Issues & Trends

Issues in 2005

CEOS GET RICHER, WORKERS MAKE LESS FOR MORE WORK - CEO pay is rising at an astronomical pace while workers' wages are dropping or stagnating, according to new reports. The average CEO made 431 times the salary of a production worker in 2004, up from 301-to-1 in 2003 and 24-to-1 in the mid 1960's, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute. While CEOs get richer, workers are producing more and taking home less pay. Worker productivity increased 4.7 percent during the third quarter of 2005, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, while real hourly wages and benefits decreased by 1.4 percent, compared with an even higher 3.1 percent decrease in the previous quarter. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org or visit www.aflcio.org/corportewatch/paywatch/index.cfm to see how CEO pay has been growing.

ADJUNCTS DEMAND FAIRNESS - During the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 4, a coalition that includes AFT, the American Association of University Professors, the unaffiliated National Education Association and other groups rallied and demonstrated on college campuses across the nation calling for fair pay and benefits for college and university part-time faculty members. On some campuses, adjunct faculty members passed out peanuts and held signs that said, "What do elephants and adjunct faculty have in common? Both work for peanuts." On other campuses, part-time instructors parked cars filled with textbooks, papers and classroom materials next to signs reading "part-time faculty office."

ADJUNCTS DEMAND FAIRNESS - During the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 4, a coalition that includes AFT, the American Association of University Professors, the unaffiliated National Education Association and other groups rallied and demonstrated on college campuses across the nation calling for fair pay and benefits for college and university part-time faculty members. On some campuses, adjunct faculty members passed out peanuts and held signs that said, "What do elephants and adjunct faculty have in common? Both work for peanuts." On other campuses, part-time instructors parked cars filled with textbooks, papers and classroom materials next to signs reading "part-time faculty office."

UNIONS HEAD TO COURT OVER PERSONNEL RULES - Several unions representing federal employees plan to file a lawsuit to block implementation of a new National Security Personnel System rule that would strip away collective bargaining rights for 650,000 civilian Department of Defense employees. The labor relation's portion of the final rule, released by the department Oct. 27, would become effective Nov. 28. The new rules, if implemented, would allow Defense officials to routinely override provisions in collective bargaining contracts.

LABOR LAWS DONT PROTECT WORKERS - The nation's labor laws are a disaster and are not protecting workers' freedom to form unions, according to Reagan- and Clinton-appointed members of the NLRB. "The law's remedies for labor law violations are weak and ineffective. Many underlying assumptions and doctrines of the law are out of synch with changing realities, especially the changing nature of the employment relationship, the workplace and communications," said Democratic NLRB member Wilma Liebman in her keynote address to the Robert Fuchs Labor Law Conference at Boston's Suffolk University Law School Oct. 27. Marshall Babson, who served on the NLRB under President Ronald Reagan, spoke in favor of majority sign-up agreements, in which an employer voluntarily agrees to recognize the union after a majority of workers signs cards supporting the union. The NLRB, dominated by Bush appointees, has announced its intent to reconsider the use of majority sign-up. Seeking to ensure fairness for workers who want to form unions, working families are mounting the largest-ever mobilization to take the message of workers' rights to the White House, statehouses and front doors of employers that deny workers' rights. Throughout the week of Dec. 5-10, thousands of workers across the country will hold rallies, town hall meetings, candlelight vigils and teach-ins to highlight the obstacles workers face when seeking to join a union at work and showcase strategies for overcoming those obstacles. The events are part of a massive global mobilization to mark Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the 1948 ratification of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the freedom of workers to form unions.

AFT: STUDY LACKS SOLUTIONS - The AFT challenged a recently released study that wrongly claims union contract language is an obstacle preventing urban schools from hiring good teachers. The study, Unintended Consequences: The Case for Reforming the Staffing Rules in Urban Teachers Union Contracts, was released Nov. 16 by The New Teacher Project, a nonprofit teacher recruitment and certification organization used by many big-city school districts. The report completely misses the mark on the challenge of retaining new teachers in urban schools, said AFT Executive Vice President Antonia Cortese. "If we want to solve this problem, we need to spend more time on retention strategies like peer mentoring and other supports," she said.

DATE SET FOR HEARING ON DEFENSE RULES - U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has set Jan. 24, 2006, as the hearing date for a lawsuit by 10 unions challenging new Department of Defense work rules, the National Security Personnel System (NSPS). "We are very pleased that the court has agreed to hear the case in timely manner," said AFGE President John Gage. "Over 600,000 federal workers await the ruling. The NSPS could have grave implications for the safety of America's fighting men and women and for safeguarding the public coffers." The unions filed suit Nov. 7 to stop the personnel system, which would allow Defense officials to override provisions in collective bargaining contracts.

FAMILY LEAVE THREATENED - The Department of Labor is widely expected to cut back protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that has helped tens of millions of workers since it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Big Business groups-including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers-are pressing to limit workers' ability to take time off without pay for the birth or adoption of a child and to care for a sick loved one or for their own illness. In its recently released regulatory agenda, the Labor Department said FMLA changes are among its regulatory priorities and could come as early as December. But unions and other groups have urged the Labor Department to keep the current FMLA regulations intact. Read more about corporate attacks on family leave at the AFL-CIO's Point of View webpage (www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/speakout/ellen_bravo.cfm), www.9to5.org and www.nationalpartnership.org.

JUDGE BLOCKS BUSH DHS PERSONNEL RULES - In a major victory for workers, a federal court denied the Department of Homeland Security's request to fully implement its new personnel system, known as MaxHR, which would slash 160,000 employees' collective bargaining and workplace rights and end civil service pay scales. The Bush administration had asked U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer to narrow her Aug. 12 ruling blocking the new personnel rules. On Oct. 7 Collyer declined the agency's bid and accepted the unions' argument that the rules would so curtail the negotiating process as to virtually eliminate it. In January, AFGE, along with the unaffiliated Treasury Employees Union, Federation of Federal Employees and the Association of Agriculture Employees filed suit challenging significant parts of the proposed personnel system on the basis that they violated the Homeland Security Act among other issues. In June, the unions filed a motion to stop the implementation of the rules.

TEACHER SALARIES TRAIL INFLATION - For the first time since the 1999-2000 school year, the average teacher's pay failed to keep up with inflation, according to AFT's annual salary survey. The average pay for teachers in the 2003-2004 school year was $45,597, a 2.2 percent increase from the year before. The inflation rate for 2004 was 2.4 percent. The survey, released Oct. 6, shows over the past 10 years, teachers' pay increased at a far slower rate than salaries for other professionals. For a copy of the report, visit http://www.aft.org/salary/index.htm.

CALIF. UNIONS BLAST DECEPTION SCHEME - California working families and their unions are mobilizing to beat back Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) attacks on their political rights and on teachers and schools. Schwarzenegger called for a special election Nov. 8 on a paycheck deception ballot initiative (Proposition 75) to silence public employees' voices in the political arena and on Proposition 74, which reduces job security and contract protections for teachers. Paycheck deception legislation would place massive reporting and administrative burdens on unions before they could use dues money for any political expenditure-which includes educating members about issues and lobbying for pro-working family legislation. Schwarzenegger's special election will cost California taxpayers $80 million. For more information, visit the California Labor Federation at www.calaborfed.org or the Alliance for a Better California at www.betterca.org.

N.J. FREE CHOICE ACT PAYS OFF - In July, New Jersey's version of the Employee Free Choice Act took effect. The new law allows workers not covered by the National Labor Relations Act to choose to be represented by a union by signing authorization cards. This month all 41 assistant prosecutors in the Mercer County prosecutor's office won a union voice with CWA Local 1034. The federal Employee Free Choice Act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696) would allow employees to freely choose whether to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establish stronger penalties for violating the rights of workers seeking to form a union. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org.

COHEN TAKES CWA HELM - Delegates to the Communications Workers of America convention in Chicago Aug. 29 elected Larry Cohen as president to succeed Morton Bahr. Cohen, 56, has served as vice president since 1998. Delegates also re-elected Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling.

UNION-MANAGEMENT PARTNERSHIPS CITED - High-profile national employers that have successful partnerships with unions representing their employees were credited in a report released Sept. 2 by the labor advocacy group American Rights at Work. The employers are "bucking the current race-to-the-bottom trend while defining new standards for 21st century labor relations," the report said. Among the partnerships cited were Cingular Wireless and CWA, Harley-Davidson and the Machinists and Brightside Academy and AFSCME. For a copy of the report, The Labor Day List: Partnerships that Work, visit www.americanrightsatwork.org.

ROSENBERG NEW SAG LEADER - Alan Rosenberg was elected president of the Screen Actors in nationwide mail ballot, the union announced Sept. 23. He succeeds Melissa Gilbert who chose not to run after serving as SAG president since 2001. Connie Stevens was elected SAG secretary-treasurer.

STATE WORKERS UNDERPAID - Although states are recovering from fiscal crises, many state governments are in danger of losing key workers because they are not paying public employees enough to keep up with inflation, according to a report by the AFT. The 2005 AFT Public Employees Compensation Survey showed the median salary increase for state employees surveyed was 1.19 percent from 2004 to 2005, significantly below the inflation rate of 3.15 percent for the same period. For a copy of the report, visit www.aft.org.

TRADE DEFICIT ON RECORD CLIMB - The U.S. Commerce Department reported the nation's trade deficit for June reached $58.8 billion, up from $55.4 billion in May. So far this year, the trade deficit is running at an annual rate of $686 billion, which would eclipse last year's all-time record of $617.6 billion. The deficit with China, the largest with any one country, was a record at $17.6 billion in June, surpassing the old mark of $16.8 billion set last October. The trade report showed that America's deficit with the nation's North American Free Trade Agreement partners continued to rise. The deficit with Mexico was a record $4.8 billion and it was $5.4 billion with Canada. Such "unacceptable and unsustainable" deficits contribute to increased loss of manufacturing jobs as well as erosion of our tax base, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in May. The deficit report came as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report Aug. 11 that backs up what workers and their unions have been saying for months. The report focuses on "unprecedented" declines in the workforce in the wake of the 2001 recession that continued through early 2005. Job growth in this economic recovery has been substantially slower than in ­previous recoveries, the CBO said.

SHIPYARD REMAINS AFLOAT - Shipyard workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, won a major victory when a federal commission voted Aug. 24 to keep the yard open. In May, the Bush administration's Defense Department recommended the yard be closed as part of nationwide base closings. Workers, the community and local and state leaders mobilized to convince the Base Realignment and Closure Commission that closing the yard would harm the local and state economies-and be detrimental to national security. Some 4,800 employees, including 4,000 union members, work at the 205-year-old shipyard. The unions representing them include the Portsmouth Metal Trades Council unions, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and AFGE. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org.

SHIPYARD REMAINS AFLOAT - Shipyard workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, won a major victory when a federal commission voted Aug. 24 to keep the yard open. In May, the Bush administration's Defense Department recommended the yard be closed as part of nationwide base closings. Workers, the community and local and state leaders mobilized to convince the Base Realignment and Closure Commission that closing the yard would harm the local and state economies-and be detrimental to national security. Some 4,800 employees, including 4,000 union members, work at the 205-year-old shipyard. The unions representing them include the Portsmouth Metal Trades Council unions, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and AFGE. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org.

JUDGE BLOCKS BUSH RIGHTS ASSAULT - A federal judge blocked the Bush administration's new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rules, which would have slashed 160,000 employees' bargaining and workplace rights and civil service pay scales. "The regulations fail in their obligation to ensure collective bargaining rights to DHS employees," U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer said in her Aug. 12 ruling on a lawsuit filed by AFGE and other federal employee unions. The coalition of federal unions was instrumental in working to stop the implementation of the new rules. The rules were to go into effect Aug. 15 and the Bush administration is expected to appeal the decision. For more information on the ruling, visit www.aflcio.org or www.afge.org.

NLRB BANS OFF-DUTY CONTACTS - In another anti-worker ruling, the Republican-dominated National Labor Relations Board ruled employers can ban off-duty fraternizing among co-workers, severely weakening the rights of free association and speech and violating basic standards of privacy for ­America's workers. The June 7 ruling upheld a work rule imposed by the national security firm Guardsmark that directed employees not to "fraternize on duty or off duty, date, or become overly friendly with co-employees." For more information, visit www.aflcio.org.

JOB EXPORT REPORTS FLAWED - Three recent studies that claim sending white-collar jobs overseas will benefit workers are seriously flawed and misleading, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The pro-job export studies by the McKinsey Global Institute, Global Insight and the Institute for International Economics are based on faulty data and false assumptions, said EPI economist Josh Bivens, author of Truth and Consequences of Offshoring. The studies overstate the benefits of sending jobs abroad and ignore the likely economic costs to America's workers, Bivens said. For more information, visit www.epinet.org.

AFA-CWA UNITED IN ACTION - Flight Attendants-CWA members at United Airlines held demonstrations and informational picket actions at some 20 airports around the world July 28 to protest the airline's termination of their pension plan as part of United's bankruptcy proceedings. The demonstrators also called for replacement of the airline's top management. In May, the airline dumped some $6.6 billion in unfunded pension liabilities (including some $1.5 billion for flight attendants' pensions) onto the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC). Under PBGC's ­formula, many of the airlines' 120,000 current and former employees will see their promised pensions slashed by more than half. While the airlines' other unions representing workers have negotiated new pension agreements with United, AFA-CWA, with some 20,000 United members, is pursing legal and legislative action.

WAGES DOWN, PROFITS UP, BUSH SPINS - The Bush administration's spin machine is working furiously to convince the American public the nation's recent economic recovery is good news for all. But two recent studies show the economy is doing a lot better for Big Business than for working families. The Bush White House-in Crawford, Texas, during the president's five-week vacation-hailed the news that some blue-collar wages rose 0.4 percent in July. But the Economic Policy Institute found those wages actually declined in July, as inflation sliced into the wage increase--and more. "The real hourly wages [adjusted for inflation] of those workers remain at almost the exact same level as when the current recovery began. In fact, real hourly earnings fell in all but two of the last 15 months," EPI reported. Meanwhile, a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report showed Big Business is the big winner in this recovery. The report looked at seven standard economic indicators-including income from wages and salaries, employment and corporate profits-and compared their performance in this economic recovery with other post-World War II recoveries. Six of the seven indicators in this recovery are below the average for comparable post-war economic upturns. "The current period," the report found, "has outperformed the average in only one respect: corporate profits, which have grown far more rapidly than average." For information, visit www.epi.org and www.cbpp.org.

TNG-CWA RALLY SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 FOR JOURNALISTS - On Wednesday, July 6 from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m., The Newspaper Guild-CWA will lead a rally at the Federal Courthouse, Third & Constitution NW, to protest the threat of jailing of two reporters by the U.S. District Court. We are hearing from a number of news outlets that are planning to cover our protest, including camera crews, so it's very important that we have a good turnout and publicize this important issue. Please make every effort to attend. Background: Judith Miller of the NY Times and Matt Cooper of Time magazine were found in contempt of court. Both are facing jail because they have refused to reveal their confidential news sources to federal prosecutors. We are calling for enactment of a National Shield Law that would protect a reporter's right to keep sources confidential This is a critical issue not only for Guild members, but to maintain the important role of a free press in a democracy. Thanks for your participation.

TELEMUNDO RESORTS TO UNION-BUSTING - After more than six months of bargaining, Telemundo--a subsidiary of NBC/Universal--last week abandoned negotiations with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists over a contract for their Spanish-language performers. The union charges Telemundo has begun holding captive-audience meetings with performers working on their productions in Miami and handing out leaflets that threaten to move the work out of the country. "It is stunning to me that the same company that assured the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that they would not interfere with any individual's right to support a union is now resorting to such common union-busting tactics to ensure that these performers don't exercise that right," said Rebecca Rhine, AFTRA's assistant national executive director.

VOICE IN NEW JERSEY - New Jersey acting Gov. Richard Codey (D) signed a new law July 19 that expands the freedom of New Jersey workers to choose a union when a majority signs authorization cards for union representation. The new law covers workers who do not fall under the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act. Those employers whose workers could choose a union by signing authorization cards include racetrack owners, breeders and trainers, real estate brokers, certain public employers and public supervisors. Similar laws already exist in California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts (covering charter school workers only), and majority sign-up is specifically provided, on a voluntary basis, in New Mexico, Alaska and Ohio.

AIR PHONE FIGHT STILL RINGING - The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) proposal to lift the ban on cell phone use aboard commercial airliners "could have catastrophic effects on aviation and safety and security," Flight Attendants-CWA President Pat Friend told a House of Representatives committee July 15. Friend said the FCC is continuing to push for the rule despite public, industry and some government opposition. The vast majority of the 7,800 written comments submitted to the FCC oppose onboard cell phone use, and a recent poll showed 63 percent of Americans are against lifting the ban. The Justice Department has raised concerns about terrorists using in-flight cell phones to stage and coordinate attacks, and one of the nation's largest cell phone service providers, Cingular, has weighed in on the side of cell phone silence.

FEDERAL WORKERS RALLY FOR RIGHTS - Hundreds of federal workers and members of a wide range of unions and allied groups rallied on Capitol Hill July 12 to protest the Bush administration's assault on federal workers' rights. The main focus of the rally was the impending Defense Department's new National Security Personnel System, which will deny collective bargaining and civil service rights to some 750,000 Defense Department workers. "These bogus personnel changes will destroy morale and undermine public servants throughout the federal government by injecting politics into the federal workplace," said AFGE President John Gage. For more information, visit http://www.afge.org or http://www.aflcio.org .

PRIVATIZATION TAKES A HIT - A bipartisan House of Representatives majority approved an amendment June 30 that would allow Congress to rewrite Bush administration privatization policies to make them fairer to federal workers and more accountable to taxpayers. The amendment was offered to the fiscal year 2006 Transportation, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). It is directed at the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76 privatization process, which is tilted heavily in favor of private contractors. The vote was the third time Congress moved to change the system, but Bush administration veto threats and backroom deals derailed previous efforts, said AFGE and the Professional and Technical Engineers.

BUSH THE COVER BOY - It's not unusual for President Bush to appear on magazine covers. But his appearance on the cover of the June 15 edition of "Government Executive" magazine with the huge red headline "Union Buster" was unique. The cover story--in a magazine that describes itself as an "authoritative business publication for mid- to senior-level federal managers"--reported that workers' rights under the long-standing federal labor relations system are "being crushed by the weight of personnel reform." It covered the attacks on workers' rights and collective bargaining in the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies. Visit http://www.govexec.com and click on back issues to view the story.

COME CLEAN - CWA's Alliance@IBM is pressing IBM Corp. to come clean about where its planned job cuts, totaling 10,000 to 13,000 worldwide, will fall. "IBM is among the worst offenders, pushing relentlessly to export skilled jobs overseas," said Lee Conrad, national coordinator for the Alliance@IBM, CWA Local 1701, noting IBM recently opened its fifth software center in India, where its workforce now totals 14,000. Conrad termed IBM's statement that workers can seek other jobs within the company as a smokescreen that offers an illusion of hope to employees and misleads the public. To read comments from IBM employees, visit http://www.allianceibm.org and scroll down to click on "job cuts status and comments page."

BARGAINING LAW STRUCK DOWN - In a 5-4 decision, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a state law granting municipal employees the right to collective bargaining. The court decided the bargaining rights measure enacted in 2004 was a "special law" because it only applied to cities of 35,000 or more and the state constitution prohibits such laws. The city of Enid, Okla., challenged the law after AFSCME sought certification to represent its municipal employees.

AFT IN QUEST FOR BETTER SCHOOL REFORM - America's teachers support the goals of high standards and accountability underlying the federal No Child Left Behind law, but significant changes must be made or "the entire standards movement is in jeopardy," AFT President Edward McElroy said. Addressing the union's QuEST (Quality Educational Standards in Teaching) professional issues forum July 7-10 in Washington, D.C., McElroy said the law has shortchanged academic subjects and its accountability measures are unfair and inaccurate methods for determining student and school performance.

NATIONAL SHIELD LAW NEEDED - The jailing of "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller on July 6 showed the need for a national shield law to protect press freedom to expose corporate and government wrongdoing, said Linda Foley, president of the Newspaper Guild/CWA. Miller was ordered to jail by a federal judge when she would not reveal a source of information about Valerie Plame, whose identity as a CIA operative was made public by columnist Robert Novak two years ago. The Guild is backing the Free Flow of Information Act of 2005 (H.R. 581 and S. 340). The bill would establish federal rules protecting journalists' right to keep secret the names of sources to whom they have promised confidentiality, a right they now have in 49 states and the District of Columbia. To sign a petition supporting the legislation, visit http://www.freepress.net . On the day Miller was jailed, thousands of journalists and supporters held rallies and vigils and observed moments of silence in newsrooms across the country. For more information, visit http://www.newsguild.org .

A CHOICE FORUM - Nearly 400 union members and community allies attended a recent forum in Pittsburgh where Comcast workers told how they have struggled for years to form a union and how the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696) would help guarantee workers' right to a voice at work. More than 450 Comcast workers in Pennsylvania, who organized three years ago, still do not have a contract. The act would strengthen protections for workers' freedom to choose by requiring employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union. The bipartisan legislation has 194 House co-sponsors and 38 in the Senate. The forum was organized by the Communications Workers of America, the Electrical Workers, Jobs with Justice, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO and the Allegheny Labor Council.

INSURED PAY EXTRA FOR UNINSURED - Workers with health insurance are paying extra to cover health care costs for the 48 million Americans who are uninsured, according to a new report released June 9 by the health consumer group Families USA. The report, "Paying a Premium: The Added Cost of Care for the Uninsured," showed in this year alone, covering the health costs of the uninsured will add an average of $922 to premiums for employer-provided family health insurance. That's about $1 of every $12 spent for job-based health insurance. These additional premium costs will rise to an average of $1,502 in 2010, the report said. For a copy of the report, visit http://www.familiesusa.org .

FAMILY LEAVE UNDER ATTACK - The Bush administration's Department of Labor plans to issue new regulations revising the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Big Business groups are urging drastic rollbacks of the leave law. Since the law was enacted in 1993, more than 50 million workers have used the unpaid leave it provides to take care of newborn or newly adopted children, seriously ill family members or themselves. "It was a godsend," Patti Phillips of Atlanta told a Senate roundtable discussion June 23. Phillips used small portions of the allowed 12 weeks of leave to take her 12-year-old daughter, who was battling bone cancer, to chemotherapy sessions. "In the last two months of her life, I was able to be there 24-7," Phillips said. Witnesses from business groups said the law should be narrowed. But currently it covers only about 40 percent of the private-sector workforce. "Instead of scaling back worker protections in the FMLA, Congress should expand the FMLA to enable more workers to meet their families' needs without compromising income or job security," said AFL-CIO President Sweeney.

UNIONS SUE TO HALT DHS RULES - A coalition of five unions, including AFGE, filed suit in federal court June 22 to stop the Department of Homeland Security from implementing new personnel rules that gut the collective bargaining and civil service rights of the department's 170,000 workers. The department announced it would begin implementing the new rules in August. The suit asks for a preliminary injunction to stop the department from moving ahead until the court rules on a case filed earlier this year that challenges the legality of the new personnel system. The Department of Defense plans to implement a similar system, and the Bush administration has called for similar rules throughout the federal workforce. For more information, visit http://www.afge.org .

CHILE, A PREVIEW OF PRIVATIZATION - Chile's social security system was privatized 25 years ago, and today most Chilean workers and retirees, especially women, are not reaping the benefits from private accounts. Their plight offers a lesson for the United States as President George W. Bush continues his push to privatize Social Security, said Carmen Espinoza, director of Chile's Program of Economy and Work. Chile's plan is plagued with high administrative costs, low returns on investments and low levels of coverage for retirees, Espinoza said at a Washington, D.C., roundtable discussion June 7. The Economic Policy Institute and Global Policy Network sponsored the roundtable. For more information on Bush's plan to privatize Social Security, visit http://www.aflcio.org/socialsecurity .

NLRB ELECTIONS DENY WORKERS' FREEDOM - The National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB's) union election process is so corrupt it bears almost no resemblance to the democratic process we think of when we use the term "election," according to an independent report. The report, "Free And Fair? How Labor Law Fails U.S. Democratic Election Standards" by University of Oregon professor Gordon Lafer, shows NLRB procedures fail to meet U.S. standards for determining if foreign elections are free and fair. It cites the one-sided advantages employers hold in representation elections, including the ability to squelch workers' free speech rights on the job and employers' use of coercion to convince a worker to oppose a union. The report demonstrates clearly the need for new legislation to level the playing field for employees who exercise their freedom to choose a union, American Rights at Work Chairman David Bonior said. "The system for union recognition is badly broken and profoundly undemocratic. Any reform of existing labor law must begin with this understanding." The AFL-CIO and its allies strongly support the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 842 and H.R. 1696), which would require employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide for mediation and arbitration of first-contract disputes and authorize stronger penalties for violation of the law when workers seek to form a union. For a copy of the report, visit http://www.americanrightsatwork.org . For more information on the Employee Free Choice Act, visit http://www.aflcio.org/voiceatwork .

CALIF. PAYCHECK DECEPTION'S BACK - A paycheck deception ballot measure aimed at California public employees will appear on the next statewide ballot--either in a possible November special election or the June 2006 primary--after being certified by the secretary of state June 5. The paycheck deception measure mirrors the defeated 1998 Proposition 226, which by limiting the use of union funds in politics would have weakened the voice of working families in the political arena. While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has not taken an official stand on the paycheck deception measure, "The Los Angeles Times" reported June 5 that in a conference call Schwarzenegger's political team and top contributors discussed ways to demonize public employee unions and convince the public the unions cause many of the state's problems. "It's the worst kind of politics," said Barbara Kerr, president of the California Teachers Association. The Alliance for a Better California--which is fighting the governor's attacks on public employee pensions, public schools, teachers and health care and other anti-worker actions--will mobilize to defeat the paycheck deception initiative. For more information, visit http://www.allianceforabettercalifornia.org .

ECON CLAIMS--FACTS VS. FANTASY - On May 31, President George W. Bush declared, "Our economy is strong." He cited as evidence job growth during the past two years and a 5.1 percent unemployment rate. He didn't mention how many jobs have been lost in his entire four-year-plus tenure. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the job growth Bush pointed to simply makes up for the jobs lost earlier in his term. In May when the economy added just 78,000 new jobs, about half of what was forecast, the number of jobs in the private sector finally recovered to the level of March 2001. About 2.7 million manufacturing jobs have disappeared since Bush took office. On the unemployment front, today's 5.1 percent unemployment rate is a far cry from the 30-year record low rate of 3.9 percent when Bush took office.

TEMP JOBS SOAR - Of new jobs being created, not only are many lower-paying service jobs but many are temporary, with few or no benefits. According to the American Staffing Association, staffing companies employed more than 2.58 million temporary or contract workers in the first quarter of 2005, the highest level since it began tracking temporary job numbers in 1992.

CONTRACTING 'IN' A BETTER BARGAIN - New York could save more than $400 million a year by contracting "in" work that was outsourced to private companies in recent years under Gov. George Pataki (R), according to a new report by the Fiscal Policy Institute. Pataki has cut more than 20,000 jobs since taking office, and much of that work has been outsourced to private contractors. The state has spent some $1.2 billion for private information technology consultants in the past four years and $311 million for private engineers and other consultants on capital projects in fiscal 2004-2005, according to the report. "We've been saying for years the state is wasting millions on private contractors. This report proves we were right, but we were wrong--we underestimated the amount of taxpayer abuse," said Roger Benson of the New York Public Employees Federation. For a copy the report, "Privatization Without Competition Equals Huge Losses," visit http://www.fiscalpolicy.org .

WINNING FOR WORKING FAMILIES - The AFL-CIO's executive officers have recommended broad changes for the labor federation aimed at increasing growth through organizing and gaining legislative and political strength for working families. Their blueprint for change, "Winning for Working Families," calls for new approaches and increases in funding for organizing as well as for legislative and political mobilization. Released April 28, the recommendations also outline changes for strengthening state and local union movements, increasing leadership diversity and providing affiliate unions a larger role in federation governance. In November, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney asked union members, national unions, constituency groups and allied organizations to submit their ideas for change and identify issues the union movement must pursue to grow and build strength. More than 70 detailed proposals were submitted and nearly 7,000 rank-and-file union members submitted comments to the AFL-CIO's Strengthening Our Union Movement website. The officers' recommendations include establishing a $22.5 million Strategic Organizing Fund with rebates for unions that meet tough organizing standards; creating year-round, year-in and year-out member education and mobilization capacity around national, state and local political and legislative issues; and increasing member mobilization funding by approximately $7.5 million a year. The AFL-CIO Executive Council will consider many of the proposals leading up to the July AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago. To read or download "Winning for Working Families," visit http://www.aflcio.org/ourfuture .

SOCIAL SECURITY KEY TO SENIOR INCOME - With Congress debating President George W. Bush's scheme to privatize Social Security, a new study shows the system's guaranteed payments play a growing role in keeping retirees out of poverty. More and more retirees depend on Social Security for their income as pension benefits become smaller or even disappear, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute. The study, "Retirement Income: The Crucial Role of Social Security," found the value of Social Security retirement benefits represents the largest single source of wealth for the typical worker approaching retirement. For two-thirds of people older than 65, Social Security provides more than half of all income. Meanwhile, the public still is not buying Bush's privatization plan. By a 56-percent-to-36-percent margin, respondents to a recent "Wall Street Journal" poll said it is a bad idea to shift Social Security contributions into the stock market. For more on the EPI study, visit http://www.epinet.org . To learn more about the Bush privatization plan, visit http://www.aflcio.org/socialsecurity .

WORKING HARDER FOR LESS - Even though worker productivity in the United States jumped 4.1 percent in the past four years, worker pay grew only 1.5 percent, according to a new report by EPI. While wages remain stagnant--or fall, in the case of blue-collar and service workers--corporate profits are heading through the roof, EPI reported. For a copy of the report, visit http://www.epinet.org .

TELECOM POLICIES DESTROY GOOD JOBS - TELECOM POLICIES DESTROY GOOD JOBS--Federal, state and local telecommunications regulations and tax policies are destroying good jobs by giving an advantage to cable television and wireless companies, which generally pay lower wages and are half as likely to be unionized as long-established carriers, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute. "Racing to the Bottom: How Antiquated Public Policy Is Destroying the Best Jobs in Telecommunications," released May 12, documents the higher costs imposed by government policies on long-established carriers, particularly the former Bell companies, putting them at a competitive disadvantage. To read the report, visit http://www.epinet.org .

BUSH PLAN THREATENS WIDOWS' BENEFITS - The Bush administration admitted last week its plan to privatize Social Security would mean cuts in survivor benefits for widows, widowers and children. "The president's misleading proposal glosses over the fact that survivor benefits would be cut under his privatization plan," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a Washington, D.C., forum on Women and Social Security. She said studies show workers earning $58,000 a year would be hit with a 42 percent benefit cut for survivors and retirees. Workers making more than $58,000 would receive an even larger benefit cut. Bush previously admitted his Social Security privatization plan would cut benefits for large numbers of people--about 70 percent of future retirees, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. For more information, visit http://www.aflcio.org/socialsecurity .

MORE JOBS LEAVING UNITED STATES - There is growing evidence that major U.S. corporations are exporting more and more jobs. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported April 19 the workforce of U.S. multinational companies employed in the United States declined to about 21.8 million, a reduction of 2.1 percent or 456,000 jobs, from 2002. Meanwhile, the number of employees working abroad for U.S. companies grew to 8.36 million, up 1.2 percent or 100,000 jobs, from the prior year. This continued a trend that began in 1988, when the share of U.S. multinational companies' employees working in the United States was 78.8 percent. U.S. multinational companies account for about one out of every five U.S. jobs in private industry, BEA said.

EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT INTRODUCED - Seven workers told a Capitol Hill press conference their employers fired union-supporting employees and took other actions to thwart their freedom to form unions. The workers joined lawmakers and religious and union leaders April 19 for the introduction of the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1696 and S. 842). The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Reps. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), would reform the nation's basic labor laws by requiring employers to recognize the union after a majority of workers signs cards authorizing union representation. It also would provide mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes and establish stronger penalties for violation of the rights of workers seeking to form unions or negotiate first contracts. Lori Gay, a registered nurse at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in Utah, said she and co-workers held a union election despite the hospital's vicious anti-union campaign but have been waiting three years for the National Labor Relations Board to allow the ballots to be counted. For more information and to view a webcast of the introduction, visit http://www.aflcio.org.

PHONE PLAN: PLANE OBNOXIOUS - Responding to a big push from the aviation industry and some business passengers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may drop the ban on the use of cell phones by airline passengers during flight. Pat Friend, president of AFA-CWA, says use of cell phones on airliners is "a sure prescription for air rage" as passengers might have to endure nonstop phone yakkers for several hours. Additionally, she said, passengers may not be able to hear safety and emergency instructions. The FCC's own study on cell phone use and flight safety issues won't be completed for another year. Friend urges union members to send a message to the FCC from the website http://www.nocellphonesonplanes.com.

UNDIPLOMATIC BEHAVIOR - The 630 staff members of the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and its consulates throughout the country voted Feb. 23 to join the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. But the British government has refused to recognize the workers' practically unanimous vote, and the workers are considering filing a complaint with the International Labor Organization. In addition, the British government unilaterally imposed wage cuts and work rule changes April 1. The AFL-CIO met with the British labor attache to push for recognition of the union and a fair contract and is seeking a meeting with the British ambassador. Officials from the British Trades Union Congress met with that country's foreign minister in support of the workers.

SOCIAL SECURITY STILL SOUND - The latest report by the Social Security Fund Trustees shows the system will be sound for decades and there is no need to rush into President Bush's reckless plans to privatize Social Security, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. Trustees reported March 23 that without changes to address long-term financing problems, the trust fund would be able to pay full benefits until 2041, and there would still be sufficient money coming in to cover 74 percent of benefits thereafter. The report also reflects a 12-year improvement in the outlook since 1997, when trustees projected a shortfall beginning in 2029. Also, last week seniors rallied across the country calling for their representatives and senators to stop Bush's privatization scheme. In Denver, hundreds of workers and members of the Alliance for Retired Americans rallied March 21 at the state capitol just hours before Bush spoke there as part of his nationwide campaign to create private Social Security accounts. The rally coincided with the beginning of the Alliance's Truth Truck tour, which will deliver 1 million petitions the Alliance has collected from seniors to members of Congress urging them to protect Social Security. The Truth Truck began its 3,000-mile, six-state tour March 21 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and will end April 1 in Harrisburg, Pa. In Greensboro, N.C., March 23, a crowd of more than 50 Alliance and coalition activists gathered to tell Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) and Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr to oppose Social Security privatization. North Carolina State AFL-CIO President James Andrews delivered petitions signed by 1,046 of Coble's constituents to the congressman's office calling on him to protect Social Security. For more information, visit http://www.retiredamericans.org or http://www.aflcio.org/socialsecurity .

LABOR CONFERENCE LOOKS AT ORGANIZING PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKERS - No. 50 Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Page C-1 ISSN 1522-5968 BNA Conference Report The labor movement may need to create "new unions" in order to organize professional and technical workers in largely nonunion industries, Edward McElroy, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said March 14. Addressing a conference on organizing professionals in the 21st century, McElroy said employment of professional and technical workers is slated to grow in "phenomenal numbers" in the next century, but added that "the occupations are changing." Many of these workers do not work traditional hours nor do they stay at a job for 30 years and retire with a defined benefit pension plan. Some of these new arrangements do not lend themselves to normal organizing, he said, adding that "these changes require a different structure and response from unions." McElroy made his remarks at a three-day conference sponsored by the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees March 14-16. McElroy is the chairman of the board for that department. The conference drew some 170 attendees from 21 different unions who heard from academics as well as seasoned organizers on the challenges of organizing professional employees. The only connection to unions that most professional workers have is "what they read in the newspaper," and most of those stories are about "conflict," McElroy said. "We don't do a good enough job of explaining what it is we are asking them to join," he said. He added that some workers unions try to organize may be interested in being part of a professional association, but do not want "the whole package" that unions provide. Noting that many industries such as finance, real estate, and insurance are virtually unorganized, McElroy said, "We may have to create new unions in whatever industry we are organizing. It's hard to squeeze these workers into existing unions." Experiment With New Ways of Organizing The labor movement needs to figure out how to design organizations that relate to these workers needs rather than "stuffing them into a box we've already created," McElroy said. Rather than continuing to do things the same way "over and over," labor needs to experiment with new ways to organize these professionals, he added. McElroy related several ways his union has reached out to professional employees. AFT currently has a program in which it recruits associate members among teachers in areas where there is no collective bargaining and gives those workers benefits such as legal defense and AFT publications, but does not include collective bargaining representation or grievance procedures. When a lot of associate members in a state are signed up, the union then sends in organizers and converts them to full members. Since there are no collective bargaining rights for public employees in these states, AFT negotiates policies with school boards that effectuate collective bargaining. In Texas, for example, AFT represents more than 50,000 teachers, and the union has contracts with school boards in El Paso, Dallas, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi. McElroy said his union also has affiliated with existing associations of dental hygienists in Illinois and psychologists in New York. While these workers do not have a employer/employee relationship and do not participate in collective bargaining, the union's legislative and political programs are important to them. Professionals Among Fastest Growing Jobs By 2012, professional and related occupations will be among the fastest growing occupations, with a 23 percent increase from 2002 to 2012, according to Lynn Karoly, a senior economist at the RAND Corp. Among the fastest growing professional occupations, she said, will be post-secondary teachers (38 percent), computer specialists (36 percent), teachers in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten (34 percent), and therapists (32 percent). Karoly, who has done research on the future of work for the Department of Labor, said three trends will affect work over the next 10 to 15 years. They include shifting demographic patterns toward a more balanced distribution by age, sex, and race/ethnicity; the accelerating pace of technological change; and the future reach of economic globalization that will affect industries and workforce segments that had been relatively insulated from trade-related competition. These trends will lead to increases in the number of workers who are in nonstandard work arrangements, including self-employment, contingent work, temporary help, and lease arrangement, Karoly said. There also is expected to be growth in home-based work and telecommuting, she added. The traditional distinction between labor and management will "blur" with the greater use of high performance workplace practices and technological changes, she said. These trends will affect access to and delivery of traditional workplace benefits such as health insurance, life insurance, and pension benefits, as well as social interaction, mentoring, networking, and professional identity, she said. The implications for unions, Karoly said, are that the labor force will continue to shift toward sectors that have lower rates of unionization, and collective bargaining issues will differ for workers who are in nontraditional employer-employee relationships. She added that unions could see a "potential growth in worker associations following the guild model," which dates back to medieval crafts. Workers of the 21st century will respond to unions "only if they see organizations that are adapting to the realities of the 21st century workplace, according to Richard Hurd, professor of labor studies at Cornell University. At the most basic level, the data on employment growth point to opportunities to organize workers in health care, education, performing arts, science/technical, and media/communications, Hurd said. Looking at the trends described by Karoly, Hurd said with the decline in mentoring and professional networks in the workplace, unions should look for ways to provide professional networking opportunities and explore the potential for electronic communities. With the rapid advances in technology, professional and technical expertise faces continual threat of obsolescence, Hurd said. Employees will face a growing pressure to update their knowledge while at the same time employers reduce access to professional development. Unions can encourage professional development offerings and consider partnering with providers of professional education, he said. Hurd noted that professional associations are for the most part ahead of unions in this area. These associations can be a source of models for delivery of continuing education as well as potential allies, he added. By Michelle Amber

DATA SHOW UNIONS NOT PUSHING TO ORGANIZE WOMEN IN PROFESSIONAL, CLERICAL, TECH AREAS - No. 50 Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Page C-2 ISSN 1522-5968 BNA Conference Report There are "whole swaths" of professional, technical and clerical female workers who would most likely join unions, but who are not being actively recruited by union organizers, researcher Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, told a meeting of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees on March 15. "We can't keep saying that professional workers are difficult to organize if we aren't even trying to organize them," Bronfenbrenner told participants at the DPE Conference on Organizing Professionals in Crystal City, Va. Bronfenbrenner presented statistics gathered from National Labor Relations Board certification elections, 1999 through 2003, and five state labor boards representing the public sector (California, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, and Minnesota) in a research study, "Union Organizing Among Professional Women Workers." The numbers showed that the two largest workforce sectors, professional/technical and clerical occupations, have some of the highest concentrations of women workers, yet the lowest rates of union participation. Specifically, women constitute 58 percent of the professional/technical workers, an occupational grouping that makes up 24 percent of the entire U.S. private and public sector workforce, yet is only 6 percent unionized. This was compared to 17 percent union members in the industrial workforce, and 19 percent union members that make up the craft workforce. Also, women constitute 66 percent of the nation's clerical workforce, an occupational grouping that makes up 26 percent of the whole workforce, yet is only 5 percent unionized, Bronfenbrenner stated. Teachers, Some Health Care Workers Heavily Unionized While Bronfenbrenner was quick to point out the gains in recruiting new union members among female-dominated public sector health care workers, teachers, and librarians from 1999 to 2003, she said labor's organizing efforts, overall, have neglected women in the business and financial fields (59 percent female), the life, physical and social sciences (44 percent female), and the legal profession (now 58 percent female). The business and financial sector has only 4 percent of its female members and 1 percent of its male members unionized, she noted; the life/physical/social sciences include 4 percent female and 3 percent male union members, and in the legal profession, 3 percent of women and 1 percent of men belong to unions. "There's been a huge mismatch in resource allocation by union organizers in their recruiting campaigns," said Rutgers University history professor Dorothy Sue Cobble, who reviewed Bronfenbrenner's research. "It is hardest now to recruit and unionize white male factory workers, yet those are the very members of the workforce unions are working the hardest to organize, while neglecting other groups." In the public sector jobs dominated by women, unions made huge gains from 1999 to 2003, Bronfenbrenner said. She pointed to win rates averaging 90 percent in union elections in those years in public sector jobs in health care and social services (87 percent), school districts (92 percent), clerical jobs (90 percent) and higher education (84 percent). Different Kinds of Unions May Work in 21st Century Organizers and people who study unions should be prepared to think about new ways that unions can form among certain private workforce sectors, Cobble said. "We are not always in touch with this rich history, of pre-New Deal type union organizing, which believed in employment security, not just job security," she said. "Because of our historical amnesia, we've forgotten that the labor movement used to be a big tent that included trade groups looking out for the welfare of their members, and which today work by lobbying or filing lawsuits on behalf of their representatives," Cobble added. She pointed out as an example the group 9to5, National Association of Working Women, which represents low-wage women and women in traditionally female jobs. "The labor movement needs to understand that what is traditionally thought of as 'women's work' is crucial to our societal well-being, and organizers need to evaluate what is right for the social good," Cobble said. The growth in union organizing among women is happening "in great numbers" in the nonprofessional occupations, according to Bronfenbrenner. "The unions now need to focus on professional and clerical women workers," she said. For more information on the study "Union Organizing Among Professional Women Workers," which was funded by a grant from the Berger-Marks Foundation, contact study author Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, at 607-255-7581, or e-mail her at klb23@cornell.edu. By Sue Darcey

BAHR SAYS ORGANIZED LABOR'S PRIORITY MUST BE CHANGING THE POLITICAL CLIMATE - No. 50 Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Page C-3 ISSN 1522-5968 BNA Conference Report Unions can "throw all their money" into organizing, but the labor movement's first priority has to be changing the political climate, Morton Bahr, president of the Communications Workers of America said March 15. Noting that organizing and political action are "intertwined and inextricability bound, " Bahr said "you can't organize unless the political climate is better," and "you can't change the political climate unless you have more members." But, the labor movement has to "prioritize," and the emphasis should be on political action, he said. Addressing an AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees Department conference on organizing professional employees, Bahr referred to a proposal made by James P. Hoffa, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and now supported by several other large unions, to the AFL-CIO executive committee to put $45 million into organizing rebates. The committee rejected that proposal earlier this month by a vote of 15-7 (42 DLR AA-1, 03/4/05) Bahr said his union is among those "fully supporting" the proposal of AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney to put 50 percent of the per capita tax that unions pay to the federation into political and legislative mobilization (41 DLR B-1, 03/3/05) . "I'm hopeful we can reach a compromise," he said, adding that labor needs to emerge from its July convention "in a united way." Bahr said the unions supporting Sweeney are "looking for a way to compromise," but added that the unions supporting Hoffa are "intransigent." In defending the need to put politics first, Bahr cited several organizing drives launched by his union that could be aided through political action. Bahr said that CWA has not been able to organize some 30,000 workers at Verizon Wireless, and the AFL-CIO could put all of the $45 million into organizing this company and would not get one member. The union is attempting to use political pressure to get the employer to allow workers to organize without interference and through a card-check recognition pact. Bahr said that at his request Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1925, H.R. 3619) introduced last year, is circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter to the 209 representatives that have signed on to his bill. The letter, which will be sent to the chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, asks the company to fulfill the bill as if it had been passed and signed into law, and to emulate its number one competitor, Cingular Wireless, which has a neutrality and card-check agreement with the union. According to CWA spokesman Jeff Miller, the letter is still circulating among members of the House. In 2000, Verizon Wireless agreed to allow CWA to organize its employees through card-check recognition, but four years later the agreement expired and the union had not organized any workers. The company claimed that its workers have not wanted CWA representation and did not show any interest during the four years the agreement was in place. CWA, however, claimed the company "violated the letter and spirit of the agreement from the start," engaging in "relentless anti-union behavior.(163 DLR A-12, 8/24/04) Bahr also cited a dispute with Comcast, where the union has been trying for five years to negotiate a contract for several hundred workers in Pittsburgh, Pa. He said that Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D), who CWA has supported, is close to the management of Comcast, and the union is asking him to try to use his offices to expedite bargaining. Bahr also noted that CWA has negotiated an agreement with Cingular Wireless to extend its neutrality and card-check agreement with the union to workers at AT&T Wireless. He said that agreement will not become effective until July 1 and the union is worried that the National Labor Relations Board, which is "looking for ways to nullify card-check agreements," will do so before July 1. NLRB last year voted 3-2 to review regional directors' dismissals of two decertification petitions filed a few weeks after automotive suppliers Dana Corp. and Metaldyne Corp. recognized the United Auto Workers pursuant to a neutrality agreement and card-check procedure (110 DLR AA-1, 6/9/04). Turning to the theme of the conference, Bahr described CWA's efforts to organize technical workers nationwide. In 2000, the union affiliated WashTech, a group of technical employees at Microsoft, which has since expanded to include workers at other high tech companies. At that time there were no union members among Microsoft's employees and 2,000 workers subscribed to the union's e-mail database. Today, he said, WashTech has 460 dues-paying members that are covered by four different contracts. There are now 17,000 e-mail subscribers, he said. The union is attempting to take this model nationwide and has launched a Web site called Techsunite.org. According to Bahr, the union has organizing teams in a number of cities including Chicago, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. By Michelle Amber

MARKETPLACE MORNING REPORT: ORGANIZED LABOR TRYING TO RETOOL - KAI RYSSDAL, anchor:    This is MARKETPLACE. I'm Kai Ryssdal.    Organized labor in this country has been losing both membership and political clout, so it's trying to retool. And union leaders have targeted the fastest-growing segment of the labor force. That is professional and technical workers. But traditional unions haven't really kept pace with the way white-collar work is changing, with the new world of contracting and outsourcing and temporary projects. MARKETPLACE's John Dimsdale reports labor knows it's got to change or else.    JOHN DIMSDALE reporting:    This week, nearly 200 union activists from around the country have come to Washington to hear some pep talk about the potential for reversing membership declines among white-collar professionals. To do that, unions will have to adapt to changes in the way professional workers relate to their employers. That's according to the AFL-CIO's Paul Almeida.    Mr. PAUL ALMEIDA (AFL-CIO): In this changing environment with globalization, with more people working part time and in a contingent basis, they work for multiple employers across the industry. Workers go from job to job, project by project. If labor is going to succeed, it's going to have to figure out how to be relevant to these workers.    DIMSDALE: Unions don't have the traditional workplace connection to these transient autonomous workers. But Lynn Karoly, who studied work force demographics for the Rand Corporation, says they can be found in virtual communities on the Internet, and these workers need something unions can provide.    Ms. LYNN KAROLY (Rand Corporation): And you can think of a union or a worker organization as being a type of a home base for an individual. So if they don't have a steady relationship with an employer, they have that steady relationship with this organization, and that's where they have the continued access to these types of benefits.    DIMSDALE: Benefits such as health care and pensions, but also training and education, as well as a clearinghouse for industry information and employment opportunities. Cornell University labor Professor Richard Hurd says this guild type of employee association offers unions some income-generating potential.    Professor RICHARD HURD (Cornell University): You not only have a membership, you pay for the educational programs. They sell information on the labor market, so you can get actually a printout of what workers in Europe, particular specialty earn in a particular urban area, so if you're going there to interview for a job, you know what your demands should be.    DIMSDALE: However, adapting the traditional union structure to this new employee-employer relationship won't be easy, says Ed McElroy, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.    Mr. ED McELROY (American Federation of Teacher): When you do that, sometimes you set up an automatic tension within that organization; traditional union members in a traditional environment for collective bargaining and everything else. Now the union attempts to squeeze in non-traditional workers in a different work force environment. Sometimes that doesn't work.    DIMSDALE: McElroy's idea is to create new unions to accommodate new types of workers, but more unions is just the opposite of what other labor leaders are pushing. They want fewer larger unions to give workers more clout with management. These and other arguments over the AFL-CIO's future will be decided this July when union members vote on whether to keep current president John Sweeney for another five-year term. In Washington, I'm John Dimsdale for MARKETPLACE.    RYSSDAL: And in Los Angeles, I'm Kai Ryssdal. Thanks for being with us.

MOST AMERICANS AGAINST CAFTA - A new national poll shows a majority of Americans across all political parties, including a majority of Latinos, oppose the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The survey, released March 1 by http://www.AmericansForFairTrade.org , shows 74 percent oppose CAFTA when asked if they would favor or oppose the agreement if it reduced consumer prices but caused job losses. Overall, 51 percent of Americans opposed the deal and only 32 percent supported it. The Bush administration is expected to send the trade deal to Congress later this year. CAFTA lacks protections for workers' right to form unions and safe work conditions. If approved, CAFTA would drop tariffs between the United States, six Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. The agreement will leave workers, family farmers, the environment and communities more vulnerable, while enriching and empowering corporate elites. For more information, visit http://www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/globaleconomy/caftamain.cfm .

HIGH PRODUCTIVITY = FEWER JOBS - Although the U.S. economy is growing, employment is stagnant as employers find ways to increase production without adding workers, according to two reports released last week. A survey by The Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs of large companies, shows the percentage of employers that expected to decrease the number of employees in the next six months jumped to 18 percent, compared with 12 percent in the last survey in September 2004. The Roundtable attributed the slow pace of hiring to increased productivity, which allows a company to produce more with fewer employees. Meanwhile, a record 2.7 million temporary and contract workers were on the job in the last quarter of 2004, according to the American Staffing Association.

OUR FUTURE - As part of the ongoing discussion about how to strengthen America's union movement for the future, the AFL-CIO has launched a new website to solicit comments from and provide updated information for union members and allies. At http://www.aflcio.org/ourfuture , union members and others can submit their comments, read comments from others, download proposals from national unions, state federations and central labor councils, find fast facts on the union movement, get e-mail updates and more. The Strengthening Our Union Movement For The Future website is part of the AFL-CIO's broad-based examination of the issues our union movement must address to meet the challenges we face as we build strength for the future.

SHOW US THE JOBS - Twenty-nine states still have fewer jobs and 39 states have higher unemployment rates than before the start of the recession in March 2001, according to an EPI analysis. Reviewing the Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level jobs report released Dec. 21, the EPI found that in every state but Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming, the number of new jobs is not even enough to keep up with working-age population growth, let alone catch up to prerecession job levels. For more information, visit http://www.jobwatch.org/states/index.html.

EPI GUIDE TO SOCIAL SECURITY - As the new Congress convenes and President George W. Bush steps up his campaign to privatize Social Security, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has released an updated guide on the nation's most successful family insurance program. Available at http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/issueguide_socialsecurity , the guide includes frequently asked questions, Web links to advocacy groups fighting to strengthen Social Security, reports and statistics. Bush wants to divert Social Security funds to private accounts, which would lead to future benefit cuts for retirees, people with disabilities and surviving families of deceased workers who rely on Social Security, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More than 47 million Americans receive benefits from Social Security. Also, Bush's privatization plan would increase the retirement age, increase the federal deficit and expose retirees to the risks of the stock market.