RTW Circus Continues in New Hampshire

AFL-CIO communications staffer Nora Frederickson sends us this cross-post from Blue Hampshire.

Full of tea party zeal after voting to repeal lunch hours for all employees, the House Labor Committee took up a new so-called right to work “RTW” bill today over the loud objections of union members, business owners and faith leaders.

As state House Speaker William O’Brien (R) did last fall, Labor Committee Chairman Gary Daniels invited political candidates to stump on the floor of the House in return for their endorsement of RTW. Gubernatorial candidates Ovid Lamontagne and Kevin Smith did the honors.

Never mind that business owners and labor leaders think it’s time to move on from the contentious battle over RTW that shook the Legislature last year.

As Mark MacKenzie, president of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO, testified:

We have lower poverty levels, higher graduation rates, and higher wages than any right-to-work state. We have negotiated thousands of successful collective bargaining agreements. This law is not broken. There is no need for right-to-work.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Ariz. Update: ‘Focus on Real Priorities,’ Union, Community Leaders Today at Capitol

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at DemocraticDiva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

It’s time for us to say enough! Let’s not let these bills see the  light of day. Let’s focus on the real priorities of the state of Arizona—jobs,  the economy, health care, education. Those are the priorities of Arizona, not the type of legislation that is pushed by the Goldwater Institute.

Gallardo went on to demand that the Goldwater Institute register as a lobbyist, as every other organization that influences legislation in Arizona has to do. (Watch his speech here.)

Some local reporters covering the press conference were surprised that much more ire was directed at the Goldwater Institute and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) than at Republican state senators. This might serve as a cue to them to go after these powerful groups with more vigilance than they’ve shown up to now.

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Jobless Facing UI Cut Off Ask Lawmakers ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’

by Mike Hall, Feb 9, 2012

Starting tomorrow and continuing next week, jobless workers in 15 states who face cut off of their unemployment insurance (UI) Feb. 29 will ask members of Congress to “Walk a Mile in My Shoes.”

The mobilization is aimed at lawmakers who are back in their districts for the President’s Day Recess that begins  tomorrow, and it’s a  partnership between USAction, the AFL-CIO, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), community and other groups.

If the Feb. 29 deadline passes without Congress taking action to extend UI coverage, 1.2 million jobless workers will lose their benefits by the end of March and 3.3 million by the June. (Click here tell your congressional representatives to act now.)

In a telephone press conference today, Gary Polvinale, an Ohio IT manager who has been out of work nearly a year said,

Congress is doing something corporations do, exploiting and bullying the helpless. We need them to act now So we can survive until till can find something. Read the rest of this entry »

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Occupy CPAC, Summit of the 1%

by Mike Hall, Feb 9, 2012

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) will get a warm labor union, progressive welcome tomorrow at its annual conference in Washington. D.C., and we will keep you updated with a live Twitter feed ( hashtag #OccupyCPAC ) courtesy of  Metropolitan Washington [D.C.] Council AFL-CIO.

The Who’s Who of the 1 percent–like Mitt Romney, Scott Walker, Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, Ann Coulter, Grover Norquist and other stars of the extremist rogue’s gallery–will be on hand.  But so will representatives of the rest of us, the 99 percent, with big puppets, inflatables, chants, songs and of course tents to Occupy CPAC.

If you happen to be in the D.C. area tomorrow and want to join in the fun, events are set for noon and 5 p.m. (EST) at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (2600 Woodley Rd. at Connecticut Ave. N.W.). The nearest Metro stop is the Woodley Park station.

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iSlaves: Forced Labor Key to Apple Profits

by Tula Connell, Feb 9, 2012

Rotten apple

More horrors out now from the Chinese serf-labor system involved in creating Apple products like iPads, iPhones and Kindles. It turns out many of the workers churning out millions of the devices in unendurable conditions at Foxconn and other factories are also forced laborers as young as 16.

The Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) says, “Legions of vocational and university students, some as young as 16, are forced to take months-long “internships” in Foxconn’s mainland China factories assembling Apple products,” according to Alternet. One study found in some Foxconn factories, which employ 1.3 million people in China, up to 50 percent of the workforce were students.

SACOM and others report that schools teaching journalism, hotel management and nursing threatened students with failure if they did not take a factory position. The Chinese government-owned Global Times noted that “automotive majors at a vocational school in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, were also forced to serve as interns for Foxconn before they were given their diplomas.

Apple’s formula for mammoth profits, which topped $13 billion last quarter, depends upon a steady supply of forced laborers who are put through a torturous training to accustom them to the factory working conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

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Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice

Amy Masciola, a union campaign consultant, sends us this.

More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co. locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week, Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in Ontario, just over one month after locking out 500 workers. Rio Tinto Alcan locked out 750 workers in Quebec Jan. 1. HealthBridge locked out 800 nursing home workers in Connecticut in December. As Laura Clawson at the Daily Kos notes, “For evidence of a war on workers, look no further than the rise of the lockout.”

Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times wrote recently that the number of strikes has dropped precipitously in the past two decades, while lockouts now “represent a record percentage of the nation’s work stoppages.” Greenhouse quotes professor Gary Chaison of Clark University, who says:

This is a sign of increased employer militancy. Lockouts were once so rare they were almost unheard of. Now, not only are employers increasingly on the offensive and trying to call the shots in bargaining, but they’re backing that up with action—in the form of lockouts.

Unions and our allies are fighting back against this war on workers. Beginning Feb. 22, locked-out workers from American Crystal Sugar Co. and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. will start a 1,000-mile journey across America’s heartland. They will visit six states in six days, taking part in rallies, fundraisers and other actions with local union members and allies. Locked-out workers will take their message to supporters—and call out the perpetrators of the war on workers. Read the rest of this entry »

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Trumka: Foreclosure Settlement ‘First Step’ to Housing Crisis Solution

by Mike Hall, Feb 9, 2012

The $25 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the nation’s biggest banks, announced this morning by federal and state officials, is a “step in addressing the housing and foreclosure crisis that plagues our country,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

The banks broke the law by railroading homeowners through the foreclosure process. Today’s settlement provides compensation for foreclosure victims without requiring individuals to waive their legal claims. While banks must be made to pay more to help homeowners, the settlement includes needed principal write-downs so homeowners can stay in their homes.

The deal with the five banks settles potential charges against the banks for fraudulent practices, including improper foreclosures by “robo-signing” foreclosure documents. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the settlement moves toward “righting the wrongs that led to our nation’s housing-market collapse and economic crisis.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Mine Workers Help Power America

by Mike Hall, Feb 9, 2012

Check out this video from the Mine Workers (UMWA) showing coal miners providing the energy that powers America.

We are proud of who we are and what we do. We power America and make a difference for our communities every day. We’re working families—just like yours.

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New Hampshire Lawmakers Try to End Worker Lunch Breaks

by Tula Connell, Feb 8, 2012

Charles Dickens’s tales have nothing on New Hampshire lawmakers. According to American Progress, the Republican-controlled legislature is proposing to do away with a state regulation requiring employers to give workers time to eat lunch. After all, they argued, employers will do so anyway out of the goodness of their hearts.

Like Walmart maybe? Nope. Back in 2005, Walmart was forced to pay $172 million for denying workers their lunch breaks. California’s Embassy Suites? No, again. California ordered Embassy Suites to pay workers tens of thousands of dollars for forcing them to skip breaks.

Starving workers on the job. What a novel 19th century concept.

As the Dickens’s orphan begged the headmaster, his hands outstretched with an empty bowl:

Please sir, may I have more?

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Florida Protesters Greet Wisconsin’s Walker

This is a cross-post by Karen Hickey, communications director at the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.

Working families in southwest Florida are standing in solidarity with Wisconsin workers and protesting Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) visit to Naples. Walker spoke this morning at the Ritz-Carlton resort in Naples, Fla., as part of the James Madison Institute think-tank luncheon.

The protesters in the Sunshine State are shining a light on Walker’s attacks on middle-class families. WZVN, a local news station, is reporting that:

Protesters are lined up to express their disapproval of the embattled governor…at Vanderbilt Beach and Airport Pulling. They say Walker is in town trying to raise money to defeat the recall election he faces in Wisconsin.

The timing is perfect, says Wally Ilczyszyn, president of Florida’s Painters & Allied Trades (IUPAT).

Walker’s at the Ritz-Carlton for a $500-a-plate luncheon because he can’t find enough money in his home state to fight against his recall. So he has to come here. Read the rest of this entry »

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