Look For The Union Label...

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • DrMaddVibe
    ROTH ARMY ELITE
    • Jan 2004
    • 6686

    Look For The Union Label...

    Union Leader: Labor Can't Just Back Dems

    By WILL LESTER, Associated Press WriterFri Jul 8, 4:24 PM ET

    Organized labor should help politicians who will advance labor's cause rather than simply supporting Democrats, says a union leader pushing for changes in the AFL-CIO.

    "We can't just elect Democratic politicians and try to take back the House and take back the Senate and think that's going to change workers' lives," said Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union.

    During a briefing Thursday, Stern said politics is only part of labor's strategy. He said "electing Democrats and taking back the House or getting rid of (House Majority Leader) Tom Delay" are not enough to answer workers' problems.

    "It certainly would help, but we don't think it's the answer," Stern said.

    Karen Ackerman, political director of the AFL-CIO, countered, "We are committed to standing with and supporting elected leaders or candidates who will stand with working people." That means the AFL-CIO sometimes doesn't support Democrats and sometimes supports Republican candidates who back labor rights, she said.

    Democratic officials have said in the past that organized labor should be able to address and resolve questions about their political activities on their own.

    Stern was speaking as the leader of the 1.8 million-member SEIU — the largest in the federation — but the feeling that labor should approach politics differently is shared by leaders of other unions in the Change to Win Coalition.

    The AFL-CIO, which represents almost 60 unions with 13 million members, has substantial differences with the five dissident unions in the coalition, which represent more than 5 million of that total.

    The coalition wants the AFL-CIO to commit far more resources to organizing, reduce the size of the staff at central headquarters and encourage unions within certain industries to combine resources.

    AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has said it is crucial for labor to work on organizing and politics simultaneously to promote an environment where workers can organize without interference. The amount of dues that Stern and other coalition members want returned to the unions for organizing efforts would weaken the AFL-CIO's finances and its ability to fund its political program, Ackerman said.

    Top leaders of the AFL-CIO agreed Thursday to a plan intended to give the federation more power to ensure all unions are honoring industry standards on pay and benefits. The plan also sets new rules aimed at giving workers more power to organize unions that can take on large industries. Those proposals will be considered by the AFL-CIO's executive council on July 22.

    The coalition members' threats to leave the AFL-CIO were criticized Thursday by Edward McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a union within the federation.

    "Those threatening actions could do serious harm to the labor movement and to working people for many years to come," he told AFT members in Washington.

    The AFL-CIO currently tries to do too many things without a coordinated strategy, Stern said.

    "It's like an orchestra where everybody is playing a different song and there's no conductor," Stern said.

    Stern's goals are sharply different from Sweeney's, but when asked if Sweeney is capable of leading the labor organization effectively, he said, "He has the personal skills."

    Union membership has been on a downward slide for 50 years, now representing 12.5 percent of all U.S. workers, and less than that among employees in the private sector. A half-century ago, one-third of private-sector workers belonged to unions.

    Stern took note of AFL-CIO efforts to change the labor movement, saying "they've made progress" but not enough.

    The AFL-CIO's annual meeting set for July 25-28.

    "We have made our choice," Stern said, noting coalition leaders will probably meet at the end of the federation's meeting to consider their future. "The AFL is going to have to make theirs."

    __

    On the Net:

    Service Employees International Union: http://www.seiu.org

    AFL-CIO: http://www.aflcio.org

    Change to Win Coalition: http://www.changetowin.org








    They're not the sharpest tools in the shed, but they're tools!
    http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...auders1zl5.gif
    http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...willywonka.gif
  • FORD
    ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

    • Jan 2004
    • 59141

    #2
    It's all hypothetical if you can't find Republicans who vote in the best interests of working people, and those would definitely be in the minority.

    Even the traditional Republican party was more likely to take management's side over the workers.
    Eat Us And Smile

    Cenk For America 2024!!

    Justice Democrats


    "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

    Comment

    • DrMaddVibe
      ROTH ARMY ELITE
      • Jan 2004
      • 6686

      #3
      Face it...even the unions won't continue to feed the insanity that has become the losing Democratic party!

      Spin it any way you want, but when they won't back the Dems only...maybe they'll bring their feedbag to the right!
      http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...auders1zl5.gif
      http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...willywonka.gif

      Comment

      • FORD
        ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

        • Jan 2004
        • 59141

        #4
        I don't blame them for not wanting to back DLC type "Democrats" who kiss as much corporate ass as Republicans.

        But the unions came out solidly behind Dean in 2004, and did so again in his run for the DNC chair.

        As long as we continue to restore the Democratic party, our traditional base will be on board, and labor is a HUGE part of that base.
        Eat Us And Smile

        Cenk For America 2024!!

        Justice Democrats


        "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

        Comment

        • fanofdave
          Foot Soldier
          • Jan 2004
          • 500

          #5
          don't forget the union members throughout the u.s. that
          are registered as independents or republicans, too.
          not everyone needs a union to tell them how to vote.

          Comment

          • Redballjets88
            Full Member Status

            • Mar 2005
            • 4469

            #6
            i hate unions....the idea of a union is great....but they take advantage of the employer too much
            R.I.P Van Halen 1978-1984

            hopefully God will ressurect you

            "i wont be messing with you in future.the fearsome redballjets88 for fear of you owning me some more" Axl S


            " I liked Sammy Hagar " FORD

            Comment

            • FORD
              ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

              • Jan 2004
              • 59141

              #7
              Originally posted by fanofdave
              don't forget the union members throughout the u.s. that
              are registered as independents or republicans, too.
              not everyone needs a union to tell them how to vote.
              A working man voting for Republicans is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.
              Eat Us And Smile

              Cenk For America 2024!!

              Justice Democrats


              "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

              Comment

              • DrMaddVibe
                ROTH ARMY ELITE
                • Jan 2004
                • 6686

                #8
                Originally posted by FORD
                A working man voting for Republicans is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.
                Realizing his full potential?
                http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...auders1zl5.gif
                http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...willywonka.gif

                Comment

                • FORD
                  ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

                  • Jan 2004
                  • 59141

                  #9
                  What Unions Do

                  Unions guarantee rewards for hard work and initiative.

                  * Workers with unions earn an average 25 percent more than do workers without a union.
                  * Seventy-three percent of union members in the private industry get health benefits on the job, compared with about half of workers without unions.
                  * Seventy percent of union members in medium and large private companies are covered by defined-benefit pensions that guarantee a benefit, compared with only 16 percent of workers without a union.

                  Unions help remedy discrimination in the workplace.

                  * Union contracts raise earnings by 30 percent for working women and African Americans and 45 percent for Latinos.
                  * Union contracts help make sure that everyone is treated fairly and equally on the job.

                  Unions raise living standards for the whole community.

                  * For decades, union membership paved the way to a strong and growing middle class. As union membership declined, the gap between the wealthy and everyone else grew.
                  * Better wages and benefits through unions mean that more families can make it on their own in the community—and the wage and benefit floor is lifted for everyone.
                  * Studies show that states where many of the workers have a union are also states with lower poverty rates, better schools and less crime.

                  Unions make America work better.

                  * Unions raise professional standards. Union workers have a say in decisions that affect the quality of the products they make and the services they deliver. Unions train more workers each year than any organization outside the U.S. military.
                  * Studies show that by lowering turnover rates and giving workers a voice in how work is done, unions raise productivity by 19 to 24 percent in manufacturing, 17 to 38 percent in construction and up to 16 percent in hospitals.
                  * Unions help make sure our nation prioritizes working people’s issues—they hold corporations accountable, make workplaces safe, protect Social Security and retirement, fight for quality health care and make sure working people have time to spend with their families. If unions weren’t out there fighting for these issues, who would be?

                  Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Earnings, January 2002; U.S. Census Bureau; Income of Households by State in 2000; O’Leary, Kathleen and Scott Morgan, State Rankings 2002; Belman, Dale, “Unions, the Quality of Labor Relations, and Firm Performance,” in Unions and Economic Competitiveness. Lawrence Mishel and Paula B. Voos, eds.
                  Eat Us And Smile

                  Cenk For America 2024!!

                  Justice Democrats


                  "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

                  Comment

                  • DrMaddVibe
                    ROTH ARMY ELITE
                    • Jan 2004
                    • 6686

                    #10
                    That's all fine and good but in reality its a different story.

                    Unions protect uneducated,shiftless,lazy,substance abusers through an archaeic system known as tenure. In that type of setting I suppose even dog shit has a chance to get COLA and representation...unless they dry up and blow away like the garment and steel industry!!!!!
                    http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...auders1zl5.gif
                    http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...willywonka.gif

                    Comment

                    • Big Train
                      Full Member Status

                      • Apr 2004
                      • 4013

                      #11
                      I'd be just interested to see them back a green, if only to spur the debate about the two-party system. I'm always one for interesting fireworks. That would make the next election a WHOLE lot more interesting, if labor solely backed third parties. Be a lot more work for the remaining two to do. What would the Dems do without that backing?

                      Comment

                      • FORD
                        ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

                        • Jan 2004
                        • 59141

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Big Train
                        I'd be just interested to see them back a green, if only to spur the debate about the two-party system. I'm always one for interesting fireworks. That would make the next election a WHOLE lot more interesting, if labor solely backed third parties. Be a lot more work for the remaining two to do. What would the Dems do without that backing?
                        If labor started backing the Greens, I would probably be there already, because it would only happen if they determined that the damage done to the Democratic party by the Republican moles known as the DLC was irreversible.

                        And right now its only the leadership of Howard Dean which prevents that from happening.
                        Eat Us And Smile

                        Cenk For America 2024!!

                        Justice Democrats


                        "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

                        Comment

                        • FORD
                          ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

                          • Jan 2004
                          • 59141

                          #13
                          Originally posted by DrMaddVibe

                          shiftless,lazy,substance abusers
                          Eat Us And Smile

                          Cenk For America 2024!!

                          Justice Democrats


                          "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

                          Comment

                          • DrMaddVibe
                            ROTH ARMY ELITE
                            • Jan 2004
                            • 6686

                            #14
                            I wasn't aware they were all dues paying card carrying members of a union.
                            http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...auders1zl5.gif
                            http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...willywonka.gif

                            Comment

                            • FORD
                              ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

                              • Jan 2004
                              • 59141

                              #15
                              Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
                              I wasn't aware they were all dues paying card carrying members of a union.
                              Nah, they would get kicked out of the BCE for that.
                              Eat Us And Smile

                              Cenk For America 2024!!

                              Justice Democrats


                              "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

                              Comment

                              Working...