Archive for June, 2006
On July 4, Tell Congress to Back Independence by Renewing Voting Rights Act
When members of Congress headed out of the Capitol for the July 4 recess, they left behind the unfinished business of renewing key provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which protects the basic rights of minorities to vote.
Despite strong bipartisan support for the bill (H.R. 9 and S. 2703), the House leadership has allowed a small, vocal band of extremist southern Republicans from Georgia, Texas and other states to hijack the legislation.
Gas Explosion at White House—NOT
Maybe if people could afford to fill up their gas tanks and leave town for the holiday weekend, they wouldn't be marching around Bush's front door. About 75 Washington, D.C., area drivers marched in front of the White House today to protest the Bush administration's lack of action in reining in gas prices and its buddy-buddy relationship with Big Oil. Read more here.
Court OKs Mine Workers Union to Represent Sago Workers
Despite coal company objections, two miners at the nonunion Sago Mine in Upshur County, W.Va., can be represented in safety investigations by the Mine Workers (UMWA), a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
Under federal law, two or more miners at a nonunion mine may request the UMWA be designated their representative in a safety investigation. After the explosion that killed 12 miners Jan. 2, two miners requested the union represent their interests during the follow-up investigation.
According to the appeals court, the two miners who requested union representation did so anonymously because they feared the company would retaliate against them.
Senate Passes Oman Trade Pact—Another Bad Deal for Workers
The fight to stop the Oman Free Trade Agreement (OFTA) moves to the House after the Senate approved the latest bad Bush administration trade deal yesterday on a vote of 60-34.
Five Republicans joined the majority of Democrats in voting against the deal. Eleven Democrats voted for the agreement. They include: Max Baucus (Mont.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), John Kerry (Mass.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Joseph Lieberman (Conn.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Barack Obama (Ill.), Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Ken Salazar (Colo.). Vermont’s Independent Sen. James Jeffords also voted in favor.
House Republicans wasted no time in trying to move the Oman deal. The House Ways and Means Committee yesterday approved implementing the bill for the trade deal on a straight party-line vote of 23–15, with all Democrats voting against the agreement. No date has been set for a House vote on the treaty.
Members of Congress Urge Bush to Back AFL-CIO China Petition
Forty members of Congress wrote President George W. Bush today urging him to move quickly to accept the AFL-CIO’s petition charging China’s failure to protect workers’ rights is an unfair trade practice that costs U.S. jobs.
The letter was signed by 11 senators and 29 members of the House of Representatives, including Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, which handles trade issues.
One Person with a Blackberry Could Swing a Vote
Do you own a Blackberry? Then you might be able to change the outcome of a state or national election.
That’s the frightening finding of a yearlong study on electronic voting released Wednesday by the Brennan Center for Justice. The report, The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World, concludes the three major electronic voting systems used in the United States—optical scanners, touch screen with paper trails and those without paper trails—have significant security and reliability vulnerabilities. But the report also offers hope: Most of these vulnerabilities can be overcome by auditing printed voting records to spot irregularities. So far, 26 states require paper records of votes, but fewer than half of those require regular audits.
For Wal-Mart, Another Everyday Low
When there’s some real good news—not some phony PR stunt—about a company or celebrity, the phrase “They couldn’t buy that kind of publicity,” usually pops up. But in the case of a poll supporting Wal-Mart, turns out Wal-Mart could. And did.
Pollster Thomas Riehle recently wrote a column on the respected website, RealClearPolitics, claiming that by a 3-to-1 margin, those polled said it would be a mistake for Democrats to make an issue in the fall election of Wal-Mart and the retail giant’s well-documented cases of paying workers’ poverty wages, attacking workers who seek to form unions and dumping its employee health care costs onto taxpayers.
Take the Ask a Working Woman Survey and Send a Message to Congress
Rachna Choudhry, program director for the AFL-CIO community affiliate Working America, highlights the importance of taking a few minutes to complete the Working America Ask a Working Woman survey. In short: It’s an election year.
All members of Congress are up for re-election this year—and they need to hear from us about what working women really want.
Ever worry about whether your pay will keep up with rising costs? Do you wonder if you’ll be able to get time off work the next time your child gets sick? Ever feel you’re treated differently just because you’re a woman?
If you have, you’re not alone. Thousands of working women already have taken the 2006 Ask a Working Woman survey and voiced their concerns. Now, it’s your turn. Please fill out the survey here.
‘Perfect Payday’: Stock Option Practices Newest in Long Line of CEO Pay Abuses
Stock option abuse is the latest dirty dealing now exposed in the corporate boardroom, and Daniel Pedrotty from the AFL-CIO Office of Investment explains how CEOs achieve this “perfect payday.”
Stock option abuses represent the latest executive pay scandal. Since March, nearly 50 companies have come under scrutiny by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) or federal prosecutors for their option grants. Investigators are uncovering a system rigged to ensure an easy profit for insiders at the expense of ordinary investors.
Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli is a leading example of outrageous executive pay. In his five years as CEO, Nardelli has collected $245 million, despite the fact that the company's stock has fallen 12 percent. Home Depot's chief competitor, Lowe's, has seen its stock rise 173 percent.
House Rejects Republican End Run on Voting Rights
The U.S. House today rejected a back-door move by House Republicans who oppose renewal of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) to gut one of the act’s key provisions. On a 254–167 vote, the representatives defeated an amendment that would have had disenfranchised millions of citizens who speak languages other than English.
Rep. Cliff Stearns’ (R-Fla.) amendment to H.R. 5672, an appropriations bill for several departments, would have prohibited the government from spending any money to enforce the bilingual election assistance provisions of the VRA.
