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AFL-CIO Now

Showing blog posts by Tula Connell

About Tula Connell

I got my first union card while I worked my way through college as a banquet bartender for the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee (we were represented by a hotel and restaurant local union—the names of the national unions were different then than they are now). With a background in journalism—covering bull roping in Texas and school boards in Virginia—I started working in the labor movement in 1991. Beginning as a writer for SEIU (and OPEIU member), I now blog under the title of AFL-CIO managing editor.

Sign Petition Demanding Ohio Reinstate Early Voting

Sign Petition Demanding Ohio Reinstate Early Voting

Turn outrage into action by signing a new petition demanding an end to Ohio’s voter suppression.

ColorOfChange.org just launched a petition demanding that Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted restore weekend voting hours in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

To sign the petition, click here.

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Republican or Democratic President? Which Is Better for Your Pocketbook?

Republican or Democratic President? Which Is Better for Your Pocketbook?

Are you financially better off when the president is a Republican or Democrat?

According to a new book, Bulls, Bears and the Ballot Box: How the Performance of Our Presidents Has Impacted Your Wallet, the answer is not what is widely believed.

In an analysis spanning 80 years and 13 presidents—from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush—authors Lew Goldfarb and Bob Deitrick show, in their words,

the GOP theory of Republican economic dominance is no more than a myth. Period.

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Striking Caterpillar Workers Ratify 6-Year Contract

Striking workers at a Caterpillar hydraulic parts factory in Joliet, Ill., voted today to ratify a proposed six-year contract, ending a nearly 16-week strike.

The 800 workers, members of Machinists (IAM) Local 851, will receive a $3,100 ratification bonus, well above the $1,000 Caterpillar initially offered. Workers hired after 2005 will receive an automatic 3 percent raise annually for the life of the contract.

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Federal Judge Blocks Florida's Restrictive Early Voting Law

Federal Judge Blocks Florida's Restrictive Early Voting Law

This from TPM:

A panel of federal judges ruled late Thursday that a Florida law that limits the number of early voting days cannot be implemented in several counties because it
would have an adverse impact on minority turnout.

The early voting restrictions are part of a voter suppression package the Republican-controlled state legislature passed last year. Other provisions included disenfranchising 100,000 previously eligible ex-felons who'd been granted the right to vote under Republican Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008 and shutting down non-partisan voter registration drives. In May, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the provision restricting non-partisan voter registration drives.

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Tell Us What You Think: What's Romney Trying to Hide by Not Releasing His Tax Returns?

Tell Us What You Think: What's Romney Trying to Hide by Not Releasing His Tax Returns?

Unlike nearly every other presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney refuses to make public more than two years of tax returns. Today, the multimillionaire said he has paid a tax rate of at least 13 percent on his income in each of the past 10 years—but he still won't release his returns. Meanwhile, President Obama's returns have long been public and show he pays a 20 percent tax rate.

At a measly 13 percent, Romney, who is worth a quarter of a billion dollars, is paying significantly less in taxes than other high-income earners who pay 35 percent. Through the use of offshore tax shelters and other means, Romney pays a smaller tax rate than average taxpayers like nurses, firefighters and construction workers.

In more than three decades, no other nominees for either party—except Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)— have released fewer than five years’ worth of returns. Romney’s own father released a dozen years’ worth when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968.

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Report: You Paid $46 in 2011 to Subsidize Fat CEO Pay

Report: You Paid $46 in 2011 to Subsidize Fat CEO Pay

Next time you write your tax check to the Internal Revenue Service, imagine which multibillion-dollar corporation may get some of your hard-earned pay.

How about drugmaker Abbott Laboratories, which in 2011 claimed a $586 million tax refund for its 64 subsidiaries operating in 16 countries considered tax havens?

Or maybe Chesapeake Energy, a company that last year made $2.8 billion in pre-tax U.S. profits—but whose effective tax rate over the course of its 23-year history has averaged only about 1 percent?

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Machinists Reach Tentative Contract with Caterpillar

Machinists Reach Tentative Contract with Caterpillar

Machinists (IAM) District 8 in Joliet, Ill., and Caterpillar Inc. reached a tentative contract agreement late Tuesday and members are now voting on whether to ratify it. Workers have been on strike against the heavy equipment maker since May 1.

The proposed six-year contract contains many improvements over previous offers, said District 8 Business Representative Steve Jones.

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Minimum Wage Boost Could Create 100,000 Jobs

min wage

When wages rise, workers and communities benefit. So imagine how improved our national economy would be if the wages of nearly 30 million workers got a boost?

If Congress acted to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.80 by July 1, 2014, some 28 million workers would see a pay increase, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) latest report on the minimum wage. Further, those workers would receive nearly $40 billion in additional wages over the phase-in period.

During an across the phase-in period of the minimum-wage increase, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) would increase by roughly $25 billion, resulting in the creation of approximately 100,000 net new jobs, according to EPI.

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Soul Khan Gets Real: You Have to Vote

Some say young voters are apathetic this election year and not likely to go to the polls.

Popular YouTube personality Soul Khan tackles this challenge head on—with messages that resonate about what’s at stake for young voters if they don’t get out and vote to re-elect President Obama.

With an entertaining rap, Khan gets in the face of young people with messages like:

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Stop the Corporate Power Grab

CEOs are trying to get more power by shutting down the National Labor Relations Board. Tell your senators to confirm nominees to the NLRB.

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