The lobbyist and spin doctors against the working American have launched all sorts of anti-union websites, one of their newest is using the "stop unions" phrase. So here's a nice little spot on Blogger where I can test some nice widgets for my own site Joe's Union Review
I myself have been on blood thinners, I figured since the American public who pays for all the Pharmaceutical testing in creating drugs via the price of drugs here in the states, wouldn't have to worry about factories which are inspected once every 13 years. We pay them to experiment, surly they manufacture the products in the United States. Well, I must have been dreaming, of course they don't reinvest in American worker's, they go off to distant lands to make the shit we are addicted to. Don't worry, as long as you keep asking your doctor about some more crap.
Chuck Schumer fights for people, once again he has taken a stand against "free trade" and toxic substances.
Spurred by a massive recall of the drug heparin, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said yesterday the federal government should require foreign manufacturers to allow American inspectors to monitor drug factories.
Schumer said he and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) will soon introduce legislation to increase Food and Drug Administration funding and require the overseas monitoring.
The announcement comes in the wake of the FDA linking 19 deaths and hundreds of injuries in people taking the blood thinner to tainted heparin ingredients imported from China. Schumer said foreign drug factories should be required to meet American standards.
"We would basically say to any country, 'If you're not going to meet our standards, you can't import drugs into our country,'" he said.
Schumer said his proposal would prohibit drug manufacturers from importing their products into the United States unless they allowed FDA inspectors to examine their factories.
Foreign drug factories are examined about once every 13 years, as opposed to once every two years for American drug manufacturers, Schumer said.
Schumer said 80 percent of drugs imported into America are manufactured in China. He said he would have no problem with foreign governments imposing similar requirements on American drug manufacturers.
"Anyone can have rules about drugs imported into their country," he said. "Our factories will meet any standards they have."
The Senate Banking Committee is currently considering legislation to permanently block commercial retailers like Wal-Mart from receiving industrial loan charters. Please send a note to the Senate Banking Committee and ask them to stop the Bank of Wal-Mart.
Toxic products, the newest issue of Wal-Mart Watch shows the utter lack of the corporation taking responsibility. *Clicking the link orpicture will open a PDF file.
In this issue, “Danger for Sale,” we expose Wal-Mart’s woeful record on consumer product safety issues. Whether it is E. Coli in the meat, melamine in the dog food, or lead paint on the children’s toys – far too many dangerous products have turned up on Wal-Mart’s shelves, and far too little effort has been given by Wal-Mart to ensure the safety and well-being of its customers.
As the largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart could use its clout to push manufacturers into raising the safety standards of their products. Instead, Wal-Mart continues to demand low prices at any cost and any standard from manufacturers, putting consumers at risk.
(1-16-08) "I wouldn't buy it," McPherson says. She likes to buy American, because she thinks "made in the USA" makes a product better and safer, and also because she wants to support the U.S. economy.
It seems that Trader Joe's is hearing directly from consumers who feel the same way. Customer concern about Trader Joe's selling fresh garlic from China prompted the chain to announce that it would phase out "single ingredient" foods from China early this year. Processed foods that contain ingredients from China would still be sold, presumably.
(2-11-08) By April 1, Trader Joe's will phase out single-ingredient Chinese imports such as garlic, frozen organic spinach, ginger and edamame, a green soybean, says spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki. The ban doesn't include products with ingredients from China, a leading source of vitamins and minerals used in many processed foods.
With 285 stores in 23 states, Trader Joe's is known for good prices on a wide selection of exotic items, from Australian licorice to Indian pilaf. Trader Joe's says the products it bought from China were safe. But "our customers have voiced their concerns about products from this region, and we have listened," Mochizuki said.
Federal regulators last year warned about contaminated Chinese pet food ingredients, fish containing antibiotics not allowed in human food, and toothpaste laced with a chemical used in antifreeze.
And let's not forget, I got the Health Care survey, which the AFL-CIO has been asking people to take, reminded to me again via the NYC Central Labor Council's E-Mail. So heres a reminder:
Take the AFL-CIO Health Care for America Survey
Make your voice heard on health care Take the 2008 Health Care for America Survey today.
In solidarity,
Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
More Info: Tell Us Your Health Care Story at AFL-CIO WebBlog
(2-11-08) Two of the largest British and American unions are hoping to announce an agreement this summer to create a transatlantic super-union capable of defending workers' rights in the globalised marketplace.
Unite, which has about two million members, and the United Steelworkers union (USW), which represents about a million members in the US, Canada and the Caribbean, see the creation of an international union presence as the key to meeting the challenges posed by the onward march of globalisation.
Unite's joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, said: "Unions which are organised nationally are not in a position to successfully challenge multinational companies over employment terms. There are some things over which you have no control or influence at all and many where you have so little it amounts to nothing." Simpson argues that, by contrast, multinational companies can use the threat of relocating to other countries to make their influence felt.
(2-11-08) The cuts would be in addition to the 33,600 union workers who left through buyouts and early retirements in 2006 and 2007, when Ford lost a combined $15.3 billion. Further reductions may help Ford restore profit by speeding the hiring of new workers who would be paid about half as much as current employees.
Can't say I didn't see that one coming, I tried to warn you guys, now your stuck with a POS contract and the entire US auto industry, which by the way isn't securely staying on American soil (no wording in the contract), is a $19 an hour job.
(9-29-07) They said (UAW) the strike was for job security , that management (GM) wouldn't meet them at all in negotiations, what they came back with doesn't address job security, only an empty promise that the company (GM) would try to invest in US manufacturing, This contract from an outsiders point of view is a disgrace , it takes away wage increases under the terms of "bonuses" instead of raises, it gives a union that seems more focused to organize outside of its natural boundaries , writers , student workers, etc. complete control of all welfare monies of its GM membership. And lastly it divides the entire group of GM workers into two separate tiers, who obviously will not be able to ever fight as a unified body ever again.
Social networking site MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, has sparked controversy by deleting the world's largest online atheist group following complaints from people who find atheism "offensive".
"Atheist and Agnostic Group" boasted 35,000 members until it was deleted on 1 January for the third time in as many years. It was founded in 2004 by Bryan Pesta, an assistant professor at Cleveland University who established it as a social network "specifically for godless people."
The group was closed down for the first time two years ago after an organised campaign by Christians persuaded MySpace to delete it. It was eventually restored and MySpace promised to protect it. This time, despite a petition from 500 users and repeated emails to customer services, MySpace seems reluctant to reverse its actions.
What is the real bad side effect of losing your social networking account? Eric Lee creator of Labourstart could see this happening to organized labor and expressed a very strong argument to not outsource your campaign to their networks (back in Nov.)
What you're doing by outsourcing your campaigning to Facebook is growing their company, giving them direct access to your supporters and members. What's the alternative? Do-it-yourself online campaigns where you retain the information on who has sent off protest messages.
LabourStart has campaigned this way for years. Every time we do a campaign, we collect the emails, names and unions of participants. If they've given us permission, we've added them to our mailing list and they receive our weekly email newsletter. Our list has grown from 3,000 names five years ago to 51,000 names today due to these campaigns.
Imagine if Facebook had existed five years ago and if we had tried to campaign using it. We wouldn't have a mailing list today and we certainly wouldn't be able to send out more than 50,000 emails a week.
Which eventually we have seen come to pass, when a Union Organizer and Labourstart correspondent, whose goes by the nickname Blackadder, had his account removed from Facebook, it took John Wood, a dedicated unionist from the United Kingdom who created a site urging people to E-Mail Facebooks customer service and a Labourstart campaign sending E-Mails direct, to get him reinstated.
This isn't the first time a Big Media outlet has banned a less than conservative opinion, in Sept. 2007 Verizon took the step of banning text messages from the Pro-Choice group NARAL
The dispute over the Naral messages is a skirmish in the larger battle over the question of “net neutrality” — whether carriers or Internet service providers should have a voice in the content they provide to customers.
Which leads me to the impotence of the agency that is supposed to protect us from unsafe products, the CPSC, better known as the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This is a clusterfuck by all standards
Over the weekend, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will lose its quorum—just like it did for eight months in 2007 before Congress gave it a temporary reprieve to continue to operate with full authority.
Why should you care? Because without a quorum (in the CPSC’s case a quorum means having three commissioners), the agency’s activities are limited. It cannot vote on new safety standards, issue mandatory recalls, or take further action on civil penalties above $50,000 against firms that have failed to report defective or hazardous products.
An online friend, John, who has been following the toxic toys mess in this country E-Mailed his Senator with an article which explained that Japan has a very extensively researched product safety standard and a giant list of unsafe imported products, he has a great point in just asking for the list and giving it to the CPSC, I'd go one further, remove the CPSC and outsource their jobs to Japan.
You would think the Govt. wants sick and retarded citizens, could be theres an awful lot of Big Pharma money getting stuffed in politico's pockets, look at how they get whatever they want, look at how your asking your doctor for Viagra and all the other shit they want you to jam down your gullet, that hasn't been tested properly yet and makes you sicker so you can get more shit that makes you sicker so you can buy more shit. Heres his E-Mail:
Dear Senator Lisa Murkowski,
The enclosed news articles show the persistent problem of importing unsafe and toxic goods from China to America. The CPSC has been unable to get on top of this problem, because they say they don’t have the resources to do the job. I recently heard a news broad cast pointing out that America will have this problem for years to come.
The news story said that Japan does not have this problem and will never have it. Japan sends over inspectors to see to it that unsafe and toxic products are not shipped to Japan in the first place. Japan has a list of products that have passed inspection and a list of products that have not pass inspection.
What the US of A should do is get a copy of the list of products that Japan has screened and follow it as they do. Then the problem of shipping in unsafe and toxic products will come to a halt. As Japan does not have this import problem of products from any country, nether will the US of A.
I am sure that Japan would be willing to give a copy of their safe product list to the US of A for free. I hope you get a copy of this safe product list and give it to the CPSC for them to use in their screening of products that are shipped to America.
I'm all for it John, unfortunately in its impotent state the CPSC cannot do a thing. Speaking of ineffective, did you catch Mitt Romney, who after blowing $40 Million of his own cash bashing unions on the way out the door.
It’s high time to lower taxes, including corporate taxes, to take a weed-whacker to government regulations, to reform entitlements, and to stand up to the increasingly voracious appetite of the unions in our government!
Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, the only thing better than him leaving the race is when Giuliani dropped out, but has Mr.911 really dropped out. He has thrown his support into Mr.War McCain, who the conservatives allege is a Liberal, hoping all us closet Racists and Misogynists will storm onto his bandwagon. Well as this article will explain, Giuliani would be the perfect choice to make sure that the Fascist police state we are heading towards is enforced
In a McCain Regime, Cheney will be back in office with another stint as Secretary of War. Norman “Bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran” Podhoretz will be Undersecretary for Nuclear War with General John “Nuke them” Shalikashvili as his deputy. Rudy Giuliani will be the Minister of Interior in charge of Halliburton’s detention centers into which will be herded all critics of war and the police state. billy kristol will be chief White House spokesliar.
The first year Mr.Giuliani was in office I got arrested while trying to convince my friend to give the police his ID, who tried to remain in office during our time of mourning the devestation, which has become a popular thought as Mr.Bush has effectively created the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive.
The directive defines a “Catastrophic Emergency” as the following.
"Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions;
So what does this mean? This is entirely subjective and doesn’t provide any real concrete definition of what such an emergency would entail. Assuming that it means a disaster on the scale of the 9/11 attacks or Katrina, there is no question that the United States at some point in time will experience an emergency on par with either of those events. When one of those events takes place, the President will be a dictator in charge of ensuring a working constitutional government.
Mr.Giuliani, as my friend George at work informed me, had part ownership of SkyWatch, who in collaboration with Raytheon(God how I love that companies name), a large military contractor was developing technology to build a virtual Border fence. Although he had dropped his assets in the company Mr.Giuliani was promoting his "fence" for quite some time, as recently as Feb.5th., the day he filed his papers to become a Presidential candidate
(Feb.5th.2007 he stated)"I support security at the borders," Mr. Giuliani said. "I do think that with the fence, the fence honestly has to be a technological fence."
He forgot to mention 9-11 and Terrorism in that statement, must have been an off day. Which brings me to conspiracy theories, lets see, big politicos who have big military ties, big corporations who swing right on the issues, terrorism, terrorism, terrorism. America's favorite pot smoking country singer Willie Nelson has come forward stating that 9-11 was an inside job.
This comes less than a year after another beloved, well known and respected member of the entertainment industry Charlie Sheen came forward expressing his disbelief, I don't remember seeing this on the news or in the paper, do you? God I got to see Britneys ragged snatch shot thousands of times and her new drug of choice is plastered all over everything, but when a legitimate member of the entertainment industry comes forward with such shocking words its buried. Oops, I stand corrected, Showbiz Tonight did a story on it.
Nothing in this world could make someone wonder more than Zeitgeist Movie. When first viewed it gave me the shivers, now I stick to the Serenity Prayer. The best comment I have read so far about it is from RustyLime.com
Well, in saying all of that, remember that conspiracy is just another form of propoganda. While movies like these, the Dawkins ones, the Loose change series, Al Gore's movie etc are principally informative, all information is greatly slanted towards the makers' own bias, prejudice, translation and interpretation.
The only source for information that is trustworth is you. You do your own research and make up your own opinions (if you feel it necessary). Otherwise, you are left with mindless cretons, sheep if you will.
Warning: View At Your Own Risk
Enough with the conspiracies, read a few articles about construction safety here in New York
Construction of low-rise buildings – 14 stories and under – is up 31 percent over last year, and "construction incidents" on such buildings are up 2 percent, from 288 in 2006 to 294 in 2007, she said.
But "the regulation framework within New York City is geared toward high-rise construction,” maintains Coletti of the building trades association. He also thinks DOB is not proactive enough. “DOB has always been reactive,” he said, voicing a sentiment echoed repeatedly by those interviewed. Until recently, “it was the Wild West show out there. They need more resources.”
I wholeheartedly agree, get more people and funding. Start investigating even the smallest sites, construction companies do not go into business to get smaller, expecting the growing companies to concern themselves with safety when they do get the larger projects, is like taking the driving test after you already have bad habits.
I'm starting to think that all pedestrians walking in the City Of New York should wear a hard hat, they would be a hell of a lot easier to sweep up if they were crushed, and at least it would make those guys digging 2 feet into the street have a real reason to wear a hardhat.
Which makes me wonder why the city is so lax on illegal aliens entering the state and working in construction, wouldn't it really suck if say a terrorists were to get underground at Grand central Station or the UN. Doesn't take a genius to figure a way to make a steam main explode, sometimes it happens on it's own. Hell if the workers are getting shit on for $8 an hour for 100+ hours a week any Al Quaeda operative, who could figure the correct language to speak to one, could surely get him to plant a bomb for a pittance. Probably just for some medical insurance.
Meanwhile, Republican Senators have made sure via a threat of filibuster that the better version of the Economical Stimulus Plan were not made available to the public, unfortunately a plan which did not include extension of unemployment benefits and heating assistance for those who need it most has been adopted and voted in. John McCain didn't bother to vote, some Liberal he is.
For all practical purposes their plan works like this: When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments.
For example, former Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000.00 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand), with their wives drawing $275,000.00 during the last years of their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for each.
Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. Nada. Zilch. This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan.
Speaking of Liberals, a new friend and contributer here, Mike from Springfield, MA Union News had a great story which he posted on his site.
(excerpted) Joe gets up at 6:00am to prepare his morning coffee. He fills his pot full of good clean drinking water because some liberal fought for minimum water quality standards. He takes his daily medication with his first swallow of coffee. His medications are safe to take because some liberal fought to insure their safety and work as advertised.
All but $10.00 of his medications are paid for by his employers medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance, now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs this day. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because some liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
Liberal, socialism all that gets me confused, but I know that Starbucks definitely fears union organizers, the Wall Street Journal explains that there were E-Mails floating company wide to management, expressing concern that they had union sympathizers in their ranks.
According to several emails, in early 2006, Starbucks managers discovered that two pro-union employees in New York were graduates of a Cornell University labor program. According to an email, managers took the names of graduates from an online Cornell discussion group and the school's Web site and cross-checked them with employee lists nationwide. They found that three employees in California, Michigan and Illinois were graduates of the program and recommended that local managers be informed.
The Gunite workers sure could have used unemployment extension in the Stimulous package if the are out too long.
Workers say they’re still united to get a better contract but admit that two months on picket lines collecting unemployment is a strain on their families. While the unemployment benefit is about two-thirds of a worker’s pay, it’s based on a 40-hour workweek. Gunite’s 136 union workers average 66 hours a week, according to the UAW.
“It’s getting tougher all the time,” millwright Mark LeFevre said. “It gets a little frustrating. For one thing, they stretched the talks out.”
In the meantime, security guards hired by the company keep a constant eye on the pickets. Replacement workers and salaried employees are operating the plant.
All leading to the newest book I have asked for a review copy of
"An outstanding contribution to our understanding of the lives of working people, past and present. Lawrence Richards's careful examination of workers' resistance to union appeals breaks new ground, while his case studies of failed organizing campaigns illuminate workers' ambivalent and often hostile views of organized labor. This account of men and women who are usually neglected by celebrants of unionism enriches the historical narrative and reminds us of the cultural and ideological obstacles that labor activists have faced and continue to confront."--Robert H. Zieger, Distinguished Professor of History, University of Florida
A chorus of kids on YouTube has a holiday message for the Bush administration, Congress and toy manufacturers.
Set to the tune of the holiday classic “Jingle Bells,” the kids plead:
Toxic toys, toxic toys.
Make them go away.
Please don’t bring us toxic toys
This year on Christmas day-ay.
Toxic toys, toxic toys.
They will make us sick.
Better check the recall list
And notify St. Nick.
Over the past year, we’ve seen headlines about lead-tainted toys and other toxic products hitting our store shelves—usually made in China for U.S. manufacturers seeking the cheapest labor possible. Tens of millions of well-known and popular toys have been recalled.
Please read the entire article, as there are some great stories and campaigns to be active in, heres my response to the post at AFL-CIO Blog:
At Union Review I picked up Consumer Union's Not In My Cart campaign and got a lot of signatures via the website and via my MySpace account, the E-Petition got roughly 5,000 signatures a day. When my Congressman (R)Vito J. Fosella responded to me via e-mail, with some very good points including food contamination concerns, we did a follow up story and the E-Petition gained 20,000 votes the very next day. Many of the toxins we are ingesting are a health risk for today and the long term, while the big corporations have continually exported good jobs to the lowest bidding nations, the idea of safety and work conditions has been diminished. I personally feel that the sole responsibility of such unsafe merchandise should lay upon the company who places the merchandise on their shelves. That includes sweatshop abuse as well, it all ties together.
Also to note some sites where people can get safety reports on items which have been independently tested and what other safety risks are out there. Just Green, Healthy Toys and ItsInUs.org are a few good ones which a friend of mine, who's son has autism pointed out. Unfortunately with so many different organizations out there doing the same thing it can get rather confusing, maybe we need to have a parent organization to tie it all together.
