Since the economy has started tanking, we have seen an exponential increase in wage theft. A prime example of this would be corporate giant Wal-Mart, who agreed in December to pay more than $352 million to settle 63 lawsuits over off the clock work and failing to give required breaks.

Even the Economic Policy Foundation--a business-funded think tank--has estimated that companies annually steal $19 billion in unpaid overtime. While it's slightly encouraging that corporate giants like Wal-Mart are accepting fiscal responsibility for this shameful, illegal practice, it's evident tougher enforcement is needed by the federal Department of Labor.

Thankfully, Labor Secretary Solis is coming out swinging on this front, making good on her promise earlier this year to improve the Wage and Hour Division at the DOL. On the the National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft (yesterday), Solis announced she's increasing staff by one-third, hiring an additional 250 new wage and hour investigators to look into unpaid wage claims and undertake more targeted enforcement. There will also be a new public awareness campaign launched in 2010 called "We Can Help" to inform workers about their rights.

This vital information will help workers across the country like Frimo Cupidon, a security officer in Massachusetts who was required to perform more than 40 hours of unpaid work when she applied for a job with Andrews International. "They made us sit through five full days of so-called training for no pay whatsoever," said Cupidon. "People were so desperate for a job that they did it, but it is not fair."

In the aftermath of the Bush administration's inadequately handled Wage and Hour Division, which had been starved of staff and resources, it's nice to have Labor Secretary Solis on our side.

This week IPC released a new report that squarely refutes misleading claims by anti-immigrant (and anti-labor) groups who believe that spending over $200 billion to deport unauthorized immigrants will solve our nation's serious economic challenges. Confirming earlier data, the Economic Blame Game: U.S. Unemployment is Not Caused by Immigration shows that swapping out the 8.3 million unauthorized immigrants working in the U.S. today WILL NOT improve job prospects for the 15.7 million Americans currently unemployed.

When you get down to the specifics, replacing employed undocumented workers with unemployed native workers just doesn't work out. They live in different parts of the country, work in different industries, and have divergent skill sets. Some key facts from the report:

• Overall regions with the highest unemployment rates--particularly manufacturing centers and rural areas--tend to have the lowest population of recent immigrants. A few examples....
• The largest share of (26.9%) of all employed recent immigrants without a high school diploma lived in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington in 2008. But the largest share (18.9%) of unemployed natives without a high school diploma live in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
• Recent immigrants are 17% of the labor force in Miami, but only 3% of the labor force in Cleveland. Yet the unemployment rate for native-born blacks in Cleveland is double that of native-born blacks in Miami.

In contrast, the report shows that mass deportation strategy doesn't come close to addressing the real needs of workers suffering in today's economy. According to a new study by the Perryman Group, deporting 12 million unauthorized immigrants would cost $1.8 trillion in lost spending annually, $651.5 billion in annual lost output, and $8.1 million in lost jobs.

Yet, as IPC, NILC, and the conservative leaning CATO Institute have reported previously, a comprehensive immigration reform package like the one debated by the Senate in 2007 could generate hundreds of billions of dollars for the U.S. economy. By getting unauthorized workers into the system, we'll increase the tax base, increase consumer spending, and raise wages and standards for all workers.

Click here to check out the full IPC report. And to learn more about the economic benefits of legalizing undocumented immigrants, check out the NILC report written by Jon Blazer and SEIU's own Joshua Bernstein--"Legalizing Undocumented Immigrants: An Essential Too in the Fight Against Poverty."

We already knew the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's extremism on issues such as financial reform, labor law, climate change and health care reform have left them out of touch with the mainstream. However, their recent opposition to a bill proposing paid sick leave for workers who contract flu-like symptoms in light of this year's H1N1 epidemic is simply unconscionable.

Chamber Vice President Randel K. Johnson recently stated that they oppose paid sick leave because "the vast majority of employers provide paid leave of some sort." The fact is, more than one-third of all workers don't get any paid sick leave. It's even worse for low-income workers like school food workers and in-home care aids: 76 percent don't have something many of us take granted--the right to a "sick day."

Despite widespread support for passing an emergency bill for employees to receive paid sick time if they contract flu-like symptoms, the U.S. Chamber is trying to kill it. "Anyone who thinks it's a good idea to force someone battling H1N1 to come to work either couldn't care less about the well-being of his employees, or couldn't know less about the way disease and infection spreads," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.

For too long, the Chamber has preferred to overlook low-income workers and real economic benefits in order to advocate for the perceived interests of large employers. No worker who gets sick should have to choose between their health and their paycheck.

Tell the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to cease lobbying against a common sense solution to keep our workplaces safe and healthy while America is in the middle of a record-breaking flu pandemic: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/ChamberH1N1

On Wednesday, the Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign and an enormous coalition of faith, law enforcement, labor, civil rights, and immigrant advocacy groups brought tens of thousands of activists together for an immigration call to action with Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Congressman Raul Grijalva, and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez. In total, more than 60,000 called in, joined house parties, or listened to live radio broadcasts as immigration reform leaders laid out plans for getting immigration reform passed in 2010.

"We can't wait any longer," said Micheline Charles, a home care provider and SEIU Healthcare Florida member who joined the call from Miami. ""We expect Congress to live up to their campaign promises and pass immigration reform once and for all." Micheline is featured in a new video SEIU has produced to put a face on the SEIU members who are fighting to overhaul our broken immigration system.

"We need everyone on this call to take action with your churches, your families and your organizations so that we can deliver a strong message to President Obama and Congress that, hey, it has been a year...[and] we want you to keep your promise to our families," said Rep. Gutierrez, after laying out details of the progressive bill he expects to introduce in December. Listen to full audio of the call here.

Differing from past years, the Reform Immigration FOR America Campaign is already building a field movement that outnumbers and outpaces the other side. Last weekend, the controversial "Tea Party" anti-immigrant activists held a meager 50 events in 26 states that they themselves acknowledged were "not drawing huge crowds."

Read coverage of the historic call to action in the Orlando Sentinel, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Arizona Republic.

There was only one speaker at Sen. Harry Reid's press conference today who was NOT a member of the U.S. Senate. Her name? Loretta Johnson, a home health care worker who lost her own coverage when her husband became ill, and Loretta was forced to quit her job.

Loretta is an SEIU member who worked for 18 years as a deputy courthouse clerk in Lebanon, Virginia. When her husband fell ill, Loretta quit her job to take care of him, and subsequently lost their health insurance, income, retirement, security, sick days and more. Today, as a personal care assistant, Loretta works to build the Personal Care Assistant Association in Virginia. While she brings home a paycheck, she still doesn't have health insurance or benefits of any kind.

Below are Loretta's remarks at today's Senate health care bill unveiling:

My husband had open heart surgery and was diabetic. And in 2000, he was so sick I had to quit my job to take care of him. So, I lost my health insurance. After he passed away, I became a home health care worker. I'm at the bedside every day giving people the same type of care I gave my husband. But, I don't have health insurance.

And that is why I am so proud to be standing here today representing SEIU and its 2.1 million workers.

Because, after more than 100 years of debate, Senator Reid said, "Enough". Enough scare tactics. Enough politics as usual.

The Senate's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act puts us one step closer to health care that works for every American.

Because of his leadership, insurance companies will no longer control our healthcare system - making sure people like me actually have a choice.

Now, in my opinion, there's probably some room for improvement. But I know, Senator Reid and the Senators standing here today are as committed as we are to making sure people can afford the care they need.

And believe me, I'll be up here to make sure every one of these Senators does just that.

Stand with Loretta in holding the Senate accountable on health insurance reform. Get started by adopting one of our health care "swing states" (CT, NE, LA, AR), to make sure that after months of hard work, Congress finally gets to vote on health insurance reform.

Watch Loretta speak here:

You can also see Loretta Johnson at SeniorstoSeniors.org

It's easy to get caught up in the political tug-of-war that plays out in Congress around the immigration issue. Too often, the immigration debate forgets people like Micheline--and the millions of other faces of the men and women whose aspirations and achievements have been clouded by their immigration status.

At SEIU, we're making a renewed effort to put a human face on immigration--and put a face on the SEIU members who are fighting to overhaul our broken immigration system. One of those members is Micheline Charles, a nursing assistant and member of SEIU Healthcare Florida. In this video, Micheline shares her story of migrating to southern Florida from Haiti. In the years since her arrival in this country, Michelle has not just became a U.S. citizen and raised a beautiful family--she's also become a champion labor organizer for her fellow home care colleagues in the Miami area.

Watch her tell her story:

There's a lot of talk today about what the Senate health care bill will do in the immediate future. Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein provides a list of reforms that go into affect immediately after the bill becomes law. Here's a few off that list:

º Eliminating lifetime limits, and cap annual limits, on health-care benefits. In other words, if you get an aggressive cancer and your treatment costs an extraordinary amount, your insurer can't suddenly remind you that subparagraph 15 limited your yearly expenses to $30,000, and they're not responsible for anything above that.

º No more rescissions.

º Requiring insurers to cover preventive care and immunizations.

º Allowing young adults to stay on their parent's insurance plan until age 26.

º Forcing insurers to spend 80 percent of all premium dollars on medical care (75 percent in the individual market), thus capping the money that can go toward administration, profits, etc.

º Creating an appeals process and consumer advocate for insurance customers.

º Banning discrimination based on salary (i.e., where a company that's not self-insured makes only some full-time workers eligible for coverage.)

Read the full list at http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein feels bad about crashing our economy. To make up for it, he's said he's sorry and has decided to give back $500 million of the money his company has made to small businesses.

It's a gesture so empty, it's insulting. Never mind that $500m is one good day of trading for Goldman Sachs. Never mind that it's less than 1% of what they got in taxpayer-funded assistance; or that it doesn't even compare to the $11.4 billion they paid themselves in the first half of 2009 alone.

What's really insulting is that it doesn't even begin to undo the damage Goldman Sachs has done to small businesses - like the Stella D'Oro bakery - in the last two years: http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

Yesterday, Lloyd Blankfein said he's committed to job creation. He should tell that to the 150 Stella D'Oro workers in New York who lost their jobs when a Goldman Sachs-owned company bought the business and shut it down. The workers, whose tax dollars bailed out Goldman, have tried to meet with Lloyd Blankfein repeatedly. They wanted to show him the harm he was doing to their already struggling community.

He didn't listen. Maybe we can get his attention. Will you call Goldman Sachs and ask them to use the tax dollars we gave him to help the workers at Stella D'Oro? http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

We gave Goldman Sachs $63 billion of our tax dollars so they could clean up the economic mess they created. But they've only made it worse. Call Goldman Sachs and tell them to stop with the PR stunts and start helping Stella D'Oro workers and all the small businesses they've forced under: http://action.seiu.org/helpstella

Today, at 12pm, Sen. Harry Reid will publicly unveil the Senate health care bill. Reid's announcement is preceded by promising news for Democrats and health care reform supporters. The first breakthrough came on Wednesday, when news leaked that the CBO had scored the Senate bill - and it kept costs down, covered 94% of Americans, and made health care more affordable.

The health care bill also reduces the federal deficit by $130 billion over the next ten years, which is unheard of in legislation of this kind.

Sen. Reid seemed downright jubilant, as he strode out in front of the press Wednesday evening. "Of all the bills we've seen, it'll be the best."

"Tonight begins the last leg of this journey," Sen. Reid beamed.

Meanwhile, key Senate Democrats have indicated a willingness to move forward on this legislation. Sen. Mary Landrieu, who is one our targets in the "adopt-a-state" campaign, said she'll decide today on how she'll vote on motion to proceed (the next step in moving this legislation forward.) Sen. Ben Nelson, another target, is also unclear on how he'll vote. Keep up the pressure on these key Democrats (as well as Sen. Joe Lieberman), by adopting a state.

SEIU President Andy Stern, acknowledging the months of hard work by Senators on key committees and by Majority Leader Reid, said that the Senate "has introduced their own legislation that gets us one step closer to health care that works for the American people's bottom line, instead of insurance company profits." Even more encouraging, "Senator Reid listened to the American people and made sure this bill keeps insurance companies from controlling our health care system by guaranteeing choice and accountability through a public health care option."

The vote for motion to proceed could come as early as this Friday or Saturday. As Stern said today, "The American people expect and deserve results. It's up to the Senate to deliver."

Read the full text of the bill here.

Distribution workers at Levi Strauss & Co. facilities in the U.S. and Canada voted overwhelmingly in favor of a three-year, North America-wide contract providing wage increases, defined benefit pensions and health insurance. More than 1,250 workers will be covered by the new contract.

In 1992, Levis Strauss became the first Fortune 500 company to extend full medical benefits to domestic partners of employees.

The workers are members of Workers United and employed at distribution centers in Canton, Mississippi; Hebron, Kentucky; Henderson, Nevada; and Rexdale, Ontario, Canada. "It's also a great sign that workers and companies can come together to reach agreements that support employee and employer alike and create new, good union jobs," said Bruce Raynor, President of Workers United. Full release here.

Levi's aren't the only jeans made by union members. The GAP's 1969 "Real Straight" jeans sporting the "Made in Canada" label are made by Workers United/SEIU members. In the 1990's, consumer outrage forced the GAP to address sweatshop conditions at their factories overseas. Ten years later, the GAP's turnaround includes improved environmental practices, a vender compliance program that monitors overseas factories, and a commitment to manufacturing, in part, at union shops in North America.

At $69, the "Real Straight" low rise jeans are a recessionista alternative to high fashion (and high price) designer jeans. But the GAP didn't skimp on style or quality to bring you their jeans at this reasonable price--the "Real Straight" low rise jeans are slim and forgiving. (I should know, I own a pair of my own!) They're a great union-quality product that's well worth the price--perfect to catwalk your next picket line or protest in.

Cleaning chemicals can be toxic. They are also a daily fact of life for SEIU members who work in building services and healthcare--which is why Rep. Steve Israel's bill, The Household Product Labeling Act of 2009, is such a good thing. Anna Burger said this today in support for H.R. 3057:

"If we have the right to know about the potential side effects of our prescription drugs, we have the right to know what's in our chemical cleaning supplies."

Current law mandates that product labels list immediately hazardous ingredients--but there is no labeling requirement for ingredients that may cause harm over time. H.R. 3057 will change this by requiring companies to list ingredients in cleaning products, air fresheners and paints visibly on the product or its packaging. Read SEIU's statement in support of the bill here.

More info on green cleaning products at SEIU.org here.

UPDATE: Correction...as of this evening, 87 advertisers have ditched their sponsorship of Glenn Beck's show. Here's the list of advertisers who have NOT boycotted Beck's histrionics and hate-mongering--and sponsored his show tonight. In the order they appeared (hat tip to Media Matters):

Since he called President Obama "a racist" who harbors a "deep-seated hatred for white people" in July 2009, Glenn Beck has yet to accept responsibility for his actions or apologize. In the wake of Beck's refusal to do the right thing, hundreds of thousands of Americans angered and offended by his indefensible comments have stepped in to do just that: hold Glenn Beck accountable.

More than 285,000 people have called on the Fox News program's sponsors to pull their support from Beck's show. And 81 advertisers have discontinued their commercials from airing during Beck's show.

Beck's racially divisive rhetoric, and falsehoods peddled as truth, have no place on a network that positions itself as a source of news. Journalistic integrity may not be at a high point in America right now, but Fox News really lowers the bar across the board. Scaring the American public with baseless conspiracy theories and outlandish accusations towards our President and other public figures and organizations that stand up for working people is unacceptable.

Companies that have NOT stepped away from Beck and Fox News, via Media Matters:

Help keep these major advertisers from returning to the Fox News show. Hold Fox News and Glenn Beck accountable for Beck's race baiting and fear-mongering rhetoric.

Click here for the full list of the companies that have disassociated from Beck.

A Merck spokesperson comments on their 8.9% price increase since 2008: "Price adjustments for our products have no connection to health care reform." Riiiight.

The financial industry isn't the only industry engaged in a race to empty consumers' pockets as much as possible in advance of new laws that will rein in their abuses.

While credit card lenders have been increasing fees and interest rates, raising minimum payments and lowering credit limits, drug companies have been busy jacking up their prescription prices too. A recent New York Times investigation knocked the lid off of how drug makers are jacking up wholesale prices--even as inflation goes negative.

From the NY Times piece:

"Even as drug makers promise to support Washington's health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation's drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.

"In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation's drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992."

The 2009 increases mean the average yearly cost for a brand-name prescription drug taken daily would be more than $2,000--a price that's $200 higher than last year. The House healthcare bill that passed on November 7 seeks to cut drug spending by around $14 billion a year over a decade, which would help.

It should register as no surprise that the drug industry is fighting many of the cost-cutting provisions in The Affordable Health Care for America Act, saying they have "valid business reasons for the price increases." We know they do---if you increase prices for consumers, it increases profits for drug companies!

Joe Lieberman is at it again. Jockeying for attention. Threatening to support a Republican filibuster. Overlooking popular support in his own state. But this time, he may not be alone.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) have each been targeted by the opposition to join a Republican filibuster. If that happens, health insurance reform will not move forward.

We can't sit on the sidelines while this political drama unfolds. And right now, you can have no greater impact than adopting a health care "swing state" as your own. Adopt-a-state, and begin recruiting now:

Join Team Connecticut (Sen. Lieberman)

Join Team Louisiana (Sen. Landrieu)

Join Team Arkansas (Sen. Lincoln)

Join Team Nebraska (Sen. Nelson)

The AP reported today that opponents of reform, led by the U.S. Chamber, have poured $24 million into an advertising onslaught in the last month alone. The fact is, we will be outspent by corporate special interests. But we can do something corporate American can't - we can talk to fellow voters, and have personal conversations about health care.

We elected Barack Obama, in part, by calling tens of thousands of voters in key "swing states." This year is no different. Voters in Arkansas, Nebraska, Connecticut and Louisiana need to hear from us about what's happening on health insurance reform. So adopt-a-state, and start recruiting for your team today.

P.S. If you live in one of our health care "swing states," even better! Adopt your own state, and start recruiting friends and family to join. 

Women in Colorado who purchase insurance on the individual market currently pay up to 59 percent more than men for coverage that doesn't even include maternity care. Now, a group of agents and insurance company representatives in their state are trying to keep it that way.

The Colorado State Association of Health Underwriters plans to lobby against efforts to include maternity care in individual plans, in addition their efforts to keep "gender rating" legal, and you won't believe why: insurers are actually telling legislators that they're concerned about how this all might affect men.

State Sen. Morgan Carroll, a Democrat from Aurora, gives us a peek at what they're telling state legislators. "The insurance industry lobbied against the bill prohibiting gender discrimination," says Carroll. "They met with lawmakers and were able to convince a handful that the rate discrimination was: a) justified; b) its removal would drive up men's rates."

Justifying their stance on "gender rating" and maternity care, CSAHU spokesperson and lobbyist Cindy Sovine-Miller accused the Colorado legislators of being "[...] more about fairness than math." Funny, that's not what others say. "At our hearings this summer, the insurance industry provided no justifiable data or reason for their charging women from 9 percent to 50 percent more for the same policy," wrote Democratic State Rep. Sue Schafer of Wheat Ridge. "Even men who smoke are charged less than women who do not smoke. Just being female is considered a pre-existing condition."

And speaking of health care "math," we simply can't ignore "math" like this:

• 64 million women in America do not have adequate health insurance coverage.
• Gender discrimination results in women routinely being charged up to 48% more in premiums than men for the same coverage through the individual market.
• A recent poll shows that 86% of those polled favor requiring insurance companies to provide maternity care as part of basic coverage.

Another Colorado group, the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Colorado (PIIAC), doesn't want to get all mucked up in the details. Instead, they're justifying their position on "gender rating" with a lesson on anatomy:

"The bottom line is this," said the group's executive VP Barbara Fidler. "As crude as it sounds, we women are more costly relative to our health care. Our plumbing -- I don't mean to sound crude -- the gender differences are clearly related to how we're different... I'm not saying that it's fair for women to be rated why they are. I think it's just important to understand."

If insurance lobbyists like CSAHU & PIIAC had their way, women Peggy Robertson would continue to be discriminated against for wanting to have more children. After deciding to stay home following the C-section birth of her second son, Peggy ventured to look for an independent health insurance plan. Instead of comprehensive coverage, Peggy's insurance company (a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group) offered her this little gem of advice: get sterilized--or you won't get coverage. Never mind the fact that over 30% of births in America are performed via C-section.

Once again, it's evident that when insurance companies win, women lose.

It's time to make sure our members of Congress hear their voices above those of the insurance lobbyists: http://action.seiu.org/page/speakout/peggy