OXFORD,
\nMiss. – Is labor on the rise in Mississippi? This question is to be
\naddressed by labor leaders and pro-business attorneys Wednesday (April
\n8) at the University of Mississippi.<\/p>\n
The free, public discussion
\n“Is Labor on the Rise?” is set for 5:30 p.m. in Overby Center
\nAuditorium, Room 147. It is sponsored by UM’s Overby Center for
\nSouthern Journalism and Politics.<\/p>\n
Moderator is Joseph B. Atkins,
\nUM journalism professor who is a statewide newspaper columnist and
\nauthor of the book “Covering for the Bosses: Labor and the Southern
\nPress (University Press of Mississippi, 2008).<\/p>\n
Panelists are
\nMississippi AFL-CIO President\/Secretary-Treasurer Robert Shaffer, state
\nRep. Jim Evans of Jackson, Jackson attorney Pepper Crutcher and Paul
\nHurst, counsel to Gov. Haley Barbour.<\/p>\n
Arguing for unions will be Shaffer, a veteran of more 30 years of labor organizing, and Evans, the legislature’s most formidable pro-labor advocate.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Atkins said the audience can “expect lots of criticism of labor and the Employee Free Choice Act from Crutcher, a veteran political activist, and Hurst, a close aide to one of the most conservative, pro-business governors in Mississippi’s history.”<\/p>\n
“The prospect of a reawakened labor movement in the United States – prompted by the EFCA pending before Congress, populist outrage against corporate CEO compensation and recent gains in union membership nationwide after years of decline and despite a slumping economy – has forces on both sides of the issue armed for major combat,” Atkins said.<\/p>\n
“Business groups have amassed an estimated $200 million to fight what Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus called ‘the demise of civilization.’ Union leaders call EFCA – allowing workers to vote in a union by simply signing a card – ‘an important step toward restoring balance and fairness to our economy.'”<\/p>\n
With only 5.4 percent of its workers in unions, Mississippi has one of the lowest rates of organized workers in the nation.<\/p>\n
“The South, in its business and political leadership, is as anti-union as it’s ever been,” Atkins said. “Yet, the presence of non-union foreign automakers, the influx of immigrant workers and other issues continue to make Mississippi and the South prime targets for labor organizers.”<\/p>\n
For more information or to request assistance related to a disability, contact Dawn Jeter at 662-915-1692.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"