Oklahoma Workers Expose RTW Lies
In 2001, Oklahoma passed a so-called right to work (RTW) law and its backers made the exact claims Hoosiers are hearing today. RTW proponents painted a picture of a booming economy with huge job creation as companies would swoop into Oklahoma like the Boomer Sooners of the 1889 land rush. None of that ever materialized, two Oklahoma workers told an Indiana statehouse news conference this morning.
Jesse Isbell worked for 36 years at the Bridgestone Tire plant in Oklahoma City before it shut down 2006 and the jobs were shipped to Mexico.
There is absolutely no anecdotal or empirical evidence that RTW has benefitted Oklahoma’s state economy in any way. The company made the decision to outsource our jobs even though the proponents of the right-to-work legislation claimed it would prevent such departures and even attract new businesses to locate in the state. Read the rest of this entry »
So-Called Right to Work Laws Don’t Boost Jobs
Opponents of working families and their unions have been trying to ram so-called right to work laws through state legislatures. Such laws make it illegal for a group of unionized workers to negotiate a contract that requires each employee who enjoys the benefit of the contract to pay his or her share of the costs of negotiating and policing it.
A study out today shows these laws hurt economies and don’t create jobs. The study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) concludes:
Oklahoma Laborfest Conquers All
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Stuart Elliott from the Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation of Central Kansas reports on the Oklahoma Laborfest, Aug. 26-28 in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City rocked for three days with the sounds of a celebration of working people. The big show: the premiere of “Oklahoma Speaks,” a performance that brought the state’s dramatic labor history to life.
The production spotlighted the tremendous impact of the union movement in Oklahoma. The state’s motto is ‘Labor Omnia Vincitÿ”—“Labor Conquers All”—a phrase commonly used by former AFL President Samuel Gompers. Union members, in alliance with tenant farmers, won majority support for 24 demands at the state’s constitutional convention in 1906. Oklahoma’s legislature eventually passed laws prohibiting child labor and mandating compulsory school attendance, established state mining and factory inspectors, regulated the use of strike breakers during labor disputes and outlawed the blacklisting of union sympathizers by employers.
The dramatic readings in “Oklahoma Speaks” were matched by musical selections and featured the voices of both leaders and everyday people who lived through powerful historic changes.
Coburn Can’t Take the Heat, Tries to Deflect Blame for Killing Jobless Aid
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Back home in Oklahoma, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn must really be feeling the heat from some of the millions of America’s jobless worked he shafted last week. Coburn, who blocked a short-term extension for unemployment insurance (UI), issued a press release making it look as though Senate Democrats blocked the extension and he was a helpless victim of the vote. He’s also sending out the same info to those who, like some AFL-CIO Now blog readers, sent him scathing letters for his mean-spirited move.
In short, Coburn’s spin is: Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
In fact, Coburn blocked the emergency UI extension bill, effectively killing it until after the Senate returns from break April 12. Some 200,000 jobless workers a week will now lose UI support because of Coburn. Worse, Coburn has said he would continue to block UI extension after the Senate returns.
2,500 UAW Members Say ‘No’ to Health Cuts and Outsourcing—and More Bargaining News
Some 2,500 UAW members in Texas authorize a strike—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.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
UAW, Bell Helicopter: Some 2,500 workers at Bell Helicopter plants in the Fort Worth, Texas, area, represented by UAW Local 218, went on strike today after rejecting contract proposals that would have increased medical costs and outsourced the work of janitors.
Pilots Hold Info Picket at Continental Shareholders’ Meeting, and More Bargaining News
Pilots hold info picket at Continental shareholders’ meeting—and more updates 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.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
ALPA, Continental: Continental Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), conducted informational picketing at the annual stockholders’ meeting to press for a fair contract that acknowledges many of the sacrifices and the cuts made by the workers to help the airline. Capt. Jay Pierce, chairman of the ALPA chapter for the Continental pilots, stated that the carrier has “gained a reputation as a leader in the industry and a leader in its treatment of employees. I come before you with one simple demand: show us that you are willing to be a leader when it comes to dealing with your pilots.”
Teens Get LifeSmart
The Final Four are New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Washington State. It’s not the NCAA final hoops quartet, but the National Consumers League’s (NCL‘s) LifeSmarts national championship competition has the same tension and passion.
Teams of four to five teens, coached by an adult participant, compete in district and state matches with the state winners going to the national competition to vie for the national LifeSmarts title. More than 22,000 consumer savvy teens representing 30 states competed at the national competition, which ends today in St. Louis, held to teach the next generation of consumers how to succeed in the marketplace.
