By Bryce Smedley, CWA 4730 President

The very concept of labor unions is under attack! Why would anyone be against a group of workers stand-ing together? The simple answer: money! When people are allowed to organize and fight for fairness in the workplace, employers are forced to pay their fair share. In Indiana, and the country, unions are under assault by businesses and their political partners who exist off big campaign contributions. The public is fed lies and distortions about the purpose of unions and the princi-ples for which they stand. An excellent example from this year was the legislation (and intentional misno-mer), ?Right to Work,? which truly translates to ?Right to work for less.? The truth: in states that have busted collective bargaining rights, workers earn less money. Companies are not willing to pay more unless they are forced to by their workers.

This special edition of Solidarity Now focuses on the Day of Black, held on IU campuses on July 1, 2010.

by Linda Harl

Dear President McRobbie:
Thank you for your kind email letter of September 4 addressed to all staff. It is nice to be appreciated. One would only wish that your actions and those of other administrators matched your words.

by Terry Stigall

There are none. Enterprise was NOT used to supply the large SUV vehicles for the IU summer geology field courses in Montana. And the best thing that came from this? NO FLAT TIRES! Not a single flat tire occurred over the course of the whole summer due to the efforts of IU Purchasing and IU Motorpool to provide the vehicles needed WITH the tires best suited for Montana roads.

by Peter Kaczmarczyk

Now more than ever you need to join your union.
First, I’ll get out of the way two arguments we often hear against joining: We can’t strike and we can’t negotiate wage amounts. This is true on both counts, but it is a small part of the equation. We do so much more.
If you didn’t have a union, you would have far fewer rights. You could be terminated quickly and easily, without due process or a fair hearing of the facts. You could be moved to another job, put back on probation, and then fired for not performing at your new job. You would have no one to speak for you and defend you in a time of need. You would truly be on your own.