Mid-South Union Leadership Institute

The Arkansas AFL-CIO is joining with state federations in the region in sponsoring the Mid-South Union Leadership Institute. Hosted by the Labor Education Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Institute will be held November 5-7 at the Clarion Resort on the Lake in Hot Springs.

Leadership development is critical to the success of the labor movement. Union officers and representatives with leadership responsibilities are strongly encouraged to attend. Participants will choose from two major workshop tracks: "Effective Local Union Administration" and "Union Building," as well as special topic workshops on communicating in the YouTube Age and opportunities for workers in a new, green economy. There will be updates on labor's legislative agenda, and discussions of enforcement of existing labor and employment law under the Obama administration.

To find out more, go to http://www.aiea.ualr.edu/lep/events/2009-mid-south.php.

Please register early! By October 2 - Early Bird $200 / By October 16 - Regular $225. If registering after October 16, call LEP at 501-569-8483 to confirm your registration.

Please call the Clarion Resort on the Lake at (501) 525-1391 to make your sleeping room reservations. A block of rooms has been reserved until October 5 at the rate of $82, single or double. Please mention the UALR Labor Education Program to receive this rate. For more information contact the Labor Education Program at 501-569-8483, fax at 501-569-8538 or email lep@ualr.edu.

Mother Jones Online Museum

The real life working-class hero Mary “Mother” Jones now has her own virtual museum that documents the struggles, victories and history of the woman once dubbed “America’s Most Dangerous Woman.”

The Mother Jones Museum describes itself as a “virtual museum and curricula about the amazing labor agitator.” It includes links to her entire autobiography and other documents about militant labor history. As the site states:

We believe that she still has something to teach us after all these years.

One page features my favorite Mother Jones quote:

I asked a man in prison once, how he happened to be there, and he said he had stolen loaf of bread. I told him if he had stolen a railroad, he’d be a U.S. senator.

Click here to visit the Mother Jones Museum.

You'll also find books and films available from The Union Shop Online.

Early labor history in America is marked by some vicious, hard-fought battles by workers who sometimes won and sometimes lost, but who always laid the groundwork for many of the rights and economic justice we have today. Sidney Lens’s classic “Labor Wars,” recently reissued by Haymarket Books, takes us from the Molly Maguires to struggles by autoworkers and steelworkers in the first half of the 20th century.

Los Angeles may be known for its glitz and glamour, but “Made in L.A.,” shows us one of its dirty secrets-sweatshops. The documentary tells the story of three Latina garment sweatshop workers. Sick and tired of low-pay for 12 hour-days in abysmal working conditions with abusive bosses, the trio fights back, leading a boycott and three-year struggle that transforms their lives.

Get more info on the latest Cool Tools here and check out the Cool Tools archive here.

Hidden Casualties: Trade, Employment Loss & Women Workers

The media image of the unemployed factory worker is usually male. But the reality is that working women have been hurt as much as men when it comes to manufacturing job loss. The impact is often worse for women because many are single parents.

A new report by the public policy research group Demos shows when women lose manufacturing jobs, they rarely manage to get back into jobs with similar pay or benefits. Public training programs, through the Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) or Workforce Investment Act (WIA), often are inadequate to fill the gap.

The report, “Hidden Casualties: Trade, Employment Loss & Women Workers,” highlights the need for decent training for decent jobs with good wages, career progression and such key supports as child care and paid leave.

Click here to download the report.

One reason women workers are so adversely affected by manufacturing job loss is because they are concentrated in industries which have been drastically affected by the surge in cheap imports over the past decade, such as textiles, apparel and leather. Women make up more than 50 percent of the total workforce in these industries. Faced with high levels of foreign competition, these jobs have had high levels of trade-related job displacement.

The authors estimate that the industries with the highest percentage of women workers lost nearly 500,000 jobs between 1999 and 2008. Women also received a majority of the trade adjustment assistance during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, they make up about 48 percent of TAA recipients.

Many manufacturing jobs pay much better than other jobs available to women workers without a college education. Reports culled for U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show the average weekly wage of $524 for textile industries in 2008 is about 30 percent higher than the average for the retail sector ($386) and almost double that of the average for the food services (restaurants) industry ($233).

The report also shows that current federal policies for dislocated workers are woefully insufficient, with many laid-off women workers receiving little help in finding a comparable job or handling family obligations.

The report calls for the U.S .policy-makers to develop a much more comprehensive set of policies to help workers and families navigate the economic restructuring caused by increasing trade and globalization.

Mid-South Union Leadership Institute

The Arkansas AFL-CIO is joining with state federations in the region in sponsoring the Mid-South Union Leadership Institute. Hosted by the Labor Education Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Institute will be held November 5-7 at the Clarion Resort on the Lake in Hot Springs.

Leadership development is critical to the success of the labor movement. Union officers and representatives with leadership responsibilities are strongly encouraged to attend. Participants will choose from two major workshop tracks: "Effective Local Union Administration" and "Union Building," as well as special topic workshops on communicating in the YouTube Age and opportunities for workers in a new, green economy. There will be updates on labor's legislative agenda, and discussions of enforcement of existing labor and employment law under the Obama administration.

To find out more, go to http://www.aiea.ualr.edu/lep/events/2009-mid-south.php.

Please register early! By October 2 - Early Bird $200 / By October 16 - Regular $225. If registering after October 16, call LEP at 501-569-8483 to confirm your registration.

Please call the Clarion Resort on the Lake at (501) 525-1391 to make your sleeping room reservations. A block of rooms has been reserved until October 5 at the rate of $82, single or double. Please mention the UALR Labor Education Program to receive this rate. For more information contact the Labor Education Program at 501-569-8483, fax at 501-569-8538 or email lep@ualr.edu.

Labor Council Supports Millage FOR New Fayetteville High School

Resolution adopted by the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council

WHEREAS, Working families are and historically have been committed to quality public education for their children; and

WHEREAS, the Fayetteville School District has proposed a millage increase to construct a new high school facility on the current campus location; and

WHEREAS, current national economic conditions only make the need for quality facilities and a strong curriculum more urgent for the future of our families and our community; and

WHEREAS, Now is the time to build the new high school, while construction costs are lower during the current economic climate; and

WHEREAS, Now is the time to build the new high school, because interest rates are at a historic low and will result in considerable savings over the life of the bonds; and

WHEREAS, Now is the time to build the new high school, because construction will have a favorable economic impact, providing jobs that can jumpstart our local economic recovery; and

WHEREAS, Now is the time to build a new high school, because business location can depend on the evidence of a community’s commitment to public education and reflected in the construction of modern school facilities; and

WHEREAS, Now is the time to build the new high school, because our community has reached a consensus during a three year process that asked for and considered the views of residents on location and design for small learning communities; and

WHEREAS, Now is the time to build the new high school, because our children deserve a 21^st century school to prepare them for productive lives and careers in the 21^st Century; and

WHEREAS, Now is the time to build the new high school, because failure to act now will only delay the opportunities our children deserve for a quality education.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council endorses the proposed millage increase to build a 21^st Century high school facility in Fayetteville; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council asks all local unions to encourage their members living in the Fayetteville School District to support and vote FOR the millage on September 15, 2009.

UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED

Convention Time

Brothers and Sisters,

This week several members of the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice travel to Washington D.C. to lobby our representatives in person on the Employee Free Choice Act and health insurance reform. Our fight goes on! Also the UALR Bowen School of Law will be hosting a debate on the Employee Free Choice Act next week on Monday September 14th - you won't want to miss this!

Alan will be headed to Pittsburgh for the AFL-CIO's 26th Constitutional Convention, which runs from Sept. 13-17. We'll be electing new leadership there. The Arkansas AFL-CIO has endorsed Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka in his bid for President. Hope to see you in PA! If you can't make the trip, be sure to check out the AFL-CIO Convention website. There you can: Keep track of events with the Convention Schedule; Get fast-breaking updates on Convention action; Watch video clips of the Convention floor discussions; See photos from Convention events as they happen.

In solidarity,

Alan Hughes, President
Ricky Belk, Secretary-Treasurer

Obama: "We reaffirm our commitment."

Excerpts from President Obama's remarks at the Labor Day Picnic in Cincinnati, Ohio.

We remember that the rights and benefits we enjoy today were not simply handed out to America's working men and women. They had to be won.

They had to be fought for, by men and women of courage and conviction, from the factory floors of the Industrial Revolution to the shopping aisles of today's superstores. They stood up and spoke out to demand a fair shake; an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. Many risked their lives. Some gave their lives. Some made it a cause of their lives-like Senator Ted Kennedy, who we remember today.

So let us never forget: much of what we take for granted-the 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, health insurance, paid leave, pensions, Social Security, Medicare-they all bear the union label. It was the American worker-union men and women-who returned from World War II to make our economy the envy of the world. It was labor that helped build the largest middle class in history. So even if you're not a union member, every American owes something to America's labor movement.

As we remember this history, let us reflect on its meaning in our own time. Like so many Americans, you work hard and meet your responsibilities. You play by the rules and pay your bills. But in recent years, the American Dream seemed to slip away, because from Washington to Wall Street, too often a different culture prevailed.

Wealth was valued over work, selfishness over sacrifice, greed over responsibility, the right to organize undermined rather than strengthened.

That's what we saw. And while it may have worked out well for a few at the top, it sure didn't work out well for our country. That culture-and the policies that flowed from it-undermined the middle class and helped create the greatest economic crisis of our time.

So today, on this Labor Day, we reaffirm our commitment. To rebuild.

To live up to the legacy of those who came before us. To combine the enduring values that have served us so well for so long-hard work and responsibility-with new ideas for a new century. To ensure that our great middle class remains the backbone of our economy-not just a vanishing ideal we celebrate at picnics once a year as summer turns to fall.

Lincoln Opposes Public Option Health Care

BLANCHE LINCOLN IS THE QUEEN OF CASH FROM THE HEALTH INDUSTRY The Sunlight Foundation's Paul Blumenthal reports that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has taken more money in campaign contributions from the health industry than all but one of her Democratic peers in 2009. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Lincoln benefited from $325,350 in contributions from the health industry in the first half of 2009.

"The large amount in contributions underlies a constantly shifting position by the senator on health care reform," notes Blumenthal. Lincoln sits on the Senate Finance Committee, the lone panel that has so far failed to get its act together on health care reform legislation.

Lincoln told the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim in May that she was open to a public option. "We're looking at that option to see if it's going to be competitive and, you know, if it's going to be productive," she said. "I'm still open minded."

On Tuesday, Lincoln revealed that her mind had apparently closed. "I would not support a solely government-funded public option. We can't afford that," she said, according to Arkansas News.

The Sunlight Foundation's got the goods on the tangled web of staffers-turned-lobbyists who help the industry funnel money to Lincoln and her colleagues. For more, including a helpful chart, go here.

Correction: This item originally reported that Lincoln had taken more money from the health industry than any Democratic senator. In fact, Harry Reid has taken more. (Lincoln is still the queen.)

-- Arthur Delaney