How Even the Powerless Workers Protect Themselves

If your employer tomorrow decided to cut wages 20 percent, cancel health insurance, and eliminate paid sick and vacation days, is there anything you could do about it?

Right now there are no federal laws or regulations preventing employers from doing that and worse.

But you can stop your employer - even your huge corporate employer - from doing that. Go to your union.

What's that? You don't have a union? Didn't think you needed one? Thought unions were the source of everything wrong in the workplace?

Think again.

Susie Madrak:

I'm thankful there are still people who fight for the common good against daunting odds, and that some of us are still principled enough to support them in their fight. Now if only Aramark doesn't pull any funny stuff, we might have a happy ending here. Via In These Times:

Grill cook Janet Irving has worked at the dining hall for Loyola University in Chicago for 26 years. But she still makes only $14 an hour, has no health insurance and gets little benefit for her seniority in scheduling shifts.

Issues like these are why the 204 workers from 16 countries decided to form a union. After a difficult organizing campaign where they initially faced intense opposition from their employer, Aramark, on Nov. 16 the company agreed to recognize UNITE HERE Local 1 after 80 percent of workers signed union cards.

Contract negotiations will begin in coming months and Irving, 49, is confident that things will get a lot better for workers. “It’s beautiful, it’s great, only good things can happen now,” she said.

She said workers will be surveyed to come up with specific demands for a wage increase, affordable health insurance, seniority rights and other issues. Currently Irving can’t afford the health insurance Aramark offers, so she is uninsured and relies on the public county hospital for treatment for her heart condition.

Read the whole thing.