Labor Union Blog

Remember when Ohioans overwhelmingly voted to repeal Senate Bill 5—Gov. John Kasich’s attack on middle-class jobs that was designed to destroy collective bargaining rights in Ohio?  

According to Reuters, repudiating S.B. 5 was just the beginning of a big backlash against tea party overreach. In Ohio, many so-called “Reagan Democrats” are turned off by extreme attacks on working families waged by Tea Party politicians and are abandoning the party. Meanwhile, online fundraising for Ohio Democrats has quadrupled.

What we’re seeing in Ohio and other states that have faced attacks on collective bargaining rights is that attacks on working families are turning Reagan Democrats—and Republican union members like teachers, firefighters and police—against the tea party’s extremist agenda.

Brian Barnhart, a 33 year old lieutenant with the Columbus fire department, says it all: “I am socially conservative, I am a registered Republican voter and voted a strict Republican ticket in 2010 – but I am voting with Democrats in ’12.” 

The main reason is the attacks on workers that I have been seeing with the Republican Party.

“Mitt Romney said that he supported Senate Bill 5 and Issue 2, so he’ll have a lot of explaining to do to police officers and firefighters, nurses, teachers and working people in general as to why he was on the wrong side of where Ohioans were,” says Tim Burga, the president of the Ohio AFL-CIO.

You can read more about Ohio’s backlash against Republican overreach here.

More than 200 marchers–including college students from as far away as Idaho–yesterday carried on the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, where activists in the labor, civil rights and faith communities on Sunday began a five-day journey. The weeklong series of events marks the 47th anniversary of the historic civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, and is focusing attention on new attacks on voting rights, immigrants, workers’ rights and education.

Monday’s actions, which highlighted education and voting rights, took on special meanig when five miles into their 12-mile walk, marchers were greeted by grade school children from Selma’s Craig Elementary School. Lined up along a fence, the students held a giant, hand painted sign: Thank You. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President

Arlene Holt Baker, who is heading up our delegation there, says:

When you look into the face of these children, whose future can be so bright if we can sufficiently fund and ensure that they have access to quality public education, this is why we march. We applaud the teachers, we applaud the students and the teachers who continue to teach them.

Holt Baker walked the entire 12-mile route along with NAACP Chairman Ben Jealous, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina.

When Sharpton, Jackson and others walked over to shake the hands of the Craig Elementary students, one remarked:

I’m not used to shaking famous people’s hands.

If you can’t be there in person, you can be there online. Click here to sign a pledge of solidarity with the marchers and tell us why you are joining the virtual march. Your comments will be shared with the marchers on the ground so they know there are tens of thousands standing with them.

O, the lickability of that creamy center. O, the dunkability of the perfectly sized sandwich of yum. O-reo.

Today, the Oreo—the ubiquitous, best-selling cookie of the 20^th century—marks 100 years on the market. More than 12 billion Oreos are consumed each year, made with 22 million pounds of cocoa, 64.1 million pounds of cream filling and crafted by the skilled hands of members of BCTGM (the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union) at Kraft Foods/Nabisco plants throughout the United States and Canada.

In southern Indiana and other areas where a series of powerful and deadly tornadoes stuck late last week, union members are mobilizing to bring help to union families and others.

Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott says:

We are working with our partners at the United Way, to help coordinate organized labor’s emergency response to the extensive tornado damage in Southeastern Indiana.

Some 250 union families live in the two hardest hit towns of Marysville and Henryville. Local unions in the area report they have not yet been able to establish contact with all members and that some members are known to have lost everything. 

In nearby Jeffersonville, Guyott says a volunteer reception center at the former Bales Auto Lot, 723 Spring Street has been set up for union members who want to volunteer their skills in the recovery effort. Volunteers can call 812-287-0519 or 812-287-0523

The AFL-CIO has a permanent disaster response hotline, 877-235-2469 or 877-AFL-CIO9, and union members calling for assistance will be linked to appropriate sources of help. Union members can also call for 202-320-7423 or 765-914-4253.

Guyott says that a union response fund will be established soon with the United Way to accept donations from unions and union members for use in the disaster response.

In Harrisburg, Ill., where six people died and a tornado did extensive damage to the town of 9,000, Mine Workers (UMWA) Local 5929 has opened a food and other essential supplies pantry for tornado victims there.  

Missouri may be the “Show Me” state, but here’s something that really ought to be kept under wraps—a statue of right-wing radio flamethrower Rush Limbaugh in the state Capitol’s Hall of Famous Missourians.

That’s right, state House Speaker Steven Tilley (R) has commissioned a statue of Limbaugh to stand among those of Harry Truman, Walt Disney, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mark Twain and others who, unlike Limbaugh, wouldn’t also qualify for an inclusion in a hall of “Infamous” Missourians. Wouldn’t you love to hear Truman’s take on this? 

Progress Missouri has started an online petition to urge Tilley to drop his plans to place Limbaugh alongside the dozens of Missourians who have made a positive impact on the state’s image.   

While Tilley wants to honor Limbaugh, advertisers are distancing themselves from him after Limbaugh’s most recent hate-spewing rant aimed at Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke. Fluke spoke out in favor of contraception coverage. So far 10 major advertisers have dropped their ads in response to Limbaugh’s attack on Fluke.          

AFL-CIO communications staffer Nora Frederickson sends us this report.

Proving once again that the Republican leadership’s “jobs agenda” is just talk and no action, the New Hampshire House is set to vote on dozens of bills this week that are all about tea party-fueled attacks on New Hampshire families. Bills set to be heard this week include a new, so-called right to work (RTW) for less bill, cutting Medicaid for New Hampshire’s poorest and restricting access to birth control, while bills to put Granite Staters back to work are conspicuously absent from the docket.

Attacks on workers. The House is voting on more than a dozen anti-worker bills this week, including a reincarnation of last year’s RTW bill. Below is a list of the bills that are expected to be voted on next week:

• H.B. 1677, a new “right to work” bill nearly identical to the “right to work” bill that failed in the House last year.
• H.B. 1645, a bill that once allowed employer-led decertification of public unions.
• H.B. 1206, a bill that throws out provisions of collective bargaining agreements at the end of a contract if a new contract has not yet been reached, making it harder for workers and management to come to agreement through the bargaining process.
• H.B. 1663, a bill that strips the requirement for a union to be the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit out of the collective bargaining law.
• H.B. 1237, a bill that imposes oversight from the House and Senate on the collective bargaining process between the state and its employees.

Dismantling voting rights. New Hampshire House Speaker William O’Brien failed to override a veto of his voter ID law last year, so he and his allies have come up with a new plan. The new bill does not fix any existing problems and further complicates and confuses the process for voters.

Attacks on health care. The House leadership is pushing for a law to cut off $1.4 billion in funding to hospitals, clinics and doctors who perform elective abortions—at the expense of the thousands of poor, disadvantaged, elderly or disabled citizens who rely on Medicaid. Legislators also will vote on a bill to repeal the law guaranteeing New Hampshire families access to contraception. Is Speaker O’Brien so intent on pushing his right-wing agenda that he is willing to cut health care for women, the poor and people with disabilities to get his way?

The House leadership’s tea party-fueled social agenda comes at a time when a plurality of voters say that jobs and the economy are the most important problems facing the state. A February 2012 poll shows that 51 percent of independent and Republican voters oppose the GOP’s social agenda, while a majority (64 percent) of likely voters believe that RTW and other attacks on collective bargaining should not be a priority of the Legislature.

This is a cross-post from Brian Cox of the Live United blog.

William “Bill” McCarthy, president of the AFL-CIO Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation (MRLF), is recipient of the 2012 United Way’s prestigious Joseph A. Beirne Community Services Award.

The Joseph A. Beirne Community Services Award is presented each year to one person in the nation who exemplifies the highest standards in service to others. This singular honor this year is presented to a one-of-a-kind community leader, Bill McCarthy. He has been dedicated to organizing, mobilizing, reaching out to community partners and building coalition to change people’s lives.

As president of the MRLF and member of UNITEHERE! Local 17, McCarthy has dedicated his life to the pursuit of social and economic justice for workers and their families. He has supported and worked for programs to reduce poverty, address homelessness and to educate youth—areas of key alignment with the United Way’s mission.

Bill’s desire to help others flourished many years ago with his active involvement in the local Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union. For 15 years, he fought to defend the rights of workers in his own membership as well as other labor unions. Serving since 2002 as the elected president of the MRLF and as a member of the Board of Directors for Greater Twin Cities United Way, Bill has been dedicated to organizing, mobilizing, reaching out to community partners and building coalitions to change people’s lives. In 2010, Bill initiated a plan to reorganize and re-energize Greater Twin Cities United Way partnership with organized labor. His strategy sought to increase awareness, participation and contributions through engagement of rank-and-file members, labor leadership and labor management. He led customized union leadership campaign meetings and helped developed a more integrated work plan to produce greater impact and fundraising results.

In 2006, Bill founded Working Partnerships, Inc., which is dedicated to improving the lives of working families. Bill’s direction of the Minneapolis United Way AFL-CIO Community Service Liaison Program through Working Partnerships has led to the creation of financial assistance programs that help those in need of critical assistance.  

Under Bill’s leadership, Minneapolis was chosen by the national AFL-CIO as one of five cities in the nation to pilot a project around the needs and aspirations of unemployed workers. Bill’s vision for the program is for labor to help the large and growing population of unemployed workers find a collective voice, to provide emergency services and to create activists who will advocate for good jobs in the Twin Cities community. Richard Davis, chairman, president and CEO of U.S. Bancorp, states that Bill exemplifies LIVING UNITED. Bill has even led efforts to ensure that union members are recognized for their community engagement. In 2010, the first publication honoring union members who volunteer in the community was produced.

Bill’s leadership and collaborative nature with United Way’s organizational partners and donors have helped make a difference in bringing people together and meeting the needs of residents in the Greater Twin Cities region. 

Bill has been dedicated to organizing, mobilizing, reaching out to community partners and building coalitions to change people’s lives. His strategy sought to increase awareness, participation and contributions through engagement of rank-and-file members, labor leadership and labor management.

Established in 1974, United Way’s Joseph A. Beirne Community Services Award honors the memory of Joseph A. Beirne, the first president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the first labor representative to serve as president of United Community Funds and Councils of America (now United Way Worldwide). The award recognizes union members for outstanding volunteer service with United Way.

Postal Workers (APWU) President Cliff Guffey says the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS’s) announcement that it will close nearly half of the nation’s mail processing facilities “has sent a clear message” to workers and customers:

If Congress does not take action before the moratorium expires, management intends to dismantle the mail processing network. 

The closure of 223 mail processing plants threatens some 35,000 jobs, according to news reports. Guffey says if amendments to a current USPS bill (S. 1789) are adopted:

It would prevent the closures of hundreds of mail processing plants and thousands of post offices, halt the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs and stop drastic reductions in service to the American people.

APWU members can click here to send a message to their lawmakers urging them to support a series of amendments recently offered by 27 senators. Others can call 202-224-3121 and ask to speak to their senators and urge them to support the amendments.

Without those amendments, the bill would pave the way for the USPS to carry out the closures of the processing faculties and also shut thousands of post offices, causing massive delays in mail delivery.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one of the 27 lawmakers offering the amendments, says the USPS plan to close the facilities “is deeply flawed and Congress must change it.”

Click here, here and here to find out more.

Thousands of AFL-CIO union members and civil rights, community and faith activists yesterday began a five-day re-enactment of the historic 1965 Selma to Montgomery, Ala., civil rights march.

Sunday marked the 47th anniversary of the historic civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, and the weeklong series of events will focus attention on new attacks on voting rights, immigrants, workers’ rights and education.

If you can’t be there in person, you can be there online. Click here to sign a pledge of solidarity with the marchers and tell us why you are joining the virtual march. Your comments will be shared with the marchers on the ground so they know there are tens of thousands standing with them.

See more photos here and check out photos on the Facebook page of AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, who is among leaders of the march and has posted photos of Martin Luther King III, the Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders.