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Last week, we took a quick survey on Bush’s Medicare Part D and your experiences with it personally or through someone you know. Based on your responses, Bush’s Medicare drug plan is an overwhelming failure, with 87.4 percent describing their experiences as “bad” and only 4.7 percent saying their experiences had been “good.” The remainder, 7.9 percent, selected “don’t know.
T. Perkins is among those who have sent us their thoughts on the poorly-crafted plan:
I signed up for a plan that nobody has been able to explain how it operates. I hope I never need it. I plan to drop it.
Our recent series profiling union members who survived Hurricane Katrina prompted Diane Durante from Chicago to write:
The “People’s Organizing Committee” is worth checking out: as a fundraising tool and grassroots organizing. Significant to this impressive group is a former regional director of UNITE, Curtis Muhammad. The link is: http://www.peoplesorganizing.org/index.html.
Amy McAuliffe at the USW International Union headquarters in Pittsburgh sends us the following appeal regarding the union’s “Evening with the Pittsburgh Steelers” event this year.
The event is to benefit the Collegiate Athletes Coalition. We are searching for various unions to sponsor this event. Please contact me via e-mail at
amyjmcauliffe@yahoo.com or 412-559-5850 for further details.
We look forward to having you to be part of this event!
Couple of notes on bargaining. From the Postal Workers (APWU) union, Sally Davidow alerts us to the opening of contract negotiations Aug. 29 with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Writes Davidow:
The USPS-APWU Collective Bargaining Agreement covers 300,000 postal workers in the clerk, maintenance, motor vehicle and support services crafts.
APWU President William Burrus says the negotiations “are our opportunity to restore some semblance of stability and predictability to [union members’] lives and to compensate them for their extraordinary efforts.”
Burrus notes the positive USPS financial outlook and says:
The entire postal community has contributed to these accomplishments, but the employees represented by APWU have played a major role. Through their efficiencies and commitment to serving the American public, they have made exceptional contributions to this positive record.
Find out more here.
Meanwhile, Glenn Brumfield writes that Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 108 has reached the end of its 30-day cooling-off period
…and has been released by National Labor Relations Board mediators for self-help activities. Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. (PHI) is seeking an injunction in federal court to prevent the pilots of Local 108 from striking. The pilots of Local 108 have been working without a contract for 2-1/2 years now.
Frank Valdez, outreach coordinator for the Texas Coalition For Universal Healthcare Rights, says the organization is sponsoring a Citizens/Congressional Hearing on Oct. 19.
The intent of this hearing is two-fold: Educate area congressmen about H.R. 676 and educate the community about 676.
H.R. 676 is a bill introduced by Michigan Democrat John Conyers [Michigan] and has the endorsement of 171 labor organizations across the U.S. This legislation will improve upon and expand Medicare coverage to all residents in the United States and its territories.
The Coalition For Universal Healthcare Rights invites all local labor unions and individual activists along with church, civil rights, community organizations to build a movement to pressure Congress into making universal healthcare a reality for all Americans!
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