Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Have a Heart for Workers Who Braved Hurricane Irene | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
Have a Heart for Workers Who Braved Hurricane Irene | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
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SEARCHHave a Heart for Workers Who Braved Hurricane Irene
While most of us battened down our hatches as Hurricane Irene rolled up the East Coast this weekend, thousands of public- and private-sector workers put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe. Many are still on the job as battered New England slowly recovers from record floods and the rest of Irene’s targets face major clean ups and power restoration. (Click here for more on these workers. You can say thanks to these workers. Just go towww.aflcio.org/iheart where, as part of our Labor Day actions, you can HEART these workers for their hard and helpful work during the hurricane. After you indicate which worker you HEART, with just two quick clicks, you can share the message via Facebook and via Twitter. You can show your support for the firefighters and police officers who mounted dangerous rescue attempts and responded to medical emergencies as Irene raged around them. Don’t forget the city and county and state workers who organized and supervised the evacuation and sheltering of hundreds of thousands of people from the Outer Banks to New England. There are the health care workers who reported to the hospitals and clinics to deal with the injuries. Road and highway workers who worked to keep roads open and free of dangerous debris. Utility workers from the Eastern Seaboard and surrounding states who continue to work as fast as possible to remove downed power lines and restore electrical power to homes and businesses. So take just a second, click here and show a little love and respect for these hardworking men and women.
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Public Employees Aiding Residents Throughout Irene | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
Public Employees Aiding Residents Throughout Irene | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
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SEARCHPublic Employees Aiding Residents Throughout IreneFrom the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), whose employess are represented byAFGE, to local workers answering emergency calls, government workers have been playing a major role in the cleanup effort of Hurricane Irene. Two of those workers, one in Rutland, Vt., and one in Princeton, N.J., lost their lives while trying to help keep their communiteis safe during the storm. State and local officials throughout the East Coast are praising public employees as they spearhead the cleanup after the massive storm and return communities to normal as soon as possible. Early on, state and local workers, many members of AFSCME, oversaw mandatory evacuations along the coast in New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland and in New York City. Now, city and state crews of non-emergency personnel are cutting up fallen trees and removing debris from roadways and fixing broken stoplights. AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders says:
When the hurricane hit, ciites and towns depended on Fire Fighters (IAFF), police and other first respondents, many of them members of police unions and AFSCME, to rescue people who were stranded or in danger, to keep order and to ensure the public’s safety. “That’s your government in action. Making the rescues. Responding in the middle of a historic hurricane,” says IAFF President Harold Schaitberger.
Residents with power or battery-operated radios and televisions got vital split-second information about the storm from TV and radio news reporters, many of whom are members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). In the storm’s aftermath, residents are turning to members of the Utility Workers (UWUA), Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Electrical Workers (IBEW) to restore power lines and telephone and cable lines. UWUA President Mike Langford says:
IBEW members from as far away as Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky are working to repair power lines all along the East Coast. Jeff Davis, business manager of IBEW Local 29 in Pittsburgh, says 45 of his members are repairing power lines in the Philadelphia area, which sits on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Republican governors of both states, New Jersey’s Chris Christie and Pennsylvania’s Tom Corbett, earlier this year launched major attacks against public employees and unions. But now, both are praising FEMA and the workers who are restoring power and helping communities get back to normal. Davis says some politicians are “two-faced”:
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Report: Corporate Offshore Profits Tripled Since Last Tax Amnesty | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
Report: Corporate Offshore Profits Tripled Since Last Tax Amnesty | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
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SEARCHReport: Corporate Offshore Profits Tripled Since Last Tax AmnestyA loophole in our nation’s tax laws allows multinational companies and hedge funds to shelter enormous sums of money from taxes by creating offshore identities and using tax-haven banks. Corporate executives claim that if they are allowed to bring the cash into the United States without paying taxes on it, they can use the money to create badly needed jobs. But a new report shows a tax amnesty would only be an incentive to stash even more money away overseas. The study by the nonpartisan Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) shows the 20 companies that brought the most offshore profits to the United States after Congress approved a tax amnesty in 2004 have almost tripled the amount of profits parked overseas as they did at the end of 2005. These corporations, which include well-known companies like Pfizer, Merck, Hewlett-Packard, Coca-Cola, Citigroup, McDonald’s and many others, collectively had $269.6 billion in “permanently reinvested earnings” parked offshore largely in tax havens at the end of 2004. This offshore hoard shrank as expected in 2005, to $152 billion, after these companies repatriated most of it in response to the tax amnesty. But their offshore hoard immediately climbed to new highs in the years afterward, reaching $426.5 billion in 2010. This practice costs nearly $100 billion in taxes each year, according to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Last month, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) introduced the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, which would close these tax loopholes and strengthen the government’s ability to collect taxes that are due. The CTJ report also calls into question a recent study by the New Democrat Network (NDN), which claims that a second repatriation amnesty would actually raise revenue rather than increase the budget deficit. Read the full CTJ report here. |
~*Sacred Earth Sanctuary{ULC}~: ~*Sacred Earth Sanctuary{ULC}~: GlobalGiving: donate to projects in the developing world supporting education, health, women and children, and more
~*Sacred Earth Sanctuary{ULC}~: ~*Sacred Earth Sanctuary{ULC}~: GlobalGiving: donate to projects in the developing world supporting education, health, women and children, and more
hummmm...How About Giving To Humanitarian Projects ' Causes,***In The USA & EUROPE***...For A *Refreshing* Change!
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