Shortcut Navigation:

AFL-CIO Now

Showing blog posts tagged with Jay Rockefeller

Rockefeller Urges Obama Administration to Move Quickly on Black Lung Rule

Photo by Chuck Holton/Flickr

There is an alarming increase the number of coal miners—including younger and younger miners—diagnosed with deadly black lung disease. But a proposed federal rule limiting miners’ exposure to the coal dust that causes black lung is stuck in regulatory limbo and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has urged President Obama to end the delays and move the rule “as expeditiously as possible.”

Read more and comment »

Holt Baker, Roberts Among 30 Arrested at Patriot Rally in West Virginia

Holt Baker, Roberts Among 30 Arrested at Patriot Rally in West Virginia

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker and United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts were among 30 arrested at a rally in West Virginia Tuesday while protesting Patriot Coal's attempts to abandon its commitments to retirees, most of whom worked for Peabody Energy and Arch Coal before those companies created Patriot. Roberts and others say Patriot specifically was created to fail so the original companies could eliminate retiree health care and pension costs.

Read more and comment »

UNITE HERE: Hyatt’s Pritzker Wrong for Top Commerce Job

UNITE HERE photo

Penny Pritzker is President Obama’s nominee to be the next secretary of commerce. She is also a longtime member of the board of directors of the Hyatt hotel chain and heir to the Hyatt fortune. But her nearly decade-long record on the board, says UNITE HERE President D. Taylor, shows why the U.S. Senate should not confirm her. In a letter to Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Taylor writes: 

Under her leadership, Hyatt has exhibited a broad pattern of labor abuses, including aggressive outsourcing, low wages and the mistreatment of housekeepers. Together these practices single out Hyatt as the worst hotel employer in the United States.

Read more and comment »

W.Va. Senators Introduce New Mine Safety Bill

Congress must fix “the glaring safety issues revealed in the wake of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) this week, as he introduced legislation to bring the nation’s mine health and safety laws up to date.

Read more and comment »

Congress Passes Bill to End FAA Furloughs

Photo courtesy Brian D Hawkins

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Thursday night to eliminate furloughs to air traffic controllers. Today, the House also passed the bill, which now goes on to the president for his signature. The furloughs caused thousands of flight delays—with some reaching three hours—and public outcry is significant.

Read more and comment »

Drug Savings Act Would Strengthen Medicare Without Harming Beneficiaries

Photo from Wikipedia Commons

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W-Va.) introduced the Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2013 that would produce savings without passing on costs to seniors. 

The act offers a worthwhile alternative to this approach, strengthening the Medicare program’s fiscal footing while shielding beneficiaries from harmful cost-shifting. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that restoration of Medicaid-level drug rebates for low-income Medicare beneficiaries would save the federal government $141 billion over 10 years. As federal budget negotiations continue, we urge you to consider the following critical facts:

Read more and comment »

Elected Officials and President Trumka Reject Benefit Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

A group of Democratic senators is circulating a letter opposing benefit cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and saying that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should expire at the end of the year. The letter also calls for increasing revenue, cuts to defense and the closing of tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations. The letter was drafted by Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa). The Democratic senators are hoping to get 30 senators to sign the letter.

Read more and comment »

Get Smart, Pass the Bring Jobs Home Act

Get Smart, Pass the Bring Jobs Home Act

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) cut straight to the chase Friday at a Bring Jobs Home roundtable in Charleston.

We now give tax incentives for people who move jobs offshore. That's just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Read more and comment »

Another FAA Shutdown Looming over Rep. Mica’s, Delta’s Union-Busting Scheme

If a funding agreement isn’t reached by Sept. 16, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) faces another shutdown like the one Republicans forced in July. That shutdown cost 4,000 FAA workers and 70,000 construction workers two weeks’ pay, halted important airport safety improvements and cost taxpayers some $400 million. It ended Aug. 5 with a temporary FAA reauthorization.

Read more and comment »

Take Action

Sign the petition to raise the minimum wage

It’s been four years since low-wage workers got a raise. Sign the petition to tell Congress it’s time to raise the minimum wage.

Click here »

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr

Are you a union member?


*Message and data rates may apply.

Facebook Favorites

Blogs

Join Us Online