The audiocast - called Solidarity News - will be available on RadioLabour.net every Monday morning.

RadioLabour is the brainchild of Marc Belanger -- the founder of SoliNet, which was the first trade union online network back in the 1980s.

Solidarity News will focus on union and workers' activities and issues from around the world with special emphasis on emerging market and developing countries.

RadioLabour reporters will provide regular weekly presentations, but a special feature of the audiocast will be reports from unionists who want to report on particular events or publicize an activity of their organization.

Scripts of the audiocasts will be available as aids for unionists who want to learn the use of English as an additional language in the international labour movement.

For more information about RadioLabour, listen to the audiocasts, or provide reports, visit the RadioLabour site.  Or write directly to Marc at m.belanger@radiolabour.org

Eric Lee

Harley CEO offers no promises on preserving jobs

Harley-Davidson Inc. president and CEO Keith Wandell said Saturday that the Milwaukee motorcycle manufacturer will continue to face challenges from the economy and that he won't make any guarantees to employees about their job security.

"I wish to God I could stand in front of everybody and say that you're going to be guaranteed a job for life," Wandell said. "We'd all be great friends and pat each other on the back and walk into the sunset together. You know what? Life isn't that simple."

Wandell's comments came during a question and answer session at Harley-Davidson's annual shareholders meeting after an hourly production employee questioned the company¹s commitment to its unionized workers.

"I will come to work every day, roll up my sleeves, work next to you on the line, whatever has to happen to ensure that we are a great company," Wandell said. "But I'm not going to tell people something that isn't true."

Deborah Evans of Milwaukee, a member of the United Steelworkers Union who has been employed for 12 years at Harley-Davidson's Wauwatosa factory, said unionize production workers "aren't feeling the love" from company management.

Wandell took over as Harley-Davidson's CEO in May 2009. His hiring drew considerable attention because of his "outsider" status, having come from the executive ranks of Glendale-based Johnson Controls Inc.

Evans questioned whether Wandell had taken the time to meet with local union leaders to discuss the challenges facing the company and the effect on the work force.

At the heart of the issue was an employment security agreement entered into by production employees in the mid-1990s that encouraged workers to actively participate in continuous improvement efforts within Harley-Davidson's factories without fear of losing their jobs.

The promises made at that time aren¹t realistic given the unprecedented economic challenges that the company has faced since 2008, said Wandell, dressed in blue denim jeans and a white, long-sleeve Harley-Davidson dress shirt adorned with the company's iconic bar and shield logo.

"If any one of us every believes that we aren't going to impacted or affected by what goes on in the economy, we¹re wrong," he said. "It's unfortunate that the people that made that promise aren't standing here today to tell you why it isn't true."

Harley-Davidson has taken dramatic and often painful steps to ensure the company's long-term survival, Wandell said.

"Everybody on this management team is working very hard to try to do what is right for this company and only history will judge whether we made the right decision," he said. "None of us get up every morning and want to make people's lives miserable and see people lose their jobs. If you think that's the case, I apologize."

His comments drew applause from a portion of the more approximately 400 shareholders and company employees who attended the meeting at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley.

Evans also questioned Wandell about whether he had visited all of the company's local facilities. In response, Wandell said he had toured the area production plants, but admitted that he hasn't visited a Harley-Davidson distribution center in Franklin, which is set to close this year.

"We're willing to do our sacrificing and we're willing to work hard, but we have to feel that we are important," Evans said.

Wandell said he realizes that many employees are worried that management is working to alter the core aspects of the company.

"We have no intention of changing the formula for Coke," he said. "You saw what happened when Coke tried to change its basic formula. It failed. (Harley-Davidson) has a great history and all of our employees are certainly a very much respected part of that."

Earlier in the meeting, Wandell said Harley-Davidson is "making good progress on a number of fronts" as it moves forward with a major restructuring, which has included the elimination of the Buell brand and the closing of the Buell Motorcycle Co. plant in East Troy; the planned sale of MV Agusta, Harley-Davidson's Italian sport motorcycle subsidiary; a major restructuring of motorcycle assembly operations in York, Pa.; and the consolidation of local motorcycle powertrain production, which will lead to the closing of the Wauwatosa factory once work is shifted to another plant in Menomonee Falls.

"As we look to the rest of 2010, there's no doubt that there's still a long way to go," Wandell said. "Still it's good to see the progress that's occurring as a result of the actions we put into motion last year to strengthen Harley-Davidson and to grow the reach of the brand."

The restructuring is designed to ensure that Harley-Davidson remains sustainable and profitable over the long term, Wandell said.

Harley-Davidson also plans to ship even fewer motorcycles this year as it works to restore the value of the brand and keep supply in line with demand,said John Olin, the company's chief financial officer.

The company plans to ship between 201,000 and 212,000 motorcycles in 2010, which will be a reduction of 5 to 10 percent compared with 2009, Olin said.

In other news, Harley-Davidson shareholders voted in favor of a proposal to restate the company¹s articles of incorporation to eliminate the current "classified" board structure, in which directors are divided into three classes and are elected to three-year terms. The change will require annual elections of all members of the company's board of directors.
 

Read more: Harley CEO offers no promises on preserving jobs - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Worker killed in accident at International Paper

January 22, 2010

The International Paper manufacturing plant in Lynchburg was temporarily closed Friday after the death of a third-shift worker shortly after midnight.

Jerry Wayne Evans, 39, of Forest, died at Lynchburg General Hospital from injuries he received in an accident at the plant.

Lynchburg Fire Battalion Chief Greg Wormser said an industrial accident was reported at 12:15 a.m. Friday. Rescue workers arrived at the plant within a few minutes, he said.

“From what I understand, somebody was trapped between two forklifts (and) had to be extricated,” said Wormser, reading a medical report on the incident.

He said the report did not indicate how Evans became trapped. IP spokeswoman Amy Sawyer said that the company still is investigating the accident’s cause.

Evans was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

The company contacted the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry, which investigates workplace safety and health accidents, Sawyer said. “We are continuing to cooperate with that (department) as well as with local law enforcement as they investigate the accident,” she said.

A Lynchburg Police Department news release said that foul play was not suspected.

When other employees arrived for a morning shift, local plant leaders held a meeting to tell them of Evans’ death, Sawyer said.

“We also had a grief counselor there to meet with employees,” she said. “Some employees chose to take advantage of that. Others chose to go home after the initial meeting.”

“Folks at the plant are deeply saddened by the loss of their co-worker and friend,” Sawyer said. “Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with the employee’s family at this very sad time.”

Sawyer said plant officials plan to restart production Sunday night.

The Mayflower Drive plant assembles boxes and has about 150 employees.

Staff writer from 'NewsAdvantage' - Lynchburg, PA

Unions march for single payer health care

By Barb Kucera, Workday Minnesota Editor, September 15, 2009

PITTSBURGH - President Barack Obama will address some 3,000 AFL-CIO convention delegates Tuesday in Pittsburgh, as union members step up their demand for action on health care.

On Monday, unions backing “single payer” health care legislation held a news conference and impromptu march through downtown Pittsburgh, blocking traffic on several streets. They were led by filmmaker Michael Moore to a theater where they viewed the U.S. premiere of his new film, “Capitalism: A Love Story.” See video Health care is likely to be a dominant topic of Obama’s speech. Convention delegates are expected to approve a resolution supporting Obama’s efforts to pass legislation that includes a government alternative to private health insurance. But a number of unions also are pushing for what they see as the best solution – single payer. Under single payer, all Americans would receive health care and be able to choose the doctors and hospitals of their choice. But insurance companies – and their high profits and administrative costs – would be eliminated. Instead, all payments would be administered through a publicly run agency, essentially a “single payer.” Single payer advocates say the easiest way to implement their proposal is to expand the current Medicare system to cover all Americans. “Health insurance is not health care,” said Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers. “We’re going to continue the fight for single payer health care.” Filmmaker Michael Moore leads marchers through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh. Photo by Steve Share ‘Legalized greed’ Filmmaker Michael Moore, who took on the health insurance industry in the film, “Sicko,” tackles an even bigger target in his new documentary. “Capitalism: A Love Story,” contrasts the heartbreaking stories of families losing their homes to foreclosure with the mega-profits enjoyed by the companies that created the financial crisis – and reaped the rewards of a taxpayer bailout. “We have legalized greed,” Moore told AFL-CIO delegates in a discussion before the free screening. The film mixes Moore’s trademark humor (he makes yet another attempt to meet with General Motors’ executives, a la his first film, “Roger & Me), with cogent analysis of what led to the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. He also presents never-before-seen footage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt calling for a second Bill of Rights that includes the right to a job, housing, health care and retirement security. The Pittsburgh screening was the U.S. premiere of Moore's new documentary. Photo by Steve Share Taking to the streets While no demonstrations were on the official agenda, delegates decided to create their own by marching five blocks from the convention center to the movie theater. Chanting “Health care now!” they stopped traffic and solicited some cheers from folks at sidewalk cafes. “Capitalism: A Love Story” will be screened nationwide starting Oct. 2, Moore said. On Oct. 1, he hopes to hold free screenings for unemployed workers in several cities. View all Workday coverage of the AFL-CIO convention

 

AFL-CIO Annual Labor Day Briefing on Jobs, Health Care, Employee Free Choice Act

Release of National Survey of Young Workers:

1/3 of Workers under 35 Live with Parents, After “Lost Decade,”
Young Workers Less Likely to Have Health Care, Economic Security and Confidence in Future than 10 Years Ago

www.youngworkers2009.org/com

( Washington , Sept. 1) Young workers today are significantly less likely to have health care or economic security than they were 10 years ago, and one-third live in their parents’ home, according to a new national survey, Young Workers: A Lost Decade, released by the AFL-CIO at its annual Labor Day briefing today.  Leaders of the 11.5 million-member union federation said they will make an unprecedented effort to reach out to young workers. They also described working people’s overall plans to restore balance to the economy. 

 “This Labor Day, working people are standing at the edge of a huge wave of change. Almost a year ago to the day, working people rallied behind an Illinois senator in Denver to nominate him for the presidency of the United States ,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “And today, amidst economic distress and upheaval, union families are working to finish the job -- we’re leading a massive mobilization for health care reform and passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to create an economy that works for everyone.” 

 Sweeney noted the Labor Day briefing comes two weeks before a change of leadership at the AFL-CIO; he will step down after almost 14 years as president at the federation’s convention in Pittsburgh September 13 - 17.

 AFL-CIO Sec.-Treas. Richard Trumka and Exec. VP Arlene Holt Baker detailed the AFL-CIO’s plans in the coming months to reach out to young workers and engage all workers to address core economic issues.

 “Young workers are facing the worst kind of insecurity -- struggling to find good jobs and hold down debt while trying to grow into adulthood,” said AFL-CIO Sec.-Treas. Richard Trumka.  “We owe them better.  Unless we change it, their economic standards are going to define a new norm—a norm of lower job and living standards.  Their future is our country’s future and we must commit to creating an economy that provides a strong economic future for all.” 

 Trumka, who is so far running unopposed for the AFL-CIO presidency, said he will ask the upcoming convention to approve plans for broad recruitment of young workers, as well as plans for training and leadership of young workers who are currently union members.  He also noted unions’ unique role to play in engaging young workers around economic and political issues. Eighteen- to 35-year-olds make up a quarter of current union membership.

 The national survey of 1,156 workers, including 602 young workers, conducted by Hart Research Associates in late July, was commissioned by the AFL-CIO and its 3-million member community affiliate Working America.  Findings were presented by Tahir Duckett and Jenn Jannon of Working America.

Some of the key findings:

• For 31 percent of young workers, Labor Day is not a paid holiday
• 31 percent of young workers report being uninsured, up from 24 percent 10 years ago, and 79 percent of the uninsured say they don’t have coverage because they can’t afford it or their employer does not offer it.
• Amazingly, one in three young workers are currently living at home with their parents.
• Only 31 percent say they make enough money to cover their bills and put some money aside—22 percentage points fewer than in 1999—while 24 percent cannot even pay their monthly bills.  Fifty-eight percent do not have savings that would cover two months of living expenses. 
• Only 58 percent receive paid sick days, only 66 percent receive paid vacation and only 41 percent are offered paid family leave.
• More than half of young workers earn less than $30,000 and this struggling majority has been the most severely impacted. A third cannot pay their bills and seven in 10 do not have enough saved to cover two months of living expenses. They are just as likely to live with their parents as to live on their own.
• 37 percent have put off education or professional development because they can’t afford it.
• Jobs, health care and education top the economic agenda for young workers.
• When asked who is most responsible for the country’s economic woes, close to 50 percent of young workers place the blame on Wall Street and banks or corporate CEOs. And young workers say greed by corporations and CEOs is the factor most to blame for the current financial downturn.
• By a 22-point margin, young workers favor expanding public investment over reducing the budget deficit. Young workers rank conservative economic approaches such as reducing taxes, government spending and regulation on business among the five lowest of 16 long-term priorities for Congress and the president.
• Thirty-five percent say they voted for the first time in 2008, and nearly three-quarters now keep tabs on government and public affairs, even when there’s not an election going on.
• The majority of young workers and nearly 70 percent of first-time voters are confident that Obama will take the country in the right direction.
• More than half of young workers say employees are more successful getting problems resolved as a group rather than as individuals, and employees who have a union are better off than employees in similar jobs who do not.

 Nate Scherer, a 31 year old Working America member from Columbus , Ohio , who shares a home with his wife and parents, said:

 While in college I racked up a lot of credit card debt… there’s no financial responsibility class in high school. After getting married my wife and I decided to move in with my parents in order to pay off our bills.  And I don’t think my situation is that unique …

 Also at the Labor Day briefing, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Holt Baker detailed a national mobilization around health care and labor law reform currently underway. Union families are working days, nights, and weekends, she said, to ensure that Congress knows that working people consider health care and the labor law reform an urgent national priority.  More than 18,000 union members attended 400 town halls in the month of August alone. Union families have made close to 200,000 phone calls and written over 250,000 letters this year to senators and representatives about health care and workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. This Labor Day weekend, over 100,000 union members will make a push for health care and the Employee Free Choice Act at celebrations around the country.

USW Opposes Senate Attempt to Repeal “Black Liquor” Bio-fuel Tax Credit

Early repeal threatens paper workers, industry in weak economy

Contact:  Keith Romig (USW-NEWS) 615-714-2704

Washington, DC – The United Steelworkers (USW) announced today that it has filed comments strongly opposing a Senate Finance Committee staff draft of legislation that if enacted would specifically target the pulp and paper industry for repeal of a vital tax credit.

The tax credit in question gives users of a tax credit for the use of the alternative fuel when it is mixed with very small amounts of taxable motor fuel. The paper industry is the largest industrial user of bio-fuel in the United States. Last year, the IRS issued a ruling to qualify for the credit, provided companies met strict conditions mandated by the agency.

“This tax credit is encouraging paper companies to make greater use of bio-fuel, and in the case of one Maine producer, Old Town Fuel & Fiber in Old Town, it’s allowing this company to pursue a project to produce jet fuel in addition to pulp,” said USW President Leo W. Gerard. “In addition it is saving thousands of Steelworker and other jobs.”

The tax credit began to cause controversy when International Paper and other companies reported the receipt of large tax credits from their use of the biologically-based by-product known as “black liquor” to produce in some cases, nearly all of the power that runs their mills.

“This was controversial because no one knew the massive size of the contribution the paper industry is making to increase the use of bio-fuels,” said USW Vice President Jon Geenen, who handles the union’s relationships with the paper industry. “Repeal isn’t a solution. We believe the paper industry has significant expertise that could help jump start development of the second generation of bio-fuels. We think the tax credit is playing a large role in helping this happen, and we think any new legislation should create targeted incentives to encourage this behavior, not only with chemical pulp mills, but all across the paper industry.”

In April, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) criticized the tax credit and stated they were considering a move to repeal the paper industry’s eligibility for the credit. The USW immediately made contact with key Senators.

As a result such key Senate Finance Committee members as Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) expressed strong support of the tax credit. In May, dozens of rank-and-file USW paperworkers visited Finance Committee members and many other members of the Senate and the House. “We made the point that the tax credit has turned out to be good for both jobs and for America’s energy future,” said USW Local 4-261 Vice President Dan Lawson, one of the leaders of the group that visited Capitol Hill.

In spite of all this work on June 11, Senators Baucus and Grassley issued their staff draft targeting the paper industry for repeal of the tax credit. “We feel the staff draft makes a mockery of the intent of Congress around increasing the use of bio-fuels, and is a specific slap in the face to the paper industry and to the tens of thousands of Steelworkers who work in it,” said Gerard.

For a copy of the USW comments to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee: www.usw.org/.

USW Formal Comments U.S. Senate Finance Cmte on Bio-fuels Black Liquor

Infrastructure of the stimulus plan: $8.4 billion in Mass Transit

A breakdown of provisions and funding requirements for mass transit in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Stimulus: No blank check for states

In a private meeting, the governors also are expected to discuss ideas for paying for future infrastructure projects. Congress is preparing to overhaul the federal transportation program and replenish the Highway Trust Fund, the states' main source of federal transportation dollars now supported by a federal gas tax. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $2.2 trillion is needed to repair and upgrade the country’s infrastructure over the next five years.

Budget-Strapped States Pin Hopes On Stimulus http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100872584

As legislators wrestle to fashion new budgets while facing plunging tax revenues, climbing unemployment and record low housing starts, they are counting on help from President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package — and the nearly $145 billion that will flow directly to state and local governments.

That stimulus money largely targets state education and health care funding, and temporary aid to unemployed workers.

Obama warns mayors not to waste stimulus money http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/02/obama_warns_mayors_not_to_waste_stimulus_money.php

Invoking his own name-and-shame policy, President Barack Obama warned the nation's mayors on Friday that he will "call them out" if they waste the money from his massive economic stimulus plan.

How the Stimulus Money Will Flow http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2009/db20090219_270845.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

Obama's plan relies heavily on states to dole out the dollars. That could slow and complicate some of the spending

Minntac To Layoff 590 Workers http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29290155/

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who made a sweep through Minnesota Thursday, said she hopes the "Buy American" clause in the stimulus bill might help put some Iron Range miners back to work.

 

 

 

Obama meets with Canada's P.M. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/02/19/1801843.aspx

The prime minister was equally stern when it came to discussion of the "Buy America" provisions, saying domestic preferences and purchasing policies are not allowed without limit.

"We expect the United States to adhere to its -- to its international obligations; I have every expectation, based on what the president's told me and what he said publicly many times in the past, that the United States will do just that," Harper said.

Fast facts about stimulus package http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=772040&category=OPINION

I think that many of the most critical items in this program have not been discussed enough in the national media. I want to share some of these facts with you. This is a democracy and you are the boss.

The stimulus package is the largest tax cut in American history. That's right, the bill that every single House Republican voted against represents the largest tax cut in American history. In total, it's a $282 billion tax cut. The stimulus has now created tax cuts for 95 percent of working Americans right when they need it.

Fewer Green Transportation Jobs in Stimulus Than Touted

http://washingtonindependent.com/30789/fewer-green-transportation-jobs-in-stimulus-than-touted

The Obama stimulus program, it turns out, will also save or create hundreds of thousand of job that might be called "gray" jobs — positions with less environmentally friendly results, such as new road construction that encourages the use of carbon-fueled vehicles.

In fact, a review of the energy and transportation provisions of the stimulus program reveals a spending program that is much grayer than most media coverage has suggested, with up to a quarter of all the jobs created under the program likely to come from highway and road construction that do nothing to reduce fossil fuel consumption or protect the environment — and may actually encourage traffic, sprawl and greenhouse gas emissions. While green groups are happy with the Obama program, so is the highway lobby.

Enviros Push 'Green Stimulus' Bond Act

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/02/enviros-push-green-stimulus-bo.html

The environmental advocacy community is poised to launch a big public campaign for the "Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act of 2009" - a $5 billion effort being touted by supporters as a booster for the $2.8 billion worth of federal infrastructure stimulus cash the state expects to receive.

"Our hope is that the state will make an investment beyond the federal stimulus that will increase recovery," said Paul Hartman, director of government relations for the Nature Conservancy. "As New York is huring more than other states, we need to take a bold initiative to make sure we come out stronger for it."

Green jobs bills aim to make most of federal stimulus money

http://newmexicoindependent.com/18376/green-jobs-bills-aim-to-make-most-of-stimulus-money

A package of green jobs bills before the Legislature could be key for how the state uses money dedicated to clean energy, said John Fogarty, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group New Energy Economy The final federal package provides potentially $1.15 billion for "green" jobs training, in a larger $113.5 billion package to stimulate a "clean energy" economy.

Danville, VA - Union workers in Danville have voted to approve the cost-cutting plan laid out by Goodyear. According to the USW Local 831's website, workers voted 1401-158 in favor of the plan. 

Interactive Map: Unions Are Good for Workers and the Economy in Every State

February 15, 2009

State and national fact sheets

Press call: Robert Reich, Beth Shulman, and Karla Walter

Unions paved the way to the middle class for millions of workers and pioneered benefits along the way, including paid health care and pensions. Even today, union workers earn significantly more on average than their non-union counterparts, are nearly 54 percent more likely to have employer-provided pensions, and are 28 percent more likely to be covered by employer-provided health insurance. Nearly three out of five survey respondents from a Peter Hart Research Associates poll report that they would join a union if they could. Yet workers attempting to unionize currently face a hostile legal environment and are commonly intimidated by aggressive antiunion employers.

Passing the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it harder for management to threaten workers seeking to join a union, is good for American workers and good for our economy. It would help boost workers’ wages and benefits, which would help state economies and the national economy during tough economic times.

The Employee Free Choice Act would help workers who want to join a union do so by ensuring fairness in the union selection process with three main provisions: workers would have a fair and direct path to join unions through a simple majority sign-up; employers who break the rules governing the unionization process would face stiffer penalties; and a first contract mediation and arbitration process would be introduced to thwart bad-faith bargaining.

The map above shows the union wage premium—how much higher unionized workers’ wages are then their non-union counterparts on average—and how much more workers in each state would earn in total wages annually if unionization rates increase.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund would like to thank the Center for Economic and Policy Research for providing the state-by-state analysis of the union wage premium.

Notes

* Data comes from CEPR analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey Micro Data for all wage and salary workers 16 years and older. The union wage premium uses a four-year study period to determine how much higher, on average, unionized workers’ wages are than their non-union counterparts. The 2004 to 2007 study period was chosen to allow a sample size large enough to conduct a statistically valid state-by-state analysis. The analysis controls for workers’ age, sex, education level, and industry of employment; it includes observations where the Bureau of Labor Statistics has imputed missing wages, which imparts a downward bias on the effects of unionization. The hourly premium is based on the CEPR union wage premium and the 2008 real hourly earnings of all wage and salary workers from the Current Population Survey.

** The first year available for state-by-state union coverage data is 1983. Data is from Hirsch and Macpherson, “Union Membership and Coverage Database from the Current Population Survey,” available at http://www.unionstats.com.

*** The estimated change in wages earned if union coverage rates changed does not include any estimate of the wage benefit to non-union workers. The estimated change in wages would be higher if this benefit were included. Authors’ calculations are based on CEPR estimates of the union premium, CAPAF analysis of the BLS Current Population Survey for all wage and salary workers 16 years and older, and BLS Current Employment Statistics Survey (National).

For more information:

State and national fact sheets

Press call: Robert Reich, Beth Shulman, and Karla Walter

Union head: Support Free Choice Act

BY JEFF BURTON
Jeff.Burton@nwitimes.com
219.762.1397, ext.2225 | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | (34 comment(s))

PORTAGE | A standing room only crowd at the United Steelworkers Local 6787 union hall cheered Tuesday afternoon, as national and local union leaders said it's time workers have a fighting chance to form unions and bargain collectively.

Speaking to the crowd, AFL-CIO National President John Sweeney encouraged members of Northwest Indiana's various unions to write their congressmen in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, which he said will strengthen penalties against companies that intimidate employees in an effort to prevent them from unionizing and gives employees options on how to express their choice to unionize.

Sweeney said the recent rash of financial firm bailouts underscores the need for workers to enjoy some of the benefits executives do.

"Corporations feed their CEOs fatter salaries and workers get the leftovers," he said. "This has to stop. If every CEO gets a contract, every worker in the United States should have the right to get a contract, and those workers deserve a union contract."

Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., a co-sponsor of the bill, said he sees its failure to pass the last time his party had control of both houses of congress as a major failure on the part of the Democratic Party.

"This is the year my party will take corrective actions and pass this legislation," he said. "I do think this is a fundamental matter of justice."

USW District 7 Director Jim Robinson said the bill's passage would help expand the middle class, something he said unions have been doing locally since the 1930s.

"From those days to now, we built a middle class," he said. "We had a generation of prosperity in this country when people could work hard, buy a home, educate their kids. It's time to restore that basic human right to working people in this country. The American middle class was built by the labor movement, and we'll build it again."

There is a new conductor driving the locomotive. On Jan. 30, when President Barack Obama announced the creation of his administration’s Task Force on Middle Class Working Families, he also voiced the strongest pro-union remarks issued by the White House in generations.

Calling what is happening to the U.S. economy “the American Dream in reverse,” the new president stated, “We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions who represent their interests, because we know that you cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement. When workers are prospering, they buy products that make businesses prosper.”

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich foreshadowed Obama’s remarks days earlier in a column that appeared in the Jan. 26 Los Angeles Times. Reich wrote, “The way to get the economy back on track is to boost the purchasing power of the middle class. One major way to do this is to expand the percentage of working Americans in unions.”

Fifty years ago, during America’s “Golden Age,” as many as one-third of all U.S. workers belonged to a labor union. Today, less than 8 percent of the nation’s work force is protected by a collective-bargaining agreement.

Despite the protestations of so-called corporate experts who claim the modern American worker does not need or want a union, recent surveys show as many as 60 million U.S. workers would join a union if the option were available. Under existing law, corporations have what amounts to a veto over the democratic process.

The Employee Free Choice Act, a bill to be considered by the 111th Congress, would make it easier for work forces to organize. A union is certified when the National Labor Relations Board can verify that a majority of a company’s associates have signed union authorization forms. Under today’s law, however, employees only can pursue the majority sign-up process with the voluntary agreement of their employer. EFCA, if signed into law, would allow employees, and not their employers, to choose whether or not to proceed.

Reich cited Department of Labor statistics that paint a clear picture, free of rhetoric or hyperbole: Workers in unions earn 30 percent higher wages and are 59 percent more likely to have employer-provided health insurance.

With the housing market shattered, and as the global economy continues to free-fall, it is important to remember that the days of easy credit are over. No longer will workers be able to make up for decreased wages by borrowing against their home equity. That train left the station months ago and has long since derailed.

The Employee Free Choice Act, if signed into law, will be a powerful tool the Obama administration can use to get us back on track.

Goodyear announced this morning it plans to cut nearly 5,000 jobs this year after reporting a fourth-quarter loss. The cuts equal almost 7 percent of the Akron, Ohio-based company's work force and follow the elimination of about 4,000 jobs in the second half of last year.

Even without layoffs, Fayetteville workers aren't completely immune from the economic downturn. Goodyear plans to freeze salaries this year. And last year, workers in Fayetteville were forced to take four weeks off as Goodyear reduced production.

There are no plans for additional furloughs in Fayetteville, Jackson said.

Goodyear is investing $200 million by 2012 to improve the Fayetteville plant. State and local officials promised the company incentives worth more than $30 million to win that expansion. To get the money, Goodyear must maintain at least 2,000 jobs at the plant.

Obama drops plan for 'car czar'

by Politico.com

President Obama has given up on landing a “car czar” to oversee the auto industry’s restructuring. Instead, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will be in charge, administration officials said Sunday night.

The czar was to have evaluated turnaround reports that are due Tuesday from GM and Chrysler as part of the agreement giving them bailout funds at the end of the Bush administration.

Administration officials said restructuring expert Ron Bloom, a former investment banker who been advising the United Steelworkers, will become a senior adviser at the Treasury Department, in charge of helping a Presidential Task Force on Autos drawn that will be from across the executive branch.

The “Presidential Task Force makes clear that this is a top priority of the President and the administration, and this is the team that will be evaluating the auto viability plans that are submitted on Tuesday,” a senior administration official said.

The official said: 'We had never said we were going to do a czar, so it's incorrect to say as some people are that we changed plans. The president felt this was best approach."
Industry officials said the leading candidate for car czar was celebrity financier Steven Rattner, the private-equity executive and former New York Times reporter.

An auto-industry official expressed disappointment. “We would have preferred having a single, go-to person focused on the restructuring,” the official said. ”This isn’t bad, but the other would have been better.”

White House senior adviser David Axelrod said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “a major restructuring of the auto industry” will be needed to keep the Big Three carmakers viable.

“We have a real interest in seeing the auto industry survive,” Axelrod said. “But … it’s going to be something that’s going that’s going to require sacrifice not just from the auto workers but also from creditors, from shareholders and the executives who run the company. And everyone’s going to have to get together here to build companies that can compete in the future.”

House Republicans had criticized the “car czar” idea. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), now the chairman of the House Republican Conference, said when the idea was floated during the transition: “Trusting a Washington bureaucrat, who probably never tightened a lug nut, with fixing what ails the American automotive industry is not the answer.”

Here are details on the tax force from the administration:

—The administration is establishing a Presidential Task Force on Autos to oversee the restructuring of the auto industry. Members of the task force will be drawn from relevant cabinet agencies and offices, including the Departments of Treasury, Labor, Transportation, Commerce, and Energy, the National Economic Council, the White House Office of Energy and Environment, the Council of Economic Advisers and the EPA.

--The president has designated the Treasury Secretary to be the president’s designee for official purposes to oversee the loan agreements with the auto companies.

--The administration has teams in place at the Department of Treasury and the National Economic Council working on the auto issue. The teams have been interacting closely with the auto companies and various stakeholders to prepare for the auto company submissions on February 17th.

--Ron Bloom, a nationally recognized restructuring expert, will be joining the administration’s team as a senior advisor at the Treasury Department. Bloom brings a wealth of expertise on industrial and manufacturing issues, and a range of experience from both the corporate sector, as a former Vice-President of Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, and from labor, as a restructuring expert for the U.S. Steelworkers.

--There is no “car czar.” Ron is joining as a member of a team that already includes substantial expertise to address issues facing the auto industry. This team will work together to provide advice, analysis and counsel to the Treasury Secretary and NEC Director.

--The auto companies are expected to deliver their reports to us on the 17th.

--We will continue to engage with them on a daily basis, as we have been over the course of the last two months, to work through various issues.

--Once received, we will analyze the reports and over the course of the next week or two will meet with the companies to work through them.

--Between Feb. 17 and March 31, the companies and stakeholders are expected to show progress in meeting the restructuring goals set forth in their plans.

Unions rallies includes `Buy American' calls

Associated Press

2:38 PM CST, February 15, 2009

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Union members who took part in weekend rallies across Indiana mixed complaints about the nation's recent job losses with calls for consumers to "Buy American."

The workers rallied Saturday as part of union-sponsored "Rebuild America" events that came one day after Congress passed a $787 billion economic stimulus package that includes a "Buy American" clause.

In Lafayette, about 30 other union members and their families staged a downtown rally, calling on elected officials to invest tax dollars in American products and American jobs.

They also urged consumer to "Buy American."
"Every time you turn around you see 'made in China' and stuff getting imported here. We're losing jobs," said Gregory Jones of Lafayette.

The workers, who carried signs with slogans such as "The system is broken" and "No CEO Bailouts," marched down Lafayette's Main Street and around the Tippecanoe County Courthouse.

The Lafayette rally was organized by United Steelworkers Local 115A, which represents workers at Lafayette Alcoa.

"We're here to have our voices heard. It's time American workers take a stand," said Jerry Misner, president of USW Local 115A, who cited the nation's growing job losses.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, nearly 600,000 jobs were lost in January as the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent.

Organizers asked participants to sign a petition asking local lawmakers to adopt resolutions to spend economic recovery funds on American products and to create and keep American jobs.

President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus bill that passed Congress on Friday includes a "Buy American" provision that many people will argue about in the coming weeks, said Wayne Dale, a regional United Steelworkers official.

But he said the U.S. government is not telling Americans that other countries "like Japan, like Brazil, like France, like South Korea, like India, they all have more restrictive policies themselves."

In Fort Wayne, more than 35 members of United Steelworkers Local 903 marched around the Allen County Courthouse Saturday amid swirling snowflakes, stopping periodically to sound off.

The crowd included 83-year-old Max Brickley, who has attended many such rallies in the 50 years he's supported the labor movement.

Brickley, former president of the Fort Wayne Union Label and Service Traders Council, was among those who called on people to buy U.S.-made products.

"Because we've got to have a good standard of living," he said.

After growing up during the Great Depression, Brickley said he sees similarities between the dire economic straits of the 1930s and current events.

"Everybody's out of work, and the banks, I'd say, are in deep trouble," Brickley said.

He said he was 12 in 1937 when the United Auto Workers went on strike against Ford Motor Co. -- an event Brickley said was followed by years of economic growth that didn't stall until recently.

"People in this country need work, the average person," he said. "Big-business people are only protecting big business."

Mobilizing for the Employee Free Choice Act

Why penalize the unions and middle class?

I worked in a Bethlehem Steel Corp. plant for more than 30 years. I was sole provider in the raising of five children.

Having said that, let’s talk about the banking and automobile industries. They formerly made big profits, gave their top leaders big bonuses and pension benefits, threw lavish parties and so forth.

When they made bad investments they passed their losses onto the consumers. And when they ran out of money, they came to the government for bailouts.

The government tells the auto makers that, with these conditions, we may help. Then comes along Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, stating that without auto union concessions, a bailout would not be OK’d.

How can he ask the working class to take cuts in wages and benefits while at the same time vote to raise his own salary?

Why doesn’t Congress refuse pay raises, and pay for its own hospital insurance, like us taxpayers do? Those in government should lead by example.

Without the steelworkers union, I would not be able to enjoy the good pension I am receiving today.

Angelo Cancelliere - THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT - READERS FORUM - JOHNSTOWN, PA 

IOUSA: Failed scare flick of the decade

Posted December 2, 2008 at 1:31 pm

 

Dean Baker

By Dean Baker
Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Every few years there is a book or movie that stands out for its incredibly bad timing. As the Internet bubble exploded in 2000, the book Dow 36,000 quickly went from a work of inspired genius to intense derision. More recently, the 2005 book, Why the Real Estate Boom Will not Bust and How You Can Profit From It, has become one of the great jokes of the housing crash. As the country and the world attempt to recovery from the wreckage caused by these bubbles, the new documentary, IOUSA, seems destined to join these two earlier classics of bad timing.

The basic story of IOUSA is that the United States suffers from a massive deficit problem. The film constantly comes back to the deficit using a variety of measures that are intended to scare viewers into action. After seeing the film we are all supposed to run to our phones and computers and demand that our representatives in Congress shut down Social Security and Medicare and double our taxes.

Hopefully, the film will not have this effect, because there is nothing that the economy needs more right now than very large deficits. The collapse of the housing bubble has destroyed more than $5 trillion in wealth. The fallout from this collapse has led to an even larger decline in stock market wealth. This massive loss in wealth in turn is leading to a plunge in consumption that is driving the economy into the most serious downturn since the Great Depression.

Economists from across the political spectrum agree that the only way to counteract this loss of consumption demand is through large increases in government spending. If IOUSA viewers manage to persuade their representatives in Congress to balance the budget then they will be guaranteeing the country another Great Depression.

Ironically, the heroes of IOUSA include many of the leading villains of the current economic crisis. The story prominently features Peter Peterson, whose foundation is helping to circulate the film. Mr. Peterson made a fortune running a Wall Street private equity fund, much of which he was able to shelter from normal taxation through the “fund managers’ tax break.”

Mr. Peterson is fond of telling audiences that he doesn’t need his Social Security. Of course, no one would need their Social Security if they received tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks like Mr. Peterson.

The extensive media coverage that Mr. Peterson has received for his anti-Social Security and Medicare diatribes also helped to distract attention from those trying to call warn of the dangers looming from the housing bubble. While Peterson and his followers could count on extensive coverage from National Public Radio, the Washington Post, and other highly respected media outlets, those warning of the imminent crisis were almost completely ignored.

The film also interviews Robert Rubin. As Treasury secretary Robert Rubin promoted an over-valued dollar. The over-valued dollar made our goods uncompetitive internationally by raising the price of U.S. exports to foreigners and lowering the price of foreign made goods to people living in the United States. As a result, our trade deficit exploded, peaking at almost 6 percent of GDP ($800 billion) in 2006.

Rubin also pushed the one-sided financial deregulation that fueled the irresponsible lending practices of the housing bubble years. These were practices that he personally profited from as a top executive at Citigroup.

Finally, the film gives a starring role to former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan. Greenspan will go down in infamy as the man who looked the other way as the housing bubble soared to ever more dangerous levels. He also claimed to be oblivious to the explosion of subprime and other high-risk loans during his tenure as Fed chair. More than any other individual, Alan Greenspan bears responsibility for the economic catastrophe facing the country. Audiences may find his lectures on the need to increase saving less than compelling at this point.

There is a grain of truth to the IOUSA scare story. The country has a badly broken health care system. If we don’t fix the health care system then it will cause serious damage to the economy and lead to large budget problems in future decades since the government picks up roughly half of the tab for health care through programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, the film never clearly mentions the need for health care reform, focusing only on the budget and not the underlying problem with the private health care system.

The moral of the IOUSA story - the need to reduce the budget deficit - is so radically out of sync with the economic imperatives facing the country that it is likely to quickly fall from sight, perhaps to be resurrected in film festivals showing red scare films from the fifties. This would be a positive development for the country, since it would be an enormous tragedy if this film helped to dissuade the public from supporting the sort of stimulus package needed to prevent a long and extremely painful recession.

The director of the film, Patrick Creadon, is highly talented and clearly well meaning. Obviously he just fell in with a bad crowd when he decided to make IUOSA. Maybe for his next two films he should interview the authors of Dow 36,000 and Why the Real Estate Boom Will not Bust and How You Can Profit From It. This could be marketed as the “people who really got it wrong” series.  

Free fall

Posted November 19, 2008 at 4:49 pm, in From the News

By Robert L. Borosage

Co-Director - Campaign for America’s Future

Free fall. The US has lost private sector jobs for 10 straight months. One quarter of all businesses in the US plan to cut payroll over the next year. Retail sales fell in October by the largest monthly drop on record. Auto sales have collapsed, driving the auto companies towards the precipice. Unemployment is up to 6.1%, with most analysts predicting it will soar past 8% over the next year. (That translates into unemployment among young minority men at rates of 50% or more). States are now facing $100 billion in deficits in operating budgets for the next fiscal year. Twelve million homes are “under water,” worth less than their mortgages. The US has joined Germany and Japan in what is becoming a global recession.

The era of big government is over is over. In the crisis, we are, as Richard Nixon once said, “all Keynesians now.” Former Clinton Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers, until recently notable deficit hawks, now call for substantial fiscal stimulus — deficit funded federal spending — to get the economy going.

Summers whose alliterative guidelines for this year’s earlier $150 billion stimulus — “timely, temporary and targeted” — helped to fix its mistaken focus on tax rebates, has changed his consonants. Now he says the stimulus should be “speedy, substantial and sustained,” noting that some estimates on Wall Street have gone as high as “$500 to $700 billion.” Rubin agreed, saying “we need a very substantial stimulus,” while mumbling about needing to reduce the budget deficit over the longer run.

A major recovery program — featuring substantial public investment — will be inevitably the first initiative of the Obama administration. It should feature more spending than tax cuts — investing in renewable energy and conservation, in rebuilding everything from schools to bridges to a smart electric gird, in helping cities and states avoid crippling cuts of services, in keeping college affordable, providing health care to children, and aiding those most in need.

Our public investment needs can easily use the money. A stunning report by Eric Lotke at the Campaign for America’s Future details the staggering investment deficits that have accumulated over the last thirty years. For decades, we’ve chosen to cut taxes on the wealthy while starving vital public investments. The result is an America that is literally falling apart, while much of the private wealth was squandered in the speculative frenzy that now has leveled our economy. Rather than adding to that folly, we should be focusing on strategic public investments that will put people to work in the short term while contributing to a more competitive economy, a better educated citizenry and a cleaner environment.

The time to get started has already passed, as the downturn is accelerating. Tomorrow, as Senate Majority leader Harry Reid suggests, Congress should pass a $100 billion down payment on recovery, while instructing the Treasury Secretary to use some of the $700 billion rescue fund to help keep the auto industry from going belly up, with devastating effects throughout the Midwest.

But, as this is written, it looks like that won’t happen. Republicans didn’t get the message from the election, and apparently don’t read the financial section of the papers. The Republican minority in the Senate seems intent on adding one last obstruction to its ignominious record. Secretary Paulson has indicated that while he’s happy to throw $250 billion at Wall Street banks with no conditions, he isn’t ready to save the Midwest with a $25 bridge loan for the automakers under strict conditions.

In the face of the threatened Republican filibuster, this Congress is likely to adjourn for the final time without acting on the deepening economic downturn. When the new administration and the new Congress convene next January, the crisis here — and across the globe — will surely be far worse. Make no small plans, President Obama, you are about to inherit the full catastrophe.

Union, Special Metals Reach Tentative Deal

Novemeber 6, 2008  -   HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A tentative contract has apparently been reached with union workers at Special Metals in Huntington and Burnaugh, Kentucky.

Workers are learning about the proposed deal during meetings taking place Thursday at the Steelworkers Local 40 Union Hall in Guyandotte.

One meeting was held Thursday morning at 6:00. Two others are scheduled for 1:00pm and 3:30pm.

The 900 Workers are expected vote on the proposed contact on Friday.

The union’s contract with the company expired on August 1. Workers agreed to stay on the job while contract talks continued.

On Sunday, the union and the company agreed to extend talks past a proposed strike deadline in an effort to get a new deal.

We’re told one of the hold-ups in the talks has been retiree health care benefits

November 7, 2008  -  Workers at Special Metals have approved a contract with the company in an overwhelming majority, 477 to 85.

Voting took place all day long at the union hall. The contract calls for a $3.20 raise per hour for the next four years.

Members attended meetings on the proposed deal this week at locations in Huntington and Burnaugh, Kentucky.

The old contract expired in August and a 90 day extension was filed to work through their concerns about retirement.

Steelworkers To Presidential Hopefuls: Get Specific On Trade

By Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer

PITTSBURGH (PAI)--Steelworkers President Leo Gerard is telling the three remaining presidential hopefuls, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), to get specific on trade.

The price they pay for vagueness, he adds, is they may lose Pennsylvania in the April 22 primary or November’s general election.  There are 175,000 active and retired Steel Workers--not counting family members--in the Keystone State , Gerard said.

Trade was a key issue in the Ohio primary, which Clinton won by casting doubt on Obama’s promise to renegotiate NAFTA, the controversial U.S.-Mexico-Canada “free trade” pact pushed through the then-Democratic Congress by Clinton ’s husband, former President Bill Clinton (D). McCain had won the GOP nomination by then.  

NAFTA led the Teamsters and, later, Change to Win to endorse Obama rather than Clinton.  It also led the Steel Workers to endorse former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), who is now out of the race.  It remains a key issue for workers, Gerard warned.

Clinton favors a “timeout” on future trade pacts that lack labor rights, as NAFTA does.  She has not repudiated it.  McCain voted for NAFTA and following pacts that lack labor rights, including the GOP Bush regime’s Central American Free Agreement.

In letters March 20 to the two Democrats and presumed GOP nominee McCain, Gerard listed trade issues he wanted them to address by April 1, and in specifics: 

·       How to reduce the nation’s staggering trade deficit.

·       Challenging China ’s currency manipulation.  China now runs the biggest trade surplus with the U.S.

·       Enforcement of fair trade laws already on the books.  Unions have often pointed out the anti-worker GOP Bush regime fails to enforce current U.S. trade laws, even while negotiating more trade pacts without worker rights.

·       How to toughen food and product safety standards, including supporting liability insurance for importers.  Millions of imported toys and tons of imported food from China have had to be recalled due to unacceptably lethal levels of lead, among other things.

·       “Demonstrating a commitment to protect human rights by opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.”  Bush is pushing that trade pact despite the murders of 2,500-plus unionists there in the last 15 years--and the lack of prosecution of the Right Wing paramilitary perpetrators, who sometimes receive “protection” pay from U.S.-based multinationals, to target unionists.

·       A commitment to “stop unfair practices such as illegal logging that are costing U.S. workers their jobs and harming the environment.”

“More than 3.3 million manufacturing workers have lost jobs and more than 40,000 facilities have closed since 2000 because of failed trade policies,” Gerard wrote the three contenders.  And a $2 billion daily trade deficit is “an unsustainable imbalance that is mortgaging our economic future,” he added.

While the candidates debated NAFTA in Ohio , Gerard said, trade encompasses a lot more than that.  It includes a proposed ban on sweatshop imports, and a halt to worker exploitation that costs U.S. workers their jobs and leaves foreign workers ill-paid, unpaid and without rights.

“Workers in this country making $15 per hour--barely $30,000 per year--simply cannot compete with workers in the developing world making 40 cents an hour,” Gerard wrote to the three senators. “We will never have a level playing field until our leaders deal with this tremendous gap.  Exploitation of workers around the world must be stopped.  The standards of living of most of the developing countries must be raised.”

Gerard’s demands for specifics on trade go far beyond what the candidates have pledged, either on the stump or on their websites:

Clinton , in her economic policy address in Cedar Rapids , Iowa , early this year, promised to “ensure trade policies work for average Americans.

“Trade policy must raise our standard of living, and they must have strong protections for workers and the environment,” she said.  Her specifics then included increased enforcement of present trade pacts.  She adopted the “timeout” idea, from the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute, later.

Obama has repeatedly promised he would call the Mexican president and Canadian prime minister and tell them NAFTA must be renegotiated to halt the hemorrhaging of U.S. jobs.  Clinton dented that commitment in Ohio , however, by quoting an unpaid Obama trade advisor as telling Canada ’s consul general in Chicago that the phrase was just political rhetoric.

On his website, Obama also promises to “fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. He will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm against agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement that fail to live up to those important benchmarks.”  It also says Obama “will pressure the World Trade Organization (WTO) to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and non-tariff barriers on U.S. exports.” 

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Press Associates, Inc. (PAI)