Labor Union Blog

By Doug Cunningham

The UAW’s Ford National Council is unanimously endorsing the tentative contract with Ford. The council consists of local union leader delegates from more than 55 Ford facilities across the nation. The UAW says the unanimous recommendation to approve came after a meeting Monday that included a detailed question and answer session. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger says he’s very pleased with the strong support of local UAW leaders for the new contract at Ford. UAW Ford workers will finish voting on whether or not to approve the contract November 12th.

By Doug Cunningham

Reacting to five U.S. Airways crew members being sickened by carbon monoxide fumes on an aircraft, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA says it could have been prevented. Union president, Pat Friend says poor cabin air quality has been an issue front and center for the AFA-CWA for years. Friend says efforts to improve cabin air quality on flights has been thwarted by airlines management and the Federal Aviation Administration.

By Doug Cunningham

Reacting to five U.S. Airways crew members being sickened by carbon monoxide fumes on an aircraft, The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA says it could have been prevented. Union president Pat Friend says poor cabin air quality has been an issue front and center for the AFA-CWA for years. Friend says efforts to improve cabin air quality on lfights has been thwarted by airlines management and the Federal Aviation Administration.

By Doug Cunningham

Voters in Kentucky and Virginia head to the polls today in the midst of a strong get out the vote effort by organized labor. The AFL-CIO says its 2007 “Final Four” get-out-the-vote effort is the most sophisticated and far-reaching voter turnout effort Kentucky has ever seen. Labor is backing Democrat Steve Beshear for Governor and is supporting a host of pro-working family candidates in the state. Union household voters are expected to be 26 percent of votes cast today in Kentucky. In Virginia, AFL-CIO volunteers have been going door-to-door and making thousands of calls supporting pro-working family candidates there. The goal in Virginia is to activate at least 150,000 new union voters.

By Doug Cunningham

Voters in Kentucky and Virginia head to the polls today in the midst of a strong get out the vote effort by organized labor. The AFL-CIO says its 2007 “Final Four” get-out-the-vote effort is the most sophisticated and far-reaching voter turnout effort ever Kentucky has ever seen. Labor is backing Democrat Steve Beshear for Governor and is supporting a host of pro working family candidates in the state. Union household voters are expected to be 26 percent of votes cast today in Kentucky. In Virginia AFL-CIO volunteers have been going door-todoor and making thousands of calls supporting pro-working family candidates there. The goal in Virginia is to activate at least 150,000 new union voters.

What does it take to get a labor strike covered across the field of mainstream media? A Hollywood strike. Jesse Russell reports:

Production of television shows from New York City to LA is slowly shutting down, but why are the writers on the picket lines?

Michael Winship is President of the Writers Guild of America East and he is walking the pickets with members outside of studios in New York. He says the big issue is new media – the writers want to see residuals when their shows appear on emerging technology like the Internet or cell phones.

[Winship]: Our primary focus is internet and new media. We want to get a fair deal on that, we aren’t getting any deal at the moment and we need to get a part of that action.

Larry Roberts

Larry Roberts, state director of the Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council, describes why he and members of the 15 building and construction trades unions have worked to defeat Gov. Ernie Fletcher and elect working families’ candidate Steve Beshear. The building trades join with AFSCME, UAW, United Steelworkers and dozens of other unions and are working in coalition with the Kentucky State AFL-CIO to defeat Fletcher.

From Pikeville to Paducah and points in between, the affiliates of the Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council (KSBCTC) have been taking it to the streets in record numbers to defeat Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Nov. 6.

Our members and their families have been under attack from the first day Ernie Fletcher took office. He appointed a commissioner of labor who was the executive director of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a nonunion contractor association that opposes prevailing wage and supports “right to work” for less legislation. The U.S. Department of Labor has ignored its mission to protect the working men and women of the commonwealth.

For nearly five weeks, the nurses at Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) hospitals in Kentucky and West Virginia have been on the picket line to gain better care for their patients at great personal cost.

Today, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney announced the federation and online donors will be contributing $20,000 to the AFL-CIO Community Services Network to help the striking nurses. This donation comes just three days after the working men and women of the AFL-CIO delivered a truckload of food worth some $10,000 for the nurses in the Hazard, Ky., area. More than 200 union members and allies distributed the food to striking nurses throughout Kentucky and rallied in support of the strikers. Next Saturday, workers will deliver another $10,000 truckload of food to Beckley, W.Va., for striking nurses in that state. (See video.)

With local and state elections only a day away, Pennsylvania’s labor movement continues to press hard to mobilize union members and get out the vote.

Throughout the fall, Pennsylvania unions have been educating their members about the issues and candidates at play in judicial, county and local races. In the final weekend, more than 200 volunteers hit the streets in selected counties, going door to door to let their fellow union members know about the upcoming election.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rick Bloomingdale said that in addition to knocking on union doors, the labor movement has been active in phone banking, worksite leafleting and direct mail.

It’s very important to remind our members to go out and vote Tuesday. The union vote makes up a major part of the overall vote every year. If we get our members to the polls this year, we can make an especially significant contribution in electing pro-worker candidates across the board.