One of the important services the Alaska AFL-CIO provides its affiliated organizations is legislative and political advocacy in the State Legislature and Congress. As with collective bargaining, by joining forces and speaking with a united voice on working families issues, we have more impact.
There are more than 60,000 union members in the state. But with very few exceptions, the positions taken on workplace issues by the Alaska AFL-CIO affect ALL working people, not just union members.
From the minimum wage to workers' compensation, from workplace safety to unemployment insurance -- the AFL-CIO, and other labor organizations are all too often the only voice representing working people on these issues. That is unfortunate, given the number of high-paid corporate lobbyists that often fight to remove or roll back workplace standards and rights... but it is a banner the Alaska AFL-CIO and other labor organizations carry with pride.
And, it is about time that our state legislators be held accountable for how they vote on issues that affect working families.
U.S. Congressional Delegation voting records
Also, to contact your legislators to weigh in on important working family issues, go to the following links:
STATE LEGISLATORS
http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/home.htm
US CONGRESS
With less than thirty days to go in the 26th Alaska Legislature, some bills are starting to squeeze through the committee bottleneck that has been holding bills captive as the wheeling and dealing sorts out what will and won't actually make it to the floor.
But it seems unlikely at this point that Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES) overhaul hoped for by oil compaines looking for some tax relief may not have time to get the necessary attention for anything to happen, especially with the complicated and confusing structures and the intended or unintended consequences that could happen.
HJR 25 - the Employee Free Choice Act
This is a resolution introduced in the House of Representatives by speaker of the house John Harris, a Teamster. It speaks to the basic right of employees to form and join labor unions. The resolution is to support the US House bill that was introduced in Congress last year to fix the broken system giving employees the right to form and join labor unions as guaranteed in the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
It barely passed the state house and moves over to the state Senate where it is scheduled for a hearing in Senate Labor & Commerce chaired by Sen. Johnny Ellis on Saturday February 9th.
Here are the votes:
Yeas: 21 Nays: 15 Excused: 4 Absent: 0
Yeas: Buch, Cissna, Crawford, Dahlstrom, Doll, Doogan, Edgmon, Gara, Gardner, Guttenberg, Harris, Hawker, Holmes, Joule, Kawasaki, LeDoux, Nelson, Roses, Salmon, Seaton, Thomas
Nays: Chenault, Coghill, Fairclough, Gatto, Johansen, Johnson, Keller, Kelly, Meyer, Neuman, Olson, Ramras, Samuels, Stoltze, Wilson
Excused: Foster, Gruenberg, Kerttula, Lynn
And so, HJR 25 passes the House and was referred to the Chief Clerk for engrossment
We are in the first session of the 26th Alaska legislature. many bills of importance to alaska's working families are in the balance
Stay tuned to the latest developments of concern for information on bills that affect Alaska's working families and other things going on in the labor movement
Check out ASEA/AFSCME Local 52's bill tracking system for bills affecting Alaska's public employees.
Also, while we won't track every vote on every bill, we will provide information on votes that clearly show where legislators stand on bills that support labor. Click here, or navigate to the button on the left titled "voting records" under legislative issues.
The Cabaret Hotel Restaurant & Retailers Association (CHARR) of Alaska pushed a bill this year that would have frozen the minimum wage indefinitely for workers who derive much of their earnings from tips, primarily food servers and others.
The Alaska AFL-CIO mobilized early against this egregious affront on the minimum wage. We went out into the community and spoke with employees in restaurants and bars, we widely distributed anti-Tip Credit cards, and have so far successfully kept this bad bill bottled up in Juneau.
But I'm sure this won't be the last we hear about it. Accordingly, we want your input and involvement to have on hand an army of volunteers to kill this ugly bill if and when it rears its ugly head again. Contact us with your questions or concerns, and subscribe to our updates to stay on top of this issue in the future.