Archive for December, 2007
A Working Family Presidential Forum with Olbermann and More 2007 Highlights (Part 3)
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From a new Congress taking the reins on Capitol Hill in January to the AFL-CIO’s first-ever global organizing conference in December, working families have seen significant victories, unfortunate setbacks and a lot of unfinished business this year. We take a look back at 2007 in a series of posts, continuing today with a quick glance at the top items from July through September. Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2.
July
* Tens of thousands of public employees in New Hampshire, Oregon and Massachusetts won a voice at work with unions in 2007. The victories came after union members in 2006 elected pro-working family candidates to governors’ offices and state legislatures, where lawmakers passed majority sign-up legislation. Under majority sign-up—which is a key part of the Employee Free Choice Act—workers form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
From Passage of Minimum Wage to Senate Block of Employee Free Choice: AFL-CIO Blog Looks at 2007 (Part 2)
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From a brand new Congress taking the reins on Capitol Hill in January to the AFL-CIO’s first-ever global organizing conference in December, working families have seen some significant victories, unfortunate setbacks and a lot of unfinished business this year. We take a look back at 2007 in a series of posts. Today in Part 2, a quick glance at top items from April through June. Click here to read Part 1.
April
* It’s good work and pays well if you can get it. In 2006, the average CEO of Standard and Poor’s 500 company made $14.78 million. But as the 2007 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch reported, some of that was what some might call “funny money”—backdated stock options, a scandal that exploded in 2006.
2007: The AFL-CIO Now Blog’s Year in Review (Part 1)
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From a brand new Congress taking the reins on Capitol Hill in January to the AFL-CIO’s first-ever global organizing conference in December, working families have seen some significant victories, unfortunate setbacks and a lot of unfinished business this year. We take a look back at 2007 in a series of posts starting today with a quick glance at top items from January through March.
January
* As the battle to win congressional passage of the Employee Free Chance Act heated up, a new study showed one in five union organizers or activists are illegally fired for trying to bring a union into the workplace.
Memo to Prez Candidates: Here’s Something Good You Can Do This New Year
This is a crosspost from Firedoglake.
Last year, a groupo of workers at WMUR in New Hampshire voted to join a union—Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1228. But management didn’t want to negotiate a contract with them—and there’s nothing in U.S. labor law that says employers must agree to a contract. So, until this month, the workers had no contract.
Then, one after another, the Democratic presidential candidates started writing letters to WMUR-TV General Manager Jeff Bartlett urging him to go back to the bargaining table and work out an agreement.
Disability Access Laws Must Be Enforced on Buses
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You’ve seen them on downtown street corners, picking up passengers, offering cheap trips to another city. These so-called “curbside buses” are growing rapidly. Because they pick up and drop off passengers from downtown curbsides—and not from a centralized bus terminal—they are harder to inspect and remain virtually unregulated.
But earlier this month that began to change. The House of Representatives passed a bill that instructs the U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to require intercity bus companies to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) when it grants and renews operating licenses. Larger carriers such as Greyhound and Peter Pan already comply with the ADA requirements.
More Than 3 Million Seniors Will Fall Into Donut Hole in 2008
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This will not be a happy New Year for millions of seniors. More seniors than ever are expected to fall into the Medicare Part D donut hole in 2008, the coverage gap that requires seniors to pay the full cost of their prescription drugs, according to the Alliance for Retired Americans.
Under the Medicare Part D rules pushed by the Bush administration and passed by Congress in 2003, seniors are on the hook for prescription expenses between the annual amounts of $2,510 and $5,726 in 2008. This gap of more than $3,200 has been dubbed the “donut hole.” The total costs for seniors in the donut hole, when you add in deductibles and co-pays, will hit $4,050, about $200 more than in 2007, the Alliance says.
L.A. Workers’ Fight for Good Jobs Combines Organizing, Bargaining and Politics
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It is an axiom in the union movement that organizing, collective bargaining and politics are all part of creating and maintaining good jobs. But in Los Angeles, workers have taken the combination to the next step by integrating the three into one campaign.
Next year not only is an election year with national and local offices on the line. In addition, some 350,000 workers in the L.A. area, members of 30 local unions, will renegotiate their contracts in 2008. And another 30,000 are poised to join a union.
So, under the leadership of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, workers are combining their resources in contract fights, organizing and politics into a single “Fight for Good Jobs” campaign.
Tired, Overstressed Air Traffic Controllers Got No Relief in 2007
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If you’re traveling by plane this holiday season, here’s a reminder about the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) website, AvoidDelays.com. The site provides information on what really is happening in the nation’s air travel and offers tips to avoid some of the worst bottlenecks. (See video.)
According to two major federal studies, the record numbers of delays and near misses in 2007 are the result of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) putting airline passenger safety at risk because of its refusal to negotiate a contract with air traffic controllers. The result, as we’ve noted many times this year, is that air traffic controllers are overworked, underpaid and stressed out.
Striking Nurses Approve New Pact with Appalachian Regional Healthcare
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Striking nurses in West Virginia and Kentucky yesterday approved a new tentative agreement that could send them back to work soon.
Nearly 700 members of the United American Nurses (UAN) union have been on strike at nine Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) hospitals since Oct. 1. The UAN members are seeking a contract with safer staffing levels and higher patient care standards. The nurses are concerned that management’s staffing decisions and rampant mandatory overtime are preventing them from giving patients the best possible care.
Now Bush’s Labor Board Wants to Shut Down Union E-Mail
The Bush administration’s National Labor Relations Board has continued its anti-worker, anti-union campaign, ruling that employers can bar workers from sending union-related e-mails at work.
That’s the modern day equivalent of blocking us from talking around the office water cooler or using the break room bulletin board.
