HERvotes Turns Focus to Top Issues for Women in 2012: Health Care and Economy
Listen to the conventional wisdom, and you’ll hear that women have fared better than men in the recent recession. In reality, women are not only shouldering the burden of being the sole breadwinner in more families than ever before, they also account for the majority of public-sector layoffs. Single mothers and women in communities of color continue to suffer rising unemployment of more than 12 percent.
Against that backdrop, the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), as part of a coalition of 40 national organizations, is launching HERvotes, a nonpartisan campaign to mobilize women around the pressing issues of health and economic rights.
While it’s true that the initial rounds of layoffs after the housing bubble burst in 2007 and the stock market crash in 2008 hit men harder than women, men have now benefited significantly from the jobs added to the economy in the ensuing years. As CLUW Executive Director Carol Rosenblatt notes in a post on the HERvotes blog:
According to an analysis by the National Women’s Law Center, women lost 46,000 jobs from December 2007 – June 2009 while men gained 1.26 million.
She also notes that women comprise nearly 64 percent of laid-off public-sector Read the rest of this entry »
Symposium: Building Bridges to Labor’s Community Allies
Marvin Bing, a member of the AFL-CIO Special Committee on Labor-Community Partnerships, sends us this report on a meeting of AFL-CIO constituency groups in Phoenix.
AFL-CIO constituency groups kicked off the “We Are One Moving America Forward” symposium late last week with a series of great speeches by William Lucy, Ben Jealous, George Gresham, Danny Ortega and Judith Browne-Dianis. A resounding theme: “We can’t let the 1 percent trick us into believing we are different—We are the 99 percent, we are one and if we don’t work together on issues that bring us together, we will fall together.” We are the people who fight for working families, we are the people who fight to protect our students, children, seniors and families. We are the labor movement and together with the community we are unbeatable.
Constituency members include: The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), Pride At Work (PAW), Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).
Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, closed the panel, “Organizing in Our Communities: How African Americans and Latinos Have Strength in Unity,” by saying: Read the rest of this entry »
Rallies Call for Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street
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Taking the stage in Lafayette Park across from the White House in front of nearly 1,500 union members and Occupy D.C., supporters, a not-quite Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner look-alike vowed “Never, Never, Never” to impose a Robin Hood (or financial speculation) tax on Wall Street.
He then launched into a nearly undecipherable litany of financial jargon, before German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who supports such tax, snatched the microphone away and accused Geithner of spouting “Avant garde financial psychobabble.”
The tongue-in-cheek skit was a re-enactment of a real press conference in Cannes with Merkel, Geithner and France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also supports a Robin Hood tax. It kicked off the Washington, D.C., rally in support of a financial speculation tax on banks and financial institution to create jobs and rebuild the economy that Wall Street broke. Actions also are scheduled in Los Angeles and San Francisco, too.
Earlier today, nurses from National Nurses United (NNU) held a press conference in Cannes calling for adoption of a Robin Hood tax. The leaders of the world’s top economies—known as the G-20—are meeting there and many of the G-20 leaders support such a tax, but the United States does not.
Yesterday, when a financial speculation tax was introduced in Congress, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who is Cannes for the G-20 meeting and meetings with labor leaders from those nations, said:
“Reckless Wall Street gambling has cost Americans trillions in lost wages, savings and household wealth. It is time to put Wall Street to work rebuilding Main Street with a financial speculation tax to create jobs, rein in speculation and lay the groundwork for long-term economic prosperity.”
At the Washington rally, Karen Higgins, an ICU nurse at the Boston Medical Center, who is co-president of National Nurses United, said a Robin Hood tax on Wall Street:
will put us back on the road to reclaiming Main Street….Its day has arrived.
Nominate A Young Woman Leader for the Edna Award
There’s still time to nominate a young woman leader for the Edna Award given by the Berger-Marks Foundation. The $10,000 award recognizes a young woman whose leadership in the social justice movement has already fueled social change.
The foundation is accepting application online here. The deadline is July 15. You may nominate yourself or be nominated by others. Nominees must be age 35 or younger on December 31, 2011
Linda Foley, president of the foundation and former Newspaper Guild-CWA president, says:
Women are organizing unions; women are leading campaigns for universal health care; and women are demonstrating to young people what social justice means. Our vision for this award is to highlight one young woman’s remarkable work for social change.
Three CLUW Chapters Win Berger-Marks Grants
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Three Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) chapters have been awarded grants by the Berger-Marks Foundation to help them mentor and promote young women activist and trade unionists.
The grants are going to CLUW chapters in Denver, Detroit and Philadelphia. Berger-Marks President Linda Foley says that along with the three winning CLUW chapters,
there were many excellent projects proposed by CLUW chapters from around the country. Unfortunately, we could not fund all of them.
In Denver, the grant for the Mile High chapter will help the chapter’s outreach activities to women unionists and create a network within the Denver area. The foundation will assist with various programs focused on young women, as well as a targeted training to build women’s leadership and networking skills.
Join March 29 Rally to Support Wal-Mart Women
Hundreds of people will show their support outside the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, when the High Court hears oral arguments in what could become the largest class-action civil rights suit in U.S. history.
The Stand with the Women of Wal-Mart rally will take place as the nation’s highest court hears arguments on Wal-Mart v. Dukes to decide whether the case can move forward as a class action.
Ten years ago, a group of women who worked at Wal-Mart stores, led by Betty Dukes, filed a lawsuit alleging the corporation engaged in company-wide gender discrimination by paying women less than men, promoting fewer women to management positions and promoting male employees more quickly. The case, now a class action, has made its way to the Supreme Court.
Wal-Mart is challenging the decision by a lower court to allow the women employed at Wal-Mart stores across the country to join together in a class-action lawsuit to challenge pay and promotion practices that discriminate against women.
AFL-CIO Hosts Free Screening of ‘Triangle Fire’ Film
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Working people around the country are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist fire, which killed 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, many of whom jumped to their deaths from the 10-story factory to escape the fire because they were locked inside.
If you are in the Washington, D.C., area, the AFL-CIO is hosting a free screening of the PBS film, “Triangle Fire,” beginning at noon on March 25 at the AFL-CIO.
The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was the deadliest workplace accident in New York City’s history. After the fire, the women workers’ stories inspired hundreds of activists across the state and the nation to push for fundamental reforms. For some, such as Frances Perkins, who stood helpless watching the factory burn, the tragedy inspired a lifetime of advocacy for workers’ rights. She later became secretary of labor under President Franklin Roosevelt.
Author Stephen King: Why Aren’t the Rich Like Me Paying More Taxes?
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As 15,500 people rallied in 30 cities across Florida yesterday to protest Gov. Rick Scott’s budget, author Stephen King made a surprise appearance at the rally in Sarasota. A resident of Sarasota, King said maybe he should write his next horror novel about Rick Scott. He told the crowd the rich ought to pay more taxes (see video).
You might say, “Hey, what are you doing up there, aren’t you rich?” The answer is, “Thank God, yes.” And you know what, as a rich person, I pay 28 percent tax. What I want to ask you is why am I not paying 50 [percent]. Why is everybody in my bracket not paying 50?
Working people rallying in the “Awake The State” events said they would not stand for Scott giving tax breaks to the rich and corporations while he sticks it to teachers, public employees and other middle-class citizens.
Tell Senate It’s Time to Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act—Now!
Time is running out for the Senate to follow the lead of the House of Representatives and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182) to help close the wage gap between women and men. The Senate is back to work but could be gone for the fall elections in three weeks.
Call your senators today toll free at 1-877-667-6650 and urge them to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act before the end of September. Even if your senators are co-sponsors, they need to hear from you today, so the bill can be put on the Senate’s to-do list before adjournment.
The bill would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages to co-workers.
CLUW Looks Out for Men’s Health
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The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), which has long promoted preventive health care programs for women, wants to make sure that men know about programs available to them.
In an e-mail to the group’s e-activists, CLUW says:
Because women are often the health gatekeepers of the family, [we] are urging e-activists to help the men in our lives (especially men over 40) learn which preventive screening tests they need to get and when to get them.
CLUW is helping promote the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ’s) men’s preventive health care campaign. As part of Men’s Health Care Week (June 13-19) and coinciding with Father’s Day, AHRQ and the Ad Council launched a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs).
