Labor in Illinois

Weekly Labor Report
November 28, 2007

Building Trades Workers Meet with Labor Intellectual Mark Breslin

About 4000 Building trades workers met in the St. Charles Convention Center to hear Mark Breslin, author of “Organize or Die,” deliver a speech about the importance of worker pride and productivity. He said it was the largest group he had ever addressed in North America. He said that apprentices have the most at stake in failing to remain organized and trying their best to keep non-union workers from gaining a stronghold in Illinois and Missouri.- St.Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune (18-24 Oct 2007): 1,10.

Postal Workers Protest Relocation of Priority Mail

Members of the Illinois Local American Postal Workers and their supporters have recently protested the scheduled relocation of priority mail processing to the more mechanized plant in Champaign. Postal workers protest the potential delay in delivery timing within the Peoria area and the impact of this change on community business. – The Labor Paper (1 Nov 2007): 1.

Court Sets Method of Proof in Class Action Sex Suit

The US District Court for Northern Illinois ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may not seek punitive damages for a “class,” with regard to sex, without providing evidence that such damages indeed affect every member. The decision comes in a case of sexual harassment and unequal treatment case brought by EEOC in 2001 against the International Profit Associates Inc. in Buffalo Grove. – Employment Discrimination Report (7 November 20007):

UA, Contractors and Corporations Discuss Future Labor Demands

The Mokena, Illinois meeting between a unions, contractors and corporations met in September to discuss the anticipated construction boom. Dr. Samuel Bodman, U.S. Secretary of Labor, delivered a keynote address outlining the potential need for highly skilled workers in the construction of nuclear energy facilities throughout the country. The conference also addressed the value of highly skilled journeymen in the United States. Participating were the United Association of Plumbers, Pipe-Fitters, Sprinkler Fitters and HVACR Service Technicians, collectively known as the UA, as well as the Mechanical Contractors Association and corporations including BP, Amoco, American Electric Power, Exelon, Bechtel, BMW and Southern Ohio Nuclear Integration Cooperative. –Grand Prairie Union News (November 2007):4.