At AFL-CIO convention: A diverse crowd, long journeys, high hopes

The quadrennial convention of the AFL-CIO. the nation's largest labor federation, has attracted a diverse crowd from across the nation and around the world to the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Among the 5,000 scheduled to attend were day laborers from as far away as Florida and taxi drivers from New York City.

But there were also several international guests, including representatives from the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, trade unionists from Pakistan and representatives from the Myanmar Federation of Trade Unions.

Mohammed Zahoor Awan, general secretary of the Pakistan Workers Federation, said he came to share "brotherly feelings" and solidarity with the American labor movement.

The convention also has brought together new allies such as the Sierra Club, the NAACP and the National Council of La Raza.

They came at a time when only about 11% of U.S. workers are unionized, according to the most recent figures available, down from 35% in 1950.

In particular, there is an attempt to attract and to elevate the status of domestic workers in the U.S. as a potential source of future strength and influence. That effort includes bringing together international domestic worker leadership from as far away as South Africa and Hong Kong.

Via: LA Times

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Labor Unions Turning on Democrats

Criticism mounts as labor 

continues to be ignored by 

President Obama

Health care reform and a flurry of Obama administration regulations have caused internal divisions within the labor movement and led one of the Democratic Party’s biggest supporters to publicly rebuke the president.

The implementation of Obamacare, which received major union support when it was passed in 2010, has soured relations between labor groups and the White House and splintered labor coalitions.

More than 40,000 workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) left the AFL-CIO in August, blasting the union for being “in lockstep” with Obama on health care and immigration reform.

“We feel that the Federation has done a great disservice to the labor movement and all working people by going along to get along,” ILWU President Robert McEllrath said in a letter announcing the split. “President Obama ran on a platform that he would not tax medical plans. … Yet the Federation later lobbied affiliates to support a bill [Obamacare] that taxed our health care plans.”

The break-up occurred just weeks after the AFL-CIO’s Nevada chapter issued a resolution stating that Obamacare would eliminate full-time jobs and endanger generous health care plans that unions have negotiated for their members.

Via: WFB

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[VIDEO] AFL-CIO’s Trumka: Negative Obamacare Impact on Employee Hours Needs to be Addressed

 

      

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said Thursday that Obamacare’s negative effect on creating more part-time hires by employers trying to avoid the mandate was a consequence “no one intended” that still needed to be addressed.

Responding to a question about Obamacare undermining the 40-hour work week because of its definition of full-time work, the union leader expressed concerns about the increased amount of part-time hires by businesses to stay below 50 full-time employees. The Obamacare mandate requires employers above that threshold to provide health insurance to all workers or face heavy fines.

“Employers are trying to plan their future by creating a work force that gets 29-and-a-half hours or less a week so they don’t have to pay health care,” Trumka said. “That is obviously something that no one intended. No one intended for an act to be the result of people working fewer hours, just so they don’t have to pay for health care, so that’s something that needs to be addressed. Is that an issue? Yeah, that’s an issue.”

Trumka also said mistakes were made in writing the law, and he added he would support changing Obamacare’s definition of a full-time work week from 30 hours to the 40-hour standard at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast.

Via: WFB

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Obama to travel to Los Angeles to recognize labor

Obama will appear at the AFL-CIO convention, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Thursday.

That night the president will also appear at a $32,400 per plate Hollywood fundraiser held at the home of Marta Kauffman, the co-creator of the sitcom "Friends," according to an invitation obtained by the Sunlight Foundation.

The White House is billing the appearance at the labor convention as the latest in the president's summer-long middle class economic tour, according to the Los Angeles Times. Last week, the president visited schools across New York and Pennsylvania to tout his proposal to rank universities based on value, while previous stops have seen Obama call for new infrastructure improvements and reforming the corporate tax code.

It's not clear what specific topic Obama will tackle, but Trumka said his organization was working with the administration to plug holes in the Affordable Care Act.

“We have been working with the administration to find solutions to the inadvertent holes in the act,” Trumka said. “We are working to try solve problems, just like they tried to solve problems with employers, with large business and small business groups.”

Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will also appear at the four-day AFL-CIO convention, the group said in a release.

The president's fundraiser that night will benefit the Democratic National Committee. 

Obama has been a prolific fundraiser in California since his reelection, traveling repeatedly there to raise cash for congressional Democrats. Before a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in late May, Obama appeared at events benefiting the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic National Committee. In April, Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.) raised cash in the Bay Area for House Democrats.

Via: The Hill

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Unions ask Obama for Detroit bailout

Union leaders are calling on Congress and President Obama to provide a federal bailout to the city of Detroit.

The executive council of the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, called for an “immediate infusion of federal assistance for Detroit” to be matched by Michigan, which they say has not done enough to keep the city from going through bankruptcy.

“Bankruptcy must not be used as a tool to impoverish city of Detroit workers or retirees. City workers have already made severe concessions to keep the city afloat,” the executive council said in a statement. “They are not to blame for Detroit’s financial problems, yet they have been making sacrifices all along the way to help the city out.”

The executive council, which consists of more than 50 leaders from various organized labor groups, are angry about pensions for retired workers facing suspension if Detroit goes through Chapter 6 bankruptcy.

“It appears that Governor [Rick] Snyder and [Emergency Financial Manager] Kevyn Orr are pushing Detroit into bankruptcy to gut the modest benefits received by Detroit’s retired public service employees,” the AFL-CIO’s statement reads.

Snyder appointed the emergency financial manager in March to try and help the Motor City sort out its finances. 

Via: The Hill

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Goon Squad: AFL-CIO Chief Trumka Promises More Than 2,000 Union “Poll Monitors” In Battleground States…

(CNSNews.com) - Setting the scene for possible post-election legal challenges, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said his unions plan to deploy 2,000 “poll monitors” who will be linked with lawyers around the country as a way to prevent
"voter suppression" in states such as Ohio.

During a media conference call on Thursday, Trumka recalled being at an early voting site in Las Vegas where he saw “challengers inside.”

“We’re going to have over 2,000 people that are going to be available as poll monitors that’ll be connected to a number of lawyers around the country. So that if they [the opposition] attempt to deny them the right to vote, or hassle them we’ll be able to have a rapid response team that will respond immediately to that and protect them,” Trumka said.

“That will be up in the core states like Ohio, where we think there could be problems and so we’ll challenge those everywhere we can and protect the votes,” he said.

Via: CNS News

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AFL-CIO offers list of union-approved Halloween candy

Halloween is less than a week away and, just in time for Americans stocking up on candy, the AFL-CIO has identified the most union-friendly candy available.

Yes, there is such a thing as union-approved candy.

“If you want your Halloween to be all treats and no tricks, make sure all your candy is union-made, made in America,” Jackie Tortora writes at the AFL-CIO’s blog, linking to Local 144’s “Buy Union Directory.”

Tortora provides a list of union-approved candy highlights from the directory including Baby Ruths, Butterfingers, Caramellos, Hershey’s Candy Corn Kisses, Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate bars, Hershey’s Hugs, Hershey’s Kisses, Hershey’s Nuggets, Jelly Belly candies, Kit Kats, Laffy Taffy, Mike and Ikes, Rolos, Super Ropes, Tootsie Rolls and Trolli candies.

Via: Daily Caller

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Obama administration acknowledged releasing illegals who didn’t fit ‘priority’ for deportation

Letters obtained by The Daily Caller show the Obama administration has acknowledged releasing illegal immigrants from law enforcement custody and back into the general U.S. population even when they are outside the qualifications outlined in the president’s new immigration policy.

In March, the administration released an illegal alien from law enforcement custody for the reason that he did not “fit” any administrative “priority” for deportation.

On March 27, according to the Fox News Channel, a “veteran” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer and one of his colleagues “were conducting surveillance on a vehicle in Newark, Del. with [license] plates that were registered to a criminal alien target.”

“During the surveillance, they observed an individual get into the vehicle. The person was detained, questioned and taken to an ICE office so that his fingerprints could be run through a federal database,” Fox News’ Todd Starnes reported in August. “The individual was not their criminal alien target. However, he was a 35-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico who had ten previous traffic violations — including driving without a license.”

When that Fox story broke, National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council president Chris Crane said the ICE agent had exercised “prosecutorial discretion” and decided to “charge [the suspect] as being in the United States illegally and let the judge sort it out.”

That National ICE Council is a subset of the American Federation of Government Employees, an AFL-CIO member labor union. (RELATED: Immigrants don’t have to prove they meet DREAM Act criteria to avoid charges, ICE union chief says)

Political leaders inside ICE ordered the agent to release that criminal alien suspect, however. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions wrote in a letter to ICE director John Morton on Aug. 3 that the suspect was released because he wasn’t a “presidential priority.”

Via: The Daily Caller

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James Hoffa, Teamsters President, Says Romney 'Wants To Annihilate Organized Labor'

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The way Teamsters President James P. Hoffa sees it, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney would be happy if an already weakened American labor movement ceased to exist altogether.

"He wants to annihilate organized labor as we know it," Hoffa told HuffPost outside the Democratic National Convention this week. "It's on his website. I'm not making this up. He's for a national right-to-work law. The Republican Party has veered dangerously to the right. It's rather incredible, in 2012, if you think about it."

Indeed, Romney's official stance on labor isn't kind to unions. His campaign website suggests that unions have outlasted their significance, "driv[ing] up costs and introduc[ing] rigidities that harm competitiveness and frustrate innovation." He supports states pursuing right-to-work laws, which weaken the clout of unions, and his party last week approved a platform pushing for national right-to-work legislation. He'd also like to prohibit automatic union dues-deduction from employee paychecks.

Hoffa isn’t the only labor leader who visited Charlotte this week and sees a hostility toward unions in Romney's positions. Mary Kay Henry, head of the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union, told HuffPost earlier this week that Romney "wants to take us out."

The Romney campaign didn't respond to Hoffa or Henry's comments.

Rank-and-file union members said they often feel taken for granted by Democrats in office. Among many labor activists, the enthusiasm for the Obama-Biden ticket appears to stem in large part from a loathing and distrust of the alternative. But Hoffa, like other labor figures who headed to Charlotte, insisted the current White House has been good to unions over the past four years.

Via: HuffPost Politics

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Labor tries to soften image with 'hug a union thug' booth in Charlotte

This Labor Day, unions are trying a mix of celebrity, social media and humor to polish up the labor movement’s image in the eyes of everyday people.

In Charlotte, people will be asked to “hug a union thug” at a CarolinaFest booth sponsored by the North Carolina State AFL-CIO the day before the Democratic National Convention officially begins. Also in honor of Monday, videos are being posted online thanking workers, while actors and athletes will use Twitter to express support for union rights.

The effort comes as labor has seen increased attacks from Republican-controlled state legislatures and governors since the 2010 elections. Unions were unsuccessful in their attempt earlier this summer to oust Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) after he pushed through legislation that curbed some public workers’ collective bargaining rights.

MaryBe McMillan, secretary-treasurer for the North Carolina State AFL-CIO, said the state labor federation wanted to break down stereotypes regarding union members by dishing out the hugs.

“We see this as an opportunity to dispel that stereotype that union members are mean, scary and violent. What better way to disarm folks than to hug them?” McMillan said. “Union members take care of you in the hospital, deliver your packages and sit next you in church. We are just average folks.”

McMillan hopes the hugs will help draw people into the federation’s booth, which will show videos of union members running the Guide Dogs of America program, rebuilding the Word Trade Center and so on. Further, expect to see photos of people embracing union members at unionhugs.com.

“This will help draw people into our exhibit space and we will be able to show them how unions help build the middle class and why they should support the right to organize,” McMillan said.

The cuddle campaign will be only one aspect of labor’s effort to highlight union members’ and other workers’ good deeds.

The AFL-CIO is asking people online to thank workers for the jobs they do every day. In one video, actor Martin Sheen of “The West Wing” thanked his newspaper delivery person.

Via: The Hill

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CLICK: Top Union Leaders’ Salaries...

Not exactly the 99%: Top union leaders’ salaries

Advocating for the working man doesn’t pay too poorly, it seems. Here’s a list of the annual salaries and benefits earned by the nation’s top labor officials, according to the Labor Department. This data is based on 2011 filings:

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka – $293,750.

National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel – $460,060

Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry – $290,334.

American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees President Gerald McEntee – $512,489.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James P. Hoffa , Jr. – $372,489.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten – $493,859.

International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger – $323,811.

American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage – $198,690. (Gage retired this month)

United Food and Commercial Workers President Joseph Hansen – $361,124

That’s still not in the the league of most top corporate executives, but it’s not bad. Interesting to note too that Trumka, who leads the largest coalition of unions, is on the lower end of the scale.

Via: Washington Times