The House has passed historic legislation protecting employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Jesse Russell has more:

By Jesse Russell

While the Employee Non-Discrimination Act will protect employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation, its fate is not yet known. If it passes the Senate, President George W. Bush has vowed to veto it. Carolyn Maloney of New York explained why she voted in favor of the legislation:

[Maloney]: "It is legal in 30 states to fire someone simply because he or she is gay, lesbian, trans, or bisexual. Hard working, tax paying Americans shouldn’t be forced into the shadows and live with the fear that they can lose their jobs."

By Doug Cunningham

The Change To Win labor federation says the Peru and Panama trade deal with some labor protections House Democratic leaders reached with the Bush administration amounts to a minor tune-up when a major overhaul for workers is needed. Change To Win’s Yvette Pena Lopez says Democrats didn’t cooperate closely with labor on this deal with Bush.

[Pena Lopez]: “We were completely blindsided when the press conference happened. And the Democrats, the Democratic leadership, stood together and announced this quote, unquote great deal for the American worker. If it really was a great deal, then we should have been able to stand right next to them and hold hands and say, yes, this is a great deal finally, the day has come. And unfortunately that’s not where we’re finding ourselves.”

By Doug Cunningham

The Change To Win labor federation says the Peru and Panama trade deal with some labor protections House Democratic leaders reached with the Bush administration amounts to a minor tune-up when a major overhaul for workers is needed. Change To Win’s Yvette Pena Lopez says Democrats didn’t cooperate closely with labor on this deal with Bush.

[Pena Lopez]: “We were completely blindsided when the press conference happened. And the Democrats, the Democratic leadership, stood together and announced this quote, unquote great deal for the American worker. If it really was a great deal, then we should have been able to stand right next to them and hold hands and say, yes, this is a great deal finally, the day has come. And unfortunately that’s not where we’re finding ourselves.”

By Doug Cunningham

When the Bush-appointed National Labor Relations Board expanded the definition of supervisor it wiped out union rights for workers who aren’t really in management. Now the Democratically controlled Congress is considering the RESPECT Act to restore union rights taken away by partisan NLRB decisions. Lori Gay, a Salt Lake City RN, testified before Congress on being deprived of her right to join a union by being falsely defined as a supervisor.

[Gay]: “I've been a nurse for 21 years and I've never thought of myself as a supervisor or been compensated as a supervisor. I just go to work and take care of patients and once in awhile I have to be in charge of putting patients in beds and assigning a nurse to that patient - which literally takes ten minutes out of a 12 hour shift. And now I'm being (defined as) a supervisor, therefore I lost my rights to belong to a bargaining unit."

Minimum wage became collateral damage when President vetoed the Iraq War spending bill. Jesse Russell reports:

Little attention was given to the decision by Democratic leadership to attach the minimum wage increase, a key part of their legislative agenda, to the Iraq War spending bill – a bill they knew President George W. Bush had planned to veto. Under the bill the federal minimum wage would have increased from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour and would have provided tax relief for small businesses. Bush has said in the past that he would support such a measure, but was unwilling to let it pass while being tied with military funding with benchmark dates for U.S.

The issue of “network neutrality” is back in the spotlight today as forces gather to push Congress to pass legislation that would make preserving “internet freedom” law. Jesse Russell files this report:

More than sixteen months ago, when the telecommunication companies began pushing legislation that would split the internet into two tiers and give them greater control over what Internet users see and do online there was barely a sound. But then a groundswell of supporters rose up, uniting the unlikely cast of organizations such as the NRA, Christian Coalition, MoveOn.org and more, to kill the legislation on the floor of Congress. In order to protect the future of network neutrality Senator’s Byron Dorgan and Olympia Snowe have drafted the “Internet Preservation Act.” According to small business owner Gary Maricle who operates NMchili.com, preserving net neutrality is important for his livelihood:

By Doug Cunningham

The Medicare prescription drug program could save $30 billion a year if the government were allowed to negotiate lower drug prices. That's according to a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Economist Dean Baker says the Veterans Administration and many foreign countries pay as much as 70 percent less for drugs than the Medicare drug program. And fewer people than expected enrolled, also a factor in the lower than projected cost. The bottom line? Congress created a program that's unnecessarily more costly than if a drug benefit had just been added to existing Medicare with the government power to negotiate lower prices.

By Jesse Russell

The chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee is seeking clearer disclosure of hidden fees on 401K plans. Rep. George Miller of California said on Tuesday that “even seemingly small differences in the fees that workers pay can make an enormous difference in the overall size of their 401K.” Miller says that weak disclosure rules have led to most Americans not knowing what fees they are paying. U.S. workers have more than $2 trillion dollars invested in 401K plans.

The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has passed historic labor law reform that will make it easier for workers to organize. Jesse Russell reports:

By Jesse Russell

The Employee Free Choice Act passed on a 241-185 vote, but may find itself stonewalled as it enters the Senate. Anti-worker Republicans have vowed to block the bill and President George W. Bush has promised to dust off his little used veto pen if it reaches his desk. Still, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney called the bill a success for working Americans citing statistics that show union workers make significantly more then non-union workers:

On Thursday the House of Representatives is scheduled to debate an important bill that could make it easier for working people to join labor unions. Jesse Russell reports:

Tomorrow the house will take up the Employee Free Choice Act - a bill designed to make it easier for workers in the United States to join a labor union if more than 50 percent of workers sign union authorization cards. Errol Hohrein is a steelworker who sought to organize a union at his workplace. He was harassed by management and eventually fired for his organizing activities. He said there are few protections for working people in the United States:

By Doug Cunningham

Members of Congress are joining workers and unions nationwide for a series of events this week in support of the Employee Free Choice Act labor law reform. The AFL-CIO and the at least 230 members of Congress who support this reform say it'll strengthen the middle class by taking the fear out of the right of workers to organize. Right now employers are free to intimidate and threaten workers who use their right to join unions because current labor law makes it very hard for workers to form unions and easy for employers to get away with violating the right to organize with no real penalties. This is a week of action nationwide supporting the Employee Free Choice Act and upholding the rights of workers to organize.

As organized labor celebrated the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act of 2007 through the House Education and Labor Committee yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney was busy preparing the President’s veto pen. Jesse Russell has more:

On Wednesday morning Vice President Dick Cheney took some time to speak before a business lobby group and used that opportunity to express the administration’s opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act.

[Cheney]: Our Administration rejects any attempt to short-circuit the rights of workers. We will defend their right to vote yes or no by secret ballot and their right to fair bargaining. H.R. 800 violates these principles, and if it is sent to the President, he will veto the bill.

By Doug Cunningham

Workers told Congress Thursday how they've been harassed, intimidated and fired for just trying to use their legal rights to form unions. Smithfield worker Keith Ludlum was one of the workers testifying in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would end employer intimidation by letting workers form unions when a majority sign cards.

[Ludlum] : "In 1994 Smithfield illegally targeted and fired me for my union activities. The supervisors and the deputy sheriff marched me out of the plant in front of all the other employees as an example to intimidate the others."

By Doug Cunningham

Democratic California Congressman George Miller and Senator Ted Kennedy officially announced the reintroduction of the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress Tuesday. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney urged Congress to pass the labor law reform without delay. It would let workers form unions through majority sign-up and would end employer intimidation by providing real punishment when workers’ union rights are violated. Laura Garren, a nurse with the Oregon Nurses Association, knows firsthand that workers need a stronger law protecting their rights to organize. She saw pro-union nurses get fired and was scared to meet with union reps in public, then had to sit through anti-union meetings as her employer tried to intimidate nurses into staying non-union.

Republicans bitter from Democrats blocking the Congressional pay raise last year to force a discussion on raising the minimum wage for all Americans have retaliated. Jesse Russel has more:

After Republicans refused to raise the federal minimum wage for the ninth year in a row in 2006, Democrats tried to drive the message home by denying the annual Cost of Living Agreement for Congress. Upset with that move the Republicans slapped back blocking the pay raise for this term. House GOP Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri told the Washington Post that Democrats "are going to suffer in terms of not being

By Doug Cunningham

Workers like Bill Longhorn, a forklift driver in Ohio fired for union organizing by Consolidated Biscuit Company, continue to fight for their legal right to form unions against employer intimidation and flouting of the law. Longhorn says management openly threatened to fire him for excercising his right to organize.

[Longhorn 1]: “She actually told me in front of all these people that if the union lost the election I would be fired. And the day after the election I was fired.”

That’s why Longhorn supports changing labor law with the Employee Free Choice Act to make it easier for workers to choose unions free of employer intimidation. The National Labor Relations Board ordered Bill’s employer to give him his job back with full back pay but with no teeth I nthe law he’s still waiting.

By Doug Cunningham

Will unions and business strike a "grand bargain" where unions drop opposition to free trade agreements in return for business supporting expanded government provided health care, the minimum wage increase and making it easier for workers to join unions? The idea is being advanced by Democratic Congressman Barney Frank. SEIU President Andy Stern says that unions may be willing to do it.

Thanks to an overwhelming House vote, hundreds of thousands of minimum wage workers in the United States have been scheduled for their first raise in nine years. Jesse Russell reports:

While there was plenty of opposition to raising the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over a period of 26 months - most house members acknowledged that an increase was overdue. Republican Representative Zack Wamp of Tennessee said he would have preferred the wage bill to pass with two amendments - one for a repeal of the estate tax and a second that would offer associated health plans for small businesses. But he said due to the failures of corporate leadership in the United States the House needed to act:

By Doug Cunningham

Organized labor is with the vast majority of the American people against the Iraq war. U.S. Labor Against The War’s Michael Eisencher says the new Democratic Congress should not allow Bush to escalate the war.

[Eisencher 1]: “The new Congress has an obligation to honor the mandate that they were given by the electorate to cut off the funds and force the president to bring our troops back. He has an urge to surge and we have an urge to purge."

On January 27th there will be a demonstration against the war in Washington, D.C. demanding that the troops be withdrawn immediately.

By Doug Cunningham

Teamsters union Governmental Affairs Director Mike Mathis says the union will work hard to make sure the new Congress focuses on workers.

[Mathis 1]: “Issues like trade, immigration, employee free choice, health care, retirement security. Those are our top issues."

Mathis says the Teamsters will work with both Democrats and Republicans to achieve working family- friendly legislation.

[Mathis 2]: " We don't support people just because they're Democrats. We support people who will work for us."