Campus and Community News

Salary Gap Persists for UA Education Workers

2011-11-29T11:48:00.005-06:00

A recent Report to the Faculty Senate by its Financial Advisory Committee reveals two issues of continuing concern for workers at the University of Arkansas. Both are about fairness.

Although the wage gap between male and female faculty had improved since the dark days of glaring inequality under Chancellor John White, tenured and tenure-track female faculty members still make 10% less than their same rank male colleagues at the University of Arkansas.

Second, the annual raises for administrators continue to dwarf those for faculty and staff. From 2009 to 2011, raises for Category One Administrators (President, Chancellor, Provost, Vice Chancellors, and Vice Provost) jumped more than 22% (average $45,000 increase). For the Category Two Administrators (Associate Vice Chancellors and Associate Vice-Provost), raises averaged $30,600 or 26% in the same two-year period.

Provost Sharon Gaber told the Faculty Senate that Chancellor Gearhart wanted to give the faculty a 5% raise, but he couldn't balance the budget with such a large increase so offered 2.5%.

Fayetteville Sales Tax renewal Election on October 11

2011-09-28T23:29:00.001-05:00

SALES TAX RENEWAL INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS OF AFSCME 965

On October 11, an election will be held for Fayetteville voters to decide whether to renew the existing 1% sales tax to continue funding of City operations and the Capital Improvement Program. This provides more than 27% of our General Revenue budget, and it has funded our community’s needs for public safety, transportation, and programs that assure the quality of life that our citizens expect and deserve.

THIS IS NOT A NEW TAX. The existing 1% sales tax was approved by Fayetteville voters in 1993 and renewed by voters in 2002; it is again up for citizen approval before 2013. Due to the extensive time required to adjust budgets and city operations if this measure fails, the City Council decided to send the measure to the voters in a special election this year.

The October 11 election question will be stated on the ballot as follows:

[ ] FOR adoption of a 1% local sales and use tax within the City of Fayetteville to begin July 1, 2013 to replace the current 1% local sales and use tax. This replacement tax shall expire on June 30, 2023.

[ ] AGAINST adoption of a 1% local sales and use tax within the City of Fayetteville to begin July 1, 2013 to replace the current 1% local sales and use tax. This replacement tax shall expire on June 30, 2023.

The City’s 1% sales tax currently generates $9.2 million for General Fund operations and $6.2 million for the Sales Tax Capital Fund used for construction and equipment.

General Fund Operations include our obligation to provide fire and police protection that saves lives, the District Court, parks, streets, trails, sidewalks, library, and other essential public services. If the existing 1% sales tax is renewed, these public services will continue at current or expanded levels depending on actual collections.

If the sales tax is not renewed, public services will be cut significantly. Personnel Services constitutes 82% of the General Fund expenditures, so $7.5 million would have to be cut from personnel and 148 positions eliminated. Most of the positions (60%) funded by the General Fund are our Police and Fire personnel; therefore, without funds from this existing tax, approximately 55 Police personnel and 38 positions in the Fire Department would have to be eliminated. Without the Fire personnel to staff fire stations, some fire stations will have to be closed indefinitely. This would affect response time to fires and ISO ratings upon which your property insurance costs are based, but it would also put lives and property at risk.

Additionally, approximately 55 jobs would have to be cut from General Government and support areas such as the City Prosecutor’s Office, Fayetteville District Court, the City Clerk’s Office, Parks and Recreation, City Planning, Information Technology, and Accounting. Furthermore, existing funding for the contracts with the Boys and Girls Club, the Fayetteville Senior Center, the Fayetteville Public Library, and Ozark Regional Transit would be eliminated or drastically-reduced. Also, if the 1% sales tax fails, there would be a loss of $6.2 million in the Fayetteville Capital Improvements Program, meaning it would completely disappear. Included in the current Capital Improvements Program are the street resurfacing and major repair program, the trail system, the sidewalk program, technology upgrades, the Wilson Park swimming pool, and equipment replacement, including police vehicles and fire trucks.

Your union has endorsed renewal of the 1% sales tax. How you vote is your decision.

America’s Future Is at Stake this Labor Day

2011-09-02T09:40:00.000-05:00

As we celebrate Labor Day 2011, working families face greater attacks on their economic security than at any time since the days of the robber barons in the late 19th Century. In state houses across the country, politicians backed by Wall Street billionaires are attacking fundamental reforms that union members fought and won over many decades, reforms like collective bargaining, child labor laws, safety regulations and even the right of workers to vote. In the U.S. House of Representatives, right-wing forces have passed legislation to eliminate Medicare, undermine Social Security and increase the taxes paid by working families while giving massive benefits to corporations and the very rich.

Rather than pulling together to find real solutions to our problems, anti-worker billionaires and the politicians they fund are mobilizing to transfer all the burdens of taxation onto working families. Under the budget bill supported by all except nine Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate, taxes would increase for the working middle class while the wealthiest one percent would find their taxes cut in half. Millionaires would be taxed at a lower effective rate than anyone working nine to five for a paycheck. That’s not a real solution, and it does nothing to create jobs.

We fought for reforms . . .

Unions opposed these measures. The labor movement worked long and hard to enact reforms like the progressive income tax, Social Security and Medicare. On Labor Day and every day, we need to remember that winning those victories – and so many others – was not a day at the beach or a walk in the park. When unions fought for collective bargaining rights, for the eight hour work day, to expand non-discrimination laws, to restrict the use of child labor and to enforce workplace safety regulations, we were always opposed by Wall Street. Yet, today, too many Americans take those reforms for granted. But many realize how important these reforms were. And they are mobilizing to oppose the concerted efforts underway across the country to repeal them, along with other policies and laws that have promoted social and economic justice.

In Maine, for example, union members fought Governor Paul LePage and his allies who tried to make an end run around child labor laws. We fought their efforts to eliminate restrictions on the hours children can work and to lower wages for teenagers by more than $2 an hour. We are fighting the efforts of right-wing legislators in more than a dozen states who are trying to undermine the Voting Rights Act by requiring voters to obtain government issued identity cards before they can cast a ballot. These misnamed “Voter ID” laws are part of an orchestrated effort to disenfranchise more than 21 million Americans – including many senior citizens – who do not have government-issued identification.

Some politicians want to undermine long-established reforms . . .

We’re calling out the radical proposals by top candidates running for president to undermine long-established reforms backed by America’s labor movement. Texas Governor Rick Perry, for example, honestly believes that America should consider repealing the ability of citizens to vote for their U.S. senators. He’s wrong. Michelle Bachmann calls for an end to the minimum wage. She’s wrong. And Ron Paul says we should eliminate FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and go back to the time when thousands died when hurricanes hit them. He’s dead wrong.

During the last decade, the CEOs at America’s largest corporations have cut nearly 3 million jobs in the United States while adding more than 2 million overseas. They’ve increased their own salaries to obscene levels, while freezing and cutting the pay of their workers. Left to their own devices, they would continue to act irresponsibly and drive our economy through the ditches created by their greed and irresponsibility. They would eliminate every reform that protects their workers or keeps them from hoarding every dollar earned by the increased productivity of America’s workers. Only strong unions stand in their way. Just as we fought for important reforms in generations past, we are fighting for America’s working men and women today.

Working men and women are fighting back . . .

It is heartening, on Labor Day, to reflect on the efforts of working men and women across the country who are mobilizing in numbers not seen in a generation to protect their interests. We see it in Ohio and Wisconsin, where working families have formed a powerful Main Street Movement to fight the efforts of special interests to undermine their ability to provide for their families. Last month in Wisconsin, for example, voters turned out in massive numbers and replaced two Wisconsin state senators who had voted to eliminate the right of collective bargaining that public employees in the state had won more than a half century ago. Working families in Ohio collected more than a million signatures to put a citizens’ veto on the ballot this fall to overturn Draconian anti-worker legislation pushed through in Ohio by their right-wing governor and his Wall Street allies.

Now, more than at any time in recent years, workers are aware of how the deck has been stacked against them. Yet the focus of too many politicians has not been on pulling together to find real solutions or creating good jobs or helping working middle class families hold on to their homes and their dreams for the future. Instead, they are giving even more power to the greedy interests who created the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. These are the same forces that in earlier times created sweatshops, sent children into mines, denied more than half the country the right to vote and hand-picked corrupt senators to represent them on Capitol Hill.

By pulling together in the past, America’s working families set our nation on a different course. This Labor Day, we are sending the powerful CEOs and their political allies a new message: We will not turn back the clock. We are prepared to fight for the future.

-- AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee

MAYOR’S TOWN HALL MEETING

2011-01-27T00:02:00.001-06:00

TOWN AND GOWN:

MAYOR’S TOWN HALL MEETING TO BE HELD

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS ON FEBRUARY 2

The City of Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas Associated Student Government are hosting a Mayor’s Town Hall Meeting to be held at the University of Arkansas at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2, 2011, in the School of Law Courtroom (room 240) located at 1045 W. Maple Street. Parking is available close to the Law School at the new parking deck on Garland Avenue.

Everyone is encouraged to attend and learn about local government issues of concern to you. University of Arkansas students, faculty, staff, and administration are particularly encouraged to attend.

Mayor Lioneld Jordan will be joined by several City Department Directors to provide information for your questions, issues, and/or concerns. This is an opportunity to ask any question of your city government in a relaxing forum, as well as learn about city projects, budget information, policies, events, and other information of interest.

Short presentations will be made by Mayor Jordan and a few city staff members at the beginning of the Town Hall Meeting on topics such as the new city paid parking plan in the Dickson Street Entertainment District; trail construction located at and around the University (such as the UA Farms Trail and the Oak Ridge Trail); the City's 2030 plan and its importance to the University community; streamside protection; and ideas for student involvement in neighborhoods and an overview of activities in Fayetteville, such as those related to our 70 parks, three lakes, and the City’s active recreation program. These will be short presentations just to stimulate audience thinking about what information they want to know about their local government and to allow ample time for audience questions.

Most of the Town Hall Meeting will be dedicated to answering audience inquiries. Come and ask your questions directly to Mayor Lioneld Jordan and city department heads. They are interested in hearing from you! Refreshments will be provided by the University of Arkansas Associated Student Government .

Jordan Fellowship in Arkansas Labor History

2011-01-26T23:56:00.002-06:00

This fellowship has been established to honor the leadership and vision of Lioneld Jordan, the current mayor of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Mr. Jordan was an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas, a carpenter with the UA Physical Plant for 26 years, President of AFSCME Local 965, President of the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council, and he is a champion of working families.

Purpose

The fellowship is intended to encourage innovative study in the historical problems, identities, philosophies, and especially, the expressive cultures of working people in Arkansas. A special purpose of the Fellowship is to support research that will result in publications (traditional or online) from scholars who are exploring important, innovative topics relative to the lives of working people that might fall outside of the parameters of traditional academic research and funding.

Allowable use

The stipend can be used for any purpose related to the research project, including reproduction of materials, oral history interviewing, and traveling and lodging. Documentation will be required for reimbursements.

Eligibility

The Fellowship provides financial assistance for graduate students as well as junior and senior faculty using the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections Department collections related to Arkansas labor history, labor culture, labor education, labor lore, occupational folk life, trade union traditions, and worker culture--all broadly defined.

Applicants may be from any relevant academic discipline, including but not limited to anthropology, art, communications studies, cultural studies, drama, English, folklore, geography, history, journalism, labor studies, literature, political science, sociology, or gender studies. Persons associated with the University of Arkansas are eligible for this Fellowship.

Award

Reimbursement for expenses up to $500.00 will be awarded for the academic year 2011-12.

Applications

Applications shall include the following:

• A written proposal, of no more than 1000 words, describing the proposed research project and its significance
• The research question and methods to be used
• A projected timeline
• An estimated budget
• A preliminary bibliography
• Applicant's curriculum vitae

Time Frame

Applications will be accepted beginning March 30, 2011 and must be postmarked no later than May 30, 2011. Fellowship awards will be announced no later than June 15, 2011. Funds will be awarded on a reimbursement basis

Submissions

Send all materials in paper format to contact address.

Jordan Fellowship Committee
University of Arkansas Libraries
Special Collections Department
365 N. McIlroy Ave.
Fayetteville, AR 72701-4002
Telephone: 479-575-5577
Email: specoll@uark.edu

Beebe: State Workers To Receive Pay Raises Again

2010-12-02T20:04:00.001-06:00

After reviewing state revenues for the first five months of Fiscal Year 2011, Governor Mike Beebe has directed the Department of Finance and Administration to reinstate cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), career-service recognitions and merit pay for Arkansas state employees.

"Going into this current budget, we froze state salaries out of an abundance of caution to see how our economy would recover," Governor Beebe said. "After seeing the strength of our economic indicators and remaining ahead of forecast for the year so far, I've decided to reinstate the COLA for our employees."

The COLAs are already built into the current budget and will not impact the funding of any state services or require any budget increases. Career-service recognitions and merit pay are funded through salary savings within existing agency budgets.

Holiday Community Giving Project

2010-11-29T09:20:00.002-06:00

AFSCME Local 965 has again chosen the Peace At Home Family Shelter for our holiday Community Giving Project. Members should make their donations through Secretary Theresa G. Sims by December 15 so we can purchase the items most needed by the families they serve.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T23:26:00.002-06:00

UA Child Development Center

2010-11-08T17:04:00.003-06:00

AFSCME Local 965 has been pushing for years for a convenient, high-quality child care facility on our campus, but Chancellor John White failed to respond. We commend Chancellor G. David Gearhart for his support of the important project and express our appreciation to Trustee John Tyson for this generous gift to help working families seeking an education at the University of Arkansas.

The availability of affordable, high-quality childcare is a huge need across the country. Equipping child development educators with the skills to positively impact future generations through their work is just as essential. Now, thanks to a $2.5 million gift from the Tyson Family Foundation and the Tyson Foods Foundation, the University of Arkansas will be able to better join these two needs through the creation of a unified Child Development Center, an educational training facility on campus. With approval of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, the new center will be named the Jean Tyson Child Development Center, in honor of the matriarch of the Tyson family.

“For years, the need for a better training facility and campus childcare option has been articulated by faculty, staff and students,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “We are delighted that this wish will soon become a reality on our campus with the creation of a new experiential laboratory where tomorrow’s practitioners and leaders in child development and childcare will obtain their education – while providing the best possible head start to infants and preschoolers.”

;“On behalf of my sisters Cheryl and Carla, and my children John Randal and Olivia, let me say how pleased we are to be able to honor our mother and support this very important project on the University of Arkansas Fayetteville campus,” said John Tyson. “My mother, who passed away in 2006, would be delighted to have this facility, dedicated to the education and training of childcare workers and educators, named for her. Quality childcare has become so important to companies and families across our state and nation, and the work that will take place in this facility will make a contribution in this field for years to come.”

Currently, the campus offers an Infant Development Center and a Nursery School through the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Both the Infant Development Center and the Nursery School are vital to students and faculty who need childcare, and important to students who study child development, nursing and early childhood education and obtain valuable experience in these learning labs. Both facilities, while able to attain national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, are currently inadequate. The Nursery School faces severe space limitations. The Infant Development Center, constructed for a completely different purpose in the early 1970s, has been maintained solely as a temporary facility and has space issues and cannot continue to meet health and safety regulations without extensive renovation. The reality that these two centers are on opposite sides of campus presents further logistical and practical challenges for students, faculty and clients as well.

This gift will help construct one larger state-of-the-art learning facility, with classrooms, indoor and outdoor play spaces and an adequate observation room, where university students gain valuable insight into the behavioral and developmental patterns in children. The new center will provide an outstanding facility to meet the educational and research needs for an increasing number of students majoring in human development, family sciences and rural sociology, while expanding childcare options for the campus and community. The size and scope of the center have not been finalized, and additional funding will likely be needed. Revenue from the expansion will, however, help to support the facility.

“This gift couldn’t come at a better time,” said Michael Vayda, dean of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. “The center will provide acutely needed childcare services for University of Arkansas staff, faculty, students and community members, as well as providing the premier site for training our students as professionals for statewide service in the care and nurturing of children, and an observatory for faculty experts to develop best practices in promoting school readiness, emotional well-being and healthy interpersonal relationships.”

The Jean Tyson Child Development Center will provide educational and research opportunities for more than 300 University of Arkansas students, faculty and children each year and will meet the childcare needs of more than 140 families from the campus and community, Vayda said.

“The number of undergraduate students has increased and to ensure quality experiences, we must have enough room to accommodate enrollment,” said Vernoice Baldwin, instructor and director of the university’s Infant Development Center and Nursery School. “The two-year colleges in the state have seen an increase in the number of students enrolled in child development, and we anticipate many of these students will have a need for a four-year baccalaureate degree. We want to be prepared for the greater demand in laboratory facilities to meet those needs,” said Baldwin.

Local 965 Members in Politics

2010-11-03T14:20:00.004-05:00

AFSCME Local 965 members were very active in helping elect good people to public office this year. Now that the election is over, we want to say a special thanks to our members who have been active as candidates and public officials in 2010. Thank you for making Arkansas happen!

State Representative Jim Nickels, House District 43, reelected to second term.

JP Barbara Fitzpatrick, reelected to a second term on Washington County Quorum Court.

Rhonda Adams, elected to Fayetteville City Council.

Mark Swaney, candidate for House District 90.

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan, former President of Local 965.

State Representative Lindsley Smith, House District 92, 2004-2010.

Catastrophic Leave Donation Drive

2010-11-03T14:08:00.003-05:00

The Catastrophic Leave Bank Program assists eligible University of Arkansas employees through medical emergencies, injuries, and illnesses incurred by them or eligible family members after the employees exhaust their earned sick leave, annual leave, holidays, and compensatory time. During fiscal year 2010, 31 University employees received assistance from this program. Human Resources will conduct a donation drive for this program during the month of November 2010.

Information and donation forms are available from your departmental leave representative and on the Human Resources web page at http://hr.uark.edu/CatLeaveDonorApp.pdf. Only 100% appointed employees are eligible to participate in the Catastrophic Leave Bank Program. Donations are strictly voluntary and employees do not need to be donors to participate in the program. Donations must be made in one-hour increments and may not exceed a total of 32 hours per plan year. In addition, a donation cannot be accepted if it would reduce the combined sick and annual leave balances of the donor to less than 80 hours. Leave donations are only accepted during donation drives or at an employee’s end of employment.

If you would like to donate to the Catastrophic Leave Bank, please contact your departmental leave representative to obtain a donation form or download the form from our webpage. Your completed donation form should be given to your department leave representative NO LATER THAN November 30, 2010.

If you have questions about the program, please call ext. 57618 or e-mail leahw@uark.edu.

Working Families Vote!

2010-10-29T12:10:00.001-05:00

Vote. Get your family to vote, your friends, your neighbors and your co-workers to vote. Vote for the candidates who will fight for the interests of middle class working families in Arkansas and the nation.

AFSCME and the Election

2010-10-23T07:29:00.003-05:00

This election is about the key issues that affect you and your communities: job creation, your rights on the job, policies that create jobs here at home.

The Wall Street bankers who drove the economy off the cliff – the corporations outsourcing good jobs overseas, anti-union contractors who want to take away your hard-earned wages – they are spending millions to take over Congress and even state offices here in Arkansas.

We can’t match them dollar for dollar. But we have the power of a mobilized membership.

We owe it to ourselves and our children to vote on the issues that matter to us as working people. It’s not about partisanship. It’s about our jobs and our future.

Get informed, get involved and vote. We can’t afford to sit this one out. How you vote is your personal decision, but your union has endorsed the following candidates, because we believe they have a better understanding of the issues affecting working families and will stand up for us. We have also done an analysis of the proposed constitutional amendments and taken positions on two of them.

AFSCME LOCAL 965 POSITIONS ON BALLOT ISSUES:

AGAINST Issue No. 2 for a Constitutional Amendment to remove the interest rate ceiling on bonds, defer the rate on some loans to the federal government, and affirm a 17% interest ceiling on consumer loans. Vote NO on Issue 2 to prevent the increase in interest rate ceilings.

AGAINST Issue No. 3, a proposed Constitutional Amendment abolishing the people's right to vote and decide whether to approve bonds creating public debt and gives that power exclusively to the legislature. Vote NO on Issue 3 to protect the power of the people from the lobbyists.

ENDORSED BY AFSCME LOCAL 965:

Steve Zega for Circuit Judge

Earl Hunton for State Representative, District 87
Jim House for State Representative, District 89
Mark Swaney for State Representative, District 90
Greg Leding for State Representative, District 92

Barbara Fitzpatrick for Quorum Court, JP District 6

Mark Kinion for City Council, Ward 2
Rhonda Adams for City Council, Ward 4

ENDORSED BY ARKANSAS AFL-CIO:

U.S. Senate: No Position

U.S. Congress, Third District: David Whitaker

Arkansas Constitutional Offices

Governor: Governor Mike Beebe

Lieutenant Governor: Senator Shane Broadway

Attorney General: Attorney General Dustin McDaniel

Secretary of State: County Clerk Pat O'Brien

State Treasurer: State Treasurer Martha Shoffner

Auditor of State: Charlie Daniels

Commissioner of State Lands: L.J. Bryant

Nonpartisan Judicial Runoff

State Supreme Court Assoc. Justice Position 6: Court of Appeals Judge Karen Baker

This Week in Arkansas Labor History

2010-10-05T00:03:00.004-05:00

1963 -- AFSCME Local 965 calls first public employee strike in the South, as 300 physical plant employees set picket lines at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, to protest UA administration recalcitrance on wages and benefits.

Employee Discontent
In 1962, ten employees of the University of Arkansas formed a labor union as a result of failed contract negotiations. Local 965 received its official union charter on April 1, 1962.1 It was not until October of 1963 that Local 965 garnered statewide attention and momentum in it labor negotiations. The unfair labor practices and wage rates of the University of Arkansas forced Local 965, under the leadership of founder and President Rex Rice, to threaten and eventually engage in a non-teaching employee strike.2 A formal press release by Rice outlined the discontent of the employees, the anticipation of the strike, and the choice of timing. Rice knew that the weekend of October 6-7 was an opportune time as the dependency of non-teaching employees would be high. The University was hosting members of the Arkansas General Assembly and state constitutional officers at the annual Legislative Weekend. In addition to these high profile guests the University was playing host to 225 attorneys with the Legislative Institute and it was the SEC season football opener. The impact of the strike would be greater during this period although Rice expresses that he is unclear of how long the strike would last.3 On Friday, October 5th, the strike became a reality with 76 employees forming a picket line.4 The immediate response by University of Arkansas President Dr. David W. Mullins was one of justification. Mullins did little to acknowledge the stance of the union but simply stated that the University’s lack of response was due to legal boundaries that negated negotiations with labor unions. John Hale, international representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees stood behind the picketers of Local 965 and a significant amount of non-union employees. Hale stated that the effects of the strike were beginning to be felt by University Administrators.5 While this may have been assumed, little evidence in the statements of University officials support this belief. Mullins simply stated that service levels on Monday (day four) were the same as day one of the strike. On Tuesday, October 9th, Chancellor Thomas F. Butt issued a restraining order against the picketing employees.6 Butt also being a judge issued the injunction stating that the picketer’s methods of demonstration were unlawful. Some of the arguments for the unlawfulness of the demonstration were that it was ruining University property, interfered with the use of property, and that picketers were threatening and intimidating other employees of the University. The injunction did have an impact in that it broke the picket line from re-forming but it had little impact on employees returning to work.7 By this time the effects of the strike were more readily apparent. With a wide base of support by non-union employees and other union members who are not directly employed by the University, more and more supporters were leaving to join the strike. A significant amount of employees in certain dorm cafeterias had left and union workers employed by contracting agencies to work on the construction of buildings around campus failed to show up in support of the union efforts.8 On October 12, a special meeting was held by the executive committee of the Arkansas AFL-CIO to appeal to Governor Faubus for assistance in convincing the University to enter into negotiations with the Union.9 While Faubus did not attend the meeting due to prior engagements, state Labor Commissioner Bill Laney did. Laney refuted Mullins claim that the University cannot engage in contract negotiations with a labor union and added that the University had been found in violation of state labor laws in the past. Laney did have the opportunity to discuss the labor issues with Mullins but there is little evidence to support anything positively conclusive from this talk. Mullins did state that the University could not engage in contract labor unless there was some certainty that money appropriated by the legislature was in fact available. The following Monday, Faubus issued a statement saying he would not become personally involved but would work to get the two sides together to discuss the dispute.10 At the suggestion of Faubus, the University Board of Trustees, led by Dallas P. Raney, conceded to launching an investigation.11 On October 18th, employees returned to work, ending the 13-day strike.12

Discussion
Arguments
The primary argument of Local 965 employees was inappropriate wages and unfair employment practices. Union officials stated that the pay for University employees started at 75 cents an hour, a wage far below what was apparently livable. There was also numerous accounts of employees (particularly women) who worked 12-15 hours but only compensated for eight. Employees sent letters to Governor Faubus telling of the difficulty of raising kids on the wages paid by the University.13 The strike was the public display of discontent and became the rallying point for employees outside of Local 965. University employees who were not members joined the union as it grew in momentum. This brought greater impact for the union as their effect was multiplied. In displays of solidarity with Local 965, other labor unions joined in the strike by not showing up for work. The main argument of the union was rather simple, enter into negotiations or endure the strike. While the focus of the argument is specific hygienic factors that are points of contention, most evidence supports the desire for simple negotiations and discussion. This was made difficult by the arguments of the University. The main message of focus for the University was the principle that state institutions could not engage in contract negotiations. Mullins cited the Arkansas Attorney General decision that in disputes such as this, the decision is one of legislatures and not of the University. This surely proved frustrating for Union members as University officials put up a quick wall of silence in negotiation requests. The Board of Trustees also had an enacted a policy a year earlier stating the University’s position in contract labor negotiation but it is unclear whether the policy is based on similar legal arguments or simply a matter of internal policy. The arguments of the University did little to quiet the union. The strike would continue until negotiations occurred. The two positions were deadlocked with no end in sight until the University sought legal injunction against the actions of the picketing employees. Of interest is the fact that the person seeking the injunction and the judge granting the injunction are the same person, Thomas F. Butt. The apparent irony and transparency of this legal move is never noted in historical documentation. The union responded with threatening to appeal to the State Supreme Court but in the immediate problem the union was forced to end the picketing campaign. Public interest in the growing controversy on campus continued as employees did not return to work. The University continued to defend its stance of legality in contract negotiations while minimally defending its wage rates as being competitive when benefits are taken into account.14 The final argument was made by union supporters15 in the appeal to Governor Faubus in his assistance to end the strike.
Effects
It is the author’s opinion that the union was the most effective in their use of messages and basis of arguments. In the end, the union got what they demanded, an investigation and a commitment to seek pay increases.16 The key instrument in expediting this outcome was the intervention of Governor Faubus. While Faubus clearly did not want to be used as a tool in the strike and wished to remain impartial17 his interest in seeing the two sides talk had a significant impact on the outcome as this was the primary interest of the union. The outcome from the special investigation into the employment practice yielded no pay increase as it was found to be competitive with other regional institutions.18 It did offer some benefit in the issue of overtime. With many reports of employees working 12-15 hour days this was addressed in the final report. The Board of Trustees explained that it the University did not have the budgetary allocations to pay overtime but it would extend comp time benefits beyond the normal 30-day period to one of 90 days.
More than the simple victory in winning one of the two major points of contention with the union employees was the victory of legitimization. For the union, it forced the University to recognize the impact labor unions can have on the daily operations. The Board of Trustees acknowledged the right of employees to unionize (as long as discussion took place outside of duty hours)19 but there is little evidence of policy transformations (post-strike) regarding the ability to negotiate in labor contract. The effectiveness of the Union messages and actions had a stronger impact than the organizational and legal silence used by the University. The Union took a gamble in that the individual endurance of the striking employees would ultimately dictate the outcome of the argument. The Board of Trustees still did not recognize the importance of the strike. Dallas P. Raney, Chairman of the board, states in a letter to Governor Faubus that “I can understand how employees may be led astray and into mistakes. I think this is what has happened to the employees now on strike against the University of Arkansas…”20 While the Board of Trustees and University officials did not agree with the statement of striking, they surely believed in the potential for organizational impact.
Audiences
The strike by Local 965 was not isolated within the confines of the University of Arkansas grounds. The public attention of the strike grew quickly and garnered statewide media attention. Other groups, both on campus and off campus joined the effort to end the strike amicably. One of the first groups to become involved was the Young Democrat Club at the University.21 The group adopted a resolution that vilified the University’s labor practices as “immoral, unethical, and unfair.”22 The Young Republicans soon sent out a similar, but less harsh, statement saying that the wages paid to University employees were “disgracefully low.”23 Together, the Young Democrats Club and the Young Republicans Club released a joint statement stating the need for a “public airing of differences” to be able to resolve the labor strike.24 Various Methodist, Christian, Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian campus church groups adopted a similar resolution to urge University officials to negotiate with the labor union.25 The Fayetteville Junior Chamber of Commerce actively sought the University’s participation in debates with the Local 965 that was tentatively scheduled for October 20th by the Young Republicans Club and the Young Democrats Club.26
The faculty senate released a statement stating their disappointment with the labor situation on campus. They stated “It has been deeply disturbing to us in our work to be required to cross the picket line of employees whose demands are so entirely just and reasonable.”27 While there is no evidence of formal repercussions for statements of support to the labor union these did catch the attention of University officials. In response to a report by President Mullins to the Board of Trustees, there was discussion on the loyalty of the Young Democrats Club, the various campus religious groups, and the petitioning professors to the University of Arkansas institution.28

Conclusion
Local 965 was effective in its organization and framing of the strike. It reached a variety of diverse audiences from other labor unions, civic groups, campus organizations to the Governor’s office. While University officials never conceded to the union’s strike (as it is unlikely that any organization ever will) it did bring validity to the effectiveness of labor unions. Local 965, which had struggled to gain membership and credibility initially29 quickly garnered wide support for its strike and calls for negotiation. It is the authors opinion that had not wide this wide support been gained the University would have eventually won out. The employees were easily disposed of and the University posted advertisements in local newspapers calling for applicants to fill “certain prominent full-time maintenance service positions.”30 With high public support for the causes of the striking employees and the intervention of Governor Faubus, the Board of Trustees were quick to act and issued an almost immediate response following the public statement of Faubus. Further research is needed to see the long-term impact of the strike by Local 965. There is little evidence that much was conceded by the University in request of the union but the impact may have been delayed and felt by the next generation of employees. In the immediacy concluding the strike, the Local 965 can claim a certain level of victory in breaking the silence of the University of Arkansas.

Brad Brewster, 2006

Mayor Lioneld Jordan's Labor Day Proclamation

2010-09-07T10:38:00.001-05:00

WHEREAS, the sweat and skill of American workers built this country and preserved it through wars and crises. Today, workers and their organizations are giving strong support to our effort to restore our national and local economy. This is in the finest tradition of organized labor, which has served not just its own members but all people through its century-long struggle for social and economic justice; and,

WHEREAS, American workers have carried us through times of challenge and uncertainty, propelled America through eras of peace and prosperity, and have long formed the backbone of our Nation's economy; and

WHEREAS, working Americans constructed our cities and towns, and with unparalleled skill they manufactured the goods and provided the services needed by Americans and people around the world. They have prepared our children for the challenges ahead and cared for the sick and the elderly; and

WHEREAS, the labor movement has given voice to the aspirations and concerns of millions of men and women. By fighting for decent working conditions, as well as fair wages and benefits, organized labor has stood for the rights of everyday Americans. With determination and commitment, labor has advocated for all working families and all have benefited from the fruits of their struggles; and

WHEREAS, the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council and its member unions and organizations are active partners in rebuilding our local economy, creating Green Jobs that pay a living wage, and helping to provide a better life by all residents of our community;

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, as we honor our workers, and we renew our commitment to uphold the American Dream for everyone on this Labor Day, let us affirm our determination to build a future together in which all of us can enjoy the blessings of a more equitable and humane society.

I hereby declare Monday, September 6, 2010, as Labor Day in the City of Fayetteville.

Labor Day: Honoring Our History, Fighting for Our Future

2010-09-04T07:38:00.001-05:00

On Labor Day, we celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. However, during years such as this one, Labor Day also marks the start of election season.

You might be wondering what politics has to do with Labor Day.

The answer is: EVERYTHING.

These days, when the middle class is under attack and public employees are the target of a vicious campaign of lies and misinformation, the ballot box gives us a chance to send a clear message.

Yes, it is about standing up for the legacy of those who marched, went on strike and, most importantly, organized workers in the historic fights for safe working conditions, decent pay and the 40-hour workweek.

But it’s also about today’s pressing issues, such as creating more jobs at a time when nearly 25 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed. It’s about supporting those who fought to pass a crucial Jobs Bill that will provide $26 billion in federal aid to protect hundreds of thousands of jobs instead of those like Minority House Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) who called this job-saving legislation a “bailout” for “special interests”.

It’s about protecting Main Street instead of extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich that would cost $680 billion in revenue over the next ten years – only to benefit the richest one percent of Americans. It’s about funding the vital public services AFSCME members provide in this time of need, when one out of every six Americans is in a government anti-poverty program. It’s about saving Social Security from Republicans like former Sen. Alan Simpson, who calls retirees “greedy geezers,” and his allies on Capitol Hill who want to dismantle and privatize a proven program that runs a surplus and has no impact on the federal deficit.

During these last two years, despite the distortions and obstructionism of almost every Republican in Congress, working families won some real victories. We secured more than $230 billion in the American Recovery and Revitalization Act to keep state and local governments afloat. We finally passed health care reform that reins in the insurance industry, closes the donut hole for seniors and lets kids stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26. We put through the most significant Wall Street reform since Franklin Roosevelt was President. It restricts predatory mortgage lending, eliminates hidden credit card fees and creates a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

This November, we’ve got a choice. We can let those who ruined our economy push their agenda of tax breaks for wealthy CEOs and perks for corporations; or we can be true to labor’s history and fight for more jobs and government accountability.

What is it going to be?

Watch the Video

2010-09-04T07:28:00.000-05:00

LABOR DAY PICNIC

2010-08-22T13:55:00.005-05:00

Please join us for our annual LABOR DAY PICNIC @ THE GARDENS

10:00 - 2:00 On the Corner of LeRoy Pond and Razorback Road in Fayetteville

Fun for the entire family. Hot dogs, hamburgers, and sodas provided by AFSCME Local 965..

UA Enrollment Rises, but Problems Not Addressed

2010-07-19T11:47:00.005-05:00

The University of Arkansas is predicting another record enrollment year for the fall of 2010, but the administration is not addressing the concerns about additional faculty needs or compensation plans for existing staff. Last year the official enrollment was 19,849 for the fall semester. This year more than 20,700 students are expected to enroll. A record number of new freshmen are also expected to choose the University of Arkansas. So far 3,458 degree seeking freshmen have enrolled, an increase of 500 over fall 2009 and well above the 2015 goal of 3,350. The exact enrollment numbers will not be known until the 11^th day of the fall semester when the enrollment “snapshot” is taken, as required by state law, but all indicators point to record growth.

“It’s exciting. These numbers are right where we want them to be,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “We know that we can best serve the interests of the students and of the state by growing in the right way. We are attracting talented students from across Arkansas and the nation to our state’s flagship campus. They have heard our message—that we are a Students First university— working energetically and creatively to help them succeed in our classrooms and in the world beyond.”

If the University of Arkansas truly puts students first and wants them to succeed in the classroom, the administration must make the financial commitment to hire additional tenure-track faculty, instead of trying to cover the new classes with part-time adjunct faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Chancellor Gearhart did not announce funding for additional faculty to teach the 900 new students expected.

“We have been preparing for this increase since November,” said Provost Sharon Gaber. “We have expanded the number of sections in core classes to meet the demand. We have renovated residence halls and we are increasing classroom availability. We are also thinking about retention as well as enrollment, adding staff to the Office of Academic Success and to the Office of Financial Aid. We want to be sure students receive support in areas that we know are key to their continued success. We are bringing in students who have great potential and we will do our part to help them realize it.” Although preparing for the increase since November, Provost Gaber said nothing about hiring additional faculty to teach the students. It is commendable that she plans to hire additional support staff, but she should also consider additional maintenance and custodial staff and assuring that current staff are given the raises that they were promised.

Most of the Arkansas students in the incoming freshmen class will have support from the Arkansas Challenge Scholarship Program, funded by the state lottery. Those who do not will be encouraged to apply for the scholarship in the spring. These scholarships have clearly contributed to increases in the number of in-state students, who will likely be joined by a record number of out-of-state students as well, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment services.

“The University of Arkansas is becoming a destination school for students across the state and across the country as out reputation grows nationally. Prospective students are much better informed now about the importance of picking the college that is the right fit for them and they are starting earlier and taking longer to make their decision. We benefit from that approach. The more students know about the University of Arkansas the more likely they are to come here. The number of people who visit our campus has tripled. Once students and their families see our facilities, meet with faculty and students, get a sense of the community and the special opportunities we have to offer then they are persuaded.”

McCray said that the enrollment gains are anticipated in every college at the university. The College of Education and Health Professions has already enrolled more students than predicted. The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and the Sam M. Walton College of Business will also hit record undergraduate numbers. The Honors College is also expecting to have a record number of students, which is evidence of the quality of the incoming freshman class. The graduate school and law school anticipate small enrollment gains.

House Passes Education Funds, Gulf Cleanup, and Collective Bargaining for Public Safety Officers

2010-07-04T11:32:00.002-05:00

On July 1, the House passed by a vote of 239-182 its version of legislation funding for two critical education programs, FEMA funds to clean up the BP oil spill in the Gulf, and a provision to extend federal collective bargaining rights to public safety officers. John Boozman (R-AR3) was the only Arkansas Congressman to vote against it.

The $10 billion education jobs fund included in the bill would help struggling schools prevent 140,000 layoffs and harmful education program cuts. AFSCME led a coalition of groups in support of the needed education funds. Further, $4.95 billion to pay off most of the Pell grant funding shortfall would protect over eight million college students from having their grants reduced. The bill also provides funding for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster relief, Haiti, the Gulf Coast oil spill, Vietnam veterans suffering from Agent Orange, as well as $701 million for border security, $163 million for schools or military installations, and $50 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program. Domestic needs are fully offset with recessions of unspent funds.

The collective bargaining provision would cover public safety officers, one of the few groups of workers not covered by federal collective bargaining rights. It establishes minimum collective bargaining rights for public safety officers including: (1) the right of workers to form a union and bargain over hours, wages, and terms and conditions of employment; (2) an impasse resolution mechanism, such as mediation, fact-finding or arbitration; and (3) the ability to have these basic rights enforced, including the right of the two parties to sign legally enforceable contracts.

UA Employees Take Another Hit

2010-06-21T16:46:00.002-05:00

Following on the news that University of Arkansas employees will get no merit raises or service awards this year, the UA Administration has also announced that workers will have to pay more for health care and dental care benefits. Health insurance costs to workers and their families will go up by 5% and dental insurance costs will be increased by 3%.

The increases in the amount that employees must pay for health and dental insurance means that workers will have to choose between giving up benefits or taking home smaller paychecks for their families. Classified employees have had their wages frozen for next year, and faculty will not get merit raises for the second straight year.

Chancellor David Gearhart will get an additional $225,000 annually in deferred compensation from "private" funds through the UA Foundation. There was no consideration of deferred compensation for workers who have had their salary frozen and health insurance rates increased.

UA Workers Salaries Frozen

2010-06-20T18:52:00.005-05:00

On Friday, June 18, UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart sent University workers an email stating that he just learned on Thursday, June 17, “that the Governor’s freeze on state raises did, in fact, apply to higher education. This information has caught the entire higher education community by surprise.”

How that could have been a surprise instead of a delayed announcement is puzzling. Last month, the Director of the state Department of Finance and Administration sent a memorandum to all “Presidents/Chancellors of State Supported Institutions of Higher Education” specifically stating, that “annual career service recognition payments and classified and unclassified employee merit increases will be suspended for 2011.”

This is especially burdensome for low wage workers who already struggle. It also means that faculty will get no merit increases for the second consecutive year, because Gearhart recommended and the Board of Trustees voted to give no faculty raises last year. Of course, all employees will still be evaluated annually, even if these reviews are financially meaningless for the workers.

The UA Board of Trustees on May 21st voted to raise Chancellor Gearhart’s salary from $282,000 to $289,000 and voted to throw in an additional $225,000 annual deferred compensation payment from the UA Foundation. We’re not sure how the Board of Trustees can make expenditures of that magnitude from a “private” foundation, but they did.

Will Chancellor Gearhart now decline his $232,000 annual raise for next year, or is this salary freeze just for the workers? We will wait for his next empathetic email before guessing.

Two Members Honored by Sierra Club

2010-05-24T06:53:00.003-05:00

The Arkansas Sierra Club honored two members of AFSCME Local 965 at their annual awards banquet last night. Mayor Lioneld Jordan, past president of Local 965, received the environmental group's top award, "Conservationist of the Year." In making the presentation, Sierra Club President Rob Leflar cited Jordan's outstanding leadership for low impact development, energy conservation, and expansion of the trails system, as well as his voting record during eight years on the city council, and called him "the Greenest Mayor in Arkansas."

State Representative Lindsley Smith received the award for Outstanding State Elected Official. Leflar noted that she had a 100% Sierra Club voting record during her three terms in the legislature and had sponsored successful legislation, including an anti-SLAPP statute to protect critics of developers, a "Net Metering" statute that allowed individuals to sell alternative energy to electric utilities, and expansion of the wetlands mitigation bank to include other aquatic resources.

Spring Community Service Day

2010-05-21T00:03:00.004-05:00

AFSCME Local 965 members will spend Saturday morning, May 22, volunteering for litter pickup and removal at Greathouse Park in south Fayetteville. With the end of the school year, the park will be more heavily used by neighborhood youngsters, so let's help make it a safe and enjoyable experience for them.

Members should arrive by 8:00 a.m. for the project that includes the six-acre playground areas as well as removing debris from the creek. Recent utility work has had an adverse impact on the public areas. Equipment and supplies will be provided.

Directions: Greathouse Park is located south of 15th St. Turn south off 15th Street onto Brooks Ave. (Brooks is opposite of the Pinnacle Foods plant & runs along the RV Lot on the opposite corner from Baum Stadium). Then turn left onto Boone St & go a block to the parking lot at the corner of Boone St. & Price Ave.

Hope to see you there!!!

UPDATE: Brother Lioneld Jordan, Mayor of Fayetteville, joined us for the park cleanup. Photo above by Sister Betty Martin, President of Local 965, shows Mayor Jordan with some of the other union members participating in the community service project. L to R: Rick Belt, Steve Smith, Lioneld Jordan, Bruce McNully, Larry West.

AFSCME Spring Picnic

2010-04-30T11:40:00.002-05:00

AFSCME Local 965 will be hosting our Spring Picnic on Sunday, May 2, 10:00am to 2:00pm, at the Gardens Main Pavilon on Razorback Road across from Faciities Management. Free Food!! Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Chips, and Drinks! Fun!! All are Welcome. Bring the Family!!! Celebrate the end of the semester and International Workers Day.

New Location for Picnic. This is where the Football Season "Hog Pen" is, south of Bud Walton Arena and north of Lot 56.

Officer Elections

2010-04-17T14:56:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to our new officers for 2010-2011.
President Betty Martin;
Vice President Dwight Morris;
Treasurer Bruce McNully;
Secretary Theresa Sims.

Union-Made Easter Candy

2010-04-02T10:19:00.002-05:00

Did you know Jelly Belly's, Peeps and Jelly Beans are union-made?

When you're searching for something for an Easter basket, why not buy union-made-in-America treats.

Here's a brief list of choices of candy products made by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM); snack foods by members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); or fruit and nuts from members of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).

Hershey Products	Necco (New England Confectionery Company)
Hershey Kisses*	Sweethearts
Hershey Syrups	Mary Jane Peanut Butter Chews
Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar*	NECCO Wafers/Necco Wafer Smoothies
Hershey Milk with Almond Bars	Sky Bar
Hershey Special Dark Bars	Clark Bar
Hershey Nuggets	Canada Mints
Rolo	Candy Cupboard
Hershey Kissables	Thin Mints
Kit Kat Bars	NECCO Assorted Junior Wafers
Carmello Bar	Clark Junior Laydown Bag
Cadbury Fruit & Nut Bar	Mary Jane Laydown Bag
Cadbury Roast Almond Bar	Haviland
Cadbury Royal Dark Bar
Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar	Ghiradelli Chocolates
Hershey Symphony Bar with Toffee	All filled & non filled squares
	non pariels
Just Born	Chocolate chips
Peeps
Mike & Ike	Gimbals Fine Candies
Hot Tamales	JellyBeans
Peanut Chews	Cherry Hearts
	Scotty Dogs
Jelly Belly's Candy Company	Nestle
Jelly Bellies - also made in a non-union plants in Chicago/Taiwan	Nestle Treasures
Chocolate Dutch Mints	Laffy Taffy
Chocolate Temptations	Kathryn Beich specialty candy
dimples	Baby Ruth*
Goelitz Confections	Butterfinger*
Goelitz Gummi	Pearson's Nips
Pet Rat	Famous Old Time Candies (gourmet chocolates)
Pet Tarantula
Sweet Temptations	Pearson's Candy Co.
Candy Corn	Salted Nut Roll
Licorice	Nut Goodie
Malted Milk Balls	Mint Patties
Chocolate Coated Nuts, and Sours	Bun Bars
Sunkist Fruit Gel Slices
	Anabelles Candy Company
American Licorice	Boston Baked Beans
Black & Red Vines	Jordon Almonds
Strawberry Ropes	Rocky Road
	U-Nos
Sconza Candies	Look
Jawbreakers	Big Hunk
Chocolate Covered Cherries	Abbazabbz
Chocolate	Yogurt Nuts & Fruit

Kraft	Orville Redenbacher
snack products	popcorn

Frito-Lay
chips and snacks

Union Prayer

2010-03-22T20:12:00.003-05:00

Addie Wyatt, former officer of the United Food and Commercial Workers, used to start a meeting with this union prayer.

"Each of us is a link in this great union chain that stretches around the world. I will try every day to keep my link, united, active and strong."

Addie L. Wyatt (1924-)

Labor leader, civil rights pioneer, pastor

The first female board member of the United Packinghouse Food and Alliance Workers Union, Addie L. Wyatt was elected vice president of Local 56 in 1953. During her 30-year career as a labor leader Wyatt fought for equality as a campaigner for women's rights in the workplace and as an active protester alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the early 1960s. She served as a member of President John F. Kennedy's Commission on the Status of Women and in 1976 became the first black woman labor leader of an international union when she was elected international vice president of the newly merged United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. A former Time magazine woman of the year (1975), Wyatt was inducted to the Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2005.

Council Insults City Employees

2010-03-17T10:37:00.008-05:00

The Fayetteville Civil Service Commission is responsible for examining and establishing eligibility lists for appointments and promotions within the Police and Fire Departments and acting upon appeals and disciplinary action taken by the Police and Fire Chiefs and the Mayor. To say it is unfriendly to the case of workers is an understatement. Not once in the last nine years has the Commission ever sided with an employee in an appeal.

Part of the problem is that the Commission has long been loaded up with Chamber of Commerce members who always side with management against city workers. For example, Fred Vorsanger, an employee of the Chamber is serving a term that will run through 2014. That's no wonder, really, because the official application for all City boards, commission, and committees asks whether the applicant heard about the opening from the Chamber of Commerce, so they can easily spot the business insiders.

Another serious problem is that the Secretary of the Board, William Brown, is the father of Police Captain William "Casey" Brown, whose disciplinary decisions against officers are subject to appeal to his father. How fair is that? None of his fellow Commissioners ever saw any conflict or raised the issue. None of them are known for showing much concern for employees or giving them a fair hearing.

Last night, the City Council nominated and unanimously approved, without debate, the appointment of Buddy Chadick, a distinguished citizen and a partner in the Bassett Law Firm. He has long experience in representing Tyson Foods and other corporations in fighting and appealing to deny Workers Compensation claims of injured workers; there is no record that he has ever represented an injured worker seeking medical expenses or any employee in an employment discrimination case. Mr. Chadick is a fine fellow, but he is an absolutely awful appointment to the Civil Service Commission that is supposed to be impartial and give employees a fair shake.

Chadick's appointment to a term that will run until 2016 is an insult to city employees and a poor reflection of the due diligence and concern for fairness by the members of the City Council.

Time for Action on Health Care Reform

2010-03-16T16:02:00.003-05:00

This is the week we've been waiting for — the week when members of the House of Representatives choose to stand with us or the insurance companies.

The insurance industry operatives and Republican talking heads you see on cable TV say we need to start over and spend another year — or another decade — before we pass reform. They twist the facts to say that the public opposes reform, but what the public really opposes are attempts to water down or kill reform to keep the insurance companies happy.

AFSCME members like you are fighting the good fight and have been a critical voice for the past year in the health insurance reform debate. Together, we've made literally tens of thousands of phone calls and sent even more emails to our senators and representatives. The insurance industry has deep pockets and is doing all it can to kill reform — but we won't let them win. This is our moment.

The bill that the House will soon vote on would end the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions — or deny coverage when you get sick. It would require insurance companies to pay for preventive care. It would also allow parents to keep their unemployed children on their policies until they turn 26. And it would end taxpayer funded subsidies to Big Insurance.

The historic nature of this moment cannot be overstated. The opportunity to end insurance company abuses is a moment for which we have worked long and hard. It is a vote that will affect our children, and their children. Please take a moment now to contact your member of Congress. Tell him/her the time has come to stand up to the insurance companies. The time has come to pass health care reform.

Please go to: http://www.unionvoice.org/cam paign/stand_up_for_reform

Thanks to you, when the history books are written on this struggle, they will read: AFSCME was there.

In solidarity,

Gerald W. McEntee
International President

Fayetteville Gets Green Job Training Center

2010-02-28T10:52:00.003-06:00

Fulfilling Mayor Lioneld Jordan's dream of a Green Jobs Training Center in Fayetteville, Governor Mike Beebe announced on Thursday a $1.3 million grant for the program to be conducted by NorthWest Arkansas Community College. The facility is scheduled to be opened this summer.

Pictured above at the announcement in Little Rock are Rick Mayes (NWACC Director of Building Sciences), Stephen Smith (President, Northwest Arkansas Labor Council), Alderman Sarah Lewis, Mayor Lioneld Jordan, Dr. Becky Paneitz (President, NWACC), State Representative Lindsley Smith, Steve Clark (President, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce), and Professor Panneer Selvam (UA College of Engineering).

Mayor Lioneld Jordan, NWA Labor Council President Stephen Smith, and Representative Lindsley Smith are members of AFSCME Local 965.

UPTE-CWA Gains Tentative Contract at UC After 2-Year Fight

2010-02-25T16:56:00.002-06:00

It took two years of tough bargaining, but University Professional and Technical Employees/CWA Local 9119 won a tentative agreement last week covering 9,000 researchers and technicians at the University of California.

The five-year agreement provides for pay increases of 14.5 percent over the contract term, plus a $1,000 lump sum payment to be paid this July.

The tentative settlement will be sent to members for a ratification vote.

"Local 9119 achieved this settlement during the worst economy in the history of California. I'm proud of the bargaining committee, the local leadership and everything they have done to protect members," said CWA District 9 Vice President Jim Weitkamp.

Progress in bargaining was delayed by university officials who refused to fairly address workers' concerns about their pay and retirement security.

Union members kept up a constant mobilization campaign, lobbied the state legislature, and gained public and community support through a media campaign.

In other improvements, the contract sets up a $1.7 million equity pool to help address pay inequities for workers in some job titles. The university will contribute 4 percent into the workers' pension plan this year, and has agreed to match or exceed additional one percent contributions by employees in 2011 and 2012.

The contract also limits increases in workers' health benefits and parking fees.

"This is a great agreement, especially considering the terrible state of California's economy," said UPTE-CWA Local 9119 President Jelger Kalmijn. "We won good raises and placed real limits on how much the university can charge for health care and other benefits. We will continue to fight for workers at UC, especially in the area of job security," he added.

UA Students: Experience What It's Like to be Part of the Labor Movement

2010-02-24T21:46:00.002-06:00

As one of the fastest growing unions in the United States , AFSCME is constantly in search of skilled, motivated and passionate activists who are interested in a career in the labor movement. Through the AFSCME/UNCF Union Scholars Program, you can join us in the effort to support public service employees who are organizing unions.

Are You Eligible?

If you meet the following eligibility requirements, the AFSCME/UNCF Union Scholars Program wants you to consider applying for this cutting-edge program that will not only help countless working men and women but you as well. This program will open annually on October 1. You must:

be a second-semester sophomore or junior during the application and interview process;
major in Ethnic Studies, Women’s Studies, Labor Studies, American Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, History, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work, Economics, or Public Policy;
have at least a 2.5 grade point average;
be a college student of color, including: African American, Hispanic American, Asian Pacific Islander American and American Indian/Alaskan Native;
demonstrate interest in working for social and economic justice through the labor movement.
have a driver’s license

What are the Union Scholar benefits?

If you are selected, AFSCME will award you a 10-week summer field placement, during which you participate in a union organizing campaign in one of several locations across the United States .

You will receive:

a stipend of up to $4,000;
on-site housing at your location;
a week-long orientation and training;
an academic scholarship of up to $5,000 for the school year, based on successful performance.

To Apply

Find the application online or call toll free: 1-866-671-7237. To be eligible, you must meet all eligibility requirements as identified above. Make sure that you are eligible before you attempt to complete the online application. The annual deadline for this program is February 28.

Jobs for America Now

2010-02-24T14:10:00.002-06:00

The Jobs for America Now coalition assembled leaders from across Arkansas for a press conference in Little Rock to release the report, "Putting Arkansas Back to Work: How Investment in Public Services will Save Jobs and Grow the Economy." Together, they called upon Arkansas' congressional delegation to support pending job-creation legislation under debate in Washington D.C. The need for more jobs is critical in Arkansas, just as across the country.

According to this report, economists predict that without federal assistance to state and local governments with these budget shortfalls, 900,000 Americans could lose their jobs in fiscal year 2011, and three million will lose their jobs by 2012. Like dozens of other states across the country, Arkansas faces a budget shortfall thanks to the recession's under-anticipated longevity and depth. Unless Congress acts, Arkansans will suffer dire consequences.

On the steps of the State Capitol, Alan Hughes, AFL-CIO, Justin Nickels, AFSCME, Robin Roark, public school teacher, Rev. Steve Copley, Interfaith Alliance for Worker Justice, Candice Smith, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and Willie Holmes, Working America gathered to voice their concerns.

According to Robin Roark, public school teacher, "My name is Robin Roark and I'm the son of a Vietnam veteran, and the husband of a women in the service industry and the father of a public school child, and I'm also a public school teacher. I am pleased to join the call for a robust jobs bill, from our Senators and from our good folks in Congress. One that can help the state of Arkansas weather the current budget storm, and more importantly give back to our neighbors the sense of honor and decency that comes from earning a paycheck."

Congress must invest in vital public services

2010-01-28T14:03:00.002-06:00

President Obama made it clear last night that he will fight for jobs. He knows that we cannot lose sight of the millions of working families who are still suffering from the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Too many Americans are out of work and too many jobs are at risk.

The President and Congress must act now or millions of Americans could lose their jobs in the months ahead. To this point, the President reminded the Democrats of their obligation to lead and served notice to Republicans that ‘just say no’ is not an option.

AFSCME agrees with the President that America needs to lay a foundation for long-term economic growth, and we continue to believe that providing affordable, quality health care for millions of additional Americans is not only the right thing to do, but is also a key to economic recovery.

We also agree that federal action is needed to keep our economy from slipping back into the ditch. Too many services in communities across the country are being cut to the bone. AFSCME members understand this first hand. Members like you are on the front lines of this crisis, trying to do more and more with less and less. State and local governments need help and they need it now.

AFSCME will fight for robust investment in vital public services. Indeed, investment in public services must be a part of federal jobs legislation. In the coming weeks and months, we will call you, our 1.6 million members, to lend your voice to our efforts to make this happen.

In solidarity,

Gerald W. McEntee
International President

No Layoffs or Furloughs at UA

2010-01-19T10:57:00.002-06:00

University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart said there will be no layoffs or furloughs at the main campus this fiscal year, despite a $3.2 million budget shortfall. He made the announcement Monday while introducing Governor Mike Beebe during an observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the Arkansas Union ballroom.

The Legacy of Dr. King

2010-01-18T11:26:00.002-06:00

On January, 18, 2010, people of all ages and backgrounds come together to remember the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He devoted his life's work to the causes of equality and social justice. He taught that through nonviolent direct action, problems such as hunger, homelessness, prejudice, and discrimination can be overcome. Dr. King's teachings continue to inspire and guide us as we address our nation's most pressing needs.

In our current economic crisis, bad employers, greedy corporations and self-serving politicians will exploit peoples' fears and use them to continue the attack on workers and communities. This will not go unnoticed. We will not idly stand by and watch as families are devastated, our rights eroded, and our future traded away. We will shine a light on the ugly system that that puts profits over people and money over morals. We will confront power and become powerful ourselves. The transformation to a new economy will not come from Capitol Hill, but from people like us taking direct action to demand change.

We ask that on this day, you take a moment to remember and celebrate Dr. King's work and recommit to the ongoing struggle for a just society. Take the JwJ pledge to be there at least 5 times in the next year for someone else's fight as well as your own. It will take all of us. We are the creative force in this universe.

UA Cuts Budget Again

2010-01-12T14:57:00.004-06:00

The University of Arkansas has announced it will cut the budget by another $2.6 million for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

The cut is the second for UA and brings the total cuts since the start of the fiscal year in July to just more than $5 million.

UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart says he understands the economic problems facing the state. But he says the latest cut creates "dire challenges" that threaten the university's mission as an academic and economic engine in the state.

The university may consider a hiring freeze and some jobs may be eliminated through attrition. Faculty and staff may also be required to take unpaid furloughs. And there may be cuts to academic and outreach programs.

This would be a good opportunity for Chancellor David Gearhart to examine the number of administrators added in recent years with salaries exceeding $100,000 per year and consider which are necessary to putting "Students First." The size of the administrative staff expanded rapidly during the last decade under former Chancellor John White.

No Raises Next Year

2010-01-12T12:40:00.002-06:00

Governor Mike Beebe’s proposed balanced budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year contains no raises for state employees, according to state Department of Finance and Administration Director Richard Weiss.

State employees were to have received a 2.3% pay increase, but all raises are suspended in Beebe’s proposed budget, Weiss told the legislative Joint Budget Committee on the first day of budget hearings in preparation for the Legislature’s first-ever fiscal session.

Because of revenue shortfalls, Beebe cut $100 million from this fiscal year’s budget in the fall and announced yesterday that he was cutting another $106 million. No layoffs are expected, the governor said.

UA Withheld Classified Workers' Raises

2009-12-29T14:34:00.002-06:00

Arkansas legislators conducting budget hearings in Little Rock next month will be reviewing the decision by the University of Arkansas and other universities to withhold full pay increases from classified employees despite a law that provided for the raises this fiscal year, according to the co-chairman of the Joint Budget Committee.

All state agencies gave the full raises, but Arkansas Tech was the only four-year public university to give more than a partial pay plan increase to classified workers this fiscal year. Unlike state agencies, colleges and universities do not answer directly to the governor or legislature under the Arkansas Constitution. Finance director Richard Weiss admitted, “We don’t have any control or very little control over colleges and universities.”

In a memorandum to university administrators, Dr. Jim Purcell, director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, said “The level of support that higher education institutions received in this tough budget year was to some extent based upon an understanding that the institutions would implement the pay plan.” He also advised “that full implementation of the pay plan as soon as practical is highly desired,” and he reminded them that their budgets “are dependent on legislative and executive branch support.”

Higher education budget hearings begin on January 12, and the full legislative fiscal session begins February 8.

Quote of the Day

2009-12-20T09:07:00.002-06:00

"Renewable energy, and the green jobs that come along with it, are key to our economic growth. It is essential that in order to lead the world in renewable energy technologies, and create good jobs that support our families and communities, we must look at ways to rebuild and revitalize American manufacturing. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing. We’re just making countries like China rich. That’s not sustainable. We have to create more jobs." -- Mike Langford, Utility Workers Union of America

AFSCME Nurses Rally for Reform

2009-12-06T08:10:00.002-06:00

Local physician Hershey Garner voiced his support for reformed health care in Arkansas on Saturday during a news conference outside of the Fayetteville Town Center.

“As someone who works in Northwest Arkansas, I see first-hand how broken the system is,” he said. “It’s embarrassing that we are the only industrialized country that doesn’t have universal coverage. As a result, patients aren’t getting the care they need.”

The U.S. Senate, he said, is expected to vote on a reform bill in the coming days. But before senators can hold an up or down vote, 60 senators must first vote to end a Republican filibuster to kill the bill.

“What the Senate is doing is slowing the process,” he said. “Health care is a complex issue. We need to provide people with accurate information so they They’re not providing the help we need at the ground level. My hope is to get the information out there so we can aggressively pursue meaningful health care reform.”

Garner, who works with cancer patients in Northwest Arkansas, spoke to a handful of nurses from across the country Saturday. Participants, dressed in hospital scrubs, hit Fayetteville streets to distribute information on health care reform door-to-door. The local campaign was one of six similar canvasses in “battleground” states.

Valentina Zamora-Arrela, a registered nurse from San Bernardino, Calif., said the goal of Saturday’s news conference was to provide residents with accurate information regarding health care and to encourage U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark, to vote on a health care option that will lower costs, improve quality and keep insurance companies honest.

Lincoln has yet to indicate how she will vote. Calls made to her offices in Little Rock, Fayetteville and Washington on Saturday weren’t answered.

“We need real reform that keeps my patients’ health in the hands of their nurses and doctors; not their insurance companies’,” Zamora-Arrela said.

“We see so many patients, especially in California where the economy has been hit so hard, who don’t have health care. We need a public option because no one should come between a person and their doctor.”

Asela Espiritu, a registered nurse from Orange County, Calif., said a public health insurance plan should be an option for everyone, alongside with private health insurance plans. The public plan, she said, would compete on a level playing field with private plans and would be administered by government, but funded through premiums.

“A lot of the information being distributed in the media is very one-sided,” she said. “People should to talk to nurses like me, who work in the health care field, so they can make a knowledgeable decision. They also need to pick up their phones and call their senator today. One vote counts for a lot. It could save our next generation.”

According to Zamora-Arrela, the Senate Finance Committee health care reform bill would include a 40 percent excise tax in 2013 on health care plans valued at more than $8,000 for individual coverage or $20,000 for family coverage.

Saturday’s event was sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Organizing for America and Working for America. Similar events took place in Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, North Dakota and Nebraska.

“Our employees have health care insurance,” said Stephen Smith, president of AFSCME Local 965. “We’re working for those who don’t have access to affordable health care. It’s not just about us, it’s about everyone.”

By Kate Ward, Northwest Arkansas Times, December 6, 2009, page 1.

AFSCME-United Nurses of America is over 60,000 nurses working in unity to advance quality and accountability in the healthcare setting through organizing, political action and nursing practice.

Peace at Home Toy Drive

2009-12-02T10:47:00.002-06:00

Sister Theresa Sims is again organizing the Peace at Home Toy Drive for Local 965. Last year we were able to provide toy to displaced children in 60 families during the holiday season. Yet, there are more than twice that many displaced families served by the Peace at Home shelter and services.

This year, Theresa and Danny have pledged to match the cash donations from other members of our local, up to $500, so give as generously as you can. Theresa has also volunteered to do the shopping after talking with the staff at Peace at Home to see what they need.

Let us remember those less fortunate and share in the spirit of our union. For additional information, contact Theresa at 479-575-3108 or tsims@uark.edu

Interfaith Worker Justice on Wage Theft

2009-11-25T12:38:00.002-06:00

Barbara Taylor Staff Scholarship Fund

2009-11-10T10:24:00.002-06:00

Dr. Barbara G. Taylor, former member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and associate vice chancellor for human resources, will retire this year after 35 years of service to the University of Arkansas. We wish her well. In lieu of gifts commemorating her service upon her departure, people are encouraged to instead make a contribution to the Staff Senate Scholarship Fund in Taylor’s honor. These contributions will be used to support the educational endeavors of staff who contribute to the diversity of the campus, either by ethnicity or field of work.

Taylor, who began her career at the university as director of human relations, the title used for the campus’ first affirmative action officer, has always been interested in increasing the diversity of the students, faculty and staff.

“Awareness of diversity on our campus has increased during my time here,” Taylor said. “Northwest Arkansas has certainly become more diverse over the past 35 years, and I think that growth and change truly enhances and enriches the university and the community alike. Diversity is a very broad concept; when we bring different kinds of people together, we all learn from each other and become more creative and inclusive.”

As Taylor reflects on 35 years of service to the University of Arkansas, there is one thing she’ll miss most: the people. She finds that the human resources function on campus has evolved from a mindset of making and enforcing rules to a strategic, genuine “How can I help you?” approach to serving others. She finds there is now a greater focus on what is important to the campus as a whole and on what will make everyone’s work easier.

“Every day is a surprise in human resources,” she said, “and it is always interesting, never boring, and I never know what each day will bring. Working here has been a challenging and fulfilling experience, and I hope to continue to stay involved and to help others even though I won’t be coming to work here every day.”

Gifts to the Staff Senate Scholarship Fund may be made through the Annual Fund Web site. Be sure to indicate that your gift is in honor of Barbara Taylor.

Rev. Copley: Unions Help Families

2009-11-06T10:56:00.002-06:00

We are living in very difficult economic times. In the midst of these times, the community of faith must stand with workers in their struggle to provide for their families.

All major religions recognize the dignity of the worker and the sanctity of labor. Yet in the wealthiest country on Earth, working Americans are facing difficult choices. They are forced to choose between paying for groceries and medicine, the mortgage and the college tuition bill. This must change.

Throughout the history of our country, the best way to move a family into the middle class has been through forming unions at the workplace. It is the quickest way to eliminate poverty. It is important that we support the Employee Free Choice Act. It provides an opportunity for our country to take an important concrete step toward fulfilling the dream of a just society.

The EFCA provides a protected and fair way for workers to form a union. It would provide much needed balance to the system and put the choice on whether to form unions back in the workers’ hands.

Unions have made the middle class in the United States. This is what has made our country the economic powerhouse it has been. They also are a crucial part of the broad movement to put the pursuit of justice ahead of the pursuit of profit and power. It is for this reason that people of faith should support the Employee Free Choice Act.

REV. STEVE COPLEY North Little Rock

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 6 November 2009

No raise, no bonus.

2009-10-29T08:28:00.002-05:00

Below is Chancellor Gearhart's letter explaining why employees will not get the Christmas bonus promised earlier after getting no raises this year. No mention of plans for cutting the astounding number of administrators that ballooned under John White's reign.

EMAIL FROM DAVID GEARHART

As you no doubt already know, the state's fiscal outlook has taken a downward turn. This has necessitated funding cuts to state agencies including all public universities. We recently were notified that the cut to our current fiscal year budget will be approximately $2.42
million, funds that already had been budgeted in a very, very tight fiscal year.

While this cut comes at a most difficult time, compared to some of our peer institutions in the SEC and across the country we are in much better shape. Several SEC universities have endured catastrophic budget cuts in excess of $40 million from their state appropriations. Fortunately, unlike so many of our peers, we have not had to institute
layoffs, furloughs or salary cuts.

Although it has been my aspiration to offset the lack of salary increases this year with a one-time stipend around the holiday season, the darkening budget outlook has negated the university's ability to proceed with this plan. Funds we had set aside for one-time stipends,
subject to Board of Trustees approval in November, are now needed to offset the unexpected loss of state revenue.

However, the university will be able to pick up the full cost of medical insurance premium increases through June 30, 2010 as a way of providing some degree of assistance to our faculty and staff during these difficult times. The university previously had committed to
covering premium increases only through this December.

Please know that I deeply regret our inability to provide any modest compensatory support to our outstanding faculty and staff. It pains me personally to continue to build the university on the backs of our university family, but we believe it prudent to take this cautious approach given the recent cuts. We also wanted to notify the community as soon as this change of plan became apparent, so that expectation of a stipend was not factored into individuals' holiday budgets.

Financially speaking, we have a great deal for which to be thankful -- although I realize that doesn't help when the paycheck of so many valued faculty and staff doesn't at least keep pace with annual cost of living increases. Salary increases and expanding our faculty to meet the needs of our growing student body continue to be very high priorities, and we hope for better days ahead.

We appreciate your ongoing understanding as we continue to do our best to weather the current economic storm together.

G. David Gearhart
Chancellor
University of Arkansas

State Budget Cuts Announced

2009-10-20T10:53:00.004-05:00

State cuts budget $100 million(Max Brantley, Arkansas Blog, 10/20/09)

As expected, Gov. Mike Beebe has announced that he'll cut the state budget for the balance of this fiscal year -- it runs through June 30 -- by $100 million because of a continuing decline in state tax revenue. Prisons, health and the State Police will experience the hardest hits of what amounts to a 2.2 percent budget cut, the governor said. Surplus funds will maintain education spending at court-mandated "adequacy" levels.

Some further details from Richard Weiss, the state director of Finance and Administration:

He says the cuts are intended to recoup shortfalls so far this year, but the economic forecasts still indicate some rebound in economic performance by spring so the overall cut isn't as deep as the 10 percent decline in revenue seen in recent months. He said he doubted the 2.2 percent cut should mean layoffs or cuts in recently granted pay raises. Leaving positions open, normal turnover reductions in travel and other expenses and other savings should be sufficient to avoid job layoffs, he said.

Weiss was optimistic, too, that fund balances would avoid a "doomsday" scenario of deeper cuts in other agencies so money would be available to meet education mandates.

Next year? That's a matter of some concern. No official forecast is due until Dec. 1. But even with a hoped-for rebound in the economy, state officials will have to look hard at tentative budget figures approved in the 2009 legislative session for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010. Can the projected 3.8 percent state employee pay raise surive? That's a questiion as yet unanswered. The first fiscal session in January won't be a happy one.

For now, said Weiss, “The cuts we’re making today will hold us in good stead. But 2010 is going to be something we have to look very closely at.”

It is at least an irony of timing that higher education will suffer a spending cut. The lottery amendment provided that college support couldn't be reduced on account of the new lottery scholarship money. But it could happen concurrently anyway.

Here's the memo to state agencies about the cut.

Here's the memo to legislators with a discussion on economic forecasts.

Here's the agency-by-agency spreadsheet on the dollar amount of the cuts.

The governor's release:

LITTLE ROCK – Governor Mike Beebe has accepted a recommendation by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration to cut the state budget by $100 million for the current fiscal year. The revised budget forecast comes after revenues fell below those predicted for the first three months of the fiscal year.

"Just like any family or business, state government must live within its means," Beebe said. "Despite our conservative budgeting, it appears that our recovery from the recession has been slower than anticipated. There are still positive signs in the revenue numbers, and we maintain hope that the recovery will accelerate."

The revised cut means a 2.2 percent reduction of the overall budget, with the Departments of Correction, Community Correction and Health and the Arkansas State Police seeing the largest reductions. Existing fund balances will ensure continued adequacy for public education.

UA Law Students and Worker Justice

2009-10-20T10:42:00.002-05:00

At a national law students’ conference presented by the Peggy Browning Fund, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told the nation’s next generation of labor lawyers justice for workers can’t be won unless there are lawyers willing to fight on their behalf:

You’re choosing to follow your conscience, to pursue economic justice and not just to fatten your wallets. There is no higher calling than the one you aspire to—to pursue social and economic justice in our nation, to ensure that we are a nation of equal opportunity.

America’s unions are as vital today as ever in our history, and we need young legal minds like yours to help us spread the word, to make our case. So I invite you to join us, to dedicate your careers to encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining.

Trumka laid out a vision for the future of the labor movement—one that fights to advocate strongly for social and economic justice for everyone. Trumka pledged to make sure all workers have the freedom to form a union, through effective organizing efforts and the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to reform our broken labor laws. He also pledged to listen closely to the voices of young people and to engage them so that we can build a union movement that stays relevant for generations to come.

Trumka, who received his law degree from Villanova University, praised the late Peggy Browning, a labor lawyer and member of the National Labor Relations Board, and encouraged students to follow in her footsteps. A lawyer fighting on behalf of workers can make a real difference in peoples’ lives, Trumka said, citing his own experiences during the 1989 Pittston strike, when the Mine Workers (UMWA) protected their health benefits and won a fair contract in the face of fierce opposition from both the mine owners and the owners’ allies in local courts.

Students took part in a question-and-answer session at the Saturday event with Trumka, who got a chance to hear their perspectives on the challenges facing the next generation of workers.

AFSCME Members Make ‘House Calls for Health Care’

2009-10-16T09:44:00.002-05:00

Across the country this weekend, AFSCME nurses and community leaders made house calls, getting their neighbors mobilized to pass health care reform that provides affordable coverage to everyone. These nurses and volunteers asked the people they visited to contact their senators and House members and demand health care reform that really works.

Clad in green scrubs, the AFSCME members went door to door in key states, including Arkansas, Nebraska, Maine, Ohio, North Dakota, Louisiana, Indiana and Delaware. Working America members also took part in door-to-door canvasses for health care reform.

Valentina Zamora-Arreola, a registered nurse in Arkansas, said that health care workers see every day the need for a fairer system:

One of the most important things that we want to see is that healthcare reform is done right. We want to make sure that nurses have their voice out there. We deal with the people when they are sick and we want to make sure that we are looking at healthcare reform options and that we have a public health option.

AFSCME volunteers have carried out an active health care campaign throughout the year.

Today, at the Demos conference, A Better Deal 2009, a panel on health care costs focused on the link between the high levels of uninsured and underinsured young people and the crippling debt they face, as well as the need to make sure health coverage is affordable and available to everyone. The need to build a new, better health care system is critical to a stronger, fairer new economy for the future.

AFSCME Supports the United Way

2009-10-01T09:01:00.003-05:00

The AFL-CIO is actively involved in the United Way at the national level, and AFSCME Local 965 has always been a strong supporter of the United Way campaign in Fayetteville. Please share what you can.

* Giving $1 week (just $52 a year) provides 288 pounds of food for the hungry in our community or transportation to doctors’ appointments for a senior citizen for a year.
* Giving $2 week provides dues for three low-income children, allowing them to attend an after school program, or provides for 50 snack packs for children, who might not otherwise have food on the weekends.
* Giving $5 week provides delivery of 74 meals to the elderly in their homes, or helps six victims of domestic violence rebuild their lives.
* Giving $10 week provides help for one month’s utility bill for six families, or helps provide 40 prescriptions to individuals without insurance.
* Giving $20 per week provides one month’s scholarship for tuition for an infant in a high-quality learning environment, or provides adult day care services for an adult for one year, or supports one youth for one year of one-on-one mentoring.

Please help the needy in our community, and remember that you not need to give a lot to make an impact. You may designate that you desire to specify funding for a particular cause or organization. Pledge commitments through payroll deduction will begin in January 2010.

Nickels and Lincoln

2009-09-15T12:28:00.004-05:00

AFSCME organizer Justin Nickels discusses the need for a "public option" in national health care reform. Senator Lincoln tries to dodge the issue by saying it is too expensive. She did not mention whether the cost of agribusiness subsidies were too expensive or demand that those handouts be revenue neutral.

FOR the New High School

2009-09-05T18:17:00.003-05:00

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 965, today called for an investment in our children’s future and announced its endorsement of the proposed millage to build a world class 21^st Century high school in Fayetteville. “It is important to our members that we build here and build now for the future of our children and our community; we must not miss this opportunity to do the right thing at the right time” said Larry West, a member of the executive committee

“Last year, we urged the school board to build the new high school at the current location, because it serves students well to be near the University and its resources,” said Vice President Betty Martin. “In addition, it is convenient for our faculty and staff who have children attending high school, as well as for nontraditional students and single parents enrolled at the University.” The resolution adopted by the group noted that failure to pass the millage and move forward now would reopen the old debate about location of the school and “shift the discussion from achieving lasting excellence to finding the cheapest temporary solution.”

Early voting begins on Tuesday, September 8, at the Courthouse. Election Day is Tuesday, September 15, at your regular polling place. This is an important election for AFSCME members and their families, so be sure to vote FOR the millage for the new Fayetteville High School.

Labor Day Picnic

2009-08-31T14:04:00.002-05:00

AFSCME Local 965 will be hosting our Labor Day Picnic on Saturday, September 5th, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the UA Agri Park (Garland Ave ) 1/2 south of I-540). Bring your family and friends from work. Fun, games, and free food. Hamburgers and hot dogs should be ready by 11:00.

We are also extending an invitation and warm welcome to the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council and the families of member unions. Please join us for a celebration of working families and the dignity of labor.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

2009-08-26T22:23:00.002-05:00

The 1.6 million members of AFSCME join Americans of all walks of life in mourning the loss of our closest ally and most steadfast friend in the U.S. Senate, Ted Kennedy. During Senator Kennedy’s nearly 47 years as a servant of the entire nation, the labor movement developed an especially close relationship with him, and AFSCME was proud to stand with him in every political effort he made. We stood by his side when he ran against Jimmy Carter because Ted Kennedy was such a great champion for working people and families.

Senator Kennedy called health care reform the cause of his life, first advocating for national health care in 1966. He made a surprise return to the Senate last summer to cast the decisive vote for the Democrats on a Medicare bill. In his memory, we must continue to do all we can to realize his goal of health care reform.

Beyond what he achieved on the national stage, Ted Kennedy was an empathetic and caring man. He stayed in contact with families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and remained in touch long after the cameras were gone. The tragedies he experienced made him especially compassionate when others endured their own hardships.

For me this loss is particularly difficult. He was not just an ally, but a dear friend. But while Senator Kennedy will no longer raise his voice on our behalf, we will forever remember what he gave all of us: his life, his passion, his commitment to a more fair and equitable nation. In remembrance of him, let us all keep fighting for the causes he championed so willingly and so well, and rededicate ourselves to winning national health care reform.

- AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee on the Death of Senator Kennedy

A Contrast to Mob Mentality

2009-08-25T13:25:00.000-05:00

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ran a report last week on our Highway to Health Care event in front of the state Capitol in Little Rock — and the importance of Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s support of a public option. In the article, “Union backs public health-care plan during rally” (subscription-only), AFSCME’s Blaine Rummel pointed out that Lincoln has said she’s open to it.

He continued:

“If we allow [government] to compete with private insurance companies, it’s going to force private insurance companies to lower premiums,” Rummel said.

He said Obama’s plan will ensure that people keep coverage when they change jobs.

Sen. Lincoln sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which is playing a key role in shaping health care legislation. She has said she believes individuals should be given choices when it comes to health insurance. In a July guest column in the Democrat-Gazette, Lincoln said “Options should include private plans as well as a quality, affordable public plan or non-profit plan that can accomplish the same goals of a public plan.”

Rummel said the association wanted to provide a contrast to the “mob mentality” of protesters during recent public forums. Its literature has a rock ‘n’ roll theme.

There was no mob in Little Rock, as you can see in this photo — just a group of ordinary Americans who want to make their voices heard as we fight for real health insurance reform.

Little Rock residents were excited about reform at the Highway to Healthcare event on Monday evening. Find more on Flickr.

For a strong public plan option

2009-08-17T17:38:00.003-05:00

A quality public health insurance option is a crucial part of health care reform to keep private insurance companies honest, hold down costs and ensure that everybody has a health care choice available. Key to holding down costs for families, for businesses, and for the federal budget is forcing insurance companies to compete. And the only way to force real competition on the insurance companies is a strong public plan option.

Unfortunately, the usual suspects opposed to reform are trying to hijack the reform process and attacking the public health insurance plan option because they are afraid of competition and they want to keep gouging working families. But unless we take decisive steps to stop the crippling rise of health costs, we will have squandered this moment of opportunity.

We will continue to relay that message forcefully to the Senate and the White House.

John Sweeney

“Highway to Health Care Reform” Tour

2009-08-13T19:49:00.001-05:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I'm Blaine Rummel, I work at AFSCME in Washington, DC, — and my most important work is health care reform. That's why this month, I won’t be in Washington. I'll be on the road for reform. Starting in North Dakota this Wednesday, AFSCME is taking the fight on the road with our Highway to Health Care Reform Tour; want to come along?

Highway to Health Care Rallies

Monday, August 17
Fayetteville, AR
10:30 AM, Fayetteville Square

Monday, August 17
Little Rock, AR
Barbecue and Concert
6:00 PM, Arkansas State Capital

Tuesday, August 18
Little Rock, AR
10:30 AM, Arkansas State Capital

Let me explain: Congress is on recess this month — but we're not. Health care isn't working for America’s middle class. It's too expensive and too uncertain — and it's crippling our nation's economy. That's why we've rented an RV and converted it into a mobile action center for a month-long road trip of our own. We'll crisscross the country — drive right through Arkansas where the most important votes are — to keep the pressure on Congress to fix health care and to do it now.

That's right. AFSCME is on the Highway to Health Care Reform.

Okay, so Karl, a great intern at AFSCME headquarters, and I are not exactly rock stars playing at arena shows. But believe me, we’re going to rock. We have to, and I hope you'll be right there with us when we deliver the loudest, strongest, message possible — from Bismarck, North Dakota to Bangor, Maine.

Join us. Please consider coming to our one-of-a-kind event in Arkansas and put yourself on our special Highway to Health Care Reform road map. Add your voice to the chorus of people telling Congress that real health care reform just can't wait.

We're closer to real reform than we've ever been — thanks for everything that you've done to help us get this far. We can't allow Congress's recess to slow us down.

Please join our Highway to Health Care Tour by sending a letter to Congress today and adding your name to our map: www.Highway2HealthCare.org. You can also download a special Highway to Health Care Reform poster.

Thanks for your continued pressure on Congress — summer vacation or not. I'll be sure to keep you updated with stories and other easy things you can do to help us pass real reform during the tour. Check back on the Highway to Health Care Reform website for regular tour updates, pictures and more.

Sincerely,
Blaine Rummel
AFSCME Legislation Department

A New Generation of Labor Activists

2009-07-23T02:56:00.003-05:00

The future of the union and social justice movements lies in reaching out to college students, young workers and young voters who are energized by the election of Barack Obama.

Reaching out to young people is a top priority for AFSCME and the AFL-CIO. Speaking at the Texas state federation convention last week, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, a candidate for AFL-CIO president, said:

If there’s anything our labor movement needs, it’s an infusion of younger Americans—the people whose futures are taking a beating at the hands of the Wall Street hucksters and fast-buck artists who’ve driven our economy into a ditch.

We have an opportunity, and indeed an obligation, to continue building stronger worker and student alliances in the fight for worker’s rights. To make the real changes we need, the leadership will come from working with a new generation. AFSCME Local 965 welcomes the next generation of public employees, and we are dedicated to involving this new generation of advocates for working families.

Family-Friendly Workplaces

2009-07-16T09:33:00.003-05:00

Today’s report by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the Labor Project for Working Families comes at a seminal moment for the debate on economic and labor law reform in this country. This report emphasizes a crucial point - - that unions help families at a time when workers are forced to work more hours in an increasingly unstable environment, and as the social system in our country is being chipped away.

A unionized workplace dramatically helps working families. According to the report, unions increase compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act, ensure paid sick leave for employees and their children, and increase the likelihood that health care is covered for families. As corporations force working people to work longer and spend more time away from their home, unions are key to creating an economy that works for everyone and ensuring that workers have flexibility in handling their family and work responsibilities. Corporations have spent billions to try to eliminate benefits like paid sick leave, time off, and health care coverage. Without workers’ freedom to form and join unions, corporations will continue to chip away at the family-friendly practices that help working people across the country.

To download “Family-Friendly Workplaces: Do Unions Make a Difference?” go to http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu or
http://www.working- families.org

--Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

1,500 Arkansas Workers March for Free Choice

2009-07-11T15:37:00.001-05:00

On Saturday July 11th, national labor leaders joined over 1,500 Arkansas workers in Little Rock for a rally in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, which will restore workers’ freedom to join a union and bargain for a better life.

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, the first African-American executive officer of the AFL-CIO and widely known civil rights leader, joined other national labor, civil rights, and faith leaders in an historic march and rally. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, Arkansas AFL-CIO President Alan Hughes, Communications Workers of America Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Rechenbach, and Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard led hundreds of union and faith and civil rights activists in the first of its kind demonstration in Little Rock.

Early Saturday morning, members of the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council and workers from all over Arkansas traveled to meet at Central High School. There, they remembered the sacrifices and contribution of the Little Rock 9 to freedom for all people in America. Led by Arkansas ministers, the assembled marched to another rally on the steps of the State Capitol featuring local faith leaders and local elected leaders in an even louder call for Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act. The marchers concluded with an old-fashioned Arkansas catfish fry at the adjacent Arkansas Education Association building.

Workers across America have launched the largest grassroots mobilization effort since the November election to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The bill will provide workers with a greater voice on the job and will allow them to bargain collectively for higher wages, benefits, and job security. It would additionally allow for workers to join a union through majority sign up and take away the right of corporations to demand a ballot election, giving the choice of majority sign-up or an election to the workers.

20,000 Faculty Gain Bargaining Rights

2009-07-02T17:56:00.002-05:00

More than 20,000 faculty members at two midwestern universities are one step closer to good union contracts. Yesterday, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signed the state’s biennial budget, which includes a provision [1] extending collective bargaining rights to more than 20,000 University of Wisconsin (UW) faculty, academic staff and research assistants.

The same day, some 430 instructors and adjunct faculty at Western Michigan University (WMU) [2] voted for the Professional Instructors Organization (PIO), an [3] AFT affiliate, to represent them.

The University of Wisconsin victory capped a 40-year effort by faculty members to gain a better life by joining a union. The new law extends to 6,600 full-time, tenured and tenure-track faculty and 13,100 academic staff, which includes part-time and full-time lecturers, adjuncts, advisers, IT technicians and others. Another provision gives 3,200 research assistants the right to determine whether they want representation through the state’s first majority sign-up process.

The UW academics were the only nonmanagement public employees in the state without bargaining rights—until now. AFT-Wisconsin President Bryan Kennedy credits the continued building of workers’ political strength for the victory.

We’ve had the same legislation introduced in the three previous legislative cycles. Each time, we’ve had a chance to educate people and bring them around.

At Western Michigan University, the PIO soon will begin discussions with the WMU administration about better working conditions. Many instructors at WMU have not received any salary increase for 12 years.

Says Karl Schrock, who teaches in WMU’s School of Music:

We are confident that our organizing will help university leaders to see that part-time faculty are an essential component (along with tenure-line faculty and graduate teaching assistants) in the educational enterprise at WMU. We look forward to working with the administration to improve communication, faculty recognition and long-term planning for the university’s mission in ways that will benefit students and the university community as a whole.

These wins follow [4] several other votes in Michigan over the past two years. During that time, new unions representing contingent faculty and graduate employees have formed at Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Henry Ford Community College and Wayne State University, all affiliated with AFT Michigan.

Article reprinted from AFL-CIO NOW BLOG: http://blog.aflcio.org/

URLs in this post:
[1] extending collective bargaining rights: http://www.aftface.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=546
[2] voted for the Professional Instructors Organization: http://www.aftface.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=547&Itemid=63
[3] AFT: http://www.aft.org/
[4] several other votes: http://www.aftface.org/index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=52&searchword=michigan&searchp
hrase=any&ordering=newest

National Health Care Reform

2009-06-26T06:32:00.002-05:00

Coming from unions, community organizations and all walks of life, nearly 10,000 supporters of health care reform gathered on Capitol Hill today to send a strong message: We demand affordable, high-quality health care for all, and we aren’t waiting any longer.

Every corner of the Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill was filled this afternoon with union members, health care advocates and community activists from across the country, and they heard from not only members of Congress and union leaders, but also from nurses, small business owners, workers and parents who told compelling stories about why we need health care reform.

Like all of the speakers, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker expressed confidence that we can move from an unsustainable health care system to one that protects families and covers everyone:

Health care without cost control will not work. Health care without a quality public option to lower costs is totally unacceptable.

Many rally participants are spending this afternoon at town hall meetings and on Capitol Hill lobbying members of Congress for real health care reform. In addition to the strong turnout of union members and community organizers, groups including Working America and Democracy for America brought tens of thousands of signatures they’ve collected from people across the country who say we’ve waited long enough for health care reform.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said despite determined opposition from the insurance companies that control our health care now, we have an opportunity to build on and improve our health care system:

Special interests and the health insurance industry will not hijack this process. We must have and we will have a strong public option.

Pennsylvania Rep. Allyson Schwartz said we need health care reform that controls costs to recover from today’s economic crisis:

This is such an important issue for all of us. It’s always been a moral responsibility, but it’s increasingly an economic imperative.

Other rally speakers included union leaders President Gerald McEntee of AFSCME and President Larry Cohen of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), members of the House and Senate, actress Edie Falco, former Gov. Howard Dean and leaders of a wide variety of grassroots organizations.

Confirm Sotomayor

2009-06-18T08:43:00.002-05:00

The International Executive Board of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has unanimously declared its support for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, and promised to help secure her confirmation by the Senate.

“President Obama’s nomination of distinguished Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is the right move for our nation,” said AFSCME President Gerald McEntee. “Judge Sotomayor is exactly the kind of experienced, capable and fair jurist the working men and women of this nation need to serve on our highest court.”

“Judge Sonia Sotomayor has worked to preserve the rights of workers to receive fair pay, health benefits, and to be free of workplace discrimination,” said McEntee. “The Senate should promptly confirm Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.”

Call Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, and ask them to vote to confirm Judge Sotomayor's nomination. You can reach their offices at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.

UA Putting Employees Last

2009-06-13T18:45:00.007-05:00

Some staff members at the University of Arkansas will get small raises for the next school year, but they still won’t earn what the new statewide pay plan for classified employees says they should.

There are 1,577 classified employees at the university. The plan gives a boost to 386 of those employees making less than the entry-level wage, but in some cases they will still be below the entry level wages. Faculty members will not receive any raises this year.

Chancellor David Gearhart made a big deal about not raising tuition and only slightly raising student fees. “We believe this to be the only responsible course of action for us to take to support our students and their families during these difficult economic times,” said Gearhart in a letter to university employees.

Chancellor Gearhart did not say what he thought would be a responsible course of action for him to take to support faculty, staff, and their families during these difficult economic times.

Academics for Employee Free Choice

2009-06-03T15:51:00.003-05:00

University of Arkansas faculty from the J William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences held a news conference on campus today. They joined university and college teachers, scholars, and research scientists from both public and private higher education institutions across Arkansas, who are calling for public policy decisions to be informed by facts. Unfortunately, the current national debate on enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act has been distorted by unsupported assertions that ignore the available empirical evidence.

Arkansas Academics for Employee Free Choice today released copies of two recent studies that directly touch on arguments being made in the national debate. The first refutes the claim that the current process is working and documents increasing employer hostility to organizing efforts (No Holds Barred). The second is a survey of four states where majority sign-up is working, and it found no instances of intimidation by either employers or unions (Majority Authorization and Union Organizing in the Public Sector). "In brief, from 2003-2009 in the states studied, a total of 34,148 public sector workers employed in state, county, municipal and educational institutions voluntarily joined a union. Most importantly, contrary to business claims, in 1,073 cases of union certification and in at least 1,359 majority-authorization campaigns, there was not a single confirmed incident of union misconduct". They expressed their hope that Senator Pryor and Senator Lincoln will take the time to review these studies and become better informed by the facts.

In addition, a recent article from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that points out another failure of the current process that can be remedied by the Employee Free Choice Act. Even when employees vote for union representation under current NLRB rules, there is no requirement that employers negotiate in good faith or in a timely manner. Following the article is a timeline documenting the history of one corporate employer that refused to meet with employees for over nine years, and only did so after being ordered to do so by the courts and a long, unnecessary, and expensive legal battle. EFCA would encourage more timely good faith negotiation to avoid arbitration.

Academics for Employee Free Choice sent a letter to Senators Pryor and Lincoln. It is signed by more than 40 academics from across Arkansas, including 18 at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The letter clearly explains the reasons why they support enactment of the Employee Free Choice Act to make sure that the economic recovery includes everyone and allows working families to share in the American Dream of a better life for themselves and their children.

AFSCME Local 965 members Betty Martin, Michael Pierce, Lindsley Smith, Trish Starks, and Stephen Smith were among those attending and participating in today's news conference.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

2009-05-31T14:56:00.003-05:00

May 31, 1936. St. Francis County Judge E. A. Rolfe and Sheriff J. M. Campbell ask Governor Futrell to send Arkansas National Guard to put down Southern Tenant Farmers Union strikers asking for higher wages.

May 31, 1960. Local Union No. 131 of the Glass Bottle Blowers Association (AFL-CIO) prevails in federal court, enforcing arbitration for claim of wrongful discharge of a union member by Arkansas Glass Container Corp.

May 31, 1965. Arkansas Supreme Court holds that involuntarily unemployed workers of the International Shoe Company were entitled to unemployment benefits denied by company after two-week shut-down of two plants in 1963.

Labor Vigil in Fayetteville

2009-05-27T23:47:00.004-05:00

The Northwest Arkansas Labor Council joined with the NWA Workers Justice Center, UA Students Against Sweatshops, and the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology for a labor action in support of enacting the Employee Free Choice Act. Twenty-six workers and supporters walked an informational picket line outside Senator Blanche Lincoln's office in the Federal Building at Fayetteville this afternoon, asking the Senator to stand up for working families and make sure that the economy works for everyone.

Senator Lincoln is one of the few Democratic members of the U.S. Senate who has refused to support the Employee Free Choice Act, despite the fact that the Washington County Democratic Central Committee, the Senior Democrats of Northwest Arkansas, the Washington County Democratic Women, and the UA Young Democrats have all overwhelmingly adopted resolutions asking her to co-sponsor the legislation and vote for cloture to stop the Senate Republicans from preventing a vote on the bill.

AFSCME Local 965 members Kasey Walker, Michael Pierce, Mark Swaney, Larry West, and Stephen Smith were among those participating in todays informational picket to remind Senator Lincoln that a majority of Americans support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Michael Pierce to Senator Lincoln

2009-05-20T17:32:00.003-05:00

Please, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, change your mind on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Earlier this month, Lincoln announced that she would oppose the Employee Free Choice Act, an AFL-CIO-supported initiative that would simplify the process by which the National Labor Relations Board would certify unions as the collective bargaining agents for workers. Rather than holding costly, complicated and often drawn-out elections, the NLRB would certify a union when more than 50 percent of the employees sign union cards - a method commonly called "card check."

The best way to help Arkansans in these troubled economic times is to put more money in the pockets of those who go to work every day, and making it easier for people to join labor unions would do just that. In 2006 and 2007, unionized workers in the state - there are about 80,000 of them - averaged $17.29 per hour, and non-union workers made but $12.70 an hour. In other words, union workers made 36 percent more than non-union workers. Even within the same job categories, unionized workers make more.

In Little Rock, workers at Kroger grocery stores earn about 25 percent more than their counterparts at Wal-Mart. This is because the union that represents Kroger workers - the United Food and Commercial Workers - sees to it not only that its members receive a living wage but also that they cannot be fired for simply having accrued too many seniority raises or reaching an age that causes insurance rates to rise.

Since consumer spending represents about two-thirds of our nation's economic activity, making it easier for workers to join unions would also create more jobs - the very thing that Lincoln says is her top priority. With more money in their pockets, union families would spend more on food, clothing, computers and books, and this increased demand for goods would stimulate the economic growth needed to get the nation back on a sound economic footing.

Recent surveys suggest that more than half of American workers would join unions if given the opportunity. But currently about 12 percent of the nation's workers are union members. The major reason for this disparity is simple: the process by which the National Labor Relations Board certifies unions provides too many opportunities for companies to coerce those seeking to join unions. Elections to certify unions are held on company premises. Employers threaten their employees that they will lose their jobs if the union is certified. Legal challenges drag out the process in hopes that employees will give up in their attempt to organize, and workers are often forced to sit through sessions designed to intimidate them. This is the process that the Employee Free Choice Act seeks to simplify.

The opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act - among the most strident are Wal-Mart, The Home Depot and bailout poster child Bank of America - have been disingenuous in their opposition. Instead of telling people the real reason that they oppose card check - they don't want to pay their employees higher wages and they want to be able to fire workers without due process - these companies have hid behind claims of wanting to preserve the "secret ballot."

Arkansans should remember, though, that the secret ballot does not guarantee free or fair elections. For political elections, the state introduced the secret ballot (also called the Australian ballot) in 1892 specifically to stop blacks and poor whites from voting. A Democratic campaign song that year explained:

The Australian ballot works like a charm,

It makes them think and scratch,

And when a Negro gets a ballot

He has certainly met his match.

As Harvard University historian Jill Lepore has written, "The year after Arkansas passed its Australian-ballot law, the percentage of black men who managed to vote dropped from 71 to 38." The total white vote declined by more than 25 percent, with the poor making up most of those disenfranchised. In other words, history makes clear that the secret ballot can be used to some very undemocratic ends.

A strong labor movement is good not only for union members but for all Arkansans. Over the course of the 20th century, the Arkansas labor movement was at the forefront of nearly every positive reform in the state, reforms that were denounced as "too radical" by the economic elite at the time but are now taken for granted. In the century's first two decades, the Arkansas State Federation of Labor helped push through direct legislation, child labor laws, educational reforms, women's suffrage, maximumhours laws and minimum-wage legislation. In the 1930s, it was the architect of the state's workers' compensation and unemployment plans. In the postwar years, it led the way in integrating public facilities, increasing aid for education, fighting for the repeal of the poll tax and opposing the doctrines of nullification and interposition that the segregationists wanted to use to keep African-Americans second-class citizens.

A vibrant labor movement is Arkansas' best hope for a progressive future.

· · ·

Dr. Michael Pierce is an assistant professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he teaches Arkansas history and serves as associate editor of the Arkansas Historical Quarterly. He is a member of AFSCME Local 965.

This entry originally appeared in the Benton County Daily Record, May 10, 2009.

Women Workers Less Likely to Have Secure Retirement

2009-05-20T12:16:00.003-05:00

Women workers are less likely than men to have enough money to retire comfortably because they generally live longer than men and earn less on the job, according to a new report. It will take a three-pronged approach to help women have a secure retirement, the report says: traditional pensions, supplemental 401(k)-type savings and Social Security.

“Shattering the Retirement Glass Ceiling: Women Need a Three-Legged Stool,” released this month by the non-profit research group National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), found that because of her longer life expectancy, a woman with an annual income of $50,000 would need to save $1,000 more toward retirement every year than her male counterpart to have an equal retirement experience. Yet, more than 45 years after the Equal Pay Act was signed, women in the United States still earn only 78 cents for every dollar men earn—even with similar education, skills and experience—and African American and Hispanic women earn even less. The wage difference makes saving money more difficult for many women.

Working women also have limited access to retirement plans through their employers. Men are nearly twice as likely as women to have retirement income from defined benefit plans. Click here to read the report.

“The retirement gender gap is alive and strong,” said Ilana Boivie , an NIRS policy analyst and author of the report.

Women still earn less, have less to save, and are less likely to have workplace retirement plans. And given that the global economic crisis has drastically eroded retirement readiness, it’s all the more urgent that a policy framework is put in place to give all women a shot at achieving retirement security.

One sure way to overcome the retirement gap is through union membership. A recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) found that for the years 2004-2007, union women were much more likely to have health insurance (75.4 percent) and a pension (75.8 percent) than women workers who were not in unions (50.9 percent for health insurance, 43 percent for pensions).

The NIRS research also shows:

Defined-benefit pension plans, which guarantee a specific pension payment each month, provide benefits and protections that are especially important for women, such as spousal protections and lifetime income.
Women are more likely to live above the poverty line in retirement when they have income from pensions. But just 23.3 percent of women have their own pension, compared with 42 percent of men. Among women dependent upon their husbands’ retirement plans, those whose husbands have a defined-benefit plan may be better off because those plans have special protections for surviving spouses.

Under the Obama administration, progress already has been made in moving toward more equal pay for women. President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law on Jan. 29 and established a White House Council on Women and Girls in March. The Council was created to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families.

James Parks, AFL-CIO Now Blog

Celebrating May Day

2009-05-01T09:04:00.003-05:00

May 1, 1886, became historic. On that day thousands of workers in the larger industrial cities poured into the streets, demanding eight hours. About 340,000 took part in demonstrations in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Baltimore, Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other places. Of these nearly 200,000 actually went out on strike. About 42,000 won the eight-hour day. Another 150,000 got a shorter day than they had had before.

Chicago workers supported the movement most vigorously. To combat labor organization and activity, Chicago employers organized and acted. Pinkerton detectives and special deputies were in evidence. Policemen were swinging billies and breading up knots of workers on street corners.

At the factory gates of McCormick Harvester Co., where a strike meeting was being held on May 3, policemen swung their clubs and then fired into the running strikers....The speaker at the meeting was August Spies, a member of the Central Labor Union, which had supported the May First strike. He was also a member of a militant labor group that was at the time influential in the Chicago Labor movement. Six workers were killed that day and many wounded.

Anger ran high through the Chicago labor movement. About 3,000 attended a protest meeting the next day at Haymarket Square....The Chicago press reported the speeches were less "inflammatory" than usual. Mayor Carter H. Harrison who was present testified later that the meeting was "peaceable." But as it was about to adjourn, policement swooped down and ordered the audience to disperse. Then some unknown person threw a bomb. It exploded, killing a police sergeant and knocking several core to the ground. The police opened fire. At the end of the day, seven policemen and four workers lay dead.

At once several Chicago labor leaders were rounded up and thrown in jail. Eight of these finally came to trial--Albert Parsons, August Spies, Louis Lingg, George Engel, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fieldon, Adolph Fischer and Oscar Neebe. The presiding judge helped pick the jury which was strongly anti-labor and hostile to the defendants. The trial lasted 63 days. All of the men were declared guilty of murder. All were given death sentences, except Neebe who got a 15-year prison sentence.

A nationwide defense campaign won wide popular favor...At the last moment, as a result of widespread protests, the Governor of Illinois communted to life imprisonment the sentences of Fieldon and Schwab. It was reported that Lingg "committed suicide" in his cell.

On November 11, Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer and George Engel were hanged. On the gallows Spies cried, "There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." Straightway the defense movement, now led by Albert Parsons' widow, Lucy Parsons, turned to efforts to have the remaining three men freed. Fieldon, Schwab and Neebe were finally pardoned by Governor Altgeld in 1893. He was fully convinced, he said, of the innocence of all the eight men.

Out of the eight-hour struggle which culminated in the strike of May 1, 1886, and its aftermath, the Haymarket tragedy, came international May Day. In Paris, France, on July 14, 1889, leaders from organized proletarian movements in many countries came together to form once more an international association of workers....At the first congress of the Second International, delegates listened to the story related by the United States representatives, considered a request from the American Federation of Labor for support of their eight-hour fight, and voted to make May 1, 1890, a day for an international eight-hour day demonstration.

--Holt Labor Library

Workers Memorial Day

2009-04-28T08:04:00.001-05:00

All too often we hear about Americans being killed and injured at the workplace. Nearly 5,680 workers on average die on the job each year. In the last 30 years, 500 AFSCME members have been killed on the job.

Every worker who is killed or injured under these circumstances serves as a constant reminder of why the men and women of AFSCME continue to fight for increased security and the best workplace safety resources.

April 28, Workers Memorial Day, is set aside to pay tribute to the men and women who have been killed or injured at work. The date coincides with the anniversary of the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency in charge of issuing and enforcing standards for workplace safety and health.

Since OSHA’s inception, in 1970, the number of workplace fatalities has fallen. But we have more work to do. Today, only 24 states along with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have federally approved OSHA laws covering public employees. That’s not enough. Every public employee across this nation deserves OSHA protections.

That’s why AFSCME is playing a leading role in the battle for the job safety rights that protect workers from asbestos, infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and other hazards. Regularly, we also conduct health and safety training so our members can identify and correct workplace hazards.

The fight for workers’ rights goes hand in hand with workplace security. After all, good jobs are also safe jobs.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

2009-04-27T10:15:00.002-05:00

April 27, 1999. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration declared that Arkansas has more high-injury workplaces per capita than all but 10 other states. The federal agency identified 264 job sites in Arkansas as among the nation’s 12,500 worst for occupational injury and illness.

UA Pay Equity Still an Issue

2009-04-24T11:07:00.002-05:00

The Wage Gap….It’s not just about women anymore! The wage gap isn’t just a women’s issue. Equal pay for women raises family income and the whole family benefits.

In 2006, women earned approximately 77 cents for every dollar men received. That’s $23 less to spend on groceries, housing, child care and all other expenses for every $100 worth of work done.

Two years ago, AFSCME Local 965 raised the problem of the significant wage gap between male and female professors at the University of Arkansas with Chancellor John White, but his response was to offer excuses rather than solutions. We are hopeful that Chancellor David Gearhart will take the issue more seriously and take meaningful action to make it right.

A press conference will be held observing Pay Equity Day Tuesday, April 28, 1PM at the Fayetteville Public Library Walker Room. Pay Equity Day is the day to which women must work the following year to make the same money as a man made in the 12 months of the year before. Women must work 16 months for what men earn in one year. The press conference is being sponsored by The American Association of University Women Fayetteville Branch, Business and Professional Women of NW Arkansas, Democratic Women of Washington County, League of Women Voters of Arkansas, and National Organization of Women of Arkansas. Information from the new AAUW State by State Earnings Comparsion and the last University of Arkansas Wage Study will be shared. Where women are wage wise and what needs to be done to address the disparity will be discussed.

For questions or further information, contact Berta Seitz, 479-442-6256, or email at berta.seitz@att.net.

From President Gerald McEntee

2009-04-23T13:44:00.001-05:00

State and local budgets are being drastically slashed, and AFSCME members like you are on the front lines—trying to meet skyrocketing demand for services with fewer and fewer resources.

In the face of such challenges, AFSCME members do we what do best—we keep our communities going. We make America happen.

But it can't all be left to the frontline workers to keep doing more and more with less and less. That's why AFSCME launched our Make America Happen campaign—to win bold changes in Washington that will get our country back on track.

With our Make America Happen campaign we are fighting to win:

Big investment in public services that strengthen the economy;
Quality, affordable health care we can count on;
A stronger middle class by passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

Republican leaders in Congress have made clear that they will do all they can to block progress. Not one Republican House member—not one—voted for President Obama's recovery bill for Main Street—a bill to create or save nearly 4 million jobs, in part by investing $225 billion in state and local public services. We got it passed without them because tens of thousands of AFSCME members took action—calling, emailing and writing your elected officials in Washington.

Our work is far from done. Our next step is to help get the President's budget passed. Unlike the budgets of the past eight years, it’s a budget with the right priorities—putting the needs of working families first and paving the way for real health care reform.

As part of our Make America Happen campaign, we've deployed field organizers across the country. And this week we've launched, in partnership with Americans United for Change, a TV ad campaign to put pressure on politicians who want to stay with the failed policies of the past.

But field organizers and TV ads won't be enough. We need every AFSCME member taking part in this campaign. We’ve launched a new Make America Happen website. There you can get campaign updates, watch a video message from me, hear from your fellow AFSCME members, register for a special online briefing and sign up to get involved.

In Solidarity,

GERALD W. McENTEE
International President

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

2009-04-19T14:35:00.002-05:00

April 19, 1999. University of Arkansas United Students Against Sweatshops pressed Chancellor John White and UA administrators to support changes to "code of conduct" addressing women's rights and realistic wages to ensure that the University's trademark apparel isn't made in sweatshops by mistreated and underpaid foreign workers.

Health Care for America Survey

2009-04-17T16:12:00.002-05:00

THE ECONOMY IS NOT WORKING FOR WORKING FAMILIES TODAY—AND HEALTH CARE IS A MAJOR PART OF THE PROBLEM. Across America, families are making hard decisions between paying for health care and paying for other necessities and struggling with a system that is too often cruel and inefficient. As President Obama has said, "Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."

With health care reform front and center, it's important that AFSCME members make our voices heard in this critical policy debate. Take the survey!

As decision-makers at every level take up health care reform, it is urgent that they hear from working families about what you are experiencing. Please MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD BY COMPLETING THIS SURVEY, telling your health care story and encouraging your friends, co-workers and family members to do so, too. We'll share the survey results with national, state and media leaders.

Mayor Jordan Stands with Local 965

2009-03-27T08:15:00.004-05:00

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan, former President of AFSCME Local 965 and former President of the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council, was honored yesterday for his career of service to working families and the community.

Jordan served as President of the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council from 2006-2008 but resigned after he took office as Mayor in January 2009, following his policy of serving only on boards of organizations that are covered by the Arkansas Freedom of information Act. He served as President of AFSCME Local 965 from 2000-2006 until he was promoted to a management position and was precluded from holding that office by the by-laws of the local union.

After addressing the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council yesterday, Mayor Jordan signed a new union card to rejoin AFSCME Local 965, the first Fayetteville city employee to do so this year.

Labor Council Honors Mayor Jordan

2009-03-24T22:00:00.002-05:00

The Northwest Arkansas Labor Council will host a reception honoring Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan, Past President of the NWA Labor Council, at 4:30 pm on Thursday, March 26th, at the Martin and Kieklak Law Firm offices at 2059 Green Acres Road in Fayetteville.

AFSCME Local 965 will be cooking hamburgers and hot dogs for the event, so come hungry and join with other local unions to congratulate Brother Lioneld.

Campus Town Hall Meeting Tuesday

2009-03-22T14:48:00.003-05:00

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan will be holding a Town and Gown Town Hall Meeting on the University of Arkansas campus this week. The event will be in Old Main Giffels Auditorium from 12:30 to 1:30 on Tuesday, March 24th.

This is an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty to learn more about our local government and to ask questions about the programs and policies of city government. All members of AFSCME Local 965 are encouraged to attend during their lunch break.

Mayor Jordan will be joined by several city department heads, including Police Chief Greg Tabor, Trails Coordinator Matt Mihalevich, Parks and Recreation Director Connie Edmonston, Sustainability Coordinator John Coleman, Bryan Pugh from Recycling and Composting Facilities, and Yolanda Fields from Community Development and Code Enforcement.

Chief of Staff Don Marr will also discuss opportunities for citizen involvement and service on city boards and commissions that deal with environmental concerns, historic preservation, sidewalks, trails, trees and landscape, support for the arts, Fayetteville Public Library, Yvonne Richardson Center, telecommunications policy, and the Council of Neighborhoods.

The last 30 minutes of the meeting will be devoted exclusively to questions from the audience.

We Need Labor Law Reform

2009-03-22T14:43:00.002-05:00

Millions of America's working families are losing their jobs and even their homes, while millions more are seeing their job-based benefits cut back or eliminated and their wages stagnate.

Our elected leaders need to tackle this economic crisis, the worst since the 1930s Depression. They must keep their promises to the people who voted for them—and we have to give them the support they need to make the tough choices. We need strategies that will turn around this broken economy for working families with good jobs, "green" jobs, re-regulation of our financial system and health care that works for all of us. But no matter what else we do, it won’t result in real shared prosperity unless we restore workers’ freedom to form unions so they can bargain for better benefits, fair wages and a better life.

As President Obama said in January when launching the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families:

We need to level the playing field for workers and the unions that represent their interests, because we know that you cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement.

That’s what proposed legislation, the Employee Free Choice Act, will do—level the playing field and make the freedom to form unions and bargain a reality. The Employee Free Choice Act will:

Put real teeth in the laws that are supposed to bar companies from intimidating, harassing—even firing—workers who want to form unions.
Allow workers, not management, to decide how they form a union and give workers the option of majority sign-up.
Require arbitration to end corporate foot-dragging when workers try to get a first contract.

The Employee Free Choice Act will level the playing field that today leaves all the power in the hands of corporations, not workers. And that’s not important just for workers who are trying to form unions: Everyone in the job market, including current union members who want to negotiate fair contracts, benefits from this “strength in numbers.” More union members means more power for workers across states and industries, leading to better health care, more pensions and fairer wages for all workers.

The corporations whose greed has driven our economy understand this, too. That's why Big Business and its corporate front groups are preparing an all-out, $200 million propaganda and lobbying war to block it.

The corporate campaign is aimed at spreading falsehoods about the Employee Free Choice Act, aimed at driving a wedge between workers and the unions that represent them. Despite the fact that nearly 30,000 workers a year are discriminated against and coerced by their employers during attempts to form a union (compared with fewer than 50 confirmed incidents of union misbehavior in the 70-year history of the NLRB), these shady front groups pose as defenders of workers’ rights, making false claims of union coercion.

Know Your Rights

2009-03-10T11:45:00.003-05:00

Two recent United States Supreme Court decisions strengthen employee protections.

On January 21, 2009, a unanimous opinion in Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee written by Justice Alito, the Supreme Court reversed the First Circuit and held that plaintiffs suing for gender discrimination under Title IX may also assert constitutional claims under Section 1983. The Court reviewed the history of Title IX and found no evidence that Congress intended that legislation to preclude constitutional claims to redress gender discrimination under Section 1983. The Court noted that Title IX is modeled after Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which addresses racial discrimination in education, and Title VI has long been held not to preclude parallel and concurrent Section 1983 claims. Therefore, the Court reasoned, “Title IX was not meant to be an exclusive mechanism for addressing gender discrimination in schools, or as a substitute for § 1983 suits as a means of enforcing constitutional rights.” The Court therefore remanded the case, allowing claimants to proceed on both their Title IX and the Section 1983 claims.

On January 26, 2009, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed and remanded the Sixth Circuit decision in Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville.The Supreme Court reviewed the conflict among circuit courts and held that the “opposition” clause of Title VII’s anti-retaliation provisions protects an employee who testifies in an internal investigation of alleged harassment. The Court ruled that Title VII’s protection “extends to an employee who speaks out about discrimination during an employer’s internal investigation.” The Supreme Court ruling did not reach the issue of whether the “participation clause” of the anti-retaliation provisions also protects such an employee.

For additional information on these cases, see the AAUPs Web site.

The Big Lie

2009-03-05T19:59:00.002-06:00

The Big Lie About the Employee Free Choice Act

March 5th, 2009

By AFSCME President Gerald McEntee

America’s top CEOs — the clueless millionaires whose greed, ignorance and arrogance drove our economy off a cliff — have declared their top legislative priority for 2009. It isn’t the president’s budget. It’s not promoting jobs or health care for their workers. And it’s certainly not limits on CEO pay.

Instead, they’ve launched an all out campaign to scuttle bi-partisan legislation that would restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. The legislation, the Employee Free Choice Act, fixes a broken system and would restore the promise of the American Dream for working Americans. It must be a key component of our efforts to rebuild the middle class, promote economic growth and create an economy that works for all Americans.

America’s CEOs have made the defeat of this bill their biggest goal in 2009. To spearhead their campaign, they’ve hired Rick Berman, a shadowy P.R. man who has spent his career attacking nonprofits, like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, through phony front groups and misleading advertisements. Berman made a name for himself by winning huge fees working for clients including the tobacco and alcohol industries, mounting campaigns to defeat or weaken drunk driving laws, quieting concerns about cigarettes, and blocking increases in the minimum wage.

Berman specializes in Big Lie campaigns. That’s why the CEOs have hired him. The Chamber of Commerce, The National Association of Manufacturers and other front organizations for the CEOs have decided that they can’t oppose the Employee Free Choice Act on the merits, so they’ll create a Big Lie to raise concerns about the bill. The lie they’re promoting is that the bill would eliminate secret ballots for workers forming a union.

The claim is simply not true. The bill gives workers, not their employer, the choice in how they choose to form unions: either after a majority of workers sign a card in support of the union or through a secret ballot election. Workers could choose elections, but the opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act don’t care about the truth. They’ve already begun spending $200 million to spread the lie that the bill eliminates secret ballots, hoping that enough people will believe it to kill the bill. That’s why we need to call them on their lie.

The real reason CEOs oppose the bill is because they know that giving workers a better chance at forming a union will undercut corporations’ ability to keep the rewards only to themselves. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott - who made about $23 million in 2007 - is one of the few CEOs to tell the truth about his motives. He admits that the secret ballot canard isn’t the real reason he’s fighting to kill the bill. “We like driving the car,” he said, “and we’re not going to give the steering wheel to anybody but us.”

Playing fast and loose with the truth is not going to defeat this important legislation in Congress. In the last Congress, the Employee Free Choice Act passed the House of Representatives by a wide margin, and in the Senate, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has helped to build a solid majority of Democrats to support the bill. Thanks to Senator Reid, we now have a senate majority that supports giving workers a ticket to the middle class. But Republican senators have threatened a filibuster. Too many Republicans appear to be frightened that if they stand up to the Big Lie about secret ballots, they will upset the leaders of the their party. They know from experience that those leaders - anti-worker talking heads like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity - will make it difficult for them to stand with America’s workers.

That’s why it’s important to keep the facts in front of the GOP senators. They need to be reminded that union members earn 30 percent more than workers who don’t have one. Union members are 63 percent more likely to have health care through their employers. That’s why workers want to join unions. CEOs don’t want to pay more so that workers can live better.

Americans want an economy that works for everyone, not just CEOs and right wing radio and TV talk show hosts. The Employee Free Choice Act will help rebuild the middle class and jumpstart our economy, by giving every worker a chance to bargain for decent wages, benefits and safe working conditions. A union job is not only a ticket for workers into the middle class, it’s the best way to jumpstart our economy.

Help during Hard Times

2009-02-28T09:52:00.002-06:00

If you've ever given yourself a six-figure bonus, this message probably isn't for you.

But if you're like me, and you're outraged that CEOs and other executives continue to lavishly reward themselves while the middle class struggles, I hope you'll keep reading—and that you'll add your name to our petition to rebuild the middle class right now.

Earlier this month, AFSCME members everywhere stepped up to help pass President Obama's jobs and economic recovery package. We have to keep the momentum going because our economy is still in big trouble. I probably don't have to tell you how tough it is out there—as public service workers, we're on the frontlines of this crisis every day.

But I do want to tell you that, here at AFSCME, we remain committed to big solutions that will help make America happen—again. Right now, that means guaranteeing quality, affordable health care for all and strengthening our middle class.

With the new President and Congress, we have a historic chance to pass the much-needed Employee Free Choice Act. The idea behind the bill is simple: if a majority of workers want to form a union, they should be able to do so. And so far, nearly one million people—from AFSCME and other unions and allies—have added their name in support. Can I count on you to join them?

Once passed, this change will deliver an economy that works for us all by giving workers a stronger voice. Workers will be empowered to form unions and together fight for better wages and better benefits.

The result for AFSCME members? A stronger union workforce that lifts our national standard of living during hard times and rebuilds the middle class for the long term.

CEOs and corporate interests are terrified of this bill and fighting back with the dirtiest tricks in the books, including misleading ads and bogus front groups. These are the folks who think CEOs should be able to rake in millions while they cut health care benefits and layoff employees. But we can win, just like we did earlier this month, because we have you.

Over the next couple months, we'll be calling on AFSCME members to help us make America happen, again. Today, that means adding your name to our petition in support of the Employee Free Choice Act so we can rebuild the middle-class and restore the American Dream.