Tom Morello labor song giveaway extended!

Wow! The response to our Tom Morello “Union Town” music giveaway at Teamster.org was so overwhelming, it crashed the web servers! Luckily, we’re back up and running.

Just go to Teamster.org and re-submit your email address. You will get an email with updated download instructions.

Although May Day has passed, we celebrate the spirit and sounds of workers’ rights and union power all year round. You can still get Tom’s rocking labor tunes for free at Teamster.org as we continue to host “Union Town” tracks on the website.

Click here to access the Teamster website, enter your email address and download the songs!

Keep up the solidarity, keep on organizing, and enjoy the music!

Today's Teamster News 05.02.13

Tom Morello Offers Free 'Union Town' Tracks for May Day  Rolling Stone   ...Tom Morello has partnered with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to give away tracks from Union Town, the 2011 album from the guitarist's Nightwatchman project. Fans can simply head to the Teamsters website and submit their email addresses for the tracks...
Bangladesh building collapse: Death toll passes 400  BBC News   ...The number of people killed in the collapse of a building in Bangladesh which housed garment factories last week has passed 400, officials say...
Tell Walmart and Other Retailers: Ensure basic safety and human rights for workers in Bangladesh  CREDO Action Alert   ...Urge these companies to take immediate steps to deploy safety improvements in their supplier factories and pay the compensation owed to injured workers and the families of workers killed while sewing their clothing in Bangladesh…
CEO-To-Worker Pay Ratio Ballooned 1,000 Percent Since 1950: Report  Huffington Post   ...We’ve made progress on a lot of things since the 1950s and so have CEOs -- in their quest for more money that is. The ratio of CEO-to-worker pay has increased 1,000 percent since 1950, according to data from Bloomberg...
Bill Moyers documentary examines 'United States of ALEC'  Sacramento Bee   ...Ever wonder how it is that the same bill pops up simultaneously in statehouses across the country? One way is through the work of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that promotes business-friendly model legislation for state lawmakers to introduce in their respective Capitols.
Michigan bill would make stores online charge 6% sales tax  Detroit Free Press   ...Dan Marshall knows he can comfortably compete with the Internet on the prices of instruments he sells at seven Marshall Music stores across the state. But where the president of the Lansing-based, family-owned business can’t compete is the 6% sales tax he has to charge customers who make purchases in his store.
Poll: Plurality Wants One Party To Control White House, Congress  Talking Points Memo   ...A national poll from Quinnipiac University released Wednesday suggested that Americans have had their fill of divided government...
GOP puts 'right-to-work' on agenda  Cincinnati.com  ...Republicans waded back into choppy political waters Tuesday when two lawmakers – including one from Lebanon – vowed to make Ohio a “right-to-work” state...
Secret “Free Trade” Negotiations Will Gut Regulations, Further Enrich Multinationals and Big Financial Firms  Naked Capitalism   ...It’s a sign of the times that a reputable economist, Dean Baker, can use the word “corruption” in the headline of an article describing two major trade deals under negotiation and no one bats an eye...
American job prospects make for dim May Day celebration  MSNBC   ...For working America, the trend over the last few decades has been toward lower wages, fewer workplace rights, and diminished voice in the public sphere...
How to ease economic anxiety (opinion)  Washington Post   ...The American public knows it’s downwardly mobile. What it doesn’t know is what it can do to arrest, much less reverse, that trend...
Koch Brothers Plan More Political Involvement for Their Conservative Network  New York Times   ...As the country’s leading conservative donors finished off plates of roast lamb and spaetzle in a Palm Springs, Calif., hotel ballroom on Monday, Charles G. Koch delivered a pep talk...
Corbett's liquor privatization plan on life support  The Morning Call   ...First came the cops. Then came the drug-and-alcohol counselors. Next up was the moms. And finally, the kids. All of them told a state Senate committee they oppose a plan to privatize wine and spirits sales and make beer more readily available under a House-approved bill supported by Gov. Tom Corbett...
Florida State pension reform issue dies in the Senate  The Miami Herald   ...After months of calling pension reform a top priority in his inaugural year as Florida House speaker, Will Weatherford could do nothing Tuesday as his plan went down to defeat in the Senate...
Blistering audit faults Wis. job creation agency  The Republic   ...A blistering audit released Wednesday said Republican Gov. Scott Walker's premier job creation agency repeatedly broke state law in its first year of operation, failed to adequately track money it awarded for economic development projects and sometimes gave money to ineligible recipients...

Free tunes from The Nightwatchman

If you haven’t already downloaded the free Tom Morello songs he’s giving away on Teamster.org, you should. It’s rare enough for musicians to perform pro-union songs, but even more uncommon for them to give their music away for nothing.

To get the free songs, go to this page, enter your email address and the songs will be emailed to you.

The four free songs are also available on the “Union Town” EP that Morello released under the moniker The Nightwatchman in 2011.

In the interview Morello gave to the Teamsters Union, he has a message about the holiday we’re celebrating today, May Day:

My message to Teamsters and workers around the globe on May Day is a message of solidarity and pride in the countless accomplishments, victories, and struggles of workers around the globe, especially here in the United States. I will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters on the frontlines of workers’ struggles, social justice struggles, and do it all with a rocking soundtrack.

Today's Teamster News 05.01.13

CEO Pay 1,795-to-1 Multiple of Wages Skirts U.S. Law  Bloomberg News   ...Former fashion jewelry saleswoman Rebecca Gonzales and former Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson have one thing in common: J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) no longer employs either. The similarity ends there...
Is the TPP a threat to U.S. auto makers?  Michigan Radio   ...On the surface, it sounds like easing trade restrictions with foreign nations could present new opportunities and more business for American companies like the Detroit Three automakers. But, is there a deeper danger to American jobs in these overseas trade agreements?...
Poll: 42 Percent Unaware That ‘Obamacare’ Is Law Of The Land  Talking Points Memo   ...While a majority is cognizant of the law's current status, a startling percentage of Americans is unaware that the Affordable Care Act — the sweeping new federal health care law widely known as "Obamacare" — remains the law of the land, according to findings in a poll released Tuesday...
Why American Airlines Employees Loathe Management  Forbes …The mistrust that labor harbors for American Airlines management is a feud with a history filled with a powerful vitriol that only duplicitous behavior engenders…
Colbert Busch aggressively challenges Sanford in only debate  Washington Post ...It was a tale of two debate strategies Monday night in South Carolina. A lively Elizabeth Colbert Busch struck early and often against Mark Sanford’s record in Congress and as governor while Sanford hit back with consistent attempts to tie his opponent to Democratic congressional leaders in the only debate in South Carolina’s special election campaign.
California may go forward without a financial reserve  Los Angeles Times   ...Arnold Schwarzenegger persuaded voters nine years ago that if they let him borrow money to cover the budget deficit, California's financial woes would end for good. A key part of his plan was a new rainy-day fund to insulate the state from further crisis. Today, the reserve is empty...
Prison food privatization would eliminate 370 state jobs  Detroit Free Press   ...In a reversal, officials said today they will privatize food service for Michigan's 45,000 state prisoners by awarding a nearly $50 million a year contract to catering giant Aramark...
California Fracking Moratorium Clears Key Committee in Assembly  Bloomberg News   ...A California Assembly panel approved a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing by oil and natural-gas producers until the most populous U.S. state assesses health and environmental concerns...
Scarnati frustrated by the fixation on liquor privatization instead of the Pennsylvania state budget   The Patriot-News   ...It’s a couple of months away from the June 30 deadline for getting an on-time state budget as so many lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett pledged to do. But all people seem to want to talk about is liquor privatization, said a frustrated Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati at the Pennsylvania Press Club...
Democrats, Republicans join forces to advocate for Florida ports  Sun Sentinel   ...A bipartisan team from the Florida congressional delegation is banding together to form a "ports caucus" to push the interests of the state's seaports in the nation's capital...
US school bus concerns loom for National Express AGM  International Transport Workers' Federation   ...Concerns over labour practices at its US school bus business subsidiary, Durham School Services, threaten to affect National Express’ Annual General Meeting on May 9 in London...
Interview: Tom Morello Talks to Teamsters, May Day 2013  IBT   ...Every year on May 1, workers around the world celebrate the trials and triumphs of working people. This year, May Day comes with a bold soundtrack thanks to Tom Morello, the Nightwatchman...
Teamsters Warn: Swift Transportation Board Lets CEO Pledge nearly 25 Percent of Outstanding Shares as Collateral for Personal Loans  IBT   ...ISS, the country’s largest proxy voting advisory firm, issued a report Monday recommending that shareholders withhold votes from all members of the Swift Transportation Company Board of Directors’ Audit Committee over concerns about the CEO’s extensive pledging of stock...
Casey Jones, Iconic Locomotive Engineer and American Hero  IBT   ...Next week, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen will celebrate its 150th anniversary at a May 8 event in Detroit. We've been counting down great moments in the history of North America’s oldest union, but April 30 marks a different kind of event—the anniversary of the death of John Luther "Casey" Jones...
Teamsters Local 320 sues Wadena County   Wadena (Minnesota) Pioneer Journal   ...Teamsters Union Local 320, which represents a substantial portion of Wadena County’s workforce, filed a civil lawsuit against the county in the Seventh Judicial District Court in Wadena...

Interview: Tom Morello Talks to Teamsters, May Day 2013

Every year on May 1, workers around the world celebrate the trials and triumphs of working people. This year, May Day comes with a bold soundtrack thanks to Tom Morello, the Nightwatchman.

While May Day is not a national holiday like Labor Day, it celebrates workers across the globe. It began in the United States in 1886 to commemorate the martyrs of the Haymarket riot and the fight for the eight-hour workday. But what good is a working-class holiday without good working-class music?

This year, Morello, the pioneering guitarist behind the politically charged rock group Rage Against the Machine, has partnered with the Teamsters to promote songs from his union-inspired album, “Union Town.” He is giving away his music on the Teamster.org website in honor of May Day 2013. Morello has worked with the Teamsters in the past, performing at the 2011 Teamster rally in Los Angeles and the Teamster Convention that year. Accompanying the May Day 2013 “Union Town” giveaway, the following Teamster Nation interview with Morello gives us a look at his inspiration and insights on music and the labor movement.

Question: Through your music you've been involved in many different movements and social justice causes. But you've been especially involved in labor and union activism. Why?

Morello: I come from a coal mining family in central Illinois and unions were always a big part of the life and fabric of the town. It was always ingrained in me from the time I was a little kid that it's the solidarity of workers that is a crucial counterbalance to corporate greed. And if we don't stand up together, we will certainly be taken advantage of individually. I've been a member of Los Angeles [American Federation of Musicians] Local 47 since 1989 and a member of Industrial Workers of the World as well. I think in a time when the working class and unions are being assailed in the United States, I do my best to fight back with my music.

Given your labor upbringing, had you always aspired to dedicate an entire album to labor and union songs or was that more inspired by recent events?

It was more inspired by recent events. Some of the songs, specifically “Union Town,” were written in response to the labor uprising in Madison, Wisconsin. “Union Town” is a combination of original compositions of mine and classic labor songs that are set with a Rage Against the Machine attitude – including “Solidarity Forever,” Woody Guthrie's “This Land is Your Land,” and “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night.” Since that music is an important part of the history of labor struggle in this country, I wanted to compile my own vision of labor songs with some of the union classics into one cohesive record – and then give it away!

Workers have been facing a tremendous corporate and political assault in states around the country. Do you see any bright spots for labor right now?

I definitely see a lot of bright spots because despite this relentless one-sided class war that the business elite have been carrying out against labor, we're still here. Whether I'm playing at the anti-Wal-Mart rallies, at your Teamster Convention a couple of years ago, or standing in the streets of Madison in the freezing cold, you see there's still a labor movement that is very much alive and well. It's certainly under assault and they're doing everything they can to undermine our power. Corporate America wants to run roughshod over us and enact their agenda without the rights of working people getting in the way. They want to make the whole world into a Wal-Mart sweatshop and one thing that stands in the way of that are unions like the Teamsters.

What do you think it's going to take to turn the tide against the war on workers?

I think as workers we need to stand together in these tough times. I've been a part of the Coalition of Immokolee Workers to the janitors here in Los Angeles. My music has been a part of some historic labor victories in this country. I don't want to paint too rosy a picture because we are under a dire attack. But in times like these, the key thing is solidarity. We have to remember that we're all in this together.

We also need stand by our principles. One thing I see a lot is, in the name of getting the right Democratic congressman in office, we'll sometimes compromise our core values. Just look at the example of Wisconsin. The last thing in the world either political party wanted was a working-class uprising in Wisconsin and they did everything they could to head it off. One thing I want is a working-class uprising on a national scale – on a global scale. That's what my songs are about. So I don't think we should sell ourselves short. We should aim high and shoot for the moon.

We've seen a lot of inspiring flashpoints of labor struggle in recent years, including the Republic Windows and Doors factory occupation, the protests in Wisconsin, the Verizon strike and the recent Chicago teachers strike. But these are also defensive battles. Now workers at Wal-Mart and fast food chains are going on the offensive by organizing and striking. What do you think of the potential these new struggles have for organized labor?

I think it's crucial that, rather than just trying to barely hold as our rights are slowly eroded, we recognize the correct strategy is to go on the offensive. And it's really key to have each other's backs. Again, Madison is a good example. There was an opportunity there to shut down much of lower Wisconsin, demanding the governor's resignation and a 10-point workers' bill of rights. Everybody from junior high school students to firefighters were in the capital. We need to realize that we really are in this together. If one ship starts sinking, the rest of us have to buoy it up. And if one of our ships starts to turn the cannons on the enemy, we all have to turn our cannons at the enemy.

One of the things that struck a lot of people about the protests in Madison was the amount of young people involved. While you do tend to see more young people involved in campaigns against sweatshops and the like, unions have really struggled to bring more youth into the labor movement as active rank-and-file union members. How do you think that can be changed?

That is something which I think we have to look at very hard. One thing to remember about Madison is that it came on the heels of the Egyptian uprising in Cairo, which was also a social media event. People across every age and ethnic group halfway around the globe were standing up against a tyrannical power. Madison was also the first big occupation, claiming the capital building – and it predated the Occupy movement by some six months. That's important because I think young people are drawn to bold action, not to politics as usual – not to backroom deals in smoke-filled rooms with compromise politicians.

What Tahrir Square and Madison had in common was old direct action against clear injustice and it galvanized entire regions. And then it got diluted by politics as usual. The air got let out of that balloon and it wasn't because the other side pushed back too hard. It was because our side was afraid of how big that balloon might get. That's why I think the next time the historical circumstances line up, we need to really take matters into our own hands and have a real grassroots leadership.

You've picked May Day as a day to give away some of your music on the Teamster website this year. You sing about May Day in your song “A Wall Against the Wind.” It's an international working-class holiday that began in the U.S. and has been all but forgotten. What's the significance of this day?

Well, it wasn't forgotten. It was intentionally moved off of May 1 to disassociate United States workers from workers around the globe. Part of the reason of doing this record and giving it away on May Day is to re-educate people in this country about the importance of May Day as a day that celebrates our struggles and celebrates our victories. It celebrates the long history of people in this country boldly standing up and sometimes sacrificing their lives for things that we take for granted. Things like the weekend, the fact that children are not working in coal mines, and the protections we have on the job. Those are things they fought tooth and nail against and we only have them because of the historic struggles of the labor movement. Hopefully future generations will be able to look back at us and those coming after us as people who stood proudly for rights that are unimaginable in these times – rights many don't even dream of yet.

There's also been a resurgence of May Day actions in recent years specifically because of immigrant rights protests. How do the struggles of undocumented workers relate to the spirit of May Day?

A good deal of the labor force now and throughout American history is comprised of immigrants. This country is wholly made up of immigrants and their descendants, except for the Native Americans. We should be paying a great deal of respect to the people who immigrate here. Reform is long overdue, but not just reform. The basic respect and dignity that all people deserve need to be afforded to people who immigrate here. And our May Day parade here in Los Angeles is now tens of thousands strong thanks to the labor movement and the immigrant rights movement recognizing that they are one and the same.

You’ve chosen music as your medium to further social justice and labor issues, whether it’s through Rage Against the Machine or as the Nightwatchmen. What’s the connection between music and these struggles?

There’s never been a successful social justice struggle without a great soundtrack. From the Civil Rights Movement to the anti-war movement to the labor movement, songs have been a great unifier of the working class. Often people of disparate cultural backgrounds can unite around a love of music, and when it contains a potent class-conscious message, those songs have been an important part of steeling the backbone of those involved in labor struggles throughout American history. I am one more link in that chain – a proud link in that chain that goes from Joe Hill to Woody Guthrie to Pete Seeger to Lead Belly, Public Enemy, the Clash and Rage Against the Machine. Music of various genres can put the extra wind in the sails of people who are standing up for their rights.

What’s your message to Teamsters and workers everywhere on May Day 2013?

My message to Teamsters and workers around the globe on May Day is a message of solidarity and pride in the countless accomplishments, victories, and struggles of workers around the globe, especially here in the United States. I will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters on the frontlines of workers’ struggles, social justice struggles, and do it all with a rocking soundtrack.