Unions

Calls For Workplace Anti-Discrimination Law

October 29, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- Today, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry praised President Obama for his signing into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and called for greater protections for LGBT workers.

"There's a motto we have in the labor movement: 'An Injury to One is An Injury to All,'" said Henry. "For Congress to pass, and the President to sign into law, the first explicit protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the nation's history, is an incredibly important first step in ending the decades of violence and discrimination suffered by the LGBT community.    » read more »

Bill Gives People the Choice of Quality Care They Can Afford

October 29, 2009 -- Washington, DC - Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern released the following statement after the introduction of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act in the House of Representative:

"Today, the House of Representative's introduction of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act made clear that President Obama's challenge to our nation holds true: 'Yes We Can.'

"Yes we can provide quality health insurance that is affordable to 96 percent of the nation.

"Yes we can have a strong public option that drives costs down and gives people the power to choose what is best for their family.    » read more »

Cites Chamber President Donohue’s own track record as director of scandal-ridden companies

November 2, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Change to Win (CtW) Chair Anna Burger today called on members of the House Committee on Financial Services to reject the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s less than credible rhetoric and to approve the Waters/Peters Amendment to the Investor Protection Act of 2009 in this Wednesday’s vote. The Waters/Peters amendment affirms the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) authority to adopt a uniform proxy access rule.    » read more »

Landmark reforms were aimed at halting deforestation, illegal wood products

Washington, D.C. (Nov. 3) -- The Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers (USW) today voiced concerns over a decision by regulators to grant special exemptions for pulp and paper from the Lacey Act reforms of 2008.

These landmark reforms aim to protect the world’s forests and communities by halting the import and sale of illegally-sourced wood products in the U.S. Under the Lacey Act reforms importers must declare the country and harvest of origin for their products, an essential step to creating transparency in a previously unregulated market where US demand was driving deforestation around the world.

The concerns were submitted in joint comments to the Federal Register on Nov. 2.    » read more »

New bill by key Senators to reinvigorate ‘Super 301’ authority for U.S. agency

Washington, DC (Nov. 3, 2009) – Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) today announced strong support for the ‘Trade Enforcement Priorities Act of 2009’ (S. 1982) introduced by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) that would breakdown foreign barriers for exports to help create American jobs.    » read more »

Urges Members to Communicate with Union Leaders

Nov. 3, 2009 -- Harrisburg – Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today said he was “extremely disappointed” that contract negotiations for SEPTA broke down early this morning, resulting in a strike that crippled mass transit in the Philadelphia region.

The Governor became directly involved in SEPTA talks on Oct. 30 and participated in 14 hours of negotiations on Nov. 2. He said union leaders walked away from what he felt was a “sensational” contract offer, especially in light of challenging economic conditions.    » read more »

RIDLEY PARK, Pa., Oct. 18, 2009 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and United Aerospace Workers (UAW) Local 1069 announced today that the 1,789 UAW-represented employees at the Boeing Rotorcraft Systems facility near Philadelphia have voted to ratify a new five-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement, which was tentatively reached between Boeing and union leaders on Oct. 14, provides represented employees with outstanding pay, retirement and benefits packages while allowing the Boeing Rotorcraft business to remain competitive.    » read more »

Obama Administration Special Pay Master Responds to Requests by Anna Burger, 10,000 Taxpayers to Take Action on Ken Lewis Pay

Sets Precedent for Protecting Americans from CEO Pay Abuse -- Washington, D.C.--The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released a statement from Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger following news that Ken Lewis will not be receiving his 2009 compensation and bonus pay in light of his multimillion-dollar retirement package.    » read more »

Obama Administration Special Pay Master Responds to Requests by Anna Burger, 10,000 Taxpayers to Take Action on Ken Lewis Pay

Sets Precedent for Protecting Americans from CEO Pay Abuse -- Washington, D.C.--The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released a statement from Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger following news that Ken Lewis will not be receiving his 2009 compensation and bonus pay in light of his multimillion-dollar retirement package.    » read more »

October 15, 2009 -- America's workers appreciate Chairman Frank's efforts yesterday to strengthen the Over-the-Counter Derivatives Markets Act of 2009. However, the final bill that goes to the House floor needs to go further to protect taxpayers and our economy from a repeat of what happened at AIG.

The final bill should:

· Require all standardized derivatives be traded on exchanges that are transparent and require capital to back up risk;

· Have no exceptions for overseas trades or foreign currency trades;

· Prevent regulatory arbitrage by having the SEC regulate derivatives tied to securities and the CFTC regulate derivatives tied to commodities; and    » read more »

CtW report: Chamber CEO Tom Donohue has hijacked the Chamber’s agenda

October 15, 2009 --
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Preaching free enterprise, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue leads the Chamber’s attack on the financial reforms essential to restore employment and the economy. He cloaks the Chamber’s staunch opposition in the most expensive rhetoric money can buy. But Donohue’s pro-business, pro-economy and pro-jobs rhetoric notwithstanding, the Chamber’s record under his leadership is none of those things. It is pro-CEO.    » read more »

Washington, DC (Oct. 15, 2009) – The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) began their investigation of the trade case filings by the United Steelworkers (USW) and three domestic companies against coated paper imports from China and Indonesia at a preliminary hearing yesterday.

“We have seen thousands of job losses by multiple plant shutdowns in coated paper manufacturing caused by imports since the period examined in the last petition to enforce fair trade rules against the flood of subsidized imports from Asia,” said Leo W. Gerard, USW international president.    » read more »

Statement of Joe Hinrichs, group vice president, Global Manufacturing and Labor Affairs, Ford Motor Company.

DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 13 – Ford and the United Auto Workers union have reached a tentative agreement on additional modifications to the 2007 UAW-Ford national labor agreement, which would help Ford improve its current and long-term competitiveness in the United States.

The tentative agreement, which covers approximately 41,000 UAW-represented employees in the United States, is subject to ratification by the active UAW-Ford membership. We will not discuss details of the agreement until after the ratification process is complete.

Source: Ford Motor Co.

October 07, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today formally issued a final rule rescinding the Social Security “no match” rule. The “no match” rule, which was never implemented, would have forced employers to fire workers based on discrepancies in their Social Security records. DHS first announced its plan to rescind the rule in July, and with today’s publication of a final rule in the Federal Register, the rescission will go into effect in 30 days.    » read more »

October 8, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- Today, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) sent a letter to Obama administration pay czar Kenneth Feinberg requesting action to prevent outgoing Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis and executives at other banks receiving taxpayer funds from receiving multimillion-dollar retirement, severance, or compensation packages.    » read more »