Selected Articles, November 2009
More than 500 union members and health care activists packed the sidewalks in front of and across the street from the meeting of the giant health insurance lobby group, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) in Washington, D.C., October 22 in support of health care reform. Read More...
Despite recent negative news reports, the activist group ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) continues to advocate for poor and working class people in California and around the U.S. Read More...
Labor News Briefs
Helmets to Hardhats Launches ‘Good to Go’ Site for Returning Troops
Making the transition from military life to a civilian life is not easy. Many veterans and their families are unprepared when that day comes. Now Helmets to Hardhats, a nonprofit program of the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), has launched a new website to help veterans better prepare for re-entry into civilian life.
Good to Go (www.areyoug2g.com) provides service members with customizable checklists that cover everything from employment and housing to setting goals for the future. “The best welcome home for a returning service member is a seamless transition into a quality civilian career,” said Darrell Roberts, executive director of Helmets to Hardhats. Helmets to Hardhats helps match vets and soon-to-be vets with apprenticeship and training programs offered by the BCTD’s 15 unions. Veterans can use their G.I. Bill education benefits as they complete the certified apprentice programs. Helmets to Hardhats has helped more than 5,000 military vets find new careers as electricians, plumbers, roofers and other skilled trades.
Four Labor Bills Signed Into Law
In october, Governor Schwarzenegger signed four California Labor Federation-sponsored bills into law. In a year of tremendous economic hardship, these bills represent some important gains for union members and working families. The new laws include SB 186 (DeSaulnier), which ensures that injured workers have the right to see their own doctors; AB 236 (Swanson), which extends California’s car wash registry; AB 260 (Lieu), which reforms mortgage lending practices; and AB 483 (Buchanan), which establishes a workers’ compensation database to protect injured workers and prevent fraud. Learn more about these new laws at www.calaborfed.org/issues/.
ILWU Members Pitch in to Help Samoan Tsunami Survivors
After the recent tsunami in Samoa and American Samoa, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) helped provide aid in a big way. When members of the Samoan community in Southern California asked union workers if they would help send a massive shipment of tsunami relief supplies to the two islands, the workers did what union members do best: They came together to help those in need. The Sept. 29 tsunami killed more than 200 people. Thousands of Samoans are homeless and hundreds are injured.
The ILWU members volunteered to donate their time to load 15 containers with a total capacity of 23,525 cubic feet filled to the brim with nonperishable food, water, clothing, medical supplies, household goods and other items donated from around the country for the tsunami victims. Union officials, led by ILWU President Robert McEllrath, worked with industry leaders to secure donated containers and to get the shipping company to waive the $45,000 fee that is ordinarily charged for such a load. The ship left for the islands Oct. 14. To make a donation to help the tsunami survivors, check the Samoa Disaster Relief Coalition for American Samoa and Samoa website: www.helpsamoa.com/.
New Study Details High Cost of Governor’s Furlough Scheme
Last month, the UC Berkeley Labor Center released a new study, which found that the Governor’s expanded three-day-a-month furloughs not only fail to generate significant cost savings, but they also harm the state and local economy. According to the new data, the furloughs policy imposed by Governor Schwarzenegger by Executive Order will save the general fund a paltry 12 cents for every dollar cut in wages and benefits. The furloughs have cut state workers pay by almost 15 percent, triggering a wave of foreclosures and causing significant harm to the Sacramento economy.
To highlight these findings, the California Labor Federation joined Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Ken Jacobs, the author of the study, and several public and private sector workers at a press conference to challenge the ill-advised furlough policy. Senator Steinberg emphasized that the study is yet another reason why the Legislature should ratify the contract with SEIU Local 1000, the union that represents thousands of furloughed state workers.
Read the study at http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/
Employee Free Choice Act
Leaders of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) said they are hopeful that the Employee Free Choice Act could be debated on the Senate floor later this year, perhaps when the House and Senate are negotiating health care reform in conference committee. Conference committee action on health care reform is expected to take place after Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, CWA members are keeping the pressure on key senators, especially Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Warner of Virginia.
Union members are urged to continue to call Sen. Feinstein (202) 224-3841 to urge her to work hard to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Callers can add that:
• The Employee Free Choice Act is a critical piece of our economic recovery.
• CEOs and top executives are still getting huge bonuses, while the recession has hit middle-class families the hardest.
• By making it easier for workers to form unions, the Employee Free Choice Act will level the playing field and help ensure that the economy works for everyone again.
See www.aflcio.org/ for more information.
Governor Vetoes Energy Bills
In October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed two landmark bills, SB 14 and AB 64, by Senator Joe Simitian and Assembly member Paul Krekorian, which would have increased the percentage of energy that California utilities receive from renewable sources from the current 20 percent to 33 percent by 2020.
State Building and Construction Trades Council President Bob Balgenorth said the bills would have enabled the state to “become the world leader in developing new renewable energy. In so doing we can have cleaner air, stabilize our electricity rates and create billions of dollars worth of lucrative new construction jobs in California in the years ahead. We want as many as possible of those jobs, which, after all, will be paid for by California ratepayers, to go to California workers, to produce the greatest possible benefit for California’s economy, businesses, consumers, and air quality. Accordingly, SB 14 and AB 64 were designed to result in the utilities obtaining a good chunk of that energy from in-state source, creating construction work in California.”
Instead Schwarzenegger signed an executive order that will allow the energy generation and the jobs created to be done outside the state, even outside the U.S.
“We think the governor is making a big mistake by vetoing the bills,” Balgenorth said. “Right now tens of thousands of construction workers are unemployed here in California.” He pointed out that the next governor could undo the executive order and kill the renewable energy plan.
Assembly member Krekorian called the vetoes a dangerous setback that would sour developers to the California market, leading them elsewhere. “If we don’t get started now,” he said, “our opportunities to complete projects are going to be missed.”
Selected Articles, October 2009
President Barack Obama had a strong, inspiring message for delegates to the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention: We’re going to make this country work again. Read More...
In a historic vote that adds the nation’s leading voice of American workers to a broad national campaign, the AFL-CIO voted unanimously at its national convention to endorse the enactment of single-payer, universal healthcare for all Americans. Read More...
The last day of the AFL-CIO Convention September 17 opened with a big bang as newly elected AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka stood on stage with UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm to make the dramatic announcement that UNITE HERE is reaffiliating with the federation. The 250,000-member UNITE HERE was one of the unions that left the AFL-CIO in 2005 to form a new federation. Read More...
Candidates for local office heard from union members at a candidate orientation meeting organized by the San Mateo County Central Labor Council and Building and Construction Trades Council August 20 at the IBEW Local 617 union hall in San Mateo. About 40 candidates for City Councils, School Boards and Special Districts attended. Read More...
Selected Articles, September 2009
Hotel workers and their allies took UNITE-HERE! Local 2’s contract campaign to the streets of San Francisco Aug. 14. Over 1,700 union members and supporters from community organizations rallied at the Local 2 Plaza between the Marriott Hotel and Four Seasons Hotels, marched along Market Street and made a loop to Union Square, passing the Parc 55, Hilton, St. Francis, Grand Hyatt and other hotels along the way. Read More...
California workers have been hit hard as the national economic crisis has resulted in layoffs, home foreclosures, bankruptcies, and declining revenues for the state and local governments. The recent state budget deal cuts billions of dollars from education and state programs that provide vital services to Californians. Line-item vetoes by the governor will reduce those essential services even further. And as the state’s unemployment rate approached 12 percent and state workers are ordered to take unpaid furlough days, California families have less money to spend, with the resulting ripple effect of more businesses closing, and further declining tax revenues for the state. Read More...
The active participation of union members helped to change the tone of the health care reform town hall meetings held during the August congressional recess. What began as forums for anti-Obama propaganda become platforms for real debate over what kind of reform is needed. Read More...
For most working families, the idea of a health care public option is just a notion. But in San Francisco, it’s reality. And it works. Read More...
After a protracted battle, striking members of the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) Columbus, Ohio Local 12 and Knoxville, Tennessee Local 197 reached a settlement agreement in July with the George Fern Company, a general service contractor with warehouse facilities in seven major cities. Read More..
The San Mateo County Central Labor Council honored retired Glaziers Local 718 Business Representative Doug Yamamoto, the UC Berkeley Labor Center, and striking mechanics and service reps at Grace Honda in San Bruno at its annual COPE Banquet August 7. The COPE (Committee on Political Education) banquet is the Labor Council’s fundraiser for the political work. Funds raised at the banquet enable the Labor Council to produce campaign materials, pay for phone banking operations, and provide meals for volunteers. Read More..
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November 13, 2009
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