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Click To Listen: Streaming Headlines July 3, 2009

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:26:10 -0700

Headlines:

WIN Special Report From Washington, D.C. - Labor Signs Historic Helmets To Hardhats Agreement With U.S. Army

Click Here and Listen: Streaming Headlines July 2, 2009

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:40:20 -0700

Headlines:

Bell Helicopter's White-Collar Workers Approve Contract; Blue Collar Workers Still on Picket Lines

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:40:17 -0700

With Bell Helicopters production staff still on strike for more than 15 days, the office workers have approved a contract agreement with the company. The white-collar workers are represented by United Auto Workers local 317 and they voted overwhelmingly in favor of the new three-year contract. Workers represented by UAW Local 218 remain on the picket lines, but returned to the table yesterday with a federal mediator. It is the first strike by the workers in more than 20 years. Part of the strike is to protect the jobs of 44 janitors who they are concerned will lose their jobs under new job descriptions in the contract proposal.

Who are the Underemployed?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:40:16 -0700

One category of workers that often isn’t noted when talking about unemployment numbers is the underemployed. According to Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute, in May around 26 million workers were underemployed. During a press call on Tuesday Shierholz explained what it means to be underemployed:

[Shierholz]: Underemployment is a term that includes not just the unemployed, but also the so called marginally attached….

Shierholz said that because underemployed tracking numbers only go back to 1994 those numbers can’t be compared to the recession in the 80s.

[Shierhol

Labor Leaders Call for White House Committee for Manufacturing Renewal

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:40:15 -0700

Lede: Now that the Obama administration has officially created a White House Council On Automotive Communities and Workers, some labor leaders would like to see a White House committee for manufacturing renewal. Doug Cunningham has more.

By Doug Cunningham

United Steelworkers Vice President Vice-President Tom Conway says the Obama administration needs to get serious about a national industrial policy to revive not just auto, but the entire U.S. manufacturing sector.

[Conway]: “We think that this administration ought to strike itself a standing permanent committee right now about American manufacturing renewal – and the value that’s there and the long term value it brings to communities.”

Click Here and Listen: Stremaing Headlines July 1, 2009

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:24:54 -0700

Headlines:

Is Conyers Healthcare Bill the Best Healthcare Plan?

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:24:53 -0700

Kay Tillow is with the All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care. Tillow says the best health care reform is the Conyers single payer bill modeled on Medicare, but a strong movement has to gather behind it to make it happen.
[Tillow]: “This is how other countries have done it. They remove the private profit-making insurance industry and they publicly fund a system that makes health care a human right. It’s a matter of a movement being there that makes it politically possible.”

House Bill 676 – the Conyers “Medicare for all” single payer bill has picked up more sponsors, hundreds of union organizations support it and several polls show majorities of Americans favoring a strong government role in health care. It finally got a recent hearing in Congress, but thanks to opposition from the insurance industry and some medical providers it is still not expected to happen.

Current Recession Longest and Deepest Since the Great Depression

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:24:53 -0700

According to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, the current recession is the longest and deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Economist Heidi Shierholz says she is often asked if the stimulus package is working.

[Shierholz]: The problem is the stimulus was only ever expected to create between 3 and 4 million jobs and we were down twice that before any stimulus money was even spent.

Shierholz says that as of the month after the stimulus was passed the country had already lost 5.2 million jobs – 15 months into the recession. She explained what is necessary for job creation to keep up with population growth.

SEIU and NUHW Battle Moves to Bay Area

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:24:52 -0700

The next battle between the Service Employees International Union and the National Union of Health Care Workers will take place in Sacramento and the Bay Area. An election for representation of the workers in that region is expected to take place in late September. The NUHW has recently lost elections, although by a narrow margins, in Fresno and Hollister, California.

Click To Listen: Streaming Headlines June 30, 2009

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:53:14 -0700

Headlines:

IUE-CWA GM Retirees Are Picketing The GM Bankruptcy Hearing In New York

UFCW Extends Contract Deadlines At Three Big Colorado Grocery Chains

Economic Report: More 50-Plus Workers Delaying Retirement Dates

Economic Report: More 50-Plus Workers Delaying Retirement Dates - 06/30/09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:52:32 -0700

Economic Report:

According to a new survey from Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 44 percent of workers age 50 or older are making plans to delay their retirement date. The number one reason being cited by three quarters of those workers is the unexpected loss to their 401(k) accounts. In the late 1990's, the average age for retirement was 62. In the 1950's ,the average age of retirement for men was 67. Half of those surveyed now say they plan to retire at age 66 or later.

UFCW Extends Contract Deadlines At Three Big Colorado Grocery Chains - 06/30/09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:51:57 -0700

Supermarket workers at three big chains in Colorado are waiting to see if an extension on the contract deadline will produce an agreement on a new contract. Jesse Russell reports.

The United Food and Commercial Workers representing workers at grocery stores in Colorado, has agreed to extend current contracts until midnight on July 18. The union is in negotiations with the state’s three largest supermarket chains Safeway, Albertson’s, and King Soopers. On Friday the UFCW Local 7 and Safeway announced they would be returning to contract negotiations on July 14 after workers rejected the supermarkets latest contract offer last week.

IUE-CWA GM Retirees Are Picketing The GM Bankruptcy Hearing In New York - 06/30/09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:51:12 -0700

By Doug Cunningham

The IUE-CWA says busloads of its GM retirees will picket the GM bankruptcy hearing today in New York. The retirees are angry over GM attempts to terminate their retiree health benefits, according to the union. The IUE-CWA retirees are not being treated the same as UAW retirees in the GM bankruptcy case. The United Steel Workers has joined with IUE-CWA to fight for these GM retirees, who stand to lose out in a GM asset sale. The two unions together say they have about 50,000 GM retirees and dependents who rely on healthcare and other benefits that are threatened by the GM asset sale.

Click Here and Listen: treaming Headlines June 29, 2009

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:09:43 -0700

Headlines:

State Attorney Generals Concerned About FedEx Employee Classifications

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:09:38 -0700

Eight state attorney generals sent a joint letter to Federal Express on Thursday expressing concern that the shipping company isn’t providing appropriate protection for workers in an attempt to lower payroll taxes. The company is classifying drivers as independent contractors and by doing so the company can avoid workers compensation insurance, wage protection, unemployment insurance and civil rights protections. Attorney Generals from Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont all signed the letter. FedEx has been the target of multiple lawsuits across the country for misclassifying pickup and delivery drivers.