The War Against Workers
News Stories for February 13, 2012
WA State House passes HB2395, port truck driver misclassification bill
Joint Council No. 28
Late yesterday afternoon the WA State House passed, 52-43, Rep. Mike Sells' bill (HB 2395) to give more than 2,000 short-haul port truck drivers access to Washington unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and all other rights accorded to employees in our state. More than 200 port drivers, who were gathered at a standing-room only town hall with King County Council and Seattle City Council members, cheered and hugged when the vote was announced.
Read the source story here.
Joint Council No. 28
Late yesterday afternoon the WA State House passed, 52-43, Rep. Mike Sells' bill (HB 2395) to give more than 2,000 short-haul port truck drivers access to Washington unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and all other rights accorded to employees in our state. More than 200 port drivers, who were gathered at a standing-room only town hall with King County Council and Seattle City Council members, cheered and hugged when the vote was announced.
Read the source story here.
Hundreds rally to support Seattle port short-haul truckers
The Stand
About 200 port workers, faith leaders, and community members rallied in support of short-haul truck drivers — mostly immigrants from East Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe — who are taking on the giants of the shipping industry over basic issues of safety and fairness. Together, they are calling on elected officials and the big shipping companies to do what it takes to ensure truck drivers at our seaport get the safe working conditions and fair treatment they deserve.
Read the source story here.
The StandAbout 200 port workers, faith leaders, and community members rallied in support of short-haul truck drivers — mostly immigrants from East Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe — who are taking on the giants of the shipping industry over basic issues of safety and fairness. Together, they are calling on elected officials and the big shipping companies to do what it takes to ensure truck drivers at our seaport get the safe working conditions and fair treatment they deserve.
The rally marked the start of the third week of an unprecedented work stoppage that has brought the Port of Seattle to a virtual standstill over basic issues of fairness and safety. At least four parked container ships are now visible in Elliott Bay, anchored and idle evidence of how dramatically the drivers’ action has slowed the movement of goods through our seaport.
On Saturday, dozens of community supporters, port truckers and elected officials gathered at the Teamsters Hall in Tukwila for a Town Hall meeting hosted by King County Councilman Joe McDermott and Port Commissioner Rob Holland to discuss the port truckers’ issues.Read the source story here.
Teamsters march on Port of Seattle to support striking drivers
Teamster Nation
The rally to support 400 striking Port of Seattle truck drivers is in full swing, we learn from the Tweetosphere. Protesters chanting "We Are One" marched in the cold along the harborside to the Social Security Administration building, where they demanded fairness and safety.
The crowd converged on Harbor Island at 9 a.m. Local news cameras -- KOMO and KIRO -- arrived and "tons of trucks" honked in support. Local 117 from Tukwila tweeted that drivers from the Port of Los Angeles spoke to the fired-up crowd. Signs read, "We Support Seattle Port Drivers," and "Respect Drivers' Rights."
The drivers have been on strike for two weeks. They are misclassified as "independent contractors," and forced to work for poverty wages in dangerous conditions. They are routinely harassed. Shipping companies are even refusing to pay them for work they did before the strike.
Read the source story here.
Teamster NationThe rally to support 400 striking Port of Seattle truck drivers is in full swing, we learn from the Tweetosphere. Protesters chanting "We Are One" marched in the cold along the harborside to the Social Security Administration building, where they demanded fairness and safety.
The crowd converged on Harbor Island at 9 a.m. Local news cameras -- KOMO and KIRO -- arrived and "tons of trucks" honked in support. Local 117 from Tukwila tweeted that drivers from the Port of Los Angeles spoke to the fired-up crowd. Signs read, "We Support Seattle Port Drivers," and "Respect Drivers' Rights."
The drivers have been on strike for two weeks. They are misclassified as "independent contractors," and forced to work for poverty wages in dangerous conditions. They are routinely harassed. Shipping companies are even refusing to pay them for work they did before the strike.
Read the source story here.
Teamsters Authorize Hostess Strike Pending Court Action
Teamster.org
The Teamsters Union announced today that its members working at Hostess voted overwhelmingly – over 90 percent in favor – to authorize a strike if Hostess is granted its motion to impose unfair contract terms as part of the bankruptcy process.
Read the source story here.
Teamster.org
The Teamsters Union announced today that its members working at Hostess voted overwhelmingly – over 90 percent in favor – to authorize a strike if Hostess is granted its motion to impose unfair contract terms as part of the bankruptcy process.
Teamster local unions that comprise the national bargaining unit for more than 7,500 Hostess employees conducted strike authorization votes during the past 10 days. A majority of the members participated in the overwhelming strike vote.
“This vote shows that, while our Hostess members are willing to take significant steps to save the company, they can only go so far,” said Dennis Raymond, Director of the Teamsters Bakery and Laundry Conference. “Twice before, they have made sacrifices to help this company with no progress to show for it. They need to see their sacrifices matched by other key stakeholders and they need protections to make sure their sacrifices are not made in vain again due to mismanagement. While we remain committed to finding a solution to save the company, it won’t be done solely on the backs of our members and Hostess employees.”Read the source story here.
Unions expect right-to-work will cost them members
SG Gate
After losing their fight against right-to-work legislation, labor organizers are making a desperate bid on shop room floors and at union halls to persuade members to keep paying their union dues and avoid crippling labor's influence in Indiana.
Factory workers, painters, electricians and other workers in the state's 179,000-member unionized work force are being called into meetings to hear impassioned pitches on why they should keep authorizing deductions from their paychecks even though the law means they no longer have to do so.
"We're gonna push them pretty hard and let them know this is what our services provide," said Brett Voorhies, legislative director for the United Steelworkers District 7, which has 45,000 active members in Indiana and Illinois. He said he has met with members of 200 locals in Indiana since supporters of the pro-business legislation begin planning their push for right-to-work last year.
But some union members are clearly tempted to drop out. Some who are politically conservative resent labor's campaign donations to Democrats; others may feel they just need the extra money.
Read the source story here.
SG Gate
After losing their fight against right-to-work legislation, labor organizers are making a desperate bid on shop room floors and at union halls to persuade members to keep paying their union dues and avoid crippling labor's influence in Indiana.
Factory workers, painters, electricians and other workers in the state's 179,000-member unionized work force are being called into meetings to hear impassioned pitches on why they should keep authorizing deductions from their paychecks even though the law means they no longer have to do so.
"We're gonna push them pretty hard and let them know this is what our services provide," said Brett Voorhies, legislative director for the United Steelworkers District 7, which has 45,000 active members in Indiana and Illinois. He said he has met with members of 200 locals in Indiana since supporters of the pro-business legislation begin planning their push for right-to-work last year.
But some union members are clearly tempted to drop out. Some who are politically conservative resent labor's campaign donations to Democrats; others may feel they just need the extra money.
Read the source story here.
4 Recent Victories Signal Hard Truth About Rebuilding Labor Movement
In These Times
For the first time in my journalism career, during one week I wrote four stories about workers winning tough fights. The victories include GE and Cablevision workers unionizing after several failed organizing attempts, the end of the bloody Longview Port longshoremen dispute and the State Department issuing new rules governing student guest workers after last summer's strike by young Hershey foreign workers.
This extraordinarily rare string of victories leads me to believe that despite major attacks on workers’ organizing and collective bargaining rights, unions can take advantage of workers' backlash against these attacks and win big victories. They can still organize.
This is not to say the tide is turning for labor because of the overreach of anti-union forces. During the same period of these small but significant victories for workers, others suffered a number of large defeats. Indiana passed right-to-work legislation aimed at gutting the power of private-sector unions, and Senate Democrats passed a bill rolling back the organizing rights of airline and rail workers.
But the key lesson of these these small victories is this: When workers develop individual strategies for their own workplace—rather than rely on gran master plans from union leaders—they're more likely to win. It's to study the GE, Cablevision and the the longshoremen union (ILWU) campaign in Longview to understand what works.
Read the source story here.
In These Times
For the first time in my journalism career, during one week I wrote four stories about workers winning tough fights. The victories include GE and Cablevision workers unionizing after several failed organizing attempts, the end of the bloody Longview Port longshoremen dispute and the State Department issuing new rules governing student guest workers after last summer's strike by young Hershey foreign workers.
This extraordinarily rare string of victories leads me to believe that despite major attacks on workers’ organizing and collective bargaining rights, unions can take advantage of workers' backlash against these attacks and win big victories. They can still organize.
This is not to say the tide is turning for labor because of the overreach of anti-union forces. During the same period of these small but significant victories for workers, others suffered a number of large defeats. Indiana passed right-to-work legislation aimed at gutting the power of private-sector unions, and Senate Democrats passed a bill rolling back the organizing rights of airline and rail workers.
But the key lesson of these these small victories is this: When workers develop individual strategies for their own workplace—rather than rely on gran master plans from union leaders—they're more likely to win. It's to study the GE, Cablevision and the the longshoremen union (ILWU) campaign in Longview to understand what works.
Read the source story here.
Secret Conservative Report Reveals Scott Walker as a Dire Fiscal Failure
Politcus USA
Secret Conservative Report Reveals Scott Walker as a Dire Fiscal Failure September 23, 2011 By Sarah Jones 142diggsdigg Share3718 30 "If we don't make changes today, the future looks grim. Parks will close, bus routes will end and families in distress will not get the help they need. Our Milwaukee will grow smaller and smaller as people and companies leave."
Those are the words of a conservative group describing the Milwaukee that then County Executive Scott Walker left behind on his climb to the Governor's mansion in Wisconsin. This secret report was buried before the 2010 election, and only comes up now in light of new numbers released today that show the average household income in Wisconsin dropping over the past ten years, with Milwaukee dropping severely.
Republicans are always suggesting that they know how to create jobs and as executives they bring business know-how to mysteriously fix things in ways that economists don't agree with but are right because their wealth and success are render their opinion unassailable. They claim that they know how to woo companies, but as the above quote illustrates to clearly, these claims are not substantiated by reality.
Read the source story here.
Politcus USA
Secret Conservative Report Reveals Scott Walker as a Dire Fiscal Failure September 23, 2011 By Sarah Jones 142diggsdigg Share3718 30 "If we don't make changes today, the future looks grim. Parks will close, bus routes will end and families in distress will not get the help they need. Our Milwaukee will grow smaller and smaller as people and companies leave."
Those are the words of a conservative group describing the Milwaukee that then County Executive Scott Walker left behind on his climb to the Governor's mansion in Wisconsin. This secret report was buried before the 2010 election, and only comes up now in light of new numbers released today that show the average household income in Wisconsin dropping over the past ten years, with Milwaukee dropping severely.
Republicans are always suggesting that they know how to create jobs and as executives they bring business know-how to mysteriously fix things in ways that economists don't agree with but are right because their wealth and success are render their opinion unassailable. They claim that they know how to woo companies, but as the above quote illustrates to clearly, these claims are not substantiated by reality.
Read the source story here.
House Transportation Bill 'Technical Correction' Would Strip Workers Of Pay Protections
Huffington Post
A little-noted provision in the House Republicans' controversial energy and transportation bill would strip several thousand workers within the rail-industry of their federal minimum-wage and overtime protections, potentially making low-wage jobs pay even less.
Read the source story here.
Huffington Post
A little-noted provision in the House Republicans' controversial energy and transportation bill would strip several thousand workers within the rail-industry of their federal minimum-wage and overtime protections, potentially making low-wage jobs pay even less.
Listed in the bill under the heading "Technical Correction," provision 6602 would exempt several companies who transport rail workers from their obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the 1938 law that guarantees basic worker rights. The carveout would allow a handful of boutique contractors to pay no overtime to their drivers who haul rail workers between worksites, often driving long distances of 300 miles or more.
"It's outrageous that House Republicans are trying to take away overtime protections for a class of workers at the behest of a special interest," Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said of the provision in a statement to HuffPost. "These workers deserve the right to overtime pay. It's not only a matter of fairness, but also a matter of public safety."Read the source story here.
Saving the Middle Class
Huffington Post
Last week, the New York City hotel workers union announced a stunning 7-year contract with the Big Apple's hotel industry providing for wage increases averaging 27 percent. The contract is due to be ratified by the membership Monday. The City's hotel trades council, whose master contract covers nearly every large hotel in Manhattan, already has the industry's best wages and health benefits. Room-attendants earn over $50,000 a year, and their earnings will go to $60,000. Everyone in the local makes a middle class income.
How on earth did the union achieve that? Through relentless organizing, professionalism, and development of the rank and file into a vigilant force that protects worker rights.
The higher wages will not increase room costs, because hotels are already charging whatever the market will bear. A higher share of these earnings will go to wages rather than profits.
After the Strauss-Kahn affair, where the union successfully demanded panic buttons for workers, I wrote a long profile of what has to be America's most effective union local for The American Prospect.
In it, I asked two questions: Are New York hotel workers unique? And what will it take for other workers in the service sector to do as well?
Read the source story here.
Huffington Post
Last week, the New York City hotel workers union announced a stunning 7-year contract with the Big Apple's hotel industry providing for wage increases averaging 27 percent. The contract is due to be ratified by the membership Monday. The City's hotel trades council, whose master contract covers nearly every large hotel in Manhattan, already has the industry's best wages and health benefits. Room-attendants earn over $50,000 a year, and their earnings will go to $60,000. Everyone in the local makes a middle class income.
How on earth did the union achieve that? Through relentless organizing, professionalism, and development of the rank and file into a vigilant force that protects worker rights.
The higher wages will not increase room costs, because hotels are already charging whatever the market will bear. A higher share of these earnings will go to wages rather than profits.
After the Strauss-Kahn affair, where the union successfully demanded panic buttons for workers, I wrote a long profile of what has to be America's most effective union local for The American Prospect.
In it, I asked two questions: Are New York hotel workers unique? And what will it take for other workers in the service sector to do as well?
Read the source story here.
White House Unveils Budget For The 99%
Crooks and Liars
The Obama administration unveiled their 2013 budget today, which calls for higher taxes but also acknowledges higher debt.
Let's just get this out of the way up front: The administration acknowledges that President Obama's promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term will not happen. So yes, it's a broken promise. Blame Wall Street for that.
Via Washington Post:
Crooks and Liars
The Obama administration unveiled their 2013 budget today, which calls for higher taxes but also acknowledges higher debt.
Let's just get this out of the way up front: The administration acknowledges that President Obama's promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term will not happen. So yes, it's a broken promise. Blame Wall Street for that.
Via Washington Post:
In a written message to Congress, Obama issued a passionate election-year call for increased spending to bolster domestic manufacturing, lure jobs back from overseas, hire teachers, retrain workers and rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. He drew a sharp contrast with his Republican opponents, arguing that his approach “rejects the ‘you’re on your own’ economics” that envision tax cuts for the rich and a frayed social safety net for everyone else, and “have led to a widening gap between the richest and poorest Americans.”Read the source story here.
Senate Republicans push to let any employer deny coverage for any health service on 'moral' grounds
Daily Kos
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is putting his weight behind Sen. Roy Blunt's amendment to the Affordable Care Act that would allow employers to deny coverage not just for contraception but for any treatment or any condition they claimed was contrary to their religious beliefs.
Read the source story here.
Daily Kos
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is putting his weight behind Sen. Roy Blunt's amendment to the Affordable Care Act that would allow employers to deny coverage not just for contraception but for any treatment or any condition they claimed was contrary to their religious beliefs.
While coverage of the bill will likely center around contraception, that's not the Republicans' only target:
"The fact that the White House thinks this is about contraception is the whole problem. This is about freedom of religion, it's right there in the First Amendment. You can't miss it — right there in the very first amendment to our Constitution," McConnell said. "What the overall view on the issue of contraception is has nothing to do with an issue about religious freedom."That's the religious freedom to deny coverage for birth control, of course. But it's also the religious freedom to deny coverage for cervical cancer, because it's caused by HPV, which is transmitted sexually. It's the religious freedom to deny coverage for treatment for alcoholism or any health issue associated with drinking. It's the religious freedom for any employer, not just religiously affiliated ones, to be legally allowed to come up with any excuse to exclude any kind of care from the health coverage they provide their employees, as long as they say it's a religious or moral reason.
Read the source story here.
It's Not Envy, My Friend
Huffington Pst
[...] Everything Romney does and everything he says stirs up controversy.
He, at the same time, brags and apologizes for his wealth to appease whichever group he's addressing
His assertion of being unemployed or fearing getting a pink slip and his insistence that he did not inherit his wealth -- partially true but missing the point -- is disingenuous and phony.
The presumptive GOP nominee had problems releasing his tax returns and when challenged reluctantly released his 2010 return. The 2010 return showed a few disturbing things. Aside from the offshore accounts in Swiss and Cayman banks it was discovered that he paid a smaller percentage of taxes than most middle-class Americans -- 13.9 percent.
He, cavalierly, dismissed income he received from speaking engagements as a small amount. It was $374,000, which is more than 10 years of income to the average American family.
Read the source story here.
Huffington Pst
[...] Everything Romney does and everything he says stirs up controversy.
He, at the same time, brags and apologizes for his wealth to appease whichever group he's addressing
His assertion of being unemployed or fearing getting a pink slip and his insistence that he did not inherit his wealth -- partially true but missing the point -- is disingenuous and phony.
The presumptive GOP nominee had problems releasing his tax returns and when challenged reluctantly released his 2010 return. The 2010 return showed a few disturbing things. Aside from the offshore accounts in Swiss and Cayman banks it was discovered that he paid a smaller percentage of taxes than most middle-class Americans -- 13.9 percent.
He, cavalierly, dismissed income he received from speaking engagements as a small amount. It was $374,000, which is more than 10 years of income to the average American family.
Read the source story here.
Republicans undiscover fire
Daily Kos
[T]he Republicans have staked out a position that requires that they lie, 24/7, 365. Not shade the facts their way. Not put their own spin on the situation. Lie. Big, sloppy, and constantly.
The lies go beyond instantly dismissible claims like President Obama being the "food stamp president" (why you have to go back one whole administration to discover that more people joined the food stamp ranks under Bush than Obama, but then the Republicans don't seem to remember Bush in any case). The blatant lies extend through every aspect of the Republican platform, such as it is. The simple reason is that the Republicans have no ideas left, at least no ideas that have not been tested and proven to be failures again, and again, and again.
The economy didn't just crash under a Republican president, it crashed under Republican policies. It crashed with low taxes. It crashed with deregulated markets. It crashed with huge restrictions on union activity. It crashed with massive cuts in environmental regulations. It crashed with lowered trade barriers. It crashed with big fat Pentagon spending.
They got what they wanted. They got CEOs with no limits on their wealth. They got banks with no limits on their "creativity." They got trade agreements that guaranteed manufacturing could be moved to the dirtiest, cheapest, most desperate source available. They got massive cuts in capital gains taxes and equally large boosts in the wealth they could pass along in estates. They got everything they said would make us all wealthy. They got record oil and gas drilling. They got record giveaways of public land. They got everything they said would create jobs. They got the middle class to shoulder more, more, more of the burden so that those beautiful job creators would be free to work their magic.
They can't say the economy crashed because taxes went up, because they didn't. They can't say that the economy crashed because there was a raft of new regulation, because there wasn't. They can't blame it on "union thugs" or Saul Alinsky or the guy who writes Happy Holidays cards at Hallmark. They can't blame it on a president who was elected when the world was already in free fall. Only, of course they do. They say it because they have no choice.
Read the source story here.
Daily Kos
[T]he Republicans have staked out a position that requires that they lie, 24/7, 365. Not shade the facts their way. Not put their own spin on the situation. Lie. Big, sloppy, and constantly.
The lies go beyond instantly dismissible claims like President Obama being the "food stamp president" (why you have to go back one whole administration to discover that more people joined the food stamp ranks under Bush than Obama, but then the Republicans don't seem to remember Bush in any case). The blatant lies extend through every aspect of the Republican platform, such as it is. The simple reason is that the Republicans have no ideas left, at least no ideas that have not been tested and proven to be failures again, and again, and again.
The economy didn't just crash under a Republican president, it crashed under Republican policies. It crashed with low taxes. It crashed with deregulated markets. It crashed with huge restrictions on union activity. It crashed with massive cuts in environmental regulations. It crashed with lowered trade barriers. It crashed with big fat Pentagon spending.
They got what they wanted. They got CEOs with no limits on their wealth. They got banks with no limits on their "creativity." They got trade agreements that guaranteed manufacturing could be moved to the dirtiest, cheapest, most desperate source available. They got massive cuts in capital gains taxes and equally large boosts in the wealth they could pass along in estates. They got everything they said would make us all wealthy. They got record oil and gas drilling. They got record giveaways of public land. They got everything they said would create jobs. They got the middle class to shoulder more, more, more of the burden so that those beautiful job creators would be free to work their magic.
They can't say the economy crashed because taxes went up, because they didn't. They can't say that the economy crashed because there was a raft of new regulation, because there wasn't. They can't blame it on "union thugs" or Saul Alinsky or the guy who writes Happy Holidays cards at Hallmark. They can't blame it on a president who was elected when the world was already in free fall. Only, of course they do. They say it because they have no choice.
Read the source story here.
President Obama's Oil Change: Cut Tax Breaks, Invest in Jobs
Think Progress
President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 sets a responsible course for rebuilding the economy so that it works for everyone, not just the privileged few. Our middle class is the engine of economic growth, but is threatened by dwindling public investments, a tax system increasingly rigged to benefit the wealthy, a fraying safety net, and assaults on what should be the bedrock guarantees of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Read the source story here.
Think Progress
President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 sets a responsible course for rebuilding the economy so that it works for everyone, not just the privileged few. Our middle class is the engine of economic growth, but is threatened by dwindling public investments, a tax system increasingly rigged to benefit the wealthy, a fraying safety net, and assaults on what should be the bedrock guarantees of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
The president’s budget protects those guarantees, boosts critical investments, and takes steps toward rebalancing the tax code so that all pay their fair share. And it does this in a fiscally responsible way, charting a path that nurtures the economic recovery while reducing the federal deficit, all without asking the middle class to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden.
President Obama’s proposed fiscal year 2013 budget would make taxes fairer by, among other things, eliminating $40 billion in tax breaks over 10 years for oil and gas companies. About one-fourth of the savings would be invested in domestic manufacturing, which would create jobs.Read the source story here.
The Big Money Behind State Laws
The New York Times, editorial
It is no coincidence that so many state legislatures have spent the last year taking the same destructive actions: making it harder for minorities and other groups that support Democrats to vote, obstructing health care reform, weakening environmental regulations and breaking the spines of public- and private-sector unions. All of these efforts are being backed — in some cases, orchestrated — by a little-known conservative organization financed by millions of corporate dollars.
Read the source story here.
The New York Times, editorial
It is no coincidence that so many state legislatures have spent the last year taking the same destructive actions: making it harder for minorities and other groups that support Democrats to vote, obstructing health care reform, weakening environmental regulations and breaking the spines of public- and private-sector unions. All of these efforts are being backed — in some cases, orchestrated — by a little-known conservative organization financed by millions of corporate dollars.
The American Legislative Exchange Council was founded in 1973 by the right-wing activist Paul Weyrich; its big funders include Exxon Mobil, the Olin and Scaife families and foundations tied to Koch Industries. Many of the largest corporations are represented on its board.
ALEC has written model legislation on a host of subjects dear to corporate and conservative interests, and supporting lawmakers have introduced these bills in dozens of states. A recent study of the group’s impact in Virginia showed that more than 50 of its bills were introduced there, many practically word for word.
[...] There is nothing illegal or unethical about ALEC’s work, except that it further demonstrates the pervasive influence of corporate money and right-wing groups on the state legislative process. There is no group with any comparable influence on the left. Lawmakers who eagerly do ALEC’s bidding have much to answer for. Voters have a right to know whether the representatives they elect are actually writing the laws, or whether the job has been outsourced to big corporate interests.Read the source story here.
Little-Noted Transportation Bill Provision Would Strip Some Drivers of Minimum Wage and Overtime
We Party Patriots
Dave Jamieson at The Huffington Post has spotted an unfair sneak attack in the House’s energy and transportation bill, HR7:
Read the source story here.
We Party Patriots
Dave Jamieson at The Huffington Post has spotted an unfair sneak attack in the House’s energy and transportation bill, HR7:
Listed in the bill under the heading “Technical Correction,” provision 6602 would exempt several companies who transport rail workers from their obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the 1938 law that guarantees basic worker rights. The carveout would allow a handful of boutique contractors to pay no overtime to their drivers who haul rail workers between worksites, often driving long distances of 300 miles or more.
Jamieson contextualizes the wage situation of this niche of drivers with respect to safety:
Earnings for rail-crew drivers often work out to little more than minimum wage, and many drivers must remain on-call for long stretches. [CA Rep. Goerge] Miller and others worry that by depressing wages further, the quality of the work — and, hence, roadway safety — could decline. Miller is expected to offer an amendment to the bill this week that would maintain the labor protections for rail drivers.
Read Jamieson’s entire piece HERE.Read the source story here.
Lunch break? You don't need no stinkin' lunch break!
Daily Kos
Of course according to Rep. JR Hoell (R-Dunbarton) it is really all about paperwork:
Read the source story here.
Daily Kos
Some of the Granite State’s GOP lawmakers have even proposed doing away with the law that requires employers to give their workers time off for lunch, under the rationale that all employers will simply grant lunch breaks out of the goodness of their heartsSeriously? Get rid of the law requiring lunch breaks? Now I am fairly certain that most employers are good folks and would not prevent an employee from taking a lunch break; however, I have worked for some folks in my life that most certainly would put profits over lunch breaks.
Of course according to Rep. JR Hoell (R-Dunbarton) it is really all about paperwork:
"The reason I was asked to submit it is this is a paperwork nightmare for the HR department of some companies," Hoell said. "The company that asked me to submit this typically has some seasonal work, and in the off-season they tend to work shorter days, and the question is what to do about those shorter days. You could allow employees to go home."What a crock of—well you know what. You eliminate this law or eliminate the paperwork involved and I guarantee you that some employers will abuse their employees and refuse to provide a lunch break. The sanity of some of these right wing lawmakers has got to be questioned.
Read the source story here.
Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It
The New York Times
Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games. He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government.
He says that too many Americans lean on taxpayers rather than living within their means. He supports politicians who promise to cut government spending. In 2010, he printed T-shirts for the Tea Party campaign of a neighbor, Chip Cravaack, who ousted this region's long-serving Democratic congressman.
Yet this year, as in each of the past three years, Mr. Gulbranson, 57, is counting on a payment of several thousand dollars from the federal government, a subsidy for working families called the earned-income tax credit. He has signed up his three school-age children to eat free breakfast and lunch at federal expense. And Medicare paid for his mother, 88, to have hip surgery twice.
There is little poverty here in Chisago County, northeast of Minneapolis, where cheap housing for commuters is gradually replacing farmland. But Mr. Gulbranson and many other residents who describe themselves as self-sufficient members of the American middle class and as opponents of government largess are drawing more deeply on that government with each passing year.
[...] The government safety net was created to keep Americans from abject poverty, but the poorest households no longer receive a majority of government benefits. A secondary mission has gradually become primary: maintaining the middle class from childhood through retirement. The share of benefits flowing to the least affluent households, the bottom fifth, has declined from 54 percent in 1979 to 36 percent in 2007, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis published last year.
Read the source story here.
The New York Times
Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games. He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government.
He says that too many Americans lean on taxpayers rather than living within their means. He supports politicians who promise to cut government spending. In 2010, he printed T-shirts for the Tea Party campaign of a neighbor, Chip Cravaack, who ousted this region's long-serving Democratic congressman.
Yet this year, as in each of the past three years, Mr. Gulbranson, 57, is counting on a payment of several thousand dollars from the federal government, a subsidy for working families called the earned-income tax credit. He has signed up his three school-age children to eat free breakfast and lunch at federal expense. And Medicare paid for his mother, 88, to have hip surgery twice.
There is little poverty here in Chisago County, northeast of Minneapolis, where cheap housing for commuters is gradually replacing farmland. But Mr. Gulbranson and many other residents who describe themselves as self-sufficient members of the American middle class and as opponents of government largess are drawing more deeply on that government with each passing year.
[...] The government safety net was created to keep Americans from abject poverty, but the poorest households no longer receive a majority of government benefits. A secondary mission has gradually become primary: maintaining the middle class from childhood through retirement. The share of benefits flowing to the least affluent households, the bottom fifth, has declined from 54 percent in 1979 to 36 percent in 2007, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis published last year.
Read the source story here.
- AFL-CIO Now Blog:
Trumka: Federal Budget Proposal 'Puts Us on Right Path' - Daily Kos:
Port of Seattle truck drivers stop work to protest unsafe working conditions and abuses - The Washington Post:
Is the GOP caving on the payroll tax cut? - The New York Times:
Apple Asks Outside Group to Inspect Factories - Crooks and Liars:
Mitt Romney Tells CPAC He'll Cut Social Security Benefits, Begin Privatizing Medicare - The Hill:
Voters list job creation measures as top priority - Teamster.org: Teamsters Celebrate, Remember James R. Hoffa
- AFL-CIO Now Blog:
February Marks 44th Anniversary of Historic Memphis Sanitation Strike - Teamster.org:
Correctional Officers Disappointed In Failure Of Privatization Study - The Political Carnival:
Stuart Varney: Obama Budget Funding For Teachers And First Reponders Is "A Sop To The Unions" - Crooks and Liars:
Fareed Zakaria: Mitt, You Need to Worry About the Poor - Think Progress:
Wall Street 'Likely To Set Records' For Political Spending Aimed At Defeating Obama In 2012 - The New York Times:
Interactive Map: Where Americans Most Depend on Government Benefits - Crooks and Liars:
George Soros Accuses Republicans of Hurting American Economy for Political Gain - Politico:
Obama budget goes big on highway spending - The Political Carnival:
GOP offers to extend payroll tax cut for a full year with no offsets - AFL-CIO Now Blog:
99% Confront the 1% at Conservative Conference - Crooks and Liars:
McConnell: Any Employer Should Be Able to Deny Contraceptive Services - Think Progress:
Romney Thinks Mandatory Drug Testing For Welfare Recipients Is 'An Excellent Idea' - The Washington Post:
Romney allies spending $600,000 in Michigan - The Washington Post:
Romney hemorrhaging independents - The New York Times:
Sunlight on Secret Campaign Donations - Crooks and Liars:
New Study: Health Care Costs Fall When Poor Get Health Care Coverage - Think Progress:
Ten Facts About The Obama Budget - The New York Times:
Raise New York's Minimum Wage