PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Day of Action in review
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

In honor of the International Human Rights Day, USWA and SEIU sponsored a Day of Action bus tour of demonstrations for unionized labor in the city.

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In honor of the International Human Rights Day, the Service Employees International Union and the United Steelworkers of America sponsored a Day of Action tour. The tour started with about 20 people waiting for the bus at the United Steelworkers of America building downtown at 8:30am on December 10th. At 10am, we would stop back at this spot between demonstrations to pick up enough people to fill two buses.

The first stop was Parkway Center Mall, who has been rumoured to threaten the janitors from joining a union. The USWA group met with the SEIU group in the parking lot, and marched to the entrance to the mall. Speakers from several organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers, the Allegheny Labor Council, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the sponsoring USWA and SEIU organizations spoke to between 80-100 people in front of the entrance. A notable quote was from Richard L. Trumka of AFL-CIO saying, "The Fort Pitt Tunnels should not be a gateway to dead end jobs." This quote was repeated throughout the day as a sort of mantra.

Following the rally, many of the speakers and other key figures in the various organizations signed a letter to the Building Management to request that the employees be allowed to form a union, and then went inside to speak with the Building Manager. The Building Manager chose to hold the meeting outside before the crowd, and denied the allegations that they have used anti-union measures in their workplace, and then encouraged the crowd to leave. Demonstrators chose instead to enter the building for roughly 10 minutes, after which the Greentree police showed up and threatened to arrest one man. However, negotiations between the police and the demonstrators ended amenably, with no arrests and demonstrators heading for the next stop.

The next stop was the Edgewood Towne Center, specifically targetting the independently owned Giant Eagle in that shopping complex for hiring a "Union Buster" for $125/hour, and firing employees with claims that the firing practices were related to the organization of a union. The 200 person rally was held in the Wendy's parking lot, and speakers included representatives from the Wilkensburg City Council, the NAACP, and some heartfelt testimonies from Giant Eagle employees, in addition to the USWA speakers. It was testified that the expensive Union Buster from Ohio is present in the store to convince workers to not unionize for several hours a day ("every shift"), every day of the week.

After the speakers were done, groups of five demonstrators each entered the store with $2 bills to purchase non-perishable goods in order to talk to the employees about the benefits of a union. They were asked to go in groups of five by the local police, so that the demonstrators would not be accused by anti-unionists in the building of harassment. The goods bought, about a dozen bags brought back, are being donated to a local homeless shelter.

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Demonstrators at the Parkway Center
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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Signing the Letter to the building manager
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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Building Manager comes out
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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The building manager decided to speak to the crowd of demonstrators. He's on the left.

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Inside the mall
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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When asked to leave the entrance to the mall, demonstrators went inside.

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Edgewood demonstrations speaker area
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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Edgewood crowd
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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Edgewood crowd
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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$125/hour
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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This is part of the document to the Department of Labor showing the fee for the Union Buster's consultation is $125/hour.

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Giant Eagle Employees speak
by gwen Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003 at 9:53 AM

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