Labor Union Blog

Forty Senate Republicans and one Democrat today sided with Wall Street and the Big Banks to deny the opportunity for senators to even debate real Wall Street reform. The U.S. Senate fell three votes short of the 60 votes (57-41) needed to begin debate on S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.

Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) was the lone Democrat or Independent to vote against cloture. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) switched his vote to “no” in a maneuver that allows him to call for a new vote.

With a large majority of the Senate favoring the bill, supporters vowed to continue working to bring the bill to the floor and pass it.

The Senate vote comes just days before a massive march and rally in New York protesting reckless Wall Street practices and demanding the Big Banks pay to rebuild the economy and provide jobs. Union members, led by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, will join with community activists from National People’s Action (NPA) and other groups to march through the heart of New York’s financial district April 29.

(If you can’t make it to New York in person, we’ll take you there virtually. To make your voice heard, click here. We’ll print your name on a sticker that one of the marchers will carry.)

This week, Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, is holding satellite events at Big Banks in eight cities, telling banks that working people “will not be your ATM.”  For more information, click here. Working America also will deliver 70,000 fliers about Wall Street reform to homes around the country and collect 10,000 handwritten letters to members of Congress.

More than 1,000 people in San Francisco will rally at the Wells Fargo shareholder meeting on Tuesday.  Meanwhile, hundreds of retirees, family farmers and workers from across the heartland will march in the financial district in Kansas City, Mo., and demand Bank of America divest from payday lending. On Wednesday, hundreds of veterans, clergy members and working families will march to rally at the Bank of America’s annual shareholder meeting in Charlotte, N.C. Concurrently, union leaders, community activists, small business owners, economists and working families who have lost their jobs, homes and credit will engage in a major demonstration in Chicago’s financial district demanding Wall Street banks pay to rebuild jobs and the economy they helped destroy.

The week’s actions, including the Thursday march and rally, are part of the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now! Make Wall Street Pay mobilization.

Monday’s vote came as a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that about two-thirds of Americans support stricter regulations on the way banks and other financial institutions conduct their business.

In a letter to senators earlier today, AFL-CIO Legislative Director Bill Samuel said:

There is no justifiable reason to further delay consideration of comprehensive financial reform legislation that is critical to the economic survival of our country.

Millions of working families have suffered economic devastation due to the deregulation of financial markets. As a result of the reckless actions of Wall Street and the Big Banks, more than 8 million jobs have been lost, 7 million homes have gone through foreclosure and more than $11 trillion of household wealth has been destroyed. Retirement income has declined by 20 percent, and housing values have declined by 30 percent.

Like the U.S. House bill approved in December, the Senate bill is going in the right direction but needs to be strengthened, AFL-CIO Policy Director Damon Silvers said earlier this month.

In his letter, Samuel added that when debate does begin:

Specifically, we will advocate that private equity be subject to the same regulations as hedge funds under the existing legislation, that leverage limits and size caps be applied to companies considered too big to fail, that proprietary trading and conflicts of interest language be included, that derivatives language remain strong and comprehensive and that an independent consumer financial bureau remain strong.

Michigan Nurses Association President Jeff Breslin says a bill pending in the Michigan legislature would establish safe staffing levels for hospital nurses.

[Breslin]: “To ensure that when patients come into the hospitals that they have a nurse to take care of ‘em. As it sits right now there’s no legislation, there’s no rules or limits as to the number of patients that a nurse can have.”

Breslin says nurses are often stretched too thin with too many patients to care for, so a minimum standard for nurse patient ratios is needed.

On Monday, organized labor in California fired the opening salvo in their campaign against the election of Meg Whitman as Governor of that state. The California Labor Federation launched a website called wallstreetwhitman.com intended to lay out connections between the candidate, as well as what the labor federation says is Whitman’s anti-worker agenda. Executive Secretary Treasurer Art Pulaski said Whitman has shown a disregard for working families during her time as a CEO for EBay and while on the board of Goldman Sachs.

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Female workers at Wal-Mart who feel they’ve been the target of discrimination have been granted the option to file a single class-action lawsuit by a federal court. The option is being offered to women who worked for the company starting in 2001 and could total more than one million. In the case the world’s largest retailer allegedly has offered fewer promotions to women than it has men and also pays women less overall. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2001 and the company has fought it saying that it would rather fight each allegation worker by worker.

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Across the country, there is a bipartisan outcry against Arizona’s draconian new anti-immigrant law, which many say is impractical, unenforceable, poor policy and will lead to racial profiling.

On Friday, Arizona’s Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law S.B. 1070, which allows police to stop and question anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being undocumented. The bill does not define “reasonable suspicion,” a fact that many opponents say is a carte blanche for racial profiling.

Rebekah Friend, secretary-treasurer of the Arizona AFL-CIO, says:

First of all, this is a federal issue, not a state issue. Second, our police are overburdened already because of budget cuts and this puts an unnecessary burden on them. And I believe it could lead to racial profiling. The presumption of guilt  is the antithesis of everything we stand for. Arizona is better than this.

Writing for NDN, a Washington, D.C., think tank, which studies the growing importance of Hispanics and globalization, Alicia Menendez says the law is impractical. Since it’s impossible to identify a foreign national by sight, it effectively mandates that all individuals in Arizona carry papers, she says. 

That’s right: you, American citizen, can’t walk your dog or buy milk from the grocery store without having papers on you that confirm your legal residence. If you take your kids to the park and forget your documentation at home, you can be held in police custody until your information is verified, even if you’re a U.S. citizen.

Gerald Lenoir, director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), says U.S. trade policy has played a big role in creating the immigration problem. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for example, Mexico opened its markets to subsidized food crops from the United States. The result is that 3 million Mexican farmers could not compete with cheap U.S. commodities and lost their land and their livelihood. Many of them, along with their families, have migrated to the United States looking for jobs. Lenoir says:

So, let me get this right, the United States invades the economy of another country and the economic refugees that come here are labeled illegal? What’s wrong with this picture?

The usually conservative daily, the Arizona Republic, writes in an editorial today that immigration policy must be established not by individual states but by the federal government, which must enact comprehensive immigration reform.

S.B. 1070 is not an answer to a long-standing failure of the feds to fix the border. It will not stop illegal immigration. To do that, the federal government needs to pass immigration reform that imposes order at the border, creates a legal flow of needed workers and helps bring the nation’s undocumented workforce out of the shadows.

 This bill does none of that.

At Huffington Post, Robert Creamer says the new law is a call to action for progressives. Comparing Arizona in 2010 to Alabama in 1963, when officials used police dogs and fire hoses against peaceful civil rights marchers, he says:

[T]he passage of this law may also serve as a wakeup call to people around the country who believe in fundamental American values. In the same way the excesses of Alabama’s leaders helped pass the civil rights laws, so this un-American law may spur Congress to fix our profoundly broken immigration system.    

The overreaching of the anti-immigrant forces in Arizona has set the stage for action. It’s up to us to make it happen. Enough! Immigration reform now.

Thousands rally in Sacramento at the April 21 conclusion of the “March for California’s Future,” a 48-day walk from Bakersfield to demonstrate the need to preserve public services.

(This is a cross-post from the AFSCME website.)

A massive demonstration at the state Capitol in Sacramento on April 21 heralded the end of the 48-day March for California’s Future, but the marchers’ fight to preserve public services and education has only just begun.

Thousands participated in the 365-mile march, sponsored by AFSCME councils 36 and 57, UDW Homecare Providers Union, the Coalition of LA City Unions, the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) and other education and civil society groups.

Seven hardy individuals set out to make the entire journey on foot, and six succeeded, including Irene Gonzalez, vice president on the executive board of L.A. County Deputy Probation Officers Local 685 (AFSCME Council 36).

Says Gonzalez, a senior investigator aide and reserve deputy probation officer for Los Angeles County:

Our message of restoring quality public education and public services, rebuilding a government that serves all Californians, and creating a fair tax system to fund our state’s future has found real resonance here in Sacramento and throughout the Central Valley.

The march to protect public services from drastic budget cuts began March 5 with a rally in Los Angeles. Buses then transported hundreds to Bakersfield for the official start of the walk through the state’s Central Valley. It followed the course led in 1965 by California civil rights and labor leader César Chávez, who focused a national spotlight on striking grape pickers.

Hundreds of AFSCME members, fire fighters, police officers, nurses, in-home care workers, students and their supporters joined Gonzalez and the other marchers along the way. At each stop, they drew media attention to the urgent need to support quality public education, rebuild state government and restore a fair and equitable tax system that invests in California’s future.

Once in Sacramento, more than 10,000 marchers and their supporters rallied at the Capitol. AFSCME Vice President Doug Moore, who also is executive director of UDW Homecare Providers Union, an AFSCME affiliate, addressed the crowd.

We will not restore the California dream by the end of this march, or by the end of this legislative period. But I promise, if we band together we can restore the American dream for all Californians.

The day after the rally, marchers delivered to lawmakers a $40 billion package of revenue solutions that would permanently balance the state’s budget without cutting public services.

Among the proposals:

• Impose an oil severance tax and an alcohol tax.
• Close existing corporate tax loopholes.
• Stop multinational corporations from using offshore tax havens.
• Restore high-income tax brackets to levels that existed under Republican Govs. Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson. 

Lawmakers also honored the marchers and their supporters with a resolution introduced by Assemblyman Marty Block (D). The measure recognizes the marchers and adopted key points of their march.

Read news coverage of the final day of the march from City on a Hill Press. Also, check out Gonzalez’s essay from The Huffington Post.

25,000 city workers in San Francisco reach a tentative agreement—and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

NEGOTIATIONS
Multiple, City of San Francisco: Unions, representing more than 25,000 city workers, have reached a two-year tentative agreement with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, which will help the city close its massive $483 million budget gap. If approved, city workers will take 12 furlough days a year, including the shutdown of nonessential services between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

MNA-NNU, Morton Hospital: The Massachusetts Nurses Association-NNU (MNA-NNU) has reached a tentative three-year agreement with Morton Hospital, avoiding a strike scheduled to begin next week. The contract would provide 400 nurses and other health care workers with a wage increase of between 4 percent and 6 percent over the term and protect the defined-benefit pension plan.

AFSCME, Jackson Health System: AFSCME is signaling it will likely reject a request by Jackson Health System in Miami to reopen negotiations on cost-saving measures. AFSCME members may vote again on whether to approve a 5 percent pay cut, but leaders also oppose giving up premium pay of $50 per biweekly paycheck as suggested by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. SEIU Local 1991, which also represents Jackson workers, rejected the hospital’s request to renegotiate, but its members had already agreed to both the 5 percent pay cut and the $50 premium pay.

WORK STOPPAGES
PASNAP-NNU, Temple University Hospital: The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it has received a lot of complaints about patient care at Temple University Hospital since its 1,500 nurses and health care workers went on strike March 31. The Pennsylvania Association of Nurses and Allied Health Workers-NNU (PASNAP-NNU) has itself received complaints about the temporary staff from patients who come to the picket line. Talks over the weekend broke off early this morning but are expected to resume later today.

IAM, Merrill Manufacturing: Striking workers and their supporters rallied outside of Merrill Manufacturing last week in Wisconsin, where 34 workers have been on strike for a month. The members of Machinists (IAM) Lodge 2362 have been without a contract since Dec. 20, and their main strike demand is the right to renegotiate the contract when the economy improves.

SETTLEMENTS
IAM, Hawaiian Airlines: Members of IAM District 142 ratified a four-year contract with Hawaiian Airlines. The contract covers 600 aircraft inspectors, mechanics, line service workers and cleaners and includes a 15 percent wage increase over the term.

UWUA, Covanta SEMASS: Workers at a Covanta SEMASS energy-from-waste facility in Massachusetts ratified their first contract on Friday. The 140 workers are members of Utility Workers (UWUA) Local 369. According to the BNA Daily Labor Report (subscription required), the pact came after a National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge ruled the company had violated the National Labor Relations Act when it withheld bonuses and wage increases after workers voted for union representation. 

Disclaimer: This information is being provided for your information only. As it is compiled from published news reports, not from individual unions, we cannot vouch for either its completeness or accuracy; readers who desire further information should directly contact the union involved.

A seventh United Steelworkers (USW) member has died after an April 2 explosion at a Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Wash.

Matt Gumbel, 34, died Saturday after fighting for his life for three weeks. The other USW members killed in the blast were Lew Janz, 41; Matthew C. Bowen, 31; Darrin J. Hoines, 43; Daniel J. Aldridge, 50; Kathryn Powell, 29; and Donna Van Dreumel, 36.

Gumbel’s death, and that of another miner killed on Friday, comes just days before we commemorate Workers Memorial Day, which honors workers killed or injured on the job and also highlights the need for tough and effective workplace safety laws.

In a statement yesterday, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said:

[E]ach day in this country, 14 workers lose their lives on the job. That is 14 workers too many. Later this week, we will mark Workers’ Memorial Day. Let us take the time to reflect on and honor the love and contributions of those we’ve lost and to re-focus our efforts on not only providing secure and rewarding jobs for every American worker, but safe ones as well.

According to the USW, Tesoro has a history of serious health and safety violations. The Associated Press reports that Washington State Department of Labor and Industries fined the company $85,700 last April for 17 serious safety and health violations, defined as those with potential to cause death or serious physical injury. Also, inspectors found 150 instances of deficiencies and said the company did not ensure safe work practices and failed to update safety information when changes were made to equipment. The fine was lowered in a settlement with the company, which required Tesoro to correct hazards and hire a third-party consultant to do a safety audit.

USW President Leo Gerard is calling for stronger new workplace safety laws in light of explosions at the Tesoro refinery and the Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, where 29 coal miners were killed in an April 5 explosion. Both facilities had long and troubling records of safety violations.

Meanwhile, rescuers have called off the search for 11 missing oil rig workers following the April 21 explosion on an oil drilling rig some 50 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

Young performers like actress Nikki SooHoo are protected by SAG contracts.

The Screen Actors (SAG) launched its new Young Performers website over the weekend with an indoor carnival and informational fair at the union’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

Hundreds of SAG young performers attended the carnival, which featured games, raffles, information booths, an interactive tour of the new website, a Wii Lounge and more.

SAG spokesperson Pamela Greenwalt says the site, www.youngperformers.sag.org, will help young performers under the age of 18 years and their parents find out about the special protections and other issues unique to minors in SAG contracts. The site features video interviews, an interactive on-set feature, quizzes, frequently asked member questions, plus an online version of the SAG Young Performers Handbook.

Says Justin Shenkarow, chair of SAG’s Young Performers committee:

We wanted a place where kids and their parents could go to get information in a fun, cool way. With the new Young Performer’s website, we’ve definitely achieved that.

Greenwalt says SAG representatives are on the set of productions to protect all members, but they are especially vigilant about working children. When children are on set, she says, the SAG rep is keeping an eye out to see if children are being asked to work overtime or beyond the permitted work hours, if are they getting adequate meal and rest periods and being treated in a safe manner among many other considerations.

She adds that SAG also commits significant resources toward protecting young members and those who want to become professional actors by supporting appropriate legislation in many areas.

SAG’s last indoor carnival celebrated the launch of the updated SAG Young Performers Handbook in 2007.