Archive for July, 2007
Getting RESPECT on the Job
As many as 8 million workers face losing their right to join a union after a series of decisions (known as the Oakwood cases) last year by the Republican-led National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Those rulings greatly expanded and redefined the term “supervisor.” Supervisory workers are not eligible to join unions.
But workers and their allies on Capitol Hill are fighting back through the RESPECT Act (H.R. 1644 and S. 969) that can correct the NLRB’s flawed decisions that the group American Rights at Work terms the “supervisor scam.” The RESPECT Act clarifies the meaning of the term supervisor.
More Governors Show Support as Momentum Grows for Employee Free Choice
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Even though obstructionist Republican senators temporarily denied workers a free choice to join a union, momentum for the Employee Free Choice Act continues to grow. The grassroots movement behind this legislation is bigger and more exciting than anyone believed last year. Workers are mobilizing to make passage of the bill a key issue in the 2008 elections.
More and more elected officials are lining up behind the bill. We reported that 16 governors signed a letter supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. Now that number has grown to 18 as Govs. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Brian Schweitzer of Montana, both Democrats, have added their names to those who support allowing workers to join a union without employer interference.
Bush Opposes Health Care for Children. Really
Riddle me this. If 3.3 million poor kids who do not have health insurance because their families cannot afford coverage are made eligible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), how does that hurt the private insurance industry?
Stumps me. But President Bush apparently would rather protect insurance companies than kids. He seems to think that by granting health care coverage to low-income children, the nation’s highly profitable insurance industry will suffer.
Yesterday, Bush renewed his vow to veto bipartisan legislation that reauthorizes the 10-year-old program, set to expire Sept. 30, on which some 6.6 million low-income children now depend for health care. The bipartisan bill, approved today by the Senate Finance Committee, provides an additional $35 billion over current costs for five years and would extend coverage to 3.3 million of the more than 8 million children in the nation who lack health insurance.
APALA Seeks to Build on Grassroots Strength for 2008
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In the past year, Asian Pacific Islander American working men and women have been in the forefront of the fight for a fair immigration policy and the freedom to form unions. In the 2004 and 2006 elections, they mobilized thousands of workers to vote.
With the 2008 elections on the horizon, several hundred members of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), an AFL-CIO constituency group, are gathering in Washington, D.C., to develop strategies to build grassroots strength for state and local elections and to secure the American Dream for immigrant workers.
APALA Executive Director Gloria Caoile says:
Our message is that every vote counts, and we know, especially in close races, the Asian American vote can make a difference.
Analysts Reach Agreement with GAO for Vote on Union
Analysts at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) who want to form a union with the Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) will cast their ballots later this summer following an agreement announced yesterday between the union and the GAO.
In early May, workers at GAO headquarters in Washington, D.C., and in field offices filed for a union election, with the vast majority of the 1,400 analysts signing union-authorization cards supporting an election.
But rather than quickly agreeing on an election date, the agency brought in an outside legal firm to help fight the organizing effort. GAO also challenged the union eligibility of 461 workers, claiming they were supervisors–and thus not eligible to join the union under current labor law.
Welcome, New Grassroots Blog Columnists!
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A BIG welcome to our four new columnists at AFL-CIO Now blog. They make their debut this week, fresh voices from the grassroots whose insights and perspectives will deepen our coverage of issues that matter to working people and their union.
Jeff Crosby, Anastasia Ordonez, Steve Share and Rich Templin regularly will share with us the key events and action from their corner of the country—including the latest state legislative battles, bargaining updates, organizing wins and the nitty-gritty of door-to-door political mobilization.
Each brings to our new Grassroots Report feature a wealth of union activism, dedication and great communications skills.
Union Sportsmen’s Alliance Launched
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Union men and women who hunt, fish and enjoy the outdoors—about 3.2 million, according to a recent survey—can now join together in the AFL-CIO-backed Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA).
Announced in January, the new outdoor enthusiasts’ group is a joint venture between 21 unions and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP). One of the main goals of the two groups is working together to boost the TRCP’s long-standing dedication to guaranteeing access for hunters and anglers, conserving fish and wildlife habitat and increasing funding for conservation.
Firefighters a Step Closer to Bargaining Rights
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Firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other public safety officers are a step closer to guaranteed collective bargaining rights after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly (314–97) approved legislation yesterday protecting those rights.
Says Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Harold Schaitberger:
The men and women who risk their lives everyday deserve a seat at the table to discuss workplace issues, including their own safety while they perform a dangerous job, and this victory is the first step to making that happen.
Ohio Home Health Care Workers Win Freedom to Join a Union
Some 7,000 home health care workers in Ohio now have the freedom to form unions after Gov. Ted Strickland (D) signed an executive order yesterday.
The executive order covers workers employed under independent contracts to carry out services for the state departments of Aging, Job & Family Services and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Strickland, who was elected with significant union support, said in a statement:
Establishing collective bargaining rights for independent home health care workers will ensure that, as we expand choices for Ohio’s seniors and disabled citizens, we have a qualified work force to support their long-term care needs.
New Hampshire Public Employees Get Freedom to Form Unions by Majority Sign-Up
New Hampshire union members’ political activism paid off yesterday when Gov. John Lynch (D) signed legislation giving public employees the freedom to form a union when a majority of workers sign union authorization cards. The majority sign-up legislation passed the state House and Senate earlier this year.
The victory has its roots in last November’s election, when working family voters threw out the anti-worker majorities that had controlled the state legislatures for years, and elected Lynch.
