The AFL-CIO, two SEIU locals and allies including the NAACP will stage a mass rally in Baton Rouge Oct. 29 to blast worker abuse in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. They will demand that local residents in the hurricane-damaged areas get the first call on jobs -- and that they be well-paying jobs.
The rally at Louisiana's state capital marks one of the first joint efforts between the labor federation and the Service Employees since that union led six others into forming the new Change to Win federation, and since SEIU left the AFL-CIO. It also shows labor's solidarity on Katrina relief issues in the wake of what IBEW President Ed Hill calls private profiteering by politically connected contractors.
The march and rally, to be led by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., comes after President George W. Bush ordered the dumping of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage standards for reconstruction contracts in the Katrina-blasted areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, notably ravaged and majority-minority New Orleans.
Bush's Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded at least $1.8 billion so far in no-bid reconstruction contracts. Most are to out-of-state companies, led by Halliburton, which was run by Vice President Cheney. They in turn import cheap workers from outside Katrina-hit states, and don't hire area workers who lost their jobs.
That particularly angered Hill, whose union reported 75 IBEW electricians, all local residents who suffered severe losses in the hurricane "were booted off" Katrina reconstruction jobs three weeks after the storm hit. They were replaced by cheaper out-of-state nonunion workers, thanks to Bush's dumping of Davis-Bacon.
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"This is a story about pure and naked greed, about exploiting lower-skilled nonunion workers while slapping union workers across the face after the nation's biggest natural disaster... wiped out their lives," Hill declared.
Laborers Vice President James Hale said that Bush's no-bid contracts, plus similar pacts by state and local governments are "an open invitation for exploitation, fraud and abuse." He warned Bush's contractors could hire the cheap, out-of-state non-union workers to rebuild Katrina-hit areas, but "misclassify" them as "independent contractors" not covered by labor law, Social Security or anything else.
All those issues will arise at the rally and march in Baton Rouge, where Sweeney and his allies will lead demands for a say in the reconstruction, decent housing, well-paying rebuilding jobs and better schools.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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The AFL-CIO, two SEIU locals and allies including the NAACP will stage a mass rally in Baton Rouge Oct. 29 to blast worker abuse in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. They will demand that local residents in the hurricane-damaged areas get the first call on jobs — and that they be well-paying jobs.
The rally at Louisiana’s state capital marks one of the first joint efforts between the labor federation and the Service Employees since that union led six others into forming the new Change to Win federation, and since SEIU left the AFL-CIO. It also shows labor’s solidarity on Katrina relief issues in the wake of what IBEW President Ed Hill calls private profiteering by politically connected contractors.
The march and rally, to be led by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., comes after President George W. Bush ordered the dumping of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage standards for reconstruction contracts in the Katrina-blasted areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, notably ravaged and majority-minority New Orleans.
Bush’s Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded at least $1.8 billion so far in no-bid reconstruction contracts. Most are to out-of-state companies, led by Halliburton, which was run by Vice President Cheney. They in turn import cheap workers from outside Katrina-hit states, and don’t hire area workers who lost their jobs.
That particularly angered Hill, whose union reported 75 IBEW electricians, all local residents who suffered severe losses in the hurricane “were booted off” Katrina reconstruction jobs three weeks after the storm hit. They were replaced by cheaper out-of-state nonunion workers, thanks to Bush’s dumping of Davis-Bacon.
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“This is a story about pure and naked greed, about exploiting lower-skilled nonunion workers while slapping union workers across the face after the nation’s biggest natural disaster… wiped out their lives,” Hill declared.
Laborers Vice President James Hale said that Bush’s no-bid contracts, plus similar pacts by state and local governments are “an open invitation for exploitation, fraud and abuse.” He warned Bush’s contractors could hire the cheap, out-of-state non-union workers to rebuild Katrina-hit areas, but “misclassify” them as “independent contractors” not covered by labor law, Social Security or anything else.
All those issues will arise at the rally and march in Baton Rouge, where Sweeney and his allies will lead demands for a say in the reconstruction, decent housing, well-paying rebuilding jobs and better schools.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.