You have the right to a safejob—your job isn't supposed toinjure, kill or maim. Decades ofstruggle by workers and theirunions have resulted in signifi-cant improvements in workingconditions. But the toll of work-place injuries, illnesses anddeaths remains enormous.

Each year more than 6 mil-lion U.S. workers are injured orbecome sick on the job, 50,000U.S. workers die from occupa-tional illness and nearly 6,000are killed on the job. The unionsof the AFL-CIO rememberthese workers on April 28,Workers Memorial Day.

In Duluth, Workers Memor-ial Day will be observedMonday, April 25. This yearfive people will be remembered.

The terrible tragedy at RedLake High School March 21took 10 lives including that ofEducation Minnesota memberNeva Rogers, 62, a high schoolteacher there. Rogers and fivestudents were shot to death by16-year old student Jeff Weise.

Derrick Brun, 28, was anunarmed security guard at theschool who was also shot todeath as he tried to stop Weise,who eventually took his ownlife. He had killed his grandfa-ther and his grandfather's com-panion earlier in the day.

Also to be remembered isRobin Sutter, 52, of Lakeville, amember of Iron Workers Local

Three events have beenscheduled over two days to cel-ebrate International Workers'Day, the real Labor Day tosome, May Day. A reading, amarch and a labor history forumwill take place May 1 and 2. Allare free and open to the public.Martin Luther King Reading

On Sunday, May 1 at 6:00

p.m. at St. Mark's A.M.E.Church, 530 North 5th AvenueEast, ten local working peopleand clergy will take turns read-ing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's"Riverside Church Speech."

AFSCME Local 66's SharlaGardner, who is organizing theevent, said this King speech isnot often read or heard, because"it is so hard-hitting to the pow-ers that be."

"The connections, Dr. Kingmade in this speech for the dig-nity and value of all workers,the poor, the spiritual starvationof a consumer and money driv-en society run by an out of con-trol military- industrial com-plex, ring amazingly truetoday," Gardner said.

King delivered this 50-minute speech on April 4, 1967,one year to the day before hewas assassinated in Memphis,while standing with strikingAFSCME sanitation workers.

For more info, contact SharlaGardner, shargard@cpinternet.com, or phone 390-4403.

Bernick's March & Rally On Monday, May 2 at 4:30

p.m. a march will assemble inMemorial Park, Central &Grand in West Duluth for a 8-block march to Bernick's Pepsi,4300 W. Michigan St., where arally will take place.

On Oct. 31, 2003, five mem-

bers of what is now UNITEHERE! Local 99 were fired atthe Duluth Airport shops. Thefacilities were handed over to anew corporation with ties toBernick's Pepsi, Pedro-KervInc., which has refused to bar-gain with the union.

"Our fight is not over," saidLocal 99 Business Represen-tative Todd Erickson. "We planto ratchet-up our campaignagainst Pedro-Kerv and Ber-nick's now that spring is here."

For more info contact AdamRitscher at northernadam@yahoo.com or call 394--6660.1934 MPLS Teamster Strike

On Monday, May 2 at 7:00p.m. at the Building for Women,32 East 1st Street, David Riehle,a labor historian from St. Paulwhen he isn't being president ofhis UTU railroad local, will givea talk on the historic 1934Minneapolis Teamster strike.

Minneapolis became a uniontown and the labor movement inthe Midwest was foreverchanged when workers stood upto the bosses, the police and theNational Guard.

As labor debates its future, itis crucial to take a good look atthe past to find out what we canlearn, especially from victories.

For information contactRitscher at 394-6660 or byemail, mnsocialist@yahoo.com.

See Data...page 3

512. He died when he fell Feb.17 on a construction site at theUniversity of Minnesota's Ni-cholson Hall in the Twin Cities.

Susan Webber, a member ofthe National Association ofLetter Carriers Local 337 inSuperior, Wisconsin actuallydied of a heart attack on the jobin August 2003 but will beremembered this year.

Again this year an area sol-dier who died in the war in Iraqwill be remembered. U.S. ArmySpc. Daniel McConnell, 27, ofDuluth, was killed in a vehicleaccident November 16.

The Duluth AFL-CIO Cen-tral Labor Body observesWorkers Memorial Day onMonday morning to allow vol-unteers to set up for a breakfast.

The Central Body's Com-munity Services Committee andthe United Way of GreaterDuluth will sponsor a free"Solidarity Breakfast" from7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in thelower level of the Duluth LaborTemple Monday, April 25. Joinfellow workers, retirees andcommunity members for freshpancakes, sausage, juice andcoffee.

At 9:00 a.m. a short tree-planting memorial service will

be held behind the Labor Tem-ple to remember those workers.

The first Workers MemorialDay was observed in 1989.April 28 was chosen because itis the anniversary of the Occu-pational Safety and HealthAdministration and the day of asimilar remembrance in Canada.

Every year, people in hun-dreds of communities and atworksites recognize workerswho have been killed or injuredon the job.

Trade unionists around theworld now mark April 28 as anInternational Day of Mourning.

AAnn IInnjjuurryy TToo OOnnee IIss AAnn IInnjjuurryy TToo AAllll!!Published by and for Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body Affiliated Unions

VOL. 110

NO. 21APRIL 20, 2005WEDNESDAY

5 to be remembered Workers Memorial Day

Three events set to celebrate May Day here

Signs of spring are finally here. The first salty, Bahamian-flagged, 621-foot Utviken, snacks on 18,000 metric tons ofwheat destined for Italy pasta. It was being loaded at CargillB1 April 12 by members of Grain Millers Local 118 and ILALocal 1037 after arriving the day before. A frequent Port visi-tor, the ship was the setting for scenes in “U.S. Marshals,” a1998 film with Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes.

Federal data show there's a wide range of hazardous jobs

By Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer(PAI)--Warning: Making that Oreo cookie can be hazardous to a

worker's health. But it's not quite as dangerous as manufacturingthat sport utility vehicle. With labor preparing to again honor col-leagues who died, were injured or became ill on the job, on WorkersMemorial Day April 28, federal data reveal that a wide variety ofjobs--including ones consumers would think are relatively safe--areactually hazardous to workers' health.

"The tremendous increase in workplace accidents comes fromthe corporatization and Wal-Martizing of industry, and we've got toget our arms around that," says Steel Workers President Leo Gerard,whose career began as a nickel miner in Sudbury, Ontario.

But the GOP-run House Education and Workforce Committeegave workers a different Memorial Day "present": On April 13, itapproved four bills--all had died in 2004--weakening OSHA.

"It will be a tragedy for workers and their families if these billsbecome law," said the panel's top Democrat, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.). "Committee Republicans really struck out today. First, theychose to punish Americans who despite working hard and playingby the rules wound up injured on the job and unable to work. Then,they voted to increase the chances that a worker will get injured onthe job. This isn’t a game. Real lives are on the line."

(ISSN 0023-6667)

Workers Memorial Day * April 28Observed Locally April 25

WHAT’S INSIDE THIS ISSUE?Ivins: We don't need to raise, just collect, taxes.....page 4

Opinions....page 5Crosby-Ironton strike over.....page 6

Benzene's dangers not recognized.....page 6Oberstar will host Social Security forum April 25.....page 7

Accident Report: Sometimes you can't help but laugh...pg. 8PATCH donates $2,500 to Proctor Schools.....page 9

Rally, pickets close Spot's door in Int'l Falls...page 10Asbestos victims, Fire Fighters work to protect rights...pg 11

Rigged deals show CEO pay needs curbing.....page 12An organizers life: Duluth, 1909...page13

USWA, PACE merge into USW.....page 17Community Service Committee needs your help..page 19MNDOT cancels Workers Memorial ceremony.....page 20

PAGE 2 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

Free Democracy Summit IIsponsored by UMD's MPIRGwill turn into a street festivalwhen Jim Hightower takes overa closed Superior Street in frontof the Norshor Theatre.

The street is scheduled to beclosed from 4 to 7 p.m. as partof an incredible summit beingorganized for the second year bythe UMD students.

"I'm getting gray hair andwill probably flunk out ofschool because of all the workthis has turned into but it'll beworth it," Peter Starzynski toldCentral Body delegates Thurs-

day night.There is so much going on

over the three days of the Sum-mit downtown that you reallyneed to go to visitwww.freedemocracysummit.orgto get a flavor for the incrediblejob of scheduling that's beendone.

Poetry, art, music, tumbling,workshops with an incrediblearray of experts, will have ahard time keeping up with JimHightower having center stagein the middle of Superior Street,however.

Hightower is always worth

the price of admission as hetakes on the rich and powerful("My daddy always told me weall do better when we all do bet-ter," is one of his originals) andthe admission Saturday, April23 is free. He is scheduled tospeak from 6:00 to 6:40 p.m.

There is also a "Get to KnowJim Hightower" Dinner sched-uled for 7:30 9:00 p.m. thatnight at the Chester Creek Cafe.

Seating is limited so go towww.freedemocracysummit.orgto buy your tickets in advancefor a private Texas-style chileand corn bread dinner with theformer Secretary of Agriculturefrom Texas.

Cost is $15 for students/ un-employed in advance, $25 gen-eral admission in advance.

DADS Golf tourney June 12The Duluth Building and Construction Trades Council will hold

their 15th Annual Golf Outing/Dollars Against Diabetes (DADS)Event at the Lester Park Golf Course on Saturday, June 11th.

"Our golf event will begin at 10:00 a.m. rain or shine, with teetimes assigned as the registration forms are returned," said tourna-ment founder and chair Jerry Alander.

Since 1986, Building and Construction Trades Councils acrossthe country have raised over $19 million dollars to battle diabetes.$1 million was raised last year alone. The Duluth Building andConstruction Trades Council last year raised just under $10,000.

"This money was put to use in our community to help those inneed," said Alander, "and also sent to the Diabetes Research Insti-tute and used in the fight to find the cure for the dreaded diseasewhich affects so many of our members and friends."

The golf outing is a four person "team scramble." Individuals orcouples that sign up are paired to fill out foursomes.

Every year many prizes and donated gifts are collected and giv-en away. The event only takes about five hours, as you golf, eatlunch between nines, check to see if you won a door prize andyou're on your way if you want to be. Many folks enjoy the com-radery of the event and stick around however for the socializing.

Lunch, green fees, and golf carts are included in the entry fee:$100 per individual, $400 per 4-person team.

"We have had a great nucleus of supporters who come to Duluthto join us in a great day of fun while donating to some very worth-while causes," Alander said. "If you are unable to attend our DADSDay Event, a donation for our cause would be greatly appreciated."

If you are interested in being a "Hole Sponsor" or need any oth-er information contact Alander at 218-724-3297.

Make checks payable to: Duluth Building and ConstructionTrades, Golf Outing, DADS Day Event and mail to DADS DayEvent, c/o Carpenters Local #361, 5238 Miller Trunk Hwy., Her-mantown, MN 55811.

Jim Hightower will control Superior St. during Free Democracy Summit appearance

NALC Food Drive, Sat., May 14in need of volunteer help

The 13th Annual NALC Food Drive will take place Saturday,May 14. The herculean effort that stocks area food shelves for thesummer is in need of volunteers to help area Letter Carriers, whonot only haul the mail but tote non-perishables back to their vehi-cles that customers leave out. There are many ways to help.

"Our community is very generous in donating to the food dri-ve," said NALC Branch 114 President Gaynelle Johnson. "Thatgenerosity makes the one day effort very difficult. Some carriersneed to unload food two or three times during their routes."

Call Yvonne Harvey at 728-1779 if you can help as a walker, acarrier, a mover, a driver (pickups needed) or on the dock.

Next on Minnesota At Work The UM-Labor Education Service's “Minnesota At Work” is seen

on 19 stations including: Duluth, Channel 20-Th/9:30pm,F/12:30am, Sat/5:30pm; Proctor, Ch7-M/9:30a.m., 3:30pm Her-mantown, HTV7/Ch11-M/9pm, Th/10am, Sat/5pm; Cloquet, Ch7-Tu/6pm, Th/ varies, Sat/7pm; Hibbing, Ch12-Tu/5pm, W/3pm,altM/5:15pm; Iron Range Ch13-Sa/7pm, most Su/8pm; St. Cloud,Ch10-M/9 pm; The following listings are for Duluth:

April 7, 14, 21--From Field to Factory/CAFTA's Impact--LESdocuments the harvesting and processing of sugar beets in the RedRiver Valley along the MN/North Dakota border, highlighting thecentral importance of this industry to the region. The second segmentexamines the potentially devastating impact of the proposed CentralAmerican Trade Agreement to the industry and the area's economy.

April 28--Workers' Rights Are Human Rights--Lance Compa,a professor at Cornell University and 15-year union organizer au-thored a report, "Unfair Advantage: Workers' Freedom of Associ-ation in the United States Under International Human Rights Stan-dards," published by the Human Rights Watch. In a MAW inter-view, Compa explains how common U.S. business anti-unionpractices violate not only American laws, but international stan-dards. He advocates changing the frame of debate in this countryfrom narrow questions of employer/employee relations to global-ly recognized human rights as an important step in the fight to gainthese economic freedoms for American workers.

May 5--Labor News--This video news magazine includes seg-ments on the Crosby-Ironton teachers strike and issues being con-sidered by the 2005 legislature.

I.U.O.E. Local 70Monthly Arrowhead Regional Meeting

Tuesday, May 10, 2005, 5:00 P.M. Duluth Labor Center, Hall B

Dick Lally, Business Manager (651) 646-4566

Labor Temple AssociationQuarterly Shareholders Meeting

A Quarterly Shareholders Meeting for the Duluth Labor TempleAssociation will be held Thursday, April 28 at 3:00 p.m. in

Wellstone Hall. The meeting is open only to LTA stockholders.

Buy Al Frankentickets now

Tickets for Al Franken's ap-pearance in Duluth as part of afundraiser for the WellstoneMemorial are now on sale. On-ly about 150 tickets will bemade available for the Saturdaynight, May 7 get-together in theLabor Temple's Wellstone Hall.

Fawn Bernhardt, Develop-ment Director for WellstoneAction! said there are threeways to assure yourself of get-ting a ticket:

• At www.wellstone.org;• Mail a check to Wellstone

Action, 821 Raymond Ave.,Suite 260, St. Paul, MN 55114;

• Hope tickets are still avail-able at the door on May 7.

Bernhardt said she sent outabout 1,700 invites via mail toWellstone Action! supporters inthis region last week.

IIBBEEWW 3311//224422IIBBEEWW 3311//224422RReettiirreeeess’’ RReettiirreeeess’’ LLuunncchheeoonnLLuunncchheeoonn

Tues., April 26Tues., April 261:00 p.m.1:00 p.m.

BrickyardBrickyardRestaurantRestaurantWrenshallWrenshall

SHEET METAL WORKERSSpecial Call Meetings

"Allocation of Funds" will be conducted at SpecialCall Meetings of the Duluth, Bemidji, and Iron Rangeareas of Sheet Metal Workers Local 10. The Duluth-Superior area Special Call Meeting willbe held in Wellstone Hall of the Duluth AFL-CIOLabor Center, 2002 London Road, Duluth, MN onTuesday, April 26, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. The Iron Range area Special Call Meeting will be atthe Hibbing Park Hotel, 1402 East Howard Street, Hib-bing, MN on Monday, April 25, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. The Bemidji area Special Call Meeting will be at theCarpenters Hall, 609 Second Street South, Bemidji,MN on Thursday, April 28, 2005 at 6:30 p.m.All members are encouraged to attend.

~Dennis J. Marchetti, Business Representative

N O T I C E : Dates Have Changed!

Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 10Retirees’ Luncheon

Tues., May 3, 1:00 p.m., Ground Round

Saturday, April 30, 7:00 p.m. to ?Clinton Town Hall, Hwy. 37

Hors d'oeuvres by Boondocks, F&D MeatsMusic by Bill Maxwell & Friends

Decorations by Suzie's Sassy BalloonsCash Bar by Boondocks

Bake Sale - Silent Auction - PrizesInvites have been sent to Reps. Tom Rukavina and Tony Sertich,Sen. David Tomassoni, DFL officials and interested candidates

Everyone's Welcome~Suggested Donation $10Prepared/paid for by 5th Senate District DFL, Cathy Daniels, Chair

5th Senate District DFLInvites you to a Spring Fling

PAGE 3 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

2004 release of high-pressuresuper-heated water, plus highlyhazardous hydrocarbons. Thataccident killed two workers. BPknew of the leak that led to theSeptember accident for ninemonths, the story said.

But it's not just fatal acci-dents that will lead unionists na-tionwide to Workers MemorialDay. It's also injuries and ill-nesses--and there are high ratesin some surprising jobs.

The data show at least 30 oc-cupations have more than 10cases of injury or illness forevery 100 full-time workers.

Beyond some obviously haz-ardous workplaces--such as

Miller said one bill gives em-ployers more time before cor-recting a life-threatening prob-lem in the workplace, thus pro-longing workers' exposure tograve risk. Another discouragesOSHA from taking employersto court over health and safetyviolations, by letting employersmiss court filing deadlines.

A third GOP OSHA bill ex-pands a presidentially appointedreview commission that canoverturn OSHA's fines. Thefourth forces OSHA to pay busi-nesses' legal fees if they win.

Those chill safety and healthenforcement, Miller says.

Meanwhile, Labor Depart-

construction and meatpacking--there are unexpectedly danger-ous worksites as well. Such ascookie and cracker factories.

Those factories, with 35,400workers, saw employees suffer10.3 injuries/illnesses per 100full-timers in 2003. And 5.7 ofthose 10.3 caused workers tolose time from their jobs.

That illness and injury rateequals the rate for slaughter-houses as a whole (10.3 per 100full-time workers), even thoughthose firms employed 512,000workers. But slaughterhouseworkers lost work time more of-ten: 6.3 of every 100.

Other unusual jobs with highinjury/illness rates per 100 full-timers included buttermakers(12.4), sugar cane mills (12.7),bottled water plant workers(16.7) and rubber footwear fac-tory workers (15.5, with three-fourths losing time off the job).

More expected were high in-jury/illness rates in occupationssuch as structural steel construc-tion (12 injuries per 100 full-timers), airlines (11.0), garbage-men (9.9), metal stamping(12.2), foundries (13.1), ship-building (11.0) and bituminouscoal mining (9.0). Two-thirds ofthe injured coal miners lostworkdays, a higher proportion

ment data, released March 31,show that in 2003 there werefive incidents of illness or injuryon the job per 100 full-timeworkers. Half forced workers tomiss time. What the data do notshow is more than 5,000 work-ers are killed on the job eachyear, including some at work-sites where job safety was aproblem before. That's the caseat the Texas City, Texas BP re-finery that suffered a huge ex-plosion March 25, killing 15workers, injuring 100 others.

The Los Angeles Times re-ported on April 13 that OSHAhad already proposed fining BP$109,500 for the September

Pro-privatizationCEOS pay little

CEOs of Wall Street firmsthat support privatizing SocialSecurity pay into the system foronly a few days a year becauseSocial Security taxes are notpaid on income above $87,900, astudy by United for a Fair Econ-omy and the Institute for Ameri-ca's Future shows. Seven CEOShad incomes so high they ex-ceeded the Social Security earn-ings cap in eight hours or less.

For a copy of "Taxpayers fora Day," visit http://www.faireconomy.org/WallStreetCEOs.

than in many other jobs. The nation's 2.276 million

nursing home workers, whomOSHA has paid particular atten-tion to for years, had 10.1 in-juries/illnesses per 100 full-timers, with 6.3 of them losingwork time.

But all those workers--fromthe slaughterhouses to the cook-ie cutters--took a back seat toworkers who build sport utilityvehicles. The illness and injuryrate for those 76,000 workerswas 18 illnesses/injuries per 100fulltimers. And 11.7 of those 18injuries forced them to misstime from the job.

Data show range of hazardous jobs...from page 1

We must continuethe struggle for

workplace safety!

National Association of Letter CarriersBranch 114 Merged

Duluth, Two Harbors & Silver BayPlease join us Saturday, May 14for our National NALC Food Drive.Call Yvonne Harvey at 728-1779 to volunteer, and

leave non-perishables near your mailbox that day.

This Workers’Memorial Day We Remember... Neva Rogers Derrick Brun Spc. Daniel McConnellRobin Sutter Susan Webber and their families.

As we remember all workers who have been victimized by theiremployment, we renew our fight for strong workplace safety andhealth protections and world peace. Unions lead the struggle for better working conditions and dignityand respect on the job for all workers.

Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body

Workers Memorial Day, 2005Organize/Mobilize For Safe Jobs!

Join us for a free breakfast 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., Monday, April25, in the Labor Temple's Wellstone Hall, 2002 London Rd.

A memorial ceremony at 9 a.m. will remember all ourbrothers and sisters who have lost their lives, been injured

and/or fallen victim to disease as a result of workplacehazards. We’ll call on Congress to not jeopardize workers’

lives by destroying our workplace safety rights.

Unions have worked hard to establish safe jobs. As we’vefound out the hard way, politicians are able to legislate

them away. Know who it is that you’re voting for!

from your friends in the 17 affiliates of the

Iron Range Building & Trades Council

Contact us - we can direct you to high quality contractors who use highly skilled, area workers

President John Grahek, 1-218-741-2482Financial-Secretary Michael Syversrud, 107 S. 15th Ave. W., Virginia, MN. 55792

61 years of Experience Now Available to all Northland Residents and Businesses

Join us for Personal Service… Join us for a Lending Hand… Join us Because You Can !

PAGE 4 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

and other government programsrun out, even more will bestanding on line. Last year,America got a pay cut. Wagesfor the average worker fell, afteradjusting for inflation -- the firstsuch drop in 10 years. Thatmeans the standard of living formost Americans is in decline.

The country becomes lessand less fair, and equality of op-portunity grows farther awayever day. Again, I don't thinkRepublicans are doing this be-cause they are mean, but be-cause they have convincedthemselves that people shouldn'tbe "dependent" on government,that it's bad for their moral fiber.Only corporations and the su-per-rich should get welfare andsubsidies.

As economist John KennethGalbraith put it, "The modernconservative is engaged in oneof man's oldest exercises inmoral philosophy; that is, thesearch for a superior moral jus-tification for selfishness." © 2005 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.,

www.creators.com

tell us how terribly, terriblyoverburdened we are by taxes.We wouldn't be overburdened ifthe tax code hadn't been rewrit-ten by Republicans, and if Re-publicans hadn't weakened theIRS so much it can barely func-tion. Damn right, this is a parti-san effort. And damn right, I'mbitter about it. We don't need toraise taxes in this country, weneed to collect them. We needtax cuts that don't favor the ob-scenely rich. You are gettingscrewed.

OK, now that I've gotten thatrant off my chest, back to howit's done. Johnston: "One 1985law, promoted in the Senate asrelieving middle class Ameri-cans, gave a huge tax break tocorporate executives who makepersonal use of company jets.CEOs may now fly to vacationsor Saturday golf outings in lux-ury for a penny a mile. Congressshifted the real cost of about $6per mile to shareholders, whopay two-thirds, and to taxpay-ers, who suffer the cost lost as aresult of reduced corporate in-come taxes.

"Since 1988, Congress hasalso cut in half the Internal Rev-enue Service's capacity to en-force tax laws, replacing it withextra effort to reduce audits ofcorporations and the rich.

"On March 30, Congresswas told that 78 percent ofknown tax cheats in investmentpartnerships are not even askedto pay because there are notenough tax collectors to go afterthem."

The IRS oversight boardasked for money to go afterthese cheaters, but both Con-gress and President Bush re-fused. The IRS's computer sys-tem was installed when JohnKennedy was president.

The Senate budget currentlyunder consideration includes

$129 billion in new tax breaksfor millionaires and a $2.8 bil-lion cut in farm and nutritionprograms (i.e., food stamps).Which do you think is more im-portant? The House has alreadypassed a budget that cuts atleast $15 billion for Medicaidand $5.3 billion from foodstamps.

I have long held that W.Bush does not believe changinggovernment policies can actual-ly wreck people's lives -- hethinks it's a game, and the De-mocrats are just the other team.But if you believe the shift inthe tax burden in this country --and the consequent separationof a tiny, ever-richer minorityfrom the rest of us -- doesn'thave real effects, you're blind.

When you cut housing sub-sidies, you get more homelesspeople. When you cut foodstamps, you get more hungrypeople. In 2002, at least 25.5million people went to soupkitchens and food pantries. In2003, 1.1 million more joinedthe lines. As unemployment

"We don't need to raise taxes in this country. We need to collect them."

AUSTIN, Texas-- Happy tax day,fellow citizens!

My favorite authority on tax-es is David Cay Johnston of TheNew York Times, who won aPulitzer for reporting on the ter-minally unsexy topic of taxes.His book "Perfectly Legal --The Covert Campaign to RigOur Tax System to Benefit theSuper-Rich--and Cheat Every-one Else" is the single best workon public policy of recent years,I think.

Johnston reports: "Through

explicit policies, as well as taxlaws never reported in the news,Congress now literally takesmoney from those making$30,000 to $500,000 per yearand funnels it in subtle ways tothe super-rich -- the top one-onehundredth of one percent ofAmericans.

"People making $60,000paid a larger share of their 2001income in federal income, So-cial Security and Medicare taxesthan a family making $25 mil-lion, the latest Internal RevenueService data show. And in in-come taxes alone, people mak-ing $400,000 paid a larger shareof their incomes than the 7,000households who made $10 mil-lion or more."

The rest of us are subsidizingnot only the super-rich, but alsocorporations. Fifty years ago,corporations paid 60 percent ofall federal taxes. But by 2003,that was down to 16 percent. Soindividual taxpayers have tomake up the difference, as cor-porate profits soar and wagesfall.

As more and more rich peo-ple cheat on their taxes, the IRSis increasingly unable to go afterthem because it is so poorlyfunded.

For all this, we can thank theRepublican Party.

Every year at this time, con-servatives moan and groan and

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LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 5

Please don't patronize union-busting Spot Bar in Int'l Falls

Dear Sisters and Brothers,The Spot Firehouse Restaurant in International Falls has been a

union restaurant for 68 years. It opened in 1936 and was organizedin 1939. The Spot was owned by Phil Olson and his family. Theytreated their employees like family and there has been a great work-ing relationship with the Olsons and UNITE HERE Local 99.

In early January, Bill Fisher of Mora, MN purchased the Spot.He met and hired all the employees that worked under the Olsons.He stated that there would be no changes at that time.

Bill Fisher received a certified letter on January 7th from Local99 asking that a meeting be set to sign a contract. It was only thenthat he stated that he no longer wanted to be a union shop. Aftermany attempts to contact Mr. Fisher, he no longer accepts our mailand refuses to sign a contract with Local 99.

Bill Fisher’s knowledge of federal labor law leaves something tobe desired. He has not only been aggressively going after union-button-wearing-members, but even went so far as to terminate oneemployee because she was a strong union supporter. Fisher actual-ly documented in the write ups and termination papers that she wasout of uniform for wearing her union button. This happened onApril 1, 2005.

Employees were called to attend a meeting at the Spot on Mon-day, April 11. The topic was a document that Fisher wanted signedby all employees saying that there was not support for their union.Would you say that you support the union 10 days after thestrongest union supporter was terminated for wearing a union pin?

Bill Fisher's constant attack on workers' rights has workersscared to wear their union pins let alone sign a piece of paper say-ing they support their union. This is a blatant act of coercion.

As we continue to file unfair labor practice charges, it is appar-ent that Mr. Fisher has dug in his heals and is committed to break-ing the union at the Spot Restaurant.

We will continue to file charges against Mr. Fisher but need thehelp of labor to get our message across. Please do not patronize Bil-ly’s Spot Supper Club when you are in International Falls until BillFisher obeys the law!

In Solidarity,Todd Erickson, Staff Representative, UNITE HERE Local 99(see related article on page 10)

end for many, getting an educa-tion is about being able to get ajob. In these parts for manyyears, perhaps no more, therewas an opportunity to get a mid-dle-class job with a high schooldegree and little more. Manydidn't and don't aspire to more.

Zeitz Hudelson was willingto address the scary point thattoo many politicians gettingelected today want to see publiceducation fail. It's a sign thatracism and classism are stillalive in our society she said.

It goes beyond public ed.

understand why it's important.At a Progressive Action fo-

rum on public education it wasgreat to hear about improve-ments Duluth schools havemade in test scores in 7 yearsfrom Superintendent Julio Al-manza. Tests are important butmore importantly district drop-out rates went from 10% to 4%from 1998 to 2004 when basedon race. In the same period theydropped from 13.6% to 5.7%when based on a poverty factor.

Former School Board mem-ber Eileen Zeitz Hudelsonbrought up a surprising point:while Minnesota has a high per-centage of high school grads, ithas a low percentage of peoplewith 4-year college degrees.

That may be about familiesinstilling the importance ofwork into their young. In the

Isn't it amazing that publicschools (see page 9) are depen-dent on donations to buy thingslike math books while privateschools can spent thousands ad-vertising for students?

I just can't buy into any ofthat bunk that there's somethingradically wrong with public ed-ucation. We're what's wrongwith public education. We thinkwe're special. We're above andbeyond public education's abili-ty to educate our exceptionalkids. We only want what's bestfor our kids and we're willing topay for it. Society is all screwedup and the kids will be better offin "a better learning environ-ment." We can't waste public re-sources on public education,give me mine and I'll do what'sbest for my kids and my family.

Public education works. Be-sides transportation, it is the on-ly thing that the state is constitu-tionally mandated to fund. Inthe political climate we have,however, both are being starved.

The benefits of public educa-tion to society are limitless ifthere is a commitment by acommunity to it. The benefits toan individual are limitless if astudent pays attention and usesthe tools that are there. Both so-ciety and students need help to

~NOTICE~Next issues of Labor Worldare May 4 & 25; June 8 &29; July 13 & 27; Aug. 10& 31; Sept. 14 & 28; Oct.

This Day In Historyfrom

www.workdayminnesota.org

April 20, 1914John D. Rockefeller’sColorado Fuel and Iron Co.brought in state militia andcompany gunmen to break astrike by 10,000 members ofthe United Mine Workers ofAmerica.They fired machineguns and set fire to a tentcolony of strikers and theirfamilies. Fourteen men,women and children werekilled in what is rememberedas the Ludlow Massacre.

April 20, 1948United Auto WorkersPresident Walter Reuther wasshot and seriously woundedby would-be assassins.Thecharismatic labor leaderdied in a plane crash in 1970.

LABOR WORLDKnown office of publication

2002 London Road, Room 110Duluth, MN 55812

(218) 728-4469 FAX: (218) 724-1413laborworld@qwest.netwww.laborworld.org

ESTABLISHED 1896Owned by Unions affiliated with the

Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body

Periodical PostagePaid Duluth, MN

Larry Sillanpa, Editor/ManagerDeborah Skoglund, BookkeeperPublished 24 times per year

Subscriptions: $20 AnnuallyPOSTMASTER:

Send address changes to:2002 London Rd., Room 110

Duluth, MN 55812Board of Directors

President/Treas Mikael Sundin,Painters 106; VP Paul Iverson,BMWE 1710; Sec. Al LaFrenier,UNITE HERE; Jim Walters,Plumbers & Steamfitters 11;Tom Selinski, IBEW 242; LaurieJohnson, AFSCME Co 5; LynetteSwanberg, MN Nurses Assn; MikeKuitu, Operating Engineers 49

6

7

Please join State Rep. Bill Hilty at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College for a freepublic showing of the film: THE END OF SUBURBIA: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream

(http://www.endofsuburbia.com/)This 78 minute film explores the American Way of Lifeand its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era,as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip sup-ply. The film will be followed by coffee and conversation. Monday, April 25, 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.FDLTCC, 2101 14th Street, Cloquet, MN, Room 230

http://www.fdltcc.edu/web/info/maps/FDLTCC_roadmap.jpg Hosted by State Rep. Bill Hilty and Laurie Hilty in conjunc-tion with Carlton County DFL and the Progressive Caucus

Prepared and paid for by Hilty Volunteer Committee, Finlayson, MN 55735

2002 London Road • 218.728.2863

Monday - Friday9 am - 5:30 pm

OwnersKim Bujold & Eric Saksa, O.D.

F Doctor On SiteF Convenient ParkingF Located in the Duluth Labor TempleF European Style Glasses F Contact Lenses

WHO BENEFITS? When the powerful appealto the worst in us--our fear, our prejudice, and ourgreed--we must ask ourselves, what's in it for them?

"Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corrup-tion in high places will follow, and the money power of thecountry will endeavor to prolong its reign by working uponthe prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated ina few hands and the Republic is destroyed."

~Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 (U.S. President 1861-65)As your state representative, I will continueto call upon the best in all of us--our trust,

our tolerance, and our generosity.

Prepared and paid for by Hilty Volunteer Committee, Finlayson, MN 55735

BILL HILTYSTATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 8A

Call me today!You may qualify formoney-saving autoinsurance discounts.

I want to help you save money.

© 2000 American Family Mutual Insurance Company and its Subsidiaries Home Office - Madison, WI 53783 www.amfam.com

$$$

NA -16942

Jerome E Siljendahl Agency2002 London Rd Ste 200

(218) 728-6803 BusDuluth, MN 55812

(218) 728-6803

PAGE 6 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

Health hazards to workers exposed to benzene may be greaterthan the safe levels now in effect under American law.

Independent experts, after looking at a recent large study, saythe findings strongly hint that benzene, in fact, is one of a smallgroup of chemicals for which there are no safe thresholds.

The study was conducted by scientists from the National Can-cer Institute, China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention,the University of California at Berkeley, and several other institu-tions. The study published in the journal, Science, found that verylow levels of benzene may harm the bone marrow. This is thebody’s main factory for blood cells.

According to the New York Times, researchers said that countsof certain protective white blood cells in 250 Chinese shoe factoryworkers, exposed to less than one part per million of benzene in theair, were 15 percent to 18 percent lower than counts in a similargroup of garment workers who were not exposed. While the lowerblood counts were not in a range deemed harmful, the findings,nevertheless, were grounds for the suggestion that there is no safethreshold.

This study should be viewed as a clear and urgent call for aprompt re-evaluation of the American workplace standard.

It was way back in 1987 – 18 years a go – when the Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) set the standard atone part per million. The level was agreed on even though the Na-tional Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recommended astandard of 0.1 parts per million.

Groups representing the chemical and oil industries have foughtthe tightening of benzene standards for three decades. They saidthey needed to analyze the latest study before commenting.

Benzene is used as a constituent in motor fuels, as a solvent forfats, waxes, resins, oils, inks, paints, plastics and rubber. It is alsoused in the extraction of oils from seeds and nuts, and in pho-togravure printing. It is used in the manufacture of detergents, ex-plosives, pharmaceuticals and dyestuffs.

Benzene is found in emissions from burning coal and oil, motorvehicle exhaust, and evaporation from gasoline service stations,and in industrial solvents. These sources contribute to elevated lev-els of benzene in the ambient air, which may subsequently bebreathed by the public.

Tobacco smoke contains benzene and accounts for nearly half ofthe national exposure to benzene.

Individuals may also be exposed to benzene by drinking conta-minated water.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages can increase the toxicity ofbenzene exposure in humans.

Neurological symptoms of inhalation exposure to benzene in-clude drowsiness, dizziness, headaches and unconsciousness in hu-mans. Ingestion of large amounts of benzene may result in vomit-ing, dizziness and convulsions. Exposure to liquid and vapor mayirritate the skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract. Redness and blis-ters may result from skin exposure.

If you have questions or suggestions for articles, write Dr. Phillip L.Polakoff at 171 Alvarado Road, Berkeley, Calif., 94705.

(Copyright 2005 by Dr. Phillip L. Polakoff and medical writer Jack Tucker/PAI)

In mid-March, EducationMinnesota filed suit against theschool district over the hiring ofdozens of strike replacementworkers at $300 a day – twicethe rate of pay for beginningteachers in the district.

The strike was the secondlongest teachers' strike on re-cord in Minnesota according tothe Bureau of Mediation Ser-vices.

Education Minnesota Cros-by-Ironton has 87 members whohad been without a contract foralmost two years.

The school district servesroughly 1,300 students.

www.educationminnesota.org.& www.workdayminnesota.orgcontributed to this story

Many Crosby-Ironton teach-ers were back to work by 4:00p.m. April 6 after settling theirstrike with the district at 1:30p.m earlier that day. Classeswere all in session the next day.

"We are thrilled that we arereturning to our classrooms andwill be with our students, whichis the most important part of to-day's agreement," said StanNagorski, president of Educa-tion Minnesota Crosby-Ironton."This agreement will go a longway to helping us retain the bestteachers in this area."

Negotiations centered onsalary and health insurance is-sues, which were the primarypoints of contention throughoutthe 8-week strike.

"The school district was able

to meet its objectives of pre-dictability and cost contain-ment, and the union was able topreserve important benefits forour members," Nagorski added.

"Our best moment in weekswill come tomorrow morning,when the school bell rings andour members are in the class-room," said Nagorski.

Key issues in the strike,which began Feb. 9, were healthinsurance for retired teachersand current employees andwages. The two parties settledretiree health benefits by settingup a trust fund to make pay-ments as they are needed. In thepast retirees had full family cov-erage for nine years. New hireswill not receive health coveragewhen they retire.

Crosby-Ironton school strike ended April 6 Work & Health By Phillip L. Polakoff, M. D.

Benzene dangersneed upgrading

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wishing you the bestas you go through

Your work day

Workers’Memorial

day...renewing our commitment to safe jobs

PegSweeney

St. Louis County Commissioner F District 5Paid for by Peg Sweeney Volunteer Committee

Remembering Working Families

ST. PAUL — Resolutionshave been introduced in theMinnesota House and Senatecalling on Congress not to tinkerwith Social Security.

The resolution "memorial-izes Congress to retain SocialSecurity as an insurance fund,"said Yvonne Prettner Solon,DFL-Duluth, one of the Senateauthors. "To make whateverconservative adjustments arenecessary to insure the solvencyof the trust fund well beyond theyear 2042, when it's projected to

Solon says the proposedchanges would turn a decades-old safety-net program into agamble, and the only sure "win-ners" are investment firms paidto manage the private accounts.

"There's the risk of outlivingyour account balance," she said."The risk that the returns mightgo up and down. That inflationwould erode your purchasingpower. Those people who haveless, would get less, becausethey couldn't save as much.And, that there's not the assur-

become insolvent. And, itavoids privatization of the So-cial Security program."

The proposed White Houseplan would allow Americansunder age 55 to invest some oftheir Social Security savings inprivate accounts. Supporterssaid it allows workers morefreedom, and maybe a biggernest egg. Opponents say SocialSecurity is supposed to be se-cure, not a gamble. The pro-posed state resolution expressesintent, but has no force of law.

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 7

ance of family insurance bene-fits."

The proposed privatizationplan would change Social Secu-rity "as we know it," Solonadded.

"Currently, we have retire-ment benefits for as long as welive. They don't fluctuate withthe stock market," she noted."There are annual cost of livingadjustments. There are benefitsfor people who have been work-ing for low wages, or have tak-en time off to have children, and

for care giving, disability andsurvivor benefits for families.This is a program that says thatwe have made this commitmentto take care of you in old age,and if you should become dis-abled."

Oberstar tohost forum onSocial Security

Monday, April 25, Congress-man Jim Oberstar will hold a"Hometown Values" forum onproposed changes to the SocialSecurity system and how thosechanges could impact familiesin Minnesota. After the panelpresentation, the public willhave an opportunity to ask ques-tions and make comments.

Oberstar said Democrats areworking to reduce the deficit,protect Social Security,strengthen investment vehiclessuch as 401 (k)s and IRA plans,rather than looking at cuttingbenefits on many seniors onlyretirement package.

WHO: Congressman JimOberstar; Dr. Craig Grau, Pro-fessor at the University of Min-nesota Duluth; Vi Bloom, Se-nior Citizen; and Charlie Wit-twer, Disabilities Advocate

WHAT: Forum on "Keepingthe Promise, Social Security inthe 21st Century"

WHERE: Weber Music Hall,University of Minnesota Duluth

WHEN: Monday, April 25from 7:30-9:00 p.m.

Sen. Prettner Solon leads lawmakers in saying, "Leave Social Security alone"

John E. SomersUtility LinemanJune 11, 1971

Kenneth L. MeintsSr. Elect - Maint. & Construction

January 14, 1972

Teddy E. BurgraffUtility Maintenance & Repairman

April 13, 1979

Joseph W. StattelmanUtility LinemanAugust 13, 1981

Jeff RoweUtility LinemanOctober 1, 1990

Roger WhitesideUtility LinemanOctober 1, 1990

Kenneth W. GravesCable Splicer

September 19, 1997

Leslie R. BeachLinestakerJuly 4, 1999

Kerry RoeSappi Maintenance Electrician

November 11, 2003

Donald KingUtility Lineman

April 1, 1954

Robert HinkleyUtility Lineman

November 12, 1959

Tom BrownInside WiremanAugust 13, l963

Howard BluhmHead Utility Lineman

October 14, 1964

Charles A. EricksonMaintenance & Construction

February 9, 1965

Roy PaulsonConstruction Lineman

August 20, 1965

Lowell KramerUtility Lineman

November 25, 1968

Harlan W. LehtoMaintenance & Construction

June 19, 1970

Kenneth HamrenUtility Electrician

May 19, 1971

Francis LightnerHydro-Electric Operator

February 16, 1940

Louis SaelensMaintenance & Construction Laborer

March 31, 1943

Fred GrienerUtility Lineman

June, 1943

Roy MartiniUtility Lineman April 16, 1947

Walter S. JohnsonUtility Operator

December 20, 1948

George E. DionUtility Lineman

June 28, 1950

Richard J. AdamsonUtility Lineman

April 5, 1951

Toivo SillanpaaUtility Lineman

April 15, 1953

Dewey R. HarmonMaintenance & Construction Helper

September l8, 1953InternationalAssociation ofHeat & Frost

Insulators andAsbestos Workers Local 49

In Memory...Of our manymembers who

have died because oftheir jobs

PAGE 8 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

(This is supposedly a true ac-cident report from the Aus-tralian equivalent of the Work-ers' Compensation board.)

Dear Sir:I am writing in response to

your request for additional in-formation in Block 3 of the ac-cident report form. I put "poorplanning" as the cause of my ac-cident. You asked for a fuller ex-planation and I trust the follow-ing details will be sufficient.

I am a bricklayer by trade.On the day of the accident, I wasworking alone on the roof of anew six story building. When Icompleted my work, I foundthat I had some bricks left overwhich, when weighed later werefound to be slightly in excess of500 lbs. Rather than carry thebricks down by hand, I decidedto lower them in a barrel by us-

ing a pulley, which was attachedto the side of the building on thesixth floor. Securing the rope atground level, I went up to theroof, swung the barrel out andloaded the bricks into it. Then, Iwent down and untied the rope,holding it tightly to ensure aslow descent of the bricks.

You will note in Block 11 ofthe accident report form, that Iweigh 175 lbs. Due to my sur-prise at being jerked off theground so suddenly, I lost mypresence of mind and forgot tolet go of the rope. Needless tosay, I proceeded at a rapid rateup the side of the building. Inthe vicinity of the third floor, Imet the barrel which was nowproceeding downward at anequal, impressive speed. Thisexplained the fractured skull,minor abrasions and the brokencollar bone, as listed in section 3

of the accident report form. Slowed only slightly, I con-

tinued my rapid ascent, notstopping until the fingers of myright hand were two knucklesdeep into the pulley. Fortunate-ly, by this time I regained mypresence of mind and was ableto hold tightly onto the rope, inspite of beginning to experiencea great deal of pain.

At approximately the sametime, however, the barrel ofbricks hit the ground and thebottom fell out of the barrel.Now, devoid of the weight ofthe bricks, that barrel weighedapproximately 50 lbs. I referyou again to my weight.

As you can imagine, I begana rapid descent down the side ofthe building. In the vicinity ofthe third floor, I met the barrelcoming up. This accounts forthe two fractured ankles, brokentooth and several lacerations ofmy legs and lower body.

Here my luck began tochange slightly. The encounterwith the barrel seemed to slowme enough to lessen my injurieswhen I fell into the pile of bricksand fortunately only three verte-brae were cracked.

I am sorry to report, howev-er, as I lay there on the pile ofbricks, in pain unable to move, Iagain lost my composure andpresence of mind and let go ofthe rope and I lay there watch-ing the empty barrel begin it'sjourney back down onto me.This explains the two brokenlegs.

I hope this answers your in-quiry.

Bill Fuller

Accident report: You're excused for laughing

WW hen you a r e c on s i d e r i ngwhe r e you r f i na l r e s t i ng

p la c e w i l l b e , wou l dn ’ t i t g i v e you comfo r t t o know

i t was i n a Union Ceme t e ry?

Teamsters Local 346 representsworkers at

Calvary and

Oneotacemeteries

NOTHING BUT THE BEST FOR

YOUR FAMILY!

TEAMSTERSTEAMSTERS

LLOCOCALAL 346346

We Rememberwith sorrow and pride

on Workers’ Memorial Dayour City of Duluth

Employees who have diedin the line of duty.

Mayor Herb Bergson

and City CouncilorsDonny Ness, President

Neill Atkins, Greg Gilbert, Laurie Johnson, Tim Little, Roger Reinert,Jim Stauber, Russ Stewart, Russ Stover

Our Best Interests Are Best Protected By Safe Worksites.

Training Is The Key To Safety.Twin Ports-Arrowhead Chapter of the

NATIONAL ELECTRICALCONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION

APi ElectricHibbing, MN

APi ElectricDuluth, MN

APi TechnologiesDuluth, MN

AEC ElectricInternational Falls, MN

Agate ElectricTwo Harbors, MN

Belknap ElectricSuperior, WI

Belknap Tel-ComSuperior, WI

Benson ElectricSuperior, WI

Benson ElectricVirginia Mn

Bergstrom ElectricSuperior, WI

DECO, IncOnamia, MN

Electric SystemsDuluth, MN

Electrical SystemsBrainerd, MN

Energy & Air Systems Superior, WI

Hoffmann ElectricBrainerd, MN

Holden ElectricBrainerd, MN

Johanson ElectricCloquet, MN

Kantor ElectricInternational Falls, MN

Laveau ElectricWrenshall, MN

M. J. ElectricDuluth, MN

North Country Electrical Services

Laporte, MN

Nylund ElectricDuluth, MN

Polyphase ElectricDuluth, MN

Seppala ElectricHibbing, MN

MOURN FOR THE DEAD,FIGHT FOR THE LIVING,

AND STAY ALERTFOR SAFETY FIRST!

Cement Masons,

Plasterers &ShophandsLocal 633

If you bought a HarleyDavidson raffle ticket fromPainters & Allied Trades Local106 and didn't win the motorcy-cle, you can still think of your-self as a winner.

Last week $2,500 from thePATCH (Painters and AlliedTrades for Children's Hope)fund that includes raffle pro-ceeds was presented to ProctorSchool District 704 Superin-tendent Diane Rauschenfels.

"Since PATCH was estab-lished in 2001 by Painters Dis-trict Council 82, it has raisedover $70,000, which goes di-rectly back into improving chil-dren's lives," said Craig Olson,Business Manager of Painters &Allied Trades #106. "The$2,500 to Proctor Schools is thelargest single donation we couldmake."

Raffle tickets and golf fund-raisers have contributed to Min-nesota District Council 82

"We've just had to figure outhow to cut $1 million out of ourbudget," she said. "This dona-tion will be used to buy neededmath text books."

Testing required by the fed-eral No Child Left Behind acthas shown math to be an area ofneed in the district. NCLB doesnot come with funding to helpout however. PATCH does.

IUPAT's PATCH Foundationwas created to improve the livesof children in need and ensuringtheir futures are as bright andproductive as possible.

"As an international coalitionof working men and women weunderstand that our children arenot only our most precious re-source, but also the key to aprosperous future," said Olson.

Other PATCH donationsraised locally have supportedthe Damiano Center, holidayprograms and other youth activ-ities he said.

PATCH fund over the years. Theprogram is administered by theInternational Union of Paintersand Allied Trades but DistrictCouncils and Local Unions thatactually raise the money are giv-en the opportunity to make deci-sions on how it is disbursed.

"Dick and Cookie Kari, whoown the Powerhouse Bar inProctor, have sold hundreds,maybe a thousand raffle ticketsand even displayed the Harleyin their bar, so we thought theirschool district should see someof the proceeds," said Olson.

Cookie is a member ofUSWA Local 9460. Dick was amember of TCU/Carmen on theDM&IR before losing his jobdue to a disability. Both attend-ed Proctor schools.

Rauschenfels said the dona-tion is greatly appreciated. Likemost school districts they findthemselves in difficult financialtimes.

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 9

PATCH donates $2,500 to Proctor Schools

Painters & Allied Trades Local 106's Craig Olson, center, pre-sents a check for $2,500 to Proctor Schools Superintendent Di-ane Rauschenfels on behalf of PATCH. At left is Dick Kari,owner of the Powerhouse Bar in Proctor, who has sold over athousand raffle tickets that make such donations possible.

UNITED FOOD & COMMERCIAL WORKERS

SAY. . .

FOR THE LIVING!UFCW Local 1116

Lane HarstadPresident

Unions have fought hard to improve working conditions for all American workers.

Our efforts have resulted in hugeimprovements in safety sinceOSHA became law in 1970. Still,nearly 6,000 U.S. workers a yearare killed on the job. And everyyear attempts are made to gutMinnesota and federal OSHA.

Mourn for the Deadbut continue to

Fight for the Living!SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL 10

This nation has a terrible history of death, catastrophic injury and illness in the workplace.

All working Americans owe a debt of gratitude to unions for their good work

in making work safer and more bearable.~~

Brown, Andrew, & Signorelli PA

Tim Andrew ~ Aaron BranskyRepresenting Labor Unions and their Members300 Alworth Building Duluth, MN 55802

218-722-1764

Over 1,000...That’s the number of

construction-related deaths

that occurevery year because of inadequate

safety standards,

spotty federal regulation, and ineffective legislation.

The number of serious injuries is nearing 10million since OSHA was created in 1970.

We’ve got a lot more work to do.The membership of

LABORERS’Local 1091

PAGE 10 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

The 4 p.m. rally will be out-side Coleman’s office at 2550University Ave. W., St. Paul.

"This bad trade deal will de-stroy Minnesota’s $2 billion ayear sugar industry, wreak hav-oc on western Minnesota farms,and kill hundreds of Minnesotajobs," said Octavio Ruiz ofMFTC. He can be reached at612-276-0788

The Senate is expected tovote on the proposal this spring,

and Sen. Coleman has not yetdeclared his views on CAFTA.

Coleman can be reached at:320 Senate Hart Office Building

Washington, DC 20510202-224-5641Fax: 202-224-11522550 University Ave W,

Suite 100N, St. Paul, MN 55114800-642-6041Fax: 651-645-3110http://coleman.senate.gov/

Working families stepped uptheir fight to stop the proposedCentral American Free TradeAgreement (CAFTA).

Thousands of activists flood-ed congressional offices withphone calls April 13 during aNational Call-In Day againstCAFTA. The same day, AFL-CIO Executive Vice PresidentLinda Chavez-Thompson andMark Levinson, UNITEHERE's chief economist, toldcongressional committees CAF-TA will further oppress workers,depress wages in Central Amer-ica, do nothing to lift workersthere out of poverty and willcost jobs in the United States.

If approved, CAFTA wouldspread to the Dominican Repub-lic and five Central Americancountries the job loss, environ-mental damage and growing in-equality caused over the pastdecade of the North AmericanFree Trade Agreement.

For more information onCAFTA, visit http://www.afl-cio.org/issuespolitics/globale-conomy/cafta_ftaa_main.cfm .

The Minnesota Fair TradeCoalition and Minnesota AFL-CIO are teaming up for a rallyThursday, April 21 to tell GOPU.S. Senator Norm Coleman tosay NO! to CAFTA.

"Stop CAFTA!" growing, tell Sen. Coleman

Rally starts picketing at Spot Bar in Int'l Falls

UNITE HERE Local 99 took their frustrations with Bill Fisher,new owner of the Spot Bar in International Falls, to the street lastFriday. (See letter on page 5). By 7:30 the community had gottenbehind the workers and their union to the point that Fisher closedhis restaurant because he had no business.

"Our rally in International Falls went better than I could haveimagined," said Local 99 Business Rep. Todd Erickson.

Fisher bought the restaurant last January and has refused to signa union contract or have any discussion with the union. He has ver-bally abused his staff and stated that he may have to terminate allunion employees if that is what it takes to get rid of the union.

Larry (Skinny) and Laura Hansen own the UNITE HERE-affil-iated Outpost Saloon right across the street from the Spot. They al-lowed their parking lot to be used to stage the rally.

"We spoke about workers rights and the injustice of what hap-pened to these workers since Fisher bought the facility and decidedhe could make the decision about whether or not it would beunion," said Erickson. "People in International Falls weren't aboutto let someone come into their town (from Mora, where he owns aFord dealership) and fire a worker for wearing a union pin."

That's what Fisher did to 4-year employee Heather Caple afterhe refused to sign a contract with the union. Caple spoke at the ral-ly about how she now sees exactly what a union can do for a work-er even though she was a union supporter before.

Fisher had called a meeting of his workers to try to get them tosign a document that they didn't want a union so he could run it inthe local paper. His effort failed.

Bob Walls, Business Rep. for IAW W-33 spoke about unionsstaying strong and supporting each other. That's exactly what hap-pened as 60 people, like Walls many of them from the nine unionsat Boise Cascade's paper mill, showed up for the rally and picket.

"We started to walk the line when the restaurant opened at 5:00p.m.," said Erickson. "Two employees would not cross and go towork. All of the reservations canceled and Fisher closed the doorsby 7:30 p.m. on a Friday night! It was awesome. Our biggest prob-lem was we didn't have enough signs for the turnout."

Erickson said if Fisher doesn't sign a contract the union is goingto put up a permanent picket line on Friday, May 13 to kick-off thefishing opener.

"This community is strong and behind us," he said. "I was nev-er more proud as a union rep than I was on Friday. I know we haveone of the strongest union towns in America. Other bar ownersshowed up to show their support and Dominos donated pizzas."

Supporters of UNITE HERE Local 99 and their members at The Spot in International Fallsstaged a rally there last Friday that caused the restaurant to close its doors in just two and ahalf hours because no one showed up there to eat. (Todd Erickson photo)

Our jobs are very important, but nothing is more important than

getting home to our families safely. I’ll work hard in the Senate on workplace

safety issues for working families.

Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon

Minnesota Senate District 7 F AFL-CIO & DFL Endorsed Paid for by the Prettner Solon Volunteer Committee, Elaine Hansen, Treasurer

In Remembrance Of Our Fallen

Brothers & Sisters

Carlton County CentralLabor Body, AFL-CIO

State Rep. David Dill is endorsed by:

Iron Range Building & Construction Trades

Duluth Building & Construction Trades

Iron Range Labor Assembly - MN AFL-CIO

U.S. Steelworkers of America, District 11

Paid for by David Dill for 6A Committee; JoAnne Pagel, Treasurer, P.O. Box 293, Orr, MN 55771

4 Duluth Building and Construction Trades4 Iron Range Building and Construction Trades 4 Iron Range Labor Assembly 4 USWA District 114 Minnesota Association of Professional Employees 4 Minnesota Farmers Union - PAC

4 DFL House Caucus Endorsed 4 Associated Contract Loggers and Truckers 4 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 633 4 Minnesota School Board Association "House Legislator of Year 2004"

Paid for by the David Dill for 6A Committee, JoAnne Pagel, Treasurer, P.O. Box 293, Orr, MN 55771

We work in an industry that

demands that everyone is safety

conscious. Thank you to everyone

who makes safety a top priority.

We’re proud to be a union contractor

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LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 11

By Mark GruenbergPAI Staff WriterSaying Congress is on the

verge of catering to business byshutting them out of court, as-bestos victims' organizationsand Fire Fighters are mounting adrive to preserve victims' rights.

On April 1 in Washington,marking Asbestos AwarenessDay, they said legislation beingdrafted by the Senate JudiciaryCommittee would leave an esti-mated 200,000-plus present vic-tims--and future victims--with-out recourse against the compa-nies that caused their ills.

They're lobbied to have thesubstance, widely used in olderbuildings and shipbuilding, ban-ned as threat to human health.

"For many victims, their lastwish is to be heard," said LindaReinstein, executive director ofthe Asbestos Disease AwarenessOrganization. "There are limitedtreatment options and inconsis-tent treatment protocols, but thisdisease takes down entire fami-lies and communities."

The committee, after adecade of work and controversy,is drafting a bill to create a fed-eral asbestos victim compensa-tion fund. Labor worked withthe panel in the past. But it saysthe business-backed $140 bil-lion limit on the fund--with noprovision for more money whenit runs low--is inadequate.

Labor and the victims, alsooppose another key provision of

the bill, banning victims fromsuing asbestos-producing com-panies or their insurers in court.

Both provisions are impor-tant because the toll of victims--who suffer from mesothelioma,asbestos, emphysema and otherlung diseases--is expected torise. The diseases often takedecades to develop after as-bestos fibers lodge in the lungs.

"This 'fair compensationbill,' isn't fair, added Dr. RichardLemen, a retired assistant Sur-geon General and chief investi-gator of asbestos illness for theNational Institutes of Occupa-tional Safety and Health.NIOSH, he added, called for atotal ban on asbestos--in 1976.

"We're missing one wholesegment of people" who are as-bestos victims, he added: Con-struction workers. "We're con-centrating on shipyard andNavy workers," Lemen said.

Lemen said the bill is soweak the entire asbestos miningtown of Libby, Mont., whereworkers and families havecaught asbestos-related diseasefrom the now-closed W.R.Grace & Co., mine, "would notbe covered." Grace refuses topay the victims.

Fire Fighters Health andSafety Director Patrick Morri-son, a 21-year veteran fromFairfax, Va., said that not onlyare his union's members endan-gered by asbestos from burningbuildings, but so are occupants

of any older building.In addition to the 343 New

York Fire Fighters killed at theWorld Trade Center Sept. 11,others are now forced to retireon disability due to lung ail-ments caused by airborne as-bestos and toxic chemicals re-leased by the attack--a threat, henoted, that the Bush administra-tion underplayed. "We had a lotof fire trucks that were so conta-minated by this stuff they had tobe decontaminated still, eightmonths later, in their stations,"he added.

He said homeowners are ex-posed to asbestos due to insula-tion and breathing asbestos dustin their attacks. And with a la-tency period of 30 years for as-bestos-caused diseases, Morri-son said there will be a huge in-

crease in the number of victims.Jim Fite, a former union

shipyard worker and now secre-tary of another victims group,the White Lung Association, es-timated that 4.5 million ship-yard workers, 2 million steel-workers and a million au-toworkers have been exposed toasbestos over the years,

Morrison and other speakersalso concentrated on an asbestosban, with one speaker noting itscontinuing prevalence in con-struction in developing coun-tries. Canadian Member of Par-liament Pat Martin, whose na-tion is the world's #2 producerof asbestos, said his government"has its head in the sand about"asbestos' health threat andpromised to introduce a ban.

Mesothelioma group meets hereA mesothelioma support group holds monthly meetings in Du-

luth on the first Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at the InclineStation, 601 W. Superior St, Duluth. The next meeting is Tuesday,May 3. Meetings are open to anyone interested in learning aboutthe asbestos-related disease.

The group was formed by Retired Sheet Metal Workers Local10 member Floyd Paaso and his family. Paaso is a rare survivor ofthe deadly disease. For more information contact Paaso at 525-2208 or visit www.marf.org.

Asbestos victims, Fire Fighters mount drive to protect rights

Low RatesAll Credit Welcomewww.DuluthMortgage.com

Our members work Our members work in an unsafe industry!in an unsafe industry!

We need the right to refuse unsafe work and protection

from discrimination for reporting injuries, illnesses

and unsafe conditions!We need a system of oversight

and coordination onmulti-employer projects!

We need an Office of Construction Safety, Health

and Education at OSHA!

Duluth Building & Construction TDuluth Building & Construction Trades Councilrades CouncilBoilermakers Lodge 647 ~ 724-6999

Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1 ~ 724-8374

Carpenters Local 361 ~ 724-3297

Cement Masons, Plasterers & Shophands Local 633 ~ 724-2323

Electrical Workers Local 242 ~ 728-6895

Elevator Constructors Local 9 ~ (612) 379-2709

Insulators Local 49 ~ 724-3223

Iron Workers Local 512 ~ 724-5073

Laborers Local 1091 ~ 728-5151

Millwrights & Machinery Erectors Local 1348 ~ 741-6314

Operating Engineers Local 49 ~ 724-3840

Painters & Allied Trades Local 106~ 724-6466

Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 11~ 727-2199

Roofers, Waterproofers Local 96~ 218-644-1096

Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 ~ 724-6873

Sprinkler Fitters Local 669 ~ (701) 281-1514

Teamsters Local 346 ~~ 628-1034

We value our workers’ safety much morethan the excellent quality of their work.

Thanks For Working Safely!

LAKEHEADCONSTRUCTORS INC.

Twin PortsTwin Cities

Virginia, Minnesota

89 years of service

1916 - 2005

General Contractors, Engineers and Equipment Rental Specialists

� Quality 4-Color Printing� In-House Creative Design� Computer Forms & Checks� Union Contracts� Letterheads & Envelopes� Color & High Speed Copies� Gathering & Stitching� Laminating

We appreciate areaworkers, your

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114 West Superior St. • Duluth, MN 55802218-722-4421 • Fax 218-722-3211

PAGE 12 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

Excessive pay enriches cor-porate executives at the expenseof working families' retirementsavings, according to the newExecutive Paywatch website,www.paywatch.org, unveiled bythe AFL-CIO April 11. The siteprovides case studies on CEOs"rewarded" with huge pay pack-ages last year.

According to the New YorkTimes, average CEO pay in-creased 12 percent in 2004while the pay of average work-ers increased just 3.6 percent. In2003 the average CEO of a ma-jor corporation received $9.84million in total compensation .

This year, union-sponsoredpension plans have submittedover 140 shareholder resolu-tions on CEO pay reform. Theshareholder proposals includelimiting golden parachutes, de-manding pay clawbacks, ex-pensing stock options and seek-

ing shareholder approval ofpreferential executive pensions.These new shareholder propos-als will accelerate the advancesmade last year, when an un-precedented 34 union fund-sponsored proposals on CEOpay won majority votes.

The paywatch website in-cludes case studies of excessivepay for: Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Dynegy (NYSE: DYN),Sprint (NYSE: FON), SempraEnergy (NYSE: SRE), and Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT).Case studies dissect CEO paypackages and link to the unionfund-sponsored shareholderproposal at each company.

At Wal-Mart, for example,President and CEO H. Lee Scottraked in nearly $23 million in2004, most in the form of fixedprice stock options and time-vesting restricted stock. At the

company's June meeting, share-holders will be asked to vote onurging the Board of Directors togrant Wal-Mart executives per-formance shares instead of re-stricted stock or options.

Coca-Cola, notorious forgenerous severance packages,plans to give former CEO Dou-glas Daft an exit package report-edly worth $36 million when heleft, the website reveals.

Sprint CEO Gary Forsee,who made over $19 million lastyear, is expected to receive a$1.8 million annual pensionbenefit when he retires.

www.paywatch.org gives athree-pronged strategy to con-tact regulators, the stock ex-changes and the IRS. The cam-paign calls upon the SEC, thefederal regulatory agency thatprotects investors‚ interests, torequire better disclosure of CEOpay to investors.

Visitors can urge the stockexchanges to require genuine di-rector independence, particular-ly on board of director compen-sation committees that are re-sponsible for setting CEO pay.

Finally, visitors can tell theIRS to enforce appropriate taxcollection from America's exec-utive elite, who can get awaywith abusive tax shelters, de-ferred compensation plans andunderreporting of perks andcapital gains.

The AFL-CIO representsmore than 13 million workingmen and women. Union mem-bers participate in the capitalmarkets as individual investorsand through a variety of benefitplans. Union sponsored benefitplans have a total of more than$400 billion in assets.

Rigged deals show need to curb CEO pay

In Memory of our departed members, who have died as a result of work-related

accidents, injuries or illnesses.Please pause with us at 9:00 a.m.

Thursday, April 28 for a Moment Of SilenceIn Their Honor

This Workers’ Memorial Day

Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 11

How can you protect your family’s future?Don’t let “wedge” issues distract you from a real working family’s agenda. Vote for Labor-friendly candidateswho will protect yourinterests!

SenatorBecky Lourey

Minnesota Senate u District 8

AFL-CIO & DFL EndorsedPaid for by Lourey for Senate, Rosanne Haynes, Treasurer,

985 Healy Road, Holyoke, MN 55749-9605

Too many of our members have had

their lives cut short, or the quality

of their lives severely affected, by

the materials they use and conditions

they work under every day at work.

We take safety and Workers’MemorialDayvery seriously.

Painters & AlliedTrades Local 106

Leading the way to safety through training

AFSCME Council 5, AFL-CIOMike Buesing, Council 5 President

Eliot Seide, Council 5 Executive Director

(David Riehle, a UTU mem-ber and labor historian in St.Paul has uncovered some Du-luth history. He will be in townMonday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at theBuilding for Women, 32 E. 1stSt., talking about the 1934 Min-neapolis Teamster Strike.)

"To Whom It May Concern...An Organizer’sLife is Not an Easy One."

By David RiehleThe following report from

the year 1909 was found in thefiles of the Duluth FederatedTrades Assembly (AFL), nowheld by the Minnesota Histori-cal Society. Neatly typed onseveral pages of discarded sta-tionery from local businesses,and presumably presented tothe Assembly on behalf of thecommittee whose work it re-counts, the report is a delightfuland telling snapshot from reallife in the labor movementsome 90 years ago.

The unknown author’s un-derstated humor and irony un-folds a tale that sounds almostlike it might have come fromthe pen of Booth Tarkington oranother of the American writers

of that time who told tales of thecommon people.

The famous image of a rank-and-file organizer of that erawas the mythical and somewhatidealized worker-socialist “Jim-my Higgins.” Jimmy was rep-resented as a self-effacing andhumble comrade just happy tohave an opportunity to serve themovement by posting the flyers,setting up the chairs for themeeting and digging in to hispocket to make a donation hecouldn’t really afford.

As we see here, the realrank-and-file organizers werejust as often articulate men andwomen who had opinions oftheir own, were capable of vine-gary sarcasm and didn’t hesitateto speak out.

When a meeting floppedthey felt bad. Sometimes, espe-cially when the movement wasin one of its ebb tides, theymight feel some resentment to-ward their laggard brothers andsisters, as the committee’s sec-retary expresses in this report.But they kept on anyway, or thebest and most determined ofthem did, and, as the poet CarlSandburg said, “These are he-roes then—among the plainpeople—Heroes, did you say?And why not? They give allthey’ve got and ask no ques-tions and take what comes andwhat more do you want?”

Duluth, Minnesota,February 1909

In accordance with a motionpassed at our last regular meet-ing, when the executive boardwas instructed to take charge ofthe celebration in honor of the100th anniversary of the birth ofAbraham Lincoln, the commit-tee immediately got down tobusiness on the following Sun-day afternoon. The committeewas called to order in the secre-tary’s office for the purpose ofdeciding upon a suitable placeto hold a public mass meeting,and determine other mattersthat would naturally arise in or-der to make the affair a success.It was the unanimous opinion ofthe committeemen that labor’stribute to the memory of the

great American should be man-ifested by one of the largestpublic meetings of its kind inthe history of the Zenith City.

So please were the mem-bers of the committee with theunanimous endorsement of theTrades Assembly that it was de-cided that the Armory was thelogical place to hold a meeting.Accordingly, a subcommitteewas appointed to negotiate withthe people in charge of the Ar-mory, and instructed further thatif it should be unable to securethe armory, the secure the nextlargest hall available. A fewmembers of the committee ex-pressed the opinion that anyother hall would be too small toaccommodate the enormouscrowd that would surely gatheron that occasion.

So the subcommittee wasfurther instructed to put on fullspeed and cinch the big hall onthe following morning and re-port to the full committee on thefollowing Wednesday night.Enthusiasm reigned supreme,among members of the commit-tee, at least, and the interestshown by each committeemanwas a certain guarantee that ourbeautiful city was to be thescene of (one of) the greatestpatriotic celebration of its kindin history.

Said Brother James Walsh,his countenance lit up with un-conquerable enthusiasm: “Incase the armory would not holdthe tremendous crowd, it wouldbe wise, I believe, to adjourn tothe high school.”

Wednesday night BrotherCody reported that he was un-able to secure the Armory, orthe High School assemblyroom, and that the only hallavailable was the Eagles’ hall.The committee unanimouslygroaned. What could be done?What could be done with thevast multitude that would beable to gain admittance to sucha small room? The hall wouldonly hold 300 people! An over-flow meeting might be held, ofcourse, but after extended dis-cussion the committee directedBrother Perry to rent a few hun-

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 13

An organizer's humor from 1909 in Duluth:HHomeoomeowners...wners...GGet Cet Ca$h Na$h Noow!w!

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UNITE HERE! Local 99Hotels and Inns

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Holiday Inn, I.Falls1-218-283-4451Lord Stanley’s

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“We Thank You For Your Patronage!”

See Organizer..page 14

Increasing workplace safetywill improve all of our lives

ZENITH ADMINISTRATORS, INC.7645 Metro Boulevard

Minneapolis, MN 55435612-835-7035

750 Torrey BuildingDuluth, MN 55802

218-727-6668

All year longUnions fight for

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On Workers’Memorial Day

we understandwhy we do that.

AFSCMELocal 3801UMD Clerical &

Technical Employees

PAGE 14 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

cold.”The members appeared to

be well satisfied with BrotherWalsh’s explanation and the dis-cussion came to an end. Quietlybut slowly each heroic and com-pletely exhausted committee-man turned on his heel, and likethe ancient Arab, “folded histent and quietly moved away.”

The expense of the affairaggregates about $33.00. Basedon an attendance of 100, thismeans 33 cents per head; basedupon the number of delegatesthat attended the meeting, itmeans about $3.00 per delegate.These statistics will no doubt beof great value when we cele-brate again next year. Quite anumber of delegates were con-spicuous by their absence. Thisreport is directed to whom itmay concern.

It was the opinion of all thecommittee that our next celebra-tion could properly and appro-priately be held in the secre-tary’s office; that is, providedwe cannot get the Armory. Itmay also be stated that BrotherPerry need not hurry about get-ting any extra chairs. The secre-tary’s office is now equippedwith fully fourteen and that maybe enough.

Respectfully submitted,THE COMMITEE

The meeting was a goodone from an educational stand-point. The committee wouldrecommend that the secretary beinstructed to thank each of thespeakers by letter, and that theAssembly extend each a vote ofthanks.

After the meeting post-mortem services were held. Thediscussion developed into an ar-gument as the meaning of word“frost”. Said Brother Black-wood: “Webster defines ‘frost’as ‘the state or temperature ofthe air which occasions congela-tion or the freezing of water; se-vere cold or freezing weather.”

“That’s not right,” spokeBrother Northfield, “frostmeans something you buy butdon’t get. Something you wildlyreach for and when you openyour hand to see what you’vegot, its empty.”

The Brother Walsh came tothe rescue. Said he: “The defin-itions according to Webster andNorthfield are both wrong; en-tirely wrong. Strictly speaking,a frost is just what we’ve wit-nessed here tonight. Instructivespeeches, well advertised, re-sponded to by a don’t-give-a-damn attitude on the part of la-bor. A frost is a frost, yes, just aplain frost. I’m going home. Ibelieve I’ve caught a severe

dred extra chairs, which hedid, at the cost of 50 cents perdozen. What cared the commit-tee for expenses, for indicationspointed to a monster meetingand the matter of expense wascertainly of secondary impor-tance.

Finally all arrangementshad been completed. The littlehall was gaily decorated withflags and bunting and flowers,and with a beautiful picture ofAbe Lincoln just above thespeakers’ stand. The extra chairswere arranged as closely as pos-sible and the doors swung openas the High School clock struckthe hour of seven.

The faces of the commit-teemen beamed with unadulter-ated pleasure, for at last, afterweeks of hard work and worry,the great event was at hand.

Our speakers, Judge White,Dr. Rice, Attorney Keyes andA.R. MacDonald arrived early,no doubt because they wished toavoid the difficulty of makingtheir way through the crowdfrom the doorway to the speak-ers’ stand.

Imagine the feelings of thecommittee when they gazed inupon the crowd and counted100 souls—actual count! Thisincluded the speakers, commit-teemen, and the janitor.

Organizer's Report: Duluth, 1909.... from page 13 It says a lot about employers when unions

sometimes can only get safety committees

through the collective bargaining process.

USWA Local 1028Affiliated with: ME Electmetal

Lerch Bros. (Allouez) Duluth Steel Fabricators

Cutler-Magner (Salt) Township of Duluth (Police)

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 15

Construction workers die from work-related illnesses andinjury 8 to 12 years earlier than white-collar workers.

We’re working to change that as we...F i g h t F o r T h e L i v i n g !

Boilermakers Lodge 107 (262) 798-1267

Bricklayers Local 2(715) 392-8708 or (715) 835-5164

Carpenters Local 361 (218) 724-3297

Cement Masons, Plasterers & Shophands Local 633-- (218) 724-2323

Electrical Workers Local 14(715) 878-4068

Electrical Workers Local 242 (218) 728-6895

Insulators Local 49 (218) 724-3223

Iron Workers Local 512 (218) 724-5073

Laborers Local 1091(218) 728-5151

Millwrights & Machinery Erectors Locals 1348-- (218) 741-6314

Operating Engineers Local 139 (715) 838-0139

Painters & Allied Trades Local 106(218) 724-6466

Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 11 (218) 727-2199

Roofers, Waterproofers Local 96 (218) 644-1096

Sheet Metal Workers Local 10 (218) 724-6873

Teamsters Local 346(218) 628-1034

Northern Wisconsin Building & Construction Trades Council

President Greg Sayles, Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 11, (218) 727-2199 Vice President James Pierce Secretary-Treasurer Larry Anderson

Identifying risks to your safety andhealth is the first step in reducing thelarge number of avoidable workplace

deaths and injuries that occur. WORK SMART

STAY SAFE

On Wednesday, May 18 at the Radisson DuluthHotel, LSALMA in cooperation with theMinnesota Department of Labor & Industry/OSHA Consultation Division will sponsor a halfday Workplace Safety Conference. Topics include aFatality & Serious Injury Review and Ergonomics.

Contact us for info on this upcoming programAlso, don’t forget to mark your calendar for the

16th Annual LSALMA Labor/Management Golf Outing, Weds. afternoon, July 13, 2005

Enger Park Golf Course, Duluth

Steven C. KorbyExecutive Director

Visit us atwww.LSALMA.org

LAKE SUPERIOR AREA LABOR-MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, INC.

411 West 1st StreetCity Hall-Room 332Duluth, MN 55802

(218) 727-4565

Metro Center1316 N. 14th StreetSuperior, WI 54880FAX: (218) 730-5902

Bricklayers and Allied

Craftworkers Local Union

#1, Minnesota/North Dakota

PAGE 16 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

PREVENTIONThe Best Safety Policy

At Work and At Home

From the Blue Cross Organized Labor Department

(651) 662-1561

Throughout your work year...TAKE A STAND,

DEMAND SAFE JOBS!Communications Workers

of AmericaLocal 7214

Representing workers at:AT&T AVAYA Qwest Paul Bunyan TelephoneDex Media East, LLCPaw Communications, Inc

I r o nW o r k e r sLocal 512

Duluth, MN.

IN MEMORIAM.. .To our Brothers, Members of Iron Workers Local

512, whose deaths occurred while on the jobWinston Churchill, White Pine, MI, load of hoisted iron fell--Leo Podvin, U.S.Steel, Duluth Works, fall--Orlen Rehbein, Ironwood, MI, fall from sheeting scaffold--Hank Shields, fall--Leroy LeClaire, Cooley Taconite, fall during

installation of grinding mill--Ron Wiski, Silver Bay, fall--Bob Weideman, Blatnik High Bridge, fall--Reino Hendrickson, Eveleth Taconite, fall

during installation of overhead door--Guy Axtell, Grand Rapids’ Blandin,

hit by falling piece of iron--Kenneth Maki, Hibbing,

fall from building--Joe Parendo, head injuries from fall,

spent 25 years totally disabled--Len Pistilli, Mt. Iron Minntac,

crane ball fell--John Puttonen, Hoyt Lakes, burns

from furnace explosion--Johnny Carlson, Soo Locks, fall--Charles Sarasin, fall at

Quinnisec, MI--John Casper, crushed by boom

in Aurora--Darryl Roe, John Zager andRoy Salo, heart failure on jobRobin Sutter, fall at University

of Minnesota, Nicholson Hall

USW largest in this areaThe full name of the union that was created when the USWA

and PACE merged last week throws a net over the many industriescovered by the new largest industrial union in the U.S.: the UnitedSteel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, AlliedIndustrial and Service Workers International Union. That's UnitedSteel Workers, or USW, for short. Erik Peterson, University ofMinnesota Labor Education Service program director for northernMinnesota, said USW will be as big as its official name here.

"USW may have over 7,000 members in northern Minnesotawith all their pulp and paper and iron ore mining members," Pe-terson said. He said this region has one of the highest union densi-tys in the nation and now USW will have almost twice as manymembers as AFSCME or Education Minnesota in the area.

Bruce Lotti, president of USWA Local 1028 that representsworkers in five different contracts, said he expects the merger to be"overall a good deal. They've been strong on safety, we've beenstrong on politics and organizing."

He says the rank and file should be helped with servicing as dis-tricts are hopefully made smaller. District 11 now covers the north-ern U.S. from here to the west coast. At one time it was called Dis-trict 33 and was just in this region like most other unions.

"We may be able to shrink districts back to the way they usedto be," he said. "Out west it's a day drive between locals, which isa lot of windshield time for service reps."

USW forms with merger of USWA, PACE

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 17

LAS VEGAS (PAI)--By an80 percent-20 percent margin,some 1,800 delegates to a spe-cial Paper, Allied-Industrial,Chemical and Energy (PACE)Workers convention in Las Ve-gas voted April 13 to formallymerge their union with the Unit-ed Steelworkers of America.

The Steel Workers, who metin their own regular 3,000-plus-person convention across thestreet accepted the agreement.

The merger establishes whatUSWA President Leo Gerard,president of the new union, andPACE President Boyd Young--its new executive vice presi-dent--say is North America'slargest industrial union.

The merger builds on severalyears of USWA-PACE coopera-tion in politics, rapid responseteams on issues and organizing,

womens' rights and empower-ment within unions, and--lately--hazardous materials accidentprobes, a PACE specialty.

The combined union hasmore than 850,000 active mem-bers in over 8,000 bargainingunits in the U.S., Canada and theCaribbean, USWA and PACEsay. AFL-CIO per capita duespayment figures gave USWA337,777 members in 2004, themost recent data available.PACE had 234,335 and UAWhad 615,206.

The combined union, to becalled the United Steel Workersfor short, is dominant in paper,forestry products, steel, alu-minum, tire and rubber, mining,glass, chemicals, petroleum andseveral other industries, theytold a joint press conference.

"We're now the dominant

private-sector union in 17 states.That'll change the dynamics atthe AFL-CIO," Gerard said.

Young said his union's dele-gates had several hours of spirit-ed debate before approving themerger. "Pride in the union hada lot to do with" those objecting,"Some folks couldn't bringthemselves sentimentally to doit. But the prime objection wasa dues increase," he added.

The combined union laid outa five-part "Building Power" ac-tion program. It aims to in-crease collective bargainingrights, employer neutrality andcard-check agreements, andlaunch more strategic cam-paigns, as well as step up its al-ready high political and legisla-tive action.

The union also plans to in-crease global solidarity. Gerardsaid USWA that day signed"strategic alliances" with Mexi-can and Brazilian metal unions,after one with Germany's IGMetall. And it will redo educa-tion programs for members andincrease organizing.

The two offered no details,but Young said the new union'sorganizing budget alone will ex-ceed PACE's entire budget.

Another top goal, Youngadded, will be to get a "patternagreement"--a contract with onecompany that the others thenadopt--in the paper industry."That sector is in a state of cri-sis," he added.

Gerard said political goals,include preserving Social Secu-rity, acheiving universal healthcare, and ousting anti-workerHouse Majority Leader ThomasDeLay (R-Texas).

Young said one item of ne-cessity also drove the merger:The opposition. "The mergerwas essential because of the un-precedented consolidation intomultinational corporations" ofemployers of the unions' work-ers, he explained.

In the U.S. in 2003, 1,126 construction workers died on the job,far outdistancing the transportation/warehousing industry, whichwas second with 805 fatalities. In Minnesota that year there werea total of 72 work fatalities with 10 of them in construction. Every one of our members knows how dangerous their job is andexpects their union to do all it can to make their jobs safer. It's the most important thing we can do for their families.

Safe working conditions are our chief concern.In Memory Of Our Fallen Brothers And Sisters

Carpenters Local 361

Duluth, Minnesota

Railroad Workers...On Workers’ Memorial DayWe honor and remember our brothers and sisters in rail labor who have

lost their lives or suffered serious injuries.

You Shall Not Be Forgotten!

HUNEGS, STONE, LENEAVE,KVAS & THORNTON

Attorneys at LawRepresenting Railway Labor for over a Half Century

Designated as legal counselby your rail union

HUNEGS, STONE, LENEAVE, KVAS & THORNTON1650 International Centre

900 Second Avenue SouthMinneapolis, MN 55402

612-339-4511 1-800-328-4340Arnie Flagstad, Investigator,

Superior, Wisconsin, 715-394-5876

W e A p p r e c i a t e Y o u rP a t r o n a g e !

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into has

Tuesday is karaoke nightLive bands Friday & Saturday,

9 to 1 a.m., and...The largest game room in town!We can set-up small employee parties

THE REEFIn the Labor Temple, 2002 London Road, Duluth

Happy Hour 4-7 p.m.,7 Days a week

All your safety needs under one roof

VIKING INDUSTRIAL NORTH4730 Grand Avenue, Duluth, Minnesota 55807

(218) 624-4851 Toll Free 800-232-1367FAX (218) 624-4788 vikingindnorth@qwest.net

PAGE 18 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

cent of all private sector work-ers had medical health insurancecoverage--but 60 percent ofunionized private-sector work-ers had it.

The most recent BLS region-al data, for 2002-2003, showeda high of 53 percent coverage ofall private sector workers inKentucky, Tennessee, Alabamaand Mississippi and a low of 34percent in the Mountain states--from Montana and Idaho in thenorth to Arizona and New Mex-ico in the south. The other re-gions of the U.S. were groupedbetween 43 and 47 percent.

BLS also said that 55 percentof all workers in firms that em-ployed at least 100 people hadhealth care coverage, comparedto 36 percent in firms with few-er than 100 people.

In Minnesota, more workershave longer waiting periods andmust work more hours beforethey become eligible for theiremployer's insurance plans, ac-cording to the department's2002 Employer Health Insur-ance Survey, released March 15.

As a result, even though 82.3

percent of employees work at acompany that provides healthinsurance, only 61.5 percent ofemployees at those companiesactually have insurance.Among all workers, only 50.1percent are covered by their em-ployer's insurance, down from59.3 percent who were coveredin 1997.

Overall, only 47.7 percent ofprivate businesses in Minnesotanow provide health insurance,the first time the figure has fall-en below 50 percent in the his-tory of the survey.

The number is dragged downbecause only 34.5 percent ofcompanies with fewer than 10employees offer insurance. Re-tail businesses are the least like-ly to provide coverage, at 37percent.

Workers who have insurancetypically pay 17 percent of pre-miums for single coverage and33 percent of premiums for fam-ily coverage--a share thatchanged little between 1993 and2002, according to the report.

But actual out-of-pocketcosts soared as average monthly

premiums climbed by $117 forindividuals and $254 for fami-lies in just five years. At thesame time, companies are re-quiring higher deductibles andco-pays, the report says.

The latest survey follows an-other Department of Health re-port earlier this year showingthat the percentage of Min-nesotans without health insur-ance increased by 29 percent be-tween 2001 and 2004.

By contrast, BLS reportedlast November that 69 percentof workers in private firms hadaccess to employer-providedmedical insurance--due to thefact that big firms that are morelikely to offer coverage. It alsosaid that 60 percent of privatefirms nationwide offered healthinsurance, as of last March.

But the data, from the Na-tional Compensation Survey,added only 53 percent of pri-vate-sector workers took advan-tage of it.

The large majority of em-ployees covered by medical careplans were in plans requiringemployee contributions for bothsingle coverage and family cov-erage, BLS added then.

Employee contributions tomedical care premiums aver-aged $264.59 per month forfamily coverage. For singlecoverage, employee contribu-tions averaged $67.57 permonth.

By Michael KuchtaSt. Paul's Union AdvocateST. PAUL (PAI)--In a devel-

opment that could easily occurelsewhere--except nobody elsehas gathered the data--a newMinnesota state report says few-er than half of all private firmsthere offer health insurance totheir workers.

The Department of Health'sreport adds that even firms thatstill offer insurance are making

it harder for workers to obtaincoverage, and making them paymore when they do.

This is happening eventhough, as the department notes,"Employer-sponsored health in-surance serves as the backboneof health insurance coverage inthe United States."

The Minnesota report is no-table because it is a statewide re-view of all employers of alltypes and sizes. Federal andprivate health coverage surveyshave concentrated on employ-ees, not employers. They alsodo not have state-by-state statis-tics, though they include em-ployee coverage data by regionsof the U.S.

Specialists at the two leadingsources of information--the fed-eral Bureau of Labor Statisticsand the non-profit Kaiser Fami-ly Foundation--both said theyhave no employer data.

That leaves only roughlycomparable data of the percent-age of private-sector workerscovered by health insurance byregion.

Overall, BLS said, 45 per-

Most state companies don't offer health care says Minnesota Health Dept.

Workers Memorial Day • April 28

Ray Waldron, President

Steve Hunter, Secretary-Treasurer

A message from the Minnesota AFL-CIO

Paid for by the Rukavina Campaign Committee, Mary Anderson, Chair; the Citizens for Anthony “Tony” Sertich; Rick Puhek, Chair, 1210 NW 9th Avenue, Chisholm, MN 55710 and the Tomassoni Campaign; P.O. Box 29, Chisholm, MN 55719

Congratulations to Labor World on your 107th Anniversary!Keep up the good work fighting for the workers of the

state and keeping them informed.

David TOMASSONI Tom RUKAVINATony SERTICH

We will continue to fight for a safeworkplace as we remember those that

were killed or injured on the job.

Paid for by the Rukavina Campaign Committee, 6930 Hwy. 169, Virginia MN; the Citizens for Anthony "Tony" Sertich, Rick Puhek, Chair, 1210 NW 9th Avenue, Chisholm, MN 55710; and, the Tomassoni Campaign, P.O. Box 29, Chisholm, MN 55719

When was thelast time you

were on a roof?Did you thinkabout gettingdown safely?

That’s every dayat work for us.

We’re seriousabout

SAFETY!

Roofers Local 96

INTERSTATESPUR

2700 W. Michigan St.

GAS - DIESELGROCERIES

OPEN 24 HOURS

Volunteers always neededIn the coming months the Duluth AFL-CIO

Community Services Program and Committeewill be very busy sponsoring and working atevents and trainings. Would you like to help?

• Workers Memorial Day Monday, April 25.Please join the Duluth AFL-CIO Central LaborBody and the AFL-CIO Community Service Pro-gram of United Way in honoring the workers whohave been killed or injured on the job in the pastyear by attending the annual free Solidarity Pan-cake Breakfast at the Duluth Labor Temple, 2002London Road from 7 -9 a.m. and a Memorial Ser-vice at 9:15 a.m. when Mayor Herb Bergson willpresent a proclamation honoring all fallen workersand a tree will be planted in honor of those fallenworkers.

• Saturday, May 14, marks the 13th National

Association of Letter Carriers Annual FoodDrive where the nation's 240,000 letter carriers in10, 000 cities and towns collect food left by mailboxes. Every year Letter Carriers take on theenormous task of collecting non-perishable fooditems from citizens who want to help Stamp OutHunger. The Community Service Committee as-sists Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum, McCoy & CareyLaw Firm and Carpenters’ Local 361 withBernie’s Bar-B-Q, where all volunteers of the fooddrive are fed. Volunteers for the food drive are al-ways needed, if interested please contact YvonneHarvey, director AFL-CIO Community Services,at 728-1779.

• The Duluth Building and Construction TradesCouncil has been holding a Dollars Against Dia-betes (DADs) Golf Outing for 13 years. Thisyear's event is scheduled for Saturday, June 11,2005 at Lester Park Golf Course. Proceeds are do-nated to Diabetes Research and Member Assis-tance Programs. The Community Services Com-mittee assists with registration and prizes. Pleasesign your team up today to help raise money forthis worthy cause.

• United Way Day of Caring is scheduled forWednesday, June 22, 2005. Day of Caring pro-

vides a prefect opportunity for or-ganized labor to make a differencein our community by Local Unionssigning up for and completing pro-jects -- painting, building, cooking,cleaning, donating needed suppliesand the list goes on – for humanservice agencies in our communi-ty. The Community Services Com-mittee is adopting a project and wehope you do too. Please contact theUnited Way of Greater Duluth of-fice at 726-4770 for more informa-tion.

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005 PAGE 19

WORKERS’MEMORIAL

DAYIn memory of the deceased members of the Duluth Federation of Teachers, Local 692

We have all benefited by theircontributions to the union,

to educationand to the community.

DuluthFederation of Teachers

Local 692

Safer Jobs!Make Your Voice Heard!

Minnesota AFSCME Council 5Eliot Seide, Executive Director

Please join us on Monday, April 25at the Duluth Labor Temple for a freebreakfast (beginning at 7:00 a.m.) and amemorial (9:00 a.m.) remembering work-ers who have lost their lives in workplaceaccidents. The day is a remembrance butalso a call to renew our fight for strongsafety and health protections for workers.

Workers’ Memorial DayApril 28, 2005

Observed Monday, April 25

Local #66 Local #1123Alan Netland, president Gayle Ostman, presidentCity, County, Local Government Two Harbors Municipal

Local #1934 Local #3558Dan Marchetti, president Michelle Fremling, presidentSt. Louis County Duluth-Area Non-ProfitsEssential Jail Employees

AFL-CIO Community Services and United Way Partnership

Liaison Program by Yvonne Harvey

Buy a HomeNo Money Down

Low Rateswww.DuluthMortgage.com

PAGE 20 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005

about 2,600 of MnDOT’s 4,500employees. "They think it's aslap in the face."

The cancellation coincideswith the Legislature's refusal tocontribute any state funding inthis session's bonding bill to theproposed Workers MemorialGarden, which already is ap-

proved for placementon the Capitol grounds.

Kender said MnDOT ex-pects to distribute posters and"orange ribbon" commemora-tive pins to work sites for Work-ers Memorial Day, and is en-couraging individual facilitiesto hold a moment of silence or alocal ceremony in honor of co-workers injured or killed on thejob. It is also likely that depart-ment Commissioner and Lieu-tenant Governor Carol Molnauwill broadcast a statement inhonor of the day, she said.

The cancellation of the mainceremony, she said, "is no indi-cation of any less support forthat day." But staff no longercan commit the necessary re-sources, Kender said. "It's not alot of money, but it's a lot ofstaff time – and that staff ismine. We're a lot smaller thanwe used to be."

As a result of state budgetcuts, her staff is down to 12 peo-ple, compared with 30 just twoyears ago.

"I'm pretty disappointed atthe action they want to take,"Hilliker said. "I'm not surewhere their priorities are." Hehelped start the annual ceremo-ny nearly 20 years ago, and thathe and other union representa-tives helped plan it every year.

"They never discussed itwith us or talked to the union,"he said of the cancellation. "Allwe got is a letter."

Hilliker said he takes the de-cision "as an insult to our work-ers." If you look at the names onthe transportation memorial atMnDOT’s St. Paul headquar-ters, he said, "about half thefolks killed are ours."

The ceremony is more than acommemoration. It helps spreadthe word to motorists to be alertin work zones as road construc-tion season kicks off, he said,"so nobody else gets killed."

"We got some pretty goodpress out of it. I doubt that's go-ing to happen this year."

For that reason, contractorsand other unions involved inhighway heavy work also haveindicated they will challenge thecancellation, Hilliker said.

Work on the proposed Work-ers Memorial Garden at the stateCapitol will continue, despitethe Legislature’s failure to sup-port the project financially.

"We have $300,000 in hand,which is enough to begin sitework," said Steve Hunter, Min-nesota AFL-CIO secretary-trea-surer. "We can either try to raisethe rest privately or go back tothe Legislature next year."

The Senate had allocated$400,000, but the House andGovernor Tim Pawlenty pre-vailed in continuing to denystate support. The bonding pro-posal does allocate $670,000 to-ward a World War II monumenton Capitol grounds.

By Michael Kuchta, EditorSt. Paul's Union Advocate The Minnesota Department

of Transportation, which hasheld a Workers Memorial Daycommemoration for twodecades, is cancelling this year'sevent, saying it no longer cancommit the time and resources.

"We're not having a 'ceremo-ny' ceremony, but we're not for-getting the day," said LucyKender, communications direc-tor for MnDOT.

Workers "are pretty upsetabout it," said Bob Hilliker, abusiness agent for AFSCMECouncil 5, which represents

MNDOT cancels Workers Memorial Day ceremony

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

Falsani, Balmer,Peterson, Quinn & Beyer

NO RECOVERYNO FEE 723-1990 1200 Alworth Building

(306 W. Superior St.) Duluth

Insurance companies and big business claim we are caught in a lawsuitgridlock - that our courts are clogged with ”frivolous lawsuits,” which

drive up insurance premiums. But that’s not true - look at the numbers!They are spreading these myths to limit your right, regardless of income,

to fair compensation if you are injured due to another’s fault.

ATTACK ALERT:Your constitutional rights are under attack right now in the Minnesota

and United States Legislatures. “Tort Reformers” want to limitcompensatory damages for victims of accidents and medical

malpractice. But in states where such “caps” are in place, there is no

evidence that caps reduce insurance premiums!

The truth is numbers don’t lie. Our fair legalsystem is working fine for all of us.

We’re fighting for your constitutionalrights, and we need your help!

Call your legislators today!