Rally Urges Senate to Put Teachers, First Responders Back to Work
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In May, on the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week in Broward County, Fla., Cherine Akbari was honored “with a fancy embroidered jacket and handed a pink slip.”
Today, the out-of-work history teacher was in Washington, D.C., along with hundreds of teachers, firefighters, police officers and supporters at an indoor Senate rally for the just-introduced Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act (S. 1723). The bill provides funds to local governments to put back to work or keep on the job some 400,000 teachers and first responders. Said Akbari, an AFT member:
I have my own worries, but I am more worried about my students….We need to ensure students have better opportunities to learn and receive the attention they deserve. Instead of being in front of a classroom today, I am here to urge Congress to pass this bill.
Click here to send a message to your senators urging them to support the bill.
The rally drew an overflow crowd that spilled into the Russell Senate Building hallways and was sponsored by the Fire Fighters (IAFF), AFT, AFSCME and other unions. IAFF President Harold Schaitberger called the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act a “critical piece of legislation for our nation’s economic future.”
In the past three years revenues have dropped. Some 300,000 teaching jobs lost, 15,000 firefighters jobs vacant, tens of thousands police officers’ jobs on the chopping block. The time for a solution is now and the time to put people back to work is now. The time to support this legislation is now.
Coburn Blocks FAA Bill, 80,000 People Could Be Out of Work
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If 80,000 people are out of work when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) runs out of spending authority tomorrow, they can blame Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). Coburn is single- handedly blocking a bill to reauthorize the FAA that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House earlier this week.
To meet the Sept. 16 FAA funding deadline, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is seeking unanimous consent to bring up the bill, which also extends funding for federal highway programs. Coburn says he will block the bill unless some minor changes are made in the highways portion.
You can call Coburn’s Washington, D.C., office—202-224-5754—and tell him to support H.R. 2887, the extension of FAA and highways authorization.
When House Republicans forced an FAA shutdown earlier this year, it cost 4,000 FAA workers and 70,000 construction workers two weeks’ pay, halted important airport safety improvements and cost taxpayers some $400 million.
Trumka: Social Security Cuts Should Not Be on the Table
Today as we hear that Social Security cuts may be on the table in the federal budget deficit talks, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union and progressive leaders, including House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, have come out strongly in opposition to such moves. Trumka says that “at a time when retirement security remains an elusive goal for most Americans, cuts to Social Security benefits – in whatever form they take – should not be on the table. ” Further,
Social Security, our nation’s most effective anti-poverty program, has not contributed one dime to the deficit and should not be part of any deficit-related trade-offs. The AFL-CIO continues to oppose any cuts in Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits, including any cuts in cost of living adjustments. The best solution to our deficit problem is to create good jobs that will rebuild our economy. That should be our first priority.
Ed Coyle, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, which represents millions of retirees, says the organization is “troubled by an idea being floated in Washington to change a federal statistical formula to lower Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security. ” Read the rest of this entry »
Proposed NLRB Rule Change Draws Wide Support
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) modest, common-sense proposed rule to remove roadblocks for workers who want to vote on whether to form a union has drawn praise from working men and women, political leaders and activists around the country. Here’s a sample of the comments:
Electrical Workers (IBEW) President Edwin Hill:
By eliminating delays, the board is not only bringing some balance. It is also saving money for taxpayers who foot the bill because of unnecessary litigation.
Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen:
Workers at T-Mobile USA and nearly every other company know firsthand how U.S. corporations use delay to keep workers from making a fair choice about union representation. The changes proposed by the National Labor Relations Board are a first and modest step toward ending some of that delay.
From the Fields to Facebook: Union Organizing Online
Tom Dalzell is business manager and financial secretary of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1245, which represents electrical workers in the state of Nevada (excluding Las Vegas) and Northern California. He describes how online organizing complements traditional organizing—and why both need to work together.
When I started with the United Farm Workers of America in 1972, some of the old hands taught me a trick: Before you organize people, you have to meet them. To meet them, you have to know where they are. Back then, that meant fields, parking lots where crews gather in the morning, their homes and the occasional bar. Now, with more than 500 million people on social networks like Facebook, that means going online.
In 2010, the local I represent, Electrical Workers (IBEW) 1245, started the Shame on NVEnergy campaign to shine a light on abusive labor practices the utility engages in—not the least of which is clawing back pensions and benefits of retirees who worked and negotiated with the company in good faith for decades.
Reid Blasts Republican Intimidation Tactics Against NLRB in Boeing Case
“Disgraceful and dangerous” is how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today described attempts by Republican senators and state attorneys general to intimidate the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). They are demanding the NLRB drop its complaint against the Boeing Co.
In April, the nonpartisan, independent NLRB issued a complaint against Boeing for moving a planned production line for its 787 Dreamliner from its unionized Puget Sound, Wash., plant to a nonunion facility in South Carolina. The complaint says the move was in retaliation against the Puget Sound workers for having previously exercised their federally guaranteed right to strike against Boeing and to prevent these workers from striking in the future.
In a videotaped interview with The Seattle Times, a senior Boeing executive said “the overriding factor” in the company’s decision to move the line wasn’t “the business climate. And it wasn’t the wages we’re paying today.” It was, he said, to avoid strikes. That is illegal. (For more information, check the NLRB’s fact sheet on the complaint against Boeing.)
Health Care Repeal Fails in Senate
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The Senate last night rejected a Republican move to repeal the health care reform law. Maybe now they will focus on the nation’s most pressing need—JOBS.
Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, “Republicans celebrated Groundhog Day by once again popping their heads up and rehashing old health care battles.” He says the vote:
sent a clear and important message: Instead of engaging in divisive, dead-end fights such as repealing the Affordable Care Act, it’s time to work together to rebuild our economy by creating jobs and investing in our country.
Senate’s McConnell Puts Health Care Repeal Before Jobs Bill
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Today, the U.S. Senate has the opportunity to tackle job creation head on when it takes up the reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The bill includes $8 billion for airport construction and repair and some 280,000 jobs are at stake.
But like their House counterparts, Senate Republicans aren’t putting jobs first, no matter what voters said in November. Instead, they want to repeal health care reform and they will use the FAA bill as the tool.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will introduce an amendment to the bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The repeal amendment, which is likely to be voted on this evening, comes just days after a new study shows the law will save working families thousands of dollars in health insurance premium savings and out-of-pocket health care costs and small businesses billions, thanks to the law’s tax credits.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says the nation cannot afford to roll back:
protections for sick children, seniors and middle-class families. We need to get down to business and focus on keeping the economy moving in the right direction. The FAA bill does just that by creating and protecting 280,000 jobs.
Senate and House OK 9/11 Health Care Bill
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UPDATE, 5:39 P.M. (EST): The House just passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act 206-60.
The Senate today passed a compromise version of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, after the main Republican senator standing in its way, Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), reached a deal with Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.), according to news reports.
Coburn had threatened to use Senate rules to block action on the bill.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says passage of 9/11 health care bill “is a solid victory for our country and the first responders who answered the call of their country and paid with their health.” Read the rest of this entry »
Reid, Manchin, Quinn Tell Executive Council Union Support, Jobs Message Key to Wins
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told the AFL-CIO Executive Council this morning to keep one thing in mind after last Tuesday’s election: “We still have a lot of unfinished business and we are still in the majority. We aren’t going to take a backseat to anybody on anything.”
Reid, Senator-elect and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, all of whom enjoyed overwhelming support in votes and volunteers from union members, this morning called in to a post-election council meeting at the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the Nevada election was “a fight for good jobs, a decent wage, the right to join a union and fair trade.”
