October 09, 2009

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters now represent nearly all of the 12,600 UPS Freight drivers and dockworkers eligible to join the union, announced Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. Nearly 100 workers in Nebraska, Maryland and Kansas recently signed authorization cards to become Teamsters. In Omaha, Neb., 55 workers represented by Local 554 recently ratified their first-ever contract unanimously. The Federalsburg, Md., and Wichita, Kan., workers will be holding ratification votes soon. The Teamsters kicked off the organizing campaign in 2006 when the union organized UPS Freight (formerly Overnite Transportation) workers in Indianapolis and negotiated a contract with the company that was ratified by a 107-1 vote in October 2007. The Teamsters won a card-check agreement from UPS in December 2007, and in January 2008, launched its nationwide campaign. Full release.

The U.S. Postal Service announced today that 371 retail stations and branches remain under consideration for possible consolidation. Today's announcement updates a review process begun earlier this summer that examined approximately 3,600 stations and branches in urban and suburban areas across the country, focusing on facilities in relatively close proximity to one another, to determine where consolidations might be feasible, while maintaining customer access to postal services. With nearly 37,000 Post Offices, stations, branches, contract and community post offices, the Postal Service has the largest retail network in the United States. An additional 56,000 locations such as supermarkets, drug stores, and other retailers sell postage and selected postal services. Nearly 18,000 ATMs also dispense sheets of stamps. But customers do not have to visit a physical building to purchase products and services; postage can be bought at usps.com and printed on personal computers. Full release.

Medicare regulatory changes expected to be finalized in November - but overshadowed by the partisan bluster of the ongoing health care debate - pose an imminent threat to 80 million patients in America suffering from heart disease, especially for the nearly one in four Americans over the age of 65 living in rural areas. Many cardiologists who operate in rural areas believe the proposal will force them to close their outreach offices completely since many of these operations run at a fiscal loss but offer an important service to remote communities. "We currently provide cardiac services to nine remote clinics two to four times each month," said Dr. Joe Stevenson, president of Sierra Nevada Cardiology Associates in Reno, Nev. "If these Medicare cuts go through, we will not be able to provide diagnostic echocardiography services on-site at those locations. That will mean our rural patients will have to drive up to 400 miles round trip to obtain these critical imaging tests. Some of them just won't be able or willing to do that. And since 50 percent of patients experience their first cardiac disease symptoms as a heart attack, the lack of access to diagnostic tests will put their lives at tremendous risk." Full release.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has awarded 83 grants in FY2009 totaling $17.5 million to state and local regulatory agencies to boost food and feed safety initiatives among federal, state, and local partners. The grants fund major cooperative agreements in four major areas: response, intervention, innovation and prevention. "These cooperative agreements support and enhance local food safety efforts," said Michael Chappell, the FDA's acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. "The grants are another step in the FDA's continuing efforts to build an integrated food safety system between federal, state, and local partners." Full release.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's record of passing all the bills she has brought forward -- despite opponents' caricature of her as inept -- mean that the health public option remains viable in the House and the House-Senate conference, says ex-White House staffer and former House Aging Committee and Health Subcommittee Chief of Staff Robert Weiner. Pelosi told Weiner, "We will not be deterred. We will pass the bill." In an op-ed column in today's San Francisco Chronicle, "Pelosi Power: Public Option Still Viable," Weiner and Rebecca Vander Linde, research chief at Robert Weiner Associates, write that Pelosi opponents' "caricatures have become commonplace -- the Republican National Committee video puts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi side by side with James Bond's villainess, Miss Galore. The Iowa Republican, a party newsletter, on Sept. 18 called Pelosi 'inept at her job.' Actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson labeled her 'naive.' Full release.

The following is a comment by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on the Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to President Obama: "It's a stunning announcement and it reflects well on America's ideals and the world's yearning for American leadership. "Little is possible without leadership. No one can force other nations to follow, but President Obama is reintroducing America to the rest of the world, and people of goodwill everywhere do have hope about working together for progress on some of the world's most daunting and dangerous problems." Full release.

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today released an updated comparison of chronic care provisions contained within health reform legislation to reflect the amended Senate Finance Committee proposal. The amended "Chairman's Mark" includes numerous provisions to prevent and manage chronic disease, the top cost driver in health care, as do the two other major pieces of health reform legislation under consideration in Congress. "For the first time in a national debate on health care, preventing and managing chronic disease is being recognized as a health reform priority that holds the key to helping improve health and reduce costs over the long-term," said Ken Thorpe, Ph.D., PFCD Executive Director. "And, I think the legislation coming out of the Finance Committee is a great example of the type of comprehensive change needed to set the stage for Congress to hit the 'bulls-eye' in health reform this year." Full release.

A new report based on a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that a clear majority of Americans favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter into legal agreements with each other that would give them many of the same rights as married couples, a status commonly known as civil unions. This finding marks a slight uptick in support for civil unions and appears to continue a significant long-term trend since the question was first asked in Pew Research Center surveys in 2003, when support for civil unions stood at 45%. Over the past year, support for civil unions has grown significantly among those who oppose same-sex marriage while remaining stable among those who favor same-sex marriage. At the same time, opponents of same-sex marriage continue to outnumber supporters overall. Conducted Aug. 11-27 among 4,013 adults, the poll finds that 53% oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, compared with 39% who support same-sex marriage, numbers that are virtually unchanged over the past year. Full release.

Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan and his wife, Ilusion, announced a $250,000 gift to North Shore Animal League America to launch the Mutt-i-grees(TM) humane education curriculum last night at the red carpet "An Evening with Cesar Millan" event at Tribeca Cinemas in New York. The gift is the largest gift to date by the Cesar and Ilusion Millan Foundation. The curriculum, a collaboration with Yale University's School of the 21(st) Century, is an innovative approach to humane education embracing learning within the context of the emerging area of emotional intelligence and social skills. According to Cesar, "This unique program shows children how to treat animals while teaching important social and emotional skills - skills such as empathy, collaboration, and caring - so kids will grow up and become pack leaders in the animal world as well as the human world." The Mutt-i-grees(TM) curriculum is being piloted in pre-kindergarten through the third grade now and the full program will launch in 2010. Ilusion Millan adds, "We are excited to be partnering with North Shore Animal League America and Yale University's School of the 21(st) Century because as a former teacher and parent, I believe it is important to reach our children with the message of humane education at a young age. Children are like sponges: they are constantly learning from their experiences. If something truly touches the heart and soul of a child, it stays with him or her into adulthood." Full release.

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