Labor Union Blog

Healthcare premiums have been outpacing earnings throughout the country, and in Wisconsin a recent study by Families USA found that pace moving 4.8 times faster from 2000 to 2007. Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin said the study highlights what she has been hearing from her constituents:

[Baldwin1]: “I hear a lot more emotion in voices these days than I did back in 2000.”

Annual health insurance premiums rose from $7,112 in 2000 to $12,369 by 2007, while the median earnings in Wisconsin only rose by $3,781 in that same time period.

[Baldwin2]: “As they worry about the economy, one of the key components of their worries is the cost of healthcare and what they are going to do in terms of choices.”

Healthcare premiums have been outpacing earnings throughout the country and in Wisconsin a recent study by Families USA found that pace moving 4.8 times faster from 2000 to 2007. Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin said the study highlights what she has been hearing from her constituents:

[Baldwin1]: I hear a lot more emotion in voices then I did back in 2000.

Annual health insurance premiums rose from $7,112 in 2000 to $12,369 by 2007. While the median earnings in Wisconsin only rose by $3,781 in that same time period.

[Baldwin2]: As they worry about the economy one of the key components of their worries is the cost of healthcare and what they are going to do in terms of choices.

Lede: Letting most corporations off the hook for income taxes leaves a $100 billion hole in the U.S. budget. Doug Cunningham reports.

By Doug Cunningham

Economist Dean Baker with the Center for Economic and Policy Research says that if corporations actually paid income tax it could be put to progressive use in the public interest.

[Baker]: “ We’d be talking about over $100 billion a year, which could either be a tax cut of $1000 per family or we could use that to reduce the budget deficit or we could use that to cover the cost of extending health care coverage to most of the population.”

Lede: Letting most corporations off the hook for income taxes leaves a $100 billion hole in the U.S. budget. Doug Cunningham reports.

By Doug Cunningham

Economist Dean Baker with the Center for Economic and Policy Research says that corporations actually paid income tax it could be put to progressive use in the public interest.

[Baker]: “ We’d be talking about over $100 billion a year, which could either be a tax cut of $1000 per family or we could use that to reduce the budget deficit or we could use that to cover the cost of extending health care coverage to most of the population.”

Like the railroads, canals and postal services of the 19th century and the highways and telephones of the 20th century, high-speed broadband networks can be the infrastructure that grows jobs and the economy in the 21st century, says Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen.

But as Cohen told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee this week:

The U.S. has dropped to 15th among the world’s advanced economies in home broadband penetration. There is a serious digital divide based on income and geography….The U.S. is the only industrial nation without a national broadband policy.

On Sept. 1, Michael Day, a retired member of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters, wrote a letter to the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. Another reader, Kyle Johnston, wrote to criticize Day’s position. This is Day’s response, which was published in the Advocate Sept. 16.

Mr. Kyle Johnston should read my Sept. 1 letter, “Union pipe fitter defends bill,” again. Mr. Johnston seems to be confused about the Employee Free Choice Act, among other things. Cards for union recognition by law can be handed out and signed by interested workers now.

When a Corning Glass plant shut down in Pennsylvania in 2004, hundreds of members of the United Steelworkers were laid off—only to be called back to disassemble the plant and ship the equipment to China.

A new TV campaign ad by the Barack Obama team makes the connection between the Corning plant shutdown and the policies of John McCain. As the ad narrator states:

Washington sold [the workers] out with the help of people like John McCain. He supported tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas and voted against cracking down on China for unfair trade practices.

We can’t afford more of the same.

With 47 days left until Election Day, union members are stepping up their efforts to educate and mobilize voters for victories this fall. Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are rising to the challenge with extensive phone banking.

Volunteers from CWA locals in key states are working hard at the crucial task of union member-to-member contact in states like Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, where races from the state legislative House to the White House will determine whether we can turn around America. Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are competing hard in these three states, and CWA volunteers are making sure their fellow union members know that Obama is the candidate who will fight for working families.