IBEW Local 648
THE RIGHT CHOICE
  • March 28, 2024
    Labor Headlines

    US labour news headlines from LabourStart

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  • A SECURE FUTURE STARTS TODAY GET ORGANIZED!

    Are you interested in bettering your life? Do you want to make higher wages? Would you like to have a pension, annuity, 401K, and health care? Do you want to work in a safer environment? Contact us today to find out how you can do that. Matt Von Stein Membership Development 513-863-6515

    Organize Today
    Jan 22, 2014
    "Our cause is the cause of human justice, human rights and human security" Organizing the unorganized has always been the driving spirit behind the labor movement. In earlier years, workers who tried to form unions were beaten by company thugs or shot at by government troops. Union organizers risked -- and sometimes gave -- their lives to win the fight for dignity and justice on the job. It is because of the sacrifices of these heroic men and women that American workers enjoy the standard of living we have today. As we start a new decade, organizing continues to be the labor movement's vital mission. The anti-union attacks take different forms, but they are just as intense and brutal as in the early days of the labor movement. Union-Busters now carry brief cases instead of brass knuckles, but their aim is the same: to divide and demoralize workers, to prevent them from having a voice on the job and in society. Despite the setbacks, trade unionists today are no more willing to give up the struggle than were our predecessors. Workers know that hazards on the job maim and destroy thousands every year. Workers know that discrimination and favoritism rob people of opportunities for advancement. Workers know about the lack of dignity that exists when people are denied a voice in their working lives. And trade unionists understand that everything we have achieved can be taken away if we don't continue to organize. Employers pit one group against another, demanding concessions in order to be "competitive." To be strong, we must be united. Organizing is the job of every single union member. It is the responsibility of all of us to educate our friends and neighbors about what a union really is. That a union is more than just a collective bargaining agreement. It is more than the improved wages and benefits that come with a union contract. A union is more than the leadership and staff -- the lawyers, negotiators, educators, economists -- who assist us. The union is the people themselves, joining together in a triumph of hope over fear, standing up together for justice. Unions have led the fight for the 40-hour work week, eight-hour day, minimum wage, occupational saftey and health laws, fair standards act, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, and the banning of child labor IBEW Local 648 is committed to the advancement of the Wages, Benefits, and Working Conditions of All Electrical Workers! What does "Joining IBEW Local 648" mean? Joining IBEW Local 648 means that you will be a part of an organization whose objectives are not only to organize all workers in the entire electrical industry in the United States and Canada into local unions. We are also committed: To promote reasonable methods of work, To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry, To settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (if possible), To assist each other in sickness or distress, To secure employment, To reduce the hours of daily labor, To secure adequate pay for our work, To seek a higher and higher standard of living, To seek security for the individual, And by legal and proper means to elevate the morale, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship. Under Federal Law You Have A Right! Organization through Unionism is a legal right. Federal Law gives workers in most employment situations the right to join together to form a Union. The law is known as the "National Labor Relations Act" or NLRA and was originally put into effect in 1935 as the Wagner Act. Did You Know? The National Labor Relations Act protects employees rights to discuss wages and benefits with co-workers. It has also been ruled that it is a violation of the Act for an employer to discipline its employees for discussing and comparing their current wages with each other. An employer can not make or enforce this type of policy. The Act protects employees rights to talk about Unions with their co-workers. An employer that spies on employees engaging in protected concerted activity, such as Union talk or meetings, can be fined under the Act. Employers do not have the right to discriminate in hiring or firing based purely on Union sympathy or affiliation. The National Labor Relations Act is for ALL employees, not just Union or non-Union. It provides ALL of us with protection. The National Labor Relations Act is administered by the National Labor Relations Board or NLRB. Know Your Rights! - National Labor Relations Board For additional information call (513)-863-6515 and ask for an Organizer or e-mail Local 648 at: IBEW648@fuse.net
    Republicans Tell Furloughed Workers To Take Out Laons
    Oct 15, 2013

    NEW IBEW NATIONAL COMMERCIAL
    Jan 08, 2013

    BECOME A MEMBER OF THE IBEW
    Jun 10, 2010

    Organizing


    Why is the IBEW organizing?
    Why should I consider joining the IBEW?
    Who runs the union?
    The facts about the National Labor Relations Act
    Why Organize?
    Compare Wages!

    Why is the IBEW Organizing?


    There seems to be several myths about this question, some of which are as follows:

    • The IBEW wants more members strictly to increase their funds by way of collecting more dues.

    • The IBEW wants to bring in non-union electricians to take their jobs from them by putting existing union members to work ahead of the new members.

    • The IBEW wants to put the non-union contractors out of business  by way of denying  them qualified electricians.

    The truth is the IBEW is a labor organization dedicated to the Labor Movement. Which means that their members believe that all working men and women are entitled to the same wages and benefits, regardless of whether they are working on jobs that must pay prevailing wages due to Federal or State laws or whether they are in the IBEW.
     
    As workers the IBEW believes that contractors should compete on their business abilities and their estimating skills, not on how little they can pay their employees nor on how bad of working conditions their employees will tolerate. If the workers do not join together, both wages and working conditions will deteriorate. Without the presence of the Union, electrical work would be another minimum wage industry. Up until a few years ago the electrical industry in Dayton was on a down hill spiral. Non-union electrician wages were steadily going down and Union wages were stagnating. Since that time the wages and benefits have been on the rise in both sectors. It is no accident that this has happened. The contractors did not all of a sudden decide that it would be a good idea. The reason wages and benefits have risen is because the IBEW is organizing.  The reason is, when workers band together, contractors know that they can no longer drive wages down by telling you to take it or leave it.
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    Why should I consider joining the IBEW?


    The IBEW is committed to the advancement of the Wages, Benefits, and Working Conditions of All Electricians!
     
    What does "Joining the IBEW" mean?

    Joining the IBEW means that you will be a part of an organization whose objectives are :

    • To promote reasonable methods of work,

    • To cultivate feelings of friendship among those of our industry,

    • To settle all disputes between employers and employees by arbitration (if possible),

    • To assist each other in sickness or distress,

    • To secure employment,

    • To reduce the hours of daily labor,

    • To secure adequate pay for our work,

    • To seek a higher and higher standard of living,

    • To seek security for the individual,

    •  And by legal and proper means to elevate the morale, intellectual and social conditions of our members, their families and dependents, in the interest of a higher standard of citizenship.

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    Who runs the Union?


    YOU  DO!
     
    YOU elect your own local union officers.
    YOU run your own local union affairs.
    YOU have your own negotiating committee.
    YOU make the decisions on your own union contract.
    YOU have your own shop stewards.
    YOU decide important policies and actions of your    own union by majority vote.
    YOU elect your international officers.
    YOU elect your own delegates to the international   conventions.
    YOU- the membership - are the final voice of authority   and decision in your Union.
     
    Our union exists for one and only one major reason - the good of our members. Our union, the IBEW, accomplishes as a unit what we cannot accomplish as individuals.  
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    The facts about the National Labor Relations Act


    Did you know...

    The National Labor Relations Act protects employees rights to discuss wages and benefits with co-workers. It has also been ruled that it is a violation of the Act for an employer to discipline its employees for discussing and comparing their current wages with each other. An employer can not make or enforce this type of policy.

    The Act protects employees rights to talk about Unions with their co-workers.

    An employer that spies on employees engaging in protected concerted activity, such as Union talk or meetings, can be fined under the Act.

    Employers do not have the right to discriminate in hiring or firing based purely on Union sympathy or affiliation.

    The National Labor Relations Act is for ALL employees, not just Union or non-Union. It provides ALL of us with protection.
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    Why Organize?


    Limited Rights without Union!    

    In today's world, more than ever, workers need to join together.  Instead of one lonely person asking for his share of the pie, by joining with others, employees can bargain from a greater position of strength and demand fairer wages, better health benefits, and a retirement plan for the future.  In fact, according to the Department of Labor, union workers typically make up to 64% more than non-union workers in the same occupations!

    Why?  Because a union creates a more level playing field between employer and employee.

    Union representation means that you gain rights.  Legal rights that you don't have without a union contract.

    You gain rights with a Union!Under the employment at will doctrine, the cornerstone of American employment law, in general terms, unless you belong to a protected group, your employer has the right to discipline or terminate, with impunity, you for any reason -- even a bad one -- or for no reason at all.  That's why it is sometimes called the fire at will doctrine.  

    However, with a collective bargaining agreement, you have rights.  Management must have just cause for any disciplinary action taken against a union employee.  You bargain over wages, health benefits, working conditions and a retirement plan for your future.  But, you bargain collectively with the strength that comes from a collective voice.

    A union is an organization of workers joined together for a common purpose, for mutual aid and protection, to engage in concerted activity and collective bargaining, to elevate their conditions of life and labor; an organization by which ordinary people do extraordinary things.

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    Thanks to the following websites for their contributions: ibewlocal474.com, ibew48.com, ibew481.org


    POLITICAL EFFORTS COULD PAY HUGE DIVIDENDS
    Jan 29, 2009

    Unions see better days ahead under Obama's leadership

    On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported that trade union membership rose 420,000 in 2008. New legislation could speed such growth.

    Happier days are here for the labor movement in the United States. The AFL-CIO spent $53 million and its trade union affiliates $250 million to help Barack Obama win the White House, relying mostly on "field mobilization" campaigns to turn out a favorable vote.

    The excitement level already has risen at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington. "The most pro-working-family president in years," noted one staffer.

    Some labor economists see a possible revival of the labor movement over the next few years leading to a more stable economy through a more balanced distribution of income. CEOs and Wall Street executives would get a smaller share of the nation's economic pie, and workers, with their regular spending needs, a bigger chunk.

    President Obama's newly appointed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) chair, Wilma Liebman, is seen as more sympathetic to labor than her recent predecessors.

    "What a refreshing change it will be to have a labor board that aims to safeguard rather than blockade workers' rights," stated AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

    On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported that trade union membership rose 420,000 in 2008, to 12.4 percent of the workforce, up from 12.1 percent in 2007.

    Moreover, Obama has promised to push for and sign the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) should Congress pass the measure. Trade unionists see that bill as offering a major opportunity to enlarge their numbers by making it easier to organize more offices and more plants.

    Though passed by the House in 2007, the bill got no further, and faced a veto by President Bush.

    Senate majority leader Harry Reid says he will bring up that bill this summer. There promises to be a major political battle between trade unionists and their Democratic allies, and business management and its Republican supporters over EFCA. Millions probably will be spent on the campaign in the next several months.

    Harry Holzer, an economist at Washington's Georgetown University, is skeptical that the EFCA will get the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to avoid a Republican filibuster.

    John Schmitt, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a liberal Washington think tank, hopes for sufficient Republican senatorial defections, perhaps Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter and Maine's Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

    At present 7.6 percent of the private sector labor force and 36.8 percent of the public sector are unionized. In 1955, more than a third of working Americans belonged to a union. If unions are able to boost membership decidedly over the next several years, Mr. Schmitt sees significant economic benefits:

    •Trade-union workers would receive substantial wage and benefit increases. As it is, union workers earn 30 percent higher wages than comparative nonunion employees. Union workers also are 59 percent more likely to have employer-provided health insurance.

    •Larger union membership would have political consequences. It could lead, Schmitt argues, to national health insurance for all Americans, paid parental leave to care for sick children, a limited number of paid sick days, and more attention to job safety and health and environmental issues.

    "Unions have politically tended to back policies supportive of the middle class and lower-income families," says Schmitt.

    Mr. Holzer doubts passage of EFCA would boost union membership enough to have a huge economic impact. But he welcomes the tougher penalties included in EFCA against abusive management techniques to discourage unionization.

    The AFL-CIO estimates companies spend $4 billion a year on consultants and other means to bust existing unions or block employees from organizing.

    After 20 years studying unions, Kate Bronfenbrenner, a labor economist at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., says the present system regulating trade union organization is "broken." When organizers get enough sign-ups among workers in a plant or office to seek a vote held by the NLRB, there is "no such thing as a secret ballot," she says. Management uses interrogation (often one-on-one sessions), harassment, surveillance (secret cameras, listening devices), intimidation, punitive actions, and threats to find out in advance how individual employees will vote and discourage yes votes.

    The AFL-CIO figures companies fire workers illegally for union activity in 25 percent of organizing campaigns. The penalty for a company if found guilty, perhaps after months or years, is back pay minus any earnings the worker has made since being fired. It also must post a notice in a break room saying it has behaved illegally.

    EFCA would allow workers to unionize after a majority sign an authorization card – unless 30 percent request an NRLB vote. Illegally fired workers would get three times back pay and fines could reach $20,000 per violation.

    The AFL-CIO last week noted a new Hart Research poll finding 78 percent of Americans want legislation making it easier for workers to bargain with employers for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.

    The poll also finds fewer than half of Americans know that employers generally oppose unions and fight against them. They may be educated in coming months.

     
     



    Page Last Updated: Jan 22, 2014 (12:55:00)
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