Union Plus has awarded $150,000 in scholarships to 130 students representing 43 unions, including three children of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) members, in the 2011 Union Plus Scholarship Program.

This is a crosspost by AFSCME President Lee Saunders from Huffington Post.

Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, the Pravda of the 1 percent, is at it again, continuing its push to gut the retirement security of millions of middle class workers across the country while enriching the Wall Street moneymen who just three years ago took our economy over the cliff.

Virtually everyone agrees that our nation faces a retirement security crisis, but the Journal last week published a shameful op-ed calling for the elimination of pensions for nurses, firefighters, corrections officers and others who still have them. Having punched private-sector workers retirement in the gut, these folks won’t be happy until the whole concept of a secure retirement for working Americans is a thing of the past.

The typical AFSCME member — men and women who plow our streets, care for the sick, protect our children, clean our buildings and keep our communities safe — receives a pension of approximately $19,000 a year after a career of public service. The employees have earned and paid for these pensions. Employee contribution rates commonly amount to 3 percent to 10 percent of their paychecks. These contributions, combined with investment earnings, usually account for 75 percent or more of all pension benefit funding.

The economy’s collapse in 2008-2009 took its toll on everyone’s retirement savings. But our nation’s public pension systems, which were fully funded before the crash, continue their robust recovery earning their highest returns in decades in fiscal year 2011. Pensions continue to provide irreplaceable retirement security to millions of Americans who provide public services. Yet, the corporate-backed
opponents of pensions are creating a myth that the system is falling apart and that state and local governments are going bankrupt because of the $19,000 pensions sanitation workers are earning.

That is simply not true. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the size of the projected state and local government pension funding shortfalls is manageable. In most states, the total shortfall for the pension funds is less than 0.2 percent of projected gross state product during the next 30 years. Even in states with the largest shortfalls, the gap is less than 0.5 percent of projected state product during that period. And, because pension payments are made over generations of workers,
funding can remain stable over long periods, and funding challenges managed over decade long periods, despite short-term economic setbacks. These are facts that the opponents of public pensions simply ignore, as they seek to punish workers for Wall Street’s psychopathic behavior.

Read the full post here.

Here’s a letter to the editor in The Hill by Diann Woodard, president of the School Administrators (AFSA), the only national education union representing principals, assistant principals and school administrators.

The failure of our education system lies not within the walls of the public schools that serve children in crisis, but with the policymakers and policies in place that ignore the fundamental causes of low student achievement: unfair funding formulas, poverty and unproven education policies (“For America’s children, education outlook grows only dimmer,” Jan. 23, by Juan Williams).

Families are increasingly falling into poverty, experiencing a lack of housing and unable to provide adequate health care and nutrition for their children. These children need increased services, yet often do not receive them because of budget cuts, bureaucratic hurdles and gross inequities in state and local funding formulas.

Public schools welcome these children, for our doors are open to all. We do not hand-select the brightest, the ones with involved parents, or the students who will make us look good on half-hour media specials. Their time at school might provide their only stable environment, and we provide it with only a fraction of resources afforded to more affluent districts and private schools.

No evidence exists that suggests closing schools is a good thing, and a recent study conducted by Julian Betts and Richard Atkinson concluded that there is little research to suggest that charter and private schools are better than public ones, and that the limited data that are available are not enough to draw accurate conclusions about their long-term effectiveness.

Education makes up less than 3 percent of the federal budget. If a nation’s priorities are reflected in its budget, then to invest so little in education demonstrates we don’t understand or appreciate its value. We need an increased investment with a focus on quality, not just on quantity.

States and districts should be required to conduct a needs analysis and target resources accordingly. Principals need meaningful training, increased resources and support. All schools should be granted immediate relief from No Child Left Behind’s flawed adequate yearly progress, and in a reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act, schools that serve communities with the greatest needs and challenges should be given the greatest support. 

School children don’t vote—perhaps that is why we have not yet seen a genuine, concerted effort by our elected officials to rebuild and strengthen our public education system.

This entry by AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee is cross-posted from The Huffington Post and Firedoglake.

Mitt Romney has released some information on his income taxes over the past two years. Turns out he’s paid less than 14 percent on more than $40 million in income. He makes more in one day than most American makes all year, yet he pays a tax rate that is far less than what the vast majority of Americans pay. Keep in mind that Romney’s income rolled in while he did nothing but clip coupons and hit the campaign trail. It suggests that our once progressive income tax has been turned into a farce, where the very rich get away with paying less than bus drivers, construction crews and health care workers. That’s not right, and it’s why the tax laws need to be changed and changed soon.

It’s now obvious why Romney tried so hard for so long to hide his financial holdings. He’s stashed some of his money in tax havens like Luxemburg and the Cayman Islands. He’s even had a Swiss bank account. He says he’s paid taxes on all his foreign holdings, but The Los Angeles Times reports that Romney failed to disclose at least 23 funds and partnerships on his most recent financial disclosure forms, including 11 based in low-tax foreign countries. While he may not have broken any laws by funneling cash into off-shore accounts and companies, Romney has clearly broken faith with the American people. He amassed his wealth by hollowing-out companies, laying off employees, ruining communities and practicing what is kindly called “vulture capitalism.” He left thousands of families in hardship while he accrued hundreds of millions in wealth. He should be ashamed, but if we’ve learned anything over the past year, Mitt Romney has no shame.

Romney, after all, doesn’t hide that he wants a tax code that rewards the 1 percent and makes the rest of us pay far more than our fair share. He’s running for president with a plan to change the tax code to make rich Americans even richer. The Economist magazine describes his plan as “very progressive, by 15th century standards.” Romney’s “help the rich get richer” plan would reduce the taxes of the top 1 percent by more than $170,000, while adding $600 billion to the deficit. He gets defensive when his plan is attacked, just as he gets hot under the collar when people bring up his past career as a corporate raider. He claims that any criticism of his repugnant business practices is an attack on free enterprise. It is not. It’s an attack on ruthless behavior. He claims that his critics are engaging in “class warfare.” It is not that either. If anything, he’s demonstrated the truth in Warren Buffett’s statement about class warfare: “It’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

Unfortunately, Romney’s not the only candidate out there who is interested in making life easier for the well-to-do. Shockingly, Newt Gingrich’s tax proposals are even worse that Romney’s. He wants to eliminate completely the taxes on capital gains. His radical tax scheme would guarantee that most members of the 1 percent, including Romney, would pay little or no taxes at all. The middle class would be left to pay the country’s bills, including the cost of additional tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.

Perhaps that’s why the GOP candidates spend their time distorting Pres. Obama’s record, rather than outlining their own hare-brained plans for our country. Rick Santorum goes even farther. He says talking about the middle class is misguided because, get this, it buys into “the class warfare arguments of Barack Obama.” Santorum scolded Romney for using the term in a recent debate: “The governor used a term earlier that I shrink from. And it’s one that I don’t think we should be using as Republicans: Middle class.” And why shouldn’t Republicans talk about the middle class? “There are no classes in America,” Santorum continued. Only a millionaire could believe this.

We shouldn’t be surprised that Romney, Gingrich and Santorum all support the unhinged agenda of their political allies who now control the U.S. House of Representatives. They’ve promised to support radical schemes like the Ryan Budget, which abandons programs that have helped to build and sustain the middle class, including Medicare, Social Security, education assistance, health research and job training programs. They ignore the damage done to the middle class as CEO pay skyrocketed 300% since 1990 and corporate profits doubled. These are the candidates of the 1%, for the 1% and by the 1%. If they have their way, Mitt Romney and the wealthiest people in America won’t have to release their tax returns. They won’t even have to file.

(01/27/12) The APWU has learned that the Senate will consider postal legislation very soon, and President Cliff Guffey is asking union members to contact their senators immediately and tell them that the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789) is unacceptable in its current form. "The stakes couldnn't be higher," Guffey said. As currently written, the bill would give the USPS some short-term financial relief, but also would inflict long-term damage to the nation's mail system, he said.

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, asked the Department of Justice to look into evidence uncovered by a National Labor Relations Board Inspector General investigation that found board member Brian Hayes engaged in employment discussions with a law firm with business before the agency. Miller wrote:

The board plays a critical role in adjudicating and administering the rights of employees and employers under our nation’s labor law and Board members must be free of coercion and undue influence when executing their responsibilities.

The NLRB Inspector General investigation found that Hayes and an attorney with Morgan Lewis had a number of conversations beginning in late September or early October about potential employment if he were to resign his position on the NLRB. As part of those conversations, an attorney with the firm, according to Hayes, stated that “if you ever decide to resign we’d like to talk to you.”

More here.

Overall union membership increased by 49,000 from 2010 to 2011, including 15,000 new 16- to 24-year-old members, according to new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data out this morning. An increase of 110,000 in the private sector was partially offset by a decline of  61,000 in the public sector, making the rate of union membership essentially unchanged at 11.8 percent, with some 14.8 million U.S. workers union members.

Public-sector density increased from 36.2 percent to 37 percent though November 2011. Private-sector union membership remains at 6.9 percent. The largest increases in union membership were in construction, health care services, retail trade, primary metals and fabricated metal products, hospitals, transportation and warehousing.

Bottom line, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:

Despite an unprecedented volley of partisan political attacks on workers’ rights and the continuing insecurity of our economic crisis, union membership increased slightly last year. Working men and women want to come together and to improve their lives.

Democratic leader says RTW “doesn’t put Hoosiers back to work.”

IN A FIERY written statement broadcast via e-mail Jan. 25, Indiana State House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer unloaded on Republican House members who helped pass a “right to work for less” bill. If House Bill 1001 becomes law, Indiana will become the 23rd right to work state.

Bauer, the House Democratic leader from District 6, has been an outspoken critic of right to work and has led the statehouse charge against it for the last two legislative sessions.

Tags  War on Workers, LEAP Issues

Yesterday, 282 Cablevision technicians and dispatchers in Brooklyn voted to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1109 in a union election administered by the National Labor Relations Board, overcoming a vigorous anti-union campaign led by Cablevision. They are the first Cablevision workers to join a union. Cable TV is an overwhelmingly nonunion industry while the traditional telecommunications industry remains highly unionized.

“I’ve waited 13 years for this,” said Cablevision technician Clarence Adams. “United, as members of Communications Workers of America, we now have the power to negotiate a fair contract that will give us the dignity and respect on the job we deserve.”

Cablevision workers are currently subject to arbitrary discipline and favoritism by managers, their health care coverage is inadequate, their workload is unreasonable and they have insufficient 401(k) retirement plans. Cablevision workers also make at least one-third less than Verizon workers, who are represented by CWA.

“This is about my son, his future, and the future of the Cablevision 99%,” said Cablevision technician Marlon Gayle. “We can now negotiate with management for a safer work environment, better health care, a more secure retirement and a salary that will allow us to support our families.”

Cablevision leads the Cable TV industry in “average monthly revenue per subscriber of $153.97.” And outgoing COO Tom Rutledge made $28 million in 2010, about twice the combined pay of the 282 technicians in Brooklyn.  Rutledge’s $28 million is more than 600 times the average technician’s pay.  Despite $361 million in profits, Cablevision paid no federal income taxes in 2010.

As soon as Cablevision’s management learned of the organizing drive, they began a campaign of harassment and intimidation, including forcing workers to attend high-pressure, anti-union “captive audience” meetings, and pressuring workers to oppose the union in one-on-one meetings with managers.

“Over the past few months these courageous workers withstood a blistering assault on their right to form a union,” said Chris Shelton, CWA District One vice president. “Cablevision truly took the low road by pressuring workers with endless amounts of misinformation, but these workers—backed by countless community leaders and elected officials—stood strong. Now we will bargain collectively for a contract that gives the Cablevision 99% equity and dignity on the job.”

The vote could signal a shift in the telecommunications industry. Only 2 percent to 4 percent of eligible cable TV workers are members of a union, compared to 90 percent in the traditional telecommunications industry. Despite the recent news coverage on the increasing skill levels required of cable workers, their wages lag far behind those of traditional telecom workers.

“Cablevision’s owners—the Dolans—have successfully negotiated contracts with unions at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden,” said Local 1109 Executive Vice President Chris Calabrese. “We look forward to negotiating with them a fair contract for Cablevision workers.” 

Read more here.

It was almost a first for union boss Leo Gerard.

Gerard was apparently blind-sided when it was announced Thursday that the executive and membership of United Steelworkers Local 6500 had named their new hall after the international president of their union.

That news came just before the ribbon was cut at the grand opening of the local's new headquarters at 66 Brady St.

"I guess it's almost a first. I'm almost speechless," said a teary-eyed Gerard when a cloth cover was removed from the plaque reading "Leo W. Gerard Hall," which hangs over the entrance to the main hall.

The day was a bittersweet one for Gerard, Local 6500 members and residents of the community. They were excited about the transformation of the former grocery store into a state-of-the-art hall and conference centre, but tears were also shed for the Steelworkers' Hall at 92 Frood Rd. that burned to the ground in September 2008.

Local 6500 president Rick Bertrand said that hall was a place where meetings, union schools, days of mourning, children's Christmas parties and other events were held for more than 40 years.

He recalled seeing many of the people who crammed into the atrium of the new hall Thursday at the fire scene on Frood Road three and a half years ago.

Bertrand said he remembered the pain in the eyes of members, retirees and residents who watched a large piece of Sudbury history go up in smoke.

He quoted Gerard who said at the time that next to the death of a family member, the burning of the old Steel Hall was the saddest day of his life.

"So today's a new chapter for us," said Bertrand. "Today, the Steelworkers will continue that tradition to support this community and to support the membership."

He reminded guests of how USW Local 6500 has supported the community over the years, raising millions of dollars for charitable causes.

Just recently, it reached the $500,000 mark in donations from its cent an hour contribution by members to Health Sciences North's Children's Treatment Centre.

The local raised $360,000 for United Way in 2011 and $30,000 for the Edgar Burton Food Drive, and collected thousands of cans of food for the Sudbury Food Bank.

It was "altogether fitting" to name the hall after Sudbury native Gerard, who rose through the ranks as a member of the union representing production and maintenance workers to become president of an international union, said Bertrand.

Gerard recalled "all the things that went on in that (old) building and all the tough decisions that were made, and all the positive decisions that were made to benefit our community.

"One of the things that always made me love my union even more was that our union, in particular Local 6500, never, ever saw itself as just a collective bargaining tool.

"We saw ourselves as an instrument of social and economic justice for our members and for our community. And we fought for the things that mattered for working people," said Gerard.

The union doesn't want 66 Brady to be known as just its home. "We want this hall to be seen as the community's home that they can come and use and be proud of the work that we do on behalf of working people," he said.

As proud as he was to have the hall named after him, it was also humbling, said Gerard.

"There's a part of me that says I don't deserve it."

Dozens of retirees attended the opening and Bertrand insisted they enter the main hall before anyone else.

"They're the ones who fought for everything we have today," he said.

There were oohs and aahs as people poured into the hall where a musical combo was playing on the main stage and a buffet of finger foods was laid out for guests.

Mayor Marianne Matichuk attended, hugging Bertrand as she entered the hall.

Vale vice-president of mining and milling, Kelly Strong, attended the opening as did spokeswoman Angie Robson.

Greater Sudbury Police Chief Frank Elsner and Deputy Chief Al Lekun were among the guests.

Gerard called the hall one of the most beautiful in Ontario, adding: "I'm a little prejudiced now that it's mine."

Gerard, USW national director Ken Neumann and district 6 director Wayne Fraser presented Bertrand with a plaque to be hung in the hall.

"Whoever thought we could build something better than what we had at 92 Frood Rd.," said Fraser.

He said he was proud of the local for turning the hall into such a showpiece, crediting member Roger Lafontaine for spear-heading the project.

He called Local 6500 the best USW local in North America.

Neumann expressed thanks to USW retirees for giving the present- day union a solid foundation.

"You're the ones who have fought the fight," he said.

[email protected]

Twitter @Carol_Mulligan

CLICK HERE to find the original article from the Sudbury Star

Brazilian multinational Vale today received the 2012 Public Eye People's Choice Award for world's worst company.  The award was presented in Davos, Switzerland, where corporate chieftains and political leaders are meeting for the annual World Economic Forum.
 
Presenting the award, Nobel economics laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz called on multinational companies to go "beyond the minimum required by the law to protect the environment, to treat workers with decency and fairness, not to exploit all the advantages that asymmetries in bargaining might afford."

More than 88,000 people around the world voted in an online competition , organized by the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland, to choose the worst case of contempt for the environment and human rights.    
 
"This vote demonstrates the increasing global awareness of Vale's terrible record of destroying communities and the environment while systematically violating workers' rights," said United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard. Gerard spoke from Sudbury, Ontario, where he dedicated a new building for Steelworkers Local 6500 which represents 3,000 Vale workers.  
 
In December, the Ontario Labor Relations Board found that Vale committed unfair labor practices during a year-long strike at Sudbury. Last June 8, two workers were killed in Sudbury in an accident that is still under investigation.
 
Earlier, an Industrial Inquiry Commission appointed by the Newfoundland and Labrador government to investigate an 18-month strike at Voisey's Bay found that Vale's "behavior demonstrates disrespect for the role of a bargaining agent."
 
Vale was nominated for the Public Eye award by Justice on the Rails, a Brazilian coalition of environmental and community groups. "We owe a tremendous debt to our sisters and brothers in Brazil who continue to expose this company's destructive actions," Gerard said.

Durham Drivers, Community Leaders Call For Better Safety And Working Conditions Press Contact Kara Deniz, 202-497-6610 Doug Bloch, 510-333-1179 [email protected] [email protected]

(OAKLAND, Calif.) – School bus drivers with Durham School Services in Hayward and Livermore, Calif., joined today with Teamster, political, religious and other community leaders at a “Driver Speak Out” to demand better working conditions.

“Every day these hardworking drivers transport our children to school, providing a vital service for our communities. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. It’s time that they are heard by this company,” said Rome Aloise, President of Teamsters Joint Council 7 and International Vice President.

Several school bus drivers from the Hayward and Livermore Durham locations spoke out about poor working conditions at the company.

“Durham has been swapping our newer buses for the aging buses of another yard so they can stay compliant there, but we have at least one to several buses breaking down every day,” said Ernie Talbott, a Livermore driver. “Where’s Durham’s commitment to safety and providing quality services?”

“I’m concerned about a lot of things,” said Linda Aguiar, a 25-year Livermore driver. “We don’t have paid sick leave and the health insurance Durham offers is too expensive for most drivers to afford, so they go without. It’s a large portion of our meager earnings to have coverage if we get sick.”

“This is a highly profitable company, but drivers are struggling to survive and support our families. For us this isn’t about being comfortable; it’s about our survival,” said Maria Lopez, a Hayward driver.

Numerous political, community and religious leaders and organizations showed their support for the drivers, including Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Oakland); Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer (District 2); Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan (District 3); Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan; Alameda Labor Council Executive Secretary- Treasurer Josie Camacho; Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont); Rev. Tita Valeriano, Messiah Lutheran Church in Hayward and Hayward Congregations Organizing for Renewal; Rev. Daniel Buford, Allen Temple; Igor Tregub, Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner; Andrew Dadko, Program Director for EBASE; Sophie Noero, Worksafe; author David Bacon; and California Young Democrats, Black Caucus.

Durham drivers in Hayward and Livermore are currently organizing with the Teamsters to improve their working conditions. The 180 drivers will vote in their Teamster election on Friday, Feb. 17.

Durham is a subsidiary of National Express Group, a large multinational corporation based in the United Kingdom. Durham is the second largest provider of school bus transportation services in the United States, servicing 11 school districts in northern California.

John Logan, Professor at San Francisco State University and Visiting Research Fellow at University of California-Berkeley, recently published a report exploring National Express Group’s human rights record. The report detailed the company’s anti-worker behavior in the U.S. and its failure to uphold international labor rights standards.

Drive Up Standards is a national campaign to improve safety, service and work standards in the private school bus and transit industry. Since the campaign began in 2006, more than 32,400 drivers, monitors, aides, attendants and mechanics have become Teamsters.

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information, go to www.teamster.org or follow us on Twitter @TeamsterPower.

Details follow on:

• Press conference Thursday Jan. 26, 11 a.m.
• “Beyond Pink Ribbons” discussion & reception, Thursday at 8:30 p.m., Capitol Theatre
• Workshop Friday, Jan. 27

The Canadian National Network on Environments and Women’s Health (NNEWH), based at York University, will join auto workers, union reps, international researchers and women’s health advocates in Windsor on Jan. 27 to further the discussion on problematic chemical exposures in the workplace.

read more

 

Here’s a bipartisan solution: Labor and management working together to create jobs.

In Washington State, where construction workers are experiencing up to 50 percent unemployment, a labor-management coalition is working to push a jobs bill through the state legislature to alleviate the jobs crisis and rebuild infrastructure.

The Washington State Labor Council, the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, the Association of General Contractors are sponsoring the Infrastructure Jobs Bond legislation and have released lists identifying which capital construction work around the state could be funded through the legislation.

Says Dave Myers, executive secretary of Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council:

These jobs will become a reality right away for thousands of laid off constructions workers and returning veterans. The projects will also be targeted toward key sectors of economic development including construction of aerospace training facilities and college research facilities, both of which will spin off other economic development.

Read more here.

JASON DUPUIS, co-coordinator for the Northeast Area Apprentice Program and member of Local 237 (Hartford, Conn.) was featured Jan. 26 on Union Sportsmen’s Brotherhood Outdoors television series. The episode, titled “Boilermaker Meets Bull Moose,” will be aired again on the Sportsman Channel Thursdays at 11:00 p.m. (ET), Fridays at 1:00 p.m. (ET), and Mondays at 6:00 a.m. (ET).

Tags  Union Sportsmen's Alliance

Hours after Apple released its first quarter earnings, which showed a mind-blowing 44.7 percent profit, the New York Times published another in a series of articles illustrating some of the reasons behind Apple’s profit margin. Describing the conditions in which Chinese workers assemble iPhones, iPads and a panoply of Apple products, the report states:

Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors.

More troubling, the groups say, is some suppliers’ disregard for workers’ health. Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77. Before those blasts, Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chengdu plant, according to a Chinese group that published that warning.

A separate article details a New York Times survey that found Apple consumers are less likely to worry about the conditions in which products are made.

Over all, 52 percent of the public said it was very important that the products they buy were made in the United States; only 42 percent of owners of Apple products agreed.

Earlier this month, the Fair Labor Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending sweatshop conditions in factories worldwide, announced Apple was admitted as a “Participating Company.” That means that Apple promises to clean its supply chains from labor abuses during the coming two years.

The International Metalworkers’ Foundation expresses skepticism that Apple will carry through on it promises.

In fact, if Apple and other companies that outsource their work corrected the massive abuses of workers at their factories overseas, their incentive for shipping jobs from the United States would be greatly reduced.

(01/26/12) The APWU "strongly discourages" union members from participating in physical therapy through Align Networks, Human Relations Director Sue Carney says. "As a contract provider, Align Networks can share information with the Postal Service that would otherwise be protected by doctor-patient confidentiality, including information that is unrelated to workplace injuries," she warned.