By filling out your contact information, you will receive word of actions you can take to support working families in Texas.

To sign up for daily e-mail news from the Texas AFL-CIO, send your name, union affiliation (if any) and e-mail address to labor@texasaflcio.org

 

  Backers of drug testing for unemployed workers should be ashamed of themselves, Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller said.

  As she saluted the extension of federal unemployment benefits for the remainder of the year, Moeller criticized support by the Texas Association of Business for legislation that would require some unemployed workers to take drug tests to get benefits.

  Moeller said that the system for helping workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own should be "about dignity, not punishment."

  Here is the Texas AFL-CIO news release, followed by the TAB news release. Also, for a humorous take on the issue, see the link to The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

 

 

Starting tomorrow and continuing next week, jobless workers in 15 states who face cut off of their unemployment insurance (UI) Feb. 29 will ask members of Congress to “Walk a Mile in My Shoes.” The mobilization is aimed at lawmakers who are back in their districts for the President’s Day Recess that begins tomorrow, and it’s a partnership between USAction, the AFL-CIO, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), community and other groups. Read more >>>

More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar Co. locked out more than 1,300 sugar beet workers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota. Two months ago, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. locked out more than 1,000 workers in Findlay, Ohio. Last week, Caterpillar announced it would shut down a plant in Ontario, just over one month after locking out 500 workers. Rio Tinto Alcan locked out 750 workers in Quebec Jan. 1. HealthBridge locked out 800 nursing home workers in Connecticut in December. As Laura Clawson at the Daily Kos notes, “For evidence of a war on workers, look no further than the rise of the lockout.” Read more >>>

The $25 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the nation’s biggest banks, announced this morning by federal and state officials, is a “step in addressing the housing and foreclosure crisis that plagues our country,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Read more >>>

Learn more about the attack on pensions and how you can pledge to stop it! Read more >>>

 

Delegates to the Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention approved six resolutions submitted by the Resolutions Committee.

The "Resolved" clauses of those resolutions are at the link.

  Despite the uncertainties remaining in the election calendar and maps because of redistricting, more than 300 Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention delegates and guests took part in a variety of activities to prepare for the 2012 election season.

  Besides the statewide endorsements of Paul Sadler for U.S. Senate and Keith Hampton for Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Committee on Political Education laid out a plan for continuation of endorsements by Central Labor Councils as maps become clearer. Workshops touched on "Get Out the Vote" strategies, Twitter, green jobs, and the "Work Connects Us All" communications program, with an accent on younger workers.

  Delegates also enjoyed an outstanding induction ceremony for three new members of the Texas Labor Hall of Fame: Emmett Sheppard, Robert Hawkins and the late Robert Shake.

  Below are the daily reports summarizing convention floor action.

The biennial convention of the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Public Education has endorsed Paul Sadler for the open U.S. Senate from Texas.

Sadler is seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat now held by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. A news release is below.

 

Work connects us all.

That is the simple message of a new pro-union communications program aimed squarely at workers who may not have had much exposure to labor unions.

Austin has the honor of being one of three pilot cities in the campaign. Here is the AFL-CIO's news release. To see more, go to www.workconnectsusall.org and to the links to the TV ads.

 

 

Texas AFL-CIO “Labor News” is published monthly
Read more >>>