Strong Economy Needs Robust Public Sector
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| AFT President Randi Weingarten led much of Tuesday’s convention discussions. |
We will not have a strong economy without a strong public sector. Over the past decade, the budgets of state and local governments have been decimated by tax cuts and the recession.
Today, delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention recognized the economic free fall not only threatens the stability of the economy, but also jeopardizes the welfare of our most vulnerable citizens, public safety and health and the protection of our environment.
Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO President Saundra Williams said conservatives have demonized government for decades, leading to official neglect and disinvestment in public services. Government responsibilities have been privatized or outsourced.
The results are clear, whether it’s the tragically slow and inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina or the financial crisis, which shows the consequences of failing to regulate corporate behavior.
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.
L.A. Carwash Owners Face Criminal Charges for Mistreating Workers
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The fight for justice for Southern California’s carwash workers took a giant step today when Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, the city’s top prosecutor, filed criminal charges against two local carwash owners, four of their facilities and the manager of one of the city’s biggest carwash operations.
The complaint charges Benny and Nisan Pirian, the carwash owners, and Manuel Reyes, manager of the Pirian-owned Vermont Hand Wash, with 176 counts of criminal misconduct altogether—including conspiracy, witness intimidation, grand theft, brandishing a deadly weapon, failure to pay wages, and failure to comply with wage orders of the state’s Industrial Welfare Commission regulating workplace conditions.
Henry Huerta, director of the Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network (CLEAN) Carwash Campaign, praised Delgadillo’s action.
The CLEAN Carwash Campaign brought these violations to the City Attorney’s attention, and we are gratified that his diligent investigation has resulted in these charges. Vigorous law enforcement like this case is essential if we are going to rid our community of dirty carwashes that break the law and abuse workers.
20,000 Union Members Respond to Call for Day of Community Service
Responding to President-elect Barack Obama’s call to pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. by giving back to their communities, more than 20,000 AFL-CIO union volunteers in 41 cities will provide services to those in need this weekend and on Jan. 19—the official King holiday.
The projects range from giving out free meals to cleaning up blighted areas, distributing warm clothes and repairing dilapidated structures.
