for the Workers' Memorial in Henderson . The stone monument was erected by the Henderson-based Tri-County Labor Council.

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Local union members helped Goodyear strikers

“On the Monday following union protests in front of 150 Goodyear Tire stores, the company and the USW returned to the negotiating table,” wrote Bill Londrigan, Kentucky State AFL-CIO president on the federation's website.
“Shortly thereafter an agreement was reached between the USW and Goodyear.”

The Purcell tire store in Paducah was one of the protest sites. “We wanted to show our solidarity with our brothers and sisters at Goodyear,” said Jeff Wiggins, Area Council president. “We were happy to do our part.”

So was AIM-UNITE! Chapter 22 in Paducah . The group collected $110 in donations for strikers at the Union City , Tenn. , Goodyear plant. “I'd like to say thank you to anybody who donated to the strike,” said Bonnie Edwards, Chapter 22 vice president and council trustee. “People also donated bottled water, coffee, paper supplies, snacks and things to make sandwiches with.”

Steelworkers at Goodyear plants who went on strike last fall ratified the new agreement by better than a 2-1 margin. "The credit really belongs to our members and their families, whose solidarity prevented the company from short-changing them, despite all of its attempts," said USW International president Leo W. Gerard in a USW news release. "Special thanks go out again to all of our AFL-CIO union affiliates, activist groups, community organizations, businesses and public officials who not only understood our struggle, but stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us."

USW Executive Vice President Ron Hoover added, “It took a strike, but we achieved a fair and equitable contract that protects quality health care for active and retired members. And by winning major capital investment expenditures, it secures our jobs for the future."

The new contract establishes a company-financed trust of more than $1 billion that will secure medical and prescription drug benefits for current and future retirees. Future contributions will include diverted COLA (cost of living allowances) payments and profit-sharing funds. Affordable, high quality medical and prescription drug coverage for the union's active and retired membership was also maintained.

"To secure jobs, we had to obtain enough money to keep our plants globally competitive," said USW International vice president Tom Conway in the news release. "The $550 million in new capital expenditure commitments is the result of our objective of enhancing the ability of USW-represented plants to meet the challenges of the international marketplace."

Negotiations between the USW and Goodyear began last June. With a contract expiration date of July 22 approaching, a day-to-day extension agreement was reached that gave both parties the option of terminating the agreement upon delivering 72-hour notice. Lack of progress in bargaining talks forced the USW to delivered notice on October 2 and 15,000 USW members in plants throughout North America struck on October 5.

The USW represents more than 850,000 members in the U.S. and Canada . Some 70,000 are employed in the tire, rubber and plastics industry. The Paducah rally was part of a Dec. 16 “National Day of Action” jointly sponsored by the USW and the AFL-CIO. Most of the rally-goers were from USW Local 878L at the Union City plant.

The USW said it called for a “National Day of Action” to step up the union's "public campaign for a fair union contract at Goodyear through the holiday season and as long as it takes to gain justice.” At least 53 people showed up for the Paducah rally, said Ron Spann of Paducah , a USW international representative. Rally goers gave Goodyear 53 votes for “Grinch of the Year.” Jobs with Justice, a national coalition of union, community, religious and student groups, sponsors the annual balloting “to highlight the corporation that most harms workers and their families.” Goodyear won the “honor” for 2006.

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‘I have been forceful in my meetings with Bill O'Brien'

By GERALD WATKINS

I feel I was elected to the city commission to protect labor's interests as much as I can. Goodness knows, labor needs more friends at City Hall.

I have had to be very forceful in my meetings with Bill O'Brien and Mayor Bill Paxton. I am working hard to change the city's anti-union negotiating position with International Association of Firefighters Local 168.

The mayor's anti-union record is plain. He got the commission to endorse Gov. Ernie Fletcher's right-to-work for less bill which failed in the 2006 legislature. I was proud to come to city hall, stand up with you and speak out against right-to-work for less.

I decided to run for city commission to give Commissioner Robert Coleman some help. You helped me get elected.

Dealing with Mr. O'Brien and Mayor Paxton has been very frustrating. But I am not going to allow them to get away with their anti-union arguments. I am gratified to have the support of Commissioners Robert Coleman and Gayle Kaler.

I have talked at length to all sides in the negotiations. I have met with the fire chief, the city human resources director, the city manager and Barry Carter, president of Local 168.

I have gone over with the city manager what I believe would be a just settlement between the Firefighters and the city. I really believe that we can come up with a contract that is acceptable to the city and the Firefighters and thus be in a position to settle the two lawsuits facing the city.

The Firefighters are being reasonable. The city needs to quit treating them as public enemy number one.

I am only one vote and one voice, but I am doing all I can to help settle these issues. I believe a settlement is priority number one for the city commission. And I believe Robert, Gayle and I working together can make a difference and make a better city hall. We want to make it once again a hall of the people.

I want to again say how much I appreciate labor's support in my recent election victory. Labor is my background.

My first labor affiliation was in 1975 when I hired in with the city street department. I immediately joined AFSCME Local 1586 and became active in the union. I worked as a laborer, truck driver and finally a concrete finisher. I was elected to the union's executive board and was serving until I left my job to go to college.

As a teacher at PCC (now WKCTC), I helped organize AFT Local 6010.

I served on the state AFT COPE committee and was elected an AFT delegate to the Area Council.

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Got news? Email it to Berry Craig at bcraig8960@newwavecomm.net or Jeff Wiggins at JLWiggins2@Juno.com.

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