L.A.’s Unions Flexing Power in Battleground States
| By Elliott D. Petty - Oct 16th, 2008 at 9:39 am PDT |
| Also listed in: Courage Campaign Staff |
Its not everyday the LA Times writes a glowing article about the work of organized labor in Southern California, especially when you consider the membership of the L.A. County Federation of Labor led by Maria Elena Durazo. And while California is a virtual lock for their candidate, Barack Obama, they're not sitting on the sidelines either. For weeks now they have been busy phone-banking fellow union members in the battleground states of Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio.
The pact of hotel workers, construction workers, bus drivers, firefighters and teachers to name a few, represent the future of America. The members are racially diverse, young and fighting to establish and expand middle-class jobs. Union members in the battleground states will soon enough see their communities mirror Los Angeles in terms of its racial diversity and inclusiveness and the ultimate struggle to get a piece of the American pie.
L.A.'s union leaders hope to reach 200,000 battleground state voters by telephone before Election Day.
Nationally, the AFL-CIO is spending more than $53 million towards electing Barack Obama. Beyond its usual support of Democratic candidates in national elections, organized labor is hoping to pass the Employer Free Choice Act next year.
The Employer Free Choice Act would force employers to recognize and negotiate a contract with a union of the workers choice if a simple majority of employees signed cards indicating their wishes to do so, as opposed to the employer stacked deck of union elections.
Obama says he'll sign the bill into law and John McCain promised he would veto it.
Labor leaders believe it will turnaround the decades long decline in union membership which has lasted half a century and has been exacerbated by manufacturing outsourcing, privatization and technology.
Still, many workers across the country earning poverty wages and few health benefits would like to join unions for the obvious reasons but are largely restricted from doing so because employers such as Wal-Mart and McDonalds have become enormously successful at undermining and killing union efforts.
Union and Congressional leaders tried to pass the proposal this year, but under the threat of a veto by President George W. Bush, the proposal came up a handful of votes short in the U.S. Senate.
And so, here comes southern Californian union members under the leadership of Durazo to help the election of Obama and possibly make the passage of the Employer Free Choice Act a certainty.
By the way, Wal-Mart has been ringing the alarm all summer as its store level management has explained to workers how bad this would be for them if America elected Democrats this Fall.
Who says California doesn't have a role in this election?
The pact of hotel workers, construction workers, bus drivers, firefighters and teachers to name a few, represent the future of America. The members are racially diverse, young and fighting to establish and expand middle-class jobs. Union members in the battleground states will soon enough see their communities mirror Los Angeles in terms of its racial diversity and inclusiveness and the ultimate struggle to get a piece of the American pie.
L.A.'s union leaders hope to reach 200,000 battleground state voters by telephone before Election Day.
Nationally, the AFL-CIO is spending more than $53 million towards electing Barack Obama. Beyond its usual support of Democratic candidates in national elections, organized labor is hoping to pass the Employer Free Choice Act next year.
The Employer Free Choice Act would force employers to recognize and negotiate a contract with a union of the workers choice if a simple majority of employees signed cards indicating their wishes to do so, as opposed to the employer stacked deck of union elections.
Obama says he'll sign the bill into law and John McCain promised he would veto it.
Labor leaders believe it will turnaround the decades long decline in union membership which has lasted half a century and has been exacerbated by manufacturing outsourcing, privatization and technology.
Still, many workers across the country earning poverty wages and few health benefits would like to join unions for the obvious reasons but are largely restricted from doing so because employers such as Wal-Mart and McDonalds have become enormously successful at undermining and killing union efforts.
Union and Congressional leaders tried to pass the proposal this year, but under the threat of a veto by President George W. Bush, the proposal came up a handful of votes short in the U.S. Senate.
And so, here comes southern Californian union members under the leadership of Durazo to help the election of Obama and possibly make the passage of the Employer Free Choice Act a certainty.
By the way, Wal-Mart has been ringing the alarm all summer as its store level management has explained to workers how bad this would be for them if America elected Democrats this Fall.
Who says California doesn't have a role in this election?
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