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lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/10049Washington Moves Closer To Auto Industry Loan Deala//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/10050Chicago Sitdowners Holding The Fort In Bold Factory Occupationa//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/10051December Is Already A Bleak Month For Mass Layoffsa//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/10052Economic Report: New Year Will Bring More Brisk Job Lossesa//li
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pEconomic Report:/p
pAt least the economy is consistent. The U.S. job market experienced a slight decline in November with employers cutting 533,000 jobs in November – the most in 34 years. November marked the 11th consecutive loss of jobs. The Conference Board predicts that as the U.S. economy enters 2009 jobs will continue to be lost at a brisk pace. In the report the organizations senior economist said as many as 3 million jobs will likely be lost by mid-2009./p
pFor those of you keeping track there have been more than 40,000 layoffs at America’s top 500 largest companies in the month of December. Jesse Russell reports:/p
pForbes has begun keeping track of the number of layoffs at America’s 500 largest public companies. The total for the month as of Monday, December 8? 40,662. That total includes Dow Chemicals Monday announcement of cutting its workforce by 11 percent or letting go of roughly 5,000 jobs. The company will also close 20 plants. Only into the month by eight days overall layoffs for the month of December are averaging a little more than 5,000 cuts a day. Also announcing major jobs cuts on Monday was Belgium owned InBev who recently absorbed Anheauser-Busch. The company plans to reduce its U.S. workforce by 6 percent or 1,400 jobs. Seventy-five percent of those jobs are expected to come from St. Louis. When InBev absorbed Anheuser-Busch earlier this month the company promised to keep the North American headquarters in St. Louis open and to not close any breweries. The St. Louis job cuts will come from salaried employees at the headquarters./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
p[Munoz]: “We just can’t understand how that a bank that was given $25 billion for bailouts could not bail use out./p
pChicago sitdown striker Lalo Munoz. UE workers are continuing their sitdown strike occupation of a Republic Windows factory in the Chicago area. The tactic won great success for the union movement in the 1930’s, helping to spark a massive surge in industrial unionism. The Chicago sitdowners are protesting an illegal plant closing and demanding the money they are owed before they leave the plant. Melvin Macklin is one of the sitdowners and Vice-President of UE Local 1110./p
pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pAs Congress ponders throwing the auto industry a financial lifeline, some in Congress want that lifeline to also be a hangman’s noose around the neck of the UAW – to destroy wage and benefits gains from decades of workers’ struggles. The UAW may seek a seat on the GM board and a stake in the company in return for concessions. The White House and Congress are reportedly close to a deal as House Democrats work on a draft of the bill that would grant emergency federal loans to the U.S. auto industry./p
Congressional Democrats have sent to the White House a proposed $15 billion emergency bridge loan for the nation’s Big Three automakers. The Bush administration is studying the plan, according to a Bush spokesperson. And workers say it cannot be approved soon enough.
Workers are demanding that Congress act quickly to save the domestic auto industry, which many call the backbone of our economy. If one of the Big Three were to shut down, the impact would send ripples throughout the economy, says Brian Schneck, president of UAW Local 259 in Hicksville, N.Y., which has 1,700 members and 3,000 retirees.
How’s this for change in Washington after eight years of conservative and corporate- fawning economic policy? Respected progressive economist Jared Bernstein was named Friday to the newly created post of chief economist and economic policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden.
Bernstein is a 16-year veteran of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and mostly recently served as EPI’s director of living standards program.
Says Biden:
Jared Bernstein is an acclaimed economist and a proven, passionate advocate for raising the incomes of middle class families. His expertise and background in a wide range of domestic and international economic policies will be an invaluable asset to the Obama-Biden administration.
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ITUC delegates listen to a climate change conference briefing session. |
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Bob Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council and co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force, updates us on the 12-day United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) in Poznan, Poland. This ministerial meeting will build upon the framework negotiated in Bali, Indonesia, a year ago. Of the nearly 100 union delegates, more than 20 are from North America.
Thomas is a Poznan cab driver who speaks excellent English. As he drove us to our hotel in the outer suburbs, we had a fascinating conversation about the world economic crisis, his birth on a commune in 1982, the genesis of solidarity and democracy in Poland, and the fall of the Iron Curtain when he was a child. He spoke with eloquence and insight. He also told me about the degree in economics he had earned last year from one of the 14 universities located in this city.
When I asked about his being a cab driver, he said:
You take the best-paying job you can get.
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Bob Kashi, IAFF Local 639. |
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Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) member Bob Wewers and Fire Fighters (IAFF) member Nick Kashi had a chance to get up close and personal with the roar of the engines and smell of burning rubber and high-octane fuel at Texas Motor Speedway last month.
The two Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA) members are this year’s winners of the NASCAR weekend at the famed Texas track from the hunting and fishing alliance and the firearms maker Beretta.
The pair, randomly selected from USA’s membership, each won prize packages valued at $6,000 that included airfare, lodging, VIP seating, pit passes and track merchandise. To top it off, Beretta donated for each winner a limited-edition, American-made 3901,12-gauge shotgun stylishly engraved with the USA’s logo.
What a difference an election makes. Here’s what President-elect Barack Obama has to say about the 250 workers in Chicago who have staged a peaceful sit-in at the factory they worked at after it closed without paying them their salaries. From Bloomberg:
“I think they’re absolutely right,” Obama said today in response to a question at a Chicago news conference. “And understand that what’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy.”
Obama said the workers are justified in demanding their benefits and pay.
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