AFL-CIO Now Blog

'Warmth of Other Suns' Author at Georgetown June 12

superuser — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

Isabel Wilkerson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, will address scholars, labor activists and workers’ center organizers at the second annual conference of the Labor Research and Action Network (LRAN) at Georgetown University on June 12. Wilkerson is the author of The Warmth of Other Suns, a magnificent rendition of the great migration of some 6 million black Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North and West.

Arizona Public Employees Now Barred from Civil Service Protection

superuser — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed her pet project of "personnel reform" into law Friday, claiming it will "modernize the state's personnel system" and make state employees "more accountable and efficient, more competitive and productive." In a nutshell: All new state workers in Arizona will have no civil service protections and those on the job now are being offered a small raise to give up their protection. Public-sector workers put up vigorous opposition to the move, saying it will lead to hiring and firing based on politics and favoritism. Even conservative Arizona Republic columnist Robert Robb expressed reservations about it, warning of "potentially dangerous consequences" to turning civil servants performing crucial public functions into at-will employees.

House Republicans Threaten Nuclear Worker Safety

superuser — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

Some of the most hazardous job sites for workers in the nation are the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE's) nuclear weapons facilities. But House Republicans are pushing extreme proposals in the Defense Authorization bill to deregulate worker safety and allow employers self–regulation and self-oversight—even at the most hazardous facilities.

Lawmakers Lose Grip, Waste Taxpayer Money in New Hampshire Legislature

superuser — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O'Brien's dictatorial attitude hasn't helped him pass "right to work" for less laws, collective bargaining restrictions or a voter ID law. Now that heavy hand appears to be coming back to haunt him in major ways.

New York Cabbies Drive for Dignity

superuser — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

The 45,000 taxi cabs in New York City have been described as the seventh-largest transportation system in the United States—and at the AFL-CIO Innovators webpage, writer Robert Struckman notes:

If you ask a driver, there’s a good chance he or she will tell you, "I’m a member of the National Taxi Workers Alliance (NTWA)."

Older Workers Have Highest Long-Term Jobless Rate

superuser — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

Older workers who lose their jobs have the highest rate of long-term unemployment compared to any other age group. In 2011, more than half of jobless workers, ages 50 years and older, were out of work for more than six months. The trend continues this year. Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), told the Senate Special Committee on Aging this afternoon:

The prospects are dim for older workers who lose their jobs.

Those Scofflaws at American Airlines

superuser — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 -0400

This is a cross-post by AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Edward Wytkind on Huffington Post.

Lawbreaker. That is exactly what we need to start calling American Airlines for its blatant refusal to proceed with a union election among its 9,600 passenger service agents that was legally and properly ordered by the National Mediation Board (NMB).

Big Response to Letter Carriers' Food Drive

superuser — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:06:00 -0400

Letter Carriers (NALC) around the nation Saturday collected millions of pounds of food for families in need during the union’s 20th annual “Stamp Out Hunger Food” drive. An official total isn’t available yet, but the NALC is hoping to best last year’s total of more than 70 million pounds.

New Santa Fe Worker Center Protects Rights for All Workers

superuser — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:06:00 -0400

The Santa Fe, N.M., community and immigrant rights group, Somos Un Pueblo Unido, recently opened a new Worker Center. Somos worked closely with the Northern New Mexico Central Labor Council, the New Mexico Federation of Labor (NMFL) and Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) in establishing the center, which will be vital to the group’s mission to promote worker and racial justice.

Since 1995, Zillionaires Have Received Biggest Tax Breaks

superuser — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:06:00 -0400

There's always a lot of noise on campaign trails about cutting taxes. But as the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) points out, the real question is: Whose taxes?

A new report by EPI finds that since 1995, the wealthiest of the wealthy in this country have gotten far more tax breaks than those in the middle- and lower-income brackets, with the average effective federal tax rates falling more than 9 percentage points for the top 0.01 percent of households and more than 6 percentage points for the remaining households in the top 1 percent. Effective tax rates also have fallen for households between the 20th and 99th percentile, but by less than 3 percentage points.