Labor Union Blog

Economic Report:

Construction of new homes hit a 16-year-low in November. This is the sixth straight month that the Commerce Department has reported a decrease in applications for business permits. The drops have left home construction at 24.2 percent less than construction activity at this same time in 2006. The last time construction rates were so low was in 1991 during the previous recession.

By Doug Cunningham

For farm and ranch families in great Plains states the health care crisis is really a health cost crisis. A new report from the Access Project shows that farm and ranch families in plains states spend an average of over $7200 a year out of pocket on insurance premiums and health care costs. Tim Peterson operates an Iowa farm and has to pay for separate health care premiums for he and his son and his wife Teresa.

[Peterson1]: “My son and I are generally healthy but we avoid going to the doctor because of the deductible cost. I have had pain in my knee for the past four or five years that has gone untreated. It gets worse all the time, and it will probably require surgery but for now getting treatment isn’t worth the cost. Teresa, on the other hand, needs medical care frequently. She’s rapidly losing vision in one eye and has a bad knee and has undergone about a dozen surgeries. Teresa’s insurance doesn’t have drug coverage and her prescriptions cost over $500 per month.”

By Doug Cunningham

For farm and ranch families in great Plains states the health care crisis is really a health cost crisis. A new report from the Access Project shows that farm and ranch families in plains states spend an average of over $7200 a year on insurance premiums and out of pocket health care costs. Tim Peterson operates an Iowa farm and has to pay for separate health care premiums for he and his son and his wife Teresa.

[Peterson1]: “My son and I are generally healthy but we avoid going to the doctor because of the deductible cost. I have had pain in my knee for the past four or five years that has gone untreated. It will probably require surgery but for now getting treatment isn’t worth the cost. Teresa, on the other hand, needs medical care frequently, She’s rapidly losing vision in one eye and has a bad knee and has undergone about a dozen surgeries. Teresa’s insurance doesn’t have drug coverage and her prescriptions cost over $500 per month.”

Can the Los Angeles City Council do anything about the writers strike? Jesse Russell takes a look:

Tonight the Los Angeles Housing Community and Economic Development Committee of the Los Angeles City Council will meet and they plan to make the impact of the writer’s strike a main focus of their discussion. The Writer’s Guild of America is mobilizing members and supporters to make sure they have their voices heard at the meeting. In Hollywood, the writer’s strike doesn’t impact only the writers and producers; it has ripples through the entire city. As shows and films grind to a halt with no words on papers other workers from caterers to grips are also left without work.

TV workers in New Hampshire are celebrating a new contract, aided by letters from six presidential candidates. Meanwhile, their union brothers and sisters in Boston are making their own news in a struggle to win a fair deal that protects good jobs in a time of increasing Internet-based broadcasting.

Members of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1228 reached a tentative agreement Dec. 12 with management of WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H. In 2004, live-van operators and master control personnel at the station voted to join the IBEW, but management refused to negotiate a contract—until now.

The new three-year agreement follows letters to WMUR-TV General Manager Jeff Bartlett from six Democratic presidential contenders urging the station to bargain with workers. The contract includes wage increases ranging from 18 percent to 35 percent and improvements in the pension and vacation benefits.

A new report showing the Bush administration is using the Labor Department to weaken and undermine unions drew strong criticism from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

In a statement, the Democratic senator from New York said:

You can act now to prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from allowing media moguls like Rupert Murdock from swallowing up more local media across the country and reducing the diversity of news and programming.

Despite a groundswell of opposition from the public and bipartisan members of Congress, the FCC will vote today on a proposal by its chairman, Kevin Martin, on media ownership regulations. His proposal essentially would gut the nation’s few remaining media ownership regulations, putting an end to the limits on ownership by a single company of a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market.