Archive for June, 2007
McCaskill Calls on GOP Leaders to ‘Stop Playing Games’ on Ethics Reform
 |
|
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) took Republican senators to task today for their obstruction of S. 1, the ethics and lobbying reform bill that passed the Senate on a lopsided 96-2 vote in January. (To see the video, click here.)
In May, the House passed its own version of the bill (H.R.2316), but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has blocked appointment of Senate conferees over a dispute on another bill on electronic filing of campaign finance reports.
"You know, there are times since I have been here that I have been surprised and shocked,” McCaskill said on the Senate floor. “And I’ve got to tell you, this week was one of them.”
Hill Leaders Wish Fast End to Fast Track
They say you shouldn't speak ill of the dead or near dead. But when a group of senators, representatives, union members, environmentalists, faith groups and others gathered on Capitol Hill today at a rally to bid farewell to President Bush's Fast Track Trade Authority, which is set to expire June 30, there were no kind words.
Says Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.):
We are fed up with trade agreements that undermine this country's interests. We declare fast track dead—and good riddance!
House Committee: Take This Job Ruling and Shove It
 |
|
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 30 said Lilly Ledbetter didn't act fast enough in filing a suit over nearly two decades of pay discrimination at an Alabama Goodyear plant.
How's this for fast? Less than a month after the Supreme Court decision, the House Education and Labor Committee approved the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to rectify what Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calf.) calls the court's "misguided decision."
Labor College Graduates’ Day in the ‘Sun’
Great coverage in the Baltimore Sun on the students in the National Labor College (NLC) graduating class.
More than 100 working women and men graduated from the NLC on Saturday, and it's great that their efforts are getting the attention they rightly deserve. Quoted in the Sun is JoAnn Johntony, whose efforts to balance work and family seemed to preclude further education. Said Johntony, who is in her 60s and was one of two student representatives who delivered a commencement speech:
Had this school never been here for working men and women, many of us would never have been able to get a degree.
Kentucky Activists Launch Campaign for New Governor
 |
|
Bernard Pollack, AFL-CIO field coordinator, sends us this report on the launch of a campaign to elect a working family-friendly governor in Kentucky.
Eighty-five activists from at least 25 unions and several central labor councils attended the Labor 2007 Kentucky kickoff meeting in Louisville yesterday to launch a member-to-member program in support of gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear.
The current governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, has tried to push right-to-work-for-less legislation, opposes collective bargaining for public employees and consistently is wrong on prevailing wages.
Even Bush’s Labor Dept. Finds Huge Support for Family and Medical Leave
When the Department of Labor in December asked workers and employers to comment on their experiences with regulations that implement the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), many observers believed it was the first step by the Bush administration to revise the rules to restrict access to family leave—as big business has clamored for since it was enacted in 1993.
Under FMLA, companies employing 50 or more people must allow workers up to 12 weeks a year of unpaid leave to care for themselves or family members during illnesses or for the birth or adoption of a child.
The overwhelmingly positive response from workers, family members and other advocates appears to have put the brakes on the corporate-backed changes—at least for now.
Wal-Mart’s China Imports Cost Nearly 200,000 U.S. Jobs
 |
|
| Wal-Mart's imports from China led to loss of nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs from 2001-2006. | |
Wal-Mart claims it creates jobs across America, but a new report shows a much different reality.
The giant retailer's reliance on cheap goods made in China has cost this country nearly 200,000 jobs since 2001, says the report, The Wal-Mart Effect, by the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
The report shows Wal-Mart has played a major role in creating a record trade deficit with China that has eliminated some 1.8 million jobs, mainly in manufacturing.
The U.S. trade deficit with China reached a whopping $233 billion last year, and imports for Wal-Mart alone accounted for $27 billion—11 percent of that total. This year’s first-quarter $46.4 billion total deficit is twice as large as in the same period last year.
Sicko the Nation’s Health Care? See the Movie and Sign the Petition
This Friday, Michael Moore’s new documentary, “Sicko” opens in theaters nationwide.
The film peels back the curtain on our nation’s health care industry, revealing the plight of millions of Americans who either lack health insurance entirely or suffer because greedy insurance companies refuse to pay for their prescriptions and procedures. (To read our discussion of the film with Michael Moore, go here.)
Political, Union Leaders Say Fight for Employee Free Choice Is Not Over
 |
|
The fight to allow workers a free choice to join a union without employer interference is far from over. After a handful of obstructionist senators blocked a vote on the Employee Free Choice Act yesterday, an array of political and union leaders made it clear the momentum is growing for this legislation and that it's a matter of when, not if, this bill becomes law. The next step: Elect a Senate that will pass the bill and a president who will sign it.
Here's a sample of some statements issued after the vote:
- AFSCME President Gerald McEntee: "The struggle to enact the Employee Free Choice Act is not over. A majority of senators are now on record supporting an America where the middle class thrives, seniors can afford their prescriptions, parents can afford to send their children to college and workers can afford to retire with security." (See video.)
House Hearing on Katrina Shows Massive Wage Abuse by No-Bid Contractors
Workers who headed to New Orleans in 2005 to help rebuild the Hurricane Katrina-devastated city were abused and exploited, according to a report by Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and testimony from worker groups at a House hearing today.
And says Ted Smukler, IWJ public policy director who testified at the hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Domestic Policy Subcommittee:
A series of executive orders by the Bush administration in the wake of Katrina set the stage for a lawless race-to-the-bottom labor market….
