Effective January 1, 2000, Grand Lodge dues will be increased to $19.75 per month in accordance with the Grand Lodge Constitution and Bylaws, Article XIX, Section 3, which reflects one and two tenths (1.2) of the average straight time hourly rate of pay of MofW workers.

Make Your Voice Heard

A march and rally is being held by the AFL-CIO on Tuesday, November 30 in Seattle, Washington to support workers' rights and the environment. The march and rally coincide with the opening day of the World Trade Organization meeting taking place in Seattle when U. S. negotiators will meet with trade ministers and heads of state from across the globe to make the decisions that will govern world trade and investment for decades to come. As world leaders gather in Seattle, workers have the opportunity to demand changes that can make the global economy work for working families everywhere. If you can be there, please contact the AFL-CIO Workers' Rights Task Force, King County Labor Council, 2800 First Ave., #220, Seattle, WA 98121. Give them your name, address, phone number and fax number and e-mail if you have them as well as your union affiliation. They will send you a free bumper sticker and details about the march and rally as soon as they are available.

2000 in 2000

In 1997 the AFL-CIO introduced the 2000 in 2000 initiative, to ensure that across the nation, from school boards all the way to Congress, the lawmakers we elect reflect working families and their interest. This strategy involves identifying and recruiting 2,000 union members to run for public office in 2000.

As part of this important effort, the BMWE needs to help by identifying union members who hold (or want to hold) elected office. Educational and financial help may be available for union members running for office.

If you have information on any union members in your area who serve as: township officials, county officials, county commissioners, city council members, mayors, community college board members, school board members or state and national officials, please forward that information to the BMWE Washington, DC office at 10 G Street, Suite 460, Washington, D. C. 20002, phone 202-638-2135, fax 202-737-3085.

Fall Into The Gap

The after-tax income gap between the richest Americans and the rest of us likely will reach its widest point on record this year, according to a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Using Congressional Budget Office data, The Widening Income Gulf projects that adjusted net income will have risen 115 percent for the wealthiest one percent from 1977, the year the data was first collected, to 1999, while households in the middle-income group will have realized only an 8 percent gain over the same period.

Don't Buy Rocky Mountain Steel

On August 13, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) to refrain from buying rail manufactured by non-union replacement workers at Oregon Steel's CF&I Steel subsidiary (now doing business as Rocky Mountain Steel Mills) until an ongoing unfair labor practices dispute is resolved.

Citing "serious quality problems," "willful and serious health and safety violations," and the "hastily trained and inexperienced replacement workers" who are now making rail for Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, the resolution calls on BART to honor the nationwide AFL-CIO boycott on all products made by Oregon Steel, which "illegally replaced over 1,000 Steelworkers from their jobs in Pueblo, Colorado." ...

Citing the facts that CF&I/Rocky Mountain Steel has been charged with over 100 violations of federal laws, and has been found guilty by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of 61 willful and serious safety violations, resulting in the second largest OSHA fine in Colorado history, the resolution advises BART not to make any additional purchases from the company.

Elsewhere, Canadian Pacific Railway has announced its intention to reduce its Soo Line's dependence on rail produced by Oregon Steel's Rocky Mountain Steel Mills Division. In an August 4 letter, S. J. Samonsinski, CPR's Director of Labour Relations, stated that the company intends "to split Soo requirements between Rocky Mountain Steel and Pennsylvania Steel Technologies Inc. for the year 2000," pending successful field evaluations of rail from PST. Samonsinski explained that the Soo had been "somewhat captive" to RMSM rail because "Rocky Mountain Steel was the only U.S. manufacturer producing the type of rail we required and securing rail outside the U.S. was cost prohibitive primarily because of duties."

He went on to state that this situation changed recently when PST "submitted attractive quotations on their latest products which appear to meet our specifications." CPR's actions follow repeated concerns raised by the BMWE regarding the quality of RMSM rail. "BMWE would suggest that CP seriously question the use of Rocky Mountain Steel as a supplier as it is our understanding that the quality of their products is questionably substandard," BMWE Vice President K. M. Deptuck told the company. "CP could very well be jeopardizing the safety of its operations, the employees of the company and the general public."

(From the Western Rail Reporter, a newsletter published by the United Steelworkers for end-users of rail products in the western United States.)

Turkish Earthquake Relief

As Turkey struggles to come to terms with the recent devastating earthquake that has killed more than 7,000 people and injured thousands more, Turkish unions have appealed to labor federations worldwide to support their efforts to provide relief and assistance to the affected communities, in addition to the tremendous efforts of international humanitarian organizations.

Local unions are providing humanitarian aid for survivors who lack essential medical care and necessities of daily life. They are also coordinating a variety of direct community efforts such as blood drives. Many needs are not yet calculated, as the massive task of rebuilding homes and schools has not begun. To further compound the losses, most factories in the region anticipate months without work.

Donations can be made directly to the four labor federations which are coordinating relief aid for the benefit of their members who have suffered. They are:

TURK-IS President Bayram Meral, Bayindir Sokak No. 10 Yenisehir, Ankara

HAK-IS President Salim Uslu, Tunus Caddesi No. 37, TR - 06680 Kavaklidere, Ankara

DISK President Vahdettin Karabay, A. Kutsi Tecer Cad. Nu:12 Kat: 5-6 Merter, TR - 34010 Istanbul

KESK President Siyami Erdem, Istikal Caddesi, Terkos Cikmazi Sok, Karaasian Apt. Kat 3, Beyoglu, Istanbul

Justice at Avondale

Over six years ago, Avondale Shipyard workers in Louisiana voted and exercised their rights to form a union. Since then, the company CEO and others have held the workers' victory up in court and elsewhere by denying them their rights. This year Litton Industries purchased Avondale and the fact that Litton's other shipyards are unionized has given renewed hope that there will soon be Justice at Avondale. If you would like more information on how you can help or would like to purchase the videotape "It's Time For Justice" or to buy a Justice at Avondale Union Yes t-shirt, contact Justice at Avondale at 1604 Bridge City Avenue, Bridge City, Louisiana 70094, phone 504-436-4111, fax 504-436-0505.

Hotel Discount Rate for Union Members

The unionized Hotel Royal Plaza, located in the heart of Walt Disney World, is offering a reduced members-only Union Leisure-Rate of $79 per day, effective through December 23, 1999. This special rate is for a standard room, accommodating one to five guests. Reservations are subject to availability and only apply to leisure travel. To obtain the discount, call the hotel's reservations department at 1-800-248-7890, ask for the union rate when you make your reservation and show your union card when you check in. Hotel Royal Plaza offers complimentary transportation to all Disney theme parks as well as preferred status at Disney's five championship golf courses. The hotel is within walking distance of the Disney Village Marketplace and Pleasure Island. If you need to rent a car while there, use Avis or Budget and receive a union-members-only discount. To receive the Avis discount, call Avis reservations at 1-800-698-5685 and present the union ID number B723700. For discounts with Budget, call 1-800-455-2848 and present the union ID number V816100.

CIO Tops Top 10

The founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1938 was ranked as labor's most significant accomplishment of the century in a poll of historians and labor scholars from Harvard, Yale and Cornell Universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D. C., according to AFSCME, which released the poll. Ranked Nos. 2-10 were: Social Security Act (1935), National Labor Relations Act (1935), GM sit-down strikes (1936-37), Civil Rights Act/Title VII (1964), public-sector organizing (1962-1980), Fair Labor Standards Act (1938), "Bread and Roses" strike (1912), World War II support and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970).

With all the tears and all the protest,
I'll still stand strong and pass the test,
Ancestors mistreated, beaten and scorned,
To create a strong union before I was born,
Let's give all mad props the union see,
Giving us a better life with unity.

Rap poet Nikki Hendricks wrote the foregoing when she was asked, along with her 9^th grade classmates, to create lyrics about the history of the Detroit area's labor struggles, following their daylong tour of famous labor history sites.