Lisa Savage from the Green Party spoke with America’s Work Force on Dec. 11 about how money in politics could cause corruption.
Savage, who is running for congress in the state of Maine, prides herself and her campaign in not taking money from corporations as donations and how it helps them run a clean campaign. She talked about how easy it is for corporations to manipulate candidates into taking certain stances or backing certain issues that they may not have on their own without any coaxing or bribing. Savage said by not accepting money for her campaign, she is able to express her thoughts and actions are all made under her own power and she cannot be bought or bribed. She also discussed ranked-choice voting and why it is a viable option to use for elections and how it shows what people really want in terms of parties or ideas. Lastly, she talked about healthcare problems in the United States and how fixing them should be the main concern for the candidates headed into the 2020 election.
Tom Germuska, Jr., editor of the Cleveland Labor Citizen gave a preview of some of the stories that are featured in the December edition of the Labor Citizen. He highlighted stories that dealt with local unions in different trades volunteering their time in the community. One of the stories Germuska talked about was Plumbers 55 volunteering to give a class to a local boy scout troop on what plumbers do, how to fix certain issues involving sinks, and toilets, and also how to solder. He said that the Plumbers helped the boy scout troop earn their plumbing merit badges and exposed them to the trades and the union way. Germuska also said that included in the new edition of the Labor Citizen is a gift guide of union made goods.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the massive steps in the right direction that were made involving worker rights and labor laws.
The Irishman, released to the streaming platform Netflix in late November 2019, is about Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters and mob influence in unions and businesses. Neal expressed the aspects of the movie he thought were both good and bad, especially when discussing the history and details of unions. He said that they failed to display the importance of unions back then and why people were fighting so hard to bust them during organizing. Another complaint Neal had in the way unions were displayed in the film is that he said they were “painted badly.” Neal also said that the film did a good job focusing on the history of Jimmy Hoffa and mob influence on unions and other aspects of businesses during the 1950s.
Frank Mathews, administrative director of the Communication Workers of America District 4 spoke about Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. As of November, the PRO Act is officially a bi-partisan bill, and this is good progress, in hopes to see it push through the senate. Mathews also discussed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and how it will include environmental protections, worker protections, prescription drug prices and labor law enforcement.
Some of the projects that Hager discussed included the Facebook Campus project, Columbus Crew stadium renovation, updates to the Ohio State University Medical Center and more. He said that the Facebook Campus will include 10 buildings and the size of the campus will roughly be the size of Columbus. The work will be done by the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council and, more importantly, will be done union. Hager said that the work and projects will take between four to six years to complete, and will be beneficial to the Columbus economy.
Andy Levin, freshman congressman from Michigan, spoke about Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The reason that Congressman Levin wants to see the PRO Act pass is because it is a major stepping stone in helping rebuild the middle class. The PRO Act will protect labor laws and enforce punishment when they are broken by companies, healthcare and benefits are protected, and drug prices are regulated. He also talked about getting more union members involved in local government so there is a stronger union representation and the union message gets to be put on the forefront for everyone to see.
Zantac, a common drug used to prevent heartburn and treat stomach ulcers, along with generic forms of the drug, were voluntarily pulled from shelves in the United States, starting in September. DiCiocco stated that the drug company made the executive decision to remove the drug from shelves, not the Food and Drug Administration. After some studies, it has been found that the drug contained low levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) which is linked to cancer, resulting in the drug company removing their product from store shelves before an official FDA recall. DiCiocco explained that his law firm is still reviewing all of the facts while taking on litigation cases for people who may be experiencing side effects of Zantac, and its generic drugs, before an official FDA recall is put in place.
Senator Sherrod Brown spoke with America’s Work Force about the impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump. In regards to whether the hearings are going too fast, he said he just wants to make sure all of the facts are presented because there is damnable evidence against the President that he attempted to bribe a foreign leader to gain political support. He also discussed pension protection programs and how pension program deregulation and Wall Street greed damaged pension programs and made them volatile. Lastly, Brown talked about automation taking jobs from people and why the Workers’ Right to Training Act could help counter this.
Megenhardt discussed how the ULA helps those who are in rehab for an opiod addiction complete their treatment and get back into the workforce. He said that one of the most difficult things for people to do after they complete rehab is to get back on their feet and find a job so they can support themselves. The ULA provides people with the skills needed to meet qualifications for jobs and once establishing their stronger skills, finding a job that will best suite them. Megenhardt said the ULA will also help those who have completed their rehab stay sober and work with them to make sure they maintain their jobs.
Jackson Potter with In These Times Magazine spoke with America’s Work Force about the school system in Chicago. He discussed the underfunding of their schools and how the conditions are not ideal for the students or teachers. Being a former educator in a Chicago school, Potter talked about how the teachers are fighting for better classroom conditions, resources and class sizes, among many other things, to ensure that the children are able to receive the best education they deserve.
McConnell discussed a Cleveland based furniture company recently receiving complaints against them for sending customers damaged goods, if received at all, and making it nearly impossible for the customer to exchange or return the items bought. The second scam McConnell talked about deals with scam calls about social security numbers. If you are contacted saying that your social security is compromised, do not give up any information they are requesting, and contact the social security administration. Lastly, McConnell said to be cautious when holiday shopping online and do your research to make sure the company you are shopping from is legitimate. She mentions that companies overseas do not have the same business regulations as those in the United States and have a higher potential of being a scam than a U.S. company.
Mark Gruenberg, labor writer for Press Associates Union discussed the National Labor Relations Board rewriting and revising certain issues. He said that some issues they are revising involve unions and unionizing and how they are making it more difficult for a union representative to organize at a workplace and for unions to become recertified. Gruenberg expressed concern about how the NLRB is reversing old decisions and are fighting to make their new laws permanent, which could be hurtful in the future if someone may want to revisit and revise it.
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.