Archive for October, 2008
Report: Labor Department Double Standard Lets Union-Busters Off Hook
In a classic case of a double standard, the Bush administration’s Labor Department is harassing, discrediting and trying to weaken unions by requiring them to file extremely detailed financial reports while letting companies that use labor consultants (better known as union-busters) off the hook from filing required reports on how much they paid the “consultants.”
Companies that have not filed the required forms include such notorious anti-union firms as Fortuna, the Taiwan-based owner of the Hilton Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport, the only hotel in the area that refuses to abide by a city ordinance to pay its employees a “living wage.” And then there’s Maryland-based Case Farms Chicken, which spent more than $200,000 to assist in blocking union organizing efforts at its poultry farms and plants in North Carolina and Ohio.
McCain’s Health Care Proposal Doesn’t Have a Heart
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We’ve all felt our hearts beat faster when the doctor’s delivering the diagnosis. Now the tests are back on Sen. John McCain‘s health care plan—and they’ll send anyone’s heart racing.
In a new commercial (see video) from the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) and Health Care for America Now! (HCAN), a patients ‘s heartbeat goes from a steady thump-thump to a rapid thumpity-thumpity as the doctor delivers the bad news about McCain’s health care plan.
He wants to tax the health care you get from your employer.
He wants to get rid of employer-based insurance, the insurance most people have.
He wants everyone to negotiate individually with the insurance companies.
The insurance companies won’t be required to cover anyone with pre-existing conditions.
Boeing Engineers Begin Talks; Machinists Prepare to Vote on New Pact
As striking members of the Machinists (IAM) prepare to vote on a tentative contract with Boeing Co., the company’s engineers and technical workers have begun new contract talks.
Negotiations between the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace/IFPTE Local 2001 (SPEEA) and Boeing began Oct. 29, after eight months of disappointing preliminary talks. The first meaningful discussion only recently took place, according to the union.
Says SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth:
Early indications are that these will be very difficult negotiations. Engineers and technical workers are the life’s blood of Boeing, but the current regime at corporate headquarters treats them as mere vendors selling a service. This disrespect has to end.
In New Hampshire, Unions Unite for Obama
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New Hampshire’s union members are coming together in the final days before the election for a massive get-out-the-vote effort aimed at electing Sen. Barack Obama to the White House, Jeanne Shaheen to the U.S. Senate and pro-worker candidates up and down the ballot. Member to member, union volunteers are making the difference that will win in New Hampshire next Tuesday.
In Hooksett, a record number of union members turned out for a rally and door-to-door walk this past weekend.
More than 400 walkers came out for the rally and the walks from across the union movement, including locals of the Laborers (LIUNA), the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) and the Postal Workers (APWU). APWU, IUPAT and LIUNA leaders held a cookout for the volunteers, who hit thousands of doors that afternoon.
Bush Legacy: Homeless Children
Can’t sleep? You’re not alone. An unbelievable nine of 10 U.S. workers are losing sleep over their financial worries, according to a new study released this week.
No wonder. It seems some 30 percent of working families with children earn less than the cost of the basic elements of a decent, no-frills living standard in the area where they live, according to new data by the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
Too bad no one thought to survey some children. It seems more and more of America’s children are homeless. In wealthy Fairfax County outside Washington, D.C., which in recent years boasted one of the nation’s highest average income levels, homelessness among students is up about 25 percent from last year, and last year’s figures were an increase from the year before, according to First Focus, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan group.
Obama, Harry and Guy
Gov. Sarah Palin’s “small-town” narrative has just about run its course. Lots, maybe most, of the people I know are from a small town, or their parents or grandparents were from small towns. Of course, they may be from small towns in Italy or San Marcos or Guatemala—not sure if those places would qualify as “the real America” to Palin. My own family is from places like Oskaloosa, Iowa, New England, N.D., and Chillicothe, Mo. I love my small-town Midwestern relatives (even the Republicans, which is probably what most of them are). They are warm, generous people, and I don’t recognize them in the spiteful Palin at all.
But Palin claims the small town folks are the ones who do the hard work and fight the wars. So don’t we work here in the small city of Lynn, Mass.? And how come it seems like every other family in my local union has a kid in the 10th Mountain Division?
Arizona’s Unions: A November Surprise in McCain’s Backyard?
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The race between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain is heating up all around the country in the final six days—and now the race is even tightening up in McCain’s home state of Arizona.
McCain held a lead in polling in Arizona over the summer, and most observers took for granted that he’d win the state he’s represented for 26 years in Congress. But recent polls show the race is tight and McCain’s performance falling. Rasmussen gives McCain a five-point lead, Grove shows him up by only four points and Arizona State University and Zimmerman both show McCain with only a two-point lead, as bmaz nicely notes on Firedoglake. (Worth noting: McCain only got 47 percent in his home-state primary in February.) The contest for Arizona’s 10 electoral votes is very much up in the air.
Be Prepared for Long Lines, Snafus on Election Day
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If early voting is any indication, there will be record turnouts on Election Day. You may need to put your patience and commitment to work on Election Day to deal with the long lines and possible snafus due to unfamiliar voting machines and deliberate false information.
The AFL-CIO and other progressive groups are urging as many voters as possible to vote early to bypass the long lines on Election Day, as well as any potential mistakes or mishaps that could result from voting at the last minute. You’ll also get to vote on your own schedule and avoid all those people who are trying to sway your vote—or turn you away—on Election Day.
Virginia Union Voters Count the Ways McCain Opposes Workers’ Issues
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Virginia union members are fighting hard to win an historic working families victory in the traditional red and Republican commonwealth. Julie Hunter, Labor 2008 state communications director, describes how union members are getting out the vote and sending the message that John McCain’s no friend of workers.
Last week, union members in the Tidewater area got together to “rat” out Sen. John McCain on some of his more questionable policies, proposals and Senate votes. Jim Avery from Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1340 hosted the gathering. (See video.)
Matt Yeargin, a member of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), “ratted out” McCain on veterans’ issues. He said that the group Disabled American Veterans gave McCain just a 20 percent rating, while Sen. Barack Obama earned an 80 percent.
Do You Get Time Off to Vote?
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Time off from work to vote on Election Day varies by state. Below is a partial list of states that mandate time off from work to vote. Know your rights and don’t be afraid to exercise them.
* In Colorado, employees get two paid hours to vote. The employer has the option of designating hours and employees must give one day’s advance notice.
* In Georgia, employees get two paid hours to vote. The employer has the option of designating hours and employees must give “reasonable notice.”
* In Iowa, employees get three paid hours to vote. The employer has the option of designating hours and employees must give one day’s advance notice.
