News and Notes October 6, 2009
In This Edition:
Presentation by Kim Bobo, Author of ‘Wage Theft in America’
Get Out the Vote: Walk This Saturday
Health Care Continued
Building Trades Endorsements
Michael Moore Receives Tony Mazzocchi Labor Arts Award for New Film
Mark Your Calendars
Presentation by Kim Bobo, Author of Wage Theft in America
The Justice For All Speakers Forum and the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation are presenting a discussion with Kim Bobo on Sunday, October 11th. Bobo, of Interfaith Worker Justice, will be presenting on Wage Theft in America. Wage Theft in America isn’t just the title of her recent book, but also a growing problem throughout the country. Millions of workers are being cheated while employers continue to take advantage and profit off of workers in almost every industry. Bobo has outlined what we can do to prevent these injustices and will be in Poughkeepsie to discuss it with us.
When: Sunday, October 11th, 4:00pm
Where: Poughkeepsie Friends Meeting
249 Hooker Avenue, Poughkeepsie
Please visit our website for more information: http://www.hvalf.org
Get Out the Vote: Walk This Saturday
The political season is in full swing and this year the local elections are particularly important to working families. We will be canvassing this Saturday, October 10th in the towns of Marlboro and Beekman and need your help. We will begin at 9:30am. If you plan on walking please call us immediately. For future walks, please visit the Political Action section on our website and log in to view our campaign calendar.
845-567-7760
Health Care Continued
The next few weeks are critical in determining the strength of the health care bills that will go to floor votes in both the Senate and the House. We have the opportunity to make those bills as strong as they can be before the final result can go to the President for approval.
The Senate Finance Committee has been working on the proposal for two weeks and they are set to vote on it either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week after analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. At that point, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will combine it with the bill that was approved in July by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee to create a unified, coherent bill to be voted on by the Senate.
The HELP bill contains measures that will improve our health insurance crisis, much more so than the Finance Committee bill. The HELP bill includes a public insurance option, an employer mandate and no tax on insurance premiums. Therefore the labor movement is calling on Senator Reid to include these strong features in the final proposal. In order to do so, we need to work hard on the ground to get other Senators to support Reid.
The next few weeks are extremely important. Please participate in the following AFL-CIO coordinated events:
October 7: National Call-In Day to Senators
Beginning October 6: Handwritten letters from local union
members
Building Trades Endorsements
Please visit the Political Action section of our website and log in to view the full list of candidates that the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Committee and the Rockland County Building Trades have decided to endorse.
Michael Moore Receives Tony Mazzocchi Labor Arts Award for New Film
Michael Moore was awarded the Tony Mazzocchi Labor Arts Award for his new film, Capitalism: A Love Story. When presented the award by the DC Labor FilmFest, Moore referred to the award as “The People’s Oscar.” Moore explained to the crowd, “I knew Tony and he was a remarkable man...this really means a lot to me.” A lifelong labor leader and political activist, Mazzocchi served as vice-president and secretary-treasurer of the OCAW and was instrumental in the implementation of OSHA in 1970.
At the AFL-CIO Convention in September, Moore decided to screen his film with union members instead of with Hollywood. He led a vocal health care march from the Convention Center to the theater and held a frank and intimate discussion with union members. The film addresses how the American structure of capitalism is failing workers and questions whether our country can sustain such a misguided values system. Moore effectively holds those in charge of our political and financial systems responsible for the decay of living standards for America’s working class. The film is a poignant expose of how our country has wronged working families and it is currently in theaters.
Mark Your Calendars
Tuesday, October 6th: Begin writing Health Care letters from Membership
Wednesday, October 7th: Health Care Call-In Day
Saturday, October 10th: 1st Labor Walk, Details on website
Sunday, October 11th: Presentation on Wage Theft in America
Monday, October 26th: Upper Hudson CLC, 6:30pm
Tuesday, October 27th: Hudson-Catskill CLC, 6:30pm
Wednesday, October 28th: Dutchess CLC, 5:30pm
