| Arkansas AFL-CIO |
2012 General Election Results (* indicates a Labor-endorsed candidate) U.S. President/Vice President: Barack Obama/Joe Biden (D)* Arkansas U.S. Congressional Districts: 2013 U.S. Congress Arkansas: 4 Republicans (+1), 0 Democrats Arkansas State Senate Races 2013 State Senate: 21 Republicans (+6), 14 Democrats Arkansas State House Races 2013 State House: 51 Republicans (+5), Democrats 49
America Wants To Work: Jobs Rally
PLEASE JOIN US AT 12:00 PM AT THE STATE CAPITOL
In Arkansas, 930 bridges are deficient—and 1,759,104 vehicles cross those bridges every day. Meanwhile, 8.3 percent of Arkansans are jobless. With so many Arkansans out of work and so many bridges and other pieces of critical infrastructure in need of work, there’s a simple solution: Congress must pass legislation putting jobless Americans to work fixing critical infrastructure—bridges, schools, roads, ports and more. Tell your members of Congress: America is ready to get to work on our bridges, transit, rail, airports, highways, schools and the rest of our failing infrastructure. These projects don’t just create good jobs for the people who do the original work—though that’s a big part of why they are important right now. They also make our economy perform better in the long term by increasing productivity. And they make America and our state better, safer places to live. Immediate work on Arkansas’s crumbling infrastructure is a start. But we also need to pass a fully funded surface transportation reauthorization and start now on even bigger projects—world-class communications and energy systems, high-speed rail and other infrastructure we need to be competitive in the 21st century. Tell your members of Congress: America is ready to get to work. Let’s get started on our bridges, transit, rail, airports, highways, schools and the rest of our failing infrastructure. PLEASE BRING A SIGN ASKING YOUR LEGISLATORS TO INVEST IN JOBS FOR ARKANSANS!
LiUNA Southwest District Council Convention: Norfork, AR
LiUNA members participate in an action to call their legislators in Washington, D.C. Laborers voices were heard in D.C. on May 26th!! We cannot balance the budget on the backs of workers! Thank you, LiUNA! 
WE ARE ONE Solidarity Rally Part 2
The second photo album with pictures from the WE ARE ONE Solidarity Rally in Little Rock on 2.22.2011 has been published. The link to this album is here: 
WE ARE ONE Solidarity Rally Photos, By Alan Tetkoskie, IAFF Local 35
There are some great photographs in the album by Alan Tetkoskie that can be found here: www.arkansasafl-cio.org/index.cfm The WE ARE ONE Rally was held on the steps of the state Capitol on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Union members, non-union members, working families, and community/faith organizations all came together in support of workers' rights. Across the country, there are attacks on working people from their legislators. Both Wisconsin and Indiana state Democratic Senators have fled their home states to prevent bills from passing that would strip public service employees of their collective bargaining rights. In Little Rock on Tuesday, we rallied in solidarity for the employees, the protesters, and the Democratic legislators who are fighting to protect workers' rights. Arkansas salutes you! Arkansas supports you!
HB1324 and HB1325: Worker Misclassification Bills
WHAT IS WORKER MISCLASSIFICATION? The misclassification of a worker occurs when a worker is treated as contract labor when the law does not allow for such classification. The misclassification of workers as independent contractors continues to be a serious and growing problem. In 2000, the Labor Department found that 10-30% of employers audited in nine states had misclassified workers. The Labor Department concluded that the most significant reason for misclassifying workers as independent contractors was to avoid paying workers' compensation premiums and not being subject to workplace injury and disability-related disputes. In addition to avoiding workers' compensation issues, employers may also misclassify their workers to avoid taxes, insurance costs, and payroll deductions such as unemployment insurance and Social Security, which are required by law. WHY DOES IT MATTER? According to a 2009 report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the IRS's most recent estimates of the cost of misclassification are a $54 billion underreporting of employment tax, and losses of $15 billion in unpaid FICA and Unemployment Insurance taxes. In addition to what appears to be billions in lost revenue, worker miscalssification is also unfair to honest businesses. Responsible, law-abiding employers are at a competitive disadvantage and are unable to compete with those who drive down their operating costs by tax evasion. Misclassification abuse involvs many crimes: tax evasion, mail and insurance fraud, grand theft, wage and hour violations, and money laundering. THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE SERVICES HAS RECOGNIZED THAT MISCLASSIFICATION IS OCCURRING WITHIN ITS UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM. They have published literature on worker misclassification that can be found here: http://www.dws.arkansas.gov/Employers/WorkerMisclassification.htm HB1324 & HB1325 have been assigned to the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor. It is important that these Representatives support these bills. The Contact information for the members of that committee can be found below. BILLY GASKILL: no email address found - 870-239-4383 BUTCH WILKINS: butch.wilkins@arkansashouse.org - 870-972-5503 CHAROLETTE WAGNER: charolette.wagner@arkansashouse.org - 870-561-4600 BUDDY LOVELL: buddy.lovell@arkansashouse.org - 870-358-4104 MARK PERRY: mperry@windstream.net - 501-982-4561 BARRY HYDE: bhyde@hydco.com - 501-371-0255 CLARK HALL: clark.hall@arkansashouse.org - 870-829-3382 JAMES WORD: jword@aaasea.org - 870-536-4657 SHEILLA LAMPKIN: Sheilla.Lampkin@arkansashouse.org - 870-367-6349 JEFF WARDLAW: jeff@jeffwardlaw.com - 870-460-2814 GARRY SMITH: no email address found - 870-574-1792 FRED ALLEN: FredAllen99@comcast.net - 501-225-4979 LINDA TYLER (CHAIR): linda.tyler@arkansashouse.org - 501-329-8664 TRACY PENNARTZ: tracy.pennartz@arkansashouse.org - 479-285-4800 GREG LEDING: greg@gregleding.com - 479-422-8099 ANDY MAYBERRY: andymayberry@windstream.net - 501-888-3522 ANDREA LEA: andrea.lea@arkansashouse.org - 479-967-4992 STEPHANIE MALONE: stephanie.malone@arkansashouse.org - 479-629-5119 JON WOODS: woods.arkansas@gmail.com - 479-200-3100 BRYAN KING: bryan.king@arkansashouse.org - 870-438-6434 IF YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IS NOT ON THIS COMMITTEE, THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE:http://www.arkansashouse.org/ OR may call the Arkansas House of Representatives at: 501-682-6211 If you wish to read more about Worker Misclassification, here are two links to articles from Missouri and Texas: www.labor.mo.gov/news_center/news_releases/2011/jandirectorsspotlight.asp  Arkansas Professional Fire Fighters 2011 Legislative Conference February 2-3,2010
We would like to thank Alan Tetkoskie for furnishing all of the photos taken during this Conference.
Introduction to Grassroots Lobbying
Introduction to Grassroots Lobbying The following is information you will need to be an effective grassroots lobbyist. Men and women who are working at the grassroots level in efforts to influence legislation on behalf of the labor movement have had a great deal of success both here in Arkansas and throughout the nation. By being well informed on the legislation you are interested in and by making sure your elected lawmaker knows your position and the reasons for it, you too can be a successful grassroots lobbyist. Grassroots lobbying leads to the one thing organized labor needs the most from elected officials: ACCOUNTABILITY! Unless lawmakers are held accountable for their votes, they will continue to ignore the needs of the working men and women of Arkansas. In an election, labor communities educate and encourage union members to vote for labor-endorsed candidates. Too often, the day following the election, the union campaign organization with its many volunteers, phone banks and other resources, are disbanded. This happens because most of the time we assume the labor-backed candidate will vote correctly. But with so many special interest groups competing for the legislator's vote, both here in Little Rock and in Washington D.C., that presumption has turned out to be wrong. Only when union members at the local level are willing to make their concerns known to lawmakers on a regular basis can the legislators then understand the workers' interest in legislation before them. Such communications serve the dual purpose of not only informing the legislator of the trade union viewpoint, but they also let the legislators know that THEIR ACTIONS ARE BEING WATCHED CLOSELY BY THE FOLKS BACK HOME! Put this information to work! Look around your community and see if there are other groups who are interested in legislation that affects you. Trade union issues affect all workers, not just members of organized labor. Working together with others who share our goals, we can influence legislation that is in the best interest of organized labor and the working men and women of Arkansas . 
MEET WITH YOUR LEGISLATORS
It was great to have Jeremy Edgar and Steve Brown, both out of Jonesboro IBEW, come to Little Rock for the Legislative Committee meeting and to meet with Senator Paul Bookout about possible legislation.
*********The Legislative Committee meets EVERY MONDAY at 8 am at the Arkansas AFL-CIO office!!! This is where recently filed bills are discussed and the AFL-CIO's position is determined. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A PIECE OF LEGISLATION, please attend the meeting or you may call or email Alan Hughes or Ricky Belk************* |
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