Articles: Obama: McCain Won’t Fight for America’s Jobs
Region: United States
Posted by Seth Michaels to AFL-CIO NOW With the economy on everyone’s minds, Sen. Barack Obama has released a new radio ad drawing a clear contrast between him and his opponent on jobs. The ad (which you can listen to here) points to Sen. John McCain’s record of opposing rules to ensure that the federal government supports companies that create good jobs here. When it comes to his record, American-made motorcycles like Harleys don’t matter to John McCain... more
Views: 3154Colombian Flower Workers Celebrate New Contracts
Region: Colombia
Posted by James Parks to AFL-CIO NOW For two years, flower workers in Colombia withstood a vicious anti-union campaign—and now their solidarity has paid off. Last month, workers at the Splendor and La Fragancia flower plantations signed contracts with Dole Fresh Flowers, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Dole Food Co. and the largest grower and exporter of flowers from Colombia. After the workers at the two plantations formed unions in 2004 and 2005, ... more
Views: 2515California State Employees Suffer for Arnie’s Hissy Fit
Region: California
Posted by Tula Connell to AFL-CIO NOW Apparently, Arnie wasn’t sufficiently vicious when he unilaterally cut the pay of California state employees to the minimum wage in a drama queen move over the state budget impasse. Now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is suing the state controller, who refuses to go along with the Terminator’s tantrum. On July 31, Schwarzenneger signed an executive order cutting the pay of 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.65 an hour... more
Views: 2283Obama Pushes for New Energy Solutions
Region: United StatesPosted by Seth Michaels to AFL-CIO NOW With wages declining and unemployment rising, working families are having a hard time making ends meet—and the worsening economy, made more painful by rising energy costs, has become a top concern in the 2008 elections. In town hall meetings in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana this week, Sen. Barack Obama is discussing how rising energy costs are squeezing the budgets of working families—and how building a new energy economy can help tu... more
Views: 2686Obama to AFL-CIO Council: He’s Counting on Union Movement
Region: Illinois
Posted by Mike Hall to AFL-CIO NOW Barack Obama told the AFL-CIO Executive Council he is counting on the union movement’s largest-ever voter mobilization to play a key role in his drive to take back the White House for working families on Election Day. Speaking via video conference at the council’s two-day meeting in Chicago this morning, Obama pledged his support for the Employee Free Choice Act, new fair trade policies that don’t reward companies for shipping jobs o... more
Views: 2747Wal-Mart’s Attempt to Kill Employee Choice Backfires
Region: United States
Posted by James Parks to AFL-CIO NOW When Wal-Mart tried to squelch the Employee Free Choice Act by requiring its employees to sit through mandatory meetings that stress the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized, it didn’t expect the idea would backfire. But after The Wall Street Journal broke the story Friday, folks who had never heard of or discussed the Employee Free Choice Act began talking about it and learning why it’s needed. (You can take action now and t... more
Views: 1956Drunk and Cheap. Bad Date? Nope. Chamber of Commerce Staff
Region: District of Columbia
Posted by Tula Connell to AFL-CIO NOW They may be party animals when chugging $8,204 worth of booze, but after the hangover is over, the staff at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce goes back to being their ugly anti-worker selves. Seems that some 100 or so Chamber of Commerce staff recently ran up an $8,204 tab at The Exchange, a sports bar within staggering distance from the Chamber’s architecturally ever-so ponderous Washington, D.C., headquarters. And when the bosses got the tab, ... more
Views: 2260Workers Urge Democrats to Focus Platform on Employee Choice, Jobs, Health Care, Trade
Region: United States
Posted by James Parks to AFL-CIO NOW In recent decades, corporate power has grown at the expense of ordinary workers, who see the results every day—in exported jobs, stagnant wages, lost pensions and unaffordable health care. And union members have urged the Democratic Party and its nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, to make restoring that balance a major part of the party’s platform, campaign and policy agenda. The keys to rebuilding the economy, they said, inc... more
Views: 1747Death and the Bush Administration
Region: United StatesPosted by Tula Connell to AFL-CIO NOW Last week, a confluence of events reminded the U.S. public that it’s not just the food we eat that’s increasingly dangerous in our daily lives—inadequate safety on the job still is killing America’s working people. The week ended with two more deaths from construction cranes, this time in Illinois. These fatalities came within days of four deaths due to a crane collapse in Houston—and raises to 18 the number of workers wh... more
Views: 1574Verizon Contract Talks Continue Past Strike Deadline
Region: United States
Posted by James Parks to AFL-CIO NOW Negotiators returned to the bargaining table today in an effort to agree on a fair contract for the 85,000 employees who work for Verizon along the East Coast from Massachusetts to Virginia. Just minutes before the current contract was set to expire Aug. 2, the workers, members of the Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), agreed to “stop the clock” and postpone a strike while negotiations continue. Last mo... more
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