Corporate-Financed Politicians’ Assault On Working People Must Be Stopped Now!
NALC President Fredric V. Rolando outlines union’s national commitment to the cause of workers across the country.
NALC to play prominent role in defending, promoting labor
“The economic crisis—triggered by decades of reckless deregulation and an out-of-control financial sector—caused the economy to crash, unemployment to soar, tax revenues to plummet and pension funds to tank in value,” Rolando said. “The notion of ‘shared sacrifice’ and asking those who really caused the crisis to help close the budget deficits is entirely absent from the national debate. We have to change that.”
Following an emergency strategy planning meeting of the AFL-CIO Executive Council on March 2, Rolando outlined labor’s strategy to help turn back this assault on working people and their unions, and the role the NALC will play:
—The NALC Executive Council has authorized a substantial contribution to a national media and voter canvassing campaign.
—The union also will provide dozens of full-time activists to work in several states to resist the ideological assault on unions.
—And the NALC will join with the entire labor movement for a national day of action on April 4 to mobilize public support for the rights of all workers to organize and collectively bargain in both the private and public sectors.
“April 4 is the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., who died in Memphis trying to help the sanitation workers of that city win dignity and bargaining rights on the job,” Rolando said.
Details will be provided on the NALC website. Members can also keep up with the very latest news and activities related to the national campaign via the NALC’s Activist Alert blog at nalcactivistalert.com.
In the coming weeks, the NALC also will recruit volunteer activists to help with the single biggest union-organizing campaign now underway in the United States. Through this month and next, nearly 50,000 transportation security officers who work at the nation’s airports will be voting in a union-recognition election.
A letter from the AFL-CIO Executive Council, encouraging local branches from all unions to step up their participation in central labor councils and state federations of labor, is posted at nalc.org.Rolando urged all NALC branches to join local CLCs and state federations as resources permit. “If the corporate-financed politicians, think tanks and special interests succeed in stripping state and local workers of their rights, it will be only a matter of time before they turn their sights on postal employees and our rights,” the president said. “Let us join together and stop them now. Let’s use the energy and solidarity of the fights in Wisconsin and elsewhere to strengthen our union and to spark an historic drive to rebuild the labor movement in the private sector as well.
‘Work Til 70? Yes, if Boehner and Republicans Have Their Way’
If Republicans take over Congress, House Republican leader John Boehner says he will move to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70. That might not seem a big deal to someone who has spent his life in cushy offices with fancy perks, luxury cars, good health care and not much heavy lifting.
But for millions of seniors in physically demanding jobs, it’s a big, big deal. A new television ad from Protecting America’s Retirees, an independent project of the Alliance for Retired Americans, takes a light-hearted look at the very serious subject of forcing seniors to stay on the job until age 70.
The ad will air in five closely-contested House races in Arizona, Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania and in the Pennsylvania Senate race.
Read the full article here:
blog.aflcio.org/2010/10/26/work-till-70-yes-if-boehner-and-republicans-have-their-way
AFL-CIO Adopts Resolution To Save Saturday Mail Service
APWU Web News Article 079-2010, Aug. 5, 2010
The AFL-CIO adopted a resolution written by the APWU in support of retaining six-day mail delivery at its Aug. 4 Executive Council meeting. The motion to adopt the resolution expresses the labor movement’s opposition to the USPS proposal to eliminate Saturday delivery.
APWU President William Burrus urged the Executive Council to endorse the resolution and to go on record as “supporting the preservation of six days of postal services per week.”
“Denying Americans six days of mail delivery will weaken their confidence in the [Postal Service’s] ability to meet their personal and business needs and lead to the ultimate demise of this important government service,” the resolution states.
The motion to Save Saturday Servicewas unanimously adopted by the council, which is comprised of leaders from the 56 labor unions governed by the AFL-CIO.
source: AFL-CIO Adopts Resolution to Save Saturday Service.
March in NYC To Make Wall Street Bankers Pay!
APWU President William Burrus is encouraging union members to join thousands of activists for a rally in the heart of New York City’s financial district on April 29.
The rally will demand “Good Jobs Now” and call for new regulations to hold Wall Street bankers accountable for the mess they have made of the economy and for the jobs that have been lost. Activists from across the country will join the AFL-CIO in a march down Broadway to shed light on the more than 11 million unemployed Americans and to demand an end to “business as usual.”
“Big Wall Street bankers tanked our economy, took billions from hard-working Americans and now they are back to business as usual — paying themselves millions and fighting accountability,” said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
“Together we can hold Wall Street accountable, restore jobs, strengthen the rules and make sure everyone plays by them.”
Participants will meet at the intersection of Broadway and Barclay (entering at Chambers Street) at 4 p.m. The rally is expected to last approximately two hours.
Members who are unable to attend can support the event by visiting the AFL-CIO’s Web site at www.aflcio.org and clicking the “Good Jobs Now!” link. There, they can provide their names to be printed on stickers and carried on signs by marchers.