Newton B. Jones

Unions continue to have key friends in government

WHEN A SPLIT 112th Congress begins session in January — with the GOP in firm control of the House and Democrats holding a slim majority in the Senate — we can expect labor opponents to block key legislative initiatives backed by unions. The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1409) will not go forward. Nor will the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) or the Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010 (H.R. 5663).

Opponents seek to reverse union progress

OVER THE LAST two years, the Democrat-controlled Congress and the Obama administration have made enormous progress on behalf of American workers. That progress has not come easy. In fact, Republicans have repeatedly attempted to block much-needed reforms, and they have obstructed Democratic initiatives designed to save jobs and rescue the economy.

Milestones mark progress, but tragedies loom large

WE ARE AN ORGANIZATION that places a high value on the safety and health of our members. This is evident both in our Construction Sector and our Industrial Sector, whether our lodges are bringing in a complex job without a single recordable injury or winning awards for working safely in plants, shops, and shipyards. It is evident as well in our commitment to the MOST safety training programs, our apprentice training efforts, and the work of our health and safety directors in Canada and the United States.

THE HOUSE OF Representatives made history March 21, passing the most significant improvement in American health care since the adoption of Medicare in 1965. Among other things, the health care reform bill extends health insurance coverage to 95 percent of Americans, bans insurance companies from denying coverage of pre-existing conditions and cancelling policies when people get sick, and closes the Medicare “donut hole” in prescription drug coverage for retirees.

Lack of legislation is already costing us jobs

GLOBAL WARMING HAS changed the way the entire world does business. The magnitude of that change became apparent in 2007, when the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as pollutants.

THROUGHOUT AUGUST, support for President Obama’s health care plan began to fade slowly as criticism of the plan grew. That fading support is a disturbing development, because the plan many citizens oppose is a fiction, created by anti-reform groups.

“In politics, the war is never won. The individual battles are what matter most.”