RFK Jr. joins Teamsters on Sotheby's picket line
Teamster Nation
Posted March 9, 2012
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., told picketing Teamsters today that he had come face-to-face with Sotheby's callous indifference to working families.

Kennedy had canceled an auction at Sotheby's in sympathy with Local 814's 42 art handlers, who have been locked out for seven months. The event to benefit Kennedy's environmental group, Waterkeeper Alliance, was moved to another venue.

"I talked to them and they just don't care," Kennedy told about two dozen members of Local 814 walking the picket line outside of the auction house.

One worker asked him why he moved his auction. "I couldn't have my event here," Kennedy said. "I couldn't cross a picket line."
Read the source story here.

Hoffa Thanks RFK Jr. for Canceling Sotheby's Event in Support of Teamsters
Teamster.org
Posted March 9, 2012
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa thanked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for moving an art auction scheduled at Sotheby’s Auction House this week to a new venue in support of locked-out Teamster art handlers. He also announced that the historic correspondence between the sons of two adversaries would be preserved in the union’s archives at The George Washington University.

“Thank you for joining in with the chorus of labor unions, Occupy Wall Street and others who believe in economic justice and a strong middle class, to help the art handlers,” Hoffa responded in a letter to Kennedy. “This injustice is yet another example of the class warfare being waged by the top 1 percent.”

Kennedy’s environmental organization, Waterkeeper Alliance, moved the auction to a new venue “out of respect” for the art handlers, who were locked out by Sotheby’s seven months ago amid ongoing contract negotiations.

In his letter to Hoffa, Kennedy said, “I know that our families have been at odds in the past. But you and I have spent our lifetimes fighting off the right wing attacks on the union movement and battling to make our country live up to her historical ideal as a template for justice and democracy.”

The letters will be preserved in the union’s archives established at The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Labor History Research Center at The George Washington University in Washington.
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Teamsters set to get real in Hub with Mark Wahlberg
The Boston Herald
Posted March 9, 2012
Tinseltown tough guy Mark Wahlberg is headed to Boston next month to shoot a reality pilot for A&E about the working class heroes of Teamsters Local 25.

“It’s one of the greatest unions in the world and the backbone of the middle class,” said Wahlberg, whose late father, Donald, was a Local 25 truck driver. Ditto for Mark’s personal hero, “The Fighter” Micky Ward who toils for the Teamsters on local movie sets.

So can we assume this will be a union shoot?

“Everyone will be well taken care of,” said Wahlberg, who negotiated with the local when he filmed “The Fighter” in Lowell a few years back. “We’ll be fair with everybody. The Teamsters are valuable to the process.”

Marky, who produced HBO hits “Entourage,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “In Treatment,” said while A&E is calling the unscripted series a “reality pilot,” it’s really not.

“This show will be about quality stuff,” he said. “It’s really more a docu-drama than a reality series. Because when you say ‘reality show,’ people think ‘Jersey Shore.’ Hey, I watch it and I’m entertained. But this show will be entertaining because it’s a fascinating world the Teamsters live in and there’s drama on a daily basis.”
Read the source story here.

IUOE 49 Makes Hilarious Mockery of Looming Anti-Worker Law with "Right to Work Out" Post
We Party Patriots
Posted March 9, 2012
Is there anything that could possibly warm this blog’s heart more than seeing a local union take to the Internet for some good, old fashioned mockery of anti-labor foes?

NO. THERE ISN’T.

And that’s just what the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 49 has done with their awesome blog post, Right to Work Out:

What is a “Right-to-work-out” law?

A “Right to work out” law would prevent health clubs from forcing people to pay dues or membership fees to use the equipment, services, and facilities. Such laws would require gyms and health clubs to admit everybody, whether or not he or she pays a cent.

In other words, “right to work out” laws would allow everybody to get all the benefits of health club membership absolutely free! How cool is that?

Complete with a photoshopped picture of a Local 49-branded treadmill (above), this is classic blog mockery at its best. They continue…

Without a “Right-to-work-out” law, can I be forced to join a health club?

No. Membership is voluntary, like joining a union. Incidentally, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that no collective bargaining agreement can require anyone to join a union, either.

Look, you already have a “Right to work out,” and it works just like when employees don’t want to join a union: You only pay if you go to the club, they charge some fee to non-members who use the club, unless and until we get “Right to work out” laws.

Is a gym required to serve everybody now?

No. As with other services, gyms and health clubs routinely restrict access to only those who pay. In fact, currently in the U.S. only labor unions have any obligation to serve non-members.

This is just brilliant. Read the whole thing HERE.
Read the source story here.

WA Legislature OKs tax break for film productions
AP/Seattle Times
Posted March 9, 2012
Washington's Legislature has voted to revive a tax incentive program designed to lure movie production to the state.

The state House voted 92-6 Thursday to bring back the tax credits, with supporters saying it will draw business and spending to the state. Opponents counter that the program gives away $3.5 million a year when the Legislature is considering cuts to education and health care for the poor.

Having previously passed the Senate, the measure goes next to Gov. Chris Gregoire for her signature.
Read the source story here.

Teamsters Remain Committed to Find Comprehensive Fix to Hostess Woes as New CEO is Announced
Teamster.org
Posted March 9, 2012
Teamsters Union Vice President Ken Hall issued a statement today regarding the announcement by Hostess Brands Inc. that Greg Rayburn has been appointed CEO following the resignation of Brian Driscoll: 

“While this development was unexpected, we continue to work with the company, and now Mr. Rayburn, toward a negotiated resolution that will allow the company to emerge successfully from bankruptcy.

“Obviously the situation with Hostess has been and remains extremely challenging, but as we have said before, we are committed to finding a comprehensive fix to the company’s challenges that works for our members. 

“We have negotiations with Hostess and relevant stakeholders scheduled over the next two weeks to work toward that goal.”
Read the source story here.

Union-buster joins Wisconsin recall fight
Salon
Posted March 9, 2012
The Wisconsin recall ad wars have a new player: the Center for Union Facts, the well-heeled union-bashing outfit founded by food and beverage super-lobbyist Rick Berman.  A CUF source says the self-described “union watchdog” is spending “just over a million dollars” in Wisconsin, and “may do more in the coming weeks.”

Unlike the Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity’s pro-Walker campaign, the CUF’s ad buy makes no mention of Wisconsin or the union-busting “budget repair” that Gov. Scott Walker forced through last year.  Rather, it consists entirely of ads that CUF has already been running around the country.  You may have seen one on cable during GOP debates, or during the Super Bowl. But make no mistake, the ads are about keeping Walker in office.

As I’ve reported, CUF’s current campaign pushes the Employee Rights Act, a bill introduced in Congress by Republicans Orrin Hatch and Tim Scott that would ratchet our already conservative labor law much further to the right.  Though the ERA has no chance of passing this year, it offers a hook for CUF to push a string of misleading anti-union claims: that workers are trapped in unions without a chance to vote them out; that unions can spend members’ dues on politics without regard to their objections; that workers join unions because organizers threaten them.  In one of the ads airing in Wisconsin, “labor bosses” are symbolized by a student who grabs a card from a classmate and says, in a stereotypical “Italian gangster” voice, “You sure about this?”

The more Wisconsinites buy that view of unions, the more likely Walker is to turn back the efforts of the labor-backed coalition called We Are Wisconsin to recall him from office.
Read the source story here.

Right-To-Work schism dominates WI GOP amendment debate
Politics in Minnesota
Posted March 9, 2012
For Republican Sen. Dave Thompson, time is running short.

The freshman from Lakeville has spent the last six months readying a ballot initiative that would enshrine so-called “right-to-work” language in the state’s Constitution. The bill, which is being pushed by GOP Rep. Steve Drazkowski in the House, would outlaw making union membership compulsory in any workplace. But the 2012 session is in full swing and quickly approaching its first committee policy deadline in mid-March, and talks on right-to-work have stalled as internal GOP discussions of constitutional amendments in the House and Senate have heated up.

The Republican caucuses are debating how many ballot initiatives — and which ones — to push this session. Any amendments approved would bypass Gov. Mark Dayton’s signature and head straight to the voters this fall. The Senate GOP has held two caucus sessions to discuss amendments, the most recent on Tuesday afternoon. House Republicans haven’t yet discussed them in open caucus, but member-to-member conversations have heated up in the past week.

The right-to-work amendment is the main point of contention in both chambers. While a contingent of hard-line conservatives in both caucuses is pushing hard for right-to-work to become part of the ballot mix, more moderate members are pushing back against the proposal, which would be certain to draw many millions of outside dollars to Minnesota.
Read the source story here.

Union-Busting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker 'Far Off Pace' From Delivering On Job Creation Promises
Think Progress
Posted March 9, 2012
One year ago on Sunday, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) — who is the subject of a recall effort — signed into law his high-profile union-busting bill. As he was preparing to sign the bill last year, Walker said that the law would help boost job creation in Wisconsin. “Moving forward the hard-working, professional public sector employees who show up to work every day and do an excellent job will help ensure Wisconsin has a business climate that allows the private sector to create 250,000 new jobs,” Walker said.

However, reality hasn’t been as kind as Walker’s rhetoric:

Wisconsin added thousands of jobs in January but Gov. Scott Walker is still far off pace for delivering on his promise to create 250,000 new private-sector positions by the end of his first term, according to state labor data released Thursday…The data shows Wisconsin added only 6,000 private sector jobs overall during the first 13 months of Walker’s administration, putting him on pace to create only 24,000 jobs by 2014. The governor issued a statement conceding there’s “a lot of work ahead of us.”

Read the source story here.

Georgia Lawmaker Compares Women to Cows and Pigs
Crooks and Liars
Posted March 9, 2012
Republican Georgia state Rep. Terry England says that his experience with cows, pigs and chickens has proven to him that women should be forced to have their babies after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

In a debate over Georgia House Bill 954, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks even if the baby is not expected to live, England recalled the time he had spent with livestock.

"Life gives us many experiences," he explained. "I've had the experience of delivering calves, dead and alive -- delivering pigs, dead and alive. ... It breaks our hearts to see those animals not make it."
Read the source story here.

Banks are using government loans to repay TARP
The Washington Post
Posted March 9, 2012
The federal government seems to be on track in recouping the $414 billion in taxpayer money spent under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, with $120.7 billion now outstanding. But it turns out that over 130 bailed-out institutions paid back their TARP money simply by taking out loans from yet another government program, suggesting that the government--and taxpayers--actually haven't gotten paid back yet.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office, flagged by the Roosevelt Institute's Matt Stoeller, shows that 40 percent of the 341 institutions that have exited TARP's biggest single initiative--the $205 billion Capital Purchase Program--simply refinanced their loans through a separate, $30 billion government program known as the Small Business Loan Fund.
Read the source story here.

Big Labor plots 2012 revenge
Poliltico
Posted March 9, 2012
Labor unions wounded by a GOP-led war on collective bargaining rights are plotting their revenge.

Top labor leaders say they expect to spend more than ever before on both state and federal contests this year. And if recent elections are any indicator, unions could drop more than $450 million, which they reportedly doled out in the 2008 election.

Even in an age of billionaire-backed super PACs, that’s the kind of money that could have a major impact on a fight, particularly at the state and local-level, where unions plan to focus their attention.

The union playbook: safeguard Democratic governors’ seats, flip state legislatures and hamstring anti-union ballot initiatives.

“I think that the labor movement as a whole will be stepping up, and that will mean in this post-Citizens United world, having to spend more resources in this cycle,” said AFL-CIO political director Michael Podhorzer. But more cash going to state and local elections won’t come at the expense of federal races, he added. “This is a period of crisis for workers and the labor movement has to step up and be present at all levels of government to protect workers.”
Read the source story here.

This is what we union thugs do on our Saturday nights
Teamster Nation
Posted March 9, 2012
We hold silent auctions to raise funds for autism research.

For the fifth year in a row, Teamsters Local 25 in Boston (soon to be the subject of Mark Wahlberg's new reality show) will host the Light Up the Night Gala to promote autism awareness and to raise money for local programs that help autistic children.

Local 25 raised more than a half million dollars for autism in the past five years. Members from Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire have held fund-raising walks, motorcycle rides, golf tournaments and the annual gala.
Read the source story here.

Sure and Steady Jobs Gains
Center for American Progress
Posted March 9, 2012
The good news evident in the latest jobs numbers released today is that our economy is adding jobs at a steady pace. The share of Americans with a job in February edged up to 58.6 percent, higher than it's been since June 2010. The economy added 227,000 jobs in February, on top of upward adjustments of a total of 61,000 by the Department of Labor over the past two months. Unemployment held steady at 8.3 percent because more out-of-work Americans are now more confidently returning to the job hunt.

Make no mistake—this is a sure and steady progress that Congress needs to support in order to maintain the momentum of the ongoing economic recovery and to ensure that a still-unacceptable 8.3 percent unemployment rate falls in the coming months. Today's data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the private sector has added jobs every month since March 2010, with 245,000 jobs added on average over the past three months. There has been steady progress to bring unemployment down from its peak of 10 percent in October 2009—a testament to the success of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—but those gains would have been much stronger had conservatives not blocked efforts to invest in much-needed infrastructure repair. This should be their focus for the rest of the year.
Read the source story here.

Working spirit alive in FL a year after WI uprising
Teamster Nation
Posted March 9, 2012

Exactly one year ago today, anti-worker politicians in Wisconsin gamed the system to take away collective bargaining rights for government employees. More than 100,000 people -- including famers on tractors -- came to the Capitol the next day for the biggest labor protest in the state's history.

(Tomorrow there'll be another big rally to reclaim Wisconsin. Teamsters should meet at the Teamster truck on the Square at 11 a.m.)

The working families who rose up in Wisconsin inspired people throughout the country. The spring of 2011 was a period of labor activism that hadn't been seen in generations. That same spirit animated the the Occupy Wall Street movement in the fall.

A year after the Wisconsin protests, the working spirit is still alive all over the country. Workers everywhere are rising up and fighting back.

They fought back hard in Florida during the Legislature's 3-month session, which ends today. Teamster correctional officers and their allies defeated a plan to privatize prisons. A coalition of workers beat back a bill to slash the minimum wage for tipped workers. A lawsuit brought by the Florida Education Association, the Teamsters and others blocked the Legislature's attempt to break its promise to workers and force them to contribute to their pensions.

The video above shows working people inside the Florida Capitol yesterday, singing, "Whose Side Are You On?"

A very good question to ask all our elected representatives.
Read the source story here.