Labor Union Blog

Economic Report:

How are managers around the country looking at hiring in 2008? Only 29 percent of managers in a recent USA Today survey said they planned on increasing hiring for the second quarter. That percentage is unchanged since the previous quarter suggesting job creation has become stagnant. The Department of Labor reported that in January and February total payrolls slipped by 85,000 jobs.

Thousands are expected to join a march for new contracts in Los Angeles on April 15. Jesse Russell reports:

Starting on April 15 and stretching over the three preceding days, organized labor and their supporters will march from Hollywood to the Port of Los Angeles – 28-miles – to highlight the contract negotiations about to start for more than 350,000 Los Angeles County workers. The march will reflect workers from the entertainment industry to teachers to the public sector – all in an attempt to show massive labor solidarity. More than 300 local unions are expected to be involved.

By Doug Cunningham

A budget cut of $4.8 billion will hurt. That’s the California Teachers Association’s message as it launches a six week “Cuts Hurt” bus tour protesting Gov. Arnold Schwarzennegger’s proposed $4.8 billion cut.

[Sanchez 1]: “This is a very serious situation for public schools in the state of California, one we haven’t faced – of this magnitude – in quite awhile.”

California Teacher’s Association President David Sanchez. He says people throughout California need to mobilize and make their voices heard to stave off this education budget cut.

[Sanchez 2]: “We wanna get parents, we wanna get the public – make them aware of what’s happening to our public schools if the governor’s proposed budget is in fact implemented. We want the public to get mad and to start calling the governor and the legislature. To write, email, call them, to tell them not to balance the budget on the backs of our students.”

By Doug Cunningham

A Colombian free trade deal was sent to Congress by Bush on Monday. The Change To Win labor federation says the so-called “free” trade deal is a bad deal for workers. Change To Win is urging Congress to defeat the free trade deal proposed by Bush. The federation says this deal mirrors NAFTA and CAFTA free trade deals and is not the kind of change in direction in trade policy needed to serve the interest of workers. Colombia is also one of the most dangerous nations in the world to be a union activist or leader. Change To Win urges you to call your congressional rep and let them know that U.S. trade policies must protect workers both here and abroad. The AFL-CIO says the Colombian free trade deal shows an outrageous disregard for human and workers’ rights. The AFL-CIO says our government should not reward Colombia for the callous indifference it shows to the rights and lives of Colombian workers.

By Doug Cunningham

A Colombian free trade deal was sent to Congress by Bush on Monday. The Change To Win Labor federation says the so-called “free” trade deal is a bad deal for workers. Change To Win is urging Congress to defeat the free trade deal proposed by Bush. The federation says this deal mirrors NAFTA and CAFTA free trade deals and is not the kind of change in direction in trade policy needed to serve the interest of workers. Colombia is also one of the most dangerous nations in the world to be a union activist or leader. Change To Win urges you to call your congressional rep and let them know that U.S. trade policies must protect workers both here and abroad. The AFL-CIO calls the Colombian free trade deal shows an outrageous disregard for human and workers rights. The AFL-CIO says our government should not reward Colombia for the callous indifference it shows to the rights and lives of Colombian workers.

President Bush’s decision to send the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to Congress over the strong objections of the leadership of both the House and the Senate “shows an outrageous disregard for basic human and workers’ rights,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says.

In a statement, Sweeney says:

Workers in Colombia are terrorized every day for standing up for their economic freedom, and union supporters are routinely murdered. Our government should not reward the Colombian government for such callous indifference to the rights and lives of Colombian workers.

The AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Colombia in opposition to violence against trade unionists. We stand for the rights of workers in both Colombia and the United States to organize and bargain collectively without fear of firing, retribution or bodily harm. The AFL-CIO is strongly opposed to the Colombia FTA and will mobilize with all of our might to defeat it.

The owners of the Crandall Canyon coal mine in Utah where six miners were killed last August used dangerous mining techniques and “were motivated by avarice and greed, at the expense of safety and human life,” the families of the six charged in a lawsuit filed in Salt Lake City last week.

The lawsuit, filed April 2 in the state’s 3rd District Court, names Murray Energy Corp., its subsidiary UtahAmerican Energy Inc., and others. The suit alleges the company’s use of “retreat mining” where pillars of coal that were left to support the mine roof are pulled down as the miners retreat was “dangerous…and unsafe.” The suit says the company acted without regard to safety from its

greedy determination to mine easily accessible coal.

The Blue Green Alliance (BGA), a strategic partnership between the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Sierra Club, has joined with the Alliance for Climate Protection, the nonprofit organization founded by former Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore, to take action to solve the climate crisis.

In a first-of-its-kind program, the BGA and USW will work jointly with the Alliance for Climate Protection to educate members about global warming and mobilize them to support solutions that promote economic prosperity for everyone. The member-to-member program will build a blue-collar constituency for global warming solutions, highlighting the opportunities for high-paying domestic jobs in renewable energy, clean technology and “green” manufacturing, while also explaining the environmental and economic risks associated with accelerating climate change.

Al Franken, candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO and the Nebraska AFL-CIO announced endorsements last week of candidates for U.S. Senate.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO endorsed Al Franken for the Senate after an executive board meeting. Franken, a comedian, actor, author, and broadcaster, is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

In his career, Franken has been a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the Screen Actors (SAG) and the Writers Guild of America. He has promised to be a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act and an advocate for working families.