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
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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
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Web Site
By Bernie Hall Wednesday, December 31, 1969

Welcome to 8183's new web site
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Meal Ticket Arbitration Heard
By John Jeffers Wednesday, December 31, 1969

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

USW Media Center

Steel Hall Honours Union Boss - Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

It was almost a first for union boss Leo Gerard.

Gerard was apparently blind-sided when it was announced Thursday that the executive and membership of United Steelworkers Local 6500 had named their new hall after the international president of their union.

That news came just before the ribbon was cut at the grand opening of the local's new headquarters at 66 Brady St.

"I guess it's almost a first. I'm almost speechless," said a teary-eyed Gerard when a cloth cover was removed from the plaque reading "Leo W. Gerard Hall," which hangs over the entrance to the main hall.

The day was a bittersweet one for Gerard, Local 6500 members and residents of the community. They were excited about the transformation of the former grocery store into a state-of-the-art hall and conference centre, but tears were also shed for the Steelworkers' Hall at 92 Frood Rd. that burned to the ground in September 2008.

Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand said that hall was a place where meetings, union schools, days of mourning, children's Christmas parties and other events were held for more than 40 years.

He recalled seeing many of the people who crammed into the atrium of the new hall Thursday at the fire scene on Frood Road three and a half years ago.

Bertrand said he remembered the pain in the eyes of members, retirees and residents who watched a large piece of Sudbury history go up in smoke.

He quoted Gerard who said at the time that next to the death of a family member, the burning of the old Steel Hall was the saddest day of his life.

"So today's a new chapter for us," said Bertrand. "Today, the Steelworkers will continue that tradition to support this community and to support the membership."

He reminded guests of how USW Local 6500 has supported the community over the years, raising millions of dollars for charitable causes.

Just recently, it reached the $500,000 mark in donations from its cent an hour contribution by members to Health Sciences North's Children's Treatment Centre.

The local raised $360,000 for United Way in 2011 and $30,000 for the Edgar Burton Food Drive, and collected thousands of cans of food for the Sudbury Food Bank.

It was "altogether fitting" to name the hall after Sudbury native Gerard, who rose through the ranks as a member of the union representing production and maintenance workers to become president of an international union, said Bertrand.

Gerard recalled "all the things that went on in that (old) building and all the tough decisions that were made, and all the positive decisions that were made to benefit our community.

"One of the things that always made me love my union even more was that our union, in particular Local 6500, never, ever saw itself as just a collective bargaining tool.

"We saw ourselves as an instrument of social and economic justice for our members and for our community. And we fought for the things that mattered for working people," said Gerard.

The union doesn't want 66 Brady to be known as just its home. "We want this hall to be seen as the community's home that they can come and use and be proud of the work that we do on behalf of working people," he said.

As proud as he was to have the hall named after him, it was also humbling, said Gerard.

"There's a part of me that says I don't deserve it."

Dozens of retirees attended the opening and Bertrand insisted they enter the main hall before anyone else.

"They're the ones who fought for everything we have today," he said.

There were oohs and aahs as people poured into the hall where a musical combo was playing on the main stage and a buffet of finger foods was laid out for guests.

Mayor Marianne Matichuk attended, hugging Bertrand as she entered the hall.

Vale vice-president of mining and milling, Kelly Strong, attended the opening as did spokeswoman Angie Robson.

Greater Sudbury Police Chief Frank Elsner and Deputy Chief Al Lekun were among the guests.

Gerard called the hall one of the most beautiful in Ontario, adding: "I'm a little prejudiced now that it's mine."

Gerard, USW national director Ken Neumann and district 6 director Wayne Fraser presented Bertrand with a plaque to be hung in the hall.

"Whoever thought we could build something better than what we had at 92 Frood Rd.," said Fraser.

He said he was proud of the local for turning the hall into such a showpiece, crediting member Roger Lafontaine for spear-heading the project.

He called Local 6500 the best USW local in North America.

Neumann expressed thanks to USW retirees for giving the present- day union a solid foundation.

"You're the ones who have fought the fight," he said.

cmulligan@thesudburystar.com

Twitter @Carol_Mulligan

CLICK HERE to find the original article from the Sudbury Star

The Vote is In: Vale World's Worst Corporation - Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Brazilian multinational Vale today received the 2012 Public Eye People's Choice Award for world's worst company.  The award was presented in Davos, Switzerland, where corporate chieftains and political leaders are meeting for the annual World Economic Forum.
 
Presenting the award, Nobel economics laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz called on multinational companies to go "beyond the minimum required by the law to protect the environment, to treat workers with decency and fairness, not to exploit all the advantages that asymmetries in bargaining might afford."

More than 88,000 people around the world voted in an online competition , organized by the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland, to choose the worst case of contempt for the environment and human rights.    
 
"This vote demonstrates the increasing global awareness of Vale's terrible record of destroying communities and the environment while systematically violating workers' rights," said United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard. Gerard spoke from Sudbury, Ontario, where he dedicated a new building for Steelworkers Local 6500 which represents 3,000 Vale workers.  
 
In December, the Ontario Labor Relations Board found that Vale committed unfair labor practices during a year-long strike at Sudbury. Last June 8, two workers were killed in Sudbury in an accident that is still under investigation.
 
Earlier, an Industrial Inquiry Commission appointed by the Newfoundland and Labrador government to investigate an 18-month strike at Voisey's Bay found that Vale's "behavior demonstrates disrespect for the role of a bargaining agent."
 
Vale was nominated for the Public Eye award by Justice on the Rails, a Brazilian coalition of environmental and community groups. "We owe a tremendous debt to our sisters and brothers in Brazil who continue to expose this company's destructive actions," Gerard said.

Vale competes for 'Worst Company in World;' Vote now - Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Vale is in the running for the "prize" of being named the "Worst Company in the World" by the Public Eye Awards. The prize will be awarded during the Annual World Economic Forum, that brings together corporate and government elites in Davos, Switzerland. You can vote here, to show your disgust for the way this powerful Brazilian-based company carries out its operations in 38 countries throughout the world. Behind its fabulously high profit levels and clever image control lies a sad story of union bashing, hiding workplace accidents, environmental devastation and running roughshod over local communities impacted by its mines and plants.

Vote here now to help Vale win the title of World's Worst Corporation of 2011! Voting ends January 26, 2012.

Why does Vale deserve the award for worst corporation in the world? 

A summary of some of the social, environmental, labour impacts on the traditional peoples of various enterprises of Vale in Brazil and worldwide.

 

 

USW Statement on President Obama's State of the Union Address - Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Leo W. Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers (USW) issued the following statement today on President Obama’s State of the Union Address:

“President Obama has listened to us as American workers and laid out a vision of the America we want and need, one that creates jobs and prosperity for us and not the 1% who have looted the economy.

“As a union representing workers in the manufacturing, energy and service sectors, we stand up and fight in support of the President’s ‘Blueprint for an America Built to Last.’ Strengthening American manufacturing by looking to build good jobs, green jobs and sustainable jobs with American energy, skills and values is a program for us ... more

Bain Capital Sucked the Value out of Companies - Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

In this episode, Leslie Marshall talks with Dave Foster, Executive Director of the Blue/Green Alliance and past Director of the United Steelworkers (USW). They began with a discussion about Bain Capital, which was co-founded by Mitt Romney, and how it destroyed a steel company in Kansas City, MO, caused 750 people to lose their jobs, their severance pay and parts of their health care and pensions.

Foster recalls having to deal with Bain Capital at that time. "It was a terrible story of duplicity, of greed and of pillaging."

"These were folks that stuck the straw into the value of the company, slurped it out when they had the opportunity, knew what the results were going to be, then walked away of their obligations to employees and retirees, took their $10 million in profits and went off to their new homes ..."

 

National Day of Action for Refinery Safety - Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Oil Workers engaged in a National Day of Action for Safe Refineries and Good Jobs on Saturday, January 21. Members in refinery communities around the country visited gas stations and distributed handbills to drivers on the importance of refinery safety in the ongoing round of contract negotiations. 

Actions occurred in Texas, Louisiana, Utah, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, and other locations around the country. 

Health and safety is a major issue in this round of National Oil Bargaining.

Since the last time we sat down to bargain with the oil industry three years ago, 18 oil workers have died on the job,” says Gary Beevers, the Steelworkers’ International Vice President for Oil Bargaining.  “That’s unacceptable. This time around we expect to see some real, enforceable improvements on health and safety.”

USW Endorses U.S. Rep. Mark Critz - Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

The United Steelworkers (USW) today endorsed U.S. Rep. Mark Critz for re-election as the representative of southwestern Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District.

USW International President Leo W. Gerard said Critz has the endorsement of the international union, all of the USW local union presidents in the 12th Congressional District and SOAR, the union’s retiree organization.

The USW represents more than 32,000 active and retired workers in the union-dense 12th District, which encompasses all of Greene and portions of Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

Gerard said Critz, a former aide to the late Congressman Jack Murtha, knows the importance of manufacturing and industry and stands for industrial policies that will create good American jobs.

“He has always been there on the issues that matter to us,” Gerard said.

Critz, a Johnstown Democrat, said he was humbled by the endorsement and promised to continue to stand up for working men and women in Pennsylvania.

“I went to Congress to fight, to fight for this area … I’ve never been afraid to fight anyone when it comes to the values of working men and women, and our seniors,” he said.

“I’ve worked every day, every single day trying to create jobs back here in Western Pennsylvania and trying to uphold the values of the middle class, of working men and women, making sure that the schemes of Republicans in Congress don’t attack things like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ benefits. It’s fight. We have to stand together.”

 

Steelworkers Rally Across America in Support of Ohio Cooper Tire Workers - Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

On January 14, 2012, United Steelworker (USW) members across America held informational rallies in support of the locked out workers at USW Local 207L in Findlay, OH. Since November 28, 2011, Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. refused the union's offer to remain on the job while negotiations proceeded.

Members attracted attention of motorists and consumers carrying signs that read “300 Million Reasons for Cooper to Bargain Fairly” and “Cooper Tire’s Greed Flat Out Wrong,” in front of tire stores carrying the Cooper name.

USW members submitted 675 photos from all areas of the United States of this mega information rally.

Click on the photos below to see galleries of our members in action from each USW District

		Support from District 1
		Support from District 2
		Support from District 4
		Support from District 7
		Support from District 8
		Support from District 9
		Support from District 10
		Support from District 11
		Support from District 12
		Support from District 13

USW Supports President's Decision to Delay Keystone XL Pipeline - Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Bowing to Partisan Politics Not the Right Way to Proceed, says Union

United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard expressed support for the Administration’s decision to challenge partisan politics and not bow to Republican pressure to prematurely approve TransCanada’s permit to develop a proposed 1,700-mile pipeline.  The Keystone XL Pipeline would transport crude oil and bitumen from Alberta, Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast.  

“The Administration made the right decision to ensure that a project of this scale is done in a way that is good for both jobs and the environment,” said Gerard. “The White House is facing forces in Congress that have decided to use this project as a litmus test for their commitment to jobs, at the same time as they have blocked the door to every one of the Administration’s job proposals, but the fact is more time is needed to ensure that this project will have the economic and environmental benefits claimed by the developer.”

Proponents of the pipeline estimate that the project will create 13,000 construction jobs, 7,000 manufacturing jobs and allow the U.S. to supply our oil needs with Canada, a long-standing ally instead of unstable nations ... more

USW Refinery Workers Hold National Day of Action for Safety - Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Union members to talk to consumers at gas stations about safety issues in contract negotiations

Members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union who work at oil refineries around the country are planning a National Day of Action for Safe Refineries and Good Jobs on January 21.  Members in refinery communities around the country plan to visit gas stations and distribute handbills to drivers on the importance of refinery safety in the ongoing round of contract negotiations. 

The USW represents more than 30,000 workers in the oil sector.  Most labor agreements are set to expire Feb. 1 at 12:01 a.m.  Across the country, health and safety is a major issue on the bargaining table.  In 2009 the Steelworkers proposed significant changes to health and safety language at the bargaining table, but the industry rebuffed the demands. 

The Steelworkers say that health and safety is a primary issue in this round of negotiations.  “Since the last time we sat down to bargain with the oil industry three years ago, 18 oil workers have died on the job,” says Gary Beevers, the Steelworkers’ International Vice President for Oil Bargaining.  “That’s unacceptable.  This time around we expect to see some real, enforceable improvements on health and safety.” 

Actions are planned in Texas, Louisiana, Utah, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, and other locations around the country ... more

E-Mail Cooper Tire's CEO and tell him to end the lockout - Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Our friends at American Rights at Work are supporting locked out USW members by asking supporters to e-mail Cooper Tire's CEO and demand the company end the lock out and bring back our experienced members. Here's what they wrote in a recent action alert to their supporters: 

 

On November 28, 2011, Cooper Tire and Rubber locked out 1,050 workers in Findlay, Ohio. When Cooper Tire was losing money in 2008, these employees gave up $31 million in concessions to help their employer stay alive. Cooper has since rebounded, raking in $300 million in profits - and handing corporate executives millions in raises and bonuses. Workers simply want a fair deal that recognizes their sacrifice. Instead they have been left out in the cold. Fight back against corporate greed and help Cooper Tire workers get back to work.

E-Mail Cooper Tire CEO Roy Armes to urge him to end the lockout and negotiate fairly.

 

Click here to join American Rights at Work action to support the locked out Cooper Tire workers by sending a message to Cooper's CEO.

Oil Workers to Rally at Chevron Headquarters - Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Union demands that oil industry address safety concerns in contract talks

Members and supporters of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 5 plan to rally at Chevron Corporation’s global headquarters in San Ramon, California at noon on Friday, January 20.  USW Local 5 will be demanding that Chevron and the other oil companies address serious health and safety proposals at the bargaining table in the ongoing round of contract negotiations. 

Union workers say the oil sector’s safety record is unacceptable.  “Over the past three years we’ve seen 18 refinery workers die on the job.  Process safety in this sector is out of control and we’re demanding that this industry start taking refinery safety and community safety more seriously,” said Jeff Clark, the Secretary-Treasurer of USW Local 5. 

Workers say that refinery safety is also a community concern.  BK White, Unit Chair at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, said: “When these companies operate our refineries unsafely, everybody’s at risk—refinery workers and our communities.  We know that a serious explosion at one of these facilities could devastate an entire community ... more

USW Praises Occupy Protesters for Honoring King Legacy - Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Occupy protesters across the country who have planned events for this year’s Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honor his mission and the method he chose to pursue it, United Steelworkers (USW) officers said this week.

“By engaging in non-violent demonstration and by seeking economic justice, the Occupy protesters are walking in the footsteps of the Rev. King, and I think he would be proud of their efforts,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.

USW Vice President for Human Affairs Fred Redmond added, “In the year before his assassination, Dr. King launched with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference the Poor People’s Campaign to seek decent jobs, health care and housing for all Americans. He did it because he came to believe people cannot truly be free until they are economically independent ... more

Steelworkers Support Indiana House Democrats on Opposing Right-to-Work - Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Republicans try to Railroad Bill through Committee

United Steelworkers (USW) gathered with about 2,800 workers at the Indiana Statehouse to lend their support for state Democrats who are fighting right-to-work legislation. Democrats, who have not answered the call to bring the House into session, are angry at House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Rep. Douglas Gutwein, who refused to allow any testimony, debate or Democratic amendments.

It took only six angry minutes for the committee to approve, on a party line 8-5 vote, sending the contentious bill to the full House. When the session was called, Democrats failed to come to the floor.

“The governor is allowing the muscling of a failed plan that will result in fewer jobs at lower pay in unsafe workplaces: ‘right to work for less, ’” said USW District 7 Director Jim Robinson. ““The Republicans are insinuating that they are giving this bill a full public airing, but they are actually railroading the political process against the wishes of the majority of Hoosier middle-class workers.

 

USW's Gerard Talks Job Creation at White House "Insourcing" Forum - Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Business, Labor Leaders Meet with Obama, Administration, Experts

United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard today participated in the “Insourcing American Jobs Forum” at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama. The forum  included business, labor, administration and local government leaders along with outside experts.

The White House convened the forum to discuss how to build upon the increasing trend of companies choosing to “insource” jobs and make new investments in the United States rather than send jobs and spend money overseas ... more

Locked-out Ohio Workers from Cooper Tire Meeting with Serbian Union Leaders This Week - Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that a delegation of locked-out workers from Local 207L at Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.’s (NYSE: CTB) Findlay, Ohio plant and an international union representative are meeting this week with leaders of Nezavisnost, the union that represents workers at the company’s recently purchased facility in Kruševac, Serbia.

USW International President Leo W. Gerard said that international solidarity is especially important in the case of disputes with multinational employers, where a direct link for sharing information can be helpful for workers on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The only answer to global corporate greed is global union solidarity,” he said. “Cooper Tire management needs to understand our commitment to justice here ... more

Republicans Behaving Like Young Thugs - Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

On the the Leslie Marshall Show, Leslie talks with United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo W. Gerard about the recent Presidential recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Consumer Protection Board.

Marshall quoted Gerard’s latest blog posting, Recess Appointments: Backlash to Blackmail, “In America, when gangs of bullies torment school children, pushing them around and extorting their lunch money, parents know only one response effectively counters the abuse: confrontation. Running, whining, negotiating — none of that works. For the past year, since Republicans took the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, they’ve behaved like young thugs, extorting Democrats to get what they wanted.

She mentioned how true his words were with what is happening today. “What we are dealing with is a party that has made it clear that they are not just the party of ‘no’, they are a party of liars.”

Gerard said, “What they have done for the last three years is to stymie the recovery. They have made it clear, very, very clear that they are prepared to see millions of Americans suffer until they have a better shot, a better chance at defeating President Obama.” 

USW Local 10-234 Fights Demolition of ConocoPhillips Trainer, Pa., Refinery - Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

United Steelworkers Local 10-234 President Denis Stephano announced today that the plant manager at the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer, Pa., told union officials on Jan. 5 that if a serious buyer is not identified or the refinery is not sold by March 31, the facility will be demolished.

“This is the first time the company gave us this information,” Stephano said. “Our plant manager, Dave Erfert, also informed us that for the past 18 months he had been on a committee to determine the fate of the refinery and many options had been explored, including idling, closure and demolition.

“ConocoPhillips sends Mr. Erfert to attend the stakeholder meetings with union, community and elected officials. Why didn’t he notify the stakeholders months ago that demolition was one of the options the company was considering?” Stephano asked ... more

Louisiana Gator with a Union Steelworker - Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Brotherhood Outdoors is a unique TV series of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance that celebrates hardworking union sportsmen and women as they join host Tom Ackerman for outfitted hunting and fishing adventures across North America. On January 12 at 8 pm (ET) on the Sportsman Channel they will feature the story of Wayne ‘Kip’ Benoit.

Wayne ‘Kip’ Benoit, a union steelworker (USW Local 750) from Boutte, LA, has spent his life navigating and learning about the swampy lands he calls home. Conserving the land he lives on allows him to apply for permits to hunt the monster gators that live there. Aboard his airboat, he has introduced youth and adults to gator hunting and the outdoors as well as helped with Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts. In this episode, host Tom Ackerman heads to the Louisiana swamps where Kip teaches him how to hunt those big, toothy lizards.

USW Details Negative Impact of Philadelphia Refinery Shutdowns - Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Congressional, State Hearings Sought on Likely Price Spikes, Oil Shortfalls

Three United Steelworkers (USW) local union oil refinery leaders spoke here today about the negative effects on employment and Northeast oil product supplies and prices if the three Philadelphia area refineries slated for closure are allowed to stop production permanently. They called for congressional and state hearings to investigate the matter and the replacement of U.S. oil production with oil product imports.

Sunoco announced in September that its Philadelphia and Marcus Hook, Pa., refineries would close in July 2012 if a buyer was not found. On Dec. 1 the company announced it was idling its Marcus Hook refinery because of poor margins. At the end of September, ConocoPhillips announced it was immediately idling its Trainer, Pa., refinery.

According to reports, the three refineries can process more than 700,000 barrels a day of oil, or about 46 percent of the region’s refining capacity that serves nearly six million families in the Northeast region ... more

USW Hails Obama's Recess Appointments as Bold Action Vital to Helping Working Americans - Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

President Uses Constitutional Powers to Restore Labor Board; Advance Consumer Protection

Contacts: Wayne Ranick (412) 562-2444, wranick@usw.org
               Gary Hubbard (202) 256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org

The United Steelworkers (USW) commends President Barack Obama for using his Constitutional power to override obstructionist Republicans and appoint four officials to key positions within the administration to protect consumers against financial fraud and to protect workers against illegal corporate practices. 

“Republicans left the President with no choice but to recess appoint these four people, three to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and one to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “President Obama showed today that he will use every means at his disposal to circumvent Republican opposition to safeguarding workers and consumers.”
 
The president appointed two Democrats, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, and a Republican, Terence F. Flynn, to serve on the NLRB. Resignations from the board and refusal of Republicans in the Senate to approve nominees would have rendered the NLRB inoperable.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it must have a quorum – three members – to render legal decisions ... more

Steelworker Recalls Mitt Romney's So-Called Job Creation Claim on Ed Schultz Show - Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Last night on MSNBC's Ed Schultz Show, host Ed Schultz discussed with United Steelworker (USW) Technician Randy Johnson about Mitt Romney's claim as a job creator.

Previously to being hired with the Steelworkers in the Strategic Campaigns, Global Bargaining and International Affairs Department, Johnson worked at American Pad and Paper (Ampad) factory in Marion, Indiana.

Romney's private equity firm, Bain Capital acquired Ampad in 1992, which purchased the company where Johnson worked in 1994. The new owners started to cut staff, reduce wages and raise the cost of health benefits. When the workers could take no more and went on strike, Ampad closed the plant causing all the employees to lose their jobs.

They talked about the devastation to the families and the community. "In some cases, we had the the husband and the wife both work there," said Johnson. "They lost all their income and it doesn't get much worse than that."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

USW Says Government Analysis Confirms Shutdown of Philadelphia-area Refineries Could Negatively Impact Oil Products for Northeast Region - Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a report today that confirms what the USW has been saying about the impact of shutting down the ConocoPhillips and Sunoco Philadelphia-area refineries: supplies of oil products could be negatively impacted with accompanying price volatility and spikes.

Refineries in the Northeast supplied about 40 percent of the region’s gasoline sales and 60 percent of distillate (diesel fuel and heating oil) sales in 2010, the report said. About half of this supply came from the three refineries that could be shut down permanently.

“The EIA’s report indicates a number of ways that oil product supplies and pricing for the Northeast could be negatively affected,” said USW International Vice President Gary Beevers. “Northeast consumers deserve a stable supply of gasoline, heating oil and diesel without price spikes. There is definitely money to be made by keeping these three refineries open ... more

Vale Inco Convicted of Unfair Labor Practice In Landmark Decision of Ontario Labour Relations Board - Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

United Steelworkers (USW) won a major victory at the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) against Vale mining company in a case stemming from their year-long strike. Sixteen months after the strike at Vale during which time Vale banned USW Local 6500 Vice President Patrick Veinot from its property and thereby denied membership access to him on company property, in a stinging rebuke to the company, the OLRB has found that Vale's conduct is unlawful. The Board has ordered that the company cease and desist.

OLRB Chair Bernard Fishbein wrote: "I think the message Vale Inco has sought to communicate is cold and hard (regardless of its precise motivations) and I conclude that there has been a substantial interference both in the administration of the Union and its representation of employees (or in the words of the Canada Labour Relations Board that have 'the effect of undercutting or weakening the union')."

"Our membership welcomes the Vice President back to their workplaces to perform his duties on their behalf and so do I," beamed Local 6500 President Rick Bertrand, a long time colleague and associate of Veinot. As Vice President, Veinot chairs the important Local 6500 grievance committee, meeting with grievors and union stewards on company property to work through the grievance procedure and enforce the collective agreement. "Controlling this company is no easy task," added Bertrand, "but this union will ensure that the rights of its members are advanced and protected, whatever it takes." Click here for more.

Former USW Secretary-Treasurer Appointed to 2012 ERISA Advisory Council - Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

James D. English, retired Secretary-Treasurer of the United Steelworkers (USW), has been appointed by Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis to the 2012 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Plans (the ERISA Advisory Council.) Mr. English is one of five appointees to the 15-member council that advises on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by the Employment Retirement Income Security Act. The council will be able to call on his extensive experience in representing employees in pension and other retirement matters

“There is nobody more qualified than Jim when it comes to addressing how best to secure health and retirement benefits for American workers,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “His appointment is great news for our members and millions of American workers ... more

AFL-CIO Now Blog

 

Pensions Aren’t the Problem for State Budgets -

This is a crosspost by AFSCME President Lee Saunders from Huffington Post.

Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, the Pravda of the 1 percent, is at it again, continuing its push to gut the retirement security of millions of middle class workers across the country while enriching the Wall Street moneymen who just three years ago took our economy over the cliff.

Virtually everyone agrees that our nation faces a retirement security crisis, but the Journal last week published a shameful op-ed calling for the elimination of pensions for nurses, firefighters, corrections officers and others who still have them. Having punched private-sector workers retirement in the gut, these folks won’t be happy until the whole concept of a secure retirement for working Americans is a thing of the past.

The typical AFSCME member — men and women who plow our streets, care for the sick, protect our children, clean our buildings and keep our communities safe — receives a pension of approximately $19,000 a year after a career of public service. The employees have earned and paid for these pensions. Employee contribution rates commonly amount to 3 percent to 10 percent of their paychecks. These contributions, combined with investment earnings, usually account for 75 percent or more of all pension benefit funding.

The economy’s collapse in 2008-2009 took its toll on everyone’s retirement savings. But our nation’s public pension systems, which were fully funded before the crash, continue their robust recovery earning their highest returns in decades in fiscal year 2011. Pensions continue to provide irreplaceable retirement security to millions of Americans who provide public services. Yet, the corporate-backed
opponents of pensions are creating a myth that the system is falling apart and that state and local governments are going bankrupt because of the $19,000 pensions sanitation workers are earning.

That is simply not true. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the size of the projected state and local government pension funding shortfalls is manageable. In most states, the total shortfall for the pension funds is less than 0.2 percent of projected gross state product during the next 30 years. Even in states with the largest shortfalls, the gap is less than 0.5 percent of projected state product during that period. And, because pension payments are made over generations of workers,
funding can remain stable over long periods, and funding challenges managed over decade long periods, despite short-term economic setbacks. These are facts that the opponents of public pensions simply ignore, as they seek to punish workers for Wall Street’s psychopathic behavior.

Read the full post here.

Poverty Underlies Education System’s Shortcomings -

Here’s a letter to the editor in The Hill by Diann Woodard, president of the School Administrators (AFSA), the only national education union representing principals, assistant principals and school administrators.

The failure of our education system lies not within the walls of the public schools that serve children in crisis, but with the policymakers and policies in place that ignore the fundamental causes of low student achievement: unfair funding formulas, poverty and unproven education policies (“For America’s children, education outlook grows only dimmer,” Jan. 23, by Juan Williams).

Families are increasingly falling into poverty, experiencing a lack of housing and unable to provide adequate health care and nutrition for their children. These children need increased services, yet often do not receive them because of budget cuts, bureaucratic hurdles and gross inequities in state and local funding formulas.

Public schools welcome these children, for our doors are open to all. We do not hand-select the brightest, the ones with involved parents, or the students who will make us look good on half-hour media specials. Their time at school might provide their only stable environment, and we provide it with only a fraction of resources afforded to more affluent districts and private schools.

No evidence exists that suggests closing schools is a good thing, and a recent study conducted by Julian Betts and Richard Atkinson concluded that there is little research to suggest that charter and private schools are better than public ones, and that the limited data that are available are not enough to draw accurate conclusions about their long-term effectiveness.

Education makes up less than 3 percent of the federal budget. If a nation’s priorities are reflected in its budget, then to invest so little in education demonstrates we don’t understand or appreciate its value. We need an increased investment with a focus on quality, not just on quantity.

States and districts should be required to conduct a needs analysis and target resources accordingly. Principals need meaningful training, increased resources and support. All schools should be granted immediate relief from No Child Left Behind’s flawed adequate yearly progress, and in a reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools that serve communities with the greatest needs and challenges should be given the greatest support. 

School children don’t vote—perhaps that is why we have not yet seen a genuine, concerted effort by our elected officials to rebuild and strengthen our public education system.

Rep. Miller Asks Justice Dept. for Investigation of Possible Coercion of NLRB Member -

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, asked the Department of Justice to look into evidence uncovered by a National Labor Relations Board Inspector General investigation that found board member Brian Hayes engaged in employment discussions with a law firm with business before the agency. Miller wrote:

The board plays a critical role in adjudicating and administering the rights of employees and employers under our nation’s labor law and Board members must be free of coercion and undue influence when executing their responsibilities.

The NLRB Inspector General investigation found that Hayes and an attorney with Morgan Lewis had a number of conversations beginning in late September or early October about potential employment if he were to resign his position on the NLRB. As part of those conversations, an attorney with the firm, according to Hayes, stated that “if you ever decide to resign we’d like to talk to you.”

More here.

Overall Union Membership Notches Up from 2010 to 2011 -

Overall union membership increased by 49,000 from 2010 to 2011, including 15,000 new 16- to 24-year-old members, according to new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data out this morning. An increase of 110,000 in the private sector was partially offset by a decline of  61,000 in the public sector, making the rate of union membership essentially unchanged at 11.8 percent, with some 14.8 million U.S. workers union members.

Public-sector density increased from 36.2 percent to 37 percent though November 2011. Private-sector union membership remains at 6.9 percent. The largest increases in union membership were in construction, health care services, retail trade, primary metals and fabricated metal products, hospitals, transportation and warehousing.

Bottom line, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

Despite an unprecedented volley of partisan political attacks on workers’ rights and the continuing insecurity of our economic crisis, union membership increased slightly last year. Working men and women want to come together and to improve their lives.

282 Cablevision Workers Join CWA -

Yesterday, 282 Cablevision technicians and dispatchers in Brooklyn voted to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1109 in a union election administered by the National Labor Relations Board, overcoming a vigorous anti-union campaign led by Cablevision. They are the first Cablevision workers to join a union. Cable TV is an overwhelmingly nonunion industry while the traditional telecommunications industry remains highly unionized.

“I’ve waited 13 years for this,” said Cablevision technician Clarence Adams. “United, as members of Communications Workers of America, we now have the power to negotiate a fair contract that will give us the dignity and respect on the job we deserve.”

Cablevision workers are currently subject to arbitrary discipline and favoritism by managers, their health care coverage is inadequate, their workload is unreasonable and they have insufficient 401(k) retirement plans. Cablevision workers also make at least one-third less than Verizon workers, who are represented by CWA.

“This is about my son, his future, and the future of the Cablevision 99%,” said Cablevision technician Marlon Gayle. “We can now negotiate with management for a safer work environment, better health care, a more secure retirement and a salary that will allow us to support our families.”

Cablevision leads the Cable TV industry in “average monthly revenue per subscriber of $153.97.” And outgoing COO Tom Rutledge made $28 million in 2010, about twice the combined pay of the 282 technicians in Brooklyn.  Rutledge’s $28 million is more than 600 times the average technician’s pay.  Despite $361 million in profits, Cablevision paid no federal income taxes in 2010.

As soon as Cablevision’s management learned of the organizing drive, they began a campaign of harassment and intimidation, including forcing workers to attend high-pressure, anti-union “captive audience” meetings, and pressuring workers to oppose the union in one-on-one meetings with managers.

“Over the past few months these courageous workers withstood a blistering assault on their right to form a union,” said Chris Shelton, CWA District One vice president. “Cablevision truly took the low road by pressuring workers with endless amounts of misinformation, but these workers—backed by countless community leaders and elected officials—stood strong. Now we will bargain collectively for a contract that gives the Cablevision 99% equity and dignity on the job.”

The vote could signal a shift in the telecommunications industry. Only 2 percent to 4 percent of eligible cable TV workers are members of a union, compared to 90 percent in the traditional telecommunications industry. Despite the recent news coverage on the increasing skill levels required of cable workers, their wages lag far behind those of traditional telecom workers.

“Cablevision’s owners—the Dolans—have successfully negotiated contracts with unions at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden,” said Local 1109 Executive Vice President Chris Calabrese. “We look forward to negotiating with them a fair contract for Cablevision workers.” 

Read more here.

Labor, Management Partner to Create Jobs in Wash. State -

Here’s a bipartisan solution: Labor and management working together to create jobs.

In Washington State, where construction workers are experiencing up to 50 percent unemployment, a labor-management coalition is working to push a jobs bill through the state legislature to alleviate the jobs crisis and rebuild infrastructure.

The Washington State Labor Council, the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, the Association of General Contractors are sponsoring the Infrastructure Jobs Bond legislation and have released lists identifying which capital construction work around the state could be funded through the legislation.

Says Dave Myers, executive secretary of Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council:

These jobs will become a reality right away for thousands of laid off constructions workers and returning veterans. The projects will also be targeted toward key sectors of economic development including construction of aerospace training facilities and college research facilities, both of which will spin off other economic development.

Read more here.

Apple’s Profit Skyrockets, Workers Die at Its Factories -

Hours after Apple released its first quarter earnings, which showed a mind-blowing 44.7 percent profit, the New York Times published another in a series of articles illustrating some of the reasons behind Apple’s profit margin. Describing the conditions in which Chinese workers assemble iPhones, iPads and a panoply of Apple products, the report states:

Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors.

More troubling, the groups say, is some suppliers’ disregard for workers’ health. Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group that published that warning.

A separate article details a New York Times survey that found Apple consumers are less likely to worry about the conditions in which products are made.

Over all, 52 percent of the public said it was very important that the products they buy were made in the United States; only 42 percent of owners of Apple products agreed.

Earlier this month, the Fair Labor Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending sweatshop conditions in factories worldwide, announced Apple was admitted as a “Participating Company.” That means that Apple promises to clean its supply chains from labor abuses during the coming two years.

The International Metalworkers’ Foundation expresses skepticism that Apple will carry through on it promises.

In fact, if Apple and other companies that outsource their work corrected the massive abuses of workers at their factories overseas, their incentive for shipping jobs from the United States would be greatly reduced.

Gov. Scott Set to Hand Florida’s Prisons to Corporate America -

Donald Cohen, founder and executive director of In the Public Interest, a national resource center on privatization and responsible contracting, sends us this.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-controlled legislature are moving fast to privatize all 29 prison facilities in 18 counties in southern Florida.

Last year, the GOP prison privatization proposal was ruled unconstitutional because it was wrapped into a budget proposal, a violation of Florida laws that requires policy changes be in separate laws. Tallahassee Judge Jackie Fulford ruled that the lawmakers rushed the process. 

The privatizers aren’t making the same mistake this time. Not only are they proposing to privatize the prisons but they are changing the law to be able to privatize any service as fast, as easily and as secretly as possible. Under the latest proposals, an agency would not have to report its privatization of a program or service until after the contract is signed. And they also would eliminate a current legal requirement to do a cost-benefit analysis before privatizing any government function.

In other words, don’t let the public know what you’re doing and don’t bother to find out the costs.  

Scott, former CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA, came into office on a mission to privatize Florida government. Scott left HCA as the company was being investigated for the “biggest Medicare fraud case in U.S. history.”  Columbia/HCA ultimately paid a record $1.7 billion in fines, penalties and damages.

Scott has already proposed privatizing the state’s Medicaid system, state park campgrounds, the state’s three remaining public mental hospitals, three centers for the developmentally disabled and six veterans’ homes. 

The two largest prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut), are poised to strike, in what Judith Greene, director of Justice Strategies calls, “an unprecedented” expansion of the use of private prisons that no other state has undertaken.

GEO has been a consistent force within Florida politics. GEO Group alone gave more than $400,000 to the party in the past election cycle. Geo Group‘s lobbyist, Brian Ballard, hosted Scott at his Tallahassee home to watch the Super Bowl. GEO Group and CCA donated nearly $1 million toward the Scott’s inauguration celebrations.

China’s ‘Competitive Advantage’: Serfdom -

A much-discussed report in the Sunday New York Times on why iPhones are made in China highlights the transition of Apple guru Steve Jobs who, a few years after Apple began building the Macintosh in 1983, bragged it was “a machine that is made in America.” Today, millions of Apple products like iPhones, iPads and Kindles are made in China sweatshops like Foxconn.

So what happened?

In a nutshell, this:

Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul [at a Chinese factory]. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”

China’s use of near-slave labor conditions creates its “competitve edge.” But its advantage is not so much due to lower wages as to speed and turnover—an on-demand supply of workers who are housed little better than assembly parts, stacked in multiple dorm beds per room with no chance to escape.

Yet the New York Times repeats the mantra that corporations don’t create such jobs in the United States because of a “skills shortage.” Economist Clyde Prestowitz takes apart this tired refrain:

The Apple argument is that the U.S. schools and education system are not turning out the kinds of workers with the kinds of skills we need. So, we have no choice but to go overseas. But the truth is more nearly the opposite. It’s because the companies are moving the jobs overseas that no Americans are learning the necessary skills. This is true for two reasons. One is that Americans are generally not stupid and recognize that because of off-shoring there won’t be any of those kinds of jobs and thus there is no sense in learning the skills necessary to do them. The second is that most of this kind of job or skill training occurs on the job, and if there are no jobs then there will be no skills.

Prestowitz applauds President Obama for asserting in his State of the Union address Tuesday night that a U.S. “economy built to last” must have a robust manufacturing base and that corporate tax incentives to offshore jobs must be reversed.

But as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka notes, Obama alone can’t turn around this nation’s economy and create good jobs.

Now it’s time for Congress to stop standing in the way of rebuilding our country and act.

Walker’s State of the State Rings Hollow to Many Wisconsinites -

This is a cross-post by Karen Hickey, communications director at the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.

Amid John Doe investigations into former staff and a recall election imminent, Gov. Walker delivered his second State of the State address last night. In one year in office Gov. Walker has torn our state apart, attacked workers’ rights and dismissed our democracy. As job loss continues to plague Wisconsin, Walker’s actions speak louder than words.

“Gov. Walker lied to the electorate last November, concealing his plans to attack Wisconsin workers and slash funding for local schools and communities. [Last night], his State of the State speech rang hollow to too many Wisconsinites who are living with the everyday realities of the current Wisconsin economy,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. “Six months of job loss show that Gov. Walker’s policies are not working. It is time to change course, stop rewarding special interest allies at the expense of the working people of Wisconsin, and get Wisconsin back on track.” 

“In the last year Gov. Walker has cost Wisconsin job after job.  First, by rejecting high-speed rail initiatives than by enacting a job-killing budget and attacking the rights of Wisconsin workers,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary-treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. “The people of Wisconsin are smart and see through the rhetoric and half-truths. We look forward to recalling Gov. Walker in the coming months.”

Earlier [yesterday] Wisconsinites throughout out the state gathered in the Senate parlor in the statehouse for the “State of the 99%” to describe what everyday life is really like for ordinary citizens since Gov. Walker took office. 

“I depend on BadgerCare to keep my 12-year-old twins healthy,” said Catherine Capellaro, in Madison, who is concerned about the pending cuts leveled at the program. “I’m dismayed that Gov. Walker rewards those already at the top by taking from those who have so little.”

On Jan. 17 more than 1 million signatures to recall Gov. Walker were delivered to the Government Accountability Board. Currently the signatures are in the process of being certified.

The Cablevision 99% Votes Today -

Today, 285 Brooklyn-based Cablevision workers—the Cablevision 99%—will vote in a election for union representation.

According to the New York State AFL-CIO,

the workers have withstood a blistering assault on their right to form a union. Rather than coming to the table and discussing the merits of union representation in the open, Cablevision management is truly taking the low road, by pressuring workers with misinformation in endless “captive audience meetings.”

Despite this enormous pressure from the management 1 percent, the Cablevision 99% have been standing strong.

Check out the workers’ powerful video here. Then follow the directions on the action page to e-mail Cablevision management and let them know their workers have the right to organize free from harassment and intimidation.

According to their website,

While the 99% at Cablevision are trying to make ends meet, the top six executives raked in $75 million in 2010 and the company pulled in $361 million in profits. Cablevision’s Brooklyn workers are tired of their poor working conditions, lousy healthcare coverage and sham retirement plans.  Cablevision’s workers are demanding the right to join a union and negotiate a fair contract that will provide the job security and compensation necessary to support their families.

Cablevision workers have the right to decide for themselves whether a union is the best way to bring about a safer work environment, better health care, a more secure retirement and salaries that allow them to support their families. It is morally wrong to force workers to run a gauntlet of intimidation and misinformation simply because they seek to exercise their democratic right to have a voice at work and to achieve a measure of equity and dignity on the job.

Breaking: Indiana House Passes RTW -

Moments ago, the Indiana state House passed a “right to work” for less bill by 55 to 41. The issue now moves to the state Senate, where it’s expected to be taken up and voted on next week. The Senate previously passed a different version of the bill.

Working Hoosiers by the thousands have been rallying in opposition to “right to work” for less each day and plan to keep it up as Gov. Mitch Daniels and his Republican statehouse colleagues push to ram through the measure.

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma and Gov. Daniels have been ramming the so-called right to work bill through even after the voters have made clear that they want a public referendum on the controversial anti-worker measure. Only one-third of Indiana voters favor passing the RTW for less law and a whopping 69 percent of Hoosier voters say that the Indiana General Assembly should slow down the process to allow more debate. An overwhelming 71 percent of respondents want to give voters—not the legislature—the final say on this controversial legislation.

Follow all the action at #inunion.

Why the Tucson Ethnic Studies Ban Matters -

Donna Gratehouse, who blogs at DemocraticDiva and elsewhere on all things Arizona, sends us this.

Hundreds of high school students walked out of their Tucson, Ariz., schools Monday in a coordinated protest against the banishment of the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program. This from Common Dreams:

In recent days, administrators and board members have issued a series of conflicting and inaccurate statements and carried out the extreme actions of confiscating books in front of children.

Last week, a recently hired assistant superintendent from Texas told Tuscon students to “go to Mexico” to study their history–nevermind that most of their families have been in the United States for decades.

If you are not familiar with the Tucson Mexican American Studies saga, Sunday’s New York Times
editorial summarizes the current situation nicely and says in part:

The Tucson Unified School District has dismantled its Mexican-American studies program, packed away its offending books, shuttled its students into other classes. It was blackmailed into doing so: keeping the program would have meant losing more than $14 million in state funding. It was a blunt-force victory for the Arizona school superintendent, John Huppenthal, who has spent years crusading against ethnic-studies programs he claims are “brainwashing” children into thinking that Latinos have been victims of white oppression.

More background and a disclosure: I ran (sadly, unsuccessfully) against John Huppenthal for State Senate in 2006. That was also the year Republican Tom Horne was reelected to his second term as Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. Killing the Mexican American Studies program – often referred to as MAS or “ethnic studies” – was really Horne’s crusade from the beginning.

It all started in 2006, when famed labor organizer Dolores Huerta addressed a Tucson high school assembly. Huerta is known for being feisty and pulling no punches – ideal qualities for a labor organizer – and in her characteristic style at the assembly she made the blunt observation that “Republicans hate Latinos.”

Horne got wind of it, took umbrage, and sent Deputy Superintendent Margaret Garcia-Dugan, a Republican, to address the students and refute Huerta’s statement. Dugan was booed and some students turned their back on her. Superintendent Horne took even bigger umbrage at that. Rather than chalking it up to typical teenage recalcitrance and calling for disciplinary action of individual students if necessary, he decided that Tucson’s MAS program was to blame and that it needed to be dismantled. He enlisted Huppenthal and other eager Republican legislators in the effort.

Huppenthal was elected school superintendent in 2010, after campaigning heavily on a “stop La Raza” slogan in Anglo conservative Greater Phoenix communities hundreds of miles away from the Tucson schools where MAS is taught. Republicans swept every statewide office in the state in that election, in a result that could be attributed partly to the “tea party” momentum but mostly to SB1070 and relentless anti-immigrant rhetoric. Huppenthal won his race and Horne was elected Arizona attorney general. The two men got immediately began implementing their plan to eliminate that dastardly ethnic studies program. The law prohibits teaching that “promotes resentment” and that doesn’t treat students as individuals. But it stems from one man’s personal greivance and his assumption that Latino students are all alike. Ironic, to say the least.

Meanwhile, Arizona State Representative Terri Proud, a tea party freshman, just introduced a bill that
would allow Arizona public schools to teach an elective course about how the Bible and “Biblical principles” influenced Western civilization and American democracy. I guess there’s no worry about alienating students of other religions with that.

Whether or not the Tucson MAS issue, in itself, is important to you, everyone should be concerned about the disdain for education and a free flow of ideas displayed by Huppenthal, Horne, the Arizona Legislature, and Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who signed the law last year. Labor advocates should be especially alert to these heavy-handed attempts to censor education in the name of preventing “resentment” over
injustice. One can easily imagine how programs that teach about the labor movement and the brutality that labor organizers and striking workers experienced would be found unacceptable by self-appointed thought police like orne and Huppenthal.

It’s Time for Protection Against Deadly Silica Dust -

More than 300 scientists, doctors and workplace safety experts are asking President Obama to step in to speed much-needed protections against worker exposure to crystalline silica.

They signed a letter to the president today, urging him to direct the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to complete its review of a proposed rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on silica dust.

Some 1.7 million workers are exposed to crystalline silica, which kills some 200 workers each year and causes new cases of silicosis in as many as 7,300 workers, mostly in the construction field. Silicosis is incurable but preventable.

Says Leonard Serafin, a former railroad worker from California:

Every day I struggle to do activities because of my condition. I want to see that other people are protected from this dust—it’s not fair to expose people to something this dangerous when they can be protected.

OMB should have completed its review of the proposed rules within 90 days, but has delayed for nearly a year. The letter notes that OMB staff has hosted at least nine private meetings on the rules, most of which involved representatives of companies with a direct financial stake in their outcome.

Stronger worker protections from silica  are a priority for the AFL-CIO, the Building and Construction Trades Department and many unions, who have been pushing for improved standards for years. This current rule has been in development for 14 years, according to a release from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Every day the rules are delayed, more workers are at risk.

Read more in this report from Huffington Post.

Indiana House Voting Now on RTW -

Thousands of working Hoosiers are chanting, “No Right to Work,” while the Indiana House sets to vote on passage of a “right to work” for less bill that will lower wages for the state’s working people.

Listen to the debate here.