Labor's Battle Lines Are Drawn

The battle lines are drawn in local elections. The anti-worker establishment candidates are receiving record floods of money and favorable publicity. Our side has only us! Join the army for working families by contacting AFL-CIO Political Director Lorraine Montemayor at 214-448-1557. A long list of scheduled activities is below. Right now, advocates for working families can volunteer to take shifts to poll greet during early voting April 22-30.

April 27 will begin with our big rally. It will include barbeque, refreshments, door prizes, and gas cards for those going out to canvas voters.

Progressive families are lining up on the working families’ side. AFL-CIO endorsed mayoral candidate Scott Griggs recently picked up endorsements from Dallas Firefighters, the Sierra Club, and Texas Alliance for Retired Americans. The retirees’ vote may be especially important since the Dallas newspaper recently revealed that half of all expected Dallas voters are 62 or older.

One of the candidates who did not seek our endorsement recently announced on Facebook, “I’m very proud to have earned the endorsement of Randall Stephenson, Chairman & CEO of AT&T…” https://www.facebook.com/JohnsonForDallas/ Coincidentally, Communications Workers and their allies plan to protest Stephenson and AT&T at their stockholders meeting on April 26 because the company took giant tax rebates and promised more jobs, then they laid off 12,000 workers! The protest begins at 7AM at Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora Lane in the Arts District of Dallas.

At the monthly AFL-CIO meeting on April 18, principal officer Mark York pointed out that these elections will determine who gets to make critical appointments to the Airport Board, DART Board, Parks Board, and other agencies that control aspects of our lives.

A major issue at the meeting was the need to win a paid sick time ordinance for 320,000 workers in our area. Advocates will gather at City Hall, 1500 Marilla, at 8 AM on Wednesday, April 24. Meantime, advocates should call their own councilpersons and encourage a “yes” vote. A list of phone numbers is on our web site at https://www.texasaflcio.org/dallas/news/labor-mobilizing-win.

Local elections determine our future. The fight is on!

Rally for Early Voting

Increasingly, the early vote decides elections. Help encourage turnout by attending the early vote rally at 10AM on April 22 at the George L. Allen Courts Building, 600 Commerce, in downtown Dallas. Sponsors include the Dallas AFL-CIO, Communications Workers Local 6215, Dallas Chapter of Texas Alliance for Retired Americans, RideShare2Vote, and Labor Action Group.

Corporations Skate on Local Taxes

At the April 18 meeting of Dallas AFL-CIO, the Director of Texas New Era/Jobs with Justice, Kara Sheehan, announced that Communities United for a Greater Dallas, a coalition that includes the Dallas AFL-CIO, has released a report detailing how corporations avoid paying local taxes and leave the rest of us with the bills.

The report says that major corporations have saved over $1 billion by appealing their tax assessments to local authorities. That’s money that could have been used for schools, hospitals, and important city infrastructure.

There are other ways that corporations keep their tax bills lower and ours higher. The report says, “The revenue losses from commercial property owners are even higher if one factors in property tax abatements…”

The well-documented report is titled, “Working the System. How commercial property owners in Dallas are saving big money on property taxes… and what that means for our kids and our communities.”

Veterans Make a Difference

Will Attig of the National AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council made an appeal to the Dallas AFL-CIO on April 18. He went over the advantages working families would gain if we had a Veterans’ Council here. Veterans, Attig said, are much more likely to join unions than the general public. Their issues are the issues of working families, such as:

Lowering the veteran suicide rate
Funding and staffing the VA-- They currently have 49K open vacancies
Ending veteran homelessness
Improving employment and wages

District Meeting Coming Up

Artie Blanco, AFL-CIO Southwestern Regional Director, addressed the Dallas AFL-CIO delegates on April 18. She encouraged every union in North Texas to select delegates to attend the Southwestern District Meeting in Phoenix May 21-22. Workshop information is on our web site

More Actions Coming Up

Apr 20, 9A: Promote voting on KNON radio’s “Workers Beat” program. Call-in 972-647-1893 to talk on the air

Apr 20, 10A: Campaign for working families with the Dallas AFL-CIO. 1408 N Washington. Lmontemayor.dallasaflcio@gmail.com

Apr 22, 10A: First day of early voting. Rally at Courthouse, 600 Commerce downtown. Contact Sarah@rideshare2vote, 214-803-3797 if you need travel

Apr 22, 5-8P: Phone banking at 1408 N Washington

Apr 23: Ft Worth School Board is expected to vote on privatizing important jobs. Thanks to Angi DeFelippo for info

Apr 23, 8-10A: Wells Fargo shareholders' meeting protest at Grand Hyatt DFW, 2337 S International Parkway, Dallas 75261. Sponsored by Committee for Better Banks

Apr 23, 5P: Deadline to call 214-670-3738 and register to promote paid sick leave for all workers at the April 17 City Council meeting

Apr 24, 8A: City Council meeting in main council chambers, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla. They are expected to vote on requiring paid sick leave for all workers in the city.

Apr 24, 9:30A: Labor Action Group planning session at UAW 848, 2218 E Main in Grand Prairie. Everyone invited. Genelantz19@gmail.com

Apr 24, 5-8P: Phone banking at 1408 N Washington

Apr 26, 7A: Communications Workers invites everybody to rally outside the AT&T Shareholders meeting to ask why they took all the tax rebate money and then cut 12,000 jobs. At Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora in Dallas. Contact Scott at 703-501-5491

Apr 27, 10A-1P: Rally and Get-Out-The-Vote Canvassing from 1408 N Washington

Apr 27, 1:30-5:30P: Latino Voter Empowerment presents “UnoDosTresFest” at Mercado 369 and the Texas Theater. Thanks to Charlotte Connelly for info

April 28, 3P: Labor Action Group presents Workers Memorial Day commemoration & cookout to remember people injured or killed on the job. UAW 848, 2218 E Main in Grand Prairie. Genelantz19@gmail.com

Apr 28, 5-8P: Phone banking at 1408 N Washington

Apr 29: Hotel deadline to register for the Southwest District Labor Meeting May 21 - 22, in Phoenix, Arizona

Apr 29, 5-8P: Phone banking at 1408 N Washington

May 1: International Labor Day. May is Older Americans Month

May 1, 12:30A: Dallas Chapter of Alliance for Retired Americans meets at 334 Centre in Oak Cliff. Contact Judy at judy4tara@aol.com or 214-729-0063

May 4, 7:30: Registration for “USA’s l8th Annual Dallas/Ft Worth Sporting Clays Shoot” at Elm Fork Shooting Sports, 10751 Luna Road, Dallas 75220. Contact Chris Piltz at 203-767-0745 or chris@unionsportsmen.org

May 4: Election Day

May 4, 10A-1P: Get-Out-The-Vote Canvassing from 1408 N Washington

May 4, Noon-3P: Phone banking at 1408 N Washington

May 21-22: AFL-CIO District Meeting in Phoenix. Register now.