Good Jobs Now! Make Wall Street Pay!

dsalaborblogmoderator — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:51:15 +0000

Beginning this week the AFL-CIO, along with allies outside the labor movement, is organizing rallies demanding that Wall Street pay for the damaging recession it caused. The official demands of the rallies are: –Pay your fair share to create the 11 million jobs America needs. –Stop fighting financial reform. –Lend to your [...]

Teamsters Urge Passage of Jason’s Law

pmabry — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:30:24 +0000

Hoffa Supports Rep. Tonko Bill To Create More Rest Areas for Tired Truckers

Press Contact

Galen Munroe

gmunroe@teamster.org

202-624-6911

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today announced the Teamsters’ support for Jason’s Law, which would help alleviate the shortage of parking for tired long-haul truckers.

(WASHINGTON) – Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today announced the Teamsters’ support for Jason’s Law, which would help alleviate the shortage of parking for tired long-haul truckers.

The bill is named after Jason Rivenburg, a long-haul truck driver who was murdered last year after he stopped to rest at an abandoned gas station in South Carolina. A news conference was scheduled today by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., and Jason Rivenburg’s widow Hope.

“For many of our members, the highway is their workplace and we want to make sure it’s safe,” Hoffa said. “It’s unusual for Teamsters to sleep in their trucks because they’re covered by a good union contract, but if they do get tired they should have a safe place to pull over. And tired truckers pose as much of a threat to Teamster drivers as they do to the rest of the driving public.

“Whether it’s keeping dangerous Mexican trucks off the highway or making sure tired drivers have a protected place to rest, safety is a top priority for us.”

Hoffa thanked Rep. Tonko and Rep. Erick Paulsen, R-Minn., for sponsoring the legislation.

The bill, H.R. 2156, would authorize funds for constructing safe new rest areas where commercial truckers can park. It would also help pay for expansion and safety improvements at existing rest areas.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a companion bill (S.971) in the U.S. Senate.

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto [...]

Hoffa on Health Care Reform: ‘Time to Get This Done’

pmabry — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:05:57 +0000

Statement of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa

Press Contact

Bret Caldwell

bcaldwell@teamster.org

202-624-6911

“Now is the time to get this done. Teamster members have solid health care coverage, but the outrageous cost of insurance is hurting our employers and dragging down the economy."

(WASHINGTON) – “Now is the time to get this done. Teamster members have solid health care coverage, but the outrageous cost of insurance is hurting our employers and dragging down the economy.

Working families cannot afford a health care system that allows a for-profit insurance company to increase premiums by 39 percent, the way Anthem Blue Cross did in California recently. The burden on working people is too great. The plan that Congress is considering will provide health insurance to millions of Americans who don’t have it and control costs for millions more who do.

Congress should do as President Obama has proposed, and exempt all Americans from an excise tax on health care plans until 2018. It makes no sense to tax workers who receive good health care benefits in order to ensure that everyone has access to good health care. Many of these health care plans are costly because they cover older workers, or workers in dangerous professions, or a high percentage of women. Some are costly because insurance companies have monopoly power in the regions they serve.

As originally proposed, 80 percent of the people affected by the excise tax would not be members of unions. We fought against this tax on behalf of all working people – union and nonunion – because it was the right thing to do.”

The Teamsters Union was founded in 1903 and represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Follow the Teamsters Union on www.Teamster.org and Twitter at

Bigger Enforcement Hammer Saves Workers’ Lives

Mike Hall — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:57:30 +0000

When a worker is killed on the job because of an employer’s serious and willful violation of the nation’s job safety laws, the median penalty the employer faces isn’t time in jail–it’s a mere $3,675.

It’s time to put some real teeth and a bigger enforcement hammer into the Occupational Safety and Health Act, (OSH Act), witnesses told a House hearing today. In prepared testimony URL TK), AFL-CIO Safety and Health Director Peg Seminario asked the House Workforce Protections subcommittee

What kind of message does it send to employers, workers and family members, that the death of a worker caused by a serious or even repeated violation of the law warrants only a penalty of a few thousands dollars? It tells them that there is little value placed on the lives of workers in this country and that there are no serious consequences for violating the law.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) has sponsored a bill, Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067), that would increase OSH Act civil and criminal penalties for the first time since 1990. Says Wollsey:

Congress needs to put teeth into these penalties so that employers are held accountable for their bad behavior and no longer view penalties as a part of the cost of doing business.

Along with increasing the amount of civil penalties, including setting minimum fines, the bill establishes a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for an employer–including top executives–for criminal behavior that results in the death of a worker.

Not only haven’t the penalties that most safety and health experts termed too weak to begin with not been increased in two decades, inflation has eaten 40 percent of their real dollar value. In addition, says Seminario:

The maximum civil penalties [$7,000 for a "serious" violation] provided for under the OSH Act are rarely assessed. Indeed, just the opposite is the case. In FY 2009, the average penalty for a serious violation of the law was $965 for federal OSHA and $781 for the state OSHA plans combined. Again this is the average penalty for violations that pose a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm

Some 5,000 workers a year are killed on the job, 50,000 die from occupational disease each year, and millions of others become seriously ill or injured. Tougher penalties and stronger enforcement will “save lives,” says David Michaels, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

Jobs cannot be good jobs unless they are safe jobs. Stronger OSHA enforcement will save lives. Because OSHA can visit only a limited number of workplaces each year we need a stronger OSH Act to leverage our resources to encourage compliance by employers.

Click here for complete testimony of all witnesses and a video archive the entire hearing. Visit the committee’s YouTube page for shorter [...]

China Currency Bill: ‘Major Step’ Forward

James Parks — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:55:43 +0000

Bipartisan legislation to address "egregious and ongoing" currency manipulation by China and other nations is a major step in the fight for good jobs and fair trade, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said. The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2010 was introduced today by Democrat Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine), with 10 other co-sponsors. In a statement, Trumka said:

At a time when America's working families need good jobs now, the illegal undervaluation of currency, by China and other governments, has spelled the loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs.

The U.S. Treasury Department for years has refused to cite China's government for currency manipulation, which would set off a process by which the administration can impose trade penalties. The legislation would bring the Treasury definitions more in line with International Monetary Fund guidelines, making it easier to determine currency manipulation. The bill also provides meaningful sanctions, including countervailing duties or tariffs, if currency negotiations [...]

Building Green Cars Could Create 150,000 Jobs

James Parks — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:29:59 +0000

Congress has the power to put thousands of Americans in some of the hardest-hit industries back to work and help protect the environment at the same time, according to a new report. New vehicle technology and the right policy choices, including incentives for higher fuel efficiency vehicles, could create up to 150,000 jobs for U.S. workers. But it will take strong, visionary action by our elected leaders to ensure those jobs are created here, the report says.

In “Driving Growth: How Clean Cars and Climate Policy Can Create Jobs,” the UAW, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Center for American Progress demonstrate how a new fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles would allow drivers to enhance energy security, reduce carbon emissions and put autoworkers and many others back to work.

The economic and environmental benefits underscore the need for Congress to pass strong clean energy and climate legislation that would promote good-paying domestic jobs and encourage investments in efficient, oil-saving technologies, the report says.

In a recent opinion column in the Detroit News, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said foreign governments are investing heavily in their automotive sectors. For example, Europe and Japan have significant leads in hybrids, diesels, direct diesel injection and turbochargers. It’s time for the U.S. government to aggressively invest in new, advanced technologies, he said.

But along with providing incentives to manufacturers, the government has a responsibility to taxpayers to ensure the products that result from our investments are made in this country.

During a telephone press conference this morning, Gettelfinger said his union’s top priority in any climate change legislation is continued funding of the U.S. Energy Department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program (ATVMIP), which helps automakers and other companies develop energy efficient vehicles and parts.

[By continuing the ATVMIP] the federal government can make it much more likely that these jobs will be located in the United States. The ATVMIP is good for the environment and good for American workers.

Building energy efficient vehicles in the United States will have a “ripple effect” throughout the economy, NRDC Executive Director Peter Lehner said during the call. It would drive demand for a variety of manufactured components from engines to control valves, creating jobs in the supply chain as well as on the assembly line and bringing the workers’ communities back to life.

By building cleaner cars, we can tackle some of our most dire problems at the same time. We want to reduce carbon pollution and many unemployed people want to return to work. Building better cars can help with both.

Also on the call, Bracken Hendricks, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said, “We know more fuel-efficient cars will mean more jobs for autoworkers but we don’t know which country will get those jobs.”

Strong federal leadership is required to build a clean energy economy and secure those jobs for American workers.

Read the full report

Gaining a Formal Voice for the Informal Sector

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:20:27 +0000

In this cross-post from Border Jumpers, Bernard Pollack, who is taking a leave of absence from the AFL-CIO to travel through Africa, and Danielle Nierenberg send us another report from their journey through Zimbabwe.

It’s hard to believe that more than 90 percent of the workforce in Zimbabwe are part of the informal sector. These workers do everything from selling bananas and playing music to selling stone carvings and other crafts. Unfortunately because they are not considered part of the formal economy, they are often the most exploited—or ignored—by the government. As a result, in 2002, they formed the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA), an associate of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), to help gain a voice for their members in government.

These workers, who traditionally competed against each other and with the formal sector—are now coordinated and working together to tackle pressing issues such as social security, disability benefits, improved infrastructure, working conditions and many others.

The Informal Economy is being helped by ZCTU together with their elected leadership to lobby legislators to change the laws so that they become user friendly.

We were given the opportunity to visit two community projects coordinated by the informal workers association with President Beauty Mugijima and program coordinator Elijah Mutemeri.

The first project was a village where they are working with the local community to build a school in an area where hundreds of people were forced to relocate during “Operation Restore Order.” As part of a de-urbanization program under Mugabe, the controversial leader of the country, nearly 2 million workers were forcibly removed from their homes in cities, stripped of their belongings and forced to live in rural areas, without any agriculture skills or training. We met with this community who, despite having very few resources and little volunteer support, are trying to build a school to teach area children. They recently succeeded in getting accredited by the local government and the community is pushing public officials for additional resources to build the school. The visit was especially inspiring because the teachers working there endure long commutes because they believed in helping the community. Many families in the makeshift town are also raising orphans or abandoned children, as well their own.

The second project we visited is an orphanage for children that the union is helping support. As we arrived children were singing, clapping and rushing to offer us hugs and high fives. Most of these hundreds of kids lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, and the orphanage provides them not only with a place to go to learn and go to school, but also gives them a family.

The teachers and caretakers who work there are mostly volunteers and you can see that they share a deep commitment and passion for the future of these kids.

Stay tuned for a small-dollar donation drive to help this orphanage in the coming [...]

SEIU Battleground Poll: What are Democrats’ and Independents’ Concerns Regarding Congress?

Kate Thomas — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:41:34 +0000

On behalf of SEIU, the Benenson Strategy Group conducted 1,218 interviews with registered Democrats and Independents in Colorado, New Hampshire and Nevada from February 14 - 20 and February 25, 2010. The goal of the poll was to better [...]

Seattle Activists Demand Big Banks Pay Fair Share

Mike Hall — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:01:45 +0000

Nearly 100 union and community activists rallied outside a JP Morgan Chase bank branch in downtown Seattle yesterday demanding the state legislature make “Big Banks pay their fair share” by closing a $67 million tax loophole for out-of-state banks.

The rally came on the first day of a special legislative session to close a $2.8 billion budget shortfall that threatens cuts in schools, health care, public safety and other vital services. The House revenue package closes the bank loophole, but bank lobbyists are pressuring the state Senate to maintain the giveaway.

Al Link, Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) secretary-treasurer, says the banks fighting to keep the $67 million loophole open are showing the same greed as

the Wall Street banks that turned their backs on us after they took $700 billion of our money in taxpayer bailouts….Now, here in Washington State, these big banks want even more of our money.

The Seattle rally is a part of the AFL-CIO union movement’s two weeks of action across the country that will include rallies and demonstrations at branches of the Big Six Wall Street banks—Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia-Wells Fargo. The Big Six’s reckless greed played the major role in wrecking the U.S. economy and killing American job. (Find out about events in your area here.)

Workers are telling the banks it’s time to “Make Wall Street pay for creating good jobs” to make up for their reckless greed that has put the nation in an 11 million jobs deficit. Says Link:

Our country is in the midst of a jobs crisis—a crisis created by big Wall Street banks like JP Morgan Chase, and these are the institutions that should pay to create the 11 million jobs America needs to fix their mess….And right here in Washington state, our state lawmakers need to send Wall Street banks a clear message by closing this outdated $67 million tax loophole that Chase and other big out-of-state banks take advantage of.

You also can tell Wall Street executives to pay to create good jobs by sending a letter urging them to do the right thing. Just click here.

Find out about events in your area here. If you take part in an event, be sure to send us your photo or video

Unions Urge Jobs Focus in Trans-Pacific Trade Talks

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:25:31 +0000

Jeffrey Vogt, AFL-CIO legislative specialist on the global economy, reports on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement.

Trade representatives of the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are meeting in Melbourne, Australia, to begin negotiations for a proposed regional trade agreement—the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

The trade union federations in four of the eight countries—the AFL-CIO, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) of Singapore—issued a joint labor declaration explaining our expectations for the trade talks. The unions said:

[We] are not opposed in principle to trade agreements. As always, however, the agreement will not have our support unless it is well balanced, foments the creation of good jobs, protects the rights and interests of working people, leads to long-term, balanced economic development and promotes a healthy environment.

We urge negotiators to adopt a jobs lens, which asks how decisions at the negotiating table contribute to a coordinated strategy for the promotion of high-quality jobs and sustainable economic development among [Trans-Pacific Partnership] member countries. It is time for a new trade framework that will make a positive difference in the lives of working people. We cannot afford another trade agreement that privileges substantial new opportunities for investors over good jobs for workers. Further, to work well, trade agreements must also be fairly and consistently enforced.

The trade union confederations in Peru and Chile will join the joint labor declaration in advance of the second trade round in June. Chile is now dealing with the aftermath of a massive earthquake that struck shortly before the trade round began. Read the full text of the declaration here.

In announcing the new agreement last December, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk said negotiators hope to agree on a “high-standard, 21st century agreement with a membership and coverage that provides economically significant market access opportunities for America’s workers, farmers, ranchers, service providers and small businesses.”

The United States already has a trade agreement with four of the other seven Trans-Pacific Partnership countries—Australia, Chile, Singapore and Peru. The new regional agreement could replace those agreements in whole or in large part, creating a new regional set of rules governing commerce among those countries.

The AFL-CIO also filed detailed comments about the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in January in response to a public request for comments issued by USTR. Read the comments

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