December 23, 2008

• CWA Members Know Solis as a Strong Workers' Rights Champion
• IN BRIEF:
• Bailed-Out Bank Executives Reaped $1.6 Billion
• Happy Holidays from the Communications Department

CWA Members Know Solis as a Strong Workers' Rights Champion

Rep. Hilda Solis (D.-Calif.) has a strong record of support for workers' rights and supports passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

CWA members in southern California know first hand that Rep. Hilda Solis, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for U.S. secretary of labor, is a long-standing champion of workers' organizing and bargaining rights.

Solis stood with the workers at the Chinese Daily News in Los Angeles who were abused, harassed and illegally fired by their employer when they voted for representation by The Newspaper Guild-CWA in 2001, and she continues to support their fight for justice, CWA President Larry Cohen noted in applauding the nomination.

And when 400 CWA-representated court interpreters in Los Angeles County were forced to strike in 2007, Rep. Solis was on their side, not only in backing their fight for salary fairness but in supporting their cause of ensuring that non-English-speaking citizens receive qualified interpreting services in the court system.

"Finally, after eight years of Labor Department leadership that routinely followed big business interests and ignored the rights and safety of American workers, a woman with a long history of standing up for workers will be working to restore the department to its original mission," Cohen stated after the nomination was announced.

The five-term congresswoman representing East Los Angeles is a staunch backer of the Employee Free Choice Act and she sits on the board of the worker advocacy group American Rights at Work.  Solis also is known as a longtime advocate of promoting "green manufacturing" to create jobs and move the country toward energy independence – a key issue for CWA and for the Obama administration in planning for economic recovery.

IN BRIEF:

• The same Wall Street banks that are being bailed out by taxpayers gave their executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses and benefits in 2007, the Associated Press reported this week.

The AP analysis found that "The total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines."

Little wonder that workers voting on the Jobs with Justice website named Wall Street executives the "Grinch of the Year" for 2008.

Big bonuses were awarded even at banks doing poorly, AP said, writing that "Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management."

• Happy holidays to all from the CWA Communications Department staff.  This is the last Newsletter of 2008.  The next edition will be published on Jan. 8, 2009.