Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, December 6, 2000
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Amazon.com workers try to organize
Organizers want unions to represent Coffeyville workers
The Associated Press
COFFEYVILLE — This is not exactly the Third World, but union organizers say Amazon.com's decision to open a distribution center in Coffeyville has the same effect.
"My guess is that's part of why Amazon came here," said Mike Blake, who represents unionized metal trades workers at Cooperative Refiners in nearby Cherryvale. "This isn't strong union country."
union country.
Coffeyville is home to one of eight
Amazon distribution centers operated by the Seattle-based Internet retailer. The 750,000 square-foot center opened in April 1999 and employs about 500 workers, making it the community's second-largest employer.
Workers start at $9 an hour, about $4 less than counterparts in Seattle. It's a competitive wage in Montgomery County, where the unemployment rate is 5 percent.
National union organizers say their efforts are being hampered by anti-union activity by Amazon managers. But one analyst does not downplay geographical differences.
"Amazon hasn't chosen to put its distribution plants in places like Coffeville for nothing," said Daniel Ries, a dot-com analyst with C.E.
Unterberg, Towin in New York City. "Labor costs are a factor in deciding where to put jobs."
Workers nationwide are threatening holiday disruptions to persuade Amazon officials to grant demands for a union contract.
Organizing efforts at Amazon's distribution centers are just getting off the ground, prompting local organizers to remain silent, said Jill Cashen, national spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers, one of the two organizing groups. The Prewitt Organizing Fund, a small nonprofit, is the other.
Patty Smith, a spokeswoman for Amazon, said last week that managers were taking steps to inform employees about the company and
why unions weren't needed. This is the third time unions have tried to organize during the holiday rush since the company went online in July 1995.
Workers cite mandatory overtime, holiday scheduling, job security and shift changes among their top complaints. Workers in areas such as Seattle say their $11 to $13 an hour wages are not competitive and that jobs are being exported to low-paying markets, such as Coffeyville.
However, some southeast Kansas residents say $9 an hour is a good wage in their neck of the woods.
City manager Leroy Alsup gladly welcomes Amazon's jobs. The local economy had suffered when Golden Books, the former tenant of the distribution center, closed its doors
Group wants over-the-counter 'morning-after' pill
The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — Stepping into a morally charged debate yesterday, the American Medical Association called on the Food and Drug Administration to consider making the "morning-after" pill available over the counter.
The AMA's policy-making House of Delegates approved the resolution without discussion during a convention in Orlando. The AMA has 293,000 doctors as members.
"This is a wonderful decision by the AMA. This is a terrific resolution."
"This is a wonderful decision by the AMA. This is a terrific resolution," said Joan Coombs, senior vice president of Planned Parenthood. She said widespread use of the morning-after pill could prevent 1.7 million unplanned pregnancies and 800,000 abortions annually.
Joan Coombs
taken within three days of sexual intercourse, the prescription morning-after pill prevents ovulation or, if that has already occurred, blocks implantation of a fertilized egg in
Joan Coombs senior vice president of Planned Parenthood
the uterus. AMA members suggested that some women might not be able to get the pill in time to prevent a pregnancy unless they are made available over the counter.
the morning-after pill is essentially a high-dose birth control pill. It is different from the RU-486 abortion pill, which acts by causing contractions to expel an embryo from the uterus. RU-486 can be given up to seven weeks after the start of the last menstrual period.
There are two morning after pills on the market: Preven and Plan B. They were approved for U.S. use
within the past two years.
For the FDA to make them available over the counter, a pharmaceutical company would have to submit an application. The FDA would take into account such things as the drug's written instructions and its safety history.
FDA representative Susan Cruzan would not disclose whether the morning-after pill's makers have applied for over-the-counter sale.
Preven's maker, Gynetics of Somerville, N.J., and the manufacturer of Plan B, Women's Capital Corp. of Bellevue, Wash., did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
The Vatican recently condemned the morning-after pill, and the nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, decided last year not to offer it at its 2,400 pharmacies, saying it might not sell well enough to make it worthwhile.
Coombs said that if the FDA made the drug available over the counter,
ON THE NET
ON THE NET
■ American Medical Association:
www.ama-assn.org
■ Planned Parenthood:
www.plannedparenthood.org
■ National Right to Life:
www.nrfc.org
"It will make it more acceptable and consumers will demand it."
Although the morning-after pill is not as widely opposed as RU-486, opponents still consider it a form of abortion.
Planned Parenthood does not consider the pill a form of abortion since it does not work if a fertilized egg has already implanted itself in the uterus.
The side effects can include nausea and vomiting, but an AMA council said in a report that serious side effects were rare and that the pill was "considered safe and effective by the medical community as a whole."
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