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February
18, 2005 Volume
106 Number 4
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Strike
at Servicemaster Swan Island
Janitors
working in two high-rises owned by downtown developer Melvin ‘Pete’
Mark struck for four days beginning Feb. 2 in protest against cleaning
company Servicemaster Swan Island, alleging intimidation, coercion
and being forced to work off-the-clock. The struck buildings were
Robert Duncan Plaza and Columbia Square office tower at 111 SW Columbia.
The striking janitors don’t yet have union recognition; SEIU
Local 49, which represents over 2,000 janitors in downtown office
buildings, is collecting union authorization cards and plans to
press the company for voluntarily recognition. Servicemaster striker
Jason Barber, left, said he wants a union for the better wages.
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| LIES,
DAMN LIES, AND STATISTICS:
George
Bush's Campaign to Privatize Social Security
The details are dense, a little complex, and take time to digest.
But the retirement security of American working people may rest
on whether they understand what President George W. Bush proposes
to do to Social Security.
Social Security privatization
unites Democrats, divides GOP
Oregon's Democratic Congresspeople oppose President Bush's plan,
while Republicans, including Senator Gordon Smith, remain non-committal.
Social Security workers
pushed to promote partisan agenda
Steve Kofahl, a union leader representing Social Security Administration
workers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska, testified before
Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Jan. 28 that his employer
has been ordering workers to promote the Bush Administration’s
Social Security agenda, a violation of a federal law bans the use
of tax dollars for partisan political propaganda. |
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