Woo-hoo! Walker to be recalled!

This just in: Wisconsin activists say they have way more than enough signatures to recall Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker. (We told you so!)

According to Reuters,

The group United Wisconsin, which opposes the collective bargaining changes and other measures Walker pushed into law last year, said it gathered more than 1 million signatures to recall the governor by the January 17 deadline -- roughly double the 540,208 signatures required...

The filing of the petitions will not automatically result in Walker's removal from office. But if the petitions are certified, Walker will be forced to defend his seat in a special election later this year.

"We very clearly believe there is no challenge -- legal or otherwise -- that would prevent these elections from going forward," said Mike Tate, the head of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

So far, a Democrat has not yet emerged to run against Walker, though Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who ran for governor against Walker in 2010 and Secretary of State Doug La Follette have been mentioned as possible candidates.

Walker was in New York today, where he is no doubt siphoning money from big corporations. He's probably telling people about the "big guvmint union bosses" who bankrolled the petition drive. That of course is horseshit.

The signature gatherers were teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, snowplow drivers and working families in general. They were standing in the cold and getting abused by Walker supporters in order to fight back against his anti-worker agenda.

Some things to remember about Walker's year in office:

• More than 27,000 people lost their jobs.
• 65,000 people lost health care.
• Workers lost collective bargaining rights.
• Corporations and rich cronies got $2.3 billion in tax breaks.
• Public education in Wisconsin was cut more than in any other state.  

Score one for the good guys.

OMG. Walker sings civil rights song

Un-effing-believable. Koch whore Gov. Scott Walker singing along with "Soon, Very Soon," a civil rights anthem during a Martin Luther King Day celebration. (He was booed and hissed.

By the way, if you turn down the sound, Walker looks a lot like Carl Spackler in Caddyshack singing "The Ballad of the Green Berets."

Uppity Wisconsin reminded us that Walker gave a speech last year in which he claimed he wasn't a racist:

No, this is not a lame attempt at an Onionesque article: In a little-noticed speech last year, Walker, who is often criticized for his not-so-thinly veiled racism, tried to play the "I have a black friend!" card at a MLK event.

However, since Walker doesn't have any black friends, he tried to play the "My mom has a black friend!" card. He even had photographic evidence!

Yup, he held up a photo of his mom's African-American friend.

Oh, and also by the way, today's the day more than 540,000 signatures will be delivered to the state to recall Walker. We're not sure how many more yet. Will let you know.

Red-letter day in IN on RTW

Teamsters from Northwest Indiana left for the Statehouse at 5:30 this morning for the crucial battle over right-to-work-for-less today. In fact, Teamsters from all over the state and beyond will be there to support Democrats who want to put the question on the ballot.

As the Associated Press reports from Indianapolis,

Indiana's House of Representatives are set to decide whether voters should make the call on contentious right-to-work legislation.

The House scheduled a vote Tuesday on the referendum proposal along with other amendments to the bill. Supporters of the proposal to ban unions from collecting mandatory representation fees from workers have struggled to push the measure through the House so far because of periodic boycotts by House Democrats.

Teamsters have been phone-banking like crazy, attending forums, sending tons of letters to the editor of local newspapers and contacting their elected officials, according to Bob Warnock III, principal officer of Local 364 in South Bend.

We'll keep you posted on what happens today.

Today's Teamster News 01.17.12

Stiglitz says European austerity plans are a 'suicide pact'  The Telegraph   ..."The answer, even though they see over and over again that austerity leads to collapse of the economy, the answer over and over [from politicians] is more austerity," said Mr Stiglitz...
Greece default fears grow  fin24   ...Barely a month after an injection of bailout funds helped avert bankruptcy, Greece is back at the centre of the eurozone crisis as fears of a default and a subsequent eurozone exit overshadow a mass credit downgrade of eurozone countries...
The Bain Bomb: A User's Guide  New Yorker   ...more than one in five of the companies that Bain Capital invested in between 1984 and 1999 went bankrupt or shut down within eight years of Romney and his colleagues getting involved...
Walker recall organizers to submit petitions, but Wisconsin governor will be in New York  Associated Press   ...Organizers say they have gathered far more than the 540,208 signatures required to force the election against both Walker and GOP Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefish...
Poll finds Hoosiers want right-to-work referendum  NWI Times   ...By an overwhelming margin, Hoosiers want state lawmakers to let voters decide whether Indiana should become a right-to-work state, according to a new poll sponsored by the Indiana AFL-CIO...
Florida Prisons IN FOCUS: Closure Plans, Privatization & Criticism  Sunshine State   ...“These proposed closures would devastate the dedicated correctional officers who work at these facilities, their families and the small businesses in the surrounding communities,” said Ken Wood, acting president of Teamsters Local 2011, which recently won the right to represent corrections officers in Florida...
Teamsters At Hunts Point Market To Work Past The End Of Their Contract  NY1 News   ...Union officials say Local 202 members will be at work, but officials will not rule out striking later in the week due to a long simmering wage dispute...

MLK play profiteer destroys MLK's dream



Sotheby's Teamsters in front of 'The Mountaintop,' a play about Dr. Martin Luther King's last night. Dr. King was in Memphis protesting the unjust treatment of workers -- the kind of injustice Sotheby's is meting out to 42 art handlers.

Michael Sovern probably thinks of himself as a good guy. His family owns the Shubert Theatre chain. The Shubert Theater on Broadway is putting on a play about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sovern, though, serves on the board of Sotheby's, which threw 42 Teamster art workers out of work on Aug. 1.

That is not what Dr. King would have done. In fact, that is exactly the kind of injustice Dr. King was trying to end when he was killed.

The Sotheby's Teamsters were out in front of the Shubert this weekend. They passed out handbills to theatergoers and passersby to inform them of Michael Sovern's perversion of Dr. King's legacy.

You have to wonder. Is Sovern blind to his own injustice, or does he just not care?

No holiday for Teamsters fighting RTW in IN

Teamsters, politicians, football players and faith leaders took no time off this weekend from the fight against RTW in Indiana.

In Logansport, for example, union members are passing out handbills today with Dr. Martin Luther King's picture on it and his quotation:

In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans such as ‘right to work. It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights.

Forums to discuss right-to-work-for-less took place all over the state. WANE reports on Sunday's discussion in New Haven:

On Sunday around 75 people gathered in New Haven for another forum. Rep. Phil GiaQuinta (D-District 80) was there. Rep. Phyllis Pond (R-District 85) was invited but couldn't make it.

"I think once people find out what's in the bill and do the research and find out how it impacts them each individually by a wide margin they're against the bill," GiaQuinta said.

The Indy Star published a must-read letter to the editor from the NFL Players Association. It read, in part,

During the NFL lockout and the months leading up to it, NFL players learned lessons that most older American workers learned decades ago: namely, that all of the protections that employees currently have in the workplace resulted from the ability of workers to stand together as a team, protect their rights and demand change for the better. It is a lesson that many of us have not only forgotten but, worse yet, simply never learned.

Another terrific op-ed, 'Right to work' goes against King's values, was sent to union members in Indiana today. Teamsters' good friend Nancy Guyotte wrote,

Our leaders are faced with a stark choice between the pursuit of economic justice and equality for all or taking the path toward growing inequality and unchecked corporate greed.

Hoosiers are preparing for a religious program in the Statehouse tomorrow. The Stand Up For Hoosiers Facebook page reports

On Tuesday, January 17th from 9:30-10:30 there will be a Religious program at the Statehouse Chapel to learn about Right to Work for Less and to offer prayers to working people If you are interested in going please contact Becky Smith (317-372-8795) We are then asking you to stay and talk with your state representative and senator and let them know that RTW for less is not what the workers of Indiana need.

Teamsters honor MLK, dignity of labor

Teamsters supported the Poor People's Campaign. Here, James R. Hoffa hands a check for $25,000 to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Teamsters all over the country are celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King today. International Vice President Al Mixon, for example, will be Grand Marshall at this year’s King Week Holiday March and Rally in Atlanta.

Dr. King, a strong supporter of the labor movement, believed the path to economic freedom and social justice were the same. Said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa,

The history of the labor movement is uniquely and intimately tied with the history of the civil rights movement. The two go hand-in-hand.

angry bear posts an account of the Memphis sanitation workers' strike, Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination and the aftermath. Called Garbage and Labor, he writes,

February 1968, 1,300 Sanitation Workers of Memphis went on strike for better working conditions and benefits, doing so with little support from the International AFSCME. Forced to carry poorly contained garbage in 60 gallon leaking and maggot infested containers from the backs of yards, the workers struck for safer working conditions, healthcare, etc. Angered by the deaths of two of their fellow workers and the sending home of 22 black sewer workers while white workers continued working the union led by T. O Jones walked out. Crushed to death when the garbage truck’s faulty controls activated the hydraulic ram, the two workers were seeking shelter from a rain storm inside the back end of the truck as there was nowhere else they were allowed to go. The city paid each of the dead worker's families $500 plus 1 month’s pay. The average wage of the sanitation worker was $.33/hour...

For the dignity of the men who would haul garbage, for the dignity of African Americans, for the dignity of all of those living in poverty, and for those who would labor; Martin Luther King gave his life.