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ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE ?
Between now and August 31, any active
member of Local 338 who is not a registered voter will receive a
free Steelworker T-Shirt or Ball Cap by registering to vote at the
Union Hall. for more information, please contact Dan Wilson at
924-2650.
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IETCU
Did you know, the Inland Empire Trades Credit
Union, located at 2004 North Hamilton is the only "All Union" Credit
Union in Spokane. For more information on how you can be a
member and take advantage of some great benefits just for being a
Steelworker, call (509) 328-0325.
When leaving work late, you
will go unnoticed. When you leave work early, you will meet the boss
in the parking lot.
OBAMA PARTY AT THE UNION HALL 8-28 AT
6:00 p.m. for more information call 924-2650.



SIGN
UP FOR PAC TODAY AND GET IN THE FIGHT!
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U N I T Y
AND S T R E N G T H
FOR W O R K E R S
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LOCAL 338 LOCATED IN SPOKANE
WASHINGTON IS AN AMALGAMATED
UNION REPRESENTING FOUR SEPARATE BARGAINING UNITS: KAISER ALUMINUM'S----
PRODUCTION, MAINTENANCE, CLERICAL & TECHNICAL WORKERS, KAISER ALUTEK
WORKERS, LB. FOSTER--- PRE-CAST AND RAIL ROAD TIE DIVISION WORKERS. WE NUMBER MORE
THAN 1000 PRIVATE SECTOR MEMBERS WHO WORK PRIMARILY IN MANUFACTURING
INDUSTRIES WITHIN THE
GREAT INLAND NORTHWEST
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Workplace
Deaths Dipped in 2007
Workplace
deaths fell last year to the lowest
level since record keeping started in
1992, the government said, but there
were big jumps in the number of fatal
falls, workplace homicides and deaths
among police officers.
The
preliminary report said there were 5,488
fatal work injuries in 2007, down from
5,840 in 2006 and 6,217 in 1992.
Fatalities involving transportation,
which typically account for nearly half
of all work-related fatalities, fell to
2,234. Labor Secretary Elaine L.
Chao said the numbers show that Bush
administration programs designed to
protect worker's safety were working,
but labor health and safety expert Eric
Frumin said the report was misleading.
Frumin, health and safety coordinator
for the Change to Win labor federation,
told the New York Times that Chao's
analysis was off the mark. He said a
big drop in transportation-related
deaths shouldn't be credited to OSHA
activity but rather to state and federal
transportation agencies, which have
jurisdiction over transportation.
In fact, Frumin told the newspaper, a
series of fatal construction accidents
in Las Vegas and other incidents last
year are evidence that OSHA was still
not doing its job. Ninety percent
of the fatal work injuries involved
workers in private industry. The
numbers do not include workers who die
because they have been made ill on the
job because of exposure to lethal
substances, only those who have suffered
fatal injuries.
Boomer's
Work Many Jobs
Americans born between 1957 and
1964 have held an average of
10.8 jobs from ages 18 to 42,
according to a Labor Department
report. Most of the jobs,
and larger wage increases,
occurred in their early adult
years, the report said.
According to the report, from
the Labor Department's Bureau of
Labor Statistics, workers
between the ages of 18 and 22
held an average of 4.4 jobs
during the period. Between the
ages 38 and 42, it was an
average of 1.9 jobs.
Steelworkers, British Union
Merge to Confront Global
Exploitation
The Steelworkers (USW) in July
signed a merger agreement with
the largest union in Britain and
Ireland, creating what its
leaders said would be the
world's first global union.
The goal of the merged union
would be to take on the
increasing power of global
capital, "to advance the
interest of millions of workers
throughout the world who are
being shamefully exploited," in
the words of one of the union's
leaders. Under the merger
agreement, signed at the USW
Convention in Las Vegas July 2,
the USW and its new overseas
partner, Unite the Union, will
maintain their individual
identities but will work to
blend their activities and
structures. The new union, named
Workers Uniting, will have a
joint steering committee and an
executive director to coordinate
trans-Atlantic activities. USW
President Leo Gerard and Unite
the Union General Secretary
Derek Simpson are expected to
serve as co-chairs of the new
entity. The merging unions
would retain their names and
each union will continue to have
its own president for at least a
few years. But they would work
as one in negotiations with
multinational employers such as
the oil conglomerate BP and
giant steel maker ArcelorMittal.
The two have large memberships
in paper, aluminum, oil and
refining, health care and
transportation: about 46 percent
in manufacturing and mining, and
44 percent in transportation and
services. The new union
will represent about three
million workers. Leaders made
it clear they hoped that other
unions would join with them to
form a larger, more powerful
organization. The merger
has been in the works since
April 2007. The two unions have
been discussing strategies for
saving manufacturing jobs in the
U.S., Canada, Britain and
Ireland, and have already
participated in joint bargaining
with employers in the chemical,
paper and titanium industries.
They also have participated in
each other's education, rapid
response, health and safety,
civil rights, and women's
conferences. The union's
founding constitution calls on
its members to "build global
union activism, recognizing that
uniting as workers across
international boundaries is the
only way to challenge the
injustices of globalization"
Time magazine's report on the
merger quoted Gerard as noting
that the new coordination it
will bring means workers will be
better able to ensure that a
company can't reject defined
benefits in one country that
it's already agreed to in
another. He said the merger
"also gives labor more muscle
for dealing with bodies like the
World Trade Organization, the
European Commission and the
increasing number of global
forums on issues like climate
change."
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