AFL-CIO drops out of big role at Democratic convention
Unions to rally in
Philly Aug. 11 to
promote second
‘Bill of Rights’
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) —
The AFL-CIO has dropped out of a big
role at this year’s Democratic National
Convention, opting instead to host its
own large rally and campaign for a
“second Bill of Rights,” on Aug. 11 in
Philadelphia — the birthplace of the
Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
The AFL-CIO is the second large
labor group to pull back — or out — of
the Democratic National Convention,
slated Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C.
Earlier this year most unions affili-
ated with the Building and Construc-
tion Trades Department decided they
wouldn’t attend.
The primary reason for the pull-
back is that North Carolina is a right-
to-work state and the least unionized
state in the nation. Charlotte has no
unionized hotels. Unions were not only
unhappy with the choice, but with how
it was made. According to Ed Hill,
president of the International Brother-
hood of Electrical Workers (IBEW),
union members, who make up about a
quarter of Democratic convention del-
egates, were not consulted at any step
of the way as to the location of the con-
vention.
AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka, in a July 9 memo to all inter-
national union presidents, said he will
go to Charlotte, but only to lead a Sept.
Labor Candidate School launched
Are you a member of a union think-
ing about running for public office?
If so, you should consider applying
to attend the Oregon Labor Candidate
School (OLCS). The school will offer
union members training on how to suc-
cessfully run for public office.
The Oregon Labor Candidate
School was created by a coalition of
unions — including AFSCME Council
75; Oregon Education Association;
Oregon School Employees Associa-
tion; American Federation of Teachers;
Oregon Nurses Association; Oregon
State Fire Fighters Council; Service
Employees International Union and the
Oregon AFL-CIO. Its goal is to in-
crease the representation of union
members in elected office who will
support policies that focus on uplifting
the middle class.
“OLCS provides the support and re-
sources for our members to success-
fully run for office to sustain the values
of middle-class working families in
Oregon,” said Coordinator Sara Ryan.
“Electing labor champions not only
benefits union members, it benefits all
Oregonians.”
The Oregon Labor Candidate
School will hold classes one weekend a
month at various union halls in Port-
land starting in September and continu-
ing through December. Additional non-
classroom activities are planned for
January and February 2013.
The deadline to apply to the school
is Friday, July 27. Applications will be
reviewed and finalists will be inter-
viewed, with 10 to 12 participants se-
lected for the program.
For more information or to apply, go
on line to: www.oregonlaborcandidate
school.org.
4 meeting of union members and re-
tirees who are convention delegates.
The national labor federation, Trumka
said, will not rent skyboxes, donate
money, or send a large staff.
By contrast, Trumka had a speaking
slot at the 2008 Democratic convention
in Denver, televised on cable TV just
before the headliners. Unions gave or
spent millions of dollars on sponsor-
ships.
This year, Trumka wrote, “Our re-
sources will go instead to our core po-
litical work and to investing in a long-
term labor movement structure to build
power” for all workers. “The priority
in this cycle is to register and protect
voters — together with our allies —
and to educate and mobilize working-
class voters to stand up for themselves
and their families and elect leaders
who’ll stand with us.”
That’s why labor will launch its own
campaign — Workers Stand For Amer-
ica —with a mass rally in Philadelphia
on Aug. 11, Trumka added. The event
is timed to precede both the Republican
and Democratic national conventions.
[The Republican National Convention
is Aug. 27-30 in Tampa, Fla.]
“Our goal is to refocus the national
discussion on the imbalance in our
country’s national priorities,” Trumka
said. “To that end, we will be launch-
ing America’s second Bill of Rights in
conjunction with the rally, and we will
be asking candidates who seek our
support to pledge their support for the
document.”
The AFL-CIO will push to have
both the Democratic and Republican
parties include the second Bill of
Rights in their party platforms, and will
seek signatures from President Barack
Obama, a Democrat, presumed Re-
publican challenger Mitt Romney, and
other candidates.
The second Bill of Rights the
unions are pushing has five points.
They are:
• The Right to Full Employment
and a Living Wage: All Americans
willing and able to work have the right
to safe, gainful employment at a fair
and livable wage. We call on the public
and private sectors to invest in Amer-
ica’s infrastructure and promote indus-
trial development, maintaining job cre-
ation as a top policy priority.
• The Right to Full Participation
in the Electoral Process: Recent ini-
tiatives to disenfranchise citizens seek
to reduce the rolls of eligible voters and
empower money instead of people. We
believe these actions constitute an as-
sault on our nation’s democracy and
history of heroic struggle against vot-
ing restrictions based upon property
ownership, religion, race and gender
and call for reinforcing our fundamen-
tal right to vote.
• The Right to a Voice at Work:
All workers have the right of freedom
of association in the workplace, in-
cluding the right to collectively bargain
with their employer to improve wages,
benefits and working conditions.
• The Right to a Quality Educa-
tion: Education is a fundamental
bedrock of our democracy ... quality,
affordable education should be univer-
sally available from pre-kindergarten
to college level, including an expanded
use of apprenticeships and specialty
skills training to prepare Americans for
the workplace.
• The Right to a Secure, Healthy
Future: Americans have the right to a
baseline level of health care, unem-
ployment insurance and retirement se-
curity, all of which have been badly
eroded by the disruption of the social
compact that served the nation well for
decades. We call on government and
private industry together to confront
the issues of declining access to health
care especially for children, weakening
of unemployment coverage, and inade-
quate pension plans that undermine the
ability of working men and women to
retire in dignity, even as Social Secu-
rity and Medicare are under strain and
threatened with cutbacks.
(Editor’s Note: For more informa-
tion about the Workers Stand For Amer-
ica rally in Philadelphia, go on line to
www.workersstandforamerica.com.)
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JULY 20, 2012