Hot News for July 2010
UNION VETERANS
AFL-CIO
- In July 2008, the National AFL-CIO launched the Union Veterans Council and announced plans for state Union Veterans Councils in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Virginia and West Virginia. Union activists in Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Oregon and Arizona are also interested in forming state councils or are planning union veteran-led events.
- The Union Veterans Council Labor 2008 activities brought union veterans together on issues that matter most to veterans, our families and working men and women to make the Council a permanent fixture in the labor movement beyond the elections.
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- The Union Veterans Council includes representatives from 20 unions and labor organizations. It is chaired by Mark Ayers, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department and U.S. Navy veteran during the Vietnam War. American Federation of Government Employees Secretary-Treasurer J. David Cox, and United American Nurses President Ann Converso serve as Co-Vice Chairs of the Council. Cox and Converso combined have over 50 years of service in the Veterans Administration.
- Over 2 million union members are military veterans. Hundreds of thousands of retirees are veterans, and countless union families have relatives currently serving or recently returned from military duty. The voices of union veterans and their families are powerful. When veterans speak, veterans and other union members listen.
- Through our website, www.unionveterans.org, we have already identified over 4,600 e-activists who want to keep informed of Union Veterans Council events, and over 400 volunteer union veteran spokespeople.
- Elements of the Union Veterans Council efforts include:
- Bringing together top union leaders who are also veterans to strategize and mobilize union veterans at all levels of the union movement.
- A television ad featuring Jim Wasser, Vietnam veteran and IBEW union member discussing how John McCain's agenda was wrong for working people; o New Union Vets Council website with written and video testimony from union veterans;
- Building veteran-focused communications materials on the Working Families Toolkit;
- Union veterans leading walks, worksite visits and roundtable discussions talking to union members about key issues;
- Launching an e-activism campaign to union veterans;
- Letters to the editor campaigns.
- To learn more about the Union Veterans Council and how to participate in the Ohio Union Veterans Council, Contact Jeanette Mauk, Field Director, Ohio AFL-CIO at jmauk@ohaflcio.org or 614-224-8271 ext. 7144.
Union Veterans Council Resolution
Whereas: The men and women who served our country in the military service deserve the best that our nation can provide.
Whereas: Some 2.1 million union members, or 14 percent of all union members, and countless thousands of retired trade unionists are veterans of military service.
Whereas: The Union Veterans Council (UVC), a project of the AFL-CIO, was established by the AFL-CIO pursuant to the Resolution adopted by the AFL-CIO Executive Council in March 2009.
Whereas: The purpose of the Union Veterans Council is to bring together union leaders and union members who are veterans to speak out on veterans’ issues and influence public policy to improve the quality of life for U.S. veterans and their families. The two primary areas of focus for veterans are access to good jobs and access to quality health care.
Whereas: The UVC will work to protect veterans’ preference and re-employment rights as well as expanding training programs such as Helmets to Hardhats. Veterans should be hired to convert DVA medical records to a paperless operation. The UVC will also work to insure that the new GI bill is fully funded and implemented to include federally registered on-the–job training and apprenticeship programs.
Whereas: The UVC will work to insure that the DVA healthcare program is fully funded and more support is provided for the treatment of more recent veterans with unique levels of injuries and service-related medical conditions. The UVC will work to pass advance appropriations for DVA budgets and to increase DVA facilities in underserved areas.
Whereas: The Union Veterans Council will hold government officials, candidates and elected officials accountable to the needs of military veterans and their families.
Whereas: The UVC will make our positions on veterans’ issues known to candidates for public office and support the appointment of labor-friendly veterans to government agencies at all levels.
Whereas: The UVC will also encourage union veterans to take leadership roles in other veterans’ organizations and will strive to form coalitions and alliances with other veteran groups around union veterans’ issues.
Therefore, be it resolved, that the AFL-CIO and its affiliate unions support the establishment of the Union Veterans Council as an AFL-CIO constituency group organization and will fully support and assist the activities of the Union Veterans Council.
This is a free event and good opportunity to meet
Bill White
in person
Bill
White for Texas
JOIN
Bill White
Former Houston Mayor
Candidate for Governor
for a Meet & Greet hosted by
State Representative Marc Veasey
Monday, July 26, 2010
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
American Legion Hall
1250 Mansfield Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76104
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