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Workers’ Stories Put Face on Victims of Wall Street Greed |
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One worker says she lost four jobs during the past seven years. Another saw his unemployment insurance (UI) benefits evaporate due to Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-Ky.) callous filibuster of an UI extension last month.
Those are just two of the personal stories jobless workers and others have shared at the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now site. Our interactive site is part of the AFL-CIO’s fight for good jobs that today kicked off two weeks of action across the country with rallies and demonstrations at branches of the Big Six Wall Street banks—Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Wachovia-Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. (Find out about events in your area here.)
The Big Six’s reckless greed played the major role in wrecking the U.S. economy and killing American jobs. The workers sharing their stories have seen firsthand the damage left behind.
UAW Reaches Tentative Agreement on NUMMI Closing |
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The UAW today announced it has reached a tentative agreement on the planned closing of Toyota’s New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, Calif. The agreement covers some 4,500 members of UAW Local 2244.
The tentative agreement will be presented to members of the local in the coming days. Details are being withheld pending a ratification vote by the membership. Voting dates have not yet been scheduled.
Momentum Building for Action on China Currency Manipulation |
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The momentum is building for the United States to take strong action to counteract manipulation of its currency by China’s government.
More than 130 members of Congress signed on to a letter from Reps. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) delivered today that urges Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to take strong action up to and including countervailing duties (CVD) or tariffs because of currency manipulation.
Michaud and Ryan’s letter is the latest in growing calls by Congress and by top economists for the United States to act on the manipulation of currency by China’s government. If Geithner does act, the administration could impose remedies, such as tariffs, to create a fairer trade balance with China.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who co-chairs the Fair Currency Coalition, thanked Michaud and Ryan for their letter:
The working families of this country need jobs now. If we want a recovery that will invest in manufacturing, boost exports, balance trade, and create jobs we must stop China and other countries from illegally manipulating their currency. China’s prolonged undervaluation…is an illegal export subsidy. That is why the U.S. government must allow CVD cases to proceed. American workers expect their government to stand up for them.
IBEW Institute Graduates First ‘Green Technicians’ Class |
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To ensure union members are well trained to compete for the new opportunities in solar, wind and other renewable energy projects, the Electrical Workers has woven green training into its apprenticeship program. Last week, the first 14 certified “green technicians” graduated from the Electrical Training Institute electrical apprenticeship program in Indianapolis. The institute is a joint partnership between IBEW Local 481 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Central Indiana.
The “green” technicians displayed an array of solar panels and a wind turbine they recently installed at the institute as examples of how they will put their new skills to work in advancing the development of a clean energy economy.
Proposed Settlement Not Nearly Enough for 9/11 Heroes |
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A proposed settlement has been reached of the more than 10,000 lawsuits by the rescue and recovery workers suffering serious illnesses from the toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos and other debris they were exposed to at Ground Zero of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack in 2001.
But congressional and union leaders say much more must be done to provide justice and health care for the nearly 60,000 workers and community members whose health is at risk from their exposure to the contaminated rubble.
GOP Stacks Debt Panel with Foes of Retirement Security: The ‘Sock Our Seniors Six’ |
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Alliance for Retired Americans President Barbara Easterling points out here that the Republican appointees to the debt commission have long voting records opposing retirement security.
Current and future retirees, alarmed by the extremist Republican members of Congress named to the newly created bipartisan commission to lower the federal budget deficit, have a name for this group: “Sock Our Seniors Six.”
These lawmakers repeatedly have voted to weaken Social Security and sell off Medicare to the big drug and insurance companies. They reflect the failed ideology that fueled George W. Bush’s and John McCain’s efforts to let Wall Street gamble away privatized Social Security on the roulette wheel of the stock market. One look at a recent 401(k) statement shows what dangerous folly that would have been.
3,000 Steelworkers at Vale Inco Vote to Stay on Strike—and More Bargaining News |
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Some 3,000 United Steelworkers members at Vale Inco vote to stay on the picket line after eight months on strike, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES & LEGAL ACTION
USW, Vale Inco: Striking United Steelworkers (USW) in Canada overwhelmingly rejected an offer from Brazilian mining company Vale Inco on Friday. The 3,000 members of USW Local 6500 have now been on strike eight months and say the contract offer was “insulting.”
Join Us and Make Wall Street Pay |
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Starting today, the union movement and our allies are taking our fight for good jobs now to the biggest Wall Street banks whose reckless greed has gone a long way to wreck the U.S. economy and kill American jobs.
From March 15-26, working people will hold rallies and demonstrations at branches of the Big Six Wall Street banks—Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Wachovia-Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley—across the country. They will tell the banks: “I Am Not Your ATM” and “Make Wall Street Pay for Creating New Jobs.”
You also can tell Wall Street executives to pay to create good jobs by sending a letter urging them to do the right thing. Just click here.
Find out about events in your area here. If you take part in an event, be sure to send us your photo or video here.
Bosses in the Bedroom |
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This is a cross-post from the AFL-CIO POV section.
Privacy is dead. Get over it. So says Scott McNealy, former president Sun Microsystems.
He’s right. Workplace privacy is dead and buried. Employers can and do read e-mail, eavesdrop on telephone calls, monitor Internet access, and watch workers with hidden cameras (even in bathrooms and locker rooms). Virtually all of this is legal. Technically, employers aren’t supposed to listen to personal telephone calls, but it happens all the time and you have no way of knowing. Some judges have found bathroom cameras to be an invasion of privacy, but other judges allow it.
As bad as this is, it’s getting worse. Bosses are now spying on workers’ home lives. Millions of workers carry company-issued cell phones. Every one of these phones is equipped with GPS. The technology required to track cell phones is readily available and not very expensive. The cost of tracking an employee 24/7 is only $5 a month. Employers often keep GPS tracking a secret, or tell the workers they can turn off the GPS when they go home and continue to track them. The National Workrights Institute (NWI), has already begun receiving complaints about GPS.
Time to Take Tough Action Against China Currency Manipulation |
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The manipulation of its currency by China’s government is the major problem facing American manufacturing. It’s past time the U.S. government muster the will to take strong action, even imposing emergency tariffs, to level the playing field, several experts, including economist Paul Krugman and United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard, said yesterday.
Speaking at the forum on “Currency Manipulation: How Should the U.S. Respond?” sponsored by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) with the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), Robert Scott, EPI’s senior economist, said China’s currency manipulation has cost between 1.5 million and 3 million good American manufacturing jobs.
Fred Bergsten, director of the conservative Peterson Institute for International Economics, added:
If there is going to be a serious jobs program, the exchange rate of the dollar must be at the center of the debate.
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