They’ve Got A Union

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/04/theyve_got_a_un.php

by Melissa Bailey | April 28, 2008 8:18 AM

Workers at a West River laundry plant ended a year-and-a-half-long labor struggle with a climactic vote.

Click on the play arrow to watch a few workers react to the results Friday.

Laundry workers at New England Linen on Derby Avenue, many of whom are Latina women struggling to support families on minimum-wage-level wages, have been seeking to unionize since the end of 2006. Their efforts has drawn support from city politicians and area unions. (Click here, here and here for past coverage.)

The drawn-out campaign came to a head Friday at the West River plant, where about 70 workers wash, dry and sort and deliver clothes and linens. By a vote of 55 to 14 in the plant cafeteria, workers opted, for the first time, to become unionized.

“Si se puede!” came the victory cries from a nearby parking lot, where workers gathered to await an official vote count by the National Labor Relations Board. A total 76 employees were eligible to vote, including five drivers from a Boston outpost.

NLRB senior field attorney Rick Concepción (at right in picture) brought in a box of ballots rushed in from Boston.

Those who had been afraid to speak up in the past let out whoops of joy.

Photos, full story, and video at link.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. EXCELLENT!

Sometimes I think there's hope for our country.