Pacific Progressive

Work Shouldn't Hurt - Rally at Paradise Pier Hotel - Feb 11

 

Join the Orange County Labor Federation along with other local unions as we support the Disney Hotel Workers with a rally on Thursday, February 11. The Disney Hotel Workers are fasting because they feel unsafe on the job. While the workers have been without the protection of a contract, workload and managerial pressure has increased and staffing levels have decreased. Workers have experiences heart attacks and serious muscloskeletal injuries at work Meet in front of the Paradise Pier, 1600 Disneyland Drive, Anaheim, CA 92803, hotel at 5 PM. Contact the Orange County Labor Federation for more information at 714-385-1534.

"It's Bizarre" - What Orange County Electeds Say About Selling the Fairgrounds

During the hearings on AB 1590 brought forth by Assm. Jose Solorio and Van Tran, Orange County's elected representatives were very candid about what they thought about how the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds has turned out.  In their own words, here they are.

Unemployment Insurance Funds in Colorado and New Hampshire Go Bankrupt - And Start Borrowing

by Olga Pierce, ProPublica

This article was published by ProPublica.

Next to global domination, our top goal with our newunemployment trackerwas to create an ongoing resource to usefully pull together all the most recent data on unemployment insurance trust funds. So far, mission accomplished: our first update has taken place, and the tracker now features newly released data on trust fund balances, state unemployment insurance tax revenues and benefits paid out. (To the mathletes who loved our "Nerd Page": This is all you're getting for Valentine’s Day.)

As we've mentioned in our previous coverage, there are 53 separate state unemployment insurance systems (the states, D.C., Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands). With limited federal oversight, they have been relatively free to determine how well financed their systems would be, and how generous the benefits.

While some states had socked away ample reserves in their trust funds, others let theirs dwindle to dangerously low levels before the Great Recession even began. In our coverage last week, we highlighted the 25 states who were forced to begin borrowing money from the federal government just to keep unemployment benefits flowing.

The Changing Face of Labor, 1983-2008

This article was published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Over the last quarter century, the unionized workforce has changed dramatically, according to this new CEPR report. In 2008, union workers reflected trends in the workforce as a whole toward a greater share of women, Latinos, Asian Pacific Americans, older, more-educated workers, and a shift out of manufacturing toward services.

"The view that the typical union worker is a white male manufacturing worker may have been correct a quarter of a century ago, but it’s not an accurate description of those in today’s labor movement," said John Schmitt, a CEPR Senior Economist and an author of the report.  

Report - PDF  | Flash 

A Dark Picture of America Without Health Reform

By Karen Davenport

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

The Congressional Budget Office issued a helpful reminder yesterday of why comprehensive health care reform is so important to our nation’s future. And it couldn’t come at a better time as policymakers in Congress and the Obama administration consider how to move forward with reform in the wake of last week’s special election in Massachusetts. The CBO’s annual budget and economic forecast predicts major economic trends for the next 10 years and gives us an early viewing of the American economy without health reform. It’s not a flattering portrait.

CBO’s analysis isn’t a finely detailed rendering of health policy issues. But it does paint a picture of the dynamics driving the federal budget—particularly growth in federal health care spending. Most importantly, CBO projects that the major public health insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid, will grow an average of 7 percent and 6 percent per year, respectively. This growth would exceed economic growth, inflation, and growth of the federal budget. The growth of these programs—if unconstrained by reforms in health care delivery and payment—will crowd out other priorities from the budget.

Labor Express Radio for Jan 18 - Protecting Public Education, Haitian Crisis, Democracy in Iran

This is the full 1-18-10 episode of the Labor Express Radio program.

Part 2 of a 2 part look at the labor news of 2009 and Labor Express Radio's coverage of it. In this part we cover...

• Fight to protect public education in Chicago 
• Rise of CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators). 
• Struggle against the coup in Honduras. 
• New democracy movement in Iran.
• AFL-CIO convention and the change in leadership of the federation. Part 1 aired on 1-11-10.

This episode also includes a discussion with Oscar Chacon of NALACC about the importance of granting TPS to Haitian immigrants in the wake of the January 12th earthquake.

Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only English language labor news and current affairs radio program. News for working people, by working people. Labor Express Radio airs every Monday morning at 10:00 AM on Chicago's Sound Alliance, WLUW, 88.7 FM. For more information, see our website at:

 www.laborexpress.org

and our homepage on Archive.org at:
http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressRadio

or page at Radio4All.net…

http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Labor+Express+Radio

39.8% of the Unemployed Have Been Jobless More than 6 Months

The Jobs Crisis Fact Sheet created by Anna Turner at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)  shows how much our American economy has been damaged.  

Some other grim highlights:

• More than 1 in 6 workers is unemployed or underemployed.
• 46.3 million Americans didn't have health insurance in 2008.
• Real median income dropped 3.6% from 2007 to 2008. This is the largest one year drop since 1967.
• 5.1 million additional people are receiving unemployment compensation because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in December.  Unemployment checks are a vital lifeline that keeps families from slipping into poverty.
• 1 in 5 construction jobs has been lost

Commission to Cut Social Security and Medicare Stopped, For Now

Senators Judd Gregg (R - NH) (nominated for Secretary of Commerce but withdrew his name) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) are on the Entitlement Reform Commission which has the task of reducing the deficit by finding ways to cut programs.  Judd and Conrad proposed a way to fast track future cuts to Medicare and Social Security.  For now, the effort has been stopped. But there will always be those in Congress who are working to cut the social safety net and do in as far away from the view of the public as possible. 

The National Committee to Preserve and Protect Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) works to keep the public informed about the actions of Congress and others to cut or eliminate these vital programs.

Asian Pacific American Workers Among the Fastest Growing Groups in the Union Workforce

Published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research

A new report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) documents a large wage and benefit advantage for Asian Pacific American (APA) workers in unions, relative to their non-union counterparts.

The report, "Unions and Upward Mobility for APA Workers," analyzes data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) from the period 2003-2007 to reveal a number of advantages of unionization for APA workers.

"As a share of the union workforce, only Latinos are growing at a rate faster than Asian Pacific Americans,” said Nicole Woo, Director of Domestic Policy at CEPR and an author of the report. “While this is reflective of workforce trends in general, the data show that joining a union makes a big difference in the wages and benefits of APA workers."

The report finds that unionization raises the pay of APA workers by about $2.00 per hour. APA workers are 19 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance and 25 percentage points more likely to have an employer-provided pension plan than their non-union counterparts.

Among the other findings in the study:

• about 12.5 percent of Asian Pacific American workers were in a union or represented by a union at their workplace
• almost half (48.5 percent) of APA workers in unions were women
• in 2003-2007, on average, two-thirds (66.1 percent) of unionized APA workers were immigrants
• Nearly half (49.7 percent) of unionized APA workers had a four year college degree or more
• more than four-in-ten (43.2 percent) unionized APA workers were in the public sector
• unionized APA workers are heavily concentrated in several states, with about six-of-ten (60.0 percent) in the Pacific states and about four-in-ten (40.5 percent) in California alone

The full analysis can be found here.

California Budget Available Online

Everyone talks about the California budget, but few people can actually lay their hands on the facts.   The budget report from the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) is available here.  

Here is a summary of the budget proposal.  'A printable copy of the summary is available from the California Labor Federation. 

State Workers Cuts: $1.6 billion

• Cuts salaries by 5% for all workers, including those paid for by Special Funds, by July 2010 when the furloughs end.
• Increases contributions by employees to the pension fund equal to 5% of salary and decreases the employer contribution by 5%.
• Reduces payroll an additional 5% in every department. Department chiefs will have flexibility to determine how best to reduce payroll costs, including layoffs or hiring employees at a lower wage.
• Reduces salaries an additional 5% for state workers if a certain level of federal funding is not received.

Location, Location, Location: Latest Data Offers Mixed Answers on Housing Trends

By Andrew Jakabovics

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

The latest data on house prices shows increased stability in prices at the national level, which may signal the beginning of the end of declining house values. But the question of whether house prices have found a new equilibrium varies widely by location. And it is still necessary for the Obama administration to help ensure that homeowners are able to modify unsustainable loans to prevent foreclosures and avoid putting additional downward pressure on prices.

House prices are down by about 30 percent from their peak in early 2006 at the national level. Yet there is significant variation in price movements at the metropolitan level. Only 9 of the 20 metro areas tracked by Case Shiller showed year-over-year price gains in November, but all 20 metro areas showed improved price changes between November 2008 to November 2009 as compared to from October 2008 to October 2009.

DGS Now a Zoning Agency Which Answers to No One

The spotlight is on the Department of General Services (DGS), which is managing the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds. This little seen agency of California government wrote a letter to Costa Mesa after the City stated they wanted to do a ballot initiative to lock down the uses of the Fairgrounds to keep the property the way it is now. 

In a letter dated October 23, 2009,  told Costa Mesa that they "need to carry out the Legislature's direction to obtain the highest, most certain return from the sale of the Fairgrounds."  

The letter continues, "Under these circumstances we request that the City throughly consider the State and local economic ramifications that could result from preparing and adopting the Specific Plan, refrain from taking any further action that could reduce or otherwise negatively impact the Fairgrounds value. but if the City moves forward with the Specific Plan and the Fairgrounds value is diminished, the State will consider whatever options may be available to preserve the Fairground's value." Download Letter_from_DGS-10-09

In other words, Costa Mesa needs to bow to the will of Sacramento bureaucrats and allow the Fairgrounds to become the dense, urban infill development that DGS wants.  Costa Mesa isn't allowed to take care of their residents because DGS is ready to come down hard, with all the might of the California government, on the City.  When did DGS become a zoning agency that answers to no one?

Jobs Need to Be a Top Priority

The AFL-CIO 11.5 million members including teachers, miners, firefighters, farm workers, bakers, engineers, pilots, public employees, doctors, nurses, painters, plumbers, ironworkers, and many more.  These people are the middle class of America, the struggling middle class.  Richard Trumka is the elected president of the group.  

Rep. Loretta Sanchez Talks About President's State of the Union Address

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (CA-47) today issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s State of the Union address:

“In his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama outlined a broad plan for creating jobs and strengthening our economy.  I am pleased that his strategy included smart investments in education and clean energy: two sectors with the potential to create good-paying jobs right here in California. By expanding college aid and providing job retraining in emerging industries, I believe our students and workers will be better-positioned to compete in a 21st century economy.

“I also echo the President’s call for real change on Wall Street. Big banks should not be allowed to continue taking irresponsible financial risks while families and small businesses in my district are struggling to make ends meet. Working with my colleagues in Congress and the Administration, we will put an end to the type of reckless behavior that nearly sunk our financial industry and led to the current economic crisis.

“President Obama also proposed a three-year freeze on discretionary, ‘non-security’ spending that is expected to save $250 billion over the next ten years.  As a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, I am pleased that the Administration is taking concrete steps to tackle our deficit.  But I also want to balance our interest in cutting the deficit with our interest in maintaining crucial social service and law enforcement programs, especially those in my district.

Transmitting the Clean-Energy Future: Getting Clean Energy to American Homes

By Richard W. Caperton 

This article was published by the Center for American Progress.

The Supreme Court last week decided not to review a lower court ruling on electricity transmission, upholding states' ability to deny permits for new transmission lines. This will allow states to prevent anyone—either the government or private businesses—from building new transmission lines. The United States needs these transmission lines. They would enable Americans to consume more clean energy by bringing it from wind- and solar-powered plants to homes around the country. And a report released last week by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that we need 20,000 new miles of transmission lines to move carbon-free wind energy from wind turbines to East Coast consumers alone. The United States can't reap the benefits of clean energy if Americans can't access it, and these developments reinforce the fact that climate and energy legislation must contain a comprehensive transmission proposal to effectively drive the transition to a clean energy economy. 

Transmission lines are the backbone of the U.S. electric grid, carrying high-voltage electricity from where it's generated to where it's used, similar to the function of the interstate highway system. The interstate highway system was critical to the U.S. economy and national security in the 1950s, and a modern electric grid is in the same way vital to the United States today. Our electric grid dates from at least the 1960s and most of the pieces are at least 25 years old. New transmission will allow us to utilize new renewable electricity and reduce the coal fired electricity production responsible for a third of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution.