Frances Perkins: The Woman behind the New Deal

When Frances Perkins stepped into her office as labor secretary, the first-ever woman in a presidential Cabinet, her welcoming committee consisted of this: A huge cockroach. It’s a fair guess few had a rougher welcome to a high Washington position than Perkins did in 1933. In a splendid new biography of Perkins, The Woman behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, Kirsten Downey writes: Some male Labor Department staffers threatened to resign rather than report to a woman But as The Woman behind the New Deal vividly recounts, Perkins already had faced much hostility throughout her career. She had braved a vicious mob of Ku Klux Klansmen at a Missouri campaign rally for the Catholic presidential candidate Al Smith. As a New York state’s industrial commissioner, she had spoken with angry strikers and persuaded them to give up their stockpiles of dynamite. (They “delivered loads of explosives in suitcases, bags, even a baby carriage,” Downey reports—and some creative maneuvers by Perkins soon fractured the employers’ unity and brought about a strike settlement.) She was not someone to be underestimated. The Woman behind the New Deal describes how, in the 12 years of Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, this extraordinary woman not only overhauled a horribly dysfunctional and gangster-ridden Labor Department bureaucracy from top to bottom-this was the least of her achievements-but helped transform the lives of literally hundreds of millions of Americans, a legacy that continues today. There’s a fair amount of disagreement among historians about who in the New Deal was responsible for which successes. Downey makes a persuasive case that Frances Perkins, more than any other single individual, was the driving influence behind the creation and design of both the Social Security Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. This really means that every senior citizen who gets a regular Social Security check, as well as every worker who depends on the minimum wage, or counts on overtime pay, or files for unemployment comp, owes a huge debt of honor to Perkins. As if that weren’t enough, she also dramatically cut back child labor, increased workplace safety and expanded the U.S. Conciliation Service. For anyone interested in the ways of politics, one of the more dramatic stories in The Woman behind the New Deal-and it has plenty of them-is the creation of Social Security. It was a project of breathtaking ambition. Perkins had begun her career as an idealistic social worker, but she also had sharp political instincts about what Americans would support and what they wouldn’t. So when Social Security was being designed, she rejected systems other countries used in which government funding was the main support of senior citizens. Instead, as Downey points out: She looked to the insurance model, in which people pay in when they are employed, so that they can get money back when they are not. That deceptively simple insight made a world of difference. It may well have been the ticket to Social Security’s long-term survival. Roosevelt-who, according to his Agriculture Secretary Claude Wickard, “clearly loved and admired” Perkins-understood exactly what was going on. He said Social Security “had been constructed in a way that no future politician would be able to tinker with it because it would be funded by workers’ own contributions.” In devising Social Security, Franklin Roosevelt, a brilliant and ruthless politician, didn’t always give credit where credit was due. Kirstin Downey, a fine historian and a gifted writer, does. Yet Downey’s well-balanced account shows that not all of Perkins’s judgments were sound. When her good friend Sen. Robert Wagner of New York wanted to write legislation giving workers and their unions the legal right to collective bargaining with their employers, Perkins did her best to dissuade him. “People may be made to go into the same room, but they can’t necessarily be made to agree,” she told Wagner. Later, Perkins noted, “I did all that I could to slow the idea down.” Several major union leaders were at least as skeptical at she was. Fortunately, Wagner didn’t listen to them. He pushed forward with the National Labor Relations Act, still known as the Wagner Act and eventually won some support from most of the trade unionists and from Perkins herself (”she tepidly testified in support of the bill,” according to Downey). Wagner’s legislation turned out to be the strongest Bill of Rights that American workers have ever had in the workplace. But if Perkins was initially wrong on the National Labor Relations Act, she was magnificently right on just about everything else. It’s peculiar that “a woman whose intelligence, compassion, creative genius, and fierce loyalty made her an exceptional figure in modern American history,” as Downey accurately describes her, is nearly unknown today. Yet Perkins was little known even at the height of her considerable power. Eleven years into her career as Secretary of Labor, Collier’s magazine published an article that, in Downey’s phrase, “squarely identified the New Deal as a Frances Perkins creation”-and yet the title of the article was “The Woman Nobody Knows.” Perhaps The Woman behind the New Deal will help change that. One can hope that in addition to being a gripping read and a well-crafted biography, it will finally bring to Frances Perkins some of the attention and gratitude and admiration she never had in full measure and always deserved.

Big Money Scare Tactics

Are you scared yet? The Employee Free Choice Act is not that much different from current law. Current law allows for majority sign up or secret ballot. Current law lets management decide if workers can unionize. The Employee Free Choice Act keeps the majority sign up or secret ballot. What it changes is it lets workers decide if they want to form a union, without management/employer involvement. Taking away the secret ballot is a false statement that has gained tremendous spin from big corporations, like Wal Mart, McDonald's, Home Depot, and from the US Chamber of Commerce. Also business groups have poured money into the "no secret ballot" campaign. The way things are now, the law favors the employers. The Employee Free Choice Act is just that, it lets the workers decide, without harrassment, intimidation, threats, from employers if they want to form a union.

Local 771 Meeting; Saturday, March 21, 2009, MINUTES

Present Members: Helen Hanson, Ted Rippy, Pat Crowell MSEA Area I Director: Wade Colpitts Local 771 Field Rep: C.J. Betit Local 771 Organizers: Jay Economy and Aymie Walshe Review of Bargaining Survey 10% returned in first week Top two issues – Pay, Wage Increase, Health Insurance Third – Holiday/Sick Leave benefits Fourth – Increase Mileage Reimbursement Fifth – Better Training Sixth – Work Schedules/Breaks Fair Raise: 12 said 12.00 per hour; 4 said 2.00 per hour; 10 said 1.00 per hour; 2 said 1.00 per hour plus benefits; some said cost of living; some said more hours Health Insurance: 26 have health insurance, 11 of those through a spouse; 8 private pay; 7 receive MaineCare; 15 have no health insurance Membership discussion Some people think they’ve joined 771, but there is no record of their membership Organizers having access to Home Care for Maine orientations, not just area meetings Organizers need to present the issue to Home Care for Maine workers that they need to choose either to be a FairShare member or a Full member Set up a system for new hires/Alpha One lists have no hire date Bargaining survey returns expressed many issues of respect for the workforce. There was agreement that many do not understand the level of skill necessary for the work regardless of the certification someone may have. This profession should get the same respect as other workgroups because this workforce takes care of others. Consumers for Affordable Health Care Voted meeting Jan. 10th to join CAHC, $50 donation; discussion of 771 and Kids First joining CAHC together as MSEA’s Care Unit; Kids First not ready to join; Consensus still for 771 to join CAHC; check written for $50 membership and mailed National Direct Care Partnership An initiative of the Direct Care Alliance; should 771 join? This needs to go before MSEA E-Board to see if 771 needs board approval; Wade will present 771’s wishes to the board, at their next meeting, and find out what the process is Bargaining discussion C.J. Betit: April 30th need to file to demand bargaining for Home Care for Maine; the survey will help with proposals; team will meet and decide on proposals and what the objectives are; CJ will serve as chief spokesperson; HCM has paid time to bargain contract, YES Jay to continue to recruit for both Alpha One and Home Care for Maine bargaining teams Alpha One bargaining; bargaining pending legislation, may start in early summer Set dates for two bargaining forums: MAY 16th, Bangor, 10 am, blue DOT building on Hogan Rd; MAY 30th, Portland, 10 am, MSEA office on Congress Street Legislative Discussion LD 323 – Representative Sharon Treat’s Insurance Transparency Bill; continue working on this through the Kennebec Valley Organization and Consumers for Affordable Health Care; monitor and contribute LD 400 – This comes out of the Blue Ribbon Commission studying long-term care in Maine; Aymie to follow up with Senator Margaret Craven to find out why it is tabled and what will happen with it. LD 1059 – Senator Nancy Sullivan’s bill, directing the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of Insurance to set up a pilot project to insure a small amount of Maine’s Direct Care Workers to see if having health insurance helps with worker retention; not yet known how workers or which agency will be picked to participate; bill worth $500,000 out of General Fund for FY 2010-2011; project to last four years LD 1078 – Representative Matt Peterson’s bill; sustaining quality long-term care in Maine; there’s a companion bill on wages, not out of reviser’s office yet; 771 track closely and work with Alpha One to contribute calls, emails 771 work on member turnout and possible consumer turnout when bills are heard in committee; generate presence to move these bills forward Kennebec Valley Organization Three health care workshops planned in the Kennebec Valley; 4/18, 9-11, Pipefitters Hall, Augusta; 4/28, 6-8 pm, St. Francis Parish Hall, Waterville; 5/7, 6-8 pm Centenary United Methodist Church Hall, Skowhegan KVO focusing on Direct Care Worker insurance bill and transparency bill VOICES Institute Direct Care Alliance’s leadership training for 9/27 through 10/3/2009 in Wisconsin; intensive week long retreat to learn about advocacy, fundraising, organizational development, message development and more; DCA pays transportation and lodging; DCA requests a $300 deposit for workers to attend; Ted interested in attending; DCA cost may be issue; Wade suggested bringing request before board for scholarship for 2 771 members to attend; whoever goes will report back to board on experience; MSEA needs to know when DCA requires deposit Change that Works Rob gave a summary of SEIU Change that Works campaign on health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act; health care reform – core principles, access, affordability, shared cost, shared responsibility and a wide network; EFCA – current system for union organizing is not working; workers face management threats and intimidation when forming unions, or if they get their union, they face dodging tactics from management when it comes to negotiating contracts; good chance to actually pass EFCA; SEIU organizing house meetings throughout Maine; 600 people have already sent letters, hosted house meetings or spoken with an organizer; blueberry pies are going to Congressional offices with stories on good jobs and healthcare Anthem rate hike hearings; coalition of partners (KVO one of them) worked to get turnout at hearings; 60 people at the Gardiner hearing alone; many people expressing frustration with current health care system; Superintendent of Insurance Mila Kofman offered to hold further state-wide hearings to get stories on how the current system is not working Senator Snowe agreed to meet with workers on 4/22 in DC after Congress recess Chambers of Commerce putting a lot of money into campaign against Employee Free Choice; for the first time EFCA supporters on the offence and have a real chance to change the system so that workers can form unions Next Local 771 meeting: JUNE 20th, 10 AM, MSEA Headquarters, Augusta; brunch of sweets and coffee will be available

CNA/NNOC, SEIU Agree to Work Together in Bringing Voice to Heatlh Care Workers

Mike Hall, March 19, 2009 The nation’s two largest health care unions today signed a dramatic new agreement to work together to bring a voice to health care workers around the country and ramp up efforts to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The agreement between the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) and SEIU, says CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro, provides a huge spark for the emergence of a more powerful, unified national movement that is needed to more effectively challenge health care industry layoffs and attacks on Registered Nurse (RN) economic and professional standards and patient care conditions. It will also strengthen the ability of all direct-care RNs to fight for real health care reform and advocate for improved patient care conditions and stronger patient safety legislation from coast to coast The two unions have been at odds recently over several issues, but, says SEIU President Andy Stern: We are lining up to make sweeping changes to this country’s broken health care system, and as we wait for the starting gun it is imperative that we put the past behind us and move forward by putting all health care workers in the strongest possible position to define reform, move legislation, and make the new health care system operational. SEIU represents about 80,000 RNs and several hundred thousand other health care workers in hospitals, nursing homes and home care. In a joint statement, the two unions said they will bring union representation to all non-union RNs and other health care employees and step-up efforts to enact Employee Free Choice. Under today’s agreement:

• The two unions will work together to organize nonunion hospital workers throughout the country, with CNA/NNOC as the leading voice for RNs and SEIU as the leading voice for all other hospital workers.
• The unions will launch an intensive national organizing campaign with an initial focus on the nation’s largest hospital systems.
• In addition to organizing, SEIU and CNA/NNOC will coordinate on a broad range of other issues, from bargaining with common employers to the campaign to enact the Employee Free Choice Act.
• SEIU and CNA/NNOC publicly endorse measures that allow states to adopt single-payer health care systems.
• Both parties will refrain from “raiding,” seeking to displace the existing members of the other’s organization or from interference in the other’s internal affairs.
• The two unions will create a new joint RN organization in Florida to represent current and future RNs of both unions. In all other states, SEIU will continue to represent their current RN members in collective bargaining.

from AFL-CIO BlogNow

Local 771 Meeting

Local 771 is having a meeting on Saturday, March 21st at 12:30 pm at MSEA-SEIU Headquarters in Augusta. The location is 65 State Street. The meeting is in the Board Room. Lunch is provided. At this meeting, we'll be discussing both bargaining units, Alpha One and Home Care for Maine. We'll be discussing the upcoming legislation that pertains to long-term care in Maine and the workers providing that care. We will be talking about SEIU's Change that Works campaign around health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act. There's also a couple of groups that 771 is discussing joining. One is Consumers for Affordable Health Care. We tabled this agenda item until this meeting. We had reached a consensus to join Consumers for Affordable Health Care, but there was a question of Kids First, MSEA's Family Child Care Providers Union, joining CAHC with 771. The other group 771 is considering joining is the National Direct Care Partnership, a coalition sponsored by the Direct Care Alliance. This partnership is tackling the issues of this workforce at the national level. Talking with our Congressional Delegation about direct care work is very important. Insurance Superintendent Mila Kofman made that recommendation to the Direct Care Worker Coalition last summer. She said that we should also be working on gaining health insurance for DCWs at the national level. I agree. That is why this is on the agenda for Saturday's meeting. This meeting is very important if you've got something you want to see in either contract. Both units, Alpha One and Home Care for Maine, have contracts that will be opening for negotiation later this year. You want something in the contract, come to this meeting and let us know what it is.

Holy Cow - I Did It! Testifying at a D.C. Symposium

Tracy Dudzinski What do you do when you get a call from the executive director of the DCA asking you to go to Washington, D.C. to tell the people at an Institute of Medicine symposium what it’s like to be a direct care worker? You panic for a second. You think: “Why me? What would I say?” Then you take a deep breath to calm your nerves and think: “Why not me? I am the expert in direct care, and people need to hear the voice of the worker if we are ever going to change things.” I told Leonila I would be happy to speak to the group. Then I panicked again and waited for a call from Elise, the DCA’s communications director. After our conversation, I felt much better. I went home that evening and wrote out my testimony. (PDF) I worked with Elise and she helped me make it as powerful as I could. Then we had a call with the people from the Institute of Medicine and I found out that I had to cut parts of my testimony, since it was 20 minutes long and it needed to be closer to 10. (And here I’d thought I wouldn’t have enough to say.) Cutting the testimony was really hard for me to do because I felt it was all important, but we finally figured it out. Once I came up with my final version, I practiced, practiced, practiced. The next nervewracking challenge I conquered was traveling alone. I have flown before, but never alone. But I did fine. When we got into DC, I could see the white capitol dome in the distance. It kept getting closer until we pulled up to the hotel and I was within walking distance of the capitol. WOW! Thursday morning I was nervous, but everyone tells me a little nerves are okay. Everyone was very nice and was happy that I was there. As the time drew near for my testimony, I started to have an “I am just a CNA” moment. The moderator for my session asked what was wrong. When I told her, she reassured me that these people wanted and needed to hear what I had to say. That helped calm my nerves. The funny thing is, I felt okay once I started speaking. As I looked out to the audience I could see that they were really listening to what I had to say. That made it even easier. After I was done, I had many people come up and tell me they were close to tears and I gave a very powerful testimony. If we want to make a difference, we need more direct care workers to step forward and become advocates for themselves. Any time one of us can tell our own story, it is much more powerful than having someone else talk about us. Look at me, a direct care worker from Wisconsin. I was able to tell people who can change things what I think needs to be changed. If you are asked to speak up, please step out of your comfort zone and take the chance. This has been a great learning and growing experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I hope I made a difference. Tracy Dudzinski Board Member, Direct Care Alliance Tracy is a fellow VOICES Institute graduate. It is so nice to see her evolving, pushing her strengths, and taking a stand by doing this. While at VOICES, Tracy worked really hard on an exercise at speech writing and delivery. I remember her being really worried that she could not give her speech in front of people. Well, look at her now! Go Tracy! VOICES is a great opportunity for Direct Care Workers to learn skills to do things just like what Tracy is doing. VOICES is a great chance to learn leadership skills. Tracy hits the nail right on the head when she says that if direct care workers want to see change in their working conditions, then "people need to hear the voice of the worker if we are ever going to change things." "If we want to make a difference, we need more direct care workers to step forward and become advocates for themselves. . .if you are asked to speak up, please step out of your comfort zone and take the chance."

Tracy is so right! If we want to make change, we need to be the ones advocating for ourselves. The policy makers, sitting at the State House, may think they know about direct care work, and what it is like, but they really don't. They need to hear about it from us.

Two MSEA-SEIU Members Lobby on Capitol Hill

Two MSEA-SEIU members, Linda Morris and Helen Hanson, took part in SEIU's Change that Works Worker Mobilization on Capitol Hill last week.

Helen Hanson, SEIU's President Andy Stern, Linda Morris

The Worker Mobilization was around the Employee Free Choice Act. Linda and Helen, along with Subira Gordon from SEIU and members of the Communication Workers Association met with members of Senator Snowe's and Senator Collins' staff.

Senator Snowe's staff was encouraging in that they agreed to meet with workers during the Congressional break in April. These workers will get to meet with Senator Snowe herself and talk to her about the Employee Free Choice Act and what it will do to help workers form unions.

Senator Collins' staff expressed the senator's concerns over the secret ballot and what appears to be a loss of it. The workers meeting with her tried to explain that the Employee Free Choice Act does not take away the secret ballot if workers choose to form a union that way. The Employee Free Choice Act lets workers form unions by a majority sign up or by secret ballot if they choose. It stops the wrangling, threats, intimidation that employers and managers put workers through when they are trying to unionize. It also allows contract negotiations to start without the delay tactics management often times puts their unionized workers through.

Many workers have formed unions, just to have their contract negotiations stalled because management refuses to meet with them at the bargaining table.

While in Washington, D.C., SEIU held a rally in Lafayette Park, right outside the White House. Dana Graham, MSEA-SEIU's former president, spoke about issues facing workers while CEOs continue to make huge incomes at the expense of their workers. He spoke of workers rising trouble with health care and how incredibly expensive it is getting to be. He mentioned a neighbor of his that was skipping doses of her medications in order that her husband could have his.

SEIU also picketed outside the US Chamber of Commerce, across the street from Lafayette Park. The US Chamber of Commerce and other big business groups and coalitions are against Employee Free Choice. It scares them to think that they may wake up one morning to find that their workers have formed a union to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

On March 11, the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in the House of Representatives as HR1409. There was also a Senate hearing that day on Employee Free Choice. The committee that heard it was Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of which Senator Ted Kennedy is the chair. The full hearing can be found at the link above. The workers' testimony is excellent.

There was much more support in favor of Employee Free Choice than there was against it. We didn't get to hear the workers' testimony as we had to prepare for our meeting with Senator Snowe's staff.

The next step, here in Maine, is to get that meeting with Senator Snowe herself, and talk to her about what it is like trying to unionize and have management down your throat, watching your back side.

My story of joining the union has none of that intimidation. Managment at Home Care for Maine told workers that they were remaining neutral and that the choice was up to us. We did not suffer the intimidation and threats that many workers face when trying to unionize. We also were able to bargain our first contract within six months of forming a union. Not many workers have that success story.