ILCA - Swapping Stories

Unionists jam phone lines to lobby for healthcare

PAI/Mark Gruenberg

Friday, November 6, 2009

Unionists by the hundreds of thousands jammed congressional phone lines Nov. 5 to lobby lawmakers for comprehensive, universal and affordable health care.

Congress extends jobless benefits

PAI/Mark Gruenberg

Friday, November 6, 2009

The bill passed 98-0 in the Senate and with only a handful of GOP foes in the House.

Throwing the book at corporations: Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart, BP hit with big judgments

PAI/Mark Gruenberg

Friday, November 6, 2009

The first verdict came from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Panel tackles murder of US union organizer in Mexico

PAI/Mark Gruenberg

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Union organizer Santiago Rafael Cruz died while battling the human trafficking which annually sneaks thousands of undocumented workers across the Mexican border into the U.S., FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez said.

AFLAC: Another example of why the US needs health care and insurance reform

Jim Perry/LA Firefighter

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The widow was denied her claim because the policy only covered Heart Attacks…not Cardiac Arrest or Cardiopulmonary Arrest. In response to their disgusting letter, phone calls have been made to the Aflac corporation and they have not even had the courtesy to return those calls.

The FTC needs to hear from you on the crisis in journalism

This just in from Jim Perry at the LA Firefighter:

Dear Friends:

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the crisis in journalism -- and they need to hear from you by Friday.

If the public doesn't weigh in now, the loudest voices will be the Big Media lobbyists and the corporate execs who got us into this mess. Does Murdoch and Fox (Faux News) sound familiar?

Congressional committee introduces emergency paid sick leave bill

A bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives late yesterday that would mandate up to five days of paid sick leave for all employees who get sent home or are asked to stay home because of the flu. Under the proposed law, employers would not be allowed to fire or otherwise retaliate against workers for using these paid sick days. Read a statement from Rep.

Mine it UMWA...or leave it in the ground!

As long as coal dominates the power grid, mining jobs will dominate the economies of small communities like Clarksville, PA. In Greene County, the coal miners' union is locked in a battle with Alpha Natural Resources to win guarantees that any new mining jobs will be union jobs. View a photo album and read a story about the UMWA's struggle to keep good union jobs in Greene County.

Steel Cities Then and Now: small documentary, big story

ILCA Vice President Kathy Cummings of the Washington State central labor council created this short, hard-hitting documentary as part of our Pittsburgh Labor Media Center project. It traces the workers' experience of boom and bust times in Mon Valley steelmaking. Compelling stuff.

The day the GM plant closed in West Mifflin, PA

For the next week, we'll be posting links to some of the highlights of the ILCA Pittsburgh Labor Media Center from September.

This story by John Tarleton documents the workers' experience of their GM auto plant closing in February of this year. WIN's Doug Cunningham also produced an excellent audio piece on the same subject.

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