USW Tells China to Stop Treading on U.S. Tire Makers
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Chinese tire makers are treading on the U.S. tire industry, dumping more than 46 million low-cost tires into this country last year alone to be sold in stores like Wal-Mart, among others. The result, unfortunately, is all too familiar: Cheap imports = lost jobs and shattered communities.
The United Steelworkers (USW), which represents most of the U.S. tire workers, is demanding that the Obama administration act forcefully to restore a balanced trading field. The union wants the administration to impose tough tariffs on Chinese tires for at least three years.
Last month, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled in favor of a USW petition filed under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USITC found that tariff relief was needed to urgently reduce those tire imports. Evidence showed that more than 5,100 domestic consumer tire production jobs were lost between 2004 and 2008 by the flood of Chinese tire imports that undersold producers in the United States. Domestic tire companies have announced they will close more plants and eliminate another 3,000 jobs by the end of this year.
Gov. Corzine: Unions Key to Income Equality
As the state with the most extensive union membership, it’s no surprise that New Jersey working families have a strong social contract, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said today. Speaking at a lunchtime panel at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, Corzine told the hundreds of progressive bloggers in the audience:
There is no question that the association of the union movement with shared wealth is absolutely a reality—and we need to get back to it.
Corzine, who is in a tough fight with challenger Chris Christie in one of two governor’s races this fall, said the distribution of income in this country is skewed—with the nation’s tax policy ”completely tilted toward corporations against labor.” (Media reports today tie Bush-backer Christie with Karl Rove and the illegal firing of U.S. attorneys. Find out more about Christi’s anti-worker stances here.)
Thousands Join in Candlelight Vigils Across California
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| Union activists and allies held candlelight vigils for the Employee Free Choice Act across California. |
California Labor Federation Communications organizer Rebecca Greenberg reports on the recent statewide vigils in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
More than a thousand California workers, interfaith leaders, community allies and elected officials kicked the California campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act into overdrive in recent days by participating in statewide overnight vigils. The message was clear to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the only Democrat in California not currently signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill: Now is the time to reform labor law and rebuild the middle class.
In Los Angeles, California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski joined Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo for a noontime kick-off rally on Wednesday with more than 100 workers and community allies. The vigil focused on building a better future for young workers and the next generation by passing the Employee Free Choice Act. Vigil participants also reflected on social justice campaigns of the past and how they relate to today’s struggle. Several other community groups, including the Sierra Club, came out to voice their support for Employee Free Choice.
CEOs Protected by Big Contracts Make Sure Their Employees Aren’t
The AFL-CIO’s new Executive PayWatch data shows that many CEOs and top execs have contracts that give them high pay, job security and numerous benefits. Yet these same executives are fighting a vicious battle to prevent their workers from having an opportunity to get workplace contracts by opposing passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
A big double standard is at work here—corporations are giving generous contracts to top execs with one hand while suppressing workers’ freedom to form unions with the other.
Take Wal-Mart, one of the most active opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act and its workers’ freedom to form unions. Wal-Mart went so far as to warn store managers not to vote for Obama last fall, and former Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott summed up corporate opposition to Employee Free Choice like this:
We like driving the car and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.
Wal-Mart: Recession Profiteer
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Bank and insurance CEOs aren’t the only ones getting rewarded for horrendous behavior in this recession. There’s Wal-Mart, whom Newsweek now has anointed as “Our Corporate Savior.” (Hat tip to dakine01.)
“Wal-Mart recently announced that its same store sales in January were up 2.1 percent, which was more than forecast. With the company’s huge network of stores and ability to strong-arm suppliers, Wal-Mart offers shoppers good merchandise at prices which becomes more and more attractive as the downturn continues.”
The brutal truth is that Wal-Mart is profiting in the midst of misery because of policies that, like those of the financial services industry, fueled the nation’s economic disaster. While banks rolled up and peddled collateralized debt packages like cheap tuna wraps, Wal-Mart’s assault on America’s economy came from another angle–everyday low wages. By paying the vast majority of its workers little more than the minimum wage and offering health care plans most can’t afford, Wal-Mart shifted its corporate expenses to taxpayers.
Lawsuits? What Lawsuits?
Wal-Mart has gotten into the lawsuit settling business, announcing Tuesday it was settling 63 cases pending in 42 states–with the settlement woth at least $352 million, The New York Times reports. The announcement followed a similar settlement for more than $54 million involving 100,000 Minnesota employees. Both settlements came in cases accusing Wal-Mart of failing to pay workers what they were due, including for time worked “off the clock.”
