Layoff Due to Outsourcing

The headline reads “GM to idle because of parts shortage.”

Apparently there is a labor strike in India. I guess in their hurry to outsource every job possible GM sent transmission parts production to India; I wonder how much per part they will be saving next week? I am constantly bitching about trade issues on this blog and this is a perfect example of why! The terms of when I work are now being driven by a parts plant in India. When you couple that with foreign transplants dictating what my wages will be its enough to make a guy wonder who he works for and in what country! What am I talking about? The concession package from earlier this year brought with it a very short statement regarding what will come in 2011.

“…binding arbitration with wage and benefits improvements to be based upon GM maintaining an all-in labor cost comparable to its U.S. competitors, including transplant automotive manufacturers.”

This is verbatim from our concession overview booklet (bold type and italics emphasis added by me) regarding how our wage structure will be worked out in our next contract.

I hope India will allow me to go back to work soon. Looking a bit further down the road; I also hope that Korea, Germany and Japan wont be too hard on us when they decide what our wage structure will be for the 2011 contract.

By the way if you believe that this sort of thing is spurred on by the sad state of this county’s unfair trade policy support the TRADE act by asking your elected official to co-sponsor this important legislation here.

Trick or Treat

Halloween is aproaching quickly and here are some American made options for everyone buying candy:

Tootsie Roll’s and many of the products that Tootsie Roll Industries makes are not only made in the USA but they are made by UNION workers!! Check out their line of products here.

Hershey’s kisses and chocolate bars are also made in America by union workers!

Reese’s peanut butter cups … MMMMMM are made in America by union workers.

(Hershey’s has moved some of its production out of the country so make sure to turn the bag over and look for the old “product of USA” or “Made in USA”!!!)

There are long lists of candy made in the USA and made by union employees at
The UAW website
The AFT website
The CWA has a list
The UFCW’s list
Make sure to double check on the bag as many of these companies have production outside of the country as well.

Black Lake and the future of the UAW

I spent the last week at UAW Black Lake training. What a wonderful week of learning, inspiration and fellowship with union brothers and sisters from around my region. The last time I was at Black Lake for training I was barely active in my union and was only just starting to be involved with politics. What a difference nearly a decade makes! I am now Internationally appointed, an UAW CAP delegate, a precinct delegate and am often referred to as the political guru of my UAW local (not to mention having my own blog!)

I absolutely loved all of the instructors and even spent time outside the classroom having long discussions with them and even arguing with them regarding politics and the UAW.

The grounds are incredible and should be visited by every union activist at least once! Here are a few pics:

An amazing view of the lobby area.



A view of the Reuther brothers statues.



The eternal flame for Walter and May Reuther.

To me the most important part of the week was getting to spend time with people from my local union that I didn’t really know that well. I enjoyed eating our meals together and was thrilled that the lessons in our classes spilled over to the dining hall nearly every day. We had a great mix of retirees, active members and union leadership. it was an interesting combination because at my local; our leadership has a lot of seniority and will likely retire over the next few years. Here, collected at one event was the past, present, and future of my local union. Some of them have no idea that they will be called upon in the coming years as I was called upon after I returned from Black Lake- so many years ago.

The leadership of the international spoke to us repeatedly and covered such topics as the recent concessions, the status of the Saturn deal, the VEBA (retiree health care) trust and many other topics. Many in the audience spent that time shifting around in their seats, much of the news was bleak. Our leaders were speaking to us in clear, concise language and they were not speaking from a position of strength. Sobering straight talk. Many in our membership need to hear that.

At the end of the week I found that I was leaving with a positive outlook. Bad news, straight talk, sobering reports; we are exactly where we don’t want to be- but here I was smiling on the drive home thinking of my weekend. Sometimes hearing the hard facts are necessary, sometimes straight talk and sobering news sheds a little light on who,what, and where you are. With membership at an all time low, with factories being shuddered across our nation, with entire name plates being left by the side of the road somehow I have optimism and a grin on my face. Have I lost my mind? Willful ignorance? No, I am now a little more familiar with whom I stand. I now know what the faces of our future leadership look like. I broke bread with, had long in depth conversations with and yes, even shared beers with the people that will likely be my local union and regions next generation of leaders. My optimism doesn’t come from the belief that we will suddenly score a string of immediate victories it comes from the belief that the most important victories are long term struggles. Currently our opponents have the upper hand so we will sit and bide our time learning the lessons that patience, endurance and perseverance are powerful forms of strength. With our ranks diminished the future will undoubtedly hold monumental battles that will pit us against impossible odds; yet I grin. One thing I am sure of; we have broad shoulders, strong backs and when we fight together nothing can stand in our way. Our history teaches us that we can endure nearly anything… and win!! The bloody battles with corporate giants to start our union, the no strike clauses during world war II, our women carrying the load during world war II, Civil Rights, OSHA, COLA, FMLA, Minimum wage raises and on and on. The future battles will have different issues and our future leaders will have new names but our cause will stay the same; labor will always fight the battles of working people everywhere. Just like the song “Solidarity Forever” says:

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.


And even as I write this – I grin!!

Massive Toyota Recall

Big news from the automotive sector came out this week while I happened to be at Black Lake Educational center. The news of the Toyota recall of 3.8 million vehicles was a small blurb in national media markets but in Michigan it is very big news. I found it ironic that news of the breakdown over the Penske/Saturn deal was top national news but a possible deadly issue with nearly 4 million vehicles gets little to no attention. You can hear the 911 call that launched the recall, which the company is downplaying by calling it a safety alert instead of a recall in spite of the death of an off duty police officer, his wife and their two daughters.

Also mentioned in the article was the fact that Toyota knew about the problem that caused the accident. Toyota had issued a recall in 2007 over these same issues. I wonder what the U.S. media would have done if the recall had come from one of the big three?

The Devil's Healthcare update

OK, first things first- The Baucus health care bill is horrible in so many ways. But, we must not lose sight of the fact that the 3 in the House are very good and the other in the Senate is good but could use some work. Some of us will be asked to express deep concerns with the Baucus/ Finance committee product. And we should. No, let me rephrase that- we must.

Opposition to the Baucus bill doesn't mean that you're opposing health care reform. It means that you're opposing provisions within the Baucus proposal but letting the process move forward so these bills can be put together and voted upon.

In a nutshell, we're not even in the second half of the game yet. But, just like in any game, you must play both halves if you're going to win. Honestly, we've put forth a good effort in the first half but we have to really turn up the heat in the second half.

A few of the issues are:

How do we pay for it? The Baucus plan uses an excise tax on insurance companies. Sounds OK. It's not. this tax will be passed on to consumers. Insurance companies readily admit this. The House versions don't use this funding. They use a surtax on people making over $300,000 annually. These folks get enough write offs and are more than making ends meet. They got the biggest tax decrease in history during the Bush years- we got bupkis. Even Warren Buffet, billionaire told Democrats a few weeks ago that the rich need to pay more in taxes. The irony.

Leveling the playing field- Most people get health care from their employer. Many of our employers competitors do not provide insurance. This puts our employer at a severe disadvantage. This is called the pay or play. If employers don't want to provide it, fine, don't play, but you must pay. Right now, the pay part is too low. We have to tell Congress that the play has to be more meaningful.

Public option- This is important. It has received a lot of attention. It's baffling and the lies around this are plain silly. Opponents (GOP and so-called moderate Dems/Blue Dogs) clam that the Gov can't do anything right. Really? The Veterans health care is government run- they get about the best prices for drugs. The delivery system needs some work but it's because they have been underfunded for years (think massive tax cuts under Bush and the influx of newly returned service members from Iraq) Medicare has the lowest administrative costs. This means that more money can be spent on delivering health care- a very good thing. Medicaid- has low administrative costs, get's better drug prices than Medicare and is government run. The problems that you hear about with these programs are not due to them being poorly run or bad programs- it's completely political. Want to "save Medicare"? raise the tax level above $90,000. Any income a person makes over this amount is not taxed right now. The number hasn't moved in I don't know how long, but it needs to. Many people are leery of government intrusion etc. It's time to sit down and read about how a public option will decrease costs for everyone because insurance companies will have to compete with these more efficient plans.

How serious are GOP about fixing health care? They still haven't offered a plan. In the Finance Committee, they keep saying that they have the workers in mind. The only idea they've offered, aside from saying no no no no no no no no, is to give people vouchers to buy their own insurance or tax breaks of like $5,000. This doesn't mean that you get $5,000. This means that you don't pay taxes on $5,000 of your income. So, let's just say that you're in the highest tax bracket (which you're not unless you're making about $250,000/yr. The max you would really receive is $1,500. How much does an individual plan cost on he open market? Around $8,000. You just lost over $6,500 dollars (over $500 month). Not a good deal.

How serious is it right now? Very. The House is starting to talk about an excise tax as being part of their financing. It will be much better than the Baucus lunacy and most likely will only hit plans of Goldman Sachs execs. Still, we need to beware and fight like hell against it.

we're the only major nation in he world that doesn't provide health care for all. We're the richest country in the world. It's time to change this so families are better off, businesses can compete on a level playing field and people, not profits, are the focus of health care.

Racism Alive and Well

This story was recently covered in the South Bend Tribune:

He started to ring up the shoes as the shopper pulled a department store credit
card out of her wallet. When she looked up, the associate was leaning over the
counter."The next time you come shopping," he warned her, "make sure you bring
your green card with you."The statement stunned the shopper, who is
Mexican-American. She said she did nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that
could justify his behavior toward her.

This is not uncommon. If you ask any person of color or woman they will likely have a story about being discriminated against or being called a racial slur. What they may not share is the fallout from those stories. They may not share the part where they have to answer the questions from their children: “why did he ask you for a green card?” You will likely not be told of the sense of fury over having to explain what that person meant or defining the racial slur or explaining what bigotry is. You will likely not be told what it feels like to watch a piece of your child’s innocence be ripped away.


I remember my sister-in-law telling me a story of how as her and my two nieces were leaving a grocery store a large truck sped past them nearly hitting the two girls. As the truck drove off the passenger yelled, “go back across the border, beaners” as he waved the middle finger. She was quick to mention the white guy that witnessed the incident, dropped his groceries (except for a bottle of soda) and ran across the parking lot yelling at the truck and throwing his soda at the truck. I watched my sister-in-law relay this story to me and then I saw what was the worst part of incidents like this; her children didn’t understand what happened. She told me of her inner struggle over whether or not to explain what the man in the truck meant, why someone that didn’t even know them hated them and if she should explain the racial slur and comments. While she was relaying the story to me she wept openly and was visibly shaking; a mix of emotions overtaking her. In the end she decided that it was a rare opportunity to show the sort of mindless hate her children will experience in their life and the sort of goodness that they will also experience.

I dread the day when I have to explain racism to my daughter those racial slurs or the concepts of bigotry and racism. We dream that our children will never have to know bigotry or racism. This what bothered my sister-in-law most; that dream was lost for her children on that day.

The person in the news article above is a family member. She said she felt hesitant about reporting the incident and said that after some thought, she felt obligated to relay her experience so that the worker can’t treat someone else the same way. I agree, and I hope that more people are intolerant towards racism. The dream of our children never knowing bigotry is still alive for my family. We have come a long way but racism is still alive and well in our society. Hopefully with more people speaking out I will never have the moment where I watch my daughter feel the horrid sting of racism for the first time.

Sen. Kennedy R.I.P.

Sen. Edward Kennedy passed away last night after battling brain cancer.

Kennedy will go down in history as one of the most effective Senators in American history. His time in the Senate was used to help pass OSHA, Civil Rights legislation, Head Start, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), fought for raises in the minimum wage, higher rates of student aid for GI’s, and countless other programs. The first time Ted Kennedy introduced health care legislation was in 1969, the battle taking place today was his life long fight. Ted Kennedy has been waging this war for more than forty years.

I had the privilege of hearing him speak while campaigning for John Kerry in 2004 and will always remember his memorable speech at the 2008 Democratic convention. The story goes that months after the May 2008 diagnosis of brain cancer Ted Kennedy rose from his bed on the day of the Democratic National Convention, combed his hair over a visible bald patch where his head had been shaven for treatment, covered the IV port on the back of his hand with a bandage and refused to stay home on the night the candidate he endorsed would accept the party’s nomination. Here is the video of his speech that night:




The last words of his speech were part of his speech at the 1980 Democratic National Convention as he was thanking his supporters and conceding to Jimmy Carter:

“The work goes on,
The cause endures,
The hope still lives
And the dream shall never die.”

Rest In Peace Sen. Kennedy.