From: The Organizer < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it LABOR BRIEFS West Coast Longshore Strike Likely? Despite an overall vote of 52 percent in favor, members of the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) in Los Angeles and San Francisco have rejected a proposed contract that would cover all West Coast ports in the United States. Under ILWU rules, there must now be another vote.  Unless the contract is ratified by at least 60 percent of the total membership, a strike vote will be called. Given several proposed changes in the contract, it is highly unlikely it can reach that 60 percent threshold. The contract would end travel time pay for San Francisco longshoremen, which would cost workers thousands of dollars. It also would end holiday pay on the West Coast for Bloody Thursday, which celebrates the anniversary of the 1934 San Francisco General Strike. Workers rejected the contract as well because it pushes craft unionism. Historically, the ILWU has been an industrial union, where members are not divided along the lines of their particular jobs. But the bosses are seeking to separate members into different crafts or skills with large differences in pay.  This has antagonized members who want to maintain a high level of union solidarity. The contract would also pit ports against each other and would require longshoremen in some ports to work longer for the same compensation. Some Los Angeles crane operators voted against the pact because it would limit their extra hours of pay and would separate the Los Angeles port rules from those at other ports. The bosses are quite vulnerable to a strike. According to The Wall Street Journal, Pacific ports accounted for $84.58 billion, or 43 percent of all U.S.  waterborne trade in the first four months of 1996. (Aug. 28) An ILWU strike would come at a crucial time. Not only are the companies exposed, but this is an election year, and most union leaders are working all out to avoid strikes in order to help re-elect Bill Clinton. LA Teamsters Pepper-Gassed Striking workers from the Guerrero Mexican Food Company in Los Angeles were stopped on the Pomona freeways by company goons and attacked with pepper gas. The workers, represented by Teamsters Local 63, have been seeking to unionize tortilla drivers at the company, which is owned by the Guerrero family. The Guerreros are known for their were heavily involvement in cornering the Mexican tortilla market with the aid of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas. Security guards have been following and harassing drivers for weeks. On August 28, the goons forced workers en route to a rally at El Pollo Loco off the freeway and sprayed them with pepper gas. The goons then called in California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers, who arrested several strikers. The strikers captured the attack on videotape. According to the Los Angeles Times, the tape clearly shows the security guards forcibly stopping the convoy on the freeway and discharging some kind of liquid at the Teamster member driving his vehicle (Aug. 29). The CHP was forced to release the Teamsters but has yet to arrest the Guerrero company goons. According to the strikers, there have been other provocations as well. Off- duty Los Angeles County sheriffs have been seeking to intimidate workers by drawing their guns on them. Miguel Contreras, executive director of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, joined striking drivers and union and community leaders at a rally on August 30 outside the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Building. They demanded that District Attorney Gil Garcetti arrest and prosecute Guerrero's goons. The delegation later met with Garcetti. This strike comes on the heels of the organizing struggle by truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles, who are members of CWA Local 9400. Like the Guerrero workers, they have faced continuous police harassment. Still, these organizing drives continue to build support. They are an important development of the ongoing effort to unionize workers in the largest Latino community in the United States. A rally for the Guerrero workers is scheduled for Sunday, September 22. Teamsters President Ron Carey is scheduled to attend. For further information, phone Joe Ochoa at 213-585-4596, or contact Teamsters Local 63 at 818-859- 4005. Presidential Election Driving Auto Contracts Canadian Automobile Workers (CAW) union President Basil E. Hargrove has announced that the CAW has chosen Chrysler as its strike target in current auto negotiations. The CAW, which represents more than 53,000 workers, separated from the United Auto Workers (UAW) over differences with jointness  programs and other labor-management collaboration schemes promoted by the UAW. For its part, the UAW leadership has put off declaring a strike target - although many General Motors workers want to strike GM first. The UAW has struck GM twice already this year, once over violations of agreements to hire more workers and again over the firing of a union president in Lordstown, Ohio. This is the first time in many years that the UAW has not designated a strike deadline before the contract expiration date, which is September 14 for all GM, Ford, and Chrysler plants in the United States and Canada. The reason was made clear by The New York Times: [S]everal people close to the UAW said that while the union did not want to dilute its bargaining power by acknowledging the role of the elections, the UAW's leadership remained very interested in helping President Clinton. This is amplified by the fact that the UAW and Chrysler canceled negotiation to attend the Chicago convention, where they jointly sponsored a reception for the Democrats. (The same issue of the Times reported that the Big Three automakers were meeting to develop plans for a two-tier wage structure for workers at all new factories.) Yokich is hoping that GM will make concessions without a strike, and that GM workers will not push for a walk-out or all-out strike action. Meanwhile, Yokich's bureaucratic control of negotiations allows him to change the target unilaterally and to reverse any decision at any time. 6000 Rally for McDonnell-Douglas Workers United Auto Workers members, members of the United Steelworkers of America, and other supporters joined striking members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) at a mass demonstration in St. Louis on August 11 against McDonnell-Douglas. The march and rally drew 6000 people, who came together to denounce the company's unionbusting attacks. The key issues in the strike are job security and an end to contracting-out of unionists' work. The bosses want to send more and more work to nonunion plants around the country. Negotiations began on August 29. According to some sources, IAM President George Kourpias presented a new union proposal that would accept job- classification changes in exchange for some job security. We modified things,  Kourpias told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Aug. 30). I want to get this thing settled, and the way to do that is to stay out of the press and get it resolved. Meanwhile, Kourpias sent a letter to President Clinton asking that he block any government subsidy of the strike costs being incurred by McDonnell- Douglas. He charged in the letter that taxpayer payments of this sort would subvert the National Labor Relations Act. Kourpias also called for a federal audit of McDonnell-Douglas's added strike costs. According to Kourpias, these include the $20-per-hour wages being paid to temporary workers, who are also given rental cars and per-diem expenses of $30. McDonnell-Douglas has brought in some 2000 scabs, in addition to hiring the notorious unionbusting Vance Agency to intimidate and threaten strikers, who have been walking picketlines for more than three months. Bob Kalaski, the IAM's chief spokesman, reports that Clinton has yet to respond, and Defense Department officials say there are no problems that would warrant an audit. This should come as no surprise. Many of these same officials retire from the military and go directly to work as managers at McDonnell-Douglas and other defense contractors. Not In The _script_ed Convention The most significant and sizable demonstration on the opening day of the Democratic convention was not in _script_ laid out by the party bosses, nor did it get much coverage by the corporate press. More than 1500 Chicago firefighters picketed Democratic Mayor Daley over stalled contract negotiations. The firefighters oppose a bill to increase pensions for Fire Department bosses, and are demanding fair testing for job promotion. Dan Fabrizio, president of Firefighters Local 2, accused the labor-backed mayor of a lack of good faith in refusing to negotiate the promotions issue. He also scorned Daley's position of 'No, No, No' [as] unacceptable to the unionists.                               +  From THE ORGANIZER  +