By Doug Cunningham

The Pascalouga, Mississippi Metal Trades Council and the IBEW met with Northrop Grumman representatives and a federal mediator Monday in an effort to settle a strike at the Ingalls Navy shipyard. About 7,000 workers are on strike after rejecting contract proposals. The workers want better health care benefits and higher wages. They say living costs have skyrocketed for them in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Health care benefits for the striking workers officially ended over the weekend. The workers build ship for the U.S. Navy.

By Doug Cunningham

Seven thousand workers having trouble keeping up with rising living costs in the Gulf in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are continuing their strike at the Northrop Grumman shipyard in Mississippi. Represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 733, the workers are fighting to reject health care concessions and for wage increases. Northrop Grumman builds ships for the Navy at the shipyard being struck.
Energy is high on the picket lines. On March 12th two thousand striking workers marched six miles in a show of solidarity in the strike. While the workers are struggling with rising costs, Katrina has been good to Northrop Grumman. The company got a $3 billion worth of contracts from the government to repair Katrina damage.

By Doug Cunningham

Madison Gas and Electric, a public power utility in Wisconsin’s capital, is out to destroy its workers defined benefit pensions. Dave Poklinkoski of IBEW Local 2304 says this is a highly profitable power company with no financial justification for trying to take workers’ pensions…

[Dave Poklincoski ] : “I think everybody needs to recognize that if workers working for a state-regulated monopoly with a well-funded defined benefit pension plan are not gonna be able to retain a pension plan, then everybody's pension is at stake."

Poklincoski says that defined benefit pensions are much better for workers than 401(k)'s and his union - IBEWE Local 2304 - will never agree to end defined benefit pensions.

By Doug Cunningham

Four union pension funds run by the IBEW and SEIU are suing Hewlett Packard to get back several million dollars paid to ousted CEO Carly Fiorina. She was paid more than $21 million. Counting pension and stock value it was more than $42 million. The union pension funds are suing as shareholders in a class action.

By Jesse Russell

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is stepping up to protect their churches and communities in Alabama. That state has been the target of a string of church fires during recent weeks. IBEW Council U-19, which represents more than 3000 employees at the Alabama Power Company, is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person involved in the arson. The union is joining with the power company to offer the reward money.

By Doug Cunningham

In the face of strong union solidarity Delphi has withdrawn its cutthroat wage demands and has backed off - at least for now - from moving to void its union contracts and end pensions. Marco Trbovich of the United Steelworkers is a spokesperson for the six Delphi unions that formed Mobilizing@Delphi to fight the draconian wage cut demands.

[Marco Trbovich 1] : "It's only because the workers reacted so fervently to the insult of the offer he had put on the table, and so unanimously across the board regardless of which union they were in. Clearly there needs to be word from Miller on what he will do to reform the management of Delphi rather than reward it while he's punishing workers."

By Jesse Russell

A federal arbitrator's decision to allow Hoover Company to

move a production line from Ohio to Texas and Mexico is being appealed

by the union representing the plant's workers. Maytag Corporation,

the parent company of Hoover, has begun removing equipment

from a plant in North Canton--a decision that is expected

to result in the loss of nearly 300 jobs. The International

Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1985 has filed the

appeal saying the arbitrator overstepped his authority. Maytag

expects to finish removing all of the equipment for the line during

By Doug Cunningham

Six AFL-CIO unions representing five and a half million workers are forming a Mobilizing@Delphi coalition to propose alternatives that can both save the company and save the American Dream of a middle class standard of living for its workers. Marco Trbovich (Turbo-vich) of the United Steelworkers says its trade policies and health care policies creating the problem at Delphi, not the workers…

[Marco Trbovich] : "Our trade policies and our health care policies in this country are the source of the problem, not the workers. Not even the management at Delphi. And we're not talking about any of that. We're talking just about savaging the quality of life for workers and the communities they live in."

By Doug Cunningham

IBEW Local 824 is continuing talks in Florida with Verizon. The contract covering 5,000 workers has expired and the union has extended it while talks continue. IBEW spokesperson Doug sellers says health care is a big issue..

[Doug Sellers] : "Biggest stickin' issue we have right now is the company wants the membership to make major concessions on the cost of prescription drugs."

Sellers says the union has not set a deadline for ending the talks.

As the debate on the future of the AFL-CIO continues, WIN spoke with Jim Spellane of the electrical workers. The IBEW recently endorsed the reelection of John Sweeney for AFL President. He says unions need to stand together now more than ever due o the assault on working people by the economic policies of the current administration.

[Spellane1]: We need all the unity we can get ot help fight this off and get American people back to a place where they have a chance for economic growth and opportunity.

He added that if a split does occur in labor there will be a need for damage control.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Communications Director Jim Spellane talks about future of labor and his union. The IBEW has endorsed John Sweeney as their choice to continue leading the AFL-CIO. Spellane talks to WIN about why Sweeney is the right choice, the IBEW's concerns for the future of the labor movement and some issues important for that union. Click here for the raw audio.

After 12 hours of negotiations collapsed yesterday, 1300 electrical workers in New Jersey walked off their jobs. Represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the employees of Jersey Central Power and Light went on strike after contract negotiations over the cost of healthcare benefits to pensioners. Ed Modzelewski, spokesman for the IBEW system council U-3, says the company's proposal would amount to a 400 percent increase in health care costs.

If you use your Dell, Gateway or IBM computer to browse the internet for news, here’s some you may never have seen. All those companies export American jobs. If you’re in the market for a new PC and you support organized labor you might be interested to know that Union Built PC’s offer an alternative to the other major PC makers, a union made computer competitively priced. Union Built PC is organized by locals from the Communications Workers of America, IBEW and UWUA.

Picket lines of union electricians and carpenters have formed near the construction site of a new Kroger supermarket in
Ann Arbor, Michigan. The workers, represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 252, are
upset that the contractor is using out-of-town labor to get around a higher prevailing wage for local union members.
They say that Bostleman Corporation isn't paying the level of wages set by the U.S. Labor Department for the local
market. The union is asking members to boycott the store when it opens.

Contract negotiations are preventing work crews from Alabama Power from assisting in the Florida clean-up in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have voted to give the power company 48-hours notice if a breakdown in negotiations lead to a strike. A representative of the company said it would be unfair to Floridians if they sent workers that may be affected by a work stoppage.

Comcast is being called upon to adopt "public interest provisions" in pricing, customer service, worker rights, community access TV and open-access internet. A Philadelphia coalition made up of the Communications Workers of America, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, Jobs with Justice and other grassroots organizations drafted The "code of conduct" is being presented to the nation's largest cable company by a coalition of groups made up of the Communications Workers of America, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, jobs for Justice and others. The CWA has long been involved with holding Comcast accountable for labor issues and sponsors a website with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers called comcastwatch.com.