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Sign the Health Care Petition

Our goal is to win secure, high-quality health care for all. We are mobilizing a 1 million-member army of activists to keep health care reform at the top of the 2008 political agenda—and to put our health care system on the road to recovery after the elections. Sign the petition for secure, high-quality health care for all today.

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Support the Employee Free Choice Act

The Employee Free Choice Act would restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain—without management interference. Our goal is to present the next president and Congress with 1 million signatures urging them to enact the Employee Free Choice Act. Sign the Online Card to show your support today.

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Stop the U.S.-Colombia Trade Deal

In Colombia, dozens of unionists are killed and attacked every year, while the Colombian government systematically undermines union members’ rights. Tell your representative to oppose a trade deal with Colombia until its government makes real progress in protecting the lives and rights of union members.

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End Unfair Trade Practices

The U.S. House is preparing legislation to address unfair and unsafe trade practices by China and other nations. We need your help to ensure the legislation they come up with contains strong and effective remedies to make certain these countries play by the rules. Tell your representative to fight for working families and put an end to these unfair trade practices.

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Joe Biden: McCain's health care plan is the ultimate bridge to nowhere

How McCain's health plan will increase taxes for the working family

The hidden tax, just like when they decided you couldn't write interest on credit cards, with smoke and mirrors John McCain is pointing fingers and is the only candidate who has a plan that is proven to raise taxes for the working American family

Recent related story:John McCain's Health care plan, printable poster, spread the facts

From Time (9/11/08):

McCain's Health Care Tax Increase
Posted by Joe Klein

A new rule here: Rather than do the McCain campaign's bidding by wasting space on Senator Honor's daily lies and bilge--his constant attempts to divert attention from substantive issues--I'm going to assume that others will spend more than enough time on the sewage that Steve Schmidt is shoveling and, from now on, try to stick to the issues.

Today's issue: health insurance. John McCain wants to tax your employer-provided health care benefits. He wants to replace those benefits with an insufficient tax credit--$2500 for individuals and $5000 for families (the average cost per family for health insurance is $12000).

There is a positive, progressive tax aspect to this: wealthier people should have to pay for health insurance themselves, without tax breaks from the federal government.

But make no mistake: this plan will do little or nothing for those who do not have insurance now--unless they are young and healthy--and it may well hurt a fair number of workers, especially unionized workers, who get gold-plated benefits from their employers.

It will certainly do nothing for families with members who have pre-existing conditions or children with special needs--because it makes no provision to regulate the insurers, forcing them to cover all comers at "community" rates that don't discriminate against the people who need health insurance most.

It is amazing to me that Obama campaign has let things go this far without pointing out that McCain--who opposes the energy bill because it would increase taxes on oil companies--is actually proposing a tax increase on health care benefits for American workers. But that is precisely what the Senator from Arizona is doing.

Labor bloggers to promote Employee Free Choice Act at NYC Labor Day parade? Strike updates, got a Joe's MySpace, and HR676 US National Health Care Act

Firstly, Labor Day 2008 in New York, trying to promote the Employee Free Choice Act

Myself, Richard from Union Review and Kirsten from Uniongal, the Women, Unions and Our Stories blog, are looking for sponsors to get some Employee Free Choice Act shirts, with our sites listed as supporters, to be given away at this years Labor Day Parade in New York, if all goes well we will have a major labor union donation to help us get our message out there, we are hoping that all our readers, and some people who are not as active out there in the streets will get educated on the Bill and spread the word of the facts on this legislation. It is possibly the most important bill in my lifetime.

Many law firms stand to lose a tremendous cash cow if The Employee Free Choice Act is enacted

Usually, unless the company agrees to a card check vote, when a MAJORITY of workers signs cards to be in a union there is a wait time, usually over a month later, when the employees get a chance to vote via "secret ballot" to be in a union. That's where the Lawyers and Union Avoidance law firms come into play, they make multi-billions in figuring ways to turn workers against the idea of being in a union, turning workers against one another and using any means , such as unlawful firing. . These law firms thrive on fear. They make companies whose workers are engaged in organizing drives terrified of a collective voice , which unfortunately in today's day and age is really not looking at the facts at all.

Many companies could stand to gain a great deal if they mimicked the business practices of COSTCO, who has a hands off policy and allows their workers to join a union by a simple MAJORITY card signing, some stores sign up and some do not, but their employees all benefit from not being denied that basic right. Consider how disgruntled almost every Home Depot employee is, it's a down right shame, they don't care about their shit job one bit, give them a fairs day wage, nice pension to worry about keeping, and decent medical and they would likely make the Home Depot experiance a much better one for customers and would most likely raise their share value far beyond just the next quarter. Corporations however usually do not think like that, you can learn more at "The Corporation- 23 chapters in YouTube playlist form", but let's get back to the facts in this matter.

What employers and law firms do to keep workers from joining unions and who's on their side, why America needs the Employee Free Choice Act

FACT: Many companies have closed door meetings with employees without their own pro-union workers in attendance, brain washing them to fear being in a union and in fact fear to even mention the word. In one recent article I wrote about a construction contractor here in New York, whose MAJORITY of employees signed cards to be in a union, were sent to another jobsite for a closed door meeting, were told they would get a $5 an hour raise if they voted against joining a union and in fact a former supervisor, who stood to gain nothing testifying, in an affidavit to Federal labor officials, stated when he asked his boss about the union:"He said he had about six guns on the job, and he had people there who would do whatever needed to be done. He said that he could dig a hole and put me in it and make the records showing I worked for the company disappear.", the workers fearing reprisal and thinking they were going to get a raise wound up voting overwhelmingly against the union. From: "High-Cost Condos, Low-Cost Labor—and Threats of Violence to Union Organizers"- Village Voice (6/24/08)

Last November, the NLRB ordered Auringer to post a notice promising not to make such threats. A new vote was canceled after Auringer fired 10 pro-union employees on the election's eve.

This is a good reason that America needs the Employee Free Choice Act. They sign the cards, they get into a union. No guns, no threats, no bullshit propaganda.

More reasons that the current NLRB "secret ballot' hurts working Americans

FACT: 30% of pro union employees are fired during an organizing drive, even though it is against the law, they just don't care as the NLRB has been battered by lobbyist and mega-corporations to the point of intellectuality. This is in no small part due to President Bush's appointment as NLRB Chairman, Robert Battista who just recently declined the reappointment to join a union avoidence and union busting law firm, from American Rights at Work, which I first published here on 5/5 in a story, titled "Former Bush NLRB Chairman Robert Battista, joins union avoidance law firm" which highlights the deterioration of the rights of workers during his tenure at the NLRB:

For years I've been writing that Robert Battista, former chair of the National Labor Relations Board, has been doing the bidding of anti-union employers by dismantling protections for workers under the law. Apparently, he's now going to be doing the bidding of anti-union employers and making a lot more money at notorious unionbusting firm Littler Mendelson (see a sample of their unionbusting strategies: Littler Mendelson’s Dos & Don’ts).

Battista asked Bush to withdraw his nomination as Labor Board chair, which was going nowhere, and joined the firm that John Logan of the London School of Economics called one of the "nation’s first law firms to conduct aggressive union avoidance campaigns."

Now Battista can make money telling employers how to exploit the law he helped to weaken in order to prevent their workers from organizing.

Battista is not alone, spin-doctor lawyer and lobbyist Rick Berman, the self proclaimed "Dr.Evil", corporate lobbyist for Big tobacco and the liquor industry among others, and creator of such fun filled sites as The Center for Union Facts is working hard on getting the American public against the Employee Free Choice Act, by advertising on local networks against the bill, using that d1ckhead who played Johnny Sachs in the Sopranos (probably a rank-and-file SAG member like Ronald Reagan, except a hell of a lot less talented), to scare people into thinking that if the Bill is

passed that their Democracy will be erased by ending 'secret ballot'. It's more like it will end

Mr.Berman's and other lawyers cash cow. Lawyers, corrupt politicians and corporations are the modern day gangsters, I'm starting that when they went after the Mafia they really wanted to eliminate their competition.

The commercial shows a gangster over the card signers shoulder, yeah maybe it should show a corporate lawyer counting money if this doesn't get passed

**Click the image to add your name to the petition that will wind up on the desk of the next US President

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Strike News and Job Loss
UA LU 699, IBT 282 NY Concrete drivers, American Axle updates

Lots of news going on, I've been trying to contact the Business Manager for UA Local 699 Sprinklerfitters to see if I can get any more info on the strike in Seattle Washington, last night I sent him an e-mail, still waiting for a response, I'm sure the guy is busy.

I have read that the New York concrete truck Teamsters Local 282 have gone back to the negotiating table as of yesterday, the NY Times reports that there is some progress.

Also received news of American Axle, who I recently wrote is gearing up to destroy the environment, is now looking to get rid of 400 white collar workers in the United States, now that they are escaping the land of labor rights to distant shores. What a disgrace, maybe they can rename the company to "3rd. World Nation Axle"

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Health Care For All, supported by doctors and now the Mayors Council

Big news, the single payer health care bill is being endorsed by the US Conference of Mayors(The U.S. Conference of Mayors is a nonpartisan organization of mayors representing cities with a population of 30,000 or more. It currently has about 1,100 members.), this is a bill that would get health insurance for all Americans and is strongly endorsed by a whopping 59% of American doctors, here's the text of the resolution in support of the United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676:

Submitted By:
The Honorable Lois J. Frankel, Mayor of West Palm Beach, Fla.
The Honorable Wayne J. Hall Sr., Mayor of Mayor of Hempstead, N.Y.
The Honorable Carolyn K. Peterson, Mayor of Ithaca, N.Y.
The Honorable John E. Marks, III, Mayor of Tallahassee, Fla.
The Honorable Sheila Dixon, Mayor of Baltimore, Md.
The Honorable Becky Tooley, Mayor of Coconut Creek, Fla.
The Honorable Ryan Coonerty, Mayor of Santa Cruz, Calif.

WHEREAS, every person deserves access to affordable quality health care; and

WHEREAS, the number of Americans without health insurance now exceeds 47 million; and

WHEREAS, millions with insurance have coverage so inadequate that a major illness would lead to financial ruin, and medical illness and bills contribute to one-half of all bankruptcies; and

WHEREAS, proposals for “consumer directed health care” such as Health Savings Accounts or Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) would only worsen this situation by penalizing the sick, discouraging prevention and saddling many working families with huge medical bills; and

WHEREAS, managed care and other market-based reforms have failed to contain health care costs, which now threaten the international competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers; and

WHEREAS, administrative waste stemming from our reliance on private insurers consumes one-third of private health spending while the single payer Medicare system has administrative costs of less than 5 percent; and

WHEREAS, U.S. hospitals spend 24.3 percent of their budgets on billing and administration while hospitals under Canada’s single payer system spend only 12.9 percent; and

WHEREAS, Harvard researchers estimate that more than $300 billion could be recovered by replacing private insurance companies with a single public payer, enough to cover the uninsured and to improve coverage for all those who now have only partial coverage; and

WHEREAS, entrusting care to profit-oriented firms diverts billions of dollars to outrageous incomes for CEOs and threatens the quality of care; and

WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) would assure universal coverage of all medically necessary services, contain costs by slashing bureaucracy, protect the doctor patient relationship, assure patients a completely free choice of doctors, and allow physicians a free choice of practice settings; and

WHEREAS, most polls show that the majority of Americans support universal health care; and

WHEREAS, as of the date of this resolution, the majority of American physicians (59 percent) believe that Single Payer is the best method of securing universal health care; and

WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) will guarantee every mayor that all residents and employees of his/her city will be fully covered for health care and save millions of taxpayer dollars now spent on premiums to provide less than full health insurance coverage for government employees; and

NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors expresses its support for The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676), and calls upon federal legislators to work towards its immediate enactment and further urges the adoption of a process to insure that health care providers justify any increase in health care costs.

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Got the MySpace up, and a shoutbox. Next we will change the layout here.

Finally did it, got a dedicated Joe's Union Review MySpace account that mirrors the blog here into the MySpace social network, it's how I met Richard at union review, theres a whole lot more to that story, but in a nutshell, I'm looking to meet more Richard's, Joe's and Kirsten's.

I also added a "shoutbox' to this site, you can easily add messages onto the site by entering text into the box and submitting it, try it out, it's right under the title "Say something even if it's wrong"

Seriously thinking of updating the site, I have been working with a layout that has more features, like having just the story introduction on the front page, with a read more lnk, ala Union review and the Building Bridges Radio blog i have been working on, let me know what you think.

Working behind the scenes a bit lately, a great win for the future of New York's labor solidarity was achieved yesterday, I'm waiting for a press release to write on it, stay tuned, and finally I leave you with...

AL: Retired firefighter, turns into a true American hero

Caught this on CNN, what an amazing story, reminded me of Flip Wilson, the retired NYC fireman who works with Gene Jackson, a retired Steamfitter in NY to help our severely wounded returning veterans. It amazes me how people will do so much to help others, really go out and help, not just with money, but get their hands dirty to change the world for the better.

Russel Jackson is a guy who made me actually watch TV, with the severe need for health care in the United States, like my recent story "60 minutes follows charatible remote health care facility now needed here in the United States", whereby a medical service on wheels that was initially intended to be used in third world countries, now goes across the United States to help our own people. Well heres another hero, this guy actually started something

I wish I could get the videos embedded here, but what the heck, you'll have to click a link or two from this story.

From CNN "Helping kids get well one car ride at a time" (7/3/08):

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- If Russell Jackson has his way, any child who needs medical care but lacks the transportation to get there will have a safe and reliable alternative.

"We found that there were 80,000-plus children in Alabama living in a home with no car," Jackson says.

"And in the rural areas, there are no cabs, there are no buses, there are no trains. ... Millions of children in our country every day have no access to medical care when they need to reach it."

Jackson is so determined that in 1997 he gave up his career as an Alabama firefighter, moved in with friends and dug into his retirement account to start Kid One Transport, a nonprofit organization that provides rides for needy children in his home state.

In 11 years, Kid One's fleet of vans has ferried more than 16,000 kids to and from scheduled medical-related appointments all over Alabama.

Watch Jackson describe the need for medical transportation in rural Alabama »

Jackson never anticipated he would leave the fire department to head up a nonprofit organization. After all, firefighting was the culmination of a lifelong dream.

"What little boy doesn't want to be a firefighter?" Jackson says, laughing.

Continue over at CNN to read the rest, to all the heroes out there on this Independence Day, thank you.

Hit the pocket books of working families, Schwarzenegger gearing up to hurt working class and retirees

"Every day I care for a blind man and a woman with mental disabilities. They're able to live alone, somewhat independently, with my help. Both my consumers would be doomed without services," "They would both be devastated if they were forced into nursing homes because of these cuts." -Rosie Byers, homecare worker in San Francisco.

You work all your life to retire and along the way you and your wife get sick, but you can make it in your own home with a little help, lord knows that my own mother needed home help when she was dying. In San Fransisco, CA., the budget cuts are being aimed at working families and retired, sick and those in need. Cutting jobs and reducing hours, wages and benefits for those that make the cut potentially hurts all San Fransisco residents.

From PRNewswire (6/14/08):

More Than 13,000 Home Healthcare Workers,
Clients Protest Governor's Cuts
Union Members Gather to Call, Write Letters to
Schwarzenegger Expressing Outrage

SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An unprecedented
number of home healthcare workers rallied Saturday to protest Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to their hours of service, wages and
benefits. These dramatic reductions would force some of California's most
vulnerable workers and the people they serve deeper into poverty. It also
would force many clients out of their homes and into nursing facilities
prematurely.

In San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno, workers, their clients and
supporters gathered to write letters and make phone calls urging the
governor to lay down his budget ax and pledge to save these vital services
for seniors and people with disabilities. Thousands participated in the
demand that the governor craft a budget that's fair to all Californians,
and encouraged Republican lawmakers to withdraw their support of the latest
plan.

In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provides personal care and domestic
services to more than 408,000 seniors and disabled people, enabling them to
live in their homes. The program is funded by federal, state and county
governments.

In his most recent budget proposal, Schwarzenegger advocated
"permanently eliminating domestic and related services" to 84,000 people,
or 20 percent of all IHSS recipients.

The American Nightmare continues. Speaking of California...

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy - California Uber Alles (Live 1992)



The title translated is California above all others, it was written at a time when California had another pro-corporate Governor, Peter Wilson. While the names have changed, as have the times, the message is the same, sing along...

"At a time when AIDS is in a crisis,
I cut healthcare and I raise prices,
sales tax, snack tax, excise tax
Informational tax with a newspaper tax.

Hit the pocket books of working families,
increase tuition at the universities,
Some day I'll command all o' you,
even your kids are gonna pray to me in school,
Soon I'm gonna be the president
you might remember the last one this state sent"

I wish I heard this when it came out...the studio version is awesome

Names changed, story is the same, maybe even worse.

The Man behind the music

So who is the front man of this work?

Michael Franti, who continues his career as musician and movie maker, now with the band Spearhead, heres a live show from 2006:


You can find more free to listen music and audio files at the Internet Archive

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:

---

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

OR: John McCain's Health Care plan will make "you" pay tax on medical insurance. Workers threatened with arrest by McCain camp

Hey American worker, John McCain would rather see you arrested than speak to you.

Recent related story:John McCain's Health care plan, printable poster, spread the facts

More than 50 times American workers have been at fund raisers to confront John McCain on his anti-worker voting record and outrageous Health Care proposal, this past Monday is the first time the workers had an adjacent room just a few steps away, "making it possible for John McCain to walk only a few steps to meet with working folks."

John McCain's Health Care plan will make "you" pay tax on medical insurance

McCain’s health care proposals(PDF file), which are similar to President Bush’s failed policies, would tax employer-provided health care as income, increase costs to workers, leave workers at the mercy of insurance companies who could weed out people who need health care the most, make health care harder to obtain and lower the quality of available health care plans.'

Well heres the scoop on what happened when members of the Oregon State AFL-CIO tried to speak with McCain.

From the Oregon State AFL-CIO (5/15/08):

McCain Refuses to Meet with Oregon's Working and Women Monday Evening
Instead, Presidential hopeful spends evening with donors who can pay more for dinner than many working folks earn in a year

Oregon’s working men and women waited…and waited…and waited just steps away from Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain’s $33,100 per couple fundraiser Monday evening to tell their stories of health care crisis and struggle to the presumptive Republican nominee. But McCain never showed.

In fact, when Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain offered to approach his campaign team with one last polite, in-person request to see him Chamberlain was threatened with arrest.

“Senator McCain had an unprecedented opportunity today to show that he is as concerned about working folks as he is about his wealthy friends,” said Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain. “Instead he reaffirmed that he doesn’t share the priorities of working folks and he is not the candidate to turn around America.”

The event was attended by more than 20 working men and women and their children. One Oregonian who hoped to share her story with McCain was Nancy Cochran: “For someone who claims to be a straight talker, I feel like we got the run around,” said Cochran. “With his plan, we’re basically on our own. It feels like we’ve been forgotten. He wants us out of sight and out of mind.”

Cochran, a 51-year-old wife, mother and employee, says her family can’t even afford to use its employer provided health care because they can’t afford the twenty percent of medical care that that the insurance doesn’t pay.

Brandy Benedict, an emergency room nurse who also attended the event knows Cochran’s situation all too well.

I see people every day who work fulltime, work two jobs, who don’t have insurance, and even if they have insurance they can’t afford health care or prescriptions because their premiums and out-of-pocket costs are too high,” Benedict said. “Health insurance is expensive, and it is a luxury that is already out of reach for many individuals and families. Further shifting the cost burden from employers to workers, as the McCain health care proposal outlines, will increase the number of uninsured patients I see. There is a solution to our health care problems, but we will not find it in McCain’s plan.” (continued at site)

Do you want to pay tax on your medical insurance?

TN, Memphis: After 34 years of service and 10 months in hospital, city and comp insurer throwing this sanitation workers life away

*NOTE: The city of Memphis may be the Workman's Compensation insurance carrier, I am assuming that they are 2 separate entities.

FAST FACTS:

• Memphis sanitation worker Carl Johnson hurt last year when garbage truck backs over him
• Johnson spends 10 months in hospital and faces more operations and rehab
• Johnson says city alerted him it plans to drop Johnson from payroll and cut off medical benefits

Life sucks, you bust your ass to feed the family, you do it year after year, obviously your a good worker, you made it for 34 years without getting terminated. You are a good employee and in this era when ill informed people talk about unions being a thing of the past they highlight how 'good' employers have become.

For Carl Johnson, who was the breadwinner for his family and taking care of his disabled mother, he didn't deserve what happened. They call them accidents for a reason, Carl was behind a truck driven by a rookie driver, who mistakingly ran it in reverse and according to Carl, "The truck hit me here and crushed my pelvis and stuff."

Carl Johnson was severely injured, so severe in fact that he would spend the next 10 months of his life in a hospital.

It seems that the Johnson family left the matter in the hands of the insurance company and the City of Memphis, BIG MISTAKE, because when Carl returned home on April 1st., he got a letter from the insurance company explaining as Carl puts it "They said you will be dropped from workman's comp and receive your last paycheck May 10th.", to make matters even worse Memphis city has a policy that states no employee can be off a city job longer than 12 consecutive months due to disability from a job related illness.

So now Carl is now without Workman's Comp, without his jobs medical benefits and without income. This man broke his ass for his city, didn't get legal council because he left it to fate that the right thing would be done and is disabled! What is going on in Memphis? Why is Carl in this predicament? Why is any tax paying American worker ever screwed into a situation like this? According to the city, Mr.Johnson can apply for Long Term Disability and Social Security, which Carl says ($1,300) wouldn't even put a dent in his medical bills.

Lisa, Carl's sister, in speaking of others who have wound up in similar situations in Memphis, states "I feel like they should have and could have done more for them, just as he did for them.". The Johnson family has now hired legal council for help and to hopefully help others, by having Carl's case serve as an example of changes needed.

I hope it helps, no worker should ever be in the bind that Carl is in, it makes you feel as if the insurance company wished he died. What a savage race we are, the corporate greed is immeasurable and the city bureaucracy is appalling. The same way the Johnson family is being screwed is the same way it can happen to any one of us.

Source for information: Injured City Sanitation Worker Says City Throwing Him to the Curb News 3 (5/13/08)

Canada: 8,900 Ford workers ratify new contract without 2-tier, GM and Chrysler next

With healthcare not on the negotiating table, Ford and the CAW have come to terms with 78% of the membership in agreement. The biggest part. The CAW has not thrown their future member under the bus.

From CAW - The Canadian Auto Workers Union (5/5/08) :

The more than 8,900 CAW members working at Ford in Oakville, Windsor, St. Thomas and Bramalea voted 78 per cent in favour of the new collective agreement on Saturday and Sunday.

“This agreement is a victory for our members,” said CAW President Buzz Hargrove. “It takes care of current workers and retirees while recognizing the challenges facing the industry. And it doesn’t do this on the backs of future workers either, with any sort of two-tier structure.”

This round of Big Three bargaining will be the last for both Hargrove and CAW National Secretary-Treasurer Jim O’Neil, ending a thirty year era.

“Our members see first hand how unfair trade, a high Canadian dollar and soaring oil prices are all impacting their job security and understand better than anyone that these issues must be dealt with,” said Mike Vince, chair of the CAW-Ford Master Bargaining Committee and president of CAW Local 200.

“We’ve done our job by negotiating a responsible and pragmatic agreement and we will continue to keep the heat on the federal government to address the problems that are eroding the auto industry today,” said Hargrove.

Now they are going after GM to get more work and seeking early negotiations with Chrysler

• CAW wants more work at GM plants, or no deal - The Star (5/6/08)
  

Hargrove said parent General Motors Corp. made product commitments to the United Auto Workers in the United States last fall, and he expects the same assurances here.

The union, which represents about 13,000 GM workers, is looking for long-term transmission work at the Windsor operation, extra parts output at plants in St. Catharines and additional models at a new flexible manufacturing complex in Oshawa.

• CAW, Chrysler consider early talks - the Star (5/7/08)
  

The current contracts with GM and Chrysler run out in September and affect around 22,000 workers.

Hargrove said the CAW and Chrysler "had a very cordial meeting," to share the information on the pattern agreement at Ford and the company "agreed that they would get back to us in a couple of days."

The CAW typically reaches an agreement with one of the Big Three automakers and then uses that deal as a framework for deals with the other two automakers where it has collective agreements.