That Union Thing
AFL-CIO Criticizes Media Monopolies
New FCC rules make it easier for companies such as Clear Channel to establish monopolies, a new Cornell University study reports. Under the new rules, corporations can now own 45% of the media in a single market. In the last six years, Clear Channel has grown from 44 radio stations to 1239, and they also own 44 amphitheaters, 51 theaters, and a number of clubs and arenas. They also account for 20% of all radio industry revenue. Consolidation reduces diverse perspectives in the news, reduces local programming, and increases local advertising rates, all a disservice to the community. For example, voice-tracking systems and pre-recorded programs made it impossible to issue warnings during a train derailment in Minot, ND last spring. Dominance by one corporation in the local radio market also makes it more difficult for local artists to get airplay.
The study, The Clear Picture on Clear Channel, shows what is wrong with media consolidation and the rule lifting limits on media ownership, says Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees. For a full copy of the study, visit www.aflcio.org.
From AFL-CIO Work in Progress:
GETTING A HEAD START—325 Head Start workers employed by the Jacksonville Urban League at 28 centers voted overwhelmingly Dec. 19 to join SEIU.
SEIU WINS AGAIN IN MIAMI—The majority of more than 340 medical technicians, aides, maintenance workers and other support staff at Miami’s Pan American Hospital voted overwhelmingly Jan. 26 to join SEIU. Their union victory comes just two weeks after more than 185 RNs at the hospital joined SEIU.
JUSTICE AT AT&T—At AT&T Local Network Services in Orlando, Fla., 72 workers have a voice on the job with the Communications Workers of America after a hard-fought battle. The maintenance employees voted for Local 3108 by a wide margin in a rerun election. On Nov. 24, two months after the union lost a first election, an arbitrator ruled management had violated the CWA–AT&T neutrality and card-check agreement.
MARCHERS SET TO JAB JEB—Union members, civil rights and community activists and others marched on the Florida state capitol in Tallahassee March 2 to protest the economic, education and health care policies of Gov. Jeb Bush (R). The march coincided with Bush’s annual State of the State address. State Rep. Ed Jennings (D) said the march will remind Florida voters that “The Bushes are simply out of touch. We will be heard first with our voices, then with our votes.”
PRACTICING WHAT THEY TEACH—A majority of the 70 adjunct faculty members who teach for Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations at locations across the Empire State voted late last month for a voice on the job with New York State United Teachers, an AFT affiliate. Their local is the Cornell University Adjunct Faculty Federation, and their employer agreed to allow a neutral third party to count the ballots.
WELCOME TO PENN-MART—University of Pennsylvania graduate student employees handed out fliers at the campus’ seven entrances during a two-day recognition strike Feb. 26–27. The fliers said, “Welcome to Penn-Mart. We’re rolling back educational quality,” a reference to the anti-union Wal-Mart’s ads about rolling back prices. The workers voted a year ago to join Graduate Employees Together–University of Pennsylvania/AFT. Those ballots were impounded after the university appealed to the NLRB. The workers want the university to drop its appeal.
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