Training, Quick Thinking by Union Crew Saved Boarded Ship, New Look Reveals
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For several days in April, the nation waited for the latest news from a U.S. merchant ship off the coast of Somalia, where the captain of the Maersk Alabama was being held hostage in a small lifeboat by Somali pirates.
The bare-bones news reports said pirates armed with AK-47s boarded the ship—which was carrying food relief supplies to Kenya—capturing Capt. Richard Phillips and several other crew members. The rest of the crew managed to evade the pirates and eventually capture one.
We learned Phillips brokered a deal allowing himself to be taken hostage April 8 in exchange for the pirates leaving the ship. On April 11, Navy Seal sharpshooters killed the trio of pirates holding Phillips and rescued the captain.
Now, thanks to an in-depth look at the drama’s first day—from pirate sightings to the launch of the hostage lifeboat—we get the firsthand story from the 20-man union crew.
New Bill Would Aid Many of the 57 Million U.S. Workers Without Paid Sick Leave
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Unlike workers in 21 of the richest nations in the world, U.S. workers have no guaranteed paid sick leave to care for themselves or a family member who is ill.
Although union members can bargain for paid sick leave and some firms offer paid leave, nearly half of private-sector workers in this country have no paid sick days. Low-income workers fare even worse—76 percent have no paid sick leave. Overall, 57 million private-sector workers have no paid sick days, and 94 million cannot use their paid sick leave to care for an ailing child.
Today in the House, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reintroduced the Healthy Families Act, which would require employers with 15 or more employees to allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick leave days a year to take care of themselves or a family member. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is expected to reintroduce the Senate version of the bill later this week.
Obama Housing Plan ‘Aims Straight at the Heartland’
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As many as 9 million homeowners who are facing foreclosure or struggling with skyrocketing monthly mortgage payments could save their homes under the terms of a home rescue plan President Obama unveiled yesterday.
When the Bush economy began to tank more than a year ago with banks failing and jobs vanishing, foreclosure signs and abandoned houses began sprouting in working and middle class and even up-scale neighborhoods around the nation. The AFL-CIO first called for a homeowners’ lifeline in late 2007. But the Bush administration preferred to bailout Wall Street instead of throwing a lifeline to Main Street. Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:
The swift action by the Obama administration to address the housing crisis is a welcome and refreshing change.
For more than a year, the Bush administration ignored calls from the AFL-CIO and others to address a coming foreclosure tsunami. Tragically, in the months that followed, the deepening housing debacle turned millions of families’ lives upside down and strengthened its chokehold on our economy
