Locked-Out Workers to Embark on Journey for Justice
 |
Amy Masciola, a union campaign consultant, sends us this.
More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co. locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week, Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in Ontario, just over one month after locking out 500 workers. Rio Tinto Alcan locked out 750 workers in Quebec Jan. 1. HealthBridge locked out 800 nursing home workers in Connecticut in December. As Laura Clawson at the Daily Kos notes, “For evidence of a war on workers, look no further than the rise of the lockout.”
Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times wrote recently that the number of strikes has dropped precipitously in the past two decades, while lockouts now “represent a record percentage of the nation’s work stoppages.” Greenhouse quotes professor Gary Chaison of Clark University, who says:
This is a sign of increased employer militancy. Lockouts were once so rare they were almost unheard of. Now, not only are employers increasingly on the offensive and trying to call the shots in bargaining, but they’re backing that up with action—in the form of lockouts.
Unions and our allies are fighting back against this war on workers. Beginning Feb. 22, locked-out workers from American Crystal Sugar Co. and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. will start a 1,000-mile journey across America’s heartland. They will visit six states in six days, taking part in rallies, fundraisers and other actions with local union members and allies. Locked-out workers will take their message to supporters—and call out the perpetrators of the war on workers. Read the rest of this entry »
Report Details ALEC’s Influence in Ohio Lawmaking
Mike Gillis, Ohio AFL-CIO communications director, sends us this.
A new report released today by People For the American Way Foundation, Common Cause, the Center for Media and Democracy and Progress Ohio reveals the deep ties between the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Ohio state lawmakers.
ALEC in Ohio: The Corporate Special Interests that Help Write Ohio’s Laws, demonstrates ALEC’s policymaking influence with an in-depth analysis of the organization’s ties to key Ohio lawmakers, as well as a side-by-side comparison of nine ALEC “model” bills and actual Ohio legislation, including:
- Attacks on workers by severely limiting collective bargaining, eliminating public employment through outsourcing and privatizing government functions;
- Diminishing public education through private school voucher programs and private scholarship tax credits;
- Encouraging the privatization of state prisons to benefit the private prison industry;
- Voter suppression bills designed to disenfranchise thousands of eligible Americans;
- Draconian anti-immigrant measures that criminalize undocumented workers and penalize their employers;
- Creation of barriers for consumers and injured parties in seeking justice from corporations in a court of law;
- Measures to prevent implementation of health care reform. Read the rest of this entry »
Symposium: Building Bridges to Labor’s Community Allies
Marvin Bing, a member of the AFL-CIO Special Committee on Labor-Community Partnerships, sends us this report on a meeting of AFL-CIO constituency groups in Phoenix.
AFL-CIO constituency groups kicked off the “We Are One Moving America Forward” symposium late last week with a series of great speeches by William Lucy, Ben Jealous, George Gresham, Danny Ortega and Judith Browne-Dianis. A resounding theme: “We can’t let the 1 percent trick us into believing we are different—We are the 99 percent, we are one and if we don’t work together on issues that bring us together, we will fall together.” We are the people who fight for working families, we are the people who fight to protect our students, children, seniors and families. We are the labor movement and together with the community we are unbeatable.
Constituency members include: The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), Pride At Work (PAW), Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).
Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, closed the panel, “Organizing in Our Communities: How African Americans and Latinos Have Strength in Unity,” by saying: Read the rest of this entry »
Ohio Voters to Kasich: ‘No, No, No’
|
|
Ohio voters today resoundingly overturned the anti-worker agenda pushed by Gov. John Kasich (R), Republican state lawmakers and outside interest groups, which took away the right of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life.
Moments ago, the vote was called: Buckeye State voters said “No” to Issue 2. The Associated Press reports it was defeated by a 61 percent to 39 percent margin. The “No” vote on Issue 2 repeals Kasich’s S.B. 5 that eliminated the collective bargaining rights of some 350,000 public employees, including teachers, nurses and firefighters.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who joined working families in phone banking and canvassing said Issue 2′s defeat ”is a major victory for working families in Ohio and across the country.”
Ohio’s working people successfully fought back against lies pushed by shadowy multi-national corporations and their anonymous front groups that attempted to scapegoat public service employees and everyone they serve by assaulting collective bargaining rights.
Ohio Dirty Tricks: Robo-Calls Give Wrong Day For Vote
Today the people of Ohio will decide, in a referendum vote, whether Gov. John Kasich’s anti-worker bill will become law or get tossed out. So when an Ohio union staffer and registered Democrat got a robo-call this morning telling her to vote “tomorrow”—not today, Nov. 8—she became immediately suspicious. The call was received by an SEIU staff member.
The group sponsoring the robo-call is the American Future Fund, a Republican organization led by a member of the Iowa state Senate. Although the call instructed her to vote the Republican-sponsored position in support of Issue 2—the ballot measure that could ratify S.B. 5, the bill that would virtually end collective bargaining for public employees—the recipient is a registered Democrat.
Could it be that the American Future Fund was hoping to confuse Democrats about the date of the election, and in a manner that could make it all seem like an innocent mistake?
Anthony Caldwell, spokesperson for SEIU Local 1199, told the Huffington Post:
For a group [American Future Fund] that has coordinated a $1 million mail campaign, I find it highly unlikely they would make a simple clerical error and send out a robocall to non-supporters telling them to vote the day after Election Day.
Here’s the script of the call, via the Huffington Post, which was received by the SEIU staffer at 9:37 this morning:
Voter Suppression and Manipulation in Ohio
Even as working Ohioans are ready to vote “No” today on Issue 2, which would repeal S.B. 5, the bill signed by Gov. John Kasich that takes away the right of public employees to bargain for a middle-class life, the right wing has been hard at work. They are not only ginning up their own base, but using deception and voter-suppression legislation to game the outcome.
On Friday, writes John Nichols at The Nation, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, ordered county boards of elections to “shut down early voting for…Tuesday’s election.” Earlier this year, the state legislature passed a bill that will greatly reduce early voting and will shut down Sunday voting entirely, but the law is tabled pending a referendum. So Husted appears to have taken matters into his own hands.
Sunday voting often draws a sizable Latino and African American contingent and best serves workers who can’t get time off from their jobs to vote on Tuesday.
Ohio’s voter-suppression legislation and the anti-collective-bargaining legislation—the Issue 2 referendum on which Ohioans will vote on Tuesday—stem from a common source, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, David and Charles, who also fund Americans For Prosperity.
Ohio Firefighter Veterans Speak Out Against S.B. 5/Issue 2
|
|
With the fight in Ohio to defeat Issue 2 coming down to its final days, the Fire Fighters (IAFF) have launched ads featuring firefighters who are war veterans urging voters to vote “No on Issue 2.” A “No” vote on Issue 2 would repeal S.B. 5, the law passed this spring that takes away the right of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life.
“We didn’t expect this kind of homecoming when we came back,” says Columbus firefighter David Jarvis, who served in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and served in Operation Desert Storm during the first Gulf War.
Working Families Show Ohio’s Issue 2 Is ‘Nuts’
 |
|
 |
|
Deborah Dion with the Ohio AFL-CIO field program sends us this.
Working families rallied at the Firefighters Memorial in front of the Cleveland Browns Stadium and distributed football-shaped stickers and 250 pounds of “Vote No on Issue 2″ peanuts to tens of thousands of football fans as they entered the stadium. Issue 2 would repeal S.B. 5, the law passed this spring that takes away the right of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life.
Tom Lally, president of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 93, said during Sunday’s event:
“S.B. 5 is a safety issue for citizen and for firefighters, plain and simple. Issue 2 makes it illegal for us to negotiate for enough firefighters to do the job. We will be doing more with less staffing under Senate Bill 5. We are concerned that politicians are risking the safety of citizens and firefighters for political gain. We are asking citizens of Ohio to vote “No” on Issue 2 because if they keep us safe, we will keep them safe.”
Cleveland-area firefighters also canvassed tailgaters to talk with them about the safety Read the rest of this entry »
Thousands of Ohioans Mobilize to Urge ‘NO’ Vote on Issue 2
 |
AFL-CIO Field Communications Coordinator Andrew Richards sends us the latest from Ohio.
Thousands of Ohio working families went door to door canvassing across the state over the weekend to get out the vote against Issue 2/S.B. 5. With a little more than two weeks left until Election Day, Nov. 8, Ohioans are working furiously to talk with as many Ohioans about how Issue 2/S.B. 5 is unsafe, unfair and has hurt our communities because it takes away the ability of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life. In Cincinnati, Ohio Federation of Teachers/AFT President Sue Taylor joined workers and community members to kick off a get-out-the-vote event before working families fanned out across the area to knock on doors.
(If you’re in Ohio, pledge to vote “NO” on Issue 2 and vote early. Click here.)
Ohio Firefighters, Working Families Rally to Vote ‘NO’ on Issue 2
 |
||||
|
||||
Deborah Dion with the Ohio AFL-CIO field program sends us this.
More than 250 firefighters and working families rallied for an early vote in Mansfield, Ohio, to defeat Issue 2. Voting “NO” on Issue 2 would repeal S.B. 5, passed earlier this year, that gutted collective bargaining rights for public employees. Working families gathered at the historic Mansfield Fire Museum, which celebrates firefighter history, heritage and the first responders that keep the community safe. Immediately following the rally, a caravan of a dozen jeeps carried 85 firefighters to the Richland County Board of Elections where they cast their vote against Issue 2/S.B. 5.
Click here for more photos from the event.
Speaking at the rally, Dan Crow, president of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 266 and an active firefighter with the City of Mansfield, said: Read the rest of this entry »
