Today's Teamster News 07.05.13

Most in U.S. Still Proud to Be an American  Gallup   ...Despite their widespread national pride, Americans evince a much more negative response when asked if the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be pleased or disappointed by the way the United States has turned out...
Ralph Nader questions Corporate Patriotism  Economic Populist   ..."Corporations and their attorneys like to be judged as 'persons' under our constitutions and laws. So it is entirely appropriate to judge the character of a U.S. chartered corporation by the measure of corporate patriotism – especially if it is operating worldwide..."
Four Years Into Recovery, Austerity’s Toll is At Least 3 Million Jobs  Economic Policy Institute   ...The fact that four years into the recovery we still have not yet come close to making up the jobs lost in the downturn, (much less the jobs needed to keep up with growth in the potential workforce over that time), is a grimmer situation than anything our labor market has seen in seven decades...
Paid Sick Leave Laws Generate Concern, but Not Much Pain  New York Times   ...Among those companies that did have to put a new policy in place, about half reported that adopting and managing it was not difficult, according to the study. And many businesses fearful that paying for sick leave would drive up expenses have since reported that those concerns were unfounded...
Prosecutions of offshore banks may help turn tide against secrecy  McClatchy   ...The U.S. accused the Swiss adviser of working closely with Swiss banks to help Americans access their undeclared money...
Misinformation on classified NSA programs includes statements by senior U.S. officials  Washington Post   ...But details that have emerged from the exposure of hundreds of pages of previously classified NSA documents indicate that public assertions about these programs by senior U.S. officials have also often been misleading, erroneous or simply false...
EU Votes To Suspend U.S. Data Sharing Agreements Over NSA Scandal  firedoglake.com   ...The fallout from the NSA spying scandal may be just beginning as the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution that would back the European Commission if it decides to suspend data sharing agreements with the U.S...
The next time someone tells you Scott Walker balanced the budget…  Forward Lookout   ...…tell them that they are wrong...
Oregon legislature passes bill to give free tuition to in-state residents  Raw Story   ...This week the Oregon Senate passed a bill that would create a fund allowing it to bypass traditional student lenders by giving free tuition to students who then pay it back with a deduction from their paychecks after they graduate...
Teamsters file unfair labor charge against state prison system  Tampa Bay Times   ...The Teamsters Union on Wednesday filed a new complaint against the state Department of Corrections, challenging time-off restrictions instituted by Gov. Rick Scott's administration dealing with earned time off for more than 20,000 correctional officers...

'We live under the flag, but we won't scab under the flag!'

And, hopefully, it will be an American-made American flag.

If you're thinking of replacing your ragged old flag for the July 4th holiday, here's a list of U.S.-based manufacturers that make American flags, courtesy of the Flag Manufacturers Association of America:

Annin Flagmakers
C.F. Flag 
J.C. Schultz Enterprises, Inc. / FlagSource
Valley Forge Flag
Glaser Mills, Inc.

Their websites either have online catalogs or store locators where you can find the nearest flag store.

According to manufacture this,

The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) often hears from people frustrated by an inability to find “Star Spangled Banners” made in the U.S... 

The Flag Manufacturers Association of America (FMAA) works to make it easy for consumers to know they’re purchasing an American-made flag. The Association certifies flags that are “made in the U.S. of materials that are domestic in origin and that all processes in every step of its manufacture were completed in U.S. facilities with U.S. labor.”

The Flag Manufacturers website also offers an FAQ about the proper way to display and handle the flag. It gives very specific guidelines on displaying a flag In a public gathering, from a staff on the speaker's platform or on the floor. The FAQ also explains why some American flag kits include Chinese-made poles.

And in honor of both the unions that protect freedom and the flag that represents it, we bring you this rallying cry by striking flag-makers during the IWW millworkers' strike in Paterson, N.J., in 1913. The mill owners tried to lure the workers back by hanging American flags on the mill and signs appealing for them to return. The IWW had lapel cards made that said:

We wove the flag; we dyed the flag; we live under the flag; but we won't scab under the flag!

Happy 4th!

'You can't be anti-union and pro-American at the same time'

Let Arlo Guthrie entertain you while you wait for the Ohio results.

Inspiration Wednesday: 'I Am A Patriot'

We're getting sick and tired of Rupert Murdoch's attempts to smear the Occupy movement as a bunch of freeloading anti-American hippies. It took the Australian media mogul's New York Post all of 37 days to compare Occupy Wall Street with Nazi Germany.

We think it's pretty damn patriotic to dedicate your time and money to making America a better place for 99 percent of its citizens. We think standing up for 99 percent of Americans demonstrates true love of country, whether it's by camping out in a park, marching in the streets, refusing to cross a picket line or doing any of the things that labor activists have been doing for years.

Patriotism in this country requires more than short hair, conservative clothing and a membership in the Republican party. For too long people like Murdoch have gotten away with treasonous behavior even as they accuse others of being anti-American. Exhibit A is the Benedict Arnold Koch brothers who fund the flag-waving Tea Party even as they traffick with America's No. 1 enemy, Iran.  If the Tea Party were truly patriotic it wouldn't be taking money from quislings who support a country that funds terrorists who attack Americans.

Also on our list of unAmerican activities is ripping off the U.S. millitary, aka war profiteering.  Our friends KKR and CD&R -- the fast buck artists who bought US Foods, where Teamsters are now striking -- paid $30 million to settle charges that they overcharged the military for supplying food to U.S. troops. Lovely.

The Project on Government Oversight names a number of corporations accused of defrauding U.S. taxpayers. At the top of the list are a whole slew of companies -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrup Grumman -- that would like us to think of them as patriotic. We don't. Not if they're cheating American taxpayers.

Also unpatriotic: sacrificing community values like safety, education and public health for privatization and corporate profiteering.  

We'll round out our list of un-American bad actors with U.S.-based companies that fire Americans in order to hire people overseas.  Within the past decade, U.S. corporations fired 2.9 million Americans and hired 2.4 million overseas. That isn't patriotic. And we'd like to once again ask the foreign-funded Chamber of Commerce to please take "U.S." out of its name.