Archive for September, 2006
Bush Backs Down on Workplace Rules for Homeland Security Workers
The Bush administration has backed down—for now—in its ongoing attempt to gut the workplace rights of 160,000 federal workers in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Raising the Minimum Wage Catching Fire in the States
It’s been 10 years since Congress last voted to raise the federal minimum wage, which has been stuck at $5.15 an hour. So, when it comes to Congress acting again to restore some buying power to the minimum wage, most of us have taken the advice songwriter Adrian Belew gave his daughter in the song “Oh Daddy”: “Don’t hold your breath, ‘cause it will only make you blue.”
But not union and community activists. We have taken a deep breath and gone to work to win minimum wage increases on the state level, fueling the momentum behind ballot initiatives in half-a-dozen states this fall—Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio. According to several new reports, these actions are paying off—looks like the public agrees with the AFL-CIO union movement that America Needs a Raise.
U.S. Public Wants Health Care System Revamped
Health care that works for all Americans—we don’t have such a system now. But we want one. A new survey shows the majority of the U.S. public supports revamping the U.S. health care system so everyone receives a core group of guaranteed benefits.
The Citizens’ Health Care Working Group, a federally appointed commission, recommends that by 2012 all Americans have access to affordable health care, with guaranteed benefits and protection against very high out-of-pocket expenses.
BREAKING: Supreme Court to Hear ‘Paycheck Deception’ Case
In its new term that begins next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of anti-union “paycheck deception” measures aimed at silencing workers’ voice in politics—one of only nine cases the court has decided to hear of 2,000 submitted for review.
For Working Families, It’s Still the Economy, Stupid
On the same day home sales were reported to have plummeted by nearly 2 percent from a year ago—the first such annual drop in 11 years—President Bush was touting the economy again. On his way to a glitzy fund-raiser Monday for Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), he held a brief press opportunity (thereby justifying the trip as official taxpayer-funded business) to crow about the “strong” economy.
But as AFL-CIO President John Sweeney noted:
If the president had bothered to listen to the working people of Ohio, he would know that the economy there and in many areas of the country is failing working families. Does the president really expect the 195,000 Ohioans who’ve lost good manufacturing jobs on his watch to believe their economy is strong?
Susan Carol Orlos is among those Ohio working families. For years, Orlos raised her son on her own as she struggled to make ends meet. Today, she owns a small home-renovation business.
Orlos says, “Most people are living in a bad way, working one, two, three jobs,” including a friend of hers who, despite her Ph.D from an elite university, must work three jobs to keep up with the cost of living.
In fact, a poll sponsored by the Center for American Progress finds the public is “more worried about falling into debt, particularly from medical bills, than about being the victim of a terrorist attack or natural disaster.”
Over the weekend, a lot of comparisons emerged between the Bush and Clinton administrations in handling the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Bondad on Daily Kos points out another really big difference: the way the two administrations managed the economy.
Job creation is among them. Over eight years, the Clinton administration created an average of 2.8 million jobs per year. So far, the Bush administration has created 80,650 jobs per month, less than the 150,000 per month it takes to absorb new job entrants into the labor force—the worst record of any U.S. president in 50 years. Following the recession of the early years of the Bush administration, job recovery has been the weakest since the Depression of the 1930s. As Bondad notes:
The Clinton team was focused in opening up new avenues of job creation that would benefit the middle class. Previously, manufacturing was the primary economic sector the helped the middle class. Total employment in this area increased from 16,790,000 in January 1993 to 17,181,000 or an overall increase of 391,000. This isn’t bad, but it certainly could be better (Under Bush, the manufacturing sector has lost 2.8 million jobs). However, the Clinton team’s focus on high-tech provided new avenues of wealth creation. Total information jobs increased from 2,656,000 in January 1993 to 3,706,000 in December 2000, or an increase of 1,050,000 (Under Bush, information services have lost 560,000 jobs).
Further, under former President Bill Clinton, a balanced budget created the climate for an economy in which the hourly pay for nonsupervisory workers increased by 34 percent between January 1993 and December 2000 and median family income increased by 15 percent, accounting for inflation (which the Bush administration never does when talking about wage growth).
Back in Ohio, Orlos insists on paying her employees a living wage, even when she can’t afford to pay herself. She understands that paying employees the lowest wages may pay off in the short run—but not for our nation’s future.
There has to be a responsibility for a long-range goal instead of just short-term goals. The responsibility for us to do better is overwhelming. I can’t afford to be a human being and pay less than a living wage.
And like many working people, Orlos plans to do something to change the direction of the economy by electing candidates who will address the bottom-line issue that affect working families. As she puts it:
This country stands for something. We must do better.
House Republicans: Will They Walk the Walk on the Minimum Wage?
With only days left before they adjourn, members of Congress have an opportunity to pass a real minimum wage bill. But will they?
Two Sago Miners Reportedly Commit Suicide
The tragedy of the Sago Mine disaster just gets worse. The Associated Press (AP) reports today that two miners at Sago committed suicide in the past month. Their jobs included watching for safety hazards inside the West Virginia mine before a methane explosion killed 12 miners Jan. 2.
Bill Would Require Tariffs on Chinese Goods if Currency Manipulation Continues
The Senate could vote by the end of this week on legislation (S. 295) introduced by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that would impose a 27.5 percent tariff on all Chinese imports if that country does not raise the value of its currency.
Getting off the Couch and Taking [Political] Action: Union Members Tell Their Stories
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Carla Bryson
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Scott Jorgensen
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Don Dawson
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Keith Strobelt
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Like most of us, Carla Bryson says she caught herself more and more often yelling at the TV as reporters described the nation’s deteriorating health care, loss of jobs and more. But Bryson, a member of Electrical Workers Local 2327, did something about it—going from frustrated viewer to political activist to campaign treasurer for the re-election of the very pro-union Gov. John Baldacci (D-Maine).
This is why, she says, union members should get involved in politics:
It’s self-interest, especially for people who have children. We need to think and not only about ourselves but what kind of country are we going to have for them. When we’re in a union, we want to stay employed and keep our benefits, and sometimes we need to do something to help. That’s why politics is important. It’s sort of an adjunct to union activity.
Bryson is one of thousands of union members on the front lines of this fall’s get-out-the-vote effort and among several grassroots activists profiled at the AFL-CIO political action center, www.votenov7.org.
In Colorado, Scott Jorgenson is wearing two activist hats. The Sheet Metal Workers Local 9 member is knocking on other union members’ doors in Labor 2006 member-to-member walks. In addition, he puts on his Working America hat to canvass the entire community for the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate for people who don’t have a union. Says the 26-year-old Jorgenson:
On both of those, we’re talking about keeping jobs in the state, strengthening health care and education, raising the minimum wage, issues like that.
NEA Locals and Allied Organizations Can Build Solidarity by Joining AFL-CIO
It’s a maxim of the union movement that there is strength in numbers—the more of us there are to support each other and fight for issues, the more likely all workers will benefit.
In that spirit of solidarity, the AFL-CIO created two new unique opportunities for workers to join with the federation in the struggle for a just society.
