Archive for February, 2008
Take Back America: The Conference, The Goal
 |
|
Progressive leaders and thinkers from around the country will meet next month in Washington, D.C., at Take Back America 2008, a conference to discuss the challenges facing our country and the way forward.
The annual conference has become a ritual gathering place for activists and organizers to discuss strategies and tactics necessary to confront problems in the economy, foreign policy, the media, health care and more. The conference runs Monday, March 17, to Wednesday, March 19, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
If You’re Not a Big Bank, Don’t Expect Bush to Help
 |
|
- Paychecks have been shrinking for 80 percent of the U.S. workforce since October. Wage earners aren't seeing just skimpier raises and higher prices. Real weekly earnings are falling faster than hourly earnings because the length of the work week is being cut as the job market weakens.
- 1.4 million people have exhausted their 26 weeks of unemployment compensation, but are still actively trying to find work. As Elizabeth Schulte says at Counterpunch: That's the population of San Francisco—times two.
Union-Busting, the Latest Ugly U.S. Export
 |
|
This is a crosspost from Firedoglake.
We all know that when it comes to providing health care, maternity leave and retirement security for all their citizens, Britain, France and all the rest of "old" Europe make the United States look pretty pathetic.
For instance, Britain provides 72 weeks of paid maternity leave while even South Africa, at the low end of the spectrum, offers 12 paid weeks. The United States? Zero.
The list goes on and doesn't get any better.
But it's not enough for greedy corporations to endlessly lobby for their anti-employee agendas in Congress. They now are exporting the most insidious methods of preventing workers from attaining fundamental workplace freedoms: Union-busting.
Union-busting is a $4 billion industry in the United States. When faced with a group of workers who want to form a union, U.S. employers all too often turn to these firms, packed with corporate lawyers who, for a steep price, provide them with all the dirty tricks they can undertake within a hair of the law. The same hasn't been true in Europe. Until now.
A. Philip Randolph’s Message of Justice Via Unions Still True Today
 |
||||
|
||||
The economic downturn is hitting black workers especially hard, reminding us again that unions are still the best hope for people of color to gain social and economic justice.
Throughout Black History Month, which ends today, black union leaders have reminded us how that message sprung to life through the first AFL-CIO African American union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and its founder A. Philip Randolph.
Despite recent declines in African American union membership, the union still is the best bet for black workers. Today, African American union members earn 37 percent more than their nonunion counterparts and are far more likely to have health care coverage and secure pensions. (Click here to get a comparison of union and nonunion wages, health care and more.)
GAO: Private Medicare Plans a Bad Deal for Seniors
Supporters of the Bush administration’s Medicare reform have touted private plans as being a big bargain for seniors. But the truth is that the private plans, known as Medicare Advantage, cost seniors more, congressional investigators say.
The New York Times reports today that a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found many people in private Medicare plans face higher costs for home health care, nursing homes and some hospital stays than the traditional government-run Medicare program. In fact, the report shows the government will spend an estimated $54 billion in extra costs for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries from 2009 through 2012.
Special Elections Draw Attention to Control of Congress
 |
|
Two special elections for crucial U.S. House seats are coming up, setting up a preview of this fall’s congressional elections.
On March 8, an election will be held for the open 14th Congressional District in Illinois, and on March 11, a special election will be held in Indiana’s 7th Congressional District.
In Indiana’s 7th District, the Indiana State AFL-CIO has been active in support of city Councilor André Carson. A Democrat, Carson is running for the seat left vacant by the passing of his grandmother, Democratic Rep. Julia Carson. He faces off against Republican state Rep. Jon Elrod in the special election.
Join Online Rally for Paid Sick Leave
 |
|
Hey! Today, there's a nationwide rally to drum up support for the Healthy Families Act in Congress that would guarantee paid sick leave for workers to recover from an illness or take care of a sick family member.
You can be there even if you don't feel like marching in the streets or fighting winter weather because it's online.
The National Partnership for Women & Families is holding the first-ever online rally for paid sick days, and it starts tomorrow. Click here to take a look at the rally site where you can learn how you can take action, share your story and more.
According to the National Partnership, nearly half of private-sector workers have no paid sick days and low-income workers fare even worse—76 percent have no paid sick leave. Overall, 57 million private-sector workers in this country have no paid sick days, and 94 million cannot use their paid sick day to care for a sick child.
Ohio’s Economy Shows Disastrous Impact of NAFTA
As the 15th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) approaches, the two Democratic candidates for president, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, are criticizing the trade deal, which has cost good jobs in Mexico, Canada and the United States. Republican John McCain, on the other hand, supports free trade agreements modeled after this disastrous NAFTA.
 |
|
Colombian Labor Scholar Says Union Members Face Genocide
Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world for trade union members. Over the past 22 years, more than 2,500 union members have been murdered and another 6,500 have been threatened, attacked, kidnapped, tortured or harassed.
 |
|
Despite a promise by Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe to crack down on violence, not one of the killers of trade unionists has been brought to trial in two years (see chart). Yet the Bush administration is rushing to pass a trade deal with Colombia before the November elections.
Worker Freedom Bill Passes West Virginia House
Workers won a big victory this week when the West Virginia House of Delegates passed by a nearly 2-to-1 margin one of top priorities of working families. The so-called “Worker Freedom Bill” prevents employers from forcing employees to attend meetings supporting the bosses’ political candidates or spouting anti-union rhetoric.
The bill (H.B. 4132), which passed the House with a 64–33 majority, now goes to the State Senate.
Sherry Breeden, political director for the West Virginia AFL-CIO, says:
We just want a level playing field. We just want workers to have the freedom to choose to walk away and not listen without repercussions.
