Archive for January, 2009
USA: Labor lovin’ president: Strongest endorsement for unions American president has ever made
Beth Myers, Executive Director, STITCH
Is supporting labor rights a
stance that will disqualify you from serving as the Secretary of Labor?
Insanely enough, it appears that may be true.
For the past few weeks we
have heard rumblings that the Republican Party might try to stop Representative
Hilda Solis??? (D-CA) nomination in an attempt to ???send a message to organized
labor.??? Due to Rep. Solis??? support of
the Employee Free Choice Act, she has become a target of business groups who
are frightened that workers might finally have a level playing field to
organize unions. At a time of unprecedented job loss, it seems appalling that business
groups and Republicans would be hampering the Department of Labor by playing
politics. According to an article in
the Washington Post:
Is now the time to be stalling and trying to win points or send messages? Obviously, even the Republican who is holding up this nomination is not willing to stand behind the game playing. Rep. Solis??? nomination is being held up via an anonymous hold by a Republican Senator, a parliamentary procedure that allows a Senator to stop a confirmation by threatening to filibuster it.
It is time for us to stop
the madness. When our Congress recently debated the stimulus package,
constantly we heard pundits and politicians talking about who would ???win??? the
debate or score the most points during this debate. The fact that we are
allowing the Department of Labor to be leaderless during this time of economic
turmoil for workers around the globe just shows how politics is trumping
patriotism at every step of the game. The last election was about change and we
as voters and workers need to say enough!
I know the Department of
Labor has its shortcomings, particularly after the de-funding and
politicization over the past eight years, and many see it as a weak institution
that isn???t worth our efforts. But I challenge you to read the mission statement
below and tell me that our country does not need the Department of Labor now
more than ever.
The Department of Labor
fosters and promotes the welfare of the job seekers, wage earners, and retirees
of the United States
by improving their working conditions, advancing their opportunities for
profitable employment, protecting their retirement and health care benefits,
helping employers find workers, strengthening free collective bargaining, and
tracking changes in employment, prices, and other national economic
measurements. In carrying out this mission, the Department administers a
variety of Federal labor laws including those that guarantee workers??? rights to
safe and healthful working conditions; a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay;
freedom from employment discrimination; unemployment insurance; and other
income support.
Contact your elected
officials and ask them if they care enough about workers to put aside politics
and let the Department of Labor do it???s job.
Tim Newman, Campaigns Assistant, International Labor Rights Forum
For the second year in a row, Bridgestone Firestone is the title sponsor of the NFL Super Bowl Halftime show. Close to 100 million football fans across the country will tune in to watch Bruce Springsteen perform and will see two new 30-second commercials (estimated to cost at least $3 million each) from the world's largest tire company.
Unfortunately, the exploitation workers face on Firestone's rubber plantation in Liberia will receive much less scrutiny. For well over 80 years, Firestone has operated the world's largest rubber plantation in Harbel, Liberia. Workers on the plantation have long faced incredibly poor living and working conditions. Firestone rubber tappers live in crowded shacks without running water, electricity or indoor latrines and are required to meet an unreasonably high production quota in order to receive their meager pay.
TAKE ACTION HERE and keep reading for more information.
After a long struggle, workers finally held the first free and fair union election and signed their first contract negotiated by a democratically elected and independent union leadership in August 2008. The agreement was a major step forward in the long struggle of workers to protect their rights. However, since the time the agreement was signed, Firestone management has failed to implement many of the important improvements in the new contract. For example, the new contract reduced the size of the production quota, but many workers throughout the plantation report that they are still being forced to produce at the old quota level which means they must hire subcontractors or use the labor of their family members in order to finish their work and be paid. Firestone has also not fully implemented health and safety improvements in the new contract and has not provided transportation for all of the children on the plantation to access schools as the contract says they should.
It is shameful that after such an important step for these workers who have fought for so long for justice, Firestone is not honoring this historic contract. Firestone talks a lot about their "partnership" with Liberia in their public relations materials, but their actions on the ground look a lot more like broken promises. We need to stand in solidarity with Firestone workers in Liberia to ensure that this company honors its commitments and that the contract results in real positive changes for workers. A victory for Firestone workers will have a major impact in raising working and living conditions for people throughout Liberia as Firestone is the country's largest private investor and many other companies look to Firestone has an example.
So please take action NOW and e-mail the NFL and Firestone by clicking here. Then, tell five friends to join you! And don't forget to let your fellow sports fans know about this campaign at your Super Bowl watching parties.
PS: In other Bridgestone news, the company has been cutting jobs in LaVergne, Tennessee and Noblesville, Indiana. Also, the company was just fined 58.5 million Euros by the European Union for fixing the price of its marine hoses in the international market.
