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651,000 Jobs Loss in February; Unemployment Edges to 8.1%

Section: Business

CONTACT
March 6, 2009 Dawn Le, 504-483-2125

651,000 Jobs Loss in February; Unemployment Edges to 8.1%
Economists, Speaker Pro-Tem Karen Carter Peterson & Workers Call for Change in Law to Help Working Families
Report Shows Greater Unionization Could Pump $481 million into Louisiana’s Economy

New Orleans—Local officials and economists from Washington, DC and Baton Rouge called on members of Congress today to support and pass the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to form a union and negotiate for job security and improvements. The Act would also stiffen penalties against employers who break the law by intimidating or retaliating against workers for joining a union.

“When a greater number of workers had a voice on the job, America had the strongest middle class in America,” said Larry Mishel, economist and President of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. “As jobs loss continues to mount, the Employee Free Choice Act is the best chance workers have to improve their economic situation, and put the American economy back on track.”

A new report released today by the Center for American Progress (CAP) shows that a modest increase in unionization rates would help restore the broken link between productivity and wage gains, pumping tens of billions of dollars into the U.S economy.

Speaker Pro-Tem Karen Carter Peterson asked members of Congress to take heed in the data the report shows and stand with working Louisianans who want to have a free choice to unite at work. “Today’s workers are unable to share in the prosperity they help create. Protecting workers’ freedom to form unions will help restore the broken link between productivity and wages, putting more money in the hands of consumers and pumping money into our local and state economy.”

“I know first hand the difference between having a union and not,” said Carolyn Johnson, a school bus driver in Baton Rouge. “With my co-workers, we’ve been able to negotiate better pay and health care benefits that allow me to raise my family.”

The Employee Free Choice Act is likely to be introduced in Congress in the coming weeks. A previous version of the bill was championed by bipartisan support when it passed the House of Representatives in 2007.

The CAP report for Louisiana shows, among other data, that:
ÿ Louisiana workers that join a union will earn 6.9 percent more—or $1.25 more per hour in 2008 dollars—than their otherwise identical non-union counterparts.
ÿ If Louisiana’s workers were rewarded for 100 percent of their increases in labor produc-tivity between 1980 and 2008—as they were during the middle part of the 20th century—average wages would be $27.58 per hour—52.2 percent higher than the average real wage in 2008.
ÿ If 5% more of Louisiana’s workers were union members, $188 million would be pumped into the state’s economy.
The reports for Louisiana and other states are available by contacting Dawn Le, 504-483-2125.

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cheron brylski
the brylski company
3418 coliseum street
new orleans, louisiana 70115
(504) 897-6110
cell (504) 460-1468
fax (504) 897-0778
www.brylskicompany.com

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