AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on Bill Moyers

Here is the link to the video: Bill Moyers Journal.  Richard Trumka: "There are two economies in this country. There's the real economy that makes things. And there's the financial economy that was supposed to provide them with the capital to make things. This was subservient, and the real economy was supposed to be the master. Somewhere along the line, that got turned on its head. And the financial community became the master. And they actually started sucking money out of the real economy, 'cause you could get a better return passing complex instruments around, rather than making steel or autos or anything else. So, it's up to us to correct that imbalance. To make it so that the real economy is actually the dominant economy. And the financial economy is a servant to enable them to do their job."

Pre-Contract Negotiations Meetings

President Carlos Contreras will be hosting a series of meetings to get your input on the upcoming contract negotiations. President Contreras is asking that if you have a specific proposal to put it in writing so the Contract Negotiating Committee can study it. The meetings will be at the Union Hall in the conference room where the union meetings are held. The meeting times are below. There is a flyer in the Union bulletin boards with further information about the meetings. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact myself or President Contreras.

Hot End          “A” Shift 1/23/10        6:15 am

                       “B” Shift 1/25/10        6:15 pm

                       “C” Shift 1/18/10        6:15 pm

                       “D” Shift 1/22/10        6:15 pm

Cold End        “A” Shift 1/20/10         6:15 am

                       “B” Shift 1/26/10        6:15 pm

                       “C” Shift 1/19/10        6:15 pm

                       “D” Shift 2/5/10          6:15 am

Warehouse      “A” Shift 1/21/10        6:15 am

                       “B” Shift 1/27/10        6:15 pm

                       “C” Shift 1/20/10        6:15 pm

                       “D” Shift 2/1/10          6:15 am

Day Shift       

Maintenance                2/2/10              2:15 pm

Mach. Rep                  2/3/10              2:15 pm

Batch/Janitors              2/4/10              3:15 pm

Unions and health care reform

The Senate version of the health care reform bill wants to tax employer sponsored insurance plans to help pay for health care reform. Plans that have annual premiums of $8,500 for singles and $23,000 for families would be affected. Many union leaders oppose the tax and say that 1 in 4 union members could be affected by the new tax. In the House version they help pay for the reform by imposing an income tax surcharge on couples that make over one million dollars a year. President Obama is meeting with labor leaders today to discuss the issue. My opinion is that a small tax on millionaires, who profited greatly during the Bush administration, makes more sense than a tax on the middle class workers who are struggling to keep their heads above water in these tough times. Read about it here: Unions Rally to Oppose a Tax on Health Insurance, Obama Confronts Labor, Lawmakers on Plan to Tax Health Benefits, White House Defends Health Tax Opposed by Labor

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis

On page A-5 in today’s Modesto Bee is an article about Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and her efforts to protect workers through better enforcement of overtime rules and enforcement of workplace safety regulations. Naturally businesses are not happy and pine for the days of President Bush and what they called “compliance assistance”, which essentially means figuring out how to get around laws and regulations. One new rule Labor Secretary Solis is putting in place will be forcing companies to disclose whether they use anti-union consultants. I had a good feeling about her when President Obama pegged her to be labor secretary. So far she has exceeded expectations. Read the article here: New Labor Secretary Means Business