LABOR UNIONS AND WORKING FAMILIES WILL BE MARCHING IN THE BLOOMINGTON 4TH OF JULY PARADE!
Join your union brothers and sisters in solidarity and march in the parade!
4th of July Parade and Community Celebration
SATURDAY, July 4, 2009
Time:Parade begins 10 am! Music begins at 9 am
A new parade route this year! The parade will start at 7th and Indiana, move to the Courthouse Square and go back east on Kirkwood to end at Sample Gates. The Bloomington Community Band will perform before and after the parade.
Former Mother Hubbard's Cupboard director Libby Yarnelle succumbs to cancer at age twenty-nine; an eighty-foot dive into a local limestone quarry spells death for a Bloomington resident; the Monroe County Voting Systems Advisory Council recommends using paper ballots that would then be digitally scanned, Bloomington’s unemployment rate rose to six percent last month; a state Senate panel amends the House-passed budget bill to more closely resemble Governor Mitch Daniels’ two-year fiscal blueprint, and local lawmaker Vi Simpson criticizes a "continuance" bill that would allow the state to continue to operate if a budget is not passed before the June 30 deadline; the local jail reform group Decarcerate Monroe County will visit the jail Sunday to support dads and sons on Father's Day. FEATURE The pro-union activist group Jobs with Justice stages a picket line in front of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and in protest of the Chamber’s lobbying against it. This bill is currently before both houses of Congress and would reform crucial elements of labor law regarding how unions are formed. The Bloomington Chamber joined a delegation four states on a lobbying jaunt to Washington early this month, to urge lawmakers like Senator Evan Bayh to vote against the bill. This move has drawn the ire of union bosses like Jackie Yenna of the White River Central Labor Council. Yenna played host on the picket line today, introducing guest speakers Isabel Piedmont and Andy Ruff, who both currently serve on the Bloomington city council. We’ll then follow IU support staff union leader Peter Kaczmarczyk into the chamber offices, where chamber employee Morgan Hutton asks him to leave. News director Chad Carrothers is allowed to stay to get a response from chamber director Christy Gillenwater.
Protesters gather outside Chamber to support Employee Free Choice ActImportant Note: IBEW Local 725 would like to thank Isabel Piedmont-Smith and Andy Ruff, Bloomington City Council representatives, who attended the rally and spoke in support of the Employee Free Choice Act and against the position taken by Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. Please take a minute to thank them by phone or e-mail here:
Andy Ruff - Council President & At-Large Representative
(W) (812) 349-3409 ruffa@bloomington.in.gov
Isabel-Piedmont Smith - Vice-President & District V Representative
(W) (812) 349-3409 piedmoni@bloomington.in.gov
With signs saying “Tell the Chamber of Commerce STOP the lies!” and “Workers’ rights ARE human rights,” about 30 people gathered in front of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce’s building today to decry the Chamber’s stance on the Employee Free Choice Act.
Peter Kaczmarczyk, South Central Indiana Jobs with Justice spokesman, said the act is an important piece of legislation for rebuilding the middle class in the economy, which is “long overdue.”
Christy Gillenwater, president and CEO of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber has come out opposing the legislation, and it was important for the Chamber to speak out with issues relating to the removal of an employees’ right to a private vote.
“We recognize the important role unions play in business,” Gillenwater said. “But we need to uphold the privacy of employees’ right to vote.”
Tom Szymanski, organizer and business representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said the act will not get rid of the private vote.
“That is propaganda they are putting out there to scare the public; to scare employees,” Szymanski said. “The only thing this act does is it adds another option for workers to select a union using new methods.”
Gillenwater said the issue is a controversial one, and the Chamber has been working to educate the public and its members about what the act will do.
The Employee Free Choice Act, or House Bill 1409, will amend the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a bargaining representative without directing an election with the purpose of organizing a union. Employees will be given the right to designate an individual to represent them when negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with an employer.
The act will also penalize employers if they fire or threaten to fire an employee for wanting to join a union. Consequences include back pay with damages and civil penalties.
Kaczmarczyk said he wants people to be aware the rally is not meant to be anti-business. “This is not an anti-business bill,” Kaczmarczyk said. “This is a bill to level the playing field and to rebuild the middle class.”
Bloomington City Council President Andy Ruff showed up at the rally. “Labor has been weakened and assaulted for decades,” Ruff said. “This Employee Free Choice Act is just a very modest piece of legislation to get us back on track and restore some balance in this country.”
“Our local Chamber of Commerce is made of caring, community-minded people,” Ruff said. “Why they’re blindly accepting the misinformation — the incorrect position — of larger organizations ... is beyond me.”
Gillenwater said the Chamber is “pro-business as we believe unions to be.”
“We respect their right to voice their opinion, and, hopefully, they will respect our right to have a position as well,” she said.
The act, which was sponsored by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., has been referred to the House subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions.
To read a response to the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce:
Here is a link to the Indiana state blog on EFCA for more pictures.Here is a link to the national EFCA blog where the picket is posted to represent actions in Indiana.Pictures on FLICKRThanks to Kaitlin DeCero for her great work publicizing this event and other events across the state of Indiana! She can be contacted at:
Protesters gather outside Chamber to support Employee Free Choice Act...
WFHB Radio Supports Local Labor.
WFHB Radio Supports Local Labor.
WFHB Radio has run numerous stories in the past about labor unions and working families. They have been a great supporter of our union specifically. Below are a few samples of their work. If you have a chance, please support and listen to them at 91.3 FM or on-line. Their web site has more detailed information.
IBEW Local 725 also underwrites and gets recognition for Workers Independent News (WINS) on WFHB. They run a two minute story on daily labor news at 5:25 pm for broadcast throughout the Monroe, Brown, and Owen Counties Monday through Friday.
One of the passengers aboard Air France Flight 447 was a graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; a water line break prompts a boil order in Bedford, and hooking up a new water tower Martinsville will require a boil order tomorrow; a federal loan pays for new water infrastructure in Brown County; (at 4:40 minutes into the news) local union leader Tom Szymanski says the local chamber of commerce isn't being honest about its motives for lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act; WFIU manager Christina Kuzmych ponders the security of state funding after promised payouts fail to show up; the Indiana State Department of Health reports nine new confirmed cases of H1N1 but will no longer provide daily reports on new cases; sixteen local volunteer fire departments get state DNR grants; pioneering Internet technologies gets IU a mention in a tech magazine.
As our country struggles to pull itself out of an economic recession, local labor unions come together to rally support for workers and their families. More than half a dozen labor advocacy groups converge to talk about the Employee Free Choice Act, workers? wages at Indiana University, healthcare reform, and more. Peter Kaczmarczyk is President of the Communications Workers of America Local 4730, representing support staff at IU. Carven Thomas is head of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2249, with an update on the situation at the Bloomington General Electric plant, where closure has been imminent for nearly a year with hundreds of jobs hanging in the balance. Milton Fisk represents Hoosiers for a Common Sense Health Plan, speaking on healthcare reform for working families. Keynote speaker Ken Zeller is President of the Indiana AFL-CIO.
WFHB Radio has run numerous stories in the past about labor unions and working families. They have been a great supporter of our union specifically. Below are a few samples o...
IN AFL-CIO President Speaks On The EFCA
IN AFL-CIO President Speaks On The EFCA
On April 25, 2009, at the Bloomington labor rally, Indiana President Ken Zeller spoke on the need for the Employee Free Choice Act. Watch a two minute clip of his speech here.
On April 25, 2009, at the Bloomington labor rally, Indiana President Ken Zeller spoke on the need for the Employee Free Choice Act. Watch a two minute clip of his speech here.
...
Read the Latest NLRB Region 25 Newsletter.
Read the Latest NLRB Region 25 Newsletter.
NLRB Region 25 in Indianapolis has started publishing a quarterly newsletter. If you want to learn a little bit more about labor law and the National Labor Relations board, download a copy here. Or click here to view past and other Region newsletters.
NLRB Region 25 in Indianapolis has started publishing a quarterly newsletter. If you want to learn a little bit more about labor law and the National Labor Relations board, download a ...
IBEW 725 Adopts Resolution in Support of HR 676!
IBEW 725 Adopts Resolution in Support of HR 676!
Pass HR 676! Make health care a human right!
IBEW Local 725 supports HR 676 - Workers, our families and our unions are waging a difficult struggle to win or to keep good health care coverage. There is a better way. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) has introduced HR 676, national single payer legislation.
The single-payer financing in HR 676 saves the money to improve coverage for all of us as we expand care to those who have been left out. The bill restores free choice of physicians to patients. HR 676 would cover every person in the U. S. for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs and dental.
HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments and saves hundreds of billions by eliminating the private health insurance industry with its high overhead and profits.
We are proud to support HR 676. Thanks to all of the members who voted in support of this much needed bill!
IBEW Local 725 supports HR 676 - Workers, our families and our unions are wagi...
Lytle Electric Recognized for SAFETY!
Lytle Electric Recognized for SAFETY!
On May 14, 2009 Lytle Electric of Robinson, Illinois, was formally awarded recognition for their safety procedures by OSHA at the Marathon Refinery in Robinson. IBEW 725 signatory contractor Lytle Electric is the first union electrical contractor in a six-state region to receive this recommendation. Click here to see pictures and additional information.
On May 14, 2009 Lytle Electric of Robinson, Illinois, w...
Why We Need to Contact Evan Bayh Again & Again!
Why We Need to Contact Evan Bayh Again & Again!
Why workers need unions, and better laws protecting their rights to organize
Much of the debate over The Employee Free Choice Act has centered on whether employers are actively undermining workers' attempts to organize. On May 20, EPI and the American Rights at Work Education Fund published the research paper No Holds Barred --The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing, by Cornell University scholar Kate Bronfenbrenner. The paper documents how a majority of employers had used some sort of intimidation to block unions from forming, and often resorted to illegal tactics such as firing pro-union workers.
Bronfenbrenner's study, released at a standing-room-only event on Capitol Hill, was based on a random sample of more than 1,000 unionization elections between 1999 and 2003. In what is some of the most extensive research on the topic to date, No Holds Barred found that 34% of the companies in the survey had fired pro-union workers and 47% had threatened to cut wages and benefits of workers trying to organize. Bronfenbrenner maintains that these tactics are working, at least for employers, and help explain why the portion of unionization in the U.S. workforce has dropped to about 12.4% today, from 22% three decades ago.
The Huffington Post covered the story and quoted EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey explaining why it was so important to have data backing up claims of employer intimidation. "Employer groups don't believe the victims (of union-busting), the workers," Eisenbrey said. "Despite a difficult burden of proof, unions are winning 45% of allegations."
May 29, 2009
Today we need you to take action again.
As a Hoosier, you have a special role in the fight for all of America's workers. One of your senators, Evan Bayh, holds a key vote, and he is waffling in his support for America's workers. We are counting on people like you to continually remind him how important the Employee Free Choice Act is for all of us.
If you've already called his office, we need you to do it again. If you haven't called yet, now is the time.
Sen. Evan Bayh's district offices:
Indianapolis: 317-554-0750
Evansville: 812-465-6500
Fort Wayne: 260-426-3151
Hammond: 219-852-2763
Jeffersonville: 812-218-2317
South Bend: 574-236-8302
Calling a senator's office may make you a bit nervous. But trust us, Senate offices are used to getting calls, and staffers are gracious and respectful to constituents who call.
Here are a few quick talking points to help you when you make the call:
Sen. Bayh, I want you to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
We need to fix our broken system and give workers a free choice to bargain with their employers to restore our middle class and build an economy that works for everyone.
The three fundamental principles that underlie our support of the Employee Free Choice Act are:
Workers must have a real choice to form a union and bargain for a better life, free from employer intimidation.
Companies cannot be allowed to endlessly delay agreement on a first contract and stall out the choice of the majority of their workers.
There must be real penalties for violating the law—companies must be held accountable.
Why workers need unions, and better laws protecting their rights to organize...
Watch EFCA Debate: AFL-CIO vs. Chamber of Commerce
Watch EFCA Debate: AFL-CIO vs. Chamber of Commerce
At the annual NLRB Region 25 and Indiana University School of Law Labor-Management Relations Conference held in Indianapolis, the opening session provided a debate on the Employee Free Choice Act from two perspectives. The AFL-CIO, represented by Stewart Acuff, won the debate based simply on the facts. A philosophical position by the national Chamber of Commerce doesn't change the fact that thousands of workers are denied their legal rights under labor law.
You will hear Randy Johnson comment that unions are no longer relevant and no longer needed. Watch for yourself and you make the call.
Below are links to the debate on May 15, 2009 in Indianapolis between AFL-CIO Organing Director Stewart Acuff and Chamber of Commerce Vice-President Randy Johnson.
Thanks to Robert Pedersen (UAW)for taping the event and getting me a DVD copy so quickly. Also, thanks to Tom Szymanski (IBEW 725) for help with WFHB Radio recordings in Bloomington.
The verdict is in. Corporate greed has thrown this economy so far off-balance that its fundamental stability is now at stake. The only irony is that the jet-setter corporate royalty was the last to figure out that the party has long since been over.
Working people have been living in an economic crisis for years, taking on longer hours, second jobs, credit cards and toxic loans just to stay afloat. Even though worker productivity has soared over the last 25 years, families have struggled to maintain their toehold on the middle class.
This debt-driven, feed-the-rich economic policy has finally come home to roost. America lost over 2.5 million jobs last year and millions more are at stake. Indiana’s unemployment rate nearly doubled to 9.2 percent as the state shed over 100,000 jobs last year. Foreclosures are at an all-time high. Health care costs are spiraling out of control.
We need to make significant, lasting changes to make sure that our economy will work for everyone once again.
Our new president has already demonstrated a commitment to working families by fighting wage discrimination and extending health care to millions of uninsured children. He has a plan to address Wall Street’s culture of entitlement by implementing new rules for the financial sector.
A few weeks ago, both houses of Congress introduced the Employee Free Choice Act — a critical piece of legislation that will restore workers’ freedom to choose how to form a union and bargain for better lives.
Unions are our nation’s single best ticket to the middle class. Workers who have a union are much more likely to have health care and pensions and earn a living wage. Unions also give working people real job security, a hot commodity these days.
The Employee Free Choice Act would level the playing field for workers who want to be able to sit across a bargaining table with their employer. Instead of being forced to go through a company-controlled balloting process, workers would be able to form a union when a simple majority of them at their workplace signs authorization cards.
Both the ballot system and the less-divisive majority sign-up method are already legal and currently in use — they have been for 73 years. The difference is that today, your boss decides how you get to form your union. The Employee Free Choice Act would remove that corporate veto power and strengthen penalties for companies that violate their employees’ rights.
President Obama has pledged to sign this act into law because he understands that we can’t have a strong middle class if working people don’t have the power to bargain collectively. A new Gallup poll shows that a solid majority of Americans support legislation that will make it easier for workers to form unions.
However, company managers routinely harass and intimidate workers who try to get organized. In one out of four organizing efforts, according to Cornell University research, at least one worker is fired for supporting the union. Even if workers form a union, their employers won’t negotiate a contract nearly half the time.
No CEO would work without a contract, so why should we? While corporate executives fired thousands of employees and took billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts, they continued to cash in on lavish compensation packages and outrageously high bonuses.
Corporate executives have already amassed millions of dollars to defeat this critical legislation. On a recent conference call, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus suggested that any retailer who refused to donate to their cause, “should be shot.”
As long as workers are denied a seat at the bargaining table, corporate greed will continue to run roughshod over our economy. The Employee Free Choice Act will give workers the power to bring a measure of democracy back to the workplace.
As our government strengthens its oversight of the markets through regulations from above, workers can be the eyes and ears on the ground. Standing together, we can hold these corporations accountable and make our economy work for all of us.
John Sweeney is the president of the AFL-CIO. Ken Zeller is the president of the Indiana State AFL-CIO.
FLASHPOINT: Public should solidly support Employee Free Choice Act
The president has announced two appointments to the five-member National Labor Relations Board. He had previously announced that Wilma Liebman, formerly a regular member, would become the chair. Now, he is proposing to add Craig Becker and Mark Pearce to the board. Becker is currently associate general counsel for both the SEIU and the AFL-CIO; Pearce is a longtime labor lawyer who co-founded his own firm to pursue union-side labor law (full bios of both after the jump). It's not the Employee Free Choice Act, but this is a nice gift to the unions all the same. Presuming, of course, the Senate confirms these nominees -- there's a reason that the five-member board currently only has two members...
-- Tim Fernholz
Craig Becker, Nominee for Board Member, National Labor Relations Board
Craig Becker currently serves as Associate General Counsel to both the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations. He graduated summa cum laude from Yale College in 1978 and received his J.D. in 1981 from Yale Law School where he was an Editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school he clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. For the past 27 years, he has practiced and taught labor law. He was a Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law between 1989 and 1994 and has also taught at the University of Chicago and Georgetown Law Schools. He has published numerous articles on labor and employment law in scholarly journals, including the Harvard Law Review and Chicago Law Review, and has argued labor and employment cases in virtually every federal court of appeals and before the United States Supreme Court.
Mark Pearce, Nominee for Board Member, National Labor Relations Board
Mark Gaston Pearce has been a labor lawyer for his entire career. He is one of the founding partners of the Buffalo, New York law firm of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen & Giroux where he practices union side labor and employment law before state and federal courts and agencies including the N.Y.S. Public Employment Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the National Labor Relations Board. Pearce in 2008 was appointed by the NYS Governor to serve as a Board Member on the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals, an independent quasi-judicial agency responsible for review of certain rulings and compliance orders of the NYS Department of Labor in matters including wage and hour law. Pearce has taught several courses in the labor studies program at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations Extension. He is a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Prior to 2002, Pearce practiced union side labor law and employment law at Lipsitz, Green, Fahringer, Roll, Salisbury & Cambria LLP. From 1979 to 1994, he was an attorney and District Trial Specialist for the NLRB in Buffalo, NY. Pearce received his J.D. from State University of New York, and his B.A. from Cornell University.
Thanks to members Jody Allen, Kevin Brooking, Frank Helt, Patrick Smith, Wayne Sullivan, Joe Kerr, and Charlie Nettles for showing support and coming out to the rally! Thank you for your ac...
It's Easy - Send a message to Your Representative!
It's Easy - Send a message to Your Representative!
Employee Free Choice Act Introduced in Congress!
The Employee Free Choice Act must pass!
In this economy, middle class families struggle while CEOs continue to rake in lavish salaries and bonuses.The Employee Free Choice Act would help level the playing field.
This important bill would give more workers the chance to form unions and negotiate for better pay, benefits and job security.And that will make things better for all of us.
But corporate interests are working hard to protect the status quo.To defeat the greedy CEOs and anti-union front groups fighting this bill, we need to ratchet up our grassroots efforts.Send the letter below and ask Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
INDIANA IBEW came through in a big way. Its much appreciated that you take the moment to make things happen despite there being so much going on, and for your patience with the mis-listing of the states (I triple-, quadruple and quintuple-checked before we sent out the last version that we had it right).
Big thanks is in order is all!
Looking forward to making this New Day on Trade a policy reality!
In Solidarity,
- James Ploeser
=================================================
James Ploeser - Senior Organizer Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch jploeser@citizen.org & www.tradewatch.org
+ 202.454.5111 (office) 202.547.7392 (fax)
+ 202.253.9274 (mobile)
Audio: "US heads of industry strategize to keep unions down under Obama"
Yesterday the Huffington Post ran a story by Sam Stein titled "Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill". The story included around five minutes of an hour long recording between federal bailout funds recipiets. Wikileaks has released the full hour long recording. The call shows the firms to be involved in lobbying, effectively with public money.
Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.
Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.
Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.
Audio: "US heads of industry strategize to keep unions down under Obama"
Take Action! Save Taxpayers' Money.
Take Action! Save Taxpayers' Money.
Responsible Bidding is the idea that public construction projects paid for by taxpayer money such as schools, libraries and water treatment plants need not automatically be awarded to the lowest bidder. The public body undertaking the project should retain some discretion to award the project to the lowest "responsible bidder."
These three audio spots help explain about Common Construction Wage, Responsible Bidders, and the Taxpayer Benefits:
So, what makes a bidder responsible, and why would a public body ever want to pass on the lowest bid? The answer has to do with ethics and the opportunity to hire the safest, most qualified company available to perform the work on behalf of the taxpayers.
There are companies out there willing to do the work for bargain-basement prices, but they may not always deliver what they promise and may let your community down.
A community can help assure that it hires only responsible companies by passing a "Responsible Bidder Ordinance" – a resolution adopted into a public body's procurement codes that specifies certain criteria that a contractor must meet in order to be eligible to perform work on behalf of that community.
Simple things like assuring that contractors have the proper business registrations, show past compliance with environmental, labor and safety laws, relevant insurance coverage, prevailing wage compliance and apprenticeship and training participation can go a long way in assuring the financial and structural success of all public construction projects.
In the long run, the responsible contractor is going to provide more taxpayer value than the contractor who is cutting corners in the areas of training, labor or safety.
The term "lowest responsible bidder" is incapable of an exact definition, but the concept involves considerably more than solely the monetary amount of the company's bid. The term contemplates that bidders discharge contractual obligations in accordance with what may be expected or demanded under the terms of the contract. In fact, a contract may be awarded to one who is not the lowest bidder, where this is done in the public interest, in the exercise of discretionary power granted under the laws, without fraud, unfair dealing, or favoritism, and where there is a sound and reasonable basis for the award. Where an entity has exercised its discretion, the presumption obtains that the action was regular and lawful.
IIIFFC has more information about Responsible Bidding, sample ordinances, and political action to assist you in contacting legislators about worker friendlly legislation by state. Click here to ACT NOW! Tell your representatives to support a Responsible Bidder Ordinance and the Employee Misclassification Act! (You can send two separate letters in support of each. They are listed on the right hand side after you send the first letter).
Responsible Bidding is the idea that public construction projects paid for by taxpayer money such as schools, libraries and water treatment plants need not automaticall...
OSHA 10 Training On-Line.
OSHA 10 Training On-Line.
If you need to become certified in OSHA 10, you can receive the training on-line. There is a fee and you need to make sure you follow the instructions closely so as to not lose your spot if the corse is not completed in one session.
For updates or to inquire about training, please visit the Terre Haute Electrical JATC's web page located at www.thejatconline.org
If you need to become certified in OSHA 10, you can receive the training on-line. There is a fee and you need to make sure you follow the instructions closely so as to not lose you...
The Inadequate Costs of Labor Law Violations.
The Inadequate Costs of Labor Law Violations.
November 21, 2008
Employers have little reason to abide by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as the financial disincentives of violating the law are minimal. From firing, demoting, or retaliating against workers for their support of a union to ignoring their duty to negotiate a contract, many employers blatantly violate the NLRA. Other major federal employment laws impose fines or damages on employers who break the law. Yet the NLRA’s nominal deterrents do little to prevent employer lawlessness compared to the costs of violating minimum wage, discrimination, and health and safety protections.
If passed, the Employee Free Choice Act will address the insufficient law by increasing penalties on those who break the law and giving workers the just compensation they deserve.
Letter of support needed for labor postal stamps.
Letter of support needed for labor postal stamps.
From the Eugene V. Debs Foundation:
The foundation has received information on a drive by the West Virginia Labor History Association to have the U.S. Postal Service create first class stamps to honor Eugene V. Debs and Mother Jones. Both were outstanding pioneer labor leaders and political activists.
Download a sample letter here written by Tom Szymanski of IBEW Local 725 to print, sign, and send. Or visit the union hall and complete a letter and we will send it in for you.
Please send a letter in support to:
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
Stamp Development
U.S. Postal Service
1735 North Lynn St., Rm 5013
Arlington, WV 22209-6432
It is requested that you also send a copy to an activist librarian very active in the campaign:
Sanford Berman
4400 Morningside Rd.
Edina, MN55416
From the Eugene V. Debs Foundation...
Stay Informed! Send us your e-mail address.
Stay Informed! Send us your e-mail address.
We would like to send out occasional e-mails to our members with information on upcoming events, training opportunities, newsletters, and last minute activities. If you would like to receive information directly from the union hall, send an e-mail to postmaster@ibew725.org.
In the subject line type "e-mail sign-up" and in the body, gives us your full name and card number so we can verify info is going to our members only.
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On May 14, 2009 Lytle Electric of Robinson, Illinois, was formally awarded recognition for their safety procedures by OSHA at the Marathon Refinery in Robinson. IBEW 725 signatory contractor Lytle Electric is the first union electrical contractor in a six-state region to receive this recommendation. 
