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May 15, 2007 |
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WSLC
Reports Today
Updated DAILY...
Almost Every Day™ by 9 a.m.
Links are functional at date of posting, but sometimes expire. Some links require free registration. WSLC Reports Today links to stories of interest to organized labor; some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.
TUESDAY,
MAY 15 ▪
Obama: When workers
form unions, "workers prosper... America prospers"
▪ In
today's Philadelphia Inquirer --
Union
applause for Obama -- At an AFL-CIO town hall forum in New Jersey, the
Senator gets two standing ovations assailing the Iraq war.
▪ In
today's Chicago Tribune --
Obama
gives frank talk to tough union crowd -- He says globalization isn't all
bad. The problem is that American workers aren't on a level playing field
and protections for workers aren't enforced as vigorously as those for
corporations.
▪ Today
from AP -- Obama
promises universal health care by end of first term
Local
news:
▪ In
today's Seattle Times --
Boeing
shares work, but guards its secrets -- Global
outsourcing is an inextricable part of the ambitious 787 manufacturing plan.
Did Boeing give away the "crown jewels," jeopardizing its future
by sharing its exclusive know-how with potential competitors?
▪ In
today's Seattle Times --
Delight
is in the details, but fewer left for Boeing crews -- Just as the
fabrication of the wings in Japan means fewer blue-collar manufacturing jobs
in the U.S., the outsourcing of the detail design work reduces the
white-collar jobs of engineers here.
▪ In
today's Seattle P-I --
Boeing
seeking prize US Airways order -- In a matter of weeks, the airline will
decide whether to stick with Airbus or turn to Boeing for as many as 80 to
90 planes.
▪ In
today's Seattle P-I --
Working
world due for wave of retirees (Virgin column) --Forty-two
percent of Puget Sound Energy's work force is eligible to retire in the next
five years. "Knowledge will walk out the door," says one PSE exec.
And Boeing could be facing the same sort of crunch.
Legislative
news:
▪ At
Adam Wilson's Olympian blog -- Wither
the veto now? -- Gregoire has vetoed emergency clauses, but not in the
bill redefining what constitutes using nonunion member fees for political
purposes.
▪ At
Chris Mulick's Olympia Dispatch -- Sen.
Clements could be in for real donnybrook -- Of the other Republicans who
sought the appointment, Yakima businessman Curtis King has reemerged to run
for Clements' seat. Given his fundraising prowess, it might make for a real
hootenanny.
Immigration
news:
▪ In
today's SF Chronicle --
Point
system key to immigration overhaul -- It could
transform the ethnic and social composition of the United States in decades
to come, but such a change hinges on the details expected to emerge this
week from intense closed-door negotiations between the White House and key
senators in both parties. In concept, a point system that awards visas on
the basis of such factors as education, age, job skills and English
proficiency, marking a radical change from the current system that awards
most legal permanent residence visas, or green cards, on the basis of a
foreigner's family ties to relatives already in the United States.
▪ In
today's Washington Post --
Fix
immigration now (editorial)
-- A make-or-break point has arrived in this country's
effort to enact meaningful immigration reform. If lawmakers fail to hash out
a compromise now, the presidential cycle probably will dash any hope for
progress until at least 2009. Americans overwhelmingly prefer a workable
solution now, and lawmakers owe it to them.
National
news:
▪ In
The Nation --
Labor's
health problem -- At the negotiating table or on the picket line,
organized labor can be a rallying point for all Americans ill served by our
system of private, job-based medical benefits. When unionized workers resist
benefit cuts in a way that projects the broader demand for healthcare for
all, they generate pressure for a solution to the larger problem: how, as a
nation, to create affordable health coverage. If, however, labor chooses
piecemeal change and refuses to challenge the link between medical insurance
and employment, it will miss the chance to connect with millions of poorly
insured and uninsured workers who have no union.
▪ In
today's NY Times --
In
deal, a test for UAW -- Cerberus is taking on
Chrysler’s $18 billion obligation for health care and pensions for
employees and retirees. Any efforts to sharply reduce those perks -- which
Chrysler says represent a cost burden of $1,500 a vehicle -- will probably
put it at odds with the UAW. The union and automakers open contract talks in
two months.
▪ In
today's Oregonian --
Daimler's
move will have minor effect on Portland truck maker Freightliner
▪ In
today's Wash. Post --
Bill
would affirm anti-bias laws cover sexual orientation for federal workers
▪ In
today's LA Times --
L.A.
Westin hotel settles union-button dispute -- The hotel reverses course;
agreeing to allow small buttons and to provide back pay to those previously
disciplined.
▪ In
today's Cleveland P-D --
Give
unions credit, not the blame (column)
-- It takes an outsider to remind us just what unions did
for the dreams and living standards of workers in Cleveland.
TUESDAY,
MAY 15, 2007
Obama: When workers form unions,
"workers prosper... America prospers"
The following story by Payson Schwin is posted at AFL-CIO Now:
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told a raucous crowd of more than 700 working men and women that as president, he would fight for the freedom to form unions, creation of universal health care and an end to the Iraq war.
The hundreds of union members who crowded yesterday into the War Memorial theater in Trenton, N.J., showcased their union pride with such T-shirts as “American Made Steel,” Proud to Make America Work” and “Every Worker Deserves a Secure Pension.”
The event opened with a standing ovation for Obama, who responded to the applause with a humble, “You’re making me blush.”
In his opening statement, Obama spoke about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 trip to Memphis, Tenn., to help sanitation workers organize.
They stood up for themselves. In this country, we should value the labor of every single American worker.
He said every worker deserves the freedom to form unions without intimidation, bargain in good faith and work in a safe environment. “Those rights are in jeopardy today,” Obama warned. When workers join unions, “not only do workers prosper, America prospers.”
Obama promised to “make the Employee Free Choice Act the law of the land” and to make universal health care coverage a reality.
We can have universal health care by the end of the next president’s first term, by the end of my first term.
He called for trade deals that “finally honor labor standards and environmental standards” and the end of tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
On Iraq, Obama called for the troop withdrawal to begin:
If we organize, we can bring an end to a war that should never have been authorized…It is time to bring our troops home.
Obama took questions from three New Jersey workers. Sharon Masino, a dealer at Caesars Place in Atlanta City since 1984, was first to speak. She and other casino dealers recently voted to join the UAW—with a lopsided 82 percent of the vote. (The dealers currently are negotiating their first contract.) Masino described the intimidation she often faces as she helps organize her co-workers. She asked Obama:
As president, what would you do to make a worker such as myself not have to endure these feelings of intimidation and harassment when you try to organize them and stand up for their rights?
“One thing we have to do,” Obama responded, “is to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.” Obama also said those he appoints to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Labor Department would be more “sympathetic” to the struggles of working families. Finally, he promised to use the “bully pulpit” to support working families because it’s “been a long time since a president said, ‘Unions are a good thing.’”
Next, Mike Ruffey, a steelworker for 28 years, asked Obama:
How could you ensure a fair trade policy to protect American jobs and workers’ rights?
Obama said the United States should “make sure the playing field is level” for America’s workers and trade deals should included “enforceable” labor and environmental standards. He also emphasized that we need to enforce the trade deals we already have.
Finally, Brenda Joshua, a certified nurses assistant from Pleasantville, N.J., asked Obama what he would do as president about the rising cost of health care.
Obama spoke of the importance of lowering health care costs through preventive care, improved health technologies and a “catastrophic insurance” component to decrease the impact the chronically ill place on premiums. He said the savings could be used to insure the tens of millions of Americans who currently go without health insurance.
The questions then came from the audience who asked Obama about such issues as the lack of union representation at Verizon Business, Iraq, education, immigration, Social Security and infrastructure funding.
One interesting moment came when Cathleen Wilder asked Obama what his “intentions are about Wal-Mart.”
“I won’t shop there,” Obama replied.
If you have news items regarding unions or workplace issues in Washington state that you would like to see posted here, please submit them via e-mail to David Groves or via fax to 206-285-5805.
Copyright © 200
7 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO