Labor Union Blog

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lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/10515UAW Fights To Defend Retiree Health Care Financing As U.S. Automakers Present Viability Plana//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/10516California State Workers Reach Deal On Forced Furloughsa//li
lia href= http://www.laborradio.org/node/10517Economic Report: Unemployment Rates Are High Worldwidea//li
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pEconomic Report:/p
pUnemployment rates are bad all around the world. Of the leading industrialized countries Spain leads the pack with a rate of 14.4 percent. Ireland is second with 8.2 percent, France is third with 8.1 percent and the United States is fourth with 7.6 percent. Countries faring the best include Mexico, Japan, and Australia all with rates in the mid-4 percentile. The Netherlands has the lowest rate at 2.7 percent./p

pA new deal with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will allow some state workers to choose which day of the month they are furloughed. Jesse Russell reports:/p
pCalifornia Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been embroiled in battles with the labor unions representing the state’s workers. In an attempt to close a budget gap the Governor had ordered state workers to take two work days off a month without pay. Schwarzenegger ordered those days be the first and third Friday’s of each month, but a new agreement with the Service Employees International Union will allow some workers to choose the days they are furloughed. The new agreement, which applies to roughly 95,000 state workers, will only mandate one day per month be taken off and employees will be afforded the right to choose the day. In exchange the workers will sacrifice Lincoln’s Birthday and Columbus Day as official paid holidays. In exchange workers will receive two additional paid personal days. If approved by workers the new contract will run until June of 2010. The agreement does not eliminate the Governor’s power to demand more furlough days./p

pBy Doug Cunningham/p
pThe United Auto Workers union says GM and Chrysler are trying to shortchange workers by cutting their obligations to fund a health care trust for retirees. The union agreed to the trust, called a VEBA, in 2007 negotiations. GM pledged to pay billions of dollars into the fund in return for the union assuming responsibility to manage the fund to provide health care for retired autoworkers. GM wants to spread its cash payments to the retiree health care trust out over 20 years while using the terms of the federal loans to convince the UAW to accept half the health trust fund payments in GM stock. Should GM declare bankruptcy, though, that stock would be worthless and the cash payments would disappear, leaving autoworker retirees without health care. Even with billions of dollars in federal loans GM is struggling to stay in business. President Obama is creating the Presidential Task Force on Autos to try to both keep the U.S. automakers in business and help restructure the industry to create long-term viability. The UAW is trying to protect workers and retirees to the best of its ability as this restructuring occurs. The Obama administration has not ruled out bankruptcy as a possibility for GM./p

The coalition of union members and environmental groups is growing stronger as both groups push for green jobs and organizations like the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council join the drive to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Now you can add another group to the mix—the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA).

For 18 months, the USA has been working to build support within the union movement for preserving our hunting and fishing heritage. Launched in 2007, the USA is a joint venture of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and 21 unions. The hunting and fishing club is open to union members, retirees and their families.

One of USA’s main goals is to support the TRCP’s longstanding dedication to guaranteeing access for hunters and anglers, conserving the fish and wildlife habitat and increasing funding for conservation.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, an avid hunter, says:

When union workers get on a job, they get it done right, so bringing them together in this new way promises to dramatically advance the effort to better conserve our natural resources.

USA sponsors the TV series, “Escape to the Wild” on VERSUS Country. New episodes air each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. (EST). The show rewards members of AFL-CIO unions with a hunting or fishing trip of a lifetime.

Bill Schneider, writing on NewWest.net, quotes several union leaders on why the USA is so important.

Machinists President Tom Buffenbarger, a TRCP board member, tells Schneider:

Quality places to hunt and fish are disappearing—threatening America’s sporting heritage. The USA will help turn the tide by unifying union sportsmen and women across the country to form a strong voice of influence.

Firefighters President Harold Schaitberger agrees, saying:

We’re proud to offer a program to help our hardworking men and women enjoy the activities they’re passionate about.

Click here to learn more about the USA.

Schneider says the creation of USA is significant because “we finally have a conservation group specifically for organized labor.”

Union members, of course, can join any of the nation’s hundreds of conservation groups, but only about 30 percent do. Most don’t because, in part, of political perception.

To me, there’s no real difference between a “conservationist” and an “environmentalist,” but many people—and I suspect most union members among them—disagree with my opinion. Regardless, it’s vital that the TRCP has come along and given organized labor a pure, union-focused group, the Good Old USA, and solved that real or imagined political problem.