Local 8183 News

Local 8183 Toy Drive - Monday, October 19, 2009
Local 8183 Teams up with Toys for Tots...
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Health Care Update - Tuesday, October 06, 2009
An update on whats going on with Health Care Reform...
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AFL-CIO website helps laid off workers - Tuesday, October 06, 2009
The AFL-CIO has launched a web site to help laid off and jobless workers....
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Obama rules in favor of USW - Monday, October 05, 2009
Preident Obama rules in favor of the USW concerning China's tire imports....
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Cooper Tire breaks ranks - Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Cooper Tire is the first of the major tire companys to come out in the favor of the Chineese goverment....
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Interesting Article
By Web Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Article from Alabama that mentions Horsehead as a major enviromental polluter
[ Read More ]

Newsletters now online
By John Saunders Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Rome Union Newsletters are now online
[ Read More ]

Horsehead Restarts a Kiln
By Web Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Horsehead restarts a Kiln in Rockwood
[ Read More ]

Web Site
By Bernie Hall Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Welcome to 8183's new web site
[ Read More ]

Meal Ticket Arbitration Heard
By John Jeffers Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Meal Ticket Arbitration heard on July 9, 2009
[ Read More ]

USW Media Center

NEW VIDEO: 'Buy, Buy American Pie' Song Humorous, Accurate Portrayal of Trade - Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Our friends at Campaign for America's Future posted a video on their blog called "Buy, Buy American Pie" by The Capital Steps, a political satire musical group. It's a humorous - yet sadly true - portrayal of trade and the negative impact it has had on our nation. Check it our below and check out our Manufacturing a Better Future for America tool kit to find out how you can help turn our country around.

USW Comments on U.S.-Canada Bilateral Trade Deal - Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard today commented on the tentative deal between the U.S. and Canada on bilateral trade relations. 

"Canada and the U.S. have a strong economic and trade relationship. The agreement that's been announced will reportedly enhance the reciprocal nature of that relationship," Gerard said. "The goal of the Steelworkers in government procurement has always been to strengthen our manufacturing base in order to generate the most jobs for our members.

Click here for the entire statement.

The Call Goes Out for All Rapid Response Activists - Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The National Rapid Response Conference will be held during the first week of May at the Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C.  A Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference will occur simultaneously with our Conference, beginning on Tuesday, May 4 at 8:30 a.m. Rapid Response Conference attendees are encouraged to join USW International President Leo Gerard to kick off the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference and participate in a series of USW-specific sessions throughout the day on Tuesday.  The Rapid Response Conference will then begin at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 5 and will end at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 6 ... more

Union lauds Obama's jobs plan, calls for focus on manufacturing - Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

United Steelworkers International President Leo W. Gerard today lauded President Obama's State of the Union address for its focus on creating and protecting jobs.

“We agree that getting people back to work should be our nation’s top priority. With unemployment in double digits, there is no time to waste," Gerard said. "But not just any job will do. We need quality jobs that give our families a real shot at a better life, that support our communities and that serve as the solid foundation for a healthy economy."

Gerard called for a long-term strategy to create jobs and revitalize domestic manufacturing.

"It’s urgent that we keep Main Street in mind as we move forward.  Our members are losing patience with talk; they desperately want action now," he said.

The USW president also called for green jobs that are good jobs, fair and real health care reform that does not tax benefits and caution when dealing with trade. 

"We urge the president and Congress to not let bad trade deals undermine the creation of good jobs. We’ve heard the vow before that trade deals would be good for us. Unfortunately, we’ve felt the pain of those broken promises first-hand. When these agreements are not enforced, it not only costs us millions of good jobs, it’s counterproductive to our commitment to a cleaner environment and human rights worldwide.  And it’s deadly for trade unionists in places like Colombia and South Korea."

Click here for the entire statement.

Global union protests invite of British National Party to white supremacist meeting - Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Leaders of the largest trade unions in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Caribbean and Canada are protesting the decision of a large hotel chain to host a conference where the leader of the far right British National Party (BNP) Nick Griffin is scheduled to speak.

In a letter sent this week to the Westin Hotel, Workers Uniting expresses deep anger about the decision to allow an individual whose views are so offensive to so many to address a white supremacist conference on its premises.

The Westin Hotel chain has over 160 hotels and resorts worldwide. Workers Uniting, the world’s first global union representing more than three million working people is a partnership between Unite from the United Kingdom and the United Steelworkers (USW) from the United States, Caribbean and Canada.

Unite General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley and USW International President Leo Gerard say in the letter:  “Workers Uniting is appalled that the Westin would allow an individual whose views are so offensive and abhorrent to many to hold a public address on its premises.

“You should be aware that (in the UK) a court order was made against the BNP on the grounds that their membership requirements discriminated on grounds of, among other things, race. In 1996, Griffin received a nine-month prison sentence (suspended for two years) after being found guilty of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred. As well as this, Griffin is reported to have referred to the Holocaust as the 'Holohoax'.”

Simpson, Woodley and Gerard are urging the hotel management to reconsider their decision in order to avoid serious reputational damage to their business. For the full text of the letter, click here.

Griffin is due to be the keynote speaker at the “American Renaissance” conference February 19 -21 at The Westin Washington Dulles Airport, 2520 Wasser Terrace, Herndon, Va. 20171.

Info for USW members, locals wishing to donate to Haiti - Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

In the aftermath of the terrible earthquake in Haiti, we've had several USW members and locals ask how they can help. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the Steelworkers Charitable and Educational Organization, the same fund that has collected money for the victims of U.S. hurricanes like Katrina and Gustav.

Please send checks made out to Steelworkers Charitable and Educational Organization to:

United Steelworkers
c/o Vice President Fred Redmond
Human Affairs
Five Gateway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Please designate on your check that you'd like your donation to go towards Haiti relief efforts.

The United Steelworkers Charitable and Education Organization is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and contributions are tax deductible. Please note that contributions to the Chariitable and Education Organization for Haiti made BEFORE March 1, 2010, are eligible as tax deductable donations (for an individual who itemizes their deductions) in either 2009 or 2010 at the donors' discretion. 

Steelworkers wishing to donate to the Humanity Fund in Canada can designate donations to Haitian relief efforts on checks sent to:

Steelworkers Humanity Fund
234 Eglinton Avenue East Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario
M4P 1K7

Please note that U.S. donations to the Humanity Fund are accepted but are not tax deductible.

The USW responded immediately to the tragedy by donating $20,000 from its Humanity Fund the day after the quake and pledging continued solidarity. Click here to read the statement.

Also, Union Plus announced today that it is matching donations dollar-for-dollar for Haiti earthquake relief with a $100,000 commitment. Please visit http://www.UnionPlus.org/Haiti for more information about Union Plus' automatic doubling of contributions made to the AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center’s Earthquake Relief for Haitian Workers Fund. That means $10 becomes $20, $25 becomes $50, and $100 becomes $200.

Also, the TransAfrica Forum, a longtime ally of the union movement, also suggested donations to two organizations already providing aid on the ground: Partners in Health (http://www.pih.org/inforesources/news/Haiti_Earthquake.html) and Doctors Without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/).

USW President to FOX News: Campaign Finance Ruling Very Troubling - Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

USW International President Leo W. Gerard says the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited corporate spending in campaigns is very troubling.

In an interview with the FOX News Network last night, Gerard said the decision opens the doors for a flood of big business money in politics. Click here for more from the FOX.

"The four largest Wall Street banks, if they expended one-tenth of 1 percent of their resources in a political campaign, that would eclipse every single penny of union revenue for every union in the country," Gerard said.

Gerard said the decision has concerned a lot of people and reiterates the need for public financing of campaigns in the United States.

“We need to move to public financing of elections. Otherwise, people will get cynical about their votes and will believe participation doesn’t matter," he said. "The vote of the make-up girl in the Fox studio, the teacher, the librarian or steelworker should matter as much as the banker. If people believe the voice of money speaks louder than their vote, they won’t participate in elections. We have to fix this.”  

VIDEO: USW President on FOX: 'Cadillac' tax bad for workers, bad politics - Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

USW International President Leo W. Gerard appeared on Fox Business Network to talk about why a so-called "Cadillac" tax to pay for health insurance reform is not only bad policy, but bad politics. Check out what he had to say then pick up the phone and call 1-866-203-4960, ask to be connected to your Congress members and tell them to stand strong against the excise tax. Click here for more info on this national day of action.

Trumka: Working class revolt wake-up call for more action on jobs, health care - Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka had this to say about Tuesday's election in Massachusetts:

What happened Tuesday in Massachusetts was a wake-up call to all of us.

It was a working class revolt—a signal that in this economic crisis, the American people demand jobs, health care and an economy that works for them now—not political business as usual.

It was a loud and clear message that our elected leaders—and our labor movement—must do more for working people, do it fast and do it smarter.

An AFL-CIO poll taken Tuesday night shows without doubt:

Voters are fed up that elected leaders have done too little to help working families.

They said Democrats have NOT overreached on jobs, the economy and health care—they have underreached.

Voters have seen too much help for Wall Street and not nearly enough help for Main Street.

Unless Democrats demonstrate that fixing the economy is their overriding priority, and begin to create more jobs for working Americans NOW, we’re going to see more results this November like the Massachusetts election.

For the union movement and activists, the message was also clear: It’s not time to leave it to any political party to take care of us once we put them in office. It’s time to organize and mobilize as never before to make every elected or aspiring leader PROVE he or she will create the jobs we need in an economy we need with the health care we need.
 
I am not discouraged by Tuesday’s election results. Actually, I’m energized and I want you to be, too. Working America is demanding major change NOW—not timid, go-slow, partial solutions.

I know we are the people who can mobilize a massive army to force elected leaders to deliver.

Let’s do it—starting NOW.

USW, Others Call for Reform of Federal Toxic Chemical Law - Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers today joined forces with the Learning Disabilities Association, the Cancer Institute, and the Pennsylvania Nurses Association to call for reforms of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act needed to ensure the health and safety of America's workers and families.

USW's director of Health, Safety and the Environment Mike Wright, was among those who spoke at a press conference at the Steelworker's international headquarters. The group said being proactive about testing  chemicals and for chemical exposure would not only save lives, but money.

Michael Wright, United Steelworkers department head for Health, Safety and Environment

A new report, "The Health Case for Reforming Toxic Substances Control Act," shows that if there was a new health-based legislative framework to reduce chronic diseases caused by chemical exposure by 0.1 percent, it would reduce health care costs by $5 billion a year. And that's a very conservative estimate.

Dr. Maryann Donovan, associate director of research services for the University of Pittsburgh's Cancer Institute and director of the Center for Environmental Oncology

"It's not a matter of whether we test toxic chemicals. It's a matter of how we test them. Right now we test them in the bodies of our children, our consumers, our workers, ourselves. It's time to start testing chemicals in the lab, and to take action before anyone is harmed," Wright said.

The 34-year-old law has led to required testing of only 200 of the 80,000 chemicals used in the United States. Only five chemicals have been regulated. 

Maureen Swanson, national coordinator of the Healthy Children Project and the Pittsburgh-based Learning Disabilities Association of America

"In the last 30 years, a growing body of scientific evidence has shown that levels of chemicals once thought to be safe can actually cause great harm," said Maureen Swanson, national coordinator of the Learning Disabilities Association of America's Healthy Children Project.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., are expected to introduce new legislation meant to bring the toxics law into the 21st Century. Stay tuned to www.usw.org for the latest.

USW members, children eligible for Union Plus scholarships - Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Editors note: The Union Plus scholarship deadline is Saturday, January 30, 2010. 

United Steelworkers members and their children are eligible for Union Plus scholarships ranging from $500 to $4,000 to be used for college graduate and undergraduate programs.
 
Since 1992, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more than $2.4 million to union members and their families.
 
You can find eligibility details and download the application here. Please note that the deadline is Jan. 30, 2010.

USW makes statement on health reform tax changes - Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers union, tonight said that the union is pleased with the progress that has been made to make health insurance reform legislation fairer for working families.
 
Gerard said: “Let’s be clear, no legislation is ever perfect. But for generations we’ve been fighting for health care for all in the United States, and we are too close to reaching a historical milestone on this long journey to turn back now.

Our union and others in the labor movement have worked hard to fight for reform that helps working families and that will lower the cost of health care for all Americans. It appears we’ve been able to improve reform for all working families – not just those in a union - with several significant changes to the proposed excise tax on expensive health care plans. We’re pleased with the progress but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop working to make this bill better.” Click here for more of the union's response. 

Click here for more from the AFL-CIO. And click here to visit the USW's health insurance reform tool kit.

 

Global Union Challenges Aggressive Behavior of Crown Holdings - Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Workers Uniting, the global union in the UK, USA and Canada, has written to the chief executive officer of Crown Holdings to challenge the company’s aggressive behavior towards some of its employees around the world.

The United Steelworkers union (USW) and Unite the union have partnered to form Workers Uniting, the world’s first global union. The transatlantic campaign involving the workers at Crown Holdings in the UK, USA and Canada is just one example of how the global union is using its power to improve the lives of workers around the world.

Click here for more details.

Standing strong in Canada: 6 months on the line for Vale Inco workers - Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers is marking the sixth-month anniversary of its strike against Vale Inco by filing a bad-faith bargaining complaint with the Ontario Labor Relations Board, asking it to order the company to resume bargaining with the union and a mediator.

The complaint also asks the board to order Vale Inco to compensate strikers for wages, benefits and seniority lost if the OLRB determines Vale Inco has prolonged the strike with its bargaining practices. Click here for more on this story.

Click here for more information about this important fight our sisters and brothers in Canada are involved in. And click here to find out how you can help by participating in the Workers Uniting campaign to help the strikers and their families. Workers Uniting is the world's first global union, a partnership between the United Steelworkers in the United States and Canada and Unite the Union in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

USW Offers Support, Solidarity after Devastating Earthquake in Haiti - Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers today donated $20,000 from the Steelworkers Humanity Fund to assist with emergency aid in Haiti after a devastating earthquake killed thousands and left immeasurable damage. Click here for information about how you can help.

USW International President Leo W. Gerard said, "Many of our sisters and brothers who live and work in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean have friends and relatives from Haiti. Our hearts and thoughts are with them during these trying moments.

It’s times like these that we are reminded that regardless of the bloodline that runs through our veins, or the address of the place we call home, we are all family connected by our common humanity."
 
Founded by the United Steelworkers in 1985 in Canada, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund is a registered charitable organization. Steelworker members contribute to the Fund through clauses negotiated into collective agreements.  Click here for more of this story.

NEW VIDEO: AFL-CIO President: Nation in crisis needs political courage - Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke this week to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. In the major address, he discussed the economic crisis and the decline of the nation’s middle class, saying the crisis “cries out for political courage.”

Trumka also discussed the health insurance reform debate, urging Congress to reject plans to tax working peoples' benefits as a way to pay for much-needed reform.

Pointing to the conversations he has had with workers on his recent jobs-focused swing through California, Trumka told the nation’s leading journalists:

"Everywhere I went, people asked me, why do so many of the people we elect seem to care only about Wall Street? Why is helping banks a matter of urgency, but unemployment is something we just have to live with? Why don’t we make anything in America anymore? And why is it so hard to pass a health care bill that guarantees Americans healthy lives instead of guaranteeing insurance companies healthy profits?"

He said it is time to remake and build a new economy and reverse the fundamental changes in the nation’s economic structure and rules that for the past decade-plus “have celebrated private greed over public service.” Click here for the full text of his speech.

Tell Congress: Don't Tax Our Benefits - Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Wednesday is a national call-in day to tell Congress not to tax our hard-earned health insurance benefits. Please plan to partipate and urge others to do the same! Click here to visit the USW health insurance reform tool kit.

The Senate recently passed their version of health care reform.  While containing some positive reforms, it also gives us cause for concern, particularly over a new tax on health care benefits to finance the proposal.  Now that the bills from the House and Senate will be merged into one, we need to make sure our members of Congress know that the “excise tax” is a big problem, and that we don’t want it in the final bill.

What is the “Excise Tax?”: This would be a tax on higher-cost benefit plans. Many USW members have health insurance plans that qualify for the tax ($23,000 for family and $8,500 for individual coverage). That’s because plans covering older workers, workers employed by small businesses, workers with worse than average health histories, workers from higher-risk workplaces, etc. all have higher health care costs.  Many of us have bargained – giving other things up along the way – to maintain high-quality benefits.

WE ARE STRONGLY OPPOSED TO THIS TAX ON BENEFITS. 

Action Instructions:

Many of you have already called your legislators. Please call once again this Wednesday, January 13, to register your opinion on health care reform.

1. Dial Toll-Free, 1-866-203-4960.
2. Ask for each Senator and your Representative.
   Note: Make three calls total, one to each Senator and one to your Representative. You can call all three on the same day, or spread the calls out over a couple of days. The important thing is that each person gets the message!
3. Tell him or her that you are a voter and that we need health care reform that:
        *DOES NOT TAX BENEFITS,
        *Ensures employers provide care or pay into a system to ensure everyone can get care, and
        *Has a strong public option.
   

USW Confident WTO Dispute Panel Will Uphold U.S. Tire Action - Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) responded to the World Trade Organization (WTO) decision to launch an investigation into President Obama’s decision to impose tariffs on surging Chinese tire imports by enforcing U.S. trade law to protect American jobs in the tire sector:

“The USW has complete faith that the decision of the President following the extensive investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission will be found to be consistent with the U.S. rights under the WTO -- specifically, the special safeguard that China agreed to as part of its accession process," Gerard said.

Click here for more.

8 more Bangladesh workers die in ship explosion - Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Eight more workers in Bangladesh were burned to death on December 26, 2009, when the ship they were dismantling exploded.  The workers had been told that the gas tanks on the Agate oil tanker had been cleaned.  It was a lie. 

Click here for a full report from the National Labor Committee on the Dec. 26 accident.

As the NLC reports, when the workers started to cut into the tank using their blow torches, the sparks set off a massive explosion, engulfing them in flames, which burned out of control for several hours.  Along with the eight workers killed, more than a dozen suffered serious burns.

The Rahim Steel & Shipbreaking Yard reputes to be the largest industrial steel complex in Bangladesh.

In 2009, 25 shipbreakers were killed, while a worker is seriously injured every day.  The workers, some of whom are 14 and 15 years of age, are paid just 22 to 32 cents an hour to do some of the most dangerous jobs in the world.  The shipbreaking yards continue to violate with complete impunity even then most rudimentary health and safety standards and labor laws in Bangladesh. Click here for an earlier report about this sad situation.

Below is a video about what many call the most dangerous job in the world: 

EPI, others debunk 'Cadillac' tax myths and mistruths - Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Robert Reich, Rep. Joe Courtney, and Economic Policy Institute's Lawrence Mishel and Josh Bivens have reviewed and refuted “facts” regarding the so-called "Cadillac" tax in the health insurance reform debate, Their info is below. For more on this important issue, visit our Health Insurance Reform Tool Kit here.

As the national wrestling match over the future of the nation's health care system moves to its new conference committee arena, there are growing signs that some essential facts are already on the ropes.

In a news conference call this week, Robert Reich, Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration; Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT); and Lawrence Mishel and Josh Bivens, president and economist/health care expert, respectively, at the Economic Policy Institute gave the facts a fighting chance by sharing their expertise and research findings.

Mishel took on one of the latest claims by excise tax supporters, which has been espoused by a range of public officials, journalists and pundits: the argument that an excise tax will rein in health care costs and that those savings will lead to much higher wage growth.

Those who make this argument point to the latter half of the '90s – a time when health costs were relatively stable and wages rose – as their evidence. While that argument seems logical, Mishel pointed out on the call and in a detailed paper issued concurrently that the logic is only skin deep and doesn‟t pass the test of deeper examination.

Rep. Joe Courtney, who represents Connecticut‟s Second District, released the text of his letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which he has spearheaded in the House, urging leadership to abandon the excise tax idea, given its well-documented pitfalls.

“One-hundred-ninety House Democrats have joined my effort to stop the proposed 'Cadillac' tax on health care plans, which is a number that cannot be ignored during health care reform negotiations,” Rep. Courtney said. “The Economic Policy Institute‟s report should serve as another red flag to the misguided Senate-backed excise tax on health care benefits because there is no question that the tax will hurt the wages of working families. The House must stand firm in its opposition to the tax.”

Mishel‟s paper, “Employer Health Costs Do Not Drive Wage Trends”, notes that the size of health care costs, large as it is, is too small to explain the magnitude of the rise that occurred in wages during the late '90s. What‟s more, the rise in wages was most dramatic among lower-paid workers, who are much less likely to have any health care coverage on the job at all. He notes that about half of all U.S. workers currently do not receive health care coverage from their employers and, thus, could not have benefited from the theoretical health care-wages trade-off.

“Just as the sun doesn't rise because the rooster crows, moderating health care costs had little to do with why wages rose in the late '90s,” Mishel said.

“Many economic benefits will flow to the nation as a whole and to working people from sound health care reform, but there‟s precious little evidence that these benefits will be driven by the proposed excise tax on high-cost plans and its effect on workers' wages,” he added. “In fact, recent history would argue that any reduction in businesses costs for health care will more likely go to boost income for CEOs and top managers, at least in the short run, not to raise wages across the workplace. Even if workers' wages eventually manage to claim some of the gains from lower health costs, these costs just aren't large enough to make a significant contribution to their paychecks.”

Economist Josh Bivens focused his remarks on a particularly persistent and misleading claim by supporters of the excise tax that it will only affect the highest paid workers with the most generous insurance plans, which they refer to as “Cadillac” plans to reinforce their point. The fallacy in this argument, as Bivens pointed out, is that the cost of health care coverage is not a reliable indicator of its quality. Far more important in determining the price of an insurance plan are factors like the size of the workplace and the age and health care needs of its workers. He noted that insurance companies charge small businesses 18% more than big companies for identical coverage. [See further analysis here: “House Health Bill is Right on the Money: Taxing High Incomes Better Than Taxing High Premiums”.

“The excise tax proponents say their target is a Cadillac, but in reality they‟re about as likely to hit a Chevy,” Bivens explained. “The excise tax is not a progressive levy on lavish plans, instead it's a tax that will hit small businesses, older workers, and those most in need of health care the hardest.”
 
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States and around the world. EPI's mission is to inform people and empower them to seek solutions that will ensure broadly shared prosperity and opportunity.

USW updates info for laid-off members - Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009.  The ARRA included COBRA subsidies for individuals (and their eligible dependents) who lost their health care coverage due to a recent involuntary job loss. 

On Dec. 19, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Appropriations Act (DAA) which extended and expanded the eligibility provisions of the COBRA subsidy program.  Many USW members who have suffered recent job losses will be able to take advantage of the COBRA subsidy program. 

Therefore, we have made this information available to our laid-off members and urge employers to get the required notices out as quickly as possible. Click here for more details. And click here for our guide to help members in who have unfortunately lost their jobs.

NEW AUDIO: WIN airs report about USW's trade fight - Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Workers Independent News today aired a story about the USW's reaction to trade duties being applied this month against China for violating trade rules. Click here to hear the report by WIN's Doug Cunningham.

And click here for background on the trade issue.

USW Reacts to Trade Case Vote on Tariffs Against OCTG China Pipe Imports - Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The United Steelworkers (USW) reacted positively to today’s affirmative 6-0 vote by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on a petition in the anti-subsidy portion of a case against Chinese pipe imports called oil country tubular goods (OCTG).

USW International President Leo W. Gerard declared, “Today’s vote by the trade commission makes it clear to American pipe workers and industry that the U.S. government will standup against China’s violation of fair trade rules when domestic job losses and industry injury are clearly demonstrated.”

He added, “We are fed up with China’s constant cheating and false claims of U.S. protectionism, when it is China that practices illegal state subsidization and dumping that seeks to destroy good jobs and fair competition under WTO standards their leaders agreed to abide ... more

Senate health care bill still inadequate - Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

 

 

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the following statement regarding the Senate's passage of health insurance reform legislation:

"In the face of inexcusable partisanship, obstruction and gamesmanship, it is remarkable that Majority Leader Reid was able to move a health care bill through the United States Senate.  Not since the passage of Medicare 44 years ago have we seen Republican scare tactics so blatantly contrary to the interests of the American people.   

At this historic moment, it is so important to the future of working Americans-and to our country-to get health care reform right.  Despite doing some good things, the Senate bill remains inadequate.  Substantial changes must be made in the final bill.  

Genuine reform must bring down health costs, hold insurance companies accountable, assure that all Americans can get the health care they need and be financed fairly.   
   *  That's why we have been steadfast in support of a public health insurance option.  It is the way to break the stranglehold of the insurance industry that has led to skyrocketing health care costs that have especially penalized small business.
   *  Employers must pay their fair share. 
   *  It makes no sense to tax the benefits of hard-working Americans to pay for health reform.  The House bill curbs

insurance companies and taxes the wealthy who benefited so richly from the Bush tax cuts.  The Senate bill instead includes exorbitant new taxes on middle class health benefits that would affect one in five workers with employer-provided health coverage-or about 31 million people-in 2016.  That's the wrong way to pay for health care reform and it's political suicide. 

The House bill is the right model for reform.  It covers more people, takes effect more quickly and is financed more fairly.  The AFL-CIO is ready to fight on behalf of all working families to produce a final bill that can be called genuine reform.  Working people cannot accept anything less."

Evaluate the 15th Civil and Human Rights Conference - Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

We want to hear from attendees of the recent USW Civil and Human Rights conference. Please click here to fill out a short online evaluation form so we can do better and hear directly from our members about what is needed.

In case you missed it, here's a video recap of the conference:

AFL-CIO Now Blog

 

‘Undercover Boss’: A Fairy Tale That Ignores Grim Reality -

As kids, we all loved the sugar-coated fairy tales of handsome and brave princes rescuing beautiful princesses from despotic kings.

The new CBS “reality” show “Undercover Boss” that debuted last night after the Super Bowl is a 21st century sugar-coated fairy tale. But this time, the brave prince is actually a CEO who goes undercover as a regular worker near the bottom of the food chain. There he finds how hard and dirty the job is; how stifling and draconian the company’s workplace rules are; and how crappy the pay is.

Then after walking so many miles in an employee’s work boots, the boss sees the light and promotes workers, raises pay, eases rules and promises a new found respect for all workers.

(If your boss isn’t going undercover anytime soon, be sure to check out American Rights at Work’s new website, Fix Our Jobs, where you can vent about how lousy—and even how great—your job is and learn how to make it better. Click here to watch the video.)

But just like our childhood stories ignored the dark, bloody and scary Brothers Grimm originals, “Undercover Boss” ignores the grim reality of too many of today’s workplaces.

“Undercover Boss” is a sweet, happy-ending tale for a handful of workers, but make-believe for millions of others. The best way to make workplace improvement and worker rights a reality is with the Employee Free Choice Act, that would restore the right of workers to form unions and bargain for a better life.

The bosses portrayed on the show may indeed be sincere and a handful of workers will enjoy the benefits of their foxhole conversions. But what about the millions of workers whose CEO’s will never be on TV? That’s where unions come in: to ensure employees have a voice at the workplace, with family-supporting pay and affordable health care and retirement security.

Along with the restoring the freedom to form unions, rebuilding the middle class means fighting for health care legislation, strong enforcement of wage and hour laws, holding  Wall Street accountable and most importantly creating jobs. Unions and their members at the forefront of all these battles—out in the open—not undercover.

Job Creation Key to Ending Economic Crisis -

As Congress considers whether to renew unemployment insurance (UI) for long-term jobless workers and extend COBRA to help unemployed workers maintain health care, they should take time to find out about the experiences of workers beyond the Washington, D.C., beltway.

Richard Duncan, who works for the Tennessee AFL-CIO technical assistance program, has met many unemployed workers. The assistance program helps union workers who have been laid off (see video above).

I’ve traveled the state of Tennessee and seen an enormous number of union brothers and sisters lose their jobs. Since 2006, I’ve seen the same people. They lose their job at one facility. Then they go to another facility, then there’s an additional layoff and they lose their job again.  

The extensions for UI and COBRA expire Feb. 28. Click here to tell your lawmakers it’s time to act.

Duncan’s video highlights workers urging Congress to act on the AFL-CIO’s five-point jobs program. Union members across the nation are rallying behind the AFL-CIO plan to create jobs now and President Obama’s jobs legislation. As AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said after Obama’s state of the union address:

Now it’s time for all of us to get busy and work together to bring the big changes that are essential-starting with enacting a jobs bill that is big enough to create jobs for the millions of people who want to work and can’t find jobs.  The time for small change is long gone.

Labor On the Air Around the Nation and World -

Looking for the latest in international labor news? Now it’s just a click away with the launch of RadioLabour.net and its Solidarity News program. The weekly podcast will focus on union and workers’ activities and issues from around the world with special emphasis on emerging market and developing countries.

A new report, hosted by labor educator Marc Belanger, debuts each Monday morning. RadioLabour reporters will provide regular weekly presentations, and the audio cast will feature reports from unionists on particular events.

For union activists interested in learning more about progressive podcasting, be sure to check out the Labour Podcasting group on UnionBook. 

Don’t forget these working family, union friendly broadcasts, all available live streaming or via podcasts on their websites. 

• Workers Independent News-The daily broadcast looks at top worker-oriented news.
• Building Bridges-The weekly one hour program covers local, national and international labor and community issues.
• The Rick Smith Show-Pennsylvania activist Rick Smith, a Teamster member and ILCA vice president, hosts a two-hour labor talk each Saturday and Sunday, 12-2 p.m., broadcast and webcast on WHYL AM.
• America’s Workforce-Ed “Flash” Ferenc host the nation’s only daily labor radio program,  from 4-5 p.m. on  Cleveland’s WERE AM.
• The Solidarity Effect-Every Friday on KNDS FM in Fargo, N.D., Machinists Kevin and Heather Murch engage in-studio guests and the listening audience “in the social issues of our times from a working class perspective and also play some great music as well     
• The Union Edge-Long-time AFGE member Charles Showalter hosts this daily labor talk show.  
• Democratic Talk Radio-The weekly broadcast on WGPA AM advocates for American workers and consumers.
• Inside Government-AFGE’s weekly one-hour radio program on Federal News Radio features interviews and commentary on a wide range of subjects that impact the lives and livelihoods of federal and D.C. government workers and the general public
• Heartland Labor Forum-The Institute for Labor Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) produces the weekly show for working people and has been “agitating on the air since 1989.”

U.S. Jobless Rate Now 9.7%, but Millions Fear Losing Unemployment Insurance -

The U.S. unemployment rate fell from 10 percent to 9.7 percent in January, with 14.8 million workers now without jobs. Employment continued to decrease in construction and transportation and increase in retail, health care and temp work, according to U.S. Department of Labor data out this morning. Unemployment among black workers continued to worsen.

When both unemployed and underemployed workers are counted, there still are 25.5 million people without jobs or full-time work.

As AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:

We welcome the news that unemployment dropped to 9.7%, but we shed another 20,000 jobs last month, following a revised 150,000 loss in December. These numbers underscore what we have been saying all along. Working families need bigger and bolder actions—in the short, medium and long term—to create jobs in the immediate future—or we risk permanent scarring of our economy and our workforce.

Among the worst aspects of the nation’s unacceptably high unemployment rate—and there are many—the growing numbers of long-term jobless workers is something that can, and must, be addressed immediately. Long-term U.S. unemployment (those without a job for 27 weeks or longer), with more than 6 million unemployed workers out of a job for more than six months. In January, the number of long-term unemployed workers worsened, to 6.3 million workers.

But the unemployment insurance (UI) extension for millions of workers expires Feb. 28, unless Congress—specifically, the Senate—takes action.

In December, the U.S. House passed a jobs bill that included a long-term UI and Cobra extension, but the U.S. Senate failed to act and Congress was forced to pass a short-term extension of both programs. (Click here to tell your lawmakers it’s time to act.)

According to National Employment Law Project estimates, of the nearly 1.2 million U.S. workers facing a cut off of benefits in March alone:

• 380,000 workers will exhaust their 26 weeks of state benefits without accessing the temporary EUC extension program or the permanent federal program of Extended Benefits.
• Another 814,000 workers will not be eligible to continue receiving EUC past their current tier of benefits.

A one-year extension of unemployment insurance is part of our AFL-CIO five-point jobs program, and the Obama administration supports a long-term extension. But it’s unclear what shape a Senate jobs bill will take. Senate Republicans say they will oppose any jobs legislation on a scale large enough most economists say will do real good.

After all, why should those senators worry? They have a job. For now.

New Union Plus Book Club Announces First Selection -

Our friends at Union Plus have just launched the Union Plus Book Club that will delve into the latest publications by leading experts on vital working family and workplace issues. The books will be available at the AFL-CIO’s The Union Shop Online^TM and chosen every two months by union leaders based on their interest and expertise in a subject.

The club’s first selection, from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, is Up From Wall Street: The Responsible Investment Alternative, by Thomas Croft.

In the forward to the book, Trumka writes that Croft ”uses real life stories” to show how

responsibly investing savings assets, pensions, insurance funds and other trusts can generate positive social, economic and environmental benefits, while bringing solid financial returns.

Up From Wall Street, lays out high-road alternatives to the reckless loans and dicey short-term bets that have savaged the economy and ravaged working people’s savings and pension funds.

The book makes a strong case that there are strategic and union-friendly investment paths that have the capacity to rebuild our economy and infrastructure, reinvigorate our cities, and finance a clean energy economy that creates and retains good jobs.

The Union Plus Book Club’s goal is to “create labor movement dialogue about current issues and to inspire thought-provoking conversations within our union community.”

Upcoming topics and selectors include:

• Young Workers (AFL-CIO Secretary/Treasurer Liz Shuler).
• Communications and Partnerships (AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker).
• Innovation (Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen).
• Organizing (UNITEHERE! President John Wilhelm).
• Green Jobs (United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard).

Remember, go to The Union Shop Online.^TM for Up from Wall Street and future selections and after you’ve read the book, share your thoughts and questions on the Union Plus Facebook Fan page.

We’ll keep you posted on each new selection.

Jobless Construction Workers to Delaware Lawmakers: ‘Walk in Our Shoes’ -

Staging a symbolic soup and bread line and carrying shoes to encourage state legislators to walk a mile in a jobless worker’s shoes, some 500 Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) workers rallied for jobs legislation in Dover last week.

The rally at the steps of the state Capitol spotlighted the tremendous loss in construction jobs throughout the recession. Although state unemployment stands at 9 percent, construction unemployment is more than twice that and more than 2,100 construction and trades jobs vanished in 2009.

Delaware BCTC President Harry Gravel says the state legislature needs to move on jobs legislation, such as a stalled bill to allow casinos that some estimate could create thousands of jobs.

I support jobs period. If it’s a casino, good. I don’t care if it’s Jack in the Box, a Wendy’s, a school or an outhouse, we want to build it. We’re out of work, we need to go work, we’ll build it, period.

Workers also called on lawmakers to boost the state’s unemployment benefit that is far lower than surrounding states, including just slightly more than half of what jobless workers in neighboring New Jersey receive.

Following the rally, workers donated the shoes to Haitian relief efforts.

Click here for more photos from the rally.

Danger: Falling Middle Class -

Jack Cafferty at CNN this week asked viewers one of his seemingly routine questions. But the responses to: “How has definition of ‘middle-class American’ changed?” reveal a cataclysmic shift in our nation’s economic identity.

Gary from El Centro, Calif., summed up the vast majority of the nearly 200 responses when he replied:

You should ask this question of the three or four people in the country still remaining in the middle class.

The comments reflect more than the run-of-the-mill griping about taxes or middle-aged discontent. They demonstrate a visceral understanding of the deep forces underlying the dramatic change that in recent decades has eroded the solid financial footing of America’s working families—America’s middle class.

In short, the American public knows what most lawmakers in Washington and policymakers around the country have yet to figure out: The nation is losing its middle-class backbone and bifurcating into a have/have not country.

As Karen from Idaho Falls writes on Cafferty’s site:

In my world, there is no middle class–only the very rich, the rich, the poor, and the very poor. Most of us are hanging on to being “poor” by our fingernails and hoping that we won’t join the ever growing “very poor” class. Somewhere along the line, “middle class” disappeared.

The not-so-Great Recession is just the latest and loudest part of the long decline of the middle class. From the end of World War II to the early 1970s, wages grew along with productivity. But since then, wages have been stagnant or declining—while productivity skyrocketed. The decline in a family’s earning power was offset by the entrance of vast numbers of women in the labor market—and then by wage-earners holding multiple jobs. By the late 1990s, debt—from second mortgages or credit cards—kept the middle class afloat. And now what is revealed is a middle class held together by nothing more than string.

One of the most consequential but least recognized aspects of the current economic disaster is the growing length of time workers are without jobs. In December, the average jobless worker had been unemployed for 29.1 weeks. In contrast, when the recession began in 2007, the average unemployed person had been out of work for 16.5 weeks.

At Economix blog, Catherine Rampell points out in an tellingly titled post, “A Growing Underclass,” that the longer unemployed workers stay out of work, the less likely they may be to find work.

First, their skills may deteriorate or become obsolete—especially if they are in a dynamically changing industry like high technology.

Second, the stigma—both internal and external—of their unemployment grows. Studies have linked job loss to declines in self-worth and self-esteem, meaning these people will probably make less compelling job candidates.

So, even if there were jobs available—there are now more than six unemployed workers for every one job—getting one becomes harder and harder the longer you’re out of work. Jobs are so few, in fact, even a weekly columnist at Forbes had this to say:

For many, many Americans there are no jobs and few prospects. For them the Great Recession is not a cute aphorism but a major cataclysm.

Long-term joblessness is one more nail in the middle class coffin. As Working-Class Perspectives describes it:

Unlike in past business cycles, the middle class has not been able to recover so far, despite increases in productivity and stock prices. In “America Without a Middle Class,” Elizabeth Warren documents how the de facto unemployment rate, credit debt, “underwater” mortgages, increased use of food stamps, personal bankruptcies, and the loss of pensions and health care have all dramatically increased. Middle-class households have depleted their savings and are increasingly accruing debt to pay for college, health care, and other expenses.

Some experts believe that the decline in jobs will only continue. For example, Alexandra Levit predicts significant losses in a number of key industries between 2008 and 2018: semiconductor manufacturing (33.7 percent), apparel manufacturing (57 percent), newspaper publishers (24.8 percent)….Corporations are moving many of these jobs offshore or replacing them with technology rather than paying middle-class wages and benefits. The economists are right that new jobs are being created in place of these. But as Jack Metzgar discussed last week, most of the new jobs offer even lower wages and benefits and require less education.

Jobs are offshored while the jobs that remain in the United States are low-wage, with little affordable health care or retirement options. Meanwhile, the smooth of face and soft of hand financial wizards who turn their noses up at the industrial manufacturing sector fail to realize that when the United States loses its ability to make things, it also loses the research and development power that fueled the nation to greatness. And it loses something a lot more. Louis Uchitelle interviews Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) about the humiliation of building a new World Trade Center with no glass made in the United States:

“Imagine China,” he said in an interview, “building a huge structure intended to be an important national symbol and importing glass from the United States to build it. There is no way the Chinese would do that.”

And a low-wage job nation fuels income inequality. This from a stunning report by economist John Schmit at the Center for Economic and Policy Research:

From a peak just before the 1929 stock market crash through the early 1950s, wage and income inequality, broadly measured, were declining. From the early 1950s through the late 1970s, inequality was flat, or even falling slightly. Since the late 1970s, however, inequality has skyrocketed, climbing back to levels last seen in the 1920s. In 1979, for example, the top one percent of all U.S. taxpayers received about 8 percent of national income; by 2007, the top one percent received over 18 percent. If we include income from capital gains in the calculation, the increase in inequality is even sharper, with the top one percent capturing 10 percent of all income in 1979, but over 23 percent in 2007.

Back at Cafferty’s site, Chad from Los Angeles knows why:

The middle class has turned into the “peasant class.” We have been taken over by a few wealthy people who control our politicians and government. We have become an Aristocracy. Except the ones in control are not royalty, they are businessmen hiding behind a cloak of deception that is Corporate America.

In the short term, critical steps must be taken for immediate relief. The first is getting the Senate to extend unemployment insurance (UI) for the long-term unemployed. As usual, the House already has acted, extending UI in December, while senators dither. (Click here to tell your lawmakers it’s time to act.) Extending UI is part of the jobs initiative the AFL-CIO is pushing for immediate relief for jobless workers.

But before the current crisis fades, the nation must begin to reverse the more than 40-year trend in which the gap widens between rich and poor and the middle class falls out of the bottom.

Silas from Boston—a city not unfamiliar with fomenting revolutions—offers an intriguing insight:

We’ve allowed the “upper” class to become too big to fail. As a result, the middle class is an endangered species which has to bail out the class that got us into this mess to begin with. This is how the French Revolution started.

This is a cross-post from the Firedoglake blog.

Senate Confirms Smith as the Nation’s ‘Workers’ Lawyer’ -

By a 60-37 vote, the U.S. Senate this afternoon confirmed M. Patricia Smith as the solicitor of labor. The solicitor of labor oversees enforcement of the nation’s most important labor laws and sets enforcement priorities that have a major impact on workers and their lives.

The late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) described the solicitor general’s job as “the workers’ lawyer.” During her confirmation hearing last year, Smith said she would bring to the job a “philosophy of proactive enforcement.” Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

At a time when working families are bearing the brunt of the economic recession and violations of workplace rights are rampant, Ms. Smith’s commitment to strong, fair and effective enforcement of our workplace laws is crucial.

The vote follows some nine months of Republican obstruction in an attempt to block Smith from the U.S. Department of Labor post as the nation’s top labor lawyer.

Adhering to their strict policy of “No to everything,” all Republicans voted against Smith, the current commissioner of labor in New York state. Earlier this week, the Republican filibuster against Smith was broken. Says Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio):

We’ve had one year of Republicans saying “no,” of blocking and obstructing. This isn’t an inconsequential position. It’s a position that protects workers’ ability to be part of the middle class.

Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), says:

For the last decade, lax labor law enforcement has made workers far more susceptible to abuses like unpaid overtime and wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and workplace discrimination, which is why Patricia Smith’s confirmation as Solicitor of Labor marks such an important change.

Don’t Forget Haiti’s Workers -

Fire Fighters members of Fairfax County (Va.) Urban Search and Rescue conduct a rescue operation at the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince.

Despite reports of improved conditions in Port-au-Prince, two weeks after the earthquake hit Haiti, workers still lack basic shelter, food, water and medicine, reports Cathy Feingold, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center representative in the neighboring Dominican Republic.

Feingold met with union leaders in Haiti last week and says:

…the majority of union leaders and members are sleeping outside their homes because many completely collapsed or became unstable as a result of structural damage. Direct access to international humanitarian aid remains challenging; so many workers and their unions depend on the support received from the global labor movement.

You can take action now to help the Haitian survivors by clicking on the AFL-CIO Haitian Disaster Relief site here. You can read Feingold’s full report here.

Meanwhile, union support continues to pour into Haiti:

• Some of the 11,000 nurses who responded to the National Nurses United’s call for volunteers to help in Haiti left this week to join the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, which is crewed by members of the Seafarers. You can help send a nurse to Haiti by clicking here.
• Donations to the Solidarity Center’s Earthquake Relief for Haitian Workers Campaign are already being put to use. Delegations from Dominican unions have traveled to Port-au-Prince with truckloads of bottled water, non-perishable food, first aid products, re-hydration liquids and other needed supplies.  Click here and Union Plus will automatically match your contribution to the fund, up to $100,000. You do not need to use a Union Plus credit card for the matching donation.
• Fire Fighters (IAFF) members from Los Angeles, Fairfax County, Va., and other cities are still conducting rescue operations in the rubble.  

UMass Researchers Choose UAW -

A majority of the 300 postdoctoral researchers working at three University of Massachusetts campuses in Boston, Amherst and Dartmouth have signed cards to join a union to negotiate better wages, health care and working conditions.

A delegation of the workers filed a petition yesterday asking the Massachusetts Division of Labor Relations (DLR) to certify their union, UMass Postdoctoral Researchers Organize/UAW (UMass PRO/UAW), as their representative for collective bargaining.

Says Simona Maccarrone, a postdoctoral researcher from UMass Amherst:

We’ve taken this step so we can protect our rights on the job, and make sure postdocs working on different campuses and in different labs are treated fairly and receive comparable pay and benefits. This will give us the same union rights as other workers and faculty at UMass.

If the Employee Free Choice Act is implemented, workers would be able to choose for themselves how to form a union, including through majority sign-up. The UAW represents workers at more than 40 universities and colleges across the country, including teaching assistants, research assistants, graders, tutors and other student academic employees and support staff.

Caleb Rounds, a plant biologist at UMass, adds:

 We’re a vital part of the university workforce and leaders in our fields, yet our pay is very low.  With the economy rebounding, the university’s financial situation is improving, so it’s time to address our needs.   

UAW Regional Director Bob Madore says the UMass workers are the first postdoctoral researchers in Massachusetts to join a union. 

These are first-class academic employees working in a world-class institution, and they are pioneering on behalf of their colleagues at other colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

Postdoctoral researchers perform basic scientific research and contribute to the development of new innovations in biomedical science and industrial technologies. They also publish scholarly articles and write grant proposals that help bring in millions of dollars in grants and contracts.

Health Costs Take Historic Chunk of Economy in Biggest-Ever Jump -

Earlier this week, we noted a new study that predicts health insurance premiums will jump between 10 percent and 11 percent this year. Now a new government report says health care costs last year took the biggest bite ever out of the nation’s economy.

The non-partisan Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that health care spending ate up a record 17.3 percent of the nation’s economy, or $2.5 trillion, in 2009, up from 16.2 percent in 2008. That is the largest one-year jump in 50 years. In 1960, health care costs consumed just 5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Over the past 50 years, as health care costs have soared and working families pay more and more for less and less, profits have skyrocketed in the health care industry, especially the private health insurance industry.

Yet the Party of No Republican opposition to meaningful health care reform means these through-the-roof costs for families and the entire nation will climb higher and higher.

Comprehensive health care reform would slow the growth in health care spending, lower working families’ costs and maybe even take a small bite of the health care profits. Independent experts have predicted that health care reform could save working families between $2,000 and $3,000 a year if enacted. If not, costs will continue to soar.

Republicans First Slime, Then Maneuver to Block Labor Board Nominee -

Republican Senate leaders are so frightened that a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) might actually have an open mind about workers’ rights, that in two purely partisan maneuvers, they’ve blocked a majority vote on one of President Obama’s nominees for an NLRB seat.

Craig Becker is a highly respected and experienced labor law practitioner and scholar. He has an impressive 27-year record of advocating for and representing workers, especially low-wage workers. He is currently an associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO and SEIU.

That experience—as opposed to being the type of management stooge favored by the Bush administration—is what has driven Republicans into a mouth-foaming frenzy.

First, they’ve rushed to seat newly elected Scott Brown (R-Mass.) moving up his original Feb. 11 date to this morning in order to break the Democrats 60-vote filibuster proof majority. A vote to end the Becker filibuster was set for Monday, followed by a confirmation vote that only requires a simple majority—basic democracy. Brown’s seating scuttles that if Republicans vote in a 41-seat bloc.

In addition, two Republican senators, Mike Enzi (Wyo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who earlier had voted for Becker at the committee level last year, somewhere along the line had an epiphany that Becker was the devil incarnate with a union card and now say they will vote against Becker.

Of course, both the rush-job swearing in and see-the-light moments by Enzi and Murkowski came following a full-court press by a panicked U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other corporate lobbyists that had an inside track and cozy relations with the pro-management Bush NLRB for nearly a decade.

Despite Republican and corporate attempts to paint Becker as a red-tinged radical, he is a mainstream labor lawyer, whom Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, calls “one of the pre-eminent labor law thinkers in the United States.”

Last month, 66 labor law professors from the nation’s top law schools wrote Senate leaders urging Becker’s immediate confirmation and attesting to his “integrity, fairness, and dedication to advancing Congress’ purposes in adopting federal labor law and to the role of the NLRB.”

How’s this for far-out, dangerous and crazed pro-union beliefs? Here are some excerpts for Becker’s opening state to the HELP committee yesterday.

As an attorney, I have sat across the table from management and also on the same side of the table, in both postures gaining an understanding of employers’ concerns and often finding common ground between labor and management….I have represented parties on both sides of unfair labor practice cases.

I fully understand that, if confirmed, I will occupy a position far different from the positions I have occupied as a scholar, teacher, and advocate…if confirmed I  will have a duty to implement the intent of Congress as expressed in the law, to consider impartially all views appropriately expressed to the Board.

Pretty scary stuff if you’re a Republican senator, huh?

Wisconsin NEA Local Partners with State Fed in Solidarity Agreement -

The 840 members of the Janesville (Wis.) Education Association (JEA) voted to affiliate with the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and the Rock County Central Labor Council.

JEA President David Parr calls the affiliation “an exciting new partnership.”

Through the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO and the Rock County Central Labor Council, Janesville educators are standing in solidarity with other working people on the issues that impact our community. We intend to take an active role within both organizations.

The JEA is the fourth National Education Association (NEA) local in Wisconsin to affiliate with the AFL-CIO. The others represent educators in Beloit, Kenosha and Madison.

In 2006, the AFL-CIO and NEA reached a Labor Solidarity Partnership agreement that allows NEA locals to affiliate with the AFL-CIO on the national, state and local levels. The program is supported by the AFT, a longtime AFL-CIO affiliate.

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO President David Newby says having the JEA “at the table” will help “serve the interests of all workers.”

Education professionals have something unique and valuable to contribute to the on-going struggle of working families for economic and social justice—and for an increased quality of life in our local communities and our state.

Solis Backs Employee Free Choice, Strong Enforcement of Wage, Safety Laws -

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says workers face increasing obstacles when they try to form unions and “we need to restore their freedom to do so.” In testimony before the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee today, Solis looked back at the department’s actions in 2009 and forward to its 2010 agenda.

In reiterating the Obama administration’s support for the Employee Free Choice Act, Solis said:

I will work to ensure that workers’ rights will be protected. In order to

She also told the panel that the Labor Department will continue to “protect workers in the new economy…I am committed to enforcing all employment laws.”

particularly those related to payment of the minimum wage and overtime. Workers deserve this money and it will bring money to low-income households where most of it will be spent and help invigorate local communities.

Staffing levels at the Wage and Hour Division have increased, putting more investigators into the field who have “helped secure millions of dollars in back pay for thousands of workers.”

House Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) pointed to the increased emphasis on workers’ safety since Solis took the reins at the department.

For too long, OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] failed to respond to real dangers and put American workers in needless peril. Recent enforcement actions by the new administration have been a breath of fresh air. Instead of looking the other way, this administration is holding reckless employers accountable.

Solis also outlined how the department used nearly $60 billion in economic stimulus funds to provide a lifeline to unemployed workers and training opportunities—especially in new economy green jobs—for jobless workers.

The finds not only boosted unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by $100 a month, “going a long way to paying for groceries or helping with rent,”  but assisted states faced with severe budget shortfalls, “get UI benefits into the hands of their workers.”

Telling the committee the department is “looking to train the workers of the future [and] green jobs play an important role in our economic recovery,” Solis cited two examples where stimulus funds have been put to work.

In creating the criteria for many of the grants discussed above, we required applicants to include partners made up of a diverse set of stakeholders, including labor organizations, public or private employers, and the local workforce system. We also gave special consideration for partnerships that included community-based organizations.

For example, in Minnesota, Honeywell and two chambers of commerce have joined the United Steelworkers (USW) to train workers. Also in Florida, the Broward County Minority Builders Coalition partnered with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 729 to extend green jobs training opportunities.

Click here to read her entire testimony and here for an archived webcast.

UI and Health Care Clocks Tick for Jobless Workers, Congress Must Act -

Time is rapidly running out for Congress to keep a vital lifeline available for jobless workers and their families. Both unemployment insurance (UI) for the long-term jobless and the COBRA extension to help unemployed workers maintain health care coverage expire Feb. 28.

With long-term unemployment continuing to worsen (and now at an all-time high, with one in six workers unemployed) and periods of unemployment lasting longer than ever, keeping the unemployment safety net is crucial for millions of working families.

Click here to tell your lawmakers it’s time to act.

In December, the U.S. House passed a jobs bill that included a long-term UI and Cobra extension, but the U.S. Senate failed to act and Congress was forced to pass a short-term extension of both programs.

The AFL-CIO’s five-point jobs program says a one-year extension is essential and the Obama administration supports a long-term extension. However, it is unclear what shape a Senate jobs bill will take. Republican leaders say they will oppose any jobs legislation on a scale large enough most economists say will do real good.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), a group of 31 senators urged quick passage of an extension for both programs to provide “vital safety net coverage for America families.”

Recent employment numbers are an indication that we must immediately extend jobless benefits and health assistance for individuals and families squeezed in this tighter economy. Nearly 40 percent of the unemployed—more than 6.1 million people—have been out of work for six months or longer.

The Cobra subsidy covers 65 percent of the premium cost, but as the senators point out, the average monthly health care premium for families is $1,111, about 83.4 percent of the average unemployment check.

In some states, the average unemployment check is less than the cost of a monthly health care plan premium.

According to the National Employment Law Project (NELP):

The cost of not reauthorizing these important unemployment provisions will be substantial—in the form of increased foreclosures, less money flowing through communities, and reliance on other public benefits—and will slow down the economic recovery that will bring us jobs.

Take action now, click here tell lawmakers to extend UI beneits and Cobra for a year.

Also join the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) drive to move the Senate to action on a jobs bill, click here.