David Ranney, author of Living and Dying on the Factory Floor spoke with America’s Work Force on Nov. 29 about working conditions in factories.
Ranney joined AWF to talk about his time back in the 1980’s working in factories and the conditions that he experienced. He explained that back then, factories were dangerous, unclean and difficult to work in, even factories that were unionized. Ranney said that when factories started shutting down and jobs began to disappear, workers were cheated out of their pay and pensions, among other things. On top of those issues, he said that there used to be immigration raids frequently, where immigration would detain any worker who was an immigrant, even if they were legally a U.S. citizen. Lastly, Ranney explained that as unions became more powerful, they helped make conditions, wages and benefits for factory workers better.
Sal Rosselli with the National Union of Healthcare Workers spoke about healthcare. He talked about nurses healthcare and how they are fighting to have healthcare coverage that is adequate enough and will cover any injuries that they may be exposed to while on the job. Rosselli also talked about nurses fighting to increase wages that will help them support themselves and their families. Lastly, Rosselli explained why the NUHW is supporting Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren during the next election.
Samuel first discussed Senator Mitch McConnell, and how he brags about killing legislation in the Senate that passed through the House. Right now, there are over 200 bills that are sitting in the Senate that McConnell nicknamed “The graveyard” because he kills the bills. Among some of those bills are the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, Butch-Lewis Act, Paycheck Fairness Law and many more. Samuel discussed the USMCA and how worker protections are a main area of concern in it. He said that labor laws and worker protections have finally been included, but there needs to be a way to enforce the laws so if any of the participating countries in the agreement break the law, they can be rightfully punished for it. Some of the labor laws and employee protections include minimum wage laws, work conditions, work hours and the ability to unionize.
Harold Meyerson, contributing writer for the American Prospect talked about anti-unionism in the south. He talked about motor companies deciding between coming to the United States or going overseas to China and how they would compare cost, work productivity and wages in order to make a decision. Meyerson said that there are still some states in the U.S. that do not have minimum wage laws or unions, and those states became top prospects for these motor company locations. Lastly, he discussed the importance of labor law protections and how everyone involved in the USMCA needs to keep each other accountable with labor law enforcement.
Velasquez started the FLOC in 1967 to organize farmworkers in order to make better working conditions and rights for the workers. He talked about how FLOC helped workers in their strike against Campbell’s for better wages and rights after finding out how underpaid their workers were. Velasquez also discussed the threats of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raiding farms and facilities alike and taking the immigrant workers, even those who are legal with documentation. He also talked about empowering minority workers and strengthening their representation at work.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc aired a previously recorded interview of Sarah Nelson, head of the International Association of Flight Attendants, discussing medicare for all. During her interview, she talked about how she believes that medicare for all is a completely reasonable plan that is sustainable, and dispelled arguments as to why people think it would not be able to work. Nelson fought against the point that private healthcare provides better, more extensive care and explained why she believes that.
On the Nov. 26 episode of AWF, Buffenbarger expressed his disappointment in Boeing Airlines for opening up a Boeing manufacturing and repair facility in South Carolina and hiring non-union workers. He said that South Carolina is a So-Called “Right to Work” state and Boeing deliberately chose the location to avoid having a union come into their facility. One of the major issues Buffenbarger had with Boeing doing this is that having a union like the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers in the facility ensures work is done properly and safely, and to the highest quality with the best oversight. Without a union in the facility, regulations aren’t held up to the standards they should, there is a lack of quality control, and lack of enforcement on safety. Buffenbarger also spoke about a retirement security conference that discussed the Pension Benefit Guarantee.
Sam Allard, senior writer at the Cleveland Scene Magazine discussed one of his articles talking about the organization Towards Employment, and the racial wealth gap in Ohio. T.E helped 940 people find and secure jobs based on their skills rather than their prior education. Allard said it was reported that of the previously mentioned 940 workers, the African-American workers were receiving 49 percent of what their white counterparts were making. He talked about discrimination in the labor market and what needs to be done to close the wage inequality and gap.
According to Smith, his film “reveals for the first time and in frightening detail the dark, partisan genius behind the decades-long strategy to disenfranchise nonwhite voters.” The film explains why Republicans formulated a strategy to suppress voters and how they executed their plans. Smith discussed the barriers that Republicans tried to set up, and still use, for voter registration and also for purging voters. Overall, with the help of this film, Smith wants to emphasize why strategies like this are not right and cannot continue to happen if we want to keep the integrity of our democracy.
Larry Willis, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO spoke about the problems that manufacturers are encountering with autonomous vehicle testing. Throughout 2019, Uber has been working on autonomous vehicle testing but have been finding many issues, regarding safety. Willis talked about how the vehicle testing has not proven to be completely safe and how regulations for these vehicles need to be increased to ensure passengers, and other motorists alike, will reach their destinations safely. Lastly, Willis spoke about foreign repair stations and how the Federal Aviation Administration, also known as the F.A.A., has failed to implement safety standards and requirements for repair on U.S. aircrafts.
One of the major topics of conversation in Congress lately has been Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The PRO Act helps protect workers who are trying to organize and draw up better contracts from being attacked by their employers for their attempts. McCall talked about House Resolution 2474 which is legislation drawn up to help fix labor law problems, and stop the abuse on workers who are trying to organize, much like the PRO Act. He said that when employers attack their employees for unionizing, it is just further proof that they are scared of collective power from workers and do whatever it takes to keep them weak.
Sherry Linkon from Working Class Perspectives spoke about the political processes with the Democratic party. She discussed the Democratic party’s strategy for the upcoming election about who will be best against Donald Trump. Linkon also talked about Democrats and their worries about which candidate they want to support, whether it is far left or more centrists. She also talked about how economics have been a huge talking point for Democratic candidates.
John Washington, contributing writer for the Nation magazine talked about methods the government is using that assists in separating families. There is a database that holds records of anybody who has committed a crime, no matter the size, and the government using it to target immigrants of Hispanic descent. In an extreme effort on the push of tracking down illegal immigrants, people are being tracked down and separated from their families. Washington also talked about detention centers holding children for longer than they are allowed to, making it even harder for families who are detained at the border to reunite with each other.
Oster first spoke about Better Qualified and how they help build, manage and monitor a person’s credit to help them become more financially responsible. Better Qualified helps a person make better decisions in order to build a stronger credit score and assists in removing derogatory accounts to help that person receive the best credit score they can. Oster mentions how his business could help those graduating college get their credit score going in the right direction and help them make decisions that will benefit them later on in life. Better Qualified works to provide educated recommendations to one’s credit score based on one’s income and expenses.
David Cann, field services and education director for the American Federation of Government Employees joined AWF to discuss the Trump administration attempting to “drain the swamp.” He explained the Trump administrations resentment of federal employees and unions alike and how they are doing anything they can to disband them or make them weaker. One example given by Cann was the attempt to privatize the Veterans Affairs to prove that government service agencies are not needed because any other organization could provide the services in a cheaper way. Cann said that this hurts the VA because they will lose quality of care, investment and assistance if the decision is made to privatize. He also discussed how federal agencies have not been participating in good faith bargaining with federal employee labor unions.
Cropper first discussed teachers in Kentucky going on strike for better wages and benefits, among other reasons. Teachers in the state are planning a statewide walk out from their schools to march on the capitol annex building in Frankfort, KY in protest of a new pension bill that was passed in their state. Cropper went on to discuss the damage that certain cities cause by putting money into school programs in wealthy neighborhoods, rather than investing in the under-served neighborhood schools. Cropper stresses that cities shouldn’t take money away and give it to other schools, but they should fairly invest money into education because every child deserves a fair shot at receiving a quality education.
Jeff Bryant, investigative journalist with the Independent Media Institute discussed people who are involved in their schools and also city government who use their conflicts of interest to reap better contracts for their schools, giving their schools an advantage. He also discussed the cost of charter schools and the damage they have on school districts. Bryant mentioned when a public school is at less than 100 percent capacity, the overhead of the building and paychecks for faculty and staff remain the same, resulting in the district losing large amounts of money.
Advanced Training Systems offers training in trucking using virtual simulators to train drivers how to behave in the different scenarios they may find themselves in while driving. He said the purpose of his training is to develop the most well behaved and trained drivers to put on the road for trucking companies to reduce the amount of accidents and deaths caused by negligent truck drivers. Here is what you can expect during the simulation; various weather conditions, animals running into the road, and “driving” while other cars are present. These simulations are made so you can learn how to react properly and safely during an unexpected distraction while on the road. Kearney also talked about marketing to millennials, in hopes of attracting more to a career in trucking in order to fill the need for more drivers.
Mike Polensek , City Council member for the city of Cleveland discussed getting more people involved in vocational education and the trades. Polensek described that there is a huge need for more workers in the trades and that a job in the trades is a viable career path for somebody who is not sure if they want to attend college. Polensek addressed the stigma of trade school and work in the trades and showed that you do not need a college education in order to get a good job. Lastly, Polensek touched on Sherwin Williams and whether or not he believes they will stay in Cleveland, or choose to relocate elsewhere.