Labor Union Blog

Economic Report:

As independent long haulers rolled into DC on Monday, the White House said it sees no short-term fix for the ever rising fuel prices. The average price for gasoline in the United States hit $3.60 per gallon last week. The independent long haulers who brought their protest to the nation’s capitol are paying a record $4.18 per gallon of diesel or $1200 to fill the typical tractor trailer.

By Doug Cunningham

[Fyten]: “ILWU moves cargo – the boxes. Well I told them I was tired of bringing boxes home with bodies in ‘em. It’s time to speak up for what’s right.”

Vietnam vet and ILWU Local 10 member Steve Fyten – one of the west coast dock workers who will stop work on May 1st to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Fyten 2]: “I am patriotic, but I’m patriotic to do the right thing. Bein’ patriotic doesn’t mean that you support a war that’s not right. Our sons and daughters are getting’ killed over there. That’s not being patriotic. I think bein’ patritotic is when you stand up and say what’s right.”

Do the competitive H1-B visas really bring the best and brightest to the United States? Jesse Russell reports:

The argument in favor of H1-B visas is that they bring needed skilled workers to the United States; however, a new study from the Center for Immigration Studies suggests that many of those who qualify for the work visas are simply “ordinary” workers. The report is called “H1-Bs: Still not The Best and the Brightest”.It was authored by Norman Matloff, who says that his findings show “few of the foreign workers” are “at a level of real expertise whose description is associated with innovation”. He said his findings also show that the majority meet the qualifications of “apprentice-like positions.”

Do the competitive H1-B visas really bring the best and brightest to the United States? Jesse Russell reports:

The argument in favor of H1-B visas is that they bring needed skilled workers to the United States, however, a new study from the Center for Immigration Studies suggests that many of those who qualify for the work visas are simply “ordinary” workers. The report is called “H1-Bs: Still not The Best and the Brightest” and was authored by Norman Matloff who says that his findings show “few of the foreign workers” are “at a level of real expertise whose description is ass

As workers gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, Canadian workers were also gathering to honor the fallen. Monday was a national day of mourning for workers killed or injured on the job in Canada and hundreds gathered in Ontario to honor the fallen. 100 workers died in Ontario in 2007 while 270 succumbed to work related diseases.

By Doug Cunningham

Thousands of construction and building trades workers gathered in St. Patrick’s Cathedral Monday for a special mass memorializing workers killed on the job. Bob Ledwith is with Metal Lathers Local 46.

[Ledwith]: “The church was crowded with over four thousand unionized construction workers in honor of those who perished. It was a true brotherhood. Speakers spoke of the fact that we’re one big human family. And that’s what unions are and that’s what brings us together.”

Monday was International Workers Memorial Day.

In a decision today that could disenfranchise millions of average Americans, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, on a 6–3 vote, Indiana’s voter identification law, the most restrictive law of its kind in the country.

In his dissent, Justice David Souter echoed what critics of the law have said all along:

Indiana’s voter ID law threatens to impose nontrivial burdens on the voting rights of tens of thousands of the state’s citizens, and a significant percentage of those individuals are likely to be deterred from voting.

After the 2000 election, Republicans in many states have pushed for voter ID laws, claiming voter fraud is rampant. But studies have shown the problem does not exist.

John McCain completed a swing through the South on Friday with yet another high-dollar fundraiser in Little Rock, Ark. As they have in the past few weeks, union members were there to raise the issues of concern to working families in this election year.

The more than 20 AFL-CIO union members who gathered outside the Little Rock Convention Center wanted answers from McCain on issues like trade and health care—and they wanted to know why McCain voted to block the Employee Free Choice Act.

Child care providers in Pennsylvania are gaining a voice by joining a union.

Some 20,000 home-based child care providers in Pennsylvania now have a voice after they overwhelmingly voted for representation by Child Care Providers UNITED (CCP), a joint effort of AFSCME and SEIU.

Gov. Ed Rendell (D), who was elected with strong union support, signed an executive order last June granting providers the right to join a union if they care for no more than three unrelated children in their homes. The executive order called for an election to take place after a union collected signed authorization cards from at least 30 percent of the providers.