May 22, 2007

2007 Legislature - Issues Summary

But it didn’t happen—at least not this year.

Fair Share (Failed)  

After forty-two years of waiting, forty-two years of supporting Democrats, in the hope of getting rid of the accursed right to work law or, short of that, at least passing Fair Share, labor was betrayed by those who led us to believe they supported us.  What they did was wrong.  In the Legislature, as in life, all you have is your word, and if your word is no good, you have nothing.

Prevailing Wage (Failed)

This legislation would protect local jobs and workers’ wages on public construction projects, just as federal law—Davis-Bacon—does on all federally-funded projects.  A prevailing wage law would:

· Create good-paying jobs, a must for economic development;

· Promote high quality and cost stability in public construction;

· Put construction contractors on a level playing field;

· Encourage investment in apprenticeship training;

· Promote worker safety;

· Promote health and retirement benefits for workers;

· Enhance state revenues through an expanded income and sales tax base due to better wages.

The bill passed out of committee in the House, but was just short of the 51 needed to get it passed to the Senate.  It was not voted on by either chamber.    

What a shame Iowa could not have joined 32 other states and the District of Columbia by enacting prevailing wage this year!

Employee Choice of Doctor (Failed)

A basic tenet of quality health care is the right of individuals to choose their medical providers.  This tenet is violated by the Iowa Workers’ Compensation law, which gives the employer the right to choose the medical provider for an injured worker. 

Employer abuse of provider choice is rampant.  It includes:

· Inadequate or ineffective treatment

· Improper employer attempts to influence medical decisions

· Unnecessary delays in care

· Work restrictions that put workers at greater risk of further injury

· Unfairly low impairment ratings

· Employer-doctor collusion in return-to-work or discharge decisions.

Legislation we supported would have allowed the worker, rather than the employer, to choose the employee’s health care provider.  Worker healing and treatment is best done by a provider who is concerned solely with the worker, not by providers who treat them like malingering liars and whose primary concern is the employer or the insurance company’s bottom line. 

Thirty-two other states allow the worker to choose, and it doesn’t result in higher insurance premiums.  Six out of the ten states with the lowest premiums give workers the right to choose, and five of the ten states with the highest premiums let the bosses choose.

A bill to allow employee choice passed out of committee, but was not voted on by either chamber.

Public Sector Bargaining (Failed)

A proposal that would have included discipline and discharge as well as other improvements in Iowa’s public sector collective bargaining law failed to be considered by the Legislature.  Public workers should be able to bargain over the same issues as the private sector.

Unemployment (Failed)

Almost half the workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own are denied Unemployment Insurance benefits due to technical regulations.   A bill was introduced to make it easier for otherwise qualified individuals to receive benefits, but did not make it through the committee process. 

Helping the Working Poor

Minimum Wage (Passed)

Iowa finally stopped waiting for the federal government to act and moved ahead on increasing the state minimum wage above the federal level of $5.15.  The increase will take place in two steps:  to $6.20 on April 1, 2007, and $7.25 on January 1, 2008. 

This new minimum wage will have a positive impact on more than 250,000 Iowa workers, directly or indirectly, including 94,000 children who are members of families in which the breadwinners make the minimum wage.

Earned Income Tax Credit (Passed)

The Legislature passed a small increase in the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and made it refundable, which will help thousands of hard-pressed working Iowa families pay for needs, such as child care, health care, heating bills and fuel for their cars. 

The Iowa Policy Project estimates that 168,000 Iowa households receive the federal EITC, but almost half of them do not claim the state credit.  By increasing the tax credit and making it refundable, more Iowa families will benefit.

In Iowa, a working family of four begins paying state income taxes when family income reaches $18,338, which is less than the poverty level.  At the federal level, a family of four needs to reach $41,870 – about two times the poverty level – before the family is liable for federal tax.

Car Title Loan Cap (Passed)

Iowans will be protected from some unscrupulous lenders, now that the Legislature has capped interest rates on car title loans at 21%. Lenders like LoanMax could charge as much as 300% interest on a loan, even with a car title as collateral.  Such practices are unnecessary and abusive.  In 2005 more than 1,000 Iowans lost their cars after defaulting on a car title loan.

Health Care

Cigarette Tax (Passed)

The Legislature voted to improve the health care of Iowans with the $127 million that will be raised next year with the tobacco tax increase.  This will improve the health of Iowans in two ways:

1. It discourages Iowans from smoking and young people from starting.

2. It provides important funding to expand health care to low-income Iowans and increase access to affordable health care across Iowa.

The bill includes the establishment of the Health Care Trust Fund to ensure that all dollars raised by the cigarette tax will go to health care, substance abuse treatment and prevention and tobacco use prevention, cessation and control.

Covering More Uninsured (Passed)

More uninsured Iowans will be covered through additional funding for the state’s Medicaid program.  Medicaid and Hawk-I provide primary and preventive health services to three out of every ten Iowa children.  Despite rising health care costs and the falling number of employer health insurance plans, these programs help many Iowa children receive the health care they need.  Now more children and some parents can be covered as well.

Child Care

Mandatory Registration (Failed)

When families use registered child care providers, they know that they meet basic standards of safe, quality care, such as:

· Lifesaving certification in CPR and First Aid

· Child abuse background checks for anyone in the home over 14 years of age

· Safe home environment

· Basic training in child nutrition, development and safety

· Subject to periodic inspection by the state

Currently registration for child care providers is voluntary.  Unfortunately, legislation to require registration and thus provide the basic standards and protection that families need and deserve did not succeed this session.

Child Care Payments (Passed)

Child care providers who care for children under the state subsidy program receive relatively low pay.  Often much of what they make goes to cover supplies such as cribs, books, educational toys, changing tables, safety gates, diapers and food.  When state payments are late, it is almost impossible to get by. 

The Legislature agreed that late payments are inexcusable and passed a provision whereby child care service providers receiving state payments could elect a biweekly or monthly billing and payment plan.  In addition, unless there is a problem, the state will be required to remit payment to a provider within 10 days of receiving a bill for services paid.

Education

Teacher Pay Increase (Passed)
Teacher salaries will move from 40^th in the nation to 25^th over the next two years, as a result of 2007 legislation.  This will go a long way to attract and keep the best and the brightest teachers in our schools in order to provide the best education for our children.

Expanded Access to Preschool (Passed)

Iowa lawmakers passed legislation to establish a voluntary, statewide preschool program for 4-year-old children.  It will provide access to a preschool education for 90 percent of 4-year-old children in Iowa within four years.  According to a leading economist, this legislation could lead to huge savings in areas such as remedial education, law enforcement and child welfare.  Add to that the benefits of less crime and a more highly skilled workforce, and it makes pre-K spending “one of the smartest moves governments can make,” according to noted economist Robert G. Lynch.

Regulation

Electrician Licensing (Passed)   

After being in the works for many years, this legislation finally sets out a new Code section for statewide licensure of electricians.  It changes the current system from licensure on a city-by-city basis to licensure on a statewide basis.  Reciprocity with other states will be negotiated.  Only one license will be required, allowing electricians to practice on a statewide as well as local basis.  The bill contains provisions regarding electrical inspections and provides for licensing fees and penalties.  An eleven-member board is created within the State Fire Marshal’s office responsible for licensure examinations as well as issuing licenses and revoking or suspending licenses.  Funding will come from an Electrician and Installer Licensing and Inspection Fund where all licensing, registration, examination, inspections, and renewal fees are deposited and made available to the board.

Plumber Licensing (Passed) 

Licensure of plumbers and mechanical professionals has also been worked on for many years.  This legislation sets up a new Code section requiring licensure for those who provide plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services, which are performed in ducted systems, all gas lines associated with any component of a plumbing or mechanical system, or services performed on refrigeration or hydronic systems.   There are certain exemptions from the licensure requirement.  A new plumbing and mechanical systems examining board will be established within the Department of Public Health.  It will be charged with adopting standards for licensure, providing for examinations, and adopting fees.  Licenses will be issued for a period of two years and reciprocity with other states will be provided.  The bill is effective July 1, 2008.

OSHA Funding (Passed)

After years of short funding and cutting back on OSHA inspectors, the Legislature passed an Economic Development Appropriations bill that includes funding and authorization to add seven OSHA inspectors in Iowa. 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration data on worksite inspections for the 2006 fiscal year shows that it would take 122 years for OSHA to inspect all jobsites in Iowa just once.  Iowa ranks above the national average in workplace injuries and deaths.  It’s high time we get serious about workplace safety!

Elections

Election Day Registration (Passed) 

Eligible citizens will now be able to register to vote at the polls on Election Day.  They must show proof of their identity and residency and sign an oath testifying they have not already voted in any other precinct in the election.  Current law requires voters to sign up no later than 10 days before an election.  Election Day registration removes a bureaucratic barrier to voting and increases voter turnout.  Minnesota, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming already have Election Day registration. 

Electronic Voting Machines (Passed)

All voting machines will have to be equipped with a voter verified paper trail by November 4, 2008.  This specifically applies to touch screen voting machines.  These machines must be equipped with the ability for each voter to verify their vote prior to casting a ballot so that if a recount is conducted, the vote can be verified.  

Clean Elections (Failed)

The state failed to pass the Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections bill (VOICE), an attempt to reduce the influence of big money in politics.  Clean elections laws use tax money to finance state election campaigns, but the cost of clean elections pales in comparison to the costs of state corporate giveaway programs, tax cuts for the rich and the lack of attention given to the needs of working families. 

In 2002 business groups and PACs spent 10 times more than labor unions did in elections, and the disparity continues to increase.  Clean elections laws level the playing field and help break the dependency candidates now have on corporate money.

Maine and Arizona passed clean elections laws several years ago.  Even in Iowa, the amount of money needed to fund campaigns is simply out of control.  It’s time we do something about it.

Rights

Civil Rights (Passed)

Significant progress has been made towards ending discrimination based on race, religion, gender, ability, age and ethnicity through existing civil rights laws.  This year the Legislature added sexual orientation to the list of those protected under the law.  The law prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations and education based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  It does not require or permit same sex marriage, already prohibited under Iowa law.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have historically and pervasively been singled out for discrimination and harassment based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.  They could be fired from their job, kicked out of their apartment or a restaurant, and denied credit, simply because of their sexual orientation.  All Iowans deserve workplaces and communities that are free from discrimination and harassment, and LGBT Iowans deserve no less. 

Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights (Passed)

The Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights gives an officer who is the subject of a complaint the right to a written summary of the complaint prior to an interview.  It also allows an officer to be a candidate for elected office or engage in political activity, as long as they are not on active duty or in violation of the Hatch Act.

Privatization

Ban on Private Prisons (Passed)  

The Iowa Legislature passed a bill prohibiting the department of corrections from “entering into an agreement with a private sector for-profit entity for the purpose of housing inmates committed to the custody of the director of the department of corrections.”  Evidence is rampant that private prisons end up with decreased security, anti-union personnel policies, inadequate staff training and equipment, inadequate protection of prisoners’ human rights, degrading prison conditions, poor employment standards and financial mismanagement.  Prison security is too important not to be under direct government control.  Private firms have little or no public accountability and, unlike the public sector, are often motivated by profits rather than service. 

Conclusion

The lack of action by legislators on labor’s priority issues both stunned and angered the labor movement.  After a thrilling victory in November 2006, the session proved to be unusually agonizing.  Aside from those priority issues, the Legislature actually passed a number of measures that labor has supported for years.  The Democrats will still have control in 2008, when the Legislature will convene once again.  Will they learn from the mistakes of 2007?  Will they do better in 2008?   They will still have a chance in their final session next year.

“Stand faithfully by our friends and elect them; oppose our enemies and defeat them.”  Samuel Gompers, 1st President of the AFL.

Planning for a Skilled
Workforce for Iowa’s
Future

Iowa Two-year Strategic Plan
July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009

“Virtual Servitude and a 2-class workforce”— The New Immigration Deal

The U.S. Department of Labor requires a new workforce development State Plan for the period of July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009, for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title I and Wagner-Peyser Act programs.  The planning process is underway and a copy of the draft plan is available on the Iowa Workforce Development website at http://www.iowaworkforce.org/centers/planreview.htm.

 Ideas or input welcome
Comments on the draft state plan will be accepted through June 11, 2007, via e-mail at Michaela.Malloy-Rotert@iwd.iowa.gov or via U.S. Mail to:  Michaela Rotert, Iowa Workforce Development, 150 Des Moines Street, Des Moines, IA  50309.

The final draft of the plan will be approved by the Iowa Workforce Development Board at its June 12, 2007 meeting, and submitted to the Department of Labor no later than June 30, 2007.

“U.S. manufacturers getting desperate for skilled people”  USA Today,  12/05/06

A Statement by AFL-CIO President

John J. Sweeney  

May 17, 2007

Unfortunately, the immigration deal announced today does not address the roots of the immigration crisis.  And it abandons long-standing U.S. policy favoring the reunification of families and protecting workers by limiting the size and the scope of guest-worker programs which frequently amount to virtual servitude, where workers' fates are tied to their employers and their workplace rights are impossible to exercise. 

The proposal unveiled today includes a massive guestworker program that would allow employers to import hundreds of thousands of temporary workers every year to perform permanent jobs throughout the economy.

Without a real path to legalization, the program will exclude millions of workers and thus ensure that America will have two classes of workers, only one of which can exercise workplace rights.  As long as this two-tiered system exists, all workers will suffer because employers will have available a ready pool of labor they can exploit to drive down wages, benefits, health and safety protections and other workplace standards.

We intend to work with our allies in Congress and in the immigrant community to pass comprehensive immigration reform that will protect all workers in a humane and just manner. 

December 9, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

North Central Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Marvin Gardens

809 Central Avenue Fort Dodge

December 9, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

North Iowa Nine Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Hanford Inn

3041 - 4th St. SW

Mason City

December 13, 2006, 5:30 p.m.

Black Hawk Union Council, AFL-CIO

Brown Bottle

209 West 5th

Waterloo

December 15, 2006, 5:30 p.m.

Hawkeye Labor Council,

AFL-CIO

Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

RWDSU #110 Hall

526 F Ave. NW

Cedar Rapids

December 16, 2006, 9:00 a.m.

Dubuque Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Labor Temple

1610 Garfield, Dubuque

December 16, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

Clinton Labor Congress,

AFL-CIO

Quad City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Rusty Nail

2606 W. Locust

Davenport

December 16, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

Southwest Iowa Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Tish’s

1115 S. 35th St. Council Bluffs

December 16, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

Des Moines - Henry County Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Lee County Labor Council,

AFL-CIO

Parthenon Steakhouse

715 - 8th St.

Ft. Madison

December 16, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

Northwest Iowa Labor Council, AFL-CIO

UFCW #222

3038 S. Lakeport,

Sioux City

December 17, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

Southern Iowa Labor Council, AFL-CIO

UFCW #230 Hall

1305 E. Mary Ottumwa

December 18, 2006, 5:30 p.m.

Iowa Federation of Labor,

AFL-CIO

Machinists Hall

2000 Walker St.

Des Moines

New “Working
Families Vote 2008” Website 

The website is designed to be a hub for AFL-CIO unions’ efforts to push the concerns of working families front and center in the national political debate· Check it out at www.workingfamiliesvote2008.org.

Features:

• The Forum: A place  to discuss the presidential race.

• Working Family Issues: Where the candidates stand on the issues
  important to working families, such as health care, trade and the
  Employee Free Choice Act.

• Candidate Videos

• Take Action Center: Rotating actions; such as, most recently, “Tell the candidates about your priorities and ask them about theirs.”

• Poll Tracking: The latest polls

• Candidate Pages: Positions of the candidates and links to all the presidential contenders.

• Daily Blog Roundup

 Put a link to the Working Families Vote 2008 site on your local’s website.

You can also download buttons and banners to load directly onto your site at
www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/spreadtheword.cfm.  

The War at Home:
Bush Attacks the Middle Class

While his War on Terror has proven to be a monumental failure, George W. Bush’s War on the Middle Class has been a huge success.  

“We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth
in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”  Justice Louis Brandeis

Any discussion of what is happening to the middle class in this country under a Republican presidency should begin with this Brandeis quote.  Under the title “Middle-Class Life Under Bush: Less Affordable and Less Secure,” the Democratic Policy Committee recently released a document charting the steady decline of the American middle class under Bush.

Profits Up, Wages Down. 
   Middle-class families are working harder and earning less today than they were at the start of the Bush Administration.  The Wall Street Journal concedes that “a lot of the growth in Gross Domestic Product (productivity) has gone to profits, not wages.”  Adjusted for inflation, the median household income has declined by $1,273—from $47,599 in 2000 to $46,326 in 2005.

Productivity Soars, Compensation Barely Rises. 
   While the productivity of the American worker rose by 17.5% in the 21^st Century, hourly wages increased by only 8.7%.  Workers are not being rewarded for working harder. 

Worst Job Creation in 70 years.  This president has the worst overall job creation record since Herbert Hoover.  Only 3.8 million private sector jobs have been created under Bush, compared with over 20 million during the Clinton years.  The manufacturing sector has lost 3 million jobs since Bush took over, and nearly half of the new jobs were part-time and jobs without benefits.

Vanishing Pensions Threaten Retirement Security.  Nearly 10% of pension plans stopped providing benefits in 2003 alone, and analysts believe that number is rising

Enormous Trade Deficit. 
   The U.S. trade deficit has doubled since 2001, now standing at an alarming high of $765,262,000,000 !!!

Middle-Class Families Squeezed by Skyrocketing Costs.  Health care premiums are rising twice as fast as wages and inflation, over 80% since 2000.  The typical premium is now $11,480 a year compared with $6,348 in 2000.  Under Bush the number of uninsured Americans has gone from 39.8 million to a record high of 46.6 million in 2005.  Gas prices have gone up 104% during the Bush Administration.  The average household with children will spend about $3,887 on gas this year, compared with $1,984 in 2001.

Severe Financial Problems for American Families.  It seems like everything but wages are on the rise under Bush.  It should come as no surprise that the poverty rate has also risen, by 12% since 2000.  Nearly 37 million Americans were living in poverty in 2005.  Poverty hits America’s children hardest.  The latest Census report has a staggering figure: almost one out of every six American children lives in poverty!

Tax Cuts for the Rich. 
   The only Americans profiting from the Bush economic policies are those who need it least.  In 2006, families making more than $1 million a year saw their after-tax income grow by 6% because of the tax cuts, while families making $40,000 to $75,000 saw after-tax income rise by about 2.5%.  Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the rising income inequality in America “is not a good trend.”

A fitting epitaph.    
   “The rich got richer and the poor got poorer” would be a fitting epitaph for the failed Bush presidency.  What his man at the Federal Reserve sees as “not a good trend,” Justice Louis Brandeis saw as a threat to our very democracy.  We as unionists know that the one sure way to save the American middle class is through labor law reform and a strong union movement.  Not only is the survival of the middle class at stake, American democracy itself hangs in the balance.

We can have
democracy in this country…

or we can have great wealth in the hands of a few…..

Hold this date!

2007 51st Annual Convention
Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Mark your calendars

When: August 15—17, 2007

Where:  Ramada Inn, Waterloo

Note:     Executive Board Meeting,
                  Monday, August 13th, 1 pm.

The Fight Over EFCA

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)

Just as Fair Share would transform union activities in Iowa, EFCA would revolutionize our ability to form unions across Iowa and the nation.

The Employee Free Choice Act  (H.R. 800, S. 1041) would level the playing field for workers and employers and help rebuild America’s middle class. It would restore workers’ freedom to choose a union by: 

• Establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.

• Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.

• Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.

EFCA is supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, and has passed the House of Representatives by a healthy margin, with all Iowa Democrats voting for it.  Now it is awaiting action in the Senate, strongly supported by Senator Harkin and opposed by Senator Grassley.

So who is opposing us?  American Rights at Work pulls back the curtain and looks at the real actors….

1.  Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) 
The deceptively-titled astroturf group claims a workers’ rights agenda and a grassroots base representing “rank-and-file workers from across the country” who are opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act.

MEMBERSHIP: Grassroots claim conceals corporate agenda.   CDW masquerades as a workers’ rights group, mimicking the rhetoric and even logo of legitimate organizations.  Not surprisingly, no workers are named as members on CDW’s website, but hundreds of national, deep-pocketed groups and their affiliates are—including the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the National Retail Federation.

2.  U.S. Chamber of Commerce 
The nation’s most powerful business lobbying organization co-chairs the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace.

RESOURCES: The Chamber’s war chest.    In 2006, the Chamber spent a record $72 million on lobbying.  VP for labor policy Randel Johnson told The New York Times, “We’ve targeted [The Employee Free Choice Act] as our No. 1 or No. 2 priority to defeat.”

TACTIC: CDW and Chamber join forces to make “people feel pain.”  Operating from the same playbook and talking points, both CDW and the Chamber have launched extensive media campaigns in target states to shame and reprimand House Representatives who voted to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, and intimidate Senators out of following suit. 

3.  Center for Union Facts 
This PR-focused front group creates lavish ads and relentless spin to try to damage the public image of unions and further an anti-union business climate.

LEADERSHIP:   The group is a creation of notorious industry lobbyist and PR flak Richard Berman, who has mounted campaigns for his corporate backers to relax drunken driving laws, discount public health concerns about obesity, and prevent increases in the minimum wage.

TACTIC: Over-the-top radio, TV, and print ads.  In August 2006, Montana’s Attorney General Mike McGrath called the Center’s $1 million ad campaign attacking public employees “inaccurate” and “demeaning.”  .

TACTIC: Playing loose and dirty with the facts.   Berman routinely misinterprets data, grossly exaggerates, and offers dubious statistics to further the agenda of his corporate clients.  For example, as the Senate launched hearings and introduced the Employee Free Choice Act in March 2007, the Center released misleading figures based on National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) data that minimized the number of illegal firings during union election campaigns.  Both Republican and Democratic Senate staff requested clarification on the group’s claims from the NLRB.  Staff at the NLRB swiftly responded to report Berman’s data cannot be substantiated.

4.  The National Right to Work Committee

 The country’s oldest organization dedicated solely to destroying unions.  Its network consists of four organizations that share leadership, offices, resources and staff, all with the common goal of undermining workers’ freedom of association.  To carry out this mission, the National Right to Work Committee employs over 200 staff to lobby, fundraise, distribute propaganda, and interfere with workers’ union organizing efforts, and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation employs nearly 50 staff for its litigation efforts.

While the organization has doggedly pursued an anti-union agenda for a half century, its public profile has recently been eclipsed by the big-budget anti-union front group the Center for Union Facts. 
http://www.araw.org/antiunionnetwork/nrtw/

Upcoming Labor Center Conferences on Campus
presented in cooperation with the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

All courses will be held in Iowa City.   For more information, or to get on the Labor Center mailing list, contact the Labor Center by phone at 319-335-4146.   Or e-mail labor-center@uiowa.edu to register at least 30 days prior to the course.  Standard (early) registration fees:  1-day schools=$100,   2-day schools=$150, 3-day schools=$200, 5-day schools=$300

èOff-campus programs can be customized for local unions as they confront the challenges of changing workplace environments. Classes are offered to locals for a fee of $200 per day plus the cost of materials.  Contact the Labor Center to find out more, or visit the Labor Center website at: http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/index.htm for a list of topics.

Labor education: a grave threat to the union-busting, privatizing,
wage-depressing right wing