By Mark Gruenberg, PAI Staff Writer
A wide-ranging bipartisan federal budget agreement, covering from now through most of 2017, apparently avoids a further hit on federal workers, the two top unions for those workers say. But a summary of the pact, provided to Press Associates Union News Service by one of the unions, also potentially blows a big hole in large private employers’ responsibility for providing health insurance to their workers, a close reading shows. The budget blueprint, reached between President Barack Obama (D) and bipartisan congressional leaders, covers from now through Sept. 30, 2017. It raises budget caps on both defense spending – which Congress’ ruling Republicans want – and domestic discretionary spending, which Obama and the Democrats demanded. And it raises the nation’s debt ceiling – the amount of cumulative red ink the U.S. owes after all of its existence. The nation was scheduled to hit that ceiling, and be unable to pay all of its bills, on Nov. 3, and right-wing Republicans threatened to put the U.S. into default unless their demands on other issues were met. Click below to read more... Wearing purple T-shirts that read “Fighting for $15 and union rights at the airport,” about 200 airport workers from across the country rallied at National Airport on Wednesday afternoon for better wages and benefits. The event kicked off efforts by SEIU 32BJ to win better wages and benefits for the contract workers who keep the airport running– the wheelchair attendants, janitors, cabin cleaners and baggage handlers– and earn as little as $6.75 an hour. The rally was part of a nationwide campaign for a $15 minimum wage for airport workers. - report/photo by Luz Lazo, The Washington Post Staff, leaders and activists of affiliate unions, community partners and allies are invited to a train-the-trainer program on Common Sense Economics November 5-6 in downtown DC. Click here to register. CSE is a mass education initiative designed to influence and inspire conversations and action among working people. Using short, adaptable, and interactive training guides, CSE aims to deepen participants’ understanding of the economy and impact its direction through mobilization. This training will guide participants through the following CSE guides: CSE 101, Globalization, Immigration, Women, and Young Workers. The training, organized by the AFL-CIO, is free, but space is limited so register soon. “It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours." photo: Truman (left), Interior Secretary Julius Krug and Mine Workers President John L. Lewis in 1946 as they execute the historic Krug-Lewis Agreement guaranteeing pensions, disability benefits and lifetime health care for UMWA coal miners and their families. Photo courtesy Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy & Welch's Labor Union Page. |