Virginians Prefer Welfare to Work? Ally of Gov. Candidate Says So
In a meeting with Republicans on Thursday, Virginia Republican Party Chairman Pat Mullins—a key ally of gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell—audaciously claimed that Virginia businesses are closing because Virginians “preferred welfare to work.”
As the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, in a conversation with Republican leaders in western Virginia, Mullins claimed a Wise County insurance company closed two offices because it couldn’t recruit enough employees from a local community college. Mullins contended it was because Virginians would rather be on welfare than get a job.
What news has Mullins been reading? Is this the kind of cluelessness Virginia can expect from Republican leaders?
House Recess Begins, Fight for Employee Free Choice Continues
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Members of the U.S. House return home today for a monthlong recess, and the U.S. Senate is set to adjourn at the end of the week. Back home, lawmakers already are hearing from union activists and our allies in the field who are telling them to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act.
As the AFL-CIO’s Stewart Acuff noted at a rally in Colorado last week, working men and women around the country need to speak out for the freedom to form unions and bargain:
“Victory is in our reach. Turning Around America is up to us…the President can’t do it by himself. It’s up to us to make him a great president. Winning health care for all, creating good jobs and fair trade, and restoring the freedom to organize and bargain are a matter of mobilizing the most effective ground campaign in our history. One and a half million workers signed the Million Member Mobilization, tens of thousands have taken action, it’s up to us to move hundreds of thousands to turn around America, to restore economic health and growth.”
Maine GOP State Legislator Supports Employee Free Choice Act, and Other Highlights from Around the Country
Guess who’s joining the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act in Maine?
It’s state Rep. Jim Campbell, a Republican who is defying the expectations of pundits and corporate shills by supporting workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain. He has appeared at public events around the state and written in local news outlets to show his support for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Here’s what Campbell says about the need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and its importance to rebuilding the economy:
Common-sense solutions should be used to create good jobs that can support a family and put money back into our economy. Historically, no institution has been as effective at improving the quality of life for working families as membership in a union. Union members earn better wages, have better health care coverage and can count on a more secure retirement than nonunion workers.
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Faith Leaders, Working Women Take Action to Support Employee Free Choice Act
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This morning, 20 religious leaders in Hammond, Ind., met with union members from the Northwest Indiana Federation of Labor to talk about the need for the Employee Free Choice Act and sign a letter to Sen. Evan Bayh asking him to support workers’ freedom to form unions.
Today’s breakfast is just a small part of a national effort on behalf of faith communities in support of the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union members, religious leaders, Working America members and a wide range of allies have made their voices heard with prayer vigils and rallies at Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s offices all around Arkansas, including Little Rock, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, Texarkana and El Dorado. They’ve also held vigils in Indiana, including events in South Bend, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, as well as Omaha, Neb., and Missoula, Mont.
24-Hour Vigil Highlights Busy Week of Action for Employee Free Choice
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| Louisiana union members are among the thousands who are rallying in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Supporters of the freedom to form unions and bargain, including faith and civil rights groups as well as union members, are holding a 24-hour vigil outside Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s office to encourage her to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
This vigil, which began last night, is one of more than 200 grassroots events across the nation this week in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. With rallies, roundtables, phone banks and worksite visits, workers are encouraging members of Congress back in their home districts this week to vote in support of workers and a fairer, stronger economy. Senators across the country have received tens of thousands of letters and phone calls from union members and allies, and that momentum is building this week.
Coerced, Harassed, Suspended: A Virginia Worker’s Case for Employee Free Choice
Billy Mason, a Virginia factory worker, is one of the thousands of workers who has suffered unfair treatment while trying to exercise the freedom to form a union and bargain for a better life.
Writing in southeast Virginia’s Daily Press, Mason talks vividly about the struggles he went through to form a union.
Imagine a football game between one team with cleats, helmets and shoulder pads playing another that doesn’t have any equipment at all. It’s not only that companies have all kinds of advantages, but also that workers are so vulnerable to abuse. The Employee Free Choice Act will help even the playing field.
I’ve been through two organizing campaigns, and I hope my experience will explain why we desperately need this legislation.
Obama, Union Members Nationwide Focus on Employee Free Choice
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Yesterday, at a town hall meeting in New Mexico, President Obama reaffirmed his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, capping off a busy week of grassroots activity around the country in support of this critical bill.
Obama acknowledged there’s a tough fight ahead, but expressed his concern that current labor law isn’t fair to workers and needs to be changed if we’re going to rebuild the middle class.
…the scales have been tilted to make it really hard to form a union. So a lot of companies, because they want maximum flexibility, they would rather spend a lot of money on consultants and lawyers to prevent a union from forming than they would just going ahead and having the union and then trying to work with—and collectively—allow workers to collectively bargain.
So there’s a bill called the Employee Free Choice Act that would try to even out the playing field. And what it would essentially say is, is that if a majority of workers at a company want a union then they can get a union without delay—and some of the monkey business that’s done right now to prevent them from having a union.
Veterans, Small Business Owners Step up Fight for Employee Free Choice
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Military veterans in Maine, Arkansas and around the country are calling for quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act this week. In cooperation with national veterans groups, these veterans are holding meetings, writing letters and speaking about the need to restore the basic freedom to form a union and bargain for a better life.
Stephen Jackson, a Vietnam veteran from North Carolina who is both the commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 4312 and a member of Steelworkers (USW) Local 1283, took to the pages of the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald in a great op-ed on the Employee Free Choice Act:
The men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our country deserve a chance to be a part of the American dream. They deserve a job that puts food on the table and a roof over the family’s heads. They deserve benefits so that they and their families can be healthy and thrive. They deserve the right to join any organization that will help improve their situation. They deserve to have the chance to be a part of the middle class and help rebuild our economy…
The Employee Free Choice Act will give veterans a better chance when they get back home to get better jobs with better benefits, and a better shot at the middle class. I support the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s my way of honoring those who served our country.
Veterans Push for Employee Free Choice
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Yesterday in Norfolk, Va., union veterans held the first event of what will be a nationwide campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act, uniting union and nonunion veterans from across the country in support of the freedom to form unions and bargain.
In a dozen states, VoteVets.org, Veterans and Military Families for Progress (VMFP), Veterans’ Alliance for Security and Democracy (VETPAC) and the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council are teaming up to host military veterans, family members and union members for rallies, roundtable discussions and mobilization events. More than 2 million union members—14 percent of all union members—are veterans and, along with national veterans’ groups, they’re ready to mobilize for a level playing field in the workplace and the freedom to bargain for the economic opportunity they deserve.
Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and the chairman of VoteVets.org, says freedom of assembly and the right to bargain for a better life is a critical part of the American promise that needs to be kept.
Vets, Small Business Owners Back Employee Free Choice
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Many of America’s veterans have come out in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act, among them, active and retired union members who have served in the armed forces. In Arkansas, these vets got together Wednesday for a briefing to talk about the Employee Free Choice Act. They discussed how the freedom to form a union and fairness and respect in the workplace are among the values for which they fought.
David Anderson, a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran and president of the Arkansas State Association of Letter Carriers, said the Employee Free Choice Act is needed to give workers who serve their country and community the opportunities they deserve:
The same workers who helped make these companies successful are intimidated and sometimes fired for trying to organize the workers in their job. What a sad way to treat those workers, especially the veterans.
