VERIZON GREED MUST STOP

Verizon has seen its profits and CEO pay soar while it cut jobs and gutted health care and other benefits for workers. These VeriGreedy practices need to stop.Call 800-229-9460 now to tell Verizon to treat its workers and customers with respect.Share on Twitter

Recently, we launched our CEO Pay and the 99% website¹ to expose the outlandish practices of companies giving huge compensation to CEOs while cutting jobs and sitting on record amounts in cash holdings and short-term investments.

One of the most egregious examples of corporate excess and greed is Verizon. While Verizon tripled the salary of CEO Lowell McAdam to $23.1 million last year,² it also was cutting U.S. jobs, gutting worker pensions and charging current and retired employees and their families thousands of dollars more for health benefits while reducing disability coverage.

This is unacceptable and we need to let Verizon know it.

Call 800-229-9460 now to record a message that will be delivered directly to Verizon executives.

Today, while Verizon holds its shareholders meeting in Huntsville, Ala., working families and Verizon customers in Huntsville and across the country will be calling on the company to end these “VeriGreedy” practices, respect its customers and the workers who keep the company running and save good, middle-class jobs.

Because of the hard work of tens of thousands of customer support representatives, technicians, electricians and other workers who provide the best quality service they can to customers, Verizon has enjoyed success. Verizon workers are part of the solution, not the problem. They should not be punished with job cuts and increased health care and benefit costs while Verizon executives get huge pay raises and the company sits on $14 billion in cash holdings and short-term investments.³

Call 800-229-9460 now and tell Verizon to treat workers and customers with respect—by negotiating a fair contract.

Corporate greed on this scale is bad enough, but when combined with neglecting workers, it’s completely unacceptable. Together we can put an end to these terrible corporate practices—but only if you speak up and make your voice heard.

In Solidarity,

Andy Richards
New Media Strategist, AFL-CIO

P.S. After you have left your message for Verizon executives, make sure to click here to find out if an event is happening in your area today you can attend to support Verizon workers.

¹ http://www.aflcio.org/Corporate-Watch/CEO-Pay-and-the-99.
² http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120319-714892.html.
³ Verizon Communications Form 10-K, filed 2/24/2012.

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Fired for her credit score … Tim Newman, Change.org

05/02/2012 Nativegrl77

Fired for having student loans? Latoya Horton says she was fired from her job as an accountant, not because she did anything wrong, but because her employer checked her credit report and decided her debt-to-credit ratio was too high. Latoya was outraged: “How are you supposed to pay off your student loans if you can’t get — or keep — a job because of your loans?”

It happens more than you think: Latoya found out that 60% of employers now check employees’ credit reports. They often buy them from TransUnion, one of the largest credit reporting companies. TransUnion’s chair, Penny Pritzker, even sits on President Obama’s jobs panel. She’s responsible for spurring job creation, but her company is profiting from a practice that makes it harder for people with debt to find work.

You can help: Latoya started a petition on Change.org demanding that TransUnion stop selling credit reports to employers immediately. If thousands of people sign Latoya’s petition, it will shine a national spotlight on what Latoya thinks is an ethically dubious practice, and TransUnion’s executives will be forced to respond.

Click here to sign Latoya’s petition.

Thanks,

– Tim

——

Here’s a lot more information about Latoya’s campaign in her own words:

Years ago I went to college to study accounting, and like millions of other Americans I took out loans to pay for it. A few years later I got a temporary job in the accounting department at Bain & Co., and after 6 months of reliable work I was thrilled to be offered a full-time position.

However, just a few weeks after starting in my new position the company fired me because my debt-to-credit ratio was too high. I later learned that 60% of employers now check credit reports, which typically include student debts. How are you supposed to pay off your student debts if you can’t get (or keep) a job BECAUSE of your debts? And what do my student debts have to do with my ability to do a job well anyway?

25 states have debated bills in the last year to restrict this practice, and in a number of these states one company has fought hardest against these efforts: credit reporting company TransUnion.

What’s ironic is that Penny Pritzker, TransUnion’s Chair and part owner, sits on President Obama’s Jobs and Competitiveness Council, which advises the President on putting Americans back to work. How can someone advise on national job creation when her company sells products that may keep qualified people out of work?

Please join me and 25 national civil rights organizations in calling on TransUnion to stop its sale of credit reports to employers. As the only one of the “Big 3” credit reporting companies that’s privately held, TransUnion has the ability to stop this practice overnight.

It was recently announced that in the coming weeks TransUnion will be sold to two private equity companies, including Goldman Sachs. If Penny Pritzker is serious about job creation, she should do what she can to ensure that her company stops this abusive practice before the company is sold.

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President Obama and Commander in Chief

05/01/2012 Nativegrl77

Apr 30, 2012 by whitehouse

President Obama speaks at the Building and Construction Trades Department Conference about creating good jobs for American workers, who can help our economy grow by rebuilding our nation’s roads, bridges, train tracks, and airports. April 30, 2012

Apr 28, 2012 by whitehouse

President Obama at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.

Apr 28, 2012 by whitehouse

President Obama discusses a new Executive Order designed to crack down on the bad actors who prey on our veterans and service members considering higher education.

Apr 25, 2012 by whitehouse

President Obama discusses the importance of a college education and why higher education should be affordable for all students willing to work hard, and calls on Congress to stop interest rates on federal Stafford loans from doubling in July. April 24, 2012

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20 ways. 20 days. 20% less carbon.

05/01/2012 Nativegrl77

You can still get cooler and smarter—20 ways, 20 days, 20% less carbon

(and get your FREE sticker!)

Don’t you want to be the coolest and smartest of all your friends? Our first 20 days are almost up! What are you waiting for? Join the first round of our 20/20/20 challenge—20 ways to get cooler and smarter, and in just 20 days you’ll be on the path to 20 percent fewer carbon emissions.
Thousands of people have already committed to reducing their global warming-causing carbon emissions by making changes to their diets, their commutes, and their lightbulbs—and that adds up to a serious positive impact for the planet.
Even if you already live a cooler smarter lifestyle than most Americans, you still have the power to make important changes—I know I did. Since I am lucky enough to live in a city with great public transportation and don’t use a car most days, I looked to my home for ways to save energy. I was able to reduce my carbon emissions 20 percent by updating my furnace (which quickly paid for itself), insulating the walls, installing a programmable thermostat, and making other small adjustments around the house.
Choose which carbon-saving tips best fit your life by taking the 20/20/20 challenge today. Then imagine if 20 of your friends do it… or 20,000… or 200 million… we’re talking serious impact!
Join the 20/20/20 challenge and get tips on how best to fight global warming in your life (plus a FREE sticker – while they last).
One person can have an impact—and we’ve got the science to prove it. After two years of research and analysis, our scientists have discovered the most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions. And we’ve made it easy for you to get on the path to 20 percent less carbon in 20 days.
Check out our infographic to see 20 percent less carbon by the numbers, and take the 20/20/20 challenge to do your part to save the planet.
Thanks for being so cool and smart!
Sincerely,

Suzanne Shaw Co-author of Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living

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the DFA Wisconsin Recall Campaign.

04/30/2012 Nativegrl77

This is it. DFA’s campaign to recall right-wing Gov. Scott Walker and four anti-union, anti-middle class Wisconsin Republican Senators is ready to go — and it’s the biggest campaign we’ve ever run.
– We’re going to be on the air with new hard-hitting TV, radio and web ads against Walker and his Republican cronies for their work to destroy unions and middle class families.
– We’re going to be on the ground with a massive door-to-door canvass, knocking on 127,353 doors in 35 days. Wisconsin Campaign Manager Kaili Lambe is on the ground right now hiring staff for our biggest-ever ground campaign.
– We’re talking directly to voters and having real Wisconsinites tell their stories because it’s the most effective tactic to win support and Get Out The Vote. A grassroots campaign run on people-power like this one is the only thing that can beat big corporate money — it’s the only thing that ever has. But we can’t do it without you.
Please chip in $8 right now to the DFA Wisconsin Recall Campaign.
Gov. Walker reminded us this week exactly what’s at stake when he pushed through a plan to throw more than 17,000 low-income Wisconsinites off Medicaid.

Wisconsin isn’t the only state where Republicans have launched all-out War on Working Families like this. But other right-wing Governors are taking their cues from Walker and his cronies.

Wisconsin is the front line in the War on Working Families and this recall campaign is our biggest ever. Join us now to put us over the top in the June 5 recall and send a message to Republicans across the country — attack the middle class and you lose.
Please contribute $8 now.
Thank you for everything you do.
-Jim
Jim Dean, Chair Democracy For America