Volume 06, Issue 5

September 2006

2006

IOWA FEDERATION OF LABOR, AFL-CIO 

50th ANNUAL CONVENTION 

Trumka Rallies Convention Delegates

AFL-CIO Leader Labels Bush & Cronies “As Incompetent As They Are Corrupt”

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka’s August 16 keynote address to the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO 2006 Convention focused on the need for working people to stick together politically to change the United States.  Trumka’s remarks included several comparisons between 25 years ago and today.  Twenty-five years ago:

• 40 percent of private sector jobs in our country offered pensions - now just 20 percent have them.

• Average weekly earnings for American workers were $281 per week - today, when adjusted for inflation, they average $276 a week.

• The federal minimum wage was 30 percent higher than it is today, when adjusted for inflation.

• Jobless workers could collect up to 15 months of unemployment compensation - today they can collect it for six months and the benefits are taxable.

• The federal government spent $27.2 billion annually on its major job-training program - today it spends just $4.4 billion.

Trumka closed by asking, “Have you had enough of working harder and harder for less and less… so corporations can make more money and CEOs can steal more and more?

“Have you had enough of corporate lobbyists pulling the strings on puppet politicians who vote against working families and our unions?

“Have you had enough of seniors going without the drugs they need?

“Have you had enough of children going without the health care and the education they deserve?

“Have you had enough of American workers...and union workers being treated like second-class citizens?

After the delegates had loudly responded “Yes” to each of the “Have you had enough?” questions, Trumka roared, “Then let’s get even, let’s stand together, let’s fight together, let’s vote together, let’s win together.”

Bush’s Only Veto

In the last six years President Bush vetoed only one bill—embryonic stem cell research.      Senator Tom Harkin hit the nail on the head when he said, “This veto is a shameful display of cruelty and hypocrisy.  It is cruel because it denies hope to millions of Americans who suffer from Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS, juvenile diabetes, cancer, spinal-cord injuries and many other diseases and debilitating conditions.”

Harkin, stated that he would introduce the stem cell legislation again, saying that Bush “vetoed the hopes of millions of suffering Americans” and “is closing his heart and mind to this fact.”

Convention Delegates Adopt Resolutions

Resolutions adopted during the 2006 IFL Convention included measures to:

• Make Election Day a holiday and allow same-day voter registration

• Support a moratorium on new trade agreements until workers’ rights are protected

• Support universal access to high-speed internet by 2010

• Support immigration reform that respects workers’ rights

• Demanding Medicare for all

• Support the Iowans for Sensible priorities campaign, which advocates a reduction in obsolete Cold War weapons spending and reallocates those funds to areas of pressing needs, such as health care, job training, education, renewable energy ad reducing the national debt.

• Support electing endorsed candidates to legislative, statewide and congressional offices.

A listing of statewide and congressional candidates endorsed by the Federation is listed below.  A listing of endorsed candidates for the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives is available at 2006 Endorsements

Health Care: U.S. Spends Most, Covers Least

The United States spends more on health care per capita than any other advanced industrialized country, yet has the largest uninsured population.

That system failure was revealed in a review of labor markets and living standards in the United States and 19 other wealthy countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

While the United States spends more on health care than other OECD countries, about 46.6 million Americans, did not have any form of health insurance coverage in 2005.  In contrast, Ireland, Austria and Finland spend about half of what the United States spends on health care, yet cover 99 to 100 percent of their respective populations. Courtesy: USW@Work

CEO Pay Now 821 Times Minimum Wage

Last year, an average chief executive officer (CEO) was paid 821 times as much as a worker earning the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.  Put another way, the average CEO earns more before lunch time on the very first day of work in the year than a minimum wage earner earns for the entire year.

The ratio of pay between CEOs and workers at the bottom of the nation’s pay scale wasn’t always so extreme.  As recently as 1978, CEOs were paid only 78 times as much as minimum wage earners. Courtesy: USW@Work

Job Search Taking Longer

It’s taking longer for U.S. job seekers to find work as employers cut back because of concerns over the health of the economy.

The typical job search took 3.6 months in the second quarter, nearly a month longer than it took in the first three months of the year, according to an out-placement firm that tracks the trend.  A year ago, the typical job hunt lasted 3.1 months.

The second quarter survey could signal a significant hiring slowdown, or increased layoffs, by the start of 2007. Courtesy: USW@Work

Minimum Wage Press Conference Exposes Nussle Hypocrisy

Chet Culver, Democratic Candidate for Governor, and Mark Smith, Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO President, speak to the press in Des Moines on August 7, 2006.

Citing an increase to $7.25 per hour in the minimum wage as one of his top priorities, Culver said he wanted the bill, “on my desk in the first 100 days of my administration.”

Jim Nussle’s hypocrisy on the issue of raising the minimum wage    became evident after a press conference called by the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO on August 7, 2006.

With minimum wage petitions signed by over three thousand Iowa union members in the background, Chet Culver called for an increase in the minimum wage and labeled the bill Nussle supported in Congress on July 29th, “A phony, sham bill crafted by the Republican leadership in Washington, D.C. that included more huge tax giveaways to the wealthiest among us.”  Culver said, “It seems pretty clear that he’s (Nussle) gone Washington on us.”

Nussle, who was invited but did not attend the press conference, responded with a written statement saying, “An increase in the minimum wage is overdue.”  Culver disputed Nussle’s claim to be supportive of the minimum wage by pointing out that the only time Nussle voted in Congress to increase the minimum wage was the July 29th vote that coupled a minimum wage increase with repeal of the estate tax, a giveaway to the wealthiest families in America.

Perhaps the most damning evidence of Nussle’s hypocrisy came when Culver revealed Nussle’s comments given in a recent radio interview.  Referring to the July 29th vote, Nussle said, “If you just put the minimum wage out there as a single vote, yeah I have voted against that.”

Nussle’s radio interview remarks confirmed Federation President Smith’s statement, “Our representatives in Congress, including Jim Nussle, are playing us for suckers.” Smith called the bill coupling the minimum wage increase with the estate tax, “Nothing but a transparent attempt to provide political cover for Republicans, like Nussle, who have voting records documenting longstanding opposition to increasing the minimum wage.”

Nussle’s own wages as a member of Congress have increased by $31,600 since the minimum wage was last raised.

At a Federation-sponsored minimum wage press conference held earlier in Bettendorf,  Republican candidate for Congress, Mike Whalen, like Nussle, failed to attend.  Democratic candidate for Congress, Bruce Braley, pledged to support a minimum wage increase.

Oman Free Trade Agreement Passes U.S. House

If you liked NAFTA and CAFTA, you’ll love the latest in free trade, the Oman Free Trade Agreement. 

Consider these facts.  The people of Oman are ruled by an unelected monarch.  Workers in Oman are not allowed to form unions. Foreign workers, who make up about 80 percent of the workforce, lack even the most basic worker rights.  Reports have documented instances of workers who have suffered as victims of forced labor and human trafficking.

The agreement would allow firms like Dubai Ports World to create shell companies in Oman that could be used to establish control of American ports or other critical facilities.

In spite of the obvious exploitation of workers taking place in Oman and other flaws included in  the trade agreement, the Bush administration pushed ahead and the pact passed the U.S. House on July 20 on a 221 - 205 vote. 

Iowa Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell opposed the measure.  Republican Congressmen Steve King, Tom Latham and Jim Leach voted for the agreement.  Congressman Jim Nussle did not vote.  The agreement passed the U.S. Senate in June with Iowa Senator Charles Grassley voting Yes and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin voting No.

A Clear Choice in the Governor’s Race: 

Iowa Values vs. Washington Values

 Working men and women have a choice on the issues when they go to the polls to elect Iowa’s next Governor on November 7.

Chet Culver	Democrat candidate Chet Culver who returned a perfect Iowa Federation of Labor candidate questionnaire and stood before Iowa Federation of Labor 2006 Convention delegates and promised support for project labor agreements, an increase in the minimum wage, and fair share, or Republican candidate Jim Nussle, who failed to return the Federation candidate questionnaire.  His lifetime AFL-CIO record of voting against workers 87 percent of the time includes key votes against increasing the minimum wage, for bad trade deals, and in support of the Bush economic policies favoring the wealthy.
Working men and women also have a choice on values this November: Iowa values and experience as a top statewide elected leader, or Washington values and experience standing with President Bush and the Republican Congress?
Jim Nussle	Iowa Values: Secretary of State Chet Culver, a former teacher and coach and union member – a family man who is committed to supporting Iowa’s working men and women. He has spent his career here in Iowa and understands the issues Iowans face and the values we share. He will work to create good jobs in Iowa, raise the minimum wage, and ensure funding for education and health care. He won’t back down from fighting for workers and protecting and advancing the right to organize. Washington Values: Congressman Jim Nussle, who has spent the past sixteen years in Washington, where he has catered to the special interests and said one thing and done another over and over again. His Washington values were prominently displayed when he voted repeatedly against minimum wage increases, while voting to give himself $31,600 in congressional pay increases; said he’d fight for fiscal responsibility, while exploding the deficit with tax cuts for the wealthy; and claimed to support education, while voting 100 times against education funding.
The choice is clear. A Governor Culver, who will fight for Iowans and our values, and keep moving our state forward – or a Governor Nussle, who will bring the mess in Washington right back here to Iowa.

Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Endorsed Candidates

For a list of endorsed candidates for the Iowa House and Senate  click on 2006 Endorsements

Sad But True

The 2006 Iowa Republican Platform lays out the principles that drive the Republican agenda.

 The Republicans:

• Support Right to Work;

• Oppose the minimum wage;

• Oppose government funding for embryonic stem cell research;

• Want to abolish the Department of Education;

• Oppose assistance to victims of floods and tornadoes.

Given the platform, it’s no wonder that Republicans in the Legislature and the Congress vote the way they do.

See www.iowagop.org for the complete GOP platform.

Nussle

 Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack Leads Democratic Leadership Council in Support of the Employee Free Choice Act

Flanked by leaders of AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, on September 6, announced the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) endorsement of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

Vilsack hailed the endorsement of the EFCA as “the beginning of an extended dialogue about the relationship between America and its workers.”

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney applauded the action, saying, “Our current laws are a nightmare that not only allow—but encourage—lengthy and confrontational campaigns aimed at snuffing out workers’ choice."

The Employee Free Choice Act, which is currently co-sponsored by 43 U.S. Senators and 215 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, would eliminate the election process and grant representation rights to a union if a majority of the workers sign cards signifying their preference to form a union. This replaces the current process that is rife with employer abuses. The DLC cites the bill as an example of how it’s sometimes essential to amend the letter of the law to preserve the spirit of the law.  Iowa’s Senator Tom Harkin and Third District Congressman Leonard Boswell are co-sponsors of the EFCA.

“No Negotiating” = Big $$$ for Drug Makers

The law rammed through by the Republican Congress barring Medicare from negotiating prices with drug companies is already costing U.S. seniors millions.  In the first quarter of 2006 brand-name drug prices increased at four times the level of inflation.

The seniors’ organization AARP estimates that the cost of prescription drugs for seniors in the U.S. rose by an average of $240 per person between the first quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006.

When the drug companies have to negotiate, prices are lower. The Department of Veterans Affairs is allowed to negotiate drug prices for the people it serves.  The result—prices for brand-name drugs purchased through the Veterans Administration are 46 percent lower than for the same drugs purchased under Medicare.

Census Bureau: Paychecks Shrink for U.S. Workers

U.S. workers suffered a drop in their real median earnings of 1.8% for men and 1.3% for women between 2004 and 2005, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on August 29.

The Census Bureau report also showed an increasing number of Americans (46.6 million) without health insurance coverage, an increase of 1.3 million people since 2004.  The report also documented that 400,000 more children in the U.S. were uninsured than in 2005 and that 17.6% of all U.S. children live in poverty.

Delegates Induct Two Into Federation’s

Labor Hall of Fame

Pearl McGill - Organizer, Button Workers 

Roberta Till-Retz - Labor Educator, AFT

At age 16, Pearl McGill began working in a Muscatine button factory.  Shortly afterward, in 1911, the AFL Button Workers Protective Union Local 12854 began an organizing drive which turned into a recognition strike that resulted in a lockout.  She was elected as recording secretary and to the executive committee of her local.  

Recruited in early 1912 by the union to go to Chicago to get support for the locked-out workers, Pearl connected with the Women’s Trade Union League, gave hundreds of speeches across the industrial northeast, and became a powerful voice on behalf of the rights of workers in New York, Boston, New Hampshire, and Lawrence, Massachusetts.  

Pearl McGill may very well have been the first woman labor organizer in Iowa. 

Roberta Till-Retz has taught thousands of Iowa union members during her 26-year career at the University of Iowa’s Labor Center.  She advised hundreds of union leaders on matters ranging from collective bargaining to political strategies.  She served as President of her union local, AFT 716, and of the Iowa Federation of Teachers.

A Democratic Party activist, Till-Retz received the State Party’s Minnette Doderer Award for Outstanding Leadership.

She serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Iowa Policy Project and as Executive Director of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Iowa Labor Oral History Project.

Roberta Till-Retz, the longest-serving labor educator in the fifty-six year history of the Labor Center made a difference.    She touched the future, she taught.