Mayor Coody's Dishonest Campaign

Old-fashioned attacks and fear-mongering have entered the campaign for Fayetteville mayor. The Northwest Arkansas Times has an article today about two former mayoral candidates and a state legislator endorsing Alderman Lioneld Jordan for Mayor in the November 25 run off election. They give more column inches to incumbent Mayor Dan Coody fabricating fears than to the endorsements.

Here's the section on Coody's attacks:

“I know Lioneld would make a radical change in direction that I don’t think would be positive for the city,” he said. Coody said he thinks the city’s fire and police departments will likely become unionized if Jordan is elected. The city of Fayetteville must maintain control of its own taxes, revenue and budget, he said.

“If police and fire unionize, they’ll have the ability to do collective bargaining,” he said. “It would eventually have to extend to all 730 city employees. We don’t want to take the lead of so many other cities that are declaring bankruptcy to meet union demands.”

Jordan refuted the mayor’s claims, saying he has no intention of unionizing the city.

“I’ve been on City Council for eight years. I’ve never brought any labor legislation forward, and I don’t intend to,” he said. “I’m not running for mayor to unionize the city; I’m running for mayor to properly manage the city, which is what it needs right now.”

Earlier Alderman Jordan told the Fayetteville Flyer blog, "It is unfortunate that campaigns are sometimes mired by unfounded rumors and negative attacks. Even good people say foolish things when they become desperate in political campaigns, and that is not limited to some of the wild charges being made in the presidential campaign....

"After I was endorsed by the Fayetteville Firefighters Association and the Fayetteville Fraternal Order of Police, one of the candidates started saying that I had made some secret promises and was plotting a union takeover of city government. That is ridiculous. I am proud to have been a member and officer of my union at the University of Arkansas for more than a decade. During my eight years on the City Council, I have always been an advocate for the interests of working families, and I will continue to be when I am mayor. You can count on it. But never have I made any attempt as an Alderman to unionize city employees, because I do not think it is appropriate for elected public officials either to encourage or discourage public employees from exercising their constitutional rights to join a union if they choose. Our dedicated city employees deserve fair treatment and fair pay, and I will always listen to the ideas, concerns, and suggestions of all employees and deal with them in good faith."

AFSCME Says "Yes We Did!"

Statement of AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee on the 2008 Election

Washington, DC — Throughout this extraordinary campaign, Barack Obama challenged us to believe that we have the power to change America, and to change the world. On Election Day, America responded to his challenge with a resounding “Yes We Can.” As a result, we can now begin the urgent work of rebuilding the middle class at home; restoring America’s reputation in the world; and transforming our government into a vibrant force that solves problems, stands with American families and empowers people and communities to improve their lives.

Americans voted for a new direction because this country is in crisis: Two wars that are costing lives and draining the treasury of badly needed resources; an American middle class at risk in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression; a broken health care system that wreaks havoc on families, overwhelms government budgets and makes businesses uncompetitive; retirement security gone by the wayside; and a state and local fiscal crisis that is crippling the ability of government to meet the ever-increasing demand for vital services.

This election was about hope and unity. In response to an Administration that has told Americans “You’re on your own” for the last eight years, voters have said “No we’re not. We’re in this together.” Americans have voted for a president and a Congress that will rebuild government in the public interest and make it a force for creating opportunity and prosperity, supporting and protecting our families, and strengthening our communities.

With Barack Obama, we will have a president who values the workers who make America happen at home and defend it abroad. Along with a Congress that supports us and with historic gains at the state and local level, we have the opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of America’s working families.

With Barack Obama and Joe Biden, we will have a team of proven fighters committed to providing state and local fiscal relief, fully funding and supporting public services and the workers who provide them, and guaranteeing that everyone in our country has quality, affordable health care they can count on.

Over the past year, as I met with working families across the country, one could see that people were yearning for change. I can’t begin to describe all the disappointments they’ve had over the last eight years of a rigged economy that has favored the privileged and left the rest of us behind.

What they experienced, however, didn’t destroy them. It motivated them to work like never before for change. More people than ever got involved through the AFL-CIO’s political program, the smartest, biggest and broadest effort we’ve ever run. We put 250,000 union volunteers into action, combining cutting-edge voter communications with massive grassroots strength. Our people created the largest, most efficient independent voter mobilization initiative in American history.

We knocked on 10 million doors, made 70 million phone calls, and distributed more than 27 million workplace flyers focusing on economic issues. AFSCME alone spent $67 million on political activities, including our aggressive independent expenditure campaign which played a key role in the most competitive House and Senate races. Forty-thousand AFSCME members volunteered along with more than 500 staff because we all knew we could not afford four more years like the last eight.

Among union households in battleground states, there was clear momentum for Obama on the eve of the election. What moved people? The issues, and talking to workers one-on-one. For example, in Pennsylvania, polls showed Barack Obama gained 22 percent since August for a 63% - 27% advantage going into Election Day.

Tuesday’s election was a mandate for building an America that lives up to its ideals, an event that has broken down old barriers and opened up new doors. As we celebrate this victory, we also face monumental challenges as a country. Working families are ready to join with President-elect Obama to meet these challenges and enact a bold agenda for change.

Related: AFSCME Campaign 2008 By the Numbers

Lioneld Jordan for Mayor

AFSCME Local 965 is pleased to endorse Lioneld Jordan for Mayor in the General Election on November 4, 2008. Both Steve Clark and Walt Eilers demonstrated a broad understanding of issues important to working families and were generally supportive of the positions of our union. Nonetheless, Alderman Jordan’s voting record on key issues, his eight years experience in city government, and an even longer time advocating the interests of University faculty and staff on campus and with the state legislature, earned him the unanimous endorsement..

Dan Coody did not respond to our candidate questionnaire.

After reviewing the records of candidates and the responses to our candidate questionnaires, for the first time in our 46 year history, we were unable to reach a unanimous decision on endorsements for City Council candidates Don Conner, Brenda Thiel, Mark Kinion, Matthew Petty, Craig Honchell, Sarah Lewis, and Bernard Sulliban. All seven of the candidates for the three positions were very impressive, and each displayed a strong commitment to protecting the rights of public employees, supporting a living wage for working families, expanding public transportation, promoting affordable housing for low and middle-income families, and seeking to make our system of taxation more equitable. Our members and the other citizens of Fayetteville will be well served by whomever is elected to represent Wards 1, 3, and 4.

Endorsed County Candidates

The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 965, representing faculty and staff employees at the University of Arkansas since 1962 is pleased to endorse the following outstanding slate of candidates for Washington County offices in the General Election on November 4, 2008.

Washington County Judge: Marilyn Edwards

Justice of the Peace, District 5: Candy Clark

Justice of the Peace, District 6: Barbara Fitzpatrick

After reviewing the records of candidates and the responses to our candidate questionnaires, we are confident that these outstanding candidates share our commitment to protecting the rights of public employees, supporting a living wage for working families, expanding public transportation, promoting affordable housing for low and middle-income families, and seeking to make our system of taxation more equitable.

Political action is the lifeblood of our Union: it is the way we elect our bosses, affect public policy, and hold elected officials accountable. We recommend that our members actively campaign and vote for the endorsed slate.

Labor Supports the United Way

United Way and organized labor work together to solicit contributions from workers through payroll deduction, which account for approximately two-thirds of the funds that United Ways raise each year. Through the Labor Letters of Endorsement Program of the Department of Labor Participation, the AFL-CIO president asks presidents of AFL-CIO-affiliated unions, state federations and central labor councils to send letters endorsing United Way campaigns to their memberships. The Labor Letters of Endorsement Program encourages individual union members to volunteer their time and contribute their resources to United Way campaigns.

AFSCME Local 965 is an active participant in the University of Arkansas effort to solicit support for the United Way and the services that it provides to organizations in our community. Please give as generously as you are able in these difficult and uncertain times.

Organized labor is also part of the decision-making process at United Way of America. Currently, there are four AFL-CIO representatives serving on United Way of America's Board of Trustees, with two of them on the executive committee. There are four union trustees in the volunteer structure of United Way International. Unfortunately, the United Way of Northwest Arkansas has not invited any representatives of local unions to serve on its board, but we remain hopeful that the organization will someday recognize the contribution to be made by the hundreds of union members in Washington and Benton Counties.

In other areas of the nation, the United Way works with local unions to train union members to assist co-workers and their families with information about available local services and to refer them to the appropriate organizations; to recruit, train and help place members of organized labor on the decision-making bodies of health and human-service organizations; and to recognize labor leaders who have rendered outstanding United Way volunteer service by annually awarding the Joseph A. Beirne Community Services Award.

Jim Halsell for School Board

AFSCME Local 965 has unanimously endorsed Jim Halsell for Fayetteville School Board. You can learn more about Jim and his outstanding record of public service at his website http://jimhalsell.com/

Jim supports building a world-class high school on the current campus that is centrally located and convenient to UA staff, students, and faculty. In addition, he is the only candidate for the position to use a union printer for his campaign signs.

Early voting for the Fayetteville School Board election began today, September 30th. You can vote in the County Clerk 's Office between 8:00 and 4:30 on weekdays until next Monday, October 6th

Election Day is on Tuesday, October 7th, at the polling place.

This is an important election for all working families in the Fayetteville School District . Please vote in this important election and make sure that your friends, family, and neighbors do, too.

All registered voters can vote in this run-off, even if they were unable to vote in the first election.

Green Jobs Now!

AFSCME Local 965 was represented at the Green Jobs Now! rally on the Fayetteville square yesterday. We recognize that nationally the economic, energy, and climate crises we face are all connected, and we argued that Green Jobs can help solve all three, because changing patterns of employment and investment resulting from efforts to reduce climate change and its effects are already generating new jobs.

We also know that many of these new jobs can be dirty, dangerous, and difficult. For example, in the recycling industry, all too often low pay, insecure employment contracts, and exposure to health hazardous materials need to be addressed and changed fast. Green jobs need to be decent work that pays a living wage, and strong unions can help assure that.

There are millions of people ready and willing to work and countless jobs to be done that will strengthen our economy at home. There are thousands of buildings that need to be weatherized, solar panels to be installed, and wind turbines to be erected. Renewable energy generates more jobs than employment in fossil fuels. A program to retrofit homes can create quality jobs and put energy bill savings back in the pockets of working families.

One of the best things about green jobs is that they're domestic jobs that strengthen our national and local economy. Green jobs like installing solar panels, assembling wind turbines, cleaning up brownfields, and weatherizing buildings can't be outsourced overseas. We should be able to count on our elected officials at all levels to support and finance green job training programs and sustainable economic development initiatives in Northwest Arkansas.

It is disappointing that the joint effort by the University of Arkansas and the City of Fayetteville to spend $150,000 to create an economic development plan for our city ignores the workforce that will be performing the Green Jobs of the future. The hired consultants will be here next month to interview University administrators, bankers, business owners, city officials, and Chamber of Commerce officers. They have scheduled no time to talk with workers or local labor organizations. It will be the usual top-down and generally unsuccessful plan that ignores the interests and ideas of workers in our local economy.

Meaningful social dialogue between government, workers, and employers will be essential to support better informed and more coherent environmental, economic and social policies, but all social partners must be involved in the development of such public policies. Any realistic plan for a Green Jobs economy can only be deployed effectively with qualified entrepreneurs and skilled workers participating in that process from planning to production. It will be successful only with joint labor-management initiatives to create green workplaces and green work products, so workers deserve and expect a seat at the table when our tax dollars are invested in building the local economy. It is unfortunate that those behind the current planning process ignore workers and their organizations and pretend that the employees who would hold Green Jobs have nothing to say worth their time to listen and consider.

War on Working Families

Why do right-wing commentators get to say it’s class warfare to suggest that wealthy people should pay more in taxes?

I’ll tell you what’s class warfare.

It’s class warfare to pass two sets of massive tax cuts that benefit mostly the wealthy as President Bush did during his first term. These two frontal assaults on working folks, transferred almost $100 billion to the top 1 percent, while helping to turn a $5.1 trillion 10-year federal budget surplus into a $3.7 trillion deficit. This devastating debt is already a crushing burden on future generations of average taxpayers.

It’s class warfare for presidential candidate John McCain to propose making the Bush tax cuts permanent — a coup de grace for struggling Americans who already saw the median household income go down from 2000 to 2007.

It’s class warfare to give big business executives taxpayer subsidies totaling more than $20 billion per year that in truth encourage unlimited pay packages.

It’s class warfare to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act as both President Bush and Sen. McCain do. This law would begin to bring a small amount of power balance back into the workplace by making it a bit easier than it is now to form a labor union. Further, it would compel mediation and arbitration if management and the union don’t agree on a contract in 90 days.

It’s class warfare to oppose increasing the federal minimum wage as both President Bush and Sen. McCain have, when inflation-adjusted wages for most workers have grown only 7 percent from 1979 to 2007. By 2006, when a proposed increase was last voted down, the value of the minimum wage had fallen to its lowest level in over 50 years.

Extreme inequity is bad for a democratic society. Disagree with the idea if you want to, but spare us the offensive rhetoric. Average Americans are on the front lines of the real class war and have been losing long enough.

Adapted from “The Truth about Class Warfare,“ by Bob Keener, communications director for United for a Fair Economy.

Wall Street Bailout

JOBS WITH JUSTICE has something to say about the $800 Billion Corporate Welfare scam and is asking for your help.

Over the past 30 years, conservatives successfully gutted regulation and preached 'smaller government' while millions of Americans lost good jobs and Wall Street and corporate America made record profits. Wall Street invented new, more complicated ways to make money off other people’s money

Now that the party’s over, Bush & Co. want to plunder the rest of us to pay the bill for Wall Street’s greedy rampage.

Tell Congress: Stop the Bail-out; Pass a recovery plan instead.

Now that they’ve made so much money, they say that the huge Wall Street firms, paying grotesque salaries, are "too big to fail," so a quick-fix blank check is making its way through Congress.

Apparently, conservatives think our health care crisis isn't big enough to fix (and it would certainly take less than $700 billion). Apparently, the loss of millions of good jobs due to so-called 'free trade' is not a big enough crisis to fix. The disaster from Hurricane Katrina was not big enough to fix, and New Orleans could be left to fail. The looming pension crisis and the affordable housing crisis -- none of these, apparently, deserves a bail-out.

For conservatives and financial elites, when working class people face a crisis, plants close or health care costs triple, the system is working. They take all the private profits, but when the bubble bursts, and they can no longer sustain their profiteering rampage... well, they're too big to fail. And who pays the bill? The CEOs are telling Congress to send the bill to working people – the very people who have been forced out of their housing, out of their jobs, out of their healthcare and out of their pensions by Wall Street’s greed.

Call and write. Time is short.

Click here to write, and call your Representative and Senator through the Capitol Hill switchboard - (202) 224-3121 - to tell them:

1) No Bail-out for Wall Street. They had their fun, now they deserve the hang-over.

2) Don’t be panicked by the very people that caused the crisis. Take the time to develop a REAL recovery plan for our economy that puts people first, by addressing foreclosures, jobs, affordable housing, pensions, infrastructure and health care.

3) Restructure our financial systems, with renewed public oversight, to meet the needs of our entire economy, not just the finance sector, and end the excessive political clout of these few firms.

4) Bring in fair taxation, honoring work over wealth, and stop subsidizing excessive CEO salaries.

Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Your Congressperson
Your Senators

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Stop the Bail-out; Pass a recovery plan instead.

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

I am appalled at the proposed bail-out of Wall Street, the very people and firms whose reckless behavior, combined with 'anything goes' deregulation and the housing price bubble, created this disaster in the first place.

Strong government action is definitely needed, but the Bush administration's plans are entirely wrong-headed. The proposals to 'fix' Wall Street, like the entirely inadequate foreclosure fix, prop up private profits without helping average Americans or the economy as a whole. It's time for a new regime that puts family security before the securities industry, and uses public power and resources to benefit the public interest.

I ask you to commit to the following:

1) No Wall street bail-out. It's wrong-headed and bails out the CEOs who got us in the mess, not the working people suffering the consequences of bad economic policy.

2) Take the time to craft a real recovery plan for our economy, a plan that puts people first and addresses our multiple economic crises, including good jobs, affordable housing, health care, retirement security, infrastructure, and disaster relief (e.g. Katrina).

3) Restructure our financial systems, from the Federal Reserve on down, re-establishing public oversight, preventing the predatory practices and establishing public alternatives to the reckless privatized system that brought us this crisis. Prevent the victims of predatory lending from losing their housing. Restrict lobbying by the financial sector.

4) Establish fair taxation that honors work over wealth, including the establishment of taxes on financial transactions, ending subsidies to excessive CEO pay and offshoring, ending the tax system that taxes earned income more than unearned income, and establishing a progressive inheritance tax.

Fayetteville School Board Election

Early voting for the Fayetteville School Board election begins tomorrow, September 9th. You can vote in the County Clerk's Office between 9:00 and 4:30 on weekdays until next Monday, September 15th

Election Day is on Tuesday, September 16, at the polling places listed below.

AFSCME Local 965 has unanimously endorsed Jim Halsell for Position 1. You can learn more about Jim at his website http://jimhalsell.com/

We also recommend James McGinty for Position 2. His website is at http://www.electmcginty.com/

Both endorsed candidates support building a world-class high school on the current campus that is centrally located and convenient to UA staff, students, and faculty.

Both candidates use union printers for their campaign signs.

This is an important election for all working families in the Fayetteville School District. Please vote in this important election and make sure that your friends, family, and neighbors do, too.

VOTER INFO: The 9/16 school board election is an at-large (districtwide) election. There are eight polling places; you must vote at "yours." Go to www.voterview.org, click "search your polling place," and select "Washington School Election 2008" (about 1/5 of way down list) to find yours!

Northeast Baptist Church (2578 Oakland Zion Road)
First United Presbyterian Church (695 Calvin)

Goshen Community Center
Covenant Church (4511 W. Wedington)

Wiggins Methodist Church (205 West Sixth Street/Martin Luther King Blvd)
Trinity Methodist Church (1021 W. Sycamore)

Sequoyah Methodist Church (1910 Old Wire Road)

Central United Methodist Church (6 W. Dickson Street)

Bush's Dreadful Labor Legacy

The Department of Labor in the Bush Years: A Damage Assessment

By U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA)

For millions of Americans there was little cause for celebration this past Labor Day. While workers' wages have fallen, the cost of living has skyrocketed, the unemployment rate has soared, fewer workers have health coverage, and good retirement plans are increasingly scarce.

Nearly a century ago, Congress established the federal Department of Labor to be the advocate and champion for working Americans. Specifically, the department was created to advance three core goals: "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment."

However, under the Bush Presidency, these goals -- and the interests of workers -- have been under direct assault.

From day one, Bush's Department of Labor has actively worked to undermine workers' rights to organize, to fair pay and decent benefits, and to safe working conditions -- rights that are essential to growing and sustaining a strong middle class. U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and other high-level appointees came to their posts determined to weaken the agency.

Under Chao's leadership, the department has repeatedly torpedoed rules designed to help workers. One of her first actions was supporting the repeal of a rule that would have protected workers against repetitive motion injuries, the leading cause of workplace injuries.

Chao went on to severely weaken the department's Wage and Hour Division -- which enforces overtime, minimum wage, and child labor laws. Wage theft has skyrocketed at the hands of this administration: An ongoing U.S. Government Accountability Office investigation has uncovered repeated cases where the agency refused to go after scofflaw employers who admittedly owed their workers back wages.

Chao also consistently refused to support increasing the minimum wage, allowing it to erode to its lowest value in fifty years. It wasn't until Democrats took over Congress in 2006 that the minimum wage was finally raised for the first time in ten years.

Time and again, Chao has proven her loyalty to a different constituency. She has expended boundless energy making sure unscrupulous employers have a ready supply of exploitable labor. Just recently the department proposed new regulations that will cut the prevailing wage rates for agricultural guest workers and make it easier for employers to hire cheaper, temporary guest workers from overseas instead of qualified, available American workers.

And while the administration dragged its feet to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, it moved quickly to slash wages for Gulf Coast workers in the hurricane's aftermath.

After President Bush tapped a mine executive to lead the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, the agency immediately set about withdrawing vital proposed health and safety rules. By the time a slew of mining accidents hit in 2006, nearly 200 staffers had been cut from the coal mine safety enforcement division alone -- a move that helped cripple the agency. When Congress finally acted in the wake of many tragic miner deaths, MSHA acted with little urgency to implement the law. More recently, when the House of Representatives passed additional much-needed mine safety protections, the administration threatened a veto.

It's the same story with Chao's U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Remarkably, the agency has not approved a single new health standard for workers in eight years, aside from one that was ordered by a court. Even in the face of solid scientific evidence documenting workplace dangers, Chao has turned a blind eye to growing health and safety risks.

Take, for example, the department's failure to address hazardous combustible dust. In 2006, the Chemical Safety Board -- an independent government agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents -- reported that a string of deadly explosions caused by combustible dust are a serious and preventable national problem. Although the CSB urged OSHA to quickly issue a new safety standard, Chao refused -- and continued to refuse even after a sugar dust explosion killed 13 workers last February.

The tragic results of the department's fatal failure to act continue to mount -- on crane and construction safety, popcorn lung disease, silica, beryllium and more. And in one of its most telling -- and insulting -- moves to date, the department is now rushing to enact last minute "secret rules" that would make it even harder for health and safety agencies to issue future protections for workers and that would jeopardize workers' retirement savings.

Our nation's workers, battered by unfair global competition, stagnant wages, declining benefits, and poor employer compliance with labor laws, deserve a Department of Labor that lives up to its name, led by individuals who believe in its mission.

A Secretary of Labor that actually fights to help and protect hard working Americans -- now that would be a reason to celebrate.

Congressman George Miller is a leading spokesman in Congress on education, labor, and the environment and has represented the 7th district of California since 1975.

Labor Day 2008

Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882 and became a national holiday in 1894, but sometimes we forget that it means more than just watermelon, barbecues, and beer. Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is a national celebration dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.

We have set aside this day to honor the working men and women whose energy, talent, creativity, and determination are the foundations of freedom and prosperity enjoyed by generations of Americans and who fought to bring justice and dignity to the workplace.

Yet, we must not become self-satisfied or complacent. As we celebrate Labor Day, let us recommit ourselves to raising the minimum wage to a living wage, to promoting training and continuing education for workers, to providing affordable health care to every family, to organizing all workers, to demanding equal pay for women and fair pay for everyone, and to building a stronger national community.

We must continue to recognize the importance of maintaining dignity, securing economic justice in the workplace, making the American Dream a reality for all our people, and building a brighter future for our children.

The vital force of labor has brought us closer to the realization of our ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation and our state pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

Lindsley Smith at Democratic Convention

AFSCME Local 965 member Lindsley Smith is a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. She is among 150 members of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees from across the country serving as Delegates, Alternates, and Committee Members at the 2008 Convention.

At the AFSCME Caucus meeting on Monday she met with AFSCME International President Gerald McEntee about plans for the 2008 general election campaign to elect Barack Obama and members of the U.S. House and Senate to stop the filibuster of important legislation. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius addressed the AFSCME delegates on Monday and praised the organizational work of our union to improve public service and the lives of working families everywhere.

Lioneld Jordan Awarded Diversity Certification

AFSCME Local 965 member Lioneld Jordan was among seven members of the University of Arkansas staff who earned diversity certificates, after completing 20 hours of combined classroom training, self-study, and community service, as well as writing a Personal Impact Statement that specifies his or her plan to personally increase inclusiveness on campus.

Jordan, a Zone Supervisor with the Facilities Management Department, received the Diversity Certification on June 20th, 2008. Only 75 university employees have earned diversity certification since the program began in 2005.

In March, Jordan also received the Torchbearer Award for Exemplary Community Service to Northwest Arkansas from Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at the University of Arkansas. Past winners of this prestigious award include Dr.Merlin Augustine, Dr. Gordon Morgan, and P&G Global Wal-Mart President Jeff Schomburger.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

August 3, 1962. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees grants Charter to Local 965 to represent employees of the University of Arkansas. The ceremony was held at the Women's Exhibition Building on the Washington County Fairgrounds. Speakers at the event included Arkansas AFL-CIO President George Ellison, Arkansas Department of Labor Director Bill Laney, AFSCME International Organizer Arthur Whaley, Arkansas AFL-CIO Organizer Schuyler Smith, and Northwest Arkansas Joint Labor Council President Bob Parker of Food Handlers' Local 425.

The Charter ceremony sanctioned the effort that began in June when University of Arkansas physical plant and food services employees requested assistance in organizing and became a reality when 55 UA employees formally paid dues and elected officers of the Arkansas Public Employees Union on July 12. Rex Rice, UA Physical Plant employee and a former coal miner, was elected the first President of Local 965 and said the workers had already proposed a grievance procedure for addressing problems with University policies and their administration and that improvements in job classifications and pay scales were the immediate goals. Other founding officers of the Local were Willis Fields, Vice President; Raymond Rogers, Treasurer; and Rachel Campbell, Secretary.

AFSCME Local 965 received an expanded Charter in April 1966 and is now authorized to organize and represent all state, county, and city employees, except public school teachers and firefighters, in Washington, Benton, Carroll, and Madison counties.

Happy 46th Anniversary to us!

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

August 1, 1887. The Order of Railway Conductors in Arkansas receive charter signed by Grand Chief Conductor A. S. Wheator.

August 1, 1925. More than 200 UMWA miners and their families hold rally on public square at Greenwood to protest Greenwood Coal Co. reduction of wage scale back to 1917 levels.

August 1, 1940 Carpenters and Joiners business agent Fred Burt announced that union had accepted 2 cent per hour wage increase and would end strike against Crossett Lumber Company begun June 4.

August 1, 1990. The National Labor Relations Board filed its third unfair labor practices complaint against Morrilton Plastics Products Inc. of Morrilton.

House Passes Paycheck Fairness Act

House Democrats pushed through legislation tonight that would give women new tools to combat pay discrimination. The pay equity bill, which passed by a 247-178 vote, would treat gender discrimination involving pay in the same category as race, disability and age discrimination. It would provide for compensatory and punitive damages, ban employers from retaliating against workers who share their salary with colleagues, and force employers to prove that paying a women less than a man is job-related and necessary.

A study by the UA Faculty Senate documented that the University of Arkansas paid female Assistant Professors about $11,000 per year less than their male colleagues. Chancellor John White failed to address and correct the problem, even after it was called to his attention by AFSCME Local 965. We are hopeful that Chancellor David Gearhart, who assumed office this month, will be committed to ending gender discrimination and achieving pay equity. It has been the law since 1963, and enactment of the Paycheck Fairness Act could strengthen the rights of women in the workplace.

"This is a historic step forward in the fight for equal rights for women," said Democratic Congressman George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, but companies continually have found ways around it. Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro said, "Just because something is illegal, does not mean that it does not continue to happen." The Institute of Women's Policy Research says wage disparity will cost a woman as much as $2 million over her lifetime in lost wages.

Republicans said women did not need additional legal protection, and the legislation would benefit trial lawyers, who could get legal fees when they win pay discrimination cases against corporations. George Bush has threatened to veto the legislation.

The bill passed by 247-178. All 178 voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act were Republicans, including our own Representative John Boozman of Rogers.

NWACC Hosts Workplace Safety Training

Unions have been demanding safe working conditions for their members for generations, and there have been significant improvements brought about by state and federal legislative victories. To help close the gap between the promise of the law and the realities in the workplace, Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville is hosting a Workers' Safety Conference on August 14th, from 7:15 am-2:30 pm. It is sponsored by the NWA Safety and Health Advisory Council and will include presentations by the Arkansas Department of Labor, the U.S. Labor Department, and the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission.

The seminar is designed for hourly employees, and private businesses and public agencies interested in maintaining a safe and healthful workplace are encouraged to attend and send their employees. The registration fee of $20 covers lunch and materials. For more information, contact Juanita Matlock at 501.682.9090 or email her at juanita.matlock@arkansas.gov

AFSCME Local 965 commends the administration of Northwest Arkansas Community College for hosting this conference on worker safety on the job. We hope that the University of Arkansas will soon remember the essential role of workers in our economy and be interested in offering programs that benefit hourly workers by increasing their skills and improving their quality of life.

AFSCME Convention This Week

This week nearly 6,000 delegates, alternates and guests have gathered in San Francisco for AFSCME's 38th International Convention. The Convention, with the theme of "We Make America Happen," convenes today and runs through Friday. Senator Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore will be featured Convention speakers. Senator Barack Obama will address the AFSCME Convention live via satellite on Thursday.

In his keynote address today, president Gerald McEntee told the crowd that, “Together we will build an even more powerful union! Together we will reach out and organize the unorganized! We will negotiate contracts that make our families strong! Together we will fight for a new America!”

President McEntee's speech set the stage for the week by calling on attendees to continue implementing the sweeping measures of the Power to Win plan, and to work harder than ever before to take back the White House for America's working families. A major part of the plan includes building public support for the vital services we provide. The union's new tagline, "We Make America Happen," captures the critical role AFSCME members play in making our communities better places to work, live and raise a family. This theme will be the focus of our Convention, including the many educational workshops and action center booths, which cover such topics as political action, retirement, and our campaign to guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

This Convention also will be the most environmentally-friendly gathering in AFSCME history. Key Convention materials were printed on recycled paper using eco-friendly, soy-based ink, reusuable water bottles were provided to delegates and information traditionally provided as handouts were instead given to delegates electronically on a computer flash drive.

Convention highlights and video will be providing daily on Greenline, the national AFSCME blog, and on the website at www.afscme.org/convention.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

July 27, 1897. James R. Sovereign of Sulphur Springs, Grant Master Workman of the Knights of Labor, attends United Labor Conference in Wheeling, West Virginia.

July 27, 1936. Ella Reeve Bloor speaks to meeting of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union local at Alder Springs.

July 27, 1953. Employees of Southern Lumber Company of Warren go out on strike for fair wages.

July 27, 2000. Federal Judge Howard Sachs finds that management attorneys and lobbyists from the Chamber of Commerce had been working through Governor Mike Huckabee's office to get "liberal" Workers Compensation Commission Administrative Law Judge Eileen Harrison fired because of her sympathy with injured workers.

Paycheck Fairness Act

The University of Arkansas administration has failed to address our request for fair pay for all and continues to pay women faculty members less than their male colleagues. The House is expected to vote next week (the week of July 28) on the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338), providing a critical opportunity for Congress to make real progress on pay equity. Even if you have contacted Congressman Boozman about this legislation before, we now ask you again to urge him to vote yes on this legislation and oppose any attempts to weaken it.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, closing loop holes and improving the law's effectiveness. The Paycheck Fairness Act would, among other things, deter wage discrimination by strengthening penalties for equal pay violations, and by prohibiting retaliation against workers who inquire about employers' wage practices or disclose their own wages. The bill also requires employers to show that wage gaps are truly a result of factors other than sex, collect better data on wages, reinstate activities that promote equal pay at the Department of Labor, and develop training for women and girls on salary negotiations. The bill's measured approach ensures that women can obtain the same remedies as those discriminated against based on race.

The 2007 AAUW report, Behind the Pay Gap, shows that just one year out of college, women working full time already earn less than their male colleagues, even when they have the same major and occupation. Ten years after graduation, the pay gap widens. With a record 70 million women in the workforce, wage discrimination hurts the majority of American families. In addition, wage discrimination lowers total lifetime earnings, reducing women's benefits from Social Security and pension plans and inhibiting their ability to save not only for retirement but for other lifetime goals such as buying a home and paying for a college education.

Equal pay for equal work is a simple matter of justice for women, and a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act is a critical step forward in our goal to close the persistent and sizable wage gaps between men and women.

Take Action! To urge Congressman Boozman to support the Paycheck Fairness Act when it comes up for a vote next week, simply CLICK HERE, enter your zip code and click "Go!" to be taken to the "Take Action" section. There you can compose and send your message.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

July 25,1938. David Spears, United Furniture Workers, addresses Arkansas Congress for Social and Economic Progress in Little Rock and says that Fort Smith had become "one of the strongest CIO towns in the country."

July 25, 1960. Local Union No. 700 IBEW (AFL-CIO) goes out on strike against Baldor Electric Company plant in Fort Smith after contract negotiations stall.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

July 24, 1920. Dr. David Y. Thomas, UA Professor of History, gives address in University of Arkansas Chapel on "Labor and the State," reviewing improved working conditions resulting from legislation secured through the efforts of organized labor, but he lamented that Arkansas still had no workman's compensation law to protect employees injured on the job or to provide death benefits for the families of workers killed in mining and industrial accidents.

Summer Reading for Union Members

Mother Jones said it best: "Sit down and read. Educate yourself for the coming conflicts."

Feeling crunched, squeezed, squandered and screwed by the outright barbarous? Build your summer reading list around these must-reads from The Union Shop—and gear up for the political change we must make to turn around America. These titles offer plenty of food for thought.

Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class and What We Can Do About It, by Thom Hartmann.
Air America Radio host Hartmann writes that our middle class has been dismantled over the past 25 years and replaced by a system to line the pockets of the super-rich and big corporations. He details the weakening of the safety nets for working people and argues that an empowered, educated middle class is crucial to a functioning democracy. $22.95
Find Out More and Order Today

Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries), by Jared Bernstein.
As Bernstein says, "economics has been hijacked by the rich and powerful, and it has been forged into a tool that is being used against the rest of us." Bernstein, senior economist and director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., offers lay people tangible insight into what it takes to ensure that those who make it work also share its rewards. $26.95
Find Out More and Order Today

The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker, by Steven Greenhouse.
America's workers are being squeezed by declining wages, rising health care costs, evaporating pensions, job insecurity and globalization, according to Greenhouse, who covers workplace issues for The New York Times. The book takes a probing—and often shocking—look at why, in the world's most affluent nation, so many corporations are intent on squeezing their workers dry. $25.95
Find Out More and Order Today

The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences, by Louis Uchitelle.
An eye-opening account of the devastating impact of layoffs on individuals at all income levels, this book traces the rise of job security in the United States to its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s and the factors that caused a U-turn beginning in the 1970s. Uchitelle gives specific recommendations for policies that encourage companies to restrict layoffs and create jobs. $25.95
Find Out More and Order Today

Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King's Last Campaign, by Michael K. Honey. The author combines labor history with civil rights history in a moving and meticulous account of the sanitation workers' strike that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis in early 1968. Honey painstakingly recreates the explosive situation into which King stepped after 1,300 sanitation workers, almost all of them African American, went on strike, including marches and sermons, King's assassination and its violent aftermath. $17.95 paperback. Find Out More and Order Today

Lioneld Jordan Honored by OMNI

Local 965 member Lioneld Jordan was recognized as a Nominee at OMNI's 2008 Peace & Justice Heroes Awards Banquet at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on June14th. In announcing the awards, OMNI spokesperson Gladys Tiffany said, "The second Nominee doesn’t need much introduction to Northwest Arkansas people. Lioneld Jordan has been a public servant in Fayetteville for many years, advancing the fundamental values of peace, justice, and ecology in our community.

"During his eight years on the City Council, Lioneld has supported the preservation of Mt. Sequoyah Woods and the Brooks-Hummell Natural Area, as well as the hillside development ordinance. As chair of the Street Committee, he took the leadership in advocating road impact fees to address the effects of sprawl, has supported bikeway and trails as alternative systems, and led the efforts to designate Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.

"Lioneld has been a strong voice for social and economic justice. He has been a member of the advisory board of the Seven Hills Homeless Shelter and has worked to assure affordable housing in the city. As president of the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council, he has instituted the Citizen Leadership Academy to train advocates and give a voice to those less fortunate, and as former president of his local union, he initiated the monthly food drive, the campus-city street trash pickup project, the community service awards, and the Christmas toy drive, while fighting for workers’ rights and job security.

"Thank you Lioneld for your years of service in Northwest Arkansas."

General Clark Stands with AFSCME

Retired General Wesley Clark is the latest of a growing group of speakers to take a stand in support of AFSCME members and cancel their scheduled appearance at UCLA’s commencement ceremonies this weekend unless 20,000 UC workers receive of a fair contract. Former President Bill Clinton confirmed his cancellation on Tuesday and was joined by Congresswoman Hilda Solis and Congressman Henry Waxman who were also scheduled at UCLA this weekend. Students, workers and community supporters are planning to picket at commencement ceremonies across the state this weekend.

"I am disappointed that I will not be able to be a commencement speaker, but I won't cross the picket line. The students who are graduating, along with their parents who support them should be congratulated on their achievement. My hope is this dispute will come to a resolution very soon," Clark said.

The 20,000 patient care and service workers do everything from assisting in surgeries to cleaning dorm rooms in the University of California’s ten campus/five hospital system. They have been negotiating for a fair contract since August, 2007, and 96% of UC service workers are low-income eligible for at least one of the following public assistance programs: food stamps, WIC, public housing subsidies, and reduced lunch. Many work 2-3 jobs to meet their families’ basic needs. This is contributing to high-turnover, staffing shortages, and over-reliance on temps which can affect patient care as extra time is needed to train the constant flow of new staff.

Graduations at other UC campuses have also been affected by this show of solidarity with UC workers, including Speaker Emeritus of the California Assembly Fabian Núñez’s cancellation on Wednesday at UC Davis. Robert Kennedy Jr., Assemblyman John Laird, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, Angela Davis and many notable professors have also pledged to cancel unless the contract is settled. This represents speakers at nearly all UC campuses where graduations are scheduled.

Clinton Cancels UCLA Commencement Address; Refuses to Cross Picket Line

Former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday canceled a commencement speech at the University of California, Los Angeles, because of the lingering labor dispute in which UCLA administrators have refused to guarantee decent wages to staff employees represented by Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The 20,000 workers involved in the wage dispute range from technicians at UC medical facilities to janitors and landscapers.

"While I'm honored to be invited and was really looking forward to speaking at UCLA's commencement ceremonies, I can't cross the picket line," Clinton said. The former president was scheduled to address 4,000 graduating seniors this Friday, but his office said he would not appear. "Due to the ongoing labor dispute, he regrets that he will be unable to participate in commencement this year and he wishes the UCLA graduates the best of luck," Clinton's office said a statement.

Though AFSCME and the university are currently in mediation to negotiate better wages, Union president Lakesha Harrison said that the problem lies with the UC’s priorities, not a lack of resources. The UC administrators admitted that they have the money, but it “would be irresponsible to spend it on the workers,” Harrison said.

Harrison said that massive executive raises and bonuses take the priority away from the workers, many of whom qualify for government aid. “They’re not making the workers a priority. ... They’re not making the patients a priority, and they’re not making the students a priority; they’re making the executives a priority.”

About 20 students and workers began a three-day fast at UCLA today to call for a new contract for UC health care and service workers, and the group presented 1,000 petition signatures supporting former President Bill Clinton's refusal to cross a picket line to speak at the university's commencement ceremony. "I am participating in this three-day fast because I feel that the University of California is creating poverty in our communities," graduating senior David Chavez said. "Costs go up, wages remain the same and these families have to make hard choices on how to survive."

Former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez also canceled a commencement speech at UC Davis scheduled for today because of the labor dispute.

This Date in Arkansas Labor History

June 4, 1962. Arkansas Supreme Court rules that union "hiring halls" are illegal under Amendment 34 and Act 101 of 1947, and, therefore, IBEW Local 295 pickets advocating such can be enjoined.

June 4, 1940. Strike by Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 2590 sawmill workers at Crossett Lumber Company, lasts 58 days.

June 4, 1996. In race for Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, State Senator Luther Hardin charged that Attorney General Winston Bryant was tool of "big labor bosses", and Bryant replied Hardin was "controlled by big timber, big utilities and big poultry." Bryant subsequently won nomination; Hardin switched to GOP and joined cabinet of Governor Mike Huckabee.

Tulsa Employees Join AFSCME

The 800 office-technical and administrative-technical employees in Tulsa, Okla., now have a voice on the job after joining AFSCME Local 1180.

Says Laureen Gilroy, who works in the city’s Public Works Department:

Forming a union is our legal and democratic right, and we decided to exercise that right. Having a union means that we can work to improve conditions on the job and give employees a voice at work.

A majority of the employees submitted union interest ballots to the state’s Public Employees Relations Board this month. State law allows municipal employees in Oklahoma cities with populations of more than 35,000 to form unions.

Local 1180 President Mark Stodghill said he is proud to have the employees join the union.

They have gone much too long without a strong, organized voice in the workplace. Now it’s time that the union members of this new unit all roll up their sleeves and get their first contract to cement their rights as employees represented by a union.

The new union members join the city’s 911 operators, airport police and municipal labor and trades employees as members of Local 1180.

All state, county, and municipal employees in Northwest Arkansas are eligible for membership in AFSCME Local 965. For information on joining or assistance in organizing your workplace, send an email request to the Arkansas Public Employees Union apeu965@yahoo.com

Ask a Working Woman

Do you love your work but hate your job? Do you have ideas—big or small—about how to make things better? It’s time for working women to sound off about what would make their work lives easier.

AFSCME Local 965, the AFL-CIO and our community affiliate, Working America, want to know what it’s like to be a working woman in America this election year. If you’re a working woman, please take a moment to complete the 2008 Ask a Working Woman survey.

We’ll pass the results on to politicians, women’s rights and labor organizations who will use them to advocate for women across the country over the next two years.

So click here now to take the survey. It is short, easy (we promise) and will serve as an invaluable tool for moving working women’s issues into the national dialogue.

If you’re not a working woman, forward this e-mail to your sister, your mother, your co-workers and your friends to make sure their voices are heard.

Send the survey to a working woman you know and make sure her voice is heard.

Thanks for helping lead the way for women in the workplace. Together, we can make lasting change.

In support of working women everywhere,

AFSCME Local 965 and the Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO

Unions Help Women with Caregiving Responsibilities

As people are discovering the challenges of balancing a career with caregiving responsibilities, unions have stepped up to help, Women’s eNews reported. The programs and benefits offered by unions are appealing to women, as they provide assistance that makes managing both a career and a family possible. Some unions have a child and elder care fund and monthly health care allocations, which members fund themselves and have access to if needed. Even more, they provide benefits regarding paid and unpaid leave that go beyond those required by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. While President Bush has proposed changes to the FMLA that would restrict it, both Sens. Clinton and Obama have made it clear that they would like to extend the benefits of the act to companies with only 25 employees, as opposed to 50. Some predict that over time more unions will follow the example set by such unions as UNITE HERE Local 2, Cleveland Teachers Union Local, and California State Employees Local.

The American Association of University Women believes that creating work environments that help employees balance the responsibilities of work and family is good public policy—good for workers, good for families, and good for business. AAUW’s 2007-2009 Public Policy Program supports greater access to benefits that provide such an environment. To read more on AAUW’s position regarding the workers’ benefits and the FMLA, read their position paper on family friendly workplaces.