One Voice - October 2007 Archive
Current One Voice issues  --- Archive index

October 31, 2007

UNITY INSURANCE GROUP, INC
A SERVICE OF THE WV AFL-CIO

The mission statement of Unity Insurance Group states that Unity will offer insurance products that are competitively priced combined with personal service that you won’t find with any other insurance agency.  Regardless of whether you are a decision maker in a local union or shopping your personal auto coverage, we will always put your interests and not ours first.  You have our word on it.

Choosing Unity Insurance Group for your insurance needs will help provide support on the issues most important to West Virginia working families while ensuring your insurance dollars remain in West Virginia?  We offer a broad range of coverage through top rated insurers including the following:

          Visit our web site at www.unityinsurancegroup.com, stop by the office at 501 Leon Sullivan Way, Charleston, WV 25301 or give us a call 304-344-4074. 

October 31, 2007

Nurses in West Virginia and Kentucky
have been on strike for nearly a month!

They need our help!!

The nurses are on strike because of the negative treatment by ARH management and allowing and promoting unsafe staffing for patients.

1. hospital administrators refuse to address pay raises, mandatory overtime, and staffing ratios with the nurses
2. replacement nurses have already been hired by the hospital administration

Please take action by contacting the President/CEO of the Appalachian Regional Health Systems and telling him to negotiate a fair contract with the nurses.     http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/nurses_kywv?rk=t1%5f3TU91FwYA

Please consider making a donation to the ARH nurses by clicking here:  http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/fpav1NY1KqnO/

Plans are underway for rallies in Beckley, WV and Hazard, Kentucky on Saturday, November 10th - where food and money will be delivered to the nurses on the picket lines. 

The rally in Beckley is planned for 4:00 p.m. across the street from Appalachian Regional Hospital (behind Beckley Pharmacy).  There was a rally and candlelight vigil held last Thursday at the same location, sponsored by supporting doctors at the hospital.  There is much public support of the nurses, as one of the main issues that the nurses are striking over is patient staffing levels.

support our Nurses Rally
4 pm ~ November 10th
Beckley, wv

Bring your union banners and signs;
wear your union shirts and hats!

October 25, 2007

“CONGRATULATIONS TO RON BRADY AND THE EMPLOYEES OF CRANE PRO”

Ron Brady, President of USW LU #14614’s hard work and persistent efforts paid off. 

Ron has recently been working on an organizing campaign for fourteen employees of CRANE PRO located in the Kanawha Valley. 

Yesterday his efforts were rewarded when the employees voted unanimously to become members of the United Steelworkers Union. 

October 22, 2007 

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
on the Nurses' Strike at Appalachian Regional Hospitals

The 10 million members of the AFL-CIO stand firmly with the more than 800 striking nurses at nine Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) hospitals who are seeking stronger patient care protections.  The nurses - members of the United American Nurses in Kentucky and West Virginia - are standing up for the communities they serve even as ARH tries to crush their spirit through intimidation and threats.

Patient care must be any hospital's primary concern. By forcing its front-line care providers to be understaffed and overworked, ARH is recklessly putting its patients at risk. The nurses at ARH deserve respect and decent working conditions that include fair pay and benefits as well as manageable hours. It is absolutely unacceptable that ARH is putting communities at risk by refusing to listen to nurses' concerns about staffing and other patient care issues.

The ARH nurses have shown their commitment to their patients time and time again. They are putting their jobs on the line in support of safe staffing levels. It is time for ARH to show its nurses they are committed to doing everything in their power to improve patient care at their hospitals, which includes negotiating a fair contract and addressing the nurses' urgent concerns about patient care.

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Join the Beckley & Summers County
Appalachian Regional Healthcare Registered Nurses
Community Rally & Candlelight Vigil

Thursday, October 25, 2007
6:00 PM – Rally
6:45 PM – Candlelight Vigil

Beckley Pharmacy Parking Lot
(Across from the Hospital)

Come and Support Our Patients, Your Nurses and Our Community

Sponsored by:  Dr. Hassan Jafary,
                           Dr. Hassan Amjad,
                           Dr. Mustafa Rahim

LIGHT A CANDLE FOR A LOVED ONE

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“Shared Prosperity” Topic of Town Hall Meeting
Contact:  Gary Zuckett 304-346-5891 or Matt Wender 573-5980
WV United hosts next in a series of meetings in Fayette County

Fayetteville – WV, West Virginians United, a coalition of progressive state organizations, is holding the next of several state-wide community town hall style meetings at the Cathedral Café on Wednesday, October 24th at 6:30 PM.

The meetings are to promote their “Agenda for a Shared Prosperity” – a set of values and policy proposals to strengthen our middle class while creating the conditions necessary for more families to realize the “American Dream”

Speakers will outline the basic prosperity agenda with brief comments and then open the discussion up to the community members attending. The topics to be addressed are:

• Health Care Reform – making health care affordable and assessable to all West Virginians;
• Cost of War – connecting the extreme costs of the conflict in Iraq to the cuts in spending for education, housing, social services and other domestic spending in West Virginia;
• Justice in the Workplace – how workplace issues affect quality of life; and
• Economic Fairness – how public policy can level the playing field and work toward a shared prosperity.

What:  Town Hall Meeting on an “Agenda for Shared Prosperity”
When: Wednesday, October 24th at 6:30 PM
Where: Cathedral Café, 134 S. Court St, Fayetteville, WV 25840

Moderator: Dan Doyle, MD

Speakers:

            Renate Pore, Exec. Director, WV Healthy Kids & Families Coalition
            Larry Matheney, Sec./Treas. WV AFL-CIO
            Rev. Jim Lewis, WV Patriots for Peace
            Ted Boettner, Mountain State Education & Research

October 17, 2007

State Children’s Health Insurance Program
Veto Override Vote 10/18/07
Call 1-866-544-7573
Ask Your House Member to Support the Veto Override
If the number is busy, please keep trying to call! 

Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization 

• Congress must stand with children and vote to override the President’s veto of the bipartisan SCHIP compromise bill. 
  • The compromise bill will maintain coverage for the more than 6 million children now enrolled and extend coverage to 4 million more of America’s uninsured children.
  • It targets the lowest income children and gives states new resources to enroll children who are eligible for coverage but not enrolled.

• The vast majority of Americans from across the political spectrum support health care for children.

What You May Hear from Those Siding with President

Unfortunately, the President is using distortions of the bill to justify his position on children’s health care – and some Republican members of Congress are hiding behind those distortions as they side with the President rather than children.  

• MYTH: The compromise bill would take a program meant to help poor children and turn it into one that covers children in households making up to $83,000.

• FACT: The SCHIP compromise bill does NOT change states’ eligibility standards.  The $83,000 number comes from a request by New York State, which the administration denied, to cover children with family income of up to 400 percent of the poverty level.  Nothing in this bill changes that.   

• FACT:  More than 75 percent of the children expected to gain coverage under the compromise bill have family incomes below twice the poverty level, or $41,300 for a family of four. Furthermore, the bill places new requirements on states to enroll the lowest income children before raising income eligibility thresholds.

• MYTH: The SCHIP bill will give free health care to illegal immigrants.

• FACT: SEC. 605 of the bill clearly states: “NO FEDERAL FUNDING

FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS. Nothing in this Act allows Federal payment for individuals who are not legal residents.”

• Merely extending the current program won’t be enough.  If the funding level stays the same – without any new funding added to at least keep pace with rising health care costs – 35 states will exhaust all federal funds this fiscal year and hundreds of thousands of children will lose coverage.
• Negotiating with the President to get a new bill is not an option.  Democrats already compromised with the Senate Republicans to get a bill with broad bipartisan support.  The President has proposed funding at a level that won’t even keep pace with the cost of coverage for the children already enrolled in SCHIP.  To compromise down from the current bill means saying “No” to some or all of the 4 million uninsured children who would gain coverage under the compromise bill.

October 12, 2007

GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS OCTOBER 14 AS FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS MEMORIAL DAY

Gov. Joe Manchin today asked all West Virginians to join him in observing Fallen Firefighters Memorial Day on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007. “We lost three brave firefighters this year,” Gov. Joe Manchin said. “Career and volunteer firefighters give their time and expertise to rescue citizens and save property. This Sunday, I am asking my fellow West Virginians to join me in honoring Frederick Burroughs, Craig Dorsey, both of Ghent Volunteer Fire Department in Raleigh County and Christopher Jaros of Ceredo Volunteer Fire Department in Wayne County for making the ultimate sacrifice for the protection of others. In addition, this day is to give thanks to our state’s courageous firefighters, while also remembering the fallen firefighters who we have lost in the history of our state and nation. These firefighters and their families have made the ultimate sacrifice for their communities, and I applaud them for their unwavering dedication toward saving lives. They will not be forgotten.” The governor signed a proclamation last week declaring Oct. 14 as Fallen Fighters Memorial Day. The proclamation commends more than 11,000 career and volunteer firefighters who give their time, energy, talents and expertise to save lives and property throughout West Virginia. In addition, the proclamation calls for all state flags to be flown at half-staff the entire day of October 14, 2007 on the State Capitol grounds in Charleston for the observance of fallen firefighters. A memorial ceremony recognizing the fallen firefighters will be held 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14 at the Cultural Center at the site of the Fallen Firefighter Memorial statue.                                              

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Contact: Sara Payne Scarbro, 304-558-3830

October 12, 2007

REMINDER

Kanawha Valley Central Labor Council & WVU Extension
Service Institute for Labor Studies and Research

“Central Labor Council Leadership Training” 

            This class covers AFL-CIO Central Labor Council duties of delegates and officers.  The class will explain the history, structure, purpose and importance of a CLC.  The class will discuss labor and politics and leadership skills in regard to CLC’s.      This class is a must for not only officers and delegates to a CLC but also it is an excellent educational event for any AFL-CIO union member.         

October 15-16, 2007
6:00 - 9:00 pm
WV State Building Trades
|600 Leon Sullivan Way, Charleston, WV

To register contact:  

Robbie Massey of WVU-ILSR:  304-255-9321 ~ RVMassey@mail.wvu.edu

Mike Matthews, President Kanawha Valley CLC:  304-343-6952 ~ mikematthews@cbtwv.org

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West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy
Save the Date – December 3, 2007, Charleston 

On December 3, 2007, the new West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy will hold its first annual meeting at the Charleston Marriott.  

If you are interested in attending, please register at: www.wvcbp.org

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After a six-hour strike, UAW members reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with Chrysler.

UAW Reaches Deal with Chrysler 

Record-Setting Get-Out-the-Vote Union Volunteers in Kentucky 

Battle for Equal Voting Rights Shifts to Courts

Read more on the issues working families care about on AFL-CIO Now.

October 9, 2007

The West Virginia Labor History Association

Hall OF HONOR INDUCTION CEREMONIES
October 14, 2007 – 12:00 Noon
Charleston Civiv Center

Honorees: 

Mr. Larry Ratliff
For his many years of outstanding service as a District 23 official of the United Steelworkers of America.

Mr. Manuel Oteda
For his outstanding contribution as an officer and organizer with the United Mine Workers of America.

Hall of Honor luncheon tickets are $14.00 for individuals or $100.00 for a table of 8. 
For additional information or reservations call 1-800-642-9842 (ext. 1966) or 304-346-2030.

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A message from
 AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney

          On November 10th, Vietnam Veterans of America will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, “The Wall,” on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

          Many of our union brothers and sisters will be participating in the anniversary event and I urge you to spread the word among your members.

          For further information on this event contact Gerry Shea at gshea@aflcio.org or 202-637-5237.

October 8, 2007

ACTION ALERT

The WORKER FREEDOM BILL

Yesterday at the Capitol during the October Interim Session
The Worker Freedom Bill passed out of
Subcommittee A of the Joint Judiciary!

            In November during the Interim session (Nov. 16-18) the Worker Freedom Bill (2007 Legislation - HB 2346) will be on the agenda of the Full Joint Standing Judiciary Committee.

            Please contact the members of this Committee ASAP while they are at the Capitol for the October Interim session (October 7-9) and request their support of the Worker Freedom Bill when it comes before their committee in November.  

            Click on the Legislator’s name listed below for contact info. 

            The Worker Freedom Bill is designed to eliminate mandatory, forced meetings for workers for reasons unrelated to job performance.  It does not ban any message and it does not ban workplace meetings.  Rather, it prohibits employers from using their power to compel employees to listen to – to be a forced audience for – their employers’ efforts to impose religious and political beliefs and beliefs about joining a union.  It protects employee’s rights not to have their employer’s beliefs forced on them through mandatory meetings by giving workers the freedom NOT to listen.      

            For additional information, please contact the West Virginia AFL-CIO office @ 344-3557.

Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary - Interim

October 5, 2007

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
on Latest NLRB Decision to Undermine Workers
October 3, 2007

The Bush National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced this week an outrageous decision that will further strip employees of their free choice to join a union and bargain collectively.  At a time when America isn't working the way it should for working people, the Bush labor board is pulling the rug out from under our nation's middle class through such decisions which amount to a sea change in our nation's labor laws.

The latest ruling by the Bush board--decided on partisan lines--would effectively permit a minority of employees to negate the majority's decision to have a union, even where the employer has agreed to recognize the union through majority sign-up or "card check" process, and is already engaged in bargaining with the union for a contract.  The decision means that as few as 30 percent of the employees will be able to cause any such recognition to be set aside and force an NLRB election to try to get rid of the union.

This shameful decision reverses decades of precedent around voluntary recognition - - what previous Board decisions have called "a favored element of national labor policy." The NLRB has shown itself again to be little more than a political tool of right-wing Republicans in their continuing assault on America's working families.

The fact is the NLRB process is so severely broken that the majority of workers in this country who successfully form a union now do so through a voluntary recognition process.  In allowing a small group of workers to undermine both the majority of workers' and the employer's wishes, the labor board is effectively making a mockery of the law's allowance for voluntary recognition.  Workers who attempt to join or form unions through the NLRB election process are routinely subjected to harassment, intimidation and even fired, which is why momentum continues to build for the Employee Free Choice Act. 

In its decision, the Board fails to offer a valid explanation for these drastic changes in labor law.  The two dissenting members of the five-member board, Wilma Liebman and Dennis Walsh, say that this "sea change in labor law" will "cut voluntary recognition off at the knees."

The case stems from an agreement by Dana Corp. and Metaldyne Corp. with the United Autoworkers not to interfere in workers' efforts to form a union if a majority has signed union authorization cards.  After the union was recognized, employees in each unit filed a petition seeking a decertification election.  The NLRB regional director dismissed the petitions based on the board's "recognition-bar" doctrine that an employer's voluntary recognition of a union bars an election petition filed by a few employees or a rival union for a reasonable period of time to permit collective bargaining to succeed. The Board's ruling will allow a minority of employees to file a decertification petition despite the express wishes of the majority and even if the parties have succeeded in reaching a collective bargaining agreement.

The Republican members of the Board have issued a number of decisions that negatively impact workers, including last year's ruling to strip nurses and other workers with occasional supervisory duties of their union rights - - and they are expected to issue a host of negative decisions in the coming days.

It's time for the politicization at the NLRB to stop. The Board must return to its original intent of protecting workers' basic freedoms rather than infringing upon them.  

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Oct. 3, 2007

STATE CHILDREN'S SERVICES CONTINUE DURING SCHIP DEBATE

Contact: Lara Ramsburg, 304-558-2000

CHARLESTON -- Gov. Joe Manchin today announced that, despite President George W. Bush’s veto today of the bipartisan legislation passed by Congress on Sept. 27, 2007, to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program (WVCHIP) will continue to serve the qualified children of West Virginia while this issue is resolved.

With about 25,000 children currently enrolled in West Virginia’s program, SCHIP is operating under the Continuing Resolution that temporarily extends $5.1 billion, the same appropriated level as last year, to be divided among the states for the next 47 days until the resolution expires Nov. 16, 2007. Funding for the WVCHIP is stable, with about $23 million in federal dollars to be carried forward. A portion of the fiscal year 2008 funds also will be available under the resolution.

“The philosophy for our state’s program has always been to provide health care insurance to those children who are above the Medicaid-specified poverty levels and, thus, not eligible for the federal Medicaid program,” Manchin said. “I have joined with other states in writing to the president to urge him to sign this legislation into law and am disappointed in his decision to use his veto power. However, I will continue to work with our state’s congressional delegation to continue to protect these children by seeking a resolution in offering necessary health care protection.”

In 1997, Congress amended the Social Security Act to create Title XXI “State Children’s Health Insurance Program.” The West Virginia Legislature established the insurance governance and legal framework in legislation that enacted in April 1998. Children first began enrolling in the West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program (WVCHIP) in July 1998.

“Often CHIP is incorrectly referred to as a program for the poor. It is important to clarify that this program is targeted for children of working low-income families, so they may remain working and continue to be a vital contributing part of our communities,” said Sharon Carte, executive director of WVCHIP. “This program never has, nor under any proposed reauthorization bills, ever will, become a Medicaid-type coverage. It has always required some level of co-payments for certain services to assure that CHIP families gain financial responsibility in the health care of their children.”

The 2006 Regular Session of the State Legislature passed House Bill 4021, which upon approval by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, allowed for the implementation by West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program (WVCHIP) to expand coverage to uninsured children of families with income between 200 and 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

Due to the uncertainty of the federal reauthorization of the national Children’s Health Insurance Program and to ensure the financial stability of the program, WVCHIP expanded its program, effective Jan. 1, 2007, to include eligibility for families living up to 220 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). The board annually will consider the feasibility of 20 percent increments of the FPL. 

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Senator Byrd: America must not 'sleep walk' into another disastrous military confrontation

Posted: 04 Oct 2007 10:11 PM CDT

Considering how wise Senator Robert C. Byrd (D) was regarding Iraq, his words on Iran should carry significant weight.

October 3, 2007 

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on
Bush Veto of Children’s Health Insurance

The President’s decision to veto legislation that would provide health care to millions of children is nothing short of disgraceful. With the sweep of a pen, he has slammed the door on these children’s best opportunity to grow up healthy and to reach their fullest potential. The veto also shattered the peace of mind of countless families who may now lose their coverage under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

As if to add insult to injury, the president vetoed health insurance for children in the same week as he proclaimed an official “Child Health Day,” which the Administration described in a press release as a time to “reaffirm our commitment to helping children develop good nutrition habits and active lifestyles, so that they can grow into healthy and productive adults.”

Health insurance for children is not a political issue that can be brushed aside by proclamation. This is about helping children, period.  A bipartisan majority in Congress recognize that in America, no child should go without health care. Most responsible leaders also know that if nothing is done, the situation is only going to get worse. The cost of health care is soaring out of control and wages for America’s workers can’t keep up.

Our children need a lot more than rhetoric to grow into healthy and productive adults. If President Bush really wants to show commitment to children’s health, he should give them annual check-ups, vaccinations and regular contact with a pediatrician who knows and cares about them – he shouldn’t just give them a press release.