IF YOU LIKE WIP, YOU’LL LOVE OUR BLOG—In late February, the AFL-CIO is expanding its communications outreach with a unique news blog for working families, AFL-CIO Now. The blog will include frequent daily updates on economic, legislative, political, organizing and other news key to working families. AFL-CIO Now will replace the weekly Work in Progress. Those who currently receive WiP by e-mail will automatically get hot topic updates e-mailed to them. 

THE REAL STATE OF THE UNION—President George W. Bush will give his annual State of the Union address tomorrow night, Jan. 31, and likely will tell the nation that the economy is growing, more tax cuts for the wealthy will boost it even further and that individual health savings accounts will solve the nation’s health care crisis. That rosy picture is not the state of the union. Job creation is at its lowest point since World War II, 5 million more people are in poverty today than in 2000, 46 million Americans don’t have health care and private health savings accounts will shift more costs onto workers and undermine employer-sponsored health plans, through which two-thirds of Americans receive their health coverage. You can find out more about how to respond to Bush’s State of the Union address by e-mailing bholton@aflcio.org or calling 202-637-5018 and requesting the AFL-CIO’s State of the Union talking points.     

ALITO FIGHT MOVES TO VOTE—The U.S. Senate is expected to vote Jan. 31 on President Bush’s nominee, Judge Samuel Alito, for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. In a straight 10-to-8 party-line vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Alito’s nomination to the floor Jan. 24. A move by some Democrats to block Alito’s nomination failed when the Senate voted to end debate on the nomination Jan. 30. The AFL-CIO opposes the nomination. A member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, Alito has a record of decisions and dissents that take an extremely narrow view of workers’ rights, an AFL-CIO analysis revealed. Alito consistently has sided against America’s workers, according to the analysis, including denying overtime pay to newspaper reporters, thwarting Congress’ efforts to guarantee all employees unpaid time off from their jobs for serious illnesses and putting roadblocks in the way of workers trying to remedy job discrimination. Visit www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/upload/alito_review.pdf to examine Alito’s record in workers’ rights, civil rights and other important cases. Visit www.unionvoice.org/campaign/no_to_alito_np/wk68zv7w36dn to send a message to your senators opposing Alito’s confirmation.

ILLINOIS WORKERS JOIN AFSCME—Some 248 clerical, technical and professional workers at the state Toll Highway Authority and 154 accountant supervisors, staff development specialists and public information coordinators in other departments joined AFSCME Council 31 recently. More than 1,400 Illinois state employees have joined Council 31 since 2003, when the state authorized majority sign-up, in which the employer agrees to recognize the union if a majority of workers signs union authorization cards. In North Dakota, 100 correctional workers joined Council 59 on Jan. 1.

WORKERS CONNECT WITH UWUA—Some 122 technicians, engineers, trainers and warehouse workers at RCN, a Boston-based telecom firm, recently voted to join Utility Workers Local 369.
 
TEXAS, ARIZONA ELECTRICIANS GET IBEW HELP—Hundreds of electrical workers in Arizona and Texas will earn union pay and benefits the next time they’re on the job, thanks to new contracts signed between eight contractors and Electrical Workers Local 640 in Phoenix and another contractor with Local 1015 in Weslaco, Texas. The union is helping the Phoenix contractors move to a union workforce through transitional one-year agreements that allow journeymen and apprentice workers to be paid union scale and benefits but leave more time for other union requirements to be met.

IOWA CHILD CARE WORKERS WIN UNION RIGHTS—Iowa child care workers who care for children in their homes can come together in a union following an executive order by Gov. Tom Vilsack (D). The order permits the workers to organize and negotiate for better wages, benefits and improvements in Iowa’s child care system. There are some 6,000 registered family care providers in the state.

LOG TRUCKERS LOOK TO IAM—The 500-member Northwest Log Truckers Cooperative voted Jan. 21 to authorize a proposal that could lead to a historic affiliation with the Machinists. The log-hauling business in the Northwest currently is dominated by a handful of large corporate landowners who fiercely opposed earlier organizing efforts. The truckers looked to the IAM because of its long involvement in the Northwest timber industry through the IAM’s Woodworkers Department, which represents timber workers.

ICG ORDERED TO ALLOW UMWA SAFETY EXPERTS ACCESS—A federal judge Jan. 26 ordered the International Coal Group (ICG), owner of the West Virginia coal mine where 12 miners were killed in a Jan. 3 explosion, to allow Mine Worker safety experts access to the Upshur County mine as part of the investigation into the deadly blast. On Jan. 25, ICG barred UMWA safety officials from accompanying federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and state mine safety investigators into the nonunion Sago Mine, even though MSHA had certified the union’s participation. MSHA then sought an injunction against ICG’s actions. The next day U.S. District Judge Robert E. Maxwell ordered ICG to stop blocking union safety officials from entering the mine. The company agreed to allow UMWA safety investigators into the mine while it appeals the ruling. “ICG has spent countless hours and wasted valuable time with its baseless attacks on the UMWA,” said union president Cecil Roberts. “Meanwhile, the Sago miners, the families of the victims of this disaster and the American public cry out for answers. Let’s get on with it and find the answers to the questions surrounding this tragedy.” For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/ns01272006.cfm.

DOD ATTACK ON WORKERS’ RIGHTS DELAYED—The Bush administration’s attack on the collective bargaining rights of 750,000 Department of Defense workers was slowed Jan. 24 when the department delayed implementation of new workplace rules until at least March 1. The new rules would undermine collective bargaining rights, gut workers’ pay and slash workplace protections. Unions representing Defense Department workers have filed suit to stop the National Security Personnel System. The delay followed a hearing before Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “We’re confident that Judge Sullivan will rule against DoD’s extreme personnel approach,” said AFGE President John Gage. The rules were originally set to go into effect in February 2005, but a coalition of 41 unions lead by AFGE has mobilized to stop the new rules. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/ns01262006a.cfm.

STOP MORE BAD TRADE DEALS—The Bush administration is poised to send more flawed trade deals up to Capitol Hill in the coming months. The administration has signed an agreement with Peru and is working to close a deal with Ecuador and Colombia in the near future. This Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) would be even worse than the Central American Free Trade Agreement in some ways, said global justice activists. AFTA, like the other trade deals negotiated by the Bush administration, protects the rights and profits of multinational corporations, while eroding protection for the environment and workers’ rights, even in Colombia, where union leaders are killed at a rate of more than one a week, according to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. To tell your members of Congress to stop these deals, visit www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/CTC/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2232. Meanwhile, the administration on Jan. 19 signed the Oman Free Trade Agreement, which mirrors other Bush agreements by not protecting the rights of workers, including the freedom to join a union. Last June, the AFL-CIO filed a petition with the Bush administration to remove Oman as one of the countries receiving special trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) because of Oman’s egregiously bad record on respecting internationally recognized workers’ rights, especially the rights to organize a union and bargain collectively. Trade negotiations also are under way with Thailand, Panama, the United Arab Emirates and the Southern African Customs Union. For more information on AFTA, visit www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globaleconomy/battle/, and on Oman, visit www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globaleconomy/battle/oman.cfm.

NYU GRAD WORKERS STAND STRONG—At a rally with more than 3,000 New York-area union members, faculty and community supporters, striking New York University (NYU) graduate teaching and research assistants vowed Jan. 26 to keep the pressure on the university until it agrees to recognize the graduate workers’ right to join together in a union. UAW Secretary-Treasurer Elizabeth Bunn, CWA President Larry Cohen and New York State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes were among the labor leaders who pledged their support for the student workers’ struggles. The graduate workers—members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee/UAW Local 2110—walked out Nov. 9 to protest the university’s refusal to bargain a second contract. The strike followed the school’s August announcement it no longer would recognize the union and allowed the contract to lapse. The NYU graduate workers voted to join together in a union in 2000 and negotiated a four-year contract with the university. But in 2004, the Bush administration’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reversed a Clinton-administration ruling and abolished federal labor law protections for graduate employees. Nothing in the NLRB ruling prevents NYU and other universities from voluntarily recognizing the union. Visit www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/ to learn more.

DOCUMENTARY BRINGS PORTERS’ STORY TO LIFE—The story of the Pullman Porters, black men who served as waiters and valets on luxurious rail cars for about a century, is explored in a new documentary “Rising from the Rails: The Story of the Pullman Porter” based on the book by Larry Tye. The documentary also tells the story of how the men formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first all-black union, under the leadership of legendary labor leader A. Philip Randolph in 1925. The documentary will air on Superstation WGN during the month of February. Check your local listings for dates and times.

‘NEGLECT, INDIFFERENCE’ LEAD TO JOURNALISTS’ DEATHS—A new report by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned a “culture of neglect and indifference” over killings of journalists, which is making journalism more dangerous than ever. The report, Targeting and Tragedy, said at least 150 journalists and media staff members were killed last year, the highest number ever, and warned the situation will get worse unless political leaders act to bring the killers to justice. “A combination of police corruption, judicial incompetence and political indifference has created a culture of neglect and indifference which makes every day hunting season for attacks on media staff,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. Linda Foley, president of The Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of America, said, “It’s critical that the U.S. government and the world community act to bring the killers of all journalists and media workers to justice.” On Jan. 29, ABC News “World News Tonight” anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were seriously wounded while covering the war in Iraq. Earlier this month, The Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll was kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq and is currently being held hostage. 

WORKER RADIO SHOW GOES ONLINE—The long-running radio program “America’s Work Force” is reaching out to new audiences. The hour-long show, which is broadcast from Cleveland, will be simulcast online at www.labortools.com/ beginning Jan. 30. The show airs Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m.–9 a.m. It specializes in features and news about working people and is hosted by Ed “Flash” Fernec.

STOP ATTACKS ON WORKING FAMILIES IN SPENDING BILL—On Feb. 1, U.S. House Republican leaders, backed by the Bush administration, will try to muscle through a package of spending cuts to programs vital to working and low-income families. The nearly $40 billion in cuts are part of the budget reconciliation bill that narrowly passed 212–206 in December, but some minor changes by the Senate require a second House vote that is expected to be even closer. The cuts include slashing health care funding for the poor, cutting child support enforcement funds and taking $12.7 billion from the federal student loan program, the largest cut in the program’s history. According to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal, the student loan cuts would increase the average student loan burden by $2,000 and cost parents an average of $3,000 more in interest for a child’s education. The spending cuts are part of a package that includes some $70 billion in tax cuts primarily for the wealthy. The tax cut bill will be voted on separately in late February or early March. The AFL-CIO and a wide range of union, community, civil rights, family and other groups are working to overcome the six-vote loss in December. Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.), who voted for the spending cut package in December, announced he will switch his vote and oppose the cuts. Call your representative toll free at 1-800-393-1082 and urge him or her to oppose the budget reconciliation bill.