Soul Politics

The Journey

Closed for Renovation: the National Labor Relations Board

Written by AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff

During the week of November 15, thousands of union members and their allies marched, rallied, handbilled, phoned in, did street theater, and otherwise raised hell at the offices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in more than 20 cities across the the United States.

One thousand people rallied at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC on November 15 and marched to the National Labor headquarters of the NLRB where they rallied again and demanded that the Labor Board be closed for renovations until a new governing board could be appointed by a new President.

That demand was echoed vigorously from Albuquerque to Albany and from Nashville to Denver.

What caused the uproar?

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is charged with administering the National Labor Relations Act.  That act, passed in 1935, regulates workers’ rights and labor relations in most of America’s private sector.

According to its preamble, the act was passed to encourage collective bargaining, freedom of association, and worker organization.

Yet during the last half of September and the first half of October, the NLRB handed down 61 decisions that further restrict and weaken already shamefully weak and ineffective workers’ rights in America.
First, the decisions make it harder for workers to form a union through a majority sign up.  Most workers who form a union in this country these days do so through a majority sign up process.  That is because the NLRB elections system is so broken that workers avoid it when they can.  The Chamber of Commerce and Big Business are at war against workers’ freedom to form unions through majority sign up – and it looks like they have successfully enlisted the Board on their side. Second, the decisions make it harder for workers who are illegally fired to recover back pay. Third, for workers who come to a job intending to try to form a union, these decisions have created a legalized form of job discrimination.  Union supporters who are illegally denied employment are treated as second-class workers.

Finally, Justice delayed is justice denied. The language used by this Labor Board in the Dana decision will be used by the corrupt corporate and radical right-wing forces as arguments against passage of the fair and urgently needed Employee Free Choice Act.

But this is not the first time the Bush Labor Board has gone out of its way to weaken workers’ rights, especially the freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.  Since Bush was inaugurated, his board has acted regularly to deny collective bargaining and organizing protection to millions of workers across our country and throughout our economy.  They took away Labor Board coverage from many disabled workers, university and graduate employees, and others.  Then last year in the infamous Kentucky River and Oakwood cases they caused as many as eight million non-supervisory, non-management workers to be inaccurately labeled as supervisors so that they would be denied collective bargaining coverage and any opportunity to form a union – and so that many who had already organized could have their union busted.

It is now obvious what the Bush Board has done and is doing.  It is an open and naked power grab.

Knowing that unions, the labor movement, and organized workers are the most effective counterweight to corrupt corporate power, they are determined to weaken that counterweight as much as possible - even as the American people are more distrustful of right-wing than ever.
Knowing that union members regardless of race, gender, region or ethnicity are amongst the most active and loyal voters for progressive politicians, this Bush Labor Board is determined to deny union membership to as many workers as possible.

They realize that absent the union vote the 2006 Congressional landslide would have been dead even.

This Labor Board has consistently reversed 70 years of precedent and established law to make a joke and a mockery of the National Labor Relations Act.

It should not be a surprise to any of us.  Radical right-wing Republicans stole the 2000 election.  They stole votes from African-Americans in 2004 and they attempted to steal votes in 2006.  In tax breaks, single-source contracts, and defense spending they have stolen the Nation’s Treasury to give to the wealthy all over the world.

America needs a strong and vibrant Labor Movement.  Workers forming unions in the 20 years after the passage of the National Labor Relations Act from 1935 to 1955 that created the broad and deep middle class that is America’s greatest strength.

It is our Labor Movement that is the most effective counterweight to corrupt corporate power.

It is this Labor Movement and the Labor Movement around the world that is the most vigorous and effective opponent of right-wing ideology and its logical end of fascism.

For the United States to have a strong Labor Movement, average workers must be free to join it and to establish new unions in workplaces without unions. 

That is not the case today.  Though the Bush Labor Board has greatly accelerated the assault, workers’ rights in America have been weakened steadily since the Reagan Administration.  For at least 25 years workers in America have been routinely fired and retaliated against for trying to form unions and bargain collectively.  Human Rights Watch has documented the assault.  Dr. Kate Brofenbrenner has documented the assault.  American Rights at Work have documented it.

All this is why our country so desperately needs the worker protection that will be provided by the Employee Free Choice Act.  During both House and Senate votes in March and June of this year, the legislation won majority support.  But we need a Senate that can win 60 votes to break a corrupt corporate backed Republican filibuster and a Democratic President who will sign it – and use some political capital to pass it in the Senate.

So with December 10, International Human Rights Day, approaching, please remember that they key to our prosperity lies in our most fundamental right -- the right to freely associate, to speak out, and to organize.

167 Union Volunteers in Action Across Kentucky

167 Union Volunteers in Action Across Kentucky Cross Post: blog.aflcio.org In one of the largest statewide labor walks ever held in Kentucky, 167 union activists walked door to door Saturday to talk with union members about the upcoming election in which Steve Beshear is challenging anti-worker Gov. Ernie Fletcher for office.  Despite Beshear’s 20-point lead in the polls, union members in Kentucky are not sitting back. Fletcher has canceled bargaining rights for state employees, privatized Kentucky’s Medicaid program and pushed to repeal the prevailing wage law and implement anti-union “right to work” for less legislation.

Beshear opposes so-called “right to work” legislation and has affirmed his support of safeguards for the prevailing wage, employee bargaining, the need for affordable health care and good jobs. After our state kickoff walk last week in which more than 400 volunteers went door to door in Jefferson County, we continue to knock on thousands of union doors across the state, with walks this weekend in Lexington, Louisville, Owensboro, Paducah and Pikeville.

In Paducah, where 34 volunteers turned out, Jeff Wiggins, Northern Kentucky AFL-CIO Labor Council president, notes: I’ve been the Northern Kentucky Central Labor Council President since 2000, this is the largest labor walk we’ve ever held in Paducah. Union members taking part in the Paducah walk include: AFSCME, AFT, Alliance for Retired Americans, Fire Fighters (IAFF), IronWorkers, Operating Engineers, Painters and Allied Trades, UAW and United Steelworkers (USW).

Tim Smith, coordinator of the area that includes Owensboro, said the walk there was “larger than any Labor 2004 or Labor 2006 labor walk—and it is only the first one so far this year.” Members from the Electrical Workers (IBEW), Operating Engineers (IUOE), the Kentucky Education Association, Mine Workers (UMWA), Sprinkler Fitters, Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA), UAW and USW took part. 

Donnie Colston, coordinator for the area that includes Louisville, said, “Despite more than 400 walkers last week for our kickoff, nearly 60 more union volunteers showed up this week to walk with us again.” Colston concludes: Union members refuse to take anything for granted.  Those union members are part of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), IBEW, Laborers (LIUNA), Machinists (IAM), UAW, USW, Working America and more. Meanwhile in Lexington, where 42 volunteers turned out, area coordinator Mike Donta said: This is the one of the largest walks we’ve ever had in Lexington.

Members of AFT, Carpenters, CWA, IAFF, IBEW, Iron Workers, LIUNA, Office and Professional Employees, UAW, USW and Utility Workers (UWUA) all took part. Pikeville’s 10 volunteers were part of history, said coordinator Eddie Bowling:

This is first time we’ve ever held a labor walk in all Eastern Kentucky. Click here to view more photos of the walk in Lexington.

Kentucky Labor Kicks Off 2007 Campaign

cross-post from blog.aflcio.org

Kentucky Labor Kicks Off 2007 Campaign Bernard Pollack, AFL-CIO field coordinator, sends us this report on the campaign to elect a working family-friendly governor in Kentucky.

The excitement across the Kentucky labor movement is palpable. Unions in the Louisville area are gearing up for Saturday when several hundred volunteers are expected to walk door to door talking with union members and their families.

Gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear and AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka will join with volunteers, along with UAW Vice President Terry Thurman, UAW Region 3 Director Maurice “Mo” Davison, UAW Local 862 President Rocky Comito, Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Executive Director Larry Roberts and many more leaders across the state.

Rallying around the theme, “Kentucky Labor 2007: It’s Our Time,” workers will kick off a walk program in support of Beshear that will continue weekdays and weekends through Election Day. The goal: talk with more than 300,000 union members, householders, retirees and Working America members so that on Election Day, one in four of all votes cast will be from a union household.

Key to the Kentucky State AFL-CIO’s unprecedented 2007 campaign are union members, who will discuss the issues important to working families—health care, good jobs, education and a secure retirement. Working families deserve better than what they’ve been put through by current Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who repealed collective bargaining for state workers, tried to roll back prevailing wage laws and privatized the state Medicaid operation.

Fletcher has been a top spokesman for so-called “right to work” for less legislation, pushing for anti-union, anti-worker bills in Kentucky and nationwide. Bolstering the largest walk program ever mounted by the Kentucky union movement is a massive communication outreach effort. Union members already have distributed 180,000 worksite leaflets to members across the state, and local unions have sent scores of letters to tens of thousands of members. Statewide phone banks will start Oct. 3. Says

Kentucky State AFL-CIO President William Londrigan:

"In 2007, AFL-CIO Kentucky union members and working families will turn out the vote and walk this weekend to reject Gov. Fletcher’s anti-working families agenda. His corporate crony agenda has been built on the backs of working Kentuckians, and this November, working families will make their voices heard, rejecting Gov. Fletcher’s so-called leadership once and for all. Union members will speak with colleagues, families, neighbors and other Kentuckians, making sure every working family in the state knows what’s at stake in this election."

The Kentucky labor movement has expanded greatly in recent months through outreach by the AFL-CIO community affiliate Working America. Working America is an organization for people who don’t have a union at their workplace but have the same concerns about the economy as union members. Some 40,000 Kentuckians are members of Working America, part of 1.6 million members nationwide.

Take a minute to watch this video in which Rep. John Yarmuth, Beshear and six labor leaders from Kentucky talk about their commitment to the labor political program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hSpmcQZFj8

Congressman Yarmuth summed it up this way: I never would have been elected without the help of the labor movement.

Steve Beshear Joins AFL-CIO KY Union Volunteers at Kick Off Walk

Media Advisory for Saturday, Sept. 22nd

Contact: Alison Omens 202-341-7263
Rachele Huennekens 703-470-2454

Steve Beshear Joins AFL-CIO KY Union Volunteers at Kick Off Walk
AFL-CIO Sec.-Treas. Richard Trumka to take part in the launch of the AFL-CIO KY political program

On Saturday, September 22nd, gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear, national AFL-CIO Sec.-Treas. Richard Trumka, and intl. UAW VP Terry Thurman will join hundreds of union volunteers across the state at the massive launch of the AFL-CIO’s political program in Kentucky for the 2007 elections.  Before heading out to neighborhoods across Jefferson County, the group will rally around working family issues like good jobs, access to quality healthcare, retirement security, and the freedom to form and join unions to bargain for a better life.

“In 2007, AFL-CIO Kentucky union members and working families will turn out the vote to reject Gov. Fletcher’s anti-working families agenda,” said KY AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan. “His corporate crony agenda has been built on the backs of working Kentuckians, and this November, working families will make their voices heard, rejecting Gov. Fletcher’s so-called leadership once and for all.”

Working families of the AFL-CIO are turning out at worksites, in neighborhoods, and on the phones in a massive grassroots effort to get out the vote. The member-to-member walks are a key part of the program, which will mobilize close to 350,000 voters in the 2007 election.  From now through November, working families across Kentucky will knock on thousands of doors in an unprecedented effort to fight for working family candidates in the 2007 election. 

WHO: Steve Beshear, AFL-CIO Sec.-Treas. Richard Trumka, Rep. UAW VP Terry Thurman, hundreds of AFL-CIO Kentucky working families and union members
WHAT: Launch of the Kentucky AFL-CIO political mobilization and neighborhood walk
WHEN: Saturday, September 22nd at 8:30 a.m. (walks begin at 9:00 a.m.)
WHERE: UAW Hall 862, 3000 Fern Valley Road, Louisville

###

Kentucky Union Members Rally in Support of Steve Beshear

"Union members and their families will decide who is the next governor of Kentucky,” Kentucky AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan told more than 230 union members Tuesday as they packed Machinists Lodge 154 hall to rally in support of gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear and lieutenant governor candidate Dan Mongiardo. “With 350,000 union members, householders, retirees and Working America members in the state of Kentucky, the labor movement will be one-quarter of all votes cast on Election Day,” he said. Bashear and Mongiardo won raucous applause by grabbing pens and signing a pledge to support the Employee Free Choice Act and to publicly support collective bargaining and workers' freedom to form unions in Kentucky. With the candidates and IAM International Secretary-Treasurer Warren Mart at his side, Londrigan told the union activists that to win this election they need to: -Pass out leaflets comparing the records of Bashear and his opponent, Gov. Ernie Fletcher at every shift change, at every worksite, in every part of the state. - Mobilize hundreds to join the State Labor 2007 Kick-Off Walk in Louisville Sept. 22 and to canvass neighborhoods throughout the state every Saturday thereafter. -Fill phone banks with volunteers day and night. Beshear reiterated his support of working family key issues: affordable health care for all, the right to retire with dignity and protecting good, middle-class jobs. Recognizing how important union support is in his strategy to win, he told the crowd, “While there are lots of ways you can help me win, the most important thing you can do is what you do best: the labor movement’s member-to-member program.” Watch the video right now and hear Steve Beshear tell union activists the importance of the labor walks, phone banking, worksite leafleting and local union mail programs.

Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Beshear joins AFL-CIO Union Members in Rally for Health Care for All

Media Advisory for Tuesday, Sept. 11

Contact: Alison Omens, Rachele Huennekens, 202-637-5018 Bill Londrigan, 502-682-1497

Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Beshear joins AFL-CIO Union Members in Rally for Health Care for All, Good Jobs and Clean Government Rally will highlight union members’ dedication to getting-out-the-vote for November election On Tuesday, September 11, Gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear will join Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan and area union members and families in pledging to fight for health care for all, retirement security, and the freedom of working people to form and join unions to bargain for a better life.

Rally participants will include trade unionists attending the Annual Labor-Management Conference at Kentucky Dam Village and union members from the Calvert City industrial complex. The Kentucky State AFL-CIO’s political program will mobilize union members and families in Kentucky for the 2007 and 2008 elections.

The AFL-CIO member-to-member outreach, unique in its approach, connects members with information on issues like health care, jobs, retirement security, trade policy, and workers’ freedom to join and form unions. Over the next few months, thousands of Kentucky volunteer union members will make phone calls and knock on doors across the state, distributing hundreds of thousands of leaflets at worksites and in neighborhoods.

“Today marks a new day for Kentucky union members and for the issues we care about – good jobs, health care and an honest government,” said Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan. “We are talking to our families, friends and neighbors about what needs to be done to get Kentucky and America heading in the right direction for working families and we are gratified to have the support of Steve Beshear and Dan Mongiardo in this effort.”

WHO: Kentucky State AFL-CIO Pres. Bill Londrigan, former Lt. Gov. Steve Beshear, other union endorsed candidates, union members and their families

WHAT: Rally to pledge to fight for health care, good jobs and retirement security

WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 11th at 4 p.m. cst

WHERE: Machinist District Lodge 154, 4658 Highway 62, Calvert City, KY ###

Louisville Courier-Journal EDITORIAL: "Time for Change" on Health Care

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

"Time for Change"

EDITORIAL

Louisville Courier-Journal

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20070904&Category=OPINION01&ArtNo=709040358&SectionCat=&Template=printart

The time has come for fundamental change in the American health care system. A recent Census Bureau estimate that the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 47 million, coupled with clear and expanding evidence that the quality of care received by Americans is often badly flawed, argues for a new approach. When both access and quality are lagging, the public will demand something better.

It simply isn't true, as the likes of George W. Bush and Rudy Giuliani glibly claim, that this country has "the best health care system in the world" or the "best medical care in the world."

Making the Kentucky pitch in the AFL-CIO's national drive for universal coverage, state president Bill Londrigan said that "in America, no one should go without health care." He's right, and most folks agree.

About the same time, Gov. Ernie Fletcher was releasing his 10-point health care agenda for the 2008 General Assembly session, which was not, as suggested by a spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear, so premature as to constitute using the governor's office for campaign purposes. The Governor laid out a specific plan. Good for him. The voters know where he's headed.

In a recent radio debate, Gov. Fletcher claimed Kentucky has made progress by revamping Medicare and helping small businesses obtain health insurance. Mr. Beshear said he would expand a children's health program and Medicaid to cover uninsured kids, and promised state help in plugging the coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug program.

Sadly, neither supports something as simple and effective as raising the state cigarette tax by, say, 30 cents a pack, to reduce smoking and raise money for health services and smoking prevention. As Mike Kuntz from the American Lung Association of Kentucky observed, "That's sad."

Of course, real progress can only come at the national level. Any comprehensive fix for the health care system will have to be designed by Congress and approved by the president. That's why the AFL-CIO initiative is so timely.

Conservative scare tactics, like the recent National Review headline warning about "socialized medicine," won't work this time.

"Workers face squeeze" By KY AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan

Monday, September 3, 2007
Oped / Bill Londrigan
Louisville Courier-Journal
Workers face squeeze   
By Bill Londrigan

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20070903&Category=OPINION04&ArtNo=709030364&SectionCat=&Template=printart

   For children, Labor Day means heading back to class and saying
goodbye to summer. For too many adults in Kentucky, Labor Day is just
another day spent searching for work. In fact, almost 120,000 people in
Kentucky are without jobs this Labor Day.
 
Across the board, it's getting harder and harder to make ends meet.
The median family income in Kentucky has dropped by 10.7 percent between
the year 2000 and 2005 -- that's over $4,000 lost! The cost of living
itself is getting out of control. Even a simple trip down to the
grocery store or gas station is enough to have people scratching their heads
and wondering, "When did it get so hard to get by?"
 
Dwindling retirement benefits are forcing grandparents to move in
with their adult children. Students and their families are staggering
under the weight of college tuition and loans.
Meanwhile, CEOs and other corporate insiders turn a blind eye.
Whereas CEOs used to be paid 42 times more than the average worker, today
they make 411 times as much. The average CEO earns more on the first day
of the year than the average worker earns all year.
 
This Labor Day, the health care crisis in America has reached an
apex. Rising health costs are battering families and leaving businesses
struggling to compete. Forty-five million Americans don't have health
insurance, including 639,000 in Kentucky. If nothing is done, that figure
will continue to spiral upward.
 
This can't be right. American workers are the most productive in the
world and work longer hours than workers in any other developed
country.
 
We deserve an economy that meets our needs and allows us to
participate in the prosperity our work helps create. And in America, no one
should be without the security of health care for the family.
 
Ninety percent of Americans believe it is time to reform our broken
health care system. Business is getting on board. Many of the
presidential candidates have heard this cry for help and are proposing sweeping
health care plans that only a few years ago might have seemed
unrealistic. Leaders elected will enter office with a mandate for change on
health care.
 
But while the ground is fertile for reform, there's no guarantee it
will happen without a major push from working people. That's why this
Labor Day union members are ramping up a major health care drive,
committing the AFL-CIO's full resources to ensuring not only that this is
indeed a turning point in history, but that it turns in the right
direction. We demand high quality, secure health care available to all. Nothing
less will do.
 
Making health care available to anyone who needs it will benefit
everyone in the long run, giving a tremendous boost to our economy,
allowing businesses to compete in a global marketplace and create the kind of
good jobs we so desperately need.
 
It's time to put the interests of working families first, not
continue to transfer millions in taxpayer dollars to billion dollar
corporations for illusory promises of good jobs.
 
We want to hear politicians speaking out about the issues that
concern us -- stagnant earnings, growing income inequality and insecurity,
spiraling health care costs, and disappearing pensions. We also want more
laws to make sure corporations act responsibly and honor workers'
freedom to improve our lives through unions. After all, unions are the best
middle-class booster program in our nation. Union members earn 30
percent more than workers without a union, and are much more likely to have
health benefits and pensions.
 
Gov. Ernie Fletcher hasn't done enough to stop the slide. One of his
first actions in office was to make it even harder for people to join
unions.
 
It's time that our nation's laws and economy worked for everyone.
Working families are watching our elected leaders closely, and we will
keep their actions in mind the next time we head to the ballot box. This
Labor Day, working people are ready to be heard loud and clear, and
we're ready for an America that works for all.
 
Bill Londrigan is president of the Kentucky AFL-CIO.

"In America, Every American Deserves Health Care" Press Conference in Louisville, KY

"AFL-CIO starts push for universal health coverage"

That was the headline in today's Louisville Courier-Journal - from
our AFL-CIO, "In America Everyone Deserves Health Care" Press
Conference.

Want to thank the following unions for sending participants: AFGE,
AFSCME, CNA, CWA, IAM, IBEW, IUE-CWA, IUOE, IRON, JCTA, UAW, UFCW, USW,
and Working America. Also, special kudos to USW and Nurses'
Professional Organizing for each offering two great workers speakers.

We made a movie of the press conference ourselves in case you missed
coverage last night on local FOX or CBS. You can watch it by clicking
here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMeUE60rQic

To view the Louisville Courier-Journal, please click on this link:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708300431.