Labor Union Blog

Across Arkansas today, more than 1,500 people rallied for the Employee Free Choice Act, demanding that workers get the freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.

Ministers, civil rights leaders and national union leaders joined union members in three cities across the state this morning, then met in Little Rock, where a crowd of 1,500 braved 100-degree heat to march from Central High School across the city.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka said the fight for the freedom to form unions is a struggle for civil rights, and now is the right time for Arkansas elected officials to support that struggle. Trumka said:

“I want to thank Sen. [Mark] Pryor for his thoughtfulness, for his willingness to step up and do what’s right, and I want to encourage Sen. Blanche Lincoln to do what’s right–to do what’s right for working people, do what’s right for the middle class, do what’s right for our economy. Let America’s workers, Arkansan workers, negotiate their way into the middle class, rather than borrow their way into the middle class.”

Steelworkers (USW) president Leo Gerard introduced the rally, and union leaders including AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker; Electrical Workers (IBEW) President Edwin Hill; Deborah Burger, RN, co-president of the California Nurses Association (CNA/NNOC); and Jeff Rechenbach, secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), got the large crowd mobilized and fired up. (Check out lots more great photos of the march and rally here.)

Workers have come a long way in the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act, despite a massive corporate disinformation campaign. The votes of Arkansas Sens. Mark Pryor (D) and Blanche Lincoln (D) will be critical to passing this bill and making gthe economy work for everyone again.

In addition to Little Rock, union membes and allies rallied in Pine Bluff, Texarkana and Fort Smith.

The U.S. Army Reserve and the National Guard have joined the Helmets to Hardhats program, founded in 2003 by AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) unions, together with employers with union workforces. The Army Reserve and National Guard now join the current partners of the Helmets to Hardhats program: the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard.

Helmets to Hardhats has helped more than 5,000 military vets find new careers as electricians, plumbers, roofers and other skilled trades. BCTD President Mark Ayers told Workers Independent News (WIN) that the new agreement presents

an extraordinary opportunities for all the military folks. And it’s an opportunity for us because these are the kind of people that we are seeking. They’re the best of the best in America as far as we’re concerned.

Helmets to Hardhats helps match vets and soon-to-be vets with apprenticeship and training programs offered by the BCTD’s 15 unions. Veterans can use their G.I. Bill education benefits as they complete the certified apprentice programs. Darrel Roberts, executive director of Helmets to Hardhats, says the program

is unique in that it was created with the singular intent of helping National Guard, Reservists and transitioning active-duty military members connect to career opportunities in the construction industry, one of the last bastions of solid middle-class wages for working Americans. Helmets to Hardhats recognizes this and is committed to placing veterans in careers that provide family-supporting wages, good benefits and a decent chance at realizing the American dream.

Army Reserve Lt. General Jack Stultz says:

now a soldier looking out and seeing this happening can say, Hey, I can have a career in the military and a career in civilian life.

Plumbers and Pipe Fitters (UA) President Bill Hite says many veterans have come to the plumbers through Helmets to Hardhats. He told WINS:

It’s been a great program. We’ve taken in thousands of members though the program….It’s the right thing to do. They’re over there and the soldiers are in Iraq and Afghanistan and all over the globe protecting our freedom and it’s the least we could do to give back to them.

For more information on Helmets to Hardhats, click here.