African American Delegation Arriving Now in Alabama
Brenda Loya in AFL-CIO Media Affairs sends us this from Alabama, where she will report on the delegation of African American labor and civil rights leaders as they investigate Alabama’s recently passed anti-immigrant law. Follow the delegation here.
With the passage of H.B. 56, Alabama has taken a huge step backward, into the 1950s. Today, an African American delegation of labor and civil rights leaders traveled to Birmingham, Ala., to help shed a light on what is seen as one of the harshest immigration laws in the country and how it invokes inhumanity reminiscent of the Jim Crow South.
The delegation will investigate first-hand the impact of Alabama’s H.B. 56 on the lives of Latino working families. National, state and local leaders will hear from the families directly impacted by the law, document the impact of the law on Latino communities, acquire a better understanding of the civil rights implications of the legislation and assess the impact of the law on workers and businesses.
APWU Says Honor Vets with Jobs
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On Veterans Day today, lawmakers will make a lot of speeches honoring the service of the nation’s military veterans. But many of these same lawmakers are backing legislation that could cost the jobs of 26,000 veterans who work for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
The bill (H.R. 2309), sponsored by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), was approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Oct. 13. It would force the Postal Service to lay off as many as 120,000 workers, including veterans who served our nation.
The Postal Workers (APWU) and Mail Handlers, an affiliate of the Laborers (LIUNA), have launched a new TV ad (see above) that salutes the nation’s “real life heroes” and urges viewers to tell their representatives in Congress to vote ”No” on H.R. 2309 when it comes to the House floor for a vote.
Our nation’s veterans are real-life heroes. But when they come home, they don’t want a parade, they want a job.
Join the Fight to Save America’s Postal Service
The nation’s postal unions and allies are fighting back against proposals to close post offices and mail processing centers, and change USPS regulations to eliminate overnight delivery of first class mail, and change two-day delivery to three days. You can join by signing a petition to your senators and representatives to preserve the nation’s mail service. Click here or here to sign the petition.
The petition is part of the Save America’s Postal Service campaign, a joint effort of the Postal Workers (APWU), Letter Carriers (NALC), Mail Handlers, an affiliate of the Laborers (LIUNA), and the Rural Letter Carriers.
Over the next several weeks, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the “super committee,” is supposed to produce a plan to reduce the federal deficit. It may include a Read the rest of this entry »
Join the Fight to Keep Six-Day Mail Delivery
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The nation’s postal unions and allies are fighting back against proposals to eliminate Saturday mail deliveries—and you can join by signing a petition to your senators and representatives to preserve six-day mail service. Click here to sign the petition.
The Save America’s Postal service campaign is a joint effort of the Letter Carriers (NALC), Postal Workers (APWU), Mail Handlers, an affiliate of the Laborers (LIUNA), and the Rural Letter Carriers.
Over the next several weeks, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the “super committee,” will produce a plan to reduce the federal deficit. It may include a package of proposals to fix the financial difficulties facing the USPS that could include an end to Saturday deliveries. Read the rest of this entry »
Thousands Rallied to Support Postal Workers, Save 120,000 Jobs
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Thousands of postal workers and their supporters held rallies in 492 locations across the country yesterday to protect the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and save 120,000 jobs.
Members of the four USPS employee unions—the Postal Workers (APWU), Letter Carriers (NALC), Mail Handlers, an affiliate of the Laborers (LIUNA), and the Rural Letter Carriers—and our allies held events in every congressional district as part of a national “Save America’s Post Office” day of action.
Under the guise of a “budgetary crisis,” some in Congress are going after the USPS, proposing massive cuts and job cuts—including laying off 120,000 workers, closing thousands of post offices, eliminating Saturday mail service and closing mail processing facilities. The rallies yesterday urged lawmakers to save the USPS by supporting H.R. 1351. Introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), the bill would restore financial stability to the Postal Service.
Support Postal Workers: Join Sept. 27 Rallies to Save 120,000 Jobs
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In every state across the country, members of the postal unions and community supporters will rally tomorrow, Sept. 27, in a national day of action to protect the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and save 120,000 jobs. Most rallies will take place from 4–5:30 p.m. local time.
Click here to find the Sept. 27 rallies near you.
Under the guise of a “budgetary crisis,” some in Congress are going after the USPS, proposing massive cuts and layoffs—including laying off 120,000 workers, closing thousands of post offices, eliminating Saturday mail service and closing mail processing facilities.
Toilet Paper Drive Collects 115,000+ Rolls for Sacramento Area Nonprofits
AFL-CIO Community Services Director Will Fischer describes union volunteer efforts to stretch the limited dollars of Sacramento area nonprofit organizations.
Every year local nonprofit agencies spend thousands of dollars on toilet paper for families in need. That’s money they could be spending on much-needed services that benefit the community. Since 2009, the Sacramento Central Labor Council and the local United Way have partnered to create Toilet Paper Drives to help local nonprofit partners offset costs and redirect the money saved into vital programs.
This year the partners collected 77,227 rolls of toilet paper (compared with 50,000 rolls last year) that were matched by a local company, bringing the total to an impressive 115,000 rolls.
A Day in Your Life Without Public Employees
Imagine one day you woke up and there were no sanitation workers to pick up the pile of stuff in your trash. No letter carriers or postal workers to move your mail. No teachers in the classrooms, no firefighters to stop your neighbor’s house—or yours—from burning to the ground.
Such is the scenario being created by many Republican lawmakers in the states who are destroying collective bargaining rights for public employees and decimating our ability to attain good middle-class jobs.
Sam Gilberg, an 18-year-old songwriter with a band, One Track Mind, thinks about the plight of workers and has created a video depicting this bleak scenario, with the hope that it will stir people to action. Watch it.
Message from Wis. Front Lines: Show Your Solidarity With Us!
Sally Davidow, Postal Workers (APWU) senior communications manager, sends us this first-hand account of events in Wisconsin she received from a 29-year-old teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin.
This bill is not about the economy. It is about politics. For more information on the bill, here is a quick summary of the implications for collective bargaining and here is a run-down of the implications for all public employees in Wisconsin.
I also want to emphasize state governments across the nation are watching Wisconsin. If this bill passed here, you can count on seeing similar legislation introduced in other states.
So that was the bad part. The good part is that in the past week I have seen and been a part of the most incredible and inspiring social movement mobilization to fight this bill. We’re on day five of the protests that have been getting bigger and bigger every day. My union has been very involved in organizing the events here. I’ve done things I could not have imagined myself doing a week ago (such as getting on a bullhorn to help orchestrate a sit-in at the Capitol). We have been sleeping at the state Capitol for the past 3 nights (although I finally went home to get a couple hours of sleep in my own bed last night). The whole experience is incredibly surreal.
If you want to help out (and I hope you do!), here’s what you can do:
Crew at ‘Biggest Loser’ Back at Work—and More Bargaining News
Some 50 workers reached a contract agreement and are back on the job at the reality show, “The Biggest Loser,” and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,300 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
IATSE, Reveille Productions: Striking crew members of reality show “The Biggest Loser” are back at work after they approved an agreement reached between show producers and the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Some 50 workers went on strike Nov. 8, after producers failed to recognize their decision to have IATSE represent them.
