tagged w/ Unions
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I have a HOW IT’S MADE marathon on. The SuperBowl only interests me if the Steelers are playing, if they have a good halftime performer scheduled or I hear that the commercials featured will be cool.I have a HOW IT’S MADE marathon on. The SuperBowl only interests me if the... more
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Original video included images of protest signs by members of the Madison, Wisconsin teacher's union that played a pivotal role in the anti-Walker protests last year. One sign features the union logo, another reads: “Care About Educators Like They Care for Your Child.” In the final ad, the union logo is missing and the “Care About Educators…” sign is replaced with one featuring an image of an alarm clock. Several other union signs are simply whited out.
http://veracitystew.com/2012/02/06/halftime-in-america-did-chrysler-delete-unions-in-super-bowl-ad-video/Original video included images of protest signs by members of the Madison, Wisconsin... more
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"About AFTRA
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO, are the people who entertain and inform America. In 32 Locals across the country, AFTRA members work as actors, broadcasters, singers, dancers, announcers, hosts, comedians, disc jockeys and other performers across the media industries including television, radio, cable, sound recordings, music videos, commercials, audio books, non-broadcast industrials, interactive games, the Internet and other digital media. The 70,000 professional performers, broadcasters and recording artists of AFTRA are working together to protect and improve their jobs, lives and communities in the 21st century. From new art forms to new technology, AFTRA members embrace change in their work and craft to enhance American culture and society. Visit AFTRA online at www.aftra.com.""About AFTRA
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO,... more
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She’s lived in Wisconsin for 55 years and never once been to Madison. Until last week. She was one of the many citizens from rural counties across the state that marched up to the Government Accountability office to deliver recall petitions with signatures, stripping bare the lie that the recall was entirely the work of liberals in Madison and Milwaukee. They came from places with little party organization and less party money, where the only party asset is the dedication of the people.
http://veracitystew.com/2012/01/27/the-historical-impact-of-wisconsins-recall-of-scott-walker/She’s lived in Wisconsin for 55 years and never once been to Madison. Until last... more
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Amidst wreckage of Gov. Rick Scott's dark and stormy reign over Florida, a ray of hope emerges...Amidst wreckage of Gov. Rick Scott's dark and stormy reign over Florida, a ray of... more
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If organized labor were to list the three worst things that could happen to it, one of them would surely be having the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board, established in 1935) close up shop. While the NLRB hasn't always performed to labor's satisfaction (indeed, its reluctance to act has been the source of consternation and heartburn), it has, nonetheless, proven itself indispensable.
When companies purposely sabotage union elections, or when they refuse to recognize a legal vote to join or form a union, or when they fail to enter into the collective bargaining process in good faith, or when they violate federal labor law by firing employees engaged in union membership drives, it's the Labor Board who hears the complaint. Without the NLRB, none of these ULPs (Unfair Labor Practices) can be addressed.
Yet, as critically important as the NLRB is, there's a chance it will be put out of business come the first of the year. Due to a 2010 ruling by the Supreme Court, unless the 5-member NLRB has a quorum (i.e., a minimum of three members), it is illegal for it to hand down decisions. In other words, unless there are at least three members present, the NLRB has no power to stop management from violating federal labor law. They can violate it with impunity. Without the NLRB, employees could vote overwhelmingly to join a union, and the company could simply ignore them. Who's to stop them?
Here's how it stands. Republicans have not only steadfastly refused to confirm President Obama's appointees (leaving the Board without a quorum), but they have threatened to strip the Board of its operating budget, basically wiping it out. No money, no NLRB. Incredibly, with the whole country watching from the sidelines -- with unemployment still high and the gap between rich and poor continuing to widen -- the Republican Party has audaciously and fearlessly declared war on America's working class.
As gutless as President Obama has been in regard to labor (e.g., backing away from the EFCA, abandoning striker replacement legislation, failing to respond to attacks on the teachers' union, et al), he's been caught in the middle of this NLRB deal. On the one hand, by nominating solidly pro-union people to the Board he has appeased organized labor, but on the other hand, he has mobilized Republican opposition.
In truth, that's a bit of a false dichotomy. It is Obama's job to behave like a traditional, pro-labor Democrat, and, if anything, he has been woefully derelict in that regard. Also, despite the Republican's hysterical smear campaign, we shouldn't pretend that the people Obama has nominated are "radicals." In the 1960s and 1970s these same folks would have been considered "enlightened centrists," plain and simple. In the 1940s, they would've been considered "pro-business."
Unfortunately, some nominal "pro-labor" activists have publicly criticized Obama for not being more accommodating, for not being more pragmatic, more practical. They've criticized him for failing to appoint Board members who would automatically appeal to the Republicans, as if it were Obama's job to abandon America's working class in order to please John Boehner and his corporate sponsors.
But let's be honest. If the Republican Party had its way, there would be no NLRB, no OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and, very likely, no Department of Labor. What prevented the elimination of those agencies was America's political landscape. But the contour of that landscape has changed dramatically.
In the 1970s the Republican Party wouldn't have dared suggest, not in its wildest dreams, that the NLRB and OSHA be dismantled. After all, it was a Republican administration that created OSHA. Considering the country's mood at the time, organized labor's influence, and, arguably, the respect working people still enjoyed, eliminating the Labor Board would have been considered, among other things, "unpatriotic." How things have changed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-macaray/republicans-declare-war-o_1_b_1158394.html?view=print&comm_ref=falseIf organized labor were to list the three worst things that could happen to it, one of... more
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The rules at present are as pro-prima donna as it gets. They favor isolations and make it very hard to defend a good two-superstar pick-and-roll system. How often do we hear about a player “taking over the game down the stretch”? That answer is closely related to how the game is marketed. We’re not encouraged to tune in as the Lakers face the Heat. We’re enticed by Kobe and the Lakers versus Miami’s Big Three. The Hornets don’t play the Clips, CP3 takes on Blake Griffin. The league has engineered its entire product around individuals, and it’s hard for me not to laugh myself just a little silly when the very star system they live by turns around and bites them in the ass, as it does every time a diva like Carmelo or LeBron holds a city hostage before finally taking their talents somewhere the lights shine a little brighter.The rules at present are as pro-prima donna as it gets. They favor isolations and make... more
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Poor Mitt(ens) Romney couldn’t get noticed by the Republican party if he set his hair on fire and ran naked through Sarah Palin’s house. To add insult to injury, we thought it would be fun to highlight the reason why his own party hates him as much as the rest of us: he stands for everything and nothing.
http://veracitystew.com/2011/11/19/mitt-romneys-top-five-flip-flops-so-far-video/Poor Mitt(ens) Romney couldn’t get noticed by the Republican party if he set his... more
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"Most of the GOP-controlled legislature, including the entire Ohio House, is up for election next year and might not be eager to be tied to a governor whose job approval rating has sunk to 36 percent, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll."
"The implications are quite significant and they really go beyond this issue," Tokaji said. "It will be a sign of a re-emergence of the Democratic party which has used the referendum to fight back despite Republicans controlling state government."
WooHoo!"Most of the GOP-controlled legislature, including the entire Ohio House, is up... more
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House Republicans have turned a routine complaint by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Boeing into a “political and ideological circus,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
He says a Republican bill introduced after the NLRB’s complaint, which accuses the aviation giant of retaliating against workers for exercising their legal rights,
is sweeping legislation that would gut the National Labor Relations Act and result in serious harmful changes to jobs and workers’ rights throughout the country.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/09/12/republican-nlrb-bill-guts-workers-rights-shields-boeing-other-corporations/
Earlier this year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proposed some modest rule changes to streamline and modernize the way union elections are conducted. While those rules are still under review, Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee today approved a bill that would add months- or years-long delays to union elections.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/26/republican-house-bills-goal-deny-workers-a-voice/House Republicans have turned a routine complaint by the National Labor Relations... more
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Members of Stand Up Chicago voice their dissatisfaction with Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker who is nothing but a puppet to the Koch bros.Members of Stand Up Chicago voice their dissatisfaction with Wisconsin Gov Scott... more
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Around 5:00 p.m. PST Oakland’s Mayor Jean Quan and her fellow officials held a press conference.
They said that the city had sustained minimal damage during the day’s protest, but that the police were calling in reinforcements from other cities anyway. She also said that the crowds preparing to march on the Port of Oakland were peaceful.
Most importantly, she said there were only around 4,500 marchers. According to pictures, and reports from other media outlets, to us, that estimate seems low.
From here in New York, we at Business Insider watched the protests escalate from a peaceful demonstration, to a powerful show of frustration from police, occupiers, and Oakland residents. There were fires, there was tear gas, and there were people who got very badly hurt. You can see it all in these photos from the Associated Press.
Last night the Occupation showed that it is a force to be reckoned with. That, if it so desires, it can put enough people on the street to cause chaos. Bodies, after all are power. But that power comes at a cost, not just to the city of Oakland, but to the public’s perception of the occupation.
Listen: stay peaceful.Around 5:00 p.m. PST Oakland’s Mayor Jean Quan and her fellow officials held a... more
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"ABOUT A YEAR ago, the Pew Research Center looked looked at the sources reporters used for stories on the economy. The White House and members of Congress were often quoted, of course. Business leaders. Academics. Ordinary citizens. If you're under 40, you may not notice anything amiss. Who else is missing, then? Well: "Representatives of organized labor unions," Pew found, "were sources in a mere 2% of all the economy stories studied."
"The strength of unions in postwar America had a profound impact on all people who worked for a living, even those who did not belong to a union themselves." Wages went up, even at nonunion companies. Health benefits expanded, private pensions rose, and vacations became more common. It was unions that made the American economy work for the middle class, and it was their later decline that turned the economy upside-down and made it into a playground for the business and financial classes."
Read more of at great article at the link above. We researched with lots of links to emphasize the points."ABOUT A YEAR ago, the Pew Research Center looked looked at the sources reporters... more
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@LucyKafanov: Closer to the #OccupyOakland plaza...
I am seeing a lot of these signs for morning of 1st #GeneralStrike in US in 65 years
http://twitpic.com/79vq6m@LucyKafanov: Closer to the #OccupyOakland plaza...
I am seeing a lot of these signs... more
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LOrion
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PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN- Hour 1 Recap
Ohio University Convocation Center
Athens, OH
Friday October 28th, 2011
Host: Johnny Suave
The PCW ‘American Heartland Tour’ continues in Athens, OH. Suave welcomes everyone to the show.
MATCH #1
Magnum P.O.’d (R) w/Robyn Masters vs. Andy Riley (D) of the Bureaucrats w/Jordan Metzger (D)
Suave talks with the members of the OWS (Occupy Wall Street): Nate, Shane, and Adam and asks them about their recent tour of rich people.
MATCH #2
‘The Self Proclaimed Savior of the Middle Class’ Big Labor/James the Jeep Worker (D) w/Richard Trumka vs. Charlie Blackwell/Mike the Mechanic (I) vs. Paul Ryan’s Raiders: Nick Ray and Kevin Collins (R)
-special appearance by Joe the Plumber (R)
During the match, Joe Biden (D) comes out with a mic and takes aim at GOP targets from former PCW CEO George W. Bush to Florida’s Rick Scott to “obstructionist” Republicans.
Jason Mattera of Human Events 'ambushes' Biden during his speech and all hell breaks loose.PCW Politics is War on P-SPAN- Hour 1 Recap
Ohio University Convocation Center... more
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A Very Out of the blue decision made my Qantas CEO Alan Joyce wich will effect thousands of people, and have long term inpacts on the Australian Airline.A Very Out of the blue decision made my Qantas CEO Alan Joyce wich will effect... more
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Everyone knew it was a losing battle, but everyone showed up anyway. In an uprising virtually unprecedented in its size, scope and diversity, malcontents united across Greece to push back against the government's assault on working people.
This week's 48-hour strike drew workers from both public and private sectors, students, the unemployed--just about everyone about to get smacked with the austerity measures that the Parliament has approved under pressure from IMF and Eurozone officials. With tens of thousands of civil service jobs to be downsized, pensions and wages to be gutted, and labor and civil rights under siege, the people's upheaval has proven as severe and persistent as the fiscal butchery that politicians keep ramming down their throats.
People took to the streets because they had nothing to lose.
As one protester, civil engineer Vagelis Filezis, told CNN, "We have no hope. The only hope we have is the strength of the people.”
Sound familiar?
http://www.unions.org/home/union-blog/2011/10/21/greece-strikes-the-people-rise-global-economy-teeters/Everyone knew it was a losing battle, but everyone showed up anyway. In an uprising... more
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The U.S. Department of Transportation requires all tires sold in the U.S. to carry a code indicating the company and plant where they were manufactured.
The code looks like this: DOT BE XX XXX XXX. The Xs stand for numbers and/or letters that are not part of the plant ID code. The two letters or letter and number that follow DOT indicate the company and plant where the tire was manufactured. In this example, the BE indicates the tire was made by B.F. Goodrich in Tuscaloosa, AL.
Here is a current listing of U.S. unionized tire DOT codes. Compare this list with the code on any tire you are considering buying to be certain you are getting a union-made (United Steelworkers - USW) tire made in North America.
Union-made tires made in the United States: AN, BE, BF, CC, DA, DY, D2, E3, JJ, JE, JF, JN, JT, JP, MP, PL, MC, MD, MJ, MK, MM, PJ, PY, PT, PU, TA, UP, UT, VE, W1, YE, YU, Y7, 2C, 2M, 3M, 4D, 5D, and 8B
Union-made tires made in Canada: JU, PC, and UK
http://www.unionplus.org/blog/deals-and-discounts/union-made-tiresThe U.S. Department of Transportation requires all tires sold in the U.S. to carry a... more
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John Nichols
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RSS Feed.Breaking news and analysis of politics, the economy and activism.
Text Size A | A | A .How Liz Cheney Is Funding the War on Labor Rights in Ohio
John Nichols on October 18, 2011 - 9:44am ET
Dick Cheney was once a union man—after flunking out of Yale, the future vice president worked as an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers lineman in Wyoming—but now his daughter is leading the fight to destroy unions in America.
The essential battle for organized labor in America this fall is in the state of Ohio, where voters will go to the polls in just three weeks to decide whether to overturn anti-labor legislation that Governor John Kasich and a Republican-controlled legislature forced on the state last spring.
If the anti-labor law is upheld, Kasich will be thanking Liz Cheney. The daughter of the former vice president has—along with former White House political czar Karl Rove—taken a leading role among the out-of-state groups that are raising money and implementing media campaigns to support the law.
Heavy spending by a group Cheney heads, in combination with spending by other corporate-allied national groups, offers Kasich the only hope he’s got for winning a fight that is turning uglier by the day. And don’t doubt for a moment that Dick Cheney’s a part of this push; Liz Cheney has throughout her adult life worked closely with her father (she helped him prepare and promote his autobiography) and Liz’s sister, Mary Cheney, says: “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find any daylight at all between Liz’s and my father’s views. It’s not because she’s been indoctrinated. It’s because he’s right.”
Reasonable people might debate whether “he’s right.” But there’s no doubt that the Cheneys are playing hardball in Ohio.
In so doing, they are positioning Liz Cheney as a major mover on the political right—since the state-based fights in Wisconsin and Ohio are major concerns of the corporations that fund conservative causes.
After the anti-labor law was enacted earlier this year, Ohioans reacted with passionate opposition to the gutting of collective bargaining rights for public employees. They were frightened by the threat the law posed to the ability of unions to advocate for firefighters, police officers, teachers and other public employees in the workplace, and to the prospect that weakened unions would be unable to counter corporate spin at election time. More than 1.3 million Ohioans signed petitions to put a veto referendum on the ballot. And polls from last summer indicated that likely voters were overwhelming opposed to Kasich’s law.
Now, however, the fight over Issue 2, the referendum on whether to keep the anti-labor legislation on the books, is getting closer. Polls still show that most voters intend to cast “No on 2” ballots, indicating their rejection of the law and their desire that Ohio again respect collective bargaining rights. But the margin has narrowed in recent weeks, thanks to the millions of dollars being spent by corporate interests to try to save the law and, in so doing, to shore up Kasich’s diminished political fortunes.
Acknowledged spending in Ohio by groups on both sides of the issue has already topped $3 million and, with three weeks to go before November 8, the big-money moment is yet to come. “We are spending a significant amount of money on the airwaves,” Melissa Fazekas, the spokeswoman for the labor-backed We Are Ohio campaign said last week. “But we do think we’ll be outspent at the end of the day.”
That’s a safe bet, as national corporate and conservative groups are rushing to defend Kasich and his anti-union policies. The Columbus Dispatch suggests that overall spending by groups that back the anti-labor law could easily top $20 million.
Liz Cheney’s Alliance for America’s Future is one of the most aggressive of the out-of-state special interest groups that have elbowed their way into the referendum fight. Cheney’s group is part of a shadowy network of campaign organizations in which Dick’s daughter serves as a principle operative. Another is called the “Partnership for America’s Future,” and in 2010, Cheney headed a group called “Send Harry Packing,” which targeted Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. Some of the organizations are 527s, which means they must disclose contributions; others are 501(c)(4) organizations, which means they do not have to disclose the identities of donors. They trade money back and forth, and according to Public Citizen’s Taylor Lincoln: “The Partnership for America’s Future—whose principals include Mary Cheney, daughter of the former vice president—registered as a 527, just as American Crossroads initially did. But it simply reports that it receives all of its money from the Alliance for America’s Future. The ‘Alliance’ is registered as a 501(c)(4)—enabling it and the groups to which it funnels money to operate under the cloak of secrecy.”
How much Cheney’s groups will spend in Ohio remains to be seen. But there is no question that they deal in big money. In 2010, Cheney told CBS News that her groups were budgeted to spend between $12 million and $15 million.
With a track record of backing Republicans 100 percent of the time, Cheney’s groups are hyper-partisan, and they have frequently gotten in trouble for stretching the truth to score political points.
That’s certainly been the case in Ohio.
Cheney’s group began last month to flood Ohio with deceptive mailings that claim “voting yes on Issue 2 will give our communities the ability to get spending under control without raising taxes.”
A mailing that just went out statewide declared: “We just can’t afford to pay 100 percent of government employee benefits too.”
“In this tough economy,” the mailing continues, “it’s just not fair to ask taxpayers to pay even more for salaries and benefits for government employees.” Voting yes on Issue 2, it says, “means that government employees will make modest contributions to their benefits” by paying “at least 15 percent toward their health insurance coverage” and “just 10 percent toward their own retirement.”
A Cleveland Plain Dealer PolitiFact Ohio review of the mailing concluded that it was “problematic” because the piece “leaves out important details needed to put the statement in context.” Ultimately, the analysis concluded that the Cheney mailing rated “Half True” on its “Truth-O-Meter.”
But it’s worse than that.
The real lie is one of omission. What the Cheney mailings don’t say is that the law undermines basic labor rights, eliminates effective collective bargaining and encourages communities to balance budgets on the backs of firefighters, police officers and teachers. Nor does Cheney mention that the cuts will undermine public services and public education at a time when Ohio cities have been rocked by factory closings and rising unemployment.
Of course, Liz Cheney is not concerned about the harm done to Ohioans and their communities by Kasich’s law.
Cheney lives in northern Virginia, and she sends her kids to one of the most elite private schools in the country. She’s weighing her political options, having already been talked up as a potential US Senate candidate.
Every campaign starts somewhere, however, and Liz Cheney has decided to wade into electoral politics as a champion of corporations who is willing to fund the drive to eliminate collective bargaining rights and wipe out trade unions.
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2 commentsJohn Nichols
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