RIGHT TO UNITE

The United States of America was founded upon the principals of freedom. The Constitution and Bill of Rights gives all Americans the right to free speech, the freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, freedom of the press and the right to assemble. Ironically, ever since the Bill of Rights was signed, our inalienable rights have been under attack by special interest groups that want to destroy our right to the freedom of choice.

Every freedom we enjoy has been earned by the tears, the sweat, and tragically the blood of Patriots who were afforded the “Right to Unite” under a common cause. This “Right to Unite” created these United States, sparked the civil rights movement, helped turn war time into peace, built a strong middle class, sustains our Democracy and most recently, defines the 99%. This “Right to Unite” should be embraced by every true blue American; Right? Wrong!

Our Right to Unite is under constant attack and not from enemies offshore. This war from within, is being waged from our state legislative chambers. It’s not a war of bullets and bombs; their weapon of choice is bills. Like a Trojan horse they cleverly disguise their lethal legislation with titles that sound comfortably familiar. Right to Work sounds innocent enough, but once deployed, the effect is devastating on the middle class and destroys our fundamental “Right to Unite”. Isn’t it ironic that in this “land of the free”, the right to unite under a common cause is protected in our Churches, in our Communities, in our political system, in our charitable causes, in our streets, and in our Constitution, yet they want to remove that protection in the workplace.

Don’t be fooled by the slick sales pitch. Ask yourself the question, “What do I get with Right to Work legislation?” The answer is, you get something you’ve already got, the right to work. So in order to get what you’ve already got, what do you have to give up?

Right to Work erodes an employee’s “Right to Unite” in the workplace. It attacks your right to collectively bargain for wages, healthcare and other benefits. It eliminates your protection from unjust discipline or termination. It silences your voice in the workplace on issues ranging from health and safety to harassment and intimidation. It removes your right to negotiate a secure retirement for you and your family. And tragically, it allows corporations with enormous profits to treat American workers the same as they do in a sweat shop in some third world country. It’s no wonder that politicians bought and paid for with corporate super PAC money would want to deploy this weapon of class destruction.

If the American worker wants to survive, now is the time to take action!
Now is the time to honor the sacrifice of Patriots past, who fought for the freedoms we enjoy. Now is the time for a middle class “call to the ballot box” to protect and defend our jobs and our freedom from the enemy within. And now is the time to organize, to mobilize, and to fight for our “Right to Unite”.

(editors note – wanna do something about it? visit our friends at Protect Our Jobs Michigan and volunteer. If you live in or near Lansing you can stop by UAW Local 602 union hall and sign the Protect Our Jobs petition.)

Ann Romney, Every Woman?

I can’t believe we are indulging this argument from the GOP! Why does anyone have to explain why Ann Romney is not a realistic advisor when it comes to women’s issues? Do most Americans really believe that Ann Romney’s experiences are like most American women?

Let’s take a look!

Ann Romney does not go to a job and receive a paycheck. This does not mean that she doesn’t work, however I would disagree that this somehow makes her able to tell us about the trials and tribulations of an everyday stay at home mom. Most stay at home moms don’t have a staff of servants. Most stay at home moms don’t have six different homes. Most stay at home moms don’t have the difficult decision to make every time they go to the driveway of which Cadillac to drive. Most stay at home moms don’t have the comfort of knowing that their children have a $100 Million dollar trust fund waiting for them.

The ridiculous notion that Ann Romney should be offended at the idea that someone said that she never worked a day in her life is pathetic. The full quote is “His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing." Can anyone really argue the full quote? I happen to agree fully with what Hilary Rosen said and I think that most stay at home moms that actually bust their ass to make ends meet, raise their children, clean their own house, tutor their own kids, cook their own food, shop for their own groceries and clothes, try to save a few dollars to pay for some of their kids tuition and hope that they don’t get too far in debt would agree. For most Americans staying at one of 6 homes with the kids with an army of servants and multiple luxury cars in the driveway with a $100 million dollar trust fund is not an option. To defend Ann Romney as an average anything shows just how completely out of touch the GOP has become with most Americans reality, especially women!

Voter Suppression

I came across an incredible article written at craigconnects blog today. I can’t seem to be able to put the biggest piece of the infographic featured in the article but the site has a link to it and the infographic is the most complete gathering of information I have seen gathered into an easily readable and understandable format. From the article:

Voter Suppression is happening across the U.S. as restrictive voting laws are being both introduced and passed. 164 laws were introduced in states that would restrict U.S. Citizens from voting in the 2012 U.S. Election.

Restrictive voting has taken these forms:

• Eliminating election-day registration

• Restricting third-party voter registration activities

• Reducing the number of days for early voting

• Legislation requiring photo ID for in-person voting

Restrictions most heavily disenfranchise young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as voters with disabilities. We need to prevent bad legislation from preventing people to vote in the 2012 U.S. election.

Funny enough, though, Protecting the Vote explains that between 2000 and 2007, there have been 32,299 reports of UFO sightings, 352 deaths caused by lightning, and only 9 instances of possible voter impersonation.

Please take the time to read the post and share the infographic widely!

thoughts on the contract

(Editors note - I wrote this after many friends asking my opinion on the tentative agreement. I post this after ratification to clarify to many why I voted no.)

I have made my decision on whether to support the tentative agreement. My decision is based on many issues but even more so my decision is based on an overall thought process - The absence of courage. My leadership has become a pack of cowards.

They neither represent my views nor do they speak for me.

They don't speak for me when they offer concessions from our retirees (they took away the annual $700 bonus) to the company as the company offers record bonuses to management. They don't speak for me when they tell our temps that we value your vote but don't value your work (no signing bonus and no job offer). They don't speak for me when they tell our 2 tier members that its ok to wait for another full contract before having any idea when or if they will become full production. They don't speak for me when they tell every single employee that the thousands in concessions that the company extracted from us was necessary at the time but insignificant enough to ignore at the bargaining table (no cola, no overtime, no holidays, no break time).

I keep hearing the puppets at the local level and the international tell us that this is the best agreement that we could get during these times. Which times are those? The times where the company has had 6 straight profitable quarters? The times where our sacrifices made those profits possible? Will there be a better time to negotiate our concessions back? I couldn't agree less!

The signing bonus. This disturbs me the most. The bonus is big enough to entice people that are struggling financialy. I just never imagined that it would be my union that would be the ones that put them there. For too long our "leadership" has negotiated concession packages and contracts that should have been called concession packages for membership to live with while offering the hope that someday we will rise again to regain our rightful earnings. If not now...when?

This agreement may pass, but it doesn't speak for me! My no vote will speak for me!

Verizon Attacks Workers In Our Name

Ralph Nader wrote a column today about the recent Verizon strike. Nader brought up some great points:

“Mr. Lowell McAdam would surely have trouble feeling the pain of his workers who brave the elements storm or shine to afford him a salary of over 1.5 million dollars PER MONTH plus perks and benefits.
Watching Verizon profits soar year after year, noticing Verizon stock rise faster than its competitors, knowing that the company's top five executives took in over $250 million between them in the last four years, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) took their members on strike on August 7, 2011. "Unfair and unacceptable" was their cry on the picket lines up and down the east coast.”

Nader then points out that Verizon spent some of the $951 million they received in tax returns, while making $32.5 Billion in profits, to buy full page ads in the Washington Post, The New York Times, and other large newspapers. They used their taxpayer funded bully-pulpit to preach their corporate brand of “pull down” economics! One ad argued that non-union workers at Verizon pay a portion of their health care costs so should the unionized workers. Nader responds:

“There you have it - the "pull down" ultimatum to the level of the voiceless majority of Verizon workers. Of course Verizon bosses with their fat paychecks do not have to worry at all about co-payments and larger deductibles in their gold-plated health plan.”

At the bottom of each ad Verizon tells us that they are threatening their workforce, asking for over 100 concessions from their workers, and demanding nearly $20,000 of cuts from each worker while paying its top five executives more than $258 million in the past four years is claiming this is - “all in an effort to best position Verizon to serve our customers.”

I agree with Ralph Nader:

“Verizon keeps saying that what they're doing just "reflects the changing times." The times are changing - skyrocketing executive pay packages and corporate profits - slashing benefits for the workers and their families - shredding of all moral authority by example from the top.

If negotiations break down in the coming weeks and the CWA goes out on strike again, consumer advocates and their organizations should make it explicitly clear that Verizon can't excuse what they're doing to workers in order to better "serve our customers."

Verizon is going increasingly wireless. They are also going increasingly shameless!”

I will not let Verizon continue to operate in this manner on my behalf! If a fair contract is not worked out soon I will terminate my contract with them for good!

Why I will no longer shop at Target

I have finally had enough. For years I have refused to purchase anything from Wal-mart based on several reasons including; anti-union practices, lack of fair and responsible treatment of their workers, sourcing (not offering made in USA items/knowingly using sweatshop suppliers), and the fact that they spend their profits financing politicians that are the exact opposite of my political ideology. Target has slowly been amassing the same record and after recent reports about their clothing suppliers I can no longer in good conscience spend my money there.

The dirt:

- “Sexual predators and serial rapists run wild At Wal-Mart Supplier in Jordan” is the name of a frightnening report about Wal-mart, Target, Kohls and other stores named in the report that purchase clothing from these suppliers and have known about reports of sexual abuse and rape at their suppliers since at least 2006.

- The headline reads “Target forces employees to watch this anti-union propaganda video” and this article has a link to the actual video. The video shows that Target is not only anti-union but they are proud of it! If that doesn’t bother you Target’s use of wild stories regarding how unions will prevent employees from interacting with management and how unions prevent employees from working more hours, should bother you because both are lies.

- Target plays an image of good corporate citizen while funding both politicians and political action committees that are openly hostile to the gay and lesbian community. Furthermore; after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars funding hate, Target committed to stopping the practice while it simply ignored its public promise and continued to fund all of the anti-gay politicians. Read more here.

- After all of this I found this article from way back in 2006 that discusses the same problems I have laid out here, so this is nothing new!

I am not calling for a boycott and I am not going to stand in front of Target with a picket sign (YET), but I will no longer fund this insanity!

Round Up

Michigan Liberal had a great post about Leigh Fifelski leaving the area. I have only had a few dealings with Leigh but have admired her work greatly! Michigan will miss her and Texas is lucky to get such a hard working progressive leader! Check out the full post.

The bad news is in! looks like Gary Peters caught the brunt of the Gerrymandering mess the GOP has made. Politico has this article.

A Target store outside N.Y. City is set to have a vote to unionize and tensions are getting high! Here is link to a video/story about it. In the story a small clip from an anti-union video that Target shows its employees is featured, here is the full video.

Cool video #1 called “Wall Streets robber barons have declared war on American workers”

Cool Video #2 called “The Truth About the Economy”

In a never ending effort to promote American made and Union Made products here is a great list of union made beers!