President Obama joins labor leaders today to welcome the new head of the AFL-CIO, and name a new advisor for manufacturing.

This Labor Day, the nation’s jobless rate is 9.7 percent, and Republicans argue the health reform plan Mr. Obama outlines Wednesday, requiring everyone to buy insurance, could cost millions more jobs:

“It’s complicated, it’s convoluted and it’s quite simply not going to work. It’s time to press the ‘reset’ button,” said Minnesota Rep. John Kline.

On Meet The Press, a top White House Advisor was asked if Mr. Obama will compromise on the controversial ‘public option’ – government insurance.

“He believes the public option is a, is a good tool. Now, it shouldn’t define the whole healthcare debate, however said,” said  White House Senior Advisor  David Axelrod.

But before that, the President’s set to address the nation’s schoolchildren Tuesday… A speech that rattled some parents who say they’ll keep their kids home, fearing the 18-minute speech will be partisan.

The Secretary Of Education says the President will simply encourage students to stay in school.

“The real question I have is why has it been 18 years since a president has addressed our nation’s youth?” said Arne Duncan, Education Secretary.

More controversy…White House Advisor Van Jones quit in the middle of the night Saturday after being linked to comments questioning whether the government played a role in 9-11.

“Van Jones, as he says in his statement, understood that he was going to get in the way of the president and ultimately this country,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Jones says he’s the victim of a ‘vicious smear campaign.’ he advised the president on green jobs.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – North Carolina businesses could pay more if they violate state child labor and workplace safety laws in a bill now heading to Gov. Beverly Perdue’s desk.

The House agreed overwhelmingly Wednesday to Senate changes in a bill that would double the maximum monetary penalties when rules are broken in several situations involving workers under 18.

Some of the employment law penalties were among the lowest in the nation. Now their maximum punishment would go from $250 to $500 for first time-violators and to $1,000 for repeats offenders.

Businesses that break safety laws that cause a death of a young person would increase from $10,000 to $20,000 for first-time violators and reach $40,000 for repeat violators.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – Labor groups seeking to end North Carolina’s ban on collective bargaining for public workers say employees can help government reduce costs fairly if they’re at the table.      

Lawmakers and public employees spoke Tuesday at the Legislative Building and said there’s more support than ever to end the 50-year-old ban. North Carolina and Virginia are the only states with such a prohibition.

A bill to repeal the ban passed a House committee in 2007, but advanced no further.

The Rev. William Barber of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said bargaining is needed more than ever given the bad economy.

The employer group Capital Associated Industries said lifting the ban could lead to tax increases and larger government.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – Some legislators want the state Labor Department to report annually about what its efforts to enforce child labor laws.

The House voted 106-0 on Thursday to direct the agency to report the number of complaints alleging child labor violations, the length of the investigations, and the number of investigators assigned to the probe. The Labor Department also would need to report the number and amount of fines and how much was collected.

On Wednesday, the House voted unanimously to increase some of the country’s lowest penalties for businesses that violate child labor laws. The maximum would double from $250 to $500 for first-time violators, and to $1,000 for subsequent violations.

Both measures now move to the Senate.

A conservative advocacy group is taking a stand against a bill under consideration in Congress that is backed by labor organizers.

“Americans for Prosperity” rallied Tuesday outside the General Assembly against the “Employee Free Choice Act,” often referred to as “card check.”

Labor unions say the bill would make it easier for workers to organize and pressure companies to negotiate wages and working conditions.

If passed, the measure would get rid of private ballot elections. Instead, employees would simply sign a card for or against.

Senator Richard Burr is against the measure. Burr spoke at the rally about the sanctity of voting rights to Americans. He didn’t talk about unions or about the legislation, and instead talked about voting in general.

Those rallying Tuesday, along with several state lawmakers, urged Senator Kay Hagan to vote against it.

“What the unions did to cripple the American automobile industry and what they did to Detroit, Michigan, we surely in North Carolina can’t allow unions to do that to the North Carolina businesses,” said North Carolina State Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg.

“Free choice would be severely restricted by subjecting workers to undue pressure and intimidation, by having to make a public decision for or against union representation,” said State Rep. Paul Stam R-Wake.

Hagan said the move will “level the playing field.”

“It doesn’t do away with the secret ballot; it gives employees the opportunity to decide which way they want to consider the vote,” she said.

Ralliers flooded the phonelines at Hagan’s offices in Washington and Raleigh to voice their opposition.

Democratic Party activist Will Cubbison of Raleigh said labor elections aren’t fair because of company intimidation in the days leading up to a vote.

State House and Senate republicans are sending a letter to North Carolina’s congressional delegation in Washington to ask them to oppose the bill on behalf of the state’s workers.

Listen to Hagan and Rurcho:

A rally was held in Raleigh held Tuesday in opposition to Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the card-check bill, which may be proposed in Congress.

RALEIGH, N.C. – As the US Congress makes a renewed push to overturn long-standing secret ballot elections for labor unions, North Carolina voters are casting a doubtful eye on its actions.

According to a new poll released by Civitas Institute, 54 percent of North Carolina voters prefer the current federally supervised secret ballot elections for unionization as opposed to an open card-check effort, which aspires to force workers into publicly displaying personal votes. Only 32 percent of voters prefer the card-check method. Fourteen percent of voters were unsure.

The misleadingly named legislation, H.B. 800, the Employee Free Choice Act (aka card-check bill) is a high priority for President Obama’s administration, despite its defeat in the 2007 US Senate.

“The right of workers to hold secret ballot elections, free from intimidation by labor bosses is a fundamental issue of freedom,” said Francis De Luca, executive director of Civitas Institute. “Voters in North Carolina recognize this falsely named legislation as an affront to basic worker freedoms and is nothing more than a power grab by big labor unions to increase their membership rolls.”

Voters will also hold elected officials responsible who support taking away the right of workers to secret-ballot elections. When asked if they were more or less likely to vote for a Senator who supports eliminating secret-ballot elections for union workers, 44 percent of voters said they were less likely to support that Senator’s re-election. Only 21 percent said they were more likely to support them again. Twenty-four percent of voters said a Senator’s support for card-check legislation would have no bearing on their support.

“This should be seen as a strong message to Senators Burr and Hagan that North Carolina voters do not approve of card-check legislation and will hold any Senator, who votes for the bill, personally accountable for their actions,” added De Luca.

The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues and policies facing North Carolina. Complete results of the poll will be released at noon on Thursday, Jan. 29 at the Clarion Hotel in downtown Raleigh during the monthly poll luncheon hosted by Civitas.

Full text of questions:

“Currently, in order to form a labor union, workers hold a federally supervised secret ballot election to determine if a majority of workers voted for unionization. Some in Congress want to replace secret-ballot elections with a system where workers would publicly sign a card stating they wanted unionization.  Which system do you think is best?”

Private Ballot – 54%
Public Card Signature – 32%
Not Sure – 14%

“Would you be more or less likely to re-elect a United States senator who supports eliminating secret ballot elections for union workers?”

More – 21%
Less – 44%
No Difference – 24%
Not Sure – 11%

The study of 600 registered voters was conducted Jan. 19-22, 2009. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters we interviewed had to have voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that:

95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.”  True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.

It’s Washington’s favorite parlor game during a presidential transition: trying to figure out who’ll land a top spot in the new administration. President-elect Barack Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for Cabinet and other top positions, according to Democratic officials.

Just like the stock market, names rise and fall weekly, some zooming to the top, others dropping out of contention. Hillary Rodham Clinton suddenly is considered the top prospect for secretary of state, although other names remain in the mix. It looks like Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general, is on track to become attorney general.

Some of those who are the subject of speculation already have been chosen by Obama to serve as part of his transition team. For example, former Sen. Tom Daschle was picked Wednesday to lead Obama’s working group on health care, the same day word surfaced that he’s accepted Obama’s offer to serve as secretary of health and human services.

Some names being floated are surprising, such as former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell for education secretary. Others are high-profile governors or members of Congress. Many are also little known to the general public – and may remain so.

—

DEFENSE SECRETARY

Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., member of Senate Armed Services Committee.

—

TREASURY SECRETARY

Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

Lawrence Summers, former treasury secretary and one-time Harvard University president.

—

SECRETARY OF STATE

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, former first lady and one-time rival of Obama’s for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., former U.N. ambassador and energy secretary.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., 2004 presidential nominee.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., critic of Iraq war, retiring from Senate.

Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

—

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general.

—

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

—

HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

—

CIA DIRECTOR

John Brennan, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center

—

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR

Tim Roemer, former Indiana congressman and member of the 9/11 commission.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., chairwoman of House Homeland Security intelligence subcommittee.

Jami Miscik, former head of CIA’s analytical operations.

—

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

James B. Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser.

Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

—

ENERGY SECRETARY

Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google, former assistant energy secretary in charge of efficiency and renewable energy programs in the Clinton administration.

Former Rep. Philip Sharp, D-Ind., president of Resources for the Future think tank.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

—

INTERIOR SECRETARY

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles.

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., former executive director of Colorado Natural Resources Department.

—

EPA ADMINISTRATOR

Lisa P. Jackson, commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Mary Nichols, head of California Air Resources Board.

Kathleen McGinty, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

—

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECRETARY

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.

Renee Glover, head of Atlanta’s housing authority

Nicholas Retsinas, director of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies

Shaun Donovan, commissioner of New York City’s housing department.

—

LABOR SECRETARY

Ed McElroy, former president of the American Federation of Teachers

Former Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri

Linda Chavez-Thompson, former AFL-CIO vice president

Former Rep. David Bonior, member of Obama’s Transition Economic Advisory Board.

Maria Echaveste, former Clinton White House adviser.

—

COMMERCE SECRETARY

Laura D’Andrea Tyson, former chair of White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton.

—

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR

Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office.

—

EDUCATION SECRETARY

Colin Powell, former secretary of state, former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Arne Duncan, chief executive officer of Chicago public schools.

Inez Tenenbaum, former South Carolina schools superintendent.

Linda Darling-Hammond, education professor at Stanford University.

—

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY

Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration.

Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of House Transportation Committee.

Mortimer Downey, former deputy transportation secretary.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., member of the House Transportation Committee.

—

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union.

Former Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas.

John W. Boyd Jr. of Virginia, president of National Black Farmers Association.

—

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq war veteran and Illinois veterans affairs director.

Former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, a Vietnam veteran who had three limbs amputated after a grenade blast.

Current VA Secretary James Peake.

The two women competing to be North Carolina’s next labor commissioner say they are very different.
And if elected, their terms in office would be equally different, both women say.

Republican incumbent Cherie Berry faces Democratic challenger Mary Fant Donnan of Winston-Salem, a program officer for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Donnan defeated John Brooks, a former state labor commissioner, in a runoff election during the Democratic primary, winning 68 percent of 63,662 votes cast.

If elected, Donnan would the first resident of Forsyth County in more than 100 years to be elected to an executive-branch position in state government.

Berry, the first woman to hold the office, has served two consecutive four-year terms as the state’s commissioner of labor.

The labor commissioner is charged with enforcing workplace-safety regulations and promoting the health, safety and general well-being of North Carolina’s more than 4 million workers. The commissioner also oversees the N.C. Department of Labor and its three divisions-administration, occupational safety and health, and standards and inspections.

“There is a clear choice in what we support going forward,” Berry said. “I have that proven record of success. I’ve been successful for eight years. I was also a legislator and a member of the General Assembly for eight years.”

Berry represented Catawba County in the N.C House until she was elected labor commissioner.

Donnan, a former director of research and policy with the labor department, said she is running for office because she thinks that it is time for a new kind of leadership and time to re-think how the commissioner’s job can be done.

“I can improve on the way that it’s been done,” Donnan said.

Employment laws and workplace standards are out of date, she said.

Donnan said she would push for programs to help employers provide benefits and insurance to workers and expand the Individual Development Account Program, which provides savings accounts for first-time homebuyers, business owners, and for education or job training.

“I want to be an advocate for asset building to help people, especially in time of financial crisis, to help them have access to programs that give people the personal skills to be able to build their own assets,” Donnan said.

Berry and Donnan each criticized the other’s positions on work policies in telephone interviews this week.

“There’s a clear choice in this election,” Berry said. “There’s a distinction between the two of us with the support that I have from the Teamsters, a labor union. My opponent has stated that she supports the Employee Free Choice Act … and I do not.”

The federal Employee Free Choice Act would allow labor organizations to unionize workplaces without secret-ballot elections. It would also establish stronger penalties for employers who violate workers’ rights during negotiations.

Labor groups say that secret-ballot elections let employers intimidate workers into rejecting unions.
The bill won the approval of the U.S. House of Representatives in March 2007, but it failed to pass the Senate.

Business groups have campaigned against the bill, saying that it would give high-pressure organizers unimpeded access to workers.

The Employee Free Choice Act is legislation that would take away the right of an employee to unionize by secret ballot, Berry said.

“It is the biggest business-killer bill I’ve ever seen,” she said.

Donnan criticized Berry, saying that she is too “pro-business.”

“My opponent talks about the position as one in partnership with industry and employers and that she’s known for her philosophy as being pro-business,” Donnan said.

“I believe that the position is not about being pro-business or pro-workers,” she said. “It’s about being fair and balanced and about taking a look at what needs to be done to carry out the duties of the office and also improving the way that work gets done.”

BREAKDOWN
Cherie Berry, Republican.
• Age: 66.
• Hometown/birthplace: Newton, N.C.
• Job: N.C. commissioner of labor.
• Political/civic experience: Sworn in as the state’s first female labor commissioner in Jan. 2001. Re-elected to the position in November. 2004.
• Top priority if re-elected: “Our top priority is and always has been safety and health of North Carolina workers.”

Mary Fant Donnan, Democrat.
• Age: 46.
• Hometown/birthplace: Grayson County, Va.
• Job: Program officer for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, working on community and economic development.
• Political/civic experience: Worked for seven years in the N.C. Department of Labor, first as a policy analyst and then as director of research and policy. Has never run for office before.
• Top priority if elected: “Do the job delegated to the department, build new and relevant policy, and be a part of a state effort to make our workplaces as safe and strong as they can be.