Headlines:

• California state workers bring "pink slip" to Schwarzenegger's home
• Wage stagnation hurts workers more as prices rise
• Verizon and two unions continue negotiations; strike temporarily averted

Verizon and two unions representing workers dodged a strike on Sunday as stagnant contract negotiations moved forward. The workers are represented by the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and early Sunday the unions released a statement reporting some progress. The two unions represent 65,000 workers who are concerned about health care and job security. In the statement released by the CWA, the union expressed, “Significant additional bargaining still lies ahead before a settlement is possible.” The unionized workers stretch from Maine to Virginia, but are mostly in Verizon’s landline division.

Lede: Wage stagnation is hurting U.S. workers more as prices rise and job growth falls. Doug Cunningham has this report. Soaring gas and food prices are making already stagnated wages even more painful for workers across the U.S. On Friday, unemployment was up to a four-year high as 51,000 jobs were cut, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Inflation-adjusted wages, meanwhile, took the biggest drop in eight years last week. Workers’ pay is clearly not keeping up with the ever-rising cost of living. The Economic Policy Institute’s Jared Bernstein says a lack of robust jobs creation has plagued the economy for several years. No jobs growth – no wage growth. Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 an hour and index it to inflation to put a higher floor under wages. He also wants strong union rights to give workers who want to organize unions the real power to do so without being intimidated by employers. The AFL-CIO says more government economic stimulus is needed to help workers, but long-range public economic policies must also be aimed at boosting wages and creating new jobs in the numbers workers really need.

Last week California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed wages of state workers to the federal minimum of $6.55 per hour to send a message to the state legislature which has yet to pass the state budget. On Sunday, those workers brought their own message to the Governor’s home in Brentwood, California. Hundreds of workers represented by the Service Employees International Union brought a symbolic “pink slip” to the home on Sunday, but the Governor wasn’t present to receive it. The workers argue that they have been unjustifiably punished by the governor and that they cannot live on such wages.

Headlines:

• WIN Week In Review August 1-3, 2008

WIN Week In Review August 1-3, 2008 By Doug Cunningham On Thursday California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut 22,000 jobs and slashed the pay for 200,000 state workers down to the federal minimum wage, effective in September. The California Labor Federation's Jeremy Smith says the governor is wrong to lash out at workers and their livelihoods to try to resolve the state's budget problem. [Smith]: " We can't figure out why the governor thinks he should penalize them for the inability to get a budget passed." --- IBEW members rallied Thursday at Verizon’s Boston headquarters as a midnight Saturday strike deadline approaches. The highly profitable telecom giant could face a walkout by 70,000 workers. IBEW’s Paul Feeney says the Communications Workers of America and the IBEW are working together to try to reach a a new contract at Verizon. And Feeney says should a strike be necessary Saturday night, the IBEW will have plenty of support.

Headlines:

• Schwarzenegger Imposes Minimum Wage On California State Workers & Cuts 22,000 Jobs
• Obama Speaks Briefly To Union Members In A Conference Call On Labor Issues
• IBEW Verizon Workers Rally In Boston As Strike Deadline Approaches
• Economic Report: Treasury Secretary Sees “Moderate Growth”

Economic Report: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to play down concerns that the economy will continue to contract this year. He told an audience at the New York Public Library on Thursday that he expects to see “moderate” growth in the economy as the housing sector begins to stabilize near the end of the year. New data showed a 1.9 percent economic growth rate in the second quarter, boosted mostly by the economic stimulus payments.

By Doug Cunningham IBEW members rallied Thursday at Verizon’s Boston headquarters as a midnight Saturday strike deadline approaches. The highly profitable telecom giant could face a walkout by 70,000 workers. IBEW’s Paul Feeney says the Communications Workers of America and the IBEW are working together to try to reach a a new contract at Verizon. And Feeney says should a strike be necessary Saturday night, the IBEW will have plenty of support. [Feeney]: “Workers really need to stick together. We're going to be reaching out to sympathetic organizations throughout the country. We're reaching out to many different labor unions through organizations like Jobs With Justice.

During a six minute conference call with 2,500 union members on Thursday, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama touch on a number of issues import to workers and the labor movement. The most time during his brief address was dedicated to laying out his plans for job creation: [Obama]: "We’re going to create up to five million green jobs that will pay well, but can’t be outsourced by investing in a clean energy future. We are going to create 2 million more jobs by investing in our infrastructure, by building roads and bridges, and levies, and locks, and dams. All of which need heavy machinery, all of which need steel. All of which will create ripple effects throughout our economy and put people back to work."

By Doug Cunningham On Thursday California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cut 22,000 jobs and slashed the pay for 200,000 state workers down to the federal minimum wage, effective in September. The California Labor Federation's Jeremy Smith says the governor is wrong to lash out at workers and their livelihoods to try to resolve the state's budget problem. [Smith]: "Anytime you cut workers pay - add on top of that the fact that he's cutting workers' pay to the federal minimum wage, which is much lower than the California minimum wage - we think is anti-worker. We can't figure out why the governor thinks he should penalize them for the inability to get a budget passed."

Headlines:

• California Study Shows Mandatory Paid Sick Days Would Improve Public Health
• New York City's Revised Poverty Guidelines Boosts Official Family Poverty Level
• AFL-CIO Targets Union Voters In Swing States To Dispel Inaccuracies About Obama

By Doug Cunningham The AFL-CIO is reaching out to 600,000 union voters in the swing states of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The labor federation is attempting to accurately define Senator Barack Obama to those voters. Mailers are going out to union households in these key battleground states in an effort to counter misperceptions and false information being circulated about Obama. The mailers include testimonials from workers on Senator Obama’s record on jobs, health care reform, and workers’ rights.

By Doug Cunningham Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Linda Gibbs says a new poverty guideline in New York City has raised the income considered to be poverty level for a working family of four. The revised guideline is more than six thousand dollars higher than the current federal poverty standard of $20,444. [Gibbs]: “Here in New York City, it’s $26,138. So it recognizes the increased cost of living, the changes in the basket of goods and services that people need to have in order to meet their daily expenses.” Gibbs says this poverty guideline revision in New York City recognizes the need to re-evaluate what modern poverty really is, given the rising cost of living.

By Doug Cunningham Millions of workers nationwide have no paid sick days. That includes 5.4 million in California; 40 percent of the state’s workforce. California’s Healthy Families, Healthy Workplaces Act would change that by requiring employers to provide 5-9 paid sick days per year for workers. A new report on the public health effects of this proposal shows it would improve public health in California. Dr. Rajiv Bhatia co-wrote the report. [Bhatia]: “Workers with paid sick days were more likely to go to doctors for preventative care, to take time off when sick and to care for their own children when their children were sick. We were really struck by the fact that those with the greatest need for paid sick days had the least access. California workers in poor health and with chronic diseases like hypertension were less likely to have paid sick days.”