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January 28th, 2009:

A Second Look: Just Foreign Policy News, January 28, 2008

Just Foreign Policy wrote:

Just Foreign Policy News, January 28, 2008

Palestinians in Gaza


From: Just Foreign Policy [info@justforeignpolicy.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 4:19 PM
To: Tom Chambless
Subject: Just Foreign Policy News, January 28, 2008
A Window for Israel/Palestine Peace?
Just Foreign Policy and Jewish Voice for Peace have launched a campaign to urge President Obama to reform U.S. policy toward the Palestinians so that George
Mitchell’s diplomacy can succeed: lift the blockade on Gaza, authorize U.S. diplomats to talk to Hamas officials, get serious about ending Israeli settlements in the West Bank, insist that US weapons supplied to Israel be only used for self-defense, as required by US law.
You can sign our letter here:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1814

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A Second Look: Under the Radar: WOMEN’S RIGHTS — OBAMA SET TO SIGN FAIR PAY LEGISLATION

The Progress Report wrote:

The Progressive National Security Era


From: The Progress Report [progress@americanprogressaction.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 9:59 AM
To: tomc2322
Subject: The Progressive National Security Era
WOMEN’S RIGHTS — OBAMA SET TO SIGN FAIR PAY LEGISLATION: Tomorrow, President Obama will sign into law his first significant piece of legislation as president when he signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in an East Room signing ceremony. The bill essentially overturns a 2007 Supreme Court decision and allows workers to “bring a lawsuit for up to six months after they receive any paycheck that they allege is discriminatory.” The Court had ruled that workers had only six months from the very first discriminatory paycheck, even if they did not know they were being discriminated against. The House had passed a similar bill last year, but it was blocked by conservatives in the Senate and faced a veto threat from President Bush. At the time, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said women simply needed “education and training” to secure equal pay, and said the law would only “help trial lawyers.” This time around, the bill passed with strong bipartisan support, winning 61 votes in the Senate; President Obama called the bill a priority during his campaign, and invited Ledbetter to join him on his pre-inaugural train ride on the way to Washington. Countering conservatives’ complaints that the bill would open companies to lawsuits, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), the bill’s chief sponsor, offered this advice to employers: “If you don’t want to be sued, don’t discriminate.”

http://www.foxnews.com/ucat/images/58292_SupremeCourt_justices.jpg

The Supreme Court

AHHHHHHH! The sweet aroma of justice. I hope that the Supreme Court is taking notes. This is the lesson for the court – do the right thing, not the ideological right-wing, drinking kool-aid thing. They must also understand that elections have consequences.

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A Second Look: A Union Story

Arlene Holt Baker, AFL-CIO wrote:

A Union Story


From: Arlene Holt Baker, AFL-CIO [peoplepower@aflcio.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 12:42 PM
To: Tom Chambless
Subject: A Union Story

Dear Tom,

Arlene Holt Baker Across America, people are filled with a renewed hope that their future holds the promise of an economy that works for everyone.

The elections in November put working family activists – together with the new leaders we elected – closer to the promise of an economy that works for all of us. One of the ways to collect on that promise is by workers being able to freely form and join a union and have a voice at work. We can do this with the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which will restore workers’ freedom to bargain for better health care, secure pensions and fair wages.

Help me spread the truth about the Employee Free Choice Act by contributing to the Turn Around America Media Fund today.

I know what being a part of a union and being able to bargain collectively for wages, hours and working conditions can do to improve the lives of workers and their communities. I can recall vividly my days as a union organizer with AFSCME when clerical workers in the City of Los Angeles decided they wanted a union. I saw those clerical workers, through their union, bargain for good wages and pay equity, flex time and safe working conditions.

Over the course of more than two decades, I have kept up with many of the workers I met on my first organizing campaign. I have heard their stories of how it was thanks to their union they were able to buy their first car, their first home, were able to afford to send their children to college, continue their own education and to retire with dignity and security. For the unionized workforce, there are tens of thousands of stories like theirs.

Help more workers achieve their dreams. Contribute to the Turn Around America Media Fund today.

Please help spread the truth about the Employee Free Choice Act.

In Solidarity,

Arlene Holt Baker
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President

P.S. There are 60 million working Americans who say they would join a union today if they had the opportunity. I am asking you to please join me in giving them the chance to form their union and in time be able to tell their stories about the union advantage and the dreams their union helped them fulfill. Please contribute today.

It is a pity that we have to re-fight this particularly hard fought battle. The right to democratically choose representation was won when the Taft-Hartely Act amended the National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act) in 1947 allowing
sight checks of union authorization cards for a union to be certified as the collective bargaining representative.

United Auto Workers

Non-union auto workers in Toyota plants in America’s south make $45 per hour once all benefits are included. Union represented auto workers in Detroit make $55 per hour after
adding in the benefits.The right-wing argument that union craft workers should bargain away their wages and benefits in order to keep the company afloat is baseless. Japan is having its troubles, but the employees still get paid $45 per hour. This argument is nothing more than a race to the bottom. Next, the employers will ask the workers to give them their homes and place their children in servitude.

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