April 2, 2013
National/Politics
Labor celebrates King's legacy
(includes video interview with Pres. Saunders)
Susan Page, USA TODAY, April 2, 2013
Some of the sanitation workers who went on strike in Memphis in 1968 — the labor action that drew Martin Luther King Jr. to the site of his assassination — will join in events this week commemorating the 45th anniversary of the civil right leader's death. A half-dozen of them are still on the job. The ceremonies will be led by AFSCME President Lee Saunders, who last year became the first African American to head the 1.6-million member union. "We are honoring not only the memory of Dr. King, but we're honoring the strikers who really risked their lives to have a better life for themselves and their families," Saunders said in an interview with USA TODAY's Capital Download video series. The commemorations come as public-employee unions are under growing fire from city and state governments struggling to balance budgets. ... AFSCME is sponsoring a panel discussion Wednesday at the Mason Temple with civil rights and other leaders, including Martin Luther King III. On Thursday, organizers will rally at the historic Local 1733 headquarters and march to the Lorraine Motel, the site of the National Civil Rights Museum. The city of Memphis will rename Beale Street, where the local union headquarters was located, "1968 Strikers Lane."
Martin Luther King III, AFSCME join forces again in Memphis for economic battle
By Michael Lollar, Commercial Appeal, Monday, April 1, 2013
For the 45th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his son, Martin Luther King III, and Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, said they returned to Memphis this week to resume the work of Dr. King. “We thought it was important to come back to Memphis and rededicate ourselves to the dream,” said Saunders, who will be part of a panel discussion Wednesday at Mason Temple, the church where King spoke before his death. He will be among speakers Thursday in a 10 a.m. rally followed by a panel discussion on “Labor Unions: Then and Now” at the National Civil Rights Museum. “It’s powerful symbolism that Martin Luther King III would join us, especially understanding that this city offers a personal tragedy to him,” said Chad Johnson, executive director of AFSCME Local 1733. “On April 4, 1968, the world lost a powerful leader. He (King III) lost a father.”
Related
The Root: MLK's Assassination: 12 Forgotten Facts
Mark Thompson, Huffington Post: Memphis Is Our Calvary
Wayne State University: I Am a Man web exhibit tells the story of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers/AFSCME Local 1733 Strike.
¡Reforma ahora!, dice el congresista Luis Gutiérrez en San Diego
Horacio Renteria | 3/21/2013, 9:41 a.m. El Latino San Diego
... Por su lado Lee Saunders, presidente de AFSCME (Federación Americana de Empleados del Estado, Condado y Municipales, por sus siglas en ingles) , coincidió en que ya no puede haber más retraso y los legisladores tendrían que aprobar una reforma migratoria integral en un acto de justicia y reconocimiento al trabajo realizado por estos hombres y mujeres en favor de la productividad.
White House 'encouraged' by Senate progress on immigration
By Justin Sink - 04/01/13 01:47 PM ET, The Hill
The White House said Monday it was "encouraged" by progress on bipartisan immigration reform in the Senate, but cautioned that lawmakers were "not there yet" on an agreement. .. He added that the administration was also pleased by reports of a deal between the AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce, which cleared one of the last hurdles blocking a bipartisan accord on immigration reform.
Sequestration Effects: Cuts Sting Communities Nationwide
Huffington Post: 04/02/2013 7:54 am EDT
It's now an article of faith that dire sequestration warnings were overblown. ... This is a dramatic misunderstanding of what's actually happening. The grips of sequestration are just now beginning to be felt and the effects are already quite dramatic.
Three airports sue FAA over planned control tower shutdowns this month
By Keith Laing - 04/01/13 01:12 PM ET, The Hill
A trio of airports are suing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over its plans to close air traffic control towers because of the sequester. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said that it will begin to close 149 air traffic control towers this month because across-the-board budget reductions require spending cuts of $600 million.
Obama's Infrastructure Plan Not Seen Gaining Traction
by: JENNIFER DEPAUL, Bond Buyer, Monday, April 1, 2013
Municipal market participants do not think President Obama’s $21 billion multi-pronged infrastructure proposals will gain traction from the issuer community or lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Municipal Market Advisor managing director Matt Fabian claimed in a note on Monday that the proposals are “the most tone deaf of the year so far” and that the Obama administration “may be the most anti-infrastructure Presidency in decades.” The president’s plan, he said, once again attempts “to disrupt and shrink the primary means of private financing for public infrastructure in America: tax-exempt municipal bonds.”
First Peek at Health-Law Cost
By LOUISE RADNOFSKY and ANNA WILDE MATHEWS, Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2013, 8:57 p.m. ET
Two health-insurance carriers in Vermont are proposing to keep their rates about flat next year when the Obama health-law overhaul takes full effect, a development that experts say is unlikely to be matched in other states where premiums could surge. Vermont on Monday became the first state to signal how much insurers are seeking to charge when the federal law kicks in. But because benefits in the state's plans are already relatively close to meeting most of the law's requirements, insurers didn't need to make major changes to the relatively costly policies they already offer. ... America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry group that has warned that rates could jump as a result of new requirements in the law, said Monday that it still expected premiums to vary across the country.
Small Firms’ Offer of Plan Choices Under Health Law Delayed
By ROBERT PEAR, New York Times, April 1, 2013
Unable to meet tight deadlines in the new health care law, the Obama administration is delaying parts of a program intended to provide affordable health insurance to small businesses and their employees — a major selling point for the health care legislation.
Mass. officials see N.Y. ruling as impetus for congressional action on online sales taxes
By Taryn Luna. Globe, April 1, 2013
A recent New York court ruling that requires online retailers to collect state sales tax will not have an immediate impact in Massachusetts, but it could push Congress to change e-commerce laws so states can claim billions in tax revenues lost to online purchases. The question of whether states can require e-tailers to collect sales tax is a long-running issue that has mostly been decided in favor of the online companies. Federal courts have consistently ruled that retailers must have a physical presence in a state — such as employees, offices, and warehouses — to be required to collect sales taxes. That has allowed online retailers to offer many customers tax-free shopping. But New York and a handful of other states are expanding the definition of physical presence to include so-called affiliates, independent contractors who maintain their own websites and are paid to promote the Internet retailers on their sites. In the New York case, two of the nation’s biggest online stores, Amazon.com Inc. of Seattle and Overstock.com Inc. of Salt Lake City, argued that these affiliates were not employees and did not constitute a physical presence in the state.
Google under fire for Cesar Chavez doodle
By KEVIN CIRILLI | 4/1/13 9:57 AM EDT, Politico
Conservative bloggers hopped all over Google after the search engine giant on Sunday used its Google Doodle to recognize Cesar Chavez - and not Easter. “March 31 marks the birthday of National Farm Workers Association (later United Farm Workers) co-founder Cesar Chavez,” Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro wrote. “Chavez, who was trained by Saul Alinsky in the tactics of community organizing, has become a cult figure in California due to his organization of agricultural workers. March 31 also happens to be another important date this year: Easter. So, naturally, Google’s current logo features a graphic of Chavez’s face, rather than anything having to do with Easter.”
Class Claims Hospital Chain Shorts Pensions
By KEVIN KOENINGER, Courthouse News, Monday, April 01, 2013Last Update: 10:16 AM PT
Health-care workers claim in a class action that Catholic Health East underfunded 60,000 workers' pension plans by $438 million, using a bogus claim that they are "exempt from ERISA's protections because they are 'Church plans.'"
Unions focus organizing efforts on service sector workplaces
By Lorraine Mirabella, The Baltimore Sun, 6:48 p.m. EDT, April 1, 2013
After spending three decades at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, Kevin Hux eagerly joined efforts this past year to unionize his workplace. ... Hux and other employees have been working with organizers from Unite Here, which represents hospitality workers and has embarked on a national campaign aimed at unionized and nonunionized Hyatt hotels. The union is fighting what it says is a growing trend, led by Hyatt, of hotels reducing permanent staff and hiring temporary workers instead.
Harry Kelber, Labor Activist and Critic, Dies at 98
04/01/2013 Mike Hall, AFL-CIO blog
Harry Kelber, a union activist for nearly 80 years who was never shy about criticizing the union movement’s leadership—constructively, he maintained—died Sunday in New York. He was 98. On his 98th birthday in June, Kelber had announced he planned to run for the AFL-CIO presidency at the federation’s upcoming September convention.
State/Local
CA: Ruling Sets Up Pension Battle in Bankrupt City
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH, New York Times, April 1, 2013
A federal bankruptcy judge ruled on Monday that the city of Stockton, Calif., was eligible for court protection from its creditors, clearing the way for a battle over whether public workers’ pensions can be cut when the city they work for goes bankrupt. After declaring Chapter 9 bankruptcy last year, Stockton eliminated tens of millions of dollars in city services and said it would cut some bond payments in a way unseen before in municipal bankruptcy. But bondholders objected to Stockton’s effort to protect pensions while forcing losses on investors. Many states have statutes and constitutional provisions making it illegal to cut public workers’ pensions. Until now, there has not been a prominent test of those laws in bankruptcy — particularly not in California, where the big state pension system, known as Calpers, has been girding for battle on the issue, trying to avoid the precedent of a cutoff or shortfall in a city’s pension contributions. Federal bankruptcy law often trumps state laws, but municipal bankruptcies are so rare that there is almost no precedent on how to apply the law to state pension provisions.
CA: Stockton bankruptcy clears way for CalPERS pension fight
Diana Marcum, Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2013, 5:13 p.m.
A federal judge ruled Monday that Stockton is eligible for bankruptcy protection, but left the door open for CalPERS obligations to be part of negotiations in the coming phases of the bankruptcy. ... Klein said the creditors could not legally walk away from the table, but he left the door open for CalPERS obligations to be part of negotiations in the coming phases of the bankruptcy. At issue will be whether U.S. bankruptcy law trumps California law, which says the pension plan must be funded.
KS: Brownback signs into law the paycheck deductions bill that KNEA opposes
Journal World, April 1, 2013 at 5:39 p.m.
Without comment, Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday signed into law a bill that bars public employee unions from taking voluntary deductions from members' paychecks to help finance political activities. ... Opponents, including the Kansas National Education Association and Kansas Organization of State Employees, said the paycheck deductions are voluntary and the bill was a thinly disguised attempt to weaken the political influence of public employee unions.
Kansas Tax Changes Threaten Economic Incentive Bonds' Rating
by: JIM WATTS, Bond Buyer, Monday, April 1, 2013
Moody’s Investors Service has put $220 million of Kansas economic incentive bonds on review for a possible downgrade over uncertainties from falling income tax collections due to rate reductions. The rating has been supported by long-term stability and growth in state revenues, but recent and proposed tax cuts are threatening growth as well as stability, the Moody’s report said.
IL: Why a Chicago branch library may have no books today
By Thomas Frisbie on April 1, 2013 10:52 AM, Sun Times
If you pop into the hard-to-find Galewood-Mont Clare branch of the Chicago Public Library this afternoon, you may see a library with no books on the shelves. Members of the Galewood Residents Organization plan to check out all 2,700 or so books in an effort to get attention for their efforts to get a bigger branch library.
MA: Harvard's Injustice Toward its Workers
Pierre R. Berastaín, Huffington Post: 04/01/2013 3:25 pm
Behind the 375-year-old ivy-covered walls of Harvard's buildings, students, faculty and staff are constantly exploring new frontiers, pushing limits of understanding the world, and discovering new paradigms for advancing social change. Yet, since July 1, 2012, The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW), a 4,600 member union comprised of non-faculty staff across Harvard University's campus, has been operating without a contract. For a university that insists on its dedication to social justice, something is missing. .. If you think holding a rally in a church while remaining persistent and respectful sounds like an innovative approach to labor, you'd be right. Yet, that's nothing new in HUCTW's history. In fact, HUCTW has been continually pushing limits and boundaries since its founding in 1988, when it came up with the clever and innovative slogan, "We can't eat prestige."
ME: Right-to-work, labor advocates clash at public hearing
Matthew Stone, BDN, Posted April 01, 2013, at 4:38 p.m.
Organized labor advocates and their opponents clashed Monday at a sometimes heated public hearing over a bill that would make Maine a “right-to-work” state by allowing an employee to work at a unionized private-sector business without having to support the union financially as a condition of employment. .... Jim Mackie of AFSCME Council 93, which represents corrections and mental health workers in Maine, said repealing the fair share provision could lead to more expensive legal battles for the state. “I can’t imagine the lawsuits the state and employers would have without the unions,” he said. “Discharge cases would no longer be resolved through an arbitration and grievance process. They would be resolved through the court system.”
MI: Veterans nurse aide jobs privatized
April 2, 2013 | By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
The Michigan Civil Service Commission has rejected union appeals and upheld the privatization of about 150 nursing aide jobs at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. The commission heard two appeals from Michigan AFSCME Council 25 on March 20 in Lansing. It upheld the decision to privatize the jobs by votes of 3-1 and 2-2, according to information released Monday. At the hearing, veterans and state workers testified that more than 600 veterans are endangered by low staffing levels and inadequate care under the contractor, J2S Group. The contract workers are paid about $10 an hour -- about half what the state workers were paid -- and J2S has had problems filling full-time positions and retaining employees, officials confirmed.
Michigan right-to-work law heading to court this week over alleged violation of Open Meetings Act
By Jonathan Oosting | mlive.com, April 02, 2013 at 8:17 AM
Michigan's new right-to-work law is heading to court this week, but the state is hoping it won't stay there long. Attorney General Bill Schuette is requesting immediate dismissal of a suit that seeks to invalidate the controversial new law due to an alleged violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act.
MI: Kevyn Orr - the man who must fix Detroit
By Richard Blackden | Telegraph, April 1, 2013
Kevyn Orr is Detroit’s new money man. His problem is, there isn’t any. The 54-year-old corporate lawyer was appointed last month as Detroit’s first emergency financial manager by Rick Snyder, governor of the state of Michigan that is home to the city. The unprepossessing title belies the sweeping powers Orr has. He can fire city employees, renegotiate contracts with unions and sell city assets. The remit from Snyder is a simple one: repair the public finances and come up with a plan that can restore prosperity to the city that gave birth to the motor car. .... The breadth of Orr’s powers has catapulted him above Detroit’s mayor, Dave Bing, provoking fierce criticism that the declaration of a financial emergency is undemocratic. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a local union, is suing to overturn the appointment.
MI: Genesee County cutting government-issued cell phones for work
Ron Fonger | mlive.com, on April 02, 2013
- There's something missing in employee contracts approved by the county Board of Commissioners this year. County-issued cell phones are being taken from employees and replaced with a monthly allowance for workers who use their own phones to do county business. ... A new contract for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 496 Chapter 01 will pay employees who are required to use personal cell phones for work $600 annually.
MN: Wright County Human Services workers close to potential strike
By John Holler on April 1, 2013 at 8:26 am, Monticello Times
A week after rejecting the Wright County’s current union contract proposal by more than a 2-to-1 vote, county Human Services employees are one step closer to going on strike in an ongoing labor disagreement. The human services union, AFSCME Local 2685, conducted a vote of its membership March 19-20 as to whether or not to accept the county’s proposal – which calls for no wage increases in 2012 and 2013 and a 1 percent increase in 2014.
NM: State employees could see small raise and big hike in health insurance premiums
Tue Apr 2, 2013. By Steve Terrell, The New Mexican
State employees might get a 1 percent pay raise this year, depending on what Gov. Susana Martinez decides to do about the budget bill by the end of the week. However, even if that modest raise comes through, part of it will be eaten up by a 15 percent hike in health insurance premiums for state workers, scheduled to go into effect in July. ... Under the state’s current contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the state pays 80 percent of the insurance premiums for most employees. Starting in July, the state will be paying 100 percent of state employees’ basic life insurance premiums. However, employees must pay 100 percent of their disability insurance. That insurance is voluntary.
PA: Corbett's lottery privatization tab for consultants nears $3 million
Jan Murphy | pennlive.com, April 02, 2013 at 8:07 AM
Senior citizens may stand to pay a substantial cost in lost services if Gov. Tom Corbett’s effort to privatize the Pennsylvania Lottery’s management goes nowhere. Already, the costs of the consultants hired to assist the Corbett administration in that endeavor exceed $2.85 million, said Elizabeth Brassell, a spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue, which oversees the lottery. .... Not included in the $2.85 million tab are the additional legal fees being paid to the Philadelphia law firm Blank Rome. That is the firm the administration hired to defend it in a pending lawsuit filed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13, some Democratic lawmakers and senior citizens over the lottery privatization.
PA: NutterWatch Counts Down Days Mayor Has to Act on Earned Sick Days Bill
04/01/2013 Kenneth Quinnell, AFL-CIO blog
Through its NutterWatch campaign, the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces has been counting down the days until Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) is required to act upon a new earned sick days bill, making the case that the legislation should be passed. Nutter has until April 4 to sign the bill or it will become law without his signature. If the law goes into effect, it would pave the way for 200,000 of the city's workers to have the opportunity to earn sick days at work.
WA: Panel hearing to explore wellness programs
BRAD SHANNON | April 02, 2013, Olympian
A bill working its way through the Legislature doesn’t go as far as proposing treadmills at work stations, but it does address employee wellness. ... The Washington Federation of State Employees still opposes Tom’s measure, too. It calls for differential rates on health premiums – so employees who work toward wellness goals pay a lower rate and those who don’t pay more. Spokesman Tim Welch said the union is not opposed to wellness – or differential premiums. But he thinks it should be between management and workers, not the Legislature, to preordain.
WI: Bill proposes to make it harder to launch local recall effort
DEE J. HALL | Wisconsin State Journal | April 2, 2013
It would be harder to launch a local recall effort under a bill introduced Monday in the state Senate that would allow such efforts only against officials charged with criminal or ethics law violations. ... Senate Bill 114 is part of an overall push by some Republicans to raise the bar on removing elected officials in Wisconsin. The state saw a wave of 15 recall elections in 2011 and 2012 targeting state senators, both Republican and Democratic, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and Gov. Scott Walker. Walker, a Republican, became the first recalled governor in U.S. history to retain his seat.
WI: Milwaukee Labor Press publishes final issue
Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel April 1, 2013
The Milwaukee Labor Press newspaper, which for 73 years served as "the voice of Milwaukee labor," has printed its final edition. The last issue of the tabloid-sized publication arrived in the mail over the weekend at the homes of 44,000 union-member subscribers throughout Milwaukee. ... "We will continue to move forward and do our work. But it is the last issue of this very proud and independent voice in print form," she said in a front-page letter to readers. Under the current circumstances - rising costs, a reduction in advertising and a drop in union membership, particularly from public-sector unions after the passage in 2011 of the state's Act 10 - the decision was made to cease publication, she said Monday.
