Union Political Mobilization Has Turned Around America
Four years ago, an anti-worker majority in Congress and the Bush administration were conducting a corporate-funded assault on workers and the programs that supported America. They were implementing policies that steered the economy toward the very wealthiest and leaving everyone else behind. What a difference four years makes. Now in the White House, we have Barack Obama, the first African American president and a supporter of unions and working families and pro-worker majorities in both houses of Congress.
Today, at the AFL-CIO Convention, attendees got a chance to examine the successes of union political mobilization and look forward to continuing the fight to elect pro-worker candidates and passing a pro-worker legislative agenda. Delegates adopted a strong resolution in support of continuing an active political program.
Two Firefighters Killed in California Wildfires
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Firefighters across the country are mourning the loss of two heroic Los Angeles firefighters who were killed while battling the wildfires raging in Southern California.
Tedmund Hall and Arnaldo Quinones, both members of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 1014, died Aug. 30. It appears the two were in a truck searching for an escape route for corrections personnel and inmates of an area prison camp when their truck went over the side of a dirt road and fell 800 feet into a canyon.
Services for the firefighters will be Sept. 12 at Dodgers Stadium.
IAFF President Harold Schaitberger says:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hall and Quinones families. They made the ultimate sacrifice trying to save the lives of many others. Their heroic acts and dedication to duty will not be forgotten.”
Local 1014 President David Gillotte praised both men, saying:
“Brothers Hall and Quinones brought commitment, courage and honor to all that they touched as fire fighters and proud members of Local 1014.”
Gillotte says Hall, 47, was a frequent participant in union activities and dedicated many hours of service to protecting the prison camp. Quinones, 35, was “a rising star in the department and in our local, and was one of those genuinely good guys that you always want to have in your corner,” Gillotte adds.
Katrina Four Years Later: Iraq Being Rebuilt Faster
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Four years after Hurricane Katrina killed more than 1,800 people and left thousands homeless along the Gulf Coast, many residents, especially those displaced in New Orleans, still cannot come home, because there are no homes to come back to.
From the beginning, the union movement has sought to aid in rebuilding the communities, with the AFL-CIO’s Gulf Coast Revitalization Program early on committing to spending $1 billion to produce new housing, fund economic development projects and create thousands of new jobs. Already more than 400 workers have been trained to fill those jobs.
But outreach efforts continue to be stymied. Robert “Tiger” Hammond, president of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO, tells Press Associates that local and state officials keep putting up “roadblock after roadblock after roadblock” to building housing for displaced residents.
Biden Refuses to Cross Fire Fighters Picket Line
What’s the difference between a president who supports working families and their unions and one beholden to corporate and anti-worker interests? As President Obama has shown, there’s a lot, but last Friday the Obama administration did something the Bush administration would never have imagined doing.
The White House announced that Vice President Joe Biden and a delegation of top administration officials—including Labor Secretary Hilda Solis—will not cross a Fire Fighters (IAFF) picket line to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting scheduled to begin Friday in Providence, R.I.
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists: Now Is Our Future
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The nation’s economic crisis is the result of failed trade policies and the lack of a U.S. industrial policy that creates and sustains good manufacturing jobs, according to Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) President Bill Lucy.
In his keynote address before 1,200 delegates at the CBTU’s annual convention May 21-25 in Atlanta, Lucy pointed out that as bad as the economy is for all working people, workers of color have been hardest hit. The strides made by African American workers in the 1990s have been wiped out in this current economic crisis, Lucy said, and millions of people of color are no longer making middle-class incomes. (See Video: May 21, Tab 16.)
The time has come to recognize that this is a key moment to make sweeping changes and turn the country around, he said. Quoting former President Franklin Roosevelt, Lucy said:
“Do you judge a nation’s greatness by what it gives those who already have too much or by what it gives to those who have too little? That question is as relevant today as it was 75 years ago.”
Sportsmen’s Alliance Works to Conserve and Protect Wildlife
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The coalition of union members and environmental groups is growing stronger as both groups push for green jobs and organizations like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council join the drive to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Now you can add another group to the mix—the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA).
For 18 months, the USA has been working to build support within the union movement for preserving our hunting and fishing heritage. Launched in 2007, the USA is a joint venture of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and 21 unions. The hunting and fishing club is open to union members, retirees and their families.
One of USA’s main goals is to support the TRCP’s longstanding dedication to guaranteeing access for hunters and anglers, conserving the fish and wildlife habitat and increasing funding for conservation.
