NevadaLabor.com News Bulletins 1999-2005

Home Page

Update: Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005, 2:03 a.m. PST —

Betty J. Barbano
1941-2005

NevadaLabor.com Statewide News Roundup

NevadaLabor.com 2004 Strike Update Pages

Update: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005, 2:11 a.m. PST — Authorities identify worker killed at Sparks water treatment plant

Update: Monday, Dec. 12, 2005, 2:52 a.m. PST — Equipment operator killed at Sparks water treatment plant

Update: Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2005, 12:19 p.m. PST — On this date in 1886, the American Federation of Labor was founded. On this date in 1980, John Lennon was assassinated. (Courtesy of longtime Nevada journalist Dennis Myers' Poor Denny's Almanac.)

Update: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005, 11:07 p.m. PST — TOP GUN STRIKE AVOIDED: On its late newscast, KRNV TV-4 reported that a strike has been averted at the Naval Air Station Fallon Top Gun School. Civilian contract workers will get an 11 percent pay raise over the next four years plus health benefits. A ratification vote will be held on Saturday, Dec. 10. (MORE)

Update: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005, 8:49 p.m. PST — Longtime Culinary Union organizer Kiko Reyes dies in accidental fall.
        Update 12-10-2005: Visitation and funeral mass announced

Update: Friday, Nov. 25, 2005, 5:39 a.m. PST — CURIOUS LANGUAGE. Sen. Harry Reid either mis-spoke or has new information that Osama bin Laden is dead. We report. You decide.

Update: Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005, 2:49 a.m. PST — NAS FALLON TOP GUN STRIKE UPDATE. The parties are talking again, although only by e-mail and phone. Both sides are exchanging proposals and have agreed to face-to-face negotiations the first week in December. Stay tuned.

Update: Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005, 3:21 a.m. PST — LAHONTAN VALLEY NEWS REPORTS DEAL NEAR TO AVOID STRIKE AT NAVAL AIR STATION FALLON TOP GUN SCHOOL. Dowload the union's statement in Adobe Acrobat Reader format.

Update: Monday, Nov. 14, 2005, 5:11 p.m. PST — STRIKE DEADLINE PASSES AT FALLON TOP GUN SCHOOL. The contract expired at midnight last night. Union leaders will meet with members this evening. Company representatives left the bargaining table and departed for Virginia at 2:04 a.m. The company canceled the agreement under the Service Contract Act. Company representatives stated that they would be available to bargain by phone (an apparently unintentional dig at the Communications Workers union.) The company refused the services of a federal mediator. IUE District 8 people are joining forces with CWA District 9.

Update: Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005, 8:32 p.m. PST — STRIKE BREACHES THE THREAT HORIZON AT FALLON TOP GUN SCHOOL

KOLO TV-8 reported this evening that an IUE/CWA strike looms at the Naval Air Station Fallon Top Gun school, about 60 miles east of Reno. Northrup-Grumman and three other contractors who took over from Lockheed-Martin want to cut pay and benefits and erode job security and safety, with which the huge naval base has had serious troubles in the past.

The workers run electronic training for the Top Gun school and carrier wings. A strike vote has been taken and workers can go out on strike at the stroke of midnight on Sunday, lucky Nov. 13. The Channel 8 web story is rather incomplete and incoherent (anybody who knows how many workers are involved, please contact this website), but it adds a few items. Stay tuned.

On this date in 1815, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, New York; in 1985, former Nevada assemblymember and senator Mary Gojack died in Reno. (Courtesy of Dennis Myers' online Poor Denny's Almanac). Mary Gojack did the legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton proud. Senator Mary holds a special place in the hearts of union members. With the exception of Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, labor loved no one better. No Nevada public official today commands the respect of labor as did Senator Mary and Nevada Mike. — AB

Update: Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005, 4:37 a.m. PDT — BARBWIRE 10-2-2005: Early Rushes and Timely Reviews

Update: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005, 10:36 p.m. PDT — NEVADA LABOR.COM EXCLUSIVE

Officeholders to address Nevada State AFL-CIO's 49th Annual Constitutional Convention

SOLIDARITY IN NEVADA: A full complement of delegates representing almost all Nevada unions are present, including representatives of all four major internationals which recently left the international AFL-CIO.

NOTABLE SPEAKERS SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, SEPT. 26, 2005, AT THE RENO HILTON PAVILION

Nevada State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, Candidate for Governor

University Regent Jill Derby, Democratic Candidate for Congressional District 2
(statewide save some parts of Clark County in southern Nevada)

Kate Marshall, Democratic Candidate for State Treasurer

Jim Gibson, Mayor of Henderson

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. —Video Presentation

Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas — Video Presentation

Nevada State Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson (UPDATE: Mr. Perkins canceled.)

THE CONVENTION CONCLUDES ON SEPT. 27, 2005.

BARBWIRE 10-2-2005: Special convention report

Update: Friday, Sept. 23, 2005, 10:29 p.m. PDT — NEVADA LABOR.COM EXCLUSIVE

Perkins rumored as planning run for southern Nevada congressional seat

Earlier this week, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, announced abandonment of his long-announced race to replace Republican Gov. Dudley Do-Right. Perkins attributed his stepping down to not wanting to create a divisive Democratic primary, which is already a given with Nevada State Sen. Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, already in the race and conservative Henderson Mayor James Gibson, Jr., soon to announce. A series of polls showed Henderson deputy police chief Perkins as basically unknown statewide despite 12 years in the assembly, the last five as speaker.

The latest hot rumor: Perkins will challenge sophomore Republican congresscritter Jon Porter for the District 3 seat, the largest component of which is Henderson.

The 3rd District seat was created in 2001 based upon the 2000 U.S. Census. A deal was cut to gerrymander it in favor of Democrats, but Nevada State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, got a call from former Sparks schoolboy Karl Rove's White House, causing Raggio to renege.

He traded a northern Nevada senate seat (that of former assembly speaker and senate president pro-tempore Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Minden) and three or four northern assembly seats in exchange for removal of 8,500 Democrats from the new district. As it turned out, eventual winner Porter didn't need the help, with Democrat Dario Hererra collapsing under corruption allegations and later indictment.

Perkins' caving to Raggio's reversal because of White House orders may now come back to bite him both in the ass and the ballot box.

Perkins is slated to do Sam Shad's statewide Nevada Newsmakers TV program on Sept. 27. I suggest viewing.

More soon. Stay tuned.

Las Vegas Sun Columnist Jeff German: Lack of labor support doomed Perkins run for governer
9-23-2005

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith: Perkins unity act won't play
9-25-2005

    UPDATE: On the abovenoted ShadminusSamSession, Speaker Perkins was questioned by Reno Gazette-Journal political writer Ray Hagar, who moderated two segments of commentary thereafter. Hagar asked Perkins about any future plans, but was not specific in his questioning, like "are you looking at the District 3 congressional race?" Perkins danced into the "more time with my family" standard retiring pol tango. None of the panelists brought up his chances against Rep. Porter, speculating that Perkins could run for Henderson mayor.

    None caught the real news: Perkins told Hagar that he has healed his rift with organized labor, which all the learned heavyweight pundits of Gomorrah South have correctly termed the biggest stumbling block to his political future. If Perkins and the Culinary Union have indeed buried the spatula, Perkins missed his best opportunity to kiss and make up by failing to address the Nevada State AFL-CIO convention in Reno on Sept. 26, where he was confirmed on the agenda.

    The Perkins show will be available online for about one week after the original broadcast. Watch the Barbwire and the NevadaLabor.com Breaking News section for more as the dance continues.

BARBWIRE 10-2-2005: Early Rushes and Timely Reviews

Update: LABOR DAY, Monday, Sept. 5, 2005 — ON THIS DATE in 1908, James May, who owned casinos both in Reno and at Moana Hot Springs, was being accused by other Reno casino owners of funding the Anti-Saloon League in an effort to put all city casinos (including his own) out of business while still owning a casino out in the county at Moana; in 1933, a state convention in Nevada ratified the federal constitutional amendment repealing alcohol prohibition, the only amendment ratified by the convention process; in 1949, a Labor Day parade in Las Vegas included 200 carpenters union members marching in white overalls and bartenders and culinary union members working at a moving bar and lounge; in 1953, after complaints from bankers in southern states, the Eisenhower administration made a federal anti-discrimination regulation for farm loans optional; in 1994, at a U.N. family planning conference in Cairo, Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland was harshly critical of a Vatican/Islam alliance that prevented any discussion of birth control: "States that do not have any population problem — in one particular case, even no births at all — are doing their best, their utmost, to prevent the world from making sensible decisions regarding family planning." (The foregoing courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanac by Dennis Myers); in 2005, actor-producer and casino developer Max Baer, Jr. (son of the Depression Era heavyweight boxing champion featured in the recently released Ron Howard-Russell Crowe film "Cinderella Man"), served as grand marshall of the Virginia City Labor Day Parade, the last remaining such event in Nevada. Apparently, no one has yet asked the man most famous for playing Jethro Bodine if he plans to run his recently approved Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Casino in North Las Vegas as a union shop (updated 9-6-2005); in 2005, the de-unionized Dept. of Homeland Security and the Bush-gutted Federal Emergency Management Agency continued to fend off criticism for slow response resulting in multiple deaths due to Hurricane Katrina. See the Sept. 4 edition of Barbwire by Barbano for a sad and angering portrait of how big business ideology lays at the heart of all the darkness. ALSO — a warning about a Tet Offensive in Iraq.

Update: Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005 — On this date in 1949 the national convention of the American Legion endorsed the McCarran/Walter Immigration Act co-sponsored by Sen. Patrick McCarran, D-Nev., making entry into the U.S. relatively easy for white western Europeans and progressively more difficult for eastern Europeans, Asians, and Africans. (Courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanac by Dennis Myers)

Update: Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 — On this date in 1192, the Third Crusade ended with the defeated Richard Lion Heart receiving the good will of Islam's Saladin (a Kurd), who though victorious in ejecting the Chrisitians from their eighty-year-old "Kingdom" of Jerusalem, granted them access to the city; in 1939, stocks on the New York Stock Exchange soared after Hitler invaded Poland, beginning World War II, but then declined after news reports that French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier was talking about peace negotiations; in 1945, in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square, Vietnam's Declaration of Independence from France (patterned after the U.S. declaration and written with the assistance of U.S. Army Major Archimedes Patti), was read by the U.S.-admiring President Ho Chi Minh. According to Stanley Karnow's "Vietnam — A Television History," when a U.S. aircraft overflew the event, the multitude burst into cheers. (Unlike Baghdad, perhaps they probably would have strewn Americans' paths with flowers.) Less than two months later, the U.S. approved French re-conquest of Vietnam because President Truman caved in to French Pres. Charles deGrandEgo de Gaulle, who acted on behalf of the Michelin Tire and Rubber Co. Thereby were sown the seeds of two Vietnam wars; in 1948, the Thunderbird Casino opened on the Las Vegas Strip; in 1953, 37 days after the armistice in Korea was signed, the American Legion called for all-out war against Korea using "the full military strength and might of our government with every usable weapon at its disposal" if further armistice negotiations failed; in 1953, Las Vegas Desert Inn co-owner Wilbur Clark was indicted on four federal counts of tax evasion; in 1963, President Kennedy helped launch CBS' expansion of its evening newscast from 15 to 30 minutes, the first half hour network newscast, with a live interview in which he limited U.S. support for the Saigon regime; in 1969, Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh died. (Courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanac by Dennis Myers; edited and expanded by NevadaLabor.com)

Update: Thursday, August 25, 2005 — On this date in 1950, President Harry Truman torpedoed labor unions planning a strike by ordering the U.S. army to seize U.S. railroads and operate them. (Courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanacby Dennis Myers)

Update: Monday, August 22, 2005, 6:24 p.m. PDT — With support from labor, liberal, libertarian and conservative organizations, the Sparks City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the Patriot Act. Read NevadaLabor.com's breaking news report.

Update: Sunday, August 21, 2005, 6:40 a.m. PDT — FROM NEVADA STATE AFL-CIO EXECUTIVE SECRETARY-TREASURER DANNY THOMPSON: It is with great sadness that I inform our affiliates that Bill Smirk, former business manager and secretary-treasurer of Glaziers Local 2001 (and father of John Smirk), passed away on August 17. Funeral arrangements have been announced for the week of August 21 (Photo herewith). If you have any questions, please call Melody at (702) 452-2140 or Bill Swanson at (702) 480-3425. Bill will be greatly missed by all of us.

Update: Friday, August 12, 2005, 1:53 p.m. PDT — DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: ON THIS DATE in 1947, faced by the conservative policies of the Truman administration, Teamsters President Daniel Tobin proposed a third party at the union's national convention. In 1950, Pope Pius XII released an encyclical on "false opinions" entitled "Humani Generis (On Human Origin)," which called evolution "not...fully proved even in the domain of natural sciences" and said that "communists gladly subscribed to this opinion" — and then approved of teaching evolution and additional research "in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology." (As a British member of Parliament once said, "the distinguished gentleman has proven himself quite acrobatic — he can straddle both sides of the fence while still keeping an ear to the ground.") In 1954, a bill sponsored by Republican U.S. Senator Irving Ives of New York and supported by President Eisenhower, guaranteeing a presumption of innocence in unions accused of communist influence, was successfully amended by Democrats led by U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota to outlaw the communist party (Nevada Democrat Patrick McCarran voted against the change). (Courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanac by Dennis Myers; British Pariiament quote added by NevadaLabor.com)

Update: Thusday, August 11, 2005, 3:08 p.m. PDT — On this date in 1960, Las Vegas Culinary Union leader Al Bramlet accused Governor Grant Sawyer (D), state gambling regulators, and local Clark County officials of being so anxious to approve new casino licenses that they had reneged on a promise to force casinos to create "go-broke" funds to aid workers left in the lurch when casinos closed. (Courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanac by Dennis Myers)

Update: Sunday, August 7, 2005, 4:08 a.m. PDT — JOB ALERTS

Polaris Project Labor Rights Advocacy Intern: Washington, DC. Must apply by August 15, 2005.

Great Basin Primary Care Association (GBPCA) needs an executive director. The job will remain open until September 9, 2005, and is posted on the GBPCA website.

Update: Friday, July 22, 2005, 3:43 a.m. PDT — Union wins election at Quebecor, world's largest printer
Additional update posted at above link on July 24, 2005.

Update: Sunday, July 10, 2005, 4:42 a.m. PDT — Union election slated July 14-15 at Quebecor printing in Fernley, Nev.

Update: Thursday, July 7, 2005, 3:14 a.m. PDT — Nevada ranks 51st among 50 states for low quality of jobs

Update: Sunday, July 10, 2005, 4:42 a.m. PDT — Columnist Cory Farley: You mean it's not worse anywhere?

Update: Sunday, June 26, 2005, 2:59 a.m. PDT

ON THIS DATE — In 1893, Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld announced that, because of fabricated testimony and bias on the part of the trial judge, he would pardon the anarchists convicted in the Haymarket Square bombing in Chicago in 1886. The act, which cost him a U.S. senate seat, gave him a place in John F. Kennedy's "Profiles In Courage;" in 1894, U.S. railway workers went out on strike in sympathy with Pullman workers; in 1946, in California, where members of the governing boards of political parties were elected on a public ballot, Bartenders Union business agent John Brown was elected to the Prohibition Party county central committee in San Diego. (Courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanac; copyright © 2005 Dennis Myers)

Update: Thursday, June 23, 2005, 2:04 a.m. PDT

A day which will live in infamy

(New York Times) On June 23, 1947, the Senate joined the House in overriding President Truman's veto of the Taft-Hartley Act.
Buy the New York Times front page for use on your dartboard — http://www.nytimes.com/nytstore/historicpages/frontpages/NSKEEP11.html

How the law, which greatly contributed to cutting organized labor's ranks by two-thirds, impacted Nevada.

Update: Tuesday, June 21, 2005, 12:51 a.m. PDT

CHRONICLES OF THE QUEST FOR HUMAN DIGNITY

In Memoriam: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner

ON THIS DATE — in 1788 the United States Constitution was ratified when the ninth state, New Hampshire, approved it; in 1866 Congress enacted the Southern Homestead Act, a post-Civil War measure to assist newly emancipated slaves by opening public lands in five southern states to settlement by people of all races; in 1877 fourteen labor union miners were hanged in Pennsylvania for murder on the testimony of a private "detective" paid by the mine owners; in 1927 newspapers reported a warning to businesses from Nevada highway engineer Sam Durkee to remove their billboards and signs from along state highways or see them destroyed in compliance with a state law that forbade all advertising alongside highways; in 1932 a phrase entered the language when Jack Sharkey beat Max Schmeling by a decision and Schmeling's manager Joe Jacobs said, "We was robbed"; in 1940 former Marine Corps General Smedley Butler, one of the great American heroes, who received two medals of honor (one of which he refused because he felt he did not deserve it), who came to believe he and other soldiers had been misused by the U.S. government in places like Nicaragua and Haiti, and who exposed the activities of an alleged 1933 right wing coup d'etat against Franklin Roosevelt (whose operatives "including American Legion official Gerald McGuire, DuPont Chemical executive Irenee DuPont, Democratic presidential nominees Al Smith and John Davis, and New York banker Robert Clark" asked him to lead it) died in Philadelphia where he had once been police commissioner (see below); in 1940 at Compiegne Forest, Hitler received the surrender of French officials, while in Paris the U.S embassy was ringed with armed guards and Ambassador William Bullitt was unable to use the telephone; in 1940 the U.S. Census Bureau released a 110,014 population figure for Nevada (32,366 in Washoe, 16,358 in Clark, 12,352 in White Pine, 10,857 in Elko, all other counties in four digits); in 1962, Humboldt County Senator John Fransway said that "the civil rights problem in Nevada has been magnified away out of proportion by outside interests" and objected to the NAACP's "marches, posters, hymn singing, sit ins, ultimatums, deadlines, and threats"; in 1964, three civil rights workers vanished in Philadelphia, Mississippi, their bodies later found in an earthen dam, a case later dramatized in the film "Mississippi Burning" (which gave the FBI a role it did not have in solving the case) and told by William Bradford Huie in his book "Three Lives For Mississippi," a case which also produced one of the unforgettable photographic images of the civil rights era, of laughing deputies being arraigned while chewing Red Man tobacco. Tomorrow evening, David Dennis, who would have been with the three workers if he had not been sick, will be interviewed on the PBS Tavis Smiley television program); in 1966 the Beatles recorded "She Said She Said" by John Lennon for the "Revolver" album; in 1973 the General Services Administration released an audit showing the United States government spent $1.9 million on improving President Nixon's homes (Nixon promised to leave his San Clemente home to the public, but he later sold it and kept the proceeds); in 2005 the "Mississippi Burning" murder case, being tried after four decades, is now before the jury. — Courtesy of Poor Denny's Almanac by Dennis Myers

From the 6-21-2005 New York Times — ON THIS DAY, three civil rights workers disappeared in Philadelphia, Miss. Their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. Eight members of the Ku Klux Klan went to prison on federal conspiracy charges; none served more than six years.

More from Poor Denny's Almanac by Nevada journalist Dennis Myers — General Smedley Butler: "I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."

"It has been estimated by statisticians and economists and researchers that the war cost your Uncle Sam $52,000,000,000. Of this sum, $39,000,000,000 was expended in the actual war period. This expenditure yielded $16,000,000,000 in profits. That is how the 21,000 billionaires and millionaires got that way. This $16,000,000,000. . . . went to a very few."

Special U.S. House Committee final report: "In the last few weeks of the committee's life it received evidence showing that certain persons had attempted to establish a fascist organization in this country. There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned and might have been placed in execution if the financial backers deemed it expedient. MacGuire denied [Butler's] allegations under oath, but your committee was able to verify all the pertinent statements made to General Butler, with the exception of the direct statement suggesting the creation of the organization. This, however, was corroborated in the correspondence of MacGuire with his principle, Robert Sterling Clark, of New York City, while MacGuire was abroad studying the various form of veterans' organizations of Fascist character." (Copyright © 2005 Dennis Myers)

Update: Monday, June 20, 2005, 5:26 p.m. PDT

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

First it was Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, labor-endorsed for the first time in his life in 2004 and promising to be good to working people now that he's got his. Now comes 2002 labor-endorsed Gov. Dudley Do-Right, who has once again demonstrated the wonders to be had by consorting with labor-friendly Republicans. Don't blame me, I voted for Joe Neal. All comments for publication welcome.

Gov. Guinn vetoes prevailing wage bill
Las Vegas Sun 6-20-2005

"Labor-friendly" Republican Guinn administration destroys decades of wage protection with labor commissioner's new rules
Reno Gazette-Journal 7-27-2004

Prevailing wage law prevails in court

How Nevada's labor laws became so oppressive

Update: Sunday, June 12, 2005, 5:10 a.m. PDT

No bus strike this year — Teamsters ratify new contract
Reno Gazette-Journal 6-12-2005

Update: Saturday, June 11, 2005, 3:16 a.m. PDT

Reno-Sparks Citifare employees to vote on new offer
Reno Gazette-Journal 6-11-2005

Update: Tuesday, May 31, 2005, 4:39 a.m. PDT

Teamsters in contract talks with Reno muni bus management company
Reno Gazette-Journal 5-30-2005
Memories of 2002 Strike

Update: Sunday, May 22, 2005, 1:16 a.m. PDT

Las Vegas Labor Unions Topic of Public Forum at the POST Modern

The Las Vegas Cultural Affairs Division of the City of Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services and the Las Vegas Centennial Committee host a public forum about the history of labor unions in the development of Las Vegas.

"On the Job — The Labor Movement in Las Vegas" brings together a panel of prominent labor leaders in a public dialogue on Wednesday, May 25, from 7 to 9 pm, in the second floor courtroom of the POST Modern, the historic downtown post office located at 300 East Stewart Avenue. The event is free and open to the public. Call City of Las Vegas Public Information Officer Richard Hooker at (702) 229-5431 for more information.

The forum, moderated by local historian and Las Vegas CityLife columnist Michael Green, will include Hattie Canty, former president of Culinary Union Local 226, Terry Greenwald, business manager of Bartenders and Beverage Dispensers Local 165, former Teamsters Union leader Dick Thomas and Ralph Leigon who has been active in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The forum, a special centennial-sanctioned event, is the last of a series of "Community Conversations" that have explored the social and cultural evolution of Las Vegas.

Update: Sunday, May 15, 2005, 5:25 a.m. PDT

BARBWIRE BY BARBANO (Sparks Tribune 5-15-2005) — Ninth Circuit reverses its own three-judge panel, orders en banc 11-judge hearing of Jespersen firing case. Gowabunga! (Darlene Jespersen was fired by Harrah's-Reno for refusing to wear more than base makeup. Her case has received international attention.)

Update: Wednesday, May 11, 2005, 1:17 a.m. PDT

Former Nevada Labor leader Miguel Contreras dies

Los Angeles — Miguel Contreras, 52, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor since 1996, died of a heart attack May 6. Contreras served as business manager of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 86 in Reno before relocating to southern California.

Dan Rusnak, retired business manager of Laborers' Union Local 169, said "Miguel was responsible for borrowing César Chávez from the 1986 International Association of Machinists conclave so that we could hold our Reno rally in support of the United Farm Workers union."

The Reno City Council declared July 15, 1986, as Reno's first César Chávez Day, which has become an annual event in recent years.

"Miguel Contreras and American Federation of Musicians Local 368 President Beth Shay took the lead in northern Nevada Central Labor Council efforts to aid the Ohio playing card workers who had their jobs shipped to Reno before U.S. Playing Card finally moved those jobs to Spain. He taught me a lot and also held Local 86 together during the terrible Reagan years," Rusnak added.

"Miguel re-energized our movement by bringing unions and workers together across craft, class and income divisions," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. "He gave special pride to Latino workers and fought tirelessly for the rights of immigrants — even as he gave voice to all working people in Los Angeles."

The son of a farm worker, Contreras began working in the fields at age five. By 17, he was leafleting supermarkets on behalf of the United Farm Workers, and later he became a national organizer for the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (now UNITE HERE). His former northern Nevada union is now Culinary Local 226 which represents workers at the Reno Hilton.

Contreras is survived by his wife, UNITE HERE Vice President Maria Elena Durazo, and two sons, Michael and Mario. A memorial service is scheduled for May 11 and a funeral service May 12, both in Los Angeles.

----
July 15, 1986, photo of Contreras, Rusnak and Chávez

Los Angeles Federation of Labor Miguel Contreras Memorial Page

Update: Monday, April 25, 2005, 12:01 a.m. PDT — On this date in 1886, the New York Times editorialized that the labor movement for an eight-hour day was "un-American" and that "labor disturbances are brought about by foreigners." (Courtesy of Poor Denny's Alamnac by Dennis Myers)

Update: Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005, 3:39 p.m. PST

Stoneburner private family funeral opened to public.

Update: Monday, Feb. 21, 2005, 7:34 p.m. PST

Pioneering Nevada labor leader Tom Stoneburner dies

Update: Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005, 2:30 p.m. PST

STIFFED WORKERS STRIKE BACK

RENO, NEVADA (Feb. 15) – The Alliance for Workers Rights will hold a 2:30 p.m. press conference today to announce new strategies to assist 15 stranded Kansas City construction workers. The workers logged some $96,000 in wages which they say they have not received.

They plan to initiate picketing of the residential complex located at N. Virginia Street and Talus Way, just north of the graveyard at the McCarran ring road. They will also ask Washoe County District Atty. Richard Gammick to look into potential criminal charges against their former employer.

The Nevada Labor Commissioner is investigating the claims, but the workers' needs are immediate. They have no money and no place to live, having been evicted from a residential motel. Some have had to pawn their tools.

The press conference will be held at the Salvation Army, which has been feeding the workers.

The workers charge that Keating Construction and Drywall of KC has not paid them in more than a month.

Keating was working as a subcontractor for Summit Construction, which has discharged Keating, according to Nevada Alliance for Workers Rights Executive Director Tom Stoneburner.

Labor experts say that the general contractor remains liable for the wages. Neither Summit nor Keating are union signatory companies.

Stoneburner says that he has been informed that 300 workers have shown up at Keating's Kansas City offices demanding payment.

Stoneburner may be reached at (775) 333-0201. He is taping two segments for his regular television program about these issues. They will begin running this week on Reno-Sparks community access television. See http://www.sncat.org for times.

Feb. 16 Reno Gazette-Journal: Groups want investigation into workers' pay dispute.

Update: Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005, 1:36 a.m. PST

HITCH-HIKING FROM RENO TO KANSAS CITY IS ESPECIALLY TOUGH IN WINTER

RENO, NEVADA (Feb. 10) – The Alliance for Workers Rights will hold a 9:00 a.m. press conference today at the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission, 345. W. Third Street in downtown Reno. Executive Director Tom Stoneburner is trying to assist 15 construction workers imported from Kansas City by a sub-contractor.

The workers charge that Keating Construction and Drywall of KC has not paid them in more than a month, resulting in their eviction from a luxury Fourth Street motel. The workers have filed complaints to the Nevada Labor Commissioner's office which is investigating, "but these men are missing meals," Stoneburner said.

Keating was working as a subcontractor on a Summit Construction housing project near the University of Nevada-Reno campus. Summit has discharged Keating, according to Stoneburner.

Labor experts say that the general contractor remains liable for the wages. Neither Summit nor Keating are union signatory companies. Stoneburner may be reached at (775) 333-0201.

Reno Gazette-Journal followups: 11 Feb. 2005 and 12 Feb. 2005.

THE UNION ANSWER TO STARBUCKS

SPARKS (Feb. 9) – At the Feb. 9 meeting of the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO, Mark Gagliardi of OPEIU Local 277 called the body's attention to the USA Coffee Company, which has been added to the union label website. The company is signatory with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 101 and specializes in Hawaiian-grown coffee which is roasted and packaged in northern Nevada. For more information go to http://www.usacoffeecompany.com

The above is not a paid advertisement and has been uploaded in support of union coffee drinkers everywhere. In case you're curious as to why this makes union people happy, surf the Starbucks War Room at NevadaLabor.com.

Update: Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005, 1:46 a.m. PST

CLINGING TO THE LEDGE
From Linda Huff at the State of Nevada Employees Assn.

What: Rally for Collective Bargaining, Health Insurance Reform & Raises
When: Friday, February 11th
During your lunch break - anytime between 11:30 - 1:30
Where: In front of the Legislative Building, 401. S. Carson Street., Carson City, Nevada
Why: Because the voice of the state workers must be heard this Legislative Session
Who: All who believe that the families of state workers deserve better!
Call SNEA/AFSCME Local 4041 for more information, 775-882-3910.

SUCCESS DEPENDS ON THE PARTICIPATION OF EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US — MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR LUNCH BREAK ON FEBRUARY 11, 2005. JOIN YOUR FELLOW STATE WORKERS (and all fellow workers) AT THIS RALLY!

Update: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005, 3:14 a.m. PST

PRESS CONFERENCES TODAY IN SUPPORT OF NEVADA LEGISLATIVE DEMOCRATS' PROPOSAL TO HIKE NEVADA'S $5.15 PER HOUR MINIMUM WAGE

NORTHERN NEVADA
12:45 PM
Assembly Caucus Room
Room 1115
Legislative Building
Carson City, Nevada

SOUTHERN NEVADA
12:45 PM
Magura's Pizza (A much better choice than the legislative petting zoo. Hope it's a union shop. The ledge certainly isn't.)
1325 East Vegas Valley Drive
Las Vegas, Nevada

For more info, call Misti Pena at (702) 459-1414
Slightly stale website: givenevadaaraise.com

Update: Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004, 5:43 p.m. PST

Nevada Alliance for Workers Rights Executive Director Tom Stoneburner, a party to the appeal, responds to 9th Circuit decision in the Darlene Jespersen lipstick lawsuit

From: NVAWR@aol.com
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 15:26:01 EST
Subject: Re: ex-Harrah's bartender loses lipstick lawsuit
To: barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us

Hi Andy.

Thanks for following and reporting on this issue. This is not a story about one employee, and not just about a very courageous Darlene. It's one that impacts all women in America that are treated differently in the workplace due to their gender. It's a case of a powerful industry crushing a small sign of rebellion in the servants' quarters. Ultimately this results in women receiving 73 cents to every dollar male workers make. It also impacts women in so many other areas both at home and in the workplace.

We at the Alliance for Workers Rights joined in submitting a brief on this case and are disappointed at the decision but the fight is not over. I guess the court's decision and the "pleasure" expressed by Harrah's management at the plantation workers once again being put in their place tells us how far we have to go in achieving equality. Not just at Harrah's plantation, but the rest of the American workplace as well. Darlene will always be a heroine to us at AWR.

AWR says thanks for your attention on this one.

Solidarity,

Stoney

Stoney:

The world agrees that Darlene's a true heroine. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that my 10-8-2000 column, which has evolved into the Jespersen library over the years, has generated the heaviest traffic ever at NevadaLabor.com. Every time there's a Darlene story anywhere, the needle goes off the dial.

The thing that plays on my mind the most is Judge Ed Reed, a Carter appointee and a fair and honest man. I told Darlene awhile back that Reed's presence on the case was a positive development. This guy had the guts to issue an almost unheard of special opinion chastising the Reno police for executing a citizen in his own home, then destroying the evidence.

I'm sure his decision throwing out Darlene's case was based on the law, which means the law has to change.

Maybe Judge Reed didn't think that some creative writing would pass muster at the 9th Circuit. He was obviously right, based on yesterday's results.

Maybe Darlene's lawyers didn't brief it as well as they might have.

I still find it nonsensical that outright sex discrimination remains legal.

I recall the case of Ha Jenny Ngo, who you may recall was fired at the Reno Hilton for having to leave in the middle of her shift to give birth. The only reason Carpenters Union attorney Tim Sears won her case in federal court was that Hilton had internally created two classes of workers. All women were permanently classified as probationary, where men were not. In other words, men past the probationary period had some job security but no women ever got past temp status.

Unless the employer has royally screwed up like Hilton, workers are royally screwed — which probably impelled Ed Reed to rule as he did.

I haven't read the decision thoroughly, but will and may write about it the Sunday Tribune. One paragraph from veteran reporter Geoff Dornan's coverage in the Carson City Nevada Appeal sticks out in my mind: "Justices Tashima and Silverman ruled companies can set appearance standards that apply differently to women and men without discriminating on the basis of sex as long as those standards don't impose a greater burden on one sex than the other." (An interesting aside: The 9th Circuit's website no longer posts biographies of judges. Until fairly recently, the site listed whether they were Republican or Democrat appointees.)

This is a morally obtuse workers' rights twist of Justice Sandra Day O'Conner's "undue burden" test from the court's 5-4 decision which significantly undercut Roe v. Wade a few years ago.

This one may get to the U.S. Supreme Court, which looks favorably upon resolving conflicts between federal jurisdictions. Earlier this year, the 6th Circuit in Ohio ruled that a trans-sexual firefighter was unjustly fired by Salem, Ohio. (Scroll down to the second story at the link.) The court held that she was a victim of gender stereotyping, which is illegal under federal law. Makeup was used as an example by the judges: "...an employer who discriminates against women because, for instance, they do not wear dresses or makeup, is engaging in sex discrimination…." Smith v. City of Salem, Ohio, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 10611 (6th Cir., June 1, 2004)

Keep up the good fight. Happy New Year to you and Kathy.

Be well. Raise hell.

Andrew

Update: Sunday, May 15, 2005, 5:25 a.m. PDT

BARBWIRE BY BARBANO (Sparks Tribune 5-15-2005) — Ninth Circuit reverses its own three-judge panel, orders en banc 11-judge hearing of Jespersen case. Gowabunga!

Update: Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004, 3:16 a.m. PST

The politics of lipstick smacks down workers one more time

(AP) By a 2-1 vote, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Federal District Judge Ed Reed's dismissal of ex-bartender Darlene Jespersen's sex discrimination suit against Harrah's-Reno. A 21-year employee, she asserted that she was unfairly treated by being forced to wear makeup where male employees were not. The dissenting judge said that a jury should decide. Click here for the more detailed story from the Carson City Nevada Appeal. (Shades of Justice Sandra Day O'Conner's undue burden arguments in undermining Roe v. Wade.)

Harrah's has neither confirmed nor denied rumors of a celebratory expansion of its New Year's Eve menu to include a new entree, Gloating Male Chauvinist Piglet. (Gloria Steinem, get your bunny ears out of cold storage and call your office.)

Lawyers plan appeal to the full Ninth Circuit panel. Download the decision in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Click here to access the complete history of the case with photos, the single most-visited worldwide page of this site for the past five years.

Update: Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004, 4:39 p.m. PST

NEWSBREAK from BallotBoxing.US
EXCLUSIVE — NEVADA NOVEMBER ELECTION CHALLENGED IN COURT

Update: Monday, Nov. 15, 2004, 2:06 a.m. PST

Irish Pat Duncan, former No. 7 heavyweight contender and Laborers' Union retiree, dies at 55 in Carson City Nevada.
Fame, if not greatness, was always just beyond Irish Pat's prodigious jab
By Steve Sneddon, Reno Gazette-Journal

Update: Monday, Sept. 6, 2004, 3:21 a.m. PDT

LABOR DAY STRIKE
Teamsters strike major Las Vegas convention service companies
Las Vegas Review-Journal 9-5-2004

Update: Saturday, Sept. 4, 2004, 3:29 p.m. PDT

Teamsters strike looms at Las Vegas Convention Center
Las Vegas Review-Journal 9-4-2004

Update: Friday, August 27, 2004, 3:11 a.m. PDT

DEAR FELLOW UNINDICTED CO-CONSPIRATORS: Here is Susan Voyles' splendid story. Thanks to all for the prompt responses. You done good.

Be well. Raise hell.

Andrew Barbano

8-31-2004 UPDATE: SOME PEOPLE STILL DON'T HAVE THEIR SAMPLE BALLOTS. READ MORE ABOUT IT.

Some residents haven’t received sample ballots for early voting
Reno Gazette-Journal 8-27-2004

Update: Thursday, August 26, 2004, 12:24 p.m. PDT

TO NEVADA LABOR LEADERS AND ACTIVISTS:

Longtime Reno Gazette-Journal writer Sue Voyles is looking for Nevada voters who have not received their sample ballots,especially those in Washoe County. Apparently, some people, especially Democrats, are still waiting.

If you have any info, e.g., people who have mentioned that they are still standing by the mailbox like Charlie Brown on Valentine's Day, please call her directly at (775) 788-6403.

I called Tahis Castro at Culinary Union Local 226 in Reno. Guess what? She has not received her Democratic sample ballot. My wife and I got ours on two separate days, last Saturday and last Tuesday.

Rich Houts at the Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada/AFL-CIO says Danny Costella of Iron Workers Local 118 has a similar story. He and his family are waiting for their Democratic ballots while the lone Republican in his household (prolonged adolescent rebellion perhaps?) received his several days ago. (Gotta talk to that boy.)

Even if you've heard of such a delay elsewhere in Nevada, I'm sure Sue Voyles would still like to hear from you.

NOW.

Her e-mail address is svoyles@rgj.com. Her phone number is (775) 788-6403.

Please carbon-copy me on anything you send, as I am also quite interested. Any and all info will be helpful.

Be well. Raise hell.

Andrew Barbano
http://www.nevadalabor.com
http://www.ballotboxing.us

UPDATE: NEVADANS RESPOND EARLY AND OFTEN. KATHERINE HARRIS, CALL YOUR OFFICE. WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM.

KATHERINE HARRIS, PART DEUX
Unions will monitor polls during September 7 Nevada primary
Poll monitors will highlight problems with voter access
Nevada voters must show i.d. to vote for first time
You will show your papers or we will find your relatives in the old country!

Update: Monday, August 23, 2004, 7:11.am. PDT

WORKING OVERTIME TO CUT YOUR PAYCHECK: Bush administration rules destroying overtime pay go into effect while Nevada Republican Gov. Dudley Do-RIght reverses decades of Silver State wage protections. Read 'em and weep.

Update: Wednesday, August 11, 2004, 4:10 a.m. PDT

LAYOFF CULPA: St. Mary's orders last rites for more than 100 workers

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY: In 1960, Las Vegas Culinary Union leader Al Bramlet accused Governor Grant Sawyer, state gambling regulators, and local Clark County officials of being so anxious to approve new casino licenses that they had reneged on a promise to force casinos to create "go-broke" funds to aid workers left in the lurch when casinos closed. (From Poor Denny's Almanac by Dennis Myers.)

Update: Monday, August 9, 2004, 5:05a.m. PDT

PINK SLIPS AND CANDY STRIPES
Large number of St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center workers face downsizing this week
Extensive 8-8-2004 Reno Gazette-Journal coverage fails to interview any workers. Go figger. Send your news and comments here. NOW.

MAJOR NEVADA MEDIA IGNORE POTENTIAL CANCER CLUSTER AT OLD YERINGTON ANACONDA COPPER MINE — SPARKS TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE

Update: Tuesday, June 8, 2004, 3:57 a.m. PDT

The Politics of Lipstick: Barefaced Courage
NEW NOW - Ex-Harrah's bartender loses latest round in Nevada Supreme Court
The above is consistently the source of the heaviest worldwide traffic ever generated by this website

Update: Sunday, May 30, 2004, 5:45 a.m. PDT

Picketer hit by Luce truck in Sparks

SPARKS, NV — At about 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 28, about a half-dozen locked-out Teamsters began to picket a Luce & Son booze delivery to the McCarran/Prater Safeway. They were behind the store in the shipping and receiving area off Howard Drive.

Witnesses say that a Luce driver aimed his vehicle at picketer Gary Watson, injuring him and damaging his picket sign. Watson is going to have a medical exam, including an MRI.

Sparks PD did what it usually does in such situations — disrespects union members along the lines of "it's your word against his, forget it." (Deja vu from the 1997 UPS strike.)

Teamsters insisted that a report be filed, along with five witness statements. The case number is 04-7340. The investigating officers were Flowers and Barnhart. More as information comes in.

Update: Thursday, May 27, 2004, 4:27 p.m. PDT

REGIONAL LIQUOR STRIKE BECOMES A MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND LOCKOUT

Update: Thursday, May 27, 2004, 4:48 a.m. PDT

LIQUOR NOT QUICKER — TEAMSTERS STRIKE IMPACTS DELIVERIES TO AREA HOTEL-CASINOS
News, commentary and a beerdrinker's lament
by Andrew Barbano, Editor, NevadaLabor.com

RENO, NV (MAY 27) — The Teamsters Union strike against a major northwestern Nevada liquor distributor has impacted a wide range of deliveries to the region's hotel-casinos.

Yesterday at Circus-Circus in downtown Reno, union pickets formed as a Luce & Sons truck began to unload. According to Teamsters at the site, a UPS van and a truck from Arkansas Best Freight refused to enter loading bays, as did a semi rig delivering kegs. At Fitzgeralds Hotel-Casino, a UPS driver saw the pickets and left. At the Cal-Neva, a Luce truck was not permitted to unload when staffers saw the pickets marching. Union elevator repairmen called their shop steward to serve notice that they were likewise leaving the property due to the strike demonstration.

The work stoppage will continue throughout the area today. The union began a two-day strike against Reno-based Luce & Sons on Wednesday afternoon. Because Luce is a subcontactor for Sierra Liquor and Wine of Sparks, which alone markets more than 5,500 products, the impact on area hotels, grocery stores and retail outlets is very widespread. Silver State's supply line from Las Vegas has also been affected because Teamsters drive the company's products from southern Nevada.

The Teamsters have represented Luce and Son workers for many years. The company distributes a wide range of popular products throughout northwestern Nevada including Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Minden-Gardnerville, Fallon and Fernley.

Among the affected brands: all Miller Beers*; Heineken and Foster's Lager; Inglenook and Almaden wines; Smirnoff and Relska vodkas; Jack Daniel's bourbon; Jose Cuervo Tequila; Christian Brothers Brandy; Southern Comfort, de Kuyper and Hiram Walker.

The Teamsters represent 38 of the 43 company employees in the affected bargaining group. The union's contract with the company expired on Feb. 2.

TEAMSTERS UNION LOCAL 533 CONTACTS
Lou Martino, Secretary-Treasurer
Dan Montgomery, Ross Steffner, business representatives
(775) 348-6060

* THE HUMAN IMPACT OF THIS STRIKE — The Union Beerdrinker's Lament

Update: Tuesday, May 25, 2004, 6:12 p.m. PDT

NEWSFLASH FROM THE FRONT LINES — Early this evening, Luce and Son began rolling Budget rented trucks onto its distribution site. Replacement drivers may be next. Rental truck operation requires no special skill or licensing. The union is researching legal and safety issues. The Teamsters documented a wide range and large number of unsafe practices during the recent Waste Management strike.

Update: Tuesday, May 25, 2004, 4:49 p.m. PDT

MAY MARCHES ON WITH STRIKE 3 — Teamsters strike major liquor distributor.

Third strike affecting Nevada in three weeks following Waste Management and
SBC Communications work stoppages

RENO, NV (MAY 25) — Teamsters drivers and warehouse workers walked off the job in mid-afternoon at Luce & Son, a large and long-established northern Nevada liquor distributor. Picket lines are now up at the company's distribution warehouse at 2399 Valley Road in northeast Reno near the University of Nevada.

The union represents 38 of the 43 company employees in the affected bargaining group, according to Teamsters Local 533 Business Representative Dan Montgomery. The union's contract with the company expired on Feb. 2.

The union has filed a long list of unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Illegal activities alleged include refusal to allow union representatives onto to company property, refusal to send required information, failure to bargain in good faith and surface bargaining.

Like the successful Communications Workers national strike against SBC which ended yesterday, this work stoppage will be of limited duration.

"It will last two days. We should be back to work late Thursday or early Friday," Montgomery said.

The Teamsters have represented Luce and Son workers for many years. The company distributes a wide range of popular products throughout northwestern Nevada including Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Minden-Gardnerville, Fallon and Fernley.

Luce handles distribution for Silver State Liquor & Wine which alone carries and inventory of more than 5,500 items. Silver State's supply line from Las Vegas will also be affected because Teamsters drive the company's products from southern Nevada.

Among the affected brands: all Miller Beers; Heineken and Foster's Lager; Inglenook and Almaden wines; Smirnoff and Relska vodkas; Jack Daniel's bourbon; Jose Cuervo Tequila; Christian Brothers Brandy; Southern Comfort, de Kuyper and Hiram Walker.

Update: Tuesday, May 25, 2004, 4:40 a.m. PDT

NEW RENO (May 24) — KOLO TV-8 reported on its 6:30 p.m. newscast that a neighborhood in the Whitney Circle area of north Sparks has been without trash pickup for 11 days. The Teamsters strike against Waste Management ended on May 15. On its 11:00 p.m. newscast, Channel 8 reported that the media exposure apparently motivated WM to get north Sparks picked up. However, the Sparks story prompted a call from residents in the Wooster High School area near the Reno airport who made a similar complaint. Stay tuned.

NevadaLabor.com Garbage Strike News, Photos, Archives

Updated: Tuesday, May 25, 2004, 6:14 a.m. PDT

Tentative CWA-SBC settlement announced
San Francisco Chronicle analysis & commentary

Updated: Saturday, May 22, 2004, 6:32 a.m. PDT

CWA/SBC 2004 Strike Update Page
EXCLUSIVE — SBC closes only N.W. Nevada customer service office
Latest Nevada and Northern California CWA Strike News & Photos

Updated: Friday, May 21, 2004, 1:58 p.m. PDT

FOR WHOM MA BELL TOLLS
Reno Gazette-Journal strike update

BARBWIRE: CWA politically used. then abused by SBC

Updated: Thursday, May 20, 2004, 3:57 a.m. PDT
Union lists statewide picketing locations for SBC strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. May 21

Updated: Wednesday, May 19, 2004, 1:10 p.m. PDT

SPRINGTIME STRIKE, PART DEUX — The Communications Workers will walk out on SBC in Nevada and 12 other states at the stroke of midnight Thursday. The strike will be limited to four days, Friday 5-21 through Monday 5-24, as a show of seriousness by the union. Pickets will be set up statewide. Watch this website for a few innovative curveballs from CWA 9413.

CWA SBC national negotiation update

Updated: Tuesday, May 18, 2004, 3:07a.m. PDT

CWA national strike vs. SBC looms closer

Updated: Saturday, May 15, 2004, 4:27a.m. PDT

SBC negotiations with union continue with no strike

Updated: Friday, May 13, 2004, 7:07a.m. PDT

Striking out after playing ball with the company

Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2004, 1:44 a.m. PDT

SBC, union continue contract negotiations
   Union could still call a strike with 24 hours' notice
   Reno Gazette-Journal 5-12-2004

Date: Friday, May 7, 2004, 3:55 p.m. PDT

         SBC negotiation update: In a conference call with union officials this afternoon, Communications Workers of America General President Morton Bahr stated that workers will remain on the job and negotiations will continue through the weekend. (The editor of this website is a member of CWA Local 9413, the longest-established union in Nevada dating back to Mark Twain's time at the legendary Territorial Enterprise during the glory days of the Comstock Lode.)

Strike looms at SBC
Reno Gazette-Journal 5-2-2004

CWA SBC national negotiation update

Updated: Saturday, May 15, 2004, 4:47 p.m. PDT

Reno-Sparks-Tahoe Garbage Strike Ends

Voting began just before 3:00 p.m. PDT. After five hours of discussion and deliberation, striking Teamsters voted 137-41 in favor of a new three-year contract with Waste Management. Workers will return to work this evening. Be well. Raise hell.

(CROWTIME: NevadaLabor.com broke the story on May 7 and with the above posting became the first to publish its conclusion. Go to the May 16 Barbwire for links to some of the many publications worldwide which ran the story with our quotes included.)

Updated: Saturday, May 15, 2004, 4:22 a.m. PDT

NevadaLabor.com Garbage Strike News, Photos, Archives
- Reno rail trench project hires unionbusters
- Contract ratification vote set for May 15 — last-minute company action puts outcome in doubt

Updated: Thursday, May 13, 2004, 1:23 a.m. PDT
Trash piles up, as does Waste Management's retro rhetoric
Reno Gazette-Journal 5-13-04

Updated: Wednesday, May 12, 2004, 5:01 p.m. PDT

NEWS FLASH! Government officials informed NevadaLabor.com this afternoon that a replacement driver ran over a sprinklerhead at Sierra Pacific Power in southwest Reno. The resulting flood caused evacuation of the entire building, the source said. SPP's headquarters is the electric and gas nerve center for the entire region.

A call to SPP after 4:30 p.m. was forwarded to Nevada Power in Las Vegas. The operator theorized that they must have gone home.

No one answered after we were forwarded to SPP Reno. When we called the general information number again, Nevada Power in Las Vegas was also on voice mail at 4:54 p.m. PDT.

Local media have been informed by NevadaLabor.com. Stay tuned.

[UPDATE: This story was confirmed by SPP media spokesperson Fay Anderson on May 13 and appeared in the May 14 Reno Gazette-Journal after we tipped them.]

NEWS FLASH! (May 12, 2004, 3:31 p.m. PDT) — Negotiations adjourned earlier today. The company has moved on some of the money issues but not on overtime. WM has not moved at all on the critical health and welfare issues such as seniority and job security. WM has held fast on wanting to remove cost of living adjustments, which have long been in the worker contract. AT THIS HOUR: Union representatives are meeting and have promised the company a response by 4:30 p.m. PDT.

POSTSCRIPT: On this date in 1902, 140,000 coal miners went out on strike, staying out for five months until consumer demand forced the companies to negotiate.

NORTHWESTERN NEVADA GARBAGE STRIKE NEWS LINKS

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza (May 12) — Trash strike poses safety concerns
Reno Gazette-Journal (May 12) — Trash talks resume as trash piles up
Carson City Nevada Appeal (May 12) — Strike not affecting capital city despite Teamsters' April election win
Reno Gazette-Journal (May 11) — WMD's arrive: Waste Management's Destroyers — Unionbusters
Associated Press (May 10) — Strikebreakers on the way to Reno, talks resume May 12
North Lake Tahoe Bonanza (May 9) — Incline Village waste workers go on strike
BARBWIRE / Daily Sparks Tribune (May 9) — The Roots of Rage
Daily Sparks Tribune (May 9) — Trash Workers Strike Reno-Sparks
Reno Gazette-Journal (May 9) — Reno area garbage picked up while strike enters second day

Date: Saturday, May 8, 2004, 5:02 a.m. PDT

TEAMSTERS TAKE TRASH STRIKE THROUGHOUT NORTHWESTERN NEVADA

RENO, NV (May 8) — On the first day of only the second garbage strike in Reno history, Teamsters Local 533 set up picket lines at seven Waste Management locations throughout northern Nevada. The union will man the phalanxes during all hours of each site's operations, some of which will be 24/7.

In Washoe County, pickets will walk in front of Waste Management's main transfer station on Commercial Row, just across the Truckee River from the Reno Gazette-Journal; at the Stead transfer station several miles north of the downtown Reno casino district; to the west in Incline Village at north Lake Tahoe and to the east at the recycling center on Greg St. in Sparks.

Demonstrators will also patrol the Lockwood/Mustang landfill in Storey County, east of Sparks. In sprawling Lyon County, pickets will be on duty in widely separated Dayton, east of Carson City, and Fernley, east of Storey County.

Members of other unions have already begun to show up to march in solidarity. Stay tuned.

Reno-Sparks garbage workers go on strike
Reno Gazette-Journal 5-8-2004

Date: Friday, May 7, 2004, 3:29 p.m. PDT

TEAMSTERS STRIKE WASTE MANAGEMENT IN RENO-SPARKS
NEVADALABOR.COM EXCLUSIVE

RENO, NV (May 7) — For only the second time in history, trash haulers in Reno-Sparks have walked off the job.

Teamsters Local 533 called a strike just after 1:30 p.m. PDT on Friday, May 7. Other unions in the region are pledged to support the protest.

The Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO voted to grant strike sanction against Waste Management last month. The council is made up of 25 area trade unions.

"Over and above the economic and job security issues, the straw that broke the camel's back came today when Waste Management inserted instructions into pay envelopes advising workers how to abandon their union," stated Local 533 secretary-treasurer Lou Martino.

About 350 employees have been working without a contract since the previous agreement expired April 18. Of the 350, about 280 are Teamsters members.

Local 533 has represented disposal workers for decades. The only previous strike occurred in 1967 and lasted at least 12 days.

Last week, Waste Management workers in Fallon, a farming and naval air base community 60 miles east of Reno, voted unanimously for Teamsters representation.

The union will reach out to community groups and the general public to support justice for its workers.

Updates about the status of the strike and statements from the union will be continually updated at NevadaLabor.com. The website also houses complete archives of previous major job actions by the Teamsters, including those against UPS and Citifare and their support of the security guards at the Reno Hilton.

Date: Monday, April 27, 2004, 3:31 a.m. PDT

Reno-Sparks garbage strike possibility looms closer
Reno Gazette-Journal 4-27-2004

Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2004, 11:19 p.m. PST

Toljaso Dept.
March 11 protest march in Carson City

In their hometown paper almost three years ago, I warned Carson City residents that they would one day be sorry for privatizing the venerable Carson-Tahoe Hospital. The regrets have begun before the ambitious new version even opens.

Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m., local citizens will stage a protest march. Irritated taxpayers have formed the "Carson City Fairness Committee" and will gather on Carson Street between Winnie Lane and 8th Street.

Turns out that one of the contractors hired to build the new, publicly financed facility does not provide health insurance for employee families. This often means that when somebody's kid gets sick, the taxpayers have to pick up the tab.

Talk about double dipping!

Area unions have already sued Carson-Tahoe for allegedly paying illegally low wages. The case is scheduled for trial soon.

In a letter to the editor published by the Carson City Nevada Appeal on Feb. 22, Carson City resident Dave Ferree stated "When my daughter went into the hospital for kidney stones, the bill was $6,000. The hospital refused payments and demanded full payment. She's a single parent with a 4-year old child and could not afford to do so. She is now scrambling to avoid collection services. This is not the way it's always been. Before C-TH changed hands, they would work with uninsured, helping them with a payment schedule that was affordable to the patient...I fear this new regional medical center that is in the works on the north side of town will be affordable only by the elite (read rich and/or insured). I want my old hospital back, the one that cared about the community that supported it."

I thought saying "I told you so" was supposed to feel good.

RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL 3-12-2004 — Protestors target hospital construction wages, lack of health care

APRIL 2004 UPDATE — Unions win in court, stories and editorial

K-T Services, Teamsters still in negotiations, strike ok'd
ELKO — Teamsters and K-T Services are still negotiating the first contract for the bus drivers who take miners to work, and the drivers have voted to strike - if they believe it necessary. "We took a strike vote, but that doesn't mean we're going to strike," said Lou Martino, secretary-treasurer and chief executive officer of Teamsters Local 533. "There are no plans to take them on strike." (MORE> Elko Daily Free Press 2-29-2004)

Date: Monday, February 16, 2004, 1:18 p.m. PST

Happy Lincoln-Washington-Kerry Day

OE3 members ratify new contract with Newmont Mining 194-88

Remember the White Pine Power Project first proposed in the late 1970s? A latter-day version is back.

Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2003, 3:54 a.m. PST

TO: BARBWIRE E-LISTS
FROM: ANDREW BARBANO
RE: HARRAH'S CONTINUES SEQUEL TO THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA SUED OVER SEXUAL HARASSMENT
INFO ON RENO HILTON LAYOFFS STILL NEEDED

Season's bleedings to all.

The Tuesday afternoon Sparks Tribune carried two front page items of interest to everyone who has ever been Dilberted or Governator-groped.

In "Appeals court to hear Harrah's gender discrimination case," the Tribune's Peter Schelden continues the story which has brought record traffic spikes to NevadaLabor.com with each a new development over the past three years.

Darlene Jespersen, a bartender at Harrah's-Reno for more than two decades, was fired in 2000 for refusal to wear makeup under a new corporate policy. The story has drawn news interest from all over the world.

Federal Dist. Judge Ed Reed dismissed Jespersen's wrongful termination suit which has been appealed to the U.S. Ninth Circuit. (Read Rachel Baez's story from the June 16, 2003, Tribune.)

Mr. Schelden's Dec. 2 Tribune story notes that the grooming policy is "unconstitutional because it forces women to meet a standard that men are not required to meet," according to ACLU lawyer Allen Lichtenstein.

"Harrah's Entertainment spokesman Gary Thompson said that Harrah's grooming policies have nothing to do with stereotyping," the Tribune reported.

Complete background, including Jespersen's official "Harrah's personal best" photos, may be accessed at "The true face of gambling in Nevada."

Workers have been expected to freeze themselves in time once the "personal best" photos are taken. They must look like those photos — with the same makeup and fit the same clothing sizes — for the rest of their employment. Stay as young as you are, sweet thing.

The estate of Oscar Wilde should sue for royalties as one the world's larget casino companies produces a reality-TV inspired version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray." It makes one wonder if Harrah's "bevertainment" cocktail servers at its Rio Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas face firing if they ever show a wrinkle. But that's why God created botox, isn't it?

FORMER UNR EMPLOYEE SUES UNIVERSITY SYSTEM — Tribune reporter Geoffrey Altrocchi reported Tuesday on a filing by an ex-UNR geology professor who won a sexual harassment settlement against the UCCSN last year. The aggrieved professor, Mary Lahren, is also putting Dean James Taranik and geology department chair Robert Karlin between a rock and a hard place, accusing them of breaking settlement agreements not to retaliate against her. Lahren's attorney, Jeff Dickerson, told the Tribune that more names will be added to the suit and it will be expanded in the next two days.

FOLLOWUP ON MONDAY'S BULLETIN — Thanks to those who responded for information about who's doing what, with which and to whom at the Reno Hilton. As I noted in Sunday's column, northern Nevada's largest gambling property is filled with fear with 500 layoffs rumored in the offing. Tribune reporter Tim Omarzu would like to speak with employees willing to go on the record. You may contact him in the Tribune newsroom at (775) 358-8061, ext. 230.

Again, I hope you had a happy Thanksgibleting. Happy Holidays.

Be well. Raise hell.

Andrew Barbano
NevadaLabor.com

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2003, 9:54 a.m. PDT

Longtime Laborers' Union Leader Walt Henderson dies

Date: Sunday, October 4, 2003, 1:33 a.m. PDT

ROAD CONSTRUCTION WORKER KILLED ON I-80 SEVEN MILES WEST OF WELLS — Alejandro Gonzales, an employee of Frehner Construction, died on Oct. 2 after he was struck by the rear tires of a water truck. Wells is in northeastern Nevada west of Elko. Gonzales, of Twin Falls, Idaho, was standing near a grinding machine when the water truck backed into him. The Nevada Highway Patrol reported that neither Gonzales nor the water truck driver heard or saw each other. Mr. Gonzales was wearing earplugs. The incident is eerily similar to a November, 1999, accident in south Reno. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Gonzales' family.

Date: Monday, September 22, 2003, 11:54 p.m. PDT

Rats leave a trail from Carlin and Elko to Denver

DENVER — Several dozen striking miners picketed Newmont's corporate headquarters accompanied by a giant inflatable rat. "There is a $33 million gap in the package the union wants and the deal that Newmont is offering," The Denver Post reported. "The sticking points are proposed changes in the seniority system, health care, pension benefits pay and overtime...Members of Operating Engineers Local 3, which represents 550 workers, are on a five-day strike that began Friday (Sept. 19) because they have been working without a contract for over a year," the Post noted.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Using your "find" button, you will retrieve from this page chronological info about ongoing disputes and strikes at Newmont Mining near Elko in northeastern Nevada over the past four years. On Nov. 14, 2003, Operating Engineers Local 3 negotiator Frank Herrera told the Elko Daily Free Press that "some progress" has been made. On Dec. 5, the parties announced additional talks planned for Dec. 12.

UPDATE: 2/6/04 OE3 members ratify new contract with Newmont 194-88

Date: Thursday, March 27, 2003, 12:41 a.m. PST

Newmont workers on two-day strike

ELKO (March 26), Elko Daily Free Press — Union workers at Newmont Mining Corp.'s Carlin mines went on a surprise two-day strike this morning, but Newmont is continuing to operate.

"We'll be picketing around the clock," Frank Her