Labor Union Blog

IUE-CWA Local 201 member Alex Reynoso protests a health benefit tax.

“Jeff, you guys at the Union Hall aren’t listening to us! You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. We’re fighting the benefits tax, and now you’re telling us to vote for someone who will tax our benefits! The guys here are voting for Scotty Brown.”

That was just one of the calls and e-mails that I received during the week before the Senate vote in Massachusetts. An AFSCME delegate to our labor council calculated the impact of the Obama tax on union plans and e-mailed us all to “Vote Brown!”

For a year and a half, we campaigned against the tax on our health care benefits. We trudged through neighboring New Hampshire with fliers explaining that Sen. John McCain wanted to fund health care expansion by a benefits tax.

Conservative members of my local Executive Board were adamant in saying the outcome of our health care campaign would be a tax on working people to extend coverage to poor people. Recognizing a classic Republican “wedge issue,” we argued that those without insurance include our own children. We could win a plan to tax the wealthiest and cut into the blood money of the health care profiteers.

Ultimately, we were wrong. In the last week of the Coakley campaign, the papers were full of the story: “Obama Supports “Cadillac Tax.”  Sen. John Kerry cited an MIT economist who said the tax would increase wages for grateful working stiffs. I can usually figure out which chalkboard equation the classical economists are fondling: Absent merely life itself, they present a circular logic that proves itself. But the MIT argument escaped me.

We fought back hard. Coakley opposed the tax, but everyone figured she’d vote for it. The exemptions and improvements negotiated by AFL-CIO President Trumka and others were heroic—and they helped. We heard the outcome of the negotiations Thursday night. My local had a flier in the shop Friday afternoon, the last workday before the Tuesday election because of the King Holiday. Hardcore union activists gritted their teeth and hit the phones for 1,500 labor council calls.

Too late. Coakley won Lynn and Boston, but lost the union vote by 3 percent. At the polls, I ran into Tommy, a legendary IUE-CWA Local 201 activist who had been peeled off a scab’s windshield and arrested during a strike at the G.E. plant. Tommy’s retired. He told me:

I voted Republican once in my life, for Reagan the first time. He taxed my unemployment benefits and workers comp. Never again! But I ain’t voting for Coakley. I don’t want them to tax our benefits, and I don’t know about that government running my health care. I’m voting for the Libertarian.

There were other failures. A lousy campaign, a good candidate who lacked charisma. Everyman Scott Brown never mentioned he was a Republican. Arrogance from the Democratic Party, and we were asleep at the wheel, too. I didn’t even get the labor phone lists until Saturday. Six weeks earlier would have made a difference.

A year ago, the Democrats crowed that the Republicans were “irrelevant.” Today, the Republicans think the Democrats are mortally wounded. Both are wrong. In our non-ideological party landscape, in hard times whoever strikes the best pose of wounded underdog wins. The same anger that elected Obama was hijacked to elect Scott Brown: “We want change!”

This was a bread and butter election, not a “What’s the Matter With Kansas” election where social issues tipped working class voters against their economic interests. Only the right-wing fringe voted because Brown was against gay marriage and Coakley for it. Many working-class people who voted for Brown were voting for the blue-collar underdog against the Washington elite.

Obama’s support for the benefits tax exploded among union members just as our campaign against the tax was breaking through. The Boston Globe covered the union agreement on the tax—and on the same page carried a long article explaining that the excise tax would affect millions and was exactly the kind of “middle-class” tax that Obama had promised not to implement. This was the first time the health care campaign touched every union member personally, despite our previous efforts. And with so little time to explain it, it looked like the unions had left others to foot the bill; the improvements for all workers were lost in the final three-day push.

The tax wasn’t the only issue that demobilized Democratic support. A shrinking health care plan, Obama’s support for charter schools, the Afghanistan escalation, the Honduras coup, massive E-Verify firings of undocumented workers, the disappearance of the Employee Free Choice Act, criticisms from the black caucus for ignoring economic issues—all contributed. An angry black minister in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood told Coakley campaigners: “We don’t know who she is. She never came here.” The weak stimulus was defended by the Goldman Sachs economic advisers who helped design the financialization fraud that brought us to the brink of a depression. How long can you live off the Lily Ledbetter Bill and the appointment of Labor Secretary Solis?

The “Kumbaya” of the Democrats wins them nothing. Months of touchy-feely from Democratic Sen. Max Baucus compromised away most of the health care reform features we wanted. Yet Democrats received further attacks from Republicans for their “partisanship”—and not a single Republican vote. If Obama supported waterboarding, the Republicans would attack him as “weak on terrorism” since he doesn’t support pulling the toenails of a suspect’s first born.

It’s as though Obama advisers crafted a systematic plan to unravel the president’s coalition. They succeeded.

There was no outpouring for a right-wing agenda in Massachusetts. Brown only received 50,000 votes more than McCain. But Coakley received 850,000 fewer votes than Obama. The Republican based remained energized. The Democratic base and independent supporters stayed home.

There are more difficult truths to consider. We need self-reflection, which is not our strength. Many local unions still can’t reach their members with a rapid, credible program. Public-sector workers are being stripped of benefits because we have been utterly unable to convince the citizenry that public-sector workers represent the public good. We are so happy to have a seat at the table that we ignore the meal being served.

Coakley spent time raising money from insurance lobbyists in Washington instead of campaigning in Mattapan because that’s the way the system works. Obama listened to an MIT economist instead of us—about our own benefit plans—because that’s often the way the Democratic Party works. Neo-liberalism reigns, money flows from and to those with power, and extremist free market ideas have permeated every corner of public life. Many national Democrats will conclude this election was lost because Democrats were—you guessed it—“too left.” The AFL-CIO election night polling shows they are wrong.

Would an aggressive labor-populist campaign have won this election? I think so. Of course, it’s hard to say. One thing is certain—you don’t build the kind of country we want by putting lipstick on a pig or by reconciling the irreconcilable. Whether the road ahead is hard or easy, we need to be blunt about the circumstances we face here in these United States, and let the chips fall where they may.

A broad coalition of union, business, government and academic leaders has called for creation of a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) that not only would propel the rebuilding of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, but also would be a major job-creating engine.

At a Capitol Hill press conference this week, Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), told reporters:

History has shown that when our nation invests in its core infrastructure needs, economic progress inevitably follows. This is important to remember as we grapple to address the twin problems of economic growth and job creation.

The NIB would direct public and private dollars toward infrastructure projects of national or regional significance. The Obama administration’s fiscal year 2010 budget included $5 billion in seed money for an NIB, but it was not included in the omnibus budget bill.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D.), co-chair of Building America’s Future, a bipartisan group of state and local government leaders, says creation and funding of an NIB “is urgently needed” to address the infrastructure funding shortfalls for national and regional projects.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who introduced legislation (H.R. 2521) to create an infrastructure bank last year, says the bank:

would objectively leverage significant investment into the transportation, environmental, energy and telecommunications infrastructure systems critical to rebuilding America and keeping us competitive in the 21st century. Any strategy for long-term job creation and economic growth must be centered on moving from a consumption economy to an economy that puts people to work building things again.

Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard says infrastructure spending has an impact beyond the jobs it creates for rebuilding, roads, bridges, waterways and transit systems. It can boost manufacturing jobs, too. Says Gerard:

Working people across the country are anxious to see what their elected representatives will do to address the crisis in American manufacturing. Creating a National Infrastructure Bank and passing the jobs bill are two ways the current Congress can demonstrate their commitment to workers and their families.

With the economy hemorrhaging jobs—more than 3.3 million jobs lost in 2009—the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show union membership in 2009 dropped slightly, from 12.4 percent of the workforce to 12.3 percent.

Nationwide, union membership dropped by 771,000, to 15.3 million in 2009, according to the BLS.

The recession eliminated jobs across the private sector, but was felt most deeply in manufacturing, transportation and construction—the nation’s economic backbone and heavily unionized sectors of the economy.

The loss in union membership, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, is another indicator of the terrible toll the economic crisis is taking on the nation’s middle class—not just union members.

This is about what’s happening to real wage earners across the country, not just unions or union membership. It matters to us all that we have a strong middle class to build a strong economy. These numbers cry out for urgent, bold action by our leaders to invest in America and create good jobs.

Along with immediate and decisive action and investments in jobs and economic recovery, Trumka says workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain to make their jobs into good jobs with fair wages and better benefits must be restored by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

According to the BLS numbers, median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary union members were $908 per week, compared with $710 for workers not represented by unions. Union members earn 28 percent more than their nonunion counterparts.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says the data shows that, along with better wages, union members:

have access to better health care, retirement and leave benefits. These numbers make it clear that union jobs are good jobs….These numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefits of union membership….The administration supports the Employee Free Choice Act.

Kimberly Freeman Brown, American Rights at Work (ARW) executive director, says:

These numbers show that while America’s workers are struggling, they do choose unions where laws are in place to level the playing field. Unfortunately, union membership still stagnates because too many workers are denied the choice to form a union, both by employers and weak labor laws that won’t hold unscrupulous corporations accountable.

Says AFSCME President Gerald McEntee

As local governments brace for the second wave of the Bush recession, experts expect that as many as 900,000 public sector jobs may be lost.  Losing these vital jobs would undermine the country’s economic recovery, lead to higher unemployment rates and hurt the communities that depend on the services these workers provide. Congress needs to provide states and localities with the resources they need to protect jobs and grow our economy.

Members of the Flight Attendants-CWA working for United Airlines donated their services on a Haiti relief flight to call attention to the efforts of the American Red Cross. You can take action now to help the Haitian survivors by clicking on the AFL-CIO Haitian Disaster Relief site here.

Five Chicago-based United flight attendants helped usher aid workers and supplies to Haiti and returned last night with some of the earthquake survivors.

The United Airlines Foundation announced it will match up to a total of $50,000 to the American Red Cross when donations are made by United employees or passengers. To make a donation with the matching funds, click here. 

Tony Retkowski, one of the Flight Attendants who flew to Haiti, said:

We were able to take part in the evacuation of orphans, families and elderly Haitians, all of whom were weary from their very horrendous experience.  From darling little children to the kind woman you could imagine as your grandmother, all of these people were amazingly grateful.

The other AFA-CWA members on the flight were Meg Mikesell, Paul Antuna, Kathy Browne and Gerald Sermana.

 In other actions to aid Haiti:

• More than 12,000 registered nurses from across the United States have responded to the call by National Nurses United (NNU) to provide assistance. Now the RNs are issuing an urgent appeal for the public to support these efforts with donations of funds for travel costs and medical supplies on their upcoming emergency nursing mission. Click here to sign up to volunteer or donate or call 1-800-578-8225.
• The Solidarity Center’s Cathy Feingold reports from the Dominican Republic, where union relief and rescue efforts are being coordinated, that union leaders are working to quickly repair their offices to serve as safe havens for workers and their families. The headquarters of three of the Haitian labor federations sustained only minor damage and are now being used to provide basic services to members. More than 200 families are being housed and getting medical treatment at the Confederation of Haitian Workers training center alone. Read Feingold’s latest update here.
• Three unions in the South Florida AFL-CIO are working together to coordinate donations of money and move supplies by truck and ship. The members of Longshoremen Local 1416 (ILA), Postal Workers Local 172 (APWU) and Teamsters Local 769 are collecting donations of water, nonperishable food items, cleaning supplies and over the counter medications. If you live in South Florida, you can drop off the items at the ILA Local 1416 union hall, 816 NW 2nd Ave., Miami, from 5 a.m.-2 p.m. Volunteers also are needed  to load shipping containers at the Port of Miami. To volunteer, call the South Florida AFL-CIO at 305-593-8886. For monetary donations, send checks to Catholic Charities or Operation Helping Hands to the South Florida AFL-CIO, 2500 NW 97^th Ave., Suite 201, Miami, FL 33172.

To learn about what some other unions are doing to provide aid to Haiti, click here, here, here,  here and here.

While French-based Airbus is trying to grab a multibillion aerial tanker contract from the U.S. Air Force, its home country won’t even allow the United States to compete in its defense market. Now, a leading French businessman is calling out the French government for its protectionist policies.

In a recent press conference, Boeing France President Yves Galland, a former French trade official and politician, said the United States has ordered hundreds of U.S. Army helicopters from Eurocopter, an Airbus subsidiary, but France has not bought any defense equipment from Boeing in 30 years.

This is an important issue because the U.S. government is still mulling whether to grant a $35 billion Air Force aerial tanker contract to either Northrop-EADS (Airbus) or Boeing. The contract was rebid after the Government Accountability Office upheld Boeing’s protest of the original decision to award the contract to Northrup-EADS.

If Boeing wins the contract, 44,000 family-supporting production jobs will be created across the country. The few thousand jobs created under an EADS contract would be low-paid assembly jobs with no union protection.

Northrop-EADS has threatened to pull its proposal unless final rules reverse what it regards as an unfair advantage for Boeing, which says the competition is fair.

Galland told the news conference:

We have examples where campaigns are fair and open in the U.S., so when [the French] want to give lessons on openness, it would be better to set an example and not behave as one of the most closed and protectionist in military affairs in the world.

Earlier this month, Airbus asked for an additional $7.6 billion from governments that have purchased its transport plane—even though the World Trade Organization ruled that billions of dollars in European subsidies to Airbus violated trade rules.

Thomas Perez

More than 40 years after Martin Luther King’s death, the nation still has a long way to go to achieve his dream of equality and justice, says Thomas Perez.

In a Point of View guest column at the AFL-CIO site, Perez, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, says if King were alive today, he would be fighting for economic justice:

He would continue his quest for economic justice for all Americans to be able to access the great wealth and promise of our nation….He would urge our nation’s leaders to move forward on health care reform, repeating his painfully accurate observation that “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

He would join with you, and with your fellow workers nationwide, in calling for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to ensure that workers can stand up for their rights in the workplace.

He would ask the question: If women outnumber men in the workplace, then why are women still fighting for pay equity in the workplace?

The column is excerpted from a speech Perez delivered at the annual AFL-CIO King Day Celebration. Check out the entire column here. 

The son of Dominican immigrants, Perez says discrimination still exists in this country. As if to underscore his point, just this week, Don “Moose” Lewis announced creation of an all-white basketball league to allow white players to play “fundamental basketball,” not the “street ball” played by “people of color,” according to the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle. Read the entire article here.

Perez says:

In 2010, we have an African American president. And yet discrimination persists—both blatant discrimination and the dangerously subtle kind—in so many of our institutions, showing up in our schools, in our workplaces, in our health care system, in our financial system. 

He says the Obama administration has made civil rights enforcement a top priority .

We know that the landmark civil rights laws already on the books have holes yet to be filled, and we are working to pursue policies that protect the rights of all individuals.

Perez adds:

There are those who doubt the continued need for civil rights laws, those who will paint their enforcement as controversial. But we will not let them stagnate so that we can avoid such criticism. We are not afraid that we will offend some by protecting and defending the rights of others.