Pioneer Valley Sets Up Tornado Victim Fund
AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer sends this report from the Pioneer Valley (Mass.) Central Labor Council.
Last week, hundreds, if not thousands, of our friends and neighbors suffered life-changing setbacks as a result of the tornados that devastated our region. To help ease the financial burden on these unfortunate families, the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO‘s charitable organization, the Union Community Fund, is launching a special Tornado Disaster Relief effort.
We hope you and your union will consider a generous donation to our fund our efforts to help our neighbors in this time of need. We encourage you to also please encourage your members to pass the hat and take up a collection at work.
Checks should be made out to the “Union Community Fund” and sent to:
Union Community Fund
640 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Jobless Rate Worsens to 9.1 Percent with Anemic Job Growth
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The nation’s unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent in May, a slight increase from April’s 9 percent rate, according to the latest government figures. The monthly payroll survey shows the economy added just 54,000 net jobs overall last month, down from the average 220,000 in the previous three months. While the private sector added 83,000 jobs, even that anemic growth was tempered by disappearing government jobs. Local government employment has dropped by 446,000 since its peak in September 2008.
Today’s numbers follow Wednesday’s announcement that the week ending May 28 was the eighth straight week that more than 400,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits.
Manufacturing saw a loss of 5,000 jobs, after April’s addition of 29,000. Overall, there has been a small net gain of manufacturing jobs after hitting a low-point in December 2009. Since January 2010, the United States has added back roughly 243,000 manufacturing jobs through last month. But there is still a net loss of more than 800,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2009.
Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), says:
This slowdown shows that we cannot take growth in manufacturing for granted. Our nation urgently needs a jobs and manufacturing strategy, yet it is nowhere on the agenda of this Congress. We have put together a business-labor plan that enjoys broad support from voters. Now we hope Washington will start to listen. We will never rebuild our economy without strengthening manufacturing in our nation.
Third Recall Filed Against Wisconsin Republican Senators
The drive to recall Wisconsin Republican state senators who voted for Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) bill to kill collective bargaining rights for public workers hit another target today when recall supporters filed more than 23,000 signatures on a recall petition for Sen. Luther Olsen of Ripon.
The state’s Government Accountability Board needs to find just 14,700 of the signatures are valid before it certifies the recall. Democrats would need to win three seats to take control of the Senate, and this filing is the third so far. Grassroots activists have already collected enough signatures to force recall elections against Sen. Dan Kapanke of La Crosse and Sen. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac.
Karen Hickey, AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer at the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, reports that “all three recall petitions have been filed historically fast with an outstanding amount of signatures,”
demonstrating the enormous grassroots support for taking back our government from Scott Walker and his allies who are blindly backing his extreme agenda.
Putting Labor on D.C.’s Map
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Forget a tip of the hat. A huge round of applause is in order for Chris Garlock, editor of the Metropolitan Washington Council’s Union City, for launching an interactive labor map.
The just-launched D.C. Labor Map lets users find current and historic labor sites in Washington, D.C., along with union hotels, restaurants, international and local union organizations and labor art.
Whether you are using it for a virtual tour of labor in the nation’s capital or planning a real-life walking tour, the map offers a bunch of great information.
Click on the legend prompt to view and choose a category from a list that includes labor art, union struggles, union restaurants and historic makers. Selecting “labor art” will pop up 11 sites around town where you can take in murals, sculptures and other artwork dedicated to workers and their jobs.
