LETTER
Published By
amERican incomE LifE & naTionaL incomE LifE
LaboR advisoRy boaRd
james williams, General President - International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Chairman - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board
ViCTOR KamBeR, Vice President - American Income Life Insurance Company, Executive Director - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board
ROGeR smiTH, Chief Executive Ofcer - American Income Life Insurance Company, President - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board
DeNise BOwYeR, Vice President - American Income Life Insurance Company, Secretary - AIL/NILICO Labor Advisory Board
OCTOBER 2012
Vol. 44 No. 6
NEWS FROM THE
AFL-CIO, CTW,
INTERNATIONAL
& NATIONAL
UNIONS
America’s unions flexed
their political muscle during the
campaign season augmenting labor’s
vaunted ground campaign with social
media through new technology and
expanding their volunteer base with
groups once considered outside so-
ciety’s mainstream. The AFL-CIO
introduced new on-line technology
called “Repurpose,” which allows vol-
unteers to earn points for their activ-
ism that can be “redeemed” to trigger
spending by the labor’s Super PAC,
called “Workers Voice.” They can also
use points to “purchase” a digital yard
sign that promotes a candidate and can
be posted on the volunteer’s Facebook
page. Meanwhile, Pride@Work, the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgen-
der affiliate of the AFL-CIO, themed
their annual conference in September
“Boots on the Ground” to emphasize
their commitment to engage in the
2012 elections. Speaking to the con-
vention, Randi Weingarten, the openly
gay President of the American Fed-
eration of Teachers, who came to the
meeting fresh from the battle lines of
the Chicago Teachers’ strike, warned
participants that Republicans do not
want “us to exist.”
The United Steelworkers
(USW) praised the Obama Administration
for taking action before the World Trade
Organization to address China’s export sub-
sidies, a key part of their programs to flood
the U.S. with unfairly priced auto parts.
“His action, coupled with other steps to
fight for fair trade, are rebuilding confidence
that when people work hard and play by the
rules, the President will stand up for (work-
ing families). He’s making it clear to China
that their unfair, predatory and protectionist
policies must end,” said USW International
President Leo W. Gerard. He said China
has adopted practices and policies to pro-
mote its auto and auto parts sector to the
disadvantage of U.S. producers and workers.
Gerard said this action is the first taken by
the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center
(ITEC) created by the President designed
to act as “a SWAT team to identify and end
unfair foreign trade practices.”
President Obama. Flickr.com photo used under Creative Commons from Jurvetson.
Pg 2 LABOR LETTER
Otago commemorating the Rev Rutherford
Waddell, the 19th century Dunedin Presby-
terian minister who inspired social and la-
bor reforms. Kelly told the audience of 200
that conditions have improved for workers
since Waddell’s time, but those conditions
were on the decline today for many workers.
She noted workplace deaths are on the rise,
300,000 workers are at or near the mini-
mum wage and permanent jobs are under-
mined by contracting-out and casualization.
She said attacks on workers are increasing,
and she predicted public sector workers will
be the next to be portrayed as “overpaid,
lazy and incompetent.”
Nine seafarers from Eastern
Europe last month received $102,735 in
back wages due since May with the support
of the Irish union, Services, Industrial, Pro-
fessional and Technical Union (SIPTU).
In response to a call from the International
Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), SIP-
TU officials boarded the Dutch-Antilles
registered vessel, the MV Julia, while it was
docked in the port of Drogheda where it
was taking on board a 5,000 ton consign-
ment of cement for Belgium. e union
found that the men had not been paid for
four months and were dependent on a daily
food allowance controlled by the Captain.
e union threatened the company, Trans-
ship Management, with arrest and seizure
of the vessel if the men were not paid. After
the company failed to make payment, the
crew struck with the support of SIPTU un-
til management relented. “is was a great
example of the worker solidarity we have
been building gradually in the port,” said
ITF coordinator for Ireland and Britain
Ken Fleming.
The Tunisian Industry, Trade
and Handicrafts Union (UTICA) “firmly”
condemned acts of violence perpetrated
against the U.S. diplomatic mission to Tu-
nisia last month after hundreds of protes-
tors attacked the U.S. Embassy in Tunis
and stormed the grounds on September 14.
Violent clashes between the security forces
and the mob resulted in four deaths and
50 persons wounded. “ese acts of vio-
lence perpetrated against public and private
properties and foreign residents in Tunisia
are unacceptable and will harm Tunisia’s
The AFL-CIO Sept. 13 awarded
the 2012 George Meany-Lane Kirkland
Human Rights Award to Hassine Abassi,
General Secretary, Tunisian General Union
of Labor (UGTT) and S. Salman Jaddar Al
Mahfoodh, General Secretary, General Fed-
eration of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU)
during a ceremony at federation headquar-
ters in Washington, D.C. ey were rec-
ognized “on behalf of their respective labor
movements, as emblematic of the labor
movements across the Middle East working
to preserve democracy, justice and freedom,”
the federation said. During the Tunisian up-
rising in January 2011, the Tunisian General
Union Labor (UGTT) was at the forefront
of the protests, coordinating actions across
the country and demanding political change
and a more equitable society. In Bahrain,
the General Federation of Bahrain Trade
Unions (GFBTU) led strikes and protests
in the face of violent repression. e annual
Meany-Kirkland Award, created in 1980
and named for the first two presidents of the
AFL-CIO, recognizes outstanding exam-
ples of the international struggle for human
rights through trade unions.
INTERNATIONAL
LABOR NEWS
The current decline in New
Zealand workers’ rights and conditions will
only change when people’s “deference” to
employers and the state is overcome, de-
clared NZ Council of Trade Union presi-
dent Helen Kelly. Kelly spoke at a lecture in
image,” said UTICA in a statement. “e
Union advocates the freedom of expression
and respects peaceful protest staged under
the law, but condemns all form of violence
as a means of protest,” UTICA asserted. e
union also denounced the attack on Islam
and the Prophet Muhammad following the
release on-line of trailers of the anti-Islam
film “e Innocence of Muslims.”
The Public Service Alliance of
Canada (PSAC) held a National Day of
Action September 16 with rallies and events
across the nation to raise public awareness
of the cuts to public services proposed by
the Conservative government. “Canadians
from all walks of life are feeling the impact
of federal cuts; we’ll be sharing their stories
and protesting these cuts,” the union said in
a statement. e Conservatives recently an-
nounced that about 19,200 federal jobs will
be cut in the public service sector over three
years as part of their austerity measures. e
PSAC said that thousands of jobs could be
lost and services drastically reduced. In St.
John’s, Newfoundland, for example, a rally
and march started at the Murray Prem-
ises. In Toronto, union activists held “e
People’s Court,” which placed the austerity
agenda and political leaders “on trial” for
sweeping budget cuts.
NATIONAL &
POLITICAL EVENTS
New 2011 census data recently
released indicates the U.S. economy is show-
ing signs of bottoming out and improving.
Although the jobless rate remains high at
8.1 percent, the annual survey revealed that
more young adults are leaving their par-
ents’ homes for college or the job market,
once-sharp declines in births are leveling
off, poverty is slowing and Americans are
more able to move around again to get new
jobs. “ere are signs among all these mea-
sures that the multiple downsides of the
Great Recession have bottomed out, which
is good news, especially for young people
who have seen their lives put on hold,” said
William H. Frey, a demographer at Brook-
ings Institution. “ere is some light at the
end of the tunnel.” Data also shows a slow-
ing growth in the foreign-born population,
NZTEU President Helen Kelly. Flickr.com photo
used under Creative Commons from Tertiary
Education Union (NZTEU).
LABOR LETTER Pg 3
on earth.” Obama won Ohio in the 2008
election and was running ahead of Rom-
ney in the polls at the time of his remarks.
Ohio coal miners pictured in a
new political ad from the Mitt Romney
campaign lost a day’s pay after they were
ordered by the company to appear at the
campaign event, reported the Columbia
(Ohio) Dispatch. e non-union min-
ers are shown in the back on stage with
Romney. e ads began airing on Sep-
tember 19. According to the news report,
the footage is from Romney’s August 14
campaign stop at the Century Mine in
Beallsville, Ohio, owned by a subsidiary of
Murray Energy Corp. e newspaper said
the miners on stage were ordered out of the
mine because of Romney’s campaign stop
and were not paid for the portion of their
shift that was canceled by the event. Mur-
ray Energy founder Robert Murray told
the Dispatch that the miners were only
paid “for the time they were underground”
that day. e shift began at 6 a.m. that
morning, and the miners emerged about
11 a.m. e mine was reopened for the sec-
ond shift at 4 p.m. e Dispatch reported
that the Romney campaign and Murray
blamed each other for the decision to pull
the miners out of the mine.
which increased to 40.4 million, or 13 per-
cent of the U.S. population. e bulk of new
immigrants are now higher-skilled workers
from Asian countries such as China and In-
dia, contributing to increases in the foreign-
born population in California, New York,
Illinois and New Jersey.
President Obama and Vice
President Joe Biden made a concerted
outreach to energize labor supporters dur-
ing their reelection campaign. On one
campaign swing through the key state
of Ohio in September, President Obama
made an impromptu appearance at the
28th Biennial Constitutional Convention
of the Ohio AFL-CIO. Obama, speaking
about his administration’s latest trade ac-
tion against China, warned that his GOP
opponent Mitt Romney had just recently
come around to the “tough on China” po-
sition. “I don’t think we can have a lot of
confidence when he, seven weeks before an
election, he suddenly says he wants to get
tough on China, when his entire history
has been feeling pretty comfortable with
seeing jobs shipped to China,” Obama
said. “We are going to keep on pressing
to make sure that they are playing by the
rules because my attitude is the United
States of America has the best workers
REGIONAL &
LOCAL LABOR
NEWS
The Communications Workers
of America and International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers reached a new
three-year agreement with Verizon Com-
munications for more than 35,000 workers
from Virginia to Massachusetts. e previ-
ous contract expired in August 2011. e
company and unions have been engaged in
intensive negotiations under the auspices
of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service since July 25. e unions fought
off company demands to end the existing
defined benefit pension plan, but agreed
for the first time to premium payments for
health insurance. Health care premiums will
rise to over $90 monthly for the family plan
by the end of the contract, while the com-
pany has agreed to set aside more than $850
annually in a tax sheltered health account for
each member. e unions also preserved the
current job security language. Raises will top
2 percent annually over the contract term
plus a signing bonus. CWA also reported
that a new contract was negotiated between
Verizon Wireless and 70 CWA-represented
technicians who maintain cell sites in the
metropolitan New York area.
International Brotherhood of
Teamsters reached a new labor agreement
with bankrupt Hostess Brands, Inc., makers
of Twinkies and Wonder Bread. Teamster
members already had agreed to two prior
rounds of concessions. “is was a difficult
decision,” said Teamsters General Secretary-
Treasurer Ken Hall in a statement. “Our
members are frustrated at being in the posi-
tion to bail out the company again, but over-
all were willing to accept modifications with
the hope that Hostess will recover and be
in a better position in the years to come. At
the end of the day, our members recognized
that they can’t replace their pay and benefits
in the non-union sector.” Teamsters union
represents more than 7,500 delivery drivers
and merchandisers at Hostess. e Bakery,
Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain
Millers International Union, however, re-
jected the company’s latest proposed chang-
es. Hostess asked the bankruptcy court to
Team Obama on the campaign trail. Flickr.com photo used under Creative Commons from MarkGregory007.
Pg 4 LABOR LETTER
unions and workers in the future, labor
leaders predicted. ousands of teachers
won strong community support as they
walked picket lines, publicly making their
case for school reform that includes fewer
students in classes, more nurses and social
workers in schools, and textbooks arriving
on the first day of school. “Working people
can win,” said David B. Goldberg, a board
member of the California Teachers Asso-
ciation. He told the news media that Los
Angeles teachers are now more likely to
fight Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa’s push
for more charter schools and for greater use
of standardized tests in evaluating teach-
ers. Chicago schools reopened September
19 after teachers approved the new pact,
which covers three years with an option for
a fourth that also provides 17 percent in
raises over four years.
SIGNIFICANT
LEGAL AND NLRB
DECISIONS
U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit upheld a 2010 National Labor
Relations Board ruling that an employer and
union may enter into an agreement setting
principles for bargaining if workers select
union representation. e case involved the
United Auto Workers union and auto parts
manufacturer Dana Corp. e union sought
ground rules from the company for union
impose the Teamsters-approved changes on
the members. BCTGM represents 5,000
workers at Hostess.
IN THE PUBLIC
SECTOR
The American Federation of
Government Employees recently elected J.
David Cox as the new president, replacing
John Gage, who retired. Cox was elected
National Secretary-Treasurer of AFGE in
August 2006 and was reelected by accla-
mation in August 2009. Cox said he would
work on strengthening the union by em-
bracing the union’s diverse membership
and building consensus among members.
“e strength of unity is the only way we
are going to fight back against the anti-gov-
ernment and anti-union forces that want to
dismantle the vital programs and services
federal employees provide each and every
day to millions of Americans,” Cox said.
Eugene Hudson Jr. was elected National-
Secretary Treasurer, while Augusta omas
was reelected National Vice President for
Women’s and Fair Practices. AFGE is the
largest federal employee union represent-
ing 650,000 federal and D.C. government
workers nationwide and overseas.
The seven-day strike by 26,000
Chicago teachers, the first major school
walkout there in 25 years, will embolden
organizing at a plant in St. Johns, Michigan,
and for bargaining. After the agreement was
signed, several workers filed charges with the
NLRB alleging that the agreement consti-
tuted an unlawful recognition of the union.
e Board decided that the agreement “did
no more than create a framework for future
collective bargaining.” e appeals court said
“the Board was within its discretion to allow
some substantive terms to be determined
between the employer and union prior to
recognition, as long as that agreement did
not ultimately impact employees’ choice re-
garding union representation.”
The 9th Circuit Court of Ap-
peals recently ordered enforcement of a
2011 National Labor Relations Board de-
cision against the owners of a luxury Ha-
waiian hotel in Waikiki, and affirmed an
injunctive order against the hotel by a fed-
eral district court, also issued in 2011. e
case against the Pacific Beach Hotel and
the HTH Corporation which owns the ho-
tel dates back to a union organizing drive
in 2002, and involved numerous federal
court appearances, two injunctions and a
contempt order, in addition to the NLRB
processes. International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 142 won
union recognition at the hotel which was
later found by the board to have committed
numerous violations of labor law, including
illegally dismissing employees for union ac-
tivity, engaging in bad faith bargaining and
illegally withdrawing recognition of the
union, and failing to bargain for a contract.
e appeals court upheld the Board order
to HTH to reimburse the union for its bar-
gaining costs, to read a Board-prepared no-
tice to employees during their work hours,
and to bargain in good faith with the Union
for an additional year.
Protecting Working Families
www.ailife.com
LABOR LETTER
provided through
Chicago Teachers Strike. Flickr.com photo used under Creative Commons from sierraromeo [sarah-ji].
AGENDA
OCTOBER 2012
THE TRUTH MITT
ROMNEY ISN’T
TELLING YOU
(e following column is excerpted from
Vice President Biden’s campaign speech in re-
cent weeks.)
It is not an exaggeration to suggest that
this election presents the starkest choice be-
tween candidates that we have seen in our
lifetime. It is clear as it could be. I think that
we can cut through the political talk and get
to the core differences that exist between
President Obama and Mitt Romney and
me and Paul Ryan.
is is not your father’s Republican
Party; this is a different Republican Party.
ey are not bad or good, but a different
Republican Party from even Mitt Romney’s
father’s. What they are saying today is to-
tally opposed to what they have done for
their entire career.
Medicare, for example, is a major issue
in this campaign. To listen to Romney-Ryan
talk about Medicare, you would think that it
was their idea. I heard it so many times at
their convention about their commitment
to preserve Medicare. ey also went on to
say “that Obama put Medicare in danger.”
Nothing could be further from the
truth. Medicare benefits have increased un-
der our administration. ere are 48 million
people on Medicare today and they have al-
ready saved up to $700 on their prescription
drugs. ey can go on life-saving wellness
visits, mammograms and other preventative
care and not have to pay for them.
We have made the system solvent and
it balances until the year 2024. More has to
be done, but we have extended the life of it.
Cong. Ryan is a leader of what they
call themselves “e Young Guns” and last
year they put together a budget and passed
a proposal that voucherizes Medicare. e
Congressional Budget Office said the Ryan
Plan which all the Republicans voted for
in the House would increase the cost for a
senior on Medicare by $6,400 per year out
of their pocket. e plan didn’t go over too
well and didn’t get passed by the Senate.
Now they’ve come up with a new Rom-
ney-Ryan plan. What they don’t tell you is
that immediately the 48 million Americans
on Medicare would lose benefits. ey would
lose the $700 prescription drug benefit, the
wellness benefits and other life-saving tests.
What they also don’t tell you is that under
their proposal the Medicare Trust Fund
would become insolvent in 2016. ese guys
aren’t on the level with you.
And they are not for preserving Medi-
care as we know it. ey are proposing what
I call a voucher plan. It works like this: they
are going to give you a voucher worth x-
amount of dollars to go out in the private
market where all of these insurance compa-
nies are going to compete for your business
so you can find the best policy you can get.
at might work if you have great health,
but if you have any pre-existing conditions,
you are not going to have enough money.
ey also talk about the national debt.
You saw the debt clock at the Republican
National Convention. It’s true. We have to
get it under control. ey tell us how urgent
it is. And we agree. But not one single time
did they tell that the last time a Democrat
left the White House, the budget was bal-
anced and the debt was coming down. We
inherited a debt of $1 trillion and the Great
Recession had just started.
I negotiated with the Republicans in
Congress on a debt deal. ere also were a
number of high level groups trying to ad-
dress this problem. And the Republicans
walked away from every one of them. Cong.
Ryan was on the Bowles-Simpson Debt
Commission and he voted “No” against
their report. Romney also was against the
commission’s suggestions.
Why?
ey voted against any proposal to
reduce the debt if it required one dollar
or one dime in additional taxes on people
making over $1 million. at is why there
is no progress on the debt. ey have re-
fused every single recommendation on
the debt by any respectable group that
recommended increased revenue as well
as control spending.
When it comes to jobs, here’s what the
Republicans are not telling you. One of their
ads, for example, tells you that trade has to
work for America. at means cracking
down on cheaters like China. at means
opening up new markets. at’s what he
says now. But let’s take a look at what he did
over his career and what he will do when he
is elected, what he is not telling us.
Romney’s economic philosophy is very
straightforward and others share the view.
In a global economy, it doesn’t matter much
where American companies put their fac-
tory or where you create jobs. When he ran
Bain Capital, e Washington Post said the
company was “a pioneer in outsourcing,”
in sending jobs abroad and making money
doing it. But he called President Obama a
“protectionist” for standing up to China’s
subsidized tire companies which saved hun-
dreds of U.S. jobs.
Now he wants a territorial tax. Here is
how it works: if you move your operation to
another country and make a profit, the only
tax you have to pay is to the country where
you make money, not here. Romney getting
tough on outsourcing? at’s laughable. He
even opposes our proposals to give compa-
nies a tax break for keeping jobs in the U.S.
instead of moving them overseas. He wants
to give tax breaks to millionaires and over-
seas corporations.
We want to create more teacher jobs,
expand renewable energy sources, invest in
education and break down trade barriers to
create more jobs at home. We want to re-
build our infrastructure and create millions
of good-paying jobs here in the USA.
We believe in the American people.
We need you to stand up for America. We
need you to vote for the future. We need
your vote to keep the progress going that we
have made.
Joe Biden
Vice President,
United States
of America
Pg 2 AGENDA
Connecticut IBEW Rally
Members of two Connecticut locals of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers recently held a rally on the steps
of the capitol in Hartford to protest working
without a contract at Connecticut Light
and Power, reports AIL’s Susan Kelleher,
who attended the rally with AIL marketing
specialist Patrena Smith. The workers are
upset about forced overtime, exceeding
1,800 hours annually per worker, and called
on the company to hire more workers for
safety issues.
Indiana AFL-CIO
Solidarity Day
AIL representatives participated in a recent
Solidarity Rally sponsored by the Indiana
AFL-CIO that involved more than 300 union
activists. The event was held at downtown
Indianapolis’ Military Park. The rally featured
picnics, political candidates and blues and
country music. Shown are (left to right)
Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott
and AIL’s Susan Fuldauer, Shad Henderson,
Michelle Baxter, and Tami Williams. Prominent
unions participating included the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, United Steelworkers, United Auto
Workers, the United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW) and UNITE HERE.
OPEIU Contributes to Kerry
Ofce & Professional Employees International
Union recently contributed $2,500 to the
campaign of Bob Kerry for the Senate in
Nebraska. Shown above are (from left)
candidate and former Senator Bob Kerry,
Sue Akers OPEIU 277, and Jody Monahan
OPEIU 53. OPEIU Local 277 represents AIL's
employees, PR reps and Agents.
Virginia AFL-CIO Convention
Virginia AFL-CIO President Doris Crouse-Mays (left) and Secretary-Treasurer Ray Davenport
(right) receive a contribution from AIL representative Vivian Dwyer during the recent state political
convention in Williamsburg. Delegates made political endorsements for the state’s 11 congressional
districts and other candidates.
Ohio AFL-CIO Convention
President Obama made an unscheduled stop
at the recent Ohio AFL-CIO convention, where
he received a thundering greeting by the
participants, who included AIL representatives.
Obama urged the convention to work hard to
get out the vote on Election Day to support his
re-election campaign. Shown are (left to right)
AIL’s Judy Spade and Dick Case, Ohio Sen.
Sherrod Brown (D) and AIL’s Anna Rohrer.
