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Social Security Administration Management Launches All-Out Attack on Our Union, Employees
AFGE
In yet another example of an irresponsible, undemocratic, unprecedented attempt to wipe out labor unions from the United States, the Trump administration has ordered federal agencies across the country to begin implementing the three controversial executive orders to obstruct our work fighting discrimination, retaliation and injustices in the federal workplace.
Following a July 5 memo issued by Office of Personnel Management Director Jeff Pon, on July 9 agencies started shutting union volunteers off their intranet and email systems and drastically cut down official time—the hours union volunteers use to respond to workplace disputes such as discrimination and retaliation complaints filed by employees against management. Agencies also prevent our union reps from taking documents off-site and block us from using unpaid leave to represent workers.
Here’s what happening at Social Security Administration offices nationwide:
Union volunteers were told to evacuate space by July 31. Space includes union offices, filing...
A Dark Veil
AFL-CIO
The Trump administration on Tuesday rescinded the Department of Labor’s “persuader rule” requiring companies to disclose any consultants or lawyers contracted for anti-union persuasion efforts. The most recent in a series of anti-worker regulatory rollbacks, the decision has drawn harsh condemnation from union leaders and working people.
When the Labor Department issued the rule in 2016, it was hailed as a win for workplace transparency. Workers would have the right to know when their bosses hired outside union-busters to influence organizing decisions.
Then-Secretary of Labor Tom Perez explained it would “ensure that workers have the information they need to make informed decisions about exercising critical workplace rights….Informed decisions are the best decisions.”
In the wake of Tuesday’s announcement, AFL-CIO National Media Director Josh Goldstein slammed the administration’s decision to shield the “sinister practices of employers and their hired guns.”
“By repealing the persuader rule, the Department of Labor is siding with corporate CEOs against good government and...
Trumka: True Patriotism in Missouri
Missouri AFL-CIO
AFL‑CIO President Richard Trumka (UMWA) spoke at the Missouri AFL‑CIO’s 29th Biennial Convention yesterday, rallying a packed audience of local union leaders and working Missourians in the fight against Prop. A. He recalled the charge that President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered to Americans in the midst of the Great Depression: “True patriotism urges us to build an even more substantial America where the good things of life may be shared by more of us.”
Working people in Missouri are speaking out and mobilizing their neighbors against a corporate-backed attack on our fundamental economic rights. As union leaders gather in St. Louis, the state’s labor movement is continuing to embody the spirit of collective action currently sweeping the country.
Faced with a right-wing “right to work” law passed by the state legislature, working Missourians took the fight to workplaces and living rooms across the state. As Trumka explained:
You see, the Missouri labor movement defines extraordinary. You needed 100,000 signatures to get right to work on the ballot. You...
Stay Cool with These Ethical Summer Essentials
Labor 411
Summer’s officially here and it’s time to tame those rays. Whether you’re embracing the blaze on a summer hike, beating the heat by the pool or enjoying that good old fun in the sun somewhere else, Labor 411 has a list of essentials for all your summer adventures. And when you choose one or more items from the list below, you will be supporting ethical companies that treat their employees well and give them good pay and benefits.
Drinks
Blumers Root Beer
Crystal Springs Water
Dr. Pepper
Gatorade
Hawaiian Punch
Minute Maid Lemonade
Beer
Bud Light
Budweiser
Dundee Summer Wheat Beer
Henry Weinhards Summer Wheat Ale
Sam Adams Whitewater IPA
Hats
Hatco
Korber Hats
Unionwear
Ice Cream
Breyers
Creamland
Good Humor
Hiland
Perry’s
Tillamook
Sunscreen
Bain de Soleil
Coppertone
This post originally appeared at Labor 411.
Kenneth Quinnell
Tue, 07/17/2018 - 14:34
Union Tips for U.S. Trips: National Parks
America’s 60 national parks are filled with treasures that often rival those around the world. Right in our own backyards, union families can experience wonders from glaciers to coral reefs. With so many to choose from, we picked our favorite features and found that “Made-in-America” has never looked so stunning!
1. Endangered Glaciers: North America was once covered in glaciers.
The last of America’s glaciers are mostly in Alaska at Denali, Lake Clark, Glacier Bay, Kenai Fjords and Wrangell-Saint Elias national parks.
And, perhaps surprisingly, also in Glacier National Park, Montana, and Mount Rainier, Washington.
2. Fantastic Forests:
King’s Canyon, Redwood and Sequoia national parks in California all have giant sequoia and redwood trees, including some of the largest trees recorded.
Joshua Tree, California, is a desert landscape populated by vast stands of Joshua trees.
3. Amazing Rock Formations:
Find impressive natural sandstone arches, spires, mesas and other rock formations at Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion national...
Trumka on Crooked Conversations Podcast: 'Collective Action Is on the Rise'
AFL-CIO
On this week's episode of Crooked Conversations, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sat down in Missouri for a live recorded conversation with Let America Vote President Jason Kander. The pair discussed the importance of unions, the rise of collective action and the future of the labor movement.
See a few highlights below, and check out the full episode here.
On Unions:
Trumka: My son was about 4 years old at the time, and we were in the backyard. And he had one of those little motorized jeeps. He and his buddy were riding around in the back, and I was on the phone talking to somebody about the union, and he heard me say that. So he pulls up in the jeep and he said, "Dad, what's a union?"
And I said to him—there was a little hill there—I said, "Both of you get out of the jeep." I said, "Rich, push that jeep up the hill." And he'd pushed it up a little bit, and he'd slide backward...and he finally gives up. And his buddy Chad was with him. And I said, "Chad, now you help him." And the two grunt a little bit, but they get...
The Power Is in Our Hands: The Working People Weekly List
AFL-CIO
Every week, we bring you a roundup of the top news and commentary about issues and events important to working families. Here’s this week’s Working People Weekly List.
After Janus, Electrical Workers Show the Power Is in Our Hands: "The Supreme Court’s recent Janus decision was despicable, spitting in the face of decades of common-sense precedent. There’s no question about that. But Janus is not the end of our fight."
Trump's Supreme Court Nomination of Brett Kavanaugh Is Deeply Troubling: "Working families deserve a Supreme Court justice who will respect the rights of working people and who will enforce decades of legal precedent that protect us in the workplace. On Monday night, President Donald Trump rejected working men and women by selecting Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement."
Thousands Rally for Private Pension Fix: "'An attack on one worker is an attack on all workers, and seeing working people come together to fight for what’s right, to have the American people rally with us to...
If You Live in Missouri, Vote 'No' on Proposition A
Missouri AFL-CIO
On Aug. 7, Missouri voters will have the chance to vote against Proposition A, a divisive attack on working people funded by big corporations and their wealthy allies. The misleading measure is a direct attack on the rights of the working people of Missouri.
Here are the key reasons why Proposition A is wrong for Missouri:
Proposition A will drive down wages for Missouri families: If it passes, Proposition A will drive down wages for all Missourians. New research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that “right to work” laws like Proposition A are associated with lower wages and a weaker middle class. EPI found that wages were 3.1% lower in states with right to work laws like Proposition A. EPI’s Heidi Shierholz said, “If Missouri goes in the direction of right to work, we will see that the wages of workers, including those that are not in unions, will decline. Most middle-class workers spend their wages on things like food and clothes at local retailers.” The wage decline will harm businesses where middle-class workers shop.
...
After Janus, Electrical Workers Show the Power is in Our Hands
IBEW 1245
The Supreme Court’s recent Janus decision was despicable, spitting in the face of decades of common-sense precedent. There’s no question about that.
But Janus is not the end of our fight.
Through every punch thrown at working people in our history—every wage-slashing boss, every union-busting law, every strike-breaking massacre—we have rallied together, stronger for our shared struggle.
Our future is and always has been in our own hands. We have never looked to Washington to strengthen or validate our movement.
So while pundits rush to blather in front of a camera, we’re doing the painstaking business of organizing—building the labor movement, person by person.
A few locals in particular are offering up powerful models for success.
Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1245, faced with a likely union-busting decision from the Supreme Court, knew that inaction wasn’t an option. Management and other anti-worker interests would be eager to launch an aggressive, well-funded anti-union campaign, undermining the local’s collective...
Are We in a Trade War?
TV pundits keep repeating that we’re in a “trade war.” What does that even mean?
For starters, if you want to learn more about tariffs and trade, we will hold an informational call on Thursday to discuss newly imposed tariffs, progress on the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations and steps the labor movement is taking to find trade policy solutions that benefit working people. (Click here to RSVP.)
Now, let’s tone down the rhetoric just a bit. Real wars, such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, are deadly, dangerous, scary affairs. No one should confuse tariffs with real wars.
In terms of economics, the closest thing we have to a “war” is the relentless attack on workers that has been taking place for several decades as economic elites (including corporate CEOs, bad actor employers and the 1% who don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes) have worked to rig global economic rules to benefit themselves at the expense of ordinary working people.
The attack on workers has been waged on many fronts, from so-called “right to work” laws that deny our freedom, to regressive tax laws such as...
