I see this video and I think of all the workers who were brought into the areas ravaged by Katrina and how so many were not paid, forced to live in conditions worse than where they were shipped in from and the kind of work they did, with no protection...look at the devastation, see the faces and know that when McSame even bothered to show up, stay awake and vote, he voted party line, the entire time...



But as I watched the video and was frustrated, struck and angered, I also thought of how out of touch McCain is...



You see, the work that Indian workers were forced into "jobs" with promises of green cards or citizenship. Clearly, they were tricked then forced to work in conditions unfit for anyone to work, barely paid (when paid) and, well you should read up on it...

Over one hundred Indian workers rallied outside the White House Monday afternoon to demand an end to human trafficking and the exploitation of workers under guest worker programs. Workers met with Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen on Thursday to pressure him to hold their employer - Signal International - accountable for human trafficking and forcing the workers to work in slavery-like conditions (Indian Workers March on Embassy 3/28/08 UC).

Yesterday was Labor Day, and although I tried for two days to post this, I couldn't. I'd say someone was trying to stop me so this must be really important, but it was really just my connection as I'm on vacation with my kid.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Labor Day and all those affected by Gustav and soon to be affected by Hanna, please know that you are in our thoughts.

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Actually, this was a snarky post I found over on Dailykos that I thought was pretty straight forward and head on. Let me sample just a little of it:

Public schools provide free education for all youngsters. This has emptied the work houses of child labor, stripped the fields of able-bodied youths, and deprived assembly lines of nimble-fingered tots. As a result, we’ve had to either import all that controversial south of the border labor or outsource our child labor to China. The McCain solution: close public schools and put those kids back to work where they belong. Anyone who can afford to buy a private education can opt out of the system, thus supplying the next generation of Republicans. The program would be modeled on our current volunteer army, where those rich enough to avoid being blown up in Iraq can do so if they choose.

The nation has a shortage of nurses and police officers. These dangerous and difficult jobs are of course essential for our collective well-being, so the shortage is a serious matter. The culprit? Pensions. Overly generous pension benefits cause police and nurses to retire. McCain’s solution is simple. Strip nurses and police officers of their pensions, thus forcing them to stay on the job. Furthermore, McCain points to the virtuous circle effect: all that money otherwise destined to fund pension programs will instead line the pockets of hospital executives and Republican municipal politicians and eventually find its way into the coffers of the GOP.

Ah yes, McSame on the Straight Talk Express to NoWhere, again. Funny thing is, that all of this seems as if he's actually said it outloud, wait, I think he has. Take for instance the opening paragraph of this Dailykos Diary:

On this day honoring our war veterans, John McCain restated his opposition to providing vets with generous education benefits. If a veteran gets a free ride at, say, Dartmouth, where tuition is near $40k and whose president actively recruits service men and women, that vet won’t re-enlist. Your average veteran, McCain argues, would choose an idyllic campus set in pristine New Hampshire woodland over getting shot at and blown up in the toxic dust cloud of Iraq. This is the kind of good sense we’ve come to expect from the straight talker. Indeed his unimpeachable logic applies to a broad range of social programs long overdue for reform.

So, highly recommend you head over and read the entire thing. I laughed my ass off then felt like crying. Unfortunately, this is what we have to look forward to in the ensuing years if we some how let this man become President...more of the same and worse.

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Well, I hope the AFL-CIO doesn't mind me cross posting their stuff, cause I'm going to do it anyway:

The U.S. Senate today moved a step closer to approving legislation that would protect the collective bargaining rights of tens of thousands of firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other public safety officers.

By a 69–29 vote, the Senate killed a filibuster led by several extreme anti-worker Republican senators against the workers’ rights bill. Eighteen Republicans joined all Democrats in backing the move to end the filibuster. The vote on final passage is expected later this week.

Some 20 states do not fully protect the bargaining rights of firefighters, police officers and other first responders. Two states—Virginia and North Carolina—prohibit public safety employees from collectively bargaining.

With final passage near certain, the only thing that stands in the first responders’ path to securing the workplace rights most other workers enjoy is a veto threat from the Bush administration. But today’s veto-proof vote, coupled with last July’s 314–97 House vote, provides more than the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to overturn a veto.

Says Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Harold Schaitberger:

More than 80,000 of our brother and sister firefighters in more than 20 states do not currently enjoy basic employment rights. This bill will ensure that every firefighter has the right to collectively bargain.

The bill, the Public Safety Employee-Employer Cooperation Act of 2007 (H.R. 980), guarantees first responders:

The right to join a union.
The right to have their union recognized by their employer.
The right to bargain collectively over hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment.
A mediation or arbitration process for resolving an impasse in negotiations.
Enforcement of the bill’s provisions through the courts.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) says:

Fairness means firefighters and police officers having a voice at the table in life-and-death discussions about their work. They know best how to do their jobs effectively, efficiently and safely. Everyone benefits when they’re given the chance to share that knowledge at the bargaining table.

But last week in a letter to Senate leaders, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote they will suggest that President Bush veto the bill. In addition to the veto threat, the trio wrote that if first responders were allowed to join unions, it would hinder the nation’s ability to respond to terrorist and other threats.

Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

This claim impugns the integrity of first responders who risked and sacrificed their lives on 9/11 and in the aftermath of Katrina. Every one of the 343 firefighters who perished at Ground Zero was a card-carrying union member.

In a May 12 response to the letter by Chao, Mukasey and Chertoff, Schaitberger said:

Your decision to attack the integrity of America’s firefighters cannot be left unanswered. Claiming that the legislation will hinder the nation’s ability to respond to terrorist attacks is both factually inaccurate and offensive. Every one of the 343 firefighters who perished at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, was a card-carrying union member who enjoyed collective bargaining rights. Most of the responders to the horrific tragedy were not even on duty that day. They simply did what firefighters always do: They put their own safety at risk to save the lives of others.

The same is true of the courageous responders to Hurricane Katrina. Despite losing their own homes and fearing for the security of their own families, union firefighters waded into the toxic floodwaters for days on end searching for survivors. To suggest that their collectively bargained contracts hindered these life-saving efforts flies in the face of reality.

Says Kennedy:

Collective bargaining is good for our national security, and it’s good for public safety officers. These heroic men and women deserve more than just our gratitude and respect. They deserve the right to be treated fairly on the job

The reason this is so important is that even when unions exist for firefighters, they still run into cities and other municipalities screwing them over kind of like the way that Calitics pointed out 2 months ago and CBS also ran a story on it...

Vallejo Fire Department temporarily closed two fire stations on Thursday in a deal with its firefighters union aimed at helping the city avoid bankruptcy, officials said.

>snip<

Firefighters described the closings as a sad situation.

"Everyone's moving, everyone's getting new crews and we're all going to get a lot busier," said Fire Capt. Eric Diaz, who had been working out of station 22.

In addition to the closure of the fire stations, minimum staffing levels will be reduced from 28 firefighters to 22 firefighters per day as well as staffing reductions in Fire Administration, Fire Prevention and Fire Training Divisions, officials said.

From the Vallejo Firefighters local 1186

City Hall has not rescinded the paramedic layoffs - they have simply postponed their decision. Threatening lay-offs is an attempt to force firefighters to agree to the city's demand to reduce Vallejo 's minimum staffing requirement. Even paramedics who may lose their jobs will never agree to cut minimum staffing, because any cuts would jeopardize the safety of their fellow firefighters and the public. Firefighters took this job to protect the public, and they will gladly lose their jobs for the same reason - if City Hall persists in their threats.

To protect the city, we must have a combined total of 28 firefighters scheduled daily. The City wants to eliminate 4 positions per day. This would take us from 28 to 24 firefighters per shift. These cuts mean shutting down the ladder truck, closing additional engines/stations, laying off 13 paramedics, and an emergency services coordinator.

Communities like Vallejo have opted for lower taxes. Maintaining lower taxes means less revenue to pay for necessary services like Fire and Police. As a mom, this isn't an acceptable level of risk for my family.

A few years ago, my 12 year old was propositioned and then touched by a high school student as she walked home from school. The police in DC were so helpful. Although they never caught the kid who did it, my daughter felt like she had a safe place to go and someone she could call if she were in danger again. Not only did a horrible incident bring about her ability to find help and believe in herself, but it also illuminated for her and I the kind of work that our police do on a daily basis.

I won't try to sugar coat the lack of solidarity I see among 1st responders, it's there. They are called on to turn hoses on protests or to arrest demonstrators and I don't think we need to revisit the images of the recent American Axle Strike rally and a Detroit Police Officer chokeholding a woman crossing the street or the vile things he said to the strikers. There's work to do with First responders. Of course, I think the first step is to make sure that they can be represented by a union. Like the fire fighters in Vallejo. If they hadn't had a union, I have no doubt that the staffing numbers would have been further reduced.

When our safety is concerned, isn't it worth ensuring that 1st responders are able to be represented? I think it is. And now, let's work on that darn solidarity thing. Cause I have to also point out here that in typical McCain fashion, he didn't even bother to show up to vote on this. Clinton and Obama both voted yea. That should speak volumes to every American interested in their safety and it should be even more important to Police, Fire fighters and other first responders who often vote Republican. In the end, who's really got your back?


picture credit: local 1186 website

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There’s an election going on right now. I doubt any of us can escape it right now. But it’s gotten me thinking about what we do from here on out in terms of reaching out to brothers and sisters in the movement to not only tell them about their benefits (um, you have many that you aren’t using from travel to dental, they’re your benefits, use them) to how to make sure that we have both a Democrat in the White House and a solid majority in the Senate and House.

So, as I’m thinking about this, I ran across an AFL-CIO story on Diane Hansen:

“When we started the political action committee a few years ago, I'd like to say that I felt about it the way I do now—that I'm doing it because I want to give something back to the union and community—but I didn't come to that realization until I'd be involved and saw how important it was,” she says.

Hansen, 42, became involved in political action in a 2002 county supervisor campaign and by the time 2004 elections rolled around, she had learned some of the nuts and bolts of political mobilizing.

“We had three main goals: implementing a voter registration program, enacting and following the AFL-CIO's 10 Point Political Action Plan and plugging into AFL-CIO GOTV [Get Out The Vote] program,” she says

Hansen, who continued her full-time job throughout the campaign, spent an additional 30 hours a week leafleting worksites, recruiting members for phone banks and taking part in door-to-door walks to talk with union members about issues critical to working families.

>snip<

Hanson says her experience demonstrated how one-on-one communication with members is “one of the most effective means of communication” and “should be the cornerstone in all campaigns.” She credits the work of all the unions working together with the unprecedented member mobilization in the 2004 elections.

“Union teamwork produced solidarity. I don't think we'd ever seen such a strong coming together of unions for a common cause,” she says.

And what this little story about activism inspired in me was the concept that we need to not only work on membership but we also have to bring everyone else along in our fight for worker’s rights. And this of course, reminded me of the McCain Revealed campaign which succinctly breaks down why American Workers and Unions can’t afford 4 more years of this hell.

McCain Revealed

Sometimes, we just need to remind ourselves that 4 more years of this just isn’t acceptable. I know it hasn’t worked for me, and I’d be willing to guess it hasn’t for most of you.

So, I’m willing to do this year what Diane Hansen has done, I’m getting more active. Way, way more active. I don’t want to look back a year from now and regret not wearing out a pair of shoes canvassing. I want to know that we’ve put the right person into the White House, and in no way, shape, or form is that person John McCain.

Thank you Diane.

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Cross Posted on Joe's Union Review and Dailykos. Picture from Detroit Free Press's Andre Jackson.

When strikes are called, they are the last resort for the union and workers. It usually means that the companies are pushing for things the workers just can't accept. In the case of American Axle, this strike is a problem for this country, not just these workers, but nothing has been heard from these candidates.

American axle is asking its HOURLY workforce to take up to a 60% pay cut but won't talk about management and executive salaries and perks.

From the Detroit Free Press (virtually the only source of news on the strike)

On Feb. 26, 3,650 UAW members at American Axle went on strike after negotiations on a new contract collapsed. The company is seeking to cut wages and benefits in half, saying it needs to cut labor costs to compete with other suppliers that have won concessions from their unions.

The UAW, which has said it needs more data to substantiate those demands, argues the cuts are too steep for a company that is not in bankruptcy and made a profit last year.

I asking everyone to help here because we've become so consumed with the current primary that we're missing the kind of impact this strike is having on these workers and our economy.

Again, from the freepress:

As companies draw closer to the end of the first quarter, a Wall Street analyst warned that he expects the strike to take a toll on profits. Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank auto analyst Rod Lache cut first-quarter earnings estimates for GM, American Axle, Lear Corp. and Magna International Inc. because of the strike.

"There is concern that the prolonged shutdown could cause significant distress amongst smaller suppliers, ultimately translating to additional costs for tier 1 suppliers and automakers," Lache said in a note to investors Wednesday.

The affects on GM:are very serious:

So far, the strike has forced GM to cut production or shut 29 factories. That number is expected to rise to 30 by Monday.

>snip<

Lache expects GM to lose $2.41 a share in the first quarter, compared with his previous estimate of $1.05.

This strike has affected their suppliers as well as GM and that means, it is affecting other communities outside of the striking facilities from the Adrian Daily Telegram

ADRIAN — The strike at Detroit-based American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. has entered its fourth week, and its impact has extended to some local companies.

Inteva Products LLC in Adrian, which is the former Delphi Interiors and Closures facility, and Hi-Lex Controls Inc. in Hudson are among companies affected as a result of the strike that started Feb. 26 after American Axle failed to reach a contract agreement with the United Auto Workers union on economic issues.

UAW Local 2031 President Melissa Rogers said Tuesday the strike is the reason employees are experiencing job layoffs from Inteva Products. Those layoffs officially began March 3.

This is a HUGE ISSUE and we aren't discussing these families, these cities, these companies, we aren't asking any of the three candidates to even address these issues and we certainly aren't putting pressure on Dick E Dauch or his son, an executive with American Axle, Dick F Dauch, to fairly negotiate with the UAW.

So, today, I'm begging each of you to take a minute and do something, I'm asking you to:

1. contact the campaigns of Clinton, McCain, and Obama
2. ask them where they stand on the American Axle strike and
3. ask them what they're going to do about it.

When you've done that, let the strikers know by contacting the locals and the region. Your support is more important than you know.

Local 262
12432 ECKLES RD
LIVONIA, Michigan 48150-1037
Phone #: 734-464-2190

Local 235
Address: 1840 HOLBROOK ST
Detroit, Michigan 48212-3442
Phone #: 313-873-7250

Region 1
27800 George Merrelli Drive
Warren, MI 48092
TEL: (586) 427-9200
FAX: (586) 427-7142

Please Don't Let American Axle become an American Tragedy.

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Joe's Union Review Blog shared the code for this gem. It's from Working Families and I hope everyone gets a chance to see all of it!! And you might also notice that on the left, I've added a new page element, it's a petition on Combustible Dust.

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