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

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

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

Review of Judge Samuel Alito’s Record in Worker Rights Cases

[Excerpt] This review includes decisions and dissents authored by Judge Alito in cases involving basic statues enacted by Congress to protect workers: the Fair Labor Standards Acts, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the National Labor Relations Act (and other labor relations laws), the Worker Adjustment and Restraining Notification Act, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This review includes several decisions and dissents of concern in cases involving statues barring employment discrimination, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This summary does not include decisions in which Judge Alito participated but did not author an opinion. It also does not include summary decisions issued without published opinions (either affirming agency decisions or granting petitions for review). This review includes information on the appointing president of participating judges

Facts About Worker Safety and Health - 2012

[Excerpt] This year marks the 41st anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the effective date of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Act – which guarantees every American worker a safe and healthful working environment – created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set and enforce standards and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct research and investigations. This year also marks the 43rd anniversary of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, and 35th anniversary of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act

Energy Training Partnership Green Jobs SGA Application Guide

[Excerpt] This is a guide for unions, labor-management organizations, and their allied partners. Produced by the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute and the AFL-CIO Center for Green Jobs, this guide aims to provide an overview of the application process for unions, Joint Apprenticeship Training Councils, and other union training programs

Stop the Foreclosure Crisis: Make Wall Street Banks Pay

[Excerpt] Owning a home used to symbolize what it means to achieve the American Dream. But for millions of homeowners, that dream was dashed by the abuse, fraud and lawlessness of Wall Street banks. This chain of misconduct by the Big Banks is at the root of the foreclosure avalanche, the failure of existing government programs to resolve the problem and a fundamental cause of the broader economic crisis that has cost millions of jobs. Failure to resolve the foreclosure crisis is worsening our economic situation and making it harder to create jobs. In turn, unemployment is now the leading cause of foreclosure

Fact Sheet: Support Legislation to Protect the Safety and Health of America’s Workers (H.R. 5663)

[Excerpt] The nation’s job safety laws were enacted 40 years ago. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) has never been updated. Penalties are weak even in cases where workers are killed, the government’s enforcement tools are limited and protections for workers who raise job safety concerns are woefully inadequate. Legislation has been introduced in the Congress to prevent future disasters and protect the safety and health of miners and other workers. H.R. 5663 strengthens the Mine Safety and Health Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act, the nation’s primary job safety laws. The bill – the “Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010” - provides for stepped up enforcement and tougher penalties for employers who flagrantly violate the law and enhances the protection of miners and workers who speak out about job hazards, report injuries and exercise their rights. The mine safety provisions address problems identified after the Upper Big Branch disaster, including increased oversight, enforcement and penalties for mines with a pattern of violations. The provisions to strengthen the OSH Act come from H.R. 2067 – the Protecting America’s Workers Act – legislation introduced last year and the subject of numerous Congressional hearings