Archive for August, 2009
Trumka: Unions Key to Creating New Middle Class
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As the nation works to recover from recession and move into the decades to come, will we simply re-create the old economy or we will build a healthy new economy for the 21st century? And what role will the union movement have in answering that question? These issues were the subjects of a conversation with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka this morning.
In an address sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Trumka discussed health care, the Employee Free Choice Act, economic recovery and the future of unions. (You can read Trumka’s speech here.)
We’re not going to get ahead by mimicking the mistakes of the past and re-creating the cycles of debt bubbles and busts, Trumka said, but by giving workers the chance to earn their way into the middle class.
AFSCME Highway to Health Care Ends Tour, Fight for Reform Gears Up
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Health care reform, embodied in the Senate bill crafted by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and H.R. 3200 in the House, will give patients the care they need when they need it and allow doctors the opportunity to provide that care, says Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, president-elect of the National Physicians Alliance.
Arkoosh told a crowd of nearly 300 in front of the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C., celebrating the last stop of AFSCME’s Highway to Health Care Reform tour:
Sen. Kennedy’s and the House bill will give our patients the peace of mind that the health care they need will be there when they need it. As a doctor, it means it will be easier for me to take care of my patients…spend more time in the exam room listening to them instead of fighting on the phone with the insurance companies.
Jobless Workers Can’t Feed Their Families While States Sit on $3 Billion in UI Funds
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With unemployment at its highest levels in decades, it’s unbelievable that some $3.1 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits included in the federal economic recovery package is not being spent because 23 states have not yet revised state rules covering jobless benefits.
Today’s USA TODAY reports that nearly 350,000 out-of-work Americans could get benefits if all those states revamp their unemployment systems to qualify for money that is included in the federal stimulus package.
In 11 of the states, Republican governors or legislatures have refused to modify the rules governing unemployment insurance to qualify for about $1.7 billion in stimulus funds. The other 12 states have made only some of the changes, not applied for the funds or not taken legislative votes on the changes. Although the states have until 2011 to change the laws, the reality is that many states need the money now and the workers really need it now.
CWA, AT&T Reach Third Tentative Agreement
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) reached another tentative agreement with AT&T. The three-year deal covers nearly 8,000 technicians and service representatives who were part of AT&T Corp., the company acquired by SBC Communications Inc. in 2006. SBC subsequently changed its name to AT&T.
The workers’ main goal in the bargaining was job security. The tentative agreement—the third with AT&T since negotiations began in February—offers the same 8.75 percent hourly wage increases and benefit provisions as those gained for employees at AT&T Midwest and AT&T West. In a statement, CWA Vice President Ralph Maly says:
This agreement achieves our members’ key goal which was to improve employment security and safeguard jobs. It maintains workers’ standard of living and safeguards quality health care. In these extremely difficult economic times, these are tremendous achievements.
UAW Fighting to Keep California Assembly Plant Open, and More Bargaining News
The UAW, along with community members and lawmakers are fighting to keep open the NUMMI assembly plant in California—and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,100 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
UAW, GM/Toyota: In California, members of the UAW, along with lawmakers and the community, rallied to keep open the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. vehicle assembly plant. NUMMI, which employs some 4,700 people, is a 25-year-old joint venture between General Motors and Toyota. GM announced in June that it would withdraw from the partnership.
Montana Company Demanded Workers Sign Document Saying They Wouldn’t Form a Union
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In Great Falls, Mont., a former manager has come forward to say that her company tried to compel workers to revoke their own freedom to form a union.
The Great Falls Tribune reports that Keri Gorder, who spent eight years working at the Cost Cutters hair salon in Great Falls, left after being asked to pressure employees into signing a one-page agreement that would nullify future attempts to form a union. The hair salon’s parent company, Regis Corp., wanted to compel employees to sign the agreement, which would nullify any future authorization on their part to form a union and get the chance to bargain for a better life.
Authorization cards are a standard, legal feature of both the majority sign-up process and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process. They’re how workers show their interest in forming a union, and they’re an essential part of exercising this basic freedom. When a corporation—which controls workers’ jobs, hours and working conditions—tries to intimidate employees into revoking their own rights, it’s a sign of a broken system.
Take Part in Labor in the Pulpits this Labor Day Weekend
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Each Labor Day weekend, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and the AFL-CIO sponsor the Labor in the Pulpits /on the Bimah /in the Minbar program, which highlights the shared goals of the faith community and the union movement for a new vision for justice in our communities.
As part of Labor in the Pulpits, union members serve as guest speakers in congregations to speak out about their faith, work and the union movement. Some AFL-CIO central labor councils use this program as an opportunity to host a Faith and Labor meeting in which participants discuss important issues facing workers in their local communities and reaffirm their shared commitments to social justice. This year, more than 1,000 faith congregations are participating in Labor in the Pulpits.
Over the years, the Labor in the Pulpits program has helped thousands of congregations focus their Labor Day weekend services on the injustices facing low-wage workers and the religious community’s efforts to support those workers’ struggles for living wages and family-sustaining benefits.
Electrical Workers Member Wins Chevy in Sportsmen’s Alliance Drawing
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The next time Kent Erickson, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26 in Washington, D.C., heads out for fishing on the Chesapeake Bay or deer hunting in the Maryland mountains, he can haul his gear in a brand new Chevy Silverado.
Erickson is the winner of a drawing for all members of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) held earlier this summer. The truck giveaway was one of several ongoing promotions USA runs for its nearly 20,000 members.
General Motors and its Chevrolet division are partners with the USA, the hunting, fishing and conservation club for union members, retirees and their families, and the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP).
‘The Last Truck’: HBO Looks at Plant Closing Through Workers’ Eyes
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Just two days before Christmas 2008, workers at the General Motors assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio, watched their livelihood and the lifeblood of their town dry up as their plant shut its doors for good. A new HBO documentary, “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,” which first airs on Labor Day, offers poignant personal testimony about the impact of the decline of American auto manufacturing on this tight-knit Ohio community.
While the layoffs of the 2,500 workers and 200 management staff was bad enough, thousands more of their friends, neighbors and family would lose their jobs as businesses that serviced the plant—suppliers, restaurants, retail stores—were forced to close for lack of business.
In the documentary, “Popeye,” a toolmaker, simply states what the decline of manufacturing means to him and to the American Dream:
My grandson will have a worse life than I had.
HBO’s press release about the documentary points out the real extent of the damage from the closing:
…the GM workers lost much more than jobs, including the pride they share in their work and the camaraderie built through the years. To the natives of Moraine and the greater Dayton area, General Motors wasn’t just a car company—it was the lifeblood of the community.
Union Members Must Make Voices Heard in Health Care Debate
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Last night, John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor, attended a health care reform town hall meeting held by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.). Like many around the nation, it became quite contentious. Here’s the e-mail Durso sent to the members of his local union, RWDSU/UFCW Local 338, describing the meeting and the need for union members to take political action.
Last night I, along with many of our staff, attended a town hall meeting in Brookhaven hosted by Congressman Tim Bishop. There were 800 people inside and 500 people outside—quite a turnout. As most of you have seen or read, it is a hot topic and one that brings out strong feelings on both sides.
What truly troubles me is the lack of manners, the hatred and the misinformation that was spread on this subject. There was at least one shoving match, a near fight and because I did not live in the district and let that be known. I was shouted down, quite a disruption developed and Tim had to ask me to yield the floor. One guy wanted to fight, to which I asked him to step up but he chose not to join me at the microphone. It was quite a night; very interesting. Tim Bishop showed nothing but class and grace under very uncomfortable conditions.
