News Archives
December 12, 2007
New Jersey State AFL-CIO and Coalition Partners Rally In Support Of Workers' Rights At Newark Airport
On Tuesday, December 11, 2007, hundreds of union members, elected officials, interfaith leaders and community activists rallied at the Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott to mark International Human Rights Day, and support the right of workers at Continental and HDS Retail to organize unions free from employer interference.
The rally highlighted workers at Continental Airlines who have been organizing with the Transport Workers Union for human dignity and a voice at work. In 2005, 7,900 fleet service workers, 2,700 of whom are employed at Newark Liberty International Airport, suffered a 10% pay cut while Continental has made $800 million in profits in the last 18 months.
"We called on Congress, at the request of Continental Airlines, to provide emergency funds for Continental to preserve and create good airline industry jobs for the people of New Jersey,” said New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech. “We have also helped Continental lobby for infrastructure and other terminal improvements at Newark Liberty, and now it’s time for Continental to honor its’ commitment to the people of New Jersey and respect the right of workers to organize."
"We appreciate the support we are getting from New Jersey union members, elected officials and community leaders,” said Noel Creary, a Continental Fleet service worker at Newark. “We know we are all in this together.”
Also at Newark Airport, workers are organizing a union with UNITEHERE, at HDS Retail North America, the company that operates Relay, Virgin Books & Music, Homeward Bound, X_press, and American Scene Stores. For months, the company has resisted its workers’ request for a fair process to organize.
The right to form a union is one of the basic human rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ratified by Eleanor Roosevelt and representatives of four-fifths of the United Nations member countries on December 10, 1948. “Workers in the U.S. have fewer rights than workers in any other industrialized country. We need the Employee Free Choice Act to restore the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life,” said Charles Wowkanech. Research shows that 60 million people say they would join a union tomorrow if given the chance. Union members make 26% more than people without a union, and are much more likely to have health and pension benefits, according to government statistics.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO would like to thank the brave workers who described their own personal stories of the struggle to organize at Newark Airport, and to the elected officials, community representatives, and spiritual leaders who gave their support, and are listed below:
Senator Ronald L. Rice, 28th District
Senator-elect Teresa Ruiz, 29th District
Assemblywoman Sheila Y. Oliver, 34th District
Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin, 34th District
Donald M. Payne, Jr., Essex County Freeholder and Newark Council Member
Freeholder Bilal Beasley, Essex County
Council Member Carlos M. Gonzalez, Newark
Council Member Luis A. Quintana, Newark
Council Member Anibal Ramos, Jr., Newark
Council Member Frank Sapienza, Verona
Council Member John Sowell, Irvington
Gerald Owens, President, A. Phillp Randolph Institute
Milton Rosado, National President, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
Reverend Levin B. West, Grace Reformed Baptist Church
Arieh Lebowitz, Communications Director, Jewish Labor Committee
Reverend Bruce Davidson, Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry
Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, Executive Director, New Jersey Citizen Action