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.

U.S. Ratchets Up Pressure on Guatemala to Enforce Labor Laws

by James Parks, Aug 10, 2011

The U.S. government is seeking arbitration against Guatemala for failing to enforce its own labor laws.

The Obama administration is ratcheting up the pressure on Guatemala to enforce its labor laws. Yesterday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced it was moving forward with arbitration against Guatemala for violating fundamental labor rights under the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

Arbitration would be the third step in the process outlined under the DR-CAFTA, to compel a nation to enforce its labor obligations under the agreement. Last May, the United States requested a meeting of the Free Trade Commission—which includes ministers of the member countries—when consultations failed to resolve the dispute. The commission met last June.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka applauds the decision, saying it protects workers’ safety and voices. Read his full statement here.

[The] announcement is an important milestone in the effort to enforce the obligations made in trade agreements and protect the rights of workers in the U.S. and overseas.

In 2008, the AFL-CIO and six Guatemalan unions filed a complaint with the Labor Department outlining the systemic failure of the government of Guatemala to enforce its own labor laws or to take reasonable action to prevent violence against trade unionists.

In 2009, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) named Guatemala the second most dangerous country for trade unionists, behind Colombia. Click here to read a Solidarity Center report on workers’ rights in Guatemala.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk says, “We need to see concrete actions to protect the rights of workers as agreed under our trade agreement, and we are prepared to act to obtain enforcement of those rights when and where necessary.”

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis adds:

This is the first labor case brought to dispute settlement by the United States under a free trade agreement. We are committed to ensuring that U.S. businesses and workers compete on a level playing field.

The Obama administration announced the action as it is gearing up to seek approval of the three pending free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama when Congress returns from the August recess. The three pending agreements all contain improved labor and environmental provisions, but those provisions still are not as strong as workers in the countries would like. The AFL-CIO recently reaffirmed its opposition to the Colombia deal.

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Congress Must Vote "No" on Panama Trade Deal

Wed. August 10, 2011

The Panama Free Trade Agreement is one of three pending Bush-negotiated free trade agreements (FTAs) lawmakers are now trying to ram through to final passage.

But Congress must vote “No” on the bad trade deal.

Panama is one of the world’s worst tax havens, allowing the rich and an estimated 400,000 corporations, including many U.S. firms, to dodge paying taxes our communities so desperately need. The country has consistently been criticized by tax and financial crime transparency watchdogs like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Panamanian workers continue to face steep obstacles when it comes to exercising their fundamental rights. And according to the State Department, Panama is a main site of drug money laundering by Mexican and Colombian drug kingpins.

Click here to see the real truth behind this financial crime center.

“Not only does the Panama FTA not resolve these problems, it will make them worse,” explains IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. “Under the trade deal, corporations registered in Panama would be newly empowered to directly challenge future U.S. anti-tax haven policies. And just like all other trade deals modeled after the failed North American Free Trade Agreement, claims of any real job creation are a complete and total fallacy. This will cost America more jobs and further undermine our country’s ability to pull itself out of economic turmoil.”

Congress must reject the seriously-flawed Panama FTA. Click “Like” on the IAM Facebook page to support fair trade, not free trade!

Wisconsin Working Families Win 2 of 6 in Recall Elections

by Tula Connell, Aug 10, 2011

Wisconsin working families won two of six recall elections yesterday, ousting incumbent state senators who backed Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s attacks on the collective bargaining rights of public employees. Democrat Jessica King defeated Republican incumbent Randy Hopper in Senate District 18 and Democrat Jennifer Shilling (D) won over incumbent state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R) in Senate District 32. The victories narrow the Wisconsin Republican Senate majority to one.

The districts with recalls are in largely rural areas which have consistently elected Republicans–voters in one have not elected a Democrat since the late 1800s. Although Barack Obama carried Wisconsin by 14 points in 2008, no Democrat won in these disticts. A columnist for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel examined the party make-up of the districts and concluded that Democrats faced a severe disadvantage. As Craig Gilbert wrote:

Democrats are running “uphill” in five of the six elections Tuesday, trying to capture districts that are more Republican than the state as a whole in their partisan makeup.

The elections are a wake up call for every governor who thinks about giving massive new tax giveaways to the rich while cutting the benefits and rights of hard-working middle-class families and every state lawmaker who tries to ram through pro-Wall Street, anti-community legislation.

More than 12,000 volunteers mobilized for months in recall districts, contacting more than 1 million voters and knocking on 125,000 doors just over this past weekend alone. Wisconsin will go to the polls again Aug. 16, in the final set of recall elections.

One race, which pitted Republican incumbent Roberta Darling against Democrat Sandy Pasche, was not called under early this morning because the vote counting was so slow. The district is partly in Waukesha County, where vote-counting troubles surfaced earlier this year when JoAnne Kloppenburg was defeated by Republican David Prosser in a state Supreme Court race. The Waukesha county clerk has a history of vote-counting errors, and following the Supreme Court race, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel called for an investigation.

The other three Republican incumbents who held onto their seats are Walker ally state Sen. Robert Cowles (R), who survived a challenge by Nancy Nusbaum (D), incumbent state Sen. Shelia Harsdorf (R) over Sherry Moore (D) and Republican Olson over Luther Clark.

Support Growing for Verizon Strikers

by James Parks, Aug 9, 2011

The strike by some 45,000 Verizon workers, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW), continued into its third day today as workers across the country offer support to the strikers, whose struggle reflects the situation for millions of workers.

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. These workers have played by the rules—and now Verizon wants to break them.

Verizon’s concession demands would strip away the standard of living workers have gained through bargaining over the past 50 years, workers say.

It is all too common for workers to face the prospect of losing benefits even though you have worked hard and valued your work, IBEW President Edwin Hill says:

This is a company with a $100 billion dividend. The top five company executives were paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the past four years. If a company like this is not willing to provide wages and benefits to enable its workers to be part of the mainstream middle class in America, then all who work for a living have reason to fear.

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.

You also can 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.

The company also paid nothing (that’s ZERO) in corporate income taxes. In fact, it actually received nearly $1 billion in tax benefits from the federal government during that time, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ).

In fact, if Verizon had paid its corporate income tax at the official rate of 35 percent, it would have owed more than $11 billion, according to CTJ. This alone would have been enough to avoid the recent cuts in the debt deal to student loan programs.

Read updates on the strike at www.cwa-union.org/verizon.

Locked-Out Sugar Workers Call on Company to Negotiate

by James Parks, Aug 9, 2011

Saying locked-out workers at the American Crystal Sugar Co. want to work and negotiate a fair contract, the local union president urged the company to come back to the bargaining table.

Some 1,300 American Crystal employees were locked out in three states Aug. 1 after the workers, members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 167G, rejected the company’s final offer by a more than nine-to-one margin.

Writing on the INFORUM website, Local 167G President John Riskey says management could stop this lockout immediately.

Union workers have never threatened a work stoppage. All we have asked is to keep working while we negotiate a contract that benefits the company, workers, farmers and the community.

Although the company has proposed wage increases, it also wants workers to pay more for health care insurance, which would negate the wage increases, says Riskey.

The longer the lockout lasts, he says, the worse it is for the local communities that depend on the plants. Read the full column here.

The lockout isn’t just hurting our families, it’s also hurting our local economy and this company’s standing in the community. We want to get back to work and back to the negotiating table.

American Crystal reportedly has hired replacement workers at its seven plants in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa. Contract negotiations to replace a seven-year contract began in May. The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against American Crystal, claiming the company has not bargained in good faith.

Pensions Preserved in Hawker Beechcraft Contract

Tue. August 09, 2011

Local 733 members in Wichita, KS ratified a new agreement with Hawker Beechcraft by a 69 percent margin. The five-year contract protects jobs and preserves the defined-benefit pension plan for current and future employees.

The contract also includes a new partnership agreement and guarantees job classifications will remain in Wichita, while providing training for workers who have been laid off. The contract covers 2,600 members at the Wichita facility.

“All of our aircraft manufacturing contracts in Wichita have good defined-benefit pension plans for everyone,” said Southern Territory General Vice President Bob Martinez. “We will continue to hold the line on pensions in Wichita.”

Senate Passes Temporary FAA Funding Measure

Tue. August 09, 2011

The IAM applauds the Senate leadership for rising above the political games on Capitol Hill and passing a bi-partisan compromise to end the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As a result, over 4,000 FAA employees and tens of thousands of airport construction workers can go back to work.

The short-term extension expires on September 16, 2011, providing lawmakers with six weeks to resolve their differences with the full FAA Reauthorization bill.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo this week introduced the “Furloughed FAA Employees Compensation Act” that would grant the U.S. Secretary of Transportation the authority to pay the salaries and related benefits of those federal employees who were furloughed during the partial shutdown of the FAA.

The IAM strongly urges Congress to complete a final comprehensive FAA bill that provides real safety improvements and protects air and rail workers’ rights to organize.

A special thanks is due to the thousands of IAM members who contacted their Congressional representatives and urged them to end the unnecessary stalemate over the FAA short-term extension.