Labor Department Seeking Nominations for Anti-Child Labor Award

by James Parks, Aug 13, 2011

Two million children between 10 and 16 years old are forced to work in hazardous conditions in Uzbekistan’s cotton field.

Iqbal Masih was a Pakistani carpet weaver who was sold into slavery at age four. After escaping from his servitude at 12, he became an outspoken advocate against child slavery.

He told the world of his plight when he received the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1994. He was tragically killed a year later at the age of 13 in his native Pakistan.

Now the U.S. Labor Department is seeking nominations for its annual award named for Masih to honor those who have made extraordinary efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor internationally and raise awareness about child labor.

The nonmonetary Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor, established in 2009, could honor an individual, company, organization or national government. Nominees are judged by their efforts that contribute to reduction of child labor, the positive international attention they generate to support those efforts, their inspiration to others—including young people—to become champions against child labor and the change they foment regarding labor exploitation of children under great odds or at great personal cost, according to the department.

Read the Federal Register announcement of the award here. Nomination packages must be submitted by Sept. 30.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 200 million children, many as young as five years old, work in factories and in fields, up to 15 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week. Matches, rugs, soccer balls, leather goods, paper cups, toys, shoes, fireworks—all of these products are made by tiny hands.

APWU: Crushing Workers Will Not Solve Postal Service’s Financial Woes

by James Parks, Aug 12, 2011

Crushing postal workers and slashing service will not solve the U.S. Postal Service’s financial crisis, Postal Workers (APWU) President Cliff Guffey said in response to the announcement today that the Postal Service will seek congressional support to cut 120,000 jobs, break its labor contract signed earlier this year and withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans.

“Congress created this mess and Congress can fix it,” Guffey said.

The USPS economic crisis is the result of a provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund the health care benefits of future retirees — a burden no other government agency or private company bears.

The legislation requires the USPS to fund a 75-year liability over a 10-year period, and that requirement costs the USPS more than $5.5 billion per year.

Guffey also pointed out that “the federal government is holding billions of dollars in postal overpayments to its pension accounts.”

Congress must address the cause of the Postal Service’s financial crisis so that postal workers can continue to serve the American people and the USPS can continue to act as an important engine of the U.S. economy.

Guffey added than the APWU “will not allow the hard-working men and women of the U.S. Postal Service to be made the scapegoats for the outrageously poor judgment of Congress.”

Click here to read the USPS’s “Workforce Optimization” proposal.

Seniors Fighting to Keep Social Security, Medicare from Budget Chopping Block

by James Parks, Aug 12, 2011

Members of the Alliance for Reired Americans are sponsoring a series of events nationwide to let their lawmakers know the money working people depend on in Medicare and Social Security belongs to those who contributed to the programs, not to politicians in Washington who want to use it as a piggybank. The events come as Social Security celebrates its 76th anniversary Aug. 14,

Alliance members have so far scheduled 27 events in the next weeks to urge lawmakers to protect Social Security and Medicare, including visits to congressional district offices, rallies and celebrations. Click here to find an event near you.

Yesterday, dozens of people attended a town hall meeting on Social Security in Hazelwood, Mo., outside St. Louis. On Tuesday, Aug. 15, seniors will rally and protest outside Republican Rep. Todd Platts’ district office in York, Pa. Alliance members will rally and present stories from Golden State seniors about the importance of Social Security and Medicare in their lives Aug. 17 at Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Here’s how David Friesner, president of the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, sums up the seniors’ mission:

Social Security did not cause our budget deficits, and we cannot allow anyone to use our national debt as a political cover for cutting Social Security for current or future retirees.

Alliance members last month held more than 30 events nationwide to celebrate the 46th anniversary of Medicare and to educate seniors, the public and members of Congress about how crucial these programs are to seniors and express their opposition to any benefit cuts.

Hot Dog! Working Families Bring the Heat to Lawmakers

by Mike Hall, Aug 12, 2011

Head to West Virginia this weekend if you’re looking for a cheap and tasty meal and an opportunity to tell lawmakers to stop protecting tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations and instead focus on fixing the nation’s job crisis.

The West Virginia AFL-CIO and allied groups are holding 10 “Help the Really Rich Hot Dog Sales” around the Mountain State Saturday and Sunday. In honor of the 76th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt’s signing of the Social Security Act, the dogs will go for just 5 cents each—don’t know if chili and slaw are extra.

Larry Matheney, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, says the sales will promote

a tongue-in-cheek solution to raising revenue without asking the really rich or tax-dodging corporations to pay their fair share of taxes… reducing the debt one hot dog a time.

The proceeds will be turned into the “U.S. Bureau of the Public Debt.”

Elsewhere around nation grassroots, community, faith and other groups, including the AFL-CIO union movement, are turning the long congressional recess into a summer of accountability. At townhall meetings, rallies and other events, working families and their allies are holding politicians accountable for their support of tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations and for not working to strengthen the economy and create jobs.

In Colorado Springs, activists gathered outside the office of Rep. Doug Lambron’s (R-Colo.) to tell Lambron—who some conservative organizations call the “most conservative man in America”— that the nation needs jobs, not tax breaks for millionaires or huge cuts to vital working family programs.

At the Lincoln townhall meeting of Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns (R), the room was packed. As the Lincoln Journal Star reports:

Emotions spilled over during the hour-long session, which sharply veered away from the typical calm of a Johanns town hall. Many of the loudest voices and waving fingers urged Johanns to include tax increases—particularly applied to the wealthiest Americans—as part of the solution to debt reduction.

Jennifer Wendelin told Johanns that additional revenue must be part of the debt reduction solution along with spending cuts.

Big corporations and the rich have to pay their fair share. If we have to bite the bullet, they do, too. We can’t be forced to shoulder the entire burden.

Dozens of people gathered outside Rep. Steve Chabot’s (R) office in downtown Cincinnati to ask him what he intends to do about the tens of thousands of area jobs that have disappeared. Chabot and his staff didn’t bother to meet with the crowd, which included several unemployed workers. Jason Riveiro told WKRC TV:

They campaign on message of creating jobs and bringing America back to glory, yet we are not seeing that happen. In fact, we see benefits go to top 2 percent of country.

It’s All About Jobs, but Washington Doesn’t Get It

by Tula Connell, Aug 12, 2011

Nearly every day now, we hear about yet another public opinion poll that shows the majority of those surveyed want Congress and the White House to focus on jobs, jobs, jobs.

Constituents across the nation currently are meeting with their congressional lawmakers who are back home and these citizens are conveying one message: jobs, jobs, jobs.

Economists like Heidi Shierholz at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and Dean Baker at the Center for Economic and Policy Reserach (CEPR) and many others say the nation should first focus on one thing: jobs, jobs, jobs.

Yet most in Washington don’t get it. As Shierholz says:

Lawmakers have crafted a debt ceiling deal that will slow growth further and make joblessness worse.

Those who aspire to the U.S. presidency don’t get it, either. At last night’s Republican debate in Iowa, would-be presidents ”claimed faithfulness to the Aesop’s Fables version of tax policy,” as a writer on the Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal community blog put it.

They insist, without any evidence, that lowering taxes on the rich will create jobs, stimulate the economy. And yet, the evidence of the last 11 years disproves such a faith-based notion. Taxes at the federal level have never been so low…and yet unemployment is rivaling that of the 30’s.

Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson’s ”Clueless in Washington” column today accurately describes congressional Republicans’ “solution” to the nation’s jobs crisis. House and Senate Republicans have sought to ”eliminate jobs rather than create them.”

Last month, the economy added 117,000 jobs — a performance so weak that unemployment changed little. The private sector actually added 154,000 jobs, but the public sector lost 37,000 jobs as Republicans continue to impose an austerity program at an inopportune moment.

The GOP seems to believe that a federal, state or local job somehow isn’t a “real” job. I’ll bet most Americans know otherwise.

This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data showing there were 4.5 workers for every one job in June, a slight decline from May’s ratio of 4.6-to-1 but “still far too high,” says Shierholtz, who notes the job seeker’s ratio has been above 4-to-1 for two-and–a-half years.

In other words, the jobs crisis has lasted for years, and most of those in Washington still don’t get it.

New App from OSHA Helps Workers Avoid Deadly Heat-Related Illnesses

by Mike Hall, Aug 12, 2011

When you’re working outside you certainly know when it’s hot. But do you know when it’s so hot that you need to start taking precautions to prevent heat related illnesses? Thousands of workers become ill from heat-related illnesses every year and in 2010, 30 workers died from heat stroke.

This week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a free app for mobile devices that will enable workers and supervisors to monitor the heat index and take steps to ensure safety.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says the new app is one way to get the message out that heat-related illnesses are preventable.

Summer heat presents a serious issue that affects some of the most vulnerable workers in our country, and education is crucial to keeping them safe.

The app, available in English and Spanish, combines heat index data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with the user’s location to determine necessary protective measures. Based on the risk level of the heat index, the app provides users with information about precautions they may take, such as drinking fluids, taking rest breaks and adjusting work operations.

Users also can review the signs and symptoms of heat stroke, heat exhaustion and other heat-related illnesses, and learn about first aid steps to take in an emergency. Information for supervisors is also available through the app on how to gradually build up the workload for new workers as well as how to train employees on heat illness signs and symptoms. Additionally, users can contact OSHA directly through the app.

The app is designed for devices using an Android platform, and versions for BlackBerry and iPhone users will be released shortly. To download it, visit http://go.usa.gov/KFE.

For more information about safety while working in the heat, see OSHA’s heat illness webpage, including new online guidance about using the heat index to protect workers

Verizon Workers: ‘We Need To Draw A Line Here’

by James Parks, Aug 12, 2011

Picket lines are strong and growing at Verizon and Verizon Wireless locations as workers across the country join the more than 45,000 Verizon workers on strike from New England to Virginia. The members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW) are on strike to stop the company’s attacks on the middle class.

Workers in New Hampshire will rally today at a Verizon Wireless store in Manchester. Tomorrow, strikers and supporters will rally in downtown Washington, D.C., at 1314 F Street NW at 11:00 a.m. And on Monday, Aug. 15, workers from across Missouri will rally at the Verizon Wireless Store in Creve Coeur, a suburb of St. Louis. Click here to join the Missouri rally.

In an open letter to union members, the Missouri AFL-CIO said:

The fight for Verizon workers is the fight for all of us. This corporation continues to rake in record profits but is trying to outsource more jobs, demand workers pay more for benefits and undermine workers’ retirement security.

After cancelling several bargaining sessions, Verizon returned to the table this week, but the company is still demanding $1 billion in concessions, which amounts to $20,000 per Verizon worker per year. Those demands have been on the table since bargaining began on June 22.

Workers recognize this is a strike with national significance. As Bob Master, CWA District 1 legislative and political director, explained earlier this week in a conference call with supporters:

This is an enormously profitable company, which we believe is trying to take advantage of an anti-union environment and, in a sense, to replicate at a giant private-sector corporation what the governors of Ohio, New Jersey and Wisconsin have been trying to do to the public sector. Our members feel very strongly that we need to draw a line here.

You can show solidarity with the Verizon workers and “Adopt a Store” to leaflet and educate the public about the importance of this strike by visiting http://cwa-union.org/pages/support_the_strike_adopt_a_store.

Here are some other actions you can take to support the strikers:
•Find a local picket line to support here.
•Download leaflets here.
•“Like” the strikers on Facebook here and change your Facebook and/or Twitter profile picture in solidarity here.
•Click here to demand that Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam value employees’ work and share his corporation’s success with those who make it possible.
•Click here for a list of picket sites in the New York and New Jersey area.`
•Click here to sign and Tweet an act.ly petition demanding Verizon drop its outrageous concessionary demands.
•To Tweet about the strike, use the hashtag #verizonstrike and feel free to direct to @VZLaborfacts.

Eagles Fans Learn About Verizon Greed from Striking Workers, Union Allies

Liz McElroy of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO and AFL-CIO field communications staffer Nora Frederickson send us this report about a Verizon action in Philadelphia.

As 45,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Electrical Workers (IBEW) on the East Coast continue their strike against Verizon to maintain quality, middle-class jobs, union locals in southeastern Pennsylvania decided to take their message directly to the public – at the local ballgame.

More than 500 CWA Local 13000 and Local 13500 members and their allies showed up for the Philadelphia Eagles pre-season game at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia last night–not to tailgate but to educate Eagles fans about the real reasons behind their strike at Verizon.

Members of the local unions there as elsewhere in New England and south through Virginia, have been on strike since Sunday. Rather than reward the hard work of Verizon employees who have provided the quality service that earned the company more than $32.5 billion in revenue over the past three years, management continues to insist on cuts that total $1 billion. That’s about $20,000 per Verizon family. These workers have played by the rules—and now Verizon wants to break them.

Union members from AFT, AFSCME, NALC, PSEA, PASNAP and UFCW joined the leafleting to show their support. Retired Letter Carriers (NALC) Local 157 member Joe Piette said he joined union members in leafleting because the strike is about more than just their negotiations with Verizon:

Workers are under attack. I’m here to support these strikers because we all need strong unions in this country.

The Philadelphia fans were overwhelmingly supportive of the workers, many stopping to talk with the union members about their strike and what it means for the middle class.

State Representative Bill Keller (D) joined the crowd to express his support for the Verizon strikers and to talk about the bigger picture.

We need to be talking about putting people back to work, not destroying the good middle class jobs we have. Labor is always with me and I’m standing with them.

Back Home, Lawmakers Are Asked: Where Are the Jobs?

by Mike Hall, Aug 11, 2011

Back home for their long congressional recess, lawmakers are finding out right away what’s on the minds of most Americans today— Jobs. Duluth, Minn., resident Dan Kingsley, a member of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 49, says:

So many of these new people that were elected campaigned on jobs, jobs, jobs and we’ve really yet to see that develop and what they’re doing to help develop those jobs.

Kingsley and several dozen union and community activists rallied outside Rep. Chip Cravaavck’s (R-Minn.) district office Tuesday chanting “Jobs. Not Cuts.” Many later attended a town hall meeting in Deer River to hold Cravaavck accountable for his support of tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations instead of working for an economy that strengthens the middle class and creates jobs.

Similar scenes are being played out across the nation this August as part of a summer of accountability aimed organized by grassroots, community, faith and other groups including the AFL-CIO.

In Dunn., N.C., about 30 people gathered outside Rep. Renee Ellmers’ (R-N.C.) office calling for an end to tax breaks for the wealthy and for Congress to focus on the job crisis. Among them, Agnes Batts told WRAL News:

They should be standing up saying, “Tax the rich. Make them pay their fair share.”

While Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) was meeting with business groups in Wilkes-Barre, more than two dozen union and community activists were outside the private club to present him with a jobs report card.

Unable to meet with the Barletta, they made do with a life size cardboard cutout of the representative, who got a report card most of us would want to hide from our parents;
•Job Creation: F;
•Saving Jobs: F;
•Fair Taxes: F;
•Overall Job Performance: F.

Federal lawmakers aren’t the only ones being held accountable this summer. In Nashua, N.H., about 100 people held a “No Jobs fair” outside the statehouse. The delivered a “New Hampshire needs More Good Jobs Now” petition to the office of House Speaker Bill O’Brien (R). Says New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark McKenzie:

We want to draw attention to really what is one of the biggest problems in this country, which is the lack of really good jobs for people. I think whether you’re young or you’re old or you’re middle-aged, I think that’s a problem that faces us all.

Sandra Gagnon, a mother of two college age children facing higher tuition because of state budget cuts to education—including teacher layoffs–told the Associated Press:

When you cut public-sector jobs: teachers or police, firefighters, court workers…it essentially also results in a cut in private-sector jobs because the laid-off public workers now don’t have money to spend in their community.

The Arizona Daily Star reports that an overflow townhall meeting in Tucson “with progressives showing up in force” greeted Sen. John McCain with loud chants of “Where Are the Jobs.” When McCain said he wanted to cut the corporate tax rate, it triggered “a round of angry outbursts.”

As well it should have.

United Airlines Ramp/Fleet Workers Win IAM Representation

Thu. August 11, 2011

The IAM emerged as the winner today in an election to determine union representation for more than 14,100 Fleet/Ramp workers at the new United Airlines, the carrier formed by the merger of United Airlines, Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia.

The election, which was conducted by the National Mediation Board (NMB), was between the IAM, which represented 6,800 United Airlines Ramp/Fleet employees and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) which represented 7,300 Flight Ramp/Fleet workers at Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia.

“The IAM won this election by utilizing an extensive network of highly energized organizers from all three carriers,” said IAM General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr.

While all Ramp/Fleet workers came into this election with existing representation, the quality of that representation became a campaign issue. The IBT negotiated an agreement that allowed Continental to outsource all Ramp/Fleet work, while IAM members at United have a contract that provided job security by guaranteeing work will be performed by United-IAM employees.

“Ramp employees chose the IAM because of the superior representation, compensation, benefits and job security we negotiate into our contracts,” said IAM District 141 President Rich Delaney.

For more information about the IAM’s United Airlines campaign, visit www.voteiam.com.

Voting Rights Still Key to FAA Reauthorization

Thu. August 11, 2011

The short-term deal to get the FAA back in operation expires on September 16, 2011, and House GOP leaders are vowing to keep up their attacks on transportation worker voting rights that caused the almost two-week shutdown.

House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL) was willing to let the FAA shutdown to block the new democratic election rules put in place by the National Mediation Board (NMB). Mica inserted language to overturn the new rules in the House version of the FAA Reauthorization bill. By insisting on his version even in the face of the FAA shutdown, Mica put thousands of workers on furlough and cost the government hundreds of millions in lost ticket-tax revenue.

The new NMB representation election rules say winners are decided by a majority of people who actually vote, just like all other elections in the U.S. If the old NMB rules that count anyone who doesn’t vote as a “no” vote were applied to federal elections, not a single member of Congress would have won their last election.

The House and Senate must still come up with a final FAA funding bill before temporary funding runs out in September. "The House has made it clear that the anti-worker piece is a priority for them and they also put us on notice that they don't intend to give in," a spokesman for Sen. Jay Rockefeller, (D-WV)., chairman of a committee that oversees FAA, told the Associated Press. "So we are bracing for a new fight in September."

To block Mica’s power-play, voters must demand that the Democratic majority in the Senate stand up for transportation workers. Click here to send a message to Congress to protect worker voting rights in the FAA Reauthorization bill.

Puerto Rico Hosts 2011 LCLAA Conference

Thu. August 11, 2011

IAM Assistant Political and Legislative Director Rick de la Fuente (left) and Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez were part of a large IAM delegation attending the 2011 LCLAA Education Conference.

A glancing blow from Tropical Storm Emily failed to dampen the spirit of delegates at the 2011 LCLAA Education Conference, which was held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on August 4 - 6. The conference was entitled "We Are One - Somos Uno.”

Featured presentations at the conference included a review of Public Laws 73, 7 and 45 in Puerto Rico's Public Sector as well as Strategies for Expanding Latino Union Representation, Green Jobs and Public Health. Additional topics included Educating for Success in the Union Youth movement, Black/Brown Coalitions, Voter Suppression and Emerging Challenges to the Civic Engagement of Communities of Color.

Southern Territory GVP Bob Martinez joined Puerto Rico’s Local 2725 and other IAM delegates for the conference. “It was a great opportunity for the trade unionists of Puerto Rico to host this year’s conference. Puerto Rico has a tradition of a strong labor movement, and we’re proud to be part of that movement,” said Martinez, who serves as LCLAA National Vice President.