September 2003

Track the progress of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride online!
The Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride bus, which left Seattle on September 23rd, reached the other Washington on October 1st. Visit www.seattle-iwfr.org for rider profiles, photos from the trip and ongoing coverage as riders lobby elected officials in D.C. then head to New York for a massive rally. KCLC Executive Secretary Steve Williamson is on the bus and will be providing a special report in the next issue of Labor’s Voice Online.

Bon-Macy’s workers gain a fair contract
Local 1001 members at Bon-Macy’s department stores voted by a 72% margin to approve a new three-year contract earlier this month. Local 367 members from the Tacoma Bon and Local 44 members from the Bellingham Bon also voted to accept their new contracts.

The Bon entered this year’s negotiations intent on taking advantage of the weak economy to cut wages and health care benefits, take away overtime pay after eight hours, eliminate holiday pay, reduce vacation pay, implement new production and credit standards and more. But UFCW stood firm and turned up the heat. In the end, management was forced to significantly improve their offer without the workers having to strike. Highlights of the agreement are listed on the local’s website, www.ufcw1001.org.

New Affiliate
We would like to welcome our newest affiliate, Teamsters Local 66. Local 66 represents dairy workers and drivers and joins the Council with 600 members. Their workers at Darigold are locked out while the company uses non-union replacement workers to get their product out. The local is encouraging a boycott of Darigold products and is working to get Darigold added to the AFL-CIO’s national boycott list.

Upcoming Events
Wednesday, October 1st, 7:00 p.m.
KCLC Delegates Meeting, Hall One, Seattle Labor Temple

October 9th-12th
The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) Biennial Convention will be held at the Downtown Seattle Westin. The theme of this national convention is “Vision, Voices, Votes: Building the Labor Movement,” which will be addressed through workshops, speakers and roundtable discussions. Visit www.cluw.org for more information.