March 2006 Archive: WV-AFL-CIO One Voice

The Funeral Service for Mrs. Byrd will be held on Saturday, April 1, at 2:00 in the Memorial Baptist Church, 3455 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, VA, 22207; telephone: 703-538-7000.

Visitation will be Thursday, March 30, from 4:00 – 7:00, and Friday, March 31, from 2:00 – 4:00, and 6:00 - 8:00, at Murphy Funeral Homes, 4510 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA, 22203; telephone: 703-920-4800.

The Byrd family requests that, in lieu of flowers, for those who wish to do so, donations be made in Mrs. Byrd’s name to the Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center at West Virginia University. (WVU Health Sciences Center; Development Office G-106; P.O. Box 9008; Morgantown, W.Va.; 26506. The fund number is 2V186.) Donations also can be made to local animal shelters and the Humane Society of the United States.

Directions to Murphy Funeral Home:
4510 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 920-4800

>From I-495 – Travel I-495 to Arlington Boulevard (U.S. Highway 50) east. Continue east on Arlington Boulevard approximately 3-1/2 miles until it intersects with Wilson Boulevard, Broad Street, and Leesburg Pike. Turn left and continue east on Wilson Boulevard. Proceed to the funeral home, which is located approximately 2-1/4 miles ahead, two blocks past George Mason Drive, on the right (south) side of the street.

>From I-66 – Travel I-66 to North Glebe Road south. Continue south on North Glebe Road approximately 1/2 mile to Wilson Boulevard and turn right (west). Proceed to the funeral home, which is located immediately ahead, on the left (south) side of the street.

Directions to Memorial Baptist Church:
3455 North Glebe Road
Arlington, VA 22207

The church’s website is www.memorialbaptistchurch.org < http://www.memorialbaptistchurch.org/>. For people who have Internet access, they have an easy-to-use page for driving directions http://www.memorialbaptistchurch.org/resources/directions.html.

>From I-66 – Travel I-66 to North Glebe Road (Exit 71 – turn left at light at end of the exit). Continue north on North Glebe Road (approximately 2 miles).

Accommodation Information:

For those who will be coming from out of town for the service, some suggested accommodations are listed below:

Holiday Inn
4610 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
703-243-9800
$119.00
Room Block for Senator Robert C. Byrd

Comfort Inn
1211 N. Glebe Rd.
Arlington, VA, US
703-247-3399
$130.00 this is not confirmed (approximate amount)

Hilton
950 North Stafford Street
Arlington, Virginia, United States, 22203
703-528-6000
$159.00

Westin
801 North Glebe Road
Arlington, Virginia 22203
(703) 717-6200
$159.00

These establishments are approximately within a two-mile radius of the church and/or the funeral home.

Employees at the Federal Aviation Administration, who oversee the safe travel of nearly 600 million people each year, are the latest in a series of federal workers to see their collective bargaining rights attacked. The Professional Airways Systems Specialists (PASS) is calling on West Virginia’s Congressional Delegation to help.

The problem: The FAA is denying its workers’ right to participate in contract negotiations by prematurely declaring an impasse. In the absence of Congressional action, the FAA has already unilaterally imposed its best-offer contracts on several bargaining units.

The solution: The “FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006” (S. 2201 and H.R. 4755), would establish a 3-step process for resolving FAA bargaining disputes, including mediation, Congressional action and binding arbitration. Senator Jay Rockefeller, along with Representative Shelley Moore Capito, are supporters of the bill.

TAKE ACTION: Ask West Virginia’s remaining leaders to protect air travel safety by supporting the FAA Fair Labor Management Dispute Resolution Act of 2006:

Sen. Robert Byrd’s Office	(DC) 202-224-3954	(WV) 503-326-3386
Rep. Alan Mollohan	(DC) 202-225-4172	(WV) 304-292-3019
Rep. Nick Rahall	(DC) 202-225-3452	(WV) 304-252-5000

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On Immigration Bill in Senate

The Senate Judiciary Committee took an important step last night toward assuring that workers’ interests are at the forefront of immigrant reform. It is no coincidence that the committee rejected the mean-spirited approach to reform of our immigration laws adopted by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last December when it adopted HR 4437. Nearly a million people have taken to the streets in recent weeks, rejecting the notion that otherwise law-abiding immigrants should be labeled as “criminals” simply because they lack formal status. We echo the cries of our immigrant brothers and sisters in calling for an end to name-calling and divisive rhetoric and a real solution to our broken immigration system.

We applaud Senator Arlen Specter’s leadership and the committee’s work in crafting a bill that includes a path to citizenship for the millions of currently undocumented workers who are an essential part of our economy and who for too long have been forced to labor in oppressive conditions. For those immigrants already here, the bill voted out of Committee yesterday recognizes that immigrant workers have a right to labor with dignity, and reinforces that the values that define America—freedom, justice and equality—are available to all.

We commend Sen. Durbin for leading the committee in rejecting House efforts to criminalize hard working immigrants and all who offer assistance to them. We are also pleased that the Committee recognized the long fought inclusion of the DREAM act -- legislation that offers status relief and in-state tuition to undocumented immigrant students – as well as the Ag JOBS compromise, which provides a path to permanent residency for agricultural guest workers, in their final product.

As the debate on this crucial issue continues, we hope that the Senate will apply the same principles it applies to workers already in this county to those workers who will meet our nation’s future needs for immigrant labor. We remain deeply troubled by the expansion of guest worker programs -- for workers not already in this country -- contemplated by the bill voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Guest workers programs are a bad idea and harm all workers. They cast workers into a perennial second-class status, and unfairly put their fates into their employers’ hands, creating a situation ripe for exploitation. They encourage employers to turn good jobs into temporary jobs at reduced wages and diminished working condition and contribute to the growing class of workers laboring in poverty.

We have offered a real solution: workers should have full rights and a real voice in our democracy, which no guest worker program can ever guarantee. We see no valid reason why employers should be able to fill permanent jobs with temporary workers.

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On Security Agenda

Everyday, workers at our ports, rail terminals and airports are called upon to protect America against the potential for a catastrophic terrorist attack without the most basic support from their government or their employers. At the same time, firefighters, EMTs and other first responders go to work without the proper training, staffing and equipment to guarantee our safety or even their own. The Administration’s failure to address these problems approaches the criminally negligent.

We applaud the Congressional Democratic Leadership for introducing the "Real Security Agenda” and insisting that Congress and the President match the rhetoric of homeland security with a proposal to immediately implement all of the 9/11 recommendations, require 100% screening of cargo, and properly train, staff and equip the workers who are on the frontlines of the fight against terrorism.

The WV AFL-CIO would like to extend our Deepest Heartfelt Sympathy to Senator Byrd and his family for the passing of his wife, Erma.

Over the years we have witnessed the love that Erma and Senator Byrd have had for each other and it has touched our lives in a beautiful way.

If there is comfort to be found for Senator Byrd, perhaps it will be in knowing that the many hearts that have been touched by his and Erma’s love are with him now, at this difficult time.

West Virginia AFL-CIO – Kids’ Chance Golf Scramble
In recognition of Worker’s Memorial Day

All proceeds will be donated to Kids’ Chance, a non-profit scholarship fund which grants educational scholarships to the sons and daughters of West Virginia residents who have suffered a serious, catastrophic or fatal workplace injury or illness.

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney On Immigration Bill in Senate

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney On Security Agenda

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On Immigration Bill in Senate

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On Security Agenda