Since taking office President Bush has been using "Labor Unions" as target practice. The following are a few examples:

Four of President Bush's first "Executive Orders" impact labor".

• Repealed an order requiring contractors to follow union negotiated agreements on federal construction projects, better known as "project labor agreements"
• Requires federal contractors to notify employees of the right to demand rebates on their portion of union dues used for lobbying and political action
• Dissolved the National Partnership Council, a forum established by the Clinton administration to foster cooperation between management and federal government employees
• Eliminated job protections for federal contract workers whose companies go out of business

President Bush signed the repeal of ergonomic standards that were recently issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers from repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.

President Bush, along with the House leadership pushed through a massive tax cut. The tax cut overwhelmly benefits the wealthy, with 43% of the tax cut going to the top 10% of wage earners. The tax cut when fully implemented will cost $2.6 trillion dollars, forcing major cuts in domestic programs that employ our members.

WHY PEOPLE?

PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality) is our federal political action program. PEOPLE is your voice in Washington D.C.

We fight for better wages, job security, safe workplaces, health care, social security and making sure we get our fair share of the federal budget for programs for our members. JOIN PEOPLE TODAY! Call the Political Action Department at 1-800-342-4146 ext. 1404 for more information.

The U.S. Senate took up "Campaign Finance Reform". Many on the far right are pushing to add "Paycheck Protection" language. Paycheck Protection would require labor unions to obtain annual written permission from each individual member in order to use a portion of their dues money on "political activities". This includes information activities such as this newsletter.

KUDOS for the entire NY Democratic Congressional Delegation, along with their Republican colleagues, Felix Grucci, Peter King, Ben Gilman, Sherwood Boehlert, John McHugh and Jack Quinn for standing for working men and women and opposing the repeal of the ergonomic standards.

CALL SENATORS SCHUMER AND CLINTON

Tell them to oppose the Bush Tax Cut proposal.

Tell them the surplus should be used for protecting Social Security and Medicare not massive tax cuts for the wealthy.

Tell them that the tax cut is based on a projected budget surplus that may not materialize - who knows what the surplus will be in ten years.

Tell them if the tax cut is fully implemented it would force massive cuts in domestic spending.

CALL TODAY! 1-800 718 1008