Tobacco.org

• House Snuffs Out Proposal To Ban Smoking At Casinos 

Hartford - The House of Representatives will not take up a proposal that could have extended the state smoking ban to the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, the chamber's leader said Tuesday.

One day before the adjournment deadline of the 2008 regular session, the decision by the House Democrats effectively killed the bill, which had been aggressively sought by some labor groups but opposed by other unions and by the owners of the two casinos, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes.

In a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic caucus, opinion had run nearly two-to-one against the bill, said House Speaker James A. Amann, D-Milford, who had previously expressed skepticism about the proposal but agreed to consider a vote on it amid fierce lobbying from the United Auto Workers union.

Jump to full article »

• Casino smoking ban passes Senate 

It took almost five hours, and its fate is uncertain at best, but the proposal to extend a ban on cigarette smoking to Connecticut's two tribal casinos passed the state Senate Friday night.

The Senate voted 24-11 to approve a modified version of the smoking ban proposal, which would form a negotiating committee to meet with the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, in an effort to reach a voluntary agreement bringing the state's smoking ban to the tribe's casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

But while an amendment modified the provision most protested by the tribes, its essence remained: If the committee and tribal governments can reach no agreement by next spring, the existing ban will kick in for the casinos, a development that would almost certainly trigger a long and hard-fought court battle.

Three southeastern Connecticut senators, Democrats Andrew Maynard of Stonington, Andrea Stillman of Waterford, and Edith Prague of Columbia, voted for the bill. Sen. Eileen Daily, D-Westbrook, joined a group of Republicans voting against the bill. . . .

Members of the United Auto Workers local union rejoiced when the bill was passed, shortly before 10 p.m. The union recently won the right to represent dealers at Foxwoods and had aggressively lobbied for the bill's passage.

Jump to full article »

• Whirlpool case highlights how smoker fees for health insurance a hazy issue 

Whirlpool's smokers pay $500 a year more for their employer-provided health insurance—a penalty big enough to increase the likelihood of cheating—but how would the company find out? Internet message boards buzzed last week with speculation about spy cameras and company snitches.

But truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. It wasn't management surveillance or finger-pointing co-workers that outed the smokers. It was the employees themselves. . . .

Last month, Whirlpool's suit to overturn the ruling was dismissed in a sealed settlement, setting the stage for rebates.

The suspended workers drew attention to their smoking when they asked for the rebates, prompting the company to check to see whether they had paid the fees. Apparently they hadn't.

Whirlpool declined to comment about what happened. Last week's statement confirming the suspensions said "falsifying company documents is a serious offense" punishable by suspension or termination.

Workers are represented by Local 808 of the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communication Workers of America, but the union also declined to comment. . . .

Now managers and union officials are forced to confront and investigate behavior that nobody wanted to know about. This is an unwelcome job in a factory culture where smoking is tolerated despite corporate prohibitions and society's increasing disapproval.

Jump to full article »

Casino workers pleased by full-smoking ban 

So, today's historic, unanimous approval by the Atlantic City Council for a full smoking ban in the casinos is enormously important to String.

"It means I'll be able to put in another 10 years in a casino," said String, a 28-year veteran of the city's casino industry. "I won't have to retire."

The outcome of today's vote in the packed council chamber, filled mostly with casino workers and health advocates, had been expected. It follows a partial ban established a year ago and unanimous, preliminary Council approval two weeks ago of the full ban.

"It feels like Christmas," String said right after the vote. "This has been a hard fight that we've won. We can go to work and not come home with a headache."

The Casino Association of New Jersey, which represents the interests of the city's 11 casinos, declined to comment on the council's late-afternoon vote.

Jump to full article »

PEKIN: Union claims smoking ban alters working conditions 

PEKIN - A proposed smoking ban on all Tazewell County-owned property has a local union ready to renegotiate a labor contract, saying the ban alters working conditions.

"We want to make sure our members don't lose a right that they've had," said Julie Young, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3404, which represents 84 employees in Tazewell County.

Young said the union has sent the county a demand of bargain letter, which claims the ban would be a change in established working conditions and requires renegotiation.

Jump to full article »

• Council OKs disability plan for firefighters with cancer 

From now on, any Providence firefighter diagnosed with cancer will be presumed to have contracted the cancer on the job, and will be given a generous accidental disability pension, assuming they can prove that they do not smoke, use drugs or abuse alcohol, under a measure passed by the City Council last night. . . .

The fire chief and the firefighters union have made the case that firefighters are exposed to numerous carcinogens and have greater risk of developing blood, lung, lymphatic and skin cancer than the rest of the population. . . .

Firefighters would have to submit to annual physical exams administered by doctors hired by the city to prove that they do not use tobacco products, abuse alcohol or use illegal drugs, and sign affidavits stating that they have not used those substances.

Firefighters who use those substances now have a clean slate going forward, but will have to prove on their next annual physical that they are not using them anymore.

Jump to full article »

1930s: The women were fearless 

The first big sit-down of a mainly female workforce involved cigar workers in Detroit. There were 4,000 women, most of them Polish, working in six shops . . .

By March 5 strikers at two plants were leading a victory march of 1,000 people through the Polish community.

On March 20, however, Detroit Mayor Couzens launched a counterattack. Detroit’s police broke down the doors of the Bernard Schwartz plant, dragging the fighting women out by their arms, clothing and hair. Police beat sympathizers, even throwing a pregnant woman off her porch. Three days later, 200,000 people protested in Cadillac Square. Feeling labor’s outrage, Michigan Gov. Frank Murphy called the two sides together on April 22. The next day every cigar shop in Detroit had a union contract.

These women cigar workers had, meanwhile, inspired other women in Detroit.

Jump to full article »

• Whirlpool, employees who smoke come to accord on insurance rift 

A dispute stemming from an arbitrator's decision requiring Whirlpool Corp. to reimburse insurance surcharges to employees who smoke has been voluntarily dismissed by both parties, with prejudice, in federal court.

The terms of the agreement are sealed, and attorneys involved in the case declined to comment. . . .

The complaint was filed by Whirlpool Corp. against Local 808 in October. The company asked a federal judge to overrule an arbitrator's decision forcing the company to refund health insurance surcharges to employees who smoke.

The company required its smoking employees to pay higher health insurance premiums during the past decade. The surcharges amounted to $750,000.

The issue began in 1996 during contract negotiations between the company and its union, after the company proposed adding an annual $300 health insurance surcharge for employees who smoke.

Jump to full article »

Turkish union seeks court block on BAT's Tekel buy 

A Turkish labour union wants a court annulment of the sale of state-owned cigarette firm Tekel to British American Tobacco, the union's lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday.

BAT, the world's second largest cigarette group, won the auction for Tekel on Feb. 22, beating off three Turkish rivals with the highest bid of $1.72 billion in a deal increasing its market share fivefold.

Jump to full article »

• Turkish union files a suit against Tekel sale 

British tobacco firm won the auction to buy Turkey's state-owned cigarette maker Tekel with a raised bid of USD 1.72bln. Tekel Workers' Labour Union filed an appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeals for the stay of execution of the sale of Tekel Cigarettes.

A press release issued by the Tekgida-Is said the appeal also asked the cancellation of the February 22th, 2008 decision of the "tender commission" for the privatization of Tekel through asset sale.

Jump to full article »

• Casino Dealers Want Tobacco Ban  

The UAW is testing its new clout at Foxwoods Resort Casino, where the union successfully organized table game dealers in November, by trying to break up the long marriage of gambling and smoking.

Organizers with the United Auto Workers are pushing legislation that would ban smoking on the casino floors of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. As a result, blackjack and poker dealers have been roaming the halls of the Capitol in recent days asking legislators to support the anti-smoking bill. Some are expected to speak at a public hearing and press conference on the bill in Hartford today.

The legislation is being presented as a simple workplace safety issue. But it's venturing into several sensitive areas: A union is attempting to force change at a business that refuses to recognize it; the state is looking to extend its regulations onto sovereign Indian reservations; and, if enacted, the bill would ban smoking in one of the few public places that have resisted anti-smoking measures. . . .

The UAW, by advocating for the legislation, is showing workers and Foxwoods that even though the union hasn't been formally recognized, it can still work on the dealers' behalf, said Jonathan Cutler

Jump to full article »

BAT Bids $1.72 Billion to Win Turkey's Tekel Auction (Update4) 

British American Tobacco Plc will buy cigarette maker Tekel from the Turkish government for $1.72 billion to eat into Philip Morris International's market lead in the nation.

BAT, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, beat Citigroup Venture Capital International, private-equity firm Cinven Ltd., and Turkey's Dogan Sirketler Grubu Holding AS in the bidding for Tekel . . .

``Turkey is an interesting market, as it's one of the world's top 10,'' said Jonathan Fell, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG in London with a ``buy'' rating on BAT. ``This is a chance to get an equal-ish market share with Philip Morris International. I can see why they're interested.''

The sale price topped the $1 billion to $1.6 billion valuation range for Tekel that JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts estimated last year.

BAT rose 16 pence, or 0.9 percent, to 1,874 pence in trading in London

Jump to full article »

• BAT wins Turkish Tekel auction with $1.7 billion bid  

British American Tobacco, the world's second largest cigarette group, won the auction for Turkish state-owned tobacco firm Tekel on Friday after beating off three Turkish rivals with the highest bid of $1.72 billion.

London-based BAT will now grab the No 2 spot in the world's eighth largest tobacco market as Ankara finally sold an asset it has been trying to privatise for about five years, but the deal raised concerns over job losses and factory closures.

The deal comes just weeks after Turkey's parliament approved a law banning smoking in public places over the next 15 months which BAT estimates will cut smoking levels by 5 percent in a market where Turks smoke around 110 billion cigarettes a year.

BAT, which makes brands such as Kent, Pall Mall, Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarettes, said the deal would lead to cost savings, enhance earnings and transform its Turkish business which has been loss-making since it entered the market in 2002.

"This deal transforms our business in a market which we think is important for us," BAT Chief Executive Paul Adams told a conference call after announcing the deal. . . .

Unionised workers said on Friday they were occupying Tekel buildings and would not leave, in protest against the sale

Jump to full article »

Bulgartabac workers protest against plants sale 

More than 100 workers waived "We want our job" and "Resignation for the Bulgartabak board of directors" slogans during a protest on February 15 2008, held outside the Stara Zagora cigarette plant, investor.bg reported.

The workers argued that there was no reason to shut down the plant, which they believe to be profitable. A day earlier, workers agreed to hold a rally on February 19 outside the Bulgartabac Holding headquarters and the Ministry of Economy and Energy in Sofia protesting against the holding company's decision to revoke the plant's licence to produce brands owned by Bulgartabac.

Jump to full article »

Protesting tobacco plant workers angry with Minister Dimitrov 

There are three possible ways for the sale of the Stara Zagora cigarette plant, as proposed by the Minister of Economy and Energy Petar Dimitrov at his meeting with managers of the factory and syndicates. 300 workers waited for Minister Dimitrov’s arrival yesterday, protesting and shouting ‘We want the Lalchev’s resignation’ and ‘We want our brands back’.

The workers argued that there was no reason to shut down the plant, which they believe to be profitable.

Jump to full article »