Dayton Miami Valley AFL-CIO

Houston workers protest high gas prices and John McCain’s support for Big Oil.

Over the weekend, union members in Texas and Kentucky held events to demand relief for working families during this time of economic difficulty and soaring gas prices.

In Houston, more than 75 union members gathered in front of Shell Oil headquarters to demand an economic plan that helps families beset by these rising costs. They called attention to Sen. John McCain’s record on tax breaks for oil and gas companies, and asked that he change course and look out for workers, not the lobbyists who fund and run his campaign.

The union members were joined by Charles Steel, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which co-sponsored the rally.

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Eloise Mullen, a member of UFCW Local 1776, along with IUOE Local 542 members and Liz McElroy from the Philadelphia Council of the AFL-CIO, gets set for walks in Delaware County (top), as do union members in Colorado (bottom).

Phil Hayes, Labor 2008 state director for Colorado, reports on member-to-member walks in Colorado this past weekend. Walks also took place in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and elsewhere across the nation.

This weekend, 92 union members came out in Colorado to talk with their fellow union members about important issues in this election. AFGE, AFSCME, AFT, APWU, ATU, CWA, IAFF, IBEW, IUOE, LIUNA, NALC, NATCA, SMWIA and USW had members walking to turn around America.

This member-to-member walk is part of Labor 2008, the AFL-CIO’s largest grassroots political mobilization in history. In recent days, union members have gone door to door to talk with their fellow workers about the 2008 election, the economy and the Employee Free Choice Act.

In Denver, volunteers talked with other union members about the AFL-CIO’s endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama for president. Colorado is sure to be a crucial state in this fall’s elections for the White House and Congress.

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When you get a chance, cruise on over to the United Steelworkers (USW) revamped and eye-catching new website.

Launched earlier this month, the site features live streaming video, daily news, photo slide shows, audio reports, updated blogging and a wealth of other USW information.

In the “In Our Members’ Words” section, USW members, like David Garcia, speak out about what the union means to them. Says Garcia, a member of USW Local 296 in Tucson, Ariz.:

I have been union for 31 years. I see my union as an enforcer and protector of the workers. The union is a check and balance that keeps corporations from taking advantage of the workers.

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Former presidential candidate John Edwards addresses the National Labor College class of 2008.

Ninety union members reached a major milestone in their lives over the weekend, receiving their college degrees in ceremonies at the National Labor College (NLC).

Former presidential candidate John Edwards told the graduates they are now the next leaders for justice:

Brothers and Sisters, this is where you take your degrees to wage the next battle of workers’ rights in this country. This is where you become our next leaders to fight for what working men and women need to get ahead.

The graduation also represented two milestones. It marked the National Labor College’s 10^th annual commencement and was the first for new NLC President William Scheuerman. He urged the graduates to understand the responsibility that comes with their degrees.

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Airline pilots reach agreement with Delta and Northwest, as the two airlines work out merger details, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

Settlements

ALPA, Delta/Northwest Airlines: Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines pilots’ unions, both represented by the Air Line Pilots (ALPA), have reached a tentative agreement with Delta management on a joint pilot contract and a process to pave the way for seniority integration. The deal represents a major step toward combining the two pilot groups in the proposed merger of Atlanta-based Delta and Minnesota-based Northwest. While the joint contract is different from the labor agreement ratified by Delta pilots in May, it is based on that agreement, according to the Delta pilots’ union. That agreement included annual pay raises between 4 percent and 5 percent and a 3.5 percent equity stake in the combined company.

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The nation’s economy is in a tailspin with the stock market plummeting, gas prices skyrocketing, jobs disappearing and mortgage payments ballooning out of control.

From New York City to California, union members are taking a close look at what’s wrong with our economy and learning how they can be part of the solution.

More than 340 central labor councils, state federations, trades councils and other union-related groups plan to hold meetings over the summer to give grassroots union leaders a look behind the dismal economic numbers and to mobilize to make the economy a central issue in the 2008 political campaign.

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Marybeth Litcholt has worked as a casino dealer at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City since 1987. After 21 years on the job, she makes $9 an hour.

Meanwhile her uber boss, Donald Trump, the chairman and largest single shareholder in Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which owns the Trump Plaza, made $32 million in 2007. Trump’s approximated net worth is more than $3 billion.

Given that Trump & Co. hadn’t shown a willingness to pay even longtime employees more than near poverty-level wages, Litcholt and other employees there voted in March 2007 to join the UAW by a margin of more than 2-to-1. Wages weren’t the only problem: They needed a strong union like the UAW to negotiate a fair contract to provide basic workplace safety standards, a decent wage, pension and health care. Despite working 40-hour weeks, many can’t afford health care for themselves and their families.

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The ‘Truth Squad’ attacks ‘Corporate Greed’ at the Great Labor Arts Exchange.

Imagine this: A larger than life-sized puppet calling itself “Corporate Greed” is strutting through your neighborhood selling toxic toys to your kids. Suddenly, to the rescue comes a group of superheroes called the “Truth Squad” who topple Corporate Greed and restore calm and order.

That was just one of the innovative ideas from this year’s Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing. The giant puppet show comes from two members of the United Steelworkers (USW) who showed participants one way to use street theater to deliver a message.

For 30 years, the Great Labor Arts Exchange has celebrated the rich cultural heritage of working people and served as a forum that brings together talented labor artists, activists, cultural workers, educators and students. The Conference on Creative Organizing trains union staff, organizers and activists to use songs, chants, skits, game shows, costumes, theater and other creative tactics when reaching out to working people.

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Frank Snyder, Labor 2008 state director for Pennsylvania, reports on rallies in Pittsburgh and Allentown. These actions are part of the union movement’s nationwide protests against high gas prices and Sen. John McCain’s support for Big Oil. In Riverside, Calif., some 40 union volunteers gathered outside a McCain fundraiser this week in an event organized by the Central Labor Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. And in Dayton, Ohio, union members protested high gas prices on Wednesday.

This week, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO is focusing on gas prices and their effect on working families.

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Pamela Fero and one of her sons.

When the graduates walk across the stage tomorrow to receive their degrees from the National Labor College (NLC), Pamela Fero, a member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association from Lauderhill, Fla., will be proudly among them.

Fero is this year’s recipient of the Alliance for Retired Americans’ Bert and Annabel Seidman Prize for her research paper, “Winning the Game: What Unions Can Do to Help Women Plan For Retirement.”

The award will be presented tomorrow at NLC’s 10th annual commencement. This weekend, the college will celebrate a decade of providing education for union members. Some 76 students will receive Bachelor of Arts degrees and another 14 will be awarded master’s degrees through the NLC’s partnership programs with the University of Baltimore and the American University. Former presidential candidate John Edwards will deliver the commencement address.

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