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Recent News

VA Choice Program Funds Should Be Reallocated

Following last week’s announcement of a $2.5 billion VA hospital shortfall caused by a sharp increase in demand by veterans for healthcare, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) urged Congress to transfer unused money from its Choice Card privatization program. The Choice program was the centerpiece of sweeping VA overhaul last year in response to a scandal over the long waits for medical care that veterans endured. Though the program launched last November made it easier for veterans to receive federally paid medical care from local doctors, it’s only been used by 3% of eligible veterans. Annually, nearly 9 million veterans annual receive medical services from the VA.

“The resources needed to meet the demands on our veterans care system are waiting to be utilized. Our nation’s heroes cannot afford for any more time to be wasted. Congress must act now and authorize the transfer of unused Choice Program funds to programs that will meet the immediate needs of our nation’s vets,” says AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr.

Recent News

Taxi Worker Alliance Responds to Uber

New York Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai responded to Uber Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy David Plouffe’s assertion on CBS that the vast majority of Uber drivers are part-time employees who don’t rely on Uber for their main source of income.

“This proliferation of part-time work comes at the expense of drivers already working full-time on the job,” says Desai, citing Uber’s model of having an unending number of vehicles. “If you only create part-time work, then you lower incomes, have unending competition, and fragment the work day and call that flexibility.”

“Workers struggling to make ends meet—something getting harder with more congestion and unending competition—shouldn’t be an after-thought,” he says. Uber has called US labor laws antiquated, seeking to abolish the system that has been built to protect taxi and limo drivers over the years.

Recent News

Malaysia Receives Upgrade Despite Continued Worker Trafficking

After lawmakers placed restrictions on the Fast Track bill that prohibit the US from making fast track trade agreements with countries ranked as tier-three on the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, Malaysia was upgraded from that lowest rating. “This clearly political decision undermines the credibility of important anti-trafficking efforts and underscores the fact that the Obama administration is perfectly willing to abandon workers to pursue its trade agenda,” says AFL-CIO political blogger Charlie Fanning.

An upgrade on the TIP report should signify progress in curbing human trafficking, but in the case of Malaysia, where trafficking is a major black market industry, labor and human rights groups say this is not the case. Malaysian officials frequently line their pockets or turn a blind eye to pervasive exploitation. Most of Malaysia’s victims are among the country’s 4 million migrant workers (40% of its workforce) who work in industries such as varied as electronics, agriculture, domestics, and the garment sectors.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal accused Malaysian Prime Minster Najib Razak of pocketing more than $700 million in public funds. The regime’s history of corruption and anti-transparency greatly undermines any promises made regarding human trafficking.

Recent News

Revenant: Shooting at the Outer Edge of Safety

Damia Petti, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 212 (Calgary, AB), says the actions of the crew of the film The Revenant went to “the outer edge of safety” though its producer insists on-set safety was closely followed. Anonymous crew members reported to The Hollywood Reporter that working on Alejandro G. Inarritu’s follow-up to Birdman was a living hell. Fifteen to 20 of them were either fired or quit during the filming, which took place in remote rural Alberta during the brutally cold Canadian winter.

“It’s a different world than being in a studio,” Petti told THR. “In my jurisdiction, we’ve gone many years with no film studios. The opinions of crew when working in extreme conditions need to be heard and I feel that at times some productions are not listening.”

Recent News

Music Education Benefits Teenage Students

There have been many studies indicating the positive impact that learning music can have on the cognitive abilities of young children. A new study from a research team led by Nina Kraus of Northwestern University, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that music training, even when begun in the adolescent years, has significant cognitive, emotional, and behavioral benefits for students.

They followed a group of teenage students from low-income neighborhoods around Chicago and tested them just before their freshman year and during their senior years. Nineteen of the students were engaged in musical training and 21 of the students participated in Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. Testing focused on language skills and sounds. The music group that studied music showed more rapid maturation in the brain’s response to sound and heightened brain sensitivity to sound details, compared to those enrolled in JROTC.

These results could prove valuable when evaluating the need for public school music programs, which are increasingly begun at a later age due to budget cuts.

Recent News

Critic Calls Sale of Classical Stations Unconscionable

South Florida music critic Lawrence A. Johnson called the secret sale of three Classical South Florida (CSF) radio stations unconscionable and despicable. The stations were sold to a religious broadcaster who immediately switched them to a contemporary Christian format. Former station owner, the Minnesota-based American Public Media Group said the stations were losing money to the tune of $8.93 million in FY 2014. APMG executives were faulted for not announcing that the stations were up for sale, which would have allowed interested parties to buy the stations possibly organize financing to continue the classical format. In fact, Classical South Florida continued to fundraise and gather donations from classical music supporters even though the owners knew the station was close to being sold. Supporters of the former station are asking for an FCC investigation.

Recent News

Trade Deals Need to Work for Workers, not CEOs

 

Even though Congress pulled some last-minute political maneuvering to get Fast Track passed last month—we beat all the odds and changed the game. Despite arm-twisting from corporations and the 1%, Congress nearly defeated Fast Track thanks to pressure that millions of working Americans put on their legislators.

In the coming months, as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—the biggest trade deal in the history of US trade deals—moves forward, Congress will have to vote on it. Working Americans need to stand together to make sure the TPP doesn’t sell out working people here and abroad, give foreign corporations special privileges to sue US taxpayers to recover lost profits, nor undermine efforts to stop climate change.

“We need to carry this momentum forward and tell our lawmakers to focus on policies to raise wages, so millions of working families don’t have to worry about putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their heads. And one way to do that is to ensure that the final TPP is as good for working people as President Obama has said it is,” says AFL-CIO Trade and Globalization Policy Specialist Celeste Drake.

Tell US Trade Representative Michael Froman and President Barack Obama to make trade deals work for working people and not CEOs by signing the petition at: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/trade-deals-must-work-for-working-people.

Recent News

Canadian Steel Workers Victorious Over Crown

Steelworkers who work for Crown Metal Packaging in Toronto, Ontario, have ended their 22-month strike with a new six-year collective agreement. The members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 9176 will return to work August 10. On July 8, the company finally relented on its attempt to bar striking workers from returning to their jobs. The company had hired replacement workers during the dispute. Not only will all striking workers now have a chance to return to their jobs, but those who choose not to return will be offered enhanced retirement and severance provisions.

“These workers fought for nearly two years against a foreign multinational’s attempt to eliminate their union and their unionized jobs. They received tremendous support from their community and from many allies,” says USW Ontario Director Marty Warren. He thanked the many unions, community groups, and consumers who provided tremendous support, both financial and moral, to the workers and their families.

tom petty
Recent News

Tom Petty Calls Use of Confederate Flag “Stupid”

tom pettyIn a Rolling Stone article Tom Petty of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) applauded South Carolina for removing the Confederate flag. “Lowering the flag from the statehouse grounds was the right decision. That flag shouldn’t have any part in our government,” he said. The rocker also expressed remorse for his use of the Confederate flag during his 1985 Southern Accents tour.  “I just honestly didn’t give it much thought, though I should have,” he confesses. A couple years afterward, he stopped in the middle of a performance after someone threw a Confederate flag onstage and said: “I would prefer if no one would ever bring a Confederate flag to our shows again because this isn’t who we are.”

His views are in direct opposition to a few others. Michigan-born Kid Rock defiantly told Confederate flag protestors that they could kiss his ass.