Last Updated:
Thursday September 02, 2010 07:51 PM
* The Savannah CLC would like to thank
Lorenzo Scott (IBEW, AFL-CIO) for hosting the
Activist Training here in Savannah last week. Members of the
Teamsters, Savannah Federation of Teachers, American Federation of
Musicians, United Auto Workers, Millwrights, Service Employees, OPEIU and
community activists were present. Also big thanks to the Carpenters
for frying the fish. If you weren't there you missed
out! This event, like every CLC event, was listed on the calendar or
"upcoming events" section of this site. Watch out for the next one!
* 35 Things Your Employer Can NOT Do!
Click Here
* For Your
Information: The CLC has received an inquiry from Attorney Gary
Wisenbaker if any of our members have faced foreclosure.
Foreclosures found to be "wrongful" might allow damages to be awarded.
For more info, contact Gary Wisenbaker at
912-927-7779, ext. 3
or
http://wisenbakerlaw.com/
* Bill Clinton
and Rahm Emmanuel brought us
NAFTA, George W. Bush
Brought us CAFTA. The results of these
so-called "free trade" agreements have been devastating.
Rahm and Barack Obama
don't want to be outdone, so they are promoting no less than THREE new
"free trade" agreements; with Korea, Colombia
and Panama. Read about them
HERE. Contact your Senators and
Representatives
HERE and tell them NO WAY on "FREE
TRADE"!!
* Did you know that nearly 40 percent
of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's 2008 income came from only 26 businesses
of the 3 million it claims to represent? Check out
Change to Win's new project:
Chamber Watch for more facts. The
non-profit is committed to shining a light on the Chamber's
misrepresentations, and holding the Chamber's anonymous funders
accountable for political advocacy that hurts workers, families, our
environment, jobs, and health care.
*
Yes! We finally broke
through the Senate Republicans' blockade of aid to state and local
governments to save the jobs of hundreds of thousands of teachers,
firefighters, police officers, nurses and others who provide vital public
services. Thank you for your calls and e-mail messages to your senators,
which made this possible.
Now the vote is back in the hands of the House--and
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
is calling representatives back from their August recess to vote on the
aid next week.
Please take a moment right now to urge your representative to vote for
state aid and teacher funding to save these essential jobs. Call
877-442-6801. For more info,
Click Here.
* The Savannah CLC Family Labor Day
Picnic will we held on Sunday, September 5th from 12 - 4:00 pm. For
more info, Click Here.
* Hands Off Our Medicare!
Click
Here.
*
Good Jobs Now!
The AFL-CIO has proposed a
5 point plan to get Americans back to
work. Click Here
to find out more and how you can help.
*The 3rd Annual
"Southeast Shoot for the Cure" was a success! 54 showed up for the
clays shoot sponsored by the Atlanta & Savannah Central Labor Councils.
$11,000 was raised for the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society,
$3,000 more than last year. This is what the CLC is all about.
"Together We Can!"
* ATTENTION LAID OFF WORKERS: Remember the
subsidies for up to 65% of your COBRA payments? Well, those have
been cut. You can call your Representative and let them know what
you think!
Click Here.
* Union Veteran's Council: America's Vets
Fought for our Future.
Click Here.
* Savannah CLC 2010 State Race Endorsements
Click Here.
*
"He who opens a school door, closes a prison."
- Victor Hugo
The
Savannah
Federation of Teachers/Paraprofessionals & School Related Personnel (SFT/PSRP)
local 2069 has supported every labor activity in the last few
years. Now, it's time to return that support:
The war on public education hurts
educators, but mostly our children. The Teachers are fighting back against
more furloughs and budget cuts, and we must stand with them. Watch
this space for calls to action - marches, meetings, etc.
Did you Know?
The two national teachers’ unions — the American
Federation of Teachers and the larger National Education Association —
together have more than 4.6 million members. That is roughly a quarter of
all the union members in the US. (Source: Shamus
Cooke, Workers Action)
For more information on the Teachers'
struggle,
Click Here.
(updated 6.03.09)
* Check out some photos from the
campaign for the Transportation Safety Officers (TSO) at the
Savannah/Hilton Head airport
Here.
* JOBS=Job 1! Check out some photos from
a recent Savannah demonstration
Here.
* Mourn the Dead, Fight for the Living:
Editorial on Workers' Memorial Day by Savannah CLC President Brett Hulme
Click Here
* The US Postal Service has proposed
cutting
mail service back to five days a week. This would hurt customers and
postal workers alike. Click the image on the right to learn more and
do something about it.
* Workers often have an extremely difficult
time overcoming employer intimidation when they want to form a union.
Even when they get one, workers may have a hard time keeping their union,
as happened in 2008 in
Savannah. Learn more about the dirty tricks and lies many
bosses use to crush workers' rights:
Union Busting 101 -
Click Here "Center for Union
Facts" Creator Richard Berman Exposed -
Click Here American Rights at
Work's "Anti-Union Network" -
Click Here
Rep. John Barrow has refused to co-sign on the Employee Free Choice Act
Call him today and remind him of his
promise to be "on our side" and lead
the way for true labor law reform - and not to bow to corporate pressure! His
Washington Office confirmed if the EFCA was voted on today, he would
"definitely" vote NO.
Let him know the voters
outnumber the corporate lobbyists any day of the week - especially
election day!
(202) 225-2823 Washington (912)
354-7282 Savannah
Today In Labor History (brought to you by our friends at
BigLabor.com)
Today in labor history for the week of August 30, 2010 View past weeks in the
Archives
August
30
President Franklin Roosevelt's Wealth Tax Act increases taxes on rich
citizens and big business, lowers taxes for small businesses - 1935
OSHA publishes scaffold safety standard,
designed to protect 2.3 million construction workers and prevent 50 deaths
and 4,500 injuries annually - 1996
August 31
10,000 striking miners began a fight at
Blair Mountain, W.Va., for recognition of their union, the UMWA. Federal
troops were sent in, and miners were forced to withdraw 5 days later,
after 16 deaths - 1921
The Trade Union Unity League is founded as
an alternative to the American Federation of Labor, with the goal of
organizing along industrial rather than craft lines. An arm of the
American Communist Party, the League claimed 125,000 members before it
dissolved in the late 1930s - 1929
"Solidarity" workers movement founded as a
strike coordination committee at Lenin Shipyards, Gdansk, Poland. The
strike launched a wave of unrest in the Soviet Union that ultimately led
to its dissolution in 1991 - 1980
325,000 unionists gathered in Washington,
D.C. for a Solidarity Day march and rally for workplace fairness and
healthcare reform - 1991
September 01
The International Brotherhood of
Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers is
founded at a meeting in Chicago, the product of two separate brotherhoods
created over the previous 13 years - 1893
30,000 women from 26 trades marched in
Chicago's Labor Day parade - 1903
Walter
Reuther, a founder of the United Auto Workers and president of the
Congress of Industrial Organizations when it merged with the AFL in 1955,
born - 1907
A three-week strike in Woonsocket, R.I.,
part of a national movement to obtain a minimum wage for textile workers,
resulted in the deaths of three workers. Ultimately more than 420,000
workers struck nationally - 1934
In Hawaii, some 26,000 sugar workers
represented by the Longshoremen’s union begin what is to become a
successful 79-day strike that shuts down 33 of the 34 sugar plantations on
the islands. The strike brought an end to Hawaii's paternalistic labor
relations and impacted political and social institutions throughout the
then-territory - 1946
Int'l Metal Engravers & Marking Device
Workers Union changed its name to International Association of Machinists
- 1956
Some 20,000 Pennsylvania Railroad shop
workers effectively halt operations in 13 states for two days. It was the
first shutdown in the company's 114-year history - 1960
Boot Shoe Workers' Union merged with Retail
Clerks International Union - 1977
The Journeymen Barbers, Hairdressers and
Cosmetologists' Int'l Union of America merged with United Food &
Commercial Workers - 1980
Glass Bottle Blowers' Association of the
United States & Canada merged with Int'l Brotherhood of Pottery & Allied
Workers to become Glass, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers - 1982
Aluminum, Brick & Clay Workers Int'l Union
merged with United Glass & Ceramic Workers of North America to form Int'l
Union of Aluminum, Brick & Glass Workers - 1982
Brotherhood of Railway, Airline & Steamship
Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees changed name to
Transportation-Communications Union - 1987
Coopers International Union of North
Amercia merged with Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers
Int'l Union - 1992
The federal minimum wage is increased to
$5.15 per hour - 1997
September 02
White and Chinese immigrants battle in Rock Springs, Wyo. fueled by racial
tensions and the practice of Union Pacific Raiload of hiring lower-paid
Chinese over whites. At least 25 Chinese died and 15 more were injured.
Rioters burned 75 Chinese homes - 1885
Operating railway employees win 8 hour day
- 1916
Mineowners bomb West Virginia strikers by
plane - 1921
President Eisenhower signs legislation
expanding Social Security by providing much wider coverage and including
10 million additional Americans, most of them self-employed farmers, with
additional benefits - 1954
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA) was signed by President Ford, regulating and insuring pensions and
other benefits, and increasing protections for workers - 1974
September 03
Some 300 musicians working in Chicago movie
houses strike to protest their impending replacement by talking movies -
1928
Twenty-five workers die, unable to escape a
fire at the Imperial Poultry processing plant in Hamlet, NC. Managers had
locked fire doors to prevent the theft of chicken nuggets. The plant had
operated for 11 years without a single safety inspection - 1991
September 04
Twelve thousand New York tailors strike -
1894
International Brotherhood of Bookbinders
merged with Graphic Arts International Union - 1972
September
05
20,000 to 30,000 marchers participate in New York's first Labor Day
parade, demanding the eight-hour day - 1882
"Palmer raids" on all IWW halls and offices
in 48 cities in U.S. Alexander Palmer, U.S. Attorney General, was
rounding up radicals and leftists - 1917
Ten thousand angry textile strikers,
fighting for better wages and working conditions, besiege a factory in
Fall River, Mass., where 300 strikebreakers are working. The scabs are
rescued by police using tear gas and pistols on the strikers - 1934
General strike begins across U.S. maritime
industry, stopping all shipping. The strikers were objecting to the
government's post-war National Wage Stabilization Board order that reduced
pay increases negotiated by maritime unions - 1946
Sources:
Toil and Trouble, by Thomas R. Brooks; American Labor
Struggles, by Samuel Yellen; IWW calendar, Solidarity Forever;
Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor,
edited by Robert E. Weir and James P. Hanlan; Southwest Labor History
Archives/George Meany Center; Geov Parrish’s Radical History; workday
Minnesota; Andy Richards and Adam Wright,
AFL-CIO Washington DC Metro Council (graphics research).
In The News
Previous News and Labor 2008 / Turn Around America items can now be viewed
in the
Archives.
Be sure to scroll down to see the latest
"Turn Around America," Health Care Reform
news and Employee Free Choice Act news in the "Take Action" section, which
is updated regularly.
UAW-Related news can now be viewed
Here
(Auto Industry News Last Updated: 6.28.10)
3,000 Postal Workers March in Detroit,
Chanting "Five Day, No Way!"
(From Detroit Free Press, added here 8.25.10)
..Click for more info..
Local Coverage of the
Informational Picket at Mitsubishi Building Site
(From WJCL, added here 8.22.10)
..Click for more info..
(From WTOC, added here 8.22.10)
..Click for more info..
(From GPB, added here 8.22.10)
..Click for more info..
Turns out Wal-Mart is
Quietly Raising Prices
(From The Consumerist, added here 8.19.10)
..Click for more info..
Mitsubishi Power
Systems under fire from local workers
(From WTOC, added here 8.16.10)
..Click for more info..
Laborers to re-join AFL-CIO
(From New York Times, added here 8.15.10)
..Click for more info..
Unions Make a Difference
(From OPEIU, added here 8.12.10)
..Click for more info..
Execs at Health Insurance Giants Cash in as
Firms Plan Fee Hikes
(From LA Times, added here 8.11.10)
..Click for more info..
Video: Dr. Margaret Flowers on
Making Health Care a Human Right in America
(Video Link, added here 8.10.10)
..Click for more info..
Buoyed by Local Solidarity, Motts
Factory Strikers Seek National Support
(From Labor Notes, added here 8.10.10)
..Click for more info..
A Sin and a Shame: Profits Up, Hiring
and Wages Down
(From New York Times, added here 7.31.10)
..Click for more info..
Economist James K. Galbraith Blasts
Deficit Commission
(From Unions for Single Payer, added here 7.22.10)
..Click for more info..
Motts Workers Vow to keep up fight after
8 weeks on strike
(From WHAM News, added here 7.22.10)
..Click for more info..
Insurers Push Plans that Limit Choices
(From The New York Times, added here 7.21.10)
..Click for more info..
CLC President Brett Hulme: Georgia
Senators Vote with Wall Street
(Savannah Regional Central Labor
Council, added here 7.16.10)
..Click for more info..
Fallen Marine Captain Matthew Freeman's
Dream Lives On. Machinists Union Helping.
(Background info on the story, text From WTOC
, 7.15.10)
..Click for more info..
(From WTOC Video, Freeman's Mother
thanks IAM added here 7.15.10)
..Click for more info..
This is Good -
27 New York Workers Ordered back to Work After Being Fired for Union
Activity
(From NLRB, added here 7.13.10)
..Click for more info..
Motts Strikers Get Boost From Grocery Workers'
Union
(From Democrat & Chronicle, added here 7.11.10)
..Click for more info..
Restoring a Hallowed Vision
(From New York Times, added here 7.11.10)
..Click for more info..
Unemployed Take to the Streets in Kentucky
(From Fox 41, added here 7.8.10)
..Click for more info..

Turn
Around America
Obama's "Jobs Program": One - Two - Three
More "Free Trade" Agreements
(From Workers Compass, added here 8.10.10)
..Click for more info..
AFL-CIO Backs October 2 March in
Washington for Jobs, Justice & Peace
(From the Workers Emergency Recovery
Campaign, added here 7.22.10)
..Click for more info..
Don't Gamble with Social Security!
(From Healthcare-NOW!, added here 7.21.10)
..Click for more info..
Two Down, Two to Go - Action Alert
(From AFL-CIO's Good Jobs Now! Campaign, added here 7.21.10)
..Click for more info..
Another Think Tank Report Displays Elite
Dems’ Distance from Suffering
(From Working in These Times, added here 6.28.10)
..Click for more info..
U.S. Scores Dead Last in Health Care
...Again.
(From ABC News, added here 6.28.10)
..Click for more info..
1.2 Million to Lose Unemployment
Benefits if Stalemate Continues
(From The Hill, added here 6.28.10)
..Click for more info..
Video: White House Remarks on Arkansas
Race "Slap in Face" to Labor
(From GritTV, added here 6.11.10)
..Click for more info..
Schumer (D-NY) Congratulates Lincoln
(D-AR) for "Fighting Unions"
(From Firedog Lake, added here 6.10.10)
..Click for more info..
Why Can't Wall Street Muster Real Wall
Street Reform?
(From Working In These Times, added here 6.04.10)
..Click for more info..
Answer to the Above Question: More than
1,400 former lawmakers, Hill staffers are financial lobbyists
(From Washington Post, added here 6.04.10)
..Click for more info..

Working
America
Working America, community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, is a powerful force
for working people. We combine the strength of 10 million union men and
women and millions of workers without the benefit of a workplace union who
share common challenges and goals to fight in communities, states and
nationally for what really matters--good jobs, affordable health care,
world-class education, secure retirements, real homeland security and
more. We work
against wrong-headed priorities favoring the rich and corporate special
interests over America's well-being.
Working America uses professional research, communication, education,
canvassing, lobbying and community organizing to demand that politicians
address the priorities that matter most to working people--not just
wealthy special interests. Make a difference for your community, for
America and for your working family.
Click here to learn about the benefits of Working America membership.
Help
build a better future for working families by joining today. Click here to
join.
Don’t forget—Working America and the AFL-CIO have put together the
Unemployment LifeLine, a one-stop resource center for
jobless workers. It’s a guide that links workers to the resources in their
area, from unemployment offices to veterans’ services to child care. It
also offers the opportunity to talk to others and share lessons learned
and support.


Is 35¢
Too Much to ask from Wal-Mart?
Garment workers in Bangladesh are
protesting in the capital city of Dhaka,
forced to action by poverty-level wages. These factory workers generally
make 11.5 cents per hour, a wage that is not enough for them to meet even
basic needs. These factories, though not owned by Wal-mart, make much of
their goods for the retail giant.
Why are their wages so low? A good
example might be Wal-mart's Faded Glory Jeans, which retail for $8 a pair.
According to the a July 28, 2010 action alert from the National
Labor Committee, women at the Anowara Apparels factory in
Chittagong, which sells almost 100% of its production to Wal-mart, are
paid little more than 1.2 cents per pair of jeans they produce.
Click Here to learn more and help!
Don't
Let Health Care Activists Go to Jail!
Last fall,
Healthcare-NOW! co-founded the
Mobilization for Health Care for All campaign, which organized
peaceful sit-ins at insurance companies to highlight their deadly practice
of putting profits over people and demand Medicare for All. More than 200
activists were arrested in more than 20 cities.
The campaign launched in New York City
in September, when 17 healthcare activists were arrested at Aetna’s
offices. This was the first of four related protests in New York City that
resulted in 49 arrests.
Click Here.
Good
Jobs Now!
The AFL-CIO has
proposed a
5 point plan to get Americans back to
work. Click Here
to find out more and how you can help.
Tell Congress FedEx Drivers Aren't Pilots!
Take this quiz
yourself:
Are FedEx drivers pilots?
-
YES
-
NO
For more information,
check out:
http://www.fedexdriversarentpilots.com/
BP Oil Disaster

This is what happens
when corporate greed and political corruption go unchecked. Our friends at Public
Citizen have put together a website,
Beyond BP, complete with news and action reports. Watch
this space for more news related to this disaster.
BP Cuts Payments to 40,000, La. Official Says
(From CBS News, added here 7.11.10) ..Click for more info..
The Gulf Oil Disaster Will Not Change U.S. Energy Policy
(From Workers Action, added here 6.28.10) ..Click for more info..
Inadequate, Voluntary Offshore Oil Rig Worker Safety Program Designed by Oil Industry
(From Firedog Lake, added here 6.28.10) ..Click for more info..
Does BP Plan to Rip Off the
Families of Killed
Rig Workers?
(From AlterNet, added here 6.15.10)
..Click for more info..
Is Obama Powerless Against
BP?
(From Workers Action, added here 6.11.10)
..Click for more info..
Public Citizen and
Allies Stage Protest at BP’s Washington, D.C., Headquarters, Conduct Mock
Citizen’s Arrest of CEO
Click Here
Save 'Net Neutrality'
* Electronic Musician Benn Jordan Speaks
up for Net Neutrality
Click Here.
"Net Neutrality means no discrimination.
Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from blocking, speeding up or
slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or
destination....The free and open Internet brings with it the
revolutionary possibility that any Internet site could have the reach of
a TV or radio station. The loss of Net Neutrality would end this
unparalleled opportunity for freedom of expression.
More from that site:
Congressional Sellouts Don't Speak for Me
Congress just sold you out to Comcast
and AT&T. Seventy-four House Democrats* and 37 Senate
Republicans** just signed their names to industry letters telling the
FCC to halt efforts to protect Internet users and prevent phone and cable
companies from blocking Internet traffic.
Almost every one of these elected
officials has
accepted massive contributions from the
phone and cable lobby. In exchange, they are handing control of the
Internet to companies that can't be trusted to protect the public
interest.
Speak out against this unethical
behavior.
Sign this letter to demand that Congress and
the FCC stand with the people they represent and support an open and
affordable Internet for everyone.
* this includes Georgia
Democrats Sanford D Bishop, Jr. (02), John Barrow (12) and David Scott
(13) ** in the House, 171 of 177 Republicans signed the letter.
Supreme Court Undoes Democracy
From our friends at Public Citizen: Recently, the Supreme Court gave
Corporate America a green light to use its immense wealth to buy elected
officials.
The court's shocking decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission struck down 60 years of legal precedent prohibiting
corporations from making campaign expenditures to attack or support
political candidates.
The court ruled that the First Amendment - designed to protect the speech
of real, live humans - guarantees for-profit corporations the right to
influence elections.
This is nothing short of a massive assault on the very foundation of
American democracy.
Please watch this special video on what Public
Citizen is doing in response to the Supreme Court's decision. Then sign
our Citizen's Free Speech Petition calling for a constitutional amendment
ensuring corporate power doesn't overwhelm our democracy.
We must fight back. The lines are clearly drawn. People v. corporations.
UPDATE:
The moment we have been waiting for: the legislative
response to Citizens United…
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week
introduced the DISCLOSE Act -
the long-awaited legislative response to
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruling that said corporations can spend unlimited amounts to
influence elections. Under the DISCLOSE Act, the public would know which
corporations are spending how much to promote or attack candidates. The
bill also would prohibit independent expenditures by government
contractors and subsidiaries of foreign corporations. However, more
remedies are needed, such as requiring shareholders to approve corporate
political expenditures and enacting public financing of elections. The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer's headline said it well:
"Campaign reform bill: Give fatcats
footprints."
Tell
Congress: No Excuses - Fight for Workers Rights in 2010
The U.S. Senate seat once held by Ted
Kennedy, a stalwart champion for the middle class, has gone to Scott Brown
– who wouldn't even meet with union leaders during his campaign to
discuss his position on the Employee Free Choice Act.
But we can't give up. Not at this critical
moment. Not with so much at stake. We can create better paying jobs,
better health care, and a fair work environment – but to do so, we'll need
your help now, more than ever!
Don't let Congress use Tuesday's election
as an excuse to block legislation that would improve the lives of
America's workers.
Write your senators. Tell them: "NO EXCUSES –
fight for workers rights in 2010."
BAKERY WORKERS FIGHT WENDY’S CUTBACKS
Wendy's is being unfair to the
employees that bake the buns for its restaurants by refusing to negotiate
a fair contract for these workers. The company eliminated negotiated
health benefits and defined pension benefit plans, and replaced them with
substandard health plans and risky 401(k) plans.
We are asking you to show
solidarity with the workers of Wendys and Arby's (who now owns Wendy's) by
not eating at these restaurants.
For a printable
flyer, click here. Be sure to click on the flyer once it
loads to make it easier to read.
"Medicare for All" Health
Care
"When you are right you cannot be too
radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at
you, then they fight you, then you win" - Mahatma Gandhi
The Savannah CLC and AFL-CIO support through
resolutions a single
payer, non-profit, "Improved Medicare for All" system. "Everybody In,
Nobody Out."
The Savannah CLC is a proud supporter of
the Labor
for Single Payer Campaign.
Be sure to check our
Links &
Health Care Archives
for lots of news and commentary.
Latest News and Actions
Hijacked, Stolen Health Care Reform: Why
Health Care Costs Will Not Be Contained
(From Huffington Post, added here 8.3.10)
..Click for more info..
Wellpoint Executive turned Health
Care Bill Author Heads to HHS
(From The Hill, added here 7.9.10)
..Click for more info..
Scare Tactics, Spin & Health Care
(From Counterpunch, added here 6.30.10)
..Click for more info..
U.S. Scores Dead Last in Health Care
...Again.
(From ABC News, added here 6.28.10)
..Click for more info..
Kevin Zeezse on Health Care: What Did We
Get? Where are We? And, Where do we go from here?
(From Huffington Post, added here 5.12.10)
..Click for more info..
3rd Largest Labor Council in Ohio Endorses
HR 676
(From Unions for Single Payer, added here 5.12.10)
..Click for more info..
Round Two: The Battle for (Improved
Medicare for All)
Single Payer
(From Huffington Post, added here 5.10.10)
..Click for more info..
On Single Payer, Democrats Can't Be Trusted
(From Single Payer Action, added here 5.2.10)
..Click for more info..
'Frontline' fronts for Corporations, not
the Public
(From PNHP, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..
Health Insurers Hedge Bets with Fast
Food Stock
(From PNHP, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..
No Time to "Wait and See" on Health Law
(From PNHP, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..
Greens: Now its Time to Work for Real
Health Reform -
Medicare for All
(From Firedog Lake, added here 5.1.10)
..Click for more info..
Employee Free Choice Act

Employee Free Choice
Act
This bill intends to change existing labor law (the National Labor
Relations Act), making it easier for unions to organize work places.
It aims to make anti-union bosses accountable
by increasing penalties when they are found to discriminate against
or fire employees for taking a pro-union stance. It aims to end the
foot dragging and bad faith bargaining on the part of employers when its
time to agree upon a contract. With Binding Arbitration,
after 3 months, a third party will come in and decide on a contract, which
encourages businesses and unions to quickly reach a mutual agreement.
The third, and by far most controversial
provision of the bill was "majority sign up" or the "card
check." Today, at least 30% of workers in a shop need to sign
authorization cards just to have a union election. At that point,
the boss can insist on an election or recognize the intention to form a
union.
Those against "majority sign up" say it
removes a tenet of democracy, the secret ballot. Those in favor say
it guards against the intimidation and firings that often accompany union
drives; and the law would allow workers to choose a secret ballot election
anyway.
The "card check" provision appears to have
been removed by Democrats looking for a "compromise," with
little protest or acknowledgement from labor. Many Democrats who
voted for the bill in 2007 (then-president Bush promised to veto the bill)
have withdrawn support today.
Georgia Representative John Barrow is one such Democrat who has
refused to endorse the bill again, despite campaign promises to do so.
In 2009, his office reported Barrow would vote against the bill if
it included the card check provision. Georgia Representative
Jim Marshall is another Congressman that has dropped his support of
EFCA. Although both voted for EFCA in 2007, they also voted for the
Republican
"motion to recommit," which intended to
kill the bill. And that's a fact -
here's the record.
President Obama voted for EFCA as a
Senator and promised to pass the bill if he became president. Besides
once in his 2009 Labor Day speech (to the AFL-CIO) and the AFL-CIO
convention, the President has mentioned EFCA exactly ZERO times in
his speeches and addresses since being elected.
What will replace the card check provision?
Will this controversial bill come to a vote? Will the President and
members of Congress who promised to pass EFCA fight for the bill?
And finally, will union members and other working people mobilize and
demand passage? This is the year to find out.
EFCA in
2010 "If you can't lower heaven, raise
hell!" - Mother Jones
HR 1409 in the House of Representatives
Library of Congress Info
Present Co-Sponsors
Is Your Representative a present Co-Sponsor? If so, thank them for
their support of working families. If not, urge them to support this
legislation on behalf of working Americans!
How to contact your Representative
Rep. John Barrow
has refused to co-sign on the Employee Free Choice Act
Call him today and remind him of
his
promise to be "on our side" and lead the way for true labor law
reform - and not to bow to corporate pressure! His
Washington Office confirmed if the EFCA was voted on today, he would
"definitely" vote NO.
Let him know the voters
outnumber the corporate lobbyists any day of the week - especially
election day!
(202) 225-2823 Washington (912)
354-7282 Savannah
S.560 in the Senate
Library of Congress Info Present
Co-Sponsors
Is Your Senator a present Co-Sponsor?
If so, thank them for their support of working families. If not, urge
them to support this legislation on behalf of working Americans!
How to contact your Senator
Latest EFCA News and Actions
Be Sure to Check out
our
EFCA News Archive
Harkin Hints Watered Down EFCA
Could Move after 2010 Elections
(From The Hill, added here 6.28.10)
..Click for more info..
What Happened to the Employee
Free Choice Act?
(From Firedog Lake, added here 4.28.10)
..Click for more info..
The Night they
Drove Old EFCA Down
(From Working In These Times, added here 1.30.10)
..Click for more info..
Trumka Predicts EFCA
Passage in 2010; Does Not Mention "Card Check"
(From AlterNet, added here 1.11.10)
..Click for more info..
2010 Last Chance for
EFCA, Labor Advocate Says
(From Workday Minnesota, added here 1.11.10)
..Click for more info..
Wal-Mart
The World's Largest Retailer's unmatched record of anti-worker practices
earns the company a "Take Action!" section of its own. Also see
the Wal-Mart info on our Links page.
Explore
the Issues...
  
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Resourceful Links
National AFL-CIO
Georgia AFL-CIO
Union Plus
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Union Review
Ralph Nader
Employee Free Choice Act Info
|
CLC Benefit | |
Contact JC Lewis Ford for your union member discount program.
..Click Here..
Union Plus
Union and Working America members can get in on
financial, legal, prescription benefits and more through this program.
Click Here

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