Momentum Grows for NLRB Rule Changes
Momentum is building as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) gears up to hold hearings next week on its proposed rule designed to ensure a fair process for workers who want to vote on whether to form a union. More members of Congress and academics have joined a growing group of working people and workers’ rights advocates in voicing their support for the rule changes.
Here are a few of the people and organizations who’ve spoken out for the rule change.
Laborers (LIUNA) President Terry O’Sullivan:
The common-sense reforms the NLRB has proposed will begin to bring union elections into the 21st century and are a step toward reducing the possibility of unscrupulous employers interfering with the right of workers to make an informed decision on whether to unionize.
Support Keeps Coming for NLRB Rule Change
Support continues to pour in for the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) proposed rule designed to ensure a fair process for workers who want to vote on whether to form a union. Congressional leaders and civil rights and faith groups have joined working people and workers’ rights advocates in voicing their support for Tuesday’s proposed election rule changes from the NLRB.
Here are a few of the people and organizations who’ve weighed in so far in support of the rule change:
Sen. Barbara Boxer (Calif.):
The current union election system is badly broken and breeds fear in the workplace. It’s no secret that expensive litigation and intimidation are often used to prevent employees from forming a union and negotiating for fair wages and benefits. The NLRB’s proposed rules will instill fairness for both employers and workers by ensuring a fair, timely vote.
Trade Deficit Costs Jobs in Every Congressional District
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Members of Congress, listen up: The nation’s huge trade deficit, mainly with China, has cost jobs in every congressional district, according to a report issued today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Contrary to conventional wisdom, high-tech industries are losing jobs faster than any other sector of the economy.
Since 2001, some 2.4 million jobs have been lost or displaced in this country as a result of the massive trade deficit with China, the report says. More than one-quarter—26 percent or about 628,000 jobs—displaced by trade between 2001 and 2008 are in computer, electronic equipment and parts industries. Last year alone, China was responsible for more than 80 percent of our total, nonoil trade deficit in goods.
The report cites China’s currency manipulation as a major cause of the trade deficit. Over the past decade, China has consistently undervalued its currency by an estimated 35 percent to 40 percent. As a result, while imports from China and U.S. trade deficits set records, American manufacturing employment has plummeted. Other causes of the deficit include massive industrial subsidies in China, lax labor and environmental law enforcement, intellectual property theft and piracy and Chinese policies that block U.S. imports. Click here to read the report.
China Currency Bill: ‘Major Step’ Forward
Bipartisan legislation to address “egregious and ongoing” currency manipulation by China and other nations is a major step in the fight for good jobs and fair trade, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said.
The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2010 was introduced today by Democrat Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine), with 10 other co-sponsors. In a statement, Trumka said:
At a time when America’s working families need good jobs now, the illegal undervaluation of currency, by China and other governments, has spelled the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs.
The U.S. Treasury Department for years has refused to cite China’s government for currency manipulation, which would set off a process by which the administration can impose trade penalties. The legislation would bring the Treasury definitions more in line with International Monetary Fund guidelines, making it easier to determine currency manipulation. The bill also provides meaningful sanctions, including countervailing duties or tariffs, if currency negotiations fail.
USW Tells China to Stop Treading on U.S. Tire Makers
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Chinese tire makers are treading on the U.S. tire industry, dumping more than 46 million low-cost tires into this country last year alone to be sold in stores like Wal-Mart, among others. The result, unfortunately, is all too familiar: Cheap imports = lost jobs and shattered communities.
The United Steelworkers (USW), which represents most of the U.S. tire workers, is demanding that the Obama administration act forcefully to restore a balanced trading field. The union wants the administration to impose tough tariffs on Chinese tires for at least three years.
Last month, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled in favor of a USW petition filed under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USITC found that tariff relief was needed to urgently reduce those tire imports. Evidence showed that more than 5,100 domestic consumer tire production jobs were lost between 2004 and 2008 by the flood of Chinese tire imports that undersold producers in the United States. Domestic tire companies have announced they will close more plants and eliminate another 3,000 jobs by the end of this year.
Currency Reform Bill Could Help Create New Jobs
Unfair currency manipulation in the global economy is costing millions of American manufacturing jobs—and a coalition of labor, business and agriculture leaders say the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (CRFTA) is the best vehicle to stop the wholesale destruction of our manufacturing base.
At a Capitol Hill press conference today, members of the Fair Currency Coalition endorsed the bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Sens. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). The bill would treat prolonged currency manipulation as an illegal subsidy and dumping under U.S. trade laws.
In a statement, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer and Fair Currency Coalition Co-Chair Richard Trumka says job creation is the number one issue on the minds of the federation’s members.
While enacting the stimulus has provided critical short-term relief, the United States will not see sustained employment growth until our government stops China, Japan and others from using their undervalued currency to steal American jobs. That’s why Congress must pass the Ryan-Murphy CRFTA as quickly as possible.
Chrysler Shutdown Shows Need for Immediate Help for Automakers
After Chrysler announced it is shutting down all of its North American plants starting tomorrow, elected officials, union leaders and other industry supporters urged the Bush administration to immediately provide assistance to the auto industry or risk an economic tsunami in the nation’s manufacturing sector.
Citing a 47 percent drop in sales last month, Chrysler said late yesterday it will shut down all 30 of its North American plants at least until Jan. 19, putting 46,000 employees out of work. The plants are typically shut down from Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day. The workers will receive holiday pay from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2. After that, the workers will be considered laid off for the additional weeks their plants are shuttered. Some of the plants could be shut down into February, according to published reports.
