July 11, 2007
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Political Action Update |
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July 11, 2007 |
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EFCA Wins... but Fails! |
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We did it! On June 26th, a majority of US Senators followed the lead of House members and voted for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to exercise their freedom to form and join unions and bargain collectively. That would have been unimaginable just a couple of years ago.
Yet a minority What a shame that the Republicans’ |
obstructionist tactics kept the majority’s views from prevailing. The vote showed us who is standing with corporate America to block working people’s bargaining power. Numbers. Our members responded: more than 50,000 phone calls. 156,000 faxes and emails. 220,000 postcards. Resolutions from fifty-five cities, counties and state legislatures. Pledges of support from 1300 state and local elected officials. Iowa’s Senators. We commend Senator Harkin for standing with working families and voting for the Employee Free Choice Act. However, Senator Grassley sided with big business to obstruct the bill that would help millions of workers exercise their freedom to form and join unions. What’s next? We must elect a bigger majority in the Senate who stand with working families. We must elect a President who will champion the interests of working families and sign the Employee free Choice Act. And we must continue to educate our members and the public about the fundamental justice of this bill.
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National AFL-CIO
Presidential Forum in What do YOU think the presidential candidates should talk about at the Aug. 7 AFL-CIO Candidate Forum? You have a chance to have your own question asked at the nationally televised forum or to vote for your favorite questions asked by other union members. To submit a question or cast your vote, go to www.workingfamilie Questions will be asked at the forum, which will be televised live from Chicago on MSNBC TV Aug. 7, 6 p.m. Central Time. |
Iowa AFL-CIO The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO will have its own Presidential Forum at our annual convention on Wednesday Aug. 15. The top six Democratic candidates will be in attendance. Get your credentials in now and be a part of this event! UNION Votes Count!
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What’s the Matter
with... Ever lose patience at your computer screen? The United States, the country that invented the Internet, has fallen to 16th in the world in terms of access to high speed broadband. And when it comes to download speed, Iowa comes in at 47th, while Kansas is #2! "High speed networks are the infrastructure of the 21st century and the U.S. needs a national policy to get all of us there," said Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen, announcing the release of a CWA policy paper outlining its nation-wide "Speed Matters" campaign, an effort to help bring affordable, high speed Internet to all Americans and to create 21st century, quality jobs. President Cohen is scheduled to speak at the IFL convention in August. The paper is available at www.speedmatters.org., in the "learn more" box. |
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The free market (and the tax code) will take care of you |
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President Bush (June 27) has now clearly stated his opposition to expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)—a program which has helped many Iowa children gain health care. Bush wants Congress to enact his proposal to create a standard deduction from federal taxes for health insurance, whether it's employer-provided or purchased in the individual health insurance market. A risky plan with major implications The President's proposal has little chance of being enacted because many in Congress fear it could undermine employer-based health insurance without guaranteeing that an adequate alternative would take its place. How? Employer-provided coverage is currently subsidized through the tax code; individual health insurance is mostly not subsidized under the tax code. The President's plan would make the tax code more biased towards individually purchased health care |
and maybe even high-deductible health care. There would no longer
be any incentive for employers to provide health care, so many could
"cash out" the health care benefits they currently offer and
employees would have to turn to the individual health insurance
market, where plans offered are much more expensive and less
generous. Since the amount of the new deduction would be indexed to
regular cost inflation but not to health care inflation (which is
steeper) more and more people over time would find that their
coverage costs more than the new deduction. Once again, President invokes fear The President also invoked the fear that public health insurance "crowds out" private health insurance. But Jonathan Gruber, the pre-eminent health economist whose work is often used to make such claims, has said that public programs like SCHIP result in an increase in coverage among children who would otherwise go without health insurance and this far outweighs any "crowding out" of private insurance. CTJ’s Tax Digest, 6/29/07 |
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Health Policy in
Iowa: Put in Your 2¢ Worth |
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Lt. Governor’s Commission
on Wellness and Healthy Living |
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Sioux City
Tuesday, July 17th Newton
Wednesday, July 18th Mason City
Thursday, July 19th |
Oskaloosa
Tuesday, July 24th Atlantic
Wednesday, July 25th
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Cedar Rapids
Monday, August 6th Cedar Falls
Tuesday, August 7th
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Not only does USW International President Leo W. Gerard say Sicko is a must-see, it’s a must-support movie: “Michael Moore has given every union member in the United States a great tool of advocacy for our health care agenda with his new movie.” He urged Steelworkers to “return that favor” by wearing USW T-shirts to the June 29 premiere. Gerard writes that Sicko documents how medical insurance companies “act like a cancer on this country’s health care system,” a system that “we want to eliminate with a national health care system.” The movie opens with three scenes documenting the failure of America’s insurance system: 1) an injured worker sutures up his own lacerated |
knee because he is one of the 47 million Americans without health insurance;
2) a couple moves in with their daughter after co-payments for his three
heart attacks and her cancer forced them into bankruptcy; 3) a young woman
tells of her 18-month-old baby dying when a hospital refused to treat her
because her insurance would not pay for services there. In Iowa, Sicko is showing at the Fleur Cinema in Des Moines, Wehrenberg Galaxy 16 in Cedar Rapids, and Showcase Cinemas in Davenport, and should open in more theaters in the coming weeks. Do whatever it takes to see this movie, talk it up whenever possible and bring it up at candidate forums during caucus season. |
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The Trade Issue—On
the Home Front |
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The Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides limited re-employment services and benefits to trade-affected workers, is set to expire on Sept. 30 this year. If new legislation is not enacted by that date, the program literally stops. This would immediately impact around 60,000 workers who receive TAA and tens of thousands more who are applying for it at any moment. In June testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Jane McDonald-Pines, an AFL-CIO workforce issues specialist, said the government’s TAA spending formula reflects past, not current, conditions in the economy. And more seriously, there are not enough good jobs, and there are not enough resources to help workers find and qualify for the good jobs that are available. It follows that budgetary resources should be dedicated to helping workers find and qualify for good jobs |
with good benefits, and for making sure those jobs are available in the first place. Why would we use our limited resources to induce workers to take bad jobs? McDonald–Pines says Congress should: · Improve access to TAA training by funding outreach, case management and support services through state UI and Employment Security (ES) agencies. · Expand enrollment deadlines and support training that leads to good jobs. · Establish links between TAA and new opportunities in energy technology. (Greg Mastel, 5/15/07; aflcionow blog, James Parks, Jun 6, 2007) |
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Real hourly wages, manufacturing workers, 2000-2006. EPI |
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US workers need a level playing field! |
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Now: Your Local News Straight From
-- India Out sourcing reaches another ridiculous extreme |
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Calif. Web Site Outsources Reporting function May 13, 2007. Pasedena, Calif. (AP) The
job posting (below) was a head-scratcher: Think maybe reporters will start taking this issue seriously now? |
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Outsourcing Victories We sure could use some! |
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Jobs kept at home Not only will the much-hyped Boeing 787 Dreamliner be assembled in Washington state by union workers, IBEW members in Cedar Rapids at Rockwell Collins will be manufacturing all of the electronic cockpit displays in the new jet. Jobs retained in-house Federal government workers from AFGE Local 12 lobbied, filed suit and rallied to save union jobs. It paid off. On July 3, the Labor Department announced that Labor Secretary Elaine Chao’s decision to contract out 250 jobs to GAP Solutions Inc. had been canceled. Even though this plan to privatize jobs at the Labor Department is history, there still are five other so-called “competitions” underway at the department. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) forces federal employees to bid on their own work if they want to keep their jobs from going to private contractors. (Note: This is the Department Jim Nussle has been nominated to head up.) |
“Fast Track” Authority derailed “Fast
Track” allows the President to sign trade agreements which Congress may not
debate—only vote up or down as they stand. That authority expired at
midnight June 30th. Bush did get four trade pacts-- with Peru, Panama,
Colombia and South Korea— signed before the deadline. So they can be voted
on, but not changed. |
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Rally for Workplace Democracy |
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All Iowa union members are invited to join participants of the 2007 Midwest School for Women Workers for a public rally in support of the Employee Free Choice Act—the most important legislative labor law reform proposed in decades. Join us and co-sponsors from the Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; Iowa Citizen Action Network; and Working Families Win in standing up for restoring workers’ rights to organize! |
· What: Rally for Workplace Democracy · When: Wednesday, August 1, 4:30 pm · Where: Iowa City pedestrian mall (corner of Washington and Dubuque streets) This event is planned in coordination with the 2007 Midwest School for Women Workers, hosted by the |
University of Iowa Labor Center, July 29-August 2 at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City. Each year this regional School brings together women activists from a range of unions and industries across the Midwest for a week of education, action, and solidarity building. For more information or to register, call the Labor Center at 319-335-4144 |
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So you got Fired? Without a Union, What Can you Do? |
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With a
union, you will normally be able to file a grievance and have an advocate to
present your case if you get fired. Without a strong union contract, basics
such as free speech, and even free association don’t necessarily protect
you from getting fired. |
Top Ten Reasons Used to Fire People 1. Working
too many hours
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What Does…
Find out where the presidential candidates stand on working family issues at:
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President
Bush to Kids:
