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Vol. 1,
Issue 3
The
goal of LaborUpfront is to provide members and friends with news,
information, and general ways to stay connected with the on-going
struggles of workers. You can also visit our
blog, http://laborupfront.blogspot.com/,
for further information on the stories in this newsletter and much more! Please
feel free to forward this to anyone
you feel may benefit, and if you received this from a friend, e-mail cp-labor-join@cpusa.org to
join the list.
Scott Marshall,
Labor Commission Chair
Melissa O’Rourke, Labor Commission Coordinator, Labor UpFront editor
In This Newsletter:
Colombia
Free Trade: Just say no to murderers
Action Alert:
“Shame on Elaine” campaign
Striking Mexican
Miners update
MI
fights misclassification
The
economic stimulus fight isn’t over yet
Smithfield Foods Update
Election 08
update
Union Jobs
(More Needed!)
U.S. labor leaders to
Bush:
No trade deal with murderers
By John Wojcik
Top labor leaders ended a trip to Colombia Feb. 13 by telling that
country’s president, Alvaro Uribe, that American unions will not
support the U.S. – Colombia Free Trade Agreement until the killing of
union members by right-wing death squads there is put to a stop.
The American labor leaders found, during their two day trip to
Colombia, that trade unionists operate in a climate of fear in that
country where 38 of them were murdered in 2007 and eight more, almost
one per week, have been murdered since Jan. 1, 2008. President Bush
demanded in his recent State of the Union speech that Congress approve
the trade agreement with Colombia.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Emerita Linda Chavez Thompson,
Communication Workers of America President Larry Cohen and United
Steelworkers counsel Dan Kovalik met for two days with Colombian labor
leaders, International Labor Organization representatives in Colombia
and elected leaders including President Uribe. Article continues here.
American Rights at Work:
"Shame on Elaine"
We all know how much workers have suffered under the Bush
administration’s non-stop attacks on labor. But how much do we know
about his henchmen, or in this case, henchwoman? Last week American
Rights at Work unveiled their newest website, http://shameonelaine.org/,
to
expose Elaine Chao’s deplorable conduct
as Secretary of Labor.
As they put it, “The public deserves an honest picture of her
administration and its egregious policies affecting workers. Other
Bush cabinet members have come under intense public criticism for their
poor job performance or ethical lapses, from Michael Brown’s
post-Katrina FEMA fiascos, to Donald Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq War
strategy, and Alberto Gonzales’ non-testimony before Congress. Elaine
Chao has managed to dodge such scrutiny, despite her pathetic record
running the Labor Department. For the sake of America’s workers, that
has to change. Our next step is to increase pressure and
accountability to help change Elaine’s course during her remaining year
on the job. If Elaine won’t clean up her act, we’ll make sure the next
Secretary of Labor does. Please join us in shaming Elaine and
restoring the Department of Labor as an agency run on behalf of
America’s workers.”
Check out the website to read all about Chao’s inside deals, corporate
giveaways, and some of the worst examples of cronyism we’ve seen during
the Bush administration, a pretty [un]impressive feat! There are also
links to send letters to Chao and to join the "I Shamed
Elaine" facebook group.
International
Labor News
Striking
Mexican Miners Update
The United Steelworkers Union is stepping up the fight to build support
for Mexican miners striking against Grupo Mexico copper mine in Sonora,
Mexico. This week the Steelworkers took a delegation of striking miners
to Capitol Hill to lobby Congress against a Bush Plan to give millions
in aid to Mexican police forces. And in Chicago the Steelworkers led a
demonstration outside a local High School where Mexican President
Felipe Calderon was speaking. They demanded that Calderon call off the
Federal police and leave the strikers alone. This week also the Mexican
courts overturned an earlier ruling that the strike in Sonora is
illegal.
Read more about the strike and the miners' trip to Capitol Hill on the AFL-CIO’s
weblog.
U.S. Labor News
Michigan fights
worker
misclassification
On February 1, Michigan became the second state, after New York, to
fight misclassification when Governor Jennifer Granholm issued an
Executive Order to stop employers from illegally classifying its
workforce as independent contractors. This action will increase
oversight over employers to assure that properly classified employees
rights and benefits are protected.
When workers are classified as independent contractors and not
employees, there are all kinds of problems workers face while the
company is let off the hook, everything ranging from tax issues and
social security to health benefits and time off work. The Teamsters
issued a release praising Granholm’s action, “Governor Granholm is
acting to protect Michigan’s workers and to see that all employers live
up to the laws to compete fairly,” said Teamsters General President Jim
Hoffa. “The Teamsters applaud Governor Granholm’s leadership in
addressing this illegal tax and employment scheme by scofflaw
employers.”
The Teamsters are involved in the battle being fought by FedEx
“contract employees” trying to be classified, as they truly are,
as full-time employees; their lawsuit reached class action status this
past fall.
The economic
stimulus fight
isn’t over yet
The economic stimulus package that Bush signed into law last week fails
millions of unemployed and underemployed workers. It is also weak as
an economic stimulus and not likely to do much for the economy.
The rebates will help some and should not be pooh-poohed, but they
leave so many out who desperately need help and they don’t put money
into the hands of folks most likely spend it on basic goods – goods
that create and preserve jobs.
But the fight isn’t over. Building a demand for “paycheck to paycheck”
unemployment benefits is the next real step for economic stimulation.
The economy is gonna be huge in this election. Candidates that want our
votes have to address the growing problem of unemployment and long-term
unemployment. Let the Republicans put their heads in the sand and sing
“Happy times are here again,” while we demand relief for those hardest
hit by the economic crisis.
For an AFL-CIO state president's take on the deal see "Millionaire
leaders stiff working class"
Smithfield Foods
update:
Union-busting Smithfield Foods is at
it again. You’ve all heard by now that Smithfield, the notorious hog
butcher company in Tar Heel, North Carolina, is using
anti-racketeering law (RICO) to sue the United Food & Commercial
Workers union (UFCW) and Jobs with Justice (Jw/J). Some might call this
a move towards civilization because the company has gone from crude
racist appeals and beating up union supporters trying to vote in NLRB
elections to using the courts. But of course this is just a tactical
shift by Smithfield because of a well-built solidarity campaign by the
union, Jw/J and many others to win justice and union rights for the
Smithfield workers. Recently filed court documents by Smithfield
show an Alice-in-Wonderland quality that is breathtaking; they charge
that a union organizer quoted from Upton Sinclair’s writing and did
commercial damage to their corporate image and profits. Really.
But in truth, beneath the ridiculous, the lawsuit is dangerous because
of eight years of Bush and his judicial appointments.
Make your voice heard. Tell Smithfield CEO Larry Pope
to drop the lawsuit and respect the workers right to organize at ir@smithfieldfoods.com
and
send a copy to smithfield@ufcw.org
Read more at the Justice at
Smithfield website.
Election 08
Update, and We need to know....
Within the last few days Barack Obama’s campaign received two huge
national union endorsements, from the United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which
have a
combined membership of over 3.2 million. This added to the numerous
unions who had already endorsed his campaign shows a groundswell of
support for Obama's grassroots movement for change in this country.
We need to know...where are people involved in campaigns, both in
labor for Obama or Hillary committees and also key congressional
races. E-mail us
to let us know, and send us periodic updates.
Union Jobs (We need more
listings!)
Chicago: IBEW 134 is going to be accepting applications for all three
classifications this year. They are going to take apps for
Communications apprentices in January. All the info is available at www.ejatt.org.
It’s expected that
they will take apps for residential
this summer (likely around July) and for construction early fall
(around September, maybe even August). If you would like further
information you can also contact Melissa O'rourke via e-mail: morourke *at* cpusa *d0t* org.
There is also a website, http://www.unionjobs.com/ that
lists union
jobs, including staff, trades and apprenticeships, by state.
Keep them coming!!!! In an effort to assist young
workers in finding decent-paying union jobs, I’m requesting that anyone
who knows of job openings or apprenticeships, in all fields and across
the country, please forward that information to me
(laborupfront@cpusa.org).
To remove your name from our mailing list, please e-mail cp-labor-leave@cpusa.org
We welcome questions, comments and stories for our next
newsletter. Send them to us at laborupfront@cpusa.org
or call (773)
446-9920, ext. 212.
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