UPDATE FROM THOMAS
Am now in Hong Kong waiting for my flight back to Amsterdam. I was not allowed to board my plane and to go back to my country yesterday morning. I got detained for about 30 hours at the airport just so the immigration officials could deport me. This harassment is obviously done to distract the people from the actual problems that the country faces, such as the
Protest on Aug 8 Sit-in demonstration and protest meeting against the unjust and illegal arrest of peoples’ movement activist Jayita Das and continued imprisonment of many activists. from 10 am to 8 pm at the 8B bus stand in Jadavpur. #################################### Press meet over the arrest of Jayeeta Das, Aug 7 The Committee for the […]
Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 University of Minnesota AFSCME workers came together for a spirited march and rally here, August 5. After rallying in front of Morrill Hall, the administration building, workers headed upstairs to the office of President Kahler to deliver about 1300 signed petitions demanding the university drop proposed changes to the health care plan. The administration’s proposed attack on the health care plan would have some workers pay more premiums and significantly increase out of pocket medical costs for all university employees.
President Kahler left his office shortly before the workers arrived, so the petitions were delivered to a staff member. Chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, cuts to health care have to go,” workers then marched to the Donhowe Building which houses officials responsible for human resources and employee benefits.
University workers, represented by AFSCME Locals 3800, 3937 and 3260, insist that the University of Minnesota drop proposed changes they claim are necessary due to provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act, and instead adopt a more equitable sliding scale plan.
“The university administration is using the Affordable Health Care Act to propose changes to our health care plans that will shift costs to employees and significantly raise out of pocket costs, particularly for people with chronic health issues. It is another example of the university administration’s decision-making that deliberately shifts costs to the most economically vulnerable workers at the U,” says AFSCME Local 3800 President Cherrene Horazuk.
All university employees would face increases in deductibles and co-pays if the changes proposed by the administration are followed through. Workers on the employee plus spouse/domestic partner benefit tier would see premium increases ranging per pay period from $22 to $35.80, depending on their plan.
Co-pays would increase from $15 to $25, and there would be a $100 deductible added. These cost shifts are devastating to the university’s lowest paid workers, while being a negligible increase for those making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
AFSCME Locals 3800, 3801, 3937, and 3260 represent clerical, technical and health care workers at the University of Minnesota.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 University of Minnesota AFSCME workers came together for a spirited march and rally here, August 5. After rallying in front of Morrill Hall, the administration building, workers headed upstairs to the office of President Kahler to deliver about 1300 signed petitions demanding the university drop proposed changes to the health care plan. The administration’s proposed attack on the health care plan would have some workers pay more premiums and significantly increase out of pocket medical costs for all university employees.
President Kahler left his office shortly before the workers arrived, so the petitions were delivered to a staff member. Chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, cuts to health care have to go,” workers then marched to the Donhowe Building which houses officials responsible for human resources and employee benefits.
University workers, represented by AFSCME Locals 3800, 3937 and 3260, insist that the University of Minnesota drop proposed changes they claim are necessary due to provisions in the Affordable Health Care Act, and instead adopt a more equitable sliding scale plan.
“The university administration is using the Affordable Health Care Act to propose changes to our health care plans that will shift costs to employees and significantly raise out of pocket costs, particularly for people with chronic health issues. It is another example of the university administration’s decision-making that deliberately shifts costs to the most economically vulnerable workers at the U,” says AFSCME Local 3800 President Cherrene Horazuk.
All university employees would face increases in deductibles and co-pays if the changes proposed by the administration are followed through. Workers on the employee plus spouse/domestic partner benefit tier would see premium increases ranging per pay period from $22 to $35.80, depending on their plan.
Co-pays would increase from $15 to $25, and there would be a $100 deductible added. These cost shifts are devastating to the university’s lowest paid workers, while being a negligible increase for those making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
AFSCME Locals 3800, 3801, 3937, and 3260 represent clerical, technical and health care workers at the University of Minnesota.
Saint Paul, MN – More than 240 members of Workers United Local 150 walked off the job from Health Systems Cooperative Laundries, August 5, forming picket lines at the plant entrances in a strike over unfair labor practices, which include the company’s unilateral discontinuation of sick-day benefits.
Workers poured out of the building starting at 1:00 p.m., completely shutting down operations at the commercial laundry facility.
Many of the striking workers are Latino and Asian immigrants. They work in conditions that often include temperatures inside the building in excess of 100 degrees. They have walked the picket lines twice this summer during contract negotiations to protest the company’s unfair labor practices. Worker say money is not the issue, but rather protecting workplace rights, which they have had in their labor agreement for many years, including the sick-day benefit the company unilaterally discontinued in April.
Union members nearly unanimously voted down the company’s “last, best and final offer” on July 26. Since then, Workers United – along with other labor organizations such as SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and area labor federations and councils – have been urging hospitals, clinics, doctors and the board of directors that oversees the operation of the laundry to restore the benefits and drop oppressive and unnecessary demands.
Negotiations resumed between the union and the laundry the morning of August 5 at the offices of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services in Minneapolis, but at this point have been unsuccessful.
Workers at Health Systems Cooperative Laundries provide linens to nearly every hospital in the Twin Cities. The linens are typically used the day they are laundered, delivered to hospitals in carts specially set up for distinct uses. It is unclear where the hospitals will obtain linen service, but it will likely be at a much higher cost and without assurance that they will receive the same service that the striking workers provide.
“Going on strike is not something we want to do. We want to provide linens for the hospitals so healthcare workers and medical staff can continue caring for patients with the quality linens they are used to,” said Anita Beachler, a member of the union’s negotiating committee, who has worked in the laundry for over 30 years. “The company already took our sick-day benefits, and the contract they proposed would strip us of important leave of absence language, limit our bargaining rights over mid-term changes imposed by the employer and give us no protection should they sell the business to a new owner.
“The work we do is extremely valuable. Hopefully our bosses will understand that we deserve to be treated with respect, and that they need to give back our sick days and move off their anti-worker proposals in order to avoid a strike,” continued Beachler.
There is no indication as to how long a strike could last.
Members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota are supporting Workers United and will be joining them on the picket line.
http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/1150815/ Woman held as Mamata cracks down on ‘Naxal sympathisers’ Express news service Posted online: Sun Aug 04 2013, 00:25 hrs Kolkata : Joyeeta Das, a graduate of Jadavpur University and founder member of suspected Maoist front Mahila Matangini Samiti, was arrested by the police late Friday night, the first time the Mamata Banerjee government […]
Statement from Sanhati, PUDR, WSS, AIFFM, NSI and MZPSG We are gravely concerned about the developments related to the proposed mining and steel plant project by POSCO in Orissa. While the residents of Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa have been resisting forcible land acquisition and the establishment of the POSCO steel plant that threatens complete destruction […]
COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
185/3, FOURTH FLOOR, ZAKIR NAGAR, NEW DELHI-110025
02/08/2013
CONDEMN THE UNLAWFUL ARREST OF JAYEETA DAS, A PEOPLE’S ACTIVIST!
RELEASE JAYEETA DAS UNCONDITIONALLY!
Once again the Special Task Force (STF) West Bengal have flouted every norms as they picked up Jayeeta Das, a people’s activist who has been active in the
by Rajeev Ravisankar As a brief outline, I’ll begin by providing a brief historical overview of India’s nuclear program before discussing more recent policy developments, namely the Indo-US nuclear deal initiated in 2005. Then I’ll move into the ramifications of the drastic push to expand nuclear power and the amazing movements that have emerged to […]
Join us for our major annual demonstration at Vedanta’s AGM.
1st August, 2pm. The London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, W1K 6JP.
We will bring the defiant energy of the Dongria Kond tribe to London, as they fight the final stages of their 10 years battle for survival against Vedanta’s planned mega mine.
Parallel demonstrations are already planned in Odisha and Delhi in India