The War Against Workers
News Stories for April 29, 2011
Legislature votes to overturn Milwaukee’s wishes on sick leave
Superior Telegram
Republican state lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor's desk that would overturn a Milwaukee ordinance that requires all employers to grant workers paid sick leave.
Superior Telegram
Republican state lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor's desk that would overturn a Milwaukee ordinance that requires all employers to grant workers paid sick leave.
The sick leave ordinance was approved by Milwaukee voters in a 2008 referendum by a 69-31 percent margin. It's been tied up in court ever since, but was recently upheld by a court of appeals. The ordinance requires large employers to grant full-time employees up to nine paid sick days each year. It requires small businesses to grant five paid sick days.
Greenfield Assembly Republican Jeff Stone says the trouble with the ordinance is that it puts Milwaukee businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
"I would love for there to be more jobs in the city of Milwaukee,” says Stone. “But we will not get there by making it more difficult for businesses to do business in Milwaukee. We need to create an environment where the rules are the same community to community."
But Milwaukee Democrat Chris Sinicki said the bill was a slap in the face to the voters of Milwaukee, the referendum process and the idea of local control. Read the source story here.
“This number of simultaneous recalls has never occurred anywhere in the U.S.”
WisPolitics.com
The Government Accountability Board asked a Dane County judge Wednesday to give it more time to review recall petitions in a move that would allow the agency to hold eight of the elections July 12.
Under the GAB's proposal, the agency and those involved in the recalls would have additional time to review the petitions, file challenges and respond to those filings.
The GAB argued the additional time was needed, in part, because of the demands now placed on the agency by the ongoing statewide recount in the Supreme Court race and the thousands of signatures filed against state senators so far.
It also points out in the filing recall elections by themselves are very rare in Wisconsin. To have eight going on at the same time is extraordinary.
"In addition, this number of simultaneous recalls has never occurred anywhere in the United States," the Department of Justice points out in the brief. Read the source story here.
WisPolitics.com
The Government Accountability Board asked a Dane County judge Wednesday to give it more time to review recall petitions in a move that would allow the agency to hold eight of the elections July 12.
Under the GAB's proposal, the agency and those involved in the recalls would have additional time to review the petitions, file challenges and respond to those filings.
The GAB argued the additional time was needed, in part, because of the demands now placed on the agency by the ongoing statewide recount in the Supreme Court race and the thousands of signatures filed against state senators so far.
It also points out in the filing recall elections by themselves are very rare in Wisconsin. To have eight going on at the same time is extraordinary.
"In addition, this number of simultaneous recalls has never occurred anywhere in the United States," the Department of Justice points out in the brief. Read the source story here.
Prosser: No meeting with governor, but possibly at office
WKOW.com
In an interview with WKOW27 News, state supreme court justice David Prosser denied meeting with Governor Walker the day after voters decided between Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg in a hotly-contested race, but said it was possible he was at the governor’s office.
“It is conceivable that during that week, I stopped down to the governor’s office,” Prosser told WKOW27 News.
Prosser told WKOW27 News any visit would have been to request gubernatorial mementoes for visiting international students. Read the source story here.
WKOW.com
In an interview with WKOW27 News, state supreme court justice David Prosser denied meeting with Governor Walker the day after voters decided between Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg in a hotly-contested race, but said it was possible he was at the governor’s office.
“It is conceivable that during that week, I stopped down to the governor’s office,” Prosser told WKOW27 News.
Prosser told WKOW27 News any visit would have been to request gubernatorial mementoes for visiting international students. Read the source story here.
Fourth recall group targeting Democratic state senator calls it quits
The Political Carnival
It looks like Wisconsin Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) is safe. A “very special” scammy Utah group won’t be filing signatures to get him recalled, or as I like to say, they are the “good” kind of quitters.
The Political Carnival
It looks like Wisconsin Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) is safe. A “very special” scammy Utah group won’t be filing signatures to get him recalled, or as I like to say, they are the “good” kind of quitters.
That’s number four– count ‘em, four– on the failed recalls against Democrats list.
“We did this because we feel that the APRC is a front group for either wrecking conservative causes or for simple money making,” [Jeff Horn, with the Committee to Recall Mark Miller] said in the email. A recent article in the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Utah, raised numerous questions about Dan Baltes, the head of the coalition. The story reported on time he served in the Idaho prison system in the 1980s and ’90s under a different name, for grand theft, forgery and writing bad checks.Ooo, not good for the bad guy group. Not good at all. However, what IS good is that recall signatures were filed against another GOP senator, Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay), who is now the sixth Republican to be added to that list. Read the source story here.
Sixth Republican Senator Faces Wisconsin Recall
AFL-CIO Now Blog
Wisconsin activists today filed more than 26,000 signatures today to recall the sixth Republican state senator—Robert Cowles of Green Bay—who voted for Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) bill to eliminate collective bargaining rights of public employees.
All the petitions have carried far more signatures than the minimum needed to qualify, which must equal 25 percent of the total vote for governor in November’s election in each Senate district. The Cowles petition needed just 15,960 signatures and the 26,524 represents 166 percent of the requirement.
Along with Cowles, recall petitions have been filed for Alberta Darling of River Hills, Shelia Harsdof of River Falls, Luther Olsen of Ripon, Dan Kapanke of La Crosse and Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac. Democrats need to win three seats to take control of the Senate. Read the source story here.
AFL-CIO Now Blog
Wisconsin activists today filed more than 26,000 signatures today to recall the sixth Republican state senator—Robert Cowles of Green Bay—who voted for Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) bill to eliminate collective bargaining rights of public employees.
All the petitions have carried far more signatures than the minimum needed to qualify, which must equal 25 percent of the total vote for governor in November’s election in each Senate district. The Cowles petition needed just 15,960 signatures and the 26,524 represents 166 percent of the requirement.
Along with Cowles, recall petitions have been filed for Alberta Darling of River Hills, Shelia Harsdof of River Falls, Luther Olsen of Ripon, Dan Kapanke of La Crosse and Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac. Democrats need to win three seats to take control of the Senate. Read the source story here.
Global Anti-Regulation Agenda Threatens Health and Safety at Work
AFL-CIO Now Blog
On Workers Memorial Day, the global union movement is warning that more lives will be lost at work if business groups and companies around the world succeed in reducing legal protections against hazardous jobs. In the United States, Big Business and congressional Republicans have launched campaigns to turn back health and safety regulations, claiming they hinder competitiveness.
Workers Memorial Day is observed by trade unions around the globe and today there are observances in more than 50 countries. To find out what’s going on around the world for Workers Memorial Day, click here.
Trade unions are challenging the rigged statistics and bogus arguments being used by business interests that care more about profit than the lives of the people who work for them, said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Read the source story here.
AFL-CIO Now Blog
On Workers Memorial Day, the global union movement is warning that more lives will be lost at work if business groups and companies around the world succeed in reducing legal protections against hazardous jobs. In the United States, Big Business and congressional Republicans have launched campaigns to turn back health and safety regulations, claiming they hinder competitiveness.
Workers Memorial Day is observed by trade unions around the globe and today there are observances in more than 50 countries. To find out what’s going on around the world for Workers Memorial Day, click here.
Trade unions are challenging the rigged statistics and bogus arguments being used by business interests that care more about profit than the lives of the people who work for them, said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Read the source story here.
The Influence Industry: Companies lobbying for tax holiday on overseas money
The Washington Post
As Washington politicians grapple with how to lower the federal deficit, a coalition of powerful corporations has a seemingly tantalizing offer: Give us a big tax break, and we’ll give you $50 billion or more in fresh revenue.
More than two dozen major companies and business groups — including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and technology giants Apple, Google and Microsoft — have joined together under the banner of the “Win America Campaign” to push for a one-time tax holiday on overseas profits.
[...] The idea is to encourage U.S.-based corporations to bring back, or “repatriate,” up to $1 trillion now stashed in overseas tax havens by sharply reducing standard corporate income tax rates on that money from 35 percent to perhaps 5 percent. Backers argue that the move would create thousands of jobs and other investments; the lure for politicians is additional tax revenue that the government won’t collect if the money remains abroad. [...] But opponents, including many labor unions, say the effort is a de facto giveaway for multinational corporations that rewards tax-dodging while having little positive economic impact. They say the same tax-holiday idea was tried in 2004 with little apparent benefit to regular Americans. Read the source story here.
The Washington Post
As Washington politicians grapple with how to lower the federal deficit, a coalition of powerful corporations has a seemingly tantalizing offer: Give us a big tax break, and we’ll give you $50 billion or more in fresh revenue.
More than two dozen major companies and business groups — including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and technology giants Apple, Google and Microsoft — have joined together under the banner of the “Win America Campaign” to push for a one-time tax holiday on overseas profits.
[...] The idea is to encourage U.S.-based corporations to bring back, or “repatriate,” up to $1 trillion now stashed in overseas tax havens by sharply reducing standard corporate income tax rates on that money from 35 percent to perhaps 5 percent. Backers argue that the move would create thousands of jobs and other investments; the lure for politicians is additional tax revenue that the government won’t collect if the money remains abroad. [...] But opponents, including many labor unions, say the effort is a de facto giveaway for multinational corporations that rewards tax-dodging while having little positive economic impact. They say the same tax-holiday idea was tried in 2004 with little apparent benefit to regular Americans. Read the source story here.
Massachussetts House Votes To Limit Public Employee Collective Bargaining For Health Care
Think Progress
Last winter, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) instigated a massive movement of Main Street Americans when he advocated for and passed a new budget law that severely restricted the labor rights of most public employees in the state.
Last night, Massachusetts took a step in that direction when the state House of Representatives voted 111-42 for a bill that would essentially strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights to negotiate for health insurance plans. Under the proposed law, unions would be allowed to negotiate with local officials for 30 days, but officials could still unilaterally impose changes in health insurance coverage if negotiations fail to reach an agreement. Read the source story here.
Think Progress
Last winter, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) instigated a massive movement of Main Street Americans when he advocated for and passed a new budget law that severely restricted the labor rights of most public employees in the state.
Last night, Massachusetts took a step in that direction when the state House of Representatives voted 111-42 for a bill that would essentially strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights to negotiate for health insurance plans. Under the proposed law, unions would be allowed to negotiate with local officials for 30 days, but officials could still unilaterally impose changes in health insurance coverage if negotiations fail to reach an agreement. Read the source story here.
NM lowers Mexican truck standards at the border
Source: Teamster Nation
New Mexico's state government is the latest to cave in to the relentless pressure to lower safety standards. And they're the latest to come up with the excuse that "it will make goods cheaper." (Note: We'd rather have good jobs than cheap goods.)
Here's what New Mexico did: pass a law that lets overloaded trucks from Mexico operate within the state's border zone.
Landline Magazine has the story:
Source: Teamster Nation
New Mexico's state government is the latest to cave in to the relentless pressure to lower safety standards. And they're the latest to come up with the excuse that "it will make goods cheaper." (Note: We'd rather have good jobs than cheap goods.)
Here's what New Mexico did: pass a law that lets overloaded trucks from Mexico operate within the state's border zone.
Landline Magazine has the story:
...because commercial vehicles in Mexico operate under different weight limits than trucks operating in New Mexico and Texas, some commercial reducible loads must be partially offloaded before crossing through border ports of entry.Read the source story here.
The offloaded product must then be reloaded onto a second truck in Mexico before shipment across the border. Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Dona Ana, points out that the process adds significant costs for both Mexican producers and U.S. buyers.
The new law is intended to eliminate the offloading/reloading process and allow affected loads to be delivered directly to warehouses, processing facilities and logistics yards near the border.
Gov. Martinez said the companies importing those products will see reduced costs that will passed onto consumers.
Obama: Workers Memorial Day—Time To Recommit to Job Safety
AFL-CIO Now blog
In a Workers Memorial Day proclamation, President Obama says the nation must:
AFL-CIO Now blog
In a Workers Memorial Day proclamation, President Obama says the nation must:
recommit to keeping all workers safe and healthy [and] make sure the full force of the law is brought to bear in cases where workers are put in harm’s way.He also says the safety and health laws that protect today’s workers “were won by generations of courageous men and women, fighting to secure decent working conditions.”
Organized labor has continued to give voice to millions of working men and women by representing their views and fighting for good working conditions and fair wages.
Click here for the full proclamation. Read the source story here.
Tennessee GOP Votes To Allow Corporations To Contribute Directly To Candidates
Think Progress
After the 2009′s Citizens United ruling that allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in American elections, corporations were able to play an unprecedented role in 2010 election cycle. In the wake of the decision, many corporations set up front groups that allowed them to donate large sums of money to candidates without having to disclose information regarding their contributors.
Think Progress After the 2009′s Citizens United ruling that allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in American elections, corporations were able to play an unprecedented role in 2010 election cycle. In the wake of the decision, many corporations set up front groups that allowed them to donate large sums of money to candidates without having to disclose information regarding their contributors.
Now, in Tennessee, lawmakers are trying to replicate the corporate takeover of the federal government by lifting the state’s own ban on direct corporate contributions and raising the amount of money PACs can contribute. The bill was sponsored by three Republican legislators and was approved by committees in both the House and Senate on party-line votes. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports:
Direct corporate donations to political candidates will be legalized in Tennessee and the amount that can be given by all contributors will be raised by about 40 percent under legislation approved by House and Senate committees Tuesday.Read the source story here.For political action committees, for example, the maximum donation will increase from $7,500 to $10,700 and adjusted upward for inflation in future years. Corporations will be treated as if they were PACs under the bill, SB1915.
[...]
“It’s going to be like an arms race with Democrats and Republicans trying to compete for this corporate cash,” [House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike] Turner said.
Somewhat sheepishly, Exxon makes $11 billion
Yahoo! News
Exxon made almost $11 billion and practically apologized for it.
Sensing public outrage over gasoline prices that have topped $4 in some states, the company struck a defensive posture Thursday after posting some of its best quarterly financial results ever.
Exxon said it had no control over high oil prices. It said it's one of the biggest taxpayers in the United States. It cast federal subsidies as "legitimate tax provisions" that keep jobs at home, and cast itself as a victim of Washington scapegoating. Read the source story here.
Yahoo! News
Exxon made almost $11 billion and practically apologized for it.
Sensing public outrage over gasoline prices that have topped $4 in some states, the company struck a defensive posture Thursday after posting some of its best quarterly financial results ever.
Exxon said it had no control over high oil prices. It said it's one of the biggest taxpayers in the United States. It cast federal subsidies as "legitimate tax provisions" that keep jobs at home, and cast itself as a victim of Washington scapegoating. Read the source story here.
Donald Trump Blames China for Fact That Much of His Gear is 'Made in China'
ABC News
Donald Trump, who has repeatedly accused China of stealing manufacturing jobs from the U.S., acknowledged today that an array of Trump-branded clothes, accessories and other products are made in China.
The real estate and casino mogul, who is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination, blamed China for the fact that Trump ties, Trump cufflinks and even Trump teddy bears come with a "Made in China" label. Read the source story here.
ABC News
Donald Trump, who has repeatedly accused China of stealing manufacturing jobs from the U.S., acknowledged today that an array of Trump-branded clothes, accessories and other products are made in China.
The real estate and casino mogul, who is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination, blamed China for the fact that Trump ties, Trump cufflinks and even Trump teddy bears come with a "Made in China" label. Read the source story here.