ND AFL-CIO: Weekly Update

Memorial Day Is About Respect and Remembrance The working men and women of the AFL-CIO join the Union Veterans Council to wish all a safe Memorial Day weekend. This is a time to respect and remember those who gave their lives for the bedrock freedoms of our nation. Let’s resolve to honor their sacrifice by redoubling our efforts to secure and make real those freedoms for every worker in America, so working people can win new economic rules built on broadly shared prosperity. White House Cracks Down on Unions with Executive Orders President Trump issued a series of executive orders Friday that could gut federal employee unions’ ability to negotiate with agency leaders and represent workers, as well as reduce the time it takes for an agency to fire people for poor performance or misconduct. Neil Gorsuch Just Demolished Labor Rights The Supreme Court issued a 5–4 decision Monday in Epic Systems v. Lewis allowing employers to deprive their workers of their right to sue collectively. Its ruling, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, blasts a massive hole through post–New Deal labor law, hobbling employees’ ability to recover in court when their employers underpay them. It is difficult to overstate how devastating Epic Systems is to labor rights in America—and how far Gorsuch strays from federal law in order to implement his preferred economic policy. Drunk diners, penny-pinching patrons: Fargo-Moorhead service industry workers share stories of customer mistreatment FARGO — Like any other industry, the service industry has its ups and downs — and those downs for servers and bartenders can include everything from harassment to customers' overconsumption of alcohol. Labor 2018 Kickoff - Fargo Join the Northern Plains United Labor Council and the North Dakota AFL-CIO for the kickoff of our Labor 2018 member-to-member political education campaign. June 24, 2018 • 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Fargo- Moorhead Labor Temple (3002 1st Ave North, Fargo, ND 58102) 1:00-1:30 Pizza, Pop, and a Plan - Labor's goals for this election cycle, and how we can work together as North Dakota union members to accomplish those goals and build power for working people. 1:30-2:00 Canvassing Training - Learn how to doorknock and phonebank! 2:00-5:00 Kickoff Canvass - Doorknocking union members in in Fargo for labor-endorsed candidates! Mobile Messaging for North Dakota Workers! We are happy to introduce a new tool in the fight for workers' rights in North Dakota! Text NDLABOR to 235246 to join our new mobile messaging service and stay up-to-date on upcoming actions and events for working people!

ND AFL-CIO Weekly Update

Heitkamp, Smith give update on pension crisis

FARGO—U.S. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., joined more than 80 workers and retirees in Fargo on Saturday, May 12, to provide updated information following the second meeting of a House and Senate Joint Select Committee tasked with solving the crisis facing pension plans across the country.

U.S. Senators Heitkamp, Smith Emphasize the Need for Pension Reform

FARGO, N.D. — U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Tina Smith spoke with several retired workers in Fargo to discuss pension reform.

The two Senators are part of a bipartisan, joint Senate–House committee whose goal is to solve the pension crisis.

MORE PHOTOS HERE

Letter Carriers’ food drive restocks local food shelves

Stamp Out Hunger is the nation’s largest one-day food drive, and it’s powered by union members.

Letter Carriers across the country collected non-perishable food along their routes today for delivery to local food pantries. The carriers’ union, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), organizes the food drive each year.

North Carolina teachers will be the next to walk out. Here's what they want:

(CNN)The nationwide fight for more school funding has now swept North Carolina, where teachers are planning to skip school and confront lawmakers next week.

On May 16 -- when the Legislature comes back in session -- hundreds of schools will be closed to students while teachers join the March for Students and Rally for Respect in Raleigh.

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North Dakota AFL-CIO 2018 Convention (VIDEO)

The North Dakota AFL-CIO convention is coming up fast and we’d love to have as many members as possible attend and take part. The convention will take place at the Fargo Ramada Hotel and Conference Center on May 17th and 18th.

See all you delegates this week!

Ready to Run Bismarck

Ready to Run™ is a bi-partisan program for women who want to run for office, seek higher office, work on a campaign, get appointed to office, or learn more about the political system.
Ready to Run™ is your one-stop training on running for office or getting involved in public life. You will learn from prominent elected and appointed leaders, campaign consultants, party officials, and policy experts.

Mobile Messaging for North Dakota Workers!

We are happy to introduce a new tool in the fight for workers' rights in North Dakota!
Text NDLABOR to 235246 to join our new mobile messaging service and stay up-to-date on upcoming actions and events for working people!

Webinar: Ensuring that People are Not Jailed Due to Poverty

Ensuring that People are Not Jailed Due to Poverty May 22, 2018 ♦ 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. EST Presenters:   Karly Jo Dixon,   Equal Justice Works Mitali Nagrecha, Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School Brittany Stonesifer, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children Moderator:  Abby Shafroth, Attorney, National Consumer Law Center     Description:  The Constitution prohibits jailing defendants for non-payment of debts they cannot afford but too often courts fail to conduct adequate "ability to pay" proceedings and unrepresented individuals are sent to jail simply because they are too poor to pay a fee. This webinar discusses both effective representation of individuals in ability to pay proceedings and best practices for ability to pay determinations that advocates should promote in policy reform. There is no charge for this webinar and all time listings are in Eastern Time. NCLC does not provide CLE credits for webinars, but will give certificates of attendance following the webinar for those who are interested. If you are unable to attend the webinar, rest assured that it will be archived on the NCLC webinar page. Still have questions? Please email SarahEmily Lekberg at slekberg@nclc.org More about this Series:  The National Consumer Law Center and the Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School's free webinar series on criminal justice debt continues this spring. Confronting Criminal Justice Debt focuses on the fines and fees imposed by the criminal justice system. This webinar series brings together leading attorneys, academics, and other advocates to identify problems with the current fine and fee practices, including their disproportionate impact on the poor and people of color, and to discuss litigation and policy solutions.  Missed a webinar in the series? Please browse the archives and feel free to access them!

From ND AFL-CIO: Heitkamp (ND) and Smith (MN) Town Hall

Please join us this Saturday!

Senator Heitkamp (ND) & Senator Smith (MN) will be together at the Fargo-Moorhead Labor Temple this Saturday, May 12, for an important town hall on their work on retirement security and the Butch-Lewis Act.

https://www.facebook.com/events/236936570196138/

Saturday May12 at 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Fargo-Moorhead Labor Temple
3002 1st Ave N, Fargo, North Dakota 58102

In Solidarity,

Waylon Hedegaard

North Dakota AFL-CIO President

From AFR: Civil Rights and Consumer Protection Organizations Oppose the Auto-Lending Congressional Review Act (S.J. Res. 57)

Civil Rights and Consumer Protection Organizations Oppose the Auto-Lending Congressional Review Act (S.J. Res. 57)

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) has introduced a resolution intended to block federal action against discrimination in auto lending, and to do so far into the future. Discrimination in auto lending continues to extract billions of dollars a year in extra loan payments from borrowers of color; Congress should be taking action to end this injustice, not interfering with efforts to enforce fair lending laws.

Sen. Moran's measure would specifically undo guidance issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for auto lenders who decide to continue making backdoor payments to dealers as a reward for getting borrowers to accept high-cost loans. Lenders who do so, the guidance says, must also take care they don't end up overcharging on the basis of race. The powerful auto dealer lobby has accused the bureau of overreaching. In truth, the Bureau under its previous leadership was working to enforce the law, and its guidance reminded lenders of their existing obligations under the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974.

Joint enforcement against auto lending discrimination by the Consumer Bureau and the Department of Justice from 2013-2015 resulted in real benefit to wronged consumers, as Ally Financial, Honda, Fifth Third Bank, and Toyota were required to reimburse borrowers restitution totaling $144 million.

Car buyers who need financing often get it through dealers, who typically receive bonus payments whenever they get someone to accept a loan that is more expensive than their income and credit qualify them for. For more than two decades, there has been clear evidence that these arrangements tend to result in African-Americans, Latinos, and other borrowers of color paying extra -- that is, paying interest and fees higher than are justified by the evidence of their creditworthiness, and higher than those charged to similarly situated white borrowers.

Reinforcing the broad evidence of pervasive discrimination, recent paired testing by the National Fair Housing Alliance showed that more qualified non-white applicants were often offered higher-cost financing options than less qualified white applicants. And the financial impact was large: when nonwhite borrowers paid more, it added up to an average of $2,662 over the life of the loan.

The Consumer Bureau, with Mick Mulvaney now acting as Director, has already retreated from enforcing fair lending laws. But that apparently is not enough for the members of Congress supporting this legislation, or for the auto dealers; they are trying to protect systematic racial discrimination and tie the hands of future regulators who might try to address it.

This action is the latest in a series of Congressional and agency attacks on efforts to weed out racial discrimination in financial services. These attacks include watering down years of work at the Department of Education to address financial abuses by for-profit colleges that disproportionately harm students of color; rewriting the mission statement of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to exclude its statutory obligation to end housing discrimination; pushing for the exemption of 85% of financial institutions from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, a critical anti-discrimination tool; and proposing to undo the Consumer Bureau's rule addressing unaffordable 300%-interest payday loans, which target communities of color.

Please see the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers' Opposition Letter as well as floor remarks in opposition from Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN-5).

Americans for Financial Reform
Allied Progress
Center for Economic Integrity
Center for Popular Democracy
Center for Responsible Lending
Consumer Action
Empire Justice Center
Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
NAACP
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients)
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Urban League
National Consumers League
NC Justice Center
Public Citizen
Public Justice Center
Public Law Center
Rainbow PUSH
Tennessee Citizen Action
UnidosUS
U.S. PIRG
Woodstock Institute

Sacred Pipe Resource Center - May 2018 Events

Sacred Pipe Resource Center

MAY 2018 Events

Tuesdays, May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 ~ Native Artists United (NAU) Meetings

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. ~ SPRC Board Room/400 W. Main/Mandan

Native Artists United (NAU) is a group of artists dedicated to helping the community understand the beauty and value of Native art, to support Native artists – especially youth – who are interested in developing art skills, and to provide venues for selling and promoting Native art.

Saturday, May 12 ~ Native Artists United Reception

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ~ North Dakota Heritage Center

You are cordially invited to attend the launch event for the Native Artists United (NAU) Guild. The event will feature the founding artists of NAU, as well as music, dance, storytelling, flute music, and an Art Fair and reception with refreshments. Come and meet the artists!

Wednesday, May 16 ~ Community Engagement Meeting

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm ~ Bismarck Public Library (514 N. 15^th St.), Meeting Room B

The Community Engagement meeting will focus on taking testimony about housing discrimination in the Bismarck-Mandan area. We want to HEAR YOUR STORY. We will feature information from staff of the High Plains Fair Housing Center and let you know how you can help reduce housing discrimination for American Indians in this community! Refreshments and child care provided!

Friday, May 18 ~ Cultural Competency Series:

In the Best Interest: An Introduction to the Indian Child Welfare Act

9:00 am – 12:00 pm ~ CEDC Board Room (400 W. Main/Mandan)

In 1978, a contingent of elders from North Dakota lobbied for the passage of a unique Congressional Act to keep their grandchildren from being unnecessarily removed. This session will examine the roots and cultural worldviews of the Indian Child Welfare Act and cover the basic essentials of the Act.

Register at www.sacredpipe.net.

Every Friday and Tuesday ~ “Spark (SPRC) Talk” Radio Program

KDAK 102.5 FM Radio

Listen in to 102.5 FM at 3:00 pm on Fridays and a re-broadcast on Mondays at 4:00 pm. “Spark Talk” is a weekly interview with local Natives, discussion of community issues and events, and updates.

Do you know someone interesting who should be on the show? Send us your suggestion!

For more information on any of these events, contact native@sacredpipe.net or call 701.426.1315