>From: Yoshie Furuhashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Strike Begins at OSU >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Status: > > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: > >May 1, 2000 >Columbus, Ohio > >For more info, contact Yoshie Furuhashi (at 614-299-3313 / >[EMAIL PROTECTED]) or Mark D. Stansbery (at 614-252-9255 / >[EMAIL PROTECTED]). > >Strike Begins at OSU; >Faculty and Students Pledge Support > >On April 30, about one thousand members of Local 4501, Communications >Workers of America (representing service and skilled trade workers at >the Ohio State University) and supporters held a candlelight vigil >for the impending strike from 8 PM, in front of Bricker Hall (the OSU >administration building). Don Slaiman of AFL-CIO spoke to workers: >"you are fighting not just for you and your families, you are >fighting for all the working people in Columbus and beyond. If you >win this strike, you'll be pulling up everyone in the area with you." >Local 4501 is demanding living wages and a fair contract that treats >all CWA members equally (in contrast to the OSU proposal that will >give a separate, lesser settlement to the CWA members who work at the >OSU Hospitals); the union also opposes the "merit pay" system that >will give supervisors a power to exercise favoritism and to punish >workers arbitrarily. > >At the vigil, faculty and graduate students pledged support for Local >4501. Dr. Claudio Fogu, professor of history at the OSU, highlighted >the importance of unity among workers, faculty, and students. Many >graduate students, some of whom are grad union organizers themselves, >spoke at the mike, emphasizing the need to get the entire campus >organized, "because that's the only way to bring justice and >democracy to the OSU." Faculty and grad students who support the >strike will be wearing yellow ribbons to signify solidarity and >holding classes in the union hall and other alternative locations, so >as not to cross picket lines. The sit-in at Bricker Hall, which >began on April 26, will continue until the OSU will meet the demands >of Local 4501. > >After the vigil, unionists and supporters moved from the main campus >to the University Hospitals, chanting "no contract, no work," to the >rhythm of African drums. Workers who just finished their shift >walked out of the Hospitals and joined the protest, to thunderous >cheer and applause from the crowd. The strike began at midnight, and >unionists and supporters will walk the picket lines today. __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
