Archive for July, 2007
Steelworkers, Solidarity Center Help Liberian Workers Gain Real Union
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The West African country of Liberia—which means “Land of the Free”—was founded in the 1800s as an independent nation with support of the U.S. government, for free-born and former black slaves. But for the past 85 years, workers at the “Firestone Plantation,”—that’s its real name—have not been able to elect their own union representatives without employer interference.
That all changed this month when the 4,700 workers voted for the first time free of interference or manipulation for union representatives of their choice in the Firestone Agricultural Workers Union of Liberia (FAWUL). For decades, the plantation owners, Bridgestone Firestone, controlled the leadership of FAWUL and its sectoral union, the General Agricultural and Allied Workers Union of Liberia (GAWUL). FAWUL and GAWUL provided little or no representation for workers.
New York Taxi Drivers Oppose Constant GPS Monitoring
Members of the New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance (NYTWA) announced plans for a citywide strike by more than 13,000 taxi drivers to protest the city’s decision to put tracking devices and other technologies in all yellow cabs in the city.
Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the NYTWA, told a July 25 press conference:
If the City Council and mayor stay silent as drivers’ privacy and economics are trampled on, we will strike in September. The TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission) rules with impunity and treats drivers like second-class citizens.
AFL-CIO Calls for Energy Policy to Fight Global Warming
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The AFL-CIO is strongly backing efforts to combat global warming, achieve energy independence and revitalize American manufacturing in the process.
Bob Baugh, co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on July 24 that along with fighting global warming, the United States needs an energy policy for the 21st century “that will result in a cleaner planet, greater energy efficiency and the revitalization of our manufacturing base.”
Climate change is a serious environmental threat in need of a prompt legislative response by the U.S. Congress. It is also an opportunity for our nation to prove that economic development and environmental progress can and should go hand-in-hand.
Host a Watch Party for the AFL-CIO Presidential Candidates Forum
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On Tuesday, Aug. 7, MSNBC and XM Radio will carry the AFL-CIO Presidential Candidates Forum live from Chicago from 7–8:30 p.m. EDT (6–7:30 p.m. CDT). “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann will moderate.
Unlike other televised debates and forums, union members will ask questions of the candidates, with the focus on issues that are important to working families. (If you’re a union member, submit your own question here—anyone can vote for their favorites here.)
Thousands are expected to attend the forum, and we want to ensure working families across the country get to take part as well. You can help out by hosting a debate watch party with your friends, family and union members.
UAW, Big Three, Begin Talks
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| UAW retiree Lois Schultz’s sign lets all know how she feels during a rally Monday prior to the opening of contract talks with GM. | |
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In the four years since the UAW signed the current contracts with the Big Three automakers, the industry has undergone significant changes. But throughout, UAW members’ willingness to address critical issues, such as health care costs, has protected the wages and benefits of active and retired members, while saving employers billions of dollars.
Now as the two sides go back to the bargaining table—new contract negotiations covering 178,000 workers began July 20 and 23—the stakes are high. Negotiating under the theme “Fighting for America’s Future: Good Jobs. Strong Communities,” the workers are determined to continue to create a high-quality, high performance workplace where everybody wins.
But the employers may be thinking along other lines. The Wall Street Journal reports the car manufacturers will threaten to move more production offshore unless they get deep concessions from workers on wages and benefits, especially on retiree health care.
All three automakers have announced plant closings and deep job cuts in recent years, cutting more than 70,000 jobs from their payrolls. But UAW President Ron Gettelfinger says cutting wages and benefits is not the way to save the auto industry. He points to studies that show labor costs represent less than 10 percent of the cost of a new vehicle.
Baaaaad Bosses. Got One? You Could Be a Winner
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We in the union movement often are asked: Why do workers in 21st century high-tech America need unions?
This month, the AFL-CIO community affiliate provides one real good answer to that question: Bad Bosses.
In its second annual My Bad Boss Contest, Working America is looking for the worst of the worst workplace horror stories about managers who mismanage and maltreat employees and otherwise act like they are the proprietors of their own personal medieval serf estate. The winning entry—voted on by visitors to the Bad Boss site—will get a weeklong getaway—miles away from the boss.
Leaders Urge Congress, Bush to Reauthorize Health Insurance for Children
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More than 8 million of America’s children have no health insurance—and a broad coalition of groups came together on Capitol Hill today to send an important message: Health care coverage for our nation’s children is something everyone should agree on.
The coalition is urging Congress to pass, and President Bush to sign, legislation to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and provide coverage for a vulnerable population our nation cannot afford to neglect—our children.
The 10-year-old SCHIP program, on which some 6.6 million low-income children now rely for health care, is set to expire Sept. 30—and Bush repeatedly has threatened to veto bipartisan legislation that would renew the program.
Congressional House Cleaning Was Key to Minimum Wage Hike
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| Sen. Edward Kennedy says wage hike gives new hope and opportunity for millions. | |
Several hundred low-wage workers, community and union activists and congressional allies staged a celebratory rally this afternoon as part of the events on Capitol Hill, marking the first day in 10 years that minimum wage workers will see a boost in their paychecks. (Click here and here for reports from earlier today on the wage battle and what key lawmakers have to say.)
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told the rally crowd:
This wasn’t just a union victory, it was a student victory, a civil rights victory, a church victory, a community victory, a victory for working families, a victory for poor families—it was a victory for America.
U.S. Workers: Running in Place or Getting Behind
The days seem long gone when we could chill out during the summer. The nation is abuzz with issues like the Iraq war, the burning up of the West and a certain Homeland Security honcho’s “gut feeling” about impending terrorist attacks (or maybe it’s just that recalled chili sauce…).
Burbling under these hot-button issues are lesser-reported but equally important trends that more closely affect us working stiffs. In fact, several rather disturbing economic reports have coagulated in recent days and they need to get more air.
More from the Hill on Today’s Minimum Wage Boost
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat down with several of us this morning and discussed the minimum wage and several other issues. I asked her how the raise symbolized the difference between the old majority and the new Democratic-controlled Congress.
It signals change. I would like to have a bigger increase in the minimum wage like we do in San Francisco where I’m from, but this says that what we are about is putting forth a progressive economic agenda where many more people in our country participate in the prosperity of our country. This is a step for those making the minimum wage but again it’s signal for change, whether we are talking about people who lose their jobs because of trade or whatever reason, Democrats will be there with a new fresh progressive economic agenda.
