We recently wrote about the slow trickle of jobs
bills, as opposed to one big one, that we should see
coming out of Congress over the next few months. The
next one is up, and it could be voted on this week.
Today, call your congressperson and urge them to vote
yes on H.R. 4213. Details on the bill below!
Call 877-442-6801. You can look up your
Congressperson at http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
and go to the listing for US Congressman.
Jobs Bill Not an "Option" for Middle Class
The most recent jobs bill in Congress, H.R. 4213, has
a lot to offer. Along with helping save and create jobs,
it finally closes loopholes that allow the wealthiest
Americans to pay lower taxes than the rest of us (a
lower income tax rate than your average steelworker!)
and that encourage companies to move overseas (avoiding
taxes and taking away some of our best manufacturing
jobs).
To the many Congressmen who have complained that
America can't afford more job creation, we ask this: if
a jobs bill will increase revenue through closing
loopholes; if it will generate more economic activity,
by ensuring that the out-of-work middle class has a
paycheck (either a meager unemployment check, or a new
job) to spend in the local economy; if it will stop
encouraging companies to take even more jobs overseas;
how can you vote no?
A vote against this bill is a vote against jobs.
Period. There is no other option.
For more information on the bill, check out the
Economic Policy Institute's
analysis.
In Other News...
The Budget Closer to Home
Yesterday, when the State economist announced a
gaping hole in the budget, the Governor flatly stated
that there would be layoffs.
But what do layoffs really mean for Oregon? Each laid
off worker is another person on unemployment. It's
another person contributing less to the economy as they
cut back spending to just the necessities. And it's
another person paying less in taxes the next year. It
means one less teacher at a child's school. One less
person processing unemployment claims, so you'll have to
wait on the phone a little bit longer. And one less case
worker helping a child keep on track to get the services
they need.
Without more federal help for desperate state
budgets, and with most agencies already stretched to
their limits, there may be no other choices. But as we
read articles about layoffs and are told there is no
alternative we need to keep in mind what that really
means - both for the people who are laid off, and for
Oregon as we struggle to pull out of the recession
without too many long-term scars.
New NY Law Holds Employers Accountable for
Bullying
Many states have tried to address workplace bullying,
but New York may be the first state to pass a
comprehensive law that not only holds employers
accountable for their own actions, but also for the
actions of their other employees.
The bill would allow workers to file civil suits
against employers if they were bullied, financially,
physically or economically, by a coworker or supervisor.
It applies to all businesses, regardless of how large or
small. And - it passed New York's State Senate with
bipartisan support!
Is workplace bullying an issue in Oregon? We've seen
legislation introduced to address workplace bullying,
but none of the bills have gone anywhere. Are employers
already addressing the issue? Are we generally nicer at
work? Or are people just too afraid to report what's
going on?
Since the Bush administration pushed the Central American Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA) through Congress in 2005, Guatemala has become the second
most dangerous country for trade unionists in Latin America, trailing only
Colombia, according to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
The ITUC reported nine trade unionists were murdered in 2008, in addition
to two trade unionists murdered in 2007. In the two years leading up to
CAFTAs approval, no trade unionists were murdered in Guatemala. According
to the ITUCs 2009
Annual Survey:
the situation [in Guatemala] has worsened for
trade unionists. Anti-union violence is constant, with assassinations,
threats, harassment, shootings at peoples homes, raids and attacks on union
offices, and assaults and harassment of trade union leaders and their
families.
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) is urging her colleagues join her in a
letter to Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom calling on him to end the
continued exploitation and
violence against workers and unions.
The U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP) is asking
worker justice activists to contact their House members today and urge them
to sign on to the Sanchez letter that is scheduled to be delivered Wednesday
to Colom. (Click
here to find out from USLEAP how you can take action and help Guatemalan
workers.)
Last year, the AFL-CIO and six Guatemalan unions filed a
CAFTA complaint with the U.S. Department of Labors Office of Trade and
Labor Affairs, calling on the Bush administration to demand the Guatemalan
government take all measures necessary to end the violence and oppression of
trade unionists.
But
this past January, just days before Bush left office, the Trade and
Labor Affairs office issued a report that confirmed the charges in the
complaint, plus additional more serious rights violations. But it took no
action. In essence, the Guatemalan government was given a six-month
reprieve, if it promised to address the issues.
In June, the AFL-CIO
Solidarity Center
released a report, Justice
for All: The Struggle for Worker Rights in Guatemala, that chronicles
the long history of repression against workers in Guatemala and the
continuing climate of violence, the need for labor law reform, the
prevalence of ethnic and gender discrimination and child labor violations.
The
Employee Free Choice Act is going to get
some major face time with the American public
in the coming weeks.
A new grassroots campaign,
Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act, gets
under way next week and coincides with
stepped-up mobilization action planned for the
upcoming congressional Easter recess.
The Faces campaign features
new billboards and building banners that will be
displayed throughout Washington, D.C., and in
states across the country. The billboards and
50-foot-tall building banners feature union
members, along with a quote from the workers
about why the Employee Free Choice Act is vital
for all workers to restore their freedom to form
unions and bargain for a better life.
In the banner adorning the
AFL-CIO building in Washington, D.C., Chinazo
Okolo, a member of Communications Workers of
America (CWA)
Local 3403, says she wants the Employee Free
Choice Act to become law because
I
want the economy to work for everyone.
Next week, the workers featured on the banners
and billboards will join union leaders, Sens.
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Tom Harkin
(D-Iowa), Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), West
Wing actors Martin Sheen and Bradley
Whitford on Capitol Hill to highlight the new
campaign.
Meanwhile around the country,
activists are gearing up for the April 6-17
congressional recess, arranging visits with
their lawmakers in their home offices and
planning events to build support for the
Employee Free Choice Act. Be sure to check back
for updates on those grassroots actions.
Barack Obama speaks to workers last fall on
the campaign trail.
Although the focus on the Employee Free Choice
Act is on the U.S. House and the Senate, its important to
remember the reason were closer than ever to passing this
critical bill is because working people turned out in huge
numbers to elect a president who will sign it into law. We got a
fresh reminder of that commitment yesterday when Barack Obama
paid a visit to Costa Mesa, Calif., to discuss the economy.
In his comments at the Costa Mesa
town hall meeting, Obama pointed out that making it easier
for workers to form unions is critical to making the economy
work for everyone again.
Robert Balgenorth, president of the Building
and Construction Trades Council of California, was among the
attendees, and in a question and answer session, Balgenorth
criticized the Bush administrations failure to enforce
prevailing wage laws and other protections for workers. Obama
pointed to these protections as key to strengthening the middle
classand added that workers also must have the freedom to form
unions if were going to build an economy thats sustainable in
the long term:
We think it is
important that unions have the opportunity to organize
themselvesthe business press says thats anti-business and
whenever I hear that Im always reminded of what Henry Ford said
when he first started building the Model T, and he was paying
his workers really well. And somebody asked him, they said, Why
are you paying your workers so well? He said, Well, if I dont
pay them well, they wont be able to buy a car.
part of the
problem with our economy, and the way it was growing, was that
wages and incomes for ordinary working families were flat for
the entire decade. Now, I dont need to tell you this because
youve experienced it in your own lives. Youve just barely kept
up with inflation while people at the very topwere seeing all
the benefits.
When I say that we
should make it easier for unions to organize, and observe
Davis-Bacon [rules that ensure workers on federally funded
building projects are paid a fair wage], all Im trying to do is
to restore some balance to our economy so that middle-class
families who are working hardshould be able to save, buy a
home, go on a vacation once in a while. They should be able to
save for retirement, send their kids to college, thats not too
much to ask for. Thats the American dream, and the only way we
get there is if we have bottom-up economic growth instead of
top-down economic growth.
It should be no surprise at this point that
Obama will work to protect the freedom to form unions and
bargainafter all, both
Obama and Vice President
Joe Biden have pledged their support over the past monthbut
its a delight every time its reaffirmed. When the Employee
Free Choice Act passes, we have a president who will sign it
into law. Its what millions of workers fought for last year,
and its what we need to turn around our economy
Last week we told you that anti-union forces
are already mounting attacks on pro-working
family candidates for their support of the
federal The Employee Free Choice Act. Next week
we'll tell you more about who's behind these
attacks. But, first things first. Recent surveys
of union members show nearly half of all union
workers have never heard of The Employee Free
Choice Act. So when you are done reading this
email, pass it on to friends, family and other
union members.
The Problem.
America's working people are struggling to
make ends meet these days and our middle class
is disappearing. The best opportunity working
people have to get ahead economically is by
uniting to bargain with their employers for
better wages and benefits.
But the current system for forming unions and
bargaining is broken. Today, CEOs get contracts
wouldn't dream of working without a contract to
protect their wages and benefits. But many deny
their employees the same opportunity. Although
U.S. and international laws are supposed to
protect workers' freedom to belong to unions,
employers routinely harass, intimidate, coerce
and even fire workers struggling to gain a union
so they can bargain for better lives.
Unfortunately, U.S. labor law is powerless to
stop them. Employees are on an uneven playing
field from the first moment they begin exploring
whether they want to form a union.
The Solution.
The Employee Free Choice Act, supported by a
bipartisan coalition in Congress, would level
the playing field for workers and employers and
help rebuild America's middle class. This
legislation passed the U.S. House of
Representatives, but died in the U.S. Senate.
That's why changing the make-up of the U.S.
Senate is so critical in this next election. We
must elect a pro-working family senator who will
cast the right vote on this important bill.
What is the Employee Free Choice Act?
Ten Key Facts.
2. Too few ever get that chance because
employers routinely block their efforts to
form unions and our current legal system is too
broken to stop them. As many as one-quarter of
employers illegally fire workers who try to form
unions.
3. The Employee Free Choice Act would give
workers a fair chance to form unions to improve
their lives by:
Allowing them to form unions by signing
cards authorizing union representation.
Providing mediation and arbitration for
first-contract disputes.
Establishing stronger penalties for
violation of employee rights when workers
seek to form a union and during
first-contract negotiations.
4. In the 110th Congress, the Employee Free
Choice Act has widespread support.
5. More than three-quarters of Americans--77
percent--support strong laws that give employees
the freedom to make their own choice about
whether to have a union in their workplace
without interference from management.
6. Allowing working people to choose for
themselves whether to have a union is the key
step toward rebuilding America's middle class.
Union membership brings better wages and
benefits and a real voice on the job. It's no
accident that the 25-year decline in workers'
wages in our country has paralleled a 25-year
slide in the size of the America's unions.
7. The Employee Free Choice Act would put
democracy back into the workplace. Majority
sign-up would ensure the decision whether to
form a union was made by majority choice, not by
the employer unilaterally.
8. Workers can still vote under the Employee
Free Choice Act. At any time, if 30 percent of
the workers want an election, they can have one.
And once they have a union, workers also vote to
elect their union representatives.
9. The Employee Free Choice Act has the
support of hundreds of respected organizations
and individuals, major religious denominations,
academics and civil and human rights groups and
others.
10. The AFL-CIO union movement is working in
many ways to restore good jobs, health care and
retirement security, but passing the Employee
Free Choice Act is our top priority because we
cannot create balance for working people or
rebuild the middle class unless workers
genuinely have the freedom to form unions for a
better life.
"The spread of evil is the
symptom of a vacuum. whenever evil wins, it is only
by default: by the moral failure of those who evade
the fact that there can be no compromise on basic
principles."
Ayn Rand
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