Ruh-roh: Right-to-work on the agenda in Missouri, Wisconsin

Unions will have at least two big fights on their hands as awmakers in Missouri and Wisconsin said this week they will file right-to-work bills next year.

(This is what happens, by the way, when voter turnout is low. People more likely to vote for anti-worker candidates come to the polls as usual, while people likely to vote for friends of working families stay home.)

Here's what we know about Missouri: State Rep. Bill Lant, who has filed several bills attacking workers, announced he intends to file a right-to-work bill in the next session.

Missouri Digital News tells us:

Southwest Missouri Republican Representative Bill Lant says he will attempt to bring right-to-work legislation to the House floor in the 2015 legislative session...

Lant admits some people will see a decrease in their paycheck...

Our brothers and sisters in Missouri ask Missourians to show Lant they do not want the right to work for LESS. You can send him an email here: Bill.Lant@house.mo.gov or call: 573-751-9801.

We learned most recently about Wisconsin. The Associated Press reported:

A Republican lawmaker promised Tuesday to introduce a right-to-work bill, prompting warnings from a Democratic leader that the state could see a round of protests reminiscent of the massive demonstrations against Gov. Scott Walker's law stripping public workers of their union rights. 

Rep. Chris Kapenga of Delafield, one of the most conservative members of the Assembly GOP caucus, said he's convinced right-to-work legislation is right for the state. He said he believes giving people the choice of whether to join a union will boost incomes and the state's economy... 

The new two-year legislative session begins in January. Kapenga wasn't sure when he would bring the bill forward, saying he needs to talk to the Assembly Republican caucus and make the case for the measure. He said Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, supports the concept.

Our friends at the Center for Media and Democracy tell us the bill will get help from -- you guessed it -- groups backed by the Koch brothers. 

On December 1, a new 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organization calling itself "Wisconsin Right to Work," popped up in Wisconsin promising to "aggressively promote sound public policies and individual freedoms from a grassroots citizen engagement organization." The language is familiar to those who read press releases cranked out by David Koch's Americans for Prosperity (AFP) group, so it is no surprise that new group is led by Lorri Pickens, who has worked for the Koch brothers for years, most recently as AFP's Director of State Operations in Washington, D.C. Pickens was previously associate state director for AFP's Wisconsin chapter from 2005 until 2009. The group is organized as a 501 (c) 4 "social welfare" organization designed to disguise its funders. The group's website was registered by Kurt Luidhart of the Indiana-based "Prosper Group," a GOP digital media firm that Walker's campaign hired in 2014 to run their online fundraising. Luidhart attended Walker's election night party, and has previously done contract work with AFP. 

The Kochs and AFP have spent over millions in recent years in support of Wisconsin's GOP leadership. AFP was very active in providing astroturf or phony grassroots support for right to work when the state of Michigan took it up, verbatim from the ALEC bill, in 2012. 

Although AFP says it is not behind the Wisconsin push, the legislation has long been a priority for the Kochs, whose funding network bankrolls AFP as well as ALEC and the American City and County Exchange (ACCE) the new ALEC-style entity for city and county level politicians. 

ALEC and ACCE are meeting in Washington this week for the annual "State and Nation" policy summit. CMD recently reported that the top of the agenda items at this week's meeting is state preemption of local ordinances to raise the wage and a new proposal fresh off the drawing board at the Koch-funded Heritage Foundation for local right to work laws.

Today's Teamster News 08.31.14

Teamsters
Wage Watch: Court ruling could upend FedEx's business model  Fortune   ...In a ruling with the potential to upend the logistics industry, a three-judge panel on Wednesday decided that FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery drivers are employees of the company and not independent contractors, as FedEx had characterized them...
Trade
Top TPP negotiators to meet in Hanoi for 10-day trade talks  Japan Times   ...Top trade negotiators from 12 countries will hold 10-day talks in Hanoi from Monday, aiming to clinch a broad accord on a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership pact by the end of November...
Wake up America Champions  Trade Reform   ...Post World War II we had about 19 million people employed directly in manufacturing – a sector where producers work.  That was roughly 10% of the population.  Today there are about 330 million people living in the United States.  About 3.5% of the population makes the stuff we consume. ..

State Battles
John Ketzenberger: Right to work and unions  The Star Press   ...The Indiana Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case Sept. 4 from Lake County that found the right-to-work law unconstitutional. Another Lake County judge ruled the law unconstitutional in July. Both decisions hinge on the "particular services" clause of the state Constitution, which states "no person's particular services shall be demanded without just compensation."...
Who's Getting a Raise? Minimum Wage Hikes Gain Steam in States, Cities  NBC News   ...“Because Congress hasn’t acted, states and cities are doing it instead; $10.10 is the new starting point...”
Michigan hourly minimum wage rises to $8.15 on Labor Day  Oakland Press   ...It’s scheduled to increase regularly over the next few years before topping out Jan. 1, 2018 at $9.25...
War on Workers
Private equity's giant collusion case is over, as Carlyle folds  Fortune   ...The plaintiffs had argued that Carlyle and its co-defendants had conspired to not bid against each other on eight large “take-private” buyouts that occurred prior to the financial crisis...
Skydiving event in memory of worker killed in propeller accident  Journal-News   ...Sarah Rhoads, 24, of Miamisburg, died after being critically injured when she accidentally walked into an operating airplane propeller this past June...
More Jobs That Pay Decent Wages: How To Fight Poverty In The United States  IMF   ...nearly 40 percent of American adults will spend at least one year in poverty by the time they reach 60. During 1968–2000, the risk was less than 20 percent. More devastatingly, 1 in 5 children currently live in poverty and, during their childhood, roughly 1 in 3 Americans will spend at least one year living below the poverty line...
The Unprecedented Failure to Regulate Citigroup Continues  Wall Street on Parade   ...Wall Street’s self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), charged Citigroup with cheating its customers out of fair prices on preferred stock trades — 22,000 times. Citigroup was fined a meager $1.85 million, ordered to pay $638,000 in restitution, allowed to neither deny or admit the charges, and sent on its merry way to loot the next unwary investor...

Today's Teamster News 05.09.14

Teamster News
Teamsters Question Executive Compensation At Republic Services Shareholder Meeting  teamster.org   ..."Republic's sanitation workers risk their lives every day to protect the public health, in the sixth-most dangerous job in America," said Robert Morales, Teamsters Solid Waste, Recycling and Related Industries Division Director. "It is offensive that the Republic's CEO's estate will get $14 million if he dies, and in the meantime the company is risking the health of communities and workers..."
Mazel Tov! UPS deliveryman matches a Jewish couple along his route in Crown Heights  New York Daily News   ...Terry Spiers, a UPS deliveryman, played matchmaker on his Crown Heights route earlier this year — and two of the lovebirds he introduced got engaged this month...
Trade
Trans Pacific Partnership A Bad Deal For America  Town Hall   ...The good news is that the Obama administration plans to create a lot of new jobs. The bad news is that those jobs will mostly be in Asia. President Obama's recent trip to Asia revived debate about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement...
State Battles
ALEC vs. American democracy (opinion)  Detroit News   ...without a strong labor movement, both union and nonunion workers have no real avenue to compel employers to provide decent wages, affordable health care and retirement security...And that’s the way the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wants it...
Ohio unions applaud Missouri elected officials for taking stand against Right to Work  PR News Channel   ...With Missouri union supporters attempting to steer clear of becoming a Right to Work state, labor supporters across the country are giving kudos to the Arnold (Missouri) City Council for passing a resolution that opposes Right to Work...
Wage Theft: State, Activists Help Keep Laborers From Being Ripped Off By Employers  Aurora Sentinel   ...The issue has now snared the attention of state lawmakers who this week passed a bill that would make it easier for state investigators to follow-up on wage theft cases and easier for workers who feel cheated to file a claim. The legislation, Senate Bill 5, passed the state Senate last month and the state House on May 5. It is now waiting on Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature...
Rhode Island Senate Considering “Maximum Wage” Legislation  naked capitalism   ...Section 37-2-81 empowers and directs the head of the department of administration to establish rules and regulations that give priority in contract and/or subcontract awards to business enterprises whose best-paid executive receives compensation and/or salary equal to thirty-two times or less than the compensation and/or salary paid to its lowest-paid full-time employee...
War On Workers
150 Workers Die Each Day Just From Doing Their Jobs  Think Progress   ...In 2012, 4,628 workers were killed on the job, which makes an average of 13 deaths per day, according to the AFL-CIO. An estimated additional 50,000 workers died from occupational diseases...
49 Million Americans Go Hungry Despite So-Called Recovery  Huffington Post   ...Dan Ryan and his wife make a combined $2,700 a month, an amount that is too high for them to qualify for food stamps but too low to feed them and their three children...
Japanese Restaurant Eliminates Tipping And Just Pays A Higher Wage  Think Progress   ...Riki Restaurant, a Japanese restaurant in New York, recently decided to eliminate tipping and instead raised its menu prices to pay staff higher wages...
Where The Average Student Loan Burden Is Largest  Washington Post   ...More than a million Americans this year will graduate with substantial student loan debt, the National Conference of State Legislatures recently reported...
Wide Majorities Losing Faith In John Roberts' Supreme Court, Want Term Limits  Huffington Post  ...The landmark Citizens United ruling was opposed by a whopping 80-18 margin. The more recent McCutcheon decision, which lifted caps on total giving, was said by a 51 percent majority to be likely to create more corruption, while 8 percent suggested it would lead to less...
Miscellaneous
Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway  Guardian   ...The proposed line would begin in north-east China and run up through Siberia, pass through a tunnel underneath the Pacific Ocean then cut through Alaska and Canada to reach the continental US, according to a report in the state-run Beijing Times newspaper...

Teamsters to rally tomorrow as vote expected on right-to-work-for-less in Missouri

Teamsters, union families and their supporters will hold a large (and we expect spirited) rally in Missouri's state capital tomorrow as Missouri lawmakers are expected to vote on a right-to-work-for-less bill.

Lawmakers are also expected to vote on paycheck deception. Corporate special interest groups are pushing for right-to-work-for-less and paycheck deception to restrict workers' rights and weaken their political power.

Both HB1617 (Paycheck Deception) and HB1770 (Right to Work) are listed on the House Calendar for this week. Both of them contain  language that would put either paycheck deception or right-to-work-for-less on the August 2014 ballot.

Although both are priorities of Republican leadership in the House, there’s bipartisan opposition to both bills. And as one Republican lawmaker said,

You can follow the debate tomorrow here: http://streaming.house.mo.gov/chamber/. People will be livetweeting using the #moleg hashtag as well as #paycheckdeception, #righttowork, and likely #HB1617 and #HB1770 as well.

We could win this one.

Today's Teamster News 02.09.14

Horse Hockey  New York Post   ...If Mayor de Blasio insists on destroying a world-renowned tourist attraction that provides livelihoods for a few hundred workers, the least he can do is act openly and through the law...
Privately employed seasonal workers fight to keep unemployment benefits  CBS Atlanta   ...A Georgia House committee, however, approved a bill that would eliminate benefits for Brooks and about 60,000 other seasonal workers...
The Prosecution That Isn’t Happening  Baseline Scenario   ...So why isn’t anyone going after Lloyd Blankfein, Angelo Mozilo (for something other than dumping his own Countrywide stock), Jamie Dimon, or any of the other CEOs who, at best, were unaware that their lieutenants and foot soldiers were ripping off their clients?...
Another Drag on the Post-Recession Economy: Public-Sector Wages  Economic Policy Institute   ...public-sector wages have fallen by about 1.3 percent in inflation-adjusted terms since 2007, where private-sector wages have been essentially flat (an increase of 0.3 percent)...state and local government austerity has been a major drag on job growth and the broader economy...
FLUSH THE TPP! Or, How I Came To Hate The Trans Pacific Partnership Deal  IndyBay   ...Want to eat poisoned food or triple your medication costs? TPP will do that...
STUDY: Media Leave Viewers In The Dark About Trans-Pacific Partnership  Media Matters   ...Over The Past Six Months, Network Evening News Shows Have Completely Ignored The TPP...
The lawless 'end of the land' (opinion)  CNN   ...There are many reasons Alaska's rates of violence against women are thought to be so high -- from the long, dark winters to the culture of silence and the history of colonization. But the most tangible reason is this: Much of Alaska is basically lawless...
Malloy Wants Highest-In-Land Minimum Wage For CT  Hartford Courant   ...now the Democratic governor is leading the charge to raise the hourly rate...
Scott unveils $74.2 billion budget  Tallahassee.com   ...He also proposed privatizing custodial services in state buildings, overhauling health-insurance benefits for state workers, and paying bonuses to high-performing employees in state government...
Indiana Legislative Update 2.7.14  AFL-CIO   ...Of major concern is House Bill 1126, which will be heard by the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee on Wednesday morning. If this legislation becomes law it will bring back company stores by allowing employers to charge employees up to $2,500 a year for “purchase” or “use” of uniforms or equipment necessary to do their jobs...
Maine Unions Pan Gov's "Open for Business Zones" Plan  Maine Public Radio   ...Gov. Paul LePage surprised Democrats and Republicans alike in his State of the State address Tuesday night with a plan to attract large employers to Maine. … Successful firms would be entitled to discounted electricity rates, tax breaks and a union-free work force...
Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. Launches Statewide Campaign in Support of Earned Sick Time  Working Families United for New Jersey   ...The campaign will seek to educate the public and elected officials about the importance of establishing an earned sick time policy for workers - a policy that brings social and economic justice to the workplace...
Push to increase minimum wage gains momentum  West Virginia Gazette   ...As more and more states vote to increase the minimum wage, some say the time is right for West Virginia to do so, as well...
W. Va. House Passes Bill to Prevent Discrimination Against Pregnant Women In The Workforce  West Virginia Public Broadcasting   ...On Wednesday the House passed bill 4284, also known as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The bill’s purpose would be to prevent discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace…
Snowden Used Low-Cost Tool to Best N.S.A.  New York Times   ... Intelligence officials investigating how Edward J. Snowden gained access to a huge trove of the country’s most highly classified documents say they have determined that he used inexpensive and widely available software to “scrape” the National Security Agency’s networks, and kept at it even after he was briefly challenged by agency officials...
More than 4,000 groups sign up to protest the NSA  PC World   ...More than 4,000 groups and websites have signed on to support a day of protest against U.S. National Security Agency surveillance programs, scheduled for Tuesday...
Fake-food scandal revealed as tests show third of products mislabelled  The Guardian   ...(British) Consumers are being sold food including mozzarella that is less than half real cheese, ham on pizzas that is either poultry or "meat emulsion", and frozen prawns that are 50% water, according to tests by a public laboratory.

Today's Teamster News 01.07.13

Teamsters Urged To Boycott Yuengling Beer  teamster.org   ...The General Executive Board recently voted to support a Teamsters Union boycott of Yuengling beer over the owner’s push for anti-union laws...
Hampton selectmen, Teamsters reach tentative contract agreement  SeacoastOnline   ...The town will vote on a new contract with the Teamsters in March, after the selectmen and union ratified a tentative agreement Monday night...
Contract deal averts strike at Minnesota oil refinery  Grand Forks Herald   ...Contract negotiators reached agreement on a new three-year contract for St. Paul Park oil refinery workers, who are represented by Teamsters Local 120, hours before a threatened strike was to begin...
Hoffa: Just Like With NAFTA, Fast Track is the Wrong Track for TPP  Huffington Post   ...Teamsters President James P. Hoffa says Congress should learn from the mistakes it made during the passage of NAFTA 20 years ago, including the approval of fast-track authority that limited debate and prevented amendments to the trade agreement. As the fast track discussion begins anew on Capitol Hill, now is the time for lawmakers to take a different path to ensure fair trade...
Japan, U.S. may meet to discuss TPP on fringes of Davos forum  global post   ..."Unless Japan and the United States make certain progress within January, it will be difficult to finalize the whole (negotiations)," Amari told a press conference in Tokyo...
Americans Suffer After Failure to Extend Emergency Unemployment Benefits  U.S. Department of Labor   ...Want to know how this failure is affecting families near you? Here are the latest state-by-state estimates of people who have been impacted, or will be in the near future...
Why the U.S. Oil Boom may go off the Rails  Oil Price   ...Lawmakers and U.S. regulators began asking questions about the safety of transporting oil on the nation's rail system following a December derailment in North Dakota. The emerging anxiety about midstream issues may create new problems for U.S. oil...
Exclusive: Permit Shows Bakken Shale Oil in Casselton Train Explosion Contained High Levels of Volatile Chemicals  DeSmog Blog   ...On January 2, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a major safety alert, declaring oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") in the Bakken Shale may be more chemically explosive than the agency or industry previously admitted publicly. This alert came three days after the massive Casselton, ND explosion of a freight rail train owned by Warren Buffett's Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and was the first time the U.S. Department of Transportation agency ever made such a statement about Bakken crude...
Forever Temp?  In These Times   ...Not only has temporary employment expanded into sectors that used to be sources of stable full-time employment, he says, but it’s often no longer really temporary. Some temps are brought on for only days or weeks, others work for years at the same plant through the same agency...
Click farms are the new sweatshops  Washington Post   ...Online “popularity” is a commodity, and of course it comes from Bangladesh...
JPMorgan Nears $2 Billion Deal Over Involvement With Madoff  Reuters   ...JPMorgan Chase & Co is reportedly nearing a $2 billion settlement with federal authorities to resolve suspicions that the bank ignored signs of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme...
French workers at Goodyear tyre plant take bosses captive  The Guardian   ...Workers at a French tyre factory threatened with closure have taken two company executives hostage and promised to hold them until given "enormous amounts of money"...
The Last Great Class Equalizer In New York Faces A Tech Threat  Huffington Post   ...Here in New York City, where rising income inequality lets the super-rich frolic while the super-poor despair, laundry is one of the few remaining class equalizers...
Former ALEC tactician Robert King among finalists for UW System presidency  The Cap Times   ...Is a former politician and American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) captain on education reform a good fit for president of the University of Wisconsin System?...
As Session Opens, Missouri Legislature May Refight Old Battles But Resolve Some New Ones  St. Louis Public Radio   ...Jones said in an interview that he also plans to seek House passage of a “right-to-work’’ bill to bar unions and employers from requiring workers to join a union, and pay dues, if a majority of the employees votes for representation. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who presides over the state Senate, says he strongly supports such a move.  A debate over union rights would likely ensnare the state Senate in a filibuster by the Democratic minority...

Mega-rich take aim at the states for 2014

Not just Ohio...

Billionaire sociopaths like the Koch brothers are gearing up for another attack on the middle class this year through their allies in state legislatures. Right-to-work-for-less is on their agenda in at least three states -- Missouri, Oregon and Ohio -- along with a panoply of anti-worker initiatives in others.

The Kochs and their friends have bags of money, they are ruthless and they lie.

This is how well-funded they are: Last year alone they spent $400 million on politics, as much as the entire labor movement, reported the Washington Post today:

The political network spearheaded by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch has expanded into a far-reaching operation of unrivaled complexity, built around a maze of groups that cloaks its donors, according to an analysis of new tax returns and other documents. 

The filings show that the network of politically active nonprofit groups backed by the Kochs and fellow donors in the 2012 elections financially outpaced other independent groups on the right and, on its own, matched the long-established national coalition of labor unions that serves as one of the biggest sources of support for Democrats. 

The Post, as usual, makes the mistake of claiming the Kochs are against 'government overreach.' They aren't. They're quite happy with government overreach if they think it helps them.

Right-to-work-for-less laws  force unions to represent workers who refuse to pay the cost of that representation. If that isn't government overreach, we don't know what is.

Now that the new year is here, lawmakers are returning to state capitals and the Koch stooges among them are repeating the Kochs' lies. In Missouri, House Speaker Tim Jones repeated the tired old lie that right-to-work-for-less will make the state competitive with its neighbors. (Though you could argue that's true if  'competitive' means 'competitive in a race to the bottom.')

In Missouri, Ohio and Oregon, the Kochs' patsies want to put right-to-work-for-less on the ballot. They're up to no good in other states as well. In Florida, for example, the Sun-Sentinel is warning against their machinations:

2014 is a make-it-or-break-it year for the Kochs, JMI, FGA, ALEC and whatever new, cozy-sounding names and acronyms they concoct to hide the fact that they're out to take over the country. Somewhere, some Koch-financed group is plotting — and laughing at how easy it is to get most Americans to vote against their own self-interest. With tragic consequences, some people who've made a few bucks regurgitate the garbage of the mega-rich, fantasizing they are one of them and that they're accepted members of the club.

A terrific editorial in the Salem, Ore., Statesman-Journal, describes how the Kochs took aim at Oregon:

Our sense is that it is almost as if a big red X has been affixed to a map of our state by outside influences who have decided in secret that we are to be the next target in their misinformation campaign. Chief among the groups is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an unchecked conservative policy organization bent on convincing more states to enact right-to-work laws, using whatever-it-takes tactics. 

In the months to come, you should expect to hear bloated claims about the positive effects that right-to-work laws have had on state economies. The sad truth is that workers actually reap fewer gains when right-to-work laws are enacted and new businesses are lured to states. The big gains are raked in by the very corporations supporting the greedy goals that ALEC members pledge to support.

We couldn't agree more with their conclusion:

The misinformation campaign is coming, but it does not have to succeed. 

Right-to-work proponents are expecting you to roll over and play dumb. 

We suggest you sit up and become informed.

To sit up and become informed -- and to find out what you can do to help fight the battle over right-to-work-for-less -- check in with these Facebook pages: Oregon AFL-CIO,  We Are Ohio and Stop Right To Work (for less) in Missouri.

Today's Teamster News 01.06.14

Better Than Expected US Economic Data  The Big Picture   ...Generally, the data supports the view that US manufacturing should improve this year...
Meet the Americans Who've Lost Their Unemployment Benefits: "I'm Thoroughly Petrified"  Mother Jones   ..."When you apply for a job at 50 people laugh at you. When you apply for a job at 65 people just look at you like you are crazy..."
The New Financial Scam Driving Workers Deep Into Debt  Alternet   ... there is a new game in town. It’s called “workplace loans” but in many cases they should be called “company store loans...”
Once Upon a Time We Were Winning the War on Poverty  CEPR   ...The rise in inequality over the last three decades explains the lack of progress on reducing poverty...
How Many Constitutional Rights Have Americans Lost?  Washingtons Blog   ...This post explains the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights – the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution – and provides a scorecard on the extent of the loss of each right...
The Exciting New Trend In Citizenship Programs  Q Experts' Blog   ...Citizenship by Investment, also known as Economic Citizenship, has gained popularity in recent years as a means of acquiring a second passport. One of the achievements of the “immigration consultancy” business as a whole has definitely been to make the whole process more respectable...
Proof that offshore banking is the key to embezzling billions  Quartz   ...Four countries’ legal systems are trying to recoup billions from Ablyazov, who used his position as chairman of the bank to make more than $1.7 billion in loans to holding companies in the British Virgin Islands that were never repaid. Those companies are allegedly controlled by Ablyazov...
TAFTA: 'The Global Corporate Coup', Part Two  The BRAD BLOG   ...Don't care for the secretly-negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal? You're not gonna like the Trans-Atlantic 'Free Trade' Agreement (TAFTA) much better...
Chinese dam builders rush to Latin America  China Business   ...China's growing involvement in hydropower development in the region boosts clout but also leads to allegations of poor corporate responsibility...
Right-to-work laws do nothing to increase jobs (opinion)  Statesman-Journal   ...How inevitable is a right-to-work fight in Oregon? Our sense is that it is almost as if a big red X has been affixed to a map of our state by outside influences who have decided in secret that we are to be the next target in their misinformation campaign...
Oregon County Won't Raise Taxes, Resorts to Posse  Economic Populist   ...These people do not have the money to pay more taxes and if you want to blame anyone, blame Congress for stopping timber payments to rural regions where jobs are scarce.  It's no surprise areas with poverty rates above 20% reject an increase in mandatory taxes under these circumstances. Bottom line, these rural areas are returning to the wild west and vigilante justice is sure to follow...

Today's Teamster News 01.04.14

Mayor De Blasio’s Horse Policy Is a Pile of Manure (opinion) Daily Beast   ...Bill de Blasio’s first priority as New York City’s leader is to ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park. Are you kidding?...
US economy losing 'up to a $1bn a week' after jobless benefits cut  The Guardian   ...The US economy is losing up to a billion dollars a week because of the “fiscally irresponsible” decision to end long-term unemployment benefits, a Harvard economist said on Friday...
Worrisome Spike in Student Loan Write-Offs  American Banker   ...Between January and August of last year, lenders wrote off $13.6 billion in student loan debt, a 46 percent increase from the same period of 2012 and the highest amount for this period in any of the last eight years, according to the data from Equifax (See chart 2)...
Beanie Baby Billionaire Seeks to Avoid Jail for Tax Crime  Bloomberg   ...H. Ty Warner, the billionaire creator of Beanie Baby plush toys, asked a judge to give him probation, not prison, for evading taxes on secret Swiss accounts that held as much as $107 million...
Is the NSA Spying on Congress?  Sen. Bernie Sanders   ...U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today asked the National Security Agency director whether the agency has monitored the phone calls, emails and Internet traffic of members of Congress and other elected officials...
Secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership Revealed  Eugene Weekly   ...The TPP talks about a trade deal will govern 40 percent of U.S. imports and exports as well as affect copyrights, pharmaceuticals and more. They are being conducted in secret, and only a few portions of the agreement and memos about it have been leaked...
The secret trade deal that threatens Maine’s frail economy  Portland Phoenix   ...Dozens of shoe factories once employed 30,000 workers in Maine, making it the top shoe-producing state. What’s left of that workforce — several hundred New Balance employees — could soon be gone too, thanks to a massive free trade agreement that’s expected to eliminate a series of tariffs on imported footwear. And jobs may not be all the state has to lose...
Idaho to take over privately-run state prison  Associated Press   ...Idaho's governor says the corrections department will take over operation of the largest privately-run prison in the state after more than a decade of mismanagement and other problems at the facility. Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America has contracted with the state to run the prison since it was built in 1997...
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin GOP Senator, Fights For A Seven-Day Workweek  Huffington Post   ...Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is attempting to roll back one of the state's progressive labor laws, arguing that workers should be allowed to work without a day off if they so choose...
Video shows businesses lobbying Rebecca Kleefisch for more tax breaks in closed-door meeting  Wisconsin State Journal   ...A recently released video of the Dec. 9 session at Beloit College shows Kleefisch and state Revenue Department Secretary Rick Chandler extolling state efforts to reduce taxes since Republicans took over state government in 2011, and saying they wanted private-sector ideas for another round of cuts...
Pot sales exceed $1 million on first day  9News.com   ...Pot shops did record sales compared to the "medical marijuana days" on Wednesday when recreational marijuana opened. Pot shop owners across Colorado believe they collectively made more than $1 million statewide...
Fun with Numbers  Sheila Kennedy   ...the folks who opposed Right to Work were right when they characterized the measure as “Right to Work for Less.”...

RTW on billionaires' agenda in 3 (at least) states

The Benedict Arnold  Koch brothers and their greedy billionaire friends are at it again, trying to sucker the public into thinking busting unions is somehow good for 'freedom' and 'business.'

David Lieb at the Associated Press has the story:

Buoyed by recent successes in the Midwest, conservatives and business groups are targeting at least three additional states for new efforts that could weaken labor unions by ending their ability to collect mandatory bargaining fees. 

The latest efforts are focused on Missouri, Ohio and Oregon and - in a new twist - could put the issue before voters in 2014 instead of relying on potentially reluctant governors to enact laws passed by state legislators. 

The strategy of appealing to voters could avoid a redo of the massive union-led protests that clogged some Midwestern capitols where Republicans recently enacted other anti-labor proposals...

Lieb exposes the motive behind politicians who promote right-to-work-for-less laws: Money.

"There's national money to be had, and there are large donors in the state that definitely want to move forward," said Jill Gibson Odell, a Portland, Ore., attorney who is sponsoring an initiative to restrict union fees for public employees in her state. 

(At least Odell is honest about her, um, hustle.)

We've seen over and over billionaires like the Koch brothers buying off politicians so they can lower workers' wages.

We know for a fact that Koch buddy and  Ponzi scheme Amway heir Dick DeVos promised Michigan lawmakers money if they'd vote for right-to-work-for-less. A Michigan lawmaker said so in front of an electronic recording device.

If the Koch brothers cared so much about freedom, they wouldn't have sold oil equipment to Iran.

Today's Teamster News 12.04.13

2014 Teamsters Leadership Academy (TLA) Course Summary  teamster.org   ...Below is a list of the 2014 Teamsters Leadership Academy programs available from the IBT Training and Development Department for Teamster leaders. Download the schedule here...
Report: ALEC faces financial, possibly legal, problems  UPI   ...A conservative U.S. lobbying group critics say has undue influence on public policy faces a funding crisis and possible legal trouble, internal documents show...
Ill. Legislature OKs fix for $100B pension crisis  Associated Press   ...A coalition of unions known as We Are One Illinois, which lobbied heavily against the bill, issued a statement saying the legislation is unfair to workers and retirees who for years made faithful contributions to retirement systems but now will see benefits cut because of government mismanagement. "This is no victory for Illinois, but a dark day for its citizens and public servants," they said. "Teachers, caregivers, police and others stand to lose huge portions of their life savings because politicians chose to threaten their retirement security..."
Judge: Detroit eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy  Associated Press   ...Detroit is eligible to shed billions in debt in the largest public bankruptcy in U.S. history, a judge said Tuesday in a long-awaited decision that now shifts the case toward how the city will accomplish that task...
Missouri Extremists Get an Early Start on Attacking Working Families for 2014 Legislative Session  AFL-CIO Now   ...Extremist pro-corporate Republicans in Missouri are getting an early start on attacking the rights of working families by pre-filing a "right to work" for less bill for the 2014 legislative session. While there undoubtedly will be similar attacks in other states in 2014, Missouri is the first state to take formal steps to strip working families of their rights...
Scott Walker campaign aide fired after tweets demeaning Hispanics  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel   ...For the second time in less than four months, Gov. Scott Walker has fired an aide for making demeaning comments about Hispanics on social media...
Fast Food Strikes Will Hit 100 Cities On Thursday  ThinkProgress   ...Fast food workers will stage a one-day strike against their employers in 100 cities on Thursday ... Strikes will take place for the first time in some cities, such as Charleston, SC; Providence, RI; and Pittsburgh, PA.
They’ll also stage protests in an additional 100 cities, activists say...
Fast food CEOs exploit despicable tax loophole  Salon   ...Outrageous: In two years, fast food corporations paid out $183 million in deductible "performance pay" to top brass...
Making One Do the Work of Three: My Years at Wal-Mart  CounterPunch   ...This is the text of a speech given on November 29, in Raleigh, North Carolina by former Wal-Mart worker Patrick Snipes...
Cisco Says NSA Costing Them Major Business Abroad  firedoglake   ...Cisco Systems, one of the largest networking equipment sellers in the world, has been losing major business in the wake of the NSA spying scandal. The company has publicly blamed the NSA for sowing distrust between American technology companies and the rest of the world – potentially costing them billions...
Race to the Bottom: Declining State Corporate Tax Rates  CounterPunch   ...Behind the decline in the corporate income tax as a share of total tax revenues lies the growing proliferation of corporate tax exemptions, credits, deferral of payments, and various other ‘loopholes.’...
Global Elites Getting Nervous About Skyrocketing Inequality (But Won't Spare a Nickel to Fix It)  AlterNet   ...There’s a lot of handwringing, but will elite anxiety bring any changes?...
Survey: Rich kids reap benefits of online courses  Bloomberg News ...An international poll casts doubt on the idea that the free online classes will benefit disenfranchised students...
As Hospital Prices Soar, a Single Stitch Tops $500  New York Times   ...Hospital pricing is often convoluted, and hospital charges represent about a third of the total United States health care bill...

ALEC's right to work for less bill filed in Missouri today

Missouri state lawmakers who belong to the anti-worker, corporate-empowerment group ALEC pre-filed a right-to-work-for-less bill in the Legislature today.

ALEC member Donna Lichtenegge, a state representative, sponsored the bill, and the former state ALEC co-chair Speaker Tim Jones is lead sponsor. The bill text is not yet available.

We Are Missouri issued a statement opposing the bill, saying extremists are starting the 2014 session with a step in the wrong direction:

“Missouri’s elected leaders should work together to create jobs here in our state,” said Mike Louis, Secretary Treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO. “While it isn’t a surprise that extremist politicians would instead file a ‘right to work’ bill on the first day of session, it is shameful that they would make this unnecessary and confusing bill their first priority for 2014. It is time for our elected officials to work together to create good jobs and safe work places instead of trying to micromanage relationships between businesses and their employees.”   

“It is simple – “right to work” bills are wrong for Missouri. It's a corporate power grab that's in the best interests of CEOs - not our state. Studies have shown that 'Right to Work' means less jobs, lower wages and more dangerous workplaces,” said Bobby Dicken, utility line crew foreman from Poplar Bluff. “I’m disappointed that SEMO area State Representative Donna Lichtenegger and Speaker Tim Jones seem to be more concerned with doing the bidding of special interest groups like ALEC instead of helping middle class Missouri families.” 

“This bill won’t create a single job,” said Vicki Hurt, who works for the Missouri Children’s Division in Branson. “These unnecessary attacks on working people hurt our middle class families, harm our public schools and put our safety at risk. Right to Work' is a divisive partisan political issue meant to punish labor unions that puts our everyday heroes in danger.”

Today's Teamster News 11.24.13

Teamsters contract to bring less than 2 percent raises  Ironton Tribune   ...The first Teamsters contract for employees of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office will bring them raises over the next three years...
Anheuser-Busch InBev, Teamsters Conclude Round of Contract Talks  CBS St. Louis   ...Teamsters Local 6 Principal Officer Ron Shy says the three-week-long local talks wrapped up last night with what he says are a “couple of unresolved issues” they will take to the national talks that open in St. Petersburg, Florida on December 2...
Middletown Boro, Teamsters local reach agreement on holiday decoration volunteers  Fox 43   ...Earlier this fall, Arnold announced the Borough would be forced to suspend the decorating activities this year after members of Teamsters Local 776 filed grievances seeking compensation for the work the volunteers did last year...Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the union recognizes the Borough’s right to use volunteers so long as such use does not result in employee layoffs...
Walmart Protests Promised To Be Even Bigger This Black Friday  Huffington Post   ...Walmart workers and their supporters are planning to kick off this year's holiday shopping season with protests at 1,500 Walmart stores around the country on Nov. 29...
Civil Society Groups Demand Transparency and User Protections in TPP  Electronic Frontier Foundation   ...Civil society groups are coming out in force against the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, following Wikileaks' publication of the “Intellectual Property” chapter...
An Orgy of Thieves  Counterpunch   ...There was indeed a vast criminal class coming to full vicious potential in the 1990s: a group utterly vacant of the most elementary instincts of social propriety, devoid of moral fiber, selfish to an almost unfathomable degree. The class comes in the form of our corporate elite...
Analysis: U.S. businesses back Tea Party Republicans after shutdown  Reuters   ...Eight of the most active business PACs wrote checks totaling $84,750 to 56 Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives after they voted against an October 16 deal to re-open the government that had been shut down since October 1 and avert an imminent debt default...
End the 1 percent’s free ride: Taxing land would solve America’s biggest problems  Salon   ...Just tax the stuff that humans had nothing to do with creating, and therefore have no basis to claim ownership over at all. You’ll find that almost all of it is “owned” by the fabled 1 percent...
Robert Samuelson Is Upset that the Government Gives One Thousand Times as Much Money to Billionaires Like Peter Peterson as It Does to Poor Children  Center for Economic Policy and Research   ...we should look at the billions of dollars in interest paid out on government bonds to rich people like Peter Peterson without taking account of the fact that Peterson and his billionaire friends paid for these bonds...
Watch economic insecurity spread like a virus over a quarter-century  Washington Post   ...the two great transformations of the economy over the late 20th century have been the rise in inequality and the increasing risk that households and workers bear...
Caught in a Revolving Door of Unemployment  New York Times   ... joblessness lasting more than six months is a major factor preventing people from getting rehired, with potentially grave consequences for tens of millions of Americans...
Susan J. Demas: How the Democrats blew it after Right to Work (opinion)  Michigan Live   ...they filed a couple long-shot lawsuits and essentially decided to give up...
Ohio unions optimistic about shifting Right to Work landscape  Keep Ohio's Heritage   ...Following this month’s colossal failure of the Ohioans for Workplace Freedom Election Day signature push, labor groups believe that Ohio voters are beginning to make their choice clear at the ballots...

New online guide to Michigan governor's failures

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who famously railroaded a right to work (for less) bill through the Legislature last year, has a new on-line critic. Progress Michigan launched a new website today called Snyder fails. You can find it at www.SnyderFails.org.

In a statement today, Progress Michigan said:

Progress Michigan will expose Snyder’s real record on the issues that matter to Michigan’s middle-class and working families... 

Snyder Fails will take the governor to task over his supposed love of metrics and numbers. Featured on the site will be a “By the Numbers” section, which will track in simple math just how bad Snyder’s policies have been for Michiganders.

Here's how bad:

• Michigan cut $100 million in funding to local communities
• Slashed billions of dollars from school districts
• Given away billions in corporate tax breaks.

The result has been devastating to Michigan's working families. The state ranked second in job growth when he became governor. Now Michigan ranks 36th, with the fourth worst unemployment rate in the country.

Remember when right to work (for less) was supposed to help Michigan's economy? No, we don't either.

Today's Teamster News 10.27.13

Teamsters score big organizing gains, go “kosher” too!  People's World   ... while the biggest win was in Santa Monica, Calif., the most unusual saw the union "go kosher" - winning an election and a first contract for 15 kosher dining hall workers at the University of Pennsylvania...
Sell-Out Alert: 9 Democrats Already Caving to GOP On Social Security Cuts  Alternet   ...There are at least nine in the Senate. California’s Dianne Feinstein, Montana’s Max Baucus, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, Delaware’s Chris Coons and Tom Carper, and Colorado’s Michael Bennett have all said they support cuts to entitlements in letters to constituents, proposed bills or statements...
Putting Profits First? No Way – Health Groups  Medical Observer   ...militant health groups belonging to Health Alliance for Democracy and the People’s Health Movement-Philippines picketed the office of the World Health Organization to express their strong opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement...
Jiangxi businessman pays model Mo Lulu 100,000 yuan to breastfeed him  South China Morning Post   ... at a private dinner after the automobile show, Mo breastfed a man who paid her 100,000 yuan. According to the report, the businessman called Mo “mom” every time he took a sip. Other people at the dinner took photos and uploaded them online...
Middle Classes Are Stronger in States with Greater Union Membership  Center for American Progress Action Fund   ... four of the top five union states—Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, and Rhode Island—had middle classes of above-average strength...
Marty Sullivan figured out how the world’s biggest companies avoided billions in taxes. Here’s how he wants to stop them.  Washington Post   ...it was Sullivan who in 2010 pieced together from public filings that Apple had understated its reported profits to hide the fact that it was paying a tax rate of less than 2 percent on its overseas profits, shining the spotlight on Apple’s tax avoidance schemes...
Means-Tested recovery: Over 108,000,000 Americans received means-tested benefits in latest report from Census Bureau, more than are currently employed full-time.  My Budget 360   ...the stock market is rallying higher and higher thanks to financial maneuvering but the actual American worker is taking it on the chin.  This is obviously unsustainable...
Libertarians And Progressives Team Up Against NSA Surveillance  Buzzfeed Politics   ...Organized by the coalition Stop Watching Us, which includes dozens of groups ranging from Internet freedom advocates to Tea Party organizations, the rally attracted hundreds of people to the Capitol Reflecting Pool to protest the electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency revealed by Edward Snowden this year...
Police, fire pension fund still falls short, report says  Columbus Dispatch   ...Rep. Lynn Wachtmann, the Napoleon Republican who leads the Ohio Retirement Study Council…threatened to dismantle the Police & Fire Fund as a separate board because of what he perceives as members’ continued intransigence. “Some of these members are union thugs who know about power and aren’t afraid to use power or abuse power if they need that to win...”
Tea Party activists gather signatures for so-called right to work amendment  Plunderbund   ...At this rate, Ohioans could vote to make Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States before we ever get a chance to vote on another anti-union measure in Ohio.  Unless, of course, they pick up a lot of funding and start collecting signatures at a faster pace...
LETTER: Asbestos Bill Will Complicate Veterans' Claims  Wisconsin State Journal   ...veterans make up only 8 percent of the population, but 30 percent of all mesothelioma-related deaths. Senate Bill 13 would add additional hurdles for victims seeking claims against asbestos companies and would delay or deny justice for asbestos victims...
Georgia man runs into burning home to save beer  KTRK   ..."I went back into the house like a dummy." That's what one man in Georgia said after he risked his life to save beer from his fridge while his house was on fire...

Fox News fires anti-union provocateur

You may remember this jackass from the Teamsters' battle over right-to-work-for-less in Michigan nearly a year ago. His name is Steven Crowder. Last year he went to the protest outside the Capitol, he tried to cause trouble and he made a phony video that showed 'union violence' at a protest outside the capitol. Then Fox News aired the video -- over and over. Now Fox fired him.

The bad news is that Crowder didn't get fired for doctoring videos to make union members look bad. It was because he criticized Sean Hannity. Or maybe it was because he just wasn't that funny, and he criticized Hannity as the door was slamming him in the butt.

Whatevs. It is with absolutely no sorrow that we note the death of Steven Crowder's career.

Today's Teamster News 09.10.13

Teamsters, Paratransit Services management reach tentative deal   Lake County Record Bee   ...Teamsters Local Union No. 665 and Paratransit Services, the company contracted to manage transit services in the county by Lake Transit Authority, reached a tentative collective bargain agreement Thursday for a new contract...
Local-by-Local ABF Re-Vote Totals  teamster.org   ...Here are the local-by-local ABF totals for the seven supplements that were re-voted and counted on August 28...
James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Essay Contest  teamster.org   ...Children and dependent grandchildren of Teamster members have until Sept. 30 to enter the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund Essay Contest, which gives higher-education students the opportunity to win a one-time $1,000 award from the union...
UPS Teamsters to Vote Again on Rejected Agreements  Transport Topics   ...Teamsters at UPS Inc. will vote again starting on Sept. 18 on seven of the 17 supplemental agreements that were rejected in June when the national master agreement was approved, the union has announced...
Judge declares Indiana ‘right to work’ law unconstitutional  Raw Story   ...Indiana’s much-derided “right-to-work” law was ruled unconstitutional on Monday by a state Superior Court judge, paving the way for another legal battle with the state Supreme Court...
Moral Monday protest in Moore County, a Republican stronghold, draws hundreds  fayobserver.com   ...A strong turnout at a Moral Monday event in Republican-heavy Moore County shows that the movement goes beyond party lines, the head of the state chapter of the NAACP said...
'Moral Monday' held in Moore County  WTVD-TV   ... The "Moral Monday" movement moved to the Moore County and dozens showed up to support it...
Labor, with union membership declining, will woo non-workers  The Hill   ...Facing what AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka called a “crisis” of membership, officials took the dramatic step at their annual convention of adopting a resolution that invites anyone in the country to join, regardless of union affiliation...
Stop TPP Protections for Big Tobacco  Huffington Post   ...Under present trade rules, predatory tobacco corporations have new global rights to challenge important tobacco control laws and regulations in the U.S. and elsewhere that help people quit smoking, and keep kids from getting addicted, like a ban on clove cigarettes, and limitations on advertising. The TPP would perpetuate and extend these trade rules and their threats to health...
The Majority of New Jobs are Not Part-Time  Economic Populist   ... people working part-time hours as a percentage of all the new employed was 17%.  We expect this figure to be higher than official part-time jobs for people are still getting their hours cut and denied full-time hours due to the economy not really running at full throttle...
China Still Sucking the Life out of the World Economy  Trade Reform   ... China’s trade surplus is growing again because they have doubled down on sucking the life out of the global economy to feed their rapid growth.  It is parasitic.  Global imbalances in trade are bad.  That is the economics.  Persistent global imbalances in trade flows are really bad.  It shows that the market is not working...
Cloud computing in China, paid for by the U.S. trade deficit  manufacture this   ...Beijing plans to put $1 billion toward cloud-computing development in the coming years, and fold those advancements into its computer warfare efforts...
Invasive Tactic in Foreclosures Draws Scrutiny  New York Times   ...In suing Safeguard, Lisa Madigan, the attorney general, contends that the company broke into homes despite stark evidence that homeowners still lived in them, bullied tenants into leaving even though they had no legal obligation to do so and, in some instances, damaged the very homes they were sent to protect, according to the suit...

Oregon guv says he'll fight RTW4Less for government workers

Oregon's governor John Kitzhaber slammed a proposed ballot measure that would impose right-to-work-for-less on government workers during a Labor Day picnic.

Backers of the ballot measure want to crush Oregon unions. They say they don't but they're lying.

Jeff Mapes at The Oregonian reported:

Kitzhaber, speaking at a Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park sponsored by the Northwest Labor Council, denounced the initiative as an attempt to turn Oregon into a "so-called right-to-work state" that would weaken unions and leave workers less well-off... 

"A right-to-work state means you have a right to work for less without a voice in the workplace," Kitzhaber told the labor crowd. "A right-to-work state means you have a right to be exploited and ripped off and work at unsafe jobs and low wages and no benefits." 

The governor charged that anti-union forces are targeting Oregon "because this is where labor is strongest." He cited organized labor's role in passing the nation's second highest minimum wage law and noted that Oregon's largest union -- Service Employees International Union -- has been able to reverse the general trend in declining union membership by organizing home health care workers... 

...unions have already been girding for another fight over an initiative they believe is aimed at weakening the public employee unions, which are key backers of Democratic candidates in Oregon... 

He said right-to-work laws strike at the heart of unions that he said play a crucial role in building the middle class. "Without organized labor, we have very little chance to address the growth of income disparity," he said.

Union members' stories from across the USA

Rick interviews Mike Kerwin.

The good works, struggles and victories of union members are stories that need to be told. Our Teamster brother Rick Smith has been telling them for years on his radio show from Harrisburg, Pa. And since June 10, Rick has been traveling the country telling those stories from Pennsylvania to California.

In St. Louis and Detroit, Smith spoke with Roy Gillespie, Teamsters Human Rights Commission representative, and Greg Nowak, president of Teamsters Joint Council 43 in Detroit. He also interviewed local labor historians about the history of organized labor in Michigan.

Gillespie has asked Teamster locals in Missouri, Oklahoma and the New York area for help in recovering from natural disasters. Never was help refused. Said Gillespie, 

We worked with the Red Cross and FEMA coordinating the type of union assistance that is needed after a disaster strikes. Whether it’s building stairs or transporting food or furniture, we have met the need. The Teamsters Human Rights Commission is a network of people who are community-minded. It’s what being part of a union is all about.

Mike Kerwin, a labor historian and a director of the Michigan Labor History Society, described how Henry Ford, seen by many as a benevolent employer, actually pushed workers to their limit.  Ford forced them to work faster and longer on his production lines. Other auto companies followed a similar model. Then, said Kerwin,

...in December of 1936 workers in the General Motors plants had had enough of being pushed and sat down at work – and soon similar sit-down strikes occurred at other plants. But, union organizers were ready so 41 days later the workers had their first contract.

Nowak said Michigan will rebound from the recent passage of Right-to-Work (for less) laws. The passage of the law in Michigan has long been the goal of CEOs and billionaires who want more of workers’ income for themselves. These laws weaken workers’ rights, lower wages and make workplaces more dangerous.

Said Nowak,

Michigan and Detroit are resilient. Our main challenge will be to educate voters about how wrong Right to Work laws are. Lower wages, erosion of the middle class – that’s what Right to Work is about.

Rick's daily labor radio show is available on Stitcher and via his website. Listen to the shows from Detroit and St. Louis here.

Woot! No Rights At Work tabled in OH

This just in: No Rights at Work legislation was put on hold today in Ohio, according to the chairman of the House Manufacturing and Workforce Development Committee.

Two bills were heard in committee today before a packed room of labor supporters. According to Ohio House Democratic Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard, who supported the workers:

Hundreds descended on the Ohio Statehouse today as HJR 5 and HB 151 received their first hearing in the House Manufacturing and Workforce Development Committee. HB 151 is a bill that would hurt private sector employee’s ability to collectively bargain, and HJR 5 is a resolution to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to make Ohio a so-called “right to work” state.

Committee Chairman Rep. Kirk Schuring said the decision was unanimous to table the measure:

I’ve surveyed the committee and for a wide variety of reasons, the committee has determined that it would not be appropriate to have additional hearings on the legislation.

It's a sweet victory for now, but anti-worker extremists will not stop in their efforts to weaken workers' rights. We can expect No Rights at Work to rear its deceptive head in Ohio again in 2014 or 2015.

And remember, No Rights at Work wasn't on the agenda in Michigan last year ... until it suddenly was -- and rammed through the Legislature in a lame-duck session.

We must be ever vigilant.