Archive for February, 2008
Corporate Crime Ballot Initiative Scares Colorado Chamber
 |
|
Apparently Colorado corporate types want to do the crime, but not the time. At least that’s how you could read the Denver Chamber of Commerce’s fierce opposition to a corporate accountability ballot initiative that Rocky Mountain activists are seeking to place on the November ballot.
While it carries an unwieldy name—Criminal and Civil Liability of Businesses and Individuals for Business Activities—the proposed Initiative 57 carries a simple message: Business execs will be held accountable for corporate misbehavior.
McCain ‘Isn’t Right for Working Families’
 |
|
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), within reach of becoming the Republican nominee for president, has spent decades as a Washington, D.C., insider. But the traditional media has yet to look much deeper than the self-image McCain has created and promoted.
Hugh McVey, president of the Missouri AFL-CIO, weighs in on Sen. McCain’s record in this video. His conclusion? After looking at the facts, it’s clear that McCain hasn’t made the right votes on behalf of working families.
McVey cites several issues where McCain’s long voting record shows a clear pattern of poor choices, including workers’ rights, trade and health care. Says McVey:
Sen. McCain is bad for almost everything that affects working families.
American Axle Workers Strike
 |
|
Fed up with demands for cuts in pay and benefits, some 3,600 workers at American Axle & Manufacturing in Michigan and New York, members of the UAW, walked out today after the current contract expired.
Contract talks broke off with major issues unresolved. The Detroit-based company is demanding wage reductions of up to $14 an hour, as well as elimination of future retiree health care and defined-benefit pensions for active workers.
UAW President Ron Gettelfinger says:
The UAW has a proven record of working with companies to improve their competitive position and secure jobs. But cooperation does not mean capitulation. Our members cannot be expected to make the extreme sacrifices American Axle is asking for with nothing in return.
Nation’s Economic Woes Hit Black Workers Hardest
 |
||||
|
||||
All workers have suffered in the seven years that President Bush has been in office. But black workers, even those in unions, have been hit hardest.
African American incomes are dropping at the same time fewer African Americans belong to unions. The percentage of African Americans who either are members of or represented by unions fell by half from 31.7 percent of all black workers in 1983 to 15.7 percent last year, according to a new report by the Center for Economic Policy and Research. Still, several studies have shown African Americans are more likely to join unions than other workers.
The report, The Decline in African-American Representation in Unions and Manufacturing, 1979–2007, shows much of the decline is due to the loss of manufacturing jobs. Between 1979 and 2006, the share of all African American workers who worked in manufacturing declined from 23.9 percent to 9.8 percent, a drop of nearly 60 percent. Manufacturing jobs, especially good-paying union jobs in the auto industry, played a big role in creating the black middle class.
Hey, John McCain: Where’s the Plan to Save Our Homes?
 |
||||
|
||||
Margaret Priebe, communications director at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, sends us this report.
As cold rain turned into blistering snow, a large group of union members from the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council and allies rallied outside a campaign event in Cincinnati for Sen. John McCain this morning with a critical question for the senator: Where’s the plan?
This group of some 50 working people rallied to bring attention to McCain’s “do-nothing” policy on foreclosures that are affecting thousands of working families in Ohio, a state with 153,196 home foreclosure filings in 2007—88 percent more than in 2006. The past two days in Ohio, McCain offered nothing but campaign platitudes and empty rhetoric to address the growing housing crisis. Meanwhile, greedy subprime lenders are forcing families out of their homes daily—more than 12,000 Cincinnati working families have had the American Dream stolen from them by greedy corporate subprime lenders in the last year alone. What’s John McCain’s response? Do nothing.
9/11 First Responders Protest Bush Health Care Funding Cuts
Today, three weeks after President Bush cut health care funding by 77 percent for Sept. 11 first responders, many of whom are developing serious and deadly illnesses because of their work at Ground Zero, some 200 9/11 workers rallied on Capitol Hill this morning, calling on Congress to restore the health care money.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimates the cost of treating Ground Zero workers is about $218 million year and is expected to grow as the workers’ illnesses worsen and as more firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and rescue and recovery workers develop Ground Zero-related diseases.
Utility Workers Back Obama
 |
|
Today, the Utility Workers (UWUA) endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president.
The Utility Workers union represents 70,000 active and retired workers in the gas, water, electrical and nuclear industries. It is the fourth AFL-CIO affiliated union to endorse Obama.
D. Michael Langford, the national president of the UWUA, said Obama’s policies on energy were what made him stand out in a strong field.
Sen. Obama understands our issues, supports our goals and will do what is right for utility workers, our families, our communities and our country. We join him in his fight for change in America that will put working people first.
Workers Memorial Materials Available Online Now
 |
|
Each year, thousands of workers are killed on the job and millions more are injured or become ill because of their jobs.
This April 28, workers in the United States and around the world will honor those killed and injured on the job and call for improved workplace safety on Workers Memorial Day.
Last year, there were 12,000 ceremonies, from memorial services to marches and rallies, in 118 countries. This year, workers, union activists and religious and community leaders and elected officials are expected to take part in a similar number of events.
FAA: a ‘Rogue Agency’
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is telling air traffic controllers who speak out about safety conditions to get another job.
Last week, Don Chapman from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) told reporters that newly implemented changes in air space rules around the Philadelphia area had controllers concerned about safety and the added pressure on already overworked air traffic controllers. Chapman, NATCA’s Philadelphia facility representative, also noted the changes had been made without any input from the controllers.
Crandall Canyon Owner Must Face Capitol Hill Lawmakers
Looks like Crandall Canyon co-owner Robert Murray can’t hide from Capitol Hill any longer. Crandall Canyon is the Utah mine where six coal miners and three rescuers were killed last August. The bodies of the six miners have never been recovered.
The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee last week subpoenaed Murray after he turned down several earlier offers from the committee to voluntarily testify. As committee spokesman, Tom Kiley says:
We had asked to sit down and speak with Mr. Murray on several occasions, but those requests have been rebuffed.
