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One Voice - February 2007 Archive
Current One Voice issues --- Archive index
February 27, 2007
U.S. House of Representatives votes Thursday on
The Employee Free Choice Act
Congresswoman Shelley Capito has a choice to make this Thursday—to support West Virginia's working families or to do the bidding of corporations that want to continue blocking our freedom to bargain for a better life.
Use the below link to send Congresswoman Capito's office a fax urging her to support West Virginia's working families — by voting for The Employee Free Choice Act—with no limiting amendments.
Click here to send your fax: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/EFCA_SupportVote
You also may phone or use the below link to e-mail Congresswoman Capito.
DC Phone: 202-225-2711
Email Address: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
February 27, 2007
Nonunion miners:
Once again, Blankenship wrong about unions
Printed ~ The Charleston Gazette ~ February 27, 2007
By Cecil Roberts, United Mine Workers International President.
So, let me get this straight: Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship testifies in a federal proceeding that it’s a “fact” that nonunion coal companies have an economic advantage over companies with operations where the employees are represented by a union. This from a man who presided over a mostly nonunion company that managed to lose over $100 million in 2005, perhaps the best year for the coal business in a generation.
Once again, I just have to shake my head. Good, long-term economic performance in the coal industry only comes from a highly productive, highly skilled, experienced work force in the mines. One doesn’t have to look very hard to find companies with miners that fit that bill — and they’re companies with union miners.
Take Consol Energy, for example. The UMW represents over half of the workforce at Consol, which competes with Massey in the Appalachian coal market. While Massey was losing $101 million in 2005, Consol had a net income of $580.9 million. In 2006, Consol had net income of $408.9 million while Massey made $44.3 million.
A quick glance at the stock prices of both companies is an eye-opener, as well. Over the past two years, the value of Massey’s stock has fallen about 40 percent, while the value of Consol’s stock has gone up by about 60 percent.
Now, which one of these companies would you say has the better “bottom line”? The company with a majority of union miners, or the company with almost no union miners? Which one would you rather have your money invested in?
I also find it fascinating that Blankenship said that his company has a high turnover of workers and a shortage of workers. He’s right. But Consol doesn’t have a high turnover of miners at its union operations. Neither does Peabody, or Foundation, or Magnum — Massey’s direct Appalachian competitors with significant numbers of union members in their work forces.
Why is that? The safety numbers tell the grim tale. Of the 47 coal miners killed on the job last year, 42 — almost 90 percent — were not represented by a union.
As coal miners, we mourn them all, but the facts are clear. If a miner wants to work in a safer mine, that miner needs to be working in a union mine. The recent headlines about Massey managers pleading guilty to falsifying safety inspection records, as well as the shocking lack of safety preparation at Massey’s Aracoma Alma mine where two miners died last year only highlight this ongoing issue.
Experienced coal miners know what goes on in nonunion mines when it comes to safety, which is why they’ll leave a Massey mine to take a job in a union mine as quick as they can. That means Massey can’t retain the kind of experienced, highly skilled miners a company needs to be productive and make money.
And that brings me back to which companies have the economic advantage — union or nonunion. The answer is clear: A productive, skilled, experienced, union work force along with capable management that respects its workers and treats them fairly wins out every time.
February 26, 2007
Age-old question:
How can West Virginia be so poor with such rich resources?
Printed ~ The Charleston Gazette ~ February 21, 2007
By Larry Matheney, West Virginia AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer.
West Virginia is at a crossroads in its history. We must once again ask ourselves the age-old question: How can a state so rich in natural resources be so poor?
Usually we ask that question, we shrug our shoulders and do nothing. But we can't afford to do that anymore.
Consider some of the challenges West Virginia faces:
- The underground economy in West Virginia is one where undocumented workers toil for low wages in poor working conditions where the threat of injury or death is commonplace. That is also true of many of our citizens who have lived here all their lives.
- The right of West Virginia workers to form a union and bargain with their employers is being trampled in an environment where illegal firings, discipline, intimidation and coercion is far too common.
- Roads, bridges, water and sewer projects are becoming difficult to maintain and expand. There are few resources for needed future projects.
- Quality jobs that provided a sustainable wage, health care, pensions and a safe workplace have left West Virginia because of bad trade policies and agreements - and not through the fault of its workers.
- Citizens of our state deserve affordable health care and access to needed medications - but The Associated Press reports that about 322,000 state residents have no health coverage. According to census data, 88,000 West Virginians have lost health insurance since 2000. Older workers and their families are learning that escalating healthcare costs are threatening their very existence.
- Teachers, school service and public employees are struggling to make ends meet due to low wages, even though they educate our children and provide the valuable services all West Virginians enjoy.
Some of these challenges, such as fixing unfair trade agreements, must be addressed at the national level. Others, such as widening access to health care and protecting the rights of all workers require combined action at both the federal and state level.
But there are some positive actions that we can take at the state level alone that can go a long way toward solving the problem of human poverty in the midst of great natural wealth.
If we take the long overdue step of requiring out of state land owners and those who reap vast profits from extracting our coal, timber, oil, and gas to pay their fair share of taxes, we can ensure fair treatment and compensation for our public servants, improve the education system on which our future depends, and help to build the kind of infrastructure we will need for a more prosperous future.
And we will finally have answered that age-old question
February 23, 2007
America's Workers Cannot Afford
to Lose this Opportunity!
The Employee Free Choice Act is the most important workers' rights legislation to come along in decades. The bipartisan legislation would hold anti-union employers accountable; guarantee workers a fair method for forming unions; and force employers to stop dragging out contract negotiations.
The House of Representatives may vote on this bill any day now!
Congresswoman Shelley Capito is West Virginia's only Congressional Leader not signed on to this legislation (HR 800). We must let her know how important this legislation is to West Virginia's workers and her constituents are paying attention to how she reacts to our pleas for help!
Even if you've contacted Congresswoman Capito before please do so again - ASAP!
Please tell her to VOTE YES when this critical legislation comes up for a floor vote!!
Congresswoman Shelley Capito
1431 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Washington D.C. Phone: (202) 225-2711 - Fax: (202) 225-7856
E-mail: See "Write Your Representative" on Website www.house.gov/capito/
Charleston: 4815 MacCorkle Ave., SE, Charleston, WV 25304
Phone: (304) 925-5964 - Fax: (304) 926-8912
Martinsburg: 300 Foxcroft Ave., Ste 102, Martinsburg, WV 25401
Phone: (304) 264-8810 - Fax: (304) 264-8815
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Kanawha Valley Labor Council's
~ Sign on Shelley ~ Rally
On Tuesday, February 20th, Kanawha Valley Labor Council President, Mike Matthews organized a Sign on Shelley rally at the State Building Trades office building, 600 Leon Sullivan Way, Charleston WV.
It was a packed house as West Virginia AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue, Secretary-Treasurer Larry Matheney and a host of others joined together to discuss the message to be sent to Congresswoman Capito concerning her being West Virginia's only Congressional leader not signed on to the Employee Free Choice Act.
Janice Smith, an organizer with the United Steelworkers was one of the speakers who explained her personal experiences of workers being intimidated, harassed and even fired for trying to form a Union.
All in attendance agreed that it is time for Congresswoman Shelley Capito to let West Virginia's workers know how she truly feels about them having the opportunity to form a union to bargain for better wages and benefits, without interference from the employer.
The ball is in her court and the next game is November - 2008!
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made passage of the Employee Free Choice Act a top priority.
Click here
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IAFF News - Bargaining Bill Introduced in House of Representatives
February 12, 2007 – The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Dale Kildee (D-MI) and John Duncan (R-TN). IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger has identified the Cooperation Act, HR 980, as the IAFF’s highest legislative priority.
“This new congress offers the best opportunity we’ve ever had to finally achieve our long-awaited goal of ensuring basic collective bargaining rights for every fire fighter in the nation,” Schaitberger says. “Today I call on every IAFF local to help make HR 980 a reality. We need fire fighters in every community in America to contact their member of Congress to urge them to co-sponsor this historic legislation.”
A Senate version of the legislation is also expected to be introduced in the coming weeks, sponsored by Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA). Both the House and Senate bill will be featured at the upcoming IAFF Legislative Conference in March. To read a copy of the legislation, click here.
For more information about the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, click here.
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UNION FILES FEDERAL SUIT ON HOPE GAS SALE
The United Gas Workers Local 69, UWUA, AFL-CIO filed suit in federal court in Pittsburgh last week against Dominion regarding the sale of Hope Gas and Peoples Gas to Equitable Gas and its impact on their members’ Pension Plan.
“We have intervened in opposition of the sale with the WV Public Service Commission in an effort to protect our communities and Dominion’s employees. We filed suit last week to protect our members because of Dominion’s position that they are “terminated vested employees” and that has a devastating impact on them and their pensions." local president Charlie Rittenhouse stated.
According to the parties Contract, employees who retire as terminated vested employees do so on a lesser scale of pension payments than ones who retire fully under the pension plan. Dominion maintains the employees will be terminated vested employees and the Union says they aren’t. Equitable has said that they will honor the current Plan but only for the life of the Agreement.
“The Dominion Hope Gas’ pension fund is heavily over funded and Dominion is making almost a billion dollars on this transaction, yet they refuse to share that wealth in making sure that these few workers get their full pensions now and in the future. It’s shameful.”, Rittenhouse concluded.
(United Gas Workers Union, Local 69-II is a Division of the United Gas Workers Local 69, Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO. It represents employees of Dominion Gas Transmission, Dominion Hope Gas, Inc. the River Gas Division of Dominion East Ohio Gas Company in the sates of West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio , New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. In addition it represents the employees of Southwestern Virginia Gas Company. For additional information please contact Local President Charlie Rittenhouse 304-641-6852 or Local Vice President Bryan Ash 304-641-2640)
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HR 676 Single Payer Healthcare
Reintroduction of HR 676 in the 110th Congress
On January 24, 2007, Congressman John Conyers reintroduced HR 676, the single payer National Health Insurance Act, in the 110th Congress. The bill's number remains the same, but all of the co-sponsors from the 108th and 109th Congresses will have to renew their co-sponsorship.
HR 676 would cover every person in the U. S. for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care, hearing aids, chiropractic and long term care. HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and HMOs.
HR 676 has been endorsed by 235 union organizations in 40 states including 60 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 17 state AFL-CIOs (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO & MN).
So far, 53 members of the 110th Congress have signed on as co-sponsors including five who were not on before. To see who has signed on go here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.00676:
If your union or central labor council has endorsed HR 676, now is the time to let members of Congress know of this endorsement. Please contact the appropriate union officers and ask them to send a letter to all members of congress who represent any of your members informing them that HR 676 was endorsed by your union, central labor council or state AFL-CIO. The letter should request that the representatives join as co-sponsors in the 110th Congress. Letters can be sent to congress c/o U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.
Please write to your own member of congress with the same request, and get friends to do the same. If they need to find who their representative is, just put in the zip code here: http://www.house.gov/
Share this information with those you know who support a single payer solution to our nation's healthcare crisis. We are up against powerful corporate interests in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. We will need an energetic grass roots effort to persuade our representatives to do the right thing.
Act today for HR 676!
We can save lives, end the suffering, build healthier unions and a more compassionate nation.
For further information, a complete list of union endorsers, or a sample endorsement resolution, contact:
All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676 c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551
Email: nursenpo@aol.com
February 20, 2007
Labor & Employment Law Conference
An intense, interactive educational experience that goes
well beyond the posters on your bulletin board!
April 19-21, 2007
Morgantown, WV
Conference begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19th and
ends at noon Saturday, April 21st
Proposed Topics:
Privacy Issues at Work ~ Employment Discrimination ~ Family and Medical Leave Act ~ Workplace Violence ~ Immigration ~ NLRB and Recent Decisions ~ Summarizing the Supreme Court ~ Workers' Compensation and Privatization ~ Sexual Harassment and Discrimination
Registration Fee:
$115 before March 15th - $135 after March 15th
Registration fee includes reception Thursday evening, Friday luncheon and breaks.
Hotel Reservations:
$79.00 per night (plus tax)
Make reservations directly with Lakeview Resort by calling 1-800-624-8300. Identify yourself as a Labor & Employment Law Conference participant.
Priority deadline, March 15th.
February 20, 2007
Demand Lower Prices for Medicine!
It's up to the Governor and Legislature to pass a law that will force the drug makers to reveal their costs so that West Virginia can negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers do not want you to know how much they spend on marketing but their marketing adds billions to the cost of prescription drugs and increases health care costs.
Call your Legislator @ 1-888-844-5007 and the Governor @ 1-888-438-2731
Tell them we must have a
strong pharmaceutical advertising
and lobbying law!
February 16, 2007
Kanawha Valley Labor Council to hold a Rally in Support of
The Employee Free Choice Act
Mike Matthews, President of the Kanawha Valley Labor Council says, "Congresswoman Capito is West Virginia's only Congressional Leader not signed on as a cosponsor of this very important legislation (HR 800) and she needs to get the message that ALL WORKERS should have the opportunity to form or join a union without being intimidated, harassed or possibly fired!"
Sign on Shelley ~ Rally
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
5:30 p.m.
State Building Trades Office Building
600 Leon Sullivan Way
(Red Brick Building beside the Capitol Market)
Charleston, WV
For more information contact Mike Matthews @ 343-6952
February 14, 2007
Family unfriendly:
American workers are too intimidated to join unions
Printed February 11, 2007 in the Charleston Gazette by Rick Wilson
Something strange is happening in the American workplace. The percentage of U.S. workers who belong to unions declined from 12.5 percent to 12 percent last year.
That in itself is no surprise as good jobs continue to be a major U.S. export, thanks in part to bad trade deals that create a global race to the bottom.
The weird part is that polling data from samples conducted in December 2006 by Peter D. Hart Research Associates indicated that 60 million U.S. workers would join a union if they could.
Sixty million would get those percentage figures heading north again. And it would help promote shared prosperity and give the currently squeezed middle class some breathing room.
By the numbers, union members earn about 30 percent more per week than non-union workers. (Broken down, it’s 31 percent more for women, 36 percent more for African Americans and 46 percent more for Latinos.)
Eighty percent of union members have employer-provided health insurance, compared with 49 percent of nonunion workers. Nearly 70 percent have defined benefit pensions, compared with about 14 percent of nonunion workers. Union members tend to have more days of paid vacation and short-term disability benefits as well.
Those are the kind of things that promote stable families and communities.
So what’s keeping people from joining? In a few words, the answer is intimidation, retaliation and threats.
A survey of National Labor Relations Board election campaigns conducted by Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University conducted in 1998 and 1999 found that private sector employers illegally fire workers for union activity in at least 25 percent of all organizing drives.
Firing or the threat of it is the most serious kind of intimidation. Other forms include forced meetings, threats to close, discipline, etc. In the Bronfenbrenner study, employers force workers to attend anti-union group presentations in 92 percent of all campaigns and half threaten to completely or partially shut down.
Last fall, Brent Garren, a senior associate counsel for UNITE HERE told a congressional subcommittee last September that 79 percent of workers agreed workers are “very” or “somewhat” likely to be fired for trying to form a union.
More recently, the Center for Economic and Policy Research found a steep rise in illegal firings since the year 2000 in relation to the last half of the 1990s. Often, these firings are not random. Rather, they tend to target workers who stick out their proverbial necks to organize.
According to the Center, “By 2005, pro-union workers involved in union election campaigns faced about a 1.8 percent chance of being illegally fired during the course of the campaign. If we assume that employers target union organizers and activists, and that union organizers and activists make up about 10 percent of pro-union workers, our estimates suggest that almost one-in-five union organizers or activists can expect to be fired as a result of their activities in a union election campaign.”
Many fired workers don’t bother seeking justice through the NLRB, where the wait is long and the gains are few.
There is a remedy now being considered by Congress. The Employee Free Choice Act, which has about 230 co-sponsors from both parties in the House, would establish stronger penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights when they seek to organize, provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes, and allow employees to join unions by signing cards authorizing the union to represent them.
Many religious traditions support the right of workers to form unions and have issued strong statements to that effect. My favorite is from “Economic Justice for All,” a pastoral letter of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (1986) which states that “No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself.”
In 2005, a number of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including the Dalai Lama, the Rev. Desmond Tutu, former Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and former President Jimmy Carter, issued a statement calling on every nation, including this one, to “truly protect and defend workers’ rights, including the right to form unions and bargain collectively.”
Restoring the right of workers to organize would go a long way toward restoring the balance in this country and helping to create an economy that works for everyone.
Wilson is director of the WV Economic Justice Project and publishes The Goat Rope, a daily public affairs blog: www.goatrope.blogspot.com.
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Stand with West Virginia's Workers
Thursday, February 15, 2007 --- 12:00 Noon
Lower Rotunda ~ State Capitol
West Virginia AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue and Secretary-Treasurer Larry Matheney have invited members of the West Virginia Legislature to join working men and women from across the state in the lower rotunda of the State Capitol at 12:00 Noon on Thursday, February 15, 2007 to discuss how the Employee Free Choice Act (HR 800) would restore workers' freedom to make their own choice about whether to have a union and bargain for a better life--without interference from management.
The Employee Free Choice Act would: Strengthen penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate workers; establish mediation and binding arbitration when the employer and workers cannot agree on a first contract; and enable workers to form unions when a majority signs union authorization cards.
Note: Congresswoman Capito is West Virginia’s only Congressional Leader not signed on as a cosponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Who: West Virginia AFL-CIO leaders, working men and women from across the state.
What: Requesting Congresswoman Capito’s help because West Virginia’s workers are being intimidated, harassed, and even fired for trying to form a union.
When: Thursday, February 15, 2007 --- 12:00 Noon
Where: Lower Rotunda ~ State Capitol
February 9, 2007
Why are brand name drugs so expensive?
Can we afford to wait till July 1, 2008 to find out?
If you are interested in getting discounts on brand name drugs, please take the following action. Contact the Governor governor@wvgov.org or 1-888-438-2731 and urge him to have his Pharmaceutical Advocate to begin the process of negotiating discounts on brand name drugs as soon as possible and also urge that he support full disclosure of the advertising and detailing expenses by drug companies with the reports due this year, not by July 1, 2008.
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ATTENTION
AFSCME Retirees
Public Employee Retirees / CORPE
PEIA has voted to change the PEIA plan into a Medicare Advantage-Prescription drug plan.
This will mean more money out of retirees pockets although they have received little or no pension increase.
RALLY TO KEEP PEIA
CAPITOL LOWER ROTUNDA
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2007
12:00 NOON UNTIL 2:00 PM
FREE PARKING AT LAIDLEY FIELD
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Change of Address
Construction & General Laborers' Local #543 are moving from 1201 7th. Ave., Huntington, WV. to 401 7th. Avenue, Huntington, WV. 25701.
The phone and fax will remain the same.
Southwestern District Labor council will also be moving its operations to the new Laborers' Address.
For location of the February 19th labor council meeting call Tim Millne @ 304-549-7739.
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Special Extra Earnings for Military Service
Under certain circumstances, special extra earnings for military service from 1940 through 2001 can be credited for Social Security purposes. These extra earnings may help a military person to qualify for Social Security or increase Social Security benefits.
Note: Those eligible - must ask for this benefit to receive it at the Social Security office, however, Social Security cannot add these extra earnings to your record until you file for Social Security benefits.
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Congratulations Joshua Matheney and Christopher Seckman
At Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Sissonville, WV the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts helped to lead the worship for Sunday's, February 4th service.
During the Scouting Ministry Sunday service Joshua Matheney and Christopher Seckman were recognized as receiving the ranking of Eagle Scouts.
To earn the Eagle Scout rank, the highest advancement rank in Scouting, a Boy Scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills.
Not every boy who joins a Boy Scout troop earns the Eagle Scout rank; only about 5 percent of all Boy Scouts do so.
The fact that a boy is an Eagle Scout has always carried with it a special significance, not only in Scouting but also as he enters higher education, business or industry, and community service.
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Joshua is West Virginia AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Larry Matheney's Grandson
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Rick is Director of the WV Economic Justice Project
Here we go again! President Bush recently submitted his proposed federal budget to Congress.
Here's the non-surprise of the year...it contains more tax breaks for the wealthy and program cuts for just about everyone else. Oh yeah, and lots of money for the unnecessary war in Iraq.
A sample:
In a sign of the President’s misguided priorities, his budget puts extremely large tax cuts for the most affluent Americans ahead of the needs of low- and middle-income families as well as future generations. Low- and middle-income Americans would be hit by budget cuts in areas from education to protection of the environment and assistance to the poor. Future generations would foot the bill for the much larger long-term deficits that the President’s extravagant tax cuts would produce. The tax cuts in the budget far exceed proposed reductions in domestic programs.
Among programs targeted for cuts are the Children's Health Insurance Program, low income home energy assistance, child care assistance for low income working families, Head Start, food programs for low income elderly Americans. Cuts are also proposed for mandatory programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Tax cuts for the wealthy would be made permanent, adding between $2.3 to $3.5 trillion in costs over the next ten years. Needless to say, all this would increase the nation's growing inequality and the national debt.
As the Charleston Gazette noted about the war budget:
The White House plan would pump another $100 billion into the Iraq and Afghan wars this year, plus $145 billion more next year. The Pentagon budget would leap to $625 billion a year — perhaps exceeding the war making expenditures of all other nations on Earth, combined.
CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSE. The Bush budget won't be received with many cartwheels in Congress, where the new majority will face some difficult decisions.
...Democrats know that the only way they can find the revenue to restore the administration’s proposed spending cuts would be to cut back on military spending, delay their stated intentions to balance the budget or rescind the Bush tax cuts in future years. They are not especially eager to do any of these.
The most likely result, even some Democrats acknowledge, will be a limited reshaping of the budget by restoring some proposed cuts in a variety of domestic programs, including children’s health care, Head Start and home heating assistance for the poor and the elderly.
I hope they'll do better than that.
In any case, advocates of working people, the elderly, and children will have another budget battle in the days ahead.
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West Virginia AFL-CIO Legislative Conference includes:
Labor Lobby Day
February 15, 2007
12:00 Noon - 4:00 p.m
Noon Rally - Capitol Steps
Support Worker's Rights!
For more information contact Cheri Walker or Sherry Breeden 344-3557
February 6, 2007
AFL-CIO Joins Congressional Leaders, Workers to Introduce
Employee Free Choice Act
Bill Would Restore Workers' Free Choice to Form or Join Unions
to Improve Their Lives
(Washington, February 6) AFL-CIO President John Sweeney joined Congressional leaders, civil rights activists and workers today to announce the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act, a critical piece of legislation that would help restore workers' freedom to form or join unions to bargain for better wages and working conditions. The bill was introduced today by George Miller (D-CA) in the House of Representatives. There are currently 230 co-sponsors in the House.
"The best opportunity for working women and men to get ahead economically is by coming together with their co-workers to bargain with their employer for a better life through a union," Sweeney said at a news conference on Capitol Hill.
The Employee Free Choice Act is desperately needed to level the playing field for working people by fixing a badly broken system in which workers are routinely denied their freedom form or join unions to improve their lives, Sweeney and Congressional leaders said. The bill would strengthen penalties for companies that break the law by coercing or intimidating employers. It also establishes a third-party mediation process when employers and employees can't agree on a first contract. And it enables employees to form unions when a majority express their decision to join the union by signing authorization card.
Unions have long given working people a toehold on the middle class. Government statistics show that working men and women who have a union today make 30 percent more than workers who don't have a union, and are much more likely to have health insurance and retirement plans.
"The benefits of workers uniting to bargain for a better life are clear that's why more than half of workers -- 60 million -- who don't already have a union say they would join one today if given the chance," Sweeney said. "Yet far too few working people ever get that chance. The current system for forming unions and bargaining is badly broken."
Speakers pointed out that under the current process for forming or joining unions, employers routinely harass, intimidate and even fire workers for trying to form a union, and current labor law is helpless to stop them. One in five union activists is fired for union activity, according to a study by the Center for Economic Policy Research. Seventy-eight percent of companies require supervisors to meet one-on-one with employees they directly supervise urging them to vote against the union, according to research by Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University. Even after workers successfully form a union, they can't get a contract one third of the time.
Recent opinion research shows that the vast majority of Americans support the Employee Free Choice Act. Seventy-seven percent of Americans say it's important to have strong laws that give workers the freedom to choose to have a union without interference from employers, according to research by Peter D. Hart Research Associates. Sixty-nine percent of voters said they were supportive of the Employee Free Choice Act as a means to help workers level the playing field. Sixty-five percent of the public says it approves of unions, and only 25 percent disapprove.
The introduction of legislation to give workers a free choice on whether to form unions to improve their lives comes at a time when working people are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the future, Sweeney said. Working families are struggling to make ends meet as wages stagnate, health care costs rise and retirement security vanishes. Only 23 percent of Americans expect the next generation's standard of living to be better than today's, according to polling by Peter D. Hart Research Associates.
"Ordinary Americans are not sharing in the benefits of today's economy in fact, they're being left behind," Sweeney said.
The legislation is a key element of the new Democratic majority in Congress plan to fortify the nation's middle class, which has been hit hard by outsourcing, a lack of good paying jobs with benefits and a growing income gap, Miller said.
"We cannot continue on our nation's current path, where CEOs have complete freedom to negotiate lavish pay and retirement packages for themselves while workers have no leverage to make their own lives better," Miller said. "Our economy is more unequal than it has been at any point since before the New Deal."
Bill Lawhorn, who worked at the Consolidated Biscuit Company in McComb, Ohio, told reporters at today's news conference that he was fired for trying to form a union through the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International union. Lawhorn said, he's struggled to find a decent-paying job and provide for his family since he was fired in 2002 . Even though he believes his firing was illegal - a belief that's been supported by several National Labor Relations Board rulings - he hasn't received a cent of back pay or has he been offered his job back. "A supervisor told me that if the union won the election, I would be fired. And sure enough, the day after the election, I was out of there," Lawhorn said. "The laws are set up for the employer to win. Even when they lose, they win."
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Contact Congresswoman Shelley Capito ASAP!
Tell Congresswoman Capito to join the rest of West Virginia's Congressional Delegation and stand up for West Virginia's workers by co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act.
Shelley Capito
1431 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Washington D.C. Phone: (202) 225-2711 - Fax: (202) 225-7856
E-mail: See "Write Your Representative" on Website www.house.gov/capito/
Charleston: 4815 MacCorkle Ave., SE, Charleston, WV 25304
Phone: (304) 925-5964 - Fax: (304) 926-8912
Martinsburg: 300 Foxcroft Ave., Ste 102, Martinsburg, WV 25401
Phone: (304) 264-8810 - Fax: (304) 264-8815
February 5, 2007
AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney
on the Death of George Becker
February 5, 2007
With the passing of George Becker, the labor movement and our country have lost a modern-day, working-class hero. As president of the Steelworkers and a vice-president of the AFL-CIO, he brought to our movement a profound intellect as well as the strength of the values he learned in the mills. No matter how high he rose, he stayed close to the brothers and sisters he represented. His favorite challenge to all of us was, "Failure is not an option." And he lived up to it every day of his life. Our prayers and our thoughts are with his friends and family as we join in mourning his death and celebrating his contributions to civil rights, workers' rights and human rights.
February 2, 2007
Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on the
Senate's Minimum Wage Bill
February 1, 2007
It's disgraceful that the Senate is still holding the minimum wage hostage to tax cuts for business. There is no reason for weighting down this much-needed - and otherwise straightforward - piece of legislation with yet another round of unwarranted tax breaks for business.
In the last 10 years, the Republican-led Congress provided corporations with a whopping $276 billion in tax cuts and provided small businesses with another $36 billion in dedicated tax breaks, while America's lowest paid workers have gotten nothing.
Minimum wage workers in this country have waited far too long for a raise - - and it's shameful that they must now wait even longer because of the Senate's insistence on business tax giveaways. Even more shameful was the vote by 28 Republican Senators last week to effectively abolish the federal minimum wage.
Last month's House vote made it clear that our new Congressmen and Congresswomen are listening to what working Americans said last November. Members of the House heard their call for change and took bold and immediate action by voting to increase the minimum wage, no strings attached. Tragically, the Senate has chosen not to hear this message.
The AFL-CIO and our allies plan to turn up the volume on our efforts to pass the clean minimum wage increase low-wage workers justly deserve.
February 1, 2007
West Virginia AFL-CIO
2007 Legislative Conference
February 15th and 16th
Charleston House Holiday Inn, Charleston WV
Guest Speakers:
The Presiding Officer of the West Virginia House of Delegates
The Honorable Rick Thompson
The Majority Leader of the West Virginia House of Delegates
The Honorable Joe Delong
The Majority Whip of the West Virginia House of Delegates
The Honorable Mike Caputo
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Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On President Bush's Call to Extend Trade Promotion Authority
January 31, 2007
President Bush's call today for the extension of trade promotion authority, or "fast track," reveals that he simply isn't listening to the real and serious concerns of the American people regarding our nation's economic future. Extending "fast track" authority would hamstring Congress's ability to fix our broken trade policy at a time when working families are in dire need of a correction in course.
Misguided trade policies have exacerbated stagnant wages and growing job insecurity in America today. We have lost more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2001, many to offshore outsourcing, while an increasing number of white-collar service-sector jobs are also at risk. At the same time our trade deficit has ballooned to nearly $800 billion.
Rather than staggering blindly from one trade agreement to the next, our nation needs to regain our economic footing. To do this, we need a strategic pause to assess what have been the real and significant costs of our trade policy for working men and women in the U.S. and abroad. Absent an honest assessment, we will undoubtedly find ourselves on the same failed path.
International trade is important and should be pursued, but it is essential that we get the rules right. Any future trade negotiating authority must require that the negotiators actually achieve the key negotiating objectives, not just "give it their best shot." Any agreement that gets the expedited consideration and an up-or-down vote included in fast track must include enforceable core international worker rights and enforceable environmental standards. It must also include rules on investment, government procurement, intellectual property rights, and services that strike the right balance between democratic accountability, development concerns and international obligations.
Last November, working people voted for a new direction. We need an entirely new process to ensure that Congress and the public have a greater say in our economic future. No longer should Congress be expected to take an up-or-down vote on a bad trade deal without proper consultation and participation at earlier stages of negotiation. Congress should be consulted throughout the process and should certify whether a proposed agreement fulfills the mandatory negotiating objectives. If not, Congress should send the President back to the bargaining table until the agreement is one that the American people can support - one that will ensure that the benefits of trade are more equally distributed rather than concentrated in too few hands.
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How Retirees Can Stand Up for Today's Workers
by George J. Kourpias
Unions built the middle class. By standing together, we fought for and won better wages, health care and pensions, and rights and safety on the job.
But these things are quickly becoming a relic of the past. Why? There are many reasons, but I think workers and retirees have been badly hurt by a corporate and government assault on our freedom to form and join unions.
Did you know that one out of five activists trying to form a union is fired? Or that 78 percent of private employers demand supervisors deliver anti-union messages to the workers whose jobs and pay they control? Employers routinely harass, intimidate, and fire those who want a union. And I don't think our government does much to stop this.
But we have now have a chance to change this. Because of our great work last Fall, the newly-elected Congress is likely to vote on the Employee Free Choice Act, which would finally crack down on companies that break the law and try to block a worker's freedom to choose a union. And the bill would say that workers can form a union when a majority signs an authorization card.
So what can retirees do to help?
First, talk to your children and grandchildren. Polls have shown that younger workers are the least aware of the benefits of collective bargaining. Tell them that those in unions earn 29 percent more than nonunion workers. And that they are 62 percent more likely to have employer-provided health coverage and four times more likely to have pensions. Tell them all that our generation went through to create jobs that could support a family. And how much it hurts to see it all slipping away.
Next, tell your Representatives and Senators in Washington. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121.
Retirees have a lot at stake in this fight. We are the ones that helped build strong unions. We are the ones who wore the uniform of our country to help defend our nation's freedoms. But the middle class we created is crumbling, and the freedoms we fought for are not available to many.
I know we all have at least one more fight left in us. We can pass the Employee Free Choice Act if we take the time to educate our family and friends and our neighbors on how collective bargaining is the best thing we can do to help working families and build stronger communities.
I look forward to working with you to make this dream a reality.
Thank you.
George J. Kourpias is the President of the Alliance for Retired Americans, a three million-member grassroots advocacy organization for current and future retirees. Kourpias is a former International President of the International Association of Machinists.
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Contact Congresswoman Capito and tell her to join the rest of West Virginia's Congressional Delegation and stand up for West Virginia's workers by co-sponsoring the
Shelley Capito
1431 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Washington D.C. Phone: (202) 225-2711 - Fax: (202) 225-7856
E-mail: See "Write Your Representative" on Website www.house.gov/capito/
Charleston: 4815 MacCorkle Ave., SE, Charleston, WV 25304
Phone: (304) 925-5964 - Fax: (304) 926-8912
Martinsburg: 300 Foxcroft Ave., Ste 102, Martinsburg, WV 25401
Phone: (304) 264-8810 - Fax: (304) 264-8815
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