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The Southwestern District Labor Council, AFL-CIO will be hosting its 3rd part in a series of three Town Hall Meetings. This meeting deals with the modification to the National Labor Relations Act, known as the Employee Free Choice Act.
We have assembled a panel to provide information, discuss and answer questions pertaining to this important piece of legislation. This is a public forum and in keeping with the two previous meetings we have taken the liberty to invite many of our state county and municipal leaders to attend and interact. We appreciate those who have attended the previous two Town Hall meetings.
Please forward this message to all you local unions and be there with your members to be a part of this important if not historic meeting.
Date of Event: Saturday, July 11, 2009
Place: Marshall University Student Center
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Continental Breakfast provided so get there early between 9-9:30 to meet and greet friends.
Questions please feel free to contact Tim Millne, Secretary Treasurer.
Check out this barn burner of a speech from AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka blasting racism and explaining why workers should vote for Barack Obama.
The West Virginia AFL-CIO State COPE (Committee on Political Education) met Saturday, March 15, 2008 at the Charleston Marriott to finalize endorsements for the primary election.
The West Virginia AFL-CIO State COPE committee is comprised of representatives from every affiliated international union in West Virginia, as well as representatives from the trade and industrial councils, the Central Labor Councils and the West Virginia AFL-CIO Executive Board.
An endorsement by the West Virginia AFL-CIO is based on recommendations from Central Labor Councils who conduct candidate interviews following a review of the candidate's completed questionnaire concerning issues of vital importance to West Virginia's working women and men.
The endorsements made for the May 13, 2008 primary election are posted after the jump.
Exciting news for Democratic candidates. From an email:
WV AFL-CIO 2008 Primary Endorsements In October the West Virginia AFL-CIO celebrated its 50th Anniversary at their Twenty Sixth Constitutional Convention held at Wheeling Island Racetrack & Gaming Center, Wheeling, WV. During the course of the convention the WV AFL-CIO Committee On Political Education (COPE) and all delegates to the convention unanimously endorsed for the 2008 Primary Election, Joe Manchin lll for Governor, Jay Rockefeller for U.S. Senate, Alan Mollohan for the 1st Congressional District and Nick Rahall for the 3rd Congressional District.
On November 3, 2007 at the Charleston Civic Center, Charleston WV the WV AFL-CIO Committee On Political Education met again and endorsed for the 2008 Primary Election, John Unger for the 2nd Congressional District, Joe Delong for Secretary Of State, Glen Gainer for State Auditor, Darrell McGraw for Attorney General and John Perdue for State Treasurer. WV AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer, Larry Matheney, stated “It is our goal to support candidates that will strive to improve the lives of West Virginia working families.”
Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Bush Veto of Children's Health Insurance
The President's decision to veto legislation that would provide health care to millions of children is nothing short of disgraceful. With the sweep of a pen, he has slammed the door on these children's best opportunity to grow up healthy and to reach their fullest potential. The veto also shattered the peace of mind of countless families who may now lose their coverage under the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
As if to add insult to injury, the president vetoed health insurance for children in the same week as he proclaimed an official "Child Health Day," which the Administration described in a press release as a time to "reaffirm our commitment to helping children develop good nutrition habits and active lifestyles, so that they can grow into healthy and productive adults."
Health insurance for children is not a political issue that can be brushed aside by proclamation. This is about helping children, period. A bipartisan majority in Congress recognize that in America, no child should go without health care. Most responsible leaders also know that if nothing is done, the situation is only going to get worse. The cost of health care is soaring out of control and wages for America's workers can't keep up.
Our children need a lot more than rhetoric to grow into healthy and productive adults. If President Bush really wants to show commitment to children's health, he should give them annual check-ups, vaccinations and regular contact with a pediatrician who knows and cares about them - he shouldn't just give them a press release.
Statement of AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney on the United Mineworkers of America (UMW) New Report on the Sago Mine Disaster
A new report on the Sago mine disaster released today by the United Mineworkers confirms that the deaths of 12 miners at Sago on January 2, 2006 were unnecessary and totally preventable. These deaths were not due to some "act of God," but rather were the result of failures by mine management and the government.
The detailed, exhaustive report shows that substandard mine seals, lack of adequate oxygen, no safety chambers, no two-way communication, no tracking devices, and no onsite, experienced mine rescue teams all contributed to these tragic deaths. Many of these failures were years in the making. They were the result of decisions by the Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) to weaken legal requirements and by the Bush Administration to stop new, stronger rules on mine rescue teams, oxygen supplies and escape ways and mine refuges.
The Sago disaster and other mine disasters in 2006, which claimed a total of 47 lives, led Congress to enact the first improvements in the mine safety law in 30 years. Now we must ensure that these changes in the law translate quickly into improvements in safety in the nation's mines.
I commend the United Mineworkers for their leadership and dedication to protecting all of the nation's miners - whether they have a union or not - and their tireless efforts to see that the 12 men who died at Sago did not die in vain.
When you put the Republicans in charge of the government--a party that doesn't believe in the power of government--you end up with predictably disasterous results.
Just as the story of the loss of New Orleans is one of human failures to response to an Act of God, the loss of life at the Sago Mine disaster now appears to have been wholly preventable.
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