Submitted on Tue, 09/07/2010 - 2:56am
To the Board of Directors of the Ecology Center [[email protected]]:
As you are aware, the Industrial Workers of the World represents the workers at Curbside Recycling, which the Ecology Center operates. Over recent years, we have seen a pattern of behavior of your management team that betrays a strong anti-union attitude and borders on outright union busting.
- During negotiations for a new contract in December of 2007, your negotiation team sought to remove from the contract the clause that permits our members to refuse to cross a picket line. In other words, they sought the power to try to turn our members into strike breakers.
- During the negotiations for a new contract in December of 2008, Ecology Center management held a captive audience meeting with our members. This meeting, intentionally called without informing the union representatives, was an attempt to treat the Union as an unwanted "third party". This is a standard method of professional
union busters.
At present, the IWW is filing for arbitration on behalf of one of its members. We are forced to do so due to flagrant violation of the contract by the Ecology Center management. This violation concerns the disciplining of one of our members.
- Ecology Center management decided this member was guilty before they even held a hearing with him to hear his explanation of events.
- Ecology Center management illegally demoted this member, in violation of the contract, thus saving themselves $7.50 per hour for every hour this member works.
- During the mediation step, the Ecology Center management once again made statements implying that the Union was some outside force, a "third party".
There are several different avenues that arbitration can take. The Ecology Center management has insisted on taking the most expensive avenue, knowing full well that the IWW is a small union that does not have a large treasury. While we are willing to fight the full length for our members, meaning that we will spend what is necessary, this tactic of the Ecology Center management is not lost upon us, especially in light of their previous actions. Meanwhile, the Ecology Center management team parades behind their "green" and "community oriented" banner while they trample on the rights of their workers and carry on what can only be described as an anti-union policy.
Submitted on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 1:48pm
The IWW is engaged in contract discussions with the Ecology Center, which runs Curbside Recycling - the outfit that picks up recyclable trash in Berkeley. They have presented a series of demands for draconian cut backs.
This includes demanding that the workers pay 20% of the cost of their health insurance premiums. Their position is that everywhere else such cuts are being instituted and they have to do the same. Our position is that these cuts have to be stopped somewhere, or, to paraphrase Harry Truman, "the cuts stop here." At the same time, Buyback - the recycling yard that is on the same property as Curbside and also under IWW contract - has announced that they will be laying off a worker, a first there.
The IWW is holding a "safety meeting" rally to protest these twin events. This will be in their yard at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21. The yard is on 2nd Street, just north of Gillman in north Berkeley (near the freeway).
We are urging all union members and supporters, students and community members to participate.
Submitted on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 2:08am
Practically every state, county and city in the country is in fi nancial crisis and the plan is to make you pay for it. (for details see attached PDF)
This crisis is actually getting worse, and all these projected defi cits will probably continue to increase. If allowed to pass, these cuts will only get worse. Other cities in the area and most states in the country face similar or worse deficits.
We do not have to be the victims! There is a solution!
Right now, the federal government has committed some $7 trillion to bail out banks, insurance companies and even the auto industry.
And many of these banks, they won’t even tell us, the taxpayers, how they are spending that money. This is our money and we have every right to say how it gets spent!
If the federal government can bail out Corporate America, then they can bail out “public America”. The unions should all get together and call mass public meetings to organize a campaign to demand that federal bail-out money be used to eliminate the budget defi cits of our cities, counties and states.
- No cuts in services, public jobs or pay of public workers and retirees
- Use federal bail out money to make up the budget shortfalls
Who we are:
The Industrial Workers of the World is a union that currently represents several different workforces. We have a long, revolutionary tradition in American’s labor movement. We do not seek to compromise the interests of workers to benefit the employers. We want to work with the rest of the unions and with all workers’ organizations to launch this campaign:
IWW-Represented Workplaces:
- Buyback Recycling (Berkeley)
- Curbside Pickup (Berkeley)
- Shattuck Cinema (Berkeley)
- Stonemountain & Daughter retailer (Berkeley)
The IWW is also conducting a nation-wide organizing campaign at Starbucks, as well as other organizing drives nationally.
Submitted on Sat, 01/17/2009 - 6:30pm
Union and Ecology Center Sign Contract The "non-profit" Ecology Center, under contract with the City of Berkeley, runs the Curbside recycling pickup program in that city. We, the IWW, are the representatives of these workers. The economic (wages and benefits) portion of this contract expired on Jan. 1 and we have been in negotiations for the last several months (up until today operating on a contract extension).
Basically, the position of the Ecology Center (EC) is that because
the City of Berkeley is having a budget crisis (as are almost all other cities), that they could not afford a decent raise and, in fact, had to reduce the level of health benefits. They also made the claim that since they are a non-profit that we should regard them differently. Neither the workers nor the Union was buying this. This is especially so because they refused to give us the figures for how much it costs to run Curbside and, therefore, how much of the contract with the
city they are creaming off of the top to finance other EC operations and salaries.
Their offer ended up as being a 3% wage increase plus a payment of $2,000 per year into each worker's 401(k) plan. In addition, family members of the workers would be covered by the health plan before
they have been up until now. This was an improvement over their original offer which did not include the $2,000 payment but did include a demand for a significantly worse health care package.
Submitted on Tue, 12/30/2008 - 5:46pm
Everyone - Workers at Curbside recycling are bargaining over wages and benefits
on their contract. This is to take effect starting Jan. 1.
We do not have
an agreement yet. The Ecology Center, which runs Curbside has taken the
position that any agreement in January will not be retroactive to Jan.
1.
Workers at Curbside have decided that unless they back down on this,
they will strike on Jan. 1. A strike is not definite; management could
still change its position on this, but we need to begin preparing for a
strike now.
Anybody who can get out to Curbside first thing Friday, Jan. 2
first thing in the morning - your presence would be greatly appreciated. I
think we need to start gathering at 6:30 a.m., but if people can only come
later, this would be good too.
Call 510-845-0540 for details.