The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - 7A
" With Obama set to take office,
labor unions compile wish list
Judge: White House
needs to recover
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president-elect, Economic Policy Institute, said he
expects the outcome to be differ-
ons n lOW looking ent this time "because the labor
movement has a clear agenda and
for payback I think Obama shares it."
While Obama's support could
SHINGTON (AP) - The help, unions' diminishing mem-
unions that helped Barack bership has made it tough to get
win the White House are their legislation passed. Unions
gfor some payback. represent about one in eight U.S.
r's wish list for the incom- workers, down from about one in
esident and the expanded five 25 years ago.
ratic majority in Congress The biggest labor-business don-
s making it easier to form nybrook in the new Congress will
expanding the pool of be over a bill that would do away
s who can join them, pro- with employers' right to demand
g employers from perma- secret-ballot elections to recog-
replacing striking workers nize unions. Instead, a company
panding health care. would have to recognize and bar-
ing much of that, as one gain with a union once union cards
s leader puts it, won't be "a were signed by 50 percent of the
the park." company's eligible work force plus
,labor leaders are confident one additional employee.
do better than in 1993, when The House passed the measure
nton became president after in 2007, but it died under a Repub-
s of Republicans occupying lican filibuster in the Senate. Presi-
ite House. dent Bush had vowed to veto it, but
then, the Family and Medi- Obama made it part of his platform.
ave Act, which required Both sides plan to again spend mil-
'ers to grant workers unpaid lions of dollars on ads and lobbying
care for ill children, spous- for and against it, and the bill may
arents, was signed into law suffer the same fate next year.
arly weeks of the new Clin- "It will be a very high prior-
ministration. But Clinton ity fight and a high visibility, noisy
unions quickly parted ways fight," Eisenbrey predicted.
he North American Free Labor leaders say employers
Act, complicating coopera- have used secret-ballot elections,
his health care plan, which generally held on job sites, to
ely failed. coerce and intimidate workers into
had a completely partisan rejecting unions. Employers coun-
n 1993, said Andrew Stern, ter that workers are often coerced
nt ofthel.9 million-member by their peers to sign union cards
Employees International and that a secret-ballot election is
the nation's largest union. the only way to determine their
ear, labor and business are true desires.
g together under the prem- "We haven't been bashful" about
t "solving the health care labor's position, said Bill Samuel,
m is essential to solving the the AFL-CIO's legislative direc-
sic problem," he said. tor. "Nor has the business commu-
nity."
Thomas J. Donahue, president
of the U.S. Chamber of Com-
merce, said his group is preparing
a nationwide effort against the bill
and other labor initiatives that he
contended unions see as "political
payback for their efforts and their
investments" on behalf of electing
Obama and other Democrats.
"It's not goingto be a walk in the
park," Donahue added.
House Republican leader John
Boehner wrote before the elec-
tion that Obama's support for the
bill "should send a chill down the
spine of every man and woman
who treasures his or her privacy in
the workplace."
In the short term, labor advo-
cates are counting on an Obama
administration to help people hit
by the economic downturn by
extending unemployment ben-
efits and boosting infrastructure
spending. That includes coming
to the aid of the tottering U.S. auto
industry, an issue that has brought
labor and big business together.
Last week, the chief executives
of General Motors Corp., Ford
Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC and
the president of the United Auto
Workers union asked Democratic
leaders in Congress for $50 bil-
lion in new loans on top of the $25
billion that Congress approved in
September to retool their plants
for makingmore fuel-efficient cars
and trucks.
Half the new money, $25 billion,
would go toward helping the com-
panies meet health care obligations
for more than 780,000 retirees and
their dependents under contracts
signed in 2007 with the UAW.
Alan Reuther, the UAW's legis-
lative director, said a government
loan covering most of the retiree
health care obligations would give
the ailing auto companies a better
chance of lining up other financing
to stay afloat.
Among other bills that could
appear on the legislative calendar
in 2009:
-A new minimum wage
increase. Congress approved a
three-step, $2.10 increase last year.
The minimum now is $6.55 an
hour, and the last step, a 70-cent
increase to $7.25 an hour, will
occur next summer.
-The Paycheck Fairness Act
passed the House in July, but the
White House threatened a veto
and the bill never made it out of
the Senate. Supporters said it was
needed to close loopholes that
allow employers to avoid responsi-
bility for discriminatory pay.
-The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay
Act, named after an Alabama
woman whose pay discrimination
lawsuit was thrown out on a 5-4
Supreme Court vote in 2007. The
court said she waited too long to
sue. The House passed legislation
to remove that time limit, but it hit
a filibuster wall in the Senate.
-The House in 2007 also passed
legislation to extend collective
bargaining rights to public safety
workers such as police and fire-
fighters in all 50 states. It stalled in
the Senate.
-Obama has supported legisla-
tion to overturnthe National Labor
Relations Board's 2006 "Kentucky
River" rulings that classified
hundreds of thousands of skilled
workers, such as nurses and con-
struction workers, as supervisors if
they direct a co-worker 10 percent
of the workday. Labor says the rul-
ings could interfere with rights to
join unions.
-The House last November
passed legislation to end work-
place discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation. The Senate
did not act.
Messages are spread
over 225 days, date
back to 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - A fed-
eral judge yesterday ruled against
the Bush administration in a court
battle over the White House's prob-
lem-plagued e-mail system.
With two-and-a-half months
remaining before the Bush admin-
istration leaves office, U.S. District
Judge Henry Kennedy ruled that
two private groups may pursue
their case as they press the gov-
ernment to recover millions of
possibly missing electronic mes-
sages.
Kennedy rejected the govern-
ment's request to throw out the
-lawsuits filed by Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Wash-
ington and the National Security
Archive.
The government had argued that
the courts did not have the author-
ity to order the White House to
retrieve any missing e-mails.
Kennedy, an appointee of Presi-
dent Clinton, said the two private
groups seek precisely the relief
outlined in the Federal Records Act
and upheld in a previous case by the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Dis-
trict of Columbia Circuit.
CREW and the National Security
Archive want a court order direct-
RETIREMENT
From Page 1A
reports in the media of retirees who
have had to go back to work or sig-
nificantly delay their retirement.
But, in most of those cases, the
people involved had a significant
percent of their portfolios invested
in stocks, say, 85 percent
Not everyone shares Kephart's
optimistic outlook, however, espe-
cially considering that no, one
knows how much longer and how
much further stock markets will
continue to fall, dragging down
with them faculty membera's'
retirement accounts.
Political Science Prof. John
Jackson said he believes the effect
of the financial crisis is being felt
now and will continue to hit retire-
ment funds.
"Theimpactisquitesubstantial,"
he said. "We will feel it soon."
Emeritus Physics Prof. Law-
rence Jones, who has been retired
ing the archivist of the United
States to initiate action throughthe
attorney general to restore deleted
e-mails.
Meredith Fuchs, the National
Security Archive's general coun-
sel, said that because of the ruling,
a court order directing the White
House to preserve 65,000 computer
backup tapes remains in place.
Fuchs said that when the Bush
administration surrenders its
records to the government on
Jan. 20, the incoming administra-
tion of Barack Obama can "do the
right thing here and clean up this
mess by ensuring that any missing
e-mails are restored from computer
backup tapes."
A White House document
obtained by The Associated Press
in August says the White House
is missing as many as 225 days of
e-mail dating to 2003.
The nine-page draft document
about the White House's e-mail
problems invites companies to bid
on a project to recover missing
electronic messages. The end date
for the work was listed as April 19,
2009. The White House has not
said whether it has hired a con-
tractor.
CREW executive director Mela-
nie Sloan called the court ruling
"a clear victory for the American
people. The Executive Office of the
President does have to answer for
the missing e-mail."
for 10 years, said he's satisfied with
his retirement benefits. Even after
losing about 10 percent of his total
portfolio in recent weeks, Jones
said he isn't concerned.
"I may use my money more care-
fully, but my portfolio has been
handled well by TIAA-CREF," he
said. "So it's been perfectly satis-
factory."
Jones said he has several other
retired friends, none of whom have
mentioned retirement problems to
him.
Meanwhile, TIAA-CREF hAs
implemented a number of initia-
tives meant to alleviate University
employee worries and ensure they
are invested" appropriately. The
company has set up presentations
on North and Central Campus, and
is encouraging professors to con-
tact their representative with con-
cerns. For now, the market decline
has not significantly affected many
faculty members.
"No one really to my knowledge
is putting things off because of
what's happened," Kephart said.
Death toll rises to 94 in Haiti school collapse
Concrete building collapsed
three days earlier
PETIONVILLE, Haiti (AP) - U.S., French
and Haitian firefighters used sonar, cam-
eras and dogs yesterday in the search for
victims at a collapsed Haitian school, but as
the stench of death rose from the wreckage
they no longer expected to find anyone else
alive.
Three days after the concrete building sud-
denly collapsed during a children's party, kill-
ing at least 94 students and adults and severely
injuring150 more, Capt. Michael Istvan of Fair-
fax County, Va., said the chance of finding more
survivors was remote. He also said the death
toll won't likely go much higher.
Several bodies were pulled out yesterday,
caked in concrete dust, and radar and cameras
located several more.
But there have been no indications of survi-
vors since the last children were pulled from
the wreckage Saturday morning, said Daniel
Vigee, head of a Martinique-based French res-
cue team.
Rescuers were probing spots where neigh-
bors claimed to have heard voices or received
cell phone calls from trapped survivors, with-
out success.
Before dawn Monday, the Americans and
French firefighters from Martinique opened
up new areas to search by cutting apart a
two-story high concrete slab that had been
hanging precariously since the school tum-
bled down.
Istvan's firefighters were flown in by the U.S.
Agency for International Development, and an
eight-person militaryteamfromthe U.S. South-
ern Command also helped.
It was unclear how many people were in
the building when it fell, though the school
is believed to have had about 500 students.
Haitian officials said some had time to escape
when it began to fall, and it was not known
how many were pulled out unharmed on Fri-
day.
Some students weren't at the school during
the collapse because La Promesse was hold-
ing a party requiring a donation of up to 25
gourdes (63 cents) that poorer families could
not afford, said Steven Benoit, who represents
the area in the Haitian Parliament's lower
house.
"A lot of students had their lives saved
because they couldn't get in," Benoit said.
A man takes a break from rescue work at the 'La
Promesse' school in Haiti, where at least 75 people
were killed.
With holidays near, Circuit City files for bankruptcy
Nation's second
largest electronics
seller can keep
operating
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Fac-
ing pressure from vendors and
consumers who aren't spending,
Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for
bankruptcy protection yesterday
as it heads into the busy holiday
season with hopes that the move
will help it survive.
Under Chapter 11 protection, the
nation's second-biggest electronics
retailer can keep operating while it
develops a reorganization plan. Its
Canadian operations also filed for
similar protection.
The company also said it cut
700 more jobs at its Richmond,
Va., headquarters, after announc-
ing a week ago that it would close
20 percent of its stores and lay off
thousands of workers.
In court documents, Chief
FinancialOfficerBruceH. Besanko
cited three factors: erosion of ven-
dor confidence, decreased liquidity
and the global economic crisis.
"Without immediate relief,
the company is concerned that it
will not receive goods for Black
Friday and the upcoming holiday
season, which could cause irrepa-
rable harm to the company and its
stakeholders," Besanko said in the
filing.
Its shares fell 14 cents, or about
56 percent, to 11 cents on Monday
before being halted.
Circuit City, which has had only
one profitable quarter in the past
year, has faced significant declines
in traffic and heightened competi-
tion from rival Best Buy Co. and
others. The company laid off about
3,400 retail employees last year
and replaced them with lower-
paid workers, a move analysts said
could backfire, hurting morale and
driving away customers.
While the retail industry overall
is facing what's expected to be the
weakest holiday season in decades,
Circuit City's struggles have inten-
sified as nervous consumers spend
less and credit has become tighter.
At a hearing in Richmond, U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huen-
nekens granted Circuit City inter-
im approval to secure $1.1 billion in
debtor-in-possession loans while it
is in bankruptcy protection. Those
funds, needed to stock merchan-
dise and pay employees, replace a
$1.3 billion asset-backed loan the
company had been using.
Circuit City also was granted
interim approval to abandon 150
leases at locations where it no lon-
ger operates stores, which it said
costs $40 million annually.
The company, which said it had
$3.4 billion in assets and $2.32 bil-
lion in liabilities as of Aug. 31, is
hoping to exit court protection by
early summer 2009, putting it in
a position to find a buyer for the
chain or operate as a standalone
business.,
Final approval of the motions
will be addressed at a Dec. 5 hear-
ing.
Analysts said much depends on
Circuit City's relationship with its
vendors and how it handles its real
estate issues.
Circuit City is a well-known
brand and could re-emerge from
bankruptcy, Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
analyst David Schick said in a note
to investors. "We believe the mar-
ketplace has a slot for a higher-end
chain with a commissioned sales
force," he said.
But Stephen Lubben, a profes-
sor at Seton Hall Law School, said
Circuit City's survival depends on
whether its creditors work with
the company "or whether they
think they're a lost cause and cut
them off permanently."
JPMorgan analyst Christopher
Horvers agreed, saying it boiled
down to merchandise. "If they can
get inventory into the stores, I can
think they'll remain competitive."
The company's biggest creditors
are its vendors: Hewlett-Packard
has a $118.8 million claim followed
by Samsung ($115.9 million), Sony
($60 million), Zenith ($41.2 mil-
lion) and Toshiba ($17.9 million).
Smaller creditors include GPS
navigation system maker Garmin,
Nikon, Lenovo, Eastman Kodak
and Mitsubishi.
Deutsche Bank analyst Mike
Baker told investors that consum-
ers learning about Circuit City's
bankruptcy may go elsewhere
because of a lack of confidence in
the company.
At a Circuit City Warehouse
Store already slated for closure in
Milwaukee, Courtney Bergeron,
29, said he heard the news about
the company and figured he should
see if there were any deals for flat-
screen TVs.
Although he saw some discounts
- about 15 percent off televisions
at least 32 inches wide - Bergeron
figured he should wait.
"On Black Friday, they're prob-
ably going to be lower than this,"
he said.
Bergeron and his friend, Ber-
tha Harris, also 29, said they hadn't
shopped muchat CircuitCity over the
years. He said Circuit City's selection
was limited, so he ended up buying
more electronics from Best Buy and
discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Harris said she was always dis-
satisfied with service at Circuit
City. When she asked questions
the workers couldn't answer them
on their own, she said.
"They knew as much as I knew
about things," she said, adding it
wasn't much.
Circuit City announced a week
ago it planned to close 155 of its
more than 700 U.S. stores by Dec.
31. It is laying off about 17 percent
of its domestic work force, which
could affect up to 7,300 people.
Horvers said the reorganization
could help Circuit City get out of
leases for certain bad store loca-
tions - something Schick said had
been one of the company's main
issues. Y
LECTURE
From Page 1A
cate of engineers and scientists in
the U.S."
Ehlers studied for three years at
Calvin College in Grand Rapids and
then transferred to the University
of California at Berkeley, where he
received an undergraduate degree in
physics and a Ph.D in nuclear physics.
He spent six years researching
and teaching at Berkeley before
moving back to Grand Rapids in
ACTIVITIES
From Page 1A
alternative to the typical drinkingand
partying scene. John Harlowe, the
director of "Late Night Penn State,"
said the school's president, Graham
Spanier, came up with the idea for the
program 12 years ago.
"He was criticizing students for
having a one-track mind as far as
social life and the students fired
back," Harlowe said. "He chal-
lenged them and they challenged
him."
Harlowe said Penn State offers
programs every Friday and Sat-
urday night, drawing upwards of
7,000 students per year. Similar to
Michigan's program, each Penn
State event hasa movie, craft activ-
ity and board games, he said.
other notable schools that have
similar programs include the Uni-
versity of Florida and West Virginia
University.
Courant said schools display
inclusivity by offering programs
like Umix and Late Night Penn
State.
"It's bad manners to have all of
the options be either 'Drink or look
like you're odd,' so one should pro-
vide a broader range of options," he
said.
But UMix director Karla Robin-
son said the program is also geared
toward students who drink, notjust
those who abstaif.
1966. He taught physics at Calvin
College for 16 years and served as
chair of the Physics Department.
Ehlers hopes "to give an edge
to the United States from foreign
countries that are trying to surpass
us in those fields," Chapman said.
The James R. Mellor lecture,
according to a University website,
"showcases an individual whose
leadership has contributed to the
public good." The series is funded
by an endowment from Mellor, a
University who was a former chair-
man and chief executive officer for
General Dynamics Corporation.
"Something we're trying really
hard to do is market this program as
a late night social event, and not as
an alternative program," she said.
"We just kind of bill it as a late-night
social activity."
UMix has had some success lur-
ing drinking students away from the
typical Friday night party. Accord-
ing to a University Health Servic-
es survey, about a third of UMix
attendees drink occasionally on Fri-
day nights, and of that group, more
than two-thirds said they drink less
on nights they attend UMix.
Most UMix attendees said they
come to events because the easygo-
ing setting helps them feel comfort-
able without drinking.
While painting a pumpkin and
watching other her peers belt out
the words to the Backstreet Boys'
"I Want It That Way," Kinesiology
junior Kara Miller expressed that
sentiment.
"I don't drink, so there's not a ton
to do at night other than like hang
out with friends or watch a movie,
so it's just something else," she
said.
LSA junior Aissatou Barry, the
UMix student coordinator, said peo-
ple in the program don't view those
who party before coming to Umix
any differently thanthose who come
to the Union right at 10 p.m.
"A lot of students we have just
come at midnight. We don't mind
that actually. They're not taking
advantage of us in any way," she
said.