Union Movement Rallies in Solidarity with Puerto Rican Workers
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| Thousands of workers rallied in Puerto Rico against the governor’s drastic layoffs. The sign says “Give me back my job.” | |
In states across the country, working people marched and rallied in solidarity today with their Puerto Rican brothers and sisters against draconian budget cuts and cancellation of their collective bargaining rights.
As 200,000 people march in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to protest Gov. Luis Fortuño’s plan to slash the budget deficit on the backs of workers, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sent a letter of support and solidarity and rallies were held in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities.
In his letter of support, which was read at the San Juan rally, Trumka said:
We are fully aware of the attacks being afflicted on the workers and their families on your island and we will do whatever we can to stop them. We are completely committed to bringing the full force of the AFL-CIO to fighting for the rights and well being of our affiliated unions, their members, and the people of Puerto Rico.
Mass Work Stoppage Set to Protest Puerto Rico’s Layoffs, Union-Busting
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More than 200,000 people are expected to march in a mass rally tomorrow in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as part of a one-day work stoppage to protest Gov. Luis Fortuño’s plan to trim the budget deficit on the backs of workers.
Using recently passed legislation known as Public Law 7, the governor plans to lay off as many as 30,000 public employees and deny collective bargaining to the remainder of the island’s public employees. The U.S. Commonwealth, where unemployment is already at 15 percent, is set to receive $6 billion in federal economic recovery funds, more than enough to cover a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit.
Fortuño, a former Republican delegate to the U.S. Congress, is using the island’s deep budget deficit as a pretext to busting the union and privatizing public services, the Puerto Rican union movement says.
Report: Latinos in Unions Fare Better Than Nonunion Peers
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The current economic crisis is hitting Latinos hard and they need the same help that all workers do—better wages, safe working conditions and a union. A new report marks National Hispanic Heritage Month with the news that the union difference benefits Latino workers, just as it does all other union workers.
In the report, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) documents a large wage and benefit advantage for Latino workers who join unions compared with their nonunion counterparts. The report, Unions and Upward Mobility for Latino Workers, found that unionized Latino workers earned, on average, 17.6 percentage points more than nonunion Latinos. Latino union members also were much more likely to have health insurance benefits and a pension plan.
