Fund fight for workers' rights with FB 'Like'

Raise money for workers' rights by "liking" a Facebook page.

Our friends at American Rights at Work explain:

One of our supporters made a generous offer: Through next Wednesday, he'll donate $1 to American Rights at Work for every new person who "likes" us on Facebook – up to $5,000!

This donor understands that Facebook is another great way to build a community of activists who are committed to workers' rights – activists like you.Join the movement on Facebook – "Like" American Rights at Work now!

It's easy. Just click here and "Like."

Workers of the World, WRITE! (to your local newspaper)

More bad news for workers. A group of corporate-backed lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives pushed through a nasty piece of legislation aimed at airline and railway workers. They want non-voters to be counted as "no" voters in union elections under the Railway Labor Act.

If they succeed, it will be much more difficult for workers to form unions.


The only votes that should count are votes that are actually cast.

The good news is we haven't lost yet on this. There will be a fight over the provision in the Senate. You can help make sure it doesn't pass.
Take just five minutes to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Politicians follow their local newspapers closely. We can show them how outraged their constituents are over this latest attack on workers. They'll think twice when the bill is negotiated in the Senate.

Our friends at American Rights at Work have a cool "Letter to the Editor" tool. Here's the link: http://act.americanrightsatwork.org/letter/?letter_KEY=80&track=20110412_adv_faalte

Just click on it, type in your zip code and pick a newspaper to write to. This is a great time to do it because lawmakers are back in their districts right now on recess.

Petition: Don't balance the budget on workers' backs

If this makes you mad, sign the petition.

The shameful attacks on government workers are likely to continue as Congress starts work on the federal budget.

Government workers did not cause the budget deficit. That was the work of Wall Street, which created a housing bubble that burst and caused the Great Recession (from which most of us have not recovered). The budget deficit was also the result of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and tax cuts for the rich.

Congress is likely to try to balance the budget by freezing workers' pay and cutting jobs. Don't let them do it!

Government workers are marching on Washington Tuesday to hand-deliver petitions demanding that President Obama and Congress look for solutions to the country's budget.

Sign the American Rights at Work petition to "lay aside the political theater and develop the comprehensive plan necessary for putting America back to work."

No, This Isn't a Man Bites Dog Story

This may be news to some people, but not to us: Every day, unionized companies in the United States are thriving and innovating.

Every Labor Day, American Rights at Work puts together a list of companies that work well with their unions. This year's list features eight companies that pioneer solutions to environmental challenges.

They're actually doing pretty interesting stuff.

Late in the '90s, for example, Gerding/Edlen redeveloped an old industrial section of Portland, Ore. The green builder saved a 100-year-old brewery, used union labor and incorporated a lot of sustainable design -- recycled materials, natural lighting, photovoltaic panels and high efficiency envelopes and mechanical systems. Now they're working on projects that produce zero net carbon emissions (and union jobs).

Here's an employer a union member can love: Butch Johnson. He bought the bankrupt Flambeau River Papers mill in Park Falls, Wis., and rehired nearly all of the mill's 300 workers, honoring their union contract. Flambeau produces premium recycled paper and is building a biofuels plant to power the mill.

Or how about the company that grows the best tasting tomato (according to the American Culinary Institute)? Eurofresh grows tomatoes and cucumbers at a giant greenhouse complex in Arizona. It pays workers 65 percent more than non-union agricultural workers, along with health benefits that have no premium costs. The greenhouses are safer than open fields and the vegetables meet high standards of food safety.

United Streetcar is bring unionized streetcar manufacturing jobs back to the United States. Last year the company made the first U.S.-produced streetcar in 60 years for Portland, Ore. They honor union contracts and mostly use components made in the U.S.

Read more here.