Testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this afternoon, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger didn't mince words about the auto industry's need for Congress to approve a bridge loan.

The situation, said Gettelfinger,

Gettelfinger and the three top executives of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler called on the committee and Congress to approve a $25 billion emergency bridge loan to help automakers weather the current credit and economic crisis that has driven car and truck sales to the lowest level in 25 years.

Tragedy struck a Georgia factory in February when combustible dust caught fire and exploded at the Imperial Sugar plant in Port Wentworth, killing 14 workers and injuring many more.

Now, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), an opponent of working families who's in a tough runoff to defend his Senate seat, is facing questions about whether he improperly aided Imperial in its efforts to avoid the consequences of its negligence.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) hit the company with $5 million in fines for "willful and egregious safety violations" over the blast. And a Senate subcommittee held a hearing in July, finding that Imperial had no plan to deal with the dangerous combustible dust and ignored warnings about plant safety.

Big-box retail chains like Wal-Mart are skimming some $1 billion a year in local and state tax revenues and pocketing the cash, according to a new report by the non-profit research center Good Jobs First.

Skimming the Sales Tax: How Wal-Mart and other Big Retailers (Legally) Keep a Cut of the Taxes We Pay on Everyday Purchases says the biggest losses to local and state tax coffers come from programs—known by names such as “vendor discount” or “collection allowance”—that pay retailers for collecting sales tax on behalf of governments.

Jobs, home foreclosures, failing banks and falling stocks are often the focus of today's economic discussions. But as AFT President Randi Weingarten reminds us, an often overlooked impact of the nation's financial crisis is its effect on education.

Faced with declining tax revenues, state and local governments are cutting back on their most essential investment—educating the next generation. This disinvestment in education may help states and local government's bottom lines this year. But it places our economy in a race to the bottom for years to come.

Speaking before an audience of lawmakers, education policy experts and union leaders at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., yesterday (see video), Weingarten outlined proposals to improve public education that would also make a long-term investment in the nation's lagging economy. She signaled a willingness to find solutions on several long-standing controversial issues.

The 2008 election isn’t over yet. In Georgia, the U.S. Senate race is headed to a Dec. 2 runoff, and union members are working hard to oust anti-worker Saxby Chambliss and send Jim Martin to the Senate.

On Nov. 4, neither candidate won a majority of the more than 3.75 million votes cast, which triggered the Dec. 2 runoff. As the election rapidly approaches, the AFL-CIO and thousands of union volunteers will carry out the largest labor mobilization ever attempted in a runoff campaign.

Union volunteers will continue the efforts that were successful in states across the country. They'll deliver thousands of worksite fliers, make thousands of phone calls, send union mail and knock on doors across the states.

Korea President Lee Says No to Railway Workers’ Plan for Strike
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/11/116_34597.html
11-18-2008 16:56
Lee Says No to Railway Workers’ Plan for Strike
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak warned Tuesday that Korea Railroad union workers should not go on strike as they plan to do Thursday.
``It doesn't make sense that state-run firm workers go on strike because their demand for rehiring union workers who were laid off has not been met, given the global economy is in crisis,'' said Lee during a video Cabinet meeting.
Lee is on an official visit to Brazil after attending the Group of 20 summit in the United States and presided over the online meeting from Sao Paulo.
``Labor may argue that they have good reason to resort to strikes, but it's clear that now is not the time,'' he said.
Lee said many people were worrying about losing their jobs amid the tough economic environment.
The President called on the management of the railroad corporation to persuade its union not to resort to extreme measures.
Representatives of the state-run firm's management and the union sat down Monday for negotiations on the demands.

http://www.sacbee.com/840/story/1407917.html
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Court issues injunction against United pilot union
By JOSHUA FREED
AP Airlines Writer
Published: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS -- United Airlines said on Tuesday that a federal judge has barred its pilot union and four pilots from activities that disrupt the airline's activities.
United had accused some pilots of abusing sick time and refusing to fly extra hours. Sick-outs in particular are not allowed under the Railway Labor Act, the federal law that governs airline labor relations.
United said the judge in Chicago found that the actions of the Air Line Pilots Association had violated the act, and issued a preliminary injunction on Monday against four pilots and the union. United said it would next seek a permanent injunction.
Over the summer United blamed the pilots for the cancellation of 329 flights between July 19 and July 27. The carrier said that cost it about $8 million in lost revenue and $3.9 million in operating profit. United filed the lawsuit on July 30.
A spokesman for the United branch of ALPA did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

http://www.nupge.ca//news_2008/n17no08b.htm
Unsafe private highway trucks endanger workers and public
BCGEU calls for immediate system-wide safety audit of all maintenance vehicles
Vancouver (17 Nov. 2008) - The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) is demanding disclosure of all incidents in the past year where vehicles operated by private highways maintenance contractors flunked safety checks carried out by the province's commercial vehicle safety and enforcement branch.
The union, which represents 2,000 highways maintenance workers across B.C., is reacting to reports that a private highways contractor was caught operating vehicles so unsafe that a number of trucks were ordered out of service.
A government spokesperson admitted that a dozen pieces of heavy equipment operated by private highway contractor VSA in the Merritt area failed safety inspections on at least two occasions. Four trucks used in snow removal were in such poor mechanical state that they were put off the road.
"These are serious violations in which the well-being of our members and the travelling public has been put at risk," say BCGEU president Darryl Walker.
"That's why we're calling (for disclosure) of all recent violations. We also want (the Campbell government in) Victoria to carry out an immediate system-wide safety audit so that the public and front-line highways maintenance workers can be reassured that highways maintenance vehicles are in safe working order," Walker says.

As the nation’s economy continues its tailspin, the American public is hungry for measures to strengthen the middle class. With the new 111th Congress set to convene in less than two months, a broad coalition of progressive groups is making sure the lawmakers and the new president hear the message loud and clear that the Employee Free Choice Act must be a key part of efforts to rebuild the economy.

Yesterday, the workers’ advocacy group American Rights at Work launched the first issue advertising campaign for the new Congress. The nationwide TV ad campaign reminds lawmakers of the broad public support for the Employee Free Choice Act, which would give working people the freedom to make their own decision about whether and how to form a union. (Check out the video above.)

Congress passed a big bailout for Wall Street financial giants last month—so why are some lawmakers on Capitol Hill willing to let the auto industry twist in the wind? Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher says it just might have something to do with the fact that the auto industry is unionized—and some ideologically driven lawmakers would like to see a big unionized industry fail.

But withholding aid from automakers could literally eliminate millions of good U.S. jobs: The Big Three companies employ some 240,000 workers, and their suppliers an additional 2.3 million, amounting to nearly 2 percent of the nation’s workforce, as Louis Uchitelle points out today.