Archive for July, 2008
Time to Act Now on China’s Devastating Currency, Trade Practices
China’s continued undervaluation of its currency is a major, overriding trade issue, which requires immediate action, says a coalition of union and business leaders. And a new report released today shows China’s trade practices cost 2.3 million good U.S. jobs, including 366,000 last year alone.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, who co-chairs the coalition, says, “China’s manipulation of its currency since 1994 has taken an enormous and increasingly damaging toll on U.S. working families and manufacturing.”
Happy Birthday, Medicare…and Many More
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Across the country today, working people are celebrating the 43rd birthday of Medicare and sending a message to political leaders that keeping and improving medical care for millions of seniors and retirees will be a key issue in the upcoming elections.
Members of the Alliance for Retired Americans in at least five states will deliver birthday cakes to members of Congress, hold rallies and press conferences to thank supporters of Medicare and to urge other lawmakers to back senior issues.
President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law on July 30, 1965, to provide access to quality, affordable health care for older Americans. Since then, Medicare has been a cornerstone of the health and security of America’s seniors. Today, more than 44 million Americans depend on the program for health care benefits.
Senate Hearings Show Deadly Sugar Blast Was Waiting to Happen
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For years, Imperial Sugar Co.’s Port Wentworth, Ga., sugar refinery was an explosion waiting to happen—and on Feb. 7, a blast at the plant killed 13 people. The explosion apparently was triggered when a metal conveyer bucket hit the side of a metal elevator shaft and created a spark that ignited tons of combustible sugar dust inside the plant.
At a Senate hearing today, government officials, workplace safety experts and an Imperial Sugar Co. executive painted a picture of a dangerous and dirty plant where electrical equipment was nearly encrusted in sugar dust, with dust waist deep in places.
Obama Meets with Buffet, Rubin, Sweeney in Focus on the Economy
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In addressing the challenges facing working families in the nation’s ongoing economic crisis, Sen. Barack Obama met yesterday with a bipartisan group of economic thinkers from the worlds of labor, business, government and academia to discuss what’s wrong with the economy and what steps need to be taken to fix it. AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney was among the attendees at the meeting, who include billionaire investor Warren Buffet and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
Acknowledging the dire state of the economy, Obama sharply critiqued the Bush administration agenda that has left us where we are today. Specifically, he tied the failures in the economy to the fact that wages have been stagnant even as productivity has risen.
Book Event at AFL-CIO: ‘Love the Work, Hate the Job’
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The United States has some of the most productive workers in the world. But in a short-sighted race for the bottom line, employers are cutting costs at the expense of workers, depriving businesses of their greatest asset—their employees.
In his new book, Love the Work, Hate the Job: Why America’s Best Workers Are More Unhappy Than Ever, author David Kusnet tells the stories of workers who like the content of their work—but not their working conditions—at four companies in the Seattle area: Microsoft, Boeing, Kaiser Aluminum and Northwest Hospital. And they are turning to unions to improve the quality of their work.
Kusnet, a visiting fellow at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and former chief speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, will discuss his book tomorrow at the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvania’s Labor 2008 Program in Full Swing
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The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO has kicked its political program into high gear. Last week, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO General Board affirmed its commitment to get out the union vote to elect Sen. Barack Obama and a working family-friendly Congress.
The presidential contest in Pennsylvania was decided by a few percentage points in 2000 and 2004, and it’s a crucial state this year as well. Every vote will count, and a strong, energized union movement will make the difference.
The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO’s Labor 2008 political program already is mobilizing union members across the state through worksite leafleting, door-to-door walks and more. Volunteers around the state are educating union members about Obama’s record and his vision for the country.
Union Members Reach Out to Wisconsin Workers
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Sue Ledbetter, Wisconsin state director for the Labor 2008 program, reports that leafleting continues at worksites all around the state.
In the critical battleground state of Wisconsin, union voters will make the difference this fall, and union volunteers are busy mobilizing for the fall election. At worksites and by going door to door, these volunteers are doing the union member-to-member contact that is essential to a strong, educated union vote. Last week, we leafleted at two different United Steelworkers (USW) worksites in the state: New Page, Local 2-9 in Kimberly, and Campbell Wrapper, Local 2-6050 in De Pere. Union volunteers got the word out on the differences between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain on key issues.
Minimum Wage for California State Employees? Arnie Says Yes
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) wants to terminate the pay of more than 200,000 state workers. Schwarzenegger, according to news reports, could sign an executive order as early as today cutting workers’ pay to the $6.55 an hour federal minimum wage.
But state Controller John Chiang, who issues the paychecks, says he won’t go along with what he calls a “cynical ploy” to win passage of a state budget with deep cuts to working family programs. Schwarzenegger says state workers would receive any lost pay after a budget is approved.
EU Parliament Leader Calls for Global Regulation of Private Equity and Hedge Funds
Heather Slavkin, a senior legal and policy adviser for the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, describes the growing international awareness of the need for global regulation of private equity and hedge funds.
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, a member of the European Parliament and president of the Party of European Socialists, is calling for global regulation of private equity and hedge funds to protect the economy and safeguard the interests of workers, pension funds and other interested parties.
Obama to Bush Administration: Pay Theft Is Illegal
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The Bush administration’s Department of Labor has a clear record of protecting powerful corporate interests at the expense of workers. Sen. Barack Obama is speaking out against this anti-worker record.
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, Obama urges the department to address serious failures in enforcing labor law and demands the Labor Department stop dragging its feet when it comes to protecting workers.
The situation Obama is addressing is a serious one. The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division is launching and completing fewer and fewer investigations of employers refusing to pay minimum wage, overtime or even those alleged to engage in child labor, according to studies by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Another GAO study shows that the Wage and Hour Division isn’t carrying out investigations into wage theft. According to this study, the division has laid off staff, failed to impose civil penalties against bad employers and shut out outside groups from input.
