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Proposed Council Meeting Agenda for August 11, 2008
Location at local restaurant (site to be determined) 12 PM
For additional information 'Contact Us'
Member mobilization plans
Labor/Management agenda for August 28, 2008 meeting
New member orientation
Annual convention in September in Rochester
Available training for new and not-so-new stewards
Location at local restaurant (site to be determined) 12 PM
For additional information 'Contact Us'
Member mobilization plans
Labor/Management agenda for August 28, 2008 meeting
New member orientation
Annual convention in September in Rochester
Available training for new and not-so-new stewards
NY unions: Membership on the rise - Article from Crain's New York Business.com,
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the percentage of unionized workers jumped 3 points to 25.2% in
New York—the highest in the nation.
March 12. 2008 3:16 PM By: Daniel Massey
Labor union membership in New York State rose last year as union leaders stepped up organizing efforts.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of unionized workers jumped almost a full percentage
point to 25.2% in New York—the highest share in the nation.
In 2007, 2.1 million workers in the state belonged to unions, up from two million the year before. An
additional 91,000 workers were covered by collective bargaining agreements, but were not union members
themselves. The rise follows a period between 2005 and 2006 where membership in the state fell 5%.
“Our unions are organizing on a scale they never have before,” says Greg Tarpinian, executive director of
Change to Win, a federation of seven unions representing six million workers. “There’s a lot of organizing
going on in health care, in building services, in food service.”
Department of Labor Regional Commissioner Michael Dolfman says the jump resulted in part from an
executive order signed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer that paved the way for unions to organize 60,000 child care
workers across the state. Among them were 28,000 home-based child care providers in New York City who
joined the United Federation of Teachers last December.
“Even with the fact that it’s very difficult to organize, there still is an increase,” says New York State AFL-CIO
President Denis Hughes. “It shows that there’s a pent-up will for people to be represented in the workplace,
to have a democratic voice in the workplace.”
Union leaders say the National Labor Relations Board’s election process is stacked against workers,
sparking a need to organize creatively through legislative and other means, such as the child care
campaign.
“If we use the law that was originally passed to give workers the right to join unions, we’d lose more often
than not” says Mr. Hughes. “So we’re forced to look at different ways to approach it.”
New York has more than four times as many union members as Texas, despite having 1.7 million fewer
workers.
Nationally, union membership rose by 311,000, to 15.7 million, or 12.1% of the workforce. Membership
declined in 27 states, including New Jersey and Massachusetts.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the percentage of unionized workers jumped 3 points to 25.2% in
New York—the highest in the nation.
March 12. 2008 3:16 PM By: Daniel Massey
Labor union membership in New York State rose last year as union leaders stepped up organizing efforts.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of unionized workers jumped almost a full percentage
point to 25.2% in New York—the highest share in the nation.
In 2007, 2.1 million workers in the state belonged to unions, up from two million the year before. An
additional 91,000 workers were covered by collective bargaining agreements, but were not union members
themselves. The rise follows a period between 2005 and 2006 where membership in the state fell 5%.
“Our unions are organizing on a scale they never have before,” says Greg Tarpinian, executive director of
Change to Win, a federation of seven unions representing six million workers. “There’s a lot of organizing
going on in health care, in building services, in food service.”
Department of Labor Regional Commissioner Michael Dolfman says the jump resulted in part from an
executive order signed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer that paved the way for unions to organize 60,000 child care
workers across the state. Among them were 28,000 home-based child care providers in New York City who
joined the United Federation of Teachers last December.
“Even with the fact that it’s very difficult to organize, there still is an increase,” says New York State AFL-CIO
President Denis Hughes. “It shows that there’s a pent-up will for people to be represented in the workplace,
to have a democratic voice in the workplace.”
Union leaders say the National Labor Relations Board’s election process is stacked against workers,
sparking a need to organize creatively through legislative and other means, such as the child care
campaign.
“If we use the law that was originally passed to give workers the right to join unions, we’d lose more often
than not” says Mr. Hughes. “So we’re forced to look at different ways to approach it.”
New York has more than four times as many union members as Texas, despite having 1.7 million fewer
workers.
Nationally, union membership rose by 311,000, to 15.7 million, or 12.1% of the workforce. Membership
declined in 27 states, including New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Desk Rage Spoils Workplace For Many Americans
By REUTERS
Published: July 10, 2008
Filed at 7:13 a.m. ET
Skip to next paragraph NEW YORK (Reuters) - Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk rage.
Anger in the workplace -- employees and employers who are grumpy, insulting, short-tempered or worse -- is
shockingly common and likely growing as Americans cope with woes of rising costs, job uncertainty or
overwhelming debt, experts say.
"It runs gamut from just rudeness up to pretty extreme abusive behaviors," said Paul Spector, professor of
industrial and organizational psychology at the University of South Florida. "The severe cases of fatal violence
get a lot of press but in some ways this is more insidious because it affects millions of people."
Nearly half of U.S. workers in America report yelling and verbal abuse on the job, with roughly a quarter saying
it has driven them to tears, research has shown.
Other research showed one-sixth of workers reported anger at work has led to property damage, while a tenth
reported physical violence and fear their workplace might not be safe.
"It's a total disaster," said Anna Maravelas, author of "How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress."
"Rudeness, impatience, people being angry -- we used to do that kind of stuff at home but at work, we were
professional. Now it's almost becoming trendy to do it at work.
"It was something we did behind closed doors," she said. "Now people are losing their sense of
embarrassment over it."
Contemporary pressures such as rising fuel costs fan the flames, said John Challenger, head of Chicago's
Challenger, Gray & Christmas workplace consultants.
"People are coming to work after a long commute, sitting in traffic watching their discretionary income burn up.
They're ready for a fight or just really upset," he said.
Added to that, he said, are financially strapped workers having to cut back on paying for personal pastimes
that might serve as an antidote to work pressures.
LET OFF STEAM
"That means people come into work after a weekend and they haven't been able to let off any steam," he said.
Spector said his research has found 2 percent to 3 percent of people admit to pushing, slapping or hitting
someone at work. With roughly 100 million people in the U.S. work force, he said, that's as many as 3 million
people.
Maravelas said she conducted a seminar this week in rural Iowa, where she asked participants if they thought
anger was increasing at their workplace.
Everyone raised their hands, she said, which is typically the response she gets. She cited research showing
88 percent of U.S. employees think incivility is rising at work.
"Many of us sense we're losing ground economically and socially. The safety net is unraveling. Hence, anxiety
and unease are skyrocketing," she said.
People reassure themselves by blaming others and "find comfort in believing their suffering is caused by a
callous, incompetent or selfish organization, leader, supplier, union or regulatory body," she said.
The worst offenders are overachievers, said Rachelle Canter, a workplace expert and social psychologist.
"The usual profile is Type A, really, really smart, with impossibly high standards they set for themselves as well
as for other people.
"They are so invested, I would say maybe over-invested, in success and in everyone being every bit as driven
as they are that they just lose their sense of perspective, and they can lash out at other people," said Canter,
author of "Make the Right Career Move."
But desk rage extends across industry and class lines, from top white-collar jobs to gritty blue-collar work, and
companies pay dearly in terms of lost productivity, sagging morale and higher absenteeism, Spector said.
The worst cases end in violence, he said.
"Somebody didn't just come to work one day and shoot somebody," Spector said. "There's probably been a
pattern of less extreme behaviors leading up to it."
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Bill Trott)
By REUTERS
Published: July 10, 2008
Filed at 7:13 a.m. ET
Skip to next paragraph NEW YORK (Reuters) - Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk rage.
Anger in the workplace -- employees and employers who are grumpy, insulting, short-tempered or worse -- is
shockingly common and likely growing as Americans cope with woes of rising costs, job uncertainty or
overwhelming debt, experts say.
"It runs gamut from just rudeness up to pretty extreme abusive behaviors," said Paul Spector, professor of
industrial and organizational psychology at the University of South Florida. "The severe cases of fatal violence
get a lot of press but in some ways this is more insidious because it affects millions of people."
Nearly half of U.S. workers in America report yelling and verbal abuse on the job, with roughly a quarter saying
it has driven them to tears, research has shown.
Other research showed one-sixth of workers reported anger at work has led to property damage, while a tenth
reported physical violence and fear their workplace might not be safe.
"It's a total disaster," said Anna Maravelas, author of "How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress."
"Rudeness, impatience, people being angry -- we used to do that kind of stuff at home but at work, we were
professional. Now it's almost becoming trendy to do it at work.
"It was something we did behind closed doors," she said. "Now people are losing their sense of
embarrassment over it."
Contemporary pressures such as rising fuel costs fan the flames, said John Challenger, head of Chicago's
Challenger, Gray & Christmas workplace consultants.
"People are coming to work after a long commute, sitting in traffic watching their discretionary income burn up.
They're ready for a fight or just really upset," he said.
Added to that, he said, are financially strapped workers having to cut back on paying for personal pastimes
that might serve as an antidote to work pressures.
LET OFF STEAM
"That means people come into work after a weekend and they haven't been able to let off any steam," he said.
Spector said his research has found 2 percent to 3 percent of people admit to pushing, slapping or hitting
someone at work. With roughly 100 million people in the U.S. work force, he said, that's as many as 3 million
people.
Maravelas said she conducted a seminar this week in rural Iowa, where she asked participants if they thought
anger was increasing at their workplace.
Everyone raised their hands, she said, which is typically the response she gets. She cited research showing
88 percent of U.S. employees think incivility is rising at work.
"Many of us sense we're losing ground economically and socially. The safety net is unraveling. Hence, anxiety
and unease are skyrocketing," she said.
People reassure themselves by blaming others and "find comfort in believing their suffering is caused by a
callous, incompetent or selfish organization, leader, supplier, union or regulatory body," she said.
The worst offenders are overachievers, said Rachelle Canter, a workplace expert and social psychologist.
"The usual profile is Type A, really, really smart, with impossibly high standards they set for themselves as well
as for other people.
"They are so invested, I would say maybe over-invested, in success and in everyone being every bit as driven
as they are that they just lose their sense of perspective, and they can lash out at other people," said Canter,
author of "Make the Right Career Move."
But desk rage extends across industry and class lines, from top white-collar jobs to gritty blue-collar work, and
companies pay dearly in terms of lost productivity, sagging morale and higher absenteeism, Spector said.
The worst cases end in violence, he said.
"Somebody didn't just come to work one day and shoot somebody," Spector said. "There's probably been a
pattern of less extreme behaviors leading up to it."
(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Bill Trott)