Archive for November, 2008
Colombian Flower Workers Fired for Seeking Union. You Can Help
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Six workers at the Mongibello flower plantation just outside of Bogotá, Colombia, were illegally fired earlier this month for trying to form a union. The actions, which are illegal under Colombian law, are just another example of the lax enforcement of labor laws in that country that must be addressed before a free trade agreement with Colombia can be considered.
All six workers—José Alexander Montenegro, José Abel Rincón, Samuel Rico, Juan Bautista López, Milton Páez and Sergio Fabián Bossa—had worked on the flower plantation for more than 15 years each. The workers decided to contact one of Colombia’s labor federations, the CUT, to talk about organizing a union. When management at the plantation discovered their plans, the six workers were immediately fired.
You can take action now to help these workers. Click here to tell management of the Mongibello plantation that illegal firings are unacceptable and to respect the labor rights of all workers employed by their company.
‘New Green Deal’ Focus of Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference
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Just weeks after the Obama administration and the new Congress take office—with the economy as the top priority—more than 2,000 union, environmental, business and government activists and leaders will take part in the 2009 Good Jobs Green Jobs National Conference.
The Feb. 4–6 conference in Washington, D.C., is coordinated by the Blue Green Alliance, the partnership of the United Steelworkers (USW), Communications Workers of America (CWA), Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
It will focus on transforming the struggling economy through a wide range of environmental investments in green technology, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Conference organizers say the goal is to develop a “New Green Deal” that would create jobs, increase energy independence, reduce global warming and expand the clean energy and green technology markets.
A Falsie Would Fit Corporate Hack Rick Berman—Cast Your Vote Now
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Corporate lobbyist Richard Berman really should get the recognition he deserves for his PR campaigns that have slammed Mothers Against Drunk Driving on behalf of the alcohol industry and encouraged pregnant women to eat potentially mercury-laden tuna at the behest of the seafood industry.
Now, he can—with your help.
Each year, the Center for Media and Democracy/PR Watch sponsors the “Falsies Awards” contest to shine an unflattering light on those responsible for polluting our information environment—you know, those high-paid corporate mouthpieces who have truth-telling issues. Berman is one of several nominees for a Falsie.
Berman most recently has spent his time—and millions in corporate cash—on a deceptive ad campaign to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. As our friends at PR Watch describe his anti-worker, anti-union media campaign:
Corporate lobbyist Rick Berman was busy throughout 2008, though his sustained and frequent use of front groups over the years may earn him a Lifetime Achievement Falsie. As the U.S. elections approached, Berman’s Center for Union Facts lobbied against labor rights legislation, claiming it would allow “union bosses” to “use coercion.”
Giving Thanks—and Taking Action
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Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice and author of Wage Theft in America, urges us to put the meaning of Thanksgiving into action. (Our interview with Bobo on wage theft also can be read here.)
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is an official day to give thanks for all we have and all we can do. It is a time to relax with friends and family. Unlike some other holidays, there are few shopping expectations, house decorating requirements or religious service responsibilities. And aside from my butter-laden cooking, Thanksgiving is a day of relaxing, giving thanks and reflecting.
But the opportunity to relax, give thanks and reflect upon all we’ve been given helps us discern how we can do more or be more effective in our work for justice. Giving thanks is not a meaningless gesture. Giving thanks stops our complaining about things we want while others lack things they need. Giving thanks compels us to figure out how we can use the gifts and resources we’ve been given to help those most in need.
Railway Workers Receive Hazmat Training at Labor College
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More than 180,000 pounds of highly toxic materials are transported on America’s rails every day. Though some railway workers have been trained in handling these materials safely, thousands more still lack even the basic training needed. That’s about to change through an ambitious training program at the National Labor College (NLC), funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration recently awarded the NLC a $1.3 million grant for an intensive program to train railway workers in the handling and transporting of hazardous materials (hazmat), including dangerous chemicals and radioactive substances.
Global Wages Decline; U.S. Income Gap Worst of Developed Countries
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The global economic crisis will lead to deep cuts in the wages of millions of workers worldwide in the coming year, according to a report published today by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Meanwhile, wage inequality in the United States between the top 10 percent and bottom 10 percent income brackets is the highest of any developed economy.
The report, Global Wage Report 2008/09, warns that wages are likely to fall worldwide and exacerbate an already unacceptable level of inequality. Based on the latest growth figures from the International Monetary Fund, the ILO forecasts the global growth in real wages will at best reach 1.1 per cent in 2009, compared to 1.7 per cent in 2008.
Labor Department Lies
The Bush administration hasn’t even packed its bags, and already we hear the first of what undoubtedly will be an ongoing string of revelations about how U.S. workers and taxpayers have been deceived over the past eight years by the Bush Labor Department.
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released yesterday finds the Labor Department gave Congress false numbers on cost savings it supposedly was incurring by hiring outside contractors.
As TobyWollin at Firedoglake writes:
President George W. Bush’s Labor Department misled Congress in an effort to prove outsourcing jobs to private companies was more efficient than assigning the jobs to government employees, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Monday.
You Can Help Send Jim Martin to the Senate
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There’s only a week to go before the Dec. 2 runoff election in Georgia that could send Jim Martin, a champion of workers, to the U.S. Senate and send incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss packing. You can still take part by helping Martin raise the funds he needs to get out the message and get out every vote in this critical election.
This election will absolutely make a difference in the ability of Congress to enact a real pro-worker agenda. We can help Martin get to the Senate and cast votes in favor of creating new jobs, expanding affordable, high-quality health care coverage and ensuring the freedom to form unions—or we can watch Chambliss go back to Washington and continue his efforts to block the change working families desperately need.
Stakes High as Auto Plan Deadline Approaches
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The nation’s Big Three automakers face a Dec. 2 deadline to bring to Congress a detailed plan on how they would use federal funds to turn the industry around.
Economists, executives, union leaders and President-elect Barack Obama have said bankruptcy is not an option because of the devastating consequences to workers and retirees and to the U.S. economy.
The stakes are high. Should the auto industry collapse, more than 3 million jobs would be lost; pension and health care benefits would be cut for 1 million retirees, spouses and dependents; and thousands of other businesses—dealers, suppliers and others—would be threatened.
To find out ways you can take action to help save millions of auto jobs, click here.
U.S. Government Using Rusty Tools to Watch Development Money
One way President-elect Obama can make the federal government more efficient and effective is by adopting practices already used by state and local governments to ensure that companies receiving economic development subsidies are held accountable for creating jobs and protecting the environment.
A report, Uncle Sam’s Rusty Toolkit, released recently by Good Jobs First, together with the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, Green for All, the National Employment Law Project and the Partnership for Working Families, examines five large, commonly used federal programs that together pump more than $8 billion into the economy each year.
The report found that all five of the federal programs are far behind similar state and local programs when it comes to having rules in place to make sure taxpayer money is being spent for what it was intended. Local governments also have created better strategies to use economic development money to address climate change issues, the report says.
