Breaking: Specter to switch to Democratic Party

The Washington Post is reporting that Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has announced he is switching political parties and will run as a Democrat for Senate in 2010. Here is the official statement from Bill Samuel, AFL-CIO Legislative Director:

"We look forward to continuing an open and honest debate with SenatorSpecter about the issues that are important to Pennsylvania and America.We move forward with the understanding that America’s workers supportelected officials based on their positions on issues that matter toworking people, not political affiliations.

This is a new day for the Employee Free Choice Act and labor lawreform. Sen. Specter has said all along that he recognizes the need toreform our broken labor law system and we will continue to work withCongress to give workers back the freedom to form and join unions andpass legislation that stays true to the principles of the Employee freeChoice Act."

Wal-Mart workers tell their stories in new video from Change to Win

Change to Win and UFCW are ramping up a campaign to help Wal-Mart's workers organize.

Check out this hard-hitting video featuring workers from around the country telling their own stories of hardship and disrespect from the nation's largest private employer.

The new website, called "Wal-Mart Workers for Change," provides Wal-Mart workers with some organizing tools, including a hotline number for the union, a sign-up form to receive text messages by phone, and a downloadable union representation card. Part of the site also informs workers of their rights with an easy-to-read checklist of what management can and cannot legally do.

Webmeister note: Check out the hard-hitting video above. I've been in Wal-Mart a very limited amount of times since they've been in the my area and have only gone there because in my small community where I live there's not much else available or not much else left. Do you really want to support a company like this? Granted, these are American Workers but they are being taken advantage of and there's a fine line for some about not supporting the company for their labor practices. All I can say is... If and when the Employee Free Choice Act comes in to law, Wal-Mart will have to make amends.

Report released to mark Workers' Memorial Day

In honor of Workers' Memorial Day today, the AFL-CIO released its annual report on workplace fatalities, Death on the Job. There were a total of 5,657 fatal workplace injuries in 2007, a slight decrease from the year before, according to the AFL-CIO's analysis. This year's report also examined job safety enforcement in cases of worker deaths, finding that the average national total penalty in fatality investigations was just $11,311. Download sections of the report here.

Mark Gruenberg of PAI has more on Workers' Memorial Day in the Swapping Stories section of www.ilcaonline.org.

In keeping with Mother Jones' famous admonition to "pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living," union members and women are also holding rallies today in honor of Equal Pay Day.

Although the recently enacted Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act marks a step in the right direction, women in the US still make an average of just 78 cents for every dollar men earn. James Parks of the AFL-CIO blog reports on the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) are continuing the fight for fair pay, and why unions should support the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Senate to Consider Legislation Giving Sick Leave Credit to FERS Retirees

APWU Web News Article #050-09, April 27, 2009

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has placed on the Senate calendar legislation that would give retirement credit for unused sick leave to postal and federal employees enrolled in the Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS). The legislation is part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256), which passed the House of Representatives on April 2, by a vote of 298-112.

[Full Story]

A Hole in the Zero Tolerance Policy

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Alert: Contact Legislators to Support Labor History Bill!

The State Assembly will vote on Tuesday, April 28, on Assembly Bill 172 which requires school districts to address the history of the labor movement and the collective bargaining process in their curriculum. It does not tell the districts how or when to teach these topics, or even how much of the topic to cover. No extra classes would be required. There is a “Lessons in Labor History” curriculum available from the Department of Public Instruction for teachers to use. AB 172 will help balance the scales in our education system, which has essentially ignored the contributions made by workers and their unions to our nation’s economy and democratic process.

School districts are strongly fighting this bill. Contact your Assembly Representative today and urge that he/she support AB 172. Thank you!

LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE: 1-800-362-9472 (Madison Area: 266-9960) Staff will give you the legislator’s toll free office number to call.

E-MAIL: Your representative can be identified at: http://waml.legis.state.wi.us or e-mailed directly: rep.(insert last name) @legis.wisconsin.gov

David Newby
President

Sara J Rogers
Executive Vice President

Phil Neuenfeldt
Secretary-Treasurer

Support union jobs in the U.S. and Canada

This guide is prepared by the UAW to provide information for consumers who want to purchase vehicles produced by workers who enjoy the benefits and protections of a union contract.

All these vehicles are made in the United States or Canada by members of the United Auto Workers (UAW), Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) or International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE).

Because of the integration of U.S. and Canadian vehicle production, all these vehicles include significant UAW-made content and support the jobs of UAW members.

However, those marked with an asterisk (*) are sourced from the United States and another country.

When purchasing one of these models, check the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

A VIN beginning with "1", "4" or "5" identifies a U.S.-made vehicle; "'2:' identifies a Canadian-made vehicle.

Not all vehicles made in the United States or Canada are built by union-represented workers. The Toyota Corolla, for example, is made in the United States by UAW members, but the Canadian model is made in a nonunion plant and other models are imported from a third country.

To order copies of the 2009 union vehicle buying guide, contact the

UAW Purchasing Department,
8000 E. Jefferson Ave.,
Detroit, MI 48214,
(313) 926-5221.

Our day to remember the fallen: Workers' Memorial Day

Every April 28, the international labor movement stops to commemorate the lives and sacrifices of workers who never made it home, and to renew the struggle for safer and healthier workplaces. Here is a sampling of the events taking place next Tuesday around the world:

Canada(British Columbia): 10am, BC Federation of Labour hosts a rally in honor of BC's fallen workers at Hastings Park, Vancouver BC.

Unions in India will hold meetings all day April 28 with government ministry officials to push for a ban on asbestos.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions will host a one-day conference on improving reporting of workplace fatalities and enforcement of Ireland's workplace safety laws.

The South African Department of Labour in partnership with the ILO will hold an event May 8 titled "Health and Life at Work: A Fundamental Human Right."

Here in the U.S., Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will participate directly in Workers' Memorial Day, as she helps to break ground for a new national workers' memorial at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, MD.

Solis' involvement marks a sharp turnaround from the Bush era, and underscores her commitment to improving worker health and safety. James Parks of the AFL-CIO blog has more about the day