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Labor's Edge Articles by Mike Hall
8/27/10
Nurses to Whitman: ‘Women Vote for Women Who Vote!’
by Mike Hall
More than 1,500 people, including many women in early 20th century fashion, marched and rallied in Sacramento yesterday to mark the 90th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gave women the right to vote.
The rally, sponsored by the California Nurses Association (CNA), also spotlighted how Republican gubernatorial candidate, billionaire CEO Meg Whitman, hasn’t exercised that right during most of her adult life. She has admitted her voting history is “atrocious.”
5/11/10
For Air and Rail Workers, New NMB Rule Means ‘Democracy’
by Mike Hall
A new rule issued yesterday by the National Mediation Board (NMB) means airline and rail workers will now be able to choose whether to join a union under rules that are more fair and more in line with democratic principles.
For decades, the deck has been stacked against workers covered under the Rail Labor Act (RLA) because every worker who did not cast a vote in a representation election was automatically counted as a “No” vote. The new NMB rule says that an election’s outcome will be decided by the majority of votes cast, just like every other election, from city council to the presidency.
4/20/10
Big Crowds in L.A. and San Francisco Back Locked Out Rio Tinto Miners
by Mike Hall
More than 1,000 union and community activists, joined by about 200 locked-out miners and their families, marched outside the British consulate in Los Angeles on Friday to protest British-owned Rio Tinto’s two and half-month lock out of 600 miners at its Boron, Calif., borax mine. The march and rally was one of several in the United States and Canada to support the members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 30, who have been locked out since Jan. 31.
3/22/10
House Approves Historic Health Care Reform
by Mike Hall
In a historic vote more than 60 years in the making, the U.S. House of Representatives late Sunday night voted to approve (220-211) what AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka calls a ”momentous step toward comprehensive health care.”
The bill survived a $100 million lie-and-distortion campaign by Big Insurance to kill it—the same kind of tactics these groups have aimed at health care proposals for six decades. Trumka says the bill is not “a baby step or half measure,” but a solid step forward to set our country on a path to health care that actually works for working families.
2/26/10
California Attorney General Investigating Seven Health Insurers for Denying Claims, Hiking Rates
by Mike Hall
California has launched an investigation into possible illegal premium increases and denial of claims by the state’s seven largest health insurance companies.
Yesterday, state Attorney General Jerry Brown issued subpoenas for detailed financial records and other information records to Aetna Health, Anthem Blue Cross, CIGNA, Health Net, Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente and PacifiCare.
2/11/10
Record Profits Don’t Stop Health Insurer’s Record Rate Hikes
by Mike Hall
There’s a theory that trends happen first in California before spreading to the rest of the nation. If that’s true in health insurance, we’re all in deep trouble.
Last week, Anthem Blue Cross—whose parent company WellPoint posted a record $4.7 billion profit in 2009—announced it was gouging even more money from its 800,000 California customers by raising premiums as much as 39 percent.