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On the day before Mother’s Day this year, letter carriers will conduct the largest one-day food drive in the nation, having delivered over 70 million pounds of food to community food banks, pantries and shelters in each of the past four years.
What: 16th Annual NALC Food Drive
When: Saturday, May 10, 2008
How: Place bags of nonperishable food items at your mailbox. Your letter carrier will pick them up and deliver them to local food banks.
“The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.”
–Thomas Donahue, President, AFL-CIO
More info & ammo for unionists at biglabor.com
Read about recent labor related articles in the press.
The North Carolina State AFL-CIO works to help provide affiliated unions with the information and training they need or request. For example, each summer it hosts an extremely popular Labor School, a weeklong institute for affiliated local leadership and potential leadership designed to build skills and knowledge in areas from labor history to lobbying. The North Carolina State AFL-CIO also conducts periodic workshops on subjects such as labor law, workers’ compensation, organizing, and other issues, and also publishes periodic Local Union Updates that give a synopsis of news of interest or importance to those in the labor community in North Carolina.
The 2008 session of Carolina Labor School will be held on the campus of UNC-Wilmington on Sunday, June 22 - Friday, June 27.
Download the flyer and registration form.
Because of limited meeting space, we put a cap on the number of registrations we accept. Confirmations are made on a first-come, first-serve basis. The deadline to register is May 30, 2008.
For more information, contact Jeremy at (919) 833-6678.
Dozens of students at UNC Chapel Hill have staged a sit-in since April 17, 2008. The students are protesting Chancellor Moeser’s refusal to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), a program that would ensure that Chapel Hill branded apparel is not produced in sweatshops.
The DSP works by certifying only those producers that comply with UNC Chapel Hill’s code of conduct for factories that produce apparel with the UNC logo. In order to become a designated supplier, factories must provide workers with fair wages, guarantee freedom of association, eliminate forced and unpaid overtime, and provide safe working conditions.
According to a posting on their website, Chapel Hill students began their sit-in after similar protests at other universities:
“After it became clear that the UNC administration was unwilling to engage in honest and respectful discourse about the human rights concerns of students, faculty, and staff, after three years during which workers have been losing their lives and livelihoods for manufacturing UNC licensed apparel and daring to stand up for their rights, 10 UNC students began a nonviolent occupation of the lobby of South Building, 10 feet away from Chancellor James Moeser’s office. Though he cannot see the workers who suffer to make our Carolina apparel, he will see us every day until he adopts the DSP.”
Take Action in support of Students Against Sweatshops at Chapel Hill
Union members in North Carolina know all too well the suffering caused by the apparel industry’s race-to-the-bottom to produce at the lowest possible cost. Thousands of textile workers lost their jobs when textile companies in our state moved shop to places with inferior wages and working conditions.
As workers in these new production zones have stood up for their rights, organized and formed unions, apparel companies have closed factories and moved elsewhere to exploit other more desperate and impoverished people, leaving devastated communities in their wake - just like they did in NC.
Why, then, would the flagship public university of our state - with arguably one of the most recognizable brands of any college or university in America - refuse to join the DSP and end this cycle of exploitation by apparel companies?
The NC State AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with the students at UNC Chapel Hill as they continue their non-violent protest of a university administration which ignores that UNC apparel is made in sweatshops. We encourage our members to support them by:
Next Tuesday, April 29th, members of the Alliance @ IBM, a division of CWA, and their supporters will take action with a picket line and rally outside the IBM shareholders meeting in Charlotte.
What: IBM Stockholder action and picket line
When: Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Time: 8:30 am picket line and 12:30 pm rally
Where: Charlotte Convention Center, 501 South College St, Charlotte, NC
Download the flyer for this event.
Decades of struggle by workers and their unions have resulted in significant improvements in working conditions. But the toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of their jobs. The unions of the AFL-CIO remember these workers on April 28, Workers Memorial Day.
In Raleigh, a ceremony will be held at the Employment Security Commission at 12 noon, 700 Wade Ave, Raleigh, NC.
In the Fayetteville area, the Greater Sandhills CLC is sponsoring an event Monday from 2pm-3pm in front of the Smithfield Packing plant, 15855 NC Highway 87 West, Tar Heel, NC.
Since there is no parking at the plant, people can carpool from the Subway restaurant on Highway 87 in Tarheel. Be at the Subway by 1:30pm if you want to carpool.
Raleigh ACORN is bringing a foreclosure fair to the campus of NC State this Saturday. ACORN chapters across the country have hosted similar foreclosure prevention and assistance seminars.
What: Foreclosure prevention and assistance fair
When: Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Where: Witherspoon Student Center, NC State University, 3810 Cates Ave, Raleigh, NC
ACORN Housing will be available to provide free advice to first time home buyers or for those facing foreclosure on their part of the American dream. Participating lenders include Countrywide, Option 1, Home EQ, and others. The event is free and open to the public.
An education session at the fair on how to prevent foreclosures will begin at 12 noon. Participants can get personal help from non-profit housing counselors, learn about refinance opportunities, and meet with their lender about loan restructuring.
For more information about this important service to working families - even if you don’t live in the Triangle, call Raleigh ACORN at (919) 833-6194 or send an email to acornraleigh@gmail.com.
Each day in North Carolina, folks, seniors especially, find themselves the unwitting targets of scams that would seek to defraud them of their identity or their life savings.
NC Attorney General, Roy Cooper and Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, in cooperation with AARP, the Better Business Bureau and the Area Agency on Aging will hold a free, 3-hour seminar on ID theft, Medicare fraud, investment scams, charity fraud, and online scams.
What: Scam Jam seminar on avoiding fraud, scams, and theft
When: Wednesday, May 7 , 2008 from 9:00 am to 12 noon
Where: Moore County Senior Enrichment Center, 8040 US Highway 15 501, Pinehurst, NC
Download the flyer for this event.
Sen. John McCain has a long history of supporting the kind of trade deals like the Columbia FTA that have devastated our economy and sent our jobs overseas. He continues to proclaim his support for new trade agreements despite evidence of how harmful agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA have been. He supported allowing China to enter the WTO despite its horrible worker safety and product safety record, exposing our children to toxic toys and our families to contaminated food. McCain has added insult to injury by voting against measures intended to help stem the flow of jobs lost due to these agreements.
Sen. McCain has not protected workers from the ill-effects of these trade agreements:
McCain Supported President Bush’s Outsourcing Efforts. McCain voted to allow overseas outsourcing of government contracts after President Bush’s economic advisers released a report saying America should outsource its jobs. [S.1637, Vote #32, 3/4/04]
McCain Voted Against Limiting Tax Breaks to Companies That Re-Import Foreign Manufactured Goods. He voted against a bill to tax multinational companies on income from foreign factories when goods are shipped back to the United States and to require companies to notify employees and give a reason before they move their jobs overseas. [S.1637, Vote #83, 5/5/04]
McCain Supported Waiving and Weakening Buy American Laws. McCain voted to allow the Secretary of Defense to waive Buy American laws for defense systems and place our defense manufacturing industry in jeopardy. He also voted to exempt defense goods from six European countries from Buy American requirements that traditionally have required most military equipment and defense systems to be manufactured in the United States. [S. 2400, Vote #135, 6/22/04; S. 1050, Vote #191, 5/21/03]
McCain Voted to Allow Unsafe Foreign Trucks on U.S. Roads. McCain voted against an amendment to prohibit Mexican trucks from operating beyond a limited border zone because they are not held to the same safety standards as U.S. trucks. [H.R. 2299, Vote #252, 7/26/01]
McCain Abstained from Voting to Protect Steel Jobs. McCain abstained from a vote to filibuster a bill to protect steelworker jobs from illegal dumping after 10,000 steelworkers lost their jobs. [H.R. 975, Vote #178, 6/22/99]
McCain Voted Against Providing Health Insurance for Employees and Retirees of Bankrupt Steel Companies. McCain voted against a measure that provided temporary health insurance assistance to retirees of bankrupt steel companies. [S.Amdt. 3433, Vote #117, 5/21/02]
The North Carolina HOPE Coalition is co-sponsoring a teach-in on collective bargaining rights with the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change and Traction. Scheduled for April 3rd on the campus of North Carolina Central University, the teach-in is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary Martin Luther King, Jr’s stand with public employees in Memphis, TN.
What: A teach-in on Collective Bargaining at North Carolina Central University
When: Thursday, April 3, 2008 from 7 to 9 pm
Where: NCCU Student Union building
On April 3, 1968, Dr. King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech at the Mason Temple in Memphis, TN. King had returned to Memphis to support striking public sector workers in the city sanitation department. The public employees had been on strike since they walked off the job February 12 of that year to protest dangerous working conditions, poverty level wages, a lack of respect on the job, and to demand recognition of their union. The next day, April 4, 1968, King was assassinated.
A little over a week later the sanitation workers and their representatives reached an agreement with the City of Memphis to recognize the union, AFSCME, and bargain over the conditions of employment, thereby ending the strike.
Public employees in North Carolina have no right to collective bargaining due to a now 50-year old law that bans state, county, and local governments from entering into contracts with their employees. Repeal of the statue, GS 95-98 is a top priority of the HOPE Coalition, of which the NC State AFL-CIO is a charter member.
At the teach-in you can learn more about collective bargaining - what it means, why it’s matters, and how to secure it for NC public employees. The session will include a brief video on Dr. King and will include food and refreshments. Attendance is open to the public, and there is no cost to attend this event.
Download the flyer for this event.
Our effort to gather signatures onto an open letter to members of the General Assembly continues. You can see the list of signers as of April 1, 2008 at the HOPE website.
If you have yet to join this effort, it’s not too late to add your signature, today!
The 2008 session of Carolina Labor School will be held on the campus of UNC-Wilmington on Sunday, June 22 - Friday, June 27.
Download the flyer and registration form.
A highlight of the school will be instructors from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Center for Labor Education and Research, who provide practical leadership training for local union officers and shop stewards. Mike Okun will provide participants with an understanding of the most important and useful aspects of state labor law. Valerie Johnson will return to talk about Workers’ Compensation and explain its most important components.
Participants should start getting in shape for our annual Game Day & Picnic, which will be held Wednesday afternoon.
Students can stay on campus or they may commute to campus everyday; in either case, tuition & fees covers instruction, materials, admission to Game Day & Picnic, and all meals for on-campus students and lunch daily for commuters.
On Campus: $370 tuition & fees per student; includes lodging, three meals a day.
Commuters: $270 tuition & fees per student; breakfast & dinner are not included.
Because of limited meeting space, we put a cap on the number of registrations we accept. Confirmations are made on a first-come, first-serve basis. The deadline to register is May 30, 2008.
For more information, contact Jeremy at (919) 833-6678.
ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - moved their Raleigh offices into the House of Labor last Spring. ACORN’s mission is to build power for low- and moderate-income families by working together for social justice and stronger communities.
In 80 cities nationwide, ACORN has partnered with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Prep Assistance (VITA) program to provide free tax preparation for low and moderate income taxpayers who cannot afford traditional paid preparers. The ACORN Tax Preparation Centers can electronically file current year taxes and provide fast, direct-deposited refunds, usually in 7 to 10 working days.
Free filing is available for people whose income is $40,000 and under.
Raleigh ACORN will hold the grand opening of their FREE income tax filing and benefits screening service center on Friday. Refreshments will be provided, so come out and for free food and information about the tax site. You can even set an appointment while you’re here.
Interested people can call (919) 835-1932 and set an appointment. We are also looking for more volunteers to assist at the site. We are looking forward to all interested parties to call in.
Check out the flyer for more information about the Raleigh ACORN tax filing & benefits screening center, visit www.taxandbenefitcenters.acorn.org, or call (919) 835-1932.
What: GRAND OPENING celebration of FREE tax filing service center
When: Friday, February 1, 2008 from 1-3:00 PM
Where: ACORN offices at House of Labor, 1408 Hillsborough St, Raleigh, NC
Folks who live in the Southern Piedmont can visit Charlotte ACORN at 3557 N. Sharon Amity Rd, Ste 200, Charlotte, NC or call (704) 537-0700.
If there isn’t an ACORN Tax Site near you, call The VITA Location Hotline to find another participating organization with a Free Tax Site near you at 1-800-906-9887. You can also file your taxes for free ONLINE by visiting www.beehive.org/acorn.
The 2008 Carolina Labor School will be held at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington from Sunday, June 22 through Friday, June 27. Look for more information to come by mail, in the newsletter, and in future e-mail updates this Spring.
The 51st Annual Convention of the NC State AFL-CIO will be held at the North Raleigh Hilton on September 11th and 12th. Look for the convention call letter and credentials to be mailed out in June.
From the AFL-CIO Blog: President John Sweeney and Union Privilege President Leslie Tolf have announced the launch of the Union Plus Save My Home Hotline.
“The Save My Home Hotline will provide free, confidential advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the counselors at Money Management International, a nonprofit, HUD-certified housing counseling agency. Face-to-face counseling is available at more than 100 local offices in 22 states and the District of Columbia.”
Union members and their parents and children can call the hotline for advice at 1-866-490-5361.
Read more at blog.aflcio.org.
Last week we told you about the veto by President Bush of the bill that would reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and expand its coverage to include 4 million more children of families that make too little to buy their own insurance.
This week we’ve launched a letter writing campaign through our web site so our members can join in the discussion of the Bush veto, which has sparked heated debate in local newspapers across our state and around the country.
The NC State AFL-CIO lobbied against funding the expansion of SCHIP on the backs of tobacco workers and their jobs through an increase in the federal tobacco excise tax. We lost that debate.
Even so, we believe that the reauthorization of SCHIP for the over 110,000 kids in NC who depend on it for their basic health care needs is too important not to support the legislation now before the Congress. Their health and the health of tens of thousands of other children still without coverage in our state depend on an override of Bush’s callous veto.
We urge those of you reading this e-mail to go to http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/schip_veto_letters/ and use the form to send your own letter to the editor in support of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
At the letter writing campaign web site, we’ve provided a list of talking points you can use to help get you started. Letters only have to be 250 words or less. When you provide your zip code, our system will pull up a list of local newspapers in circulation in your area. You can choose to send your letter to one or to all of them.
The veto of SCHIP renewal means 6.6 million children of low-income families will lose their health care when funding expires on November 16 unless the Congress acts quickly to override. An additional 4 million children from low-middle income families that would have gained coverage will continue to go without any health insurance.
It takes a two-thirds majority to override a veto, but the 265 to 159 House vote falls about 25 votes short of what is needed.
An override will almost certainly count on two North Carolina Democrats who voted against SCHIP renewal - Rep. Bob Etheridge of the 2nd Congressional District and Rep. Mike McIntyre of the 7th CD.
Each year the Carolinas Labor-Management Conference brings together labor and management in a relaxed learning environment to discuss topics of concern to us all. Attendees are able to spend time with others who handle similar problems and learn some best practices from employers and unions throughout North and South Carolina.
President James Andrews will join several other union leaders from North Carolina at the conference this year. For more information about the conference or to register, visit http://carolinaslmc.com/.
When: October 31 thru November 2, 2007
Where: Myrtle Beach, SC
Our State Federation turned 5-0 earlier this year, and last month delegates from unions and affiliated organizations from across North Carolina gathered in Fayetteville to celebrate our Golden Anniversary on September 20-21, 2007.
To mark the occasion, delegates and their guests in attendance at our Convention Banquet received a special gift - a sapphire blue coffee mug emblazoned with our logo and a packet of union coffee from USA Coffee Company, in addition to a commemorative 50th Anniversary button generously donated by union label Tigereye Design.
The highlight of the 2007 Convention was our banquet keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. William Barber from the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP. Rev. Barber gave an amazing, rousing speech about the enduring connection between civil rights, workers rights, and human rights. Rev. Barber challenged everyone in the room to look for the connections in our everyday struggles: the connection between costly war abroad and poverty at home; between the loss of respect for human rights and the ongoing assault on workers’ rights. Again and again the reverend repeated, “If you keep the connections alive, you will see the change.”
Also at the annual banquet, the NC State AFL-CIO honored United Steelworkers Local 959 with the P. R. Latta Award for outstanding service to the labor movement coming out of their strike against Goodyear Tire Company late last year.
During the daytime sessions Thursday and Friday, delegates took part in a packed program, including speeches from Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue, State Treasurer Richard Moore, and Congressman David Bonior from the John Edwards 2008 campaign, as well as several workshops on topics ranging from healthcare, tax fairness, workers’ compensation, and Labor 2008.
The convention delegates adopted resolutions that will be used to guide our work over the next year on topics like universal health care, diversity, organizing, and legislation just to name a few. A special resolution honoring the service and devotion of Brother Tom Foust (right) to the NALC and the North Carolina Labor Movement passed unanimously.
Look for a more detailed article on the convention in the upcoming Fall 2007 issue of the Newsletter.
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