Political Action Update
July 5, 2006
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Political Action Update
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July 5, 2006 |
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Chet Culver Endorsed for
Governor Bruce Braley Wins in Iowa’s 1st District |
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With
the 2006 Primary Elections in the history books, the political focus
has quickly shifted to the fall contests to determine who will control
the U.S. Congress, the Iowa House and Senate, and who will become the
next Iowa Governor. In
a spirited Democratic primary between Federation-endorsed candidate
Mike Blouin, Ed Fallon and Chet Culver, Culver won with 39% of the
vote, Blouin received 34% and Fallon garnered 26%.
Subsequently, the members of the Iowa Federation of Labor,
AFL-CIO Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse Chet Culver for
Governor of Iowa. Culver
will face Republican Jim Nussle this fall.
Nussle has a miserable AFL-CIO record in Congress, supporting
working families only 13% of the time. National
Spotlight on Iowa Two
of the most-watched congressional races in the nation are Iowa’s 1st
and 3rd District races. In eastern Iowa’s 1st District, Bruce Braley won the Democratic primary battle with 37% of the vote while Rick Dickinson received 34% and Bill Gluba received 25% of the vote.
Braley
now faces Republican Mike Whalen of Bettendorf in the November
election to fill retiring Rep. Jim Nussle’s open seat.
The Iowa 1st District seat is viewed as one of the key races in
the battle for control of Congress.
Democrats need to gain 15 seats in November in order to take
control of the U.S. House. Iowa’s
3rd District is also in the national spotlight.
Republicans have targeted the seat of Federation-endorsed
Democratic incumbent Leonard Boswell.
Boswell, who was unopposed in the primary election, is being
challenged by Iowa Senate President Jeff Lamberti.
Lamberti, a lawyer whose family founded Casey’s General
Stores, is certain to be well-financed. Other
Primary Contests Two
of three legislative candidates endorsed by the Federation prevailed
in primary election contests.
In Des Moines, Ako Abdul-Samad won the Democratic nomination in
Iowa House District 66 and incumbent Senator Matt McCoy held onto his
Senate District 31 seat.
In southeast Iowa, Andrew Hoth defeated endorsed candidate
Nathan Comiskey earning the nomination to challenge incumbent
Republican Thomas Sands in House District 87. Other
Endorsements Executive
Board endorsements since the COPE Convention, besides Culver, include
Tom Miller for Attorney General, Dave Loebsack for 2nd District
Congress, and legislative candidates, Swati Dandikar (HD-36), Dawn
Pettengill (HD-39), Michael Reasoner (HD-95) and Will Reger (HD-99)
for the Iowa House.
A full list of endorsements is on the web at www.iowaaflcio.org.
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Make
Plans to Attend the 50th Annual Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Annual Convention Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center August 16 - 18 ♦
Waterloo, Iowa |
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Reprinted from the Saturday, June 3, 2006
Des Moines Register—The Register’s Editorials: Vilsack
Right to Veto Eminent-Domain Bill—Lawmakers Should Resist Override
Attempt Gov.
Tom Vilsack’s veto of a bill that would virtually eliminate a key
economic-development tool in Iowa presents the Iowa General Assembly
with two options: It can preserve a bad bill by trying to override the
governor’s veto, or it can take him up on his offer to go back to
work and produce a better bill. Lawmakers
should take the second option and produce legislation that more
carefully balances property rights against legitimate economic
development and urban renewal. The
bill Vilsack vetoed Friday did not come close to balancing those
conflicting issues.
Rather, it would bar communities from exercising the power of
eminent domain to condemn property for economic development, and it
would make condemnation next to impossible for urban renewal unless
decaying neighborhoods are a near-total loss.
Moreover, there are provisions in the bill that affect
construction of recreation areas and could block construction or
expansion of municipal airports. The
issue blew into a giant political storm after the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that it’s constitutional for local governments to use the
power of eminent domain for economic-development projects.
The proponents of restricting eminent domain were not moved by
the fact that this had been the law in Iowa for many years without
significant problems or complaints.
In fact, not a single credible example of abuses was cited. Although
the Legislature was bound and determined to tie local communities’
hands, it turns out lawmakers are offended by eminent domain only in
the abstract.
When it comes down to specific examples in real life — such
as a corn-processing plant in Clinton or a redevelopment project in
Burlington — they thought it was a good thing, and they extended the
bill’s effective date to accommodate those projects.
Unfortunately, that won’t help other projects, now underway
or planned in the future, that would be stymied as a result of this
legislation. Vilsack
wisely understood that what’s good for one community surely is good
for another, now and in the future.
“We can do better,” he said Friday, by writing a bill
“that not only protects private property but does not limit economic
opportunity and job growth.” The
eminent-domain issue got tangled up in misinformation and
election-year fever.
The result was a bill that would be bad for Iowa communities
struggling to grow and rebuild.
The governor did the right thing by refusing to sign it into
law. |
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Bush NLRB Attacks Workers “Week of Action” set for July 10
In
recent cases, the Bush-appointed national Labor Relations Board has
taken away workers’ protections and workers’ rights, including the
rights of disabled workers, temporary employees and graduate
employees.
This summer could bring more such decisions from the Bush Labor
Board in cases collectively called “Kentucky River.”
The “Kentucky River” decisions, which address issues left
open in the NLRB
vs. Kentucky River Community Care
Supreme Court case, could strip hundreds of thousands of
workers of their rights under federal labor law.
At issue is a revised definition of “supervisor” which
could potentially affect workers in a wide range of industries,
including health care, building and construction, energy, broadcast
and port shipping.
Unlike other employees, “supervisors” do not have protected
rights under the National Labor Relations Act to form and join unions.
Employers often try to classify workers as supervisors in order
to deny them the right to union representation and collective
bargaining. The
implications of losing union protections run deep for workers.
For example, if workers lose their protections as
“employees” under federal law, they may be fired or otherwise
disciplined for union activity.
They’ll lose the freedom to join or remain a member of a
union.
And they will lose their ability to have a voice on the job. That’s
why the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO will be participating in the
nationwide AFL-CIO Week of Action to “PUSH BACK” against the Bush
“ROLL BACK” of workers rights.
A date and location for an Iowa event to be held during the
“Kentucky River” Week of Action will be announced soon.
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At
a time when working people are squeezed as never before, and
Washington isn’t listening to working Americans… the Bush
administration is making things even worse for working people by
slashing workers’ rights at every turn.
