Labor Union Blog

Economic Report:

A new study is out showing an increase in Family Health Insurance costs for 2008. According to the study from Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health and Research $ Educational Trust the premium for employer sponsored family health insurance is at an average of $12,680 annually. That’s a five percent increase over last year with workers paying $3354 of the cost. In 1999 workers only paid $1,543 per year for an average $5,791 premium.

Sony-Ericsson is cutting 450 U.S. jobs due to dropping demand for high-end phones worldwide. It’s part of a plan to cut 2000 jobs worldwide by the end of the year.

Concerns over a turbulent economy left striking Waste Management workers with few options during a third contract vote on Sunday. Jesse Russell reports:

The strike against Waste Management in the Milwaukee region of Wisconsin started more than a month ago. The 240 drivers and mechanics approved the contract by a 2-1 margin and according to a statement released by the Teamsters stating that “the continued financial and personal strain took its toll on our members. With this vote, our members decided that given the turbulent nature of our economy, their families’ future must take priority over holding out for a better offer from Waste Management.” The five-year contract cuts back on wages and healthcare benefits and establishes a new 401k program for the workers.

By Doug Cunningham

The stock market closed Monday hundreds of points down on the news that the U.S. House failed to pass a $700 billion financial system bailout package. The economic catastrophe caused by unregulated free market irresponsibility threatens millions of working people as well as the entire U.S. financial system. Economist like Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute
believes a bailout is needed, but it should be targeted to cushion the economic blow to working people.

[Bivens]: “Even a well-designed bailout is not a silver bullet that makes everything fine, but essentially it will transform what could be a real economic disaster back to the sort fo garden-variety recession that we’re in right now.”

The $700 billion Wall Street financial bailout package congressional leaders and the White House reached over the weekend does far too little for homeowners and vests far too much power in the Bush administration—whose policies and lack of oversight are at the root of the financial crisis, says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

The vote in the U.S. House failed this afternoon, and it is unclear if the bailout bill will come up for a re-vote in its current form.

Sweeney warns that if passed, the deal will require “vigilant monitoring” and will not work without a strong economic recovery plan for working families. Without a recovery package like the House passed last week—Senate Republicans blocked a similar stimulus bill—the new bailout plan will not address the real underlying weaknesses in the U.S. economy, and it will not earn the confidence of working men and women. It should not be enacted unless Congress moves forward with a meaningful economic stimulus package now.

In Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland knows the economic crisis facing working families is the most important issue at stake for them this fall. And he knows Sen. John McCain has been part of the problem, while Sen. Barack Obama proposes real solutions.

Ohio Labor 2008 director Ben Waxman reports that McCain’s record on jobs, trade and health care topped union voter concerns at a workers’ roundtable discussion last week with Strickland.