110 Starbucks employees in the Vancouver BC area are now represented by the Canadian Auto Workers. Their new contract increases starting pay from $7 to $7.75 (Canadian). Canadian labor law prohibits companies from expressing opinions about unions, but Alan Gulick, a Starbucks spokesman said that he thinks most U.S. employees are happy with the company's compensation, which includes a 15% discount on stock and a free pound of coffee each week... The AFL-CIO will be launching a new advertising campaign in late August with Baltimore, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Seattle, and St. Louis receiving the initial run. While about 10% of employees in private U.S. companies are represented by unions, more than 40% tell pollsters they wish they were... 150 physicians at Thomas-Davis Medical Center in Tucson AZ voted 93-32 in January to be represented by a division of AFSCME. The NLRB has now ordered Thomas-Davis to bargain... Las Vegas has been the scene of vast organizing this year. The Building Trades Organizing Project has signed up more than 2,000 new members... The Amalgamated Transit Union has successfully organized at more than a dozen sites this spring & summer, including 1,000 workers at Laidlaw Transit in Concord CA and smaller workplaces in Portland OR, Pittsburgh, and Oakland... More than 65% of the employees at Alcoa's Pimalco operation in Chandler AZ signed union authorization cards to be represented by the United Steelworkers of America(USWA). Alcoa recognized the union without a NLRB election. The USWA also won elections at Huron Casting Co. in Pigoen MI (253 employees) and at Integrated Terminals in Woodhaven MI (30 employees)... The United Farm Workers have expanded their web site to include the latest information about the strawberry workers' organizing campaign. They're @ http://www.ufw.org... The UPS strike revolved around two issues. The company wanted to pull out of the Teamsters's multi-employer pension plan that their workers have belonged to since 1916. UPS has also increased the share of part- timers in its workforce from 46% to 60% since 1987. Employees can work over 35 hours a week and still be classified as part-time. They're paid about half as much as full-time employees, even if they're doing the same work as a full-timer. As of this writing, there has been a tentative agreement reached between the Teamsters and UPS which increases the number of full-time jobs, more pay for both full and part-timers, and preservation of the pension plan... UFCW Local 1445 won campaigns recently at the Carvel Ice Cream factory in Marlboro MA, among food service workers at the Worcester MA Centrum (a special events arena) and at Directory Distributers in Somerville MA...

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