Published By AMERICAN INCOME LIFE & NATIONAL INCOME LIFE LETTER LABOR ADVISORY BOARD DECEMBER 2012 Vol. 44 No. 7 NEWS FROM THE AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said The AFL-CIO’s election night AFL-CIO, CTW, “The bottom line of what working people polling, done by Hart Research, found that INTernaTIOnal & voted for is this: to rebuild America and union members voted for Obama at a rate the middle class, not tear it down. That’s of 65 percent to Romney’s 33. In Wiscon- NATIOnal UNIONS the lesson we have to turn into action.” sin, for example, exit polls showed Presi- Trumka also pledged, “Unlike in prior years dent Obama had a 66 percent to 33 percent After turning out record num- when we tore our structure down the day lead among the one in five voters who said bers of union families in support of Presi- after Election Day, they’re staying in place someone in their household belongs to a la- dent Obama’s reelection on November 6, right now.” Mary Kay Henry, President of bor union. Wisconsin is the home state of organized labor turned its attention to the the 2.1 million-member Service Employees Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan. upcoming legislative battles in Congress International Union (SEIU), said America The margins were even larger in the peren- and building power within its ranks. Last voted for “a vibrant middle class fueled by nial battleground of Ohio, where 70% of month, unions sponsored rallies in roughly good jobs, where everyone has a fair shot at union voters backed Obama. The Service 100 cities to protest against cuts in Medi- the American Dream.” She vowed working Employees Union alone reportedly put care, Social Security or other social insur- Americans “will stay in the streets until our more than 100,000 activists into the streets ance programs as a way to cut the deficit. agenda for working people is a reality.” on behalf of the president. President Obama's Election Night Rally. Flickr.com photo used under Creative Commons from WCHI News. 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 Officer - 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 Pg 2 LABOR LETTER The 2012 elections marked the In October, Ford said the car assem- Britain’s biggest union, blamed the com- first time, as a result of the Supreme bly plant in Genk, Belgium would shut pany for “betrayal” of its loyal workforce. Court’s Citizen’s United decision, that down with production transferred to organized labor could legally reach out to Spain and the Transit cab-chassis factory Canadian Customs and Immi- non-union voters as part of its political ac- in Southampton and tooling and stamp- gration Union national president Jean- tion program. Even though union voters ing units in Dagenham, United King- Pierre Fortin said suspicious shipping are shrinking as a share of the population, dom would close. If implemented, 4,300 containers are passing customs without polls showed that labor’s ability to mobi- workers in Belgium and 1,400 workers inspection at the Port of Montreal because lize working Americans played a critical in UK would lose their jobs. European customs agents lack resources. He said less role in winning key battleground states trade unions representing autoworkers than one per cent of cargo is inspected by for President Obama. Lee Saunders, presi- appealed to the European governing in- an agent. “It gets to the point where (cus- dent of the 1.6 million-member American stitutions in a statement adopted at the toms agents) are letting shipping containers Federation of State, County and Munici- recent IndustriALL European Trade in (that they think are suspicious) because pal Employees, said the labor’s political Union automotive meeting held on Oc- we don’t have the manpower,” Fortin said. program was “the smartest, the biggest tober 30 in Luxemburg. “We call on the He said lack of funding is hurting security and the broadest effort that labor’s ever European institutions to address without at all of the country’s major ports. He also run.” Mike Podhorzer, the AFL-CIO’s delay a socially acceptable management said intelligence reports about port security political director, said labor’s outreach to of restructuring and the anticipation of cited the presence of Chinese organized non-union voters helped raise President change. A European framework should crime at all major ports, Vancouver, Halifax Obama’s numbers above 40 percent among ensure that change is properly managed and Montreal. Fortin said the federal gov- white, blue-collar workers, compared to through anticipation and the social cost ernment “has already started” eliminating polling in the low 30 percent nationally of restructuring limited,” said the state- jobs at the Canada Border Services Agency among them. ment. Belgian unions announced mass as part of its plan to cut to up to 1,350 posi- rallies on November 11 in reply to the tions at CBSA. The union represents 11,200 Teamsters union reported announced plans. Unite the Union, customs and immigration agents. their largest political effort ever in the wake of the November 6 balloting. The union said that tens of thousands of Team- sters volunteered for the union’s massive member mobilization efforts, and General President Jim Hoffa and General Secre- tary-Treasurer Ken Hall barnstormed key battleground states across the nation “mo- tivating Teamsters to volunteer and go to the polls for Obama.” “President Obama stood up for working families during one of our nation’s most difficult economic times. That’s why he won wherever unions put their resources,” said Hoffa. Accord- ing to the union, there were more than 500,000 worksite contacts and 100,000 contacts through the national Teamsters phone bank. The union also developed more than 124 direct mail pieces and more than 3 million pieces of mail were sent to Teamster members. INTernaTIOnal LABOR NEWS European unions protested Ford Motor Company’s decision to close several factories in the United King- Canadian Customs and Immigration Union National President Jean-Pierre Fortin. Flickr.com photo dom and Belgium due to “overcapacity.” used under Creative Commons from CAW Media. LABOR LETTER Pg 3 to be stigmatizing,” said the 210-page re- Several state ballot measures port, authored by Australian human rights supported by the extremist American Leg- lawyer John Godwin, an Australian human islative Exchange Council (ALEC) went rights lawyer. “The term ‘sex work’ is pre- down to defeat on election day, reported the ferred.” The Prostitutes Collective’s national Center for Media and Democracy. Most coordinator says it was a huge struggle to notably, Michigan voters passed a state decriminalize sex work in New Zealand, but referendum that overturns a controversial the UN report shows it was worth it. ALEC-inspired “financial emergency” law passed by the legislature. The voter-rejected law allowed Gov. Rick Snyder (R) to declare NATIOnal & a “financial emergency” in a city or school POLITICAL EVENTS district and appointed a manager with broad powers, including the ability to fire Both political parties, candi- local elected officials, without public input. Greek Protesters. Flickr.com photo used under dates and their supporters spent a total of In Minnesota, voters defeated an ALEC- Creative Commons from 0neiros. nearly $6 billion leading up to the Novem- designed voter suppression/ID initiative ber 6 vote amid fears by democracy rights’ and voters in Alabama, Florida, Missouri, Greece’s two biggest unions advocates that big money would buy elec- Montana and Wyoming beat back ALEC- representing civil servants and private sector tions. Despite the Supreme Court’s Citi- inspired measures to block parts of the Af- workers waged a 48-hour strike marred by zens United ruling, which allows unlimited fordable Care Act. violence to protest new austerity measures. independent political expenditures, people The action came after the government an- power seems to have trumped deep pock- The U.S. trade deficit declined nounced a package of spending cuts and tax ets in many elections. “President Barack to its lowest level in nearly two years as ex- hikes it plans to introduce over the next two Obama’s decisive victory in Tuesday’s elec- ports rose to a record high. The deficit nar- years, as well as a draft budget for 2013, the tion proved that unions’ political ground rowed to $41.5 billion in September, the Associated Press reported. “We will strike to game may be as potent as ever in the new Commerce Department said recently, 5.1 stop the measures from being voted in par- age of super PACs,” said the Huffington percent below the August deficit and the liament,” Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary Post. Labor observers also pointed to sev- smallest imbalance since December 2010. of public sector union ADEDY said. “We eral results where effective grass-roots or- Exports climbed 3.1 percent to an all-time won’t allow the government to hurt Greek ganizing efforts succeeded in the face of high of $187 billion following two monthly people any more.” Greek legislators must increased campaign expenditures by the declines. The increase reflected stronger approve the latest austerity measures before wealthy and corporation increase. Victories sales of commercial aircraft, heavy machin- international lenders will release €31 billion by Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Tammy ery and farm goods. But the gain may not in loans.