Trade Associations
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from national and international trade associations influencing the debate on federal policies.
Featured Stories
Teamster Pipeline Locals Vote to Approve New Agreement
WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued the following news release:
By an overwhelming majority, Teamster local unions representing workers in the growing pipeline construction industry have voted to accept and approve the recently negotiated Teamsters National Pipeline Agreement. The agreement covers more than 4,500 workers nationwide, and will soon be engaged in building several large projects such as Atlantic Coast, Keystone XL, Buckeye Express, Line 3, among others.
This three-year agreement represents a total economic package increase of nearly 12 percent,
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WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued the following news release:
By an overwhelming majority, Teamster local unions representing workers in the growing pipeline construction industry have voted to accept and approve the recently negotiated Teamsters National Pipeline Agreement. The agreement covers more than 4,500 workers nationwide, and will soon be engaged in building several large projects such as Atlantic Coast, Keystone XL, Buckeye Express, Line 3, among others.
This three-year agreement represents a total economic package increase of nearly 12 percent,which is far greater than the non-Teamster trades were able to negotiate.
"We not only negotiated a strong contract with a substantial economic increase, but one that also includes a new per diem allowance and adds new job classifications while enhancing existing classifications," said Marion "Bubba" Davis, Director of the Teamsters Building Material and Construction Trade Division. "My thanks go to our entire team of negotiators, in particular David LaBorde, who chaired the negotiating committee and whose years of experience in the field gave us true insight into the hard work of our members."
The term of agreement begins June 1, 2020 and concludes on June 1, 2023.
[Category: Union]
NEA: Alabama State University Professor Honored as 2020 Higher Educator of the Year
WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The National Education Association issued the following news release on July 3:
Elizabeth Davenport, a professor at Alabama State University's Department of Educational Leadership, was honored Friday as the 2020 Higher Educator of the Year at the NEA Representative Assembly.
The Higher Educator of the Year honor, sponsored by the NEA Foundation, recognizes a postsecondary education professional who has demonstrated outstanding service to students, excellence in teaching or working with students, and state or local labor-based advocacy.
In her speech to RA delegates, Davenport,
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WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The National Education Association issued the following news release on July 3:
Elizabeth Davenport, a professor at Alabama State University's Department of Educational Leadership, was honored Friday as the 2020 Higher Educator of the Year at the NEA Representative Assembly.
The Higher Educator of the Year honor, sponsored by the NEA Foundation, recognizes a postsecondary education professional who has demonstrated outstanding service to students, excellence in teaching or working with students, and state or local labor-based advocacy.
In her speech to RA delegates, Davenport,who is Black, noted the educational opportunities provided to her, decades ago, through admissions policies that aimed to create racially diverse campuses. She is concerned that her students today do not have the same opportunities at elite campuses, to the detriment of all.
"Diversity is a source of opportunity. We all know that," she said. "Diversity promotes personal growth and a psychologically healthy society. It challenges stereotypes, encourages critical thinking, and helps students learn to communicate effectively with people of varied backgrounds. Diversity strengthens communities and workplaces."
At Alabama State, Davenport teaches courses such as "Constitutional Law and Education," and guides educators through the Ed.D. and Ph.D. process. Previously, she taught at Florida A&M University, where she also served as president of the United Faculty of Florida-FAMU chapter, defending the rights of her colleagues and negotiating salary increases for every year of her presidency. When she moved to Alabama State, she got her entire wing to join the Alabama Education Association.
For the entirety of her career in higher education, Davenport, who attended University of Michigan and New York University, has chosen to teach at historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs) or other minority-serving institutions (MSIs). "I think it's important to mentor the next generation, whether they're going to be teachers or lawyers, or whatever," said Davenport.
For her part, Davenport has been both -- a teacher and a lawyer. She holds five advanced degrees, including a law degree, three master's degrees, and a Ph.D. in curriculum, teaching and educational policy.
Looking back across her career, which now spans five decades, Davenport said the work that has given her the most pride has been the mentorship of dozens of women in her Ph.D. programs. She calls these educational doctoral candidates her "Baby Docs," and, with her care and nurturing attention, they have gone on to become assistant professors, K12 administrators, instructional designers and educational consultants across the nation. "The relationships with these women have been very strong. I think we've nurtured each other," she said.
Davenport was honored alongside the 2020 Teacher of the Year and the Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year. She is the third-ever winner of the NEA Higher Educator of the Year award. Last year's winner, David Schneider, is a communications professor at Michigan's Saginaw Valley State University.
[Category: Education]
Greta Thunberg Receives NEA's Friend of Education Award for Climate Change Activism
WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The National Education Association issued the following news release:
The National Education Association awarded its highest honor, the Friend of Education Award, to 17-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg during NEA's virtual Representative Assembly.
Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist who gained international recognition for her efforts to alert humanity to the existential crisis caused by climate change. Known for both her youth and straightforward speaking manner, she has criticized world leaders for their failure to take sufficient action to address
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WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The National Education Association issued the following news release:
The National Education Association awarded its highest honor, the Friend of Education Award, to 17-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg during NEA's virtual Representative Assembly.
Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist who gained international recognition for her efforts to alert humanity to the existential crisis caused by climate change. Known for both her youth and straightforward speaking manner, she has criticized world leaders for their failure to take sufficient action to addressthe climate crisis.
What began in 2018 as a singular child skipping school on Fridays to sit outside the Swedish Parliament to protest climate change has become a global movement. In the past 18 months, she has addressed the United Nations, met with Pope Francis, taken on President Donald Trump and inspired 4 million people to join a global climate strike on September 20, 2019, which became the largest known climate demonstration.
"We deserve a safe future. And we demand a safe future," Thunberg said at the Global Climate Strike in New York last year. "Is that really too much to ask?"
To NEA members, that question is not too much to ask. In fact, it's the exactly right question to ask as the world stares down real, tangible climate change exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. In nominating Thunberg, NEA members cited the Swedish teen's ability to elevate the discussion about science -- climate science, in particular -- like a next-generation Bill Nye.
"Greta is an ordinary teen who has done something truly extraordinary: she has been able to get people -- the adults in charge -- to pay attention and listen to her message about climate change. Hopefully they'll act because future generations, Greta's generation and others, depend on it," said NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia. "Greta is a rabble rouser, and she's taking on the world for a better tomorrow."
The NEA Friend of Education Award is presented during NEA's annual convention and recognizes a person or organization whose leadership, acts or support have significantly contributed to the improvement of American public education. Thunberg joins Nobel-prize winner Malala Yousafzai as the second-ever student to receive NEA's highest honor. Other past recipients include economist Paul Krugman; education policy writer and researcher Linda Darling-Hammond; leaders of the Public Broadcasting Service and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; U.S. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and William Jefferson Clinton; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley; U.S. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Edward "Ted" Kennedy (D-Mass.); and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), among others.
[Category: Education]
American Society of Landscape Architects Issues Op-Ed to The Hill
WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The American Society of Landscape Architects issued the following op-ed by President Wendy Miller on the importance of rigorous professional licensure, published in The Hill:
From Juneau to Tallahassee, the issue of licensing reform is once again coming to the fore in statehouses across America as lawmakers weigh a range of measures to reverse the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
While licensing reform is predominately a state issue, the Trump administration has issued federal reports to guide state legislators on the difficult, delicate task of revising
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WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The American Society of Landscape Architects issued the following op-ed by President Wendy Miller on the importance of rigorous professional licensure, published in The Hill:
From Juneau to Tallahassee, the issue of licensing reform is once again coming to the fore in statehouses across America as lawmakers weigh a range of measures to reverse the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
While licensing reform is predominately a state issue, the Trump administration has issued federal reports to guide state legislators on the difficult, delicate task of revisinglicensing laws.
Recently, the Trump administration issued an executive order loosening a raft of federal regulations in response to the pandemic. This approach is likely to be emulated by governors and state legislatures across America.
The purported intentions of the reformers: noble.
The apparent bipartisanship around their efforts: refreshing.
The allure of jumping onto their bandwagon: understandable.
However, as is so often the case with legislative solutions to complex problems, the devil is in the details -- or perhaps, in the lack of them.
Read the full article at The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/504084-consumers-are-right-to-demand-rigorous-professional-licensing-remain-as
[Category: Construction]
American Society of Landscape Architects Issue Op-Ed to Metropolis Magazine
WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The American Society of Landscape Architects issued the following op-ed by President Wendy Miller on the importance of public open spaces in the civic realm, published in Metropolis Magazine:
"Public space, broadly defined, is where the First Amendment moves from parchment to pavement. Parks, plazas, streets, city squares, the grounds of capitol buildings, and city halls: These are the great stages upon which civic life, democratic values, and constitutional rights play out. The right to free expression. The right to redress grievances. The right to peaceably assemble. Without
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WASHINGTON, July 4 -- The American Society of Landscape Architects issued the following op-ed by President Wendy Miller on the importance of public open spaces in the civic realm, published in Metropolis Magazine:
"Public space, broadly defined, is where the First Amendment moves from parchment to pavement. Parks, plazas, streets, city squares, the grounds of capitol buildings, and city halls: These are the great stages upon which civic life, democratic values, and constitutional rights play out. The right to free expression. The right to redress grievances. The right to peaceably assemble. Withoutabundant public spaces and free access to them, those principles have little meaning. Active citizenship and the built environment are inseparable.
"In big cities and small towns all across the country, protests have arisen in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Although most end up in the streets, many begin in public parks: Washington Park in Cincinnati; Kaiser in Oakland; Union in Chicago; Franklin in Boston; Patton in Detroit; Humboldt in Milwaukee; and countless others. Landscape architects understand that the beauty of our parks and civic spaces isn't just in their design, but in their irreplaceable role as launching pad and reflection of our most cherished values.
"But too often over the past weeks, as protests have spread to every corner of the nation, the central promise of the civic realm has been turned on its head.
When law enforcement used tear gas and pepper spray to clear Lafayette Square in front of the White House, in order to facilitate a presidential photo op--they committed a violation of the rights of the protesters, and a perversion of the purpose of the park itself."
Read the full Op-Ed at Metropolis https://bit.ly/3eV2lrq
[Category: Construction]
American Public Health Association Reminds Residents, Officials to Ready for Extreme Heat Without Increasing COVID-19 Risks
SAN DIEGO, California, July 4 -- The American Public Health Association issued the following news release:
As the summer days get hotter, it's a good time to remember that heat-related deaths and illnesses are entirely preventable.
"Even though we need to stay home to avoid COVID-19, finding ways to spend time outside has a number of positive health benefits and there are a number of simple steps you can take to stay safe, even when the heat can be deadly," said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association. "Remember to drink plenty of water, limit your
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SAN DIEGO, California, July 4 -- The American Public Health Association issued the following news release:
As the summer days get hotter, it's a good time to remember that heat-related deaths and illnesses are entirely preventable.
"Even though we need to stay home to avoid COVID-19, finding ways to spend time outside has a number of positive health benefits and there are a number of simple steps you can take to stay safe, even when the heat can be deadly," said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association. "Remember to drink plenty of water, limit yourexposure and take other precautions to stay safe."
Every year, more than 600 people in the U.S. die due to extreme heat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency offers a range of guidance on reducing heat risks, recognizing signs of heat illness and protecting vulnerable populations, such as outdoor workers, people with chronic health conditions and households without air conditioning.
This summer, however, COVID-19 may make it harder for many vulnerable residents to escape the heat. While people often seek relief in places like public libraries, malls and recreation centers, many of those remain closed or have restricted access to ensure safe physical distancing. That could result in more people seeking relief at cooling centers -- air-conditioned spaces set up by local authorities during extreme heat. Maintaining COVID-19 precautions inside such centers, such as physical distancing and wearing masks, will be key to ensuring they remain safe options for vulnerable residents.
Pools and recreational waters are another source of relief during sweltering conditions. To date, CDC reports no evidence that the novel coronavirus can infect people through water. But swimmers should still stay at least six feet apart.
Summer heat may also make it less comfortable to wear a face mask, but it's essential to keep masks on in outdoor spaces where physical distancing is difficult. Some tips for making face masks more comfortable: use breathable fabrics such as cotton; choose a light color that doesn't absorb as much heat; and keep the mask snug against the face, but not too tight.
"We all like to spend time outdoors in the summer," Benjamin said. "But we must be careful that we do so in the safest possible manner -- stay hydrated, watch for signs of heat illness, keep physically distant, and wear a mask if you can't stay six feet apart."
[Category: Health Care]
American Academy of Family Physicians Supports Legislation to Build on Successes of Affordable Care Act
LEAWOOD, Kansas, July 4 -- The American Academy of Family Physicians issued the following statement by President Gary L. LeRoy:
"The American Academy of Family Physicians is discouraged by the Administration's continued interest in undermining the Affordable Care Act, especially during a pandemic.
"In effect for a decade, the Affordable Care Act has provided needed patient protections and access to care. The return to pre-existing condition exclusions, annual and lifetime limits, and young adults without access to coverage on their parents' health insurance plans represents a major step backwards
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LEAWOOD, Kansas, July 4 -- The American Academy of Family Physicians issued the following statement by President Gary L. LeRoy:
"The American Academy of Family Physicians is discouraged by the Administration's continued interest in undermining the Affordable Care Act, especially during a pandemic.
"In effect for a decade, the Affordable Care Act has provided needed patient protections and access to care. The return to pre-existing condition exclusions, annual and lifetime limits, and young adults without access to coverage on their parents' health insurance plans represents a major step backwardsin the shared goal of ensuring access to quality care.
"We are encouraged to see that Congress is taking a more productive path to pursue reforms to the law that builds on its successes. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 1425) would make needed improvements to the existing law by expanding access to health care coverage and strengthening patient protections.
"Now more than ever, in the face of a pandemic, we should be working to build on what works and not eliminate a law that has provided health care coverage to millions of Americans."
[Category: Medical]
