Labor Union Blog

Elizabeth Boomer of the AFL-CIO International Affairs Department sends us this report.

Protestors rallied outside the World Bank building in Washington, D.C., yesterday in support of Nigeria’s nation-wide strike opposing the soaring price of fuel. After the government ended fuel subsidies Jan. 1, prices doubled overnight. Today in Nigeria, tens of thousands marched in the streets across the country.

The Washington action was aimed at the international financial institutions that have long argued against domestic fuel subsidies in Nigeria where long-term mismanagement and corruption have forced it to import 70 percent of its fuel, even while it is the 10th largest producer of crude oil in the world.

The sudden removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria, where the majority of people live on less than $2 a day, affects workers’ and families’ core economic decisions, including whether to pay for their children’s school fees this term or to go to the doctor this month. Higher fuel costs are also expected to raise food prices in Africa’s most populous country, an issue that could affect an entire region that is suffering from food price volatility.

President Goodluck Jonathon’s government has ignored calls from Nigerian labor movement and others for substantive dialogue on the issue. On Jan. 6, a judicial order was issued to stop the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) from holding the strike that is now in its second day. Yesterday, legislators across the political spectrum held an emergency session in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, calling for the president to reverse his decision. So far, police response to the mostly peaceful protests has resulted in the death of at least one protester and injuries to more than a dozen.

The AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with Nigerian workers who are peacefully protesting the removal of fuel subsidies in their country. We strongly condemn all acts of violence targeted at intimidating and threatening peaceful protesters.

Tell your state attorney general to demand real accountability from the Big Banks for the collapse of the housing market by clicking here. The action, sponsored by the AFL-CIO community affiliate, Working America, comes as state and federal officials are negotiating a settlement with the Big Banks for their role in driving the U.S. economy into a ditch and often recklessly defrauding consumers seeking mortgages.

The wreckage in the wake of the banks’ actions includes 7.5 million home foreclosures with another 4.8 million teetering on the brink.

It’s time hold those banks accountable, but news reports say the proposed settlement may amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist. California’s attorney general withdrew from the negotiations in September because he said the proposed terms failed to provide sufficient relief to the state’s homeowners and released the banks from too many claims.

Any settlement must reflect the harm done to homeowners and provide large-scale relief for homeowners.

We all know politicians will say just about anything to get elected. But sometimes what they say is so outrageous or strange, even seasoned political junkies are left scratching their heads.

In a takeoff on the classic TV game show Match Game, our friends at AFSCME have assembled some of the more out-there statements about working family issues uttered by Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Click here to play Match Game 2012: Presidential Primary Edition. Pick a candidate and then from a multiple choice list, pick the correct answer to what he had to say. To give you a little hint, none of the answers involve the Kardashians.

With a nod to “The Twilight Zone’s” Rod Serling, National Nurses United (NNU) unveiled a new and  frightening—if you’re a banker or Wall Street fat cat—video to push for a financial transaction or Robin Hood tax on Wall Street speculation.

In “Nightmare on Wall Street,” a Wall Street executive on his way to work encounters the retirees who have lost their pensions, families foreclosed out their homes, workers who lost their jobs and other victims of Wall Street’s reckless actions that crashed the nation’s economy. They chase him through Manhattan’s concrete canyons yelling, “Tax Wall Street, Not Main Street. Tax the 1 percent!”

The AFL-CIO, NNU and others have called for a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street to raise funds for job creation and to mend the economy that Wall Street broke. Economists say that along with generating jobs, the tax would help reduce the complicated, risky financial practices and products such as derivatives, short-term investment strategies and other speculation that fueled the economy’s crash.

Check out the video and then visit the NNU’s website, www.ProtestIntheUSA.org, to sign a petition to support a robust financial transaction tax on Wall Street, and check out more videos.

The Republican-controlled Indiana House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee, muzzled Democrats and, in a five-minute “charade” of a hearing this morning, passed a so-called right to work (RTW) bill by an 8-5 vote.

Not only were Democrats barred from offering any amendments, no discussion of the bill was allowed and, immediately after the vote, the hearing was adjourned. Rep. John Bartlett (D) told reporters that he’d “never seen a charade like this in my life.”

Said Rep. Clyde Kersey (D):

I think the light of democracy just went out in the Indiana House.

As they have been since the legislature went into session last week, Indiana workers packed the statehouse and hearing room and roared “shame” as the bill was rammed through. IBEWLU21 tweeted “SHAME, SH#*&, SH#*&, Republicans send “right to work” to full House tiny.cc/tqk18 #inunion #ibew #1u #shame”

The Indian AFL-CIO (#InUnion) tweeted, “Hoosiers just witnessed a stunning display of arrogance as House Rs ram thru RTW committee vote in under 6 mins. Shameful.” Read more on Twitter with the hashtag #InUnion and at the Stand Up for Hoosiers Facebook page here.

An identical Senate bill was approved by committee last week and both chambers could vote on the legislation by the end of this week.

Indiana’s airwaves are being saturated with ads featuring Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) promoting his “right to work” for less legislation that Republican lawmakers are trying to ram through the legislature. But Daniels continues to refuse to reveal who is bankrolling the media barrage.

The ads are funded by a shadowy group that calls itself the Indiana Opportunity Fund. Public records show the group has spent $600,000 on the “right to work” for less propaganda. But, the group—founded by Republican party activist Jim Bopp—is not required to divulge the source of the cash and Daniels has ignored requests from Hoosier working families, the media and others to disclose whose deep pockets he is dipping into for the advertisements.

He also claims in those commercials that a third of all companies that consider locating in the state decide not to because of the lack of a so-called “right to work” law. But Daniels refuses to back up that claim with any names and administration officials have not been able to substantiate lost-jobs claim.

Daniels has long made “transparency” an issue, supposedly backing openness in business, union and government affairs, and likely will make that pitch again in tomorrow’s “State of the State” address.

Indiana State AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott says Hoosiers deserve “full disclosure” of who the secret donors are behind the ads and what the facts are—if any—behind the claims:

It’s outrageous that Gov. Daniels, who likes to brag about being “transparent,” refuses to tell taxpaying Hoosiers who is secretly funding his attacks on their collective bargaining rights, nor is he willing to provide evidence to back up the claims he is making in these spots. It is hypocritical and is a stain on his legacy….Every Hoosier should be asking themselves “what is Gov. Daniels hiding?”

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Indiana working people attended four weekend public hearings on the RTW law organized by House Democrats. Democratic lawmakers, Indiana unions and other groups are urging Daniels and the Republicans who control the state House and Senate to undertake statewide hearings on the legislation.

The House Employment, Labor and Pensions committee plans to vote on the bill tomorrow and a full House vote is expected by the end of the week. A Senate committee approved the bill Friday and the full Senate is expected to vote soon.

Last week more than 17,000 Indiana workers were on hand at the statehouse to make their voices heard and thousands will be back this week. You can follow the action from Indiana on Twitter with the hashtag #InUnion and at the Stand Up for Hoosiers Facebook page here.