Show support for St. Clair Co. PLA

Public meetings will be held this month in St. Clair County to determine the involvement of building trades union members on the construction of the new $35 million Sheriff's Office and Intervention Center.

The project was to be built under a project labor agreement between the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners and the Greater Detroit Building Trades Council, but the November elections changed the makeup of the commission.

Trade union members who live in St. Clair County are asked to attend one of the meetings. One will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10 at Goodell's Park, the other will be held Thursday, Dec. 12 at the St. Clair County hall.

For the first time, the Associated General Contractors reached the million-dollar level in contributions to its PAC.

As of Sept. 9, the ENR said construction unions contributed $12.8 million for this year's political cycle - with about a quarter of that being contributed by the Carpenters. Union contributions to Republican candidates had increased from the 1998 elections, the report said.

Clock runs out on more jobless benefits

Federal unemployment benefits for more than 800,000 unemployed American workers - including 32,900 in Michigan - will dry up on Dec. 28.

They will not receive an anticipated extension to their benefits because the U.S. House of Representatives adjourned for the year on Nov. 22 without resolving a dispute with the U.S. Senate over the number of benefit weeks.

The resolution would have extended benefits for 13 weeks of coverage from the standard 26-week limit. The Republican-controlled House only wanted to implement a five-week extension in benefits, while the Democrat-controlled Senate was pushing for a 13-week extension.

Given the economic downturn that has caused a 6 percent national unemployment rate - and the healthy $24 billion in the federal unemployment benefits account - lengthening the benefit for the full 13 weeks would seem to be a reasonable decision to help jobless workers.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who is retiring, said the GOP-controlled House and Senate will consider the issue when the 108th Congress convenes in January. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., said it was an empty promise for laid-off workers who face losing benefits during the holidays.

"To say we will come back here several weeks later is not an answer to the 800,000 people who will lose their benefits," Levin said. He tried to bring up the unemployment insurance bill passed by the Senate for a House vote, but was ruled out of order.

Please note, however, that the legislative clock did not run out on Members of Congress, who found time to provide a 3.1 percent pay raise for themselves and other federal employees.

Homeland win is bad for unions

WASHINGTON (PAI) - By a 90-9 vote, the Senate Nov. 19 gave final approval to President George W. Bush's proposed homeland security department.

The bill will merge 22 agencies with 170,000 workers into one giant department.

Bobby Harnage, President of the American Federation of Government Employees - many of whose workers will be transferred to the new department -says that not only does it not enhance security but that it is "a Trojan Horse...to strip federal workers of the right to defend themselves in the workplace."

Bush won the right to abolish unions in the new department, remove whistleblower protections and dump civil service rules.