1% Senators Blocked Consumer Protections for the 99%
Today, obstructionists in the Senate blocked an up-or-down vote on the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Fifty-three senators voted for Cordray, while 45—all Republicans—voted against ending debate on his nomination. Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) voted for Cordray, and Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) voted present.
The new agency, which was created by the Wall Street Transparency and
Accountability Act, is limited in its powers and cannot fully protect
consumers—until a director is confirmed. Which is exactly why 44 Republican senators have no intention of letting any director be confirmed. In May, they signed a letter to President Obama threatening to block any nomination to head the agency.
The 44 GOP senators who would not allow an up-or-down vote on Richard Cordray’s nomination have received millions from Wall Street this year. And they are shameless in admitting their goal is to force “structural changes” that prevent the bureau from doing its job: protecting consumers from Wall Street abuses. This shows just how much Wall Street greed dominates in Washington these days—particularly within the GOP.
Unions Say No to Tea Time in Alaska Senate Race
Alaskan voters couldn’t be facing two more different candidates for the U.S. Senate—Scott McAdams, endorsed by the 49th state’s working family unions, and Joe Miller, backed by the Tea Party and endorsed by Sarah Palin.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says McAdams is a union person.
He understands what union workers go through, he understands what workers go through, period. And I think that he’d be a great voice and a great asset to workers, in Washington, D.C.
Thanks to our friends at The Mudflats for providing this video.
Miller, on the other hand, reports TPM’s Christina Bellatoni:
wants to eliminate the Department of Education, believes the government shouldn’t pay for unemployment insurance and says of climate change on his campaign site that it “may not even exist.”
House Recess Begins, Fight for Employee Free Choice Continues
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Members of the U.S. House return home today for a monthlong recess, and the U.S. Senate is set to adjourn at the end of the week. Back home, lawmakers already are hearing from union activists and our allies in the field who are telling them to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act.
As the AFL-CIO’s Stewart Acuff noted at a rally in Colorado last week, working men and women around the country need to speak out for the freedom to form unions and bargain:
“Victory is in our reach. Turning Around America is up to us…the President can’t do it by himself. It’s up to us to make him a great president. Winning health care for all, creating good jobs and fair trade, and restoring the freedom to organize and bargain are a matter of mobilizing the most effective ground campaign in our history. One and a half million workers signed the Million Member Mobilization, tens of thousands have taken action, it’s up to us to move hundreds of thousands to turn around America, to restore economic health and growth.”
43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers Ratify Pact, and More Bargaining News
Some 43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers of America ratify a revised contract—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.
SETTLEMENTS
CWA, New Jersey: More than 43,000 workers in the largest union representing New Jersey state workers, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), ratified a revised contract that defers a raise and swaps furloughs this year for future vacation days. “During these hard economic times, nothing is more important than protecting vital public services and the jobs of working people,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA’s New Jersey area director.
In the Field: High Momentum for Employee Free Choice Act
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Reports are piling in from around the country from union members and their allies in the faith, civil rights, small business and environmental communities who are helping advance the Employee Free Choice Act and workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
In Maine, the Sierra Club, along with Bill Murphy, director of the University of Maine’s Bureau of Labor Education, held a press conference to announce that the environmental community is strongly in favor of Employee Free Choice, which they say will ensure workers have a voice in how businesses operate in their communities.
In Fort Collins, Colo., the Rev. Daniel Klawitter of Interfaith Worker Justice, led a community meeting in support of the Employee Free Choice Act that helped raise funds for an area food bank. Union members and members of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, joined him in supporting the food bank and the freedom to form unions, which Klawitter said was “the most effective anti-poverty program” available to workers.
Faith Leaders, Working Women Take Action to Support Employee Free Choice Act
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This morning, 20 religious leaders in Hammond, Ind., met with union members from the Northwest Indiana Federation of Labor to talk about the need for the Employee Free Choice Act and sign a letter to Sen. Evan Bayh asking him to support workers’ freedom to form unions.
Today’s breakfast is just a small part of a national effort on behalf of faith communities in support of the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union members, religious leaders, Working America members and a wide range of allies have made their voices heard with prayer vigils and rallies at Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s offices all around Arkansas, including Little Rock, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, Texarkana and El Dorado. They’ve also held vigils in Indiana, including events in South Bend, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, as well as Omaha, Neb., and Missoula, Mont.
Iraq Veteran: My Union Gives Me a Chance in a Tough Economy
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As one of the millions of America’s workers who have been laid off in recent months, Brandon McGuire knows it’s tough going in the current economy. He also recognizes that as a union member, he is better equipped than his nonunion counterparts to survive an economic downturn. That’s why he supports the Employee Free Choice Act: so millions more workers can have a better chance at their freedom to form a union and bargain for a better life.
McGuire, an Army veteran, served a year in Iraq, where his duties included welding projects. He moved to Anchorage, Alaska, after his military service and signed on as an apprentice with Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) Local 367.
A native of Texas, where union membership is relatively low, McGuire had no firsthand knowledge or experience with union workplaces before joining his local union. He now describes himself as 100 percent pro-union and pro-Employee Free Choice because of the job training and financial security union jobs can provide.
24-Hour Vigil Highlights Busy Week of Action for Employee Free Choice
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| Louisiana union members are among the thousands who are rallying in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Supporters of the freedom to form unions and bargain, including faith and civil rights groups as well as union members, are holding a 24-hour vigil outside Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s office to encourage her to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
This vigil, which began last night, is one of more than 200 grassroots events across the nation this week in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. With rallies, roundtables, phone banks and worksite visits, workers are encouraging members of Congress back in their home districts this week to vote in support of workers and a fairer, stronger economy. Senators across the country have received tens of thousands of letters and phone calls from union members and allies, and that momentum is building this week.
Congress Takes a Break—Union Members Heat up Fight for Employee Free Choice
Members of the U.S. Senate and House are returning home this weekend for the Memorial Day recess, and when they get there, union members and our allies will be ready. Over the coming week, thousands will mobilize to ask their members of Congress to quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act and make the economy work for everyone again.
More than 200 recess events will take place across the country in key states like Alaska, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maine, Arkansas and Wisconsin. Union members and a broad coalition of allies will hold a range of events in support of the freedom to form unions and bargain, from 24-hour candlelight vigils to town hall meetings demonstrating the strong grassroots momentum for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union members and supporters of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain also will contact senators directly through letters and phone calls. Working families are expected to deliver 40,000 phone calls and 25,000 hand-written letters to their senators asking them to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
The Fight for Employee Free Choice, in Arkansas and Around the Country
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| Stewart Acuff speaks to the Arkansas AFL-CIO state convention about the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Community members around the country are taking action in support of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain, including small business owners in Madison, Wis., and Trinidad, Colo., as well as religious leaders in Shreveport, La. Union members and allies of workers in Jacksonville, Fla., and Jonesboro, Ark., also are turning out in big numbers for town hall meetings to urge passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Former Rep. Pat Williams, who represented Montana in the U.S. Congress for more than a decade, says the Employee Free Choice Act is critical to restoring a free workforce and a strong economy:
“We have to re-empower workers to bargain collectively with their employers. Who said freedom stops at the workplace door? Who said democracy stops there? People need to have a choice.”
