Transportation budget means jobs

Governor Kasich signs two-year Transportation Budget bill which includes almost two billion dollars for construction projects. It ALSO means JOBS for Local 18 members across the state.


 

Median weekly pay for full-time union workers $200 more than non-union

The Plain Dealer | Breaking news: cleveland.com Sunday, January 27, 2013


TODAY'S NUMBERS


11.3%: Share of U.S. wage and salary workers who were members of unions in 2012.
20.1%: Union share in 1983, the first year for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports comparable data.
$943: Median weekly pay for full-time union workers in 2012.
$742: Median weekly pay for full-time non-union workers.
35.9%: Rate of union membership for public-sector workers.
6.6%: Rate of union membership for private-sector workers.
12.6%: Share of workers who are union members in Ohio.
13.9%: Share of Ohio workers who are covered by a union or an employee association contract, regardless of whether they are members of a union.

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey.

- Rich Exner, The Plain Dealer


RTW – Taking aim at Michigan’s middle class

(From the New York Times one day prior to the Michigan vote on the issue)

The decline of the middle class in this country has paralleled that of the labor movement, which has been battered by the relentless efforts of business groups and Republicans to drive down wages, boost corporate profits and inflate executive salaries and bonuses.

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to pass a law (which it did) that would allow workers to avoid paying dues to a union that represents their shop.

Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, has reversed an earlier position and said he would sign the law (which he did).

These measures are misleadingly known as “right-to-work” laws. Concern for the rights of individual workers is not the real reason business is pushing so hard. Gutting unions is the fastest way to achieve lower wages and higher profits.

A study by the University of Notre Dame in January found that the average wages and benefits for nonfarm workers in right-to-work states was $57,732, while in states without the law it was $65,567.

States with anti-dues laws have higher rates of poverty and lower rates of health coverage.

At a diesel plant in Michigan just prior to the vote, President Obama said,” These so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws, they don’t have to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.”

 

Business Manager Active at State’s Job Summit

Business Manager Sink was one of seven statewide leaders who recently took part in “The Ohio Governor’s 21st Century Energy and Economic Summit.” Its purpose was to take a look at a jobs-friendly energy policy for the state.

One of the key topics the panel covered was “How can management and organized labor better work together on business and regulatory issues to ensure Ohio’s competitiveness in the U.S. and global economy?”

Among Business Manager Sink’s salient points were that unions need to:

  • Become a partner for industry
  • Use jointly-administered programs, especially training
  • Retrain for new technologies
  • Use best practices in maintaining and supporting health and welfare and pension plans so they do not go from being benefits to becoming liabilities for either the worker or the employer

As he stressed, “the company has a desire for profits and the worker has a desire to make a living.”

 

General President Giblin installs Local 18 officers

It’s a festive occasion, with serious overtones, as IUOE General President Vincent Giblin installs Local 18 officers and executive board members for their three-year terms.

(l-r) Treasurer Joseph Lucas, Financial Secretary Premo P. Panzarello, President Richard E. Dalton, IUOE General President Vincent Giblin, Business Manager Patrick L. Sink, Recording-Correspond Secretary Mark A. Totman and Vice President Steve D. DeLong.