Free Republic

Turkish workers a mistake, claims Schmidt By Hannah Cleaver in Berlin (Filed: 25/11/2004) Helmut Schmidt, the former German chancellor, has inflamed the country's debate on immigration by saying that multiculturalism can only work under authoritarian regimes, and that bringing millions of Turkish guest workers to Germany was a mistake. "The concept of multiculturalism is difficult to make fit with a democratic society," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. He added that it had been a mistake that during "the early 1960s we brought guest workers from foreign cultures into the country". Mr Schmidt, 85, who was the Social Democratic chancellor...

A death threat threw workers' compensation Judge Ruby Theophile into such an emotional tailspin that she filed her very own workers' comp claim. Even one of her doctors remarked on the irony. The situation "seems unusual if not unique," psychiatrist Warren Jones wrote in his evaluation of the Pasadena judge. It was not unique - nor even unusual. California's 150 workers' compensation judges are six times more likely to file on-the-job injury cases than their judicial counterparts in state government, a Bee investigation has found. These gatekeepers of cash and medical benefits for injured workers have claimed injuries from rearranging...

...Greg Casey, a former U.S. Senate sergeant-at-arms who headed what he calls business' "below-the-radar" national effort, said it resulted in 30 million electronic contacts with workers, about 700,000 the day before the election. He said 812,000 workers downloaded voter registration forms from the Web sites. ... "Prosperity Project" had a big impact in Ohio, citing research suggesting that for every 10 employees who scanned company Web sites, one was motivated to vote. He said Ohio companies made 1.3 million employee contacts, more than nine times Bush's 136,483-vote victory margin in the state. Former Michigan governor John Engler, the new president...

"...After sharply criticizing President Bush for the invasion of Iraq and his post-war policies, delegates at the APWU convention on Aug. 23-27 approved a resolution that stated: "Resolved, the AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION, AFL-CIO calls for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the implementation of a plan to turn over sovereignty to the people of Iraq as soon as possible, and the return of U.S. troops to their homes and families."...

The No. 2 official at the San Francisco Department of Public Works threatened workers under contract to clean city streets with loss of pay if they didn't campaign for Gavin Newsom for mayor, according to sworn testimony in a city attorney's investigation. City attorney's investigators looking into allegations of election abuses made by the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, or SLUG -- a nonprofit group under contract with the city for street-cleaning services -- were told by the street cleaners that they had been directed by Deputy Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru to walk precincts for the Newsom for...

No Mail or Telephone Calls for Troops? Communication Workers & Postal Workers Oppose War in Iraq

France agrees with "U. S. Labor Against the Law"-- Supports Trade Freedom in Iraq THE FOURTH WORLD CONGRESS of EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL Asks that all restrictions to trade union freedom in Iraq be lifted immediately, in conformity with ILO Conventions 87 and 98; Recommends to its member organizations that they support this demand; SUPPORTS THE EFFORTS OF IRAQI TEACHERS TO BUILD AND STRENGTHEN THEIR TRADE UNIONS, so that their right to collective bargaining is recognized and that necessary measures be taken to grant all Iraqi students free and universal access to quality public education....

nine million! -- Americans currently work for U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies.

This is from the Peace Action Group, they are planning a rally in DC which I bet will be an Anti-Bush Rally, here is an e-mail from a NJ Group.On Sunday, October 17, 2004 , IBEW and CWA supporters of the MWM will be sponsoring a bus to Washington , DC . We are also inviting community friends and workers from other industries to join us.  No matter who wins the November elections, working people in this country must “get  organized” to fight for our interests. The million worker march can be a big step forward in that process. Only...

An amendment offered by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, in the House of Representatives yesterday that would have remove from an appropriations bill a new mandatory mental-health screening program for America's children failed by a vote of 95-315. Paul's amendment would have removed the program from the Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005. Ninety-four Republicans and one Democrat sided with Paul, while 118 Republicans, 196 Democrats and one Independent voted against the amendment. As WorldNetDaily reported, the New Freedom Initiative recommends screening not only for children but eventually for every American. The initiative came out of the...

NEWTOWN, Conn., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a letter sent to Sen. John Kerry from National Shooting Sports Foundation President Doug Painter: National Shooting Sports Foundation President Doug Painter today criticized presidential candidate John Kerry for betraying union workers whose pleas for help he ignored earlier this year in a vote that would have protected union jobs. Kerry was also taken to task for accepting as a gift a hunting gun that could be banned under Kerry-sponsored legislation. The strongly worded letter delivered to Capitol Hill today emphasizes the Senator's hypocrisies. On Labor Day, Kerry claimed to be...

From 2000 to 2003, California workers' compensation insurance premiums posted double-digit percentage increases -- helping to flat-line the state economy. Now, four months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 899 to reform workers' compensation, premiums are dropping by double digits -- facilitating the California recovery. Bipartisan cooperation between the governor and the Legislature produced workers' compensation reform that is delivering results. (snip) Even though some of the most important reforms do not take effect until January, the early results show a system already on the mend, and it is worth looking at how far we have come. The State...

Reversing a trend that has been cutting costs for many small employers, a key workers' compensation bureau said Wednesday that it plans to recommend that insurers increase premium rates by 3.5 percent next year. The recommendation comes just months after state lawmakers enacted reforms in the workers' compensation insurance system that they promised would cut costs for employers complaining of sky-high premiums. The bureau and others said employers may still get relief in their insurance bills in January, if a state agency charged with setting new disability-rating rules can do so by year end. The new rules are expected to...

French power workers have cut around 3% of state-owned energy group Electricite de France's (EdF) generation capacity, according to union leaders. The action is timed to coincide with a vote by the French Senate to transform Edf and its sister firm Gaz de France (GdF) into limited liability companies. Unions believe the move will eventually lead to the privatisation of the firms.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An extraordinarily high percentage of California public safety workers retire with special disability retirement benefits, qualifying them for half their last annual salary for life, tax-free. Two out of three retirees in the California Highway Patrol receive the medical pensions, as do nearly half of retirees from local police and fire departments. Among recipients are a state nurse who suffers anxiety about sick people; a prison guard who hurt his knee carrying a large coffeepot upstairs; and a Department of Motor Vehicles investigator who qualified for two consecutive disability pensions, both for the same heart condition, found...

Immigration found to cut U.S. workers' pay By Julia Malone, Palm Beach Post-Cox News ServiceTuesday, May 4, 2004 WASHINGTON -- Two decades' growth in the supply of immigrant workers cost native-born American men an average $1,700 in annual wages by the year 2000, a top economist has concluded.Hispanic and black Americans were hurt most by the influx of foreign-born workers, says a new report by Harvard University's George J. Borjas, considered a leading authority on the impact of immigration.The findings, to be released today, could influence immigration proposals now being urged by lawmakers and the White House.Congressional Democrats plan today...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - With state health care costs soaring, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed more than $1 billion in spending cuts next year for public health programs along with caps in enrollments, new copayments for patients and lower reimbursements for providers. But he appears to have far fewer ideas for reining in the billions spent on employee benefits - the fastest growing part of the state's medical bill. Medi-Cal, the state's version of the federal Medicaid program, would lose about $900 million in funding next year. About half that money would come from a $454 million cut in support for...

Dems Want Overtime Pay Rules Killed Wednesday, April 28, 2004 WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told Congress on Wednesday that new overtime regulations would strengthen "protection for more American workers that ever before," but a former federal investigator countered that the rules would subtly undermine eligibility of nursery school teachers, nurses and others. Appearing before a House committee, Chao said the regulations would mean guaranteed overtime protection for 1.3 million salaried workers who earn $455 a week or less. "They are predominantly married with less than a college degree and live in the South," she said. Other workers earning...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A legislative conference committee passed a landmark workers' compensation reform bill early Thursday, setting the stage for Assembly and Senate floor votes Friday to cut costs to California businesses by billions of dollars. The six-member committee approved the bill at 3:30 a.m., handing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a political victory in overhauling a system with the nation's highest bills to employers and some of its lowest benefits to injured workers. The governor succeeded in pushing through two key elements: The bill will not regulate insurance rates but allows insurers and employers to select pools of doctors injured workers...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Many NASA (news - web sites) workers feel unappreciated by the agency and are still afraid to speak up about safety concerns, more than a year after the shuttle Columbia was doomed by those very problems, according to a survey released Monday. The 145-page report includes an assessment of NASA's culture by a behavioral science company in California, and a three-year plan for change. "Safety is something to which NASA personnel are strongly committed in concept, but NASA has not yet created a culture that is fully supportive of safety," the report says. "Open communication is...