A looming federal government shutdown is slated to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released the
following statement on the House Republicans' hostage taking
:
As of today, it is clear that the Republican Party and the Tea Party have become one and the same when it comes to federal fiscal policy. House Republicans have decided that they will shut down critical public services, stiff public servants, hold America’s credit rating hostage and kill off jobs because they are upset that President Obama decisively defeated Mitt Romney last November. That some Republicans are participating in this fiasco against their better judgment does not obscure their responsibility. All responsible voices must speak and act against policy making by hostage taking.
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House Republicans are proceeding with plans that would force a government shutdown, despite the fact that America's working families overwhelmingly disapprove of their tactics. In a CBS/New York Times poll last week,
80% of respondents
said that it would be unacceptable for lawmakers to threaten a shutdown to achieve their goals, yet that's exactly what Republicans are doing.
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Workers at two Army medical centers voted to join
AFGE
in an election that concluded last week. The 3,700 health care employees were part of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center and were transferred to two new medical centers and other regional facilities when Walter Reed was shut down in 2001.
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The University of Maryland (UMD), National Labor College and the AFL-CIO will announce tomorrow a landmark gift to the UMD Libraries collection. This gift will be the largest of its kind to the university.
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After a series of
strikes
during the past two years protesting sweeping reductions in patient care, nurses’ standards and workplace conditions that Sutter Health system demanded during contract talks at San Francisco Bay area hospitals, some 3,000 registered nurses have reached a tentative agreement that eliminates more than 200 concession demands.
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The media are covering Washington’s latest fiscal crisis basically as a spectacle—the way local news now covers traffic accidents, crime scenes and big storms. But there is a reality underneath the spectacle—the decisions that are made and not made in Washington over the next few weeks will affect what happens in the lives of all of us. Here are some basic facts that can help make sense of all the craziness.
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A bill (H.R. 2374) set for a vote in the House Tuesday would delay and could ultimately thwart the Department of Labor’s effort to protect workers’ retirement security. The DOL wants to close loopholes and update the rule that protects workers from deceptive or abusive practices whenever they seek investment advice about their retirement savings
Call Congress at 1-888-912-5898,
ask for your representative’s office, and urge him or her to protect workers’ retirement security and oppose H.R. 2374
.
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Machinists (
IAM
) member and ExpressJet flight attendant Sandra Hinojosa was honored last week for her heroism and quick response to avert a potentially catastrophic event on an August United Airlines flight operated by ExpressJet.
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After 20 years, longtime Boston mayor Tom Menino is stepping down. And after Tuesday, the people of Boston are one step closer to electing a pro-labor champion to follow in his footsteps.
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