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Vol. 1,
Issue 11
The
goal of Labor UpFront is to provide members and friends with news,
information, and general ways to stay connected with the on-going
struggles of workers. You can also visit our
blog, http://laborupfront.blogspot.com/,
for further information on the stories in this newsletter and much more! Please
feel free to forward this to anyone
you feel may benefit, and if you received this from a friend, e-mail cp-labor-join@cpusa.org to
join the list.
Scott Marshall,
Labor Commission Chair
Melissa O’Rourke, Labor Commission Coordinator, Labor UpFront editor
In This
Newsletter:
Unions
Begin Big Election Effort
Action
Alert: Neglected Priorities
CAW Needs
Solidarity
Indian
Workers Suspend Hunger Strike
Congress
Hotel Strike Marks 5th Anniversary
TRADE Act introduced;
Action Alert
Election 2008: Labor
says ‘NO’ to Big Oil
Union
Jobs
(still more needed!)
Unions begin big election
effort
By John Wojcik, People’s Weekly World
With the primary season over, labor is wasting no time jumping into the
fall campaign. The 10-million-member AFL-CIO is expected to endorse
Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, shortly.
The Change to Win federation has already endorsed him.
Once the AFL-CIO officially endorses Obama, it is expected to deploy
large numbers of ground troops for the election. It has already
budgeted $54.3 million for its own get-out-the vote drive and may,
according to its political committee chairman, AFSCME President Gerald
McEntee, spend as much as $60 million on the effort.
The Steelworkers have already begun what they say will be 30,000 or
more worksite visits by union activists, talking directly to workers
about Obama’s positions. They’re emphasizing his proposals for fair
trade policies and for creation of millions of good paying “green”
manufacturing jobs. The jobs they are talking about include production
of solar cells, industrial-sized windmills to power electric turbines,
and hybrid automobile engines.
The Service Employees (SEIU), the largest union in the Change to Win
federation, voted at their June 2–4 convention in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, to spend $85 million for the fall campaign to elect Obama and a
bigger Democratic majority in Congress.
An additional $55 million will be spent for a legislative campaign to
push for creation of a “universal, comprehensive and affordable
national health care plan,” according to a union statement issued after
the convention.
In a unique move, SEIU voted to spend $10 million to mount campaigns
against legislators on any level who go back on promises they have made
to the labor movement.
Continue reading about several other unions and their election plans here.
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Action Alerts
AFSCME: Stop
Neglecting our Priorities
Every American laid off during the tanking Bush economy needs to be
protected from financial catastrophe. Every child in America deserves
quality child care. And every taxpayer needs to know that their
communities are ready to handle any public health and safety threats.
This Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives will begin deciding
how much money these priorities receive. For seven long years, the
Bush administration has threatened the economic security and public
health of all Americans. Now it’s time to reinvest in these priorities.
We’re asking key members of the House Appropriations Committee to
support increases for several economic security and public health
programs.
* Increase in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG),
the primary source of federal dollars to help low-income families
receive the child care they need.
* Reject President Bush’s call to end the Employment Service and
instead support a $781 million increase to help jobless Americans find
work.
* Support a $350 million allocation for emergency preparedness in
the event of a pandemic flu outbreak.
Please take action now. Go to: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/neglected_priorities
International
Labor News
CAW Needs Solidarity for
Action at Oshawa
By Sam Hammond, Chair of the Central Trade Union
Commission, Communist
Party of Canada
What does 435 million dollars buy in Ontario? It could build over 3000
affordable homes, requiring at least 15,000 appliances, untold building
materials and lots of light trucks. Or it could purchase a litany of
false promises, deceits, outright lies and subterfuge. What would you
choose?
This is exactly the situation in the most arrogant sneer yet delivered
to the working class of this country, who provided $435 million out of
hard won wages (confiscated as taxes), given to General Motors by the
federal and Ontario corporate providers charading as representatives of
the people. The total includes $175 million from the Ontario government
as a forgivable loan to GM if certain job guarantees and new product
investments are made in its Oshawa operation; $60 million to
universities to research what the automotive manufacturers might need
in the near future; and $200 million by the federal government to
stimulate the industry. This was done as late as 2005, after years of
subsidies from the public purse to try and maintain an auto industry
after NAFTA and the giveaway of the Auto Pact. Speaking biblically,
this form of government ‘taketh away’ from us and ‘giveth’ to the
corporations.
So what is the corporate response to this benevolence? Take the money
and run to the low wage anti-union areas of the United States or to
Mexico. Run with the loot and abandon the most efficient plants in the
Americas, or perhaps the world, because the corporate agenda for Canada
does not necessarily include producing here.
The Canadian Auto Workers made an historic move with the big three
negotiations by opening agreements early (September was the expiry
date), and pre-empting their negotiating conference, which
traditionally allowed massive input into bargaining priorities and
strategies. They started talks with Ford and then Chrysler, without the
strike weapon, taking concessions to stave off the effects of a massive
meltdown of the UAW in the United States.
Article continues here.
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Indian Workers Suspend
Hunger Strike
From Union
City, D.C. Metro Council: Indian trafficking survivors suspended
their 29-day hunger strike at a rally outside the Department of Justice
Wednesday following a wave of support over the past month from US
Congress-members, labor and religious leaders, and thousands of labor
and civil rights activists across the country.
‘We have confidence to suspend our hunger strike today because we have
faith in these allies to fight alongside us until the traffickers are
brought to justice,’ said Indian Workers’ Congress Organizer Sabulal
Vijayan. ‘With our hunger strike, we have won concrete actions that
will help protect future workers from the nightmare of forced labor we
suffered.’
At the rally, US Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) called the
treatment the workers faced at the hands of Indian recruiters and their
employer, Signal International, ‘wrong, inhumane, and immoral.’
Kucinich and 17 other US Congress-members sent a letter to US Attorney
General Michael Mukasey last week demanding he ‘take the steps
necessary to ensure the workers’ continued presence so that DOJ can
continue this important investigation of modern-day slavery, human
trafficking, and forced labor and bring these traffickers to justice.’
Kucinich has also promised to hold a Congressional hearing on abuses of
guest workers by Signal and other companies.
‘I think we as Americans and working people around the world owe you an
enormous debt for standing up,’ said Nickeled and Dimed author Barbara
Ehrenreich. ‘You helped bring to light a scandal of slavery in the US.’
Quoting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent statement that a
“robust law enforcement response is essential” in stopping “petty
tyrants who exploit their laborers,” AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt
called on the Bush Administration to “apply those principles right here
at home” and prosecute Signal. The rally – attended by over one hundred
supporters – was part of a National Day of Action for the workers that
included congressional visits and rallies outside DOJ offices in 10
other cities.
– report by Andy Richa
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U.S. Labor News
Congress Hotel Strike
Marks 5th Anniversary![Congress strike]()
Bus, trolley and cab drivers, tourists atop double-decker sight-seeing
buses, and workers stuck in rush-hour traffic all honked and cheered in
support of the Congress Hotel striking workers and the thousands who
joined their picket line last Thursday to mark the 5th Anniversary of
the longest active strike in the United States. Six giant rats lined
Michigan Avenue and picket lines circled the building, symbols of the
fight against the poverty wages the hotel refuses to increase. Members
of over a dozen unions and community organizations mobilized to march
in solidarity on this unfortunate anniversary.
Most hotel workers in downtown Chicago are members of UNITE HERE Local
1 and are covered by a contract that provides wages of over $13 an hour
and affordable health care for the workers and their families. The
workers at the Congress Hotel make $8 an hour, in unsanitary and
dangerous conditions; their health benefits slashed with premiums
unaffordable.
![rats]() After five years of freezing
winters and scorching summers on the picket line, the weary strikers
were heartened by the thousands of supporters who joined them
Thursday. Maria Contreras has been on the line through the long five
years, and, wiping away a few tears, said, “This makes it all worth
it. We will do this. We will win this.”
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TRADE
Act Introduced
WASHINGTON – United States Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today was
joined by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Congressman Mike Michaud (D-ME),
Congresswoman Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood), and other members of Congress
at a Capitol Hill news conference to introduce the Trade Reform,
Accountability, Development, and Employment (TRADE) Act.
Endorsed by more than a dozen fair trade groups, the TRADE ACT is a
first of its kind pro-trade bill that would revamp U.S. trade policy.
The bill would mandate trade pact reviews, establish standards, protect
workers in developing nations, and would help restore Congressional
oversight of future trade agreements.
“The TRADE ACT will help Congress and the White House craft a trade
agreement that benefits workers, business owners, and our country,”
said Brown. “We want trade, and we want more of it. The TRADE Act is a
critical first step on a new path for trade.”
Continue reading press release here
and read complete bill text here.
Take Action: Tell
your Members of Congress to Co-Sponsor the TRADE Act
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Election ’08
Labor says ‘NO’ to Big Oil
For the past week union
members and labor activists across the country have been saying a
resounding “NO!” to Big Oil. Protests have been happening in dozens of
cities as the price for a gallon of gas surpassed $4 and working
Americans are struggling to make ends meet, all the while Big Oil
continues making record profits.
Also highlighted at these protests is John McCain’s record of
supporting the same Big Oil interests as President Bush and his
cronies. Since President Bush took office, gas prices have risen from
$1.47 a gallon to more than $4. Bush’s administration has done all it
can to protect Big Oil’s profits—in fact, the top five oil companies
have made $525 billion in profits under Bush. John McCain is right in
lockstep with Bush:
• McCain’s tax plan would give $3.8 billion in tax cuts to the five
largest American oil companies.
• Like Bush, McCain protects Big Oil’s profits. Last year, McCain
was the only senator to miss a vote on the energy bill repealing tax
subsidies for oil companies. In 2005, he voted against a temporary
windfall profits tax on oil companies to fund tax credits for working
families. Previously, he opposed ending tax breaks for oil and natural
gas companies related to depletion and drilling costs.
• McCain has received $723,777 in campaign contributions from oil
and gas industry PACs and employees—almost twice as much as Barack
Obama or Hillary Clinton.
While all this is going on, working families are struggling with
stagnant wages, soaring health care costs, home foreclosures and
disappearing jobs as well as impossible gas prices.
Download a flier
and a fact sheet
about how the Bush-McCain love affair with Big Oil is harming working
families. Share it with the people you know.
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Union Jobs (We need more
listings!)
We’ve gotten an increasing number of responses in the call for union
job listings, more than we can list anymore. For the sake of space and
ease, we’ll list cities and industries, and for further information
please contact me, morourke@cpusa.org.
Chicago: IBEW: further info is available at www.ejatt.com
Chicago Education-to-Careers: http://www.cisco.org/etc/apprec.htm
There is also a website, http://www.unionjobs.com/ that
lists union
jobs, including staff, trades and apprenticeships, by state.
Keep them coming!!!! In an effort to assist young
workers in finding decent-paying union jobs, I’m requesting that anyone
who knows of job openings or apprenticeships, in all fields and across
the country, please forward that information to laborupfront@cpusa.org.
To remove your name from our mailing list, please e-mail cp-labor-leave@cpusa.org
We welcome questions, comments and stories for our next
newsletter. Send them to us at laborupfront@cpusa.org
or call (773)
446-9920, ext. 212.
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