November 2009, Vol. 41 No. 11
News From Around the Labor Movement
Organized labor intensified national mobilization for health care reform as the Senate merged conflicting bills approved by two committees. According to news reports, AFL-CIO led two-day lobby effort, Oct. 7-8, which brought more than 100 leaders of unions from 27 states to Washington, D.C. They delivered some 42,000 handwritten letters to Congress that called for a public health insurance option. Federation also designated Oct. 7 as "national call-in day" in which union members made 20,000 calls to their senators, according to news reports. AFL-CIO further joined other unions in opposing any effort to tax employee health benefits. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said a public insurance option is a priority issue for labor. "American insurance companies have a stranglehold on the health care industry...The only way to hold them accountable is to create competition and the only way you can create competition is with a robust public option," said Trumka.
AFL-CIO head Trumka recently called on insurance commissioners in Connecticut, Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania to investigate the cost impact of lobbying by companies to defeat health care reform on rising premiums paid by consumers. "The health care industry's lobbying expenditures have clearly impacted consumers' health care costs," Trumka wrote. Laws in these states require that insurance regulators approve rate changes. As an example, the AFL-CIO said Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has requested a rate hike of up to 30 percent in Connecticut while spending more than $9.5 million on lobbying activities. "We believe that health insurance providers' lobbying expenditures have led to excessive rate hikes," Trumka added. He urged "a precise review" of lobbying expenditures before rate increases are approved.
Federation called for additional federal stimulus aid as unemployment rose to 9.8 percent, highest jobless rate in 26 years. Although noting that the "pace of economic decline and job loss" has eased due to the first stimulus measure, AFL-CIO warned that heavy job losses will continue without additional fiscal support. "The economic crisis is a jobs crisis and there can be no strong and sustainable recovery until employment begins to grow. The Obama administration's aggressive actions have clearly brought us back from the brink of what might have been a second Great Depression, but we will need sustained and expanded fiscal support if we are to see a robust recovery," AFL-CIO said. Federation also urged extended unemployment benefits and additional financial support to "budget-constrained" states and cities.
U.S. labor pledged solidarity with Puerto Rican workers who protested Gov. Luis Fortuno's plan to layoff thousands of public sector workers and cancel their collective bargaining rights to solve the island's budget deficit. The governor cut more than 5,000 jobs this year with another round of layoffs set for later this month eliminating nearly 17,000 jobs from the Department of Education and other agencies. A general strike was held Oct. 15 as more than 200,000 people peacefully demonstrated in San Juan against the layoffs. Sympathy rallies were held in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities in the U.S. AFL-CIO's Trumka said U.S. labor would fight "for the rights and well being of our affiliated unions, their members, and the people of Puerto Rico." He noted Puerto Rico received $5 billion in federal stimulus funds and said future stimulus money "cannot be justified" until the administration "rethinks its proposed policies."
AFL-CIO hailed decision Oct. 7 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to issue final 30-day notice rescinding the Social Security "no match" rule which was never implemented. Under proposal, employers would have been forced to fire workers based on discrepancies between payroll and Social Security records. Federation was part of civil rights coalition which challenged the policy and won court injunction in October 2007 blocking implementation of the rule. "The 'no match' program was a flawed and ineffective immigration enforcement tool that would have hurt U.S. citizens and other authorized workers. Employers have been able to game the immigration system for too long. We need comprehensive immigration reform that respects workers' rights, protects our borders and holds employers accountable," said AFL-CIO.
"I am looking into the faces of the first generation in America likely to be worse off than your parents. That is a tragedy," said AFL-CIO Secy.-Treas. Liz Shuler Oct. 15 at a conference sponsored by Demos, a nonpartisan public policy research and advocacy organization. She described the group of largely 18- to 24-year olds as "guinea pigs of the so-called 'new normal' economy, in which education, even when you can get it, does not guarantee you a foothold ... hard work does not mean you feed your family and everything your parents expected from an employer [such as] job security, health care security, and retirement security, sounds like a fantasy to you." Shuler, 39, was elected in September as the youngest to hold the federation's number 2 position. She described herself as "a teenager" in the labor world, and said her personal mission is to lead the federation's work with young people.
Communications Workers of America approved four-year contract with A&T Southwest covering some land-line 26,000 union workers in Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Deal provides 11.5 percent pay raise over the contract's term, with an immediate three percent retroactive to April 5. Pensions also will increase by 8 percent, but workers will, for the first time, pay for their health care coverage. "Rising health care costs are a national crisis," said CWA District 6 VP Andy Milburn. Union began negotiations Feb. 24 in six districts across the country for contracts that expired April 4 and which cover a total of 125,000 workers. CWA members have ratified three-year contracts with AT&T Midwest (the former Ameritech), AT&T West (the former Pacific Bell/Nevada Bell), and AT&T Legacy. Negotiations continue at AT&T Southeast (the former Bell South) and AT&T East (the former Southern New England Telecommunications).
Union and employer partnerships can help gain provisions of climate change legislation that are beneficial for workers and the industry, recently said James Hunter, director of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' utility division. He noted that of IBEW's 725,000 members, some 200,000 work in utilities, including coal power plants and nuclear power facilities. Hunter said the union formed partnerships with employers and groups representing them, such as the Edison Electric Institute, an association of shareholder-owned electric companies, and American Electric Power, which operates power plants in 11 states and is one of the nation's largest coal consumers, which created a powerful lobby voice on clean energy legislation that passed the House in June. He said the union didn't support the initial version of the bill, but the final measure had changes they suggested, including a key provision on "clean coal" technologies.
Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO asked Federal Acquisition Regulations councils to frame new regulations to enable federal agencies to use project labor agreements (PLA's) regardless of their dollar value. Comments came in response to proposed rules that would implement President Obama's new executive order which encourages PLA's on federally funded construction projects. The BCTD also suggested that any reference to large-scale projects "should be removed from the solicitation provision so the agreements may be used if an agency determines a PLA is appropriate for projects under $25 million." Laborers International Union also submitted comments citing studies which concluded that a PLA "neither lowers the number of bidders nor increases costs when other important variables are taken into account."
International Brotherhood of Teamsters Oct. 16 filed petition with the National Mediation Board seeking representation election among 8,000 fleet service workers at Continental Airlines, union said. At the rally in Newark, N.J., the airline's second largest hub, to announce the petition filing, Teamsters President James Hoffa demanded that Continental cease what he said were anti-union activities targeting the fleet service workers. "These workers have taken a back seat to Continental Airlines long enough," Hoffa said. He said fleet service workers are making less money now than they did five years ago at Continental. Their wages have been "basically frozen" while all of their costs are going up, including their co-pay on health insurance, he added. Election will be set after the NMB verifies representation cards.
Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Oct. 2 announced new tentative agreements with video game companies which run through March 20, 2011. Contracts, result of coordinated bargaining between SAG and AFTRA, increase SAG members' wages by 3 percent and an additional 2.5 percent for members of both unions effective April 1, 2010. SAG wage hike allows SAG members to achieve parity with AFTRA's wage scale which went up 3 percent when AFTRA agreed to a one-year extension after the current pact expired at the end of 2008 and SAG did not. In related news, the 120,000-member SAG Sept. 24 elected veteran actor Ken Howard as their new president. Outgoing president Alan Rosenberg did not run for reelection. Howard defeated Anne-Marie Johnson by a vote of 12,895-8,906 to serve a two-year term.
United Auto Workers agreed to modifications in their 2007 contract with Ford that will impose a six-year wage freeze for newly hired Ford workers, combine certain job classifications, and limit the UAW's right to strike. Current wages and benefits for the company's 41,000 hourly union workers and retiree benefits will not change. Hourly workers will, however, receive a $1,000 quality and productivity bonus in March, replacing Ford profit sharing, unless that amount exceeds the bonus. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Vice President and Director of UAW's Ford Department Bob King said the changes were necessary to keep Ford competitive. "Failure to act in this situation will undermine our efforts to continue to win new work, to protect U.S. jobs long-term and to ensure that Ford can continue to make contributions to our pension funds and the VEBA [Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association]," they said in a letter to members.
Owners of four car washes targeted by a United Steelworkers-affiliated organizing campaign faced criminal and civil charges over illegal actions stemming from their fight against unionization. Benny and Nissan Pirian, two brothers who own Vermont Hand Car Wash Inc., were arraigned Oct. 28 on criminal charges that they harassed employees who supported the union and for alleged wage and hour violations. In addition, the National Labor Relations Act filed for court enforcement of an order barring them from a range of illegal activities to block the organizing drive. Alleged criminal violations were originally brought to the city attorney's attention by the United Steelworkers CLEAN Car Wash Campaign, which has been trying for more than a year to organize the region's estimated 7,000 to 10,000 car wash workers.
International labor News
International labor leaders, including U.S. union officials, met privately with President Obama prior to the recent G-20 meeting held in Pittsburgh. According to news reports, they discussed "a new economic model" based on job creation and not just exports. "Our message to President Obama was that jobs have to be at the core of recovery," said Sharan Burrow, president of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). She said that millions of workers around the world have lost their jobs since the global economic downturn began, and that the employment situation worldwide was likely to deteriorate further. Burrow told news media that Obama was "engaged" in the discussion but mainly listened to labor's concerns. "I was impressed," she said. "He is a real champion of working Americans and their families and [is committed to] getting employment back on track."
Mexican unionists and their political allies condemned President Felipe Calderon's decision to liquate the state-run Central Light and Power utility which threatens the continued existence of the Mexican Electricians Union. Up to 44,000 workers were fired at a time when Mexico is in a deep recession. Felipe is a member of the conservative, pro-business National Action Party and his actions are seen by many as an assault on organized labor. Workers from another state-owned power company were brought in under the protection of nearly 1,000 federal riot-control police to take over the electric grid. The electrician's union is among the most powerful of Mexico's left-wing labor groups which opposed Calderon's election in 2006.
National and Political News
Health care costs for private sector workers are likely to increase by 7 percent in 2010 over 2009, according to survey results released Oct. 8 by consulting firm Towers Perrin. In related news, U.S. Office of Personnel Management said health care premiums will increase an average of 8.8 percent in 2010 for an estimated 8 million federal employees, retirees, and spouses and eligible dependents enrolled in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). In addition, for those enrolled in the Blue Cross/Blue Shield standard plan, FEHBP's most popular plan, self-only rates will go up 15 percent and family coverage will increase 12 percent. Towers Perrin survey said average private sector coverage will cost $10,212 next year, with 78 percent, or $7,920, paid by employers, and the rest, average of $2,292, paid by employees. Survey was conducted among 300 large employers from around the U.S.
Public interest trade coalition, which includes significant labor participation, urged President Obama to renegotiate three pending Bush-era free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and Korea. "We want to make clear that we strenuously oppose the three leftover Bush FTAs and will fight for their defeat if they are brought to Congress," the groups said. They said the Obama administration should renegotiate the agreements to "ensure that they minimally pass the do-no-further-harm-test and thus become first steps towards a new trade model." They further urged President Obama to reject Bush administration's "failed trade policy" in favor of a "new trade model" as outlined in proposed legislation, the 2009 Trade Reform, Accountability, Development, and Employment (TRADE Act). Participants include Friends of the Earth U.S., Americans for Democratic Action, TransAfrica Forum, Teamsters, Steelworkers and 10 other organizations.
In the Public Sector
Service Employees International Union Local 721, Los Angeles County's largest union, announced Oct. 7 tentative contract with the county for some 55,000 workers. County officials reported that contracts with other unions covering more than 90,000 of its 101,000 workforce also have been negotiated. According to news reports, all of the contracts are basically two-year extensions of the current agreements with no cost-of-living or salary increases. In a public statement, SEIU Local 721 said it did not seek a wage increase because of the poor economy, "but instead sought ways to make the county run smoother for residents and employees." Local 721 members are in 24 bargaining units, representing nurses, public health workers, park employees, social service workers, library employees, and others.
Thousands of Washington, D.C. public school teachers and supporters held one of the largest labor demonstrations in years Oct. 9 to protest layoffs of 388 school employees, including 229 classroom teachers. One day earlier, Washington Teachers' Union, AFT, filed suit to stop the layoffs proposed by Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. Rhee said the furloughs are necessary to close a $43.9 million budget gap. Union head George Parker said Rhee hired 934 new teachers earlier this year, far more than usual. He said Rhee is using budget issues to hide the mass layoffs as a reduction-in-force in order to avoid the union contract.
NLRB Rulings and Significant Court Decisions
Chairman Wilma B. Liebman and Member Peter C. Schaumber affirmed administrative law judge's finding that West Virginia's Mammoth Coal Co., a subsidiary of Massey Energy Co., discriminated against 85 miners for their pro-union support. In October 2004, Massey purchased coal mining assets from a bankrupt mining company and opened business as Mammoth Coal Co. Although Mammoth hired former nonunion workers, company refused to even interview workers who had been represented by the United Mine Workers and refused to recognize the union. ALJ found evidence of overt anti-union actions by Mammoth officials and a majority of workforce would have been union if they had been hired. NLRB ordered company to offer jobs to the 85 miners and to recognize and bargain with the union.
Two-member NLRB found Parksite, a building material supply company that took over the operations of a Connecticut distribution center, illegally refused to hire 10 employees because they worked for the previous firm which had a collective bargaining relationship with Teamsters Local 671. Chairman Liebman and Member Schaumber upheld administrative law judge's finding that while Parksite had no general obligation to hire employees of Ryder Integrated Logistics, it could not discriminate against them because of anti-union animus. ALJ agreed with the union that management refused to hire the former union workers because a majority of the workforce would have been union requiring it to recognize and bargain with the union. NLRB order firm to hire the affected workers with back pay.
Labor and EHDOC Work Together For Retirement Dignity & Security
By Morton Bahr, President
Elderly Housing Development and Operations Corporation
For nearly three years, I have been involved, first as board member and currently as president, of the Elderly Housing Development and Operations Corporation (EHDOC), an AFL-CIO-supported non-profit organization that builds and runs affordable housing facilities for low-income seniors. Despite all of the wonderful work that this organization does, EHDOC remains organized labor's best-kept secret. Instead, labor should be bragging about EHDOC to the entire nation.
From the very inception of organized labor in this country, one of our primary goals has been to ensure that workers in their golden years will be able to retire with dignity. But no one can have dignity without a decent place to live. Under the leadership of Executive Vice President Steve Protulis, a long-time United Auto Workers official and member, EHDOC fulfills this ambition by developing and managing safe, secure and affordable housing for seniors across the U.S.
Launched in 2001, EHDOC now operates 53 facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., providing shelter and services for more than 5,000 seniors, some of whom are among the poorest people in America. By providing housing for those in the direst need, EHDOC improves the quality of life for everyone in every community where it operates. We are proud that the Teamsters Union has recognized the professionalism of EHDOC and has just transferred its senior housing facility in Toledo, Ohio to EHDOC.
In acknowledgment of EHDOC's outstanding national leadership role in providing affordable senior housing, the organization's board of directors is comprised of some of the most influential people in America from all walks of life. They include United Steelworkers President Leo Girard, Ironworkers President Joe Hunt, Connecticut AFL-CIO President John Olsen and American Income Life Insurance President & CEO Roger Smith.
EHDOC is able to carry-out this vital mission directly because of organized labor. EHDOC was formerly known as the National Council of Senior Citizens Housing Management Corporation, founded in 1978 by the AFL-CIO-sponsored National Council of Senior Citizens, which Steve led as the Executive Director. Union values infuse all aspects of EHDOC's work.
Having strong ties with labor means acting, not just talking. The Elderly Housing Corporation uses only union labor to build and maintain its facilities. In fact, EHDOC is, to the best of our knowledge, the only management company that builds "union-only." Earlier this year, for example, we were notified that the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development approved construction of three new facilities where we had land at a total cost of $27 million. Just recently, EHDOC received $2.75 million in stimulus funds to transform two properties into "green buildings."
I was pleased to inform AFL-CIO Building & Construction Trades Department President Mark Ayers that all of this work will be done only with skilled union building trades members.
 EHDOC’s low-income senior housing community in Palermo Lake Fla., which opened Feb. 18, 2009.
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Plus, EHDOC is the only low-income housing provider in the nation whose field staff is fully unionized. All of EHDOC's bargaining unit employees are members of the Service Employees.
In addition to union jobs and better communities, labor benefits in many other ways from EHDOC's activities.
All of our residents are members of the Alliance for Retired Americans and we pay their dues. In fact, four cities have their own chapter among our residents. All are registered to vote. Several of our buildings serve as polling places.
Residents receive all of the information from ARA and information about labor's endorsed political candidates. They support labor causes and vote in big numbers. But the challenge of continuing to meet the demand of affordable housing for low-income seniors is daunting and we need labor's help. Demand already far outstrips the supply of affordable housing. Current production of affordable housing does not even begin to meet today's needs, much less those of the future.
 More than 1,000 Florida seniors line up for hours for applications to a limited number of affordable EHDOC low-income housing units.
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Some estimates project that one-third of baby-boomer seniors will need housing assistance, many of whom are now union members. EHDOC's day-to-day operations are supported largely through HUD's Section 202 program and those funds are under budgetary pressure.
I have participated in meetings with key members of the House and Senate who have told us clearly that labor must make it plain that low-income senior housing is a priority issue and that they will hold members of Congress accountable for their votes. The need is truly desperate. Earlier this year we opened a new facility in Miami with 109 apartments. Nearly one thousand seniors waited in line for hours, hundreds camped out overnight, just to receive an application. More than 800 are now on a waiting list. This situation is repeated in cities across the country.
Steve and I already are meeting with the leaders of the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win federations to make this issue a high priority with labor.
But international and national unions, state and local federations and local unions also can help us meet this challenge. Raise the visibility of the senior housing crisis by informing your members and sharing this article with them.
Work with EHDOC to let our legislators know that this is a priority concern for labor. EHDOC has articles and updates for union publications and websites. Go to our website: www.ehdoc.org.
After 51 years of serving the members of Communications Workers of America, I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to be involved in this important work. The commitment of the EHDOC staff to their mission and kindness toward residents continually amazes me. They truly live by the motto: We will make today a better day for all of our residents.
But there can be no better reward then when an elderly female resident takes both of your hands and says, "I am blessed to be here."
By acting together, EHDOC and labor will continue to pursue our mutual goal to improve the lives of working families and create a retirement with dignity for our nations' seniors so that all can be blessed with a decent place to live in their golden years.
(Morton Bahr also serves as Chairman of the AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board and is President Emeritus of the Communications Workers of America)
Melvina Ford (center) of the District of Columbia Employment Justice Center accepts a $5,000 donation from AIL/NILICO. The request was made by Amalgamated Transit Union International Secretary-Treasurer Oscar Owens (left), a member of the AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board. Presenting the check is AIL/NILICO Vice President Jules Pagano.
Labor College's Rapoport Center Receives Support
AIL/NILICO recently contributed $50,000 to the National Labor College's American Income Life-Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation Institute for Labor and Politics.
This contribution represents the second year of a three-year $50,000 annual commitment by the company for the Institute.
The college is receiving a total of $125,000 over three years for the Institute with additional annual pledges of $50,000 from the Rapoport Foundation and $25,000 from Jules Bernstein.
The college established the AIL-Rapoport Institute in 2008 to focus on the role of labor in politics. The center will seek to sharpen the political skills of union activists and improve their knowledge of the political process at the federal, state and local levels.
The NLC, established as a training center by AFL-CIO in 1969, is now the nation's only accredited higher education institution devoted exclusively to educating union leaders, members and activists.
The NLC became a degree granting college in 1997 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. AIL/NILICO President & CEO Roger Smith also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the college.
NLC President William Schurman (right) discusses plans for the Center's activities with AIL Vice President Jules Pagano.
Preaching free enterprise, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue leads the Chamber's attack on the financial reforms essential to restore employment and the economy. He cloaks the Chamber's staunch opposition in the most expensive rhetoric money can buy. But Donohue's pro-business, pro-economy and pro-jobs rhetoric notwithstanding, the Chamber's record under his leadership is none of those things. It is pro-CEO. To read more, click here.
Washington, DC (October 16, 2009) – LIUNA General President Terry O’Sullivan today attended the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families’ release of the Recovery through Retrofit Report examining ways to expand investments in green jobs and reduce energy costs through home weatherization.
The report found residential weatherization brings significant economic and environmental benefits but pointed out a current shortage of skilled workers needed for a national weatherization effort. High-level training standards and training providers that offer career paths were recommended to meet demand for a nationwide weatherization workforce.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested $5 billion to expand the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program, a nearly ten-fold increase in the amount typically invested in home weatherization. The investment is a major step towards the Obama Administration’s goals of weatherizing the estimated 100 million energy inefficient homes in America.
“Weatherization on a nationwide scale will require hundreds of thousands of skilled workers and LIUNA’s weatherization training program is leading the way while creating good jobs for working families and their communities,” said LIUNA President Terry O’Sullivan. “LIUNA’s credentialed weatherization workers will set the standard for a new American industry.”
LIUNA’s breakthrough national weatherization training program exceeds the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program standards. LIUNA relies on experienced instructors who provide trainees with a broad set of weatherization and construction skills and credentials as Technicians/Installers, Weatherization Supervisors and Energy Auditors.
Weatherization can reduce a home’s energy use by up to 40 percent and cut energy bills by $21 billion annually. By retrofitting energy inefficient homes, America can lower residential greenhouse gas emission 60 million metric tons annually by 2020.
“If done right, weatherization will create hundreds of thousands of family-supporting jobs, reduce homeowners’ energy bills, help free our nation from foreign oil and protect the environment – it’s a win-win no matter how you look at it,” said O’Sullivan. “We commend President Obama, Vice President Biden and the Administration for their leadership and we look forward to the day when millions of Americans confidentially call the LIUNA woman or LIUNA man to weatherize their homes and save their families money.”
