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AFL-CIO Plans Neighborhood Walks Sept. 2
In neighborhoods throughout the country Sept. 2, union members will spend the evening knocking on the doors of other union homes to talk with voters about what's at stake for workers and their families in November's election.
The nationwide walk was one of the initiatives to come out of this week's AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Chicago. Among other actions, the council addressed the nation's ongoing jobs crisis and what it called "one of the most shameful chapters" in the history of the National Labor Relations Board.
"For America's working families, the stakes in this fall's presidential elections are the greatest of a lifetime," the council said, detailing the labor movement's largest mobilization effort ever and why it's necessary.
"President Bush has not been a mere bystander in the decline in fortunes for America's workers and their families-he has been an active participant in the deterioration of jobs and working conditions," the council said. The council cited examples including the administration's assault on overtime protections and collective bargaining rights, trade and tax policies that reward the rich and encourage outsourcing, cuts in job training programs and a record federal deficit less than four years after President Clinton left office with a surplus.
"Enough is enough," the council said. "America's working families cannot afford another four years of Mr. Bush's policies and practices. We need the leadership of John Kerry and John Edwards, two men whose entire careers have been marked by their support and advocacy for America's workers and their families."
The goal of the Thursday, Sept. 2 walk is to ensure that union families have the information they need on the critical issues of this election. The AFL-CIO is urging the participation of at least one half of 1 percent of the membership from each affiliate, as well as union and labor council staff nationwide.
In the wake of the dismal July jobs report, the council said it's clear that Bush administration economic policies aren't working, pointing to the net loss of more than 1 million jobs and lower wages and fewer, if any, benefits at the new jobs created.
"Two-thirds of the jobs created since late last summer were in low-wage industries," the council said, citing the Labor Department's own reports. "On average, jobs in industries that are growing, pay 21 percent less than jobs in industries that are shrinking. And employers in expanding industries provide health coverage for only 55 percent of their workers, compared with 68 percent of workers insured by employers in shrinking industries."
The council also condemned what's become of the NLRB, the agency that was created to protect the freedom of America's workers to form unions and bargain collectively.
"In practice, with a working majority appointed by President Bush, the NLRB has been perverted into a dangerous enemy of workers' rights," the council said. "Few things better underscore the urgency of changing presidents and changing the nation's labor laws than the recent record of the Bush NLRB."
The council cited rulings by the Republican-majority board that attack card check, limit the rights of health care workers to strike and withdraw union protections from a class of workers at private universities, among other anti-worker decisions.
"These Bush NLRB actions are bad enough, but they barely scratch the surface of the problems with the Board and the law it enforces," the council said. "The NLRB has become synonymous with weak, ineffective remedies and intolerable delays. Employers violate workers' rights with impunity, knowing that no matter what they do, they face nothing worse than a slap on the wrist."
Details of the NLRB cases and more information about all AFL-CIO Executive Council actions are available at www.aflcio.org.
The nationwide walk was one of the initiatives to come out of this week's AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Chicago. Among other actions, the council addressed the nation's ongoing jobs crisis and what it called "one of the most shameful chapters" in the history of the National Labor Relations Board.
"For America's working families, the stakes in this fall's presidential elections are the greatest of a lifetime," the council said, detailing the labor movement's largest mobilization effort ever and why it's necessary.
"President Bush has not been a mere bystander in the decline in fortunes for America's workers and their families-he has been an active participant in the deterioration of jobs and working conditions," the council said. The council cited examples including the administration's assault on overtime protections and collective bargaining rights, trade and tax policies that reward the rich and encourage outsourcing, cuts in job training programs and a record federal deficit less than four years after President Clinton left office with a surplus.
"Enough is enough," the council said. "America's working families cannot afford another four years of Mr. Bush's policies and practices. We need the leadership of John Kerry and John Edwards, two men whose entire careers have been marked by their support and advocacy for America's workers and their families."
The goal of the Thursday, Sept. 2 walk is to ensure that union families have the information they need on the critical issues of this election. The AFL-CIO is urging the participation of at least one half of 1 percent of the membership from each affiliate, as well as union and labor council staff nationwide.
In the wake of the dismal July jobs report, the council said it's clear that Bush administration economic policies aren't working, pointing to the net loss of more than 1 million jobs and lower wages and fewer, if any, benefits at the new jobs created.
"Two-thirds of the jobs created since late last summer were in low-wage industries," the council said, citing the Labor Department's own reports. "On average, jobs in industries that are growing, pay 21 percent less than jobs in industries that are shrinking. And employers in expanding industries provide health coverage for only 55 percent of their workers, compared with 68 percent of workers insured by employers in shrinking industries."
The council also condemned what's become of the NLRB, the agency that was created to protect the freedom of America's workers to form unions and bargain collectively.
"In practice, with a working majority appointed by President Bush, the NLRB has been perverted into a dangerous enemy of workers' rights," the council said. "Few things better underscore the urgency of changing presidents and changing the nation's labor laws than the recent record of the Bush NLRB."
The council cited rulings by the Republican-majority board that attack card check, limit the rights of health care workers to strike and withdraw union protections from a class of workers at private universities, among other anti-worker decisions.
"These Bush NLRB actions are bad enough, but they barely scratch the surface of the problems with the Board and the law it enforces," the council said. "The NLRB has become synonymous with weak, ineffective remedies and intolerable delays. Employers violate workers' rights with impunity, knowing that no matter what they do, they face nothing worse than a slap on the wrist."
Details of the NLRB cases and more information about all AFL-CIO Executive Council actions are available at www.aflcio.org.