Today's Teamster News 04.21.15

Teamsters
Longtime Union Activist Rodney Smith Helps Organize Facebook Shuttle Drivers  Contra Costa Times   ...As a union organizer for Teamsters Local 853 based in San Leandro, Smith played a key role in winning the drivers their first union contract. In the process, the father of two helped pull off a precedent-setting vote that targets the growing income gap in Silicon Valley...
Pilots Fault Allegiant on Safety as Talks Stall  New York Times   ...But Allegiant’s scrappy success is now being questioned by its pilots, who say they are worried about repeated mechanical problems with the airline’s fleet of older planes, poor maintenance operations and a culture where profits come before safety. All the claims were reported by the pilots and compiled by the Teamsters Aviation Mechanics Coalition on behalf of the pilots’ union, the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224...
PCC unions question change on carpenters, Teamsters   Philly.com  ...Marino wrote a letter saying he would dismiss complaints - primarily on technical grounds - by the Metropolitan Council of Regional Carpenters and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which said they had been improperly shut out of work last May at the Convention Center. On Thursday, Marino reversed course, saying he would hear arguments in the case...

Global Labor & Trade
‘Fast Track’ Trade Bill Taps Tension In Ohio  Wall Street Journal   ...Rep. Tim Ryan doesn’t need to travel far from home to see the damage he ascribes to bad trade deals. “You can see how it’s hollowed out,” said the Democratic lawmaker, pointing to empty or underutilized steel plants on a recent tour of his district in northeast Ohio. “Global trade regimes aren’t fairly written if this is the end result.”...
Japan says trade talks with US are close to deal   The Hill   ...Abe said he and Obama must play a leadership role to wrap a deal and “ultimately, what needs to happen is for both countries to make a political decision” to tackle difficult remaining issues. A U.S.-Japan bilateral agreement is a major step toward completing the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)...
Progressive Coalition Tells Lawmakers: 'Don't Trade Away Our Future' with Fast Track  Common Dreams   ...With members of Congress set to debate Fast Track authority this week, hundreds of environmentalists, consumer advocates, nurses, labor leaders, and elected officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder at a Washington, D.C. rally on Monday, pleading with lawmakers: 'Don't Trade Away Our Future!'
AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka explains why labor unions hate Obama’s trade deal  Vox  ...The TPP has created some strange bedfellows: the Obama administration has found itself with many GOP allies in promoting the trade deal, while unions and liberals like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders staunchly oppose it. Vox spoke with Trumka recently about why he opposes the pact...
Don't Let TPP Gut State Laws  (opinion) Politico   ...State laws and regulators are increasingly important as gridlock in Washington makes broad federal action on important issues an increasingly rare event. From environmental protection to civil rights to the minimum wage, the action is at the state level. Ironically, one thing that may get done soon in Washington is a trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has the potential to undermine a wide range of state and local laws...
Fast Tracking Democracy To Hell  (opinion) Huffington Post   ...The Congressional free traders want to Fast Track authorization of the TPP. Fast Track enables Congress to abdicate its constitutionally mandated duty to regulate international trade. Instead of scrutinizing, amending and improving proposed trade deals, lawmakers use Fast Track to gloss over the specifics and simply vote yea or nay on the entire package as presented...

State & Living Wage Battles
Workers Allege Walmart Closes Stores To Retaliate Against Strikes  Think Progress  ...Over the weekend, the AFL-CIO and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union filed an injunction on their behalf with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Walmart. “The Board should seek injunctive relief compelling Walmart to rehire every one of the 2200 Associates who have been terminated in all 5 stores,” it says...
David Koch on 2016 GOP Nominee: ‘It Should be Scott Walker.’ But...   The Nation   ...According to several reports from a New York State Republican Party fund-raising event on Monday, David Koch told the big donors: “We will support whoever the candidate is. But it should be Scott Walker.” That sounded like an endorsement. So did what Koch said outside the Manhattan event, at which Walker also spoke. Koch hailed the governor of Wisconsin “a tremendous candidate.”...
TWMP talks Right-to-Work, the budget, and 2016   The Missouri Times   ...Senate Pro Tem Tom Dempsey joined This Week In Missouri Politics to discuss the coming budget fight and his decision to put Right-to-Work legislation on the Senate calendar for debate...
Little Momentum for National Right-to-Work, Despite Support by White House Contestants  Bloomberg News   ...Despite the backing of at least two of the three current Republican presidential candidates and similar laws in place in half the states, right-to-work legislation remains highly unlikely to move at the federal level any time soon, lawmakers and other observers told Bloomberg BNA...
Not just fast food: Full-service restaurant chains pay poverty wages, too  Daily Kos   ...Fast food isn't the only part of the restaurant industry where workers are seriously underpaid. A recent report from the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United shows that many workers in full-service restaurants are also paid so little that they need and get nearly $9.5 billion in public assistance each year...
How a $15 Minimum Wage Helps All Workers   Counterpunch   ...Regardless of their reasoning, the anti-$15 workers are arguing against their own best interest, since a $15 minimum wage would benefit the overwhelming majority of people who make over $15 an hour. This is because a $15 minimum wage would transform the labor market in favor of all working people. Economists have even given a term for this phenomenon, called “compression,” which describes the effects of how rising lower wages puts pressure on employers to raise wages for higher paid workers...
New York City Just Outlawed Running Credit Checks on Job Applicants   The Nation   ...The legislation, which passed last Thursday following an extensive grassroots campaign by local and national labor and community groups, restricts a boss, prospective employer or agency from “us[ing] an individual’s consumer credit history in making employment decisions.”...

U.S. Labor
Safety Regulations Issued For Trains Carrying Oil  New York Times   ...Responding to public pressure to act more quickly after a series of fiery train derailments involving oil shipments, the Transportation Department on Friday issued a series of emergency orders, including a 40-mile-an-hour speed limit for hazardous materials moving through urban areas. The emergency rules also require railroads to provide detailed information about a shipment within 90 minutes of any derailment...
Why Can't America Have Great Trains?  National Journal   ...Along with PBS and the United States Postal Service, Amtrak is perpetual fodder for libertarian think-tankers and Republican office-seekers on the prowl for government profligacy. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush repeatedly tried to eliminate its subsidy, while Mitt Romney promised to do the same. Democrats, for their part, aren't interested in slaying Amtrak, but mostly you get the sense they just feel bad for it...
One-day teacher strikes planned this week  King5.com  ...Teachers in eight school districts, from Arlington to Blaine, announced one-day strikes this week to protest the lack of funding for public schools. They look at their act of civil disobedience as an opportunity to demand that lawmakers to fully fund public schools as mandated by a state supreme court decision, and reduce class size according to the voter approved Initiative 1351...
NLRB Upholds Howard University Docs' Union Vote  Union City   ...Resident physicians at Howard University Hospital and community leaders are calling on hospital officials to come to the table to negotiate a first contract with the residents’ union in the wake of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling upholding the union election held earlier this year, in which a majority of the 263 Howard resident physicians voted in favor of representation...

Miscellaneous
Corporate Giants Often Get Huge Tax Breaks, While Poor, Undocumented Immigrants Have Paid Billions In State Taxes  New York Daily News   ...The truth is that for corporate giants like General Electric, Verizon, Citigroup, FedEx and others, the only certainty in terms of taxes is that they contribute as little to the country’s coffers as possible. Ironically, while many of these corporate behemoths pay zero taxes, the eternally vilified undocumented immigrants in New York paid $1.1 billion in state taxes in 2012...
Senate Races In 2016 Look Poised To Set Spending Records  Washington Post   ...Yes, the 2016 presidential race will be the most expensive in history. But the battle for control of the U.S. Senate in November 2016 also looks likely to smash spending records...
How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy  The Atlantic   ...Today, the biggest companies have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them, allowing them to be everywhere, all the time. For every dollar spent on lobbying by labor unions and public-interest groups together, large corporations and their associations now spend $34. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 consistently represent business...

Today's Teamster News 11.19.13

Teamsters Strike Leads to Skechers  The Press-Enterprise   ...The strike, which is on behalf of drivers who are not union members, was called because of alleged intimidation and retaliation by drivers who do want to unionize, according to a statement from Justice for Port Drivers, a group backed by the Teamsters...
BREAKING: Truckers who haul for Wal-Mart and Forever 21 plan surprise strikes today  Salon   ...The port truckers, backed by the Teamsters union, are the latest to take up tactics that have characterized a wave of low-wage, non-union strikes since 2012...
Council OKs raises for Teamsters, non-union workers  Billings Gazette   ...A two-year contract with the Teamsters Union was approved unanimously and is retroactive to July 1, the start of the fiscal year...
Wal-Mart faces warehouse horror allegations and federal Labor Board complaint  Salon   ...The world’s largest private employer faces escalations on multiple fronts Monday, including strikes by its employees in Ohio and workers who haul its goods in California; media scrutiny on an employee-to-employee charity initiative; and labor groups’ announcements that California Department of Occupational Safety and Health complaints have been filed against two Wal-Mart-contracted warehouses, and the National Labor Relations Board is prepared to issue a complaint against Wal-Mart...
Walmart Store Holding Thanksgiving Food Drive For Its Own Workers  Huffington Post   ...One Ohio Walmart is asking employees to donate food for other workers who are struggling so much they can't afford to buy a Thanksgiving meal for their families...
Walmart Workers on Strike  Fox 45 Now   ...(Butler Township, Ohio) Local Walmart workers are striking less than two weeks before the biggest shopping day of the year. The group rallied at the Walmart and were calling for higher pay and better working conditions...
Enormous, Humongous China Trade Deficit Breaks Record — Again  Trade Reform   ...September’s $30.5 billion monthly goods trade deficit with China sets a new record...
38 Million Retirees Join Workers and Consumers to Say No to "Trade" Deal Terms that Would Make Medicine More Expensive  Public Citizen   ...the largest U.S. nonprofit, nonpartisan group – the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), representing 38 million members – joined the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Consumers Union and other U.S. health and consumer advocacy groups in sending a letter to President Obama to express "deep concern" that TPP rules will thwart efforts to control escalating healthcare costs...
Obama’s Secrecy Is Hurting Free-Trade Talks (opinion)  Bloomberg News   ... even lawmakers who sit on committees with jurisdiction over trade complain about being in the dark. Some have been allowed to view portions of drafts of the text, but never the entire thing. The information blackout has led 151 Democrats and 30 Republicans to oppose giving Obama the fast-track authority he seeks to ratify the trade deals...
Private firms selling mass surveillance systems around world, documents show  The Guardian   ...
Private firms are selling spying tools and mass surveillance technologies to developing countries with promises that "off the shelf" equipment will allow them to snoop on millions of emails, text messages and phone calls...
Reality TV’s worker scandal: Shows accused of stealing millions in wages  Salon   ...A new union report alleges rampant lawlessness in the lucrative and growing reality TV industry. The Writers Guild of America, East, which authored the report based on a survey of current and former non-union workers, contends that it reveals an ugly reality behind top shows like “Pawn Stars” and “Fatal Encounters,” which have been supplanting unionized, scripted sitcoms and dramas...
Elizabeth Warren urges expansion of Social Security  Salon   ...Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren went against pro-austerity conventional wisdom and advocated for the expansion of Social Security benefits, joining a small but vocal group of economic liberals currently pushing the idea...
Republicans and Democrats to work together to gut Social Security, pass Chained CPI, without CALLING it a "grand bargain"  Corrente   ...McConnell warns Democrats, "The tax issue is over." But he suggests Republicans are open to preventing a second year of the sequester. "You want sequester relief? Then let’s talk about a reduction in entitlement spending," he says. "I think a place to talk is on things like chained CPI." Obama has already said he'd support chained CPI, which is a less generous way of calculating the cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security benefits...
New Jersey town vows to rescue foreclosed homeowners  Al-Jazeera America   ...Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith announced the township’s plan to “take” and revalue foreclosed homes at market rates for the public’s benefit, using the legal doctrine of “eminent domain.” Should the plan move forward, Irvington could become the first municipality to seize and re-mortgage foreclosed properties...
How Privatizers Are Killing Our Schools  Alternet   ...private schools serve 12 percent of the nation's elementary and secondary students, but only one percent of disabled students. Forty-three percent of public school students are from minority families, compared to 24% of private school students...
To Catch a Predator: The John Doe Episode Starring Walker and Koch  Uppity Wisconsin   ...in early 2012, David Koch bragged to Palm Beach Post reporter Stacey Singer that he not only intended to help Walker win the recall election, but that his group had, in fact, successfully won senate recall elections...
Scott Walker’s campaign hit with subpoena, says Club for Growth leader O’Keefe  blue cheddar   ...a slew of right wing groups based in Wisconsin (or linked with Wisconsin) got served subpoenas – - including Scott Walker’s campaign...

Meet the billionaires Gov. Christie hung with in 2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie partied like a billionaire in 2011. Or at least with billionaires, he reports in a new book soon to be released about the 2012 presidential election.

Christie, who is currently running for a second term as governor, told Washington Post reporter Dan Balz that he attracted a lot of attention from the super-rich in the lead up to last year's campaign. Although many of them had already thrown their support behind eventual Republican nominee Mitt Romney, people like Nancy Reagan and Barbara and George W. Bush urged him to get into the race.

When Christie said no, they decided to throw Christie a party and invited all their friends. Hosted by Ken Langone, the founder of Home Depot, the governor said it was a who's who of GOP heavy hitters:

All of a sudden you hear John Mack [ former CEO of Morgan Stanley] on the phone. [Langone] says ‘David Koch is out of the county. David, are you there?'

Getting down with one of the leading funders of the American Legislative Exchange Council might give some politicians pause. But not when you are also getting private calls from former President George W. Bush:

He kind of asked me then what I was thinking, what were the impediments in my mind, what were the concerns. It was an amazing conversation.

Alex Pareene at Salon wonders, however, if this is something a governor seeking re-election and possibility a run at the White House in 2016 should be sharing:

We all already know that in the United States since around just before the Reagan era the top one percent of earners have gotten much richer than everyone else, and the top one percent of the top one percent — people like the sorts of people Christie met at that wonderful party — have done so fantastically well for themselves that even the rest of the one percent has reason to feel resentful. Meanwhile life basically sucks for everyone else, with stagnating wages and a hallowing out of the middle class, not to mention the in-progress gutting of the safety net for those never lucky enough to actually join the middle class. And here’s Chris Christie bragging that sixty representatives of the ultra-elite really, really wanted him to be president.

It looks like the governor may want to get back in touch with the other 99.9 percent while he campaigns around the Garden State.

Today's Teamster News 11.11.12

Noda seizes on TPP as way to steer forthcoming election  Th Asahi Shimbun   ...Charles Lake, the chairman of the U.S.-Japan Business Council ... said it should happen soon. "With U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election, there is the possibility the U.S. administration will accelerate the TPP negotiations next year," said Lake, who is also chairman of Aflac Japan. "It would be desirable if Japan was participating at that time..."
If the Dems got a backbone (opinion)   ataxingmatter   ...Given that the "fiscal cliff" deal doesn't require cuts to social welfare programs, it might be advisable to let the fiscal cliff occur.  Let the spending cuts go through and let the Bush tax cuts expire.  The result will be that we will have taken a much needed first stab at cutting back on the exorbitant military spending that provides rentier profits to the military-industrial complex...
The Gerrymander Triumph  Global Economic Intersection   ...The US house elections have very undemocratic election results in many states, largely in favour of Republicans. In Ohio 52% of the total vote cast gained Republicans 80% of the seats. In Pennsylvania 49% of the vote gave Republicans 72% of the seats...
Sanitation Workers Move Mountains for the City's Recovery  WNYC News   ...While most New Yorkers were trapped at home without mass transit in the aftermath of Sandy, an army of 6,000 sanitation workers had to go right back to their jobs - even though many sustained great losses themselves...
Janitors slated for Christmas layoff swamp City Hall  People's World   ...Hundreds of O'Hare Airport workers slated to lose their jobs just before Christmas marched through City Hall today, chanting and waving banners, flags and signs. The janitors and window washers, holding their brooms, mops and squeegees up high, shouted "Shame Emanuel"...
Spackenkill, Rhinebeck bus talks at critical stage  Poughkeepsie Journal   ...If Teamsters Union Local 445 is unable to come to terms with contractor Durham School Services, the employees are prepared to strike...

Bonus story: David Koch Is the Worst Tipper at 740 Park  Vanity Fair   ...We interviewed a guy who used to work as a doorman at 740 Park. I asked him to rank the tippers at the building, and he said the absolute worst was David Koch...

Today's Teamster News 10.21.12

Walmart supply chain: warehouse staff agencies accused of wage theft  Guardian   ...a class action lawsuit (was) recently filed against Roadlink Workforce Solutions, who supply staff to Walmart's Elwood warehouse. The case alleges numerous ways in which wages are stolen or underpaid...
Spain’s main labor unions approve general strike for November 14  El Pais   ...The industrial action will coincide with a general strike in Portugal and with demonstrations and protests called by the European Trade Union Confederation against the austerity drive in Europe. General strikes may also be called for the same day in Cyprus, Malta and Greece...
Italian workers rally against job losses, spending cuts  Reuters   ...Thousands of Italian trade unionists rallied in central Rome on Saturday to protest against public spending cuts, job losses and factory closures, urging Mario Monti's government to do more to help workers hit by recession...
Third instance of voter registration dumping found in Virginia  Ray Story   ...A third instance of fraudulent voter registration has been uncovered in the important swing state of Virginia, where a Republican consultant has been arrested and thousands of discarded voter registration forms were recovered from a dumpster earlier this week...
International monitors at US polling spots draw criticism from voter fraud groups  The Hill   ...United Nations-affiliated election monitors from Europe and central Asia will be at polling places around the U.S. looking for voter suppression activities by conservative groups, a concern raised by civil rights groups during a meeting this week...
Scott Walker To Headline David Koch Hosted Fundraiser  Huffington Post   ...Invitations to the $1,000-a-plate lunch at New York City's 21 Club on Nov. 1 have been sent out, billing Walker as a "special guest" at the effort to raise funds for the Empire State's Republican Party...

Today's Teamsters News 10.03.12

Top 1% Got 93% of Income Growth as Rich-Poor Gap Widened  Bloomberg   ...The 1.2 million households whose incomes put them in the top 1 percent of the U.S. saw their earnings increase 5.5 percent last year, according to estimates released last month by the U.S. Census Bureau. Earnings fell 1.7 percent for the 96 million households in the bottom 80 percent -- those that made less than $101,583...
After Mortgage Settlement, Banks Continued Abusive Practice, California Monitor Says  Huffington Post   ...The five big banks that agreed in a $25 billion mortgage settlement to reform foreclosure practices have continued to "dual-track" homeowners, an abusive technique that pushes families out of homes they thought their bank was trying to help them save, according to a new report by a monitor overseeing the settlement in California...
GOP Consultant: Koch Brothers Bought Ryan’s Nomination With $100 Million Promise  The National Memo   ...David Koch played a key role in Ryan’s selection and that Koch’s wife Julia had been quietly lobbying for Ryan. The selection was cemented at the July 22nd fundraiser Koch held for Romney at the former’s sumptuous Hamptons estate. Koch pledged $100 million more to C-4 and Super PAC efforts for Romney [in exchange] for Ryan’s selection...
Groups Join Forces to Oppose Amendment 3  Tampa Bay Times   ...Florida religious leaders, labor unions and senior citizens marched to the state Capitol on Monday to protest a proposed constitutional amendment they say will lead to massive cuts to education and crucial social services...
Teamster UPS Driver Dies In Tragic Workplace Shooting  Teamsters Joint Council 32   ...On Thursday, September 27, 2012, UPS Driver Keith Basinski was tragically killed while making a pickup in Minneapolis, Minnesota…A Memorial Fund has been established for the Basinski family...
Teamsters OK Nichols labor deal, end dispute  American Metal Market   ...Nichols Aluminum LLC and the Teamsters union have agreed on a new five-year labor contract, putting an end to a nine-month dispute...

Today's Teamster News 09.01.12

A Dismal Outlook for Growth  New York TImes   ...Northwestern economist Robert J. Gordon argues that the United States should get ready for an extended period of slowing growth, with economic expansion getting ever more sluggish and the bottom 99 percent getting the short end of the (ever-slower-growing) stick...
RNC Convention Workers Being Paid Below Minimum Wage  Huffington Post   ...During these past four days at the RNC convention, janitors have worked around the clock picking up after delegates ... And many are doing so making less than minimum wage...
Dan Carpenter: Labor's clouded holiday (opinion)  Indianapolis Star   ..."There is a lack of respect for people, for workers, for any person who gets up in the morning and teaches school or fights fires or builds automobiles. That's the real argument..."
David Koch: 'Some Tax Increases' May Be Needed To Reduce U.S. Deficit  Huffington Post   ..."I think it's essential to be able to achieve spending reductions, and maybe it's going to require some tax increases," Koch, the eighth-richest man in the world and one of the most influential donors in the Republican Party...
Port commissioners will consider CEO’s side gig Sept. 11  Seattle Times   ...The commission is likely to seek a second, outside opinion on whether CEO Tay Yoshitani’s position on the board is a conflict of interest...
ABF to Fight $750 Million Teamsters Lawsuit Dismissal  The Journal of Commerce   ...Federal judge rejected carrier's claim the union gave wage concession to YRC, not ABF...

Whoa! Protesters head to Koch fundraiser for Romney

This could get interesting. Busloads of people are headed to Benedict Arnold David Koch's swank resort in the Hamptons to protest his fundraiser for Mitt Romney.

About two hours ago, @OccupyEye tells us

The #KochParty  is assembling! We'll be heading out around 12:30. If you're going to come, get here ASAP! #ows

@Harry Waisbren, founder of the Jobs Party, tweeted:

Heading out to #KochParty in the Hamptons to Occupy Romney fundraiser http://on.fb.me/RsQEaH Exposing how they try to buy votes - like in Wi

And then:

Just got off the bus in South Hampton for the #KochParty. Rocking #WIunion blue fist shirt, ready to expose Walker & Romney's 'Koch Problem'

We'll try to keep you posted.

Talk Like David Koch Day

What will those wild and crazy Badgers think of next? Today is the one-year anniversary of the infamous prank call in which Buffalo Beast blogger Ian Murphy called Koch whore Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and talked for 10 minutes pretending to be David Koch.

(Come to think of it, it's the one-year anniversary of calling Scott Walker a "Koch whore.")

Most amazing about the call was the way Murphy got through to the governor. According to Murphy,

I called at noon and was quickly transferred to ... Walker’s Chief of Staff Keith Gilkes. He was “expecting my call. 

“David!” he said with an audible smile. 

I politely said hello, not knowing how friendly Gilkes and Koch may be. He was eager to help. 

“I was really hoping to talk directly to Scott,” I said. He said that could be arranged and that I should just leave my number. I explained to Gilkes, “My goddamn maid, Maria, put my phone in the washer. I’d have her deported, but she works for next to nothing.” Gilkes found this amusing. “I’m calling from the VOID—with the VOID, or whatever it’s called. You know, the Snype!” 

“Gotcha,” Gilkes said. “Let me check the schedule here…OK, there’s an opening at 2 o’clock Central Standard Time. Just call this same number and we’ll put you through.”

 The official "Talk Like David Koch Day" Facebook event page suggests

...on the anniversary of that call, be a cruel, heartless, rich bastard and talk like David Koch all day long! "Crush those Bastards" "Fly you out to Cali" "Beautiful" "Goddamn right!" "Bring a baseball bat "

The latter is a reference to the following exchange between "Koch" and Walker at a time when the Statehouse was surrounded by peaceful protesters:

Koch: Bring a baseball bat. That’s what I’d do. 

Walker: I have one in my office; you’d be happy with that. I have a slugger with my name on it. 

Koch: Beautiful.

Then there's this:

Koch: We’ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers. 

Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that —because 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, the public is not really fond of this…

Since then, Koch and his brother Charles have been exposed for their attacks on democracy and Walker faces a recall election, tentatively on June 5.

What's disheartening is to think that someone as dumb as Scott Walker can become governor and harm thousands of working families just by sucking up to a cruel, heartless, rich bastard.

The mind boggles.

Today's Teamster News 02.20.12

David Koch on Wisconsin: I'm helping Scott Walker  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   ...Koch told the Post ... "If the unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power..."
Activists end sit-in at Piccolo school  Chicago Tribune   ...Community activists and parents at Brian Piccolo Elementary Specialty School ... ended an overnight campus sit-in Saturday staged to protest a proposed shake-up of faculty and administrators. The group, aided by representatives of Occupy Chicago, began its sit-in Friday evening, with nearly 100 people participating when the demonstration began...
Spain Unions Protest Against Labor-Market Reform  Dow Jones   ...Spanish unions led protests in 57 cities across the country Sunday against the new government's labor-market reform, kicking off what is likely to be a lengthy campaign against the policies of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy...
Federal Reserve Ignores California Concerns, Approves Capital One-ING Direct Merger  California Reinvestment Coalition   ...With the merger approved, Capital One becomes the fifth largest bank in the country with no immediate obligations to reinvest into the communities from which it profits...
The working man's paradise  macrobusiness.com    ...the Germans cut hours while the Americans cut people ... for the last decade the Australian labour market has been so strong that a private approximation of the German kurzabeit system has developed...
Manufacturing Illusions  Information Clearing House   ...The fundamental problem isn’t the decline of American manufacturing, and reviving manufacturing won’t solve it. The problem is the declining power of American workers to share in the gains of the American economy...

Today's Teamster News 02.13.12

Senate Takes Up Prison Privatization  NorthEscambia.com   ...Today, the Florida Senate will take up or down votes on pending amendments, and try to get a bill on privatizing prisons in most of South of Florida ready for a floor vote...
David Koch's Non-Profit Flouts Law And Spends $700,000 Against Wisconsin Recall  Alternet   ...The Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit "charity" prohibited from intervening in political campaigns, is spending $700,000 on ads and holding events around Wisconsin that look like appeals to re-elect Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is facing a recall election...
Trader Joe's Signs Fair Food Agreement On Tomatoes With Immokalee Workers  Huffington Post   ...The agreement requires the grocery store to pay a penny more per pound of tomatoes and to ensure better working conditions for tomato workers...
Greece MPs pass austerity plan amid violent protests  BBC   ...Greek MPs have approved a controversial package of austerity measures, demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130bn euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout...
Break Up the Banks? Here’s an Alternative (opinion)  New York Times   ...If a shareholder invests a dollar in a big bank, why not make that shareholder liable for the first $1.50 — or more — of losses as insolvency approaches?...
Teamsters file improper practice against SCCC for asbestos removal  Mid-Hudson News   ...Union business agent Sandra Shaddock said 10 union employees may have been subject to asbestos while removing floor tiles from buildings at the Loch Sheldrake school...

VIDEO: Tea Party in WI. Unintentionally hilarious.

We like to think that David Koch couldn't pay Teamsters enough to look this ridiculous. As one person commented on youtube,

teabaggers - you're ugly, you can't sing and your mom dresses you funny.

The video features the Koch-backed Tea Party Express on Aug. 5, when it made a stop in Hudson, Wisc., to support Republican state Sen. Subsidy Sheila Harsdorf. Subsidy Sheila is trying to cling to her senate seat so she can continue to attack the middle class. This unintentionally hilarious video demonstrates that Tea Partiers are not only unaware that they're puppets of billionaires, they don't understand how cosmically untalented they are.

We learned more about the stop from the youtube comments:

They drive on public highways, take money from the Koch brothers, and then pass the hat ( with cops guarding the hat ) to get enough gas money to drive their $1/2 mIllion dollar bus to the next WI town. Can anyone besides Sheila Harsdorf say "OUTSIDE INTEREST"?

It was much worse in person. Their 'message' was impossible to deconstruct. The best part was their bus had the word "Setpember" on it. The Tea Party Express: Helping "morans" everywhere feel better about themselves.

Today's Teamster News 05.06.11

David Koch Gives President Obama Zero Credit for Bin Laden’s Death  New York Magazine   ..."He just made the decision, it was obvious where the guy is."..
The Double Dip's Official: Home Prices Fall to New Low  The Atlantic   ...National home prices are officially on the hunt for a new bottom...
Walker worker award plan draws hoots  Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel   ...He's telling them he wants to formally recognize their many fine achievements, and they're telling him to stick it...
Walker, Kasich Tributes To Public Workers Prompt Laughter, Derision  Huffington Post   ... Ohio House Minority Leader Armond Budish (D) said in a statement that he had to "check my calendar" to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day...
Protesters rally for jobs  Columbus Dispatch   ...Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman joined officials from several of the city's first-ring suburbs to decry legislators' plans to repeal the Ohio estate tax...
Demonstrators to greet Snyder at Benton Harbor's annual parade  Detroit News   ...One of the protest organizers is Heartland Revolution, a Democratic group based in Walton, Ky., that is also backing efforts to recall state Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, who sponsored the emergency manager bill...
Florida House Expands Corporate Income Tax Breaks, Readies for Budget  Sunshine State News   ...“It eliminates the corporate tax for about 15,000 businesses.”..
LePage Reveals Allegations Against Maine Commissioner  DownEast.com   ...“The problem with higher education today dates back to the civil rights movement in the ‘60’s that allowed blacks to enter colleges..."

Donald Trump and David Koch

Here they are together at a party in the Hamptons, we're told. Apparently the photo was downloaded from Twitter.  Political News said it best: You can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps.

Transcript: Walker's prank phone call

Just in case you can't listen to the recording of Koch tool Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker with a man he thought was David Koch (but was actually blogger Ian Murphy), you can read a transcript here.

A few choice nuggets:

Koch: Bring a baseball bat. That's what I'd do.
Walker: I got a Slugger with my name on it.

Walker: The New York Times, of all things, I don’t normally tell people to read the New York Times, but the front page of the New York Times has got a great story, one of these unbelievable moments of true journalism, what is supposed to be objective journalism. They got out of the capital and went down one county south of the capital to Janesville, to Rock County, that’s where the General Motors plant once was.

Walker: I’ve said, ‘Hey, you know, we can handle this, people can protest. This is Madison, you know, full of the ’60s liberals. Let ’em protest.’ It’s not gonna affect us. And as long as we go back to our homes and the majority of the people are telling us we’re doing the right thing, let ’em protest all they want. (Note: The majority of people believe they're doing the wrong thing.)

Walker: Came home from the Super Bowl where the Packers won, and that Monday night I had all of my cabinet over to the residence for dinner. Talked about what we were gonna do, how we were gonna do it. We’d already kinda built plans up, but it was kind of the last hurrah before we dropped the bomb. And I stood up and I pulled out a picture of Ronald Reagan, and I said, you know, this may seem a little melodramatic, but 30 years ago, Ronald Reagan, whose 100th birthday we just celebrated the day before, had one of the most defining moments of his political career, not just his presidency, when he fired the air-traffic controllers....
Koch (Murphy):  Well, I tell you what, Scott: once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.

Walker: All right, that would be outstanding. Thanks, thanks for all the support and helping us move the cause forward, and we appreciate it. We’re, uh, we’re doing the just and right thing for the right reasons, and it’s all about getting our freedoms back.

Today's Teamster News 02.24.11

Indiana Right-To-Work Bill Now Moved to Study Committee  IndianaNewsCenter.com  ...President Pro Tem of the Indiana State Senate David Long says the Right to Work Bill is dead this legislative session...
Indiana Official: "Use Live Ammunition" Against Wisconsin Protesters  Mother Jones   ...The Indiana attorney general's office has confirmed to Mother Jones that Jeff Cox was terminated Wednesday...
Teamsters President Arrives in Madison  WISN  ...Hoffa arrived in Madison on Wednesday today, shaking hands with protesters...
Ohio public worker collective bargaining fight wins support of Rev. Jesse Jackson   kypost.com   ...In a Columbus Teamsters Hall gathering that was part revival and part rally, Rev. Jackson urged 200 union members to continue their fight against Senate Bill 5...
Union Protests Continue in Lansing  Interlochen Public Radio   ...Hundreds of unionized firefighters and police officers marched on the Capitol, calling on the Legislature to reject a bill that would repeal the requirement that puts local government labor disputes into binding arbitration...
VP defends unions against conservative 'social agenda'  The Hill   ...Unions are not the cause of the country's economic woes, Vice President Biden said Wednesday...
The Most Dangerous Union in the World  unsettling economics   ...we can call the Chamber of Commerce a union. This union is so powerful that the present United States must come before as a humble supplicant. This union was at the forefront of the deconstruction of the New Deal...
Top Six Revelations in the Call Between Fake David Koch and Governor Scott Walker  Huffington Post   ...1. Walker and the Senate Republicans are conspiring to withhold Democratic lawmakers' paychecks.
Colorado School Bus Drivers Choose Teamsters Union  IBT   ...School bus drivers with First Student in Pueblo West, Rye, Mesa and Beulah, Colo., have voted to become members of Teamsters Local 455 in Denver...

Walker exposed as Koch tool in prank call

And not a very bright one, at that.

If you ever had any doubt that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is a toady for corporate welfare queen union-busting billionaire David Koch, you have to listen to this. Right now. A journalist, pretending to be Koch, got through to Walker on the telephone and recorded the call in which the governor deferred to the billionaire as an obsequious employee defers to his boss.

From the conversation we realized we were wrong to call Walker a Koch whore. It's insulting to whores. He's a Koch bootlicker. During the 20-minute conversation, Walker showed just how ignorant he is that union-busting contributes to wage stagnation and the decline of our economy.

Walker made it clear that his goal is to bust unions and to suck from the teat of the Koch fortune. He sounded much like the spineless William Macy character in "Fargo," trying to earn the approval of his wealthy, domineering father-in- law.

So here's the backstory: A journalist named Ian Murphy, editor of a blog called the Buffalo Beast, called Walker pretending to be David Koch.  Murphy said he was stunned that Walker's staff took the call. Generally, when people claiming to be famous call a politician, the procedure is to call back to make sure it isn't a prank. But Murphy told the Walker staffer (clearly another dim bulb) that his maid Maria had washed the phone and he was calling from the void. The staffer put the call through. 

At no point during the 20-minute conversation did Walker talk about the state's budget problems (which he created).  He did talk about union-busting. "Koch" said to Walker,

[O]nce you crush these bastards I'll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.

Walker's response: "That would be outstanding."

Walker also revealed he wanted to draw the 14 Democratic senators back to Madison by offering to talk about the budget bill -- the bill that would eliminate government workers' bargaining rights. He said once they senators are back in the Statehouse, the Legislature's rules allow a vote to be taken on the plan.  (That is what is known as rat-f^*^%$ing.) The Democrats are staying in Illinois, denying the Republicans of a quorum and preventing a vote.

Walker also thanked "Koch" for "all the support." The Koch-funded Tea Party (aka Americans for Prosperity) held a counter-rally in Madison last weekend and put up a "Support Scott Walker" website. The Koch-linked Club for Growth paid for a radio ad supporting Walker's budget proposal. And the Kochs, of course, contributed heavily to Walker's campaign.


MSNBC anchor Lawrence O'Donnell had a take on the conversation:

That seems to put another check mark in the column of "bought and paid for by Koch Industries"

Walker is such a loon that he tells "Koch" that almost all of the protesters at the Wisconsin Statehouse are from out of state. Replies "Koch,"

They're probably putting hoboes in suits, that's what we do.

But here's what's most appalling about Scott Walker. He tells "Koch" that his people are looking into charging the 14 senators with a felony if union members are paying for their accommodations in Illinois. Says Walker,

...if the unions have been paying to put these guys up out of state, we think at a minimum there's an ethics code violation,  if not an outright felony.

We'd like to know why it's "outstanding" for billionaires to pay for a holiday in Cali but a "felony" for unions to pay for sanctuary.

Walker released a statement admitting that it was Walker on the call. The statement said

Throughout this call the Governor maintained his appreciation for and commitment to civil discourse. He continued to say that the budget repair bill is about the budget.

Actually, Walker's contribution to civil discourse was to say "I got a slugger with my name on it."

And he didn't say word one about the budget.

Add "liar" to the list of names you can call Walker.

More on this to come.

Billionaire union-buster to hold another not-so-secret bash in CA

This weekend, billionaire David Koch is hosting yet another secret meeting of the plutocracy to plot the next elections.

The meeting will be held at Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif., but it won't be as secret as the previous ones. A rally in Rancho Mirage is planned for Sunday by consumer, community, labor, environmental, student, civil liberties, and faith-based groups. They won't be there to praise Koch, his brother Charles, his anti-union think tanks, his phony grass-roots groups or his relentless attempts to destroy the middle class. They'll be there to call him out for spending at least $100 million to roll back worker protections, consumer protections, environmental regulations -- any law or regulation that can get in the way of more profits for his oil company, Koch Industries.

As Peter Dreier writes in yesterday's Huffington Post,

This assault on our well being -- this infectious theft of the American Dream -- is fueled by a handful of big corporations and billionaires like the Koch brothers, who are trying to drown out the voices of ordinary Americans by buying our democracy and taking control of our civic and economic life. The Koch Brothers and their corporate allies are spending unprecedented amounts of money to elect politicians who will promote greater profits and fewer rules for insurance companies, polluters, banks and mortgage companies. This sickness is tearing apart the fabric of our society and must be stopped.

Koch has spent plenty of money (never fully disclosed) to promote right-to-work (for LESS) laws throughout the country. His efforts are bearing fruit as right-to-work (for LESS) lawmakers in Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maine, Indiana, Montana and Iowa.

Buses will be leaving from all over Southern California for the rally, which will be held from 1 pm to 4 pm at 41-000 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. If you want to go, contact the California Labor Federation.

What union-busting billionaires don't like to talk about: how they bought the November election

David Koch is the union-busting billionaire who was booed at the ballet after journalists exposed his efforts to destroy the middle class. One of those journalists is a blogger named Lee Fang. Fang has shone a light on the role that Koch and his brother Charles played in funding "charitable" organizations that "educate" the public about why corporations need to be more powerful.

Earlier this month, Lee Fang happened to run into David Koch and his lackey Tim Phillips on Capital Hill -- and he happened to have a videographer with him. So he asked Koch some questions about climate change and the Tea Party (which Koch also funds). Koch cheerfully answered those questions. But there were two things he wouldn't talk about: Citizens United and a secret meeting they held last year with Glenn Beck, the Chamber of Commerce and other billionaires to plan their election strategy.

This is what the billionaires don't want you to know -- how they secretly pull the puppet strings of politicians. The Citizens United legal decision gives the billionaires even more sway over the government. It was a travesty of justice in which the Supreme Court ruled that corporations should be treated as individuals under federal election law. That meant corporations could secretly pour billions of dollars into electing their favorite corporate-friendly politicians. By one estimate, corporations spent $600 million on the November elections.

Justice Louis Brandeis was a much better Supreme Court justice than the ones who voted for Citizens United. He understood the threat posed by billionaires like David Koch. Brandeis said, "We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."

Anti-middle-class tsunami threatens New Hampshire

New Hampshire is the latest state to be targeted by the campaign to turn America's workers into low-wage serfs. A state representative from New Hampshire's wealthiest town will propose a "Right to work (for LESS)" law in the state legislature, The Portsmouth Herald reported last week.

According to the Herald,  Rep. Will Smith says,

“We're trying to make changes to attract new businesses and bring jobs into the state.”

R-i-i-i-ight. Smith is a former CEO so you know where he's coming from.

Politicians all over the country are filing right-to-work (for LESS) laws as political payback to their corporate backers. But New Hampshire is a little different. The state's Great and General Court (that's what they call their legislature) has 424 members who get paid $100 a year. They generally don't rely on big corporate donors to get elected. Most of them are well-meaning amateurs, known and liked in their town or neighborhood.

But that doesn't mean New Hampshire lawmakers are immune from the propaganda put out by the well-funded and well-organized conspiracy to destroy America's middle class. The president of New Hampshire's firefighters union explained to the Herald that elected officials get inundated with mail from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

The only thing the NRWLDF is defending is billionaires' wealth. The NRWLDF is at the nexus of the plutocrats' anti-worker campaign. Hundreds of millions of dollars slosh around an interlocking network of think tanks and boards that come up with misleading arguments for suppressing wages. Here is a somewhat dated chart created by American Rights at Work to demonstrate the web of funding behind "right to work (for LESS) efforts.

Though they consider themselves "philanthropic," many of these groups give money to each other. They excel at concepts like "free enterprise,"  "individual freedom" and "choice," designed to disguise their true purpose of enhancing corporate power. Some of them are big supporters of school choice, designed to bust teachers' unions.

• "Castle Rock Foundation" is run by the heirs to the Coors fortune.
• The John M. Olin Foundation was founded by the heir to a chemical and munitions fortune; it closed up shop after giving $370 million to increase corporate power.
• The Walton Family Foundation was founded by Wal-Mart heirs.
• The Sarah Scaife Foundation by a Mellon banking heir.
• The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which resulted from sale of the Allen-Bradley Company, promotes "educational choice" and "free enterprise" (i.e., union-busting).  

One of the plutocrats left off the chart is billionare union-buster David Koch, the 49th richest man in the world. Koch supports the Cato Institute, Americans for Prosperity and the Reason Foundation. Last fall, Koch's "philanthropy" was exposed in The New Yorker magazine, and he was subsequently booed at the ballet in New York City.

It's a mystery why these organizations get tax-exempt status for trying to lower workers' wages.

But that's a separate question. The question right now is whether New Hampshire will buy into the nutty argument that weakening unions will make the state a better place to live. Rep. Will Smith's neighbor, Bob Kingston, wrote a letter to the Herald arguing that it won't. Writes Kingston,

New Hampshire enjoys an economy that provides good jobs in strong industries. We do well in good times and bad. There is no good reason for us to experiment with an ideology that is proven to benefit a few at the expense of everyone.

Read the whole letter here.