"Workers Beat" Radio Program Advocates Green Jobs, Protests Job Cuts

The June 21 weekly "Workers Beat" radio talk show on www.knon.org and 89.3 FM brought environmentalist Molly Rooke and the President of the Texas Association of Letter Carriers, Mickey Morris, to the airwaves.

Rooke had attended the Green Jobs conference in May. It was initiated by the Sierra Club and the Steelworkers union, she said, but it ended up with most environmentalist and labor organizations attending. Rooke said that all the delegates saw eye-to-eye. There is great potential for green jobs that pay well, she told the radio audience. She encouraged everyone to check out the Blue-Green Alliance on the web. She also explained the current battle going on between the Environmental Protection Agency and reactionary Texas politicians. Breathable air is at stake. A special meeting in the Arlington City Council chambers, 101 W Abram, is set for 7-9 PM on Wednesday, June 24. Rooke will be there and urges everybody who cares about breathing to come.

Rooke was encouraged to return to the program soon, because the environmental situation has become life-or-death for America.

Mickey MorrisMickey Morris gave listeners an idea what it is like to be a letter-carrier and spoke up for saving their jobs. Apparently, officials in Washington have already initiated a process to get rid of Saturday mail delivery! Worse, Morris said, some of them are hoping to cut Tuesday delivery as well! The letter carriers union carries out the largest single-day food drive in the nation every May. The American Post Office has always been the pride of the nation since it was established as part of the U.S. Constitution. Cutting letter carrier jobs is part of the "death by a thousand cuts" that continues to torture American working people.

Morris urged people to call their Congresspersons, but also to leave their opinions about the cuts on the postal officials' web page. His summary comments are on YouTube at the "genelantzalot" channel.

Here are some of the topics covered on the June 21 program;

We Have to Fight the Jobs Crisis!

October 2, 2010 has been designated by the NAACP and the AFL-CIO for a march on Washington

We expect the need to create jobs, and the demand for federal intervention, will be the defining theme of social justice organizing for the next 2 years. We hope you'll be there".—National Jobs with Justice

The AFL-CIO’s support for a national march for jobs on October 10, 2010 (10-2-10) is a further sign of our growing militancy and independence. NAACP President Ben Jealous announced the federation’s support for the Washington march at the UAW convention in Detroit on June 17. Right afterward, Bob King, in his first speech after being elected International President of the UAW, said that the first business of his new Executive Board would be to endorse the giant march.

Here is how the NAACP’s leaflet describes 10-2-10: “Join us on 10-2-10 and march for jobs, homes and opportunities! On October 2, 2010, a broad coalition of organizations will lead a national march in Washington, DC at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. We are asking people of conscience from across the country to join our fight for progressive change that will expand justice and equality in America. The One Nation Campaign will elevate our national dialogue and discourse from its current divisiveness and unify the majority of Americans around a hopeful inspiring vision of our nation.” They put up a web site at http://www.onenationonedream.com/.

Columnist Paul Krugman of The New York Times is in Berlin and reports that Germany is making the same mistake as the U.S. in placing deficit worries ahead of the need for stimulus to keep the economy from sinking further. “Suddenly, creating jobs is out, inflicting pain is in. Condemning deficits and refusing to help a still-struggling economy has become the new fashion everywhere, including the United States, where 52 senators voted against extending aid to the unemployed despite the highest rate of long-term joblessness since the 1930s.” --Ed Sills, Texas AFL-CIO

THE INTERNATIONAL INLAND PORT OF DALLAS EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PROGRAM RECEIVES THOUSANDS
Dallas, TX (Jun1510) Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has announced that the City of Dallas will receive $186 thousand to provide training for employment in the logistics industry to support the developing International Inland Port of Dallas (IIPOD).  IIPOD is a joint project of the City of Dallas, Dallas County and the cities of Balch Springs, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Desoto, Hutchins, Lancaster, Mesquite and Seagoville. Dallas Worksource: www.wfsdallas.com 214-290-1000.

"Texas Throws $2,000 Subsidies at Employers and Calls It Help for Unemployed" (Houston Chronicle)

AFL-CIO President Rich Trumpka speaking at City Club of Cleveland 6/18/20: “We can’t afford to stay the course any more”  “We now face a future of high uemployment, stagnation, and falling wages, unless we do something different.” On Senator Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas: “If you look at that race, we were justified and I would do it again.” “First of all, we don”t support Democrats, we support candidates who help workers, and Blanche Lincoln is not one of them.” “I can’t imagine our supporting her in the Fall. If she loses, it’s just another anti-labor politician that won’t be in the Senate.”

Clearn Up Texas Air!

CONGRESSWOMAN JOHNSON ADDRESSES GOVERNOR PERRY’S CRITICISM OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S (EPA) POLUTION PERMIT PROCESS
Washington, DC (Thursday, June 03, 2010) "The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) responsibility is to ensure that 15 million Texans breathe clean air, and that the Texas air permitting program fully complies with the federal Clean Air Act. Governor Rick Perry expressed opposition to this decision, a decision that could affect dozens of major refiners, power plants and chemical facilities in the state." 

CONGRESSWOMAN JOHNSON LEADS A CONGRESSIONAL LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA IN SUPPORT OF STRENGTHENING THE CLEAN AIR ACT IN TEXAS Washington, DC (Thursday, June 17, 2010) "Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, joined by U.S. Representatives Lloyd Doggett, Solomon Ortiz, Al Green and Sheila Jackson-Lee, sent a letter to President Obama in support of strengthening the Clean Air Act in Texas. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced its efforts to ensure Texas’ Title V permitting program fully complies with the federal Clean Air Act."

AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka posted these comments on President Obama's BP speech: “Last night, we were encouraged by the President’s reassurance of an aggressive restoration of the Gulf and accountability for BP – but even more by his call for new, clean energy investments in America’s future.  The transformation to a new energy economy must be at the heart of plans for economic growth and good job creation, here in the United States and around the world.”
**
info@downwindersatrisk.org:
FIRST STATE DFW SMOG MTG in 4 YEARS
June 24th 7 to 9 PM Arlington City Council Chambers 101 West Abram map
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Wants Your Opinion. We Want You to Give It to Them.