22,000 L.A. Workers Win Pact with City that Saves Jobs—and More Bargaining News
Some 22,000 Los Angeles workers win pact with city that prevents layoffs—and more bargaining news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
Multiple, City of Los Angeles: The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a pact with the Los Angeles Coalition of City Unions, a group made up of AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions and representing 22,000 city workers. The agreement avoids layoffs and furloughs and will save the city more than $77 million by offering an early retirement plan, reducing the number of hours worked and postponing pay raises until after 2011. A deal with the Los Angeles Police Protective League/IUPA also was approved Friday and will save the city $63 million.
Jobless Workers Can’t Feed Their Families While States Sit on $3 Billion in UI Funds
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With unemployment at its highest levels in decades, it’s unbelievable that some $3.1 billion in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits included in the federal economic recovery package is not being spent because 23 states have not yet revised state rules covering jobless benefits.
Today’s USA TODAY reports that nearly 350,000 out-of-work Americans could get benefits if all those states revamp their unemployment systems to qualify for money that is included in the federal stimulus package.
In 11 of the states, Republican governors or legislatures have refused to modify the rules governing unemployment insurance to qualify for about $1.7 billion in stimulus funds. The other 12 states have made only some of the changes, not applied for the funds or not taken legislative votes on the changes. Although the states have until 2011 to change the laws, the reality is that many states need the money now and the workers really need it now.
As Momentum Builds, Workers Speak Out on Employee Free Choice
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| Wisconsin health care workers deliver thousands of postcards in support of Employee Free Choice to Sen. Herb Kohl. |
With momentum building for the Employee Free Choice Act, workers across the country are taking the lead in the fight–speaking out at town hall meetings and rallies and asking their senators to pass this critical bill and make the economy work for everyone.
Here are a few of the ways workers are making a difference:
Ken Bruner, a Vietnam veteran, helicopter pilot and the president of Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU) Local 107, spoke at a roundtable about the Employee Free Choice Act in Louisiana last week and said the freedom to form unions can benefit workers and businesses alike.
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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In the Field: High Momentum for Employee Free Choice Act
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Reports are piling in from around the country from union members and their allies in the faith, civil rights, small business and environmental communities who are helping advance the Employee Free Choice Act and workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.
In Maine, the Sierra Club, along with Bill Murphy, director of the University of Maine’s Bureau of Labor Education, held a press conference to announce that the environmental community is strongly in favor of Employee Free Choice, which they say will ensure workers have a voice in how businesses operate in their communities.
In Fort Collins, Colo., the Rev. Daniel Klawitter of Interfaith Worker Justice, led a community meeting in support of the Employee Free Choice Act that helped raise funds for an area food bank. Union members and members of Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, joined him in supporting the food bank and the freedom to form unions, which Klawitter said was “the most effective anti-poverty program” available to workers.
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.
Congress Takes a Break—Union Members Heat up Fight for Employee Free Choice
Members of the U.S. Senate and House are returning home this weekend for the Memorial Day recess, and when they get there, union members and our allies will be ready. Over the coming week, thousands will mobilize to ask their members of Congress to quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act and make the economy work for everyone again.
More than 200 recess events will take place across the country in key states like Alaska, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maine, Arkansas and Wisconsin. Union members and a broad coalition of allies will hold a range of events in support of the freedom to form unions and bargain, from 24-hour candlelight vigils to town hall meetings demonstrating the strong grassroots momentum for the Employee Free Choice Act.
Union members and supporters of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain also will contact senators directly through letters and phone calls. Working families are expected to deliver 40,000 phone calls and 25,000 hand-written letters to their senators asking them to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
24/7 Action in the Field for Employee Free Choice
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| North Florida union members protest a meeting of an anti-union group in Jacksonville. |
As the Employee Free Choice Act gets closer to reality, the anti-worker disinformation campaign grows louder with corporate front groups throwing everything they have against workers. Across the country, union members and their allies are pushing back and letting the corporate titans know they won’t back down when it comes to the freedom to form unions.
In Wisconsin, union members converged in Milwaukee to protest an appearance by Karl Rove, the former Bush administration political enforcer who is traveling the country telling corporate executives to fight the Employee Free Choice Act. And in Florida, union members gathered in Jacksonville outside a meeting of an anti-union corporate group, the “Center for a Union-Free Workplace Environment,” to protest their opposition to workers’ freedom to bargain for a better life.
30,000 Workers at AT&T Reject Company’s Final Offer, and More Bargaining News
Some 30,000 workers at AT&T reject what company is calling it’s final offer, and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES AND JOB ACTIONS
CWA, AT&T: Some 30,000 AT&T workers in five states, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), have rejected what the company declared to be its ”best and final” offer to resolve a nearly three-month contract dispute. Union leaders repeatedly have said they are optimistic a deal can be reached before workers walk off the job.
The Fight for Employee Free Choice, in Arkansas and Around the Country
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| Stewart Acuff speaks to the Arkansas AFL-CIO state convention about the Employee Free Choice Act. |
Community members around the country are taking action in support of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain, including small business owners in Madison, Wis., and Trinidad, Colo., as well as religious leaders in Shreveport, La. Union members and allies of workers in Jacksonville, Fla., and Jonesboro, Ark., also are turning out in big numbers for town hall meetings to urge passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Former Rep. Pat Williams, who represented Montana in the U.S. Congress for more than a decade, says the Employee Free Choice Act is critical to restoring a free workforce and a strong economy:
“We have to re-empower workers to bargain collectively with their employers. Who said freedom stops at the workplace door? Who said democracy stops there? People need to have a choice.”
