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The Propeller/Insider
Tell Us About the Issues at Your Work Location
Special Note: The Work in Progress Link is updated daily.

Welcome to United Aerospace Workers Local 887 web site!
Our
Local represents the people who put America on the moon. We built the Space Shuttle fleet, its main engines, and
sections of the International Space Station. We build a variety of satellites, and aircraft.
Visit the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum to view the many air and space vehicles on
display. There is a good chance Local 887 had something to do with their construction or flight testing.
In addition to representing a wide variety of skills at Boeing, we are proud of
our members at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne that build rocket engines for the Space Shuttle Fleet and Delta
rockets and of our cafeteria professionals at Eurest.
Our hope is that this website will keep our members informed as well as create interest and provide
information to those who would like to build a union in their workplace. As you can see, you don't have to build cars
and trucks to be a member of the International Auto, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, (UAW)
Aerospace workers! I thought the UAW was autoworkers!
In fact the UAW represents a wide variety of working people.
There are thousands of organizations, each with a specific purpose or goal. There are so many
reasons why one should consider becoming part of an organization he or she believes in.
We are proud of our long history, lifting workers from poverty and helping to create
what is now known as the middle class.
Unions are the people who brought you the weekend!
Thanks for stopping by and learning about Local 887 and the UAW.
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The guy John McCain says is "the smartest man in the world" thinks Obama is right on Iran.
When they talk Iran, it's important to remember how wrong conservatives were on other foreign policy issues.
Will the transplants lower their wages to compete? It's a race to the bottom and there are thousands of out of work autoworkers
who may work for even less than the current workers at Toyota, Honda et al.
Higher Taxes Making You Want to Leave CA. Better Take a Look Around
Walmart's War on Workers Video
After Years Of Lies, WSJ Concedes That Employee Free Choice Act Doesnt Remove The Secret-Ballot Option
Fighting For Free Choice
Be a 'born-again American'
NASA LAUNCHES HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT REVIEW WEB SITE FOR PUBLIC
USE
WASHINGTON -- NASA is inviting the public to make its voice heard as a panel of experts undertakes an independent
review of planned U.S. human space flight activities.
NASA has created a Web site for the Review of U.S. Human
Space Flight Plans Committee to facilitate a two-way conversation with the public about the future direction of the
agency's space flight programs. In addition to providing documents and information, the site will allow the public
to track committee activities, receive regular updates and provide input through Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter, Flickr,
user-submitted questions, polls and RSS feeds. Additional features and content may be added as the committee's activities
continue.
"The human space flight program belongs to everyone," committee chairman Norman Augustine said. "Our
committee would hope to benefit from the views of all who would care to contact us."
Anyone may use the Web site
to submit questions, upload documents or comment about topics relevant to the committee's operations. The committee
will conduct public meetings during the course of the review. The first will be held June 17 in Washington, D.C. An agenda
for this meeting will be announced soon. Time will be set aside for public questions and comments to the committee
members. No registration is required to attend.
230 Economists Voice Support for Employee Free Choice
The Employee Free Choice Act is absolutely necessary to help workers rebuild the economy, according to a statement
signed this week by 230 economists from top institutions in 33 states.
The economists point to the erosion of working family incomes as a key factor in our economic crisis—and
the need for the freedom of workers to bargain collectively, without fear of management abuses, as key to recovery. "As economists,
we believe this is a critically important step in rebuilding our economy and strengthening our democracy by enhancing the
voice of working people in the workplace," the statement said.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/nm3kr7 to learn more.
Workers Make Their Voices Heard on Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes
Over the last two weeks, thousands of workers across the state have taken action to call for the end of these
unfair giveaways that would make a handful of wealthy companies that much richer at the expense of working families. More
than 1,000 workers participated in demonstrations, 1,100 signed the petition, 700 joined the Facebook group and 650 sent letters
to their legislators.
Additionally, 80 organizations have expressed their support to shut down these tax giveaways and use the money
to save jobs and vital services. The San Jose Mercury News, Riverside Press-Enterprise, Marysville Press-Democrat, Sacramento
Bee and San Diego Union-Tribune have all run editorials and opinion pieces calling for the end of the corporate
tax loopholes.
Check out the news coverage at http://tinyurl.com/l9phq8
Labor Speaks Out For National Healthcare Reform
This week, President Obama kicked off his campaign to reform our nation’s broken health care system.
According to the latest AFL-CIO health care survey, more than half of the 23,000 respondents said they cannot get the health
care they need at prices they can afford, a third report having to forego basic medical care because it costs too much, and
43 percent of those who have health insurance still can’t get the care they need at prices they can pay.
“Accessibility for all, high quality care and affordability are the building blocks of a new health
care system for America,” said AFL-CIO’s Arlene Holt Baker at the national health care reform rally yesterday
in Washington DC. “We demand no less, we will tolerate no less, we will accept no less.”
Learn more about why we need real healthcare reform now at http://tinyurl.com/kkbz3u
New Video Reveals Why Vets Need Employee Free Choice
This week, the LA County Federation of Labor released a new video featuring compelling and eloquent testimony
of veterans and the challenges they face in finding good jobs after they leave the service. Most are earning less now than
they were during their time in the military.
In the video, the veterans call on Senator Dianne Feinstein of CA to support The Employee Free Choice Act,
which would give them the right to join a union in the same way they joined the military - with their signature.
See the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76T9fUoHxTU
FUNDING F-22 'NONSENSE': In a briefing to reporters
yesterday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the efforts in Congress to restore funding for the F-22 fighter jet "a big
problem," and labeled the argument that the elimination of the program will threaten national security as "nonsense." Gates's
statement came after the House Armed Services Committee approved $396 million to continue the production of the F-22 on Wednesday,
over the Defense Department's objections. Gates originally proposed ceasing production of the F-22s at the current 187 planes,
but Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), among other conservatives, argued that the elimination of the
planes would cause the loss of thousands of jobs. However, this is unlikely; the F-22 is just one of many projects that thousands
of defense industry employees work on. The Republicans' demand for the planes is also hypocritical, as Paul Krugman noted,
because "the very same Republican congressmen who were denouncing the stimulus, saying government spending never creates jobs"
are now saying that "cutting defense spending costs jobs." Conservatives also argue that de-funding the F-22 would weaken
national security.Yet, not a single mission flown in Iraq or Afghanistan
has used the F-22 and the planes have become increasingly costly to operate.
Screw That
Bulb:
05/29/2009
- 7:06am
Screw That Bulb: How
GE Is Plugging Into the Green Movement to Move Jobs and Advanced Technology to China
Save the environment … or save a U.S. job? That’s the choice General Electric is
forcing on U.S. consumers and its own
workers.
GE is promoting new, energy saving light bulbs known as compact fluorescents, or CFLs. These
bulbs last longer and use less energy than the typical incandescent bulbs found in most U.S. homes – but can cost up to 10 times the price. GE is asking consumers
and its employees to sign a pledge to “go green” and start purchasing the CFL light bulbs, which are imported
from China. The problem is that
each pledge leads to the loss of jobs in U.S.
lighting plants. GE is actually asking workers in its lighting plants to pledge to put themselves out of a job!
As a company, General Electric is synonymous with the light bulb: Thomas Edison’s incandescent bulbs built GE into the
global corporation it is today. But if GE has its way, it will no longer manufacture light bulbs in the United States. Since 1980, employment in GE lighting
has dropped by 68%. If everyone switched to the Chinese-made CFL bulbs, all U.S. plants would close. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
The growth of “environmentally sustainable technology” was supposed to be a breakthrough on par with the discovery
of incandescent bulbs. Green manufacturing was supposed to stimulate our economy, not lead to further deindustrialization.
Cutting-edge products like the CFLs should lead to more jobs and profits. GE is making the profits … but it is
sending the jobs to China, a country known
for exploiting workers and polluting the environment. GE supported a European Commission ban on Chinese-made CFLs …
so CFLs bought in Europe are manufactured in Europe. But GE is refusing to invest in
advanced technology for its U.S. plants
so workers here can have a future too. Please join with us, the workers at GE lighting, to ask GE to manufacture green
in U.S. plants, so we all can benefit.
We shouldn’t have to choose between a clean environment or a pink slip for American workers. Sign our petition today.
LABOR -- RIGHT-WING
CORPORATE FRONT GROUP LAUNCHES 'NEWS' SITE TO SMEAR EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT:
Last Friday,
the Workforce Fairness Institute launched EFCA Wire, "a new 'news' site that's totally devoted to making the case against"
the Employee Free Choice Act. As The Progress Report has noted, the Workforce Fairness Institute is nothing more than a corporate
front group "founded by several longtime Republican operatives," and likely funded by anti-EFCA giants like Wal-Mart and Home
Depot. In a recent interview with Fox News's Glenn Beck, one of those operatives -- former Bush and McCain advisor Mark McKinnon
-- pushed the line that Employee Free Choice removes the secret-ballot option, a claim that even the conservative Wall Street
Journal editorial board has begrudgingly admitted is false. Therefore, it's no surprise that EFCA Wire's main purpose is to
promote yet another lie. According to the Washington Post's Greg Sargent, the site will place "a particular emphasis on the
damage [the Employee Free Choice Act] would allegedly do the economy." But estimates
by the Economic Policy Institute show that Employee Free Choice would actually
lead to higher wages, better benefits, and a more productive economy. On its first day, EFCA Wire's blatant dishonesty
was already apparent. One prominently placed link boasted, "The Hill: 74% Oppose EFCA." However, The Hill was merely reporting
on an anti-EFCA ad touting such skewed numbers. In fact, the most recent Gallup polling reveals that 53 percent of Americans support
a law to "make it easier for unions to organize workers" -- which is exactly what the Employee Free Choice Act does.

L.A. County Federation of Labor Launches On-Line Directory
of Services by Union Employers
LA Labor 411, a collaborative project of the Los Angeles County Federation of
Labor AFL-CIO and Senders Communication Group, today announced the launch of the on-line version of its guide to Southern
California union goods and services. Coming on the heels of its print version launch last summer, the on-line version of the
directory will make the listings for companies and organizations more accessible to everyone wanting to patronize union-related
products/services and union-preferred vendors. READ MORE >>
Crisis Hurts Aerospace Manufacturing
What Our Customer Thinks About Teaming "Buy the book or buy the farm"
Obama on: Defense
Health Care & The Economy
Neither Free Nor Fair: The Subversion of Democracy Under NLRB Elections contrasts what NLRB elections look like in the real
world with what happens in elections for public office.
Chasing Down Retirement
Working Without a Net. Working Americans and their families are operating on an economic high wire -- only one or two missteps
from a steep financial fall... more
Slactivism
$4.00+ a gallon big oil fact sheet
Jobs with Justice Update
How To Manage Your Debt
The War on Workers
“If
there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, want crops
without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful
roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and
physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and never will.” --
Frederick Douglass
New Link - Congress of California Seniors
Human Toll of a Pension Default
The Hidden Price We All Pay For Wal-Mart

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