What's News

Pols’ ‘Open Season’ On the Public Sector

By Jim Cavanaugh, SCFL President You know it’s an election year because it has been open season on public employees for the past several months.

There’s always at least a few people running for public office who try to gain some cheap political points by trashing teachers or snow plow drivers, but this year, probably because of declining public revenues due to the Great Recession and to the rise of the anti-government Tea Baggers, the public employee bashing seems louder and more wide spread than in the past. Read more ...

Privatization Threatens Overture Union Workers

For 30 years both AFSCME Local 60 and IATSE Local 251 have represented the various employees responsible for ensuring that “the show must go on” at the Madison Civic Center, and its successor, Overture Center for the Arts. Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Overture Center management have recently proposed a privatization plan that would effectively bring the curtain down on that historical relationship. Read more ...

P-9 Members Still Proud 25 Years After Strike

On the night of August 9, 1985, workers at the giant Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota, voted overwhelmingly to reject the company’s “final offer” and go on strike. The strike by the P-9 local would challenge the very definition of the word “solidarity.” It would mobilize and divide the national labor movement, raise questions that still have not been answered, and create wounds that still have not healed, 25 years later. Read more ...

AFL-CIO President Trumka on Immigration Reform

Union Labor News has printed several stories in recent years dealing with the plight of immigrant workers in the U.S. economy.  Some of our readers have questioned our coverage of this issue.  Here are excerpts from a speech by AFL-CIO Richard Trumka in Cleveland on June 18, on why organized labor opposes immigrant-bashing and supports immigration reform that provides most immigrants a path to citizenship. Read more ...

Wisconsin Fails to Collect $1.2 Billion in Un-paid Taxes

Wisconsin’s $2.5 billion a year state budget deficit is expected to grow by another 8 percent this year. This despite already deep cuts in government services, a freeze on state employee wages and hiring and furloughs. Candidates for Governor are talking about still deeper cuts in the state workforce and aids to local governments in order to help close the gap. Read more ...

A Think Tank of Our Own

The very term “Think Tank” makes many working people feel a little queasy.

In the 1970s, wealthy individuals began setting up institutes across the country to promote their own neo-conservative agenda. That agenda included cutting taxes on wealth, doing away with regulations on corporations and cutting public services. These kept Think Tanks specialized in producing research and publications to back up a right-wing political movement. Read more ...

New OSHA Liaison Hears Union Safety Concerns

Over 30 representatives of area unions attended a listening session in Madison on July 17 with Lisa Sciolaro, Region 5 Labor Liaison for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Union reps gave her an earfull. Read more ...

Labor Beat

Round-up of news you won’t see in the corporate-owned media. Read more ...

How European Unions Confront ‘Austerity Measures’

By Ron Blascoe, AFT Retiree In June, Greek unions held their fourth general strike in opposition to government austerity measures, and in May French unions shut down much of that country to stop an increase in the retirement age. In June, 2 million Spanish public sector workers went on strike to protest proposed wage cuts and threats to their pensions. Italy’s largest union federation shut down that country at the end of the month to stop a series of measures that would reduce wages and increase job insecurity.

Meanwhile, in this country, unions have generally responded to wage cuts and other austerity measures with little more than a “strongly-worded speech” at the Washington Press Club.

Is there something union members in this country could learn from our European counterparts? Read more ...

Wall St. Found 'Guilty' at Local Labor Trial

After work on March 16, working families in Madison joined together to hold a mock trial for JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Union members and community activists participated in street theater, calling for 11 million new jobs. Rally attendees demanded that big Wall Street banks, which helped destroy the economy and then took taxpayer bailouts, pay for job creation. Trial of the Tycoons was covered “Live at 5” on WKOW, the Madison ABC television affiliate. They continued to run coverage during their 10 o’clock news broadcasts: link to the broadcast here.

TELLING JP MORGAN CHASE TO PAY UP: Big Wall Street banks helped cause the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, homes and retirement savings. But the biggest Wall Street banks gave their execs $145 billion in pay and bonuses last year. JP Morgan Chase: Pay your fair share to help create the 11 million jobs America needs. Stop fighting financial reform. Start lending to your communities, small businesses and others starved for credit. At a rally and street theater event, March 16, SCFL President Jim Cavanaugh explains organized labor’s 5-point jobs plan and why Wall Street should pay. Read more ...

Wanted: Mural Painters to Make History

If you have a steady hand and a couple hours a week to spare, consider volunteering for the Madison Labor History Mural project this summer. Depicting more than a century of Madison labor history, the two-story mural is beginning to fill three walls inside the south entrance to the Madison Labor Temple, 1602 S. Park St. 

Progress on the mural stalled when Muralist Marcus Nickel began experiencing some debilitating health problems, shortly after he began putting paint on the walls. Unable to completely recover, Nickel has been providing guidance to a number of volunteers from various unions who are working to complete the project.

A crew paints regularly, scheduled based on volunteers’ availability. Volunteers can also work independently whenever they have free time.  Each volunteer receives a complimentary 45 min. video (DVD), Madison Labor: Building a City, Building a Movement.

Artistic ability is welcome but NOT required. Come enjoy relaxing work and meet new friends – while being a part of this remarkable community art and labor history project. Mural painting might also be appropriate for high school students interested in extra credit or community service. Must be 14 years old to participate.

Interested? Send an e-mail with available times (Subject: Mural Painting Volunteer) to TheMuralProject(at)SCFL.org.

DVD on Madison's Labor History Available

As work progresses on the Madison Labor History Mural project, the South Central Federation of Labor has released a DVD, Madison Labor: Building a City, Building a Movement. The DVD includes The Early Years (30 min.), originally produced in 1985, and Madison: A Union City, 1985-2005 (15 min.) which brings Madison’s labor history up to date. Read more about the Madison Labor History Mural project and the DVD, which is available for $25, here.

Sign up here as an
e-Activist with the South Central Federation of Labor and receive occasional e-mails about Madison area labor activities. Encourage others to do so too!

SCFL Scholarship Winners

Hanna Braverman
Michael Sommerfeldt
Jennifer Vogel
Erica Troia

Shannon Saager - 1st Alt
Riley Whitehead - 2nd Alt
Josh Meyerhofer - 3rd Alt
Ethan Burns - 4th Alt

Dodge Chapter Scholarship Winners

Kallie Kiesow
Tyler Loest

Adam Zastrow - Alt

Click here for the draft minutes of the last SCFL Delegate Meeting.

Midwest School for Women Workers Taking a stand in tough economic times is the theme for the 2010 Midwest School for Women Workers to be held July 28 to August 1 on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota. The School is a four-day residential program that brings together participants from several states for general sessions, skills workshops and networking. For more information click here.

United Way Volunteers Sought

Labor volunteers are being sought to fill seats on United Way's Community Solutions Teams that address the problems in the community. Read more ...

As a result of the New Alliance, a statewide labor reorganization, the Dodge and Jefferson County Central Labor Councils merged with SCFL and became Chapters. Click here for more information on the Dodge and Jefferson Chapters.

Union Sectors in Brief

The South Central Federation of Labor is preparing brief introductions to the various union sectors in the area. These articles are meant to foster a greater understanding of the unions and the issues facing workers in each sector. Click on any of the following sectors to read the briefing:

Additional sector briefings will be added as they become available.

 SCFL Annual Report:
Curious about the work of the South Central Federation of Labor? Download our annual highlights and activities report for 2009.

Volunteer painters are welcome to help out Muralist Sharon Kilfroy

August

Mondays and Wednesdays
5 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Tuesdays and Saturdays
2 p.m. - 6 p.m.