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.

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..

Next CLC meeting will be held Wednesday - September 1, 2010, 5:30pm at the IBEW Hall on Dean Forest Road. ..Click here..

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