Arizona Union Leader Says Today’s Shooting ‘Has No Place in a Democracy’
Here’s a statement from Rebekah Friend, executive director and secretary/treasurer of the Arizona AFL-CIO, about today’s tragedy in Tuscon, Ariz., in which a gunman shot Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head as she met outside a grocery store with constituents. The gunman, who is in custody, also allegedly shot and killed Chief Judge John Roll of the U.S. District Court for Arizona and an unidentified nine-year-old girl.
The shooting of Congresswoman Giffords, her staff members and others in Tucson this morning comes as a terrible shock. Congresswoman Giffords has always been a dedicated servant to the working families of her community, and it is heartbreaking to hear that she was shot as she was meeting with her constituents to listen to their concerns. This senseless attack on a leader like Congresswoman Giffords and working Arizonans has no place in a democratic society like ours.
From reports I have received from United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 99 President Jim McLaughlin, it appears that no Safeway grocery store workers represented by UFCW 99 were hurt in the shooting.
Today, I and other leaders in the labor movement are asking union members and all Arizonans to keep Congresswoman Giffords, the other victims and their families in their thoughts and prayers.
Anti-Union Ballot Measures Target Workers’ Rights
This is a cross-post from the Electrical Workers (IBEW).
Under the guise of protecting the secret ballot, right-wing groups have placed anti-union measures on the ballots of four states–Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah–that would outlaw majority sign-up as a means for union recognition. These groups are hoping to spike the Employee Free Choice Act, the legislation which would remove many of the obstacles to workers exercising their right to join a union.
Says Sioux Falls, S.D., Local 426 member and South Dakota Federation of Labor President Mark Anderson in a statement from the “No on Amendment K” campaign:
The so-called “secret ballot” amendment was written to trap voters in to supporting a measure designed to undermine workers’ rights to form unions. Only 6.6 percent of South Dakota are represented by a union….Still the supporters of Amendment K are asking voters to help them make it harder for workers to form unions and bargain for better wages.
Arizona Immigration Bill Draws Bipartisan Fire
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Across the country, there is a bipartisan outcry against Arizona’s draconian new anti-immigrant law, which many say is impractical, unenforceable, poor policy and will lead to racial profiling.
On Friday, Arizona’s Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law S.B. 1070, which allows police to stop and question anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being undocumented. The bill does not define “reasonable suspicion,” a fact that many opponents say is a carte blanche for racial profiling.
Rebekah Friend, secretary-treasurer of the Arizona AFL-CIO, says:
First of all, this is a federal issue, not a state issue. Second, our police are overburdened already because of budget cuts and this puts an unnecessary burden on them. And I believe it could lead to racial profiling. The presumption of guilt is the antithesis of everything we stand for. Arizona is better than this.
Workers Mobilizing to Get Bargaining Rights for Transportation Security Officers
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More than 120 workers from nine unions braved cold weather in Phoenix yesterday to rally and show solidarity with Transportation Security Agency (TSA) workers who are seeking a union.
The Phoenix rally shows workers across the country are standing strongly behind the employees who protect the flying public. Over the next few weeks, the AFL-CIO and affiliated unions are mobilizing to draw attention to the plight of these workers and the unfair ways they are being treated.
Even though federal border guards, immigration and customs and Federal Protective Service employees are already union members, TSA employees still do not have collective bargaining rights.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler stopped by National Airport near Washington, D.C., yesterday to talk with TSA workers about their concerns. Workers there and at airports across the country are concerned about pay levels, high staff attrition, low morale and severe rates of workplace injuries.
State Fed Leaders: Air Tanker Contract Should Go to Boeing
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Awarding the $35 billion contract for the Air Force’s refueling tankers to Boeing Co. is the clear choice for “investing in American workers, American knowledge, American security, and America’s future,” the presidents of 10 AFL-CIO state federations say in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The letter, sent last week, urges the Pentagon to consider the impact on the U.S. economy and national security in deciding which company should receive the lucrative Air Force refueling tanker contract.
In September 2008, Gates, who also was George W. Bush’s defense chief, announced he was canceling the competition for the refueling tankers and leaving it to the next administration to decide. Gates said the competition between Boeing Co. and European-based EADS/Northrop Grumman was “too controversial” to be settled during the last four months of the Bush administration.
