Working Families Win in U.S. House Elections
 |
| Northeast New York Central Labor Council President Betty Lennon, New York State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes and union members get out the vote for Bill Owens. |
 |
| New York State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes and Rep.-elect Bill Owens |
Last night, on opposite ends of the country, union members helped send two new fighters for working families to Washington. Bill Owens won in a closely contested battle in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, while John Garamendi won a strong victory in California’s 10th District.
Both U.S. House seats were open after ex-Reps. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) and Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) left Congress to take positions in the Obama administration.
The New York State AFL-CIO and affiliated unions united behind Owens’ candidacy as he faced off against Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.
Hoffman, heavily funded by corporate-friendly, right-wing groups like the Club for Growth and the anti-health care “astroturf” group FreedomWorks, drove a pro-worker moderate Republican out of the race, using health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act as scare tactics.
Upstate New York voters rejected these attacks and chose a candidate who supports workers and focused his campaign on job creation and the needs of the 23rd District. Owens is the first Democrat elected to represent this northernmost region of New York in more than a century.
Working Families Take Health Care Reform Message to Capitol Hill
 |
|
With the Senate poised to consider comprehensive health care reform soon, more than 100 workers and activists from two dozen states converged on Capitol Hill yesterday to remind lawmakers that the union members and working families who worked so hard on their campaigns last fall are the same people who strongly back health care reform.
They delivered more than 42,000 personally written letters from members of unions and Working America calling on Congress to pass comprehensive health care reform legislation.
California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski was encouraged after his meetings with members of the Golden State delegation. He said both senators and a large number of representatives, including Blue Dog Democrats, are coming out in support of health care reform.
San Francisco’s Public Option a Model for America’s Health Care Reform
 |
||||
|
||||
Steve Smith, director of communications at the California Labor Federation, highlights a real-life example of public option at work.
For most working families, the idea of a health care public option is just a notion. But in San Francisco, it’s reality. And it works.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney joined San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski and San Francisco Labor Council Executive Director Tim Paulson at City Hall yesterday to urge Congress to pass health care reform with a strong public option, touting the success of the city’s universal health care system.
The “Healthy San Francisco” program, which was passed with critical support from labor, is a one-of-a-kind example of a public option of health insurance. Low-income workers are able to access subsidized health insurance while those with higher incomes are given an option to buy into a public health insurance option at reduced costs than they would face in the private market.
Union Movement Mourns Jack Henning
 |
||||
|
||||
The union movement is mourning the loss of longtime California labor leader Jack Henning, who died yesterday at age 93. Henning served as executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation for 26 years before his retirement in 1996.
Henning’s leadership produced some of the great milestones in California labor history. Almost immediately after his election to the top office of the state federation, he joined the struggles of the United Farm Workers, campaigning successfully for passage of the historic Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975.
Henning also led the campaign to restore Cal-OSHA in 1988, a year after it was abolished by then-Gov. George Deukmejian, and he spearheaded a successful drive to reform the state’s workers’ compensation system.
Unions, Allies: Once in a Lifetime Opportunity to Create Jobs of the Future
California Labor Federation communications organizer Rebecca Greenberg reports on the organization’s Building Workforce Partnerships conference.
Economic stimulus, green jobs, energy efficiency…these are terms workers have been hearing quite a bit about lately. This week in San Jose, Calif., unions, government, business and environmentalists joined leading economists at the California Labor Federation’s annual Building Workforce Partnerships conference to address the potential of jointly addressing economic security, energy independence and government stimulus to build a fundamentally stronger economy for America’s workers.
Thousands Join in Candlelight Vigils Across California
 |
| Union activists and allies held candlelight vigils for the Employee Free Choice Act across California. |
California Labor Federation Communications organizer Rebecca Greenberg reports on the recent statewide vigils in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
More than a thousand California workers, interfaith leaders, community allies and elected officials kicked the California campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act into overdrive in recent days by participating in statewide overnight vigils. The message was clear to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the only Democrat in California not currently signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill: Now is the time to reform labor law and rebuild the middle class.
In Los Angeles, California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski joined Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo for a noontime kick-off rally on Wednesday with more than 100 workers and community allies. The vigil focused on building a better future for young workers and the next generation by passing the Employee Free Choice Act. Vigil participants also reflected on social justice campaigns of the past and how they relate to today’s struggle. Several other community groups, including the Sierra Club, came out to voice their support for Employee Free Choice.
Economic Recovery Package Brings Hope to California Workers
California Federation of Labor Communications Director Steve Smith describes how President Obama’s economic recovery package is key to bringing much-needed jobs to the state’s economy.
For California construction and building trades workers, there hasn’t been much good news lately. The state’s unemployment rate jumped to 10.3 percent this week. The housing industry has taken a beating as the economic crisis worsens. State infrastructure projects were idled by the California budget stalemate.
Republican Senators Say They Will Hold Up Solis Nomination
With unemployment at the highest level in decades, Senate Republicans are saying they will hold a vote on the nomination of a key Cabinet member in the fight to restore jobs in this ailing economy. Some conservative lawmakers are vowing to hold up a vote on Rep. Hilda Solis’ (D-Calif.) confirmation as labor secretary because of their opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which she supports.
Solis, who comes from a union family, has been a champion of workers for more than 15 years combined in Congress and the California legislature, where she was the first Latina elected to the state Senate.
Solis backers have created two Facebook groups in support of her nomination: ”Americans for Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor,” and “1,000,000 Strong For Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor“—and each has some 300 members who signed up in the past few days. The groups give information on how to contact your senators to urge that Solis be confirmed. Sign up for both is open to any Facebook member.
