American Workers in the Age of Austerity
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| Kimberly Freeman Brown |
If you’re in Washington, D.C., next week, hope you can stop by the AFL-CIO for a discussion on “American Workers in an Age of Austerity.” Panelists will talk about what we can learn from the past as we strategize for the future in the context of labor, progessives and the current U.S. political environment.
Join Dissent co-editor Michael Kazin and Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson in a panel moderated by American Rights at Work Executive Director Kimberly Freeman Brown.
A discussion will follow the event, which is Wednesday, Jan. 25, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the AFL-CIO.
The event is sponsored by Dissent magazine and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor of Georgetown University.
To RSVP or for more information, contact editors@dissentmagazine.org.
American Rights at Work Honors Cromwell, United Streetcar and Founders
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The voice of America’s workers and middle class rang out loud and clear at the 7th Annual American Rights at Work (ARAW) Awards Celebration earlier this week in Washington, D.C.
Kimberly Freeman Brown, American Rights at Work executive director, set the theme of the evening when she said to the 400 participants, ”Our aim is to show the Wisconsin teacher and the Washington machinist that they are not alone.”
Bo McCurry, president of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2143 in Sparta, Tenn., described life on the frontlines in the battle to save America’s middle class. His plant has been repeatedly honored as productive and effective. Yet the employer, Dutch multinational Philips Lighting, is closing the plant and shipping those jobs to Mexico. McCurry said:
We’ve got to think about our trade laws and what we’re doing to protect our interests here. If we’re going to have a future at all, we’ve got to tell our children that making things in this country is important. We need manufacturing jobs. We’ve earned our place in the global competition and we’re willing to keep improving and keep competing, but when we do that and then have it yanked from us, well that’s just a kick in the head.
You can read McCurry’s entire speech here.
In contrast to Philips, Oregon’s United Streetcar, one of the recipients of the evening’s Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Awards, was honored as an example for other businesses to emulate.
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.
NFL Lockout Not Just About Football. It’s About 150,000 Jobs
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Each community with an NFL team stands to lose as much as $160 million if the team owners force a lockout next season. If the owners get away with the lockout, it could cost 150,000 jobs nationwide and have a ripple effect on how other workers across the country are treated, according to people who labor on the field and in the stadiums.
At a Washington, D.C., press conference, sponsored by American Rights at Work (ARAW) and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), participants said the 150,000 jobs estimate is based on the NFL’s own numbers. That means workers including ushers, concession stand attendants, grounds crews, security, waiters, waitresses, hotel staffs and others will face the loss of jobs, said Kimberly Freeman Brown, ARAW’s executive director.
Survey: Small Business Owners Say Unions Good for Business
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Despite U.S. Chamber of Commerce propaganda, the nation’s small business owners recognize the value of employees forming a union, according to a new survey by Americans Rights at Work (ARAW). The survey was released yesterday, the same day the Chamber opened its annual small business summit.
Some 80 percent of the small business owners and self-employed individuals surveyed agreed that “strong unions make the free market system stronger.” A significant majority—54 percent—strongly agreed.
ARAW Executive Director Kimberly Freeman Brown says:
We are learning that small business owners across America support the rights of employees to organize unions, believing not only that it makes good business sense, but also that strong unions make the free market system stronger.
Report: T-Mobile Mistreats U.S. Employees
T-Mobile USA and its parent company, German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom (DT), have waged a systematic campaign to prevent employees from forming a union, according to a new report.
“Lowering the Bar or Setting the Standard? Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. Labor Practices,” released today by the American Rights at Work Education Fund, shows that although DT respects workers’ rights and cooperates closely with unions in Germany, it routinely mistreats workers in the United States and tries to thwart their freedom to form unions.
Says Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of American Rights at Work:
Respecting workers’ rights and needs benefits employees, their families, and a company’s bottom line. T-Mobile’s parent company became a leader in the telecom industry in Europe by working with their employees and proving that there is a better way to do business. It is inexcusable that our dysfunctional labor law system allowed T-Mobile USA to disregard its employees’ rights here in the United States.
