Biden: Only Unions Can Stop Middle-Class Onslaught
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The union movement is in a fight for its life and the other side is determined to take away our right to exist, Vice President Joe Biden told a gathering of working families.
Speaking at a Labor Day rally yesterday in Cincinnati, Biden said unions are the only non-governmental power with the power and capacity to stop the onslaught against the middle class.
The middle class is under attack because labor is under the most direct assault in generations. The other side has declared war on labor’s house and it’s about time we stand up.
Cincinnati Union Members Help Rebuild School Playground
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Mark Caddo of the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, reports on union members and corporate executives who came together to rebuild a school playground in Walton, Ky.
The Early Learning Center at Walton-Verona Elementary School is nestled between two farms in the rolling hills of Walton, Ky., near Cincinnati. Late last month, with a heat index above 100 degrees, members of the UAW, United Steelworkers (USW), AFSCME and the Laborers (LIUNA) partnered with United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s latest crop of volunteer “loaned executives” from local businesses to help rebuild the school playground. The play area had been destroyed by recent strong storm winds and the wear and tear of two years of daily school ground play.
Report: Ohio Subsidized Job Flight From Hard-Hit Cities to Suburbs
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States regularly give companies tax breaks in return for creating jobs. But in Ohio, officials gave big tax breaks to 164 companies that took their jobs out of the most depressed inner city areas of Cincinnati and Cleveland and moved them to the affluent suburbs, according top a new report.
The companies left behind 14,500 workers in the hardest hit groups in the jobless economy—the poor, long-term unemployed and people of color. The subsidized relocations also fueled suburban sprawl, especially in the Cleveland region, the report says.
TWU Video Highlights Union Members as They Follow King’s Legacy of Service
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The Transport Workers (TWU) have produced a moving video (left) of the AFL-CIO’s annual King Day celebration held last month in Cincinnati.
The conference brought together a diverse group of more than 400 union members from across the country for education, service and activism. In addition to a full day of community service in Cincinnati, the participants also held a candlelight vigil to support the right of home care workers to bargain and to protest a proposal to privatize local sanitation workers’ jobs.
Hundreds Support Ohio Home Care Workers’ Right to Bargain
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Ohio’s Gov. John Kasich and his allies are attempting to blame and punish low-income workers for the state of the economy. Ohio Field Communications Coordinator Andrew Richards reports on a candlelight march and rally in support of the workers’ right to bargain.
The light from hundreds of candles lit up the facade of Cincinnati’s City Hall tonight as workers and community members came out to support home health care and child care providers and to protest Gov. John Kasich’s plan to strip away their rights to bargain for a better life. .
Child care provider Ella Hopkins told the crowd she performs an important service for her clients.
Thousands of working families depend on the public services we provide so they can stay in their jobs and in job training programs. Quality child care is a key part of having and keeping a job. Having a union has enabled us to provide better services and more choices. Every time we hear unions put down, we should hold our heads up. Dr. King did, and so must we.
King Day Gathering Challenges Ohio Gov. Kasich’s Attacks on Workers
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When Teresa Laws takes the bullhorn this evening, she will raise her voice to speak out for some of our most vulnerable citizens: children and those who need constant home care.
Laws will be one of the speakers when more than 400 union and civil rights activists gather at Cincinnati’s City Hall to condemn Republican Gov. John Kasich’s plan to strip Ohio child care and home health care workers of their right to bargain for a better life. The event is part of the annual AFL-CIO King Day celebration, which began yesterday in Cincinnati.
Throughout the conference, activists will send a message that Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of social and economic justice is not dead even in this tough political climate. Workers who provide vital services to the Cincinnati area—including home and child care providers and transit workers—will share their stories and concerns about Kasich and his allies’ attempts to blame and punish low-income workers for the state of the economy.
Candlelight March to Save Collective Bargaining to Highlight King Day Celebration
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More than 400 union and civil rights activists will march to Cincinnati’s City Hall Jan. 14 to condemn the plan recently elected Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) has to strip Ohio child care and home health care workers of their right to bargain for a better life.
The march is part of the annual AFL-CIO King Day celebration Jan. 13-17 in Cincinnati. Through the march and throughout the conference, activists will send a message that Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of social and economic justice is not dead even in this tough political climate. Workers who provide vital services to the Cincinnati area—including home and child care providers and transit workers—will share their stories and concerns about Kasich and his allies’ attempts to blame and punish low-income workers for the state of the economy. The activists will focus on developing strategies to advance the issues of good job creation, immigration reform and economic equality.
Holt Baker: ‘We Want Our Jobs Back’
Shouting, “We want our jobs back,” union members and community allies rallied and marched in Cincinnati yesterday to send Morgan Stanley the message that if it can thrive on taxpayer bailout money, it needs to make sure the community prospers as well. The action was part of the AFL-CIO’s more than 200 “Make Wall Street Pay” events taking place through the end of this week. Speaking to the crowd, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker blasted the selfish actions of the Big Banks:
At a time when young people across the country are worried about whether they will lose their jobs out there when they graduate or whether they will find a job, Morgan Stanley paid—get this—$3 million to their lobbyists to kill financial reform. While Morgan Stanley refuses to lend money to small businesses here in Ohio, they’re keeping the company afloat with $10 billion of your hard-earned money. We bailed out these Big Guys behind us, so now it’s time to take that money and give it to the community and local banks so that bank will start to hire people.
Court Halts Mandatory Furloughs for Hawaii State Workers, and More Bargaining News
Hawaii state workers won their battle against the governor’s proposals to mandate furloughs, 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.
LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
Multiple Unions, Hawaii: Hawaii state workers won their battle against the governor’s proposals to mandate furloughs when a Circuit Court judge ruled the governor does not have the authority to unilaterally order furloughs. Gov. Linda Lingle (R) had ordered state workers to take three furlough days a month for two years starting this month. The governor did not indicate whether she would continue to defend her furlough plans in court. The workers are represented by multiple unions that include Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA-AFSCME), United Public Workers (UPW-Ind.) and Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA-NEA).
Help Locked-Out Workers Get Through the Holidays, and More Bargaining News
Workers locked out at Progress Casting in Minnesota need your help for the holidays—and more news here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES AND ACTIONS
GMP, Progress Casting: Many workers locked out since Oct. 27 from Progress Casting in Plymouth, Minn., are struggling to make ends meet as the holidays approach—and their health care coverage has been cut. Please support our brothers and sisters in their battle. The workers are represented by the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers (GMP) Local 63B, and the union has set up a fund to assist members. Donations may be sent to “GMP 63B Relief Fund,” 2520 Kennedy St., N.E., Minneapolis, MN 55413. Supporters also are asked to write Progress Casting to urge an end to the lockout. Send letters to Bill Bieber (owner) or Tim Meador (general manager), Progress Casting, 2600 Niagara Lane N., Plymouth, MN 55447.
