Archive for October, 2007
Anti-Worker Ballot Supporters Face Fraud Charges in Oklahoma
Maybe the extremist, anti-worker, anti-government groups that have tried so desperately for years to strangle state governments through so-called Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights (TABOR) measures—should write the following on the blackboard 1,000 times:
“I will not break election laws.”
TABOR usually surfaces as a proposed state constitutional amendment that requires government spending to adhere to a rigid formula. If passed, such measures could cripple services such as law enforcement, fire protection, education and other public services.
Verizon Shareholders Still Waiting to Have a ‘Say on Pay’
Patrick O’Meara, corporate finance specialist in the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, updates us on the effort by Verizon shareholders to hold the company accountable for its excessive executive compensation.
When even chief executive officers acknowledge that most of them are overpaid, it’s clear something is amiss in board rooms when it comes to making decisions on executive compensation. As owners, the shareholders of a company have the responsibility and the self-interest to find a way to correct this problem, because excessive executive compensation depletes the company’s coffers.
At the Verizon Communications annual meeting this year, a majority of shareholders sought to address this problem by urging the board of directors to submit executive pay packages to a nonbinding vote by shareholders. This practice, already common in the United Kingdom, provides a check on the decisions the board members have made. It’s a simple way to make sure pay packages do not get out of hand.
What’s the Connection Between Fiber Optics and Virginia Elections?
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Eileen Toback, AFL-CIO political organizer in the Voice@Work campaign, updates us on what’s at stake for working families in the November elections in Virginia, where state Senate races are expected to be decided by just a few hundred votes.
We keep talking about the paramount importance of union members getting involved with the upcoming election and about advocating for working families. What does that really mean?
Stacie Adams, president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 2222 in Northern Virginia, broke it down in real terms (see video).
Disaster Assistance for Union Members Affected by Fires in California
The folks at Union Privilege send us this good news for union members in California.
Union members living in areas impacted by the devastating wildfires in California and who participate in Union Plus benefits may have one less financial worry.
Union Plus Credit Card holders facing financial hardship due to the wildfires are eligible to apply for grants of $500 from the Union Plus Credit Card Disaster Relief Fund. The money does not have to be repaid. To apply for a grant, cardholders can call 1-877-761-5028.
Disaster victims who participate in the Union Plus Loan, Auto Insurance, Mortgage and UnionSecure Insurance programs may be eligible to receive payment extensions or other special help from the program providers.
AFL-CIO Backs Bill to Curb Mortgage Lending Abuses
The nation’s burgeoning home mortgage crisis literally is hitting families where they live and is turning the American dream of home ownership into an American nightmare for millions of working families. For the first time since the Carter administration, home ownership in the United States is set to decline over a president’s tenure. Since President Bush took office, there are 700,000 fewer home owners.
The AFL-CIO is joining with consumer advocates to support legislation that will create much needed safeguards and lead to sustainable home ownership and an economy that works for everyone. In addition, Union Privilege, provider of benefits for union families, last week announced the launch of the Union Plus Save My Home Hotline. As part of a model home owner education program, the hotline will provide information and advice to help union members and their families avoid foreclosure. (Click here to learn more about the hotline.)
Kentucky Governor ‘Needs to Be Soundly Defeated’
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Don Slaiman, AFL-CIO Senior representative, sends us today’s blog from the 10-day bus tour through Kentucky. Dozens of local labor leaders and union volunteers are taking part in the Bluegrass Express tour, where Steve Beshear is challenging Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R), who has canceled bargaining rights for state employees, privatized Kentucky’s Medicaid program and taken other anti-worker stands.
Arriving before dawn we leafleted the shift change at the Tennessee Valley Authority Paradise Power Plant. We engaged more than 700 working men and women in multiple crafts at the turnstile as they entered and departed the site. Despite the pouring—but welcome—rain, we were greeted with great enthusiasm for standing in the pre-dawn hours promoting our candidate who supports working family issues.
We had conversations with boilermakers, ironworkers, elevator constructors, electricians, fitters, insulators, teamsters, laborers and bricklayers. The multitudes of crafts refurbishing the power station expressed near unanimous support for gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear and offered angry invectives on the need to give Gov. Ernie Fletcher the boot. Doug Billings, a boilermaker working seven twelve-hour shifts, said it was “high time”
to send a message to Governor Fletcher and his right wing ilk who contemplate taking on labor by threatening so called right-to-work initiatives and assaulting our prevailing wages.
A Multimillion-Dollar Bankroll and This Is the Best an Anti-Worker Group Can Do?
Take a look at the latest twisted anti-union attack from the Center for Union Facts. You know, the always low-key and accurate group that specializes in—well, how can we say this politely?—lies and distortions about working families and their unions.
On Tuesday, the organization posted a blog: “Miami Vice: AFSCME Edition.” Ah-ha, union dirt, corruption and just the facts, ma’am (to quote from another ancient cop show).
Quoting from the Miami Herald, the anti-worker blog says Alejandro Torrecillas, an accountant for the city of Hialeah, has been busted for allegedly embezzling more than $250,000 from employees’ annuity funds. He used the money to buy a second house and several cars.
Join FLOC in Fighting for Justice for Tobacco Workers
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Thousands of workers who harvest tobacco each year contract green tobacco sickness caused by exposure to harmful chemicals in tobacco leaves. Many of these workers receive little or no medical attention.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), which recently won a voice on the job for 8,000 migrant farm workers in North Carolina in a historic labor agreement, now is helping more than 25,000 tobacco harvesters in the Tarheel State to form a union. North Carolina leads the country in tobacco production with an approximate 2006 annual tobacco farm income of $506.2 million.
This weekend, hundreds of working people from Washington, D.C., and cities across the nation will join FLOC members and the North Carolina State AFL-CIO for a rally in Winston-Salem to support the tobacco workers’ fight for a better life.
Dozen Democrats Join Senate Vote to Approve Anti-Worker Judge for Appeals Court
A dozen Democratic senators and one Independent paved the way for Mississippi Judge Leslie Southwick—whose judicial record is marked with one anti-worker, pro-business decision after another—to take a lifetime seat on the of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
By joining with all 49 Republican senators in the 62–35 vote to end debate on Southwick’s nomination, the 13 lawmakers gave President Bush what he long has sought for the Fifth Circuit—an out-of-the mainstream, anti-worker jurist opposed by the nation’s civil rights community. After voting to end the Southwick debate, three of the 13 senators voted against confirmation, which passed by a 59–38 count.
Harold Johnson Knows the Connection Between Politics and Organizing
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Bernard Pollack, AFL-CIO field coordinator, is working on the union movement’s campaign to elect a working family-friendly governor in Kentucky. Last week, he joined AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff and 153 union members and allies in a labor luncheon with workers at Ohio Valley Aluminum Co. who are seeking to form a union with the United Steelworkers. Nurses on strike at Appalachian Regional Healthcare hospitals also took part.
United Steelworkers (USW) member Harold Johnson worked for 33 years as a truck driver for Ohio Valley Aluminum Co. (OVACO). During our luncheon at the UAW hall in Louisville last week, Johnson talked about the heavy opposition he and his co-workers faced in trying to form a union, including letters sent to the house, mandatory anti-worker meetings, movies and other intimidation tactics.
