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lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9768U.S. Economy Contracts As Mass Layoffs Squeeze Workersa//li
lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9769AFL-CIO Says Shrinking GDP Makes Fast Second Stimulus Necessarya//li
lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9770SPEEA: Reasonable Progress But Major Differences Remain With Boeinga//li
lia href=http://www.laborradio.org/node/9771Ford Adds 1,000 Jobs At Michigan Truck Planta//li
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pEconomic Report:/p
pWorkers that figure out a way to telecommute tend to be happier according to a new US Unified Communications Survey. Sixty percent of those surveyed said they save at least $25 per month in fuel costs and 25 percent reported they could save as much as $100 per month. Ninety percent of those surveyed said telecommuting is at the least a good idea for employers. /p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pIn Milwaukee the Association of Flight Attendants are marking Halloween with a Tricked, Not Treat picket at Midwest Airlines. It’s about outsourcing of jobs. Midwest flight attendants have worked hard to build the airlines “Best Care In The Air” reputation, but they say now they’re being outsourced out of solid middle class jobs./p
pFord Motor Company announced on Thursday that 1,000 jobs could be added to a Dearborn, Michigan plant that produces the Ford F-150. The company also announced it would be restoring a third shift to the plant. The new jobs could come as early as January./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pAt Boeing main table negotiations are underway this week with SPEEA, the union representing 20,300 engineers and tech workers.br /
The union describes sessions so far as “engaging” and “reasonably productive.” But it adds that it’s clear that major differences exist on key issues./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pThe AFL-CIO says the decline in GDP underscores the need for a genuine economic stimulus package in the next 30 days before working families suffer any more. The labor federation is calling on both Obama and McCain to champion a stimulus package in Congress in mid-November./p
pAs the U.S. economy suffered its largest contraction in seven years, two major employers announced mass layoffs. Jesse Russell reports:/p
pTwo major U.S. employers announced plans to lay off a combined 8,200 jobs on Thursday. Qwest Communications, the third largest U.S. local phone company announced plans to cut 1,200 jobs or a slimming of the workforce by three percent. Active phonelines for the Denver-based company dropped by 8.9 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, American Express also announced plans to cut jobs. Ten percent of the workforce will be slashed by the New York-based credit card company, roughly 7,000 jobs worldwide. The layoffs come as more Americans struggle with accumulated credit card debt and making payments on time. The Commerce said on Thursday that the economy shrank substantially in the third quarter with the Gross Domestic Product retreating by 0.3 percent./p
The U.S. Commerce Department’s announcement today that the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.3 in the third quarter—the worst such decline since 2001—is more proof America’s working families need Congress and Bush to move a genuine economic recovery package. Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:
Such a package must provide relief for the one million unemployed workers who will exhaust their unemployment benefits before the end of the year; aid state and local governments so they can continue to provide needed services and jobs; and jump-start infrastructure investments to create jobs quickly and rebuild our crumbling schools, bridges, and roads.
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Tom Boger, IAM Local 2367, and Tom Buffenbarger, IAM president |
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Sen. Joe Biden meets IAM members in Florida. |
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The Machinists (IAM), Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) and United Steelworkers (USW) are helping make history for Sen. Barack Obama and working families.
The USW has set a new record this election season, marking its largest political mobilization in history: More than 10,000 USW members have volunteered to take part in phone banks, walks and other events. In a special video message, USW President Leo Gerard congratulates the thousands of union members who have turned out and says we need to keep up the efforts for the final days. The stakes are too high, Gerard says, to let the election slip away and let countless hours of hard work go to waste.
Now is not the time to let up. Now, with our hard work in the coming days, we can win health care, we can win the kind of future we want for our kids and grandkids. We can win the Employee Free Choice Act and we can win the rebuilding of America’s industrial base. We can win the kind of future that we all dream of, that brings us some equity and justice.
They often say that campaigns are won or lost in the four days before the votes are cast. We can’t let up. We have to work harder than we’ve ever worked in these last days.
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| This mailer from the Communications Workers of America is among a wide range of union fliers, local TV and radio ads and other media outreach. |
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The election numbers are in and the winner is….
America’s working families.
Even before the Nov. 4 results are tallied, the nearly yearlong election mobilization throughout the union movement is a victory for the thousands of union volunteers who have dedicated their scarce free time in get-out-the-vote efforts. Without them, we could not have reached the millions of union members critical to reversing the misery of the Bush years. These volunteers, and all the union members they reach, join with many other communities—especially our compatriots in the progressive blog world—in helping create a future we can be proud to pass on to our children.
We’re now entering the “Final Four,” when our get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts reach maximum intensity.
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