$400 Million for education from “Race to the Top”

North Carolina won big in President Obama’s Race to the Top Fund, securing a $400 million grant that will, in part, pay for continued implementation of Gov. Bev Perdue’s Career and College: Ready, Set, Go! initiative, she announced this week:

“North Carolina’s children today are one step closer to being guaranteed the best public education possible – something every child deserves. This grant will give us the resources to more aggressively implement our plan to ensure that all of our children graduate ready for a career, college or technical training.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress and signed into law last year included $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund, a competitive grant program for the states designed to reward those which demonstrate success in raising student achievement and come up with the best plans for education reform – plans that can serve as a model for other states.

“I thank Sec. [of Education Arnie] Duncan for recognizing North Carolina’s ability to lead in education reform, and I thank everyone who worked so hard to make this possible,” said Perdue.

Our state was one of nine and the District of Columbia to win grants in the second phase of Race to the Top. President Obama has requested $1.35 billion in his next budget to continue the successful program, saying only the countries that lead the way in education will lead the world:

“There are any number of actions that we can take to enhance our nation’s competitiveness and secure a better future for our people, but few of them will make as much of a difference as improving the way we educate our sons and daughters.”

$250 Million for expanding broadband

Last week, Gov. Perdue announced that North Carolina has been awarded an additional $115 million in Recovery Act grants to expand broadband Internet access in our state. All together in just this year, North Carolina has received $250 million in grants from President Obama’s economic stimulus plan for bringing high-speed Internet to our rural communities.

“Increasing broadband access will create new jobs up front and provide a boost for local economies to create even more jobs and a better quality of life in the near future,” said Gov. Perdue. “These improvements are especially important in rural and underserved areas of North Carolina.”

“We need high speed Internet for our homes, schools, hospitals, and workplaces,” says Speed Matters, a project of the Communications Workers of America, which advocates for affordable high speed Internet access for Americans:

“But most U.S. Internet connections are far too slow to send and receive large files for medical monitoring, to run a home-based business, or for multi-media distance learning. America is falling behind our industrialized peers at a time when we should be growing our competitiveness with the rest of the world.”

Download and upload speeds in the United States – the nation that invented the Internet – rank (PDF) 28th in the world, and North Carolina falls below the national average. Many remote or rural areas of our state still don’t have broadband. Thanks to investments being made because of the Recovery Act, we’re beginning to change that.

Putting America back to work

In the middle of the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, obstructionists in Congress have blocked bill after bill to create jobs and get us back on our feet. Here in NC, we’re hard at work making sure all of our union brothers and sisters know whether our members of Congress have been working and voting for us or for Wall Street. We can be proud of some Representatives who have been on our side, but Sen. Richard Burr has really let us down.

But there’s an even bigger movement nationwide to hold members of Congress accountable for their records—and we’re part of it. It’s called ONE NATION, a broad and diverse coalition that has come together to build a future of shared prosperity, not stubborn unemployment and a lost generation, and to reverse the dangerous economic course America has been on.

ONE NATION includes our union, the AFL-CIO and civil, human rights, faith, environmental and other progressive allies, united to call for:

• An economy that works for all;
• Good jobs, fair jobs, safe jobs and more jobs;
• Wall Street reform;
• Quality education for every child;
• Reform of our broken immigration system;
• And restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain collectively.

Pulling America back together

On Oct. 2, tens of thousands of working people, young people, retirees, civil rights activists and many others will come together for a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. On the same day—exactly one month before the fall elections—the union movement will hold its biggest labor walk ever, taking our message door-to-door in targeted states around the country. Together we will show the obstructionists in Congress that we are many and diverse, strong and united—and we will fight together for the American Dream and for good jobs now.

We urge you to be part of this national surge of strength to improve life for working families. We are asking all unions to recruit members to march on Washington on 10/2/10. Information on buses will be announced soon, Sign up now by calling or emailing our office or going to http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org/.

Gender pay gap is their own fault

This week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce chose the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – which gave women the right to vote – to blame women for the fact that they get paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. In a post titled “Equality, Suffrage, and a Fetish for Money”, Sr. Director of Communications Brad Peck, writing for the Chamber’s official blog, ChamberPost, said:

“Most of the current “pay gap” is the result of individual choice rather than discrimination.”

The Chamber is opposed to federal legislation – The Paycheck Fairness Act – that would address the pay gap by requiring companies to justify pay discrepancies based on only bona fide factors such as education, training, and experience – provided these are related to the job and a business necessity. The Act would prohibit retaliation by employers for people asserting their legal rights and would make businesses that engage in sex discrimination liable in civil court.

But to the Chamber, women can close the pay gap all by themselves if they would just pick higher paying jobs and wealthier husbands:

“It is true that culturally speaking women are more likely to have to make the tough choices about work-life balance. But as we all seek to fit our values into a dynamic 24/7 economy, let’s not overlook the obvious, immediate, power-of-the-individual solution: choosing the right place to work and choosing the right partner at home.”

Doubt won’t close this gap

The Chamber spokesperson used scare quotes around the words pay gap – as if it wasn’t real or to be taken seriously. Not only is women getting paid less than men a reality, it’s true even when they have the same jobs. Zaid Jilani at Think Progress notes:

While it’s true that women sometimes migrate into fields that have lower pay, what Peck ignores is that even within the same occupation, women are paid less. For example, data collected by the Census Bureau in 2007 shows that “female secretaries…earn just 83.4% as much as male ones” and female truck drivers “earn just 76.5% of the weekly pay of their male counterparts.” A report put out this year by the University of Minnesota finds that women in that state are “are paid $11,000 dollars less each year than men with the same jobs.” A 2007 American Association of University Women report compared men and women with similar “hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors normally associated with pay” and found that “college-educated women still earn less than their male peers earn“; the report concludes that workplace discrimination is the culprit in the wage gap.

It is important to note that this pay inequity is so pervasive that it even affects people who undergo a sex change. In 2008, researchers Kristen Schilt and Matthew Wiswall examined the wages over their lifetimes of people before and after a sex change operation. Even “when controlling for factors like education, men who transitioned to women earned, on average, 32% less after the surgery. Women who became men, on the other hand, earned 1.5% more.”

Fight for equal pay “a Scrooge-like fetish for money”

People fighting for equal pay for equal work, the Chamber says, are consumed by “a Scrooge-like fetish for money.” Essentially, if you’re concerned about the negative effects of women earning 23 cents less than every dollar men earn, you’re just being greedy.

Putting aside the laughable idea that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce should be lecturing anybody about being greedy, it fits with the Chamber’s long history of hating women, says FDL’s Michael Whitney:

In case you were wondering if this was a one-off incident, rest assured: the US Chamber of Commerce really hates women.

• 1977: US Chamber opposes amendment to Civil Rights Act that would ban discrimination against pregnant women.
• 1978: US Chamber says pregnancy is a “voluntary” condition in its opposition to Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
• 1987: Family Medical Leave Act “sets a dangerous precedent,” according to the US Chamber.
• 1998: US Chamber opposes Equal Pay Act because “work experience does tend to create greater wage gaps.”
• 2007: US Chamber opposes Lilly Ledbetter’s court case for equal pay because “tear-stained testimony” prejudices against a defendant. Opposed the bill in Congress to right the wrongs against Ledbetter in 2008 and 2009 as well.
• 2007: Chamber official pledges “all out war” against Family Medical Leave Act, and in 2010 made it a “priority” to fight in Congress.
• Monday: US Chamber again cites pregnancy as a “voluntary choice.”

On the side of teachers, firefighters, public safety officers…

Last week, Congress passed and the President quickly signed into law a bill that will save literally hundreds of thousands of American jobs. The law provides $16 billion in Medicaid funding assistance and $10 billion for teachers’ jobs. Failure to pass this bill would have meant state and local governments – which cannot operate a budget deficit and are still reeling from massive shortfalls since Wall Street nearly triggered a second Great Depression in 2008 – would have been forced into a new round of layoffs.

In North Carolina alone, some 5,700 public school teachers will be in class instead of in unemployment lines because of this law. Our economic recovery depends on fixing the jobs crisis. In signing this bill into law, President Obama and Democrats in Congress prevailed against a nearly unanimous Republican opposition, which seems determined to make the crisis worse.

On the side of Wall Street and outsourcing…

This law was fully funded, in part by closing a corporate tax loophole that rewarded multi-national corporations for exporting our jobs. Republican allies of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the Senate had filibustered the bill for months to protect this tax break for outsourcing.

After the Senate overcame Republican obstruction to pass the bill and send it to the House for final consideration, House Republican leader, John Boehner attacked – without irony – closing the outsourcing loophole as a “job killing tax hike” and derided the teachers, firefighters, and police officers whose jobs would be saved as “liberal special interests.”

The House passed the bill by a vote of 247-161. Not one Republican from North Carolina voted for this bill. AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, released a statement:

“With today’s vote, House Republicans showed they value Wall Street and tax cuts for the rich over teachers, police and firefighters.  This is yet another example in the laundry list of anti-jobs votes they’ve taken.  They voted ‘no’ even though the Congressional Budget Office estimated this measure will reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion.

“This bill reduces the deficit by closing tax loopholes that reward companies for sending American jobs overseas.  So not only did these Republicans vote against saving jobs in America — they voted to keep encouraging corporations to outsource jobs during this recession. [...]

“Come November working people will remember who stood for jobs and who stood in the way.”

We will, indeed, remember in November.

Burr says it’s “No longer an emergency”

For over 450,000 workers in North Carolina who are unemployed, the emergency is as real as it’s ever been. Despite this, Senator Burr has voted repeatedly AGAINST extending unemployment benefits, the only source of income for people who have – through no fault of their own – lost their jobs to the recession.

After his most recent vote against aid for the jobless, in an interview on Monday, Burr explained to Politico why he didn’t support extending aid for the jobless: unemployment “is no longer an emergency.”

In a press release issued on Tuesday, NC State AFL-CIO President, James Andrews, responded:

“Working families across North Carolina deserve a leader who understands what they’re going through in this tough economy. If Senator Burr really thinks unemployment is ‘no longer an emergency,’ he should ask the thousands of hardworking North Carolinians who have lost their jobs and are actively looking for work if they think this is not an emergency situation for their families. Burr should immediately apologize for his hurtful and out of touch remarks and pledge to support future extensions of jobless aid as needed.”

The full article in which the comments appears is available here.

Attention first-responders in North Carolina

Last night, the House of Representatives failed to pass the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) on a 255-159 vote, with 243 Democrats and 12 Republicans voting in favor – not enough on a procedural vote that required two-thirds support. The bill would provide up to $7.4 billion in health care aid to Ground Zero workers who have dealt with serious health problems since 9/11.

Instead of voting on the substance of the bill – aid for police, firefighters, paramedics and other heroes who ran to the scene to help while people fled in terror and have suffered the consequences to their health ever since – Republican leadership in the House hung their objections to the bill around the procedure. Like on so many bills in Congress these days, for an intransigent minority party, process trumped substance, and workers are the losers.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) would have none of it. In what can only be called must-see C-SPAN, Rep. Weiner explodes on the GOP leadership in the House for providing cover to the Republican caucus to oppose the process and defeat the bill:

“‘Oh, if only we had a different process we’d vote yes.’ You vote yes if you believe yes! You vote in favor of something if you believe it’s the right thing! If you believe it’s the wrong thing, you vote no!”

Voting ‘No’ from North Carolina:

1. Rep. Virginia Foxx [R, NC-5]
2. Rep. Howard Coble [R, NC-6]
3. Rep. Sue Myrick [R, NC-9]
4. Rep. Patrick McHenry [R, NC-10]

Voting ‘Yes’ from North Carolina:

1. Rep. George Butterfield [D, NC-1]
2. Rep. Bob Etheridge [D, NC-2]
3. Rep. Walter Jones [R, NC-3]
4. Rep. David Price [D, NC-4]
5. Rep. Mike McIntyre [D, NC-7]
6. Rep. Larry Kissell [D, NC-8]
7. Rep. Heath Shuler [D, NC-11]
8. Rep. Brad Miller [D, NC-13]

AFL-CIO President Trumka responds

Most House Republicans and the groups that back them like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce care more about protecting the interests of foreign corporations than our nation’s heroes, says AFL-CIO President, Rich Trumka:

“Helping the thousands of 9/11 responders and others who are now sick as a result of their exposures at the World Trade Center should not be a partisan issue. But sadly, the majority of House Republicans voted against this bill, even though its costs were fully paid for as required under the PAYGO rules by closing a tax loophole for foreign firms that operate in the United States. It appears that some Republicans and business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, are more concerned with protecting the interests of the foreign based companies who try to avoid paying taxes than helping those who answered the nation’s call on 9/11.”

Free tax cuts for the rich, no unemployment extension unless it’s paid for

Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), the second ranking Republican in the Senate, said this week that tax cuts for the rich should never be offset to avert their impact on the federal budget deficit – but unemployment benefit extensions must be fully paid for in advance.

Kyl called unemployment benefits “a necessary evil” and “not an economic matter”, and he disputed the assessment by economists, supported by the Congressional Budget Office, that extending unemployment benefits is among the best forms of economic stimulus, a simple concept according to Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo:

The stimulus argument for extending emergency unemployment benefits during a recession is simple: If unemployed people lose benefits, then they stop spending money, which shrinks the economy, and costs more jobs. Extending the benefits forestalls that. Kyl says that, while there is a political and humanitarian benefit to giving constituents unemployment benefits, the government deficits they engender do more harm to the economy than systemic unemployment could.

Of course, if the Republican leadership in the Senate really cared about government deficits doing harm to the economy, they would do well to remember it’s Bush’s tax cuts for the rich – not $300 a week unemployment checks – that are the biggest threat:

So there we have it – the upside down economic priorities of Senate Republicans like our own Richard Burr: free tax cuts for the rich no matter the cost, but no “evil” unemployment insurance for the jobless unless paid for in full.

If Republicans take control of the Congress after the election in November, at least we’ll know what to expect from them: more of the same philosophy and leadership that got us into the mess we’re into in the first place.

Bill now moves to Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives took an important step forward in providing fire fighters, police officers, and other public safety workers collective bargaining rights by passing the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act as an amendment to the war supplemental spending bill moving through the Congress.

Most states already provide bargaining rights to public safety workers. Only North Carolina and Virginia make it illegal for public employees – including safety workers – to sit down at the table and bargain as equals with their employer. This bill would change that for public safety workers, and it’s a long time in coming, says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger:

“Seventy-five years after passage of the National Labor Relations Act, fire fighters are a step closer to having the same rights that workers in the private sector have had since 1935.”

Tell Kay Hagan keep her campaign promise of support

Kay Hagan won the endorsement of the IAFF in 2008 after pledging her support for the collective bargaining bill. Now staff for the Senator are indicating she has changed her position.

“This is unacceptable,” says Greensboro firefighter and Vice President of PFFPNC Local 947 , Dave Coker:

“We are asking that you contact Senator Hagan’s office and urge her to live up to the promises she made to firefighters in North Carolina and vote for the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act.

“I can’t stress how important these phone calls will be as we head into this fight.  You can bet that the City/County Managers and others will be calling Senator Hagan and encouraging her to vote against the bill.”

Here’s the number to Kay Hagan’s DC office: 202-224-6342; and her state headquarters in Greensboro: 336-333-5311; and her Raleigh office: 919-856-4630; and her Charlotte office: 704-334-2448; and her Asheville office: 828-257-6510; and her Greenville office: 252-754-0707.

For more information about this legislation, visit the IAFF website.

Info clearinghouse for Affordable Care Act

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched an innovative website, HealthCare.gov, as implementation of the historic Affordable Care Act began July 1. The new site is a clearinghouse for information about the new law, but it’s also an important tool for consumers.

With a few mouse clicks at HealthCare.gov, you can find insurance options, learn about prevention, compare care quality, understand the new law, and find information tailored for you. Get a quick introduction to some of the most important features of HealthCare.gov by watching this video by HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius:

Just the beginning of reforms

The Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Obama last March, went into effect on July 1, 2010. While it will take time for the new law to be fully implemented, several important aspects have already gone into effect:

• Cash rebates for seniors who fall into the Medicare Part D prescription drug “doughnut hole”, which the law will ultimately close.
• Tax credits for small businesses of up to 35% the employer’s cost to provide insurance to employees.
• Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan established nationwide for people unable to buy insurance to bridge the gap until 2014 when such discrimination will be outlawed.
• Matching federal dollars for states to afford to expand Medicaid coverage for the poor.
• $2.5 billion in aid to states to help agencies evaluate and fight unwarranted insurance company premiums increases.
• Creation of the HealthCare.gov website to help consumers compare coverage options and monitor implementation of the Act.

Beginning in September of this year, several more provisions will go into effect, including an end to insurance company abuses like rescinding your coverage when you get sick, allowing young adults to join or stay on their parent’s policy, mandating free preventative care, eliminating lifetime benefit caps, and eliminating denial of coverage for children with pre-existing conditions.

Be sure to check out the timeline for more information about these reforms and what’s to come thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

Richard Burr is slick with oil contributions

A coalition including the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, SEIU, and veterans group VoteVets.org has launched a new ad slamming Republican Senator Richard Burr for siding with Big Oil companies and against the American people. Senator Burr has taken over $426 thousand from Big Oil and Gas to fuel his campaign for reelection so he can spend six more years in Washington, DC, protecting corporate interests:

Instead of doing the bidding of oil companies and voting to exempt them from their responsibility under the law to clean up the way they do business, our senator should side with the people of North Carolina and support legislation to end our country’s addiction to foreign oil and create the clean energy jobs of the future.

A chart back to reality

Deficit peacocks – like our own Republican Senator, Richard Burr – succeeded in killing legislation to extend unemployment insurance, COBRA subsidies, and aid to the states to avoid massive layoffs. Their victory is a loss for workers and working families struggling to cope with layoffs and long-term unemployment inflicted upon them through no fault of their own.

Well here’s a reality check that even phony deficit hawks like Burr cannot ignore. They like to pretend that deficits magically appeared in January 2009. This chart shows the economic and military policies of the Bush Administration and the Republican controlled Congress who authorized them are to blame for the dismal long-term outlook of our federal budget, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

The Bush Tax Cuts for the rich are the number one driver of long-term deficits; stimulus spending is but a sliver.

Our emergency is unemployment, not deficits

The number one priority of every elected official should be creating jobs and preventing the collapse of the job market – there are 5 people out of work for every 1 job opening – from undermining economic recovery. Economists agree that the best use of federal dollars in sustaining that recovery is extending unemployment insurance, the only source of income for millions of Americans who even without jobs still need to buy gas and groceries, pay their rent and utility bills. As soon as that money comes in, it’s out the door stimulating the local economy.

The two best solutions to long-term budget deficits are to get people back to work and let Bush’s ill-conceived tax cuts for the super rich expire. The next time you hear someone say President Obama’s reckless spending is bankrupting our country, show them this chart back to reality.

It takes a Senate of millionaires to hold us back

Outrageous. Stunningly callous. Business as usual for the minority party in our dysfunctional Senate.

All of these are ways to describe the Republican-led effort to filibuster – repeatedly – and successfully kill a jobs bill, aid to the states, and extensions of vital unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits.

Senator Richard Burr voted with his party against Democratic efforts to pass anything – even a bill vastly paired down from the comprehensive jobs bill the House already approved.

Arthur Delaney at the Huffington Post reports on the doomed effort of Senate Democrats to appease deficit peacocks:

“But after jettisoning several provisions to help the old, the poor and the jobless, reducing the bill’s ten-year deficit impact down from $134 billion to just $33 billion, the bill is still sinking. Not a single Republican is willing to lend support and Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson is still holding out, leaving Democrats two votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster.”

On June 1, extended unemployment insurance for 1.2 million Americans expired. The bill Senate Democrats tried to pass would have extended those benefits through the end of the year. Subsidies of COBRA benefits – the only way workers can keep health insurance after losing their jobs – also expired. Aid to states to avoid massive teacher layoffs beginning July 1 – up to 900,000 jobs – also failed.

From Mike Hall, reporting for AFL-CIO Now Blog:

The Republican blockade means about 250,000 unemployed workers a week lose their benefits, which averages around $300 a week, while Republican lawmakers take in a nifty $3,346.16 a week of taxpayers’ money.

Maybe if they spent a few months out of work in an economy where the unemployment rate is near 10 percent, at least 15 million people are out of work and 6.8 million people have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, they wouldn’t be so cavalier in calling for “tough love” for the unemployed and telling them they’re just not looking hard for work.

Seventy-three years later, history repeats itself

In 1937, Republicans in Congress convinced President Franklin Roosevelt to stop spending to reduce unemployment and instead focus on balancing the budget. The result was the so-called “Roosevelt Recession” when unemployment doubled.

David Welna of National Public Radio covered the historical perspective this morning:

Many economists agree that government spending – even with borrowed money – gives a boost to the overall economy, especially one battered by the worst recession in most peoples’ lifetime.

“The Depression, as bad as it was, would have been much worse without the government spending,” says Alan Brinkley, a historian of the Depression at Columbia University. “And the 1937 effort to balance the budget – I think almost every economist would agree – was a catastrophe.”

Killing jobs to defend the super rich

The jobs bill that Republicans killed in the Senate would have cost $3.5 billion a year over the next decade. As noted here, our tax system currently subsidizes the incomes of the richest 400 individuals to the tune of $18 billion every year.

Tula Connell breaks it down at the AFL-CIO Now Blog

So, in short: Republicans in Congress are out of touch with the American people and are working with the growing group of millionaires – like coal mine owner Don Blankenship of Massey Energy Co. and BP CEO Tony Hayward – to ride roughshod over those whose sweat and hard work built this nation.

When you hear Republican Senators like Richard Burr crow about how reducing the deficit is more important than passing legislation to provide a paltry $300 a week in unemployment insurance to laid-off workers, many of whom have been out of work more than a year, he’s telling you all you need to know about Republican priorities for our country:

“Let them eat cake.”

Top tax rates plummet even as incomes ‘skyrocket’

The world has turned upside down. Over the past few decades, if you were among the richest 400 taxpayers in the United States, the more money you made, the less you paid in taxes. That’s the finding of a new report issued by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

The top 400 households paid 16.6 percent of their income in federal individual income taxes in 2007, down from 30 percent in 1995. This decline works out to a tax cut of $46 million per filer in 2007, or a total of $18 billion in tax cuts for these households per year.

That’s serious money not available to spend on creating jobs, extending unemployment benefits, providing public education, fixing our broken infrastructure, or transitioning to a clean energy economy.

System rigged to benefit insanely rich

The reason for the decline in the effective tax rate is the top 400 filers earn most of their money (66%) from capital gains and stock dividends – income taxed at 15%, less than half the tax paid on ordinary income. The Republican controlled Congress slashed capital gains taxes in 1997 and again in 2003. The tax on capital gains is now almost half what it was under Ronald Reagan (28%).

The rich are getting richer, too. During the last economic expansion from 2002 to 2007, two-thirds of the wealth generated went to 1% of the population. Even as the incomes of the super rich exploded, they paid less in taxes than teachers, fire fighters, or doctors. In fact, the top 400 filers actually made more after taxes:

Because of the steep reduction in effective tax rates for the top 400 households, their after-tax incomes grew even faster than their pre-tax incomes. Between 1992 and 2007, their average income after federal income taxes increased by 475 percent.

The next time you hear a candidate for U.S. Senate claim we can’t afford to extend unemployment benefits, COBRA subsidies, or provide aid to cash-strapped states to avoid draconian cuts to education and other public services, think of the 400 richest Americans – in a nation of 300 million – whose income we subsidize every year to the tune of $18 BILLION.

Click here to read the full report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

VIDEO: Connecting the dots

“No jobs. No future.” That was one of the slogans chanted at the March on Wall St. The fight for jobs is the fight for our future. Everything depends on creating jobs – repairing the housing crisis, boosting consumer confidence, avoiding long-term budget crises, and closing current holes in state and local budgets.

The people who started the financial crisis of 2008 – Wall Street bankers – are responsible for the loss of 11 million jobs in this country. It’s only right they pay for the programs necessary to create jobs.

In this video, AFL-CIO Policy Director Damon Silvers explains what we mean when we say: Good Jobs Now, Make Wall Street Pay, with an introduction by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Watch the video:

This video is perfect for showing at your next union or council meeting. Please share it.

Rule implements President Obama’s executive order

A new rule published by the Department of Labor will ensure employees of federal contractors and subcontractors know their rights to join and form unions under the National Labor Relations Act.

The change means “more stable labor-management relations and a more engaged workforce, which in turn facilitates greater efficiency and timely completion of federal contracts,” said John Lund, director of the department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards in a news release announcing the regulation:

Federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to post the prescribed employee rights notice at their workplaces. The notice lists employees’ rights under the NLRA to form, join and assist a union and to bargain collectively with their employer; provides examples of unlawful employer and union conduct that interferes with those rights; and indicates how employees can contact the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces those rights, with questions or complaints. The rule implements provisions of Executive Order13496, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Jan. 30, 2009. The requirement for posting this employee notice must be included in every covered federal contract and subcontract.

No longer will contractors be able to obfuscate their employees’ labor law rights. “Knowing you have rights guaranteed by law is a first step to exercising those rights,” said AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka:

“The new rule published today by President Obama’s Department of Labor will provide workers with a clear understanding of their rights and begin to break the stranglehold of anti-union propaganda in the workplace.

“For too long, our government has tried to walk back from its duty under the NLRA to promote – not simply tolerate – collective bargaining and the rights of workers to come together to improve their lives. Working people have been hurt by a workplace culture that puts corporate interests before workers’ rights, aided and abetted by the actions of previous administrations.”

Contractors that violate the requirements of the regulations may be subject to sanctions, including suspension or cancellation of the contract.

Fight is for collective bargaining rights

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union of federal workers, has been with employees at the Transportation Security Administration since the department was created in 2002.

Workers at TSA, who are the first line of defense at the nation’s airports against terrorist attacks, are not allowed to bargain a contract over pay, benefits, and – perhaps most importantly – fair and equitable working conditions and dignity on the job.

The law creating TSA gives the agency unprecedented authority, and TSA has been exercising it. Management acts with impunity, disciplining and reassigning workers as it sees fit, and using favoritism and discrimination to determine promotions, overtime, and health and safety.

For eight years, Transportation Security Officers (TSO’s) have joined AFGE, which has been able to fight unfair work rules on Capitol Hill and in court, and winning important victories (opens PDF).

On Wednesday, May 5, 2010, workers from AFGE and other unions and community allies rallied at Charlotte Douglas International Airport to show support for TSO’s and their union. James Andrews, President of the NC State AFL-CIO, told those gathered he can’t imagine the kind of pressure workers at TSA are under every day:

“They can’t afford to make a mistake because the safety of the country is in their hands when they’re on the job. Now it seems to me it would be common sense to say that you want those workers not to have to worry about wages and working conditions and benefits.”

Watch the video from the TSA rally in Charlotte:

Andrews commended TSA workers at the Charlotte airport and across the country who are standing together in AFGE “because it takes courage to stand up against an employer like TSA.” He pledged that we will stand with them:

“I’ve got a clear message I want to send to those who are in the way of collective bargaining: ‘One day longer.’ That is that the workers, the community, the national AFL-CIO, unions across this country will stand together one day longer than you will be able to stand in the way.”

Learn more at http://www.tsaunion.net/.

Numbers up 8% over 2000 Census

North Carolina leads all other states in increased participation in the 2010 Census, up 8 percentage points over this time during the 2000 Census. Our state is also above the national average in total participation. As of April 27, 2010, almost three-quarters (74%) of all North Carolinians had mailed in their completed census form.

Said Governor Bev Perdue on North Carolina’s strong showing thus far:

“North Carolina continues to be one of the fastest growing states in the country so counting every resident is critical to our future [...] I commend the North Carolina Complete Count Committee, local census committees, and volunteers from around the state in helping North Carolina improve our census participation rate.  We have had a great team effort between federal, state and local levels.”

Counting continues with door to door effort

If you did not mail back your completed census form, you can expect a visit from a Census enumerator. The job of counting everyone in the United States every 10 years will be filled this time as in others by Census workers from your community. Open your doors to these folks, and let’s make sure each person in our state is counted, so North Carolina gets the resources and representation we deserve.

For more information about North Carolina in the 2010 Census, visit http://www.2010census.nc.gov/.

Former employees at Concord, NC plant to get assistance

Shortly after last year’s stimulus package included a little-publicized provision that liberalized the eligibility requirements for Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) benefits, IAMAW Local Lodge 108 and BCTGM Local 229T, the two unions representing employees at the Philip Morris facility in Concord, filed a joint petition seeking TAA benefits for employees at the plant.

On April 15, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor granted the petition. An earlier petition on behalf of employees at the plant had been denied by the DOL. As a result of this decision, laid off employees may now be entitled, depending on the individual circumstances of each, to a number of different benefits, including training of several types, job search assistance, relocation allowances, extended unemployment benefits, and health care tax credits.

The petition was filed by Local President Eric Wiggins and Greg Dayton on behalf of IAMAW Local Lodge 108, and by Local President Amos “Mac” McClorey and William Morris on behalf of BCTWU Local 229T. Attorney Mike Okun and his colleague Narendra Ghosh assisted both locals with the filing of the joint petition.

U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell (D-8th) told the Charlotte Business Journal:

“The TAA petition certification will help lessen the negative impacts of the Philip Morris closure on its employees,” Kissell (D-N.C.) says in a statement. “While it will never completely replace what has been lost, it will help these employees with education, retraining or assistance in finding new jobs.”

The Philip Morris plant in Concord, NC employed over 2,500 people – most of them union members – before closing last year, and it was the single largest source of tax revenue for the town of Concord.

Party politics trumps doing anything for N.C.

The effects of the Great Recession have been devastating to our state’s budget. Tax collections are down due to massive job losses and reduced consumer spending while increased demand for public services like unemployment threaten North Carolina’s ability to fund its single largest expenditure – public education. The result has been major cuts to education – $789 million and the layoff of 3,700 teachers statewide this year.

Under Gov. Perdue’s new budget, school districts would have to find another $215 million in cuts for next year. Recently, Durham Public Schools announced 263 more teachers will lose their jobs, and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools are considering laying off up to 600 teachers for the 2010-11 school year. That’s on top of the 238 teachers at CMS who lost their jobs this year.

While the Recovery Act of 2009 provided $100 billion in emergency aid to the states for education, most of that money was spent this year. Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of teachers face losing their jobs at the end of June if nothing is done to avoid drastic cuts in education to balance state budgets.

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee chairman, Tom Harkin (D-IA), has introduced a $23 billion education jobs bill to prevent these massive teacher layoffs next year. The National Journal reports Sen. Harkin can expect no support from his Republican colleagues, including Sen. Richard Burr:

Another GOP member, Richard Burr of North Carolina, said he hadn’t seen the bill but “couldn’t imagine” he would support it, positing that it’s not the role of the federal government to hire teachers.

It’s not just public education that will suffer because of these layoffs, notes Pat Garofalo, economy reporter for the blog Think Progress:

Leaving aside the detrimental effect these layoffs will have on schoolchildren, preserving these jobs acts as economic stimulus, because instead of going on unemployment benefits, these teachers and other employees keep collecting a paycheck, spending money, and boosting demand. But Burr can’t find it in his head to imagine a situation in which that might be a good thing.

Show solidarity w/transport security workers

The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union in the country but also is the largest and most trusted union in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), with more than 13,500 dues-paying members and 35 Locals nationwide. AFGE has been the voice of TSA employees since the very beginning.

When created over 8 years ago, the Bush Administration refused to allow TSA employees the right to collectively bargain.

What: Rally for TSA Collective Bargaining Rights!
When: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 from 11 am to 1 pm
Where: Charlotte Douglas International Airport/At Queen Charlotte Statue

Download the flyer for this event and share it with your network.

Over the past eight years, we’ve been fighting unfair work rules and policies on behalf of Transportation Security Officers (TSO) on Capitol Hill, in meetings with TSA management and in court.

Even though the law creating TSA gives the agency unprecedented authority and TSA has been exercising it, AFGE is able to bring justice to the workplace by winning TSOs their jobs back and influencing positive changes in work rules. TSA has revised its policies numerous times after the union brought the issues up with management.

For more information regarding the May 5th Rally at Charlotte Douglas International Airport please contact: Glen Stolburg at 412-956-5574 or stolbg@afge.org.

For more information about AFGE and the campaign to win bargaining rights at the TSA, please visit: http://www.afge.org or http://www.tsaunion.net.

Invest in job creation, not fighting financial reform

On April 28 folks from all walks of life – including union members, people of faith, and the unemployed – demonstrated outside the Bank of America (BofA) shareholder meeting in Charlotte, NC to demand Wall St banks stop fighting financial reform and do more to fix the job crisis they created in 2008.

BofA is one of the six mega-banks left standing after years of shady dealing caught up with the financial sector in Fall 2008 and triggered the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. These banks – BofA, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley – each control over 10% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

BofA received a $45 billion bailout in Fall 2008, and while it has paid that money back, the bank continues to take advantage of substantial support through zero interest loans at the Federal Reserve. Instead of increasing lending to small businesses and investing in job creation, BofA is using this money to fight financial reform and lavish absurd pay on executives, spending $145 billion in total compensation for 2009.

Stop the greed

NC State AFL-CIO President, James Andrews, spoke at the rally outside the shareholder meeting. “I am so proud to stand here with our coalition partners to say to Bank of America and other banks: ‘Stop the greed!’,” he said to the crowd of over a hundred protesters. “It is time for these banks like Bank of America…to invest in creating some of the jobs they destroyed.”

We have added several videos from the action, including remarks by Rev. Jesse Jackson, to our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/aflcionc. Pictures of the action are in our Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aflcionc.

Crashing the party

MaryBe McMillan, Secretary-Treasurer of the NC State AFL-CIO, was part of a delegation of protesters with proxies allowing them into the shareholders meeting. Once inside the meeting, McMillan introduced an AFL-CIO resolution on limiting CEO pay. Like most other shareholder resolutions offered at the meeting, our resolution was defeated. Read MaryBe McMillan’s statement on our proposal at the meeting.

Three autoworkers from UAW 3520 in Cleveland, NC – George Drexel, John Stewart, and Keith Fink – got up in the question and answer session of the meeting and asked bank executives how much money they were spending to defeat financial reform. (Although BofA supports the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, it continues to fight other essential reforms.) Executives gave a series of non-answers, but thanks to the Center for Responsive Politics, we know how much BofA spent lobbying in 2009: $3.6 million.

B of A is failing America

Workers, clergy, veterans, civic leaders, and community groups from the NC State AFL-CIO and NC United Power will converge for an important action at the Bank of America shareholders’ meeting in Charlotte on the morning of April 28th.

Come out and demand accountability from B of A for its billions in taxpayer bailouts. Tell the bank to modify loans and save homes from foreclosure. Call on bank leaders to quit fighting financial reform that would protect consumers. Shame bank bosses for giving themselves fat bonuses with our hard-earned tax dollars.

What: Rally and action at B of A shareholders meeting
When: Wednesday, April 28 at 8:30 AM
Where: Gathering place is First United Presbyterian Church, 406 N. College Street, Charlotte, NC 28802

Download the flyer for more information, including the agenda, and share it with your networks.

Organizers urge adoption of multiple ideas to help struggling families

On Wednesday, Historic Thousands on Jones St (HKonJ) partners, the NC Justice Center, NC NAACP, and the NC State AFL-CIO, among others, held a jobs summit at the Martin St. Baptist Church in Raleigh, where Governor Perdue was urged to consider multiple proposals to get unemployed North Carolinians back to work, including:

1. Effectively implement remaining provisions of the Recovery Act, including using funds for summer youth employment and weatherizing homes.
2. Support important federal policy choices by calling on Congress to extend key parts of the Recovery Act like unemployment aid and COBRA subsidies and pass The Local Jobs for America Act.
3. Responsibly fix state budget by maximizing federal support and raising the revenue to maintain core services and employment.
4. Maximize effectiveness of development by shifting aid to poorer counties and targeting the long-term unemployed for new hires.
5. Enact bold new strategies to bolster private sector employment.
6. Adopt economic reforms that promote shared opportunity and prosperity for workers.

John Stewart, UAW, shares his story at the jobs summit

John Stewart is a UAW member and former employee at Freightliner. John lost his job as a mechanic in February 2009 when the company shipped his job to Mexico. Since losing his source of income, John has struggled to take care of his family, including his wife who is battling a terminal illness. “Having a wife with a terminal disease, it’s hard to come up with $1,200, $1,300 a month just to purchase a couple prescriptions to ease her pain,” John told those in attendance.

Here John Stewart shares his story with NC Policy Watch:

You can read more about the Jobs Summit in the media coverage it received:

• Governor Focuses On Education At Jobs Summit | MyNC.com
• Community groups urge Perdue to create jobs | WRAL TV
• Perdue speaks at jobs summit, listens to residents’ stories | WRAL.com
• Summit: Lack of jobs, ‘outrageous’ health care costs hurting NC families | NC Policy Watch
• Minority job picture called bad | News & Observer

By Chris Fitzsimon

Chris Fitzsimon writes a blog, the Fitzsimon File, at NC Policy Watch. Earlier this week, he published this piece on the hypocrisy of the tax day Tea Party protesters, which he has given us permission to reprint in full:

Thursday is April 15, tax day, so get ready for the annual onslaught of government bashing and wild exaggerations about the taxes we pay from folks holding protests on streets paid for by tax dollars while being protected by law enforcement officers funded by our tax payments.

If somebody has a heart attack, a taxpayer funded EMT will respond. If a fire breaks out, people at the rally know the publicly funded fire department will rush to the scene.

Many seniors in the crowd will complain about the government that just paid for their latest visit to the doctor. Many speakers with degrees from state universities will rail against the taxes that paid for much of their college education.

Many of the people carrying signs blasting big bad government will have recently cashed their social security check or pension payment from the State of North Carolina.

Then the ralliers will head to lunch at a restaurant where their tax dollars made sure the food is safe and the electrical wiring is sound and won’t cause a fire while they are complaining about the size of their government.

Any signs or empty soda bottles left on the sidewalk by the anti-government protestors will be picked up by employees of the government the ralliers despise.

Some parents will leave lunch to pick up their children from the schools our tax money funds where they learn from the teachers our tax dollars pay. Others will stop by the daycare center that our taxes make sure is built to code and take their kids to the park that our tax dollars bought for all of us to enjoy.

All this while breathing the air that our tax dollars make sure is safe to breathe and standing on land our tax dollars make sure is not contaminated with chemicals that can harm us.

Then the ralliers will head home and turn on the lights powered by the area’s nuclear plant that our tax dollars make sure is operated safely and make dinner using the water from the system our tax dollars fund before giving their kids a bath as the water disappears into the sewer system that the government operates.

Then the protesters will stuff their homemade signs into the trash and roll the can and the recycling to the curb so it can be picked up and hauled away by the government that the signs condemn.

Then it’s back into the house that is also protected by the police and firefighters that our tax dollars pay and turn out the lights and sleep soundly knowing that no bombs or missiles will fall in the night because of the men and women in the armed forces that our taxes support.

Then the alarm clock will sound, bringing the protesters another day to complain about their government.

NC Policy Watch is a project of the NC Justice Center and a public policy organization trying to change the way elected officials debate the important issues facing North Carolina. Learn more at http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/.

Take your money. You’ve earned it!

Did you or your family earn less than $48,279 in 2009? You may be eligible to receive a tax credit of up to $5,657 this year, but you have to file your return by April 15, 2010.

The Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, provides tax credits to working adults and families with low or moderate incomes. Single working adults and married couples without children are even eligible for tax credits of up to $457, and the average EITC refund is more than $1000 per family.

You may be eligible for this tax credit even if you receive government benefits like Social Security, welfare, or unemployment benefits, or other income like child support or alimony, since these are not considered to be earned income.

In North Carolina, more than 100,000 people who are eligible for the EITC fail to claim it every year, leaving more than $100 million dollars unclaimed! At a time when many families are struggling due to the country’s economic crisis, you cannot afford to leave your money unclaimed. This money can be used to buy things you and your family need, like a more reliable vehicle, to pay down your debt, for education or starting your own business, or to save for a home. Click here for a publication about the EITC, Helping North Carolinians Qualify for the New State Earned Income Tax Credit (PDF), from the NC Department of Revenue.

To claim the federal EITC, you must file your federal tax return and for the state of N.C. EITC, you must file a state of NC tax return. If you need help to file your tax return, VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) provides free tax preparation services for families with incomes under $50,000, so you can save the money you might pay for tax filing assistance.

For more information about your eligibility for the tax credits, and to find a VITA tax preparation site near you, call the toll-free tax help line at 1-888-927-3230, or visit www.eitc-carolinas.org. Take your money, you earned it!

Chances are good you’ll pay less in taxes this year

One of candidate Obama’s main campaign promises was to reduce the tax burden on the middle class. President Obama made that promise a reality when he signed the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka the stimulus). Over 1/3 of all money in the Recovery Act was tax cuts. Ninety-five percent of all Americans received a tax cut because of the Recovery Act. The Recovery Act created new tax credits and expanded eligibility for several others, including:

• The Earned Income Tax Credit (federal and state) worth up to $5,657.
• The Child Tax Credit worth up to $1,000 per child.
• The Making Work Pay Tax Credit worth up to $400 or $800 for join-filers.
• Economic Recovery payments up to $250.
• The First-Time Homebuyer Credit worth $8,000.
• Residential Energy Credits up to $1500.
• The New Sales Tax Deduction for Vehicle Purchases.
• Tax-Free unemployment benefits up to $2,400.
• COBRA subsidies of up to 65% of the cost of medical insurance premiums.

The President covered many of the new provisions in tax law in his recent weekly address:

It’s not too late to get the tax credits owed to you

If you’re like many Americans who filed their tax return already, you can amend your return – even after April 15 – to get the tax credits owed to you. These credits aren’t a hand out – they’re the law. It’s your money. Take the credit.

B of A is failing America

Workers, clergy, veterans, civic leaders, and community groups from the NC State AFL-CIO and NC United Power will converge for an important action at the Bank of America shareholders’ meeting in Charlotte on the morning of April 28th.

What: Rally and action at B of A shareholders meeting
When: Wed., April 28 at 9:15 AM (shareholders meeting) and at 11:30 AM (rally after shareholders meeting)
Where: Gathering place is First United Presbyterian Church, 406 N. College Street, Charlotte, NC 28802

Come out and demand accountability from B of A for its billions in taxpayer bailouts. Tell the bank to modify loans and save homes from foreclosure. Call on bank leaders to quit fighting financial reform that would protect consumers. Shame bank bosses for giving themselves fat bonuses with our hard-earned tax dollars.

Download the flyer for more information, including the agenda, and share it with your networks.

Time to hold Wall St accountable for destroying jobs

In an op-ed published in the Charlotte Observer last Thursday, NC AFL-CIO President, James Andrews, and national AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, called for banks to pay their fair share to restore the jobs they destroyed in the 2008 collapse of the financial sector.

“But unbelievably, after $700 billion in taxpayer bailout dollars, the big banks are back to business as usual. They are still not lending in their communities, and credit remains tight. They are fighting new taxes on financial speculation and excessive bonuses, even after handing out $145 billion in 2009 executive pay and bonuses. And they are pulling out all the stops to resist new financial rules that are so clearly necessary.”

Read more the full op-ed by clicking here.

Take your money. You’ve earned it!

Did you or your family earn less than $48,279 in 2009?  You may be eligible to receive a tax credit of up to $5,657 this year!

The Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, provides tax credits to working adults and families with low or moderate incomes.  Single working adults and married couples without children are even eligible for tax credits of up to $457, and the average EITC refund is more than $1000 per family.

You may be eligible for this tax credit even if you receive government benefits like Social Security, welfare, or unemployment benefits, or other income like child support or alimony, since these are not considered to be earned income.

In North Carolina, more than 100,000 people who are eligible for the EITC fail to claim it every year, leaving more than $100 million dollars unclaimed!  At a time when many families are struggling due to the country’s economic crisis, you cannot afford to leave your money unclaimed.  This money can be used to buy things you and your family need, like a more reliable vehicle, to pay down your debt, for education or starting your own business, or to save for a home. Click here for a publication about the EITC, Helping North Carolinians Qualify for the New State Earned Income Tax Credit (PDF), from the NC Department of Revenue.

To claim the federal EITC, you must file your federal tax return and for the state of N.C. EITC, you must file a state of NC tax return.  If you need help to file your tax return, VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) provides free tax preparation services for families with incomes under $50,000, so you can save the money you might pay for tax filing assistance.

For more information about your eligibility for the tax credits, and to find a VITA tax preparation site near you, call the toll-free tax helpline at 1-888-927-3230, or visit www.eitc-carolinas.org.  Take your money, you earned it!

WPA put millions of Americans back to work

When President Franklin Roosevelt came to office during the Great Depression, he recognized his most urgent task was putting millions of unemployed and destitute Americans back to work.  Out of this great need for jobs, the Works Progress Administration, one of FDR’s many New Deal job initiatives, was born.

At it’s height in 1938, the WPA was the largest employer in the nation, and between 1935 and 1943, the WPA provided almost 8 million jobs for the unemployed working on public projects like roads, schools and universities like NC State, courthouses, post offices, state and national parks, and public art. Our own Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the many lasting works created by the WPA.

Seventy-five years later, North Carolina struggles with 11.2% unemployment. State and local governments are facing the worst budget crisis since the Great Depression, and without outside assistance, more jobs will be lost. These job losses come at a critical time for the unemployed and underemployed, who rely on public services in an economic downturn more than ever.

Local Jobs for America Act would put people back to work

In a news conference on April 8, the 75th anniversary of the WPA’s creation, groups, including the NC State AFL-CIO, gathered at the anti-poverty NC Justice Center office to argue in favor of new public investments to create jobs and boost the economy. Economists and advocates for workers and the unemployed are endorsing a policy in the WPA’s tradition: Rep. George Miller’s “Local Jobs for America Act.”

“Just as the WPA put people to work 75 years ago, the Local Jobs for America Act will create jobs for a million people and, at the same time, it will ensure that our local communities can continue essential services in the areas of education, public safety, health care, and transportation,” said MaryBe McMillan of the NC State AFL-CIO. “Our communities are hurting. We urge Congress to act quickly on this legislation.”

The Raleigh News & Observer reported on the event:

Alicia Sidney, a 25-year-old mother of two who lives in the Walnut Terrace public housing complex near downtown Raleigh, said she has been unemployed for about six months and is surrounded by unemployed neighbors.

“A public jobs program is what the people of Raleigh need, and they need it yesterday,” she said.

WRAL CBS Channel 5 was also there:

“When we put people back to work, they have money to spend at neighborhood restaurants and businesses, and this, in turn, will spur jobs for local small businesses,” said MaryBe McMillan, of the North Carolina AFL-CIO.

“The Local Jobs for America Act is exactly the kind of bold response we need to address the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression,” says Ross Eisenbrey at the Economic Policy Institute:

The legislation would keep more teachers in the classrooms; put more police officers on the beat; and put more emergency responders in firehouses. In addition, over the next two years, the bill would put another 750,000 Americans directly to work in the public and private sectors. These would be full-time jobs that pay wages that allow workers to make ends meet for their families. And these are jobs that will help meet essential needs in local communities, needs that have only grown as a result of the recession.

Click here to tell your member of Congress to support the Local Jobs for America Act.

North Carolina above national participation rate to-date

The News & Observer reports that North Carolina at 54% is above the national mail participation rate for the 2010 Census:

“We’re above the national number. That’s where you want to be,” said census spokesman Tony Jones, who works in the Charlotte regional census office. “We’re in good shape so far.”

Some North Carolina counties are well ahead of others in mailing back completed census forms. Davie and Perquimans counties lead the count at 63% participation, while Durham is at only 49%. Wake county is at the state average of 54%. The national mail participation rate for the 2000 Census was 72%.

That means a decade ago, census workers tried to track down the forms for the missing 28 percent. Dispatching workers door-to-door is expensive, Jones said, and people can help the government save money by mailing back their form. Each mailed form costs the government only 42 cents, while it costs about $57 on average per household that needs to be counted door-to-door. [emphasis added]

Most significant social reform since Medicare

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the most sweeping changes to our health insurance system since the enactment of Medicare in 1965.

Among the usual guests at the bill signing ceremony in the White House – figures like Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and the Vice President, Joe Biden – was 11-year-old Marcelas Owens of Seattle, WA. Marcelas’ mother died in 2007 after losing her job and her health insurance, one of 45,000 people every year that die because they lack insurance, according to a Harvard Medical School study published last Fall.

The bill signed by the President will go a long way in changing that grim statistic. When all the provisions of the statute go into effect by 2019, the bill ensures 95% of Americans not covered by Medicare will have health insurance.

While it will take time to implement some protections, many benefits of the new law are effective immediately, including:

• Coverage for dependent children is extended up to age 26.
• Children cannot be denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
• Prohibit insurance co. from dropping your coverage when you get sick.
• Provide immediate access to coverage in a temporary high-risk pool for folks who can’t get coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
• Gives $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the Part D donut hole in 2010.
• Eliminates lifetime and annual caps.
• Offer small business tax credits to purchase coverage.
• At least 85% of premium dollars must be spent on care (80% for small groups, individual plans).

In 2014, many new protections will go into effect, including those to reach near universal insurance coverage.

UPDATE: Congress approves raft of reform fixes

From the AFL-CIO Blog:

After Senate Republicans failed yesterday in their last desperate attempt to kill health care reform and allow the insurance industry to control the nation’s health care system, the House last night passed the final piece of legislation that puts working families in charge of their health care.

In a 220-207 vote, the House approved the health care reconciliation bill that fixes several flaws in the health care reform legislation President Obama signed this week – including significantly reducing the tax on working families’ benefits. Says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.):

With this legislation in place, families will have access to even more affordable care than the reform the president signed this week. Seniors will see the prescription drug “donut hole” close faster, and they will start paying less for their prescription drugs this year. Taxpayers will not pay for special deals that favor one state over another, and primary care doctors will receive fair pay for providing critical services to low-income Americans.

Find out how your member of Congress voted by clicking here.

Now is the time to say ‘Yes’

“When I look at the years we’ve been fighting for health care and what it means for working families to start down the path of comprehensive reform, I know the time to step forward is now,” said AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka in a video message to working families announcing the AFL-CIO will support final passage of health care reform:

“If you need any proof, just look at what the insurance companies are doing. They’re all over Capitol Hill trying to stop this bill. They know it’s a game changer for them, and that’s what we need.”

The reconciled bill the House will vote on this weekend isn’t perfect because it’s the result of a long legislative process involving a lot of give-and-take, Trumka explained. “We don’t get to decide every detail,” he said, “but we get to act, and our actions have already made this a much better bill.”

According to an AFL-CIO Blog post, in a press conference call, Trumka told reporters:

“…we are realistic enough to know it’s time for the deliberations to stop and for progress to begin. And we are idealistic enough to believe this is an opportunity to change history we can’t afford to miss.

“Rising health care costs are crushing families and businesses. Middle-class families are losing health care coverage faster than any other group today.”

“This bill is a solid first step in changing that.”

A vote in the House of Representative is expected this weekend. Call your representative at 1-877-3-AFLCIO, and tell him or her to pass the health care reform bill.

Get a report on what legislation means for your Congressional district

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has prepared for all 435 congressional districts a report that details “the impact of the legislation on families, small businesses, seniors in Medicare, health care providers, and the uninsured.”

Click the name of your member of Congress below to get a report for your district (opens PDF file):

• G. K. Butterfield (NC-1)
• Bob Etheridge (NC-2)
• Walter B. Jones (NC-3)
• David E. Price (NC-4)
• Virginia Foxx (NC-5)
• Howard Coble (NC-6)
• Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
• Larry Kissell (NC-8)
• Sue Wilkins Myrick (NC-9)
• Patrick T. McHenry (NC-10)
• Heath Shuler (NC-11)
• Melvin L. Watt (NC-12)
• Brad Miller (NC-13)

For example, let’s take the report for Heath Shuler’s district:

There are 209,000 households that could qualify for substantial tax credits ($5,800 for a family of four making $50,000 a year) when they buy insurance under the new health insurance exchange created by this bill.

There are 14,500 individuals without insurance in Shuler’s district who have pre-existing conditions like heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes who can no longer be denied coverage because of this bill.

There are 147,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Shuler’s district who will benefit from free preventive and wellness care, improving primary and coordinated care, and enhancing nursing home care provided in this bill. 12,000 beneficiaries in his district enter the Medicare Part D ‘donut hole’ each year. A typical beneficiary who enters the donut hole will see savings of over $700 in 2011 and over $3,000 by 2020.

There are 17,200 small businesses in Shuler’s district that could qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance to their employees and 18,300 small businesses that will be able to enter the insurance exchange, increasing their bargaining power with insurance companies.

There are 78,000 residents in Shuler’s district who currently do not have health insurance and will receive coverage under this bill.

There are 12 community health centers in the district that provide health care to the poor and medically underserved. These centers will receive $15.6 million in new assistance because of this legislation.

Take a look at the report for where you live, then call your representative at 1-877-3-AFLCIO, and tell him or her to pass the health care reform bill.

Savings over 20 years: $1.2 trillion

The Congressional Budget Office, the non-partisan budget score keeper Democrats and Republicans alike depend on to tell them what impact bills have on the budget, released it’s report on the revised legislation to reform health care and health insurance – and it’s a huge money saver.

Comprehensive reform will cost the federal government $940 billion over 10 years, but the cost is more than made up for by increases in revenue and reduced costs. The result is a net savings of $130 billion over 10 years.

That’s worth repeating for our readers who are concerned about our nation’s rising debt: doing nothing costs more than passing this bill. If you or your member of Congress has been withholding support of this legislation for fear we cannot afford it, the CBO report should lay those fears to rest.

Cree praised as leader in green technology

Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu were in Durham this week to promote the stimulus bill’s clean-energy tax credit and to tout the accomplishments of Cree, a manufacturer of LED lighting.

Because of a $39 million tax credit, Cree has been able to hire 375 workers in the state since 2009. Cree has also been awarded $1.8 million in stimulus funds to pay for research and development, according to a report in the Durham Herald-Sun:

Biden praised the 23-year-old company for innovating, creating domestic jobs and manufacturing capacity and exporting its products around the world. “A company like Cree is a model for what we’re trying to do,” he said.

The vice president said the company and others like it are helping green jobs bolster prospects for the middle class.

“We want to make sure that everyone who aspires to be in the middle class can get there, and that those that get there can stay there,” Biden stated.

To Turn Around America, we have to become a country that leads the world in a new technological clean-energy revolution, one that will bring good-paying jobs like Cree is doing with help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

At the event, Vice President Biden announced that even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has often been at odds with this administration, had just signed a letter asking Congress to expand the credit, and Biden defended the program against critics who would call it wasteful:

“We’ll get our money back in spades. We’ll get a return on this program that far exceeds any investment we make.”

“Everybody In Nobody Out”

Health Care for America Now – North Carolina members and supporters will rally in Charlotte this Saturday and march to end health care discrimination. Folks will gather at the Greater Mt. Moriah Primitive Baptist Church and then march to Charlotte Square.

What: March and rally to support HCR passage
When: This Saturday, March 20 – 11:00 to march, 12 noon – 3:00pm for the rally
Where: March from Greater Mt. Moriah Primitive Baptist
Church, 727 West Trade St. Charlotte, NC, to the rally spot at Charlotte Square (corner of Trade and Tryon).

This event is sponsored by the Charlotte Health Care Coalition. Supporters include the NAACP, AFL-CIO and Southern Piedmont Central Labor Council, Workers United/SEIU, State Employee Association of NC (SEANC), and MoveOn.org, among others.

Download the flyer for this event. Click here to RSVP for this event.

For more information, contact Kojo Nantambu at 704-599-8904 or Carla Cunningham at 704-509-2939.

APWU is asking for our help

Senior management at the United States Postal Service is asking the Congress to sign off on its plans to eliminate six-day mail delivery service.

Click here to support six-day mail delivery.

Your brothers and sisters in the American Postal Worker Union (and in the National Association of Letter Carriers) need your help:

The APWU is asking union members to contact their U.S. Representatives and encourage them to co-sponsor House Resolution 173, which urges the Postal Service to continue to provide mail delivery six days per week.

The resolution, which was introduced by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), expresses the “sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.” The Postal Service is asking Congress to reduce the number of mail delivery days required by law from six days per week to five.

In a message to legislative activists, Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid warns that, if accepted by Congress, five-day delivery would begin a “death spiral” for the USPS. “In addition to the thousands of jobs lost, there will undoubtedly be an erosion of confidence in the Postal Service’s ability to provide the services the public relies on.”

“Mail delivery is not only a vital part of the national economy, but also provides the timely delivery of needed goods and services to all segments of society,” the message notes.

“People currently depend on the Postal Service to provide those services, and if we don’t, they will find someone else who will,” Reid cautions.

Click here to ask your U.S. representative to support House Resolution 173.

“Vote ‘YES’, fix this mess!”

Dozens of people rallied outside the Raleigh offices of Congressman Bob Etheridge (D-2nd), today, to show their support for finishing the job on health insurance / health care reform.  The rally was a last-minute response to an anti-reform protest of Rep. Etheridge, who voted for the House reform bill. Even with the short notice, reform supporters far outnumbered opponents.

Speakers at the rally included NC AFL-CIO President, James Andrews, and Adam Searing, director of the Health Access Coalition.  The NC Justice Center has pictures and links to audio and video of speakers on its Facebook page.

Can we afford NOT to act?

We are now in the end-game on health care reform. Time will tell whether it succeeds or fails, but is failure really an option for North Carolinians?

“North Carolinians need health reform more than ever,” says the national non-profit health care policy group, Families USA, in a new report, The Cost of Doing Nothing:

“The costs of health care have outpaced workers’ wages, jeopardized the survival of businesses, and led more and more people to lose their insurance coverage. As a result, the number of North Carolinians who delay or forgo medical care and die prematurely has increased at a dangerous rate. At the same time, insurance companies’ profits rose 428% between 2000 and 2007.”

The reform legislation passed by the Senate and yet-to-be reconciled with the House of Representatives would provide coverage to at least 31 million Americans and reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion by 2019.

However, if reform fails, the outlook for North Carolina is grim. According to the Families USA report, if we do nothing to reform health care:

• 1,720,000 North Carolinians will lack health insurance by 2019. If reform passes 988,000 people will gain insurance.
• The average North Carolinian’s family insurance premium will increase by $8,475 by 2019. If reform passes, subsidies for coverage will lower families’ premiums and require 85 cents of every premium dollar be spent on care, not profits.
• North Carolina’s small businesses will pay $5.2 billion more for health care premiums by 2018 [profits for insurance companies instead of small business -Ed.] If reform passes, these business will get new tax breaks and a new marketplace to buy affordable coverage.
• 247,000 Medicare beneficiaries in North Carolina will still fall into the gap in prescription drug coverage. If reform passes, fewer seniors will have to choose between food and medicine.
• Nearly 3 working-age North Carolinians [will continue to] die each day because they lack health insurance. If reform passes, these people will have access to life saving coverage.

The job can get done on health care reform by reconciling the Senate and House bills with a majority, up or down vote in the Senate. This report makes clear: doing nothing isn’t an option North Carolinians can afford. Read the full report for North Carolina (Word Doc).

Blue Cross Blue Shield NC premiums way up

The News & Observer reports on huge rate increases hitting North Carolina families who have health care coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield – almost everyone, given their practical monopoly:

“In this state, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, a nonprofit insurer that controls most of the state’s market for individual policies, is allowed to raise those rates an average of about 12 percent this year.”

The average isn’t the whole story. Some policy holders are seeing rates go up 50% or more, according to N&O reporter, Alan Wolf:

“David Swanson, a Durham investment adviser, received new rates for his teenagers. The monthly premium for his 15-year-old son increased about 11 percent to $185.15. The rate for his 17-year-old daughter jumped 54 percent, to $255.57.”

Employers are paying much more for coverage. Most of BCBSNC’s 3.7 million customers are enrolled through work, where some have been hit by double-digit premium hikes.

Read the whole story, Rising Blue Cross bills stun N.C. families, at the N&O web site.