Retiree Ballot 2019

Sep 28, 2019 | LL S6 Elections

[iams6_iam_pdf_document_embed upload_1=”https://iams6.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Retiree-Ballot-2019-Sample.pdf”]

Federal Workers Rally on Capitol Hill

Sep 26, 2019 | iMail

National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM FD 1), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and others recently hosted a rally on Capitol Hill featuring members from Congress and hundreds of supporters. The rally was organized to speak out against ongoing political attacks against federal workers.

Watch: Federal Workers Fight Back!

“Employees are exhausted, demoralized, filled with anxiety, and also dealing with heavier workloads due to unfilled vacancies,” said NFFE- IAM Forest Service Council Vice President Region 6 and Local 1968 steward Erin Kidwell, a U.S. Forest Service worker from Oregon  “These are not the steps an agency takes to attract the next innovative generation to choose public service over higher-paid private-sector jobs.”  

“This Administration wants to kill due process and fairness in the workplace,” said NFFE- IAM Secretary-Treasurer David Stamey. “They want to hire and fire at-will because they don’t care about discrimination, or qualifications. They want to bring back the corruption of the Spoils System and erase 243 years of hard lessons learned in government.”

Read: Federal employee unions rally against Trump’s workforce executive orders  Federal News Network  

Established in 1917, the National Federation of Federal Employees is the oldest union representing civil service federal employees. NFFE-IAM represents 110,000 federal employees in 35 departments and agencies government-wide.

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IDG Protest Brings NYC Traffic to Standstill

Sep 26, 2019 | iMail

Last week thousands of members of the Machinists Union affiliate Independent Drivers Guild (IDG), a labor group for app-based drivers at Uber and Lyft, brought rush hour traffic in New York City to a virtual standstill. To protest changes being rolled out by Uber and Lyft, drivers led a caravan that stretched across the Brooklyn Bridge, from FDR Drive to the residence of New York City’s mayor, Gracie Mansion.

The IDG led the massive protest after Uber launched new policies similar to those enacted previously by Lyft to kick drivers off the apps between trips and in areas of lower demand in order to avoid paying drivers as required by New York City’s pay regulations, despite protests from the IDG. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has failed to take action, so drivers are calling for the Mayor and City Council’s help to stop Uber, and Lyft from cheating on the pay rules.

“Uber and Lyft are flouting New York City’s driver pay rules,” said Brendan Sexton, Executive Director of the IDG. “Today, the drivers are saying we will not be ignored, and we are demanding Mayor de Blasio and City Council take action, and join us to help fight back against the app companies attempting to scam drivers out of fair pay.”

For months, there has been a concern that the ride-hail companies would try to circumvent New York’s pay standards. The IDG sent a letter to New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) in June, warning that by blocking access to the app, “Lyft would be shifting the costs of travel and waiting time onto the drivers and in so doing, violate this commission’s rules,” and the other apps could follow suit.

In August, New York City adopted new ride-hail rules, despite intense opposition, that failed to address Lyft’s violation or account for Uber’s long history of flagrantly violating laws to preserve its business model.

“These drivers are still fighting for the basic benefits we all deserve,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President Jimmy Conigliaro Sr. “They demonstrated great courage and solidarity standing together for a living wage and fairness in their industry, but now app companies are scheming to cheat them out of their earnings.”

The IDG represents and advocates for New York’s 80,000 app-based drivers. It led a two-year campaign to win the nation’s first minimum pay rate for Uber and Lyft drivers. 

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