Act Now!: Stop todays hanging of a teacher/unionist in Iran!

Act NOW!! Don't let a unionist die!! Spread the word, sign the e-action e-mail.

From Eric Lee over at Labourstart

Act NOW!
Iran: Save the life of Farzad Kamangar

Education International (EI) has been informed that Farzad Kamangar, the Iranian Kurdish teacher and social worker sentenced to death on "absolutely zero evidence" according to his lawyer, could be hanged on Wednesday 26 November 2008.

According to several reliable sources, he has been taken from his cell 121 in ward 209 of Tehran’s Evin prison in preparation for execution. Jail security officers are said to have told him he is about to be executed and they are making fun of him, calling him a martyr.

The Revolutionary Court issued the death sentence against Kamangar on 25 February 2008. His lawyer has said: "Nothing in Kamangar’s judicial files and records demonstrates any links to the charges brought against him." Kamangar was cleared of all charges during the investigation process. The last time Kamangar was seen, he was at the health clinic of Evin prison and his physical condition was poor. Witnesses testify that he has been beaten again. Kamangar has not been allowed to see his lawyer or family members for the past two months.

EI has been appealing to the Iranian authorities to commute Kamangar's death sentence and ensure his case is reviewed fairly.

Now, EI is once again appealing to Iranian judicial authorities to halt the execution. EI is also asking members of the international community urgently to intervene.

Click here to ACT NOW!!

We can save the life of a fellow unionist in another country if we Act Now!!!

Gotta run to work.I signed it. It only take a minute.

Senate must include real credit card reform in bailout package!

From our friends at Consumers Union, the non-profit publishers of Consumer Reports

Senate must include real credit card reform in bailout package!

Strong legislation to make credit cards more fair to you just passed the House and now must pass the Senate. Tell your Senator to include these reforms in any rescue package it passes!

The Senate will vote THIS WEEK on a rescue package. The credit card reform bill should be included in any package that helps financial institutions out of the mess that some of them helped create.

The provisions passed by the House this week prevent credit card companies from arbitrarily jacking up interest rates on your card debt, and provide for a fairer distribution of your payments to costly, high-interest debt first.

Only days remain before Congress breaks for the year. Tell your Senators to support this provision now!

Get E-Active, Send your message to Congress today

100,000 E-Mails sent. Vote No Bailout

"Today God said, "could you take my name off the bill" - Jay Leno

VoteNoBailout.org
100,000 letters sent to elected officials in 24 hours opposing bailout legislation

VoteNoBailout.org was launched on September 22, 2008, in response to the Bush Administration’s attempt to rush Bailout legislation through Congress.

In an astonishing response to its appeal, more than 100,000 letters were sent to elected officials within the first 24 hours through the VoteNoBailout.org email advocacy mechanism. People are circulating this appeal all over the internet on web sites, blogs and between individuals.

A sample of the VoteNoBailout.org letter reads:

“Congress has no right to give the White House and its Secretary of the Treasury the power to transfer the people's money to the richest bankers in the country. Vote No to the Bailout legislation. The Bailout legislation is being rammed through Congress in a matter of days.

“This is an illegal power grab by the White House and their richest friends on Wall Street. The Legislation allows the Treasury Department to appoint the same bankers who created the crisis to administer and dictate the use of trillions of our tax dollars. It is also one of the biggest transfers of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich in the history of the United States.

“Congress should help families stay in their homes. Wealthy executives should be forced to disgorge their obscene profits, fees and bonuses that made them ultra-rich while they ran the economy into the ground.”

VoteNoBailout.org was initiated as a project of ImpeachBush.org. There will be daily updates for the media about the number of people who have sent letters to Congress opposing this unprecedented handover of the people’s money to the richest bankers and the assumptions of vast, new powers by the Executive Branch of government.

Hillary and Chuck got my message

550,000 sign Employee Free Choice Act petition

Wow, I haven't even submitted the physical signatures from my own home local yet, this is great news, I gathered a few from the union hall last week and noticed that the membership is taking this serious, not only have the union members signed, but there is also family members and friends signatures for the measure, here's the latest info from AFL-CIO now

550,000 Sign on in Million-Member Effort for Employee Free Choice
The union movement’s nationwide drive to get at least 1 million signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act is past the halfway mark and is growing rapidly.

In just five months, more than 550,000 people have signed postcards to tell the new president and Congress that working families across America want them to immediately enact the legislation.

The cards will be presented to the new Congress after the November elections in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. (You can show your support for the Employee Free Choice Act by clicking here to sign our online card.)

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is among the most active groups building support for the bill. As of Aug. 20, some 37,101 CWA members had signed the postcards, as local unions and activists gear up for actions centered around the final two months of the 2008 elections.

This week, members of IUE-CWA Local 83761 sent more than 900 cards. Local union stewards had distributed the cards among members at a GE appliance plant in Louisville, Ky., where employers have threatened to close the plant. More than 40 percent of the local’s members have signed up.

Says William Spires, president of Local 83761:

Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is key to helping us organize and build bargaining strength in our troubled industry. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to decide freely how they want to choose a union without employer interference.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council voted in March to launch the Million-Member Mobilization. In a statement, the council lays out the urgent need to pass the bill:

America’s workers must regain their bargaining power to maintain and expand the middle class. The American middle class was created by the ability of workers to form unions and bargain collectively after the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935.

More and more Americans are beginning to understand that collective bargaining can promote broadly shared economic growth and prosperity, higher wages, better jobs, better and more extensive health care coverage, retirement security and respect for workers on the job.

You can sign the petition by clicking the image below

LIUNA urges you to sign on to "Build America so America works"

From LIUNA, the Laborers International Union Of North America, comes a petition to Congress urging investment in the infrastructure of the United States, to save money in the long run, create good jobs and help to create a better tomorrow for generations to come.


From The LIUNA Action Network:

The United States is the nation that has achieved the most advanced engineering pursuits to benefit its people and the world. We are the first to put a man on the moon, to build a super-highway system, to create unrivaled air and rail transportation, and first-class public spaces, such as schools. But today, we can no longer be assured of crossing the Mississippi River safely, of protecting families from failing dams or levees or of providing a transportation system that works.

* Americans spend 3.5 billion hours a year stuck in traffic on our highways, which due to years of neglect now require $94 billion a year in maintenance and improvement costs alone - more than double what is currently allocated, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. If we maintain and upgrade our highway system, we can save significantly and get to work or pick up our children on time.

* At least 31 percent of our country's bridges are structurally deficient leading to tragedies such as the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. We can prevent these kinds of tragedies by repairing our bridges.

* Approximately $30 billion is needed to renovate, repair and build new classrooms in our public schools. We can invest in future generations by taking care of our schools.

* Across America there are 3,500 unsafe dams and 50 percent of waterway locks are functionally obsolete leading to deadly breaches such as what occurred in New Orleans. We have identified problems and we have the ability to fix them so that natural disasters aren?t exacerbated.

* Upgrades to the nation's electric transmission system are occurring at only a third of the rate of increased demand, according to the Consumer Energy Council of America. To increase domestic energy production by 30 percent, we can invest in traditional energy sources and biofuel refineries, wind turbines, ethanol production and clean coal technologies.

* Demand for railway shipping is expected to increase 50 percent in the next 12 years, far outstripping our nation's current rail capacity and threatening to divert rail shipping to our already congested highway system. We can free our highways by rebuilding our railways.

For the sake of America's competitive place in the world, for our economy and good jobs, in order to reverse the downward slide in our lifestyles and as an investment for future generations, I want to add my voice to that of the half-million working men and women of the Laborers' International Union of North America in urging Congress to make building America a national priority and redirect our nation's resources to doing so.

You can get involved and let your voice be heard by going to the site and getting E-Active, just click the image below to get started

Tell Bain Capitol to put our children first, Get E-Active, parents and workers to rally this Thursday

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Can a private equity firm be trusted to take care of your children? Click here now to protect our kids!

Starting this year, tens of thousands of parents around the country will have no other choice. In June Bright Horizons, the third largest childcare center in the US, was sold to Bain Capital, a major private equity firm, with a poor track record of bankruptcy, layoffs and cost-cutting.

The $1.3 billion buyout endangers more than 600 centers serving over 70,000 children. It is no secret that private equity firms make money by saddling the companies they buy with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt. Just four years after it bought KB Toys, Bain Capital filed for bankruptcy, walking away with a 370 percent return on its investment.

Click here now to tell Bain Capital to that kids deserve better.

From Metro DC Labor Council

WORKERS, PARENTS RALLY FOR QUALITY CHILD CARE THURS

Child care workers, parents and labor activists will rally Thursday at 11:30A to save quality childcare in the District. The workers - who work for Bright Horizons, the third largest child care center in the US - are fighting potential layoffs and cost-cutting measures after the purchase of Bright Horizons by private equity firm Bain Capital earlier this year.

"Companies bought out by Bain Capital have faced layoffs, cutbacks, closures, and bankruptcy while Bain came out ahead," says the Tell Bain to Put Kids First website.

"We're worried that Bain Capital won't do the right things for Bright Horizons children, parents, and staff unless we hold them accountable."

Workers and parents will demand that Bain invest in high-quality childcare, give parents and workers a say in decisions affecting them and their children, and commit to being open about its plans for Bright Horizons. For more info, click here.

You can read more by clicking the link's above

NY concrete drivers walk, Peterbuilt workers locked out, USW massive Vegas solidarity with Taxi driver demonstration, LIUNA "Build America" petition

• Drivers’ Strike Stalls New York City Construction - 7/2/08 - NY Times

The two sides engaged in intense bargaining until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at Local 282’s headquarters in Lake Success, N.Y., but then the union informed the concrete companies that it was walking out. The contract expired at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

“Teamsters Local 282 regrets that it was unable to reach an agreement,” Bruce Levine, the lead lawyer for the union, said in a statement. “Local 282 is particularly disappointed because in the past month, it has succeeded in reaching innovative, far-reaching and fair agreements with hundreds of employers” that handle demolition as well as lumber, steel and other non-concrete building materials.

Construction is continuing at nonunion projects, which are generally smaller than the unionized sites affected by the strike. Work continued at some unionized sites where all the concrete had been poured, allowing laborers to do interior work or work on heating and air-conditioning.

Mr. Greco, who is also the secretary-treasurer of the Greco Brothers Concrete Corporation, said that under the expired contract, drivers earned $33.11 an hour, rising to $59.01 when health insurance, pension contributions and other benefits are included.

He said the union earlier this week demanded raises of $5 an hour in the overall compensation package each year for three years, although the union did not specify how much would go to wages and how much to benefits..

Mr. Greco said that during Monday’s bargaining, Gary La Barbera, Local 282’s president, reduced that demand to $3.50 an hour.

“They didn’t give us a chance to answer the $3.50 package before they walked out,” Mr. Greco said.

That $3.50 would represent a 6 percent increase in the drivers’ $59-an-hour compensation package.

“That is absolutely not a correct number or a correct version of events,” said a member of the union’s bargaining team, who insisted on anonymity because union officials said they would not negotiate in the news media. “And I’m surprised that a member of management’s bargaining team would be saying these things in public.”

Local 282 had long been notorious because the Gambino crime family controlled it for decades. But government officials placed it into trusteeship, and Mr. La Barbera was brought in to help root out corruption. Government officials say the cleanup has been quite successful.
More at the link above, article by Steven Greenhouse, Picture by Rob Bennett

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• Peterbilt workers still locked out - 06/30/08 - Workers Independent News
  

A lockout of United Auto Worker members continues at a Peterbilt plant in Madison, Tennessee. The workers have been locked out since last Monday. Their contract expiring on Friday, June 20. The two sides have been unable to reach an agreement. The local representing the workers has expressed that it would like to sit down and continue negotiations, but no new discussions have been set. The company is asking workers to pay 25 percent of health insurance premiums, a move that could triple premiums for some workers. The company has offered to pay each worker a $1,200 bonus when the new contract is ratified, in exchange for a wage freeze until 2010. The contract would also institute a two-tier wage structure where new hires would start at much lower rate than predecessors.

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• Ignorant America: Just How Stupid Are We? - 7/2/08 - AlterNet
  

Today, conservatives argue that the Social Security Trust Fund is a fiction. They are correct. The money was spent. They helped spend it.

To this debate about Social Security -- which, once one understands what has been happening, is actually quite absorbing -- the public has largely been an indifferent spectator. A surprising 2001 Pew study found that just 19% of Americans understand that the United States ever ran a surplus at all, however defined, in the 1990s or 2000's. And only 50% of Americans, according to an Annenberg study in 2004, understand that President Bush favors privatizing Social Security. Polls indicate that people are scared that the system is going bust, no doubt thanks in part to Bush's gloom-and-doom prognostications. But they haven't the faintest idea what going bust means. And in fact, the system can be kept going without fundamental change simply by raising the cap on taxed income and pushing back the retirement age a few years.
Rick Shenkman, Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter, New York Times bestselling author, and associate professor of history at George Mason University, is the founder and editor of History News Network, a website that features articles by historians on current events. This essay is adapted from chapter two of his new book, Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth about the American Voter (Basic Books, 2008). His observations about the 2008 election can be followed on his blog, "How Stupid?" His recent appearance on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" can be viewed by clicking here.

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• USW Convention Delegates Support Vegas Taxi Drivers -7/1/08- USW website

Thousands of USW members chanting “No Justice, No Peace” lined Las Vegas Boulevard outside the union’s convention hall this morning to support union taxi cab drivers who have been working without a labor contract.

USW members waving yellow placards lined the boulevard to show their support for the 5,000 member Las Vegas Alliance for Taxi and Limousine Drivers and to raise the heat in stalled contract negotiations.
The alliance is a partnership of the USW and the Industrial Technical Professional Employees Union (ITPE) local, an affiliate of the Office and Professional Employees International Union.

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• Sign the Petition to Build America - 6/30/08- CTWConnect
  

It's no secret that America's infrastructure is crumbling. But, you may wonder, is anyone doing anything about it? And is there any way you can help?

Someone is, and you can. The Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) has launched a new campaign called "Build America So America Works" that's calling for the Federal government to finally do something about our crumbling infrastructure. And to promote awareness of the campaign, they've just launched this new TV spot

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• Worker Abuse Not Just North Carolina's Problem -7/1/08- Women, Unions, and Our Stories

According to a press release sent out by the Justice at Smithfield campaign:

Washington, DC Councilmembers Phil Mendelson, Muriel Bowser, Jack Evans, Harry Thomas, Marion Barry, Kwame Brown, Jim Graham and Tommy Wells will introduce a Sense of the Council resolution on Smithfield Foods today that asks area supermarkets, corner stores and other establishments to stop stocking Smithfield pork and other meat products.

Washington, DC is one of the largest markets for products from the Smithfield Tar Heel, North Carolina plant--which has been implicated in abuse of its workers. The DC council members and supports first pledged to help on June 20th, after a kickoff rally on the 19th for the boycott and ad campaign. As the Washington Post reported then:

"Our work here is to make Smithfield uncomfortable," council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) said in an interview.

Here's one of the television ads the campaign has created:

You can find out more about the abuses at Smithfield, Tar Heel, and sign up to help at http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/.

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Also take a look at "Pic- Links for the hell of it" - for more recent labor headlines

Trade Unionist in Turkey, Meryem Özsögüt, jailed for 6 months, get E-Active to help

Got this from Eric Lee over at Labourstart, doing my part, please pass it along.

This message will be very brief and to the point.

The Turkish government has jailed a woman trade unionist, Meryem Özsögüt, and has kept her in detention for nearly six months. Meryem is a leader of the public sector union SES, and we've been asked by Public Services International (PSI) to launch a big online campaign demanding her release. For more details and to add your signature, please click here now.

This campaign will not take off, and we will not secure Meryem's release, unless we can mobilize thousands of our members around the world.

Please do what you can to help this campaign go viral -- forward it to your email lists, post information on your union websites, pass out flyers at events, use new tools like Twitter, Facebook and blogs to spread the word.

Meryem needs our help. I know that I can count on all of you.

Eric Lee

Blog power for Building Bridges: Radio's labor and community report

Been working on a site for Ken Nash at Building Bridges, he has been adding his audio broadcasts to Union Review for quite some time and I along with Richard had the pleasure to meet him in person. I explained that a blog here at Google can be a web page.

It can also help to embed the broadcasts which are archived at the Internet Archive.

So I took a little time and created a test site for him to look at. Take a look, vote on the poll there and let us know what you think.

Tired of paying to leave your cell phone company for another?

From the E-Mail:

Tired of paying to leave your cell phone company for another?

That's not how competition is supposed to work.

Vent your frustration and make a difference!

This week, the FCC meets to discuss those hefty early termination fees--as high at $250. They need to hear from customers, not just companies.

The stakes are high. The FCC could rein in these fees, but the companies want a sweetheart deal in return. In exchange for fee reductions, the industry wants to take away your right to take cell phone companies to court.

We got this far because frustrated cell customers have already gone to court, and they might win. By taking away your rights in the future, we may end up with a worse deal in the long run.

Tell the FCC to rein in these excessive early termination penalties without taking away your rights.

Isn’t it bad enough we have to buy a new phone when changing wireless companies? Why do we have to pay a penalty when we leave, even if the service was bad?

Tell the FCC cell phone companies shouldn’t get special legal treatment just for giving consumers a fair shake!

Finally, please forward this email to those you know with cell phones, so they can comment to the FCC along with you!

Tired of paying to leave your cell phone company for another?

From the E-Mail:

Tired of paying to leave your cell phone company for another?

That's not how competition is supposed to work.

Vent your frustration and make a difference!

This week, the FCC meets to discuss those hefty early termination fees--as high at $250. They need to hear from customers, not just companies.

The stakes are high. The FCC could rein in these fees, but the companies want a sweetheart deal in return. In exchange for fee reductions, the industry wants to take away your right to take cell phone companies to court.

We got this far because frustrated cell customers have already gone to court, and they might win. By taking away your rights in the future, we may end up with a worse deal in the long run.

Tell the FCC to rein in these excessive early termination penalties without taking away your rights.

Isn’t it bad enough we have to buy a new phone when changing wireless companies? Why do we have to pay a penalty when we leave, even if the service was bad?

Tell the FCC cell phone companies shouldn’t get special legal treatment just for giving consumers a fair shake!

Finally, please forward this email to those you know with cell phones, so they can comment to the FCC along with you!

Todays news from Union City

Union City is the Labor Council in Washington DC, when you think of the fact that most of the International unions offices, as well as most of our Federal Government offices reside in Washington DC, you can imagine how much is going on there on a daily basis. Their E-Mail newsletter helps keep me in the know, heres the latest E-Mail and they send me one daily. It's like the newspaper for unionists. You can subscribe to Union City by clicking this link

There are also many other publications on the AFL-CIO Working Families E-Activist Network
that you can sign up and get delivered to your inbox.

You can even get the Joe's Union Review Newsletter by entering your E-mail address into "Get updates in your inbox" on the right hand side, so heres todays news from DC Labor:

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TODAY'S LABOR NEWS Labor Updates: MontCo Profs & Delta Workers Walking & Talking Healthcare in NoVA DC Cops Call Fenty "Anti-Union" CWA and Verizon Resume Early Negotiations NLRB Upholds Trump Plaza Dealers' Vote for UAW Weekend Labor History ON THE LINE THIS WEEKEND Friday, June 6 9:45A WPFW's Gloria Minott "Metro Watch" Radio Show with John Boardman Friday, June 6 10A AFGE's "Inside Government" Radio Show Friday, June 6 10:30A AFL-CIO Organizing Training Saturday, June 7 9A NoVA Health Care Walks

Friday, June 6, 2008

LABOR UPDATES: Union Victory for MontCo Profs: Hundreds of part-time faculty at Montgomery College won a months-long battle to unionize this week (DC Jobs with Justice Corner: PT MontCo Profs Organize 4/24/08 UC), voting overwhelmingly for SEIU Local 500, reported Marcus Moore in Wednesday's Gazette. "The opportunities we now have to win improvements for ourselves and our students are endless," said part-time faculty member Terilee Edwards-Hewitt. The vote is the first successful unionization drive by part-time instructors in Maryland, reported Moore. Delta Workers Vow to Continue Campaign After Failed Union Bid: Delta flight attendants (Flight Attendants Hold Union Vote at Delta 5/9/08 UC) will continue to fight for a union voice following a worker vote last week that fell short because of an intense voter suppression effort by Delta management, reports the CWA District 2 website. "Managers plastered crew rooms with posters urging flight attendants to throw out their official voting information" and "prevented workers from exercising their right to post pro-union materials in crew lounges," reports District 2. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) plans to file interference charges against Delta. Workers are optimistic, though, that another union vote - following the probable merger between Delta and Northwest - will be successful. Click here to read the full story.

WALKING & TALKING HEALTHCARE IN NOVA: Northern Virginia activists will door-knock on the healthcare issue tomorrow in Northern Virginia Central Labor Council's health care walk. "We will have doughnuts, bagels, juice and coffee in the morning and Iron Workers General Secretary Walt Wise and AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox will do a send-off," says Northern Virginia CLC President Dan Duncan. Lunch will be provided after the walk. For more info or to RSVP, contact Roxy Mejia or Steve Mendenhall at the NoVa CLC 703-750-3633.

DC COPS CALL FENTY "ANTI-UNION": Calling DC Mayor Adrian Fenty "anti-union," DC police union official Kristopher Baumann said Fenty "has shown absolute disdain for front line workers." Contract negotiations between the District and DC police officers are heating up after what Baumann called "outrageous" contract proposals from the city, reported WTOP Radio Monday. "Negotiators for the city have not acted in good faith, they're trying to run over the frontline officer and destroy the union," Baumann told WTOP. City proposals would take away guaranteed pay increases, reduce hazardous duty pay, technical work, and clothing allowances, give commanders more power in determining overtime compensation for officers, weaken workers' due process rights and rights to appeal disciplinary actions, reported WTOP.

CWA AND VERIZON RESUME EARLY NEGOTIATIONS: Talks between CWA and Verizon resumed last week, according to a report in the CWA 2108 News. "CWA Districts 1, 2 and 13, together with the IBEW, have agreed to resume early negotiations with Verizon, covering the Verizon 'East' contract," says a report in the June edition of the 2108 News. The contract, covering 55,000 CWA members, expires on August 2. "The parties initially engaged in early contract bargaining beginning last November but the talks were suspended earlier this year. Verizon has continued to agree to limit its bargaining agenda to health care while the unions have an unrestricted agenda and the discussions will cover the ability of members to have access to jobs of the future in the growth areas of the company." CWA is bargaining jointly with the IBEW.

NLRB UPHOLDS TRUMP PLAZA DEALERS' VOTE FOR UAW: More than a year after they voted for a union, dealers at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., finally can celebrate their victory. The National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) last week certified the UAW as their union. On June 21, a united labor movement, backed by community supporters, will hold a major demonstration in downtown Atlantic City to demand that casino owners end their stalling tactics and come to the bargaining table. Click here for details on buses from DC. "We've been trying to get to the bargaining table for over a year," said Trump Plaza dealer Doug Migliore. "Now we can move forward to get a contract." Click here for the complete story by James Parks on the AFL-CIO Now Weblog.

WEEKEND LABOR HISTORY: Speculator mine disaster. 164 killed at Butte, MT (6/6/1917); A general strike by some 12,000 autoworkers and others in Lansing, MI. shuts down the city for a month in what was to become known as the city’s “Labor Holiday.” The strike was precipitated by the arrest of nine workers, including the wife of the auto workers local union president: the arrest left three children in the couple’s home unattended (6/6/1937); Labor Party founding convention opens in Cleveland, OH (6/6/1996); Militia sent to Cripple Creek, CO, to suppress Western Federation of Miners strike (6/7/1904); Sole performance of Pageant of the Patterson Strike, created and performed by 1,000 mill workers from the silk industry strike, New York City (6/7/1913); Unemployed riot in London (6/8/1886); A battle between the Militia and striking miners at Dunnville, CO ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later (6/8/1904); More info & ammo for unionists is available online from Union Communication Services and from the 2008 Slingshot Collective Organizer booklet.

Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit the Council as the source. Published by the Metropolitan Washington Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members. JOSLYN N. WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT. Story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space, and should be directed to:

Editor: Chris Garlock/Assistant Editor: Andy Richards/streetheat@dclabor.org/Voice: 202-974-8153/Fax: 202-974-8152

Todays news from Union City

Union City is the Labor Council in Washington DC, when you think of the fact that most of the International unions offices, as well as most of our Federal Government offices reside in Washington DC, you can imagine how much is going on there on a daily basis. Their E-Mail newsletter helps keep me in the know, heres the latest E-Mail and they send me one daily. It's like the newspaper for unionists. You can subscribe to Union City by clicking this link

There are also many other publications on the AFL-CIO Working Families E-Activist Network
that you can sign up and get delivered to your inbox.

You can even get the Joe's Union Review Newsletter by entering your E-mail address into "Get updates in your inbox" on the right hand side, so heres todays news from DC Labor:

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TODAY'S LABOR NEWS Labor Updates: MontCo Profs & Delta Workers Walking & Talking Healthcare in NoVA DC Cops Call Fenty "Anti-Union" CWA and Verizon Resume Early Negotiations NLRB Upholds Trump Plaza Dealers' Vote for UAW Weekend Labor History ON THE LINE THIS WEEKEND Friday, June 6 9:45A WPFW's Gloria Minott "Metro Watch" Radio Show with John Boardman Friday, June 6 10A AFGE's "Inside Government" Radio Show Friday, June 6 10:30A AFL-CIO Organizing Training Saturday, June 7 9A NoVA Health Care Walks

Friday, June 6, 2008

LABOR UPDATES: Union Victory for MontCo Profs: Hundreds of part-time faculty at Montgomery College won a months-long battle to unionize this week (DC Jobs with Justice Corner: PT MontCo Profs Organize 4/24/08 UC), voting overwhelmingly for SEIU Local 500, reported Marcus Moore in Wednesday's Gazette. "The opportunities we now have to win improvements for ourselves and our students are endless," said part-time faculty member Terilee Edwards-Hewitt. The vote is the first successful unionization drive by part-time instructors in Maryland, reported Moore. Delta Workers Vow to Continue Campaign After Failed Union Bid: Delta flight attendants (Flight Attendants Hold Union Vote at Delta 5/9/08 UC) will continue to fight for a union voice following a worker vote last week that fell short because of an intense voter suppression effort by Delta management, reports the CWA District 2 website. "Managers plastered crew rooms with posters urging flight attendants to throw out their official voting information" and "prevented workers from exercising their right to post pro-union materials in crew lounges," reports District 2. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) plans to file interference charges against Delta. Workers are optimistic, though, that another union vote - following the probable merger between Delta and Northwest - will be successful. Click here to read the full story.

WALKING & TALKING HEALTHCARE IN NOVA: Northern Virginia activists will door-knock on the healthcare issue tomorrow in Northern Virginia Central Labor Council's health care walk. "We will have doughnuts, bagels, juice and coffee in the morning and Iron Workers General Secretary Walt Wise and AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox will do a send-off," says Northern Virginia CLC President Dan Duncan. Lunch will be provided after the walk. For more info or to RSVP, contact Roxy Mejia or Steve Mendenhall at the NoVa CLC 703-750-3633.

DC COPS CALL FENTY "ANTI-UNION": Calling DC Mayor Adrian Fenty "anti-union," DC police union official Kristopher Baumann said Fenty "has shown absolute disdain for front line workers." Contract negotiations between the District and DC police officers are heating up after what Baumann called "outrageous" contract proposals from the city, reported WTOP Radio Monday. "Negotiators for the city have not acted in good faith, they're trying to run over the frontline officer and destroy the union," Baumann told WTOP. City proposals would take away guaranteed pay increases, reduce hazardous duty pay, technical work, and clothing allowances, give commanders more power in determining overtime compensation for officers, weaken workers' due process rights and rights to appeal disciplinary actions, reported WTOP.

CWA AND VERIZON RESUME EARLY NEGOTIATIONS: Talks between CWA and Verizon resumed last week, according to a report in the CWA 2108 News. "CWA Districts 1, 2 and 13, together with the IBEW, have agreed to resume early negotiations with Verizon, covering the Verizon 'East' contract," says a report in the June edition of the 2108 News. The contract, covering 55,000 CWA members, expires on August 2. "The parties initially engaged in early contract bargaining beginning last November but the talks were suspended earlier this year. Verizon has continued to agree to limit its bargaining agenda to health care while the unions have an unrestricted agenda and the discussions will cover the ability of members to have access to jobs of the future in the growth areas of the company." CWA is bargaining jointly with the IBEW.

NLRB UPHOLDS TRUMP PLAZA DEALERS' VOTE FOR UAW: More than a year after they voted for a union, dealers at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., finally can celebrate their victory. The National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) last week certified the UAW as their union. On June 21, a united labor movement, backed by community supporters, will hold a major demonstration in downtown Atlantic City to demand that casino owners end their stalling tactics and come to the bargaining table. Click here for details on buses from DC. "We've been trying to get to the bargaining table for over a year," said Trump Plaza dealer Doug Migliore. "Now we can move forward to get a contract." Click here for the complete story by James Parks on the AFL-CIO Now Weblog.

WEEKEND LABOR HISTORY: Speculator mine disaster. 164 killed at Butte, MT (6/6/1917); A general strike by some 12,000 autoworkers and others in Lansing, MI. shuts down the city for a month in what was to become known as the city’s “Labor Holiday.” The strike was precipitated by the arrest of nine workers, including the wife of the auto workers local union president: the arrest left three children in the couple’s home unattended (6/6/1937); Labor Party founding convention opens in Cleveland, OH (6/6/1996); Militia sent to Cripple Creek, CO, to suppress Western Federation of Miners strike (6/7/1904); Sole performance of Pageant of the Patterson Strike, created and performed by 1,000 mill workers from the silk industry strike, New York City (6/7/1913); Unemployed riot in London (6/8/1886); A battle between the Militia and striking miners at Dunnville, CO ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner. Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later (6/8/1904); More info & ammo for unionists is available online from Union Communication Services and from the 2008 Slingshot Collective Organizer booklet.

Material published in UNION CITY may be freely reproduced by any recipient; please credit the Council as the source. Published by the Metropolitan Washington Council, an AFL-CIO "Union City" Central Labor Council whose 200 affiliated union locals represent 150,000 area union members. JOSLYN N. WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT. Story suggestions, event announcements, campaign reports, Letters to the Editor and other material are welcome, subject to editing for clarity and space, and should be directed to:

Editor: Chris Garlock/Assistant Editor: Andy Richards/streetheat@dclabor.org/Voice: 202-974-8153/Fax: 202-974-8152

Quick post- 60 minutes on combustable dust this Sunday, Tammy Miser from Weekly Toll will appear

“Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust


Please excuse the commercial, I have no control of that

Tammy Miser has created a tremendous amount of awareness to the senseless deaths that occur due to the absence of OSHA standards with regard to explosive dust, the petition on the right hand side of this site is her idea. She runs the blog Weekly Toll and the USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities and she has testified in front of Congress. Word is that Tammy will be appearing this Sunday night on 60 Minutes lead story, "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?", the show will feature Carolyn Merritt, former CSB chair, Ed Foulke (OSHA) and Rep. George Miller

At least 13 people might still be alive today if industry and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration did more to stop dust explosions in America’s factories, says a former government safety official.

Carolyn Merritt, former head of the government's Chemical Safety Board, talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the deadly problem of combustible dust this Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

On 4/30/08, the House , with a lot of support by Education and Labor Chairman George Miller and many others, passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165

From The Gavel

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Take a look at the other stories I have done on this (I know for a fact that OSHA, The Dept. Of Labor, Senate and Congress have read them), a lot of sites and bloggers have helped spread the word and raise awareness. Please forgive me for not mentioning them all right now, I need sleep too.

Tammy Miser is helping workers, I admire her commitment and it shows the power of bloggers to change the world.

You can help, sign the petition on the right.

Quick post- 60 minutes on combustable dust this Sunday, Tammy Miser from Weekly Toll will appear

“Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust


Please excuse the commercial, I have no control of that

Tammy Miser has created a tremendous amount of awareness to the senseless deaths that occur due to the absence of OSHA standards with regard to explosive dust, the petition on the right hand side of this site is her idea. She runs the blog Weekly Toll and the USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities and she has testified in front of Congress. Word is that Tammy will be appearing this Sunday night on 60 Minutes lead story, "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?", the show will feature Carolyn Merritt, former CSB chair, Ed Foulke (OSHA) and Rep. George Miller

At least 13 people might still be alive today if industry and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration did more to stop dust explosions in America’s factories, says a former government safety official.

Carolyn Merritt, former head of the government's Chemical Safety Board, talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the deadly problem of combustible dust this Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

On 4/30/08, the House , with a lot of support by Education and Labor Chairman George Miller and many others, passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165

From The Gavel

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Take a look at the other stories I have done on this (I know for a fact that OSHA, The Dept. Of Labor, Senate and Congress have read them), a lot of sites and bloggers have helped spread the word and raise awareness. Please forgive me for not mentioning them all right now, I need sleep too.

Tammy Miser is helping workers, I admire her commitment and it shows the power of bloggers to change the world.

You can help, sign the petition on the right.

Stop Big Media: Huge Senate win!

second good news, E-Activism works, even if it takes a while, when the FCC on December 17th. 2007, went against 99% of American peoples wishes and overturned a rule that 1 company can not own more than one of either print, tv or radio in any one region, FreePress went to work, getting people like you and I involved in stressing to our Senators that we the people can not take this blatant disregard of our wishes. I wrote "Now Big Media can hurt workers better" at the FreePress Blog on Dec. 19th., the CWA and AFTRA joined in the fight

From the E-Mailbox

Dear Joseph, Just moments ago, by a near-unanimous vote, the Senate stood up to Big Media. They voted to throw out the FCC decision to let the largest media companies swallow up even more local media. This is simply an astounding victory, and it would not have happened without the massive grassroots effort by you and thousands of others who called their senators, sent more than a quarter million letters, posted thousands of pictures and stories on StopBigMedia.com, and testified at public hearings held by the FCC. It was your dedication that made today's Senate win possible. Today was a huge step forward, but there is still much to do. The fight against the FCC now moves to the House, where our elected representatives need to hear from us. President Bush has promised that he will try to veto this bill. But tonight the Senate and the American people have spoken with one voice. This historic vote sends a clear message that the only people who support more media consolidation are Big Media lobbyists and the White House. We are in this struggle to bring more minority ownership, diverse perspectives and independent voices to the media. We need to make media consolidation an election-year issue. And we need to start talking about how to break up the giant conglomerates. Corporate news today -- with its propaganda pundits, horse-race election coverage, and celebrity gossip -- undermines our democracy. We must continue to speak out and demand that the public airwaves be used to actually serve the public. In just three weeks, thousands of people will be gathering together in Minnesota to build the movement for better media. You can join them at the National Conference for Media Reform, just visit www.freepress.net/conference. For today, know that you played a key role in the fight for better media for all. Thank you, Josh Silver Executive Director Free Press Action Fund

StopBigMedia.com is a project of Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund, on the Web at www.freepress.net.

House passes Combustible Dust protections

With work from the labor federations, bloggers and the unfortunate accident at the Imperial Sugar facility, The US House has passed the Worker Protection Against Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Act, H.R. 5522 by a vote of 247-165. 165 Republicans voted against American workers.

According to The Gavel ( 4/30/08) :

This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.

Learn more in our current legislation section >>

The Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on March 12 with testimony from Tammy Miser, sister of a victim of a 2003 combustible dust explosion in Huntington, IN:

Tammy Miser: “Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.”

Thank you Tammy, for your hard work to memorialize workers who die on the job. I watched with great adoration your courage to speak in front of congress on behalf of workers.

Shawn did not die in vain. Through your persistence you have helped to change the world for the next worker, for that we are all grateful.

Thanks to Jesse Lee for posting this at The Gavel


To read more about Tammy Miser and her contributions, as well as those of Rep. George Miller, please take a look at the article "Our Memorial Day" by Esther Kaplan published this week at the Nation

Please sign the Combustible Dust Petition

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From the pages of USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities, a petition now being sponsored by the Change to Win Federation, please sign it, end the massacre that is the lackadaisical OSHA voluntary standard. Enough is enough, please sign the petition.

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H.R. 5522: Combustible Dust Explosion and Fire Prevention Act of 2008>>> You can view the entire hearing here: Click here to watch archived hearing webcast » It is long about a little over 2 hours but if your really interested in how the system works, what some of our congress men think about OSHA as of lately or combustible dust it is a must see. You can also see individual parts here

<<<Give Us Combustible Dust Standards Between 1980 and 2005, 119 workers were killed and more than 700 injured in combustible dust explosions. These explosions were preventable -- but even though the U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommended in 2006 that regulations needed to be put in place to protect workers from death or injury from combustible dust accidents, OSHA chose instead to maintain its program of voluntary corporate compliance. But as Former CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt put it, "the problem with voluntary standards is not everyone volunteers." This petition calls on OSHA and the Department of Labor to stop relying on voluntary compliance and issue a general industry standard for preventing combustible dust accidents in the workplace. Tell me more

To read more about the plight to change the way OSHA deals with industries that explosive dust is a factor, and the multi-tiered campaigning by labor and social advocacy groups who would like to see this changed, please check out Imperial Sugar explosion death toll rises to 13, OSHA backs lack of standard before Congress, Ga. creates own standard, and we need more signatures from 3/16/08

Stop union buster Rupert Murdoch from owning more NY media!

Every time I see a union person with the NY Post under their arm I wish they had a fucking clue.

In December, the FCC, against 99% of the American publics wishes, overturned a longstanding rule of media, which stopped over-consolidation of media in any one area. That means, there was a rule which made sure that there was a reasonable chance that you might get more than one view on any given story.

Since then Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox Five, News corporation, MySpace (who banned the largest atheist group from its site), etc., the union-busting media tycoon has been on a buying spree, first came the Wall Street Journal and now NY Newsday is on the wish list. If you ever read the way the NY Post, another Murdoch holding, berates union workers you would understand why his ever increasing movement towards monopoly is a dangerous situation. Thats not the only thing, when he chaired News International, a UK organization which encompassed massive amounts of UK tabloids, he pitted unions against one another and forever changed the UK Labour Movement. From Wikipedia, on the 1986 Wapping dispute:

News internationals strategy in Wapping had strong government support, and enjoyed almost full production and distribution capabilities and a complement of leading journalists. The company was therefore content to allow the dispute to run its course. With thousands of workers having gone for over a year without jobs or pay, the strike eventually collapsed on 5 February 1987.

Heres my post in regard to the 12/18/07 FCC allowance of more media consolidation, Originally published on FreePress Action Network (12/19/07):

Now Big Media can hurt workers better

Submitted by Joe638NYC on December 19, 2007 - 11:41pm.

Hello, my name is Joe, I am a rank and file union member and on staff at the independent labor movement website UnionReview.

While we are primarily a labor news site, we also monitors news items that tie directly to the communication of the modern labor movement, such as Network Neutrality, the squelching of free speech and the spin doctoring of main stream media.

This ruling is a tremendous blow to the American working citizen. Information is power, the gathering of ideas based on different points of view is critical. When so very little can brainwash so many, what hope do we have.

Stand up people. Stand up for places such as Workers Independent News and Brain Labor Report, who continuously report on the airwaves about the struggles of the common working man and social injustices that never make it to the main stream.

Labor hardly got any attention in the main stream media before this was passed, and any if broadcast or published almost always portrays union workers as lazy, greedy and enemies of the public. A good case in point is an article I entitled NY Post spin-doctoring and the IATSE Stagehands, in which I retort the Rupert Murdoch News Corp.owned NY Post's so-called editorial about those greedy stagehands that closed down Broadway Thanksgiving week.

Does News Corp., Viacom, Disney, etc. have a stake in portraying unions as bad to the public? Absolutely, they have to negotiate with them at every step of their business, they are the employer, directly and indirectly of writers, screen writers, engineers, truckers, service employees, construction workers, screen actors, communication workers, stagehands, make-up artists and a host of other labor groups. It suits them well that there is a growing majority of ignorant people in this country that believe that unions are bad for them personally. They have the power to repeat in every media form their message and use the theory that if you continuously lie over and over the masses will believe it to be truth.

That suits Big Media and their corporations fine, by leveling the public against workers, by speaking generally without a fact basis, they perpetrate half-truths and outright lies that get embeded into the heart and mind of the public. By instilling hopelessness and fear they divide us into more and more fractions of smaller groups, pitting each against one another, dividing and conquering, making working people feel as if they are lucky to have a job, and that they must accept the final offer by employer.

This is not acceptable for my country, I thank the work of all those who contribute here, I regret that I have found this late, after seeing this at the AFL-CIO WebBlog, I couldn't help but get involved, firstly by writing a story on my new site Joe's Union Review the Anti-Union BlogSpot (theres reasons for the name), porting the story to UnionReview and MySpace, and by posting the links to our site and the AFL-CIO's story globally onto Labourstart, the global newfeed which reaches thousands of labor sites worldwide.

If we do not stop consolidation of the corporate main stream media and we give those same corporations complete control of the internet, our sources for free independent and diversified news and information will dry up.

Sites, such as freepress and UnionReview, that exercise our freedom of speech, that communicate important social matters and move people to take action may no longer be viewable or in the worst case scenario, have nothing to write about.

Thank you for putting this together, please contact me if anything I write at the site is erroneous, or if theres any other way I can help.

I leave you with this

"Such a small percentage try to make the world a better place, leaving the work to a scarce few. If those that did next to nothing did just a tiny bit, the world could be a better place for all." - me 7/7/07"

How dangerous can consolidation be, heres a snip from a report on Murdoch's adventures in China, which explains the European media holdings, From The Guardian.co.uk

But I am sure it is true that anticipatory compliance is Murdoch's most powerful weapon. I doubt he needed to tell all 247 of his editors to support the invasion of Iraq, but they did. He might not even have had to lean on Tony Blair to ensure - as Blair's former spin doctor Lance Price reveals - that no British minister said "anything positive about the euro". Power is sustained not by force but by fear, as everyone seeks to interpret the wishes of his master and to meet them even before he asks.

The Senate Commerce Committee has taken the first step in Vetoing the Dec.18th. FCC ruling. From the Freepress Action Network Blog post "Senate Commerce Committee Did the Right Thing" by jtorres (4/24/08)

The Senate Commerce Committee did the right thing today by unanimously voting out of committee a "resolution of disapproval" sponsored by Sen. Bryon Dorgan (D.N.D.) that would overturn the FCC’s Dec. 18 decision to relax the longstanding limits on how much media one company can own in your town.

It’s the first step toward an official Congressional “veto” of the FCC’s new rule, which permits one company to own both a major daily newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same market.

Dorgan, as well as Democratic and Republican leaders, had warned FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last December not to lift the 30-year ban that forbids "newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership."

But the Murdoch empire still has NY Newsday (as well as Yahoo) on its to buy list, you can help fight the sale of Newsday by donating to FreePress, from the E-Mail:

Dear Joseph, Chip in to Stop Murdoch and Big Media Before Time Runs Out! This morning, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved the "resolution of disapproval" we've been fighting for. It's the first step toward an official congressional "veto" of the Federal Communications Commission's new rules that gut media ownership limits. This vote couldn't have come at a more important moment. Just this week, Rupert Murdoch announced plans to buy his third New York newspaper — Newsday. (Murdoch already owns the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal and two television stations in this one media market!) We can stop this runaway media consolidation by passing the resolution of disapproval in the full House and Senate. To do that, we need your help right now. Donate to Stop Rupert Murdoch and Big Media. Time is of the essence. Senate rules require a floor vote on the veto within the next few weeks. So your immediate contribution is critical. With your support today, the Free Press Action Fund will: Line up more senators to support the resolution. We’ve already secured 25 co-sponsors, and we need to exert serious pressure to get the rest. (Murdoch’s greedy grab for Newsday will help, but you can be sure he’ll be fighting us every step of the way.) Counteract Big Media’s misinformation campaign. Huge newspaper conglomerates like Murdoch’s News Corp. and Tribune Co. are spending heavily to convince Congress that the FCC rules don't go far enough. They want to swallow up even more local media. Setting the record straight. If we can raise enough funding today, part of your contribution will pay for ads to get the attention of Washington decision-makers. Reach out to our hundreds of thousands of media reform activists -- and allied groups throughout the country to make sure they flood the Senate with letters, phone calls and e-mails. Help get this job done -- donate now! Since the FCC plan was announced in December, more than 250,000 activists have called on Congress to block it. Today's vote is the result — proof that when we pull together behind a clear strategic goal, we get results, even though industry lobbyists outspend us in Washington more than 200-to-1. The time to stop Murdoch and Big Media is now. I urge you to make your contribution right away. Gratefully, Alexandra Russell Program Director Free Press Action Fund www.freepress.net P.S. The clock is ticking. We must win full Senate approval of the FCC veto within the next few weeks. That means we must start right now. Please chip in today to win this essential victory for media reform!

Big thanks to the fine people at laborcommunicators Google group for bringing a lot of this to my attention