Tag Archives: Elections

75,000 Member Mass Building Trades Council Endorses Stephen Lynch for US Senate

  By New Hampshire Labor News | February 22, 2013 - 1:00 pm | ,
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Rep Steven Lynch Francis X. Callahan, Jr., President Jeff Sullivan, Vice President Louis A. Mandarini, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer
Rep Steven Lynch Francis X. Callahan, Jr., President Jeff Sullivan, Vice President Louis A. Mandarini, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer

Rep Steven Lynch
Francis X. Callahan, Jr., President
Jeff Sullivan, Vice President
Louis A. Mandarini, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer

Today, the 75,000 member Massachusetts Building Trades Council is proud to announce its endorsement of Stephen F. Lynch for the office of United States Senator. Stephen Lynch’s hard work and thoughtful approach on legislative issues impacting working families stretches over 11 years in the United States Congress and 6 years in the Massachusetts Legislature as a State Representative and State Senator.

That record comes as no surprise to those who know him best because we knew him long before he entered public office. We know Stephen Lynch as a second generation Ironworker, who worked 18 years in the trade just like every one of our 75,000 members. We know Stephen Lynch as the youngest president of Ironworkers Union Local #7 who stood up for his members and represented them on the job, securing better wages, hours, working conditions and a secure retirement. We know Stephen Lynch as the guy who put himself through college and law school at night while working construction during the day. We know him as the guy who never forgot where he came from and continues to fight on behalf of working families in the US House of Representatives.

The United States Senate is full of professional politicians and millionaires. It’s about time we sent someone to Washington who doesn’t just talk about representing the interests of working people. We need to send someone to Washington who understands the challenges facing working families. Steve Lynch understands that because he’s lived it. He knows the value of hard work and he knows what it’s like to collect unemployment when the work dries up.

Mass. Building Trades Council President Frank Callahan said, “Hard work, skill and commitment are values that count for a lot in the Building Trades. Steve Lynch exemplifies those values. He has worked hard, with great skill and maintained his commitment to the working families of Massachusetts that he learned as an Ironworker. He has earned the support of our 75,000 members.”

We hope the voters of Massachusetts will send a true representative of working families to represent us in the United States Senate by electing Stephen Lynch.

“I am proud to accept this endorsement from my brothers and sisters in the Building Trades,” Rep. Lynch said.  “I worked alongside them for 18 years as an ironworker, and have stood with them throughout my career in the state legislature and in Congress.  I am honored that they stand with me now in support of my Senate run.  As a card-carrying union member for more than 30 years, I understand the challenges faced by working families.  I have stood on an unemployment line, and shared their worries.  As a member of the Senate, I will stand with working families and make sure their voices are heard.”

 

The Massachusetts Building Trades Council is a 93-year-old organization dedicated to helping working people improve their quality of life. The Council is comprised of 74 member locals representing over 75,000 working men and women across the state.

Congresswoman-Elect Kuster Announces Sean Downey As District Director

  By New Hampshire Labor News | December 3, 2012 - 10:10 am | , ,
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Ann-Kuster (1)

Today Congresswoman-Elect Kuster announced Sean Downey as District Director. The New Hampshire Labor News would also like to congratulate Sean on his new position.  The NHLN worked with Sean when he was working as part of the ‘Organizing for America’  (OFA) New Hampshire team.  Under Sean’s strong leadership we all worked to ensure a win for President Obama her in New Hampshire. We look forward to working with Sean in the future.

Full Press Release From Ann Kuster

Congresswoman-Elect Kuster Announces Sean Downey As District Director

Concord, N.H. – Congresswoman-Elect Annie Kuster (NH-02) announced today that Sean Downey will serve as her Congressional District Director.

“I am thrilled that Sean will be joining our team as District Director,” Kuster said. “Sean has a wealth of experience that makes him a natural fit for this role. The people of New Hampshire’s Second District will be well-served by his thoughtfulness, diligence, and commitment to public service.”

“I am honored to join Congresswoman-Elect Kuster as she goes to work for the people of New Hampshire’s Second District,” Downey said. “I look forward to doing everything I can to support her in her efforts, and to help ensure that the needs of hardworking families all across the district are priority number one.”

Sean joins the staff of Congresswoman-Elect Kuster after serving as Political Director for Organizing for America – New Hampshire, the grassroots arm of President Obama’s successful re-election campaign. His experience in New Hampshire extends back to 2002 and includes work at all levels of various state and federal campaigns, including a Senior Advisor role with Governor John Lynch’s 2010 re-election. Sean is a 2002 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

Why It Is So Important For American Airlines Workers To Hold Union Election

  By New Hampshire Labor News | November 22, 2012 - 4:00 pm |
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8205214225_f2404b6fc4
Sixteen former and current American Airlines passenger
service agents lobby Senate offices.  Credit CWA Union

American Airlines has been pushing back against their employee unions for quite a while now.  They recently resolved their dispute with the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) to avoid possible strikes and airline shutdowns.   However they are continuing to push back against service agents who are awaiting the upcoming election of CWA as their employee union.

This election has been very ugly. American Airlines have been doing every possible thing they can to delay the election with the hope that it would never happen at all.   They have even been ‘outsourcing’ agent jobs.  They are hiring inadequate contractor to clean their planes, and check in passengers.

With the help of CWA, workers are taking their case straight to Washington D.C.  Below is a recent post from the CWA Union Blog that explains what they are doing and why it is so important to hold these elections.

Below: Agents and their supporters rally
outside American Airlines Washington office.
2_American_Rally

Original Post from CWA 

American Airlines passenger service agents aren’t backing down.

On Friday, 16 former and current employees — including some who were even facing layoffs at the close of business — visited U.S. Senate offices to raise awareness about American Airlines’ dirty campaign to delay their right to vote in a union election. Then the agents and CWA supporters rallied outside American Airlines’ lobbying office in Washington, D.C., to focus public attention on the airline’s anti-democratic campaign to stop the vote.

American Airlines’ actions have shown that it doesn’t care much about its workers or passengers. AMR, the airline’s parent company that filed for bankruptcy last year, continues to outsource jobs across its system, hiring low-paid contractors for hundreds of gate and ramp agent positions at the height of the busiest holiday travel season of the year.

“My last day was Tuesday and they put us out on the street with nothing,” said Sylvia Solis, a former passenger service agent at Miami International Airport. “The outsourced people don’t know how to check in an infant, and they think JFK is London. They do not have the slightest airline industry background.”

Renee Similien had worked the First Class check-in counter at Logan Airport in Boston for the past 12 years until Friday, her last day of formal employment at American Airlines. She said she was working 50-60 hour weeks for the past several years saving for her child’s college tuition, and her salary maxed out at $50,000 a year. “Everyone who was at max pay was kicked out,” she said, adding that her replacement is currently making $9 an hour without benefits.

Following the orders of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the National Mediation Board scheduled an election for nearly 9,700 American Airlines agents to vote on union representation beginning December 4. Despite two determinations from the appeals court ordering that the vote go forward, American Airlines now is seeking a stay of those decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court.

AMR recently announced that since it filed for bankruptcy last November, it has spent over $200 million on fees and expenses related to the bankruptcy. Of that, AMR paid $19.5 million to the New York City-based law firm Paul Hastings LLP, to help the airline throw out existing union contracts and stop passenger service agents from voting in their democratic election.

Voter Suppression Is Real!

  By Matt Murray | November 14, 2012 - 7:02 pm | ,
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Faez

If you think the elections are over then you would be wrong.  In New Hampshire they are currently holding numerous recounts throughout the state.  While the overall media opinion is that New Hampshire voting went smoothly.  There were a few issues with the new Voter ID law and long lines.

The biggest story comes from Merrimack. The entire town voted in one polling station.  Over 18,000 registered voters in Merrimack were force to go to the town high school to cast their ballot. This could be the largest polling station in the country. There were long lines at the polls but the traffic getting to the polls actually kept people from the polls.  The town has a significate traffic problem on a normal day now add in thousands of people trying to go to a school with only two entrance roads.  The town ended up keeping the polls open till after 8pm due to the traffic on the roads. It is unknown how many if any were turned away or neglected to go because the polls were supposed to be closed.

The good thing is that all 15,000 people who cast their ballot in Merrimack had their ballot counted.  This is not the case in some places.

In Maricopa Arizona thousands of people exercised their Constitutional Right to vote and yet their vote has still not been counted.  Listen to the dramatic story of this first time voter who was forced to file a ‘provisional’ ballot.

UNITE HERE has been on the ground in Arizona since the election season started.  They were working to turn out voters.  They registered 34,000 new voters like Faez.  Now the state is refusing to count their votes.

UNITE HERE and other community members are standing up for these voters.  Working to ensure that they get their voice heard this election.  They will be hosting a rally tomorrow at the Maricopa County Recorders Office.

Holding up our rights is paramount to what we in the labor movement have fighting for since the beginning.  Ensuring that our collective voice is heard is what labor is all about. Now we have to hold the government accountable to ensure that all voters get their voice heard too.  Our right to vote is guaranteed by the Constitution and nothing the Maricopa Country Recorder does will ever take that away.

American Airlines Service Agent Deserve A Voice Not To Be Outsourced

  By Matt Murray | November 13, 2012 - 9:30 pm | ,
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AMR In Trouble

American Airlines is once again sticking it to their unions.

American Airlines (AMR) is still spending millions of dollars to block the service agents from holding their election.  The election would officially recognize the Communication Workers of America (CWA) as the sole representation of the workers.  This election has been held up for months due to a technicality over the percentage of people who say they want the union representation prior to the elections.

“We filed for this election almost a year ago and the company has been uncooperative from the beginning,” said CWA Organizing Director Sandy Rusher. “What are they afraid of? They know what we know – a union will give agents a voice and a seat at the table. Agents haven’t given up and we won’t give up on them.”

Two American Agents event went to Congress looking for assistance with this matter. See the video here.

No matter what American Airlines says the hard working agents are not giving up.  The agents and CWA have been fighting for their election for months and now they will finally get the vote they are asking for.

American Airlines agents will vote for representation beginning Dec. 4, when voting instructions will be mailed, and ending Jan. 15, 2013, under a schedule announced Nov. 1 by the National Mediation Board.

“After more than a year of needless delays, we finally can vote to form our own union, to secure a real voice on the job,” said Anne McCarthy, BOS. “It’s about time,” added Ted Tezino, SRO. “This shouldn’t have been in the courts in the first place. To all the agents out there who are undecided, I say wake up and see what’s going on! The company is not on our side.”

Ted is right American Airlines is not on their side.  A local Dallas TV station aired this story on the problems American Airlines is having with their third party contractor (embeded below).

The story highlights that the third party contractor may not have the proper clearance and credentials to access the secure side of the airport.  They have also been receiving numerous complaints on the work these contractors have been doing across the country.  These contractors are reportadly responsible for over 300 flight delays in their first two days.

These are only some of the horrors being brought to light about this outside contractor.

Agents for American Airlines need to know that without a union their jobs will be outsourced too.  AMR will cut your job, just to hire you back at less pay and no benefits.

Stand up for your rights and get out there and vote between Dec 4 th and
Dec 7 th.  Get all the information about how to vote and make your voice heard!

 

My name is Matt and I stand in solidarity with the Service Agents at CWA!

 

This Election, Labor Leads The Way

  By Bill Brickley | November 13, 2012 - 12:00 pm | ,
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Lou SAPS

The NALC has again shown why it is among the best unions in the land. Realizing our Unions very existence was at stake. The NALC sent hundreds of Carriers into the field to work full time on AFL CIO’s LABOR 2012 program. That decision paid off as unions worked hard and brought home some much-needed victories for the Labor Movement and the Postal Service. As good as this victory was we still have many obstacles to overcome.

The NALC, APWU and NPMHU had their very existence at stake on November 6th. Romney had full intention of eliminating our jobs and privatizing the USPS if given the chance.  Postal Unions worked together in New Hampshire to elect President Barrack Obama, Governor Maggie Hassan, long time friend Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, and also welcomed a union friendly Congresswoman Annie McLane-Kuster to Congress. Our three unions were an effective team working together throughout the state to ensure our survival.

Possibly now this nation can address real problems as a country not imaginary ones. The right wing media loves using phony issues to distract the public. They want voters to vote against their own economic interests; they try to accomplish this by manufacturing an alternate reality.  Rachel Madow accurately pointed this out on November 7th.

Ohio really did go to the president

And he really did win.
And he really was born in Hawaii.
And he really is -legitimately- President of the United States.
Again.

And the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not make-up a fake unemployment rate
And the Congressional Research Service really can find no evidence
That cutting taxes on rich people grows the economy.

And the polls were not skewed to over-sample Democrats.
And Nate Silver was not making up fake projections about the election to make conservatives feel bad.
He was doing math.

And climate change is real.
And rape really does cause pregnancy sometimes.
And evolution is a thing.
And Benghazi was an attack on us. It was not a scandal by us.

And no one is taking away anyone’s guns.
And taxes haven’t gone up.
And the deficit is dropping, actually.
And Saddam Hussein didn’t have weapons of mass destruction.

And the moon landing was real.
And FEMA isn’t building concentration camps.
And UN election observers aren’t taking over Texas.
And moderate reforms of the regulations on the insurance industry
And the financial services industry
Are not the same thing as communism

So one of the real topics that must be dealt with is the financial situation of the Postal Service. President Rolando challenged Congress: “Addressing in a responsible manner the future of the Postal Service would, indeed, be a good place for all sides to demonstrate a commitment to effective governing,” Rolando said. “Legislation currently before Congress in both chambers fails to meet the grade, because it would dismantle the universal network that provides Americans with the world’s most efficient delivery service, while degrading those very services and hence driving mail and revenue out of the system.”

One ballot question that was of particular interest to Letter Carriers was a ballot question in Michigan that would repeal Public Act 4. That act and implementation by Governor Snyder was the model Congressman Issa used to create his Postal Bill HR 2309. The most controversial aspect of Michigan’s Public Act 4 was one that allowed emergency managers to amend or scrap collective bargaining agreements under certain circumstances. This was how Mr. Issa was going to take away our collective bargaining rights. In Michigan that Act was repealed by the Voters! Hopefully Mr. Issa takes note and he will allow reasonable postal reform proposals to be heard in his committee.

Though this election was a major win for the Labor Movement and the Middle Class we still have much work to do. We as Letter carriers have to be vigilant and make our voices heard as Congress debates our future as well as the Postal Services as they attempt to rectify this manufactured crisis. The quality of our lives for decades to follow depends on it.

 

And Occupy the Election We Did!

  By Wayne Alterisio | November 13, 2012 - 9:00 am |
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Carol Shea-Poter and NHALC

Left to right
Lew Henry, Wayne Alterisio, Carol Shea-Porter, and Bill Brickley

And Occupy the Election We Did!

I started posting on this website with a plea that we needed to get members engaged in this upcoming election because in 2010 we had our heads summarily handed to us on a platter. Mostly because of a pitiful voter turnout which invariably leads to huge Republican gains which translates into an attack on working families and the Labor movement overall. What we saw happen in Wisconsin was a prelude to what was about to happen to the rest of the nation.

Ann Kuster and NH Letter Carriers from the Union Night at the Fishercats

Newly elected Republican politicians turned 8 years of a Bush’s two wars and a ruinous Wall St. financial miss-step as a reason to lay-off teachers and dismantle bargaining agreements. You know what, aided by the conservative main street media, it worked! With the aid of ALEC generated legislation and flipped State Legislatures from blue to red, the onslaught began. It wasn’t long before the fight came here to New Hampshire. It was not just an attack on Labor with “right to work” but a host of crazy nutty legislation that was right out of a Fellini movie. Besides the phony claim that voter fraud was rampant in the country requiring us to set up an expensive time consuming voter ID system it was things we could have never imagined. It was things like being able to carry weapons on the House floor and on College campuses. My favorite was taking away lunch for State employees.

The Bill O’Brien Republican House was secret about its attacks never divulging their agenda or when legislation would be introduced. It was just a constant vigil. Democrats when they held the House always posted their agenda on pending legislation for the upcoming week. That is the fair and open thing to do.

This onslaught was not limited to Labor. It was also aimed at a women’s right to control her body and her decision as to when to start a family. That was probably a bigger mistake than attacking Labor. That has already been decided by the Supreme Court. All indications were pointing to Republicans wanting to change that decision. Their voting block was substantially larger. Coupled with the fact that the ethnic voter was not seeing jobs coming their way any too soon doomed the anti-fact checking Republican Party.

No poll or amount of corporate money and influence can stop a tidal wave of votes. Not in New Hampshire. Politics is real close-up and personal here. We will only succumb to logic and reason. We do fact check, and that drives our vote! We occupied the election like never before. I embodied this at my last union meeting when I called out all the people to stand who helped out on the election. I called them out by name too, because I knew who they were. It wasn’t just the usual few, it was many! Thank you brothers and sisters for making this election a roaring success for hard working families.

There was no apathy and that’s how we get change!

Tonight is a Victory for Working People Everywhere: Comments By SEUI President Henry

  By New Hampshire Labor News | November 8, 2012 - 2:00 pm | ,
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Tonight is a Victory for Working People Everywhere

SEIU’s Henry: “By re-electing President Barack Obama tonight, working people voted for a country with a vibrant middle class fueled by good jobs and where everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream.  Voters rejected the notion that the rich should be allowed to run roughshod over our economy with shameful tax breaks and let off the hook by not investing in America.”

CHICAGO, IL – Mary Kay Henry, President of the 2.1 million member Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released the following statement after the re-election of President Barack Obama tonight:

“By re-electing President Barack Obama tonight to lead our country, working people voted for a vibrant middle class fueled by good jobs, where everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream.  Voters rejected the notion that the rich should be allowed to run roughshod over our economy with shameful tax breaks and let off the hook by not investing in America. In states like New Hampshire, Ohio and Nevada working people rejected Mitt Romney’s ‘your on your own’ vision and embraced a country where our deeds are guided by the core American value that ‘we’re all in this together.”

“President Barack Obama’s re-election tonight is a victory for working people, whose voices were heard despite some of the most coordinated and insidious obstacles to their participation in our democracy in history. When the right wing flooded our electoral process with obscene amounts of money, working people mobilized to energize voters around a better vision for America.  When extremist state legislators tried to suppress the votes of broad swaths of Americans, working people responded by standing up for their constitutional right to cast their votes.  When Mitt Romney and the Republican Party sought to dismiss entire communities, voters in states like Nevada responded loud and clear:  ‘Ignore us at your own peril.’

“Our union, including the more than 100,000 SEIU members who were on the ground during this campaign, made history as we stood with President Barack Obama – the most volunteers in SEIU history, knocking on millions of doors and making millions of phone calls to talk about the critically important issues at stake.  We are also incredibly proud of our early and sustained work in the Latino and African American communities, which was ultimately critical in tonight’s outcome.

“Together, we were galvanized by our belief that President Obama is the leader we need to help get our country on track by creating good jobs now, requiring the rich and corporations to pay their fair share, to invest in healthcare, education and other vital services and by creating a pathway to citizenship for immigrants.

“Our hard work paid off – but it’s not over.  We will stay in the streets until our agenda for working people is a reality.”

###

With 2.1 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers—not just corporations and CEOs—benefit from today’s global economy.

www.seiu.org

Statement of AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders on the 2012 Election

  By New Hampshire Labor News | November 8, 2012 - 1:00 pm | ,
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Washington, DC — “This is a good day for the working middle class, the Main Street movement and the American Dream.  The American people sent a clear message that we will stand with a President who stands with all Americans. We pulled together to elect leaders who believe that ‘we are all in this together.’

“Working families reelected Pres. Barack Obama, giving him added strength in the fight to create jobs and opportunity. The voters have given a mandate to protect vital programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, and strengthen the middle class.

“Voters elected pro-worker candidates like Tammy Baldwin, Chris Murphy and Sherrod Brown to the U.S. Senate. And perhaps no race more clearly demonstrates the commitment of voters to uphold the values of Main Street than Elizabeth Warren’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate race. From the beginning, Warren offered a full throated embrace of Main Street’s fight to curb Wall Street’s power – and the active role that government has to play in the struggle.

“We are proud of the role AFSCME members and our sisters and brothers in the labor movement have played in this critical victory. More workers than ever got involved through the AFL-CIO’s political program, the smartest, biggest and broadest effort we’ve ever run. More than 65,000 AFSCME volunteers went into action, combining cutting-edge voter communications with massive grassroots strength.

“We will continue to pull together and fight for the values that inspire working men and women and have helped to produce these electoral victories.”

A Statement From CWA President Larry Cohen On Election Results

  By New Hampshire Labor News | November 7, 2012 - 7:00 pm | , ,
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“Throughout this very long political campaign, at CWA, we’ve been clear that elections are about choices. Americans who want to ensure a place for working families in our economy made a clear choice in re-electing President Obama.

Tens of thousands of our members, activists and volunteers, stepped up and did amazing work, not only in returning President Obama to office but in electing representatives who will stand with working Americans and not look for ways to cut programs that working families count on and more tax breaks for the wealthiest in our nation.

Our members and activists took a stand for democracy in many ways in Election 2012.

  • In Ohio, thousands of CWA activists, working with the Stand Up for Ohio coalition, made the difference in this election. They started more than a year ago, getting 1.3 million signatures to block the Republican plan to destroy public workers’ collective bargaining rights. They turned back a similar attempt to suppress the vote. And they mobilized to re-elect President Obama and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, among others.
  • In Pennsylvania, well before Election Day, our members, working with the NAACP, the Transport Workers Union and other groups, registered new voters in the face of the most restrictive voter identification law in the U.S. and are fighting back against a wave of voter suppression.
  • In Virginia, CWA leafleted hundreds of worksites across the states, knocked on thousands of doors in labor walks and made thousands of phone calls to support President Obama and Tim Kaine for the U.S. Senate.

CWA and our progressive allies are looking ahead, determined to work to abolish the bars to democracy that threaten our democratic process. These are: Senate rules that make progress on any issue just about impossible; the obscene amount of money in politics that was all too evident in Election 2012; voter suppression, and barriers to legalization for millions of immigrants. These have no place in our democracy. We know that the choices made this Election Day will move us closer to economic justice and democracy for all.”