Teaching and Research Assistants Call on NLRB to Issue Decision
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Christian Sweeney, AFL-CIO deputy organizing director, sends us this.
A busload of teaching and research assistants from New York University (NYU) traveled to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) headquarters in Washington, D.C., in recent days to call on the board to affirm their right to form unions. The NYU TAs and RAs, members of the UAW, filed a petition seeking a union recognition election in the spring of 2010 but are still waiting for a board decision.
Chanting “Two years is too long to wait,” as they rallied outside the NLRB, the TAs and RAs are among tens of thousands of private university graduate employees seeking their legally protected right to form a unions. That right was taken away by a ruling from the George W. Bush-appointed NLRB in 2004.
Next Up Young Worker Council Needs Your Input!
Kurston Cook, AFL-CIO Young Worker coordinator, sends us this.
Next week, 20 members of the AFL-CIO Young Worker Advisory Council will meet in Washington, D.C., to finalize the 2012 work plan for the AFL-CIO Next Up Young Worker Program. The advisory council advises the AFL-CIO on its programming as it relates to young people, and leaders implementation of these programs. One major goal of Next Up is to be a voice for all young workers and to provide inspiring and relevant opportunities for participation within the labor movement.
So, we want to hear from you!
What would you like to see the AFL-CIO’s Next Up Program focus on in 2012? How about in the next three years? How can the AFL-CIO and the advisory council best meet the needs of young workers, young worker groups, and your respective communities? Next Up is for young workers by young workers, so your ideas and insights are important.
Please send us your ideas on Facebook here or via the Twitter hashtag #YWAC2012. We will review them at next week’s Young Worker Advisory Council meeting and report back with a plan.
As cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead has said:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
We look forward to hearing your ideas.
Women Will Wait Until 2056 to See Pay Equity, Unless We Act Now
Emmelle Israel, AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow, sends us this.
At the current rate, pay equity between men and women won’t occur for another 45 years, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR).
Add in the past 48 years since the Equal Pay Act was first signed into law and you have an almost 100-year long struggle for basic wage parity—even longer if you reach back into history and take into account all the women who stood up for themselves when they noticed their male counterparts were paid more for similar work.
The enduring wage disparity between female and male workers prompted a series of forums on Capitol Hill regarding the gender wage gap, sponsored by Women’s Policy, Inc.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler was a featured speaker, along with Susan Meisinger of HRExecutive Online at yesterday’s forum, moderated by Women’s Policy Inc. President Cindy Hall and Rep. Gwen Moore.
Shuler shared with attendees a story about her first job working at a restaurant as a waitress, making only five cents above minimum wage. All the waitresses were women and all the cooks were men. Although the men were already paid more than the women, the waitresses had to pool their tips together and divide the money with the cooks as well. It was her “first
experience with wage, gender and workplace frustration.” Read the rest of this entry »
DC Union Members Join OWS Marchers from NYC
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| AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and Don Mathis, executive director of the U.S. Community Action Partnership, rallied to support the Occupy movement in McPherson Square. |
Occupy Wall Street marchers arrived in Washington, D.C., today after walking for 10 days from New York City to deliver the message that Congress should stand with the 99 pecent, not the 1 percent.
Despite the abysmal weather, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker led a contingent of union members to McPherson Square to meet the marchers and rally in support.
Holt Baker joined Don Mathis (left), executive director of the U.S. Community Action Partnership, in sending a message to Republican presidential wannabee Newt Gingrinch, who yesterday said Occupy members should “go get a job after you take a bath.” Gingrich, who has attacked mortage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, turns out to have raked in at least $1.6 million while under contract to Freddie.
As Mathis’s sign says:
Hey, Newt! I had a bath today. When will you come clean?
Shuler Talks with Students at Occupy Wall Street
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to head to New York where Occupy Wall Street is now entering its third week. I had just flown into New York City from Minneapolis and was coming off the enthusiasm and passion of 800 young workers at the AFL-CIO Next Up Summit. Young workers at the Summit issued a statement of support for Occupy Wall Street, and I had to see and experience the movement first-hand.
I spoke to several students from Rutgers University about why they were participating in the movement. They were concerned about the imbalance in the economy and the runaway greed they’re seeing in the financial economy. While the anger and frustration is what’s rightly getting the attention, we also talked about the importance of focusing on solutions. And when we start talking about that, it was clear there are real policy changes that can put power back in the hands of the 99 percent – things like the financial speculation tax that would help pay for the creation of jobs, the Buffet rule and holding banks accountable for corrupt foreclosure practices.
I was inspired by what I saw — people of all stripes are expressing their anger and frustration at the lack of attention paid to “the other 99 percent.”
It’s so exciting to watch a new generation mobilize an organic movement for social justice — it gives me tremendous hope and optimism that we can get our country back on track now and for the future.
Shuler: Fresh Generation of Activists Needed to Turn America Around
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The economic and social problems, the hate and the fear we see around us today can only be solved by a fresh generation of committed, smart, tireless and creative activists, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler told the nearly 800 young workers, activists and student at the Next Up Young Workers Summit today.
“And—I’m going to go out on a limb here—but I think you are those people,” she said.
In her keynote address to the conference, which opened today in Minneapolis, Shuler said the situation in the global economy is dire. Massive change is needed to turn it around. Young workers are being told to “suck it up” and live in a world without jobs, she said.
We’re being told that America can’t afford teachers—but we can afford CEO tax cuts. We’re being asked to accept a society that rewards wealth and punishes work. A society that makes it harder for young people to go to college. A society where hate is growing and targeting people of color, people of different faiths, people who are LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer], immigrants–it’s shameful.
Shuler urged the participants to create coalitions back home to build a movement to take back the American Dream. Read the rest of this entry »
Next Up Young Workers Summit: Helping Those in Need
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Nearly 800 young working people, activists and students from across the country kicked off the AFL-CIO Next Up Young Workers Summit in Minneapolis today by doing what union members do best—helping others in need.
The young working people partnered with the service organization Tubman and the AFL-CIO Community Services Network to create back-to-school care packages for children who live in the Twin Cities. Tubman helps women, children and families struggling with relationship violence, substance abuse, trauma and mental health issues.
Tubman also provides safe shelter, legal services, mental and chemical health counseling, youth programming, elder care resources and community education to more than 54,000 people across the Twin Cities metro area.
Watch Live Webcast of Shuler and Solis at Next Up Summit
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AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will kick off the second annual Next Up Young Workers Summit in Minneapolis tomorrow. Hundreds of young working people, including organizers and students from across the country, will meet in Minneapolis Sept. 29-Oct. 2 for the Summit, part of the AFL-CIO’s efforts, led by Shuler, to reach out to working people under age 35.
You can watch a live webcast of Shuler and Solis here this Thursday beginning at 5:00 p.m. CDT.
Another highlight of the summit will be appearances by actors Lucas Neff (left), star of the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope” and RJ Mitte (left) from the TV show “Breaking Bad.” Both are members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). In March Neff joined actors Susan Sarandon and Tony Shalhoub in Madison, Wis., for an all-day series of rallies that sent a message to Republican legislators and Gov. Scott Walker that the assault on working people will not stand and their struggle is far from over. Neff told the crowd: Read the rest of this entry »
Solis to Headline Next Up Summit Panel
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U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will headline a panel, along with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler at the second annual AFL-CIO Next Up Young Workers Summit beginning later this week. Since taking office in 2009, Solis, the daughter of union members, has changed the direction of the Labor Department from one that favored employers to one that protects working people.
Hundreds of young working people, including organizers and students from across the country, will meet in Minneapolis Sept. 29-Oct. 2 for the summit, part of the AFL-CIO’s efforts, led by Shuler, to reach out to working people under age 35.
Next Up Summit: Young Workers Can Help Build Union Movement
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Casey Karns hopes young workers will come to the Next Up Young Workers Summit, which begins next week, ready to take a bigger and stronger role in the union movement. Because if they don’t, she says, Big Business and the far right will win the battle for the future of America.
A member of AFSCME Local 1050, Karns will be one of the hundreds of young workers between the ages of 18 and 34 from across the nation and union movement who will converge in Minneapolis Sept. 29-Oct. 2 to focus on building a collective vision for a new generation of working people in the country.
Karns, 26, who works in a center for developmentally disabled people in Franklin, Pa., says she after she became involved in the union, she quickly became active, working as a steward and attending conventions and state council meetings. Now she represents AFSCME on the AFL-CIO Young Workers Advisory Committee established after last year’s Young Workers Summit, to help the union movement develop policies and strategies to reach out to young people.
