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Republican NLRB bill is ‘outsourcers Bill of Rights’ WASHINGTON, D.C. — Machin- ists (IAM) member Patrick Bertucci is a shop steward at Boeing’s Renton Wash., plant, where he works on wing assem- bly for the Boeing 737. Last month he spoke to a packed Capitol Hill press conference about a U.S. House Repub- lican bill designed to cripple the Na- tional Labor Relations Board’s ability to protect workers: “When I go to work every day I am held accountable to build the best and safest aircraft in the world, Bertucci said. “The Boeing Co. needs to be held accountable for their actions as well ... I want Boeing to be successful. But no company can succeed when they break the law.” The legislation (H.R. 2587), which Republicans rammed through commit- tee without a hearing, is awaiting a vote by the full House. Its target is the NLRB’s recent deci- sion to file a complaint against the Boe- ing Co. The NLRB charges that Boeing moved production away from its Wash- ington facility in retaliation for the workers exercising their right to strike, and that’s against the law. The Republican bill should be called “the Job Outsourcers’ Bill of Rights,” says Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), ranking minority member of the House Education and Workforce Committee. “It will eviscerate the rights of workers, help ship more jobs overseas, under- mine job creation in this country, and kill opportunity for people who are working hard and playing by the rules.” Bertucci says as a result of Boeing’s actions, workers on the shop floor are in fear of losing their jobs. “They tell me they feel intimidated to accept any contract Boeing gives them because we exercised our legal right to bargaining collectively,” he said. International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Harold Schaitberger says the bill is part of a bigger attack on workers’ rights going on in Wisconsin, Ohio and around the country. “This is no accident,” he said. “This is an organized, orchestrated attempt to destroy America’s labor movement, which is responsible for representing the rights of workers ... This is nothing more than an extension of the [of the goals] of right-wing extremists that were swept into office last November — including many in this Congress — 20 state legislatures changing control, and too many governors’ mansions con- trolled by those who simply want to turn the clock back on workers.” Miller says that under current law it is illegal for a company to retaliate against workers for exercising their rights, but if H.R. 2587 becomes law, “workers will exercise their rights less frequently and wages, benefits and working conditions will get worse.” Under this bill, Miller said worker rights suddenly become meaningless because there is no effective remedy when workers’ jobs are outsourced in CLUW cheers federal recommendations on women’s health WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), which has long campaigned for a greater emphasis on women’s health, is cheering a new federal report recommending key women’s health services such as testing for cervical can- cer and providing contraceptive serv- ices be part of the new health care law’s basic package of health care for which people would not have to shell out co- pays. “Clearly, CLUW is thrilled, espe- cially about the recommendation for no co-pays on contraception and coverage of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) test- ing for women over 30,” said Carolyn Jacobson, who runs the organization’s campaign to raise women’s awareness about the need for HPV testing to com- bat cervical cancer. “CLUW is delighted with the report, which recommends that important pre- ventive services should be covered by health insurance at no out-of-pocket cost to women, including annual well- woman visits, contraception and other services,” the group added in an e-mail to its activists. It’s also urging them to push the Department of Health and Hu- man Services to agree to the recom- mendations. An expert committee convened by the National Institute of Medicine iden- tified medical areas where payments for preventive services specific to all women could both improve health and cut U.S. medical costs. Unless it gets a lot of flak, HHS will try to implement these recommendations as part of fol- lowing last year’s health insurance law: • Expansion of screening for cervi- cal cancer, counseling about sexually transmitted infections and expanded HIV counseling. The cervical cancer screening, like the others, would be ev- idence-based. It would start at age 30. • A fuller range of contraceptive ed- ucation, counseling, methods and serv- ices so women can avoid unwanted pregnancies and better spaced child- bearing. The panel said the federal Food and Drug Administration should ap- prove the contraceptive methods. Some 17.4 million women needed publicly funded contraception last year. • Screening for gestational diabetes, plus lactation counseling and measures to help promote breastfeeding, which helps pass on immunities and protec- tions to infants. • Payment for at least one well- woman preventive care visit annually. • Screening and counseling for adult women and adolescent girls to help them cope with domestic and interper- sonal violence in a culturally sensitive and supportive manner. The report said 5 million women are physically, sexu- ally or emotionally abused each year. Thus, screening for risk is central to women’s safety, as well as addressing current health concerns as well as pre- venting future health problems. violation of their rights. “A right with- out a remedy is no right at all,” he said. In other developments at the NLRB, Machinists District Lodge 751 is fight- ing a request by Boeing to keep the pub- lic from hearing important evidence in the complaint. Among the things Boe- ing doesn’t want the public to know are specifics about the tax incentive pack- age it’s getting from South Carolina. Boeing’s lawyers have filed court documents asking for the power to clear the courtroom whenever these and other topics they don’t want discussed come up. They also want the judge to excuse the company from having to turn over key documents related to its decision- making, and to restrict who would get to see the documents it does turn over. Among those documents are studies comparing the cost of moving the sec- ond 787 line to Charleston with the cost of leaving it at Everett. “We suspect the documents Boeing wants to keep secret prove that Boeing executives didn’t make a legitimate business decision to transfer work from Everett to Charleston, but instead broke the law by moving because of union ac- tivity here,” said District 751 spokes- woman Connie Kelliher. (Editor’s Note: Mike Hall of the AFL-CIO NOW blog and the IAM 751 Aero Mechanic contributed to this re- port.) (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS AUGUST 5, 2011
