Tag Archives: Workers Rights

Free Keene from ‘Free-Keene’: A Story Of Harassment In The Workplace

  By Matt Murray | May 17, 2013 - 1:32 pm | , , ,
Comments
Parking Meter

If you live in New Hampshire you have probably heard about the Free State Project (FSP).  This group of Libertarians who vowed to bring 20,000 members to New Hampshire in an effort to increase their personal freedoms.  ”What I propose is a Free State Project, in which freedom-minded people of all stripes…establish residence in a small state and take over the state government,” Jason Sorens the creator of the FSP wrote.  The FSP has caused a significant impact on the state.  While the FSP has not reached their 20,000 person goal, they already have a significant political presence in NH.

Keene NH has been a hot bed of activity for the FSP.  Many have congregated there.  The ones who have settled there are the most extreme of this extremist organization.  There have been stories of Free Staters openly carrying guns onto college campuses, women walking topless in the streets, and videotaping police arrests.

Now there is a new thing happening in Keene that some people like, and others do not.  The group of Free Staters calls themselves ‘Robin Hoods’.  They go around putting money into expired parking meters so that violators do not get tickets.

From the Free-Keene Website:

“Activists in Keene have been “Robin Hooding” for years now. (Here are all our Robin Hood related posts.) The purpose is to rescue motorists like you from being ticked by Keene’s “parking enforcers”. If your meter is expired, Robin Hood and the Merry Men and Women will place a coin into the meter to extend your time, presuming we reach the meter before the King’s enforcers. If a “parking enforcer” is on the street, the Merry Men and Women will usually be seen walking directly in front of him/her and check and feed meters before the enforcer.”

While I am not against the idea of dropping a quarter in a meter every now and then to help someone out, this goes much beyond that.  The part that the Free-Keene site does not say is that the ‘parking enforcers’ as they call it, are being harassed for doing their jobs.  This harassment has become so much that the ‘robin hood gang’ is now being sued.

“In court documents, city officials say the group has “…taunted, interfered with, harassed and intimated the Parking Enforcement Officers…”

The parking enforcement officers say they have been physically bumped. Some say they are considering leaving their jobs.
(CBS News) “

This is where a friendly gesture turns into something different.  Laura Hainey, President of AFT-NH, who represents the Parking Enforcement Officers (PEOs), had this to say about the ‘robin hood gang’.

“Members of the Free-Keene movement, calling themselves “Robin Hoods”, have repeatedly taunted, interfered with, harassed, and intimidated Keene’s Parking Enforcement Officers, (PEO’s), in the performance of their employment duties by following, surrounding, touching or nearly touching, and otherwise harassing the PEO’s in groups of one, two, or more in an attempt to prevent them from doing the job they were hired to do.

These employees have a right to do their job without intimidation, interference, harassment or taunts. AFT-NH strongly supports the city’s request for an injunction against the Free-Keene group to keep them at least 50 feet from an on-duty parking enforcement officer.

This has gone on long enough.  These workers are not the enemy of the Free-Keene movement, they are workers doing their jobs. Just because you disagree with their employer does not give you the right to harass an employee.  I do not agree with Wal-Mart but I do not take it out on people who work there.  I hope that the city brings the full extent of the law to prosecute these ‘robin hoods’ for harassing the police officers.

Everyone deserves a workplace free of any kind harassment.

D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals Puts Employers Speech Above Workers Rights

  By Matt Murray | May 10, 2013 - 2:14 pm | , ,
Comments
NLRA Poster

NLRB Employee Rights Poster

How many times have you seen this poster? This is the ‘Employee Rights’ poster that was mandated by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to be prominently displayed in over 6 million worksites.   That was until a Circuit Court of Appeals Judge decided the ‘freedom of speech’ of the employer is more important than rights of workers.

The poster was created to inform the workers of their right to organize, and collectively bargain.  A right that is guaranteed to millions of workers, however they do not know it.   This poster was specifically designed to inform workers of all of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

Employers have balked at this mandate since it was instituted because they do not want workers to know they have the right to collectively bargain with them.  While some think that unions are bad, polling shows overwhelming support for collective bargaining.  Employers do not want employees to organize and form unions because it is well known that union workers make more money than non-union workers.  When employees make more money, business owners see a reduction in profits.

The other part of this poster that is extremely important is the fact that it is illegal for an employer to question you or take adverse actions against you for union activities.  Companies violate this part of the NLRA over and over because many of the workers do not know their rights.    I remember when I was 19, I got a summer job with the evil empire (Wal-Mart, before I knew how evil they were).  In their basic orientation they forced me to watch a video that basically told me that unions were terrible, money grubbing, organizations that force you to pay due and then do nothing for you.  You know, the complete opposite of what unions are all about.  At the time, I was also taking a college class on Labor/Management relations.  I asked, actually begged, for them to let me borrow the video to use for my class project.  They immediately shut me down, and would never let me view the movie again.  I think they knew they were skirting the NLRA anti-union regulations with their video and did not want anyone outside of Wal-Mart to see it.

The video I remember was very similar to the one that Gawker obtained from the Target.   I am serious, check it out.  See if you think it follows the law.

Once again the corporations right to free speech beats out the workers rights to organize.    Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO responded to this ruling in a written statement.

“In today’s workplace, employers are required to display posters explaining wage and hour rights, health and safety and discrimination laws, even emergency escape routes. The D.C. Circuit ruling suggests that courts should strike down hundreds of notice requirements, not only those that inform workers about their rights and warn them of hazards, but also those on cigarette packages, in home mortgages and many other areas. The Court’s twisted logic finds that “freedom of speech” precludes the government from requiring employers to provide certain information to employees. This is absurd: when workers know their rights, the laws work as intended.“

Here, here President Trumka, you nailed it.  The goal of these posters, to inform the workers of their rights.  The fact that they cannot be disciplined, fired, admonished, or any other adverse actions by their employer for activities in forming/joining a union.   This is just another absurd ruling in favor of ‘corporate people’  over the actual people who work for these corporations.   The good news is that President Obama plans to take this case to the Supreme Court if he needs to.

AFL-CIO President Trumka Calls For Immediate Action Needed In Bangladesh

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 10, 2013 - 10:50 am | , ,
Comments
Hasan Raza/Associated Press

Working people around the world are watching in horror and disbelief as the number of workers who have needlessly died in Bangladesh rises. Now, over 800 brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, friends and loved ones have been confirmed dead in a tragedy that never should have happened – and hundreds more remain missing. There is no doubt that the collapse of the Rana Plaza building and factories in Bangladesh will be known as one of the worst workplace catastrophes in history. We must collectively as a nation and as a world, together with Bangladesh, take immediate steps to prevent these kinds of disasters in the future.

First and foremost, the AFL-CIO encourages the unions and corporations throughout the supply chain to negotiate, sign and implement a binding agreement regarding workplace fires and building safety in Bangladesh. The proposed Fire and Building Safety Agreement, already accepted by two major brands, guarantees worker participation, recognizes the role of government and takes measures to combat corruption by requiring rigorous inspections, transparent reporting of audits and public oversight of results. This agreement offers an integrated and sustainable solution. Agreements like these are needed in many countries where major brands and retailers have chosen to produce their goods under a low-wage and no-rights model, but the many recent and needless deaths and injuries in Bangladesh make that country the most urgent priority right now. Companies that say they want to improve conditions in Bangladesh must join the brands that have signed this agreement, rather than seeking an alternative with less transparency and accountability.

We call on the U.S. government to immediately withdraw, suspend, or limit Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits for Bangladesh until it fulfills its most basic duties to workers. As the AFL-CIO has maintained since filing a GSP petition in 2007 (and in earlier years), suspending trade benefits is a crucial mechanism to pressure the Bangladeshi government to take clear and concrete actions to afford workers their internationally recognized worker rights. Clearly, the pace of progress has been inadequate to date.

Over 80 percent of garments produced in Bangladesh are exported to the United States and the European Union. This creates shared responsibility for finding a sustainable solution to the lax conditions and weak workplace protections. Major brands and retailers in the United States, Europe and elsewhere have made millions from high profit margins based on low wages and dangerous conditions. We call on the retailers not to leave Bangladesh, but to take an active role in improving conditions by pressuring the government to implement reforms and by negotiating with workers and local employers. People outside Bangladesh must insist that retailers, brands, investors, and our governments use their power to promote sustainable development and shared prosperity for workers in Bangladesh who produce our clothes.

Rep Shea-Porter Votes Against The ‘More Work, Less Pay’ Act HR 1406

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 8, 2013 - 9:47 pm | , , ,
Comments
copy-labor-union-7.jpg

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tonight, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter stood up for working families in New Hampshire by voting against H.R. 1406, the “More Work, Less Pay” Act.

The bill would effectively end the 40-hour work week and offer workers comp time in lieu of overtime pay. But the legislation does not guarantee that workers will be able to use the time they have earned when they need it the most.  Instead, the comp time earned by workers would go into a pot that will be controlled by their employer. Under this legislation, employers can refuse to allow a worker to take time off to care for a family member or attend a parent-teacher conference.

“Giving up overtime pay is a big deal for workers, and in return they aren’t even guaranteed they’ll get to use their comp time when they really need it,” Shea-Porter said.  “This is not flexibility for workers. It’s less pay for workers. I urge Speaker Boehner to bring bills to the floor that actually help middle class families by creating jobs and ending sequestration.”

To improve this misguided legislation, Congresswoman Shea-Porter offered the final amendment that would not allow employers to deny workers use of earned compensation time to:

  • Attend a medical appointment
  • Care for a sick child or family member
  • For veterans, to attend counseling or rehabilitation appointments for injuries suffered in combat.

Unfortunately, the amendment was blocked by the Republican House Majority.

President Obama has pledged to veto the “More Work, Less Pay” Act, and more than 160 national and state organizations oppose it, including women’s organization, labor organizations, and civil rights organizations.

150 Workers Die Every Day From Injuries Or Occupational Diseases

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 8, 2013 - 9:16 am | , ,
Comments
Asbestos Abatement Workers

Asbestos Abatement Workers

“Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” details workplace fatalities
www.aflcio.org/death-on-the-job

 In 2011, 4,693 workers were killed on the job, according to a new AFL-CIO report, “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect.” That is an average of thirteen workers every day. In addition, another estimated 50,000 die every year from occupational diseases – an average of 137 a day, bringing the total worker fatalities to 150 a day.  North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska and Arkansas had the highest workplace fatality rates, while New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington had the lowest. Latino workers, especially those born outside of the United States, continue to face rates of workplace fatalities fourteen percent higher than other workers, the same as last year.

In 2011, 3.8 million workers across all industries experienced work-related illnesses and injuries. The true toll is estimated to be two to three times greater, but lack of reporting in this area results in lower official figures.

The job fatality rate had been declining steadily for many years, but in the past three years the rate has essentially been unchanged, at 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Similarly, for the past two years, there has been no change in the reported workplace injury and illness rate (3.5 per 100 workers). If we are to make progress in reducing job injuries and deaths, we will need more concerted efforts and additional resources.

This year’s report comes on the heels of a horrific explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, which killed 15 people, injured hundreds more and caused widespread destruction, as well as the tragic collapse of a building that housed garment factories in Bangladesh, which led to the death of over six hundred workers.

The report also examines the role of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 43 years after its creation. It finds that OSHA remains underfunded and understaffed, and that penalties are too low to deter violations. Because of the underfunding, federal OSHA inspectors can only inspect workplaces once every 131 years on average, and state OSHA inspectors would take 76 years to inspect all workplaces.

OSHA penalties are too low to be taken seriously, let alone provide deterrence. The average penalty is only $2,156 for a serious federal health and safety violation, and only $974 for a state violation. Even in cases involving worker fatalities, the median total penalty was a paltry $5,175 for federal OSHA and $4,200 for the OSHA state plans. By contrast, property damage valued between $300 and $10,000 in the state of Illinois is considered a Class 4 felony and can carry a prison sentence of 1 to 3 years and a fine of up to $25,000.

Criminal penalties under OSHA are also weak. While there were 320 criminal enforcement cases initiated under federal environmental laws and 231 defendants charged in FY 2012, only 84 cases related to worker deaths have been prosecuted since 1970.

In the face of an ongoing assault on regulations by business groups and Republicans in Congress, progress on many new important safety and health rules has stalled. The White House Office of Management and Budget has delayed needed protections, including OSHA’s draft proposed silica rule, which has been held up for more than two years.

“In 2013, it is unacceptable that so many hardworking men and women continue to die on the job,” said AFL-CIO President and third-generation coal miner Richard Trumka. “No one should have to sacrifice his or her life or health and safety in order to earn a decent living. Yet, elected leaders, business groups and employers have failed to provide adequate health and safety protections for working families. At the same time, too many politicians and business leaders are actively working to dismantle working people’s right to collectively bargain on the job and speak out against unsafe, unjust working conditions. This is a disgrace to all those who have died. America’s workers deserve better.”

“Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” was released after hundreds of Workers Memorial Day vigils, rallies and action were held across the country to commemorate all those workers who died and were injured on the job.

The NH AFL-CIO Holds Bi-Annual Convention

  By Matt Murray | May 7, 2013 - 11:34 am | , , ,
Comments
AFLCIO Convention Mark MacKenzie

On May 4th, the New Hampshire state federation of the AFL-CIO held their bi-annual convention at the Grand Hotel in North Conway, NH.  The event was attended by over 50 delegates, representing many different unions from around the state.  They were teachers from AFT, to film and sound techs from IATSE,  electricians from IBEW, to air traffic controllers from NATCA.  The focus of the convention was to talk about the great things that the NH AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions have done in New Hampshire over the last two years. And to talk about how we need to change and grow to move into a new generation of unions and organizing.

Over the past two years the NH AFL-CIO and organized labor have fought back against the extreme right wing of the New Hampshire Legislature who were pushing every anti-union and anti-worker bill they could dig up from ALEC.  Most notably was the nearly two year battle over Right To Work.  Upholding Governor Lynch’s veto was the single greatest legislative accomplishment for the NH AFL-CIO and all working families.

AFLCIO Convention Mark MacKenzieAfter a short trip down memory lane by NH AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie, the tone shifted.  ”At no time has labor’s role been more important” said President MacKenzie.

Now we as organized labor need to work with our communities for real immigration reform.  We must ensure that every worker is treated fairly, is paid accordingly, and has the protections we fought so hard to get in place.

This theme also lead right into how do we begin to organize those places that have never been able to be organized before?  Places like Wal-Mart, Fast Food and Restaurant workers. These are the jobs that need help from organized labor the most right now.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler spent  most of her time talking about how we need to fight back against the attacks from the right wing extremists and expand our base.  This is a battle for all working people, not just those who are covered by a union contract.  We need to do everything we can to stop the austerity budget plans from Washington that are slowly pulling our country apart.  The Tea Party lead House is trying to continue this race to the bottom with more cuts to programs like Head Start and Meals on Wheels.  ”What about the children who have been kicked out of Head Start due to the Sequester” said Shuler.  ”Sequester is just a fancy word for stupid idea” Shuler continued.

Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter knows all to well how the sequester is effecting people.  She hears about it every day.  People calling her office to get her to do something about it.  ”Can’t you just pass something to end the sequester” people would ask.  Yes, she told the crowd, if we could get our bills onto the floor of the US House.  Congresswoman Shea-Porter told the crowd, “there are three political parties in Washington right now.  The Democrats, the Republicans and the Republican study group also know as the Tea Party.”  The power of the Tea Party and their leader, Speaker John Boehner is what is creating this disfunction in Washington.

The NH AFL-CIO also welcomed State Senator Andrew Hosmer to speak. He talked of the current situation in the NH Senate.  He pushed for the passage of the expanded gambling bill to help create new jobs for the NH Building Trades.   That message was echoed by State Representative (and former AFGE member and Federal Marshal) Steve Shurtleff.  Rep Shurtleff reminded us how times have changed now that Speaker O’Brien is not in control.  He ws there every session waiting for the Speaker to pull Right To Work up for a vote.  Both Sen. Hosmer and Rep Shurtleff said they would do whatever was needed to stand up for working families and the workers rights to organize.

(More in-depth stories on each of the speeches at the NH AFLCIO convention later this week)

Once Again Faith Leaders Come Out To Support Workers Rights To Organize

  By Matt Murray | May 3, 2013 - 2:00 pm | ,
Comments
Right To Work 2

Right To Work 2

This month in Missouri the legislature is pushing two bills that we recently defeated here in New Hampshire, Right to Work (for less) and Paycheck Protection/Deception (barring employees from having union dues deducted from their paycheck).

Durning the draconian rule of former Speaker O’Brien both of these anti-worker bills were pushed through the house.  Workers throughout New Hampshire came out in force to oppose these bill at public hearings.  One of the reasons that New Hampshire was able to fight these bills back was labor’s relationship with local faith organizations.  Groups like the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization lead by Arnie Alpert, and Rev Gail Kinney spoke at every Right to Work for less hearing in Concord.

For years the Catholic church has been working to expand the rights of workers in an effort to combat poverty.  I was very please today to share an editorial from Monsignor Jack Schuler of Missouri.  Monsignor Schuler explains the strong relationship between workers and the Catholic church.

(Published by the St Louis Post Dispatch)

Today, our church celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. When Pope Pius XII instituted this tradition 58 years ago, he honored the long-standing link between Joseph and the cause of working people. This year, the call to honor and remember working people couldn’t be more timely — or more necessary.

While working people in our communities continue to struggle, too many politicians in Jefferson City seem not to notice. Many have been relentless in their attacks on basic protections for working people, protections long supported by the Catholic Church and other faith traditions. Meanwhile hundreds of thousands in our state suffer from inadequate health care and too few jobs that pay a living wage.

So-called right-to-work and paycheck-protection bills seek to limit the right of working people to organize and silence their voices. If enacted, these laws would make it more difficult for hardworking first nurses, first responders, teachers and other workers to advocate for safer working conditions and provide critical services to our communities.

These bills, along with attempts to eliminate prevailing wage protections, seek to lower wages in our communities. They would make it even more difficult for families struggling to get by — and would unfairly reward corporate greed. Simply put, on this Feast of St. Joseph in 2013, working people in Missouri face an onslaught of dangerous and unfair legislation.

Catholic teaching strongly supports the right of workers to form labor unions in order to bargain collectively for just wages and benefits. In fact, it encourages workers to form unions based on the right of free association. So-called paycheck-protection and right-to-work bills seek to limit the ability of working people to organize and collectively bargain. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is clear: “We vehemently oppose violations of the freedom to associate, for they are an intolerable attack on social solidarity.”

Corporations give unlimited money and resources in order to purchase influence at the statehouse. Corporate lobbyists have exempted themselves from playing by the same rules they are trying to make everybody else play by — in fact, they are creating their own rules.

In his Easter address, Pope Francis called for peace in a world “divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family.” To make real change and heal these wounds, we need to work together to strengthen protections for working people and support collective bargaining rights and association. Although far from perfect, labor unions work for job security and fight against discrimination for all workers, not just those in unions. Without the ability to organize and collectively bargain, attacks will remain unanswered.

When addressing the G20 Summit in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI stated “in the light of the present global economic crisis, this analysis reveals all of its relevance: We see, in fact, that it is precisely from this root of greed that the entire crisis was born.” This is as true locally as it is globally — when greed is unchecked, when corporations are unaccountable, working people suffer the consequences and injustice is allowed to flourish.

It’s time for politicians to stop giving more and more to CEOs and corporate-funded special interests and start working to create jobs and help working people make it through these tough times.

As we remember St. Joseph the Worker, let’s focus on restoring dignity to hard work and recommit ourselves to working for justice. We are all connected by our work and our communities — and we all should call upon our elected leaders to support and strengthen those bonds, not undermine them.

Just days from now, the Missouri legislature will end the 2013 session. Our elected officials have critical choices to make and not much time to make the right decision. As a person of faith, I call on politicians in Jefferson City to break the chains of “business as usual” by understanding the moral obligation to work for justice — including economic justice for our communities.

Let’s honor St. Joseph on his feast day and every day by keeping our focus on justice for all those who work.

Monsignor Jack Schuler is pastor of St. Ferdinand parish in Florissant and member of the Workers Rights Board of Missouri Jobs with Justice, a coalition of almost 100 different organizations statewide. Through Missouri JwJ, faith, community, labor and student groups work to promote economic justice.

May Day Is For Immigrants Too (From Arnie Alpert)

  By New Hampshire Labor News | May 3, 2013 - 11:00 am | ,
Comments
Arnie Alpert Thumbnail pic

NHLN Editor Note: Below is an Op/Ed from New Hampshire AFSC Coordinator Arnie Alpert who is routinely is reposted here in on the NHLN.  Arnie and AFSC have been tirelessly working to push forward on immigration reform and the labor issues associated with immigrant workers.

From CNN Blog

Imagine that you have made it to the United States from a country where economic opportunities are absent. You’ve found work in a laundry, a restaurant kitchen, a nursing home, or on a construction site. The pay is low by U.S. standards, but you save enough to send some every month to your family back home.

Every day you put up with hazards and harassment, knowing that if you raise your voice in protest you risk, not only getting fired, but getting reported and deported. Some weeks you don’t get paid at all, but you keep your mouth shut and live with the abuse.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrant families across the country live this each day. Now, as Congress considers sweeping changes to a broken immigration system, we must press the case for a more humane approach to immigration — and protections for all workers, immigrant and native-born alike.

International Workers’ Day, or May Day, started in 1887 as a day for workers to press their demands for an eight-hour work day. It commemorated a violent suppression of a Chicago labor rally the year before. Immigrants, their advocates and allies took the holiday observed on the first of May to another level in 2006, when they connected workers’ rights to the need for repairs to a broken immigration system.

On this May 1, the American Friends Service Committeewill join them in cities from Concord, New Hampshire, to San Diego, California.

It’s not only workers without the right papers who suffer; when employers can get away with exploitation, the whole workforce suffers and deplorable conditions ripple through the entire labor market.

Immigration reform legislation offers the prospect of ending such exploitation, by providing a path to citizenship for qualifying individuals and a provisional legal status along the way. This would enable workers to stand up for their rights without fear of deportation simply for being an unauthorized worker.

That could be one of the outcomes of passing the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act,” the official name of the massive immigration bill now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

For future immigrants, the creation of a new visa category, the W visa, would provide opportunities for low-skilled workers to move from one employer to another without losing the authorization to work. This category would ensure that pay levels are set between minimum wage and medium wage for the particular job, and also would require that labor recruiters be registered and regulated. Additionally, holders of “W” visas would be able to seek Legal Permanent Residency for themselves and their immediate family members.

The bill also would create a “blue card,” an improvement for agricultural workers. Those who qualify for these visas would be offered a faster track to permanent residency status.

The bill is not without problems, such as the provision that mandates that all employers, public and private, use the federal E-Verify system, which checks workers’ immigration status. This ties access to jobs to a massive data-management system with a long history of errors and abuses. Making participation in this flawed system obligatory as a condition for a immigration bill is misguided and wrong.

About 8 million of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S are workers. They want what workers everywhere want: safe working conditions, fair wages, and protection from abuse. The American Friends Service Committee sees that as a reasonable desire, consistent with a belief that all work should confer dignity on workers, employers, and consumers. As we say in our policy paper, “A New Path Toward Humane Immigration Policy,” all workers are entitled to humane polices that protect their labor and employment rights.

This year we must take the opportunity to set a long-sought pathway to protection for workers’ and immigrants’ rights — so that May Day 2014 can be a day to celebrate the progress we have made together.

CNN Editor’s note: Gabriel Camacho is the coordinator of Project Voice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Arnie Alpert is the coordinator of the New Hampshire program. Both are part of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization working for peace and justice in the U.S. and around the world.

Where Can I Get A Good Job? The Answer Is Always The Same, Join A Union

  By Matt Murray | April 25, 2013 - 12:53 pm | ,
Comments
Good Jobs Report Graph 3

How many times have you heard that there are no ‘good jobs’ out there?  I hear it almost every day. People talk about how they can only find low-paying jobs that will barely keep their family fed.  This national trend is one of the biggest depressors of our national economy.

For the basis of this discussion, let’s start by defining a ‘good job’.  A ‘good job’

  1. pays a “living wage” of at least $19 per hour
  2. includes employer provided health insurance
  3. includes some type of retirement (traditional pension or 401k)

When was the last time you saw a job offer with all of those features? Jobs like this are getting harder and harder to find.  The Center For Economic and Policy Research has released a new report that talks specifically about the loss of good jobs.

Since 1979 the number of good jobs in the United States has fallen 27.4%.  Wonder where they went? Yes you guessed it, overseas.  All those good manufacturing jobs that helped to rebuild America after WWII, gone.   It was policy changes that led to the vulture capitalist stealing our good jobs and selling them to countries with the lowest bid, all in the name of profits.   Now we need to make policy changes that will bring these good jobs back, and we can.

There are a few ‘tricks’ we can use to turn a bad job into a better job.  Remember the three things required for a good job? Pay, retirement and healthcare.  The United States has already begun the process to create a universal healthcare plan.  Call it what you want, Obamacare, Affordable Care Act – either way it will lead to millions more Americans getting access to healthcare options they have never had before.  With healthcare, people will live healthier, better lives because they will get preventative care. And that will save hundreds of billions of dollars the government spends each year on uninsured people who – in desperation – end up coming to the emergency room for medical care.

Retirement is a little more tricky; or is it? We already have a system for that too.  It may not be the best system, however it has worked for millions for more than a quarter-century.  Social Security is another way workers can invest in their future to retire with dignity.  Yet now our Congressional Representatives are threatening that very program.  We want people to have better lives: stop cutting Social Security! Ensure that people can actually live out their golden years on the money they have invested in the government.  If there is not enough money in the program, raise the cap and bring in a little more from the people who have plenty to spare.

There are two tricks to turn a relatively bad job into a better job by these standards.  To get a ‘good’ job, workers would still need to make $19 per hour – and that means less money for corporate executives and less profit paid out as dividends.

Don’t want to settle for just a ‘better’ job relying on Social Security and government healthcare?  You want a truly GOOD JOB?  I can tell you where to get one, but first you are going to have to sign this card.  That’s right folks, the Union is the ticket that gets you to the promised land of good jobs.

Good Jobs Report Graph 3

We all know that union workers make more on average than non-union workers.  Unions are also more likely to have employer-provided healthcare and retirement options than non-union workers.  So if you want a good job, join the union.

The CEPR report confirms what I have been saying on this blog for years now.  The CEPR report even goes as far as say that union organizing has had more influence than sending all our kids to college.

“Increasing unionization appears to be substantially more effective than a comparable expansion of college attainment. Given that increasing college attainment is a long and expensive process, these findings suggest the importance of emphasizing unionization as much or more than college attainment as a key path to improving job quality.”

Unions help train workers to get good jobs.  Some states are begging for skilled trade workers. We need to organize.  We need to remove the stigma that working with your hands for a living is a bad thing.  All workers deserve the opportunity to get a good job.  We need to continue to rebuild our ranks and pull the floor up!

Mourn For The Dead, Fight For The Living. A Contrasting View Of Safety In The Workplace

  By Bill Brickley | April 23, 2013 - 7:29 am | , ,
Comments
Workers'-Memorial-Day-Banner

Workers'-Memorial-Day-Banner

With Workers Memorial Day approaching Sunday April 28 two high-profile safety situations this week have helped further illustrate the gulf  between a union and non-union workplace. Union leaders have called out the Postal Service for being slow in handling one situation while in Texas a completely different regulatory atmosphere turned into a catastrophe.

Postal employees were reminded of the risks in moving the mail.  Ricin tainted letters passed through mail plants in Tennessee, Maryland and Washington DC.  The media reported the story before the USPS told its employees according to the  American Postal Workers Union (APWU). The hope is the Postal Service will communicate faster with employees if a similar problem occurs in the future.

The APWU was displeased with the Postal Service not telling his members sooner about the Ricin tainted letters sent to President Obama and Senator Wicker. Especially considering the deaths of Postal Workers during the Anthrax mailings in 2001 the APWU expected a quicker response.

“It is unacceptable that postal officials did not contact the union immediately to notify us of this potentially deadly hazard,” Union President Cliff Guffey said. “Postal workers have learned through bitter experience of the dangers we face when poisons are sent through the mail.”

“We intend to demand that this lapse be corrected,” Guffey said. “The safety of postal workers must be management’s first concern in an incident like this. Postal workers have a right to be informed immediately and to have the assistance of their union immediately to make sure that everything is being done that can be done to protect their safety!”

Seemingly the Postal Service was slow in handling this. In the big picture the Postal Service preaches safety constantly and OSHA inspectors frequently visit. It can be legitimately questioned if the Postal Service focus on safety is being done for the right reasons, but there is no doubt safety is emphasized. Lets contrast that to the travesty in Texas.

We are learning grim new details of the West Fertilizer Plant fire last week that killed at least 14 people and injured over 200. Astoundingly this plant was last inspected by OSHA in February 1985.

That is right a non-union fertilizer plant next to both a school and a nursing home went over 27 years without a OSHA inspection. The EPA found numerous safety violations 5 years ago but that was never followed up on. What could possibly go wrong in this situation?

OSHA inspectors have been reduced consistently over the past 30 years  and currently there are only 2,200 inspectors for the country’s 8 million workplaces and 130 million workers. So OSHA could be expected to visit each plant every 129 years.  With no union voice workers are not really empowered to make a call on their own. The whole community in West, Texas is now paying the price.

Routinely government leaders side with industry profits  over public safety.  If you are a union worker and contact OSHA they will undoubtedly respond.  Union officials called out the Postal Service for being 2 days late in notification. Contrast that to the 27 year delay in Texas. If you are a non-union worker and you report a violation most likely your next call will be to the State Unemployment Office.

With Workers Memorial Day being later this week its time for our Congress and Administration to address worker safety. People somehow have to be placed above profits.