Corporations Pushing Bill to Take Away Overtime from Computer and Web Workers
Apparently unsatisfied by the enormous profits they’ve made while average Americans suffer in a difficult economy, corporations are pushing Congress to enact a new law that would exempt a large class of workers from receiving overtime pay. And they’re receiving support from members of both parties on Capitol Hill.
Dubbed the Computer Professionals Update Act (CPU Act), Senate bill 1747 would change the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to remove overtime protection and compensation from “almost everyone working primarily in information technology” who earns either a salary, or an hourly rate of $27.63, according to Paul E. Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE).
Information technology companies are focused on cutting pay for the people who work for them. If their effort succeeds, however, it will suggest to every other industry that the time is now to gut FLSA for every covered private-sector worker.
Introduced in the U.S. Senate last month by Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), the CPU Act has found a Democratic co-sponsor in Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), who is joined by two Republican co-sponsors, Sens. Mike Enzi (Wy.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.).
Digital Theft Agreements a Good Start
The next time you download music, a TV program or a video game from the Internet, you may get an alert that you are about to steal copyrighted material.
Internet service providers, payment system operators and motion picture and recording industry officials reached two voluntary agreements last week that will help curb digital theft, copyright infringement and product counterfeiting on the Web.
Using materials produced for the Internet by the actors, writers, musicians and others without these safeguards cheats the creative artists who should be paid for their work, just like any other worker. It is estimated that downloading copyrighted material from the Internet costs 140,000 jobs and more than $5.5 billion in sales each year.
Bill Targets ‘Rogue Websites’ that Kill Jobs, Steal Wages
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The Internet is a major source for intellectual property theft and a major marketplace for counterfeit goods. But new legislation would crack down on “rogue websites” that offer anything from pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters and popular music to counterfeit brand-name prescription drugs and airplane parts.
The bipartisan PROTECT IP Act [Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act] would allow authorities to move more quickly to shut down the sites, impose tougher penalties and sanctions and create stronger intellectual property rights. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:
The economic well-being of workers in the United States—jobs, income, and benefits—turns more and more on our protecting the creativity and innovation that yield world-class entertainment, cutting-edge and sustainable manufacturing and construction, and disease-ending pharmaceuticals. In a tough economic time, the PROTECT IP Act will help to protect U.S. workers and consumers against digital thieves and counterfeit scammers. Read the rest of this entry »
Illegal Downloads Steal Wages, Benefits From Workers
Too few people who download entertainment illegally recognize that they are stealing wages and benefits from workers, Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE) told a bipartisan Capitol Hill press conference today.
Almeida joined with members of Congress and business leaders to discuss the continuing harm illegal downloads and other online infringement or counterfeits pose to American jobs and the economy. According to estimates, intellectual property theft costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion every year and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs.
Join Forum on Appropriate Use of Science in Public Policy
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We’ve all heard the spin from extremist groups slamming the veracity of scientific findings by the federal government—like what constitutes a health hazard at work. But such charges have shaken the public’s already-tenuous faith in the regulatory process. On Oct. 27, a distinguished panel of scientists will discuss what can be done to ensure the scientific process is more open, consistent and credible to all stakeholders.
Professionals for the Public Interest: Associations and Unions Defending Professional Integrity (PftPI), a coalition established by the Department for Professional Employees (DPE), is sponsoring a forum on “The Appropriate Use of Science in Public Policy,” Oct. 27 at 4 p.m. at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Auditorium, 1200 New York Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.
Professionals Make Up Largest Group of Union Members
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Laurie Kennington is one of the emerging faces of unions in the 21st century. A Yale graduate (Class of 2001), she is the new president of UNITEHERE! Local 34, the largest union on the Yale campus.
Kennington, who joined the union right after college, and Local 34, both symbolize the rapid growth of professionals and women among union members. In fact, white-collar workers accounted for 53.9 percent of all union members in 2009. Local 34, which began as a clerical union, has grown to represent 3,400 employees, many of them in Yale’s rapidly growing medical research areas. Before becoming president of the local, Kennington was a lead organizer for the Yale medical research facilities.
The AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE) reports there are more union members among professional and technical workers than any other occupational group. Last year, more than 5.2 million professional and related workers were union members and more than 5.8 million were represented by unions.
Unions Back New Plan to Battle Intellectual Property Pirates
Intellectual property theft—anything from pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters and popular music to counterfeit brand-name airplane parts—steals American jobs and hurts the economy. This week, the Obama administration outlined a new strategy to stem the global flood of pirated property.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union leaders applauded the new battle plan. Says Trumka:
Intellectual property fuels some of the most vibrant sectors of the U.S. economy. When digital thieves steal entertainment, or counterfeiters make cheap copies of quality products, they rob American workers of jobs and income.
Forum Asks: Does Whistleblower Law Protect Workers?
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What happens to a private-sector worker who blows the whistle on unethical, discriminatory, unsafe and even sometimes downright illegal actions in the workplace? Federal law is supposed to protect the worker from retaliation. But is that law protecting workers from demotions, dismissals, transfers, pay cuts and other management backlashes?
David Michaels, head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the agency in charge of enforcing the Whistleblower Protection Program, will address those issues Tuesday May 11, in forum sponsored by the Professionals for the Public Interest: Associations and Unions Defending Professional Integrity (PftPI), a group organized by the AFL-CIO Department of Professional Employees (DPE).
The forum, Whistleblowers and OSHA: Strengthening Professional Integrity, will run from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1200 New York Ave., N.W., Washington, DC. The event is free and open to the public with advance registration. Click here to register. Read the rest of this entry »
Executive Council: Piracy Costs Good Jobs
The AFL-CIO Executive Council unanimously endorsed the entertainment industry unions’ campaign to stop the theft of intellectual property, often called piracy.
The council noted that each year, digital theft of sound recordings costs the U.S. economy $12.5 billion in total output and costs U.S. workers 71,060 jobs. Feature film piracy results in an estimated $5.5 billion in lost wages annually, and the loss of an estimated 141,030 jobs that would otherwise have been created.
The council statement said, in part:
Motion pictures, television, sound recordings and other entertainment are a vibrant part of the U.S. economy. They yield one of its few remaining trade surpluses. The online theft of copyrighted works and the sale of illegal CDs and DVDs threaten the vitality of U.S. entertainment and thus its working people.
New Materials Tell Story of H-1B Visa Program
The nation’s guest worker system is flawed and needs to be reformed. But sometimes, it’s hard to find hard information about the extent of the program. The AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE) has obtained copies of previously unavailable U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reports on the controversial H-1B guest worker program.
The new materials are posted on DPE’s website in conjunction with the release of a new report on the ways employers “game” the H-1B visa system to lower wages and avoid unions.
Two sets of USCIS reports are available on the DPE website. One set, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: Report of H-1B Petitions,” lays out the number of H-1B visas that were requested and actually granted, along with other details about the program.
