WASHINGTON – The American Federation of Government Employees has serious concerns about the Defense Department’s recently announced initiative to improve efficiency by freezing the size of the civilian workforce and cutting contractors without bringing the work in-house.

In testimony today before the House Budget Committee, AFGE expressed its members’ concerns that the department’s vital work will suffer if DoD does not rebalance its mix of contractors and civilian employees by insourcing activities that never should have been outsourced in the first place.

"AFGE members in the Defense Agencies, who have been doing more and more with less and less for several years, are understandably concerned what a combination of real reductions in contractors and a freeze on the civilian workforce will mean for their ability to perform their missions," AFGE Public Policy Director Jacqueline Simon said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently announced a three-year freeze on the size of the civilian workforce. At the same time, Gates said the department will cut funding for service contracts by 30 percent during the next three years but won’t replace those eliminated contractor positions with civilian employees.

Simon said it’s difficult to believe that DoD’s mission will not suffer if no in-house staff is hired to perform at least some of the work that those contractors were doing.

Simon also questioned why the Pentagon was making assessments regarding the savings from insourcing efforts based on two isolated categories of work, rather than analyzing a broader spectrum of activities that have been contracted out.

It’s not every day a majority of Republicans in Congress thumb their noses at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But yesterday, 99 Republican House members, many with an eye on Nov. 2,  voted for H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act.

The day before the vote, 36 business groups, led by the Chamber, sent a letter to Capitol Hill denouncing the bill. In the letter, the Chamber showed—again—that its focus is on the bottom line for big multinationals, not working families or small businesses.

On the other hand, supporters of the bill were able to refute the Chamber’s claims by citing a petition circulated by the Fair Currency Coalition in favor of the legislation and signed by hundreds of business groups, unions and farm organizations. These groups represent the workers and businesses that have been hurt by the Chinese government’s schemes. 

Just how out of touch is the Chamber? A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released yesterday shows a majority (53 percent) of Americans for the first time thinks free-trade agreements hurt the country. That opinion is shared by a wide spectrum of political beliefs, with 65 percent of union households and 61 percent of Tea Party supporters saying free trade hurts us as a nation. For more on the poll, click here.

So while the Chamber whines about the possibility that the Chinese government will retaliate against the currency vote by keeping U.S. products out of China, it ignores the fact that our nation’s U.S. trade deficit with China has cost 2.4 million U.S. jobs, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

As Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said in the debate on H.R. 2378:

The Chinese government subsidizes every product that lands on our shores…it is putting American workers and manufacturers out of business.

This is about taking our country back. This bill is an opportunity to reinvest in our country and put people back to work.

Chamber, are you listening?

In less than 48 hours, tens of thousands of union members and civil rights, human rights, community and faith activists will be in the nation’s capital for the historic One Nation Working Together march and rally. The Oct. 2 march will call for renewing the American Dream for all people—the antithesis of the fear-mongering dominating too much of the national conversation.

Nearly 200 progressive groups, including the AFL-CIO, NAACP, National Council of La Raza and many unions, have come together in One Nation, a multiracial, labor, civil and human rights movement whose mission is to reorder our nation’s priorities to invest in our nation’s most valuable resource—our people.

In an op-ed in today’s Detroit Free Press, UAW President Bob King says the march “will carry many messages, among them jobs, peace, equality and justice.

But the most important message of all is hope and optimism.

Appearing on “The Ed Show” last night on MSNBC, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen said the march is “a chance for all of us to build a big tent to talk about economic justice issues and the fight for change that we started in 2008.”

He also said the Oct. 2 event is a vital building block for the Nov. 2 elections. After the march, working families will mobilize

to go door to door, to go into the worksite, to talk to our members and work with our allies, which really what this is about. There are a lot of us together here for the change that we voted for and that we still believe in and that we can accomplish if we stick together.

In complimentary events around the country Saturday, union members will walk door to door in targeted states around the country, mobilizing union members for the fall elections.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka will speak at the rally at the Lincoln Memorial and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler will address a young people’s rally earlier in the day at Freedom Plaza along the march route. She will also speak with a group of unemployed workers.

If you can’t make it to the One Nation march and rally, we’ll cover it here on the blog and we also will be tweeting it. You can follow our Twitter feeds here at AFL-CIO Now or on Twitter with the hashtag #dc10210.

One Nation also will air live on Free Speech TV (FSTV). The television broadcast will include main stage speeches, interviews with organizers and analysts and reporting from the crowd. It will air nationally from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time on DISH Network channel 9415, DIRECTV channel 348 and numerous cable stations across the country.

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The U.S. House of Representatives today took a step toward leveling the global trade playing field by passing H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act.

Passed by a bipartisan vote of 348-79, including 99 Republicans, the bill gives the U.S. Treasury Department more tools to enforce rules against currency manipulation by our trading partners. The Chinese government keeps its currency low, which artificially reduces the prices of its exports, creates a huge trade deficit for the United States and costs millions of American jobs. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Even though 40 Republicans signed on as co-sponsors, they were split on the currency measure. Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), the top Republican on the Rules Committee, said he opposed the bill, saying a better step is to approve pending free-trade agreements.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement: 

For more than a decade, the Chinese government has deliberately manipulated the value of its currency, ballooning our trade deficit with China and costing American communities good jobs. During that time and again today, some Republicans in Congress sided with the Chinese government to manipulate our system in the name of “free trade.”

Working people continue to mobilize to elect candidates who will put America’s workers first and are committed to rebuilding an economy that values working people. This November we will send a powerful message that we will support those who vote for an economy that works for everyone.

The vote came on the same day that a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows a majority (53 percent) of Americans for the first time thinks free-trade agreements hurt the country. That opinion is shared by a wide spectrum of political beliefs with 65 percent of union households and 61 percent of Tea Party supporters saying free trade hurts us. For more on the poll, click here.

The U.S. House today passed the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) to provide long-term medical care and monitoring for the first responders, recovery workers and others exposed  to the Ground Zero toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos, lead, glass fragments and other debris.

The bill passed 268 to 160, with 13 Republicans joining Democrats in support. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

Taking care of those who bravely answered the nation’s call on 9/11 transcends partisan politics and tests the integrity of those serving in Congress, and we thank the 251 Democrats and the 17 Republicans who voted in support of the bill. But, the vast majority of Republicans and business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, chose to protect the status quo rather than help our heroes. Working families will not forget that choice this November.

In July, House Republicans blocked the bill. The bill’s fate is uncertain because the Senate must approve it and Republicans have the votes to mount a filibuster and block the bill.  Also, both chambers will adjourn this week and not return until after the November elections.

There are nearly 60,000 people enrolled in a variety of health monitoring and treatment programs related to the Sept. 11 attacks. A new study by Mount Sinai Medical Center found the health problems of those who spent time in the toxic Ground Zero stew are more widespread and persistent than previously reported. Some 70 percent of the 10,000 workers tested between 2002 and 2004 now say they have new or worsened respiratory illnesses.

Four times as many firefighters and twice as many emergency medical service workers had below-normal lung function for their ages six to seven years after Sept. 11 as they did before the attacks.

If you are between ages 32 and 64 and hope to maintain your current standard of living when you retire, you are part of a group that is $6.6 trillion in the hole. That is the nation’s retirement deficit, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

That mind-boggling shortfall takes into account all major sources of retirement income and assets: Social Security, traditional pension plans, 401(k)-style plans, and other forms of saving, and housing. But half of the workforce has neither a 401(k) nor a pension to supplement Social Security.

Retirement USA, a coalition that includes the AFL-CIO, is spearheading a “Wake Up, Washington” Month to encourage Americans across the country to tell lawmakers to keep their hands off of Social Security and to fix our patchwork private retirement.

The frightening aspect of the $6.6 trillion retirement deficit is that figure may become worse because all those sources of retirement income are under attack. Says Maria Freese, director of government relations and policy for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare:

Cuts to Social Security, pension freezes and 401(k) losses on the stock market could easily make the Retirement Income Deficit much, much worse in the future.

Social Security is in the crosshairs of the federal budget deficit commission, where raising the retirement age, cutting benefits or even privatizing Social Security could be recommended when its report is released in December.

On the 401(k) front, AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee A. Saunders writes on Huffington Post that

individuals who have been left on their own to save for retirement in 401(k) accounts face challenges that are not being met. As a result of the financial crash that led to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the retirement savings of most baby boomers—which were already inadequate—were reduced to levels that may create genuine impoverishment as the boomers retire and enter their 70s.

Fewer and fewer workers are covered by traditional pension plans and the collapse of housing prices has gobbled the equity that many working families counted toward their retirement preparedness.

Visit Retirement USA to find out how you can make your voice heard.

Retirement USA also features an online Story Bank where people share their personal stories, fears and concerns about retirement  security.  Click here to visit and here to add your story