300 Join Labor College Fundraising Gala
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Lara Manzione of the National Labor College reports on last night’s “Time to Build” fundraising gala at the college.
Following the first day of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting held at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., the college hosted a “A Time to Build” gala last night. The gala honored Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), and the presidents of five entertainment unions: Ray Hair, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM); Ken Howard, Screen Actors (SAG); Matthew Loeb, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Roberta Reardon, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and Nick Wyman, Actors’ Equity (AEA).
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says he selected the NLC as the location for this Executive Council meeting because “education is such an important part of the future of the labor movement, and a key way for us to transmit labor’s values during a time of change in our economy and our society.”
BCTD’s Ayers: Come Together to Save the Middle Class
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Working people have been pulled into a brutal struggle for the very soul of our nation and our democracy, but we can win that struggle if we stand together and tell our story, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) President Mark Ayers said.
In his keynote address to the BCTD Legislative Conference, which began April 3 in Washington, D.C., Ayers said:
The attacks we see today on unions all across America are being instigated by an ultra-radical conservative movement. Yes, their initial focus is to shred public employee unions under the guise of fiscal responsibility; but make no mistake about it their real purpose is the eradication of all unions from the American landscape. Read the rest of this entry »
Honor Veterans by Fighting for Them Like They Fought for Us
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More than 2 million union members are veterans. On this day dedicated to those who have served their country in the military, it’s appropriate to remember that we need to fight for them just as they fought to defend us.
Like all workers, veterans are suffering in this tough economy. But for many vets, the situation is dire. Nearly one in five veterans (18 percent) recently back from tours of duty is unemployed. Of those employed since leaving the military, 25 percent earn less than $21,840 a year. On any given day, as many as 250,000 veterans (male and female) are living on the streets or in shelters, and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year.
So as we celebrate their service, let us also focus on ways to help veterans and all workers get out of this economic mess. In a statement, Mark Ayers, chairman of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council and president of the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), says:
They way I see it—they served us, so now it’s our turn to serve them. We owe our freedoms to the sacrifices of the brave men and women who have served in the military. For many, their fights on the battlefield are over; but now they must sadly endure other battles—such as finding meaningful employment, affordable housing and accessible health care—in their transition back into civilian life.
There Is No Tomorrow—America Needs Jobs Now
The nation’s unemployment crisis threatens the very core of the United States—entire communities, rural and metropolitan, are going under.
Writing at Huffington Post, Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, says the United States must immediately build on the successes of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and use scarce federal dollars in the most efficient way to boost demand and get jobless workers back to work. There is no time to waste, Ayers says.
Our nation can no longer afford to ignore the suffering of the unemployed who so desperately want to get back to productive work. Nor can we afford to indulge our leaders’ penchant for delay and political posturing, which comes at the expense of millions of working American families who are hurting. What we need now are bold approaches to economic recovery that will produce jobs.
Read Ayers’ entire post here.
Real Issue Behind Immigration: Corporate Race to the Bottom
The ongoing debate about immigration never seems to effectively address the real problem-our collective national addiction to cheap labor and low wages, says Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD).
In a column on BCTD’s website, Ayers says the enactment of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law has revived efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform at the national level. But before Congress rushes to pass immigration legislation, it must take into account that “in America today, it’s all about next quarter’s profits and the bottom line.”
While exploitative businesses and their apologists hide behind empty slogans like “free markets,” we know the only freedom they are fighting for is the freedom to exploit workers, steal wages and cut corners.
Ayers points out that certain industries, such as construction, rely heavily on undocumented labor. In recent years, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, undocumented workers accounted for as much as 25 percent of the entire U.S. construction workforce. And in the residential construction sector, that number is even higher.
Obama Project Labor Order Implemented Today
During his first month in office, President Obama issued an executive order encouraging agencies to require the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale construction projects. Today, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR) issued the final rule that implements the order.
Says Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department:
Contrary to claims by those who oppose these agreements—who subscribe to a “race to the bottom” mentality, where success is predicated on the ability to assemble a low-wage, easily exploitable workforce—PLAs have proven over and over that they are a valuable, market-based tool that ensures superior jobsite management, project efficiencies, and workforce productivity and development.
Union Leaders Praise Obama’s Support for Nuclear Plant
Union leaders praised President Obama’s announcement yesterday of federal loan guarantees for the construction of two advanced reactors at the Plant Vogtle nuclear power station in Georgia. They said it is a major step forward in addressing the nation’s energy needs as well as creating badly needed jobs. And they urged the president to ensure all the components used in the plant are made in America.
Obama made the announcement during a visit to an apprenticeship training facility in the Washington, D.C., suburbs that is jointly administered by Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26 and local electrical contractors. Check out a video of the announcement here.
Military Veterans Deserve Jobs When They Return
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While we take the time this Veterans Day to honor the courage and sacrifice shown by our veterans, we should also rededicate ourselves to making sure vets have a secure and stable life after they finish their service.
The U.S. Labor Department reports the unemployment rate among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is 11.3 percent, significantly above the overall rate of 10.2 percent for the nation as a whole. Some 185,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are out of work. Many of these unemployed veterans are National Guard or Reserve troops who were called to duty but found when they came home that their old jobs were no longer there for them.
The AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council is calling on Congress to strengthen and enforce the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which ensures veterans can claim their former jobs when they return from active duty.
In his Veterans Day message, Union Veterans Council Chairman Mark Ayers quotes President Franklin Roosevelt who signed the first GI Bill into law in 1944:
What our servicemen and women want, more than anything else, is the assurance of satisfactory employment upon their return to civil life.
U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard Join Helmets to Hardhats Program
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The U.S. Army Reserve and the National Guard have joined the Helmets to Hardhats program, founded in 2003 by AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) unions, together with employers with union workforces. The Army Reserve and National Guard now join the current partners of the Helmets to Hardhats program: the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard.
Helmets to Hardhats has helped more than 5,000 military vets find new careers as electricians, plumbers, roofers and other skilled trades. BCTD President Mark Ayers told Workers Independent News (WIN) that the new agreement presents
an extraordinary opportunities for all the military folks. And it’s an opportunity for us because these are the kind of people that we are seeking. They’re the best of the best in America as far as we’re concerned.
Helmets to Hardhats helps match vets and soon-to-be vets with apprenticeship and training programs offered by the BCTD’s 15 unions. Veterans can use their G.I. Bill education benefits as they complete the certified apprentice programs. Darrel Roberts, executive director of Helmets to Hardhats, says the program
is unique in that it was created with the singular intent of helping National Guard, Reservists and transitioning active-duty military members connect to career opportunities in the construction industry, one of the last bastions of solid middle-class wages for working Americans. Helmets to Hardhats recognizes this and is committed to placing veterans in careers that provide family-supporting wages, good benefits and a decent chance at realizing the American dream.
Ayers: Employee Free Choice Act a ‘Win-Win’ for Workers, Business
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Cutting through the myths and explaining the importance of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain, Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), makes the case for the Employee Free Choice Act in the upcoming issue of The Voice, the magazine of the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT).
In an op-ed aimed at leaders in the construction industry, Ayers says much of the controversy around the legislation is based on “outlandish claims” by opponents who hope to keep workers from bargaining for a better life. Indeed, Ayers says, the freedom of workers to form unions and bargain is a tool to strengthen the economy.
