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Solis Backs Employee Free Choice, Strong Enforcement of Wage, Safety Laws |
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Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says workers face increasing obstacles when they try to form unions and “we need to restore their freedom to do so.” In testimony before the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee today, Solis looked back at the department’s actions in 2009 and forward to its 2010 agenda.
In reiterating the Obama administration’s support for the Employee Free Choice Act, Solis said:
I will work to ensure that workers’ rights will be protected. In order to
She also told the panel that the Labor Department will continue to “protect workers in the new economy…I am committed to enforcing all employment laws.”
particularly those related to payment of the minimum wage and overtime. Workers deserve this money and it will bring money to low-income households where most of it will be spent and help invigorate local communities.
Staffing levels at the Wage and Hour Division have increased, putting more investigators into the field who have “helped secure millions of dollars in back pay for thousands of workers.”
House Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) pointed to the increased emphasis on workers’ safety since Solis took the reins at the department.
For too long, OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] failed to respond to real dangers and put American workers in needless peril. Recent enforcement actions by the new administration have been a breath of fresh air. Instead of looking the other way, this administration is holding reckless employers accountable.
Solis also outlined how the department used nearly $60 billion in economic stimulus funds to provide a lifeline to unemployed workers and training opportunities—especially in new economy green jobs—for jobless workers.
The finds not only boosted unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by $100 a month, “going a long way to paying for groceries or helping with rent,” but assisted states faced with severe budget shortfalls, “get UI benefits into the hands of their workers.”
Telling the committee the department is “looking to train the workers of the future [and] green jobs play an important role in our economic recovery,” Solis cited two examples where stimulus funds have been put to work.
In creating the criteria for many of the grants discussed above, we required applicants to include partners made up of a diverse set of stakeholders, including labor organizations, public or private employers, and the local workforce system. We also gave special consideration for partnerships that included community-based organizations.
For example, in Minnesota, Honeywell and two chambers of commerce have joined the United Steelworkers (USW) to train workers. Also in Florida, the Broward County Minority Builders Coalition partnered with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 729 to extend green jobs training opportunities.
Click here to read her entire testimony and here for an archived webcast.
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STOP TAXING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS! – To File Or Not To FILE?
Let’s not forget about our brothers and sisters who have lost a job in 2009 and remember we can still help in 2010.
Have you heard about the Jobless STUB Retro 2009 U/B Tax Free Act? STUB is like a paycheck stub and stands for STOP TAXING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS. This bill needs critical AFL-CIO support from the top and mass market media coverage to garner passage. The new legislative reform bill will make all unemployment collected in 2009 tax free not just the current law deduction of an insane $2400 exemption ( about 6 checks). Many should consider waiting before filing to see if this bill passes because maybe most of their income is from unemployment compensation. Besides you have until April 15 2010 to make a decision. Especially if they did not withhold from their checks and they are long term (5.8 million are) then more than likely they have a IRS liability and will face collection. The launch site is called Unemployment Gone Mad and you can check for legislative updates. The bill is a big changer if you drew a lot of benefits. Remember a record 20 million collected some unemployment in 2009. This a big life changer for those millions of union members and others who will face the IRS music. Carl Larson Executive Director of Unemployment Gone Mad….. stay tuned
Wow, big deal — Solis backs the employee free choice act. Is that any solace? So what — really? I back the act too — so what? Is it going anywhere? Let’s stop fooling ourselves. I suggest that we sit out the next couple of elections, save our money, and instead of donating money to the democrats’ campaigns, we save everything and put it into an organizing fund.
Perhaps secretary Solis should also tell congress to raise the minimwage to the poverty wage.The last time both were equal was 1969
We had better get EFCA passed, if we lose in any gubernatorial race, I fear with a stroke of a pen we will lose our collective bargaining laws. Ohio is up for grabs, while we have had some issues with Strickland, he is the only one standing up for collective bargaining. Privatization issues are already appearing in the other candidates ads. We need federal law and we need it now, if not I believe we kiss our collective butts good bye.
Thank God! We have a voice again on the board!! thank you Hilda!
I GOT THIS MESSAGE IN A POP UP. THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN WHAT STEVE FORBES IS SAYING. ALSO NOTE THIS IS SENT TO ME FROM SEN WICKER OF MISS. AND CONGRESSMAN CHILDRESS FROM DIST 1 IN MISS.
DON’T SUPPORT CHILDERS AGAIN. HE IS NOT PRO LABOR. AND WICKER IS DEFINITELY NOT FOR LABOR.
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
AL BRATTON bratton.al@gmail.com
Thank you very much for signing your petition to Sen. Roger Wicker, Sen. Thad Cochran and Rep. Travis W. Childers.
The National Right to Work Committee will deliver your petition to their Capitol Hill offices.
But petitions alone will not be enough to break Big Labor’s stranglehold on Congress. That’s why I hope you’ll read this brief message and agree to make a generous contribution of $10, $25 or $50 to the National Right to Work Committee.
You see, President Barack Obama couldn’t have stated it any more clearly:
“I owe these unions.”
And after spending a cool BILLION dollars to put their political cronies in positions of power in Washington, D.C., the union bosses couldn’t agree more.
They want PAYBACK.
After all, Barack Obama and the rest of Big Labor’s allies have already promised, “What Big Labor wants, Big Labor GETS!”
That’s why the petition you just signed urging your Congressman and Senators to OPPOSE the union bosses’ Card Check Forced Unionism Bill — and the rest of Big Labor’s agenda — is so VITALLY important.
You see, you and I may not have much time.
Now that Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat has flipped and the union bosses see their massive union-label majorities slipping away, they are pushing harder than ever to pass the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill before the 2010 elections.
That’s why I hope you can make a donation today.
As you know, if “Card Check” passes, workers would no longer be able to vote for or against union boss “representation” in a secret ballot election.
Instead, the union bosses would intimidate workers one-on-one — or three-on-one — into signing so-called “union authorization cards.”
And, of course, Big Labor has yet another ticking time bomb hidden in the “Card Check” legislation.
If the union bosses can drag out negotiations with an employer past 90 days by making outrageous demands, Obama Administration bureaucrats will have the power to use this so-called “problem” as an excuse to write a new labor contract and force its terms and conditions of employment upon those workers.
So you see, not only does Big Labor want to strip workers of the right to a secret ballot but also of the right to vote on their own contracts as well!
That’s why your immediate help is so vital.
You see, Big Labor has another trick up its sleeve to make doubly sure “Card Check” is rammed into law.
And that’s a “Trojan Horse” version of the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill that’s supposedly harmless if you believe the laughable stories coming from Big Labor’s mouthpieces in the national media.
But don’t be fooled.
The “Trojan Horse” version is every bit as damaging to American workers, jobs and our fragile economy.
Plain and simple, this is nothing more than a ploy by Big Labor to trick fence-riding Senators into caving in and jumping on board.
In fact, quoted in the People’s Weekly World — an overtly COMMUNIST publication — the AFL-CIO’s Director of Legislation said there would be NO CHANGES “that would undermine the basic thrust of the bill.”
That’s why it’s important that you make a donation IMMEDIATELY.
Should “Card Check” pass, this dangerous power grab would:
*** Force millions of additional working Americans to pay union dues under the threat of losing their jobs, filling Big Labor coffers with hundreds of millions of forced-dues dollars;
*** Dramatically increase the wasteful work rules, hate-the-boss propaganda, slowdowns and bitter strikes that shut down businesses and destroy jobs, ensuring that even more plants are closed and more jobs are shipped overseas or lost forever;
*** Enable Big Labor to pump even more campaign cash into the coffers of its radical, tax and spend politicians like Barack Obama who, in turn, will look for even greater ways to increase the union bosses’ forced-dues empire.
That’s why I’m counting on your help IMMEDIATELY.
You see, a Capitol Hill aide was quoted recently admitting that Harry Reid is planning to move “[Card Check] to the floor and get it passed before anyone can mobilize against it.”
So we can’t wait. We have to mobilize NOW.
The good news is, the National Right to Work Committee has developed a massive plan to stop the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill dead in its tracks.
Grassroots mail. Phone calls. Newspaper, radio and TV ads.
But it’s all VERY expensive — especially since everything is “last minute.”
That’s why it’s vital you act TODAY!
And that’s why I hope you’ll agree to make a generous contribution to help stop the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill.
Now that you’ve signed your petition, please send the Committee a generous contribution of $10, $25, or $50.
This is not a battle you and I can afford to lose.
I’m convinced that with the Committee’s plan to mobilize Americans against the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill, you and I can stop this bill — and the rest of Big Labor’s agenda — dead in its tracks.
But we don’t have much time.
Please make a generous contribution of $10, $25, or $50 — or whatever you can — to help defeat Big Labor’s Card Check Forced Unionism Bill.
It’s vital you act TODAY!
Sincerely,
Steve Forbes
P.S. With their hand-picked majorities quickly losing popularity in Congress, the union bosses are moving fast to pass the Card Check Forced Unionism Bill before the 2010 elections.
That’s why there’s not a moment to waste!
Please make a generous contribution of $10, $25, $50, or whatever you can afford, to the National Right to Work Committee — IMMEDIATELY!
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The National Right to Work Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, single-purpose citizens’ organization dedicated to combating compulsory unionism through an aggressive program designed to mobilize public opposition to compulsory unionism and, at the same time, enlist public support for Right to Work legislation. The Committee’s mailing address is 8001 Braddock Road, Springfield, Virginia 22160. The Committee can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-325-7892. Its web address is http://nrtwc.org/
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