The Teamsters and all unions in America are working together to stop the assault on union members, middle-class families, ad workers in general....We cannot sit back and allow the rights we have worked so hard to gain to be stripped away.Learn more by going to the Teamsters 4.4.11 page here.
Giant Food!Teamster General President Jim Hoffa and General Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel joined Head-Roc on stage. Hoffa said
Well known in the DMV,
They ‘bout to do us like Wal-Mart it’s plain to see.
Got their start here locally, now they Fancy International
And ain’t what they used to be!
The new Corporate Policy,
Is called “Turn your back on the Community!”
Teamsters Together! We Gonna Brave the Weather!
Organized to Protect the Lives we Treasure!
These multi-billion dollar grocery giants are meeting with their highly-paid lobbyists in the hotel behind you because they want to rig the system. They want to siphon as much money out of workers, shoppers and the American economy as they can, by destroying good, middle-class jobs.Thomas Ratliff, president of Teamsters Local 639 in Washington, D.C., said the Teamsters wouldn’t stand for such attacks on workers:
We’re not going to take this lying down. Giant and Royal Ahold want to talk about sacrifice, but they are forgetting the sacrifice our members gave to help make these companies successful.Sign a petition here to tell Giant Foods to quit outsourcing good jobs.
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| Today's protest in Concord, N.H. |
Today, the New Hampshire House will vote on a budget so heartless in its approach to the poor, the disabled and the mentally ill as to be immoral. Should it become law, New Hampshire will be a different state, one that under the guise of "personal responsibility" replaces the social compact with the survival of the fittest.
...the House also passed HB 580, an “Omnibus” pension bill sponsored by Rep. Neal Kurk to reduce public employees’ bargaining rights. It specifically states that as a contract term expires, employees’ health and pension benefits can be unilaterally changed (or eliminated) by employers.Even as people head toward Concord, citizens were removed from the Statehouse gallery an hour into the House session. Chanting and the song, "We Shall Not Be Moved," echoed through the gallery.
Final tally, SB5 passes the house 53-44 with 2 abstensions, and the senate 17-16. That's 69 people in the house and senate that I will make every effort to make feel the sting of being jobless.The good-ish news from Ohio is that
Even before the contentious Senate Bill 5 — in some ways tougher than Wisconsin's — had cleared the Legislature late Wednesday, unions and Democrats in this once-proud labor stronghold vowed to put it on November's ballot as a referendum.
"O-H-I-O! S.B. 5 has got to go!" protesters chanted ahead of a final Senate vote of 17-16 that sent the bill to Gov. John Kasich for his signature, expected this week. The vote followed a day filled with Statehouse demonstrations by about 750 people, who raucously chanted and shouted throughout the process. After a House vote of 53-44, opponents spewed expletives at House members.
The vitriol wasn't limited to the Statehouse.
Leo Geiger, 34, a Republican who works as a sewer inspector for the city of Dayton, said he's "deathly afraid that this is going to affect me, my family and the entire state of Ohio in and incredibly negative way."
He believes the bill is political payback for unions' support of Democrats in November's election.
"I find this to be loathsome," he said from Dayton on Wednesday night. He didn't attend protests because he couldn't take the time off. "I find this to be disrespectful to Ohioans and disrespectful to the process of democracy."
So Scott joins John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin in the ranks of GOP governors with horrible robo-poll numbers only three months into their terms. The Florida difference: There hasn't been a robust union or Democratic protest movement of Scott. There's just negative media coverage about how his family could benefit from his own policies, complaints from Republicans about his leadership, disapproval of his cuts to education and the state workforce (as he phases in an end to corporate taxes), irritation with the cancellation of the Tampa-Orlando rail line, etc and so on.
Between 2002 and 2009, the Mackinac Center's donors included the Charles G. Koch Foundation ($69,151), founded by the chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, who, with his brother, David, is a major backer of conservative causes; the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation ($80,000), the charity tied to the son of the co-founder of Amway, the multibillion-dollar direct marketing company; the Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation, established by the parents of Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who serves as the foundation's vice president ($195,000); and the Walton Family Foundation ($100,000), established by Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and his wife, Helen.In other words, a murderers' row of predatory plutocrats who view destroying America's middle class as a charitable activity.
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| Teamsters at the March 10 rally in Indianapolis |
•Right-to-work legislation is off the table, preserving collective bargaining rights;
•The permanent ban on public employee bargaining is off the table in the House;
•Enabling legislation for private takeover of public schools is off the table in the House;
•Private school vouchers will be limited to 7,500 students in the first year and 15,000 in the second year, rather than the largest voucher program in the nation the Republicans had proposed;
•Rather than an outright ban of Project Labor Agreements as Republicans wanted, PLAs still can be included with projects passed by public referendum; and
•The threshold for applying the common construction wage to projects would be $250,000 for 2012 and $350,000 for 2013, rather than the job-killing $1 million threshold the Republicans wanted.Teamsters International Vice President Brian Buhle says the War on Workers is far from over:
We dodged a bullet in this session but the attacks against the middle class will continue and we must be mobilized more than ever to ensure a fair deal for the working class. We must beat them at the ballot box.Buhle, who is also secretary-treasurer of Local 135 in Indianapolis, thanked the thousands of Indiana Teamsters who protested at the Statehouse for six weeks.
Without their help giving the Democrats some cover, this victory over a radical anti-union agenda by the far right wing would not have been possible. Members from all Teamster locals across Indiana kept up the pressure and the Teamsters Union led the way, day in and day out. Hats off to Indiana Teamsters.
For those people that (sic) don't know, the state of Wisconsin has an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The executive branch has the job of carrying out the laws and setting the agenda for his (sic) administration. The legislative branch has the job of passing laws. And the judicial branch has the job of interpreting and applying the laws and ensuring their constitutionality.But for some unknown reason (probably because Wisconsin Republicans are completely insane), they took down that press release and replaced it with an apology. A nasty, childish apology that incorporates all the GOP's favorite ad hominem attacks. Judge Sumi is elitist, according to Wisconsin Republicans, the party of the congressman who complains about making only $174,000 a year. This is what a Wisconsin Republican apology looks like:
By Judge's Sumi's action today, it is apparent that she has forgotten those roles and she thinks that her job is to be a member of all three branches. The Republican Party of Dane County believes it is time for the judicial branch to stop being judicial activists (sic). If they want to legislate the laws, they need to run for political office not judicial office.
The Republican Party of Dane County recognizes that Judge Sumi is a leftist living in Dane County. Her friends are leftists living in Dane County. Her son is a left wing activist in Dane County. She goes to cocktail parties held by leftists in Dane County. She shops at organic gourmet food shops run by leftists living in Dane County. If she were to enforce the law of Wisconsin and do what was in the best interest of the people of Wisconsin, she’d be exiled from her lifestyle. She’d lose her friends!
The leadership of the Republican Party of Dane County have all made the choice to stand against the Dane County elite. We accept that Left feels righteous vandalizing our homes and keying our cars..."Left feels righteous vandalizing our homes and keying our cars...?" Say what?
Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of (the law) was enjoined. That is what I now want to make crystal clear.Sumi’s issuance of a temporary restraining order halting the anti-worker bill was clear the first time around. The order barred Secretary of State Doug La Follette from making the law effective by publishing it. On March 25, Walker tried to circumvent the law by getting the Legislative Reference Bureau, a state agency, to post the text of the law on its website.
I am dismayed at this point that given the relatively easy fix for this that thousands and thousands of dollars are being spent, all being footed by the taxpayers of this state, to pursue this litigation.We're just wondering if this means the Republicans aren't sure they have the votes to pass the bill again.
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| Whiny-ass Rep. Sean Duffy |
I can guarantee you, or most of you, I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you. With 6 kids, I still pay off my student loans. I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used minivan. If you think I'm living high on the hog, I've got one paycheck. So I struggle to meet my bills right now. Would it be easier for me if I get more paychecks? Maybe, but at this point I'm not living high on the hog.TPM also reports that a Duffy spokesman complained that Democrats would take partisan shots at his gaffe.
I was in Memphis at Dr. King's side -- and on Monday I will be in Madison, for there is a straight line from Memphis to Madison.
Dr. King came to Memphis to rally in support of striking public employees. Months earlier, two black sanitation workers had been crushed to death when a compactor mechanism in a truck malfunctioned. On the same day, 22 black workers were sent home without pay, while their white supervisors were retained with pay. Two weeks later, 1,100 black sanitation workers began to strike for job safety, better wages and benefits and union recognition.
It was a frantic time for Dr. King...But he chose to join the strikers in Memphis for he knew their cause was just, their need great and their time had come.
Now in Madison, teachers and nurses and sanitation workers are standing up against an attempt to strip them of their right to bargain collectively. Students have come to their aid, while protesting deep cuts in university and school budgets and efforts to strip them of their right to vote on campus. Workers are standing up in solidarity with those under attack.Read the whole thing here.
As troops opened the trailer doors to inspect the cargo they came under fire from gunmen inside the trailer.
During the firefight that followed munitions inside the trailer detonated, resulting in the fiery destruction of the tractor-trailer and the dead of the three gunmen.
Residents reported that the inferno burned for approximately 30 minutes during which a large number of munitions fired off.
No civilians were reported injured by exploding rounds.
After the fire was extinguished authorities reported finding: cocaine, methamphetamine, 31 rifles, 9 handguns, 1 rocket launcher, 16 grenades, 156 magazines, 71 radios, 13 cell phones, and currency; most of them destroyed.That was on Friday. Three days later, 11 bodies were discovered near the scene of the shootout. Reports Borderland Beat:
Seven bodies were found shot execution style at Km.#7 and and the remainder at Km.#11 of Federal Highway 2 which connects the freight only World Trade Bridge to the Nuevo Laredo- Monterrey Highway.
At this time the victims, who all shared similar buzz cuts and are estimated to be between the ages of 17 and 29, remain unidentified.
How they got there and who killed them is still being investigated.
Ohio voters disapprove 46 - 30 percent of the way Gov. John Kasich is handling his job, with women disapproving 48 - 25 percent and men disapproving 44 - 37 percent ...Voters say 53 - 36 percent that Gov. Kasich's budget is unfair to them. (Note: We bet those numbers get worse for Kasich once voters learn more about the budget.)
Voters oppose legislation working its way through the Ohio legislature that would limit the ability of public workers to collectively bargain, the independent Quinnipiac University survey finds. But the question wording has some influence on voter response:If you're wondering why people hate Kasich, aside from SB 5 and steep budget cuts, Alternet provides a primer here.
Half of those surveyed were asked about a bill that limited "collective bargaining," and oppose the measure 48 - 41 percent;
The other half were asked about a bill that limited "collective bargaining rights," and oppose that measure 54 - 35 percent.
In a fundraising letter, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) writes that government employee unions have "ruined California and Illinois, but they're not going to ruin Wisconsin.
"That is because Republicans faced down Big Labor's bully tactics and a Democratic walk-out in the state Senate to break the power of unions like WEAC and AFSCME once and for all," Fitzgerald said in his letter.
Fitzgerald says in his letter that union supporters picketed his home "to intimidate and scare my family. They packed the State Capitol with raging mobs of union protesters - many from other states - who had been worked into a frenzy by union leaders. They even made death threats against those of us who stood up to their political clout."We'd like to point out that the Wisconsin protests have been without exception peaceful, family-friendly affairs. The only people who advocated violence in Wisconsin were two Indiana Republican prosecutors. One tweeted that police should use live ammunition on the protesters. The other emailed
...what we were thinking about the crowds was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.And Walker replies
...we thought about that. The problem — the, my only gut reaction to that is right now the lawmakers I’ve talked to have just completely had it with them ... My only fear would be is if there was a ruckus caused is that that would scare the public into thinking maybe the governor has gotta settle to avoid all these problems.Fitzgerald said in his letter that he anticipates a recall effort. Ya think?
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| From the tweetosphere: Petitions ignored by OH Republicans. |
There’s probably 150 or so in the building and there are probably about 500 outside. People are still coming.
Everyone knows the bill is going to get signed this week. People are passing out sign up sheets to volunteer to hand out petitions.
There’s chanting going on. There is a speaker system and various unions are giving speeches.
We need to keep fighting.
This is for my children, my wife, our friends and neighbors. This is for our community.
Republicans declared war on the middle class. Now, with this recall campaign, we are fighting back. And we are going to win.The ad is paid for by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America. It will run in multiple media markets in Wisconsin. Even without the ad, recall efforts are going strong.
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| Gina Beck, shortly after speaking at a White House event. |
It’s important to come out to let people know there is hope in your darkest days and the union is our hope, the only hope we have. They’ve taken so much from us.Beck battled tremendous odds to became a leader in the drive for Durham School Services bus workers to join the Teamsters. For that she was recognized today at a White House event held on the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire tragedy.
We’re still struggling in some ways. We don't get raises, we don’t get water, or toilet paper. In the year 2011, people are still struggling. We are still the working poor, still struggling from paycheck to paycheck. There are a lot of people in my company that are homeless, live in tents or motels, 90 percent of the yard goes to the food bank. I live in the back of an office. I can’t afford rent...
I’m a three-year bus driver from Laguna Beach. I love my children. The company says if you don’t like it, get another job, but I work with special needs kids you fall in love with them.She had a tough go of it even before working at Durham. She grew up in poverty after the death of her parents and the loss of their home after an earthquake. Since she got a job driving a bus for special needs children, she lost her apartment, moved into and lost a mobile home and now lives in the back of an office.
My Dad and grandparents were immigrants from another country and worked hard to become citizens and were proud to. And for all of us to live paycheck to paycheck, no insurance, can’t afford anything, it doesn’t honor them at all. They made a better future for us and this is no way to honor them.Beck understands the importance of a union:
My brother is a Teamster and my father was a Teamster and my brother provides his family with a decent living and to take that away is horrible. He couldn’t provide for his children if he wasn’t with the Teamsters.Her advice:
Speak up for yourself, don’t be fearful, that won’t get you anywhere. Stick up for your rights. We’re Americans, we should have a decent living and decent health care from a company that makes millions of dollars and I can’t see why we can’t have that... I’d like to walk in that yard one day and have everyone be happy and know that they’re not struggling everyday, living off extensions and credit cards. To have a happy environment. And to have a strong contract would be great.
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| Teamsters rally for workers' rights in Indiana on March 10. |
• Labor: Republicans have agreed to scrap the controversial right-to-work law that led the Democrats to shut things down back on Feb. 22. Republicans have also pledged not to pass a law making the state's existing ban on collective bargaining for state workers, created by (Gov. Mitch) Daniels executive order, permanent.
• Education: Daniels' signature policy agenda for this legislative session was a proposal to create a state-funded private school voucher system for low- and middle-income families. That plan will be curtailed considerably in the deal with House Republicans.We understand the deal isn't perfect, but according to the head of the Democratic caucus, Rep. Patrick Bauer,
We've protected working people from a march to the minimum wage. We've protected collective bargaining rights for Hoosier workers and teachers. We've softened the blow to public schools and prevented a bill for private takeover of public schools. This timeout gave millions of Hoosiers a real voice in their state government.The Indiana AFL-CIO tells us:
Today, these representatives are returning to Indianapolis to bring the fight to the General Assembly. Hundreds of working men and women will be gathering outside the Indiana Statehouse to thank these elected officials for their courageous stand for Indiana's working families.
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| Satuday in Los Angeles |
If new quasi-public agencies are included, Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget would increase overall spending by 1% over two years rather than reduce it as the administration had said earlier this month.
A report released Monday by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau showed the state would spend a proposed $64.1 billion in state and federal dollars over two years after including amounts that are being transferred to quasi-public authorities like the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That would amount to $609.5 million more over the 2011-'13 budget.2. @news3jessica reports
Response to our open records request fr DOA: Walker spent $41,935 on use of state planes for trips around state since Jan.Yup, that's $42,000 in taxpayer dollars in less than three months to promote himself.
...most agency heads that Gov. Rick Scott has appointed are making $20,000 a year more than their predecessors.
Scott has named 10 new department heads with salaries of $140,000 compared to $120,000 or less for their predecessors...
Asked this week why he was paying most of his secretaries significantly more when state employees haven't been given a raise, Scott did not directly answer the question. Instead he said that state employees are "very hard working people."
"And they clearly are doing a great job for the citizens of our state," Scott told reporters. "And I want to make sure I do everything I can to make sure we get the best people and we pay them a fair wage."The Reid Report comments:
Rick Scott says he’s running Florida like a business. Apparently, that business is on Wall Street.
And just like Wall Street, the big boys are getting raises, while the low level staffers are getting the shaft.Just to remind you, Scott is urging the Legislature to cut education by as much as 10 percent, bust unions and eliminate environmental protections.
In recent years, the criminal background check industry has grown exponentially. Particularly in the wake of 9/11, the ready availability of inexpensive commercial background checks has made them a popular employee screening tool. In one survey, more than 90 percent of companies reported using criminal background checks for their hiring decisions. At the same time that the background check industry has expanded, the share of the U.S. population with criminal records has soared to over one in four adults.Yahoo.com shows how that works in a story, Help wanted -- sixty-five million need not apply.
In the right situations, criminal background checks promote safety and security at the workplace. However ... it can also be illegal under civil rights laws... major companies as well as smaller employers routinely deny people with criminal records any opportunity to establish their job qualifications. For any number of entry-level jobs, ranging from warehouse workers to delivery drivers to sales clerks, employers and staffing agencies post these and other job ads...
“No Exceptions! . . . No Misdemeanors and/or Felonies of any type ever in background,”
“DO NOT APPLY WITH ANY MISDEMEANORS / FELONIES”
“You must not have any felony or misdemeanor convictions on your record. Period.”
In 2008, Johnny Magee, who is developmentally disabled, was laid off from his landscaping job in Livermore, California, thanks to government budget cuts. He applied for a new position as a garden center attendant at a nearby Lowe's Home Improvement store. Despite his prior experience, Magee wasn't hired. Why? A background check had turned up a 1999 misdemeanor conviction, stemming from an incident in which he unknowingly picked up a package for his uncle that contained drugs. Later that year, Magee's conviction was dismissed—but that was too late for him to get the job at Lowe's.We love this little detail from the Yahoo story as well: "Bank of America routinely posts job ads on Craigslist that exclude people with criminal records." Bank of America!!! The same Bank of America that illegally seized people's homes. The same Bank of America that defrauded investors when it acquired Merrill Lynch. The same Bank of America that's been charged with cheating its customers?
Mr. LePage does retain a sense of workplace opportunity. After his election last November, he named Lauren, his 22-year-old, fresh-from-college daughter, to what was termed an entry-level job as assistant to the governor’s chief of staff.
At $41,000 a year, the post offers $10,000 more than the pay for workers who pass the teacher and police tests. That’s on top of Ms. LePage’s free room and board at the governor’s mansion.
The only short-term way for Ilion to cut costs is to lay off teachers while savaging academic programs that are already inadequate.In Syosset on Long Island, the cuts will mean nothing to a school district where
...College-bound students, which is to say, just about everyone at the high school, have access to a dazzling array of almost 30 Advancement Placement classes that include different levels of calculus, physics, economics, environmental science, music theory and studio art.It's a microcosm of what's happening all over the country. Read the whole thing here.
...The vote was met by jeers and chants from the activists who spilled out of the House Finance Committee hearing room, down the stairs and outside the Legislative Office Building.Though New Hampshire's House and Senate are both lopsidedly Republican, the budget as it stands may not pass the Senate. The Senate President, Milford Republican Peter Bragdon, told WMUR the provision should at least have had a hearing.
During a taping of WMUR-TV's "Close Up" political show Friday, Senate President Peter Bragdon said a provision in the House budget plan strongly opposed by unions may doom the bill in the Senate.
"In all honesty, I have not talked to a single senator who will vote for the budget with that provision in it," Bragdon said.Now, you have to be careful with politicians. That may simply mean that Bragdon hasn't talked to a single senator about anything since the anti-worker amendment passed the committee. But it could also mean the bill won't pass the Senate.
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| Sen. John Erpenbach and Assemblywoman Jennifer Willis, both Democrats, speak to Teamsters from Local 695 and others at a recall office in LaCrosse. |
Even though the protest marches have slowed down we are picking up the recall petitions for the Republican Senators. Every craft meeting I have, those petitions are out for signatures.It isn't easy to collect enough signatures to trigger a recall, but organizers say they already have enough to force a new election for Sen. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac. You'll recall that signature-gatherers knocked on Hopper's door and asked his maid (he has a maid?) to sign a recall petition. Not only did the maid say 'yes,' but Hopper's wife did too. Turns out Hopper is living outside of the district with his 26-year-old mistress. And the mistress was given a state job for 35 percent more than her predecessor. (This was never about the budget anyway, right?)
...by a Salt Lake City organization called the American Patriot Recall Coalition, which is affiliated with a right-wing group called Americans Against Immigration Amnesty.Charming.
thanks LA for support! The power of the people is stronger than the people in power.Jim Hoffa has taken the stage, and led thousands in the chant, "Hell no, we won't go."
They've introduced right to work in 13 states but we are energized. This is a wake-up call because it might be a teacher in Wisconsin, they might think we are next, but hell no we won't go. We saw Ohio and Wisconsin, but today they saw the great face of America.Joe Fernandez, a steward for Local 63 at UPS Freight in Commerce, Calif., said he was at the rally to send the millionaires a message.
I'm here to support all working-class people and all the unions that represent them. My message to the rich is: "If we are making you wealthy, you need to share the wealth with the workers who are making you wealthy. I don't want to see more of a part-time America where people work two or three jobs with no benefits."@DoubleQue tweets:
LAUSD teachers out here fighting for their jobs!! LIUNA..Teamsters..Firefighters..SEIU..UFCW..CWA..STUDENTS!! #iloveUNIONSMeanwhile, across the continent, protesters rallied against Bank of America. USUncut, a grassroots organization modeled after UKUncut (which rallied in London today), explains:
Bank of America received $45 billion in government bailout funds while funneling its books into 115 offshore tax havens....By transferring profits out of the country, Bank of America has shown negative income tax rates since 2008, meaning they do not pay any taxes at all. Not only have they not paid any tax, they’ve gotten tax REFUNDS 3 years in a row.
Washington’s proposed budget for the coming year sends a clear message: The wrath of budget cuts will fall upon the shoulders of hard-working Americans. But there IS an alternative: Make corporate tax avoiders pay.
At 9th and Hope. Everyone chanting Hoffa and Teamsters.
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| Teamsters march down Figueroa. |
Teamsters rally outside our window. Supportive but oh so #hungover.At the end of the march, @LALabor tells us Tom Morello: the Nightwatchman to play "Union Song." (You may remember Morello, whose mother was a school teacher, played in Madison, Wisc., for the protesters there.) The hip hop group Ozomatli will also perform.
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| Teamsters set out to march on L.A. |
@LALabor tweets that Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Wisconsin Fire Fighters Association, has been spotted.beautiful day just got more beautiful. people marching down past the shop from the teamsters temple to stand for workers + peace.
A movement of the millions against the millionaires.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said those taking part in the March for the Alternative will include community groups, pensioners and public sector workers.
He said they were urging the government to spend more public money - not less - on projects to create jobs and boost the economy, and to crack down on tax evasion and avoidance in order to claw back more for the Treasury.
The largest union involved, Unite, said so many of its members wanted to take part that it could not find enough coaches or trains to ferry them to London.And does this sound familiar? Len McCluskey, the TUC's general secretary, says the government has exaggerated the budget deficit. (Remember that
Our alternative is to concentrate on economic growth through tax fairness so, for example, if the government was brave enough, it would tackle the tax avoidance that robs the British taxpayer of a minimum of £25bn a year.
If the government was brave enough, it would introduce a Robin Hood tax, a small percentage on financial transactions that would raise another £20bn a year.
Then we would have enough money to start to invest in our manufacturing base, invest in construction, invest in the infrastructure, invest in people, invest in jobs, because that's the way for a civilised nation to deal with national debt.
