The video that explains the value of gold Vs.the dollar on YouTube
October 27, 2008
September 15, 2008
Video: SEIU President Andy Stern discusses The Employee Free Choice Act
Andy Stern, the President of The Service Employees International Union discusses the Employee Free Act with Meet The Bloggers host, Cenk Uygur, from 9/12/08.
Video: $6,153 an hour for CEO’s, $6.55 for workers
From Meet The Blogger’s, a quick discussion with Michael Whitney from American Right’s At Work on the disparity between workers and CEO’s in today’s America. Michael mentions that not too long ago CEO’s made 64x’s a workers wage, now they make almost 1,000x’s the Federal minimum wage. Wow!
Great job, as always Michael. You can also check out last weeks Meet the Bloggers, Video: SEIU President Andy Stern discusses The Employee Free Choice Act
Cintas loses living wage ordinence, must pay $1.65 million to workers
Here’s some great news for working families in Northern California
From our friend Elana at DailyKos (Click the link to recommend or comment on the story):
Living wage win! Workers get 1.65 mil in unpaid wages
by Elana Levin of UNITE HERE
Great news! The California Supreme Court has ordered anti-union employer the Cintas Corporation to pay hundreds of workers the $1.65 MILLION they were owed for their backbreaking labor in industrial laundries. By violating the city of Hayward’s living wage regulations, Cintas illegally underpaid Northern California workers for years. Living wage regulations like Hayward’s require the city and certain firms with large city contracts to pay wages that reflect the local cost of living including a dollar extra per hour if the employer doesn’t provide health benefits.
(Video clip is Springstein’s version of traditional work song “Pay Me My Money Down”)
This is a huge win not just for the Cintas workers who will finally be paid the money they are owed but for but for the living wage movement as a whole. At one point in their suit Cintas’ lawyers claimed that living wage laws were unconstitutional. When workers filed the suit in 2003, it was one of the first attempts to enforce a living wage law through the courts. As plaintiff Francisa Amaral said:
“For five long years, Cintas refused to give us what was rightfully ours,” said Francisca Amaral, one of the suit’s plaintiffs. “They told us that we would get nothing. They spent millions of dollars to try to deny us our rights. The decision shows that workers can get justice and get what we’ve earned through our hard work.”
Why would a company spend money on lawyers to fight paying its workers a living wage? Wait. Don’t answer that. That was rhetorical. Though I honestly just don’t get it. I guess it’s my family values talking here.
Anyway, the Court’s decision allows more than 200 Northern California laundry workers to enforce a landmark judgment by the Alameda County Superior Court that was affirmed earlier this summer by the California Court of Appeal, which is believed to be the one of the largest living wage awards in U.S. history and strengthens cities’ ability to enforce local labor standards.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Cintas workers have a similar pending class action case for violations of the city’s living wage. Over the past few years, questions have also been raised about Cintas’s history of compliance with living wage laws in Marin County and Santa Monica, California, as well as in Dayton, Ohio, and Madison, Wisconsin.
If you’ve been reading my posts on Dkos (and other folks too) you’d know that Cintas has a history of violating worker protection laws. The company settled an overtime case brought by delivery drivers in California for more than $10 million in 2002. Since then, thousands of drivers across the country have joined a national overtime lawsuit against Cintas.
- For more on Cintas check out: uniformjustice.org and MakeCintasSafe.info.
- For more on the living wage movement check out the PBS’s POV series and podcasts here.
- Progressive States Network has written about various state policies too.
Elana Levin is an Assistant Director of Communications for UNITE HERE, a labor union representing 465,000 workers in the hotel, food service, gaming, laundry, apparel and textile industries. You can read more of Elana’s work at DailyKos by clicking here
July 4, 2008
AL: Retired frefighter, turns into a true American hero
Caught this on CNN, what an amazing story, reminded me of Flip Wilson, the retired NYC fireman who works with Gene Jackson, a retired Steamfitter in NY to help our severely wounded returning veterans. It amazes me how people will do so much to help others, really go out and help, not just with money, but get their hands dirty to change the world for the better.
Russel Jackson is a guy who made me actually watch TV, with the severe need for health care in the United States, like my recent story “60 minutes follows charatible remote health care facility now needed here in the United States“, whereby a medical service on wheels that was initially intended to be used in third world countries, now goes across the United States to help our own people. Well heres another hero, this guy actually started something
I wish I could get the videos embedded here, but what the heck, you’ll have to click a link or two from this story.
From CNN “Helping kids get well one car ride at a time” (7/3/08):
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) — If Russell Jackson has his way, any child who needs medical care but lacks the transportation to get there will have a safe and reliable alternative.
“We found that there were 80,000-plus children in Alabama living in a home with no car,” Jackson says.
“And in the rural areas, there are no cabs, there are no buses, there are no trains. … Millions of children in our country every day have no access to medical care when they need to reach it.”
Jackson is so determined that in 1997 he gave up his career as an Alabama firefighter, moved in with friends and dug into his retirement account to start Kid One Transport, a nonprofit organization that provides rides for needy children in his home state.
In 11 years, Kid One’s fleet of vans has ferried more than 16,000 kids to and from scheduled medical-related appointments all over Alabama.
Watch Jackson describe the need for medical transportation in rural Alabama »
Jackson never anticipated he would leave the fire department to head up a nonprofit organization. After all, firefighting was the culmination of a lifelong dream.
“What little boy doesn’t want to be a firefighter?” Jackson says, laughing.
Continue over at CNN to read the rest, to all the heroes out there on this Independence Day, thank you.
AL: Retired firefighter, turns into a true American hero
Caught this on CNN, what an amazing story, reminded me of Flip Wilson, the retired NYC fireman who works with Gene Jackson, a retired Steamfitter in NY to help our severely wounded returning veterans. It amazes me how people will do so much to help others, really go out and help, not just with money, but get their hands dirty to change the world for the better.
Russel Jackson is a guy who made me actually watch TV, with the severe need for health care in the United States, like my recent story “60 minutes follows charatible remote health care facility now needed here in the United States“, whereby a medical service on wheels that was initially intended to be used in third world countries, now goes across the United States to help our own people. Well heres another hero, this guy actually started something
I wish I could get the videos embedded here, but what the heck, you’ll have to click a link or two from this story.
From CNN “Helping kids get well one car ride at a time” (7/3/08):
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) — If Russell Jackson has his way, any child who needs medical care but lacks the transportation to get there will have a safe and reliable alternative.
“We found that there were 80,000-plus children in Alabama living in a home with no car,” Jackson says.
“And in the rural areas, there are no cabs, there are no buses, there are no trains. … Millions of children in our country every day have no access to medical care when they need to reach it.”
Jackson is so determined that in 1997 he gave up his career as an Alabama firefighter, moved in with friends and dug into his retirement account to start Kid One Transport, a nonprofit organization that provides rides for needy children in his home state.
In 11 years, Kid One’s fleet of vans has ferried more than 16,000 kids to and from scheduled medical-related appointments all over Alabama.
Jackson never anticipated he would leave the fire department to head up a nonprofit organization. After all, firefighting was the culmination of a lifelong dream.
“What little boy doesn’t want to be a firefighter?” Jackson says, laughing.
Continue over at CNN to read the rest, to all the heroes out there on this Independence Day, thank you.
Seattle, WA: Fighting for the next generation, Sprinklerfitters Local 699 go on strike
A member of the local floor coverings union pickets Wednesday, along with members of the Sprinkler Fitters Union Local 699.-DEAN J. KOEPFLER/THE NEWS TRIBUNE
From Gangbox “SEATTLE SPRINKLER FITTERS LOCAL 699 GOES ON STRIKE – contractors will ask other trades to work behind their picketline next week” (7/3/08)
“We’ve gotten as many phone calls from other trades supporting us, telling us they’re right behind us and they’re going to stick with us as long as it takes, so that’s what’s going to make this go sooner,” Collins said. “The contractors want us to go backward as far as our contracts go, and we’re not accepting that. With inflation going on the way it’s gone in the past few years, we’re way behind the eight ball.”The sprinkler fitters earn about $24 to $30 an hour, and apprentices start out at less than half of those wages. That wage doesn’t include holiday, vacation or sick pay. Apprenticeships last five years, and apprentices receive health benefits in their third year, Collins said.
Mike Dahl, union business manager, said a big issue was the wages of apprentices.
“We’re looking to have not a great standard of living but just that they can afford to live,” he said. “We don’t like the economic impact on the economy here of what we’re doing. We hope this settles very soon.”
SocialistWorker.org adds in “Strike shuts down Seattle building sites“(7/4/08):
The strikers know what they are up against. Sam Bond, a member of Local 699 for nine years, said in an interview, “We have got to keep up with what’s going in the world. As prices go up, we have to stay up on it, so we can afford the lifestyle we want to live. This strike is really important for us, and for future generations of sprinkler fitters.”
Ironworkers, electricians, laborers, operating engineers, as well as delivery drivers like UPS workers are just some of the union workers who have refused to cross the picket lines.
At the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., the strike has shut down completely nine huge tower cranes, with upwards of 800 workers getting an unexpected extra long holiday weekend.
The union is reporting that not a single member has crossed the picket line so far. A unanimous strike authorization vote and the “last, best, and final” offer from the employers’ organization, the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), was voted down 219 to 14.
It’s been nearly two years since a major construction workers strike hit the Seattle area. In August 2006, concrete workers who were members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 paralyzed most of the industry for a month. Those workers won a contract that included pay raises of $3.95 an hour over three years and, crucially, allowed them to honor strike picket lines held by other union trades.
The importance of that strike victory is now magnified. The basic labor idea of “an injury to one is an injury to all” has been highlighted by the solidarity of all the building trade workers refusing to cross the sprinkler fitters’ picket line.
As one Local 699 striker put it, “The support we’re getting is unbelievable. To be able to have all the trades honor the picket line also helps them out more when their contract times come up.”
Heads high brothers, hope you get the $14 over 3 and the better apprentice package, to those that do not know the $14 is cumulative of all health, welfare, pension, etc., meaning it doesn’t go into the pocket, the majority usually gets invested in other necessities.
June 29, 2008
Video: Michael Parenti 2002 speech about capitalism and poverty
“Their fighting against every bit of political Democracy and every bit of Democracy and every bit of economic Democracy that benefits the people”
“if they had their way our kids would still be working 14 hours a day in factories”
“Their goal is a third-worldization of everywhere, their goal is to get us back to 1900″- Michael Parenti on capitalism
Speaking to a packed church house in 2002 at the Terrorism, Globalization and Conspiracy conference. From Google Video:
OCTOBER 9, 2002, VANCOUVER: Dr. Michael Parenti, one of North America’s leading radical writers on U.S. imperialism and interventionism, fascism, democracy and the media, spoke to several hunded people at St. Andrews Wesley Church in Vancouver. Dr. Parenti has taught political science at a number of colleges and universities in the United States and other countries. He was written 250 majro magazine articles and 15 books and is frequently heard on public and alternative radio.
Michael Parenti at WikiPedia on racism:
Parenti argues that western racism is systemic and historical in nature and should be regarded as more than just an attitudinal problem. He claims western racism has its origins in imperialism and slavery: To justify the colonial plunder of another nation or entire continent (as in the case of Africa) as well as the enslavement of conquered populations, imperialists and/or slave traffickers dehumanize their victims and define them as moral inferiors and subhuman.Parenti maintains that racism serves several functions for ruling interests in the United States:
- It divides the working class against each other.
- It creates a “super-exploited” group of people who are forced to work at below scale wages thereby depressing wage levels for the entire workforce.
- It distracts the (United States) white population from its own legitimate grievances by providing an irrelevant scapegoat in the form of minority populations
Now we have a new slave class that divides us even more. The undocumented worker.
June 16, 2008
AFL-CIO Turn around America video contest, go and vote
It’s time to vote in the AFL-CIO’s Turn Around America video contest. From Mike Hall at the AFL-CIO Blog (6/16/08):
The 12 finalists in the AFL-CIO’s “Turn Around America Online Video Competition“ have been selected. Now you can pick the winner of the contest’s Our America Award.
The dozen finalists from around the country grabbed their cameras and harnessed their creativity to answer the question: How do we “Turn Around America” in this time of a failing health care system, stumbling economy, stagnant wages, disappearing jobs and an endless war? How do we go from the wrong track to the right direction?
Click here to see the entries of the 12 finalists and then cast your vote for the video that you believe best answered the question. Votes will be counted through 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 19. All winners will be announced June 24.
Here’s my choice
I can’t believe it, it’s me.
While there were many good ones, I couldn’t pass this one up, it would get my attention.
From DogfishProductions
Heres the rest
go pick your favorite
Minneapolis, MN
Bloomfield Hills, MI 
Saint Paul, MN
Montclair, VA
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Rodeo, CA
New Hyde Park, NY
North Hollywood, CA
Brandon, FL
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Ohio: Locked-out Kongsberg workers, solidarity rally
Original story at Union Review: Ohio: Kongsberg Automotive Holding locks out USWA workers, hires temp. workers and the fear of global environment (4/5/08):
Yesterday, I asked my readers over at Union Review to get me some of the information about the rally in Van Wert for the locked out Steelworkers at Kongsberg Automotive. Michelle obliged, from the Van Wert Independent (6/16/08) :
Kongsberg workers who are members of USW Local 1-524 march on Central Avenue this past Saturday following a rally in Fountain Park. Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent
t was a day for union solidarity and community support,
but also one of bitterness and frustration,
as members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-524 held a rally in Fountain Park Saturday to thank supporters.Hundreds of people, some of them union officials – including other USW locals and
district officials, United Auto Workers officials and even representatives of the Van Wert Federation of Teachers – turned out to provide support, both emotional and financial, for the locked-out workers of Kongsberg Automotive’s Van Wert plant.
Donations from union representatives totaled between $10,000 and $15,000 on Saturday.
Several speakers angrily denounced Kongsberg management officials for what is perceived as a failure to bargain in good faith with local union officials. Kongsberg President Peter Spencer was depicted by a person in a rat’s costume as those at the rally clapped and cheered.
Van Wert Mayor Louis Ehmer, who had taken some heat earlier for not doing enough to support Kongsberg workers during a City Council meeting, spoke at the rally and said the community was behind the workers, while also commending the local union for its demeanor on the picket line.
“You people have demonstrated that you are out there in a dignified way trying to protect and secure your jobs,” the mayor said to applause, adding that he was a bit surprised at union workers’ good behavior since he was originally from Detroit, Mich., where union disputes often turned violent.
Aaron Collins, the 37-year-old president of Local 1-524, bitterly denounced both company officials – most specifically former human resources manager Tom Herman – and government officials who have allowed workers to be exploited by domestic and foreign companies.
Collins talked about how, as a child, he thought it was neat that astronaut Neil
Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, was from nearby Wapakoneta. “It seemed like, as a child, anything was possible” in America, Collins said, adding, though, that “the American Dream is slipping away from us right now as we speak.”
He angrily criticized both major political parties for their lack of support for U.S. workers, noting: “Both sides are out to get us, both are out for themselves,” and adding that a third party dedicated to middle class Americans may be the answer to make changes at the federal level.
However, he did have praise for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, who has phoned and written letters to Kongsberg company officials in support of local workers.
John Ryan, Senator Brown’s state director, attended the rally and had words of support for the locked-out workers. Ryan outlined the senator’s actions in support of the local workers, commended non-company employees attending the rally for their support of the locked-out workers and also used the USW’s fighting slogan, “One Day Longer,” in saying the senator would back the workers “one day longer than you need” until Kongsberg returns to the table to bargain in good faith.
USW District 1 Director Dave McCall also spoke during the rally, and later to media
representatives, about Local 1-524’s struggle to get back to the bargaining table. McCall said the union was working on a couple of fronts to put pressure on Kongsberg to resume negotiations. Those include a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that accuses Kongsberg of bad faith bargaining, illegal surveillance and failure to provide necessary financial documentation to union negotiators.
McCall said the NLRB had investigators in Van Wert last week to take depositions related to the complaint.
The USW district president also said the USW was working with international unions doing business with Kongsberg to put pressure on the company to resume negotiations from outside the United States. A return to the bargaining table is all union officials want, he said.
“We stand ready and prepared to go back to the table and bargain for a fair and just contract,” McCall added.
He added that the situation in America today, with companies “outsourcing” operations to Mexico, China and other countries, needs to stop.
“Workers have had enough,” McCall said. “Companies cannot continue to exploit workers like this.”
Following the rally, local union members and supporters staged a peaceful march through downtown Van Wert.
My apologies to The Independent for clipping the entire article, it just seems that this is so totally ignored, I wanted all the information I could get.
These American workers are getting screwed for corporate quarterly profits at any cost.
