Jobless Workers Can’t Feed Their Families While States Sit on $3 Billion in UI Funds
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With unemployment at its highest levels in decades, it’s unbelievable that some $3.1 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits included in the federal economic recovery package is not being spent because 23 states have not yet revised state rules covering jobless benefits.
Today’s USA TODAY reports that nearly 350,000 out-of-work Americans could get benefits if all those states revamp their unemployment systems to qualify for money that is included in the federal stimulus package.
In 11 of the states, Republican governors or legislatures have refused to modify the rules governing unemployment insurance to qualify for about $1.7 billion in stimulus funds. The other 12 states have made only some of the changes, not applied for the funds or not taken legislative votes on the changes. Although the states have until 2011 to change the laws, the reality is that many states need the money now and the workers really need it now.
Nurses Protest Nationwide Against Sick Leave Cuts, and More Bargaining News
Nurses hold national protest against attempts to cut their sick leave—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.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
Multiple, Tenet: Registered nurses and hospital workers at facilities owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp., represented by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) and SEIU, organized a national protest to oppose attempts to cut their access to sick leave. “Every day, we are on the front lines for responding to health threats like the H1N1 virus. It’s basic common sense that nurses and other caregivers should not go to work if we’re sick ourselves. But these cuts will make it harder for us to take care of ourselves. It’s not too late for Tenet to rethink and redo this by restoring our extended sick leave,” said Sherri Stoddard, a member of CNA/NNOC.
Drop Dead? Is That the Way Republican Reps. Talk to Seniors?
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Opponents of critically needed health care reform continue to demonstrate how out of touch they are with working America—and in a recent egregious comment by a House Republican, the opposition has also insulted the nation’s seniors.
Here’s what Florida Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite said Tuesday on the House floor:
“Last week, Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America’s seniors: ‘Drop dead.’ ”
Tony Fransetta, president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, is outraged by Brown-Waite’s injudicious and downright ugly comment.
Rep. Brown-Waite’s remarks earlier this week were not only inappropriate and inaccurate, but they were a misleading and divisive attempt to scare Florida’s seniors in the current debate over national health care reform.
More from the Health Care Town Hall Meetings
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Yesterday, members of Congress met in town hall sessions with constituents who were on Capitol Hill to rally and demand health care reform. Here are a few reports that came in after the meetings.
At the Health Care Providers Town Hall
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean got a zinger in at opponents who are claiming a public health care option plan would lead to “socialized medicine.”
You know who has socialized medicine in this country? Everyone over 65 and everybody in Congress.
Grassroots Action Around the Country for Employee Free Choice
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| The fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act continues in Arkansas and other states. Below, Tim Strong, president of CWA Local 4900 in Indiana, explains the bill. |
As the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act takes place in Washington, D.C., union members and allies are hard at work around the country to help pass this critical legislation to level the playing field for workers seeking to form unions.
At the Huffington Post, the AFL-CIO’s Stewart Acuff reports that members of the Arkansas Conference of Black Mayors are joining civil rights leaders, religious leaders, small business owners and union members from across the state in asking their senators to support workers by voting for the Employee Free Choice Act.
In North Carolina, Larry Murray of the Steelworkers (USW) says the fight for employee free choice is a top priority throughout his union and the entire union movement because its passage means an economy that works for everyone:
“The Employee Free Choice Act is vitally important because on top of the poor economic situation, the playing field is not level. Companies have an enormous advantage in the current system.”
24-Hour Vigil Highlights Busy Week of Action for Employee Free Choice
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| Louisiana union members are among the thousands who are rallying in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Supporters of the freedom to form unions and bargain, including faith and civil rights groups as well as union members, are holding a 24-hour vigil outside Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s office to encourage her to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
This vigil, which began last night, is one of more than 200 grassroots events across the nation this week in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. With rallies, roundtables, phone banks and worksite visits, workers are encouraging members of Congress back in their home districts this week to vote in support of workers and a fairer, stronger economy. Senators across the country have received tens of thousands of letters and phone calls from union members and allies, and that momentum is building this week.
24/7 Action in the Field for Employee Free Choice
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| North Florida union members protest a meeting of an anti-union group in Jacksonville. |
As the Employee Free Choice Act gets closer to reality, the anti-worker disinformation campaign grows louder with corporate front groups throwing everything they have against workers. Across the country, union members and their allies are pushing back and letting the corporate titans know they won’t back down when it comes to the freedom to form unions.
In Wisconsin, union members converged in Milwaukee to protest an appearance by Karl Rove, the former Bush administration political enforcer who is traveling the country telling corporate executives to fight the Employee Free Choice Act. And in Florida, union members gathered in Jacksonville outside a meeting of an anti-union corporate group, the “Center for a Union-Free Workplace Environment,” to protest their opposition to workers’ freedom to bargain for a better life.
Obama, Union Members Nationwide Focus on Employee Free Choice
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Yesterday, at a town hall meeting in New Mexico, President Obama reaffirmed his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, capping off a busy week of grassroots activity around the country in support of this critical bill.
Obama acknowledged there’s a tough fight ahead, but expressed his concern that current labor law isn’t fair to workers and needs to be changed if we’re going to rebuild the middle class.
…the scales have been tilted to make it really hard to form a union. So a lot of companies, because they want maximum flexibility, they would rather spend a lot of money on consultants and lawyers to prevent a union from forming than they would just going ahead and having the union and then trying to work with—and collectively—allow workers to collectively bargain.
So there’s a bill called the Employee Free Choice Act that would try to even out the playing field. And what it would essentially say is, is that if a majority of workers at a company want a union then they can get a union without delay—and some of the monkey business that’s done right now to prevent them from having a union.
The Fight for Employee Free Choice, in Arkansas and Around the Country
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| Stewart Acuff speaks to the Arkansas AFL-CIO state convention about the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Community members around the country are taking action in support of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain, including small business owners in Madison, Wis., and Trinidad, Colo., as well as religious leaders in Shreveport, La. Union members and allies of workers in Jacksonville, Fla., and Jonesboro, Ark., also are turning out in big numbers for town hall meetings to urge passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Former Rep. Pat Williams, who represented Montana in the U.S. Congress for more than a decade, says the Employee Free Choice Act is critical to restoring a free workforce and a strong economy:
“We have to re-empower workers to bargain collectively with their employers. Who said freedom stops at the workplace door? Who said democracy stops there? People need to have a choice.”
Lots of Action in Lots of States in Support of Employee Free Choice
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| Hundreds of Colorado union members turned out to show their support for Employee Free Choice at a town hall meeting with Sen. Michael Bennet. |
At a town hall meeting in Colorado and events in key states, union members and allies are asking their senators to quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act and make the economy work for everyone.
Don Slaiman, who’s working on the Employee Free Choice Act campaign in the critical state of Colorado, reports that recently appointed Sen. Michael Bennet visited Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 68 hall to hear from workers about the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s one of several town hall meetings Bennet has held around the state, and workers are showing him how strong and broad their support is, Slaiman says:
We had over 400 union members in attendance, representing…almost every local and every part of the state. The appearance, energy, sentiments, diversity and breadth of participation were tremendous.
