February 8, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The tragic accident at the Middletown power plant has claimed the lives of five workers.  Others are injured and some remain in the hospital. 

Our hearts go out to our union brothers and the families of those who lost loved ones and we mourn their loss.  We pray for the workers who suffered injuries and hope that they will have a speedy and full recovery.  We stand in solidarity with all the workers on the site who have endured the trauma of this workplace accident. 

I have reached out to the unions that represent workers on the construction site and offered our support. 

As soon as these unions determine how we can best be of assistance, I will write to all of you.  Thank you for your concern and for keeping all of the families and workers in your thoughts.

Fraternally,

John Olsen, President, Ct. AFL-CIO

For Immediate Release: February 6, 2010

Congressman Larson: Statement on Pratt & Whitney Lawsuit Decision

“An Overwhelming Victory for Pratt Workers and the State of Connecticut” 

Hartford, CT- U.S Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) issued the following statement in response to the U.S. District Court injunction against Pratt &Whitney to uphold their current Collective Bargaining Agreement with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 26. The decision, offered late last night, prevents Pratt &Whitney from closing both the Cheshire and East Hartford CARO operations. The subsequent work was going to be relocated to the state of Georgia and out of the country.

“This announcement is an overwhelming victory for Pratt workers and the State of Connecticut.  I congratulate the Machinists Union and its members on successfully challenging the actions of Pratt &Whitney and ensuring more than 1,000 highly skilled jobs remain where it belongs, in Connecticut.

“I and the Connecticut Congressional Delegation have worked hard to secure the essential military projects for Pratt & Whitney to help grow our economy and create jobs in our state.

“The company’s plans to close both the Cheshire and East Hartford CARO operations without taking every legitimate action to prevent it, is both disheartening and upsetting.

“I strongly urge Pratt & Whitney not to appeal this decision, but to work with the Union, the Congressional Delegation, and the State to help keep these jobs in Connecticut for the long term. By working together, both Pratt & Whitney and the Union can and will prosper.”

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March 22, 2010: Connecticut AFL-CIO Legislative Conference - View Details

President's Budget Provides Funding for Fire Service Programs

February 1, 2010 – The White House today unveiled the president's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011. The proposal includes $305 million for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, $305 million for Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act) grants, $28 million for Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) and more than $2 billion to state governments and urban areas to improve their emergency response capabilities.

In proposing $305 million for SAFER, President Obama noted that Congress is likely to add an additional $500 million for SAFER as part of an emergency jobs package. The House of Representatives included the $500 million for SAFER in a jobs bill that it approved in December, and the Senate is expected to include SAFER funding in its version of this emergency bill. The total proposed for SAFER funding would therefore rise to $805 million between the emergency spending and the regular Fiscal Year 2011 appropriation process.

The $805 million proposed for hiring fire fighters is on top of the $420 million that Congress approved for Fiscal Year 2010 and the $210 awarded for Fiscal Year 2009.

"Congress and the new administration have designated more than $1 billion for fire fighter jobs over the past three years. This stands in sharp contrast to the previous administration, which proposed zero funding for SAFER and attempted to kill the program each year," says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger.

The president's budget proposal now goes to Capitol Hill, where Congress is likely to change funding levels for many of the programs. Historically, Congress has approved more for the FIRE Act and SAFER than the president proposed, and the IAFF will be working with its allies in the House and Senate Appropriations Committee to grow the funding levels for these programs.

"We treat the president's proposal as a baseline," explains Schaitberger. "Our job is now to make the case to congressional appropriators why we need even more money than the White House recommends."

Excise Tax Update

Brothers and Sisters,

With a health care reform deal announced loudly in the media between "labor," the administration and Congress on changes to the excise tax provision, I want to provide you a new update today that outlines some of the key elements of that deal and what we know about the potential impact they will have on each and every one of you.

From Day One, we forcefully argued that the excise tax was bad policy and bad politics and that it had no place in any health care reform bill. Not once did we waver from that argument.

Our message was heard and we believe had a significant impact on what ultimately came out of the negotiations between representatives of the labor movement, the administration and Congress.

We believe we can say with confidence that our constant and consistent message resulted in significant changes to the excise tax provision of the reform bill that the House and Senate now must finish debate on and send to the president.

I don't want to overstate this, but suffice it to say that our hard opposition to the excise tax convinced negotiators to agree to new provisions that, while they fall short of our goal of eliminating the excise tax, these changes do effectively eliminate the burden of additional taxes that would have fallen on our members had the tax remained unaltered.

Based on the initial information we have received from the AFL-CIO on the changes to the excise tax provision, we know that:

• Every health plan covering our members is exempt from the tax until 2018, based on new provisions that collectively bargained health benefits will be exempt from the tax until 2018, as would the benefits of all state and local municipal worker plans even if not collectively bargained;
• The threshold for the tax to kick in on family plans has been raised from $23,000 to $24,000 for all workers, and from $26,000 to $27,000 for our members;
• The cost of dental and vision coverage will be excluded from the cost of the plans when determining if they rise above the threshold beginning in 2015;
• Each year after 2013, the $27,000 threshold for our members will increase by the CPI + 1 percent and will rise even more in high cost states;
• Further, if health care costs rise faster than expected prior to 2013, the initial thresholds will also be increased, as well.

While there's significantly more to the deal than just these initial bullets, and we are going to do a full and complete analysis over the coming days, we have not been able to identify a single IAFF member's health care plan that would or will be subject to the excise tax based on these new provisions scheduled to take effect in 2018.

We know there's a lot more to go in the political process before this bill is finally approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, but we are pleased that our efforts to protect our members from a severe economic penalty appear to have made a significant impact on what we are told will be in the final legislation.

We will update all of you as more details of the bill emerge.

Fraternally,

Harold A. Schaitberger
General President

Fairfield County Labor Council School - The UPFFA is sponsoring this in conjunction with the University of Connecticut, Center of Continuing Studies and the Fairfield Labor Council an opportunity to learn more about your labor movement and what you can do to make it more successful – March 31, 2010 – May 5, 2010.

View flyer for additional information.  

June 11, 2009 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the global outbreak of the novel H1N1 influenza virus to be in Phase 6 -- a full-scale pandemic.

The announcement warns the World Health Organization's 194 member nations to expect the arrival of the new flu strain, which is likely to infect up to one-third of the population in the first wave and return in later waves over the next several years. Simultaneously, the World Health Organization is advising the world's makers of influenza vaccine to quickly prepare commercial-scale pandemic vaccine of this H1N1 virus.

The move to Phase 6, the highest level in the World Health Organization's graduated scale of pandemic alerts, has been expected for weeks and in the opinion of many experts is overdue. By definition, it means that the virus is showing "community-level transmission," which means it is being passed from person to person without an easily traceable chain of infection, in two or more regions of the world.

The IAFF has developed an online resource with guidance on the H1N1 virus to remind members to take the necessary precautions for responding safely and effectively during this outbreak.