• A SLOW DEATH for AGING WORKERS in AMERICA  Jobless older workers no longer eligible for unemployment benefit extensions, without healthcare, social security, and medicare equates to a very predictable out come; an automatic slow death sentence for the 99 % as they age in America. Older workers make up 53 % of the unemployed and 77.5 % of the long term unemployed. 

• WOMEN WERE TARGETED FIRST with a Supreme Court decision in the case of (Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.) and dealt a near-fatal blow to their ability to use ( Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 ) to remedy pay discrimination based on sex, race, national origin, and other protected grounds.

 • FIRST EQUAL PAY • NEXT AGE DISCRIMINATION •NOW BIRTH CONTROL .Unemployed Single women and single mom’s historically suffer more than other groups from age discrimination, sexual harassment, increased responsibilities with no pay increases and being passed over for promotions and it doesn’t stop there.  

•The “2011 Fair Playing Field Act to Protect American Workers Against Age Discrimination”  http://signon.org/s/HkT7QV  petition is a crucial step in ending age discrimination practices perpetuated against older workers by employers, recruiters and staffing agencies through biased job postings ,the screening, interviewing, and hiring process. 

• AS OUT LINED IN THE PETITION OUR SOLUTION IS TO INTRODUCE  legislation and a new bill demolishing the Gross vs FBL ruling, restoring protection as  provided by the Act of 1967 (ADEA) (EEOC) The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 protection from bias based on race, gender, religion, color, national origin and disabilities in civil rights law.

 • RESPECTFULLY WE ARE PLEADING for AN OFFICIAL ACT from the Presidential Office like that extended in The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 that President Barack Obama signed into law on January 29, 2009 reinstating equal pay for women. 

IT’S UP TO All Of US TO TAKE A STAND ON THESE IMPORTANT ISSUES!   http://signon.org/s/HkT7QV  Please Sign & Share !The “2011 Fair Playing Field Act to Protect American Workers Against Age Discrimination”

 • CONTRIBUTE: If you can, please donate $3 or $10.The GMC team is in urgent need of 3 new desk top computers with current webcam video features to better represent our stand against age discrimination & ageism issues.   http://www.graymatterscoalition.com/donate/

Mailing address: Lock Box 209 1350 Beverly Road, Suite 115, McLean VA 22101

http://www.examiner.com/unemployment-in-denver/aging-out-of-the-workforce-at-age-45-65-what 

•The DOLA article is reflective of the fact that age discrimination is alive & well & companies have no fear of any consequences.

•This brand of thinking is clearly designed to de-sensitize the American public , keep us   silence and allow the  supreme  court justices & congress to continue making ruling  that  take away our civil rights and end EEOC Laws for workers. 

•Actually this blatant statement is rather benign compared to companies advertising that “the unemployed will not be considered for jobs”, knowing full well that 67.3 % of the unemployed are over the age of 45 (these %’s also include those no longer eligible to receive unemployment benefits & ignored in most statistics)

 •We know where this is going ; eventually the need for national health care, medicare , social security, unemployment benefits, retirement funds, the disabilities act and more will be eliminated as the gulf between those working & those not ( 45 & 65 ) become insurmountable.

Can we say genocide for workers 45 and older & seniors??

 “The “2011 Fair Playing Field Act to protect  American Workers Against Age discrimination” http://signon.org/sign/2011-fair-playing-field? 

This petition is a crucial step in ending age discrimination in the work place and in America and convincing the United States Congress that such legislation is in the best interest of all of the American people and needed immediately  ! 

This petition addresses the core issue, that of age discrimination which drives many serious cyclical age and unemployment bias and unjust hiring practices. 

It is our purpose to end age discrimination in the work place, from companies, employment and, staffing agencies regarding practices such as unemployed bias in job ads, the interview process, unemployed status, bad credit bias and  that toward extending unemployment benefits for those without work for more than six months. 

Federal legislation is needed that would provide age discrimination protection to workers age  forty and older like that  provided for race, gender, national origin and religion in civil rights law.

 It has come to a point where numerical standard mandated by Federal law is justified and legislation establishing such is put into law. 

Such a law would mandate companies with 40 or more  employees  implement numerical, documented verification standards requiring that a set number (1 in 5) employees in their work force is comprised of individuals between the age of forty and sixty five years of age. 

Special tax credits will be allowed to all companies who hire an individual who has been unemployed six months or more without prejudice to credit ratings or unemployment status.

 The “2011 Fair Playing Field Act to protect All American Workers Against Age discrimination” Federal legislation establishing numerical standards mandated by Federal law is good for America , its workers, the economy, substantially decreases unemployment benefit costs and provides a fairer playing field for American workers throughout the duration of their work life-careers. 

It restores jobs, dignity, human and civil equality and justice, liberty and affords Americans the  right and opportunity to work, provide for their families and to pursue the American dream.  

2,500  SIGNATUTES REQUIRED TO PRESENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE! UNIFY  &  TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR OWN DESTINY & BE A PART OF HISTORY  !

Please show your support by signing and  sharing it with anyone that would dare to age in the American work place!  http://signon.org/s/HkT7QV

• The Supreme Court “invented a new standard that places an extraordinarily high burden to prove age discrimination and radically undermines older workers ability to hold employers accountable. 
• With Justice Clarence Thomas writing the majority, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts & Justices Antonin G. Scalia & Anthony M. Kennedy & Samuel A. Alito, the Court reasoned from the ADEA’s plain text and Congressional intent that the Title VII burden shifting framework did not apply to the ADEA. 
• Gross vs. FBL, this Supreme Court’s 2009 decision was a first step in nullify the Title VII ADEA of 1967 Act that protected women, ethnicity, age discrimination, religion & disabilities in civil rights law.
• EXACTLY Who is (FBL)??Farm Bureau Life’s Parent Company named among the 100 Fastest Growing Companies ranked No. 83 (NYSE: FFG) FORTUNE Magazine’s Sept. 20, 2011
• FBL joined giants like Apple & Amazon.com on the list, and is one of only 10 financial services companies included for the 2011 fastest growing domestic & foreign 
• IT’S ABOUT THE MONEY!  IT’S UP TO US, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO TAKE ACTION-TAKE BACK OUR JOBS & CIVIL RIGHTS!  
• ABOUT THE PETITION….created to help reverse the Gross vs. FBS ruling, end age discrimination in the workplace, the interview process, bad credit bias, end prejudicial job ads, extend employment benefits, save & create jobs & build a strong multigenerational work force!!! 
• This petition needs your support & signature to be seen by the White House!!  
•  The “2011 Fair Playing Field Act to protect American Workers Against Age discrimination”  
• http://signon.org/s/HkT7QV  

• GMC is taking a poll prior to posting it’s own PETITION NEXT WEEK, to LEARN  which parts of the American Jobs Act YOU THINK WILL BENEFIT YOU PERSONALLY  & HOW IT WILL HELP OUR NATION COLLECTIVELY?
•  Please pay special attention to this in the “Pathways Back to Work” section of the AJA: – you should read that portion especially well & VOICE YOUR VIEWS !
  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/08/fact-sheet-and-overview 
• IT’S VITAL THAT YOUR OWN STATE & FEDERAL  REPRESENATIVES KNOW WHAT AMERICAN’S REALLY WANTS & HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THESE ISSUES.
• TELL CONGRESS WHAT YOU NEED & EXPECT TO GET IT !

SPEAK UP FOR NOW ..BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE! 

 We look forward to hearing your views, thoughts & ideas! Thank you for your participation – it’s up to all of to speak out-do our part !!!

 (1)Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa )Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee supported a bill  written by Harkin and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to amend the age discrimination in employment Act of 1967 and restores the law to what it was prior to the decision. Sen .Harkin   Said that the Supreme Court (Gross v. FBL) was in effect “rewriting” the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The court “invented a new standard that makes it prohibitively difficult for a victim to prove age discrimination.” “This extraordinarily high burden radically undermines older workers’ ability to hold employers accountable. In a 5-4 decision, the court said that age couldn’t simply be a “motivating factor” in an employment decision; it had to be the decisive cause in order for age discrimination protections to take effect. meaning that victims of age discrimination face a much higher legal burden of proof than those alleging race, sex, national origin or religious discrimination protected in civil rights law.http://www.workforce.com/section/news/article/house-senate-bills-would-overturn-supreme-court-age.php 

(Gross v. FBL ) The Supreme Court’s 2009 decision (Gross v. FBL)  The court held that the plaintiff, Jack Gross,  (The time line on this bill is very telling. Many of the 50+ers have been unemployed for 1year 1/2 years. Not since 1967 have want ads read unemployed need not apply-or young man needed or men only need apply or no women need apply or younger girls  only) Now that it’s not longer against the law ; age discriminate  in the work place will get even worse.  )   (http://www.workforce.com/section/news/article/supreme-court-puts-age-bias-burden-proof-plaintiff-font.php

(2 ) Representatives Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Henry Johnson, Jr. of Georgia recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives the Fair Employment Opportunity act of 2011, a legislation that would make it illegal for companies or employment agencies to discrimination against the unemployed job seeker – solely because they are unemployed http://unemployedworkers.org/page/-/UI/2011/Fair_Employ_Oppty_Act_2011.pdf?nocdn=1how

• Unemployed job seekers are routinely excluded from applying for jobs.An informal NELP survey of a number of heavily-trafficked jobs board websites, including CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com and Indeed.com, found numerous ads that conspicuously stated “candidates must be currently employed” to apply.
• Unemployed need not apply is just another way of saying a candidate is too old, similar to codes like; no more than 5 to 9 years of experience, too much experience and company image fit used by employment agencies and companies.
• Those 50 and older make up 43% of the unemployed already competing against hundreds of others for the few available jobs. It’s criminal that individuals are discriminated against because they are unemployed; add to that age discrimination and their odds are staggering.
• Representative DeLauro, co-sponsor of the legislation and Representative Johnson,co-sponsored of The Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s1471/show that if passed, would prohibit employers and employment agencies from discriminating against unemployed job seekers, and ensure that all Americans have the same opportunities for employment.”
• UPDATE:  Representative George Miller of California, the ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011.

Your help is needed to keep this bill alive and to move forward! We urge you to call your state senators and congressmen and ask them to support this bill.

• Jobless, long term unemployed, no unemployment benefits , jobs- health care- savings-homes-dignity-financial future- gone . Thrust into poverty &  a living night mare ! This will not end-until we end it!                                      
• The same politicians that voted to end social security-medicare-school lunches-medicade- stop public education also collaborated on the passing of this bill  (Surprised?)  ADEA  ( Gross v. F.B.L. Financial Services ) http://www.dickinsonlaw.com/docs/publications/290.pdf 
• Jack worked for nearly a quarter century as a claims adjuster for FBL Financial in West Des Moines. He was a model employee, with performance reviews in the top three percent of the company for 13 consecutive years. Then, in 2003, when he was 55 years old, his company brazenly demoted him and other employees over the age of 50. His job was give to a much younger, less qualified person.      
• No longer being protected by Civil Rights Law has far more ramifications than workers initially realized and especially in declining economic times.
• Bullying – Harassment   The fear of loosing jobs and the financial issues to follow can open the door to un-relentless bullying – harassment and no legal recourse for employees.
• The “Right to Work” ruling that many states pride themselves with having, actually mean totally the opposite than it sounds) It really means a company can fire an employee for any reason-any time-with no recourse). Leaving a company free to bully-harass older workers or anyone they choose.
• Sign up free & join the war against age discrimination in the work place and injustices facing aging American’s. 
• It’s up to our middle-class +40 Something’s +50++ers + seniors to join the war against age discrimination and injustices facing older American’s.
• Legislate the conscious back into BIG Business & politics.     
• Support Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) ,Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor – Pensions Committee in his fight! 
   

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/19/us-legal-lifeguard-speedos-idUSTRE77I3MB20110819