News From the AFL-CIO, CtW, International & National Unions
With recent passage of historic health care reform legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, labor turned its attention to the U.S. Senate which opened debate on its version of the bill. "We are closer than ever to achieving national health care reform and providing relief for working families, and we are committed to driving it across the finish line," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Federation applauded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "for continuing to lead the fight to include a robust public option" in health care bill and noted that "57% of the public stand with her." Both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win federation worked together on nationwide Nov. 5 mobilization day prior to House vote which involved efforts at "thousands of work sites" to encourage union workers to contact their member of Congress in support of the "public option," a government-run health plan that would compete with private insurers.
AFL-CIO unveiled jobs creation plan Nov. 17 in preparation for President Barack Obama's national jobs summit this month which called for a second economic stimulus program. Plan focused on ideas for rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, providing aid to states and cities as they wrestle with budget crises and expand lending to small and mid-sized businesses with unused funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TRAP). In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, federation head Trumka said "the economy is broken, and needs to be rebuilt." He also said current $787 billion stimulus plan "should have been bigger" to allow for multi-year infrastructure programs. AFL-CIO said billions of dollars in TARP funds have yet to be spent while "few credit markets are functioning on their own."
New financial reform legislation introduced Nov. 10 by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) is "very significant step forward," said AFL-CIO. Federation said Dodd's bill includes key elements like creation of a new consumer protection agency and the regulation of derivatives. "Furthermore, the Chairman's bill addresses the clear need for systemic risk regulation and resolution authority that holds failing institutions accountable, and does so through the creation of a fully public body," AFL-CIO said. Labor group said comprehensive financial regulation is needed "if we are to turn away from the practices that led to the economic crisis that did such harm to working people."
"After generations of struggle and decades of delay, the U.S House of Representatives had the courage to act and, to pass historic reform legislation to assure every American, regardless of age or income, access to high quality, affordable health care," said Change to Win Chair Anna Burger in a statement. She said "now is the time for the Senate to act." She praised the "leadership, determination, and commitment" of both President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for delivering on a 2008 "election" promise. "The Senate must act immediately to pass legislation that extends coverage, gives working families choice and access to affordable care, reduces costs; and provides for shared responsibility and adequate funding with an employer mandate, progressive funding with no tax increase or benefit cut on the middle class, and the elimination of inefficiencies and waste in the system," she said.
National Mediation Board considered historic changes in union representation elections. Proposed rule under review would allow workers covered by the Rail Labor Act to vote either "yes" or "no" for union representation. Under existing 75-year old rules, a majority of the entire eligible workforce is required to vote "yes" for a union which means every worker who does not vote is considered a "no" ballot. NMB's proposed rule reflects proposal made to the board Sept. 2 by the AFL-CIO and more than 30 unions, who said current practice is "unfair and undemocratic." "With this change, never again will workers in these industries seeking to form a union be thwarted by such un-democratic rules," said Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), among the groups which requested the changes to NMB election procedures.
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen announced Nov. 5 a tentative five-year agreement with BNSF Railway Co. "It is an honor for me and for the four BLET general chairmen to be able to present to our members a proposal that gives them the security of a five-year agreement, additional income and additional time off without a single giveback or rule change," said National Vice President Steve Speagle in a statement. BLET is a division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Pact covers about 6,000 locomotive engineers working for Ft. Worth, Texas-based BNSF and includes wage and work rule provisions. Health and welfare benefits would be determined through national railroad bargaining, which is set to begin in early 2010, the union said. The union did not release specific wage increases, but said pay hikes are provided in each year of the contract.
Screen Actors Guild President Ken Howard was elected Nov. 9 to the AFL-CIO Executive Council, filling the seat previously held by former SAG president Alan Rosenberg. "It is a privilege to represent Screen Actors Guild members on the Executive Council and to work closely with the leaders of the national labor movement," Howard said in a statement. SAG president's term on the council ends in 2013. In unrelated news, SAG named David P. White as national executive director and chief negotiator. White, SAG's former general counsel, had been serving as interim executive director and his appointment was expected.
United Food and Commercial Workers Union and Smithfield Foods launched a joint Feed the Hungry Program Nov. 9 which plans to donate at least 20 million servings of food to local food banks nationwide. They announced the program in New York City where they committed to deliver more than one millions servings of protein to the Food Bank of New York City. "This partnership is about bringing together organizations, including our represented grocery stores, with the resources, the relationships and the know-how to ensure that vulnerable communities across the country have access to well-supplied food banks. Our goal is simple: Get good, nutritious food to as many families, in as many communities, as possible," union said in a statement.
United Steelworkers recently announced "framework agreement" with Mondragon Internacional to collaborate in an effort to create worker cooperatives in the manufacturing sector in the United States and Canada. USW President Leo Gerard told news media that North America needs a "much different economic model" than the current "Wall Street model." He said Mondragon, which is the largest worker-owned cooperative in the world, will try to establish manufacturing cooperatives that adapt collective bargaining principles to the Mondragon worker ownership model of "one worker, one vote." Founded 50 years ago in the Basque region of Spain, Mondragon today has about 100,000 cooperative members in over 260 cooperative enterprises in more than 40 countries, according to company president Josu Ugarte.
Service Employees International Union said resignation of CNN anchor Lou Dobbs ends "Dobbs' biased, anti-immigrant attacks." SEIU credited "brave, patriotic Americans" and the effectiveness of the Drop Dobbs and Basta Dobbs campaigns for Dobbs' departure. "Night after night, Lou Dobbs abused his position of trust as a 'news anchor' at CNN to attack immigrant workers and communities with no attention to facts or balance. His kind of divisive propaganda is harmful to our society, and should have no place on a responsible television network," the union said. SEIU said Dobb's replacement, John King, "will undoubtedly help facilitate a solution-driven, smart and informed dialogue on how we fix our nation's challenges-including the critical work ahead to pass comprehensive immigration reform."
International labor News
International Labor Organization said Nov. 3 that average growth in real wages worldwide slid sharply in 2008 and is expected to register continued decline through 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis. ILO said in an update to its "Global Wage Report" that average wage increases in a sampling of 53 developed and developing countries fell from 4.3 percent in 2007 to 1.4 percent in 2008. ILO economist Patrick Belser, who co-authored the "Global Wage Report," said two factors are expected to drive the downward trend in wages through 2009: 1) more than half of the 35 countries for which recent data exists experienced a decline in real wages in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the first quarter of 2008; 2) rising unemployment forces wages downward as workers settle for lower-paying jobs or refrain from demanding wage increases. ILO also said global economic crisis hurts women's wages as much as men's.
Some 7,000 workers employed by Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. ratified Nov. 1 new, three-year collective bargaining agreement, announced Canadian Auto Workers. According to CAW President Ken Lewenza, pact provides same wage, cost-of-living, and benefits concessions that were previously negotiated with General Motors of Canada Ltd. and Chrysler Canada Inc. "With this contract, we keep ourselves in the ballpark in the never-ending contest for new investment. And we preserve the integrity of pattern bargaining. Most important of all, we have cemented Ford's commitment to crucial products and major capital spending. Don't forget that we have fully protected our wages and our pensions, and most of our benefits. For an industry that has been at death's door, including Ford, that's a remarkable achievement," he said. In bargaining report, Lewenza said agreement provides "significant" savings for Ford to maintain its manufacturing "footprint" in Canada.
National and Political News
Union membership has changed dramatically over the past 25 years, with white men accounting for just 38 percent of all union workers in 2008, compared to 51.7 percent of the unionized workforce in 1983, reported new study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "The view that the typical union worker is a white male manufacturing worker may have been correct a quarter of a century ago, but it's not an accurate description of those in today's labor movement," said CEPR Senior Economist John Schmitt, who along with Kris Warner wrote the report. Study, "The Changing Face of Labor, 1983-2008," found that women made up 45.2 percent of unionized workers, up from 35.4 percent in 1983, and they are expected to be a majority of the unionized workforce before 2020. In addition, just 11 percent of workers were employed in manufacturing, compared to nearly 30 percent in 1983. Percentage of unionized private sector workers is now only 7.8 percent.
U.S. workers are tied with Singapore for the fewest legally mandated vacation days in the world, said new report released by global consulting firm, Mercer. Comparing workers' time-off in 41 countries, Mercer found that the U.S. is the only nation where federal law does not set a minimum number of vacation days. U.S. workers receive average of 25 days off per year. Only China and Canada are lower, although Canadian employers "typically" exceed the minimum, Mercer said. Workers in Brazil, Lithuania, Finland, France, Russia, Austria and Malta receive 38-41 mandated days off each year.
Regional & Local Union News
UNITE HERE Local 2 Nov. 10 launched its second strike in San Francisco when workers began three-day walkout at the Palace Hotel. The Palace Hotel strike ended Nov. 13. According to news reports, collective bargaining on behalf of some 9,000 workers with 31 hotels has dragged out for months. Current contracts expired August 14. On Nov. 5-7, workers walked off their jobs at the Grand Hyatt Union Square Hotel as part of the union's targeted job action strategy. UNITE HERE Local 2 is still calling for a boycott against the Grand Union although workers are back on the job. Union leaders said the hotels have posted record profits during the recession and are using the slow economy as an excuse "to squeeze workers" for concessions. "There has never been a question of whether they can afford what's on the table," Mike Casey, president of Local 2, said in a statement.
According news reports, Boeing's recent announcement that it will build a second assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner in North Charleston, S.C., to avoid union labor could spark a backlash with the International Association of Machinists. Tom Wroblewski, president of IAM District 751 in Seattle, said in an Oct. 28 press statement that Boeing "betrayed" the union's loyalty by "walking away" from discussions on locating the new facility. District 751 represents about 25,000 airplane production workers in the Puget Sound area. Boeing made the decision after South Carolina lawmakers approved legislation that offered the airplane manufacturer millions of dollars in economic development incentives. IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger said Boeing has squeezed "the last drops of goodwill out" of the community.
Laborers International Union Local 242 in Seattle graduated the first class in its weatherization training course. Program seeks to provide trained workers to weatherize homes and promote energy savings in the Seattle area. Half of the class of 19 trainees were union members and the other half were from an organization called Got Green, founded last year to help people from disadvantaged communities develop skills needed to pursue green jobs. Demand for jobs is expected to be high as Washington State is set to receive a total of $60 million in federal stimulus money for weatherization by next year. "We definitely know that some of them are going to get jobs, and pretty soon," said Steve Marquardt, the research director and regional weatherization coordinator for Local 242. LIUNA's weatherization training program is the only kind of its type in the nation geared to both union workers and low-income people.
In the Public Sector
Federal Labor Relations Authority Chair Carol Waller Pope said President Obama's election last year has led to the "rebirth of labor relations" in the federal sector. She said for the first time in eight years agencies and unions are preparing to bargain in earnest. Pope made the comments during an American Bar Association conference Nov. 6. She explained that the recent confirmation of Ernest DuBester brings the FLRA back to full strength. With the confirmation of Julia Akins Clark as general counsel, Pope said the authority is "back in business," with appointees who "understand the substance of the law" and have experience with alternative dispute resolution. She reported that the FLRA has issued 215 merit decisions so far in 2009, more than the past two years combined.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61 Nov. 9 announced a tentative agreement with Gov. Jim Culver that calls for voluntary furloughs by state workers and other concessions that will save hundreds of state jobs threatened by budget cuts. Under the deal, state workers will take five unpaid days each and the state will not have to pay into a deferred compensation program. According to Council 61 President Danny Homan, the two actions should save the state $26.4 million and preserve 479 jobs that were threatened. While AFSCME represents about 20,000 workers, the union has 9,000 dues-paying members who voted on the agreement. "I'm frustrated by the fact that 500 people's jobs are on the line," said Homan. "I'm frustrated and I'm concerned." When budget cuts were announced last month, officials said up to 1,300 jobs could be eliminated.
NLRB Rulings and Significant Court Decisions
U.S. Supreme Court Nov. 2 agreed to consider whether two-member National Labor Relations Board can legally issue decisions. NLRB was designed to have five members but has operated with just two for the past 22 months. Faced with the expiration of several recess appointments, four-member NLRB in December 2007 delegated decision-making powers to the remaining two members. Since then, Senate political maneuverings have prevented full compliment of board members from being seated. Two current members, Wilma B. Liebman (D) and Peter C. Schaumber (R), have issued about 500 rulings. So far, appeals courts have split 3-1 in favor of recognizing the two-member board's authority. "(We) are gratified that the Supreme Court has decided to hear this case and to resolve the issue of the two-member Board's authority," Liebman said
Accepting an administrative law judge's decision, NLRB ruled Horizons Youth Services LLC acted illegally when it took over a federal contract to run a Job Corps center and hired most of the workers but refused to recognize and bargain with their union. ALJ found that Horizons was a successor employer obligated to recognize Sacramento Job Corps Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers Local 4986, which represents a unit of resident advisers and a separate unit of instructors. Career Systems Development Corp. previously had a contract with DOL to operate the center and had a bargaining relationship with the local. Because Horizons hired most of the previous workers, the ALJ said a presumption exists that the established bargaining unit remains appropriate. He ordered the company to recognize the union and that Horizons send a copy of the notice by e-mail to each employee.
AIL/NILICO representatives (shown below) participated in a recent rally in Chicago organized by the labor-endorsed Americans for Financial Reform.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside a conference sponsored by the American Bankers Association to call for an end to their lobbying against proposed financial regulation.
Among the speakers at the rally was AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. The Service Employees International Union also was a major sponsor of the event.
According to the SEIU's Jerry Morrison, executive director of the union's Illinois state council, the protest kicked off "a nationwide campaign" in dozens of cities pushing big banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase "to stop using our money to lobby against reform."
"We wanna make sure they get the message loud and clear," he told news reporters. He added, "We thought it was time to send them a message that they're bankrupting America."
Americans for Financial Reform is a nationwide coalition supported by AIL/NILICO formed to promote reform of the nation's financial system to bring about changes that will benefit working families.
Representatives of National Income Life Insurance Company (AIL's New York subsidiary) recently marched in a demonstration in support of Transport Workers Local 100.
Heather Kreitzberg and Nicole Moore represented NILICO. Shown below is Ms. Moore.
The local, which represents some 50,000 subway, bus and other transit workers, is involved in a contract dispute with the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
The union led a march over the Brooklyn Bridge which ended in a rally outside MTA headquarters in mid-town.
"The 'Take it to the Bridge' march consisted of thousands of TWU Local 100 members as well as members from supporting unions," reported Ms. Kreitzberg. "The overwhelming support I witnessed made me proud to work for a 100% union company."
After the union and the MTA failed to reach a contract last year, an arbitration panel appointed by the state Public Employees Relations Board crafted a three-year deal that provides workers with an 11 percent pay raise over the contract's term.
But MTA officials rejected the contract in August, claiming it was too costly, and they are challenging it in court.
A court battle, including appeals, could drag on for more than a year with wages potentially frozen at current levels.
Moving on With AIL by Jules Pagano
A philosopher once said, "Time passes in a march to the future." For me, the time has come to move on to a new phase of my life. I will retire at the end of the month after 20 years as Vice President of AIL/NILICO and Executive Director of the AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board.
I intend, however, to continue with the company as a consultant and remain active in AIL/NILICO and the labor movement. But in looking back over the past two decades, AIL/NILICO and labor have experienced tremendous changes that continue today.
When I joined the company in the fall of 1989, the Washington, D.C. office was a part-time operation. My charge was to improve AIL's ties with labor and the support we provide to unions.
This was my first job in corporate America. All my previous work experience had either been in labor, government or higher education.
But the founder of the company, Bernard Rapoport ("B" to all who know him) had successfully built AIL on the principals of corporate social responsibility, proving that how a company makes a profit is just as important as how much profit a company makes.
Because of B and his reputation, working for AIL was an easy move for me. AIL/NILICO is a 100% all-union company with more than 3,000 employees who are represented by the Office & Professional Employees International Union Local 277. This is a company that puts its beliefs where its mouth is. Here are just a few examples:
During my AIL career, I consulted with the company on literally millions of dollars in contributions to striking workers, union boycotts, scholarships to union families and labor-supported causes and organizations. In fact, AIL/NILICO is the biggest corporate contributor to union scholarship programs in the nation.
The AIL/NILICO food bank program, which assists union families in need, has grown to be among the most effective in the nation. Our strike-assistance program waives premiums for policy holders who are on an authorized strike. No other insurance company offers this benefit.
At a time when good-paying American union jobs are declining, AIL/NILICO has doubled the number of sales representatives and is hiring a national network of full-time public relations professionals.
They are all dues-paying members of OPEIU.
In big and small ways across the nation, AIL/NILICO and its state general agencies demonstrate every day our commitment to bring positive change for working families.
One of our significant achievements is the growth and prestige of the AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board, a truly unique institution in American business. Over the past 20 years, the board has expanded to include the most influential leaders in the international and national labor movement, including the top leaders of the AFL-CIO and Change to Win.
The board advises the company on labor causes to support and on the insurance needs of working families.
Most importantly, the AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board publishes the AIL/NILICO Labor Letters, the most widely read subscription-free newsletters in North America about organized labor.
In 1990, we published one newsletter. Today, the board publishes a U.S. edition, which was expanded to include the opinion-setting AIL/NILICO Agenda, a Canadian edition and online editions of both the U.S. and Canadian labor letters.
Next month, we will launch the New Zealand online edition of the Labor Letter.
No other company in the world does more to communicate labor's message.
In 1999, when B retired and sold the company to the Torchmark Corporation, some questions were raised about the future direction of AIL. Torchmark is a large holding corporation which had no direct history with unions or the labor movement.
It is a tribute to B's successor, AIL/NILICO President and CEO Roger Smith, that Torchmark came to better understand and appreciate the role organized labor plays in America.
Labor is now led by a new generation on the threshold of achieving two historic and long-sought goals, health care and labor law reform. AIL/NILICO is publicly identified as labor's leading partner in the business community in the fight for health care and labor law reform.
Roger, for example, is currently chair of a national business coalition pushing for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, for which he recently received recognition from American Rights at Work.
In addition, he was honored with a national leadership award by the labor-supported "America's Agenda: Health Care for All."
He also is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Labor College, the board of the Alliance for Retired Americans and has served on the boards of numerous other labor-supported organizations.
Twenty years ago, B hired me with one instruction: build and strengthen AIL's relationship with organized labor.
Today, AIL/NILICO is nationally recognized as a business that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with labor and working families.
I am proud of the small role I played to enhance the company's founding philosophy that workers should have a voice on the job.
My first job out of college was with the Communications Workers of America where I learned first-hand the values of social and economic justice that have shaped my life.
I deeply appreciate working for a company like AIL/NILICO which commits the resources of a multi-billion dollar corporation in support of these values.
Although I will no longer be involved in the day-to-day activities of AIL/NILICO, I look forward to continuing this work with all of my friends and colleagues in the corporate and labor worlds.
It is rare to find the person who can say that they combined the values of their life with their life's work, and earned a living wage while doing so. I am such a person and I thank all who made these wonderful opportunities possible.
