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LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR/DIRECTOR OF SERVICES ACTIVITY REPORT, DECEMBER 2008

A few years ago, the AFL-CIO gathered union representatives to participate in a very successful political activity called Labor 2006. An unprecedented number of Working/Family and Labor-Friendly politicians were elected all over the country due to the efforts of those union activists working together.

Fred Heller was the Director of Industrial Relations and our Legislative Director. Having recently retired, Brother Heller was unable to participate in Labor 2006. President Hennessy asked me and I was released to participate. At the time, I was our Local's Clerk Craft Director.

My Labor 2006 experience was very fulfilling (see video below). When the Office of Legislative Director/Director of Services became vacant in our Local, I jumped at the chance to try.

Gail Ganiszewski, Tri County First Area Local Legislative Director and SSA at the Woodlyn Post Office is featured in this Labor 2006 video encouraging union members to get out and vote.

I looked forward to participating in the Labor 2008 effort to help elect the next President of the United States. I relished the opportunity of working with our AFL-CIO brothers and sisters again and am proud to have participated in this historic and successful campaign. I feel very optimistic about our future.

I am grateful to APWU President Burrus and Legislative Director Myke Reid for making it possible for me to take part. I thank our Local's President Mark Hennessy for all of his support. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all the members, family and friends of our Local who worked on the campaign and helped us achieve this victory, including recently retired Administrative Secretary Connie Campisi.

In Solidarity,

Gail Ganiszewski
Director of Services
Legislative Director
Tri County First Area Local #3800, APWU

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Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney Denouncing McDonald’s Opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act

December 9, 2008

Working men and women should be deeply concerned about McDonald’s USA’s announcement that it will throw its super-sized weight into defeating legislation to restore workers’ freedom to bargain with their employers and improve their jobs through unions. Working people know that the bargaining power they gain through unions for fair wages, better health care, pensions and job security is our nation’s single best tool for creating an economy that works for all - - 60 million say they’d join a union tomorrow if given the chance. In launching a campaign to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act, McDonald’s has taken direct aim at the customers and communities it serves and is shooting down their best chance at realizing their aspirations for their families and futures.

Corporations like McDonald’s and their CEOs hold all the cards in today’s economy and working families are left to struggle with the economy they leave behind. McDonald’s CEO James Skinner took home over $12.3 million in total compensation last year. If he were paid by the hour, he would make nearly 600 times the less than $10/hour pay of many of McDonald’s 600,000 employees.

McDonald’s could not have picked a more telling moment to announce its decision to actively fight reform of our nation’s broken labor laws. Tomorrow, human rights activists worldwide will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which declares that workers’ freedom to form and join unions is a fundamental human right. Human Rights Watch warns that the U.S. labor law is so broken and its penalties so weak that U.S. workers have effectively lost their fundamental human right to freely associate and bargain in unions. McDonald’s has now positioned itself squarely on the side of those opposing the protection of this basic human right.

The AFL-CIO plans to make sure the 10 million working men and women who make up our membership know that McDonald’s has just announced a whopper of a campaign against their economic interests and against their hopes for an economy that works for all, not just for the CEOs.

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In April, the national APWU endorsed Barack Obama as the presidential candidate most likely to help with issues of great importance to union members. Start the video above to watch the full speech Barack Obama gave at the DNC convention in Denver on August 28, 2008.

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EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE LEGISLATION - ACT NOW!

Sign a petition to help achieve one million signatures in support of this critical legislation.

The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would level the playing field for workers and employers and help rebuild America’s middle class. It would restore workers’ freedom to choose a union by:

• Establishing stronger penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations.
• Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes.
• Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.

THE HATCH ACT

Important Points to Remember

NOT ON THE CLOCK.
NOT IN THE BUILDING.
NOT IN UNIFORM.
NOT WHILE USING A POSTAL VEHICLE.

--Mike Gallagher, Eastern Region Coordinator