Hierarchies of hyper-AFLs

For a full semi-AFL K, B(K) is defined as the family of languages generated by all K-extended basic macro grammars, while H(K) B(K) is the smallest full hyper-AFL containing K; a full basic-AFL is a full AFL K such that B(K) = K (hence every full basic-AFL is a full hyper-AFL). For any full semi-AFL K, K is a full basic-AFL if and only if B(K) is substitution closed if and only if H(K) is a full basic-AFL. If K is not a full basic-AFL, then the smallest full basic-AFL containing K is the union of an infinite hierarchy of full hyper-AFLs. If K is a full principal basic-AFL (such as INDEX, the family of indexed languages), then the largest full AFL properly contained in K is a full basic-AFL. There is a full basic-AFL lying properly in between the smallest full basic-AFL and the largest full basic-AFL in INDEX

AFL-CIO Comparison of 2008 Presidential Candidate Health Care Proposals

The AFL-CIO Comparison of 2008 Presidential Candidate Health Care Proposals lists the key features of health care proposals by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Ron Paul

Washington State Job Exports: An Analysis of the Role Trade Plays in Manufacturing Job Loss

[Excerpt] America’s manufacturing crisis has hit Washington State hard. Since January 2001, Washington has experienced heavy job losses in manufacturing and information technology industries—sectors that typically provide higher wages and good benefits. As the discussion that follows shows, plant closures and layoffs associated with foreign imports and offshore outsourcing are a major cause of manufacturing’s decline in Washington State. Several factors account for manufacturing job loss in Washington and elsewhere, but there is little evidence about the role any single factor plays. Yet identifying causes and measuring their effects is important: Understanding the role of current policies in manufacturing job loss can help shape reasoned and reasonable changes that will maintain American competitiveness while creating and preserving good jobs in America

When the Paycheck Stops: An AFL-CIO Survival Guide to Unemployment

This brochure: When the Paycheck Stops: An AFL-CIO Survival Guide to Unemployment, lists resources, advice, and tips on surviving when a worker experiences a loss of employment

Guidance for school improvement partners: supporting and challenging improvement in AfL with APP (National Strategies)

"This document will help SIPs [School Improvement Partners] by: • summarising key information and guidance relating to developing AfL [Assessment for Learning] with APP [Assessing Pupils’ Progress] in the context of implementing the AfL Strategy; • referencing the further guidance and support materials available for developing AfL with APP; • considering how school self-evaluation can support the development of AfL with APP and, in particular, how using the AfL Quality Standards can help with this; • considering how SIPs can broker appropriate and effective support." - Page 2

Global Fairness 2006: Oman’s Labor Laws Fall Far Short of International Standards

[Excerpt] The labor laws of Oman simply do not protect the fundamental rights of workers. At this time, Omani workers are unable to form independent unions or to bargain collectively. Instead, the employer decides which benefits, if any, the workers shall enjoy. The law is completely silent on the right to strike. The constitution and labor laws do not prohibit the use of forced labor for public services, and the worst forms of child labor, such as camel jockeying, are still permitted in law and practice. As the 2006 State Department Report on Human Rights Practices explains, some foreign workers are trafficked and may be put in situations amounting to forced labor. Employers are known to withhold documents that would allow foreign workers to change employers, putting them at risk of detention and deportation. Finally, the constitution vests in the Sultanate the absolute power to issue and ratify laws. Thus, the labor laws that exist today could easily be weakened or revoked

The Employee Free Choice Act: Meaningful Remedies Against Employer Coercion

Prepared by the AFL-CIO, this fact sheet highlights the elements of The Employee Free Choice Act (S. 842, H.R. 1696), including employee\u27s free choice to form unions and meaningful penalties for employer coercion

Healthcare Workers in Peril: Preparing to Protect Worker Health and Safety During Pandemic Influenza

[Excerpt] An influenza pandemic is projected to have a global impact requiring a sustained, large scale response from the healthcare community to provide care to sick patients. Healthcare workers will be at very high risk of becoming infected when caring for patients with pandemic flu unless adequate health and safety measures are in place, in advance of the pandemic, that will protect them. There is no existing comprehensive federal OSHA standard with mandatory and enforceable provisions that require planning and preparation designed to protect healthcare workers from exposures to pandemic influenza. Nevertheless, it is essential that workplaces plan and prepare for safety and health issues before the flu arrives

Seven Immigration Myths and Facts

The AFL-CIO prepared Seven Immigration Myths and Facts addressing current immigration issues

The Wal-Mart Tax: A Review of Studies Examining Employers\u27 Health Care Cost-Shifting

[Excerpt] As job-based health coverage declines and employers shift ever-growing health costs onto employees, workers increasingly must turn to taxpayer-funded programs like Medicaid to get health care for themselves and their families. Meanwhile, Medicaid is wrestling with explosive cost growth, increasing 56 percent since 2000. Medicaid is the second largest expense for most states, accounting for around 16 percent of state budgets, on average. States’ spending on the program is expected to grow almost 12 percent this year, four times faster than the increase in states’ general fund spending. Recent studies in 13 states have examined the extent to which employers’ workers utilize public health programs to secure health coverage for themselves and their families. As the following summary of those analyses reflects, in each one of these states, Wal-Mart ranks at or near the very top of the list of employers that are shifting to the public the cost of providing health care for their workers. In so doing, Wal-Mart is directly contributing to the nation’s Medicaid crisis