People Before Profit blog

NYC AFSCME Council endorses Liu in mayoral race

Fri, 31 May 2013 16:16:00 +0000

NEW YORK (PAI) -- Saying New York City Comptroller John Liu "would end the favoritism towards the wealthy 1%" and return the Big Apple's government to its people, AFSCME District Council 37 delegates unanimously endorsed his mayoral candidacy.

The May 28 endorsement by the 300 delegates, representing 121,000 workers and their families and 50,000 retirees, gives Liu - an ally of DC 37 in rooting out no-bid sweetheart city contracts to private firms - a boost in the crowded mayoral race.

The New York Mayor's chair is important to workers in the heavily unionized city: The mayor has huge powers over city contracts, appoints most of the school board and has a large say over operations of the unionized Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The AFSCME endorsement includes "a pledge to put our powerful, sophisticated field operations" to work for him, DC 37 President Lillian Roberts said on May 29.

"DC 37 members and all New Yorkers face a critical mayoral election this November, which could bring a truly great mayor who will end the current favoritism toward the wealthy 1% and restore government 'for the people'-the poor and working-class people of New York City, a mayor who makes New York City's neglected communities and the public workers that serve them a priority," she added. Roberts called Liu "the candidate best qualified to be that mayor."

The union picked Liu after its screening committee and convention delegates evaluated Democratic hopefuls and after it hosted a May 16 mayoral forum.

"We evaluated Liu's answers to tough questions-both at our mayoral forum and from the screening committee-regarding issues of importance to District Council 37 and the communities our union members serve," said Roberts. "We also looked at his consistent track record of actions to curtail contracting out, overspending and waste of taxpayer dollars throughout his tenure. DC 37 members have been able to count on Liu's support during our fight to protect vital services and our jobs.

"This union has a proven record of successfully supporting our endorsed candidates. We look forward to putting DC 37's mighty army of volunteers into the field to help elect Liu as...a mayor who truly believes in government for the people."

The most recent poll shows Liu running fifth. But the leader, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, has only 24% support, just ahead of the undecided (23%). Trailing her, in order, are former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) - who is trying to come back from a sex scandal-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, 2009 Democratic nominee Bill Thompson and Liu. All seek to succeed 3-term term-limited Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent.

Photo: District Council 37 Facebook page

Mississippi Nissan workers go global in fight for justice

Fri, 31 May 2013 15:17:00 +0000

JACKSON, Miss. - United Auto Workers President Bob King, and Hollywood actor Danny Glover are in Johannesburg, South Africa, where that country's powerful Metalworkers union has come out fighting for the right of 5,000 Mississippi Nissan workers to organize a union.

King and Glover are in South Africa seeking support for workers at the huge Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi. Their trip is ironic to many who remember that only decades ago it was the UAW that was backing the struggles of the metal workers and so many others in South Africa against apartheid.

Speaking by phone about this today, Glover pointed out another irony: "The irony of this - and I want to point out the irony - is workers here in South Africa have union representation - workers in Brazil have representation and workers in Germany and Japan have representation."

Cedric Gina, president of South Africa's National Union of Metalworkers, also by phone, echoed Glover's concern; "Workers in Mississippi are like workers in the third world," he said. "They have no basic rights and this meeting is about supporting the workers of Nissan in Mississippi."

The campaigning in South Africa comes only a week after release of a study that showed Nissan has reneged on its promise of high-wage job creation in Mississippi even as it is sapping the state of $1.3 billion in subsidies it is getting in exchange for supposedly creating those high-wage jobs.

"This is the largest incentive package that we have encountered in the auto industry," said Philip Mattera, research director of Good Jobs First and co-author, with Good Jobs First research analyst Kasia Tarcznska, of the report, titled "A Good Deal for Mississippi?"

Full-time workers earning $19 to $22 per hour have not received a wage increase for at least five years. One worker getting a haircut at a barber shop off of State Street in Jackson, Miss., yesterday said that it has been just as many years since Nissan hired a full-time certified mechanic of any type at the Canton plant.

"Instead they are filling up the plant with Kelly Agency temporaries who earn only $9 an hour," said Tyson Jackson who was also at the barber shop. Jackson is president of the 200-member Mississippi Student Justice Alliance that has been one of many groups supporting the workers at the Canton plant.

Workers at the Canton plant estimate that as many as 4 in 10 of all the employees there are Kelly temporaries. To be eligible for the lavish subsidies it has received, Nissan, as per promises it made, should be paying 125 percent or more of the average state wage to its workers. That amounts to a minimum of $19.75 an hour. But the average wage at the Canton plant is far less because it is brought down by the hiring of so many temporaries.

"But it's not just the low wage temporaries that are the problem," said Jackson. "The full-time workers are being hurt because they are not getting adequate benefits and they won't have anything for retirement or health care once they retire. Also, they are being denied their basic right to form a union."

Jackson said Nissan is stoking fear among workers. "They force them to attend meetings and listen to anti-union propaganda and they lie and say that if the union comes in they may have to shut down the plant or lay off a lot of workers," he said.

"You've got to understand how scary this can be. This is a poor rural state. Even a $9-an-hour job sounds very good when you have nothing. Full-time workers may have lived in trailers before. Now they have a little house and a car but they have to take care of one or more kids and a family. They are afraid that they might lose their jobs if they come forward for the union. This is what the company is counting on."

Another Nissan worker at the barber shop in Jackson said he had been forced to watch anti-union videos about how unions force companies to shut down and move overseas. "It scares the hell out of me. We were shown pictures of how factories moved out of Detroit, killing that city. The company gave out T-shirts that said, 'If you want a union, move to Detroit.' I have a wife and kids and I'm treated like a kid and told you can't talk about unions at work. Is this fair?"

Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFFAN), the coalition backing the Nissan workers, wants a fair union election, wants the company to cease threats to close if workers choose unionization, and wants the company to give the UAW equal time in making its case to the workers.

Jackson said students have joined the coalition of workers, religious organizations, civic and community groups "because young people are the key here. This is our state, our home and we are at the top of the consumer market for Nissan. Through social media and other avenues we will prove to Nissan that our generation, like the generations that fought the great civil rights battles, cannot be taken for granted."

Photo: Morris Mock, who works on the Paint Line, and Michael Carter,who works in the Body Shop, with actor Danny Glover, hold up pictures of Mississippi workers who were threatened by Nissan. The protest at the Detroit Auto Show in January dramatized the hypocrisy of Nissan, which issued threats in the face of union organizing efforts. Do Better Together Facebook page.

Congress Hotel strike ends, fight of hotel workers goes on

Fri, 31 May 2013 15:17:00 +0000

CHICAGO - With the 10^th anniversary of the Congress Hotel strike approaching, Unite Here Local 1, the union representing Chicago's hospitality workers, announced the end of strike on May 29.

It is widely recognized as the world's longest strike and has received broad solidarity from the labor movement and community.

On June 15, 2003, Father's Day that year, 130 members (100 percent of the workers) of Unite Here walked out on strike after the hotel unilaterally reduced their wages, froze their health care contributions, and demanded the right to subcontract out all the work to minimum wage subcontracted workers.

The move by Congress hotel owners broke with the collective bargaining wage and benefit standards established for all the major downtown hotels between the union and hospitality industry. It was widely seen as a preemptive strike to break the union and force down wages and benefits.

The Congress Hotel picketline became a permanent feature on Michigan Avenue. Unions and community organizations rallied with strikers, and marches often passed in solidarity.

Each strike anniversary thousands would picket and often ring the entire hotel. It became a day that brought out the entire labor and progressive movement.

Prominent political leaders including U.S. Senator Barack Obama, Governor Pat Quinn, President of Cook County Board Toni Preckwinckle, and numerous others have walked the line in support of the workers.

The strike brought together the growing fight for worker's rights with immigrant rights. An overwhelming majority of Congress strikers were immigrants and stood up courageously during the height of demonization of immigrant communities.

The strike became a home for workers and their families. Many children literally grew up on the picket line.

The Congress Hotel strikers showed how low-wage workers could lead the fight to raise the standards for hospitality workers and other low-wage workers.

When the Congress workers struck the standard wage for room attendants was $8.83 per hour. The city wide standard for room attendants is now $16.40 an hour. Congress hotel room attendants still make $8.83 per hour.

Unite Here organized a boycott of the Congress Hotel which cost the hotel millions of dollars in business and gained it a horrible reputation. Conditions at the hotel deteriorated dramatically.

While the Congress Hotel workers were on strike, Unite Here was also battling the attack on wages and benefits by other major hotels. The fight against the Hyatt Hotel chain and its attempts to break the union has become a major global battle.

"The decision to end the Congress strike was a hard one, but it is the right time for the union and the strikers to move on. The boycott has effectively dramatically reduced the hotel's business. The hotel treats their workers and customers equally poor and the community knows it. There is no more to do there. The reclusive owner lives in Geneva and Tel Aviv and hasn't been to Chicago since the strike started. We don't see getting a contract here, and we have many more battles to fight for economic justice," said Unite Here Local 1 President Henry Tamarin.

The union has found jobs for over 60 strikers over the years and is looking for more. It has made an unconditional offer to return to work on behalf of the strikers, but it is unclear whether any strikers will choose to.

Photo: UNITE HERE Local 1 Facebook page

Striking Walmart workers' caravan heads for firm's headquarters, annual meeting

Fri, 31 May 2013 12:46:00 +0000

A group of more than 100 Walmart workers from stores in Northern California, Miami, Boston, Denver and elsewhere started an extended strike on Memorial Day against the retail mega-monster. And they formed a caravan of upset workers who will descend on company headquarters and its annual shareholder meeting in Benton, Ark. on June 1.

In a telephone press conference, three leaders of the group explained they had to step up to the longer strike after the retailer - known for its low prices, low wages, lousy benefits and virulent anti-worker stands - brushed off prior 1-day walkouts.

The group of 100 includes leaders of Our Walmart, which is working for change in the stores from the inside. Their allies include American Rights at Work, Jobs With Justice and Wake Up Walmart, a union-backed organization dedicated to educating consumers about the retail monster's abuses.

Walmart is retaliating not just by firing workers illegally but also by filing anti-trespassing suits against the firm's community group and individual supporters in Washington state, California, Florida and Arkansas. Workers nationwide filed more than 30 labor law breaking claims (formally called unfair labor practices) against Walmart last week with regional offices of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

But the strike is also occurring, the workers on the conference call said, because labor law, enforced by the NLRB, is too weak to protect workers against the company.

"I've seen and experienced many things at Walmart that I would not want my son to experience" in mistreatment of workers and retaliation against those who ask about basic things, such as pay and scheduling, said Dominick Ware, a Walmart worker at the firm's San Leandro, Calif., store.

"From embarrassing employees on the floor to denying opportunities for betterment, Walmart does not value its associates," he added. "Associates" is the firm's name for its 1.6 million workers.

"We are stretched to our limit financially" because of Walmart's low wages and lack of benefits "and we are stretched to our limit physically because we're understaffed," Ware added.

Abricia Edick, a 13-year worker, aged 63 and now at Walmart's Chicopee, Mass., store added that she was originally in New York area stores, working full-time for a maximum wage of $11.70 hourly. After recovering from a heart attack suffered on the job, she was transferred to part-time work in Chicopee, at $11.40 hourly, she added.

"They take people and use them up, until a person is not healthy," she said. "Even in New York, working for them full-time, I had to get food stamps and LIHEAP (federal low-income persons' heating assistance). Now in Massachusetts, I had to get both of those and MassHealth" - the state health care system - "because Walmart's health insurance is expensive and ridiculous.

"What it comes down to is that the general public is paying my way," despite Walmart's high profits, Edick added. By contrast with its low pay, Walmart earned $16 billion last year, its data show.

Photo: Organization United for Respect (OUR) Walmart Facebook page.

Today in labor history: Rosie the Riveter dies at 77

Fri, 31 May 2013 11:55:00 +0000

Rose Will Monroe, who became famous as "Rosie the Riveter," died in Clarksville, Ind., on May 31, 1997 at the age of 77.

During World War II, like many women of that era, Monroe went to work in the aircraft industry. She was a riveter making parts for B-29 and B-24 military airplanes at the Willow Run Aircraft Factory in Ypsilanti, Mich., when actor Walter Pidgeon came to the plant to make a film promoting war bonds. Pidgeon discovered her there and asked her to star in the film.

A song "Rosie the Riveter" by Kay Kyser, inspired by a Long Island woman named Rosalind P. Walter, was already a hit. And the now-famous poster with the title "We Can Do It" above a painting of a muscle-flexing woman in a bandanna and overalls was becoming a worldwide symbol of women in the defense industry in World War II. So the film's producers jumped at the chance to have a real-life "Rosie the Riveter" in their movie.

The film was shown in movie theaters between features to encourage viewers to buy war bonds to help finance the war effort.

Originally from Somerset, Ky., Monroe took the job at Willow Run in the early 1940s after her husband was killed in a car accident and she was left a single mother of two small children.

During the war, the Willow Run plant had 42,000 workers, one-third of them women.

Monroe kept working after the war. She drove a taxi, ran a beauty shop and started a construction company in Indiana called Rose Builders, specializing in luxury custom houses.

During the war, she had hoped to be among the women chosen to learn to fly and transport aircraft parts around the nation, but she was passed over because she was a single mother. She later achieved her dream of becoming a pilot when she was in her 50s.

Photo: Rose Will Monroe, a real "Rosie the Riveter," in the 1940s. Ypsilanti Gleaner

Today in labor history: Ford goes to revolutionary Russia

Thu, 30 May 2013 13:40:00 +0000

On May 30, 1929, the Ford Motor Company signed a technical assistance contract to produce cars in the newly industrializing Soviet Union. The agreement included assistance in building a massive auto plant in Nizhny-Novgorod (Gorky), similar to Ford's famous all-in-one Rouge complex in Dearborn, Mich. Ford workers were sent to the Soviet Union to train the labor force, and 200 Soviet workers came to the United States for training.

American workers who made the trip included Walter Reuther, a tool and die maker who later became the UAW's president and a Cold War advocate.

Another American, Margaret Wettlin, went to the Soviet Union in 1932 and for a time taught the children of American autoworkers there. She later wrote of her experiences:

"Narrow political prejudices blinded people to the fact that here were two nations similar in that at different times each had been the pioneer of a new way of life; and that here were two peoples similar in that both were born and bred in lands of vast expanses and untold resources."

Other U.S. companies that signed technical assistance agreements with the new USSR included International Harvester, Pratt and Whitney, Dupont and Caterpillar.

Photo: A 1930 Ford Model A on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich (CC).

Today in labor history: Farm Workers win after 17-year boycott

Wed, 29 May 2013 13:56:00 +0000

On May 29, 1996, the United Farm Workers of America reached agreement with Bruce Church Inc. on a contract for 450 lettuce harvesters, ending a 17-year-long boycott.

The pact raised wages, provided company-paid health benefits to workers and their families, created a seniority system to deal with seasonal layoffs and recalls, and established a pesticide monitoring system.

To this day, the UFW continues the fight against harmful pesticides. Other key issues for the UFW include the fight against heat related death and illness, and the new immigration process that will affect a million agricultural workers and their families.

Photo: Coretta Scott King and Cesar Chavez, 1973. United Farm Workers and the Lettuce Boycott.

Union protests Obama's nomination of Pritzker

Tue, 28 May 2013 22:12:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - Saying Hyatt Hotel magnate Penny Pritzker destroys jobs, more than 30 Unite Here members - led by union President D Taylor - crowded into the back of a Senate hearing room on May 23 to show the union opposes her nomination as U.S. Commerce Secretary. Senators ignored them and gave Pritzker, a multimillionaire top fundraiser for President Obama, accolades.

Union spokeswoman Rachel Tardiff said senators asked Pritzker few questions about jobs. When one asked Pritzker whether she supports subcontracting out work, Pritzker replied, "no." Hyatt has subcontracted many of its housekeepers' jobs.

The union realizes Pritzker seems headed for approval, "but this appearance" in the hearing room "is just one step in a much longer struggle" with the hotel chain, Tardiff added. "This is more of a principled stance. We could not sit silently by knowing of the struggles of so many Hyatt workers" against Pritzker and the chain.

Pritzker has opposition from more than just the hospitality workers in her hometown of Chicago. The Chicago teachers Union is fighting her nomination because of the role she has played in the education struggles in that city.

The CTU calls Pritzker an avid supporter, while on the school board, of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's moves to slash middle-class teaching jobs, increase class sizes and close 54 schools.

"Under Pritzker's leadership, Hyatt exhibited a broad pattern of labor abuses, including aggressive outsourcing, low wages and the mistreatment of housekeepers," Taylor said before the Senate confirmation hearing. "To get our nation on the road to recovery, the Commerce Department needs leadership far different from what Pritzker demonstrated at Hyatt Hotels."

Photo: UNITE HERE! Facebook page.

Race to the bottom for sweatshop workers

Tue, 28 May 2013 01:20:00 +0000

From the Guardian (a British newspaper):

At least 23 workers were hurt in Cambodia on Monday when police using stun batons moved in to end a protest over pay at a factory that makes clothing for Nike, a trade union representative said.

Police with riot gear were deployed to move about 3,000 mostly female workers who had blocked a road outside their factory... They want the US sportswear firm, which employs more than 5,000 people at the plant, to give them $14 a month to help pay for transport, rent and healthcare costs on top of their $74 minimum wage. (Read the full story here.)

Read that again. These are "minimum wage" workers, earning $74 a month. They are looking for a $14 a month raise.

But in America these days, those types of facts don't really matter. It's all about spin - and Nike's been spinning this story since the beginning of the month.

Read the Business Insider's "How Nike Solved its Sweatshop Problem" here.

Read the Portland Business Journal's "For Nike, 25 years from sweatshops to reform" here.

Sure, they've got their "sweatshop problem" fixed. If not by their corporate PR department, then by the worldwide decline in industry standards.

Can't help but notice:

The Sports Authority is selling Nike's Hyper Elite Platinum Jerseys for $120.00 each.

PacSun is selling Nike's Ruskin Pants for $119.99 each (that's on markdown: they're usually $160 each).

The NFL shop is selling Nike's licensed team jackets for $139.99 each (yep, that's almost two months' wages, in Cambodia).

So it's really no surprise: Nike's profits are up - a whopping $866 million in their latest fiscal quarter. Read the Wall Street Journal's "Nike's Profit Leaps 55%" here. Pay particular attention to this line: "Nike's gross margin expanded to 44.2%."

That's how the math works, in this "Race to the Bottom".

The corporation's investors make a 44% profit... while workers are beaten for seeking a $14 a month raise.

New Hampshire Labor News

Photo: Cambodian garment factory workers stage a rally on May Day in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 1. They demand an increase in wages and better working condition. Heng Sinith/AP

Today in labor history: Rochester general strike

Tue, 28 May 2013 00:14:00 +0000

On this day, in 1946 workers in the city of Rochester, New York, staged a successful one-day general strike. The strike was precipitated when city workers were summarily fired after attempting to form a union.

The workers were told: "This is to advise you that the position held by you in the Department of Public Works has been abolished by the City Manager and your services with the City of Rochester are terminated as of midnight, this date. This action is the result of a change of policy deemed necessary to protect public interest."

The anti-union action was taken by the Republican dominated city leadership and City Council. The workers had formed Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, Local 871 [now AFSCME].

Some 35,000 workers struck in solidarity outraged by the city's action. The strike was settled the next day with all workers being reinstated, charges dropped against pickets, and union recognition.

Photo: Education Committee Rochesterlabor.org

California labor moves to halt Walmart abuse

Sat, 25 May 2013 00:30:00 +0000

California labor and social justice groups are throwing down the gauntlet to Walmart during a two-week statewide tour to protest the giant retailer's abuse of taxpayers and workers alike.

The state tour, with rallies at Walmart superstores in various cities and towns, aims to garner public support in a twofold campaign.

One goal is to highlight Walmart's unfair worldwide labor practices and callous disregard for human life, in pursuit of maximum immediate profit.

The other is to close the "Walmart loophole" that unfairly targets California taxpayers.

"When big companies use the Walmart loophole to force workers on to Medi-Cal, taxpayers pick up the tab," said California Labor Federation head Art Pulaski. Medi-Cal is the state's health care program for the poor, elderly and disabled.

"Today we are putting legislators on notice that it's time to hold big corporations accountable to pay their fair share for health care like the rest of us."

Earlier this month, the new "Fair Share Health Care Coalition" - including the California Labor Federation, the California Medical Association, United Food and Commercial Workers, and health care advocates - joined forces to urge passage of California Assembly Bill (AB) 880 to close the Walmart loophole.

By cutting hours and wages so low that workers qualify for care through Medi-Cal, Walmart and other large corporations want to avoid federal penalties they would accrue if workers earned enough to enroll in state health care exchanges going into effect in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

"AB 880 is a responsible solution that protects taxpayers when companies like Walmart dump their workers onto Medi-Cal," said Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez, who introduced the measure. "This is common sense legislation that holds the biggest, most profitable companies accountable while exempting small and mid-sized businesses from new penalties."

AB 880, the nation's first legislation of its kind, closes the loophole by requiring companies with 500 or more employees to pay a penalty for each worker on Medi-Cal.

The fee equals the cost of a commercial health plan a large employer would provide to employees. The fee will be prorated by the number of hours worked by employees enrolled in Medi-Cal.

Resulting revenues will pay for the non-federal state share of the Medi-Cal program, will increase reimbursement rates for providers to care for Medi-Cal recipients and will shore up the state's safety net.

"This bill encourages employer-based coverage for low-wage workers, prevents very large employers from shifting their health costs onto taxpayer-funded programs, and helps raise funds to improve Medi-Cal," said Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Health Access California.

"Already, California taxpayers are footing the bill for more than $32 million in health care costs that Walmart has dumped on us. That's simply unfair," said Jim Araby, Executive Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers' Western States Council.

The other part of the labor-led campaign, called the "Ride for Respect," consists of actions at Walmart superstores around the country culminating in a week of demonstrations at the corporate headquarters of the world's largest retailer in Bentonville, Ark. in June.

James Vetato, a Kentucky worker fired by Walmart whose wife Trina still works for the company, told the LA Progressive, "We especially want to draw national attention to Walmart management's threats and retaliation against workers who speak up for better pay, more hours and respect on the job."

Eighty percent of Walmart associates are paid so poorly they have to be on food stamps, Medicaid or other public assistance, Vetato said.

Modeled on civil rights volunteers who rode buses into the South in the 1960s to protest Jim Crow racial injustice, "like the freedom riders, we will be standing up for dignity and respect and justice and will be protesting peacefully," Vetato added.

The Organization for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart for short), the national group to which the Vetatos belong, wants better pay, benefits and working conditions.

Last year, Walmart made nearly $17 billion in profits and CEO Mike Duke walked away with nearly $23 million.

Meanwhile, median worker pay at Walmart is $22,400, or 1,034 times less than what Duke makes (according to PayScale), rendering Duke's claim that the company pays "competitive wages" a cruel hoax.

Meanwhile, on the world scene, evidence has revealed that Walmart subcontracted with garment sweatshops at the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh which recently collapsed, taking the lives of 1,100 workers.

Unmoved by this horrific tragedy and its role in it, Walmart will not join the new fire and building safety agreement that 37 other mainly European companies have signed.

Photo: PW/Marilyn Bechtel

Today in labor history: Musician Bob Dylan is born

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:45:00 +0000

On this day in 1941, Robert Allen Zimmerman - or, as he is famously known, Bob Dylan - was born in Duluth, Minnesota. From an early age, he had a strong interest in rock and folk music, which led to his career as a singer and songwriter and ascension to the status of music icon.

Dylan signed his first recording contract in 1961, and soon after became prominent in the civil rights movement. Songs like "Blowin' in the Wind," and "The Times, They Are a-Changin'" became powerful anthems of the social struggles and anti-war sentiment of that era. Notably, he sang at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1968.

He was influenced by figures such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard, and was friends with Woody Guthrie, whom he paid visits to in the hospital after Guthrie was diagnosed with a disease of the nervous system.

Dylan was inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Bruce Springsteen, who spoke at the ceremony, said of Dylan, "Bob freed the mind the way that Elvis freed the body. He broke through the limitations of what a recording artist could achieve and changed the face of rock 'n roll forever."

In May 2012, President Obama presented Dylan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which recognizes citizens who have made significant contributions to national interests, world peace, or cultural endeavors.

With his music featured in such films as 2009's Watchmen, Dylan and his songs continue to remain popular, even among newer generations of music fans.

Photo: Bob Dylan is presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Bill Ingalls/Wikipedia

Today in labor history: Tom Petty defies record label profiteering

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:01:00 +0000

Today in labor history, a story from the arts and entertainment front: the struggle between corporate drive for maximum profit versus artists and cultural workers. It was today in 1979 when rock star Tom Petty filed for bankruptcy, thereby challenging his record label, MCA, and the practice of what some would call indentured servitude. "The music industry is notorious for its creative accounting practices and for onerous contracts that can keep even some top-selling artists perpetually in debt to their record labels," according to history.com.

Petty's actions helped other artists challenge the recording industry's servitude system. And it wasn't the last challenge Petty would make to corporate power. In 1981, Petty "threatened to withhold his new album, Hard Promises, when MCA announced its intention to sell it for $9.98-a full dollar more than the typical retail price at the time."

"If we don't take a stand, one of these days records are going to be $20," Petty said, forcing MCA to back down, selling the album for the then-customary $8.98.

To read the full article, go to history.com.

Photo: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform in Indianapolis June 23, 2006 (CC).

14 United Mine Workers arrested in protest

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:51:00 +0000

St. Louis - More than 4,500 members and supporters of the United Mine Workers marched and rallied in downtown St. Louis on May 21, as a decision nears in a pivotal case before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Protestors were joined by former AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Barbara Easterling, Missouri State Representative Karla May and Rev. John Stratton of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri.

Fourteen miners and supporters, including United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts and Easterling were arrested for trespassing after sitting down on South 10^th Street in front of the federal courthouse, in a peaceful act of non-violent civil disobedience.

Included in those arrested were Larry Knisell, a Peabody retiree from Morgantown, W. Va., and his son Chuck, who works at a mine in Pennsylvania and is president of UMWA Local Union 2300. "My Mom and Dad were there for me when I was growing up, taught me what was right and what was wrong," Chuck Knisell said. "He's counting on those benefits. I wanted to be there for him today."

Tom Kacsmar, a retiree from UMWA Local Union 6362 was arrested along with his wife, Margie. "We both depend on the health care benefits he earned in all those years in the mines," Margie said. "I was proud to stand with him."

The UMWA is also continuing a public advocacy campaign with a full-page ad in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Demonstrators came from Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and other states to protest the possible loss of are health care benefits for more than 23,000 retired miners and their families, as well as cuts in wages, benefits and working conditions for more than 1,700 active workers at Patriot Coal.

"I spent 32 years working underground to earn those benefits, and I'm not giving them up without a fight," said Joe Brown, a retired miner from Fairmont, West Virginia. "We had a deal. Miners accepted lower wages so we could get medical care when we retired. We kept our end of the bargain, and there's no reason these corporations should get away with breaking the promises they made to us and our families."

Patriot Coal, created by Peabody Energy 2007 with 43 percent of Peabody's liabilities but just 11 percent of its assets, filed for bankruptcy in July, 2012. Patriot has filed motions demanding the effective elimination of the current system of health care for retired miners and drastic pay and benefit cuts for active workers. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kathy Surratt-States is scheduled to rule on the company's motions on or before May 29.

Because Patriot was created with insufficient assets to meet its liabilities to retired miners, analysts such as Bruce Rader, Professor of Finance at Temple University, have described the company as "designed to fail." Current Patriot CEO Ben Hatfield has acknowledged that "something doesn't smell right" about the manner in which his company was founded.

In 2008, Patriot acquired Magnum Coal, a company created by Arch Coal featuring a similar shift of assets and liabilities.

Peabody Energy and Arch Coal executives claim that because Patriot and Magnum were spun off years ago, they have nothing to with the current litigation. But nearly all of the retired miners who may lose their health care worked most or all of their careers for Peabody or Arch, not Patriot. And a recent fact-finding mission by Religious Leaders for Coalfield Justice and Interfaith Worker Justice found that Peabody is still profiting from the operations of Patriot Coal:

Another consequence of this scheme is that Arch and Peabody become "indirect employers" of the miners that work for those corporations' profits. Under the terms of the spin-off, certain cost savings by Patriot redound to Peabody shareholders, making Patriot a conduit for increasing Peabody's profits.

"There's a great song lyric by Woody Guthrie," said UMWA President Roberts. "'Some rob you with a sixgun, and some with a fountain pen.' This is robbery pure and simple, and we're not going to stand for it."

"We're advocating for the best possible result for our members before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, but this fight won't end when the judge rules," said Roberts. "We've got our own lawsuit underway in West Virginia; we've got a bill in Congress which will hold the original employers of these workers accountable; and we will continue to follow these companies and these corporate executives wherever they go."

Last month, UMWA active and retired miners confronted executives and directors of Peabody and Arch in Wyoming, where both companies moved their annual meetings after repeated protests by miners and supporters in St. Louis.

Additional information about the UMWA campaign to stand up for active and retired miners is at FairnessAtPatriot.org.

Originally published at New Hampshire Labor News.

Photo: UMWA members, several of whom were black lung victims, engage in civil disobedience, and are arrested for sitting in at the coal company office. Tony Pecinovsky/PW

Walker not welcome in Connecticut!

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:34:00 +0000

STANFORD, Conn. - As Wisconsin's Gov. Scott Walker was wined and dined by Republicans inside the swanky Stamford Hilton hotel, outside a giant 12 foot rat and corporate pig attracted honks of support as demonstrators chanted "Scotty Walker what a joke! He's in love with the Brothers Koch!"

Members of a dozen unions and community groups organized the protest to make it clear that the voters of Connecticut will not tolerate corporate attempts to enact anti-union "right to work" laws in this state.

Josh Herty, who moved to Connecticut after losing his job in Wisconsin under Walker's budget cutting policies, told the crowd, "Not only did I lose my job, many people with an education are unemployed in Wisconsin because there are no jobs to be had now. Scott Walker, go home!"

Rene Soto, community organizer with the Stamford immigrant organization CRISOL (Coalition of Residents and Immigrants in Solidarity), declared that as someone who is opposed to immigration reform, "Walker is not welcome here."

"It was a shame what you did in Wisconsin," said Harold Brooks, vice president of AFSCME Local 3144 whose members filled a bus from New Haven. "It's immoral to pay low wages. It's immoral to take away dignity and contractual rights from workers. I stand with my union to protect bargaining rights for all!"

John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO decried Walker for refusing federal funds for mass transit in his state. "Anyone who turns down funding because of ideology should be run out of office," declared Olsen, urging those present to make their voices heard at the ballot box for worker-friendly candidates.

A video promo for the annual Republican dinner lauded Walker, attacked Olsen and called on Connecticut to do away with unions. At the dinner, featuring probable Republican candidates for Governor in 2016, Jerry Labriola, chair of the state Republican Party said Walker "could be a role model for how we solve our problems."

Walker's policies have cut funding for public schools, for health care, and for services that public workers provide to the community in Wisconsin. As a result Wisconsin is 44th in the nation for job creation.

Prior to Governor Walker and the Republican legislature, Wisconsin was one of the most progressive states in the nation with all major positions held by Democrats.

With the election of Governor Danell Malloy and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy in Connecticut, Republican leaders openly hope for the same flip here. They welcomed the opportunity to take Walker's message nation wide.

The Walker plan has been devastating for all working class and rural communities, cutting taxes for millionaires, cutting funds for public education and health care, and blocking wind power and a federally funded high speed rail project.

Walker's allies in Wisconsin's Republican legislature even attempted to place additional restrictions on what food items can be purchased with food stamps. In stark contrast, Sen. Murphy is making headlines this week as he lives on a food stamp budget of $4.80 a day to protest possible budget cuts.

"We don't need Scott Walker here," said Dave Roche, president of the Connecticut State Council of Building Trades. Referring to the funding by the right-wing Koch brothers of Walker's campaign, Roche added, "The Koch brothers are trying to buy newspapers here in Connecticut. We say, get the hell out!"

Photo: Sue Peacock/Flickr (CC)

California launches innovative plan to expand voter registration

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:38:00 +0000

California's Secretary of State Debra Bowen is designating the state's new Health Benefit Exchange, Covered California, as a voter registration agency under the National Voter Registration Act. That means Covered California will be incorporating voter registration into every transaction - online, in-person and by phone - it has with consumers.

"The timing could not be more ideal," said Lori Shellenberger, director of the Voting Rights Project of the ACLU of California. "Covered California is already leading the country in implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Secretary Bowen's decision to include the state's Health Benefit Exchange as a voter registration agency is one of the most significant voter registration policy decisions in the state's history and will bring millions of Californians into the democratic process in our state. We are hopeful that many other states will follow her innovative lead."

California is the first state to designate its Health Benefit Exchange as a voter registration agency under the NVRA. As many as six million people are eligible to apply for or renew their health coverage through Covered California.

Photo: Robert F. Bukaty/AP

Split Senate panel OKs Obama NLRB nominees

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:51:00 +0000

WASHINGTON - In split votes, the Senate Labor Committee on May 22 approved President Obama's five nominees - three Democrats and two Republicans - for seats on the National Labor Relations Board.

While Democratic Board Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Republican board nominees Harry Johnson and Phillip Miscimarra sailed through, two others didn't.

And the almost party-line votes on Democratic nominees Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, the former Operating Engineers general counsel, presage another partisan war on the Senate floor over the labor board and its future.

Union leaders urged the full Senate to act quickly and approve all five, before the NLRB runs out of legal members in August. Confirming a full board is important to workers, union and non-union alike, said both Communications Workers President Larry Cohen and committee chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The board oversees all aspects of labor-management relations for most U.S. workers, including workers' rights to unionize, how they communicate with each other and who can be in bargaining units.

A quick vote is important. The board now has three members: Pearce, Griffin and Block. Griffin and Block are "recess appointees" Obama named to the NLRB in Jan. 2012 after Senate GOP filibusters defeated his permanent nominees. Pearce's present term expires August 27, and the board would not have enough members to act and "would effectively shut down," Harkin said.

And the federal appeals court in D.C. ruled in January, 2013 that the recess appointments are illegal, and thus the board illegally decided 919 cases since January 2012. The Labor Committee's top Republican, Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said the ruling means Obama is violating the Senate's "advise and consent" powers in the Constitution.

Alexander said he would vote against both Griffin and Block, who he also accused of violating the Constitution. But he did not openly threaten to filibuster them. He again called on them to resign now. Other federal appeals courts have split on the recess appointments issue and the mess is headed for the Supreme Court.

"This is an Alice in Wonderland approach: Verdict first, trial later," Harkin replied. "Why should they lose their jobs and be forced to resign when we don't know the outcome?" of the lawsuit challenging them, he asked.

On the other hand, Alexander promised if Obama sent up two replacements for Griffin and Block, he would move quickly with Harkin to get them confirmed, too. Alexander again said they should quit their jobs now, because they're illegal.

"What we're missing in this debate is whether the board should be able to function," Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said. "There are people in this town who want to shut it down. Where is there any assertion that it should shut down because of the courts?"

Harkin told Press Associates Union News Service after the session that he would talk to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., about scheduling votes on all five before the lawmakers' August recess. "But we'll have to wait and see" whether the GOP filibusters them, he added. In a conference call last week with CWA activists Harkin had predicted a filibuster would occur.

The committee voted 18-4 for Pearce, with Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., Rand Paul, R-Kent., Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, voting no. The other six Republicans voted for Pearce. GOP nominees Johnson and Miscimarra passed 22-0.

Griffin and Block each won 13-9, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joining all 12 Democrats. Alaska has a high concentration of unionists. Crossover votes helped her to an upset independent write-in win in 2010 over a Tea Partyite GOP nominee.

After the committee vote, Cohen urged senators to vote on all five after they return from their Memorial Day recess.

"While today's vote moves these five qualified nominees out of committee, the protection of labor law for 80 million private sector workers remains undecided until the Senate acts," he said. "Workers deserve a strong, functioning and full-strength NLRB, not more Senate gridlock. After recess, the Senate should debate and confirm all five to ensure a fully functional NLRB so workers have the full protection of the law. Workers, both union and non-union alike, can't afford to wait any longer."

For the same reasons, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka previously urged senators to quickly confirm all five, even though the federation strongly disagrees with positions by Johnson and Miscimarra, both management-side labor lawyers.

United Food and Commercial Workers President/Change To Win Chair Joe Hansen blamed the GOP for the mess. "Senate Republicans made a mockery of their constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on nominations to the NLRB," he said. "They made obstruction an art form. Obama could nominate (Senate GOP leader) Mitch McConnell to the NLRB and Senate Republicans would still likely block him. Their motive is clear: They do not believe in the right to organize and resent the agency charged with protecting workers is actually doing its job."

Photo: Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, fears that Republicans will still try to filibuster the president's NLRB nominees. Susan Walsh/AP

Today in labor history: Debs imprisoned

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:02:00 +0000

Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned May 22, 1895, for his role in the Pullman strike.

Debs was a labor activist in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries who had wide support from workers all over the country.

He was a founder of one of the nation's first industrial unions, the American Railway Union, and he went on to help launch the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies.

He ran for president of the United States five times on the Socialist Party ticket, attracting six percent of the popular vote in 1912.

On the same date in 1920, the Civil Service Retirement Act was signed into law, giving federal workers a pension.

And on May 22 in 1964, Democratic president Lyndon Johnson announced the goals of his "Great Society": to bring "an end to poverty and racial injustice" in America.

Photo: Pullman strikers outside Arcade Building in Pullman, Chicago. The Illinois National Guard can be seen guarding the building during the Pullman Railroad Strike in 1894. Wikimedia Commons.

AFL-CIO hails vote on immigration bill, vows work to improve

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:02:00 +0000

Editor's note: The following are two statements from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: the first was issued May 22, recognizing Senate Judiciary Committee 13-5 vote to send the immigration reform bill to the floor. The second, issued May 21, explains the labor federation's opposition to the amendments from Republican Senator Orin Hatch on skilled worker H1-B visas.

Today brings to mind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s wise and hopeful words, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

More than 11 million aspiring Americans took a big step toward becoming citizens today with the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee vote. That reflects an enormous step toward healing an injustice, the deportation crisis that has wrecked families, communities, and workplaces for far too long.

The next step, of course, is not to rest on this accomplishment, but rather to redouble labor's campaign for a roadmap to citizenship. That will mean everything from old school lobbying to new school social media in conjunction with new and longstanding allies.

We appreciate the work done by the Gang of Eight, as well as all those senators - both Democrats and Republicans - who engaged in good faith in the arduous job of advancing this bill. We applaud the progress by the Judiciary Committee, but we will still work to make a good bill even better. We will continue to pursue constructive amendments where needed - whether on family reunification, skilled-worker visas [see statement below], worker protections, or the Uniting American Families Act.

But our bottom line remains the same: a reliable, inclusive roadmap to citizenship for sisters and brothers who are American in all but paper. The Senate Judiciary Committee clears that bar readily and we look forward to helping move it to President Obama's desk expeditiously.

Hatch H-1B amendments are anti-worker

The labor movement has no higher priority in 2013 than a workable immigration system that will allow 11 million aspiring Americans to become citizens. That's why labor has been working tirelessly with faith groups, DREAMers, and the civil rights community to ensure that we move forward this year and create a roadmap to citizenship.

The progress on this bill so far has been commendable. With the hard work of so many for so long, our broad and diverse coalition has become unstoppable.

There is no reason why this strong coalition should accept anti-worker amendments. And let's be clear: Senator Orrin Hatch's H-1B amendments are unambiguous attacks on American workers.

Hatch's amendments change the bill so that high tech companies could functionally bring in H-1B visa holders without first making the jobs available to American workers. Hatch's amendments would mean that American corporations could fire American workers in order to bring in H-1B visa holders at lower wages.

The next Sergei Brin might be sitting in an American classroom right now. But if that future innovator cannot get an entry-level job in high tech because employers prefer importing temporary workers, entrepreneurial innovations will not occur in the United States.

Tech tycoons like Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg have gotten rich while wages in the technology sector have stagnated. Today's H-1B amendments are being considered on the same day that Apple's CEO is testifying about Apple's multi-billion dollar tax avoidance schemes. If the hard work of America's tech workers is ever to pay off, we need to craft policy that benefits the people who actually write code, rather than just rewarding industry honchos who write checks to politicians. Our goal should be an America in which our young tech workers can pay off their student loans, not one in which Larry Ellison can build ever more extravagant yachts. We expect better, we deserve better, and if necessary, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, we will get better.

We are thankful that the Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to report out a bill today that supports a real roadmap to citizenship. We will continue to work with our allies to pass immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship in 2013.

Photo: Unite Here and other labor unions participate in Chicago's May 1, 2006, mega-immigrant rights march (PW/Pepe Lozano).

Catholic “union” refuses to back Carla Hale, but AFL-CIO will

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:06:00 +0000

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Carla Hale, the 19-year teacher at Columbus Bishop Watterson High School who was fired after her mother's obituary stated that she was "survived by Carla and her partner," received word this week that the phony Catholic teachers "union" to which she has paid two decades worth of dues will not support her in her fight to be reinstated. In a public statement, the Central Ohio Association of Catholic Educators stated through spokesperson Kathleen Mahoney they would not appeal her case to arbitration.

This will not affect her ongoing fight to reverse her firing at the hands of the Central Ohio Catholic Diocese, said Tom Tootle, the attorney representing Hale. According to Tootle, "COACE has never in its history appealed any grievance for any of its members to arbitration."

It was learned through confidential sources that a number of teachers, members of COACE at Bishop Watterson High School, had initiated a petition to decertify that group as representing the teachers at that school.

The AFL-CIO Central Labor Council for Central Ohio, meanwhile, unanimously passed a strongly worded resolution this past week supporting Hale in her fight to be reinstated. The AFL-CIO is made up of actual independent unions in the central Ohio area.

Also this past week, the first hearing was held with the Columbus Human Rights Commission on Hale's case. Columbus has a strong human rights measure that includes specific wording outlawing discrimination in housing or employment because of sexual orientation. Conviction under the HRC legislation could result in jail time and up to $10,000 in fines. Tootle said that a first meeting was held with Nelson Hewitt of the HRC.

"We came away very encouraged," said Tootle.

A fund has now been set up to raise money needed for her legal case. The grassroots committee, mainly composed of Hale's students, parents of students, alumni, and former teachers at Watterson High School, is planning a series of fund raising projects, parties and other activities. T-shirts supporting Ms. Hale were being hawked at a recent rally.

More than 100 protestors rallied May 18 at the Catholic Diocese here, calling on the diocese to "Do what Jesus would do," according to organizer Amanda Finelli.

"Morality is not a list of restrictions, doctrines and rituals. That is not what Jesus said," Finelli said. "We learned that we should treat others with dignity and respect. Jesus never would've fired Carla!"

Speaking for the AFL-CIO, Glen Skeen, an officer at the Communications Workers of America and president of Pride@Work Ohio, told the crowd that he is "a member of a real union, one that actually stands up and represents its members."

"We are here supporting Carla, not because we know her, like so many of you, but because nobody, whether we know them or not, should ever have to live in fear because their boss, whether it's a church or a company, can fire them for what they do in their personal lives," Skeen said.

"We are union, and we say that everyone should have rights on the job, everyone should have democratic rights & no one should ever have to face what Carla has."

Frank Wilson, a recently retired Watterson teacher, said that he knew Carla and served on committees with her, and greatly respected her for her work.

"She never quizzed me about my personal life and I never did about hers," he said. "Carla Hale is one of the best, most respected teachers I've ever known, and the decision to fire her was absolutely the worst administrative decision ever!"

It was announced that the online petition supporting Carla Hale on change.org had some 130,000 signatures.

Photo: Carla Hale ("I Support Carla Hale" Facebook page)