Bill Introduced to Redress High Court Ruling Penalizing Older Workers
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court took aim at older workers and age discrimination cases with a 5-4 ruling written by Justice Clarence Thomas that forces older workers to jump a higher than previous legal hurdle to prove age discrimination.
Today, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act was introduced in Congress to restore vital civil rights protections for older workers in the face of the high court’s decision, Gross v. FBL Financial. That case, say lawmakers, rewrote civil rights laws and overturned well-established precedent, making it harder for workers facing age discrimination to enforce their rights.
The bill was introduced by the chairmen of three key congressional committees: Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), House Education and Labor Committee; Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee; and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senate Judiciary Committee.
Fight Child Labor in Uzbekistan
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As the harvest season for cotton in Uzbekistan begins, 2 million Uzbek children, some as young as six or seven and ranging up to 15, will be forced to spend their days picking cotton instead of attending classes.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Labor Department included cotton from Uzbekistan on a list of goods produced by forced and child labor. Each year during the three-month harvest, Uzbek authorities shut down hundreds of schools, hospitals and public offices. Along with the children, thousands of teachers, doctors and public administrators are forced into the fields.
The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has joined with AFT and a broad range of organizations in the United States and Central Asia to call for an end to forced child labor in Uzbekistan. You can act today to stop this shameful practice by signing a petition here.
All supporters who sign the petition by Oct. 2 will have their names put on a special cotton quilt that will be unveiled at a rally in front of the Uzbek embassy in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 14. To get more involved in this action, e-mail volunteer@ilrf.org.
Harkin: We Will Pass the Employee Free Choice Act
Today, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) gave a video message to the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention and said that he’s committed to passing the Employee Free Choice Act.
Harkin thanked former AFL-CIO President John Sweeney for his years of service and leadership and thanked union members for their hard work. Because of that work, Harkin said, we’re closer than ever to real health care reform and labor law reform. He’s been working hard meeting with key senators and says he’s confident we’ll be able to restore the freedom to form unions:
When you ask if we can pass the Employee Free Choice Act, the answer is three words: Yes. We. Can.
Harkin also offered a tribute to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and pledged to uphold his legacy as chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Legal Services Workers Vote to Join IFPTE
By an overwhelming 26-1 vote, a group of lawyers and professional staff at the Legal Services Corp. (LSC) voted to join the International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees (IFPTE). The LSC, which receives federal funding, provides legal services to the poor.
The Sept. 15 vote to form a union came following the LSC’s refusal to recognize the workers’ choice after 95 percent of the bargaining unit signed union authorization cards and after the LSC hired an anti-union law firm to fight the workers’ choice.
Earlier this month, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, criticized the agency’s anti-union action. In a letter to the LSC President Helaine Barnett, Harkin wrote:
Not to support the employees’ desire to unionize is troubling. The card-check process is a fair and unbiased way for employees to choose a union. I am disappointed that an organization committed to protecting the rights of our most vulnerable citizens did not support the free choice of its workers to organize through this process.
Workers ‘Becoming Backbone’ of Health Care Reform Effort
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The active participation of union members is changing the tone of the health care reform town hall meetings going on now during the August congressional recess. What began as forums for anti-Obama propaganda are now becoming platforms for real debate over what kind of reform is needed.
Much of the credit goes to union members who have mobilized to take back the town halls from the campaign of misinformation being waged by extremist groups, some backed by corporate donors and fueled with talking points from extremist Republicans.
Even the stalwart conservative newspaper, The Washington Times, had to admit that union members are making a difference in the tone of the town halls. In today’s edition, the Times says:
Members of the nation’s labor unions have made up a hefty segment of the audiences that flocked to town halls Mr. Obama held in the past week, and they have played an even larger role in a nationwide campaign for an insurance overhaul. Financially, and with boots on the ground, unions have become the backbone of the president’s effort.
The Employee Free Choice Act: From 2003 to Today
Members of Congress soon will cast votes that show us where they stand on the Employee Free Choice Act. As key senators engage in negotiations over the bill, supporters of workers’ freedom to form unions aren’t backing down on three key principles:
* Workers need to have a real choice to form a union and bargain for a better life, free from intimidation.
* We have to stop the endless delays and make sure workers can get a fair first contract.
* There have to be real penalties for violating the law.
Over the past few months, opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act have more than once declared the bill dead, but in fact we’re still working hard to to ensure labor law reform happens this year. We’ve come along way from where we were several years ago.
CWA Delegates Back Employee Free Choice, Health Care and Unity
More than 2,500 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) delivered a message to their representatives on Capitol Hill yesterday: It’s time to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and real health care reform.
The Capitol Hill lobby day is part of the union’s four-day convention in Washington, D.C., which ends today. Delegates will go back to the Capitol today to join thousands of workers in the mass rally in support of health care reform.
700 State Legislators Back Public Health Insurance Option
The health care reform debate is now on center stage on the national level. But for several years, state lawmakers have fought to develop health care reform initiatives to ensure affordability, quality and fairness in health care. One thing they have learned, says Christopher Donovan, speaker of the Connecticut state House, is that
we know that America wants the choice of a public plan because we’ve been out there in the trenches for years now coming up with models for one. We’ve been going door to door talking to our constituents. We’ve been drafting legislation that creates public insurance options and opens employee insurance pools to the private sector. We’ve passed these things, so we know people like them.
A public insurance plan option for workers and families who either have private insurance coverage or no coverage at all is one of the AFL-CIO’s key health care reform principles.
June 12: World Day Against Child Labor
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Around the globe, workers and human rights activists are spending World Day Against Child Labor by focusing on this year’s goal: Give Girls a Chance. Of the estimated 218 million children who work worldwide, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that 100 million are girls. More than half of those girls work in hazardous jobs in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, domestic services and commercial sexual exploitation.
Workers from Albania to Bangladesh will hold rallies, seminars and exhibits to mark the day and increase awareness of the plight of the world’s children. Click here for a list of events around the world.
The ILO says the global economic crisis could lead to an increase in the number of children, especially girls, who are forced to give up school and go to work to support their families. The ILO’s new report, “Give Girls a Chance: Tackling Child Labor,” found that the combination of poverty and the tendency to place a higher value on the education of male children will result in many families in poor countries taking girls out of school and forcing them to enter the workforce.
Employee Free Choice Act: A Signature Battle for Our Future
At the three-day America’s Future Now! conference going on now in Washington, D.C., many workshops are focused on empowering people and building a stronger, fairer economy, and few issues are more critical to those goals than the Employee Free Choice Act and restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
At a session this morning on the Employee Free Choice Act, some of the people most involved in the fight to pass the bill discussed why we need it and how we’re going to make it happen.
Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the leadership in the Senate is strongly behind the bill and he won’t back down on giving real freedom to workers who want a union, making sure workers can get a first contract and that there are meaningful penalties to violations of workers’ freedom.
If senators refuse to compromise, if they refuse to come to the table in good faith, I will take the original bill to the floor and demand an up-or-down vote. We will see where everyone stands, and working people can vote accordingly.
