Dingell Explains Decades-Long Quest for Health Reform, and Other News
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Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) has been fighting for health care reform for more than 50 years, and he’s seen the situation become even more dire over the past decade. In a great new op-ed, he explains the hard truths of our broken system and why we can’t wait any longer for health care reform:
This is not a time to give into fear….Reform is neither easy nor cheap, but the cost of inaction is far greater—in terms of lives lost, quality of life, and dollars. Make no mistake, if we don’t reduce costs we face certain economic disaster.
I will tell my fellow members, when you explain a vote like this one to the generations that live with the consequences of these decisions there is no poll, not even an election result, that can justify your decision. You will be asked about this vote until the day you die. Years from now, none of these things we put so much stock in now will matter. All anyone will want to know is: did you do the right thing when history called on you? It is time for health care reform. We can’t afford to wait. We can’t afford to think small. We can’t afford to fail.
AFL-CIO, NFL Players Association and United Way Team Up in Detroit
Tomorrow, local union leaders, current and retired NFL players in Detroit will join the United Way to hold a food drive benefiting families affected by the economic crisis. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) organized the food drive. Saundra Williams, president of the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO, will be among those joining Detroit Lions offensive lineman Stephen Peterman at the food drive.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker says the food drive is an important way for union members to reach out to hard-hit communities:
In these times of crisis, it’s heartwarming to see my union brothers and sisters joining together to help those in need. The proud residents of Detroit are suffering from some of the highest unemployment rates in the country and they need our help now more than ever. What the people of Detroit need, and all of America’s working men and women need, are quality, family-supporting jobs.
For those of you in the Detroit area, bring your non-perishable items to the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO building at 600 West Lafayette Blvd. between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and you’ll be entered in a prize giveaway.
Coalition Concerned About Effect of Pulte-Centex Merger on Homeowners
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Robert Masciola, deputy director of the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research, shares this recent action by workers and their allies at Pulte Homes and Centex Corp. shareholder meetings.
In Pontiac, Mich., and Dallas yesterday, workers, community leaders, homeowners and other supporters of the Building Justice campaign came together to voice their concerns about the merger between Pulte Homes and Centex Corp. The merger will create the largest homebuilding company in the United States.
Building Justice is a partnership of the Painters and Allied Trades union (IUPAT), the Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA), the AFL-CIO, Pulte homeowners, community members and elected officials to improve conditions at Pulte developments. Members of the coalition staged rallies in Pontiac (Pulte) and Dallas (Centex) to coincide with shareholder meetings in each city to approve the merger.
43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers Ratify Pact, and More Bargaining News
Some 43,000 New Jersey Communications Workers of America ratify a revised contract—and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The
AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,100 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
CWA, New Jersey: More than 43,000 workers in the largest union representing New Jersey state workers, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), ratified a revised contract that defers a raise and swaps furloughs this year for future vacation days. “During these hard economic times, nothing is more important than protecting vital public services and the jobs of working people,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA’s New Jersey area director.
Employee Free Choice Key to Redressing Economic Hits Against People of Color
Nothing beats getting out of a think tank long enough to find out what’s really going on. Seth Freed Wessler, a researcher at the Applied Research Center, did just that, traveling to Michigan where he talked with workers for ARC’s “Race and Recession” report.
The title of his blog today at Huffington Post sums up what he found: GM Bankruptcy Hurts People of Color Hardest. Workers Desperately Need Employee Free Choice.
Wessler reminds us that “across the labor market, workers of color are overrepresented in occupations with high unemployment rates.” The loss of auto industry jobs strikes a massive blow to the ability of workers, especially black workers, to earn middle-class incomes. Workers like those Wessler talked with across Michigan.
Workers, Allies to Pulte Shareholders: You’re Responsible for Working Conditions
Robert Masciola, deputy director of the AFL-CIO Center for Strategic Research, shares this recent action by workers and their allies at a recent Pulte shareholder meeting in the Detroit area.
Outraged Detroit community members demanded entry to Michigan-based Pulte Homes’ Annual Shareholders Meeting on Friday, armed with copies of a newly released report detailing the company’s lending practices. More than 100 Michigan residents, ranging from construction workers and seniors to Catholic priests and nuns, marched on the meeting held in Pontiac.
Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO President Saundra Williams welcomed supporters of the Building Justice campaign to Detroit to demand that Pulte take accountability for all its business practices.
Employee Free Choice Web Roundup
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One way to celebrate May Day is to catch up on recent coverage of the Employee Free Choice Act, so here’s a roundup of news, resources and blog posts from the week about the fight to ensure workers have the freedom to form unions without harassment and intimidation from managers.
* In the Huffington Post, the AFL-CIO’s Stewart Acuff looks at Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter’s decision to leave the Republican Party and says the union movement will be “watching closely” to see how Specter votes on issues critical to working people. Acuff says the Specter switch is a step in the right direction for the Employee Free Choice Act:
Arlen Specter’s decision to become a Democrat makes the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act much more fluid and passage much more likely.
The labor movement will re-double our already overwhelming efforts in Pennsylvania to convince the Senator to once again support the bill that he was a co-sponsor of.
Pilots Soar with New Spirit Air Settlement, and More Bargaining News
Spirit Airlines agreed to stop shortchanging the number of days off pilots receive—and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS
ALPA, Spirit Airlines: Spirit pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), celebrated a much anticipated System Board of Adjustment decision, which orders Spirit management to cease shortchanging the number of days off that pilots receive after a scheduled sequence of trips. Under the collective bargaining agreement, pilots are entitled to receive up to five days off after the conclusion of a sequence of trips with no intervening days off.
Employee Free Choice Actions in Philly, Michigan, Wisconsin and More
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AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka paid a visit to Philadelphia yesterday to hold a live radio town hall about the Employee Free Choice Act, part of the ongoing national campaign to protect the freedom to form unions and bargain.
Speaking to Pennsylvania union members, Trumka detailed the abuses companies are free to commit against workers trying to form unions under our corporate-dominated, unbalanced laws.
Now, an anti-union employer has what amounts to an incentive to break the law and violate a worker’s right to have a union. And strengthening the law to protect those rights is exactly what the Employee Free Choice Act would do.
Trumka discussed the three provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act—the ability of workers rather than bosses to decide how to form a union, the guarantee of a contract for workers who do form a union, and real penalties against companies who harass, mistreat or fire workers for trying to form a union. He said that these three provisions would protect workers’ basic right to form a union and give them the power to bargain for a better life and a stake in the prosperity they create.
By guaranteeing workers the right to bargain for better wages—by enabling them to get more of a share of the wealth they created through their productivity—money that would otherwise be getting socked away in executive bank accounts or gambled on Wall Street, instead goes into worker paychecks.
1,000 Machinists Approve Contract at GKN Aerospace, and More Bargaining News
Nearly 1,000 Machinists members at GKN Aerospace in St. Louis approved a new three-year contract—and more news here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
IAM, GKN Aerospace: GKN workers in the St. Louis area of Missouri, represented by the Machinists (IAM) District 837, approved a new three-year contract with the aerospace company, which provides annual 3 percent wage increases, a $1,000 bonus, higher pension benefits and increased recall rights. IAM members had previously rejected the company’s final offer and voted to strike. The main issues included the company’s proposal for a change in overtime compensation, lack of health care benefits for members hired in after GKN purchased the facilities from Boeing in 2001 and inadequate pension increases.
