Channel: In the States
Gone with the Wind: Blowing U.S. Tax Dollars Off Shore
It turns out a Texas windmill farm developer’s request last month for nearly half a billion in stimulus funds to create 2,000 jobs in China doesn’t rank first on the audacity scale.
Shockingly for American taxpayers, and sadly for the staggering 10.2 percent of Americans who are unemployed, it doesn’t even rank second.
That’s because Washington already has doled out hundreds of millions in stimulus funds to foreign renewable energy firms. Of the $1.05 billion in clean energy grants awarded by Washington, D.C., $849 million—84 percent—went to foreign wind companies, according to an analysis by Russ Choma of the Investigative Reporting Workshop. He wrote:
The cash grants were given for the installation of 1,763 megawatts of capacity—1,566 installed by foreign companies. Using the Renewable Energy Policy Project’s own numbers, as many as 4,500 manufacturing jobs may have been created overseas.
Illinois Grad Employees Win Key Contract Demand, Return to Jobs
More than 1,100 graduate student employees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) won protection of their tuition waivers and other key improvements in a tentative deal reached with the university last night following a two-day strike.
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO/UIUC), an AFT affiliate, says in a statement the three-year agreement secures the “four pillars” of the union’s contract demands and “represents a major victory for labor in the state of Illinois and the United States.”
Graduate student Sarah Hennebohl told the Daily Illini, the school newspaper:
Without a tuition waiver, I can’t pay for anything. I can’t even apply for a credit card. I don’t want to have to discontinue my education.
U. of Illinois Grad Employees Strike to Save Tuition Waivers
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More than 1,100 graduate student employees, who teach nearly a quarter of the undergraduate classes at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), went on strike today after the university refused to guarantee continuation of the teaching and grad assistants’ tuition waivers.
The members of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO)/UIUC, an AFT affiliate, say the school’s refusal to include the waivers in bargaining agreement is a precursor to eliminating the tuition waivers that allow most teaching and grad assistants to afford a graduate education. In a statement, the GEO says:
The administration’s refusal to guarantee the continuation of its current tuition waiver practice not only means that the majority of graduate employees could be forced to pay thousands of dollars in additional tuition charges, but also indicates its plans to implement such a change.
By making graduate education untenable for all but the most affluent students, the administration is abandoning its responsibility to ensure access to the highest level of public education for all.
Union Retirees Celebrate Labor History in New Play
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In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, two Missouri union retirees are stepping back into history to look at the lessons of the Great Depression in a new play.
This weekend and next weekend, “1937! One Hell of a Year” is playing at the Just Off Broadway Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. Written by AFGE 1336 retiree Bill Clause and directed by AFT 691 retiree Judy Clause, the show is a musical history of economic, racial and gender struggles during the Depression and the role of the union movement in rebuilding America.
Heroic Pilot Sullenberger to Lead Rose Parade
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Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the heroic pilot who, along with his crew, was responsible for the “Miracle on the Hudson” last January, will serve as the Grand Marshal for the 2010 Tournament of Roses festivities. Sullenberger will ride in the Rose Parade in front of a worldwide television audience and toss the coin before the 96th Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day.
Sullenberger and his crew became international heroes on Jan. 15, 2009, when they safely guided US Airways Flight 1549 to an emergency water landing in New York City’s frigid Hudson River. The Airbus A320’s two engines had lost thrust following a bird strike. No one on board was injured.
Jeffrey Throop, acting president of the Tournament of Roses, says Sully symbolizes the tournament’s theme of “2010: A Cut Above the Rest,” which honors everyday heroes and the effort to always improve.
Captain Sully saved the lives of 155 people and is an excellent example of the everyday American hero. Sullenberger has certainly shown how we can do that and we are honored to have him host the 2010 festivities.
Florida Students Rally for Tobacco Workers
Students at the University of Florida (UF) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) spent last Saturday morning raising their voices for justice for tobacco workers. Chanting ”Justice now!” and holding signs that read “Hasta la Victoria” (”Onward to Victory”), dozens of students marched and rallied on UF’s Gainesville campus.
The students joined members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), the Student/Farmworker Alliance and the National Farm Worker Ministry to demand justice for tobacco farm workers in North Carolina who suffer low wages and poor working conditions at the hands of Big Tobacco.
The rally followed a UF Student Senate resolution calling for a pay increase and better treatment of Immokalee farm workers, who pick the tomatoes used by Aramark, UF’s food provider. “Somebody’s got to fight for social justice,” said UF junior Justin Wooten.
AFGE Member a Hero in Fort Hood Tragedy
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Sgt. Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer at Fort Hood and an AFGE member, is being hailed as a hero for shooting the alleged gunman in yesterday’s bloody rampage at the Army base in Texas.
Today, AFGE released a statement honoring Munley’s “service, courage and commitment.” AFGE President John Gage said Munley “acted with great heroism.” Added Gage:
We offer our thoughts, our prayers, our support and our strength to our brave soldiers and their families, and our brothers and sisters, who are affected by this senseless and pointless tragedy.
Munley, 34, is a member of AFGE Local 1920 and the mother of a 3-year-old. She and her partner were the first to arrive at the Soldier Readiness Center, where Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 31.
Florida Activist Training Draws 200 Union Members
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Joshua Anijar, a zone coordinator for the Florida AFL-CIO, sends us this report on a recent activist training session that drew more than 200 union members from Central Florida Labor Council unions in Orlando late last month.
This was the Central Florida AFL-CIO’s first activist training and it will become an annual event to help equip union members with the skills and training that will help in organizing, political and other mobilizations. We had rank-and-file union members from more than two dozen unions and constituency and other labor groups.
Fernando Redon from Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 606 says the daylong session with speakers and workshops
gave my members a chance to get training on topics that can help them be more active in their local meetings or on the job site, while giving them a larger perspective and education of worker struggle, dignity and justice.
Maine, Washington Defeat Referendums on Tax Extremism
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In Maine and Washington State, voters Tuesday overwhelmingly told the extremist right-wing, anti-worker crowd to take their efforts to cripple state governments and slash vital services and shove them.
In both states, the so-called Taxpayer Bills of Rights (TABOR)—long a part of the reactionary holy grail—went down by double-digit margins. Maine voters said “No” by a 60-40 margin and TABOR was defeated in Washington 55-45. It was the third time in recent years Mainers saw through the hype and said “No” to Tabor.
According the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC):
The Grover Norquist, Club for Growth, Glenn Beck, Tea Party crowd tried to use the bleak budget picture as an opportunity to ratchet down even harder as states look to find the revenue necessary to protect priorities, create jobs, and get their economies going—but voters rejected that failed approach again….
Workers Join AFSCME, Machinists and IUE-CWA in Recent Campaigns
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Some 2,600 family child care providers in New Mexico recently voted to join Child Care Providers Together (CCPT)/New Mexico, an AFSCME affiliate. Meanwhile, aerospace workers in Georgia voted for Machinists (IAM) representation and car rental workers in Boston chose IUE-CWA.
In New Mexico, the child care workers—who care for children whose parents are eligible for state child care assistance—topped off their three-year fight for a voice at work last week when their vote to join CCPT was certified.
In April, Gov. Bill Richardson (D) signed legislation the workers had fought for since 2006 to win the right to join a union to improve their lives and the quality of home child care services in the state.
