Women, Unions, and Our Stories

Murder of Workers' Activists Cheered By Wingnuts

2011-09-27T11:45:00.000-04:00

I don't get to post often anymore. Mostly, it's the darn Master's Degree, just months away now for my fingers to grasp. Today, I can't help but take my lunch time to point out something pretty freaking disturbing. In The Hill today, there's a post up on a letter from the AFL-CIO to Congress on the possible Colombian Free Trade Agreement. The crux of the letter is this:

Included with the letter was a list of names of the 22 union leaders who have been killed in Colombia, 15 of those after the United States agreed to a labor action plan with the South American country in April to improve its labor rights record, according to the AFL-CIO. Labor has long vehemently opposed a trade deal with Colombia because of its record of violence against union activists.

Colombia kills union activists. And this, is somehow, reason to celebrate in the comments section on The Hill

Could we get them to do it here? There are more than enough union thug bosses already. BY David on 09/27/2011 at 10:52

yeah, I believe this guy is a CEO, right:

I serve as President of a major corporation in the U.S. All these people want to do is create trouble for us. I look forward to the day we have a government that is sympathetic to the job creators and allow us to handle the unions like Columbia has done.BY RG Brewer on 09/27/2011 at 11:08

I wonder if those killing the labor slugs in Colombia can outsource that work here.BY canuck on 09/26/2011 at 19:00

There are worse comments. They are mostly a jumble of thinly veiled threats against union activists from folks who use pithy comment names like: hateslibs, Holyman, imam obama, Justice For All and Tea Party Patriot and of course the thinly veiled racist comments like the one referring to the President as a "pimp" and the person who thinks "imam obama" was a pithy by line, an out right reference to Obama being Muslim. As of now, the most vile and offensive of the posts have finally been moderated by the hill, but the stench from reading the vile comments can't be removed. If you feel you need to see how horrible and violent and offensive, head over to Dave's post today. He has some of the worst, even ones I would not reprint here.In a world that is increasingly inter-connected and complex, the only salvation we really have is to see each other as human beings. When people degrade and "joke" about violence or cheer the death of others, it makes me sick and it horrifies me to think of the kind of world my daughter is going to inherit. I had really hoped we'd found a way to turn down the violent rhetoric, but apparently, I'm wrong, dead wrong.

DC Final Stop of Wal-Mart Worker Truth Tour

2011-03-30T08:18:00.003-04:00

Live in DC and want to join me on Monday night at GWU for some truth about what Wal-Mart creates for workers from actual workers in the supply chain to the stores? Here's a little teaser about the SweatFree Communities tour:

The tour will raise awareness about the deliberate system created by Walmart -- the world's biggest company -- that keeps workers in a cycle of low wages, no voice on the job, and dangerous working conditions. This impacts all of us because without good jobs, taxpayers and consumers are left with paying the bill for Walmart workers’ healthcare, concerns about product safety resulting from the lack of enforcement in factories, and a driving down of wages and working conditions across industries in an effort to compete with Walmart.

I'm planning to be in attendance on Monday night:

WASHINGTON DC: Monday, April 4, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
George Washington University, Gelman Library
IBT Labor History Research Center (Room 702)
2130 H St NW, Washington D.C. 20002
RSVP optional on facebook

Open Call for Public Art to Replace Maine Labor Mural

2011-03-25T08:56:00.002-04:00

The things you can find on the Interwebs, like this piece, on The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research:

In collaboration with The Portland Phoenix, The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research is issuing a call for public art: Mural depicting the glorious contributions of the Maine businessperson.

Seeking designs for a 36-foot-long, 8-foot-tall mural to replace a degenerate, “one-sided” mural at the Maine Department of Labor office in Augusta. Please e-mail jpgs to jinglis@phx.com, or if you insist to us.

Submissions are encouraged to honor Maine’s grand business history, from logging to ship building, from the brave executives who put down the 1937 women’s strike to steadfast proponents of child labor, from the paper mill bosses who purified our waters with dioxins to those who intrepidly called in the National Guard to restore order in the face of wrong-thinking mobs and crybabies, and surplus and salvage company CEOs who selflessly offer damaged goods for retail sale before giving it all up for public service.

Labor history as one sided, it's a fascinating concept, since Labor history in general is about, LABOR. It's totally one-sided. But then again so is the history of slavery, so is women's history, and so is the history of mental health care in the US. History about a given topic is about that topic, as was this art work. It was about workers for a building catering to workers, not the businesses that abuse, disregard or even love the workers. It was about the workers and their struggles, not the businesses and their struggles.

This One's For The Homeless

2010-12-22T10:52:00.004-05:00

We all get caught up in our own lives. I know I have. From my kid heading to Egypt (Boo, I miss you so much) for a year to study Arabic to taking friends home for the holidays to that darn Master's degree (just a few more classes, it's half over now!). It's my stuff, and I'm wrapped up. Rick isn't though:

He has been asking listeners to stop by his outdoor studio and donate either food or money to help Project S.H.A.R.E and Carlisle C.A.R.E.S., two organizations that help feed those in need in Central Pennsylvania. This is the third year he's spent a week outdoors.

Unlike the dearth of right wing talk radio hosts who spend every moment on air spreading lies and hate, Smith is a breath of fresh air. All he is aiming for is that "people will empty their hearts and wallets and grocery bags and help us out."

Could you imagine if this was your life? Rick's doing this for a week, and for a third time, to draw attention, but what if this was a day to day reality:

According to a news report, "the reality is I've got three small children and I can't imagine if this were my reality. I can't imagine where I would go or what I would do," said Smith.

I can't even begin to imagine. What are the kinds of decisions, lack of decisions, forced situations that can lead you to being this kind of screwed? As wrapped up in my own stuff as I am, as many of are, it's a breath of fresh air to hear about folks like Rick, doing what should be done, drawing attention to a real issue, and one that often flies under our radar.

You can donate online for Rick's effort here. You can also listen to Rick's show online at www.thericksmithshow.com and if you're in Central PA, you can pick up his talk radio show every weeknight from 9PM-12AM on WIOO 97.9FM and WEOO 93.9FM. I'm a bit partial to Rick, probably because of what he talks about, working men and women, and there's also the time he had me on the show. What can I say, I'm still a little wrapped up, huh?

If you get a chance check out Rick's blog and webcam and see how his homeless week has gone thericksmithshow.com And, give him some love.

Blessed Be

I missed One nation

2010-10-30T12:43:00.000-04:00

I had the flu, but I'm now at the government doesn't suck rally and thrilled I am. Yeah it's also part of the fear/sanity rally, but that's cool with me!

Media Does Matter

2010-10-27T07:58:00.002-04:00

So, this is the banner that greeted everyone this morning at McPherson Metro station, and I can't agree more!

I was thinking the other day about growing up before Fox. There were lots of incidents of violence like the 68 Riots in Chicago, Kent State, even the air traffic controllers who were handcuffed and lead away in clear view of cameras. There were incidents, yes, but the stomping of the MoveOn member outside of the debate by a Rand Paul volunteer is beyond ugly. And I wonder how much of that hate, hate enough to stomp someone's head in for an opposing view, is caused by the likes of Fox personalities and their slanted coverage of the US and the world. From my vantage point, it sure seems like a lot.

One Nation

2010-10-02T12:50:00.003-04:00

We are One Nation.

We Value People, their lives, their jobs, their communities.

We Value the American Dream.

We Value Immigrants.

We Value our contributions to this nation, one nation, working together.

When we are one nation working together, we are able to accomplish anything, just like the American moto, Together we stand, Divided we fall.

AFL-CIO is now live streaming the rally. I'll try to post pictures later today.

Nominate an Amazing Woman by July 23rd

2010-07-13T14:33:00.005-04:00

I got this notice in the mail and wanted to pass it along:

Nominate a Woman on the Rise

The Women on the Rise award was created to honor women who have broken down barriers and stereotypes and who have helped to lead the way for other women through their exemplary service and excellence in a trade or technical career.

Please take a moment to consider women whom you know and/or work with who deserve to be recognized for all their leadership and hard. To nominate them, please fill out a short nomination form which can be found here. Nominations are due July 23.

The link goes to a form to complete that you can then email.

I don't think enough women are acknowledge for the trailblazing or amazing things we do to help other women entering fields dominated by men. So, take a minute and nominate an amazing woman you know. I bet she deserves this honor. The honors are through Hard Hatted Women, a Cleveland based non-profit.

As a person suggestion, I'd recommend Laura Clawson or Tula Connell.

A New Place to Hang Your Hat

2010-06-04T13:14:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I posted. I'm trying to figure out how to go back to school (in classes now) and to then pay for school. Reality certainly bites.

Then today came and I got an email from Working America with the latest main street blog post, and my issues seem so far removed now.

I "lost" my job way back in 1995 and 1996. My daughter was 2 and then 3 at the time. I can't say that I lost the first one as a matter of anything more than being replaced by a free worker. The State of Ohio at the time had what were called State Operated Service workers. They had worked at the local mental health facilities in the state, but as the state screwed up the entire mental health system and all of its workers, the state then offered to pay the salaries of the SOS workers for a given time. I was replaced by one of these workers.

He was a nice guy. I worked along side him for a while. And as painful a situation as it was, it wouldn't hold a candle to the hell I would then suffer in county government.

It's funny how life works.

Looking back now, I feel grateful to both agencies for firing me. I hated both jobs and felt like I couldn't do anything right, ever. But, at the time, with a small child and a husband that had just realized his undying love for another woman, well, let's just say, I didn't find joy or gratitude in my situation. I'm not sure how I was even able to hold either job at the time. I was terribly unhappy, had a cheating husband, a small little one to worry about and when he left me after the 2nd job loss, I really didn't think I'd ever find peace again.

That's when I went to work on a congressional campaign.

I found not only my footing again, but my candidate won. And then, he gave me a glowing recommendation. Based on his letter and the degree I'd gotten a few years earlier, I landed a job in the federal government.

I haven't had a lot of good bosses in federal service. But the ones who have been good, have so stood out for their ability to treat workers like we're human beings, that they almost make up for what I've been through up to this point.

After nearly 13 years in federal service, I feel as if I may have finally found the right spot for me and my skills. Both me and my skills are even appreciated, often cited as a resource and then last week, I was named one of 100+ women in Government and Technology.

So, I feel for the writer and everyone else out there who's been devastated with job loss:

On these matters, I can only speak for myself. What struck me most immediately was that, without my job, I had no place to go to. Not just the routine of going to work, but having a sense of ‘place’ and belonging in and to a place, was suddenly taken from me. The psychologist James Hillman has written extensively on the subject of the soul being nourished by its sense of place, and that our workplaces are, or should be, vital places that help instill a sense of shared purpose, of mutual encouragement, so that they themselves have a sense of soul.

I completely agree, work gave me a sense of being, of having meaning greater than being a mom or a wife. Being unemployed, made me realize, that I really was nothing without a job. I was not able to provide. I was not able to function. I had no where to go. But from this abyss, I found meaning by volunteering on a campaign. Running a campaign office, scheduling events, training canvassers, designing walk lists, calling voters and walking door to door with my 3 year old, it all gave me new life and new meaning. And when he stood on that stage and thanked all of us, I was so proud of what I'd accomplished and how I felt about everything that I had done. It took a while before I was working again, 2 and a half months to be precise, but since then, I have found that we can do some amazing things when we get screwed over. Even stuff, you never thought you had in you.

So, to all of my sisters and brothers out there, I'm in your corner, hoping that through this rough, terrible, sickening time, you are able to find hope, peace and ultimately a new place to hang your hat.

Sunday Morning Talk-ing-out-your-ass Shows

2010-03-06T19:19:00.002-05:00

It's been a very long time since I was able to hold my nose, turn off my brain and watch the Sunday morning talk shows. I know, it's not just me, but with Health Care, the economy and jobs the arguably top stories of the day, this Sunday hosts folks like Disgraced Former Majority Whip Tom DeLay (isn't he still awaiting trial or did he plead out?), Orrin Hatch (when was the last original thought that came out his mouth?) and some Jackass from the National Review who recently was taken to task for LYING in an op-ed? These are the many guests we have to look forward to? Really?

Why is it Richard Trumka, James Hoffa, or even Andy Stern not on these shows? If we're talking jobs, why not Hilda Solis? Personally, I'd much rather hear what Leo Gerard has to say about the state of manufacturing than what might spill from the orifices of DeLay. And if you're reading this site and can't identify the names I just wrote, ask yourself, when was the last time you read a story about working Americans and it even noted the good that labor unions do to keep Americans at work?

Sunday talk is just that, talk. And until they start addressing real issues with real discussion and not dumb sound bites, I just don't think I'll bother wasting my time on them. I'd much rather unclog a drain or fix the garbage disposal. I'm a working American, these are the kinds of things I do. I bet they're the kind of things you do as well.

Ah, Fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-05T17:07:00.003-05:00

I've been so busy with life. I changed jobs and started taking classes for a Master's degree, and that doesn't even mention the single mom thing and how my kid graduated from High School last month and is hoping now to get into a study abroad program called NSLI-Y. See how busy, look at that run-on sentence I just wrote!

So, anyway, this is where I get to the title. I've been planning a graduation trip for my kid. My parents and I are taking her on a Disney transatlantic cruise and when we get to London on our way home, I had high hopes of getting to finally see Bill Bragg in concert. But I find out this:

The second annual fundraiser Harvest of Hope Foundation Music and Arts Festival, March 12-14th, 2010, located at the St. Johns County Fairgrounds in St. Augustine, Florida features a three day, multiple stage alternative music festival that is unique in many ways, but mostly because it is all to benefit and raise awareness for nonprofit charity Harvest of Hope Foundation.

The Harvest of Hope Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides financial, educational, and service oriented aid to migrant farm workers all over the country. The event emphasizes on being not only entertaining, but educational, family friendly and environmentally conscience. The HOH Fest showcases not only a large group of musicians who are donating much of their time and performances to the cause but will also showcase a variety of progressive artists, local vendors and a nonprofit “educational center” that will help raise awareness for the many issues surrounding Migrant Farmworkers and their families.

I love that he's doing this amazing concert next weekend in Florida for Immigrant workers. I do, I love it. I have just got to say, that I have the worst fucking timing. Can I just say that? I can't go to Florida to see him and I can't see him in England. What the Fuck?!?!

Anyway, if you can make it next weekend to St. Augustine Floriday, highly recommend you make it to the Punk, Indie, grassroots music festival and someone, could ya tell Billy "hey" from me, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.

I Gave This Morning

2010-01-14T08:07:00.002-05:00

I gave to Oxfam during the Tsunami and I gave to the humane society for Katrina (mostly because I couldn't bring myself to give to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army, and if I couldn't give to the humans, I had to give to the animals).

This morning, I gave to ShelterBox. It wasn't much, but I figure, if I gave $$ and I can inspire 5 more folks to give $$ even just a dollar, and then they inspire 5 others and those 5 inspire 5 each, well, you get the point.

So, What's in the box? From Shelterbox:

• One 49 gallon box (The Shelterbox) initially the container for delivery of the materials listed below. Once delivered, can be used as water tank, food store, cot, table, etc.

• One ten-person tent, including two fabric interior privacy partitions, outer fly-sheet and repair kit. These tents are considered ‘winter suitable’ by international relief standards.

• Vinyl insulated sleeping mats and lightweight thermal blankets. More compact than sleeping bags, these mats and blankets have multiple uses. The blanket can also be fashioned to catch water, as a tarp, etc. while the mat also serves as a ground ‘table’ for meals, or tent rugs.

• One pack of 180 water purification tablets or a water purification kit; and one 5 gallon flat-pack water container (Each tablet will purify a full container of water providing 1,800 gallons of clean drinking water which should be sufficient for a family of ten for up to three months).

• Two 2.1 gallon, collapsible, plastic water carriers.

• One collapsible trenching shovel

• Rope, 164 foot

• Repellant-treated mosquito netting

• Ten PVC Ponchos/ ten HD plastic bags

• Tool kit in canvas bag: hachet, jack-knife, screwdriver, hammer, hoe head etc.

• Multi-fueled cook stove

• Eating utensils: enamel plates/cups

• Children's activity kit-simple school supplies, stickers and coloring book

I'm just a working woman in the US. But I didn't think I could stand by and not try to help, even in a small way, my fellow human beings in Haiti.

Please, take a minute and give. If you can't give, and some can't, forward the information to others, perhaps one of those people can, and then encourage those folks to forward the information to others... If we can't help in Haiti now, perhaps we can make sure that Shelterbox has enough resources to make sure that they can provide the next box to the next family in the next disaster area.

DC Labor and LabourStart Team Up!

2010-01-04T09:29:00.003-05:00

We're very pleased to be co-sponsoring the online labor film database together with the DC Labor Film Fest. This extraordinary resource includes no fewer than 1,465 union films and videos. I think it's a fantastic resource for trade unionists everywhere and we should all be grateful to Chris Garlock and the Washington DC Metro Labor Council for putting this together. If you have videos to suggest for inclusion in this list, please send them on to cgarlock@dclabor.org.

Collective Bargaining Threatens US National Security

2009-12-31T13:07:00.003-05:00

Crossposted on UnionReview

When I heard South Carolina Republican Senator say that Collective Bargaining threatens US security, I thought I'd actually fall off my chair.

We cannot allow them by unanimous consent, to move ahead with the unionization and collective bargaining of our Airport Security.

And there it was, coming out of the mouth of a sitting US Senator, working Americans are a hindrance to National Security. National Security. Come on, repeat that with me, NATIONAL SECURITY.

Again, from the mouth of the hate mongering idiot:

...we didn’t allow that when the agency was formed because we knew that collective bargaining would slow down the decision process and…and jeopardize security.

I know, everyone here knows what collective bargaining is, but for our wesbite guests, let's talk definition:

Collective bargaining is a type of negotiation used by employees to work with their employers. During a collective bargaining period, workers' representatives approach the employer and attempt to negotiate a contract which both sides can agree with. Typical issues covered in a labor contract are hours, wages, benefits, working conditions, and the rules of the workplace. Once both sides have reached a contract that they find agreeable, it is signed and kept in place for a set period of time, most commonly three years. The final contract is called a collective bargaining agreement, to reflect the fact that it is the result of a collective bargaining effort.

I know, this might seem a little lame, but I'm saying it anyway. I'm tired of having to defend the rights of working folks to form communities to stand up for their rights at work.

That's what we're really talking about.

Unions are communities of workers.

We come together, work together and work to have each others' back so that if something goes wrong like a boss making a pass at me, or a co-worker losing a finger or simply being forced to work over time but not being paid for that time at an OT rate, well, I've got someone to make sure that I'll still have a job the next day.

I joined AFGE this past spring. Until recently, I worked in a position that had been excluded from the bargaining unit. In the summer of 08, I was told that I'd been re-classified and could join the union, then it was rescinded. I started asking around, looking for the names of the union officials in my agency, and after several months, finally found them and started paying dues ASAP.

Since joining, my union has listened to my issues. They've discussed with me options until I can be recognized under the collective bargaining agreement. They've been supportive, helpful and accessible. They've been member based and work toward making my work life a good one. As a dues paying member, I expect that of my union and I've referred a number of co-workers to the union to join. Often, even in Government, workers are afraid to join because it could mean a stop in their career, or at least that's the perception. For me, it's been the opposite.

For me, joining the union has meant much, much more in terms of responsibility and a rise in stature. Skills I have that have gone on used at my agency are now being looked at and I'm moving to a new job. These are skills I have acquired through my blogging on workers issues and my activity in building websites through a community of coders. I credit where I am today to the work I've done on behalf of worker's rights and the work of my AFGE union local.

You see, collective bargaining means that we as employees through our elected representatives set the terms of which we work.

We agree to the over time, compensatory time, the long hours or the short ones, the temporary, the extended or even the types of jobs we might do. We work with our employers to set the standards we can all live by in order to make the workplace work for the folks on the front line to the folks in the ivory towers.

I support the ability of Transportation Security Administration workers to join a union. It will mean that the union can work with the employer to draft better suggestion processes. It will mean that a pregnant woman screening bags can move from one position to the next for the betterment of not only her body and her baby's body, but also for the agency. I mean, come on, who wants a fatigued pregnant woman doing one job all day long? Let them have a hand in making these rules.

A TSA union will not mean millions of American deaths on American soil, no matter how badly Senator Asshat says it will, again, Senator Asshat himself:

Politicizing security is a real problem in this administration. There’s absolutely no good reason to submit security to collective bargaining with union bosses.

Senator, TSA needs the option of collective bargaining. They are American workers doing an important job at American airports. Denying them this basic human right, to join in a community to have their voices heard is Un-American. It's your continued politicization of American workers that's the legitimate threat to American National Security.

Of Picket Lines and Airline Deals

2009-11-17T19:34:00.005-05:00

I'm planning a trip for this April for my parents and for my kid who is graduating from High School. Ugh, I'm so old!!

So, I open my e-mail and what do I see?

American Airlines

Winter Flight Deals!

Book now and save on travel into 2010! Great destinations like Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans and more are on sale with fares starting as low as $58* each way.

Hurry, purchase your tickets by November 23, 2009, for travel December 2, 2009, through March 10, 2010.

Most excellent except for one small tiny little itty bitty thing...

United Airlines flight attendant members of the Association of Flight
Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA-CWA) will join members of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) at American Airlines on the picket line at airports around the country tomorrow. While American Flight Attendants conduct a mock strike and walk the picket line,
United.

Flight Attendants will join them in solidarity for a fair Contract and coordinated efforts to lift the standard for Flight Attendants across the industry.

Now, American Airlines, did you think you were going to get that one past me? Tease me with a great looking deal, only to piss on the workers who will be protecting my ass in the sky? Well, American Airlines, I think not!

So, get to the table and hammer out a fair deal. Psst, and a fair deal doesn't look like the kind of crap the the likes of Dick E. Dauch pulled when he sank American Axle into a hole, took millions from the company in pay days, asked workers for 60% pay cuts and left them out their on the picket lines for 11 weeks. Fairpay for CEO's should be measured based on what the lowest paid workers under you make.

So, for anyone taking a flight tomorrow on American, perhaps, you can reconsider. And thanks for the fabulous deals American, but no thanks. I don't live in Wal-Merica, I live in the United States of America. So, take that deal... what, I have to paint you a picture?

Making It In America: Yes, We Do Manufacture!!

2009-10-22T08:43:00.001-04:00

Crossposted on UnionReview

Over the hot and steamy summer month of August, I was able to tour the most amazing factory, a Steel mill. Campaign for Ameirca's Future and the Alliance for American Manufacturing arranged for this amazing tour of the Edgar Thomson mill (Mon Valley Works) US Steel mill.

I walked, coughing and wheezing, my way up what they said were 5 flights of stairs in about 50 lbs of safety gear but what really felt more like 10 stories. For some reason, being in Pittsburgh kicked in allergies I didn't even know I had.

Walking through the mill reminded me of being a kid. My dad worked at a Steel Mill. I remember a really big bucket that poured this orange liquid into what looked like really big jello molds to me. I was a kid, so, they are kid memories. My dad worked in the Forge shop. He hammered out the pieces that were used in most of the American made convertibles up until about 1980. The company he once worked for still holds the patent even though the company no longer exists. But, I digress.

When I took the tour, I remembered the process, the liquid orange drink that went into the molds. It was a small operation in comparison to US Steel. What was most fascinating to me is how few people are needed now to do the same job performed by about (per the tour) 100 Chinese mill workers. The computers control and sense just about everything. The mill doesn't pour the liquid orange drink anymore either, they have what looked like a lid on it. The liquid steel turned out the most beautiful looking bars of steel I'd ever seen. They looked so perfect. You could see them cooling from the bright deep orange to auburn to almost a red and then a brick red and gray/black. I could see the rising heat like I were staring at the pavement in summer as the water cooled it, sending steam and heat into the air. It was really more beautiful than anything I can remember seeing before.

I wish there were words for how I felt and what I saw. Amid the sneezes, coughing and sniffles I was thinking about how wonderful it was to see Americans manufacturing. I knew my dad did, but it had been a while since I saw real American manufacturing this close up and with this kind of efficiency. It was really just beautiful.

So, today, I was looking for pictures of the Edgar Thomson mill in Braddock when I got an e-mail from someone I know about a deal at the Container Store. Yeah, I know, it's a girly thing.

I like the container store. I like organizing my apartment, but that's because 1000 square feet with 2 bedrooms and a 16 year old needs some intense organizing to function.

I've bought from the container store and I knew they carried American made products because I've bought them there, but I had no idea that they actually allow you to browse by category for products and one of those categories is Made In The USA.

They have unique items like the Flip Fold and Flip Fold jr. When I worked in retail, we used these to fold shirts uniformly, oh and jeans too. Before these were available, we had to use a cutting board that we folded around. These cut our folding time in half.

I'm planning to buy these nifty power converters for my parents for an upcoming trip to Europe. My mother has never been and if you promise not to tell her, then I'll share the surprise I'm hoping to give her. Okay, here it is, I'm hoping that when we arive in Barcelona, that we'll be able to travel to where her father was born in Viitasaari, Finland. My mother has never been and I'd like her to see it at least once. I mean, come on, how can we go all that way and not actually make it to Finland? “Hyvää päivää!” to all my Finnish friends!!

My point here is that Americans make cool stuff. From pretty, hot, and orange planks of steel to the smallest of electrical converters. The way to pull ourselves out of the mess the banks and Wall-street have gotten us into is to re-invest in ourselves. And that means MANUFACTURING.

So, tell me what you made today. I'd love to know and I bet, so would everyone else.

ENDA Hearing on the Hill

2009-09-23T14:37:00.004-04:00

ENDA is

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3017), introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), would prohibit employment discrimination, preferential treatment, and retaliation on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by employers with 15 or more employees. Currently, it is legal to discriminate in the workplace based on sexual orientation in 29 states and in 38 states based on gender identity.

And the place to start for me is with the testimony of William Eskridge, John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School, it's short but very pointed.

And next up, another personal story, this one from Vandy Beth Glenn, where she was fired from her Georgia state legislative job

Normally, when I write these posts, I have loads to say, but I honestly couldn't add analysis or even a thought when presented with the testimony of Vandy Beth Glenn and William Eskridge. Nothing I've experienced comes close to being fired from a job that you love and are good at because your boss has an issue with how your co-workers might feel. Feel? Seriously? WTF?

I think we as a society have a long way to go on the issue of equality. From women's pay, to Don't Ask Don't Tell, we have long walk ahead of us. Legislation like ENDA is a major step down that long road, and no one says it better than the men and women most affected by ENDA, like Helen C. Walther:

By Helen C. Walther on September 22, 2009 12:59 PM
As a transsexual woman I can directly attest to the need of this legislation. I can directly relate to the fear of losing a job, or not even having a chance for one, because of my gender identity as well as the limiting nature of this fear on my current job search (I’ve been unemployed for 9 months).

ENDA needs to come to the floor and every member of Congress needs to vote for it.

Norma Rae Has Left the Building

2009-09-12T19:25:00.001-04:00

Crossposted on dailykos

When Michael Jackson died, I didn't really notice. He didn't move me; didn't change my life; he didn't make me get to my feet and find reason in it.

Michael Jackson was a great entertainer. But he was no Crystal Lee Sutton. He never took on management to bring a better life to her, her family and her co-workers. Crystal Lee Sutton, took a stand and paid a heavy price for it:

“Management and others treated me as if I had leprosy,” said Crystal. She received threats and was finally fired from her job. But before she left, she took one final stand, filmed verbatim in the 1979 film Norma Rae. “I took a piece of cardboard and wrote the word UNION on it in big letters, got up on my work table, and slowly turned it around. The workers started cutting their machines off and giving me the victory sign. All of a sudden the plant was very quiet…”

Over the past few months, Crystal (aka Norma Rae) has battled brain cancer and her health insurer for life saving care, care she was denied.

Last week, Crystal Lee Sutton entered hospice care. Today, I received word that Crystal has lost her battle.

Thank you so much for getting the word out about Crystal. I was able to share the messages with her, and it meant a lot to her and to her family. She even managed a smile at the H.L. Mencken quote! She died yesterday about 3:30, peacefully, with her family there. The local paper had a front page article this morning, www.TimesNews.com. The funeral is tomorrow, the last I heard, at Maclure funeral home in Graham, N.C., at 2:00, with visitation prior to the service. I miss her already.

For those of you too young to remember Norma Rae, Brave New Films has a great review of the film.

From it, you can get a good idea of who Crystal Lee Sutton was and has been to an entire movement.

As a single mom, I especially found inspiration in her story. I am a liberal, a union activist because of Crystal Lee Sutton. She is today and will always remain, my personal hero.

Please, take a minute and remember an amazing woman.

Join me in song. Solidarity forever, For the Union Makes Us Strong!

Thank you Crystal. Thank you.

You are missed.

Slaves to Chocolate: The High Cost of Market Incentives

2009-09-10T16:02:00.003-04:00

I’ve been covering issues related to the production of chocolate through the use of child slave labor for a few years now. In all of that time, I didn’t really have a moment to really feel like anyone was listening inside the walls of Congress. Today, however, Congress doesn’t have to act on this, the Department of Labor has and the tone is set in the opening paragraph to their List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor report:

As a nation and as members of the global community, we reject the proposition that it is acceptable to pursue economic gain through the forced labor of other human beings or the exploitation of children in the workplace. However, we are aware that these problems remain widespread in today’s global economy. Indeed, we face these problems in our own country. The International Labor Organization estimates that over 12 million persons worldwide are working in some form of forced labor or bondage and that more than 200 million children are at work, many in hazardous forms of labor. The most vulnerable persons – including women, indigenous groups, and migrants – are the most likely to fall into these exploitive situations and the current global economic crisis has only exacerbated their vulnerability.

What’s hardest to conceive of in the issues surrounding child slave labor in chocolate production is really how easy it could be to fix. Let’s start with the world’s major producer, Côte d’Ivoire. Did you know that Cote d'Ivoire produces about 40% of the world supply of cocoa, and this cocoa comes from about 600,000 total farms in this very small West African country.

The 600,000 producers are often very small farms where children are forced to work to help their families or are sold to larger farms. From the New Internationalist

The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has made many visits to Côte d’Ivoire and it has never met a single parent who would not have preferred their child to go to school, get an education, and have a better future. The problem is that many parents have no choice: there are simply no schools, no teachers and no books. Their children have to work because these cocoa farmers do not receive a fair price for their beans and as a result, live in poverty. And a recent study by the Payson Centre at Tulane University has shown that, despite millions of dollars and many years, the chocolate companies’ charitable efforts are not having a broad impact on improving the lives of children on cocoa farms.

The problem of child slavery in chocolate production comes from control of revenues, revenues which were used to fund a civil war. I’m sure everyone knows the “Golden Rule”, He who has the Gold makes the Rules? Well, that’s the case in Côte d’Ivoire. It's a horrendous situation for thousands of children. This is a very real problem caused by poverty and war and held in place by greed and abuse:

An investigative report by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in 2000 indicated the size of the problem. According to the BBC, hundreds of thousands of children are being purchased from their parents for a pittance, or in some cases outright stolen, and then shipped to the Ivory Coast, where they are sold as slaves to cocoa farms. These children typically come from countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Destitute parents in these poverty-stricken lands sell their children to traffickers believing that they will find honest work once they arrive in Ivory Coast and then send some of their earnings home. But that's not what happens. These children, usually 12-to-14-years-old but sometimes younger, are forced to do hard manual labor 80 to 100 hours a week. They are paid nothing, are barely fed, are beaten regularly, and are often viciously beaten if they try to escape. Most will never see their families again.

Today, I’m thrilled that the US Department of Labor has listed cocoa production in their report. What I was a bit disturbed by, was my utter lack of knowledge of other child slave produced products like Electronics, Fireworks, garments and textiles from China; Coal from Pakistan; Shrimp from Thailand; and how often child slave labor is associated with clothing from the harvesting of cotton to the production of the garment in countries as divergent as Argentina, India and Uzbekistan.

We have a long way to go to end forced labor all over the world. I think a good first step is for Congress and the President to no longer agree to more Favored Nation status’ or Free Trade Agreements with countries that can’t do the bare minimum for the most vulnerable in society. These products and their raw materials shouldn’t even be on the market and should never reach the shelves at our local stores. Best way to stop it, is to start with Trade, and that’s up to the Politicians we elect. I mean, they do work for us, don’t they?

The next thing we can all do, is to take a step back, put down the coffee and cocoa and check the labels on our clothes and other textiles. If they’re made in a country on this list or the cotton comes from one of these countries, look elsewhere. Look toward local chocolatiers for that chocolate fix (list available in link of a few chocolaty suggestions) and find ways to recycle clothes from the Good Will or a local thrift store that supports causes you do. Look for the union made label, you’ll get a great item and know that it was not child slave labor produced.

And one last thing, let folks know what you’re doing. Let them know that you don’t support child slave labor and that’s why you’re not buying chocolates right now. It’s your way of sending a message to companies like Cargill, companies that just don’t care who produces the materials they trade:

It admitted, in its public response to an ILRF action last year, that it did not have sufficient ‘market incentive’ to eliminate slavery from its supply chain. Consumers can avoid eating chocolate by one company or another. However, as Cargill is selling to all of them, can you be sure your chocolate did not go through Cargill’s hands?

It’s really time these companies looked at children and saw something other than Market Incentives, it’s time they actually see in children what they are, our future.

Norma Rae Soon to Leave Us

2009-09-08T10:44:00.004-04:00

Crystal Lee Sutton (AKA Norma Rae) has been battling cancer for some time now.

Helping Norma Rae: Crystal Lee Sutton – the woman whom the movie "Norma Rae" was based on – is fighting for her life. Ill with meningioma (a brain tumor), her health insurance – which initially denied her coverage – covers so little that her husband must work two jobs to help pay her medical bills. "Crystal's long been a heroine to many of us in the labor movement," says Community Services Agency Executive Director Kathleen McKirchy, "CSA is proud to help coordinate metro-area support for the real 'Norma Rae'" To contribute to the Crystal Lee Sutton Foundation, click here now and be sure to put "Norma Rae" under Designation.

So it is with a heavy heart that I read this message this morning:

Dear bendygirl,

Crystal Sutton is now at the Hospice Home in Burlington, NC. She still holds the Union dear but will soon be advocating for justice on a higher plane. She would appreciate your prayers. Messages can be sent to me at my email address and I will see that she gets them.

Please post a message in the comments section if you'd like to send her your thoughts or prayers. You can also e-mail me at bendygirl@gmail.com and I will forward them for you.

Northland Poster

2009-08-14T19:01:00.003-04:00

I got this message today and wanted to share:

Dear friend or past customer of Northland,

Thank you for your support for Northland Poster Collective over the years. Northland has now officially closed its doors after thirty years of supporting organizing, movement building and educational mischief through art. It is sad to see the end of such a long-lasting and well-loved institution but the fact of its existence feels like a victory (as is the length of its survival and its continued ability to attract young people).

To find any of the ongoing projects spawned by Northland, look at historical images or comment in the blog (many have registered, no one has yet dared make the first entry), go to the Northland Legacy web site at www.northlandposter.com.

If you wish to receive news from my new studio (I have been a main artist at Northland) or to be notified when my commerce-enabled website opens, please sign up at Ricardo Levins Morales.

Thank you and be well,
Ricardo

Ricardo Levins Morales
Northland Poster Collective
PO Box 7096
Minneapolis, MN 55407
(800) 627-3082

Right now, I'm sitting in my hotel room at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, sad that I'm too tired to head to PNC Stadium for batting practice with AAM. I think the mill tour yesterday and all the walking around, well, I'm just plain tired. So, here I am, in my room, wearing a Northland T-Shirt, one of my favorites. It's a picture of a school of fish following one huge fish. The school of fish are in the shape of a bigger fish trying to eat the big fish, collectively. Underneath, it says, ORGANIZE. I agree, when we're organized, together, we can do anything.

Right now, I'm ready to collectively do anything, apparently, just not batting practice at PNC!

If you're at Netroots Nation, hit me up!! Pst, it's Bendygirl!!

Goodbye Northland. You are already missed.

Train Spotting

2009-07-17T09:56:00.001-04:00

I love taking the train.

In the dining car, you can eat with the most interesting and random assortment of folks, at the same table. And, the food is good. You also eat with silverware.

I’ve eaten with a woman who can’t fly due to inner ear issues. I’ve eaten with students because Amtrak gives student discounts, so it makes sense for them. I’ve even eaten with folks from the First Class sleeper cars, now try and do that on a plane. But best of all, are the people who are taking their first ever trip. I love seeing the countryside through their eyes.

I’ve had mostly good experiences and occasionally, I’ve had amazing experiences.

I’ve taken the train to Orlando, Savannah, Cleveland, Chicago, New York and even a commuter train into New York (not Amtrak). I’m hoping to take the train to see friends in Fayetteville this winter and it’s really convenient for Fayetteville since they have a station there. If I wanted to get there faster and fly, I’d need to fly into Raleigh-Durham, about an hour away. I’m also likely to take the train to Pittsburgh for the blogging convention Netroots Nation in August. As you can see, I take the train.

Taking the train for me is cost effective, first and foremost. I rarely pay as much for the train as I would for a flight and then there’s the added bonus of not having to pay additional security taxes and fees. Of course, when your ticket has been issued, if you lose it, as my daughter did on our last trip, you will need to re-purchase that return trip ticket. That was a very expensive lesson to learn for the 15 year old. On the other hand, trust me, she’s never done that again.

Second, it’s safer than driving. Of course, there are those moments when car and train collide, and car always looses. I suppose the accident last week in Michigan is a reminder to all of us that, you can’t race a train:

Early last Thursday afternoon a passing Amtrak train pulverized a car full of young people when the driver decided to circumvent waiting cars at the crossing in an attempt to beat the train. The car occupants included four boys and a girl, ranging in age from 14 to 21.

The driver was 19 and operating the vehicle on a suspended license. It took a mile before the train came to a complete stop. When I saw the initial footage on TV taken by helicopter, I couldn’t tell where the car was.

SNIP

First of all, he should have known enough not to race an Amtrak train going 65 mph. He should have known if the gates were down, they were down for a reason and no emergency in the world would justify trying to go around them.

And my last reason for train travel:

It’s better for the environment. Train travel is mass transportation. By taking the train, there are fewer cars on the roads or planes in the air. Sure, walking is even better, but who has that kind of time?

All in all, I love taking the train. So, imagine my excitement when I saw this story on MSNBC, I mean, it’s like they’re actually trying to give me another reason to take the train:

It’s all part of the Trails & Rails program, a joint program between the Park Service and Amtrak that operates on 12 trains across the country. Now in its ninth year, it’s designed to showcase the cultural and natural heritage of each local area.

Volunteers get onto the trains and tell stories about what you see. From history to nature to architectural beauty, it’s all right there and explained for everyone who’s interested, again from MSNBC:

Adirondack
Bookended by New York and Montreal, the Adirondack spends much of its route traversing the less-crowded countryside of the Hudson River Valley and eastern Adirondacks. Along the way, riders can experience, not one, but two Trails & Rails programs.

For an easy morning outing, consider tagging along from Croton-Harmon to Hudson, an 80-minute run narrated by volunteers from the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. Hugging the east bank of the Hudson, the train passes several historic sites, including Bannerman’s Castle, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (across the river) and Frederick Vanderbilt’s 54-room summer home.

There’s even a program that adds sort of an artist in residency to a section in North Dakota:

Depending on your itinerary, you’ll find yourself following the Mississippi River (think paddlewheelers and grain barges), crossing the northern plains (think Lewis and Clark) or traversing “the crown of the continent” (along the southern edge of Glacier National Park). This year, the program between Minot, N.D., and Shelby, Mont., will also feature artisans provided by the North Dakota Arts Council and special performances by Keith Bear, a Mandan/Hidatsa storyteller and flute player.

I wish more of us Americans would decide to take the time to take the train. There’s so much to see in this expansive country of ours, and apparently the National Park Service and Amtrak are working together to give it to us.

Now, if we can just get people to understand you can’t beat a train with a car; I can dream of for this, right?

New Job, Temporarily

2009-07-04T11:25:00.004-04:00

Because of the blogging I do, I've had the opportunity to be exposed to new technologies that lots of folks in Government haven't had the opportunity to do. It's a labor of love for me, clearly. Growing up in union probably had a hand in it all.

Anyway, I'd been feeling sort of like a tiny cog in the machine at work for several months, perhaps as much as a year. I'm sure lots of you know that feeling, where no one listens to anything you say, morale is low, everyone you know seems to be trying to jump ship and those staying seem to be resigned to the fact that this is as good as it gets.

All in all, it's been sad.

It was so sad and frustrating, I contacted the local and asked to be represented.

I am now a member of the union, but not yet represented by the local. But the local has already been so awesome, they've stepped in and helped a couple of times already with the boss. The shop steward used his leave to do it.

With everything that has happened to me over the last few months, I really was feeling like there was no hope. But the way the union has stepped up has made me feel like there's someone out there in my corner. And that feeling has been amazing.

So, when this opportunity came up to go on a temporary assignment to another government agency to work in something I've been doing with my labor blogging, well, let's just say that nothing summed it up best than this video

I got to meet all my new temporary co-workers and felt like I can contribute to something that will hold meaning for the agency I'm heading to as well as other government agencies. Now, I'm hoping I can do it. I'm a bit scared because folks have faith in me, and I'm absolutely terrified that I'm going to let them down. And yet, I'm beyond over the moon excited about getting to do this. Having these two competing emotions is really kind of cool.

Come Monday morning, I'll get to do the new job stuff. I'm so excited! I'm no longer a cog in the machine!

Prince George's County Using Scabs

2009-07-01T18:49:00.002-04:00

USA9 is reporting that Prince George's county is replacing paid professional firefighters with
volunteer firefighters.

I'm all for Volunteer firefighters in areas where there usually isn't much of a choice, like the township I grew up in back in Ohio. Because of a variety of reasons, my township had a volunteer fire and rescue squad, but it was never staffed 100% of the time. There weren't enough volunteers for this nor housing or funding. Volunteers got called in when something happened. And these guys (all were men when I grew up) lived close to the fire hall. In rural areas, this doesn't sound like a bad idea, but in Prince Georges county?

9NEWS NOW made it from the Calverton Fire Station to an ambulance call on nearby Evans Trail in about 90-seconds after Willie Smith's niece called 911. PGFD Chief Spokesman Mark Brady confirms it took about 8-minutes for the closest ambulance to arrive on the scene. It was staffed by volunteers from Branchville about 4-miles away.

8 minutes doesn't sound too bad to me for emergency response time, but in PG county, it doesn't actually sound that good. I lived only 3 miles from the fire hall in rural Ohio. And this was on the edge of the township. PG should be able to do better than rural Ohio. Again, from USA9 (local CBS news).

With limited money available to pay out overtime, Prince George's County says it can't staff fire stations with paid firefighters the way it used to. Brady says, "We are trying to make the best use of the resources we have".

Best use of resources?

County officials say that worked in at least four stations on Wednesday, but as 9NEWS NOW confirmed the Calverton Fire Station was left unstaffed throughout the day.

PG county should hire new firefighters and stop relying on Overtime. Maybe then, PG can staff the firehouses, 'cause it's not looking as if they're doing it now, "volunteers" or not.

Sisterhood of Misery: Should I Breathe or Get that Prescription Filled?

2009-06-26T19:32:00.004-04:00

I went to the Doctor the other day. After the $30 copay, 3 new prescriptions and a Dr's request that I head to Radiology and for blood work for two new tests, I decided that maybe I needed to re-think health care.

I have good health insurance.

I pay way too much every two weeks, but there is just no choice for me and my family. I have to have insurance, even as inadequate as it is.

Today, as I sit typing, I'm thinking about the two phone calls from CVS for me to come by and pick up the new medications and I know I can't.

It feels a little odd saying this out loud, or in writing. No matter how I say it or in what venue, it makes me feel like a failure. You see, I can't afford the medication.

Can't afford it.

The 5 medications I am currently on costs more than $200 a month. I see a Dr. for a chronic condition, monthly. That's another $30. Each time I do see her, she gives me samples to help me make it through the month, but it doesn't.

The two new medications I have not picked up were based on the older medicines not working any longer. One new one is $76 for 20 pills. I need 2 a day. This new med, replaces a $20 medication. The other new one, I haven't even had the guts to look at yet. I dropped the prescription and just haven't gone back. I can't pick up the $76 one, what makes me think that the special order inhaler will be the same as the $30 copay for the old one. Clearly, I think it's going to look the same as those 20 pills, out of my price range.

I have insurance. I even have "good" insurance, but that sure seems relative from my current position. I still have to make the choice between paying the electric bill or getting the new medication. Kind of sucks, doesn't it?

With all the success I've had in my life, nothing really makes much difference at the end of the day when I can't breathe. And, I'm not alone according to CNN, I've got lots of company:

By one estimate, 25 million Americans can't afford to cover the gap between what their insurance covers and their medical bills demand.

25 million of us is an awful lot of Americans who have insurance coverage but still can't afford health care.

When I was a kid, my dad, a member of the United Steelworkers of America, had fabulous coverage. My chronic condition was treated by a family doctor. There weren't lots of kinds of available treatments, but he was there to at least help make me more comfortable. He updated my immunizations. I went to a dentist regularly. My brother went to specialists for knee care and surgery. I was even able to go to Cleveland Clinic for hand surgery at 18. My parents had excellent coverage which provided excellent .

As my child has grown, we've forgone dental care. She's been to the dentist 4 times in her life and she will soon turn 16.

We no longer have a family practitioner for regular check ups, not with a $30 copay.

My $75 emergency room visits are more cost effective for acute symptoms than consistent care for 6 months.

Did I mention, I have excellent coverage? That I pay more than $100 every two weeks for this coverage?

And again, CNN notes, I'm not alone:

Many people without adequate insurance are also delaying or forgoing medical care until it becomes an absolute emergency, said Dr. David Chin, managing partner of consulting firm Pricewaterhouse Cooper's Global Healthcare Research Institute.

I HATE having to forgo care for my child. It makes me feel like a failure.

I think, that at my age, I should be able to provide some minimum care. My standards for that minimum were set by my parents, but that kind of care, is just not even possible for me to provide, it's way out of reach.

Again, from CNN

More importantly, Collins pointed out that the number of underinsured increased 60% from 2003 to 2007. That compares with a 5.1% increase in the number of uninsured Americans - to about 46 million - over the same period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"The 25 million [number] can still be an underestimate," Collins said.

What's also troubling, she said, is that the ranks of the underinsured are spreading across income levels and have seen the most rapid increases lately in middle-income households earning between $40,000 to $60,000.

Yep, it's troubling. As I think about the new tests and if I can afford to fill the new prescriptions, it's cold comfort to read the Commonwealth fund's report on women and health care:

The study found:

* 52 percent of women had any one of four problems getting needed health care because of cost compared to 39 percent of men: did not fill a prescription; did not see a specialist when needed; skipped a recommended medical test, treatment, or follow-up; or had a medical problem but did not visit a doctor or clinic.
* 45 percent of women accrued medical debt or reported problems with medical bills in 2007, compared to 36 percent of men.
* Women were also more likely to skip tests and screenings: almost half of women (45%) delayed or did not receive a cancer screening or dental care because of costs, compared to 36 percent of men.

I don't know what the answer is on Health Care. I know it's not working for me and my family. And from the data, it doesn't seem as if it's working for most women and their families.

I do know that I want things to change, because I'm freaking tired of being miserable, worrying and having to choose between breathing and paying for food, phone, electric or just about everything else in life.

For me, SINGLE PAYER is the best possible answer for women and the families they support; women like me. But at this point, I'd like to just see a real public option. Maybe, I could even opt out of my employer sponsored health insurance, potentially meaning yearly dental care, an annual pap smear (yeah, I said it, pap) and perhaps, even the ability for me to pick up the phone and decide to go to the radiologist or head to CVS and pick up that new prescription.

But, can this Congress grow up and get it done? Maybe, if they listen to West Virginia Senator Rockefeller:

On Thursday, Rockefeller admitted he expects little bipartisan support.

"There is a very small chance any Republicans will vote for this health-care plan. They were against Medicare and Medicaid [created in the 1960s]. They voted against children's health insurance.

"We have a moral choice. This is a classic case of the good guys versus the bad guys. I know it is not political for me to say that," Rockefeller added.

"But do you want to be non-partisan and get nothing? Or do you want to be partisan and end up with a good health- care plan? That is the choice."

Bi-partisanship isn't worth the cost to women and families like mine and those worse off. I believe this Congress does have a moral obligation to all of us, but especially the 100 million Americans who make the choice between paying the phone bill, or paying for a prescription.

Right now, I'd really like the public option so that I can stop, put down the electric bill, close my eyes, and finally, just breathe.

I Worry, Way Too Much

2009-06-25T20:45:00.003-04:00

I'm a single mom. And I've got lots on my mind, yeah, like many of you.

I seem to always be worrying about the future. You know like:

How do I make the mortgage this month?
Do I have to by generic or can I go for the brand name cereal?
Oh, no, not the Electric bill?

But now, I got this other thing on my mind, college.

My kid is looking at graduating. She attends a very small private school in DC on a scholarship (rock on my most amazing kid for getting a scholarship) and can graduate as early as this winter.

As proud as I am of this amazing kid, I'm like a lot of parents, I'm worried. I'm worried about how to put her through her top choices, and it appears, students are worried about the same thing according to MSNBC:

For many transfers, the financial burden dawned on them after several years. The poor economy and high tuition has already filtered down to high school seniors. A recent survey showed that many don't want to make the same mistake as their old counterparts — they're forgoing costly schools now.

I'd love for my daughter to go to her top choices, Stanford or Middlebury, but I can't see how I'll be able to afford more than Ohio State, if I can even do that. And this seems to be the real trend, rising costs for college, across the board.

As the economy worsened, less has been given to endowment funds, less to state run schools, even to the county schools. Take Winona State University in Minnesota:

Tuition at WSU has increased 85 percent since 2001, from $3,110 to $5,768 per year.

An 85% increase in 8 years?

How is that even possible? According to the Freakonomics blog,there's a lot of factors, but they boil it down to staffing.

Support staff! SNIP

This explanation seems satisfying (intellectually, at least, if not emotionally). But it’s probably also important to consider how much money colleges have been putting into student amenities as well. When I visited my undergrad alma mater a few years ago, the chancellor pointed out that three buildings had gone up in the past decade or so that were each larger than any existing building on campus. There was a library, a convocation center (a multipurpose arena), and a huge student gym. The gym, he said, was a top priority because parents and prospective students increasingly think of themselves as customers, shopping for the most amenities for the best price, and the colleges that didn’t come to grips with this would soon see their customers going elsewhere.

I get the support staff increases. With new technologies, you do need new types of staff. When I went to college, we had 3 computer labs on campus and my Apple at each of them always seemed to freeze up everytime I tried to type a freakin' paper, I hear Macs are much better than my old computer lab days, but, I digress. Today, how many kids still rely on the computer lab? How many professors are reading e-mailed papers or papers saved on google docs?

As we have moved into the age of technology, strains have been placed on our schools from the elementary level to the highest levels of graduate education. But what do we get from all of this? From the technology to the cost to the education?

What do we really get?

Indigestion seems to be the answer for me. Indigestion caused by worry.

As a single working mom, I don't think I can afford either. Could somebody pass the Tums(r)?

E Pluribus Unum: Employee Free Choice Act Now

2009-06-11T11:35:00.000-04:00

I work. I know, big surprise. You probably thought this was all I did.

I have a job and it pays the bills, case closed.

Well, not really. I'm going through the process now of being represented by a union, other than my current membership in the Freelancers Union (Hey All You Freelancers!! Love ya!!). I'm looking to be represented because I changed positions in my agency and it looks as if now, I may be eligible to be in the bargaining unit. And I am THRILLED!

This past summer, I tried to find out the same information, but didn't know who to contact within my agency to determine if I was in the bargaining unit or not. So, I went the route a lot of folks do, I asked management.

I've viewed management as a resource, not necessarily as management. I've believed that they wear many hats and one of the main hats is that of serving as a resource to employees, including being a resource to find information out about union representation.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

I have since requested union assistance in being represented. In a matter of weeks, they have pushed for me and others like me to be represented in my agency. They've provided me information on legal rulings and have included me in information they send out to members, and I'm still not a member yet. They are doing all of this work, in hopes that I might be able to be represented by them, to the tune of $299 a year.

That's it. $299. That's the membership fee. That's $11.50 per pay. I can't think of anything I pay for that's so small and which I can receive so much for, by just being a member.

And now, this brings me to the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Hill Blog had a number of quotes from around the US in reference to Employee Free Choice. The number one thing I hear from conservatives when unions are brought up is about Dues. Here's the quote from Grover Norquist (Mr. I-want-to-drown-Government-in-a-Bathtub)

The percentage of American workers paying union dues out of their paychecks has fallen from 33% in the 1950s to below 13% today. Fewer than eight percent of non-government workers are in unions.

The union bosses have made it clear that their number one goal is to force more Americans to pay union dues–average about $500 per worker.

So, I decided to find out where this number is coming from. I searched Google for Average Cost of Union Dues. Top three results are anti-union screeds. After that, it's a mix of unions and anti-union forces.

What's a girl to do?

I tried a new search. what are the median US union dues more anti-union crap mixed with union stuff.

What happens when you want an authoritative source of information and not anything biased?

I'd normally turn to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But this is where it became really interesting. Instead of finding what I really wanted, I found something entirely new and even more interesting than what I originally looked for, I found statistics on race, age and gender for unionized workers. And, I found median income values for those groups and subsets.

The data on union membership were collected as part of the Current
Population Survey (CPS). The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000
households that obtains information on employment and unemployment
among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and
over.

Some highlights from the 2008 data are:

--Government workers were nearly five times more likely to belong
to a union than were private sector employees.

--Workers in education, training, and library occupations had the
highest unionization rate at 38.7 percent.

--Black workers were more likely to be union members than were
white, Asian, or Hispanic workers.

--Among states, New York had the highest union membership rate
(24.9 percent) and North Carolina had the lowest rate (3.5 percent).

Wait, I'm not done:

Union Representation of Nonmembers

About 1.7 million wage and salary workers were represented by a
union on their main job in 2008, while not being union members them-
selves. (See table 1.) About half of these workers were employed
in government. (See table 3.)

One of the things that Republicans say when bashing unions is first, DUES, DUES DUES (um, dudes I want to pay MEMBERSHIP DUES for a union the way you, Mr Norquist, want to pay membership dues for your country club. I just get more out of my union, I get advocacy. Do you get that from the country club? Sorry, I digress). As if the concept of paying for a service is scary. I suppose to a Mr. Norquist or Mr. Newt Gingrich or Mr. Dick Cheney (oh, wait, he was a dues paying member of the IBEW, so his word probably doesn't count) that paying for services render is scary because some of the services rendered are things like negotiating, or arbitration, or shop steward advocacy or web sites or... darn scary stuff.

Recently, I joined AFGE. No, I'm still not in the bargaining unit, AFGE is now filing suit on my behalf (and apparently, a number of other folks like me who have asked), but I decided I'd at least pay my dues to my local for the services I've already used, like the advocacy of my shop steward.

I might not be the kind of person who can or would pay to join a country club, but I am the kind of person who can manage to pay $11.50 per pay to help my local build itself into a stronger union with better and more fabulous services. Most importantly, when I pay my dues, I am one of many, speaking in one voice, the union. What could be more American that that? E Pluribus Unum

American Axle: One Year After the Strike

2009-06-05T07:21:00.007-04:00

Alternative title: Dicke E Dauch, More Evil Day by Day

Welcome to the world that has become the United States Labor market.

It's filled with companies that pay CEO's hundreds of thousands of dollars and into the multimillions of dollars.

From the American Red Cross' Multi-Billion dollar Blood Business to Wal-Mart's sticking it to folks like Debbie Shank (and yes, they were well within their legal right to do so), but what Dick E Dauch did and continues to do, well, it just kind of makes me ill, to the nth degree.

Why you might ask, well, I think the Detroit News kind of figured that one out:

Since American Axle was spun off from General Motors and reconstituted in 1994, the union negotiates with American Axle, not GM, and does not get the sweetheart deal other UAW workers will get. In fact, Local 235 went on strike for three months last year and lost. It was a cold, bitter dispute, complete with fires in the oil drums. The unionized workers, numbering nearly 2,000 at the time, gave in to deep wage cuts, in some cases from $28 an hour to $14, in exchange for keeping their jobs. Apparently it was not enough. Fewer than 300 union members were working in the plant Monday.

In the meantime, Dick Dauch, the CEO and chairman of American Axle, was given an $8.5 million bonus by his board of directors after the strike and gave assurances to the workers and the city of Hamtramck that he would keep production here.

Yes, emphasis is mine.

I followed the strike. I was a bit obsessive about it.

I posted pictures like that of a 60 year old woman in an officer's chokehold. Or how Republican staffers who were meeting with UAW members about the bridge loans to the auto industry had NEVER heard of American Axle or their 11 week strike.

I followed one of my favorite workers Jerd0708, and cross referenced worker pay and executive pay, an issue that resinates with workers from Wal-Mart to the American Red Cross to the guys and gals on the docks. It's the Entitlement Mentality of the highest levels of executives that seals the fate of so many of us who simply want to work. Folks who just want to put in an honest day of work for an honest day of pay.

More than ever, I believe in the power of unions, but we need stronger labor laws to make it possible for union workers to rebuild the middle class. We need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to make it possible for more workers to sign a union card and join a union. Together maybe we can start holding boards of directors, CEOs and other executives accountable for their actions when they give an $8.5 million bonus to Dick E Dauch (I said BONUS here) just for the hell of it.

One other thing:
We as a nation need to do a better job of ensuring that companies can't just flee one jurisdiction to go to another because somewhere, down the road, doing so might be cheaper (think of what American Axle is doing in moving jobs to Mexico or Kongsberg Automotive moving production into Poland) in terms of labor costs and environmental costs. Again, from the Detroit News:

Chris Son, the director of communications at American Axle, called late Wednesday to say that the layoffs are "fallout from the GM and Chrysler shutdowns." He also confirmed that the Mexicans will continue to work as the Americans are out on the street.

"For logistical reasons, a level of production will continue in Mexico," said Son. "At the same time, there will be lower production requirements in Detroit. Other than that, I have no further comment on that matter."

Logistical reasons, right. Chris and Dick, if American workers can't buy cars produced with your parts, what's the point in moving to Brazil, Poland or continuing operations in Mexico? If we can't buy these cars, who will? Oh wait, I know the answer, guys like you, right?

Blood, a Multi-Billion Dollar Business

2009-05-31T14:32:00.008-04:00

45% of the US blood supply comes from the American Red Cross. 45%, that's a huge amount from a single source.

Blood is collected through donor blood drives. And the blood is then handled or transported by phlebotomists, drivers, RNs, LPNs, technicians (in the lab, product management, and apheresis departments), and one mechanic.

These are front line workers for the collection and processing of blood.

These front line workers set up blood drives all over the country.

When you think of a blood drive, think of the work as equivalent to the set up and break down of an event like a small circus, carnival or maybe a convention.

And these are safe events, or at least intended to be safe events through the regulation of blood as a "drug" but the FDA. Yep, these events are FDA regulated.

Front line American Red Cross workers follow FDA guidelines, yet since 1993, the FDA has fined the American Red Cross more than $21 million for violation of blood safety laws and regulations. In fact, the American Red Cross has been under a Consent Decree

The 2003 consent decree settled charges that the Red Cross had committed "persistent and serious violations" of federal blood safety rules dating back 17 years.

So, what does all of this mean?

What all of this means is that BLOOD is BIG BUSINESS. Blood is, as the New York Times noted after the FDA announcement of a $5+million fine:

The Red Cross has struggled for years to get its multi-billion dollar blood business, by far its biggest money-maker, into compliance with federal rules.

The American Red Cross makes MULTI-BILLIONS of dollars on donated blood.

Let me repeat that

They make Billions of dollars based on all of our volunteer blood donations.

So, the Red Cross makes billions and billions on supplying 45% of the nation's blood, but is now fighting unions representing front line blood drive event workers. These are the same workers who put on these blood drive events, make them safe and then do it all over again at another location. These workers provide reading material, documentation throughout the blood drive, ask health history questions of donors, perform mini physical exams for donors, take blood, care for the donor afterward donation, pack up the blood, break down the event, and bring it back to the lab for processing and testing, only to do it again the next day or week, depending on their schedule.

And the fines? Are they based on the work of the front line workers? The ones primarily handling the blood, well, according to NPR's All Things Considered, not so much, it is a "management problem".

So, we have a multi-billion dollar business, management problems, FDA fines, and now, they're crying broke as they sit at bargaining tables with 9 different unions as they negotiate front line worker agreements.

So, the unions got together and told the American Red Cross just what they thought of their anti-union, anti-worker negotiation tactics and I got to meet some of these workers on Friday on E street in Northwest DC.

These are the workers who make our blood supply safe, and they have been reduced to marching on Washington for getting what they deserve, a fair negotiation with the American Red Cross.

The request for massive concessions and pay freezes across the board has been covered in a number of local papers, like the New Haven Register who noted something interesting which really got me thinking:

The union claims that the Red Cross is demanding pay cuts for workers, as well as staffing changes that would replace some workers with management representatives.

“They’re not licensed. They’d be making medical decisions, based on what?” asked Crystal Guimaraes, a registered nurse from Naugatuck. She said workers at blood drives need to know what to do in the event of medical complications, physical reactions or seizures.

Would these be the same managers who were at the heart of the fines to the American Red Cross in 2006? Are they part of the "Management Problems" that NPR reported?

And, what about the response from the American Red Cross:

In a statement released Friday, Donna M. Morrissey, spokeswoman for American Red Cross Blood Services Northeast Division, said the Red Cross blood supply “has never been safer, and the American Red Cross is committed to the health and safety of every blood donor who volunteers to roll up their sleeve and every patient who receives blood.”

Morrissey said the pay and benefits package offered to union members is “consistent” with pay and benefits provided to nonunion employees. The Red Cross also has frozen salaries for nonunion workers for the next year and made changes to its retirement programs for all staff.

What I notice in this comment is something big that's been in the news lately and was oddly unaddressed:

What about BONUSES?

So, I went hunting and found that the American Red Cross pays "incentives", from the American Red Cross website:

Donor Recruitment Representative (Great Lakes Region-Flint/Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, Michigan) American Red Cross Blood Services, Ohio/Michigan Division; Salary: $35,000 +Incentive; Benefits: TBA; FAX: (517) 484-0374; Email: jacksonnr@usa.redcross.org; Please send resume via email; Posted: 3/2/2009.

Incentive pay sounds like a bonus to me, and this is only at a volunteer recruiter level. What about higher levels like the CEO level (which has been a virtual revolving door since Bernadine Healy left in 2001) or directors and regional levels? And for an organization with more than 30 CEO's, can you imagine the kind of money we're talking about when we're talking about a multi-billion dollar business?

Take the Director of Collections in Connecticut who received a sizable un-reported bonus (the size is unknown because it's not being reported by the American Red Cross and is not being provided to the unions during the negotiations). And why would this blood collections director receive a huge incentive? Well, it's for introducing the MCS machines to the region.

I suppose I'm way more concerned today than say a year ago about how big companies hide their payments to employees. After the issues with AIG bonuses and all the banks that got money from the government for sinking their companies, well, would you really blame me for being suspicious?

Let's take the case of Theresa Bischoff, American Red Cross CEO for New York. In 2005, based on Red Cross records, she earned a salary of $315,656. And performance bonus of $60,000. And this is on the American Red Cross web site.
There's also Christopher Lamb who received a retention bonus of $132,600 and Douglass Loock who received his retention bonus of $105,215. And these three folks all work in areas related to plasma and blood.

If in 2005, when the Red Cross was going through turmoil due to their response to Katrina, they were also handing out retention bonuses of $100k to some of their top executives, and these are only reported on the top 5 paid non officers. If during turmoil they were handing out this kind of money, what are they doing now? Clearly, what they're doing now is trying to get out of negotiating with people like Christine Holschlag (she's the one with the mega phone). And for a Congressionally chartered non-profit like the American Red Cross, that's just not acceptable.

The American Red Cross does answer to a higher power, they answer to all of us donors. We make it possible for you to make volunteer blood donation into a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR business. It's time for you to negotiate in good faith with the unions representing the folks who make our blood supply safe. Until you do, you won't be getting checks from me or my blood. I'm just not comfortable with your profiting on the backs of folks making our blood supply safe. It's time for you to do the right by your workers and not so much your CEO's. I think you can put down the AIG play book now, don't you?

American Red Cross = Wal-Mart? Say it isn't so!!

2009-05-29T10:00:00.003-04:00

Okay, probably not exactly that bad, but I found a new piece in the Metro-city daily e-mail that really caught my attention.

AMERICAN RED CROSS RALLY TODAY: Workers and labor allies are rallying outside the American Red Cross headquarters in downtown DC today to support workers who are “engaged in struggles across the country at facilities of the American Red Cross,” reports AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “The American Red Cross has taken an increasingly hostile attitude at the bargaining table and in resisting union organizing drives. This would be deplorable under any circumstances but is particularly so given the historically close relationship the AFL-CIO has had with the American Red Cross and the significant assistance that union members give in blood drives and disaster assistance,” adds Sweeney.

The rally is part of a national day of action organized by the Coalition of American Red Cross Unions.

So, if you're free today at noon, May 29th, head over to:

2025 E Street NW

If you'd like to know how else you can help, drop a line to 202-285- 6692.

Pennies, Nickles, Dollars Slip Away

2009-05-25T09:15:00.006-04:00

Like many folks, I've been reading loads of reports on Union organizing. Like the recently released report No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing by Columbia professor Dr. Kate Bronfenbrenner and Majority Authorizations and Union Organizing in the Public Sector: A Four-State Perspective From the AFL-CIO Now Blog:

If you sign up to join a union, you won’t face coercion or intimidation from your co-workers—or employers. Despite dire warnings by corporations against the majority sign-up process, a new study shows majority sign-up (card-check) protects workers and gives them the chance they need to form a union. It’s another critical point in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would give workers across the country the choice about how to form a union and bargain for a better life.

Here's the problem, being in a union makes our lives better. I can testify to this (thank you AFGE and my shop steward). However, the point at which you and your co-workers decide that you need a union, the worst is yet to come.

You see, the moment we decide that together we bargain and divided we beg, is the same point at which employers pull out the big guns. This is where firing happens. This is also where mandatory meetings happen where employers tell workers they'll lose benefits they have or the shop will close or it will mean a loss of your work shift or whatever else they think might be a topic of interest to you.

When we decide to stop begging for the right to work, our employers don't stop looking for ways to divide us, instead, they learn that they have all the power in this country in terms of labor law and they do not care how often, how hard or to what extent they trample our rights. And if you lose the organizing drive, few will ever even attempt to hold the employer accountable for trampling the few rights we do have.

And yes, I'm serious!

From the Bronfrenbrenner report:

Furthermore, workers are keenly aware that even in cases with egregious employer violations, the most likely penalty is a posting and a small amount of back pay, which could take more than two years from filing the charge to a final Board decision to collect...

Of course, this is why there's such a dramatic need for the Employee Choice Act.

But the other wrinkle to this, and one of the main reasons for Uniongal at all, is that like many women in the workforce, I am a single mom. I am the sole bread winner for my family. I am cook, cleaner, glass washer, launder, nurse, baker, bread winner, transporter, psychologist and maintainer.

I do it all.

And when you do it all, you're way more susceptible to intimidation, and even worse, you're constantly trying to figure it all out as a mom while also making ends meet, kind of like the 10,000 Maniac's song, Dust Bowl Days where Natalie Merchant sings about how this mom just can't get ahead:

All workers know the feeling. When our employer goes that extra mile to ensure that you, their employee, knows your place and that unionization (of any kind or even thought) is a no-no. Brings me back to Dr. Kate Bronfenbrenner's report and her description not of a single event in the unsuccessful United Steelworkers organizing campaign at Rugby, but Rugby's overall strategy:

The most important part of the Rugby story is not the most dramatic—the discharges and layoffs—but rather the full arc of the employer’s plan, which in fact started not with the meeting with the supervisors, but as Bogas points out in his decision, with its aggressive union-free policy. This policy was clearly outlined in the employee handbook, and read out loud to all new employees upon hiring. It made it clear that unions would not be tolerated, laying the groundwork for the aggressive and intense effort that followed. But the model that Rugby and so many others of these campaigns adopt is one in which the priority task of frontline supervisors is to ascertain through whatever means possible the leanings of every worker and then use the more aggressive retaliatory tactics to sway those leaning toward unionization.

On any given day, workers across this country are exposed to supervisors and companies who see them as worthless, incompetent or union sympathizing "thugs". These are good workers. They are you and me. They are your moms and dads. Even your brothers and sisters. In fact, you might actually be one of these workers. You aren't incompetent. You aren't a thug or a trouble maker. You have the right to join, form or to organize a union. But we have to demand that right to make that decision without having to go through the crap that employers throw at us.

So, to summarize, if you, as an employee feel you need a union, and you work toward that end, your employer can behave egregiously (fire you or your co-workers, suspend you, strip you of all sorts of things at work, etc...) and there's little or no consequence and when there actually is a violation found, it takes years to collect; ages to get justice. But if you win and you are in the union, you risk far less in terms of retaliation or intimidation from not only your employer but also co-workers. And, there's this new Bill in the Senate called the Employee Free Choice Act which aims at leveling the playing field, making it easier for employees to decide if they want to go through an election or to sign up using a simple card.

So, there you have it. Two recent reports that I've been reading. My thoughts about how it all relates and my hope in the end that single moms like me and many others can simply be able to do better than to just get by. It kind of sucks out here sometimes. It sure would be nice to have a Congress that understood what it's like to watch pennies, nickles and dollars slip away and how being in a union can help to stop that from being the case.

Thank you Dr. Bronfenbrenner for researching these issues and more importantly, giving a voice to so many workers just through the numbers you cite. Who knew a bunch of numbers and stories could be so powerful. If you get a minute, head over to the report, it's really very shocking.

Please support working mothers, Senator Murkowski

2009-05-22T08:07:00.002-04:00

I don't normally copy things from Newspapers. Newspapers have it hard enough these days just surviving, but this was just too good to not share. It appears to be a letter to the editor or some kind of "guest" column in the Anchorage Daily News

Millions of mothers are uninsured, even though a majority of them work, sometimes more than one job. It's wrong when many of the mothers who raise America's children are uninsured and struggle to provide for their families. I am lucky; I belong to a union.

I became a single mother of an 8 year-old son while I was serving in the United States Army. This was a very frightening experience for me. My son's dad was not around to help raise him. After I left the Army, I found a job working for a company where women had no opportunity to advance. I was fortunate to then land a union job. I started work with a 90-day probation period, and on my 89th day I had an accident for which I was fired.

Even though I didn't have grievance rights, my union fought for me. The accident wasn't my fault, but my employer argued I was responsible. Because of my union steward, however, the mediator decided to reinstate me. To begin with, the accident wasn't my fault, and the mediator also pointed out that there were four men who were involved in accidents in their first 90 days and weren't fired. Would I have gotten my job back if I didn't have a union fighting for me? Was this worth every penny of my dues? You're darn right it was. I love my job and I raised my son with no worries. I earn a fair day's pay, decent benefits and have job security. Shouldn't everybody have this?

My son, who is now 24, has few benefits and no job security. I want more for him, but good, secure jobs are scarce. Is there anything wrong with a mother wanting a good life for her child?

All workers should have the opportunity to join a union like I did. The Employee Free Choice Act, a bill currently before Congress, will enable workers to form and join unions. It will penalize employers who break the law, and level the playing field for workers to win a contract. This legislation will put the choice in the hands of the workers and take away the veto power employers have over workers.

The Employee Free Choice Act will make it easier for more moms to join a union and get health insurance for their families. When moms have it better, so does everyone else. Senator Murkowski, please do something for the women who do so much for everybody. Please support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Carol Salandra lives in Anchorage

As a single mother myself, I can empathize. I can empathize even more today than in years past. I've belonged to two unions in the past, and although the Teamsters tried to help out in one job, the SEIU was not exactly helpful in another. I don't think it was the union itself in either case, it was the strength of the shop steward that I had. Some are really amazing and some, leave a lot to be desired. The experiences that Carol had with her union and more specifically, the shop steward, goes to something folks who don't have unions or have terrible shop stewards never know or feel, advocacy.

Recently, I found myself in some hot water due to a couple of issues that stem from my supervisor. I contacted the union. Although they do not yet represent me (we're working on that)the shop steward has taken vacation time to assist me. He's provided me background on rules, laws and given me forms to use for all sorts of things. None of which did I have access to in the past. He's said one very powerful thing that has stuck with me since the hot water started to boil, "Management is not your friend." He's right. I know, it probably doesn't sound all that revolutionary, but it was to me.

Carol, thank you for your letter or guest column. You have given me something to share and have provided a personal story that shows the power of union advocacy. Carol, thank you. For single moms like me everywhere, thank you.

Heads, management wins. Tails, the employees lose.

2009-05-14T12:47:00.005-04:00

Employee Free Choice Act. I kind of hate the title.

I never really understand the term Free Choice when just about anyone uses it. It's not like I'm not bright, I am. I'm articulate too, wahoo for me. But the concept of a "Free Choice" always escapes me.

I suppose my issue is with the seemingly obvious concept of "free" in "Free Choice." It's the concept that you can make a decision about your life, your being completely freely. Seems so simple. A concept where you aren't constrained by morality, faith, anger, emotional baggage or even peer pressure.

Let's face it, no choice is ever really free. Things are weighed, considered, addressed for their obvious issues with risk or just plain old fears. In the end, what weighs on our individual minds seems to be of more consequence than say the ability to make a "free" choice.

I think that's what Harold Meyerson was getting at in his piece from the Washington Post

If our nation was governed by business's version of democratic choice, we would hold elections to determine the winner, but nearly half the time the incumbent would remain in power even if he lost.

snip

But the kind of democratic choice that business favors is choice without consequence -

snip

It's a lovely system for businesses that don't want to pay higher wages or accord their workers some rights, and they've been fighting hard to keep it that way.

Businesses care about nothing but their needs and desires. Kind of like a tyrant or some other despot. And yeah, they have power and they brag about it too,like they did in the LA Times:

In the Ozark Mountain town of Rogers, Ark., more than 250 business owners gathered for lunch at a construction company last month to focus on what they saw as a major threat -- a proposal in Congress to make it easier to form labor unions.

At each place setting, attendees found pre-stamped postcards and pre-written letters to be sent to Arkansas' U.S. senators, Democrats Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, who had supported the labor bill in the past. After lunch, the business owners were ushered to computers to send e-mail messages as well.

Five days later came the good news: Two Senate votes had been stripped from the pro-union bill. Lincoln said she would oppose it outright, while Pryor declared the current version "dead" and said he would look for compromises.

This is not about postcards or e-mails, or even the meaning of the word FREEDOM, it's about what business does to get what it wants. And it does some pretty damn awful stuff, not just turning wavering votes in Wal-Mart's home state against Employee Free Choice, but stuff like hiring day laborers and undocumented workers because you can pay them next to nothing and get away with it, time and time again. Or you can rob your workers of overtime or make them work off the clock.

And, none of this is new. Unbossed looked at wage theft just last year:

GAO identified case studies that show WHD [Wage and Hour Division] inadequately investigated complaints from low-wage and minimum wage workers alleging that employers failed to pay the federal minimum wage, required overtime, and failed to pay employees their last paychecks. Examples of inadequate WHD responses to complaints included instances where WHD inappropriately rejected complaints, failed to adequately investigate complaints, or neglected to investigate until it was too late. The table below provides examples of several case studies.

In the grand scheme of things, Harold Meyerson is the one who really has it right, the way things are now, it's a lovely system for businesses. There are no consequences for them to screw workers out of their wages, pay checks, benefits and even health care. Whatever they want to do, they can do, because there is no one holding them accountable, and if they get their way and are able to keep the Employee Free Choice Act from ever being passed, well, maybe I won't be the only one wondering what Freedom and Choice mean.

Seems as if the real Choice here is between the Freedom to join a union and the Freedom of businesses to continue to shove the status quo down our throats. Isn't really much of a choice, is it?

Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards

2009-05-08T23:38:00.003-04:00

I am a Socialist.

Should come as no shock to anyone reading this site.

I grew up in a very leftist town. Probably had to do with the influx of Finns from the 1800's through mid 1950'. Finns are a bit leftist, or so you might think if you watch Fox News. In fact, if you watch that station, you might think that people like me, hard working folks who believe that Government has a responsibility to its citizens, that no one should go hungry, the mentally ill should be cared for, that children should have access to good schools and we all should have health care, etc... Well, if you watched that station, you just might think I'm the boogyman or some such thing.

Take the Ed Show. They looked at the use of the word Socialist (and it's derivations) and made it the Psycho of the day, and I have to agree.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

You see. I'm of the mind that I live in the United States of America and that guarantees me certain freedoms, including the freedom of speech or in this case, thought.

I have the right to actually THINK about what I want from government and then, I also have the opportunity to push for those things that I want. Like how I want my daughter to be able to go to college and get a Master's Degree. In Finland, she could do that.

How can a small, affluent country such as Finland maintain a high-wage, high-skill economy? It can't compete with the low-cost economies of Asia, so it must, as a matter of economic survival, invest heavily in education and training.

"In Finland, we believe we have to invest in education, in research and in higher education.

"Education can pioneer new areas for jobs. We always need new skills for the labour force - so it means that we have to keep investing."

I know it's a boogeyman to distract from the real conversation that needs to happen about education or health care. Fear mongering has worked for Republicans in the past by labeling opponents as "liberal" but that's lost all it's negative meaning now. So, they find themselves looking for a new name to use to deride. They've come to Socialist. Wonder if they'll do the same concern trolling that Nixon did in the 60's when he claimed that an opponent was pink (as in Socialist Pink and Commie Red) down to her panties. BTW, I do wear pink panties and sometimes, leopard print, too. I know, I'm dangerous, thoughts are you know, dangerous.

So, here's my suggestion to all the Psycho talkers claiming that moderates are Socialists. I respectfully suggest that we take the money from our missiles and put it toward health care and education.

And now for a musical interlude:

Oh, and Congresswoman Bachmann,TV entertainment personality Beck, and all the others, um, HELLO! If you're so scared of folks like me, perhaps you might benefit from a trip to Finland. They're Socialist and according to you two, we should be very very scared. Me, not so much. I'm hoping to take my daughter next year to see family that still lives there. Hey all you Paananens from Viitasaari, you got a cousin right here!! Hauska tutustua!

Netroots Nation DC Event On Employee Free Choice!

2009-05-07T10:01:00.002-04:00

I just looked and there appear to still be seats available for this Downtown (near the White House) event:

Greedy CEOs and anti-union front groups are already working overtime to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. To make sure they don't win, we need to ramp up our activism.

But what role is there for online activism in the fight? How can unions and progressive allies beat back fear-mongering from the corporate interests? What messaging tools will be employed by pro-employee choice groups, and how can the Netroots stand up to the anti-union echo-chamber?

This Friday, join Stewart Acuff of the AFL-CIO, Laura Clawson of Daily Kos, Rebecca Wasserman of American Rights at Work and Michael Whitney of the SEIU for a conversation on how the Netroots can make employee free choice a reality in 2009. The panel will be moderated by Christopher Hayes, Washington DC editor of The Nation.

Click here to reserve your spot.

Netroots Nation DC
Friday, May 8, noon to 2 p.m.
AFL-CIO, George Meany Room
815 16th St. NW, Washington DC

This event is part of the Netroots Nation Salon Series, launched in August 2008 to provide year-round opportunities for the progressive community to exchange ideas and learn how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate.

Passing the Employee Free Choice Act will level the playing field and put the power back where it belongs—in the hands of workers. Click here to join us for this important discussion.

Thanks for making a difference.
Karen, Mary, Nolan and Raven

PS: Space is extremely limited, so be sure to RSVP now.

I'm working, so I can't attend. But anyone who does, drop me a line, I'd love to post some info on the event.

Walmart Workers for Change

2009-04-30T11:35:00.004-04:00

Walmart workers from across the nation are converging today on Capitol Hill for a National Organizing Meeting to brief Senators about wages, benefits and the Employee Free Choice Act. Nearly 100 Walmart workers from 17 states are participating in the event. As part of their campaign for a union voice on the job, they're urging lawmakers to level the playing field for working people by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.

"I made the trip into Washington DC to stand with my fellow Walmart workers and to urge my Senators to pass the Employee Free Choice Act," said Dominique Sloan a Dallas, Texas, Walmart worker:

We need change in this country. All you have to do is look at how all the money goes to CEOs. But when it comes to workers, its always the same, no health care or health care thats too expensive and low wages. We need to change that.

The National Organizing Committee is made up of Walmart workers from Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Despite Walmart's well-documented history of anti-working-family activities, workers say they are excited by the election of Barack Obama, excited that the President says it's not too much to ask Walmart to pay decent wages and provide good health care, and excited that the Employee Free Choice Act can help bring the change that helps workers and makes Walmart live up to its responsibilities.

"I have three boys, and I had to get Florida Kids Care to cover their medical", says Cheryl Guzman, a Walmart worker from Miami:

It's either you eat, or you have medical coverage, and that's not right. That's why I'm part of Walmart Workers for Change.

Ten workers recently shared their stories in a new video, released earlier this week. Workers from the National Organizing Committee will be available to the press today after a Capitol Hill briefing at 10 a.m., in 328 Russell Senate Office Building.

Walmart Workers for Change is a new campaign made up of thousands of Walmart workers joining together to form a union and negotiate better benefits, higher wages, and more opportunity for a better future. The campaign is a project of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). The UFCW represents 1.3 million workers nationwide, with nearly one million working in the supermarket industry, and with many members working at national retail stores such as Bloomingdales, Macys, H&M, Modells Sporting Goods, Saks Fifth Avenue, RiteAid, CVS, and Syms.

Cross-posted at http://ufcw.blogspot.com

Better Than Machines: The Ludlow Massacre

2009-04-23T09:50:00.002-04:00

I'm now following a new blog (well, new to me) and I'm pushing it into the blog roll, but I want to draw your attention to how I noticed this site:

In southern Colorado, mine workers had been on strike since September 1913
against the big coal interests of the region, chief among them the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Corporation, owned by John D. Rockefeller. The miners' demands included
the eight-hour day, more honest procedures for weighing the mined coal, the
right to buy and trade in any store they pleased, recognition of the union, and other basic dignities that were already supposedly guaranteed under the law--a common
theme in the labor movement's history.

He goes on to talk about a Woody Guthrie song about the massacre and it's meanings for today:

12 more miners were killed before federal troops arrived to "restore order." The strike was over. Mr. Rockefeller and the great corporations won, because they could go to whatever lengths necessary for victory and rest assured that state and federal government stood ready to assist. The solidarity of working families throughout Colorado was no match for the solidarity of corporations and government throughout the country. When it was all over, none of the company's gunmen were charged with a crime.

Today, most people have not heard of the Ludlow Massacre. You probably did not learn about it in school. I didn't. But our history is full of "Ludlows." Tent colonies and armored machine-gun cars may sound old-fashioned. But a privileged class that benefits materially from slowly crushing working families and is willing to act ruthlessly to maintain its privilege never goes out of style. The systems and philosophies and distractions that made it possible then are still at work today. The story has not fundamentally changed. The difference is that there has been progress, thanks in large part to the awakening of the public by events throughout our history like the Ludlow Massacre. But it's been a slow and grinding progress, and we've seen indications of how easily it can be rolled back.

We would do well to arm ourselves with the knowledge and memory of the Ludlows of our history.

Highly recommend a read of Better Than Machines.

Finding a Voice to Support Teachers

2009-04-21T07:47:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine who teaches in the Virginia public schools noted that the only profession where government officials think it's okay to not pay the workers is in the schools. I didn't believe her, no one would do that, or so I thought. From OregonLive:

Leaders of Oregon's teachers union did not outright reject the governor's suggestion of unpaid teaching days but said each district would have to figure out a balance between using reserves and other cost-saving measures.

"If we ask school folks to work for free, it means we are going to affect the economy even more greatly," said Gail Rasmussen, vice president of the Oregon Education Association. "These folks, too, are part of the fabric of their communities."

Kulongoski's comments came one day after legislative budget leaders went public with a list of proposed cuts, including a reduction to public schools that would force many districts to close early by an average of five days.

There was also the North Providence School District in Rhode Island:

NORTH PROVIDENCE — The School Committee has garnered $664,000 in concessions from teachers, the equivalent of six unpaid work days, in an effort to erase about $3 million from a projected $13-million deficit for the budget year that ends June 30.

And some of the comments on the thread about teachers working UNPAID are just demoralizing. It's like we don't value teachers as a society but in reading the comments, it seems as if we're really saying that we don't value working with kids. I'm not sure which we value less as a society, teachers or children, perhaps it's both.

But there is something you can do. Well, at least if you live in the DC area. You can join the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) in the District for community mobilization. This Saturday, DC Teachers and supporters of teachers are taking to the streets with the teacher's local, and you can join in:

Where
United House of Prayer Charlotte Mission; 1721 7th Street, NW

When
Apr 25 9:30 am - 12:00 pm

As part of the United For DC Kids campaign, the Washington Teachers Union (WTU), labor and community allies are canvassing local neighborhoods to support teachers and improve the quality of education for children in DC public schools. “When we stand in support of the teachers who work in our public schools, we’re helping our children succeed,” says the WTU. “Please join us for a neighborhood walk and show your support for DC teachers by canvassing our community.” Lunch will be provided; email jeasley@aft.org to RSVP or click here to download an event flyer.

You can sign up for updates on the WTU site.

Teachers always get a bad rap. My daughter wants to go to college to become a teacher. She has an affinity for languages and wants to teach Arabic and Japanese, two languages she currently studies in high school. And here I am, wanting to discourage her from doing this because of reports I've just sited. Teachers are so undervalued in this society, but then again, I really think this is more of an issue of not valuing our children and wanting them to have the best possible education. In the end, the arguments against teachers are always that same...I don't want my taxes to go up. Wow, simply wow. Someday, I hope we can value our kids more than the change in our pockets.

Santa Monica Teabaggers

2009-04-17T14:25:00.005-04:00

What's interesting is at 2:32, you learn that Cleo and Margarito were paid to hold signs and at 2:41 some ass starts talking about how they are out there, not getting paid to protest:

...we're not union organizers

Here's a funny thing about that, I've NEVER been paid to hold a sign at a protest. Not by a union, not by a protest group, not by anyone, ever. Hell, I've even picketed as strike support, again, without pay. I know, reality won't change his opinion. It's not like some folks haven't been paid in the past for small scale protests, they have, but when those protests happened, they weren't inspired by a Faux News Network, bent on inspiring fear, hate and Oh, No, SOCIALISM.

Good thing I have a day off today so that I can catch up on all this ridiculousness. Honestly, it does a heart good to know that crazies are really out there. And here I thought they'd figured out they lost. But then again, I doubt they were in the Silver Section for the Inaugural, the way I was. I suppose this just gives me a bit more perspective, huh?

There's a diary up on Dailykos about this event. Really good stuff in there.

And on a different note, JR Monsterfodder from The Writing at the Wal has another post up on Daiykos as well about UFCW organizing Wal-Mart. Highly recommend the read.

Sweet Home Maersk Alabama

2009-04-17T10:51:00.004-04:00

Last week, I reported that members of the Maersk Alabama crew had received UNION training in anti-terrorism counter measures. But you have to hear what John Cronan, third engineer and son of a merchant sailor, said to the Today Show (good thing it wasn't Lauer interviewing him):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

It bares repeating:

We didn’t have to retake the ship because we never surrendered it. We’re American seaman. We’re union members. We stuck together and did our jobs.

Welcome home my union brothers. Welcome Home!!

How To Destroy a Waitress

2009-04-16T08:44:00.002-04:00

My mom called this morning at 7:30am. She should be at work. My mom is a 62 year old waitress in a family restaurant in my hometown. She's been at this restaurant since I was 4. Yep, 34 years. Clearly, this is a career for her.

So, this morning she calls me. She used the cell phone I got her and that I pay for so she can call me anytime she wants. Only, she's never called me from work before.

Mom's workday begins at 5:30am every morning when she opens the restaurant. The restaurant has been broken into several times over the last year now, something previously unheard of at this establishment. This morning, at 7:30, mom had been on the job for 2 hours and hadn't had a single customer. No railroad guys having coffee. No teachers before school. No parents picking up a to-go order. Nothing. 2 Waitress and no work. The place was empty. That's when I saw a report on MSNBC about folks with good paying stable jobs cutting back.

The frugality of the Kimberlins and Scanlons and millions of other Americans who still have their good jobs feed back on the economy, holding down growth and encouraging other worried workers to trim their spending — causing the whole vicious cycle to run another lap.

"It really can become and does become a self-fulfilling prophecy," Denise Kimberlin said.

We're all connected. My mom the waitress, depends on the money she earns in tips from those who have stable employment to make it through a recession. But if the railroaders, teachers and UPS drivers aren't coming in to the restaurant to grab a cup of Joe, she's going to find herself, and many more women like her, standing in an empty restaurant.

So, if you're employed and not going through a tough financial crisis, remember to eat out once in a while, and also, TIP YOUR WAITRESS WELL. It could be my mom you're tipping.

Why Do We Need The Employee Free Choice Act?

2009-04-15T23:50:00.002-04:00

Perhaps, you can figure out the why, if you hear it from someone who needs a union and isn't able now to organize one because of fear of job loss:

The problem is simple - I'm at an impasse. On one hand, I stand to gain a formidable amount from unionization. However, at the same time, I can relate horror stories from previous employees who attempted to unionize this very company - and were fired for it. I wouldn't put a mass-layoff past this company if the shit goes and hits the fan with this, and I, rather unfortunately, need this job about as much as I need oxygen to survive - ergo the dilemma.

Now, it goes without saying that my mere presence on DailyKos, along with the content of the bulk of this post, surmises nicely my feelings on why the Unions are win. However, for those pressing for Unionization in the current political climate, one can begin to rapidly see just how much we frickin' need the Employee Free Choice Act passed.

The front lines on this bill aren't merely the Wal-Marts and Home Depots of this country, throwing enough cash that could keep their employees set for life at lobbying against it just so they can continue to not provide healthcare, abuse their employees, and provide poor wages and hours, but at a far more local level, with smaller companies willing to coerce, intimidate, and fire employees just to keep their costs down.

Highly recommend you head over to Dailykos and read the entire diary.

Matt Lauer= Corporate Shill

2009-04-15T23:04:00.004-04:00

I got an e-mail about the Today show this morning. I read it in disbelief. Matt Lauer actually lies on camera and then asks a Wal-Mart exec to clarify his already egregiously wrong talking point, really? No way, can't be real. Must be a fake video. Then I went over to the House Education and Labor Committee Blog, and nope, it's not a fake. From the blog:

Earlier this morning, Matt Lauer, co-host of the Today Show, interviewed Mike Duke, the new CEO of Wal-Mart, and they talked about the Employee Free Choice Act. Unfortunately, Mr. Lauer led his question with a mischaracterization of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Mischaracterization? Unless Matt Lauer is an idiot, it's being too kind to Lauer to use such tame wording, call it what it is, a lie. Or, Matt Lauer is an idiot. I have a hard time believing that anyone gets to where he is if he's an idiot. Of course, maybe he's just lazy. Here's the video (thanks to Media Matters for the embed code!:

Here's what the House Committee had to say about the piece on their blog:

Asking the CEO of Wal-Mart about the Employee Free Choice Act is like asking the fox about the hen house. To read Human Rights Watch's 2007 report on "Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association" please click here. (pdf)

BTW, one other thought, Lauer, using an average hourly means that you also include the top salaries. That's what Wal-Mart does. They make numbers lie for them. Just like the anti-UAW worker numbers you kept repeating in December about the average hourly wage of an autoworker. Didn't matter to you or the rest of the Traditional media that the number was wrong, but hey, whatever. I suppose, I just shouldn't expect anything else from the likes of Lauer.

PST, Lauer, this fact sheet on the Myths and Facts of Employee Free Choice.

MYTH: The Employee Free Choice Act abolishes the "secret ballot" election.

FACT: The Employee Free Choice Act does not abolish the secret ballot eleciton process. That process, also known as a National Labor Relations Board election would still be available under the Employee Free Choice Act. The bill simply enables workers to also form a union through majority sign-up if a majority prefers that method to the NLRB election process. Under current law, workers may only use the majority sign-up process if their employer agrees. The Employee Free Choice Act allows workers, not corporate executives, to make that decision.

See, Matt, it really wasn't that hard to find the truth. And I didn't have to sit through an interview with a greedy slimy bastard to find it. Perhaps next time, you can learn from me, and google it first. I know, probably just a little too much work for you, but if I don't ask you to do it, I can't actually expect you to do it. Well, you've been asked, and now, I expect it.

My Co-Worker Talks About Ed Schultz Show

2009-04-15T22:37:00.004-04:00

Well, so to speak. I doubt she actually watched the show, but for some reason she's talking to me about immigration and working.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Okay, so you've now seen the video from The Ed Show from yesterday. So, let's talk about Karen, my coworker.

She comes by my desk and says, "Did you hear about the idea of making sure everyone has an ID? I mean, even illegals?"

So, I'll bite, "WTF are you talking about?"

Karen: Think about it. If they have IDs, then they can also pay taxes.
Me: oh, okay. Can we make drugs legal too? I'd like to tax the hell out of the suppliers and products.
Karen: No, come on, I'm serious. If I have to pay 25% of my income in taxes, then they should, too. It's only fair.
Me: And balanced?
Karen: Ah, a Faux News jab, nice.
Me: Karen, it's interesting. I like the idea of ensuring that people who have come here legally have a path to citizenship.
Karen: Brilliant, isn't it?

So, Karen seems to be on to something that was discussed last night on the Ed Show, and I know she doesn't watch it, she doesn't get home in time. But I have to think the AFL-CIO and CtW are on to something here. Here's what Trumka said that kind of goes to what Karen was talking about:

Where do the unions, and in this deal, deal with those students that are here that are forced to go home?

TRUMKA: Well, first of all, that‘s called the status adjustment.

Look at them and see if they are actually needed and let them stay here.

They‘ve contributed. Many have stayed here for several years.

About 40 to 45 percent of the illegal immigrants in this country don‘t cross the border. They come in legally with visas and then just don‘t leave. So we need to have that adjusted as well so that workers—so a permanent underclass isn‘t created, those workers exploited, those exploited workers drive down wages for all workers.

She was arguing, in her very Karenesq way that immigrant workers shouldn't be exploited and be forced to live under the radar, because, when they do, they also don't pay taxes. Income or payroll taxes. She sees these things taken out of her pay check, she pays her taxes on or before April 15th every year and she only really wants the same for workers here.

I told her that CtW and the AFl-CIO were talking about this sort of thing too, but in a way that first protects US workers first, you know citizens. When we talk US workers, I mean every naturalized citizen and every native born one as well. I'm only 2nd Generation American. If my family hadn't gotten a legal shot at citizenship here, I'd probably be in Finland right now. But we did, and we all pay taxes (that I know of). Kind of like a blending of Karen's idea and that of the AFL-CIO and CtW. Who knew great minds could think so alike? I bet Karen did.

For more Ed Show stuff, you should check out his show!!

Veteran talk radio host Ed Schultz joins MSNBC's primetime lineup hosing 'The Ed Show' from 6 p.m. EST to 7 p.m. EST. The show will debate and discuss issues affecting all Americans.

President Wilhelm's Sub-Standard Union Contracts

2009-04-15T13:06:00.006-04:00

The other week I joined a union that I deeply believe in, Workers United. There’s been a lot of talk about the break-up of UNITE HERE but as a former member of HERE Local 75 I have a lot to add. I’ve been employed at Fort Erie Racetrack and Slots since July, 17 1999 and I joined the union then. But it wasn’t until HERE’s 2004 merger with UNITE that I got any servicing at all from the union. I talked about this some in this YouTube movie:

It took a while to get rid of the bad taste Local 75 left in my mouth but now that we’ve left UNITE HERE and formed Workers United I really think we can finally get the good contract standards we’ve been lagging on for so long in the hospitality industry.

I want to be forward thinking but there’s been so much misinformation being spread by the former HERE leadership (not members like me) that I want to go on record about one of the big problems that UNITE HERE had that pushed the folks in my local in our new direction.

At the 2004 convention where UNITE and HERE merged, fmr. HERE president John Wilhelm (now UNITE HERE Hospitality Division President) proclaimed that "the test of the success or failure of this merger should be whether UNITE HERE organizes substantially more workers in the years to come than our two unions have been organizing separately before the merger". Since that factually has not happened, Wilhelm is now arguing in memos that the merger is successful but that its success should be evaluated on “whether we are achieving good contracts.” He is claiming that the union has won the best contract standards for hotel workers across North America.

But the merger failed to even do that. In Canada, thousands of UNITE HERE members work under lower contract standards than their peers at hotels organized by other unions. UNITE HERE’s weaker contracts have considerable gaps in pay, benefits, and worker protections. Union contracts are searchable online at the Labour Relations website which makes this simple to find for anyone who bothers to check.

In Vancouver, where the leadership of UNITE HERE Local 40 has been under supervision by the International Union since 2005 for financial mismanagement, the union represents some 10,000 workers in the hotel and hospitality industries in British Columbia. However, Local 40’s master agreement with the Greater Vancouver Hotel Employers Association, representing four premier Vancouver properties, is not as good as the Canadian Auto Workers’ contract at a similar comparable hotel, the Fairmont Vancouver.

Guest room attendants earn $1.68 to $2.33 more per hour under the CAW contract than under the Local 40 agreement, or $3,494 to $4,846 more per year. (footnote 1)Banquet servers at the Fairmont earn $16.27 per hour, compared to $11.52 at the Four Seasons (low) and $12.44 at the Westin (high) under the Local 40 agreement. That’s $7,966 to $9,880 more per year under the CAW contract.
The probationary period is more than twice as long for Local 40 members (90 days) as for CAW members (40 days), and it takes twice as long for new hires to earn the full rate of pay (12 months at Local 40 versus 6 months at CAW).
CAW members won extensive health and safety language, including the right for the union to accompany outside inspectors, the establishment of a Health & Safety Committee that meets monthly, annual company-paid first aid training, and language protecting members’ refusal to work in unsafe conditions (footnote 2). But Local 40’s master agreement doesn’t say anything about health and safety.

In Victoria, there is also a big difference between standards under the CAW and Local 40 agreements with major hotels.

At the Fairmont Empress, the employer pays 100% of the healthcare premiums for CAW members, while at the Coast Harbourside Local 40 members must make contributions to cover their fringe benefits.
Wages for housekeepers under the CAW agreement are $2.29 per hour higher than under Local 40’s agreement, amounting to $4,763 more per year.
Cooks’ helpers earn $2.59 more per hour under the CAW agreement at the Empress, or $5,387 more per year than under the Local 40 contract at the Harbourside Hotel.

And in Toronto, where UNITE HERE Local 75 has been dealing with frequent decertification attempts led by THEIR OWN MEMBERS in several hotels, six other unions have organized workers at 13 hotels in the GTA/Hamilton area. And standards achieved in those contracts are higher than those of Local 75 in many cases. For example:

Under the UFCW contract at the Four Seasons, , members receive three weeks of vacation at three years’ seniority, while it takes five years for members to earn as much under the UNITE HERE Local 75 contract at the Fairmont Royal York.
Maintenance staff are paid $1.44 to $2.78 more per hour under the UFCW contract at the Four Seasons than workers in the same classification at the Royal York under the contract with Local 75.
Servers at the Great Blue Heron Casino, represented by the CAW, earn $12.49 per hour compared to $9.97 per hour at the Royal York, or $5,241 more per year.

In a memo last month Wilhelm said, “the Union cannot expect to grow by making itself less relevant and beneficial to its members. Such a course would ultimately destroy the Union.” That's totally true. Which is why it's so sad that here in Canada, where many UNITE HERE hotel contracts fail to set top standards, the union is weakened. Multiple other unions have won strong, decisive victories in UNITE HERE’s jurisdictions while UNITE HERE’s own members have run decertification elections! It is true that without improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions, workers will not have the power necessary to effectively organize, but in his own house and under his own watch, some of Wilhelm’s key locals have failed to meet his most basic test. Honestly, we deserve better. That’s why we formed Workers United. If you care about standards in Canada you'll support us.
________________________________________
Footnote 1
All wage levels are from date of ratification and do not include contractually guaranteed raises. Members of the Vancouver Hotel Employers’ Association have the same master agreement but pay different wage rates, so all rates listed are the low and high end of the range. Yearly calculations are based on 2,080 paid hours of work.

Footnote 2
The CAW contract with the Fairmont Vancouver runs from 8/1/08 to 7/31/11. The UNITE HERE Local 40 contract with the Greater Vancouver Hotel Employers’ Association, representing The Four Seasons, Hyatt Regency, the Renaissance Harbourside, and the Westin Bayshore covers the period 7/1/07 to 6/30/10.

Republic Windows Workers in DC April 16th

2009-04-15T07:50:00.003-04:00

When I opened my e-mail this bright and beautiful morning, I got a surprise, a very pleasant one:

DC Jobs with Justice is hosting a community forum this Thursday on "Resistance and Recovery," featuring workers who staged and won a six-day sit-in strike at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago.

The forum will tell the story of how the action by United Electrical members, combined with nationwide support and mobilization, led to victory for workers, including benefits and a plan to reopen the plant. The workers will encourage others to resist corporate greed and call for an economic recovery that works for everyone, including collective bargaining, health care for all and investment for good green jobs. "We took this action because we really had no choice for our families," said Armando Robles, president of UE local 1110. "We won this struggle with popular support, but we are not stopping until we win good jobs for everyone across the country," added President Robles.

I'm hoping I can make it. I'd love to hear how they came to the realization that they had to stand up and stand together and how they actually were able to give each other support during those dark days on the floor.

The event will take place
Thursday, April 16th, 6:30-8:30pm
at
First Rising Mt. Zion Church in Northwest DC.

For more information contact rcastel@dclabor.org or 202.974.8281. - report by Ruth Castel-Branco

This is America, Isn't It?

2009-04-14T08:02:00.004-04:00

I got an e-mail this morning. In the e-mail was an awesome story about a car dealership in Dearborn and their anger over Senator Shelby's anti-autoworker and anti-Detroit comments. But, that anger caused action and that's the real story! From the Detroit Free Press:

The dealership is running TV and radio ads that feature clips of Shelby making anti-Detroit Three comments.

"We're wasting our time trying to keep them alive," he is shown saying in one ad.

Co-owner Paul Stanford strikes back, asking: "I wonder if the good senator would tell us how much Japanese car companies who make cars in his state gave to his campaign?"

It's politicized content that mainline advertisers usually avoid. Stanford acknowledges the ads might be a little over the top, but added: "We're being vocal because I'm tired of being slapped around by politicians. Sen. Shelby is saying, 'The hell with the Big Three.' I think that's tragic, I really do."

Stanford, who runs the Michigan Avenue dealership with his brother, Gary, said he can't believe America's public officials are willing to let the domestic auto industry die. Not only because of the jobs and the industry's history of helping win World War II, but also for the manufacturing might the companies could provide in case of another national emergency.

Even the ad agency that created the ads seems to have felt equally as angry at Shelby:

The ads are the work of the Sussman Sikes agency in Southfield. Owner Alan Sussman, who describes himself as "the last angry man in America," said in the 1940s and 1950s, Shelby's anti-Detroit rhetoric would have been considered treason.

"What's wrong with an autoworker making $100,000?" Sussman asked. "This is America."

Speaking of the Stanfords, Sussman said: "It's not easy to stand up like they did. It took real cojones."

Oh, and BTW, seems to actually be working, sales are up for the month of March. Way to go! And Mr. Sussman, I don't see anything wrong with $100k salaries for autoworkers, it's the right wingers who do. They seem to think that if you aren't college educated and work and assembly line, there's something wrong with you. My dad's a tool and die maker, I can't imagine any of the anti-union anti-worker a-holes doing what my dad does on a daily basis, and doing it at 65 no less!!

Thanks Dearborn and also the Stanford brothers. Took some real balls to do what you did, nice to see someone has a pair!!

Airline De-Regulation = Abysmal Failure

2009-04-13T07:59:00.004-04:00

If you're a frequent reader of this site, you know I love the analysis at Unbossed, this morning is no different:

That discussion includes the amount of savings on just ticket prices from airline deregulation. One study found it was $32 per ticket.
Weigh that against the impact / costs of deregulation, and the tradeoff is a poor one. We have seen an increase in fines for violating OSHA requirementsfor years - and that has been under the Bush OSHA!
We have also seen airline employee pensions gutted.
Thank goodness the airline employees are highly unionized. Their unions have been all that has stood between complete pauperization of the workers . . . leading to an egress of good workers and an influx of workers who could not find better jobs.

BTW, that emphasis was all from Shirah, I didn't add it. I highly recommend you head over and read up on deregulation. She's pulling together a 4 part series that takes a look back at a 2005 series that was up on Unbossed about Airline de-regulation.

Stop Blaming Unions

2009-04-11T08:25:00.006-04:00

I headed over to MSNBC for the latest news on the kidnapping of Captain David Phillips, but couldn't help reading up on Elkhart, Indiana, instead.

When discussion turns to the decline of the American manufacturing, labor unions inevitably come in for a full share of criticism.

That sentiment surfaced on Day 1 of the The Elkhart Project, with several readers offering the opinion that unions must be at least partly to blame for the economic mayhem being visited on the city and surrounding communities.

But in the case of Elkhart County, organized labor bears no responsibility for the precipitous decline of the RV industry for a simple reason: All the recreational vehicle manufacturers in the area run non-union shops.

In fact, there are very few union manufacturing jobs in the city at all.

There are manufacturing jobs in Elkhart. There's a musical instrument manufacturer and on April 1, 2006, 230 workers walked out on strike there:

Union officials said the strikers walked out when contract talks broke down over wages and benefits, with the company demanding 40 percent pay cuts and substantial reductions in vacation, retirement and health insurance.

Here's the thing, you have to vote to strike. In 2006, just a few months before I launched this blog, these workers just wanted the same contract. They wanted to work. The company wanted to crush the union. What better way to do it than to refuse to negotiate and force a strike vote? I suppose you could do what Kongsberg Automotive did, lock out the workers, illegally, but hey, whatever. More from Newsvine:

“We would have extended the current contract, we asked for nothing,” said Kish, who believes the company wanted to force a strike to destroy the union. “I call it corporate terrorism.”

Steinway Musical Instruments, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company that owns Conn-Selmer, declined to comment. The company has been trying since 2007 to get the union decertified, but the results of a disputed vote on the issue won’t be decided until President Obama fills vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board.

But, you can hear from the workers themselves:

I look at it this way, when you're loyal to your employer in good times and bad, then you deserve the same from them. Conn-Selmer clearly doesn't feel the same way. It doesn't seem much different from what happened to the Diamond Walnut workers, from American Rights at Work:

When the company started to have financial trouble in the 1980s and appealed to the workers for help, a sense of loyalty compelled them to assist. The workers and their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, approved of cuts of over 30 percent to their wages and benefits in order to keep the company afloat.

And then what happened? The company rebounded. They got back on their feet and then went back to the workers and after 4 years offered a 10 cent per hour increase. Sweet, huh? So, then what?

In September 1991, with no other recourse, the workers voted to strike. Without effective labor law to help them force Diamond to negotiate fairly, the striking workers and their union worked to draw public attention to their plight, beginning with a call for an international boycott of Diamond Walnut products.

I had boycott Diamond walnuts for a very long time. As a baker, it was a very difficult decision to make. But, I did it, until the scabs decided that they needed a union.

A break in the impasse began when Diamond's replacement workers realized that a union would help them improve their working conditions. In 2004, Diamond workers - including the strikers and their replacements - voted to retain union representation. Shortly afterwards, the company finally sought a resolution and negotiated a fair contact with the union. In March 2005, 750 workers ratified a new five-year contract that secured wage increases, stabilized healthcare costs, and offered a 401(k) plan, training programs, and English classes. Additionally, the strikers retained benefits and seniority when they returned to the plant, all without causing the replacement workers to lose their jobs.

Justice prevailed for the replacement workers seeking union representation. The same cannot be said for the striking workers who made significant sacrifices for their employer and for the struggle. Fewer than 30 of the original 600 striking workers returned to the plant to enjoy the benefits of the new contract. After 14 years of struggle, most of the original Diamond workers were forced to find other employment, or were simply too old to go back to work.

If you read comments on the Newsvine thread, you get to see how some (probably paid by anti-union groups or simply from the Chamber of Commerce) folks view the concept of unity, negotiating and collective bargaining. They claim things that just aren't true from unions time has come and gone to there's no need for them in a global economy.

There is no better time for unity than right now. Unions rose from the roots. When the owners of industry treated work as if it were useless and a commodity to be traded and when government came in and assisted owners by shooting workers, jailing them and harassing them, it was clear what we needed. A Voice. And that's what your union is for you. All you have to do is look to the Charleston 5, the American Axle Strike or the sit in at Republic Windows.

Greed is not an American value. And neither is anti-unionism, no matter how loud the anti-union voices are, it's not an American Value. This is the time for unions. Together we Bargain, Divided, We STARVE. Unions make us strong.

You can follow the Elkhart Project on Twitter (I am).

Pirates Attack American Vessel

2009-04-10T08:05:00.005-04:00

I've heard of all sorts of vessels being attacked by pirates of late, from cruise ships to oil tankers, but they rarely fly a US flag. This ship, carrying FOOD AID was not so lucky, nor were members of the American crew, from CNN.

The Maersk Alabama was on its way to Mombasa, Kenya, with a cargo of food aid when it was attacked Wednesday. It was the first time in recent history that pirates had targeted an American ship.

The ship was hijacked some 350 miles off Somalia's coast, a distance that used to be considered safe for ships navigating in the pirate-infested waters. There were 21 American crew members, including the captain, on board at the time.

the AFL-CIO Now Blog further noted:

Twelve members of the 20-person crew are members of the Seafarers (SIU) and the ship’s officers are members of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA) and Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P).

When the pirates, armed with AK-47s, boarded the 730-foot vessel, the unarmed crew locked themselves in an area of the ship that contains the ship’s steering gear, second officer Ken Quinn told CNN in a ship-to-shore phone call.

He said the crew had captured one of the pirates and, in negotiations with remaining pirates, agreed to exchange him for the release of the ship’s captain. But after the captured Somali was released, the pirates continued to hold the captain as of 4 p.m. EDT

The unarmed union crew were able to secure the ship, without injury. I think that is absolutely amazing. They were unarmed and attempted to negotiate the return of the captain in exchange for a pirate they had captured. But it also appears, they received training for this sort of situation:

The SIU members aboard the Maersk Alabama have undergone safety training at the union-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, which is located in Piney Point, Md.

Among the school’s course offerings are an anti-terrorism briefing that is given to every student; security awareness; vessel security officer; basic and advanced fire fighting; chemical, biological and radiological defense; vessel familiarization; small-arms training; damage control, and dozens more classes.

Our thoughts, prayers and energy go out to Captain Richard Phillips and his family. At this time, He remains a captive of the pirates who attacked the ship, even after a daring attempted escape on his part.

For further updates on the Maersk Alabama, please head over to Seafarers International Union site.

UPDATE:
Actually this is more of a suggestion. I got a Tweet about crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing to prevent pirate attacks by better connecting those in need of information with those possessing information.

Following the recent attack we’ve heard from dozens of analysts, bloggers and pundits who each respond with different ideas on how to address the issue. With recommendations including aggressive action against the pirates, exclusion zones and “sons of Iraq” models, a return to convoys, and more, we haven’t seen much discussion around the “information” problem. And yet, information could be a key enabler of our counter-piracy strategy. While criminals and pirates have effectively used a mix of low-tech and high-tech solutions to collaborate and target shipping, the maritime and national security communities have largely ignored their information strengths. Given the amount of data available and the large community of interest, we should launch a program to expose our information and develop a crowdsourced counter-piracy campaign.

Crowdsourcing conforms to existing US strategy and policy - it’s time we take action and start working together.

20 Years Ago Yesterday, Pittston Remembered

2009-04-07T08:14:00.003-04:00

I was reading a post from Shirah (from Unbossed) on Dailykos about the Pittston strike. As I read the comments I found this one which I think everyone should read:

was one of many that participated in the Pittston strike.It was the best of times,and also worst of times.

The best of times was the support that was shown by other unions,the clergy,and other supporters.The brotherhood we shared,and the total dedication to a cause that we knew was right was a moving thing.

I along with more than two thousand others were also arrested because we believed in our cause.

The worst of times was the fear of not knowing if you would ever return to your job,if your family would have health care,or if you had a future.

It was very disturbing to watch a government assist a corporation to accomplish its goals.The state police lost a lot of respect by their actions on behalf of Pittston.

(note) I went to see Joe Biden at the Russell county fair grounds in September.I left saddened even though there was a nice crowd at least 95% were retiress,and their wives.Theres not many working miners left.

The entire piece on Pittston is really well worth the read.

New Resource for the Unemployed

2009-04-07T07:57:00.001-04:00

A searchable database that uses zip codes. Kind of cool and I thought, let's share the news:

Working America and the AFL-CIO have put together a new site: http://www.unemploymentlifeline.com/

It's a massive database (closing in on 60,000 items and still growing) of resources for unemployed workers. Since unemployed/underemployed is now the biggest "job" category in the country, and unemployment rates just keep going up, this is a crisis for all working people and the Unemployment Lifeline is about dealing with that. In addition to the zip code searchable database of unemployment offices, nutritional and utility assistance information, affordable health clinics, child care, and so on, it includes forums for people to make connections with others who are unemployed, a wiki for strategies to get by, and, equally importantly, action alerts to give jobless workers the chance to fight back.

There's a diary up on Dailykos about it as well.

I Was On The Radio Today!!!

2009-04-04T23:36:00.003-04:00

No, seriously.

Rick Smith of the Rick Smith Radio Show interviewed me about blogging.

And Rick Rocks:

Rick grew up in a housing project on the West Side of Cleveland, OH. He was literally poor whitey in the hood. SNIP Rick is currently a 19 year member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Vice-President of the International Labor Communications Association, www.ilcaonline.org.

There's more on the flip

I'm just amazed at how much I have in common with this guy, all the way to getting drunk on the same college campus probably during the same years!! Here's more of Rick's Rocky-ness!!

When John Kerry lost in 2004 Rick realized that he had to do more. So on Labor Day weekend 2005 Rick began his radio journey. United for Progress was born out of frustration and optimism as a vehicle to add balance to the conservative controlled airwaves. 2008 looks to be a very positive year and the Rick Smith Show will be on the front lines.

Kind of cool, huh? Well, there's more, you see I was a bad, bad girl...

Here's the thing, I couldn't stick to the script. The script being blogging. That was the topic, but talking about blogging when I'm not actually blogging, ugh. Instead, I decided I wanted to talk about a recent diary I posted on DKos, a rescued diary, thank you very much.

I was able to talk about women in the labor movement, women like Mandy from Ohio and how she's now driving a dump truck and getting steady apprenticeship work through her union. And why is she getting steadier work now? Well there was this little thing called the Stimulus Bill. She's working a Shovel Ready Project. As a single mom with two little girls, that steady pay check is important, very important. But what I love about Mandy's story is that she'd been working at a Good Year service center and had been promised that she'd be able to get certified to be a mechanic. She kept working there, watching as her male counter parts hired after her just kept getting promoted or trained and she couldn't. So, she applied for the apprenticeship program and although it was hard at first to make ends meet during the first part of the apprenticeship, she's now got steadier work, makes more than she did at Good Year and is moving up the ranks, toward a journeyman level.

I also got to talk about how the Employee Free Choice act will have a greater impact on women in the labor force than it will on men. My point on this piece was that women make different choices when we take a job. It might be because we're thinking about the hours, getting kids to school or trying to figure out a way to be home to make dinner. We simply think differently about working and how to work than our male counterparts.

That's when Rick made an excellent point. In a union, everyone knows what everyone else makes. You see, it's part of the contract. But women outside of unions don't get this break, take the story about Mandy. She discovered after the fact, that men hired after she was were getting paid more. When waited tables, male servers made more than we did. My mom always said it's because people think they're raising a family and need a higher wage. But so are we.

So, if you get a minute, check out the audio file. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say. And, if I'm on again, what do you think I should talk about? Keep in mind, I'm pretty labor and women focused, but I really would like some new ideas. Who knows where those thoughts could lead me?

And, in case you missed it at the top, here's the audio file again:
Rick Smith Radio Show

Getting it Right for Women

2009-04-04T16:44:00.003-04:00

The Center for Economic and Policy Research released a report in early December on the earning power of women in unions. Feministing summarized it like this:

The report...found that unionized women workers earned 11.2 percent more than their non-union peers and that women in unions were more likely to have health insurance and a pension plan.

I know, this is not surprising news. But what if you thought about this study a little differently? What if instead of focusing on the difference in earning power between women able to unionize and those not, we focused more on making it possible for all workers to choose a union?

For those of you who don't know (and let's face it there might be a few here), the ability for workers to decide on a union is really held in the hands of employers. Employers who often intimidate, fire and harass anyone who's signed a card because they want to be represented by a union.

Well, Monday, on the Hill,

...the National Council of Women’s Organizations hosted a congressional briefing for members of Congress, their staff, the press and the public. The goal of the briefing was for attendees to learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act and the difference its passage would make for women workers. The panelists highlighted the key difference that union membership makes for women and stressed the urgent need for reformed labor laws that will make it easier for workers to form their union.

I was especially interested in the focus not only on women, but on how the Employee Free Choice Act will have a dramatic impact on women. Again, from the Teamsters:

The panelists noted that women make up 45 percent of the union work force in the United States, and if the pace of growth continues, women will be the majority of the unionized work force in the United States by the year 2020. Union membership narrows the wage gap and increases the probability that women will have access to health insurance coverage.

So this got me to thinkin'. Women make up 45% of unionized workers. But what about the rest of the work force? How are women fairing in the economy? According to the Daily Toreador, women are doing pretty good, so to speak:

The economic recession led to many job losses, but mainly for men, said Mitra Toossi, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections economist.

About 82 percent of job losses belong to men, she said, and the percentage of women who lose their jobs hasn't changed much since the recession began.

snip

Many women who work support families, Toossi said, and women with families are more likely to take jobs that do not require many hours and have little, if any, benefits.

Okay, so this got me really thinking now, specifically about the opposition to Employee Free Choice. It's as if the men in the room, the well thinking, well positioned men; who own businesses; who look like Rick Berman or work at Edleman PR; the men who join country clubs and head to the Senate to represent other men at the Chamber of Commerce, it's as if they are telling me and women like me and my mother that unions are for men, we women shouldn't worry our pretty little heads about it. And yet, the largest group of workers who would be affected by this legislation would be women.

Katie Jordan, president of the Chicago Coalition of Labor Union Women told the World that passing the Free Choice act would assist working women demand equal pay for equal work.

“Women without unions are on the lowest economic totem pole and do not have the equal opportunity to talk to their bosses about increasing their wages,” said Jordan. Too many families today are not in unions and struggle to pay their mortgages, added Jordan.

“It’s the workers who make the products and keep companies alive,” said Jordan. “People need to get paid for what they’re worth and feel free to join unions without being harassed,” she said.

Years ago, I sat through a presentation in college about the ad industry and changes in the ad industry as women entered the workforce. The oddest thing about it, were the images of women portrayed as girls, in pig tails for women's colognes or my favorite the Enjoli woman. If you're in your 30's you likely also remember, but for the rest of you, let me shine some light:

Christina: I can put the wash on the line, feed the kids, get dressed, pass out the kisses and get to work by 5 to 9.
'Cause I'm a Woman, Enjoli!

(Announcer): Charles of The Ritz Creates Enjoli. The New 8 Hour Perfume for The 24 Hour Woman.

Christina: I can bring home the Bacon!
Chorus: Enjoli.
Christina: Fry it up in a Pan!
Chorus: Enjoli.
Christina: And Never, Never, Never let you forget You're a Man!
'Cause I'm a Woman!
Chorus: Enjoli!

Images of women, even when shown to somehow have some power ultimately come down to what she does for a man. I know, the Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly concept of what women are good for, but my bigger issue here is how these very concerned men see empowerment of women as a risk to our society. Passing the Employee Free Choice Act at this time, they claim, would send us into a deeper recession. That the system we have now is good enough.

Again, from the Teamsters:

“Union issues are women’s issues,” Choudhry said.

On a more global scale, Heath pointed to the myth that unions destroy competitiveness, noting that in many European countries, employers pay skilled union workers high wages to produce high quality products that compete in the marketplace. Heath noted that compared to other developed nations, the United States has some of the most restrictive labor laws and the least equitable distribution of productivity gains throughout the population.

Noting that women still earn, on average, 78 cents to the dollar of men’s earnings, Rosenblatt spoke on the critical need for the Employee Free Choice Act in order for women and men to gain rights at work to form a union and bargain collectively for gains.

I know how folks feel about union issues here, they are often dropped in favor of issues relating to the environment or energy. But what I'd like to ask you to do today, is to look around. Look at the mothers, sisters, daughters and friends and think about what they do on a daily basis to feed and clothe their families. And think, for just a minute how much better they could do it if they just had the ability to choose for themselves to unionize or not to unionize.

Clearly, many people do get the impact the Employee Free Choice Act will have on women, and it's profound. I for one am especially appreciative of my former union (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) for getting the word out on women and the Employee Free Choice Act. Seems like the right time for the rest of us now, too.

Unionized Women Earn More

2009-03-30T15:06:00.003-04:00

No, it's true. It's been studied and it's not surprising. But have you ever thought about how the Employee Free Choice Act could make an even greater difference in the lives of women? I have. Having the ability as a worker to choose to sign a card and be recognized or sign a card and hold an election, well, let's just say it's profound. And I'm not the only one thinking about it, either!!

There is no doubt about it. Union membership makes a critical difference in the lives of women. With the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, more women – and as a result, their families – would have greater opportunities and access to a living wage, health care, retirement and job security.
This union difference for women was the topic of conversation on Capitol Hill today, where the National Council of Women’s Organizations hosted a congressional briefing for members of Congress, their staff, the press and the public. The goal of the briefing was for attendees to learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act and the difference its passage would make for women workers. The panelists highlighted the key difference that union membership makes for women and stressed the urgent need for reformed labor laws that will make it easier for workers to form their union. The distinguished panelists included:
Rachna Choudhry, Policy and Advocacy Manager, National Partnership for Women & Families
Ariane Hegewisch, Study Director, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Carol Rosenblatt, Executive Director, Coalition of Labor Union Women
Amy Swanson, Grassroots Lobbyist, Service Employees International Union
Tiffany Heath, National Coalition Organizer, Voice at Work, AFL-CIO
The panelists noted that women make up 45 percent of the union work force in the United States, and if the pace of growth continues, women will be the majority of the unionized work force in the United States by the year 2020. Union membership narrows the wage gap and increases the probability that women will have access to health insurance coverage.
“Union issues are women’s issues,” Choudhry said.
On a more global scale, Heath pointed to the myth that unions destroy competitiveness, noting that in many European countries, employers pay skilled union workers high wages to produce high quality products that compete in the marketplace. Heath noted that compared to other developed nations, the United States has some of the most restrictive labor laws and the least equitable distribution of productivity gains throughout the population.
Noting that women still earn, on average, 78 cents to the dollar of men’s earnings, Rosenblatt spoke on the critical need for the Employee Free Choice Act in order for women and men to gain rights at work to form a union and bargain collectively for gains.
The need for the Employee Free Choice Act was also a major topic of conversation, gaining much attention at the sixth annual Teamsters Organizers Conference this weekend, where women workers and organizers talked about the urgent need for the Employee Free Choice Act.
“The Employee Free Choice Act would lessen the fear, because the intimidation factor is there. Workers are afraid of losing their jobs in this economy,” said Vangie Moreno, a Teamsters International Union organizer, who meets with hundreds of workers on a regular basis. “The workers I’ve worked to organize have mainly been women, single and divorced, who have children and are the sole breadwinners of the household. The Employee Free Choice Act would give them the choice to form a union to provide a better life for themselves and their families.”

Clearly, many others get it, including the Teamsters. Nice to see my old union pulling for women.

Gov2.0Camp Today

2009-03-28T09:42:00.002-04:00

I've offered a session on Drupal for content managers. Here's the presentation

Hope I can do it!!

98 Years Ago Today

2009-03-24T08:08:00.004-04:00

Young women were toiling away in their factory. The factory was littered with lint, dust and fabric. Fabric hung above them, finished shirts, unfinished, strips of cloth and everywhere, women toiled, trying to feed their families. Within only a day, many of these same women would be dead.

Near closing time on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911, a fire broke out... and this Friday, you can do something to remember these women and all those whose workplaces continue to put them at risk. If you live in New York, join UNITE HERE:

To honor the women who died at the Triangle Fire and our continued fight for workers rights and workplace safety, we would like you to join us at the commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire -- a definitive event in the history of American labor and in the history of New York City.
Triangle Fire Commemoration
Friday, March 27, 2009 at 12 pm
New York City:
Corner of Washington Place & Greene Street
For more information about the commemoration, please contact
Ed Vargas at 212-265-7000.

Firing: The Best Way to A Quality Workforce!

2009-03-21T13:02:00.003-04:00

Crossposted with permission from Unbossed's Shirah

Is it, though? The mantrum you hear every where these days is: To get good workers and good work an employer must be able to fire workers. That means just-cause employment, tenure, and union grievance procedures are on the firing line, because, they, well, stand in the way of the “firing” line.

NPR reporter Claudio Sanchez can barely report a story that advocates this position. For example, on March 18, his story starts with:

Michele Rhee, the District of Columbia's public schools chancellor, has done a lot to shake up schools in the nation's capital.
. . .
So Rhee is intent on attracting young teachers who aren't vested in the old contractual arrangements with the teachers' union, which Rhee thinks is getting in the way of her reform efforts.

link

Now, it may be that Claudio Sanchez is just confused and doesn’t understand that all just cause, grievance procedures, and tenure get an employee is the rights to be fired

1. only because the employee has done a bad job or
2. only if there is business necessity, such as financial troubles and
3. only after a fair demonstration that these facts exist, otherwise known as due process

These rights do not get you a job for life.

They do not give the right to keep a job even when a worker is incompetent.

So essentially what Rhee wants and what Sanchez advocates is the right of employers to fire workers on whim and with no proof that the worker is not doing a good job.

They assume that workers will only do a good job if they are terrified of losing their jobs.

There is a lot to unpack about those assumptions about workers. It assumes that workers are slackers. It assumes that bosses are always right. It assumes that unions and tenure are our enemies. If Sanchez and Rhee and others who espouse these views are wrong, then they are leading us down the primrose path to bad outcomes.

These untested assumptions miss a lot about most workers. And because they miss key information, they will lead to a system that is detrimental to progress and productivity. Consider that the periods of highest union density in the US, from the early 1950s through the 1970s were also periods of progress and innovation.

An interesting study by Kelly Services, ironically, tells us why Rhee, Sanchez, and others who take this view are barking up the wrong tree and missing the forest for the trees and maybe in danger of setting on fire the trees that make up that beautiful forest.

The survey reveals a widespread desire for more meaningful roles in the workplace. Approximately half (51 percent) of those surveyed are prepared to accept a lower wage or a lesser role if their work contributes to something ‘more important or meaningful.'

Here are some of the summary findings of the Kelly Services study.

Around the world . . .

51 percent of Gen Y are prepared to accept a lower wage or a lesser role if their work contributes to something more important or meaningful.

62 percent of Gen X plan to look for a new job within a year.

46 percent of baby boomers say their career goals are not being advanced in their current job

In North America . . .

Across North America, 92 percent say they derive a sense of pride from their work, the highest of the three global regions in the survey.

Almost half (49 percent) will sacrifice pay and position for more meaningful work, with Gen Y and males the most willing to do so.

Some 45 percent say they intend to look for another job within the next year, however, the proportion in the U.S. (40 percent) planning to change jobs is the lowest of any country in the survey.

Some 40 percent are worried that their current job is not meeting their long term career goals, with baby boomers the most alarmed.

If you scroll down the Kelly Services report, you will see interesting differences based on geography and age cohort, but also many similarities of view.

So maybe what explains any successes in turning workplaces around and making them do good work is actually good leadership, inspiration, and meaningful work to do.

And that is because workers want is to be inspired. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to live meaningful lives, and work is part of what gives us meaning.

So, to get back to the untested assumptions trotted out by Sanchez, Rhee, and others, isn’t the issue why they think employers can only succeed is by firing good workers and by having no fair process to check whether the employer’s assumptions are correct. Only employers who are not good managers and unfair autocrats need these rights. Good employers will only want to fire workers who are not doing a good job or if there is financial exigency.

So, isn’t time we asked why we need to protect bad managers and bad employers?

Tony Soprano's Benefit Plan?

2009-03-19T07:49:00.003-04:00

Did you hear Rush the other day spewing on about workers rights with his drug addled mind, saying:

"One day, Tony Soprano will walk in with a lead pipe and he will start beating people upside the head to vote to unionize."

Walk in where? Rush's studio? I can just picture this:

Tony Soprano heads in with a lead pipe to beat some heads in to make it possible for Rush's staff to (cough)come together for better pay, benefits and to have a voice in their own workplace. Of course, Tony Soprano wouldn't be doing the head bashing, after all, he didn't exactly have the best benefit plan, unless of course you think a benefit plan should include death.

Nice one Rush. You really should seek some additional drug counseling. Seems to have eaten away some additional brain cells recently. You should get that looked at.

Picture was found on a library blog site.

Gov2.0 Camp: Opportunities Come and Go

2009-03-16T18:24:00.004-04:00

Today, I got my final shoot down. I'd requested that I be able to be detailed, temporarily (and keep all my current work) to another office within the government. I provided a detailed set of how my agency would benefit from my temporary detail including that I would be able to take all my current work AND that I would come back with new skills not currently available in VA.

My supervisor shot it down late Friday night by e-mail. I didn't even get the courtesy of talking to her about it. She couldn't even say it to me.

Wow.

So, clearly, bad day. But with the bad comes the good and this is where Gov2.0 comes into the picture.

Next weekend I will be attending Gov2.0 camp in DC. I have offered to conduct a training session on content management using Drupal. Drupal is the platform used to create and manage recovery.gov. And friends in the Drupal community noted that Drupal guys met with the President the week of DrupalCon DC (but I can't remember who did, aarrgghh!).

The problem in government is that no one knows how to do Drupal content management. From writing for the web (we really aren't about short, concise or task oriented) to actually understanding how to use Drupal (for content management). So, I figured, we can use my old Drupal site that we used for the inaugural balls and I can lead a hands on class in updating the site. We're going to alter it, play with it and see the flexibility. And for the few coders we have, I'm thinking, we might also play a little with the coding, possibly even work on a module that would work for the site. All in all, it's about bringing Government employees together to build on the knowledge we have, impart that knowledge and connect with other government employees.

So, there's my making lemonade from lemons story for the day.

If you're a government employee and attending Gov2.0 camp in DC, look for me. Seriously, say HI! I'd love to know you've read the blog!! Oh, and psst, I'm looking for a job.

My Ex-Husband Just Called

2009-03-12T16:46:00.002-04:00

It's not news to anyone reading here, but it's news to me and I feel the need to put it into the ether.

My ex-husband called to tell me that his mother passed away today back home in Nigeria. I just don't have words. She was such a strong, amazing and lovely lady. She didn't speak any English, but always tried to make me feel like a part of the family, even when I wasn't anymore. She tried new things all the time. Years ago, I carved a pumpkin with my daughter and my nephews. I pulled out the seeds, cleaned them, salted them and roasted them. I offered, as is tradition, to my father-in-law first. He refused, they looked funny. My mother-in-law took the bowl from me and grabbed a few kernels. She ate them, hit him on the shoulder and told him to try them. He still refused and she took an entire handful and sat next to him, eating them one by one, slowly, munching them as he watched.

My father-in-law passed away a few years ago and she has been rather lonely since his passing. I am happy that her suffering and dialysis and other drugs and treatments are now at an end and that she can rest. I mourn her passing for all of those she has left behind, but I am so happy that she can now be at peace and start an entirely new journey. A journey that I hope is filled with love.

Blessed Be.

Sheet Metal Workers Have an Action on Employee Free Choice

2009-03-10T12:22:00.002-04:00

If you haven't already signed one of the petitions out there on the Employee Free Choice Act (I have, as if that's a surprise), perhaps you can take a minute and hit the one I just got from the Sheet Metal Workers!

Today, we took an important step towards restoring balance and fairness to our economy – the Employee Free Choice Act was introduced in BOTH the Senate and the House of Representatives.

But with both houses of Congress now considering the bill, there's no time to waste.

Corporate special interests are twisting arms, spending millions on misleading ads, and spreading lies and propaganda to block the bill. We’ve got to put relentless pressure on Congress before they debate and vote.

Your legislators need to hear from you today!

I love it when I can agree!! And I totally do; your Congressional Representatives and Senators NEED to hear from you on this subject, especially the way the right wing is spinning anti-worker 24/7. At this time, it'd be nice to have a little good news for workers. and what better news is there than solidarity? Hell No!!

Employee Free Choice Act and the Obama Administration

2009-03-08T20:26:00.001-04:00

A friend mentioned that there was a cable access program in the DC area that recently did a piece on the changes in organizing since President Obama took office. Then he tells me, there's a fucking video of it!!

Clearly, I had to share!!

Organize Your Retail Workplace

2009-02-19T10:34:00.006-05:00

With the economy in the tank, things look bleak for a lot of retail workers right now. But at unionized retail stores, things look a lot better. That's because union members have, on average, 30 percent higher wages than non-union workers, better benefits, and real job security--especially important in these tough economic times.
Because I work for the UFCW--the retail workers' union--I sometimes get questions from retail workers on how to unionize their stores. The UFCW already represents workers from stores like H&M, Macy’s, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdale's, and other retail giants. And in all those stores, the first step was simply workers getting together and deciding they needed to improve conditions in their store.

They came to a simple decision: things won't improve in the workplace until workers have a voice on the job--which a union can help secure.

Here are 10 steps to form a union in your retail workplace:

Step 1: Talk with Your Co-Workers

First, initiate confidential discussions with your co-workers. By having these private discussions, you can figure out whether or not there are other workers who might be interested in organizing.

Step 2: Make the Call

Call the UFCW local union in your area. Try the UFCW Local Union Locator Page to see who is in your area.

Step 3: Set Up a Meeting

A UFCW representative needs to meet with members of your small group. There, you can ask questions on what it takes to build a union. When you and your co-workers agree that the UFCW Union is the best union to organize with, you use this initial meeting to develop a basic plan to organize your store.

Step 4: Build the Union. Create a Strong, United Organizing Committee

Your UFCW organizer will help you and your co-workers craft an organizing plan. Your organizing committee needs to be composed of key leaders from each department. You will also want to make sure that your committee reflects the diversity within your store.

Step 5: Draw a Picture of the Workplace

It's important to "map out" what the workplace looks like and who works where. Lists and charts are developed so that your organizing committee can assess the sentiments of the whole group and identify work areas where the committee might concentrate its efforts.

Step 6: Information Is Power

As the organizing committee forms and undertakes some basic assignments, such as identifying who works with whom, other committee members will help the UFCW organizer make sense of the information, including worker info, store info, and employer info, as well as community groups you might partner with in your effort to join a union.

Step 7: Identification

The organizing committee begins to identify the issues that workers care about. These might include having a voice on the job, better wages, a better schedule or hours, fair treatment, affordable health care, etc. Once the committee identifies who cares about which issues, it will work with the UFCW organizer to develop a game plan to highlight those issues.

Step 8: Training & Sign Up

As the organizing committee grows and develops, the UFCW organizer will want to train committee members on what to expect and how to reach out to their co-workers. One of the most important aspects of the organizing campaign is when committee members ask co-workers to sign Authorization Cards. The goal of this project is to secure overwhelming support and a solid majority of cards before proceeding on to the election phase of the campaign.

Step 9: The Union Election

The signed cards are used to petition the federal labor board or authority to schedule an election. Before the date is set, the labor board will determine which workers are eligible to vote in the union election. Once an election date is set, the organizing drive heats up. Workers continue to recruit union supporters as election day approaches. Winning requires that the organizing committee and its supporters stand up to the employer campaign that is always focused on destroying confidence and unity. When the union wins, the employer must recognize the union and bargain a contract.

Step 10: Negotiate!

The organizing campaign continues as workers press for a first contract. The contract should address the needs and wants of the workers, from fair wages and job security to better health care or pension. The contract is negotiated by worker representatives and their union representative and forms the basis for more improvements in the years to come

For more info, you can visit the UFCW's Organizing Center. Or look up the UFCW local union nearest you and give them a ring.

"We Make the Windows and the Doors"

2009-02-19T08:51:00.002-05:00

by shirah crossposted with permission from unbossed

The one bright spot within the economic gloom that surrounds so many of us was the Republic Window and Door worker sit in. By sitting in they stood up for their rights. By sitting in they got our attention and sent a lesson of what is possible by engaging in concerted acts of mutual aid and support.

They showed a labor movement that has some real movement.

The story may have slipped from our attention, but here is a video that captures the events and the emotion involved.

That was the first step - getting the pay and money owed the workers under law.

But that was just the first step. These people need jobs, and they are working hard to create those jobs - doing what they used to do for Republic.

Here is the most recent news on the continuing struggle.

UE Local 1110 announced today that the leading company in the green window business -- Serious Materials, based in Sunnyvale, California -- is in the final stages of working out an agreement to purchase the assets of Republic Windows and Doors. Members of UE Local 1110 staged a sit-in last month to win severance, health benefits and earned vacation pay, after the plant's previous owner shut down with only three days' notice to workers.

Though some details still need to be finalized, the union is told that the parties are very close to inking a deal. "We are all hopeful about the possibility of Serious reopening our plant. This would be a very happy ending to our struggle," said former Republic worker and Local 1110 Vice President Melvin Maclin.

Serious Materials is a leading manufacturer of energy saving green building products. Their stated mission is to reduce greenhouse gases by one billion tons annually. "These are the green-collar jobs we need for the future of our community," said Armando Robles, former Republic maintenance worker and president of Local 1110. Serious Materials and the union believe there is market in the Midwest for the energy efficient, super-insulating windows and commercial glass that Serious makes.

Serious has said that it hopes, after a ramp-up period, to eventually hire all of the former Republic workforce. For that to happen, however, the bankruptcy court must act quickly. The local fears that if the court delays, the business will evaporate and it will be difficult to re-hire anyone. "We hope that the creditors, trustee and judge will allow Serious to purchase the assets soon, so I and my co-workers can start making windows again," said Robles.

That was January 14. They continue to need support. You can show solidarity by keeping this story alive and even by donating to the cause through the Windows of Opportunity fund.

And many showed their support as the workers toured the country.

Here is the story from the Detroit stop.

And as for you, isn't it time to stand up?

I Missed White Shirt Day, Did U?

2009-02-17T08:58:00.002-05:00

Over at Unbossed, they didn't:

Did you know that February 11 was White Shirt Day? And do you know its significance in Michigan history?

White Shirt Day was first celebrated on February 11, 1948, as a way of honoring the men and women who participated in the 1936-37 sit-down strike at Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint.

The strike began on December 30, 1936, when the night shift stopped the company from loading dies and shipping them to places where the labor movement wasn't as strong. The fledgling UAW, led by a young organizer by the name of Walter Reuther, urged the workers to sit down inside the plant and lock themselves in to keep GM from outsourcing their jobs. There's a good account of the sit-in and the events that led up to it in the Detroit News Michigan history archive.

I regret not wearing a white shirt that day.

Chocolates and Flowers: Slavery and Rape

2009-02-12T13:41:00.008-05:00

Crossposted on Dailykos

It's that corporate holiday where men and women show how much they love each other through the purchase and giving of chocolates and flowers.

But did you know that cocoa exported from West Africa is primarily produced using child slave labor? That women working on flower plantations are routinely harassed or raped in Central and South America? Did you also know that there is something you can actually do about this?

Just in case you missed my previous slaves to Chocolate Diaries and Cut Flower diary, I've included the links.

But where do Chocolates and cut Flowers come from?

Chocolates:

From the Anti-Slavery Society

Cocoa is the essential ingredient for making chocolates. A significant proportion of the world production of cocoa is grown and harvested on plantations by African slaves.

By far, the largest producer of chocolate for the World Market of cocoa is Cote d'Ivoire.

Cote d'Ivoire produces about 40% of the world supply of cocoa, and this cocoa comes from about 600,000 total farms in the very small West African country. During the Cote d'Ivoire civil war, both the government and the insurgents used the cocoa farms to supply their war craft, however, what they caused by pillaging the farms was a need for workers. And these workers were bought or stolen from Mali and other African nations like Niger, Nigeria and others.

Due to wars and poverty, those stolen or purchased (ugh, what a horrible thing to have to write) were disproportinately children (as if there is such a thing as a slave that proportionate to population). Buzzflash noted that

The U.S. State Department estimates that over 15,000 child-slaves work on plantations in the Ivory Coast. They have been kidnapped or sold by their parents to work from age 8 on cutting cocoa pods from trees and processing them, often at the end of a whip. In other countries of West Africa, children work with deadly chemicals, applying pesticides and fungicides to trees without wearing protective garments and without proper training. Amazingly, some of the cocoa used in popular confections - the chocolate you eat every day is grown and harvested under such conditions.

It's a horrendous situation for thousands of children. This is a real problem caused by poverty and war and held in place by greed and abuse:

An investigative report by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in 2000 indicated the size of the problem. According to the BBC, hundreds of thousands of children are being purchased from their parents for a pittance, or in some cases outright stolen, and then shipped to the Ivory Coast, where they are sold as slaves to cocoa farms. These children typically come from countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Destitute parents in these poverty-stricken lands sell their children to traffickers believing that they will find honest work once they arrive in Ivory Coast and then send some of their earnings home. But that's not what happens. These children, usually 12-to-14-years-old but sometimes younger, are forced to do hard manual labor 80 to 100 hours a week. They are paid nothing, are barely fed, are beaten regularly, and are often viciously beaten if they try to escape. Most will never see their families again.

But, what can I do to help?

First, contact Hershey, Nestle and M&M/Mars.

Hershey, Nestle and M&M/Mars continue to utilize cocoa harvested by children who are beaten, chained and abused in the pursuit of meeting the World's sweet tooth habit.

Since 2001, we have heard the same talking points from major chocolate companies about what they are doing about child labor, but the practice still continues. Please join us today in getting beyond the talking points and asking Hershey, M&M/Mars and Nestle what each company is doing specifically to ensure they are respecting internationally recognized labor rights in their cocoa sourcing.

Second: BUY LOCAL!

It's not as if cocoa is produced in your back yard, but local chocolatiers often utilize co-ops and fair trade farms due to the quality of the cocoa produced. They chose farms with good practices because good growing and labor practices produce a better quality cocoa. I only know this based on conversations I've had with DC area chocolatiers who often visit farms and co-ops before agreeing to purchase from those farms.

From JChocolatier:

We use chocolate couverture from El Rey of Venezuela and Valrhona of France. The beans from El Rey are single origin Criollo beans, the most coveted in the world. El Rey buys their beans from small farmers in Venezuela who grow their crop under the shade of the jungle canopy. El Rey is committed to biodiversity and pays their farmers premium prices for the high quality beans that they produce.

Our classic truffles are made with single origin Manjari chocolate from Valrhona. This particular chocolate couverture has a cult-like following among discriminating chocolate lovers. The Valrhona cocoa powder is deep red and has a silky texture. It is without a doubt, the best we’ve ever tasted.

If a local chocolatier can't tell you where the chocolate comes from, ask. If they still can't answer, perhaps you need to find another.

Third: BUY FAIR TRADE!

From Dengre's commentin the first Slaves to Chocolates Diary (I bolded three that the International Labor Rights Forum noted as the Sweetest of the Sweetfor their labor, sustainability and dedication to their craft):

Do not discount Fair Trade Chocolate from Africa (2+ / 0-)

This is the way to combat child labor while still supporting the local economies.

Below is a list of Fair Trade Chocolate Companies. They have passed the screening and review of the Fair Trade Federation and Co-op America's Green Business Network:

A World Away, Atlantic Beach, FL
904/247-4411, www.aworldaway.net

Alter Eco, San Francisco, CA
415/701-1212, www.altereco-usa.com

Ananse Village, Fort Bragg, CA
877/242-4467, www.anansevillage.com

Bean North Coffee Roasting Company,
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
867/667-4145, www.beannorth.com

Café Humana, Seattle, WA,
866/7-HUMANA, www.cafehumana.com
Dean’s Beans, Orange, MA, 800/325-3008,
www.deansbeans.com

Divine Chocolate USA, Washington, DC,
202/332-8913, www.divinechocolateusa.com

Equal Exchange, West Bridge, MA,
774/776-7333, www.equalexchange.com

Equita, Pittsburgh, PA
412/353-0109, www.shopequita.com

Fair World Gallery, West Des Moines, IA,
515/277-7550, www.fairworldgallery.com

Fair World Marketplace, DeWitt, NY
315/446-0326, www.fairworldmarketplace.com

Global Exchange Fair Trade Store,
San Francisco, CA 800/505-4410,
store.gxonlinestore.org

Grounds for Change , Poulsbo, WA,
800/796-6820, www.groundsforchange.com

Ithaca Fine Chocolates , Ithaca, NY,
607/257-7954, www.ithacafinechocolates.com

La Siembra Cooperative, Inc., Ottowa,
Ontario, Canada, 613/235-6122,
www.cocoacamino.com

Providence Coffee, Faribault, MN,
507/412-1733, www.providencecoffee.com

SERRV International, Madison, WI,
800/423-0071, www.serrv.org/divine

Shaman Chocolates, Soquel, CA,
877/990-3337, www.shamanchocolates.com

Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates,
San Luis Obispo, CA. 805/544-7759,
www.sweetearthchocolates.com

Yachana Gourmet, Batavia, NY.
716/343-4490, www.yachanagourmet.com

You can also head to the online Global Exchange store for more Fair Trade products.

So this brings us to Flowers.

Where do flowers that you buy in the store or on line come from?

Most often from Central and South America. They are often produced using female workers who toil up to 20 hours a day for little pay. Many are abused and isolated from their communities and families to produce the tulips and roses and orchids that adorn our tables.

But there's a movement to push the producers to provide better working conditions, pay and benefits to these workers, and there's been some really amazing recent successes most notably from Dole as described by the International Labor Rights Forum.

After years of struggle, Dole flower workers on both the Splendor and La Fragancia plantations in Colombia have signed contracts with the company!

The new contracts include pay increases, punctuality bonuses, and extra pay for workers doing difficult and dangerous work. Workers at the La Fragancia plantation will now receive an education subsidy so that they buy the books and uniforms they need to send their children to school.

But Dole isn't the only player in the market. Many are now figuring out that Fair Trade certified and organic flowers have a market, even in the US. Just last year for Valentine's Day, Frontline produced a 10 minute segment on Equador and the Fair Trade movement. I'd embed the video if I could, but apparently, I can't.

But, what can I do?

Look for Fair Trade Certified and Organic cut flowers. They may be produced locally or internationally. But to find them, you have to ask.

You can also go to:

Online Retailers:

1-800 Flowers Online
Organic Bouquet

Supermarkets Near You:

GIANT Food Stores
Heinen's
Roche Brothers

There is more good news in Flowers than Cocoa right now. However, more work is needed in both sectors. The starting point isn't just consumers, it's also suppliers (from the comments on the PBS video):

KS Kennedy Distinctive Floral - Pittsburgh, PA
As florists, it is our responsibility not only to bring magic into the lives of our customers but to understand that without these workers, we could not exisit. My customers are thrilled that we are taking steps to join groups that are concerned about the well being of flower production workers. We have recently joined the FLP group in Europe and will continue to be aware of those farms working to make a difference for those who dedicate their lives as their living. Please consider joining as well to show the United States show of suppport..Its a mere $93.00 for a year! Kerry S Kennedy http://www.fairflowers.de/136.html

Kara Diorio - Lowell, MA
As co-owner of a small flower shop we are proud to sell Organic Nevado Roses. This documentary reinforced my commitment to support the women and families who work in the industry. Nevado roses are the most beautiful, longest lasting, fragrant roses I have ever seen! The beauty of every rose they grow reflects the respect for their employees and environment. As women in business, my sister and I are grateful to be given the opportunity to support an amazing Fair Trade product. Kara and Leah, Finally Flowers, Lowell MA

But if we're going to look for socially conscious products, the best way, is to start at home, with our own cupboards.

Start by no longer purchasing Nestle, M&M Mars and also Hershey products and by sending them a note as to why you're boycotting them. Let them know that they can't expect hard working Americans to continue to support slavery through chocolates. Let them know that workers deserve a fair shake, a fair wage and adequate benefits and that when they decide to be good corporate citizens (and, especially after Hershey decided to close their Reading Pennsylvania plant) you'll decide to be a customer of theirs once more. We have power together and that power comes from our own pocket books.

Have a very happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

Public Meeting in DC on Future of Eastern High School

2009-02-03T13:19:00.003-05:00

Got this in an e-mail:

Eastern Senior High School

1700 East Capitol St, NE

One Community. One Shared Vision of Success for All Students.

The Chancellor's Office of District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) will host a community meeting on Wednesday, February 4, 2009 from 6:30 pm – 8:00pm to discuss the future of Eastern SHS. This meeting will be the first of a series of discussions about the plans to restructure Eastern's academic programs and to modernize the school building.

All members of the community (past, present, and future fans of Eastern High School) are encouraged to attend. Your input will help shape the overall design of the building and the programs that will be offered when Eastern re-opens to incoming 9th graders in SY 2010-2011.

If you need child care and/or language interpretation services (Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Amharic, French and American Sign Language), please call or email Jennifer Nguyen at (202) 442-5191 (Jennifer.Nguyen@ dc.gov) by January 29, 2009.

So, Rhee has a reputation for trashing adults, so does this mean that she'll be there on Wednesday night? To actually talk to real live adults? I'm betting she'll make a brief appearance, if I were a betting woman.

This weekend, I had the great fortune to be eating at Mr. Henry's after psa105's monthly meeting. It was yummy, as usual. But as we sat there, I started to run through country names with my daughter and our German ex-change student:

Name 3 country's that start with the letter M.

Name 3 country's that start with the letter C.

Name two major African Rivers.

Name 2 mountain ranges in Europe.

okay, you get the picture. At the end of my quizzing, I added, name all 7 continents. My German ex-change student says, there are only 5 and then my kid says

no, there are 7 because Antarctica has land under the ice.

I'm proud, but still, no one has answered my question. That's when I hear the woman next to me say:

Hope you don't mind me interupting, I teach Kindergarten and I teach the kids to remember the 7 using a song that works really well.

She goes on to sing the song and my kid is just beaming. Music, can just make you smile.

Now, not being a shy wilting flower, I decide to ask if she's at DCPS, and as luck would have it, she is. So, I venture further:

What do you think of Rhee?

And she stops herself, trying to come up with the right words.

Teacher: I was filled with great hope when she came on.
Me: Now?
Teacher: I don't know.
Me: It's okay. I don't think much of her. What do you really think?
Teacher: She did have great promise of transforming the schools, making it easier to reach kids, but now, she thinks that teaching is a stop over, a place yuo go for a few years until your career starts. She thinks that the entire school system can be filled with Teach For America folks for 2 to 5 years and she's aiming at teachers like me. She wants to get rid of us because we made teaching our careers. She doesn't think you should or can and doesn't understand that anyone would want to.

When I started out, it took me 2 years before I had good classroom management. It took practice and consistancy and it didn't just happen over night.

I have enough time in to retire, so we'll be fine, but the kids...

Me: She's very short sighted about schools.

Teacher: Yes, it's very short sighted.

This is likely her last year teaching after nearly 30 years. And she's only even considering it because of how badly Rhee is managing the schools. And sitting there, thinking about how she just taught a German exchange student about the 7 continents and made my kid smile, it made me worry about what we will lose as a city and what all of our kids will lose if Adrian Fenty wins re-election.

Employee Free Choice Act Rally!!

2009-02-03T08:06:00.003-05:00

From UnionCity:

HARKIN, MILLER & STEELWORKERS SET FOR FREE CHOICE RALLY WEDNESDAY: Senator Tom Harkin (D., IA) and Representative George Miller (D., CA) - the Members of Congress who will be leading the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act in the Senate and House - have been confirmed for Wednesday’s Capitol Hill mid-day rally supporting the Act. They'll be joining 1,500 Steelworkers - in town for a legislative conference - and hundreds of local activists.

If you're in DC and want to do something big with your lunch time, I suggest a rally on Capitol Hill. And this has the added bonus of being scheduled the same day as a lobbying day for the National Association of Manufacturers (and no, I won't link to NAM):

We have good news to report – we have secured an opening address by the House Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA-7). At the same time, we have just learned that Senate Democratic Caucus has called for a one-day policy issue retreat on the exact same day as our fly-in. We are hesitant to postpone our fly-in as it is tops on our policy agenda and we also recognize that many of you have already secured your travel arrangements. But we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that the majority of our meetings were focused on Senate Democrats and these will now have to be scheduled at a future date. We do have, however, planned to arrange meetings for those of you in attendance with targeted Republican and Democrat members of the House.

Recognizing that many of you may still be willing to come to town on February 4th, we want you to know that we will make every effort to secure lobbying visits for you with the Chiefs of Staff or Legislative Directors of priority Democratic Senators and of course with Senate Republicans and House Democrats unaffected by the policy retreat. We would also be happy to arrange for media opportunities as well.

Hmmm, do you think the same media opportunities will be outside at the rally showing workers rallying that also interview NAM members inside the Senate and House offices? What an interesting juxtaposition that would be. Personally, I'd watch the evening news just to see that.

Dick Armey, Your Poor Wife....

2009-02-02T16:47:00.002-05:00

There jsut aren't words for this jack ass.

sss

Oh, wait, I have a word, but I don't want to "prattle" on, you know, like women do. Prick. Total. Absolute. Prick.

Steelers Nation

2009-01-30T13:42:00.002-05:00

I'm totally a Steelers fan, fan isn't even the right word for it. I live it during football season. I do Fantasy Football (I'm not good, I barely stray from the Steelers team, though the Steelers defence did help me out this year) and Sundays are not good days for calling me. I hate night games because I have to go to work the next day, but what I REALLY REALLY HATE is desecration of the Terrible Towel (and yeah, I have one). So, my friend sent this to me in response to my angry screed about the mayor of Phoenix's stupid stunt:

Curse Of The Terrible Towel
A Poem By Dave Crawley

There is power, they say, in the towels that wave.
Like black and gold shrouds on the visitor's grave.
It's a mojo opponents should never neglect.
The Terrible Towel requires respect.

Then this! A deed unspeakably foul!
The Tennessee Titans defile the towel!
Although their crass actions made Steeler fans wince,
You'll notice that Titan team hasn't won since.

They lost to the Colts. Then the Ravens came in,
A game Tennessee was expected to win.
But the curse of the towel gave Tennessee shakes,
As they sank in a series of stunning mistakes.

Our Black and Gold guys had a much different story.
Santonio Holmes led the gallop to glory.
Fast Willie scored, and the Steelers were winning.
For the Chargers the torment was only beginning.

Third quarter. Alas, on the Bolts' only play,
Foote gives them the boot, and he takes it away.
The towels were twirling as Ben let it go,
And the much maligned offense was starting to flow.

That towel brings sorcery into the fray.
If you don't believe it, well, check out this play.
To add to the Chargers' grim feelings of dread,
A punt that careened off this poor fellow's head.

The message, of course, as we hooted with glee,
From the Terrible Towel: Do not tread on me.
A word to the Ravens. The moment draws nigh.
This is the reason you're still flying high.

The Titans besmirched it, and now to our glee
They will be watching this game on TV.
As you enter the confines where Steeler fans howl:
Beware of the curse of the Terrible Towel.

Yeah, that about sums it up for me!!

AFL-CIO Hiring Now

2009-01-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

Here's the info:

AFL-CIO Field Communicator
Thursday, January 22, 2009

IMMEDIATE OPENING: AFL-CIO FIELD COMMUNICATORS

Duration: Six-month to a year
Salary: Approx. $625 per week plus benefits
Location: Various targeted states
Start Date: Immediate

The AFL-CIO field communicators will help drive public opinion and marshall community and union member support for the Employee Free Choice Act in key states.

The field communicators are full-time staff who work in the field in key states, through the local bodies of the AFL-CIO, to do communications at an external and internal level as part of the larger legislative and member mobilization campaign of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Duties include:

External
Track public communications around the Employee Free Choice Act in state and implement rapid response, when necessary;

Proactively work to place positive pieces on Employee Free Choice Act from labor leaders and allies;

Identify current and potential allies in the community (i.e. academic, religious, civil rights, labor side attorneys, etc.) and work to develop as spokespeople;

Identify reporters in state likely to write on Employee Free Choice Act and establish relationship, set up meetings with leaders, etc.;

Do media outreach surrounding events to support Employee Free Choice Act;

Identify workers with stories that highlight why the legislation is necessary and develop them as spokespeople.

Internal
Work with state federation, central labor councils and AFL-CIO regional staff on public messaging, and on statewide communications strategy. May include some training;

Work with local union publications to help with member education and encourage locals to use Working Families Toolkit newsletter and website tools - in some cases, develop blogs. Work with state feds and clcs to develop internal capacity to use tools;

Write weekly leadership update/newsletter through GetActive Center centered around driving a conversation to the labor movement about the Employee Free Choice Act. Profile local unions, leaders, activists, retirees - -making the content using photos, videos, etc.

Create and edit video and photos supporting the Employee Free Choice Act fight reinforcing the core message;

Using all communication vehicles to build an echo chamber for reinforcing field program activity (worksite leafeting, phones, walks, etc around Employee Free Choice Act).

The field communicator should be an effective writer and communicator with a deep interest in addressing issues affecting working people.

Previous experience with unions, student labor coalitions, community organizations allied with labor or other labor-related organizations is a plus, but not a requirement.

People of color, bilingual applicants, and women are encouraged to apply.

Please send a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications for the position, a resume, and a writing sample (1000 words max) to Bernard Pollack at bpollack@aflcio.org or to Bernard Pollack at the AFL-CIO Political Department, 815 Sixteenth Street, NW , Washington, D.C. 20006.

Starbucks: A Bad Taste in My Mouth

2009-01-29T09:19:00.005-05:00

I love coffee. I could bathe in it I love it so much. You could hook me up to an IV and just pump it into my veins (I still need to taste it though). I love the smell of it, the taste, the way it dances across my tongue and trickles down my throat. The way the smell can transport me to far off places and a really really good cup (think Illy or Swings in DC and Harbor Perk in Ashtabula) is almost orgasmic. I just absolutely love really good coffee. And all of this is a way for me to say, I hate Starbucks.

Starbucks tastes burnt to me.

I have described it that way for EVER. I can drink their iced coffee with heavy cream and lots of splenda (I don't do refined sugars right now, it's a cleansing ritual), but I can't force myself to try and even think of doing it during the day time, when it's hot and fresh. Hot and Fresh Starbucks is like asking to taste dreck.

Of course, there have also been those employment issues too for Starbucks. Like when they lost that case in California where they were not paying their shift supervisors enough and those shifters were then sharing tips with the other employees, as is Starbucks policy:

Starbucks has been ordered to pay $105 million in tips to California baristas, after losing a class-action lawsuit. The court ruled that shift-supervisors illegally took a portion of employees tips, since there is a state law prohibiting managers and supervisors from sharing such tips. Starbucks company policy states all tips are to be divided among all workers, regardless of position. The ruling further states Starbucks must immediately change their tip policy to conform with California law.

Starbucks is appealing both rulings, claiming shift supervisors have the same duties as baristas and should be rewarded for superior customer service. While the appeal is pending Starbucks has stated that they will not be refunding any tips to baristas and will not be changing their tip policy. Similar lawsuits have been filed in Massachusetts and Minnesota.

Starbucks had been expanding at exponential rates, kind of like how Wal-Mart has, like a virus. And I really never could figure out why...it tastes like it's burnt and I feel pretty much just like The Writing-on-the-Wal about them:

The way this has operated in the past was for them to open many stores in a region and drive out local coffee shops. Starbucks would open stores until the new ones were actually draining business from existing ones, not just competitors.

Like Walmart they could afford to do this since more profitable stores elsewhere could subsidize the costs in the new region. The fact that they have made their name selling overpriced burnt-tasting coffee just adds to the interest in seeing them stumble.

And I do agree, and then there was the announcement about 300 more store closings (didn't they shut down 800 this past December/November? or was that just a Stephen Colbert Show goof?). That's 6700 freshly unemployed and many folks. And as much as I hate their coffee, their expansion and their tipping policies, I still wouldn't want to be the person who came to work today to find out, that's it. It really just sucks. It sucks more from a worker point of view (and let's face it we're talking about a lot of moms and single women here) than even their sucky coffee tastes. All in all, Starbucks just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I'm Filing This One In the Circular File

2009-01-28T22:47:00.002-05:00

I opened my e-mail to find this little ditty...

Dear friend:

Four years ago, I asked for your support as we kicked off my mayoral campaign. (Yeah, you even came to my house and talked to my neighbors) With your support, we won a resounding victory and have begun to make the District the world class city we know it can be. (Wasn't much of a choice now, was there?) Now just a few days before our 1st finance filing of this campaign, I'm asking you to support me again by making a contribution online (I'd rather eat my left breast) at http://no,Iwon'tprovidethelink.com.

We're at 87% of our January 31st fundraising goal, so your immediate online contribution is critical. Let's show everyone how excited DC is about the work that we have done (and now, maybe I'll eat the right breast). Contribute now at http://no,Iwon'tprovidethelink.com.

Please feel free to forward this to your friends and encourage to give now. (Look I am, I'm recommending they keep their money and give it to your opponent, I've got my fingers crossed that you get an opponent) Thank you for your continued support. (Clearly, you don't read my blog Mayor, nor do your cronies. After all, I'm just one of the little people, so why bother? That seems to sum you up to me...why bother with the little people.)

Sincerely,
Adrian M. Fenty
Mayor, Washington, DC

Yeah, the bold comments are mine. It's just what I thought as I grabbed the garbage can to hurl into it while reading his garbage. Can't wait to see his next appeal.

And the Worst Company in the World is...

2009-01-27T10:35:00.002-05:00

Wal-Mart. Yeah, I know, no surprise. What was surprising, to me at least, is despite having known about these meetings, I never got to read any first hand accounts of them, until today. From Dailykos:

The way Wal-Mart likes to scare associates away from organizing is to attack the union itself. In their brainwashing video, they show organizers as slick, professional bullshitters. Sort of like used car salesmen or ambulance-chasing lawyers. You can visualize the stereotype. They then show actors (I wonder if they are SAG actors?) posing as associates in hypothetical situations. In situation A, we are a happy, non-union store. In situation B, the evil union has taken the store over. The first hypothetical situation is about a spill in grocery. One associate asks another to guard a spill while he cleans it up. Ok, a normal everyday occurrence. Then we see what happens when THE EVIL EVIL UNION has taken control. The associate now says "We can't clean this spill, the maintenance workers are under a union contract. Only they are allowed to do this work. Further, for attempting to do this work in violation of the contract, you can be fined up to $20000". Uhhhh, WHAT!?!? I look around the room, to see if the room is actually buying this malarkey. Then in the next situation, the store manager and a supervisor are deciding on who would be a good associate to promote to department manager. No one has ever consulted ME on promotions, but whatever. Then we see what would happen if THE SATANIC BABY EATING UNION were in the store. Now the slimey shop steward is in the meeting, and he vetoes the store manager's suggestion for a promotion. Mr. shop steward then goes to tell the most senior member in the department (who coincidentally is also the most unpopular) that he has the job. Um, yeah sure. I bet if real unions had micromanaging power like that, GM, Ford, and Chrysler would not be up shit creek right now.

I have never worked for Wal-Mart. I've read Nickle and Dimed: On (not) Getting By in America and after putting myself through college working 3rd shift as a waitress, well, let's just say that I get this stuff, it's just that no one ever made such a complete and utter show of being anti-union. They threatened to close restaurants and forges, but no one ever went to the level of union-bashing that I've heard Wal-Mart does. In fact, they actually come right out and say it at this meeting:

An eternity later (it was actually probably 2 hours), the meeting ends. We all shuffle back to our cars, so we can clock out and get the hell out of there. Some associates are still talking amongst themselves about what just transpired. But what was lingering in my brain was something Charlie said. Something that made my stomach sick. "To combat the union, we are having meetings with every level of the stores. We already had meetings with the salaried managers. We are currently conducting meetings with you supervisors. And soon, we will start having meetings with the hourly associates." I thought about all those hourly associates. People who have spent decades building this company. People who will now be subject to Wal-Mart's bünd meetings. People who have no skills, and so much to lose if they were to be fired. My friends. I felt powerless in that meeting. I wanted to stand up and scream "You are all damned liars and you know it!". But I kept silent. What good would it have done. Now, all over the country, thousands will know the cruelty of Wal-Mart intimidation and union-busting.

That is why it is so important that Congress and President Obama pass the Employee Free Choice Act. No one should have to live their lives feeling defeated and powerless. No one should have to hold their head low just to feed their families. This is not just about fair pay and health insurance. Its about dignity. Its about respect. Its about being able to go to work, without having to be afraid anymore.

I highly recommend a full read of the piece and if you get a minute, read the comments, they're amazing.

Republicans, Still Full of Hate for Workers

2009-01-26T07:35:00.003-05:00

I have known for a while that Congresswoman Hilda Solis has been held hostage by Republican Senators who don't want to confirm her until she passes their litmus test. I'm reminded of the mantra from Republicans just a few years ago, "Give them an up or down vote", but they don't seem interested in living their own philosophy when it comes to issues involving workers' rights. Somehow, I'm not surprised.

Now, over at the Huffington Post, they have a major article form Art Levine on why Republicans hate the Employee Free Choice Act and are holding up Solis. But that isn't what I want to talk about here, it's actually some of the comments to the actual story:

nannyree

Having gone through a union election I can assure you that management spent thousands of dollars trying to scare and intimidate workers,they pull you into the office and threaten you, some workers were fired, many years later though I am glad that I was a union member as we had educational benefits in our contract which enabled me as a single parent to go back to school. Now I am disabled and enjoying a pension in addition to social security which I never would have gotten if we hadn't endured 3 long months to have our secret ballot election. Most workers who sign cards want a union and it's their right, so I hope this law gets passed.

This is the kind of thing that reminds me of why I joined a union, oh so many years ago and why I'm also now a Freelancer union member. There are protections, there are things you can obtain together and even with the Freelancer's, we're still all in it together.

PatrickforO

Same tired old GOP trickle down supply side stuff. Please help me understand why employers should have control of whether workers choose to form a union. Don't get me wrong, either - unions have done some really stupid things, but we need them. If unions did not exist, and we did not have the right to form collective labor agreements, then the middle class would be squeezed almost out of existance by managers who come in, rape the company with huge compensation packages and then move on, leaving devastation, unemployment and broke shareholders in their wake. Oh, wait! Hasn't that been happening already? Hey, let's crush GOP opposition and get moving with the plan!

And this one:

iblogleft

In 2005, the top 300,000 earners in America made as much as the bottom 150 Million.

It was worse last year.

Now lets ask once again; Why don't we want organized labor and a living wage?

and more:

Social_Construct See

Maybe I live in some weird, Twilight Zone-type bubble or something, but I, being a blue collar worker, have encountered few people that make a living wage. Most, if it were not for an employed spouse, couldn't begin to make ends meet for their families. Why is it even an arguable point that a fair, living wage be paid to a person willing to work 40 or more hours per week? We've tried it with the business class holding all the marbles; let's give workers the right to bargain collectively.

and one of my personal favorites to a comment that was gee, they're both bad and good (fence sit much?)

Nikola_Tesla

The Union represents the American worker, WHICH IS MOST (99%) of us.

Highly recommend the reading of Art's piece, but go beyond that and read the comments. They really warmed my little union heart.

Oh, and Go, Hilda, GO!!!

Marion Barry the Only Check of Rhee?

2009-01-24T16:55:00.005-05:00

Washington CityPaper's Loose Lips did a recent column on Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry's views of Michelle Rhee.

Look at it this way: On her side, Rhee has the mayor, the president of the United States, Capitol Hill, the Washington Post editorial board, high-minded news and policy magazines, the Federal City Council crowd, most liberal education pundits, most conservative education pundits, and middle-class parents. On the other side, you have teachers unions, some local education activists, and a cadre of parents and residents alienated by her “consensus is overrated” style. The only organ they have that can check Rhee is the D.C. Council.

Mike (Loose Lips) nailed the issue with Rhee. So many of the "in" crowd out there cheers her, roots for her, fawns all over what they smell in the air as a win. A win.

The Fawning reminds me of how the talk with Charter Schools and School Vouchers was all about how these schools would solve the crisis in education. Hmm, how's that worked for us so far? Nearly 20 years in and there's little or no difference.

A state-funded study of Indiana’s charter schools has found that “no practical difference” exists between the alternative schools and traditional public schools.

And it's not like we haven't already wasted money on these issues which even the Post noted way back in 2005

In all, Jos-Arz received about $15 million in city funds, of which $2.3 million was used for renovation expenses, former officials from the school say. Although there is sharp debate over who is to blame, everyone involved agrees that the city's investment essentially was wasted

And it's not like DC and Indiana are the only places with these issues. Just last year, former Attorney General of Ohio, Marc Dann filed his 4th suit against a charter school.

Attorney General Marc Dann today filed suit against Harmony Community School in Cincinnati, citing the charter school for "abject academic failure, gross financial mismanagement, ethical lapses, and what amounts to consumer fraud."

I've done it all. Private, public and charter. My daughter has attended urban and suburban school districts in three different states. I get it. And it's not about teachers, it's about students and their parents and all the issues that are involved in all of that. And from most of what Barry says in the CityPaper, it's clear he gets it, I'm not so sure about everyone else.

I Pledge to Support...

2009-01-23T11:51:00.005-05:00

I'm a Government employee. I also belong to the Freelancer's union. I'm a uniongal, through and through. I believe in the right to self determination, which is why I support the Employee Free Choice Act.

As an employee, we should all have the right to have a unified voice to negotiate with the managers, owners and bosses. Together, we have power. United we stand, divided we fall. A very American philosophy, huh?

So, when I heard President Obama announce the freezing of White House Senior Staff wages, it got me to thinking about what it means to be an American Government Worker:

And when I thought about it, I knew that I needed to do something about it. I needed to show my support for the voluntary request the President has made of his senior staff. I decided, I'd take the pledge, too:

I agree to accept a pay freeze for the length of time President Obama needs to restore the US economy. I, (state your name) pledge to accept no Bonus, no increase in pay and my support to President Obama's voluntary program prescribed on January 21st, 2009 for his White House Senior Staff.

This I pledge on (state the date).

If you are a US Federal Government Employee and would like to take this pledge, please head over to facebook and sign up. And if you don't have a facebook account, leave a comment.

I've taken the pledge, because I believe that United we Stand and Divided, we Fail. And Failure is just not an option.

Lilly Ledbetter Act: Frivolous Law?

2009-01-23T11:07:00.006-05:00

From the Washington Post:

The bill, dubbed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, was introduced after a Supreme Court ruling in 2007 rejected a $360,000 award in back pay to Lilly Ledbetter, an Alabama woman who worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber. Ledbetter had discovered a large gap between her salary and that of her male colleagues, stretching back years.

The discrepancy cost her lost wages and also lowered her retirement earnings because her Social Security and 401(k) contributions were based on her salary. But the court ruled that Ledbetter's case was not allowed under the 1964 Civil Rights Act because the statute of limitations on claims was 180 days after the alleged discrimination took place.

Now for the "Frivolous" piece to this legislation, from the opposition (also in the Post piece), you know those 36 votes against fair and equal pay:

The bill would greatly ease the statute-of-limitations requirements -- too much so, said Republican opponents, who warned that civil courts would be clogged with frivolous lawsuits.

The funny thing about their opposition is that I don't think they realize that they have just told all women who have suffered with lower pay that suing over the issue is frivolous.

FRIVOLOUS?!

I don't think I need Republicans or any men telling me what is or isn't FRIVOLOUS. I'm not a child. I'm not a little girl who can't tell the difference between wanting and needing and what is fair or what is just.

So, to the opposition party, Please, Take YOUR FRIVOLOUS Attitude and Shove it up...wait, no, wait, I'm not one of those people who swear and curse and slam their idiotic opponents up against walls for their stupidity, instead, let me just say, WHATEVER, let's celebrate what has just happened. Let's get back to the positive.

From a statement form Debra Ness and the National Partnership for Women and Families:

The Senate took an enormous step forward to restore fair pay protections by passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act this evening.

...

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is a modest and targeted response to a harmful and unjust U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made it just about impossible for victims of pay discrimination to seek justice in the courts, no matter how severe the discrimination they face. Today, the Senate stood with the American people and committed to ending workplace discrimination.

Well said. It could have gone further, but this is a good first step to turning back 8 years of hell and degradation. It's measured and opens just enough of the statute to ensure that women who find out that they have been wronged get justice. Something that is anything but frivolous.

Way to go Senate. Can't wait to see the picture of Lilly and President Obama together as he signs that act into LAW!

President Obama's Pay Freeze

2009-01-22T19:45:00.001-05:00

Did you hear that? Pay freeze? Do you think that includes all the Senior Executive service and their bonuses, too? Because some of them get thousands and thousands in bonuses while workers get very little.

The Freeze is really only for White House staff making more than $100,000, but I can still dream, can't I?

UnonEdge Can Use Interns

2009-01-22T18:28:00.002-05:00

I told my kid she needs to apply because this would be a great experience for her, now I'm thinking, hell, why don't I apply? I have a fabulous voice and we all know I can write (he he he he, I'm laughing at my own joke, too stupid!!).

So, anyway, here's the info...

I am actively looking for interns to do remote reporting for The Union Edge Talk Radio Show. Interns will have the chance to go on-air and report on assignments and progress, do interviews and report on issues important to the working family and “Not Yet Union Family” community. A small stipend maybe available, but a strong letter of recommendation, and national recognition for your efforts will be part of the reward.

Here is the chance for the right persons to gain experience and show off their skills to the world.
In Solidarity,
Charles
www.TheUnionEdge.com

Rachel Maddow Totally Rocked the Correction

2009-01-21T21:55:00.002-05:00

Thank you Rachel for making the correction about the People's Inaugural Ball. I especially appreciated the note about DC Statehood, a charity very dear to my heart.

Grand Forks Lockout- Mayor Pickets

2009-01-21T07:44:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was absolutely amazing in DC. My eyes are still watery and I don't know if that's emotions or just the cold still seeping out.

I got into the office this morning to no one. There's seriously no one here. It's eerily quiet. So, I decided to read the web a little and get my head back into the game after weeks of inaugural planning and events. So, I headed over to CUPE and noticed this piece on a lock out that happened yesterday in British Columbia:

January 20, 2009 07:44 PM
GRAND FORKS, BC — CUPE 2254 members were locked out of their workplace this morning by the Grand Forks & District Library Board.

The five library workers were locked out at 9 a.m., then “invited to return to work” if they accepted a long list of management proposals that would gut their collective agreement. The contract at the public library expired on June 30 and the two sides started bargaining on October 5, 2008.

The members rejected the Board’s “offer” and spent the morning picketing the public library. They were joined on the line by several community members including Grand Forks Mayor Brian Taylor.

You see, there was one major reason why I decided on Obama back in January of last year, the Congress Hotel Strike. He walked a picket line when it didn't amke a difference on a political level for him, he did it because it was the right thing to do. That simple act said a lot to me, still does.

In the states, a lot of Dems won't cross a picket line. Yeah, there's that at least, but I can pobably count on one hand how many have walked a picked line. I've heard that our new Labor Secretary, Hilda Solis has walked a picket line and I believe that Sherrod Brown has as well and I know Dennis Kucinich's dad had been out on strike when he was growing up in Cleveland, ain't no way he didn't walk a picket a line. But outside of these folks, I'm hard pressed to find a local mayor or councilmember or State representative or senator...basically, I'm hard pressed to find this kind of thing happening in the States.

I'm not sure it's as much about the issue as it is about our laziness in showing support for anything outside of sending an e-mail, writing a blog post (I've walked a picket line, so it's not me of which I speak) or maybe dashing off a letter or a phone call. This mayor in BC walked a picket line with 5 locked out workers. In Van Wert Ohio this past April, Kongsberg Automotive locked out the United Steelworker employees that they inherited from Telefles in their buy out of Teleflex. But in all my coverage and reading of the issue, I don't ever recall the mayor walking the picket line with the workers. I hope he did, but it sure didn't get reported.

So, here's a tip of my hat to Grand Forks Mayor Brian Taylor. You're definately, one of the good guys.

Rachel Got it Wrong

2009-01-20T18:18:00.004-05:00

There are lots of ways of describing what I feel or think, but until I saw Joe Biden take the oath, nothing seemed real to me. It was surreal.

So, let me start with Monday night, January 19th.

I was up, watching Rachel Maddow's show, cheering and feeling so uplifted, it's really not a feeling I can put into words. As I watched her show, she rounded out the night with a piece on Inaugural events and as I sat, spellbound, she displayed the website I'd worked on for the last 2 months for our Inaugural events January 16th, 17th and 18th. No, I'm not kidding!! What a rush.

We'd announced it as the People's Inaugural when we obtained the facility, a week before the election. We wanted the facility because of its beauty and style, and we'd hoped at the time that it would be for an Obama inauguration. Kind of risky on our part, but we're activists, we're sort of a risky kind of folk.

So, as I sat, spellbound watching Rachel Maddow's show, she starts talking about The People's Inaugural Ball. Only, she's talking about another event, not the one I worked on.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

See, the thing is, she's showing our site. In the screen, you see our website. We'd disabled the other ball pages, and the only one still up at the time is the Gayla. So, there on the screen is info about our entertainment, The Annie Minogue Band and our DJs and of course Joe L. Da Vessel and of course our Thanks to our sponsors and their links. And all the while, Rachel is talking about an event some multimillionaire philanthropist is throwing. Only, it's not The People's Inaugural, he's calling it that in all his press stuff (and oh did he get press), but she's showing our site.

And that was Monday. I'm elated to see our site, and a little miffed that she's talking about some random millionaire throwing a ball (and it's a nice gesture on his part) while we were trying to raise awareness and funding for the DC Statehood Fund and DC voting rights. It was just kind of an odd let down. Sure would be nice if they had us on there to talk about our events and what we were trying to do and maybe even one of our acts like Joe L. Da Vessel or the Annie Minogue Band or even WMD (from Saturday). I know, I'm hoping for too much, but isn't Hope and Change what this weekend's been all about? So, I'm hoping they'll change the story and talk about DC voting rights. Hope and Change, I'm totally on board for that!!

Now, I'll post thoughts on January 20th later tonight. And yeah, I'll even link you to my pictures, I promise!!

Rock It at the Gayla!!

2009-01-10T18:44:00.003-05:00

I just was talking to Joe from Joe's UnionReview and dude tells me that the Inaugural Ball that I'm working on was noting in the UnionCity Publication yesterday!! And, I missed it!!

LABOR INAUGURAL UPDATES: Library of Congress Workers Welcome Obama: The Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME 2910, is welcoming incoming President Barack Obama with a celebratory welcome sign on the Guild’s bulletin board on the sixth floor of the Madison Building. The Guild quotes Obama as saying "We're ready to take the offense for organized labor. It's time we have a President who didn't choke saying the word "union." We need to strengthen our unions by letting them do what they do best - organize our workers. If a majority of workers want a union, they should get a union. It's that simple."

Pride At Work honored at Gayla: Pride At Work is being honored at the People's Inaugural Gayla, an Inaugural Ball on Sunday, January 18, from 8P-2A; Pride At Work will be featured at the event, and Executive Director Jeremy Bishop will be speaking.

AIL Has Rooms Available: Longtime labor supporter American Income Life has a few hotel rooms available at the Washington Hilton. The rooms are available 1/17-20, with check-out on the 21st. For details, contact Janan Guzey at 202-833-2030 x10 or jeguzey@ailife.com GOT NEWS? Send us news of upcoming labor Inaugural events at streetheat@dclabor.org

Damn there were are!! And, I just found out that we'll also be honoring the most amazing Congressman Barney Frank.

Congressman Frank would be happy to attend the event and accept the award on Sunday, January 18.

Did You Think That The United Electrical Workers Were Just Going Away? Think Again!!

2009-01-07T07:59:00.004-05:00

What's it look like when a union kicks ass, takes names and stands up with its membership? It looks like the United Electrical Workers, the small union that could (yeah, kind of like the little engine). Here's the latest, unfortunately, it's AP with the story:

United Electrical Workers says it has filed documents with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Republic Windows and Doors violated labor law by hastily removing machinery from the plant as it closed.

And why exactly is the union taking this action? What can they possibly think they'd get out of this?

Union spokeswoman Leah Fried says the filing seeks the return of the equipment in hopes the plant could one day reopen.

On a different note. I'll be announcing the entertainment for The People's Ball later today. When I announce it, prices are likely to also go up (that's a hint to get your tickets NOW). So, if you're hedging, don't wait to long, especially if you like old school hip-hop, Friday should be slammin!

Economic Theory, Is it Just Hogswallow?

2009-01-02T08:17:00.005-05:00

I'm a voracious reader. It's true, I'm geeky like that. I think it's my mom's fault. She always had a book in her hands. Today, it's not just books or newspapers or even magazines that capture readers, it's also the web. I know, this is now surprise to you, the intrepid web-reader. But, I think it's still something that should be said, out loud.

Okay, so let's get to my point. Economics.

This theory has always been a complete mystery. It's this social science that seems to pretend to be more science than social study. It's as foreign to my thinking as say Physics. Funny thing is, that apparently, Economics is based, in part on Physics. So, when I read the recent Reuters piece on Economists getting it wrong, once again:

Factory activity surveys in the United States were also expected to show a steeper contraction in December, as demand collapses in the Western countries that developing nations rely on as export markets.

Economists and policymakers had seen China, Russia, India and Brazil, with their vast markets and rising wealth, as the engines of growth that could save the world from recession. Those hopes are fading fast and forecasts are getting gloomier.

I know, you're surprised, right? 'Cause Economists have gotten so much right lately, huh?

Well, this is where my voracious reading thing comes in.

Earlier this week, one of my all time favorite writers, Shirah (Unbossed and Dailykos) decided to take her knowledge of history and economics and combine it into a story about Massive Economic Experiments. Before I exerpt her, let me first say, you've got to head over and read the entire thing. My excerpt just doesn't do it justice. Okay, so let's just get to the meat:

What we have learned from these natural experiments is that regulations are helpful in safeguarding us - something markets are uninterested in- and they do so, in part, by providing needed information so we can protect ourselves. This is an interesting point, because market theory tells us you need complete information to have a functioning market. By removing regulations, the free marketeers took away something that supports a functioning market.

Now, obviously, I lied when I told you that we were going to test these theories. The truth is that the proponents of free markets never really test these big theories. Rather, they treat them as if they were religious dogma, something that need not be subjected to testing. The inadvisability of doing so can be found by looking at how classical economic theory developed. This article from Scientific American provides an overview:

The 19th-century creators of neoclassical economics—the theory that now serves as the basis for coordinating activities in the global market system—are credited with transforming their field into a scientific discipline. But what is not widely known is that these now legendary economists—William Stanley Jevons, Léon Walras, Maria Edgeworth and Vilfredo Pareto—developed their theories by adapting equations from 19th-century physics that eventually became obsolete. Unfortunately, it is clear that neoclassical economics has also become outdated. The theory is based on unscientific assumptions that are hindering the implementation of viable economic solutions for global warming and other menacing environmental problems.

The physical theory that the creators of neoclassical economics used as a template was conceived in response to the inability of Newtonian physics to account for the phenomena of heat, light and electricity. In 1847 German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz formulated the conservation of energy principle and postulated the existence of a field of conserved energy that fills all space and unifies these phenomena. Later in the century James Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann and other physicists devised better explanations for electromagnetism and thermodynamics, but in the meantime, the economists had borrowed and altered Helmholtz’s equations.

The strategy the economists used was as simple as it was absurd—they substituted economic variables for physical ones. Utility (a measure of economic well-being) took the place of energy; the sum of utility and expenditure replaced potential and kinetic energy. A number of well-known mathematicians and physicists told the economists that there was absolutely no basis for making these substitutions. But the economists ignored such criticisms and proceeded to claim that they had transformed their field of study into a rigorously mathematical scientific discipline.

Shirah goes on to discuss behavioral sciences and how the latest breakthroughs in behavior studies show that humans as well as numerous animal species work toward cooperation. Cooperation, not self interest is a much higher order concern or desire. Now, this was news to me. It's not like I just crawled out from under a rock, but what I always get from anti-union folks is that they think that human beings and especially themselves are held back by cooperation. That if they can work on their own, they'd be more successful. Given the opportunity, they could lead a team of folks based on their abilities alone, without the interference of cooperation.

now, anyone who's worked on or lead a project from building a house to designing a web site knows that no one works in a vacuum. That when we all work together, we are stronger, better, faster, more accurate and damn it, we get things done. Take the 2 hour house, yeah, I said it, 2 HOUR HOUSE:

The Two Hour House was a perfect mix of clear vision, a willingness to live big, the determination to manifest a dream, the power of group focus, systemic psychology, passion, and the recognition of the willingness to play the biggest game of your life. Volunteers came together across industry lines and together they created something amazing.

It's impossible to build a house in 2 hours. No, seriously, do you know what has to go right to make something like this happen? From the footers being laid to the concrete being poured to the dry wall, plumbing, electrical, roofing and everything else that needs to be done in so many different areas in the same moments in time. And you thought Extreme Makeover Home Edition was ambitious!

Sorry, had to add the promo video, it is a good show.

My point here is that we get the doom and gloom today about more issues with slow downs and how economists are worried because, basically, they didn't predict this to be the case. They had hoped that Russia, China and India could keep the world economy chugging along. Problem is that the folks buying the products in Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, London, Paris, Marseilles, Oslo and just about everywhere else in the "1st world" countries, aren't buying now. There's a glut of products (come on, we all know this) and with savings down, home process shot and little credit available, many folks aren't about to put themselves out further on the limb to bring home more stuff that they don't need.

I know this isn't anything you haven't heard before. But let me hazard a guess, if you're an American, you've never heard about Disney giving away vacations:

Offer valid for most Disney resorts at varying rates for stays most nights 2/9 - 4/4 and 4/19 - 6/27/09.

Sample 7 Night Package at a Value Resort as low as $1375 including 7 Day Theme Park tickets

For a family of four in a standard room

For stays most nights between 4/19 - 5/21/09
That's like paying $50 a night per person for this package
Total package savings of $416

Plus, when you travel between 2/9 - 3/29/09, you'll also get a $200 Disney Gift Card

and I suppose if you do it on your Birthday, you get even more, because you can head to Disney for free on your birthday.

I'm 39 years old. I have never seen Disney post vacation prices for a family of 4 at any of their resorts for under $1500, but to through in $200, well, this was the moment that I realized, something is really wrong.

So, the next time you hear about an Economist talking, keep in mind that they may be using formulas that Physics gave up on in the 1800's. That Disney is giving away vacations and that cooperation is way more important than self interest. Next time you look into the eyes of your kid, you'll really get that last one, because few parents don't think kid first themsleves second. Hell, don't we all know this when we're on an airplane and they tell you to put your mask on first before helping your child? They have to actually tell you this, because as a parent, you do the opposite, thus disproving what Economics is really based on and that to me also reminds me of exactly why Free Markets don't work. They don't take into consideration cooperation. And for a union girl, well, we call that sort of thing SOLIDARITY.

More Job Cuts

2008-12-31T11:32:00.003-05:00

I hate news like this:

Wells Fargo has ceased indirect auto loan originations from centers in Tempe, Eden Prairie, Minn., and Chester, Pa., said Wells spokesman Steve Carlson in a statement. “Some jobs were eliminated at Wells Fargo Auto Finance, affecting team members in indirect sales, underwriting and funding. Other Wells Fargo Auto Finance functions — such as auto loan servicing — will remain in these three locations, “ Carlson said.

Wells officials would not disclose the number of job cuts at the three U.S. locations or how many workers would be left.

Wells reported the 53 Tempe layoffs to the Arizona Department of Economic Security. Bank officials said the impacted workers have a chance to find other jobs within the combined Wells-Wachovia company.

Wells got some of the Bailout money, it seems that their employees in Tempe (and I'm sure other places) weren't so lucky. I'm guessing that none of these jobs were under any collective bargaining agreement. I suppose this will not be a happy new year for a lot of folks.

Most Valuable for 2008

2008-12-31T09:19:00.004-05:00

The Nation posted their "Most Valuable" for 2008 and in it were a couple that we all should know and love:

MOST VALUABLE UNION: The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America

The big players in the labor movement were trying to figure out what to ask of the first genuinely labor-friendly president since Harry Truman, and they weren't doing a very good job of it in the weeks after the election. Then the Bank of America (having supped prodigiously at Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's bailout banquet) made the mistake of pulling the operating credit for an Illinois-based window manufacturing firm and a small independent union showed the rest of the movement what was possible. When Republic Windows and Doors announced it was shuttering its factory in Chicago, members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America union who worked at the plant borrowed a page from the radical labor activists of the 1930s and refused to leave. Their sit-down strike earned headlines, solidarity support from bigger unions, an endorsement from President-elect Barack Obama and, finally, commitments by the bank and the company to pay the displaced workers what they were owed. The Rev. Jesse Jackson compared the UE members to Rosa Parks and described their bold response to the shutdown as "the beginning of a larger movement for mass action to resist economic violence." Let's hope he is right.

I couldn't agree more! And don't miss the Thank you from the UE as well:

Thank You!
We are glad that the actions of the UE members at Republic motivated so many people to donate time and resources to their struggle. Your response strengthened the workers' resolve and made this victory possible.

First and foremost we acknowledge the hard work of U.S. Representative Luis V. Guitierrez and his dedicated staff, without whom this victory would not be possible.

We also thank the following elected officials and the many staff assigned to work on this struggle:

President-Elect Barack Obama
U.S. Senator Richard Durbin
U.S. Representative Danny Davis
U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky
Governor Rod Blagojevich
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan
Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
Alderman Manny Flores
Alderman Joe Moore
Alderman Ricardo Munoz
Alderman Billy Ocasio
Alderman Scott Waguespack
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger
Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley
We thank the following organizations for donating resources to our struggle:

AFSCME DC 31
Burgess Labor Law
Canadian Auto Workers
Chicago Federation of Labor
Chicago Workers' Collaborative
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos
Communications Workers of America
Graduate Employees Organization - UIC
International Association of Machinists
IWW
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Illinois Education Association
Interfaith Worker Justice/Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues
IUOE Local 150
Jenner & Block
Jobs With Justice
Laborers' Local 2
Latino Union
March 10 Movement
RainbowPUSH Coalition
Restaurant Opportunities Center
San Lucas Workers' Center
SEIU Illinois State Council
SEIU Heathcare Illinois & Indiana
SEIU Local 1
SEIU Local 73
Teamsters Local 705
Teamsters Local 743
The Peoples' Thanksgiving
UAW Region 4
United Taxi Community Council
US Labor Against The War
UNITE HERE Local 1
UNITE HERE Chicago & Midwest regional Joint Board
And the many other local unions, organizations and individuals who supported UE members at Republic during their successful plant occupation.

I especially love the Thank Yous that went out to all the locals. Way to show what SOLIDARITY REALLY MEANS!!

The Nation goes on to note a few other Most Valuables that I found interesting, starting with someone who's actually walked a picket line, Linda Solis:

MOST VALUABLE CABINET PICK: Hilda Solis

It has been a long time since the United States had a Secretary of Labor who had a record of walking picket lines. That's what makes California Congresswoman Hilda Solis, Obama's pick to fill this Cabinet post, so remarkable. She was raised in a union household, cut her political teeth as an advocate for the United Farm Workers union and won her House seat by mounting a primary challenge to a Clintonite Democratic incumbent who had voted wrong on trade and economic issues. In the House, Solis has been a stalwart proponent of economic and social justice – she's a longtime member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus – and an unapologetic defender of the rights of immigrant workers. She is the right person for this job, and her selection serves as the single best signal from Obama that he intends to serve as a pro-worker president. Let's hope that Solis is allowed to renew a Labor Department that has been neglected – and disempowered -- by Democratic and Republican presidents.

And my favorite Ohio Congresscritter (2nd Favorite Ohioan, I'm still totally in love with Senator Sherrod Brown's wife, Connie Schultz, mostly because we graduated from the same high school and because she clearly has great taste in men) Marcy Kaptur who is an inspiration to Ohio women every day she advocatesfor unions, women and Ohio:

MOST VALUABLE HOUSE MEMBER: Marcy Kaptur

When Democratic leaders in the House buckled in the face of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's call for a no-strings-attached bailout for big banks, it was Kaptur who rallied the opposition – successfully blocking Paulson's first proposal in the House and forcing minor improvements in the plan. Ultimately, Paulson got most of what he asked for – and the banks pocketed hundreds of billions without aiding beleaguered homeowners or stalling the downward spiral of the economy. Kaptur warned that this would happen, as part of an ongoing critique of the bailout scheme. Throughout the fight, the Toledo Democrat's speeches on the House floor were as visionary as they were populist – making the longest-serving woman in the House something of a YouTube phenomenon. For this, she will get no credit from Democratic party leaders. That's too bad, as her record on economic issues – especially trade and agricultural policy – is one of consistently being right when just about everyone else was wrong. To a greater extent than anyone else in the House, she has defined the distinction between Main Street and Wall Street as something more than a slogan; and she is one of the few Democrats who actually understands that the only economic "fix" for America will be the one that begins on Main Street.

And to round out this list, it's Bernie Sanders:

MOST VALUABLE SENATOR: Bernie Sanders

When just about everyone else in the Capitol was absorbed with the presidential race last fall, the independent senator from Vermont recognized that the biggest story of 2008 was not the election – it was the collapse of the economic house of cards that successive Republican and Democratic administrations had built. Like Marcy Kaptur in the House, Sanders refused to panic in the face of demands for a massive bailout of big banks and bad investors. Instead, he argued, "Don't make working people bail out Wall Street!" The Vermonter framed his challenge to the economic orthodoxy of Washington insiders who still do not "get it" in the right way: as part of a broader battle to defend the middle class. And Sanders never forgets the human side of the equation: "It is one thing to read dry economic statistics which describe the collapse of the American middle class," he argues. "It is another thing to understand, in flesh and blood terms, what that means in the lives of ordinary Americans. Yes, since George W. Bush has been in office 5 million Americans have slipped into poverty, 8 million have lost their health insurance and 3 million have lost their pensions. Yes, in the last seven years median household income for working-age Americans has declined by $2,500. Yes, our country, for the first time since the Great Depression, now has a zero personal savings rate and, all across the nation, emergency food shelves are being flooded with working families whose inadequate wages prevent them from feeding their families. Statistics are one thing, however, and real life is another." Sanders highlights the real-life struggles of working Americans on the best website maintained by any member of Congress.

Seriously, you have to vist Bernie's page, uh, I mean Senator Sanders. He's such a real guy, it's hard to think of him as anything but Bernie.

So, there you have it, a list of the best this year from the Nation and out of it, there are several advocates of working women and men as well as pro-union fighters from an actual union to our new Labor Secretary. Honestly, this seemed like a pretty damn good list.