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
If you enjoy the news headlines which are on thousands of labor related blogs and websites around the world, you can do your part by helping lend a hand to Eric Lee and the Labourstart team by sharing your tech know-how on the Labourstart TechBlog
As the sites under title states "If you know Perl, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript or Unicode, LabourStart needs your help."
LabourStart is an online news service maintained by a global network of volunteers which aims to serve the international trade union movement by collecting and disseminating information -- and by assisting unions in campaigning and other ways.
Its features include daily labour news links in more than 20 languages and a news syndication service used by more than over 700 trade union websites. News is collected from mainstream, trade union, and alternative news sources by a network of over 500 volunteer correspondents based on every continent.
LabourStart has been involved in online campaigning for several years but moved up a gear with the launch in July 2002 of the ActNOW campaigning system. Tens of thousands of trade unionists have participated in its various online campaigns and more than 50,000 are currently subscribed to its mailing list. They receive weekly mailings, usually on Thursdays.
Its founding editor is Eric Lee. Here are full contact details -- including email addresses, PGP public key, Instant Messaging for all the major services, and, yes, even a phone number.
LabourStart grew out of the website created in 1996 to accompany the publication of Lee's book, The Labour Movement and the Internet: The New Internationalism. By late 1997, it was running daily labour news from South Korea; in March 1998 that was expanded to included labour news from around the world, and the site was renamed LabourStart. From July 1998 until December 2002, LabourStart was a project of Labour and Society International (LSI).
Not enough information? Please also check out our FAQ.
Labourstart is the premiere website for labor activists and working people worldwide, I wish I knew a lot more about programming to lend a hand, but if you know anyone who can help this necessary Newswire and movement, please get them over to the Tech Blog
If it wasn't for Eric Lee and Labourstart, it would be extremely more difficult to research labor around the world.
I am trying to raise funds from friendly readers and activists to get a batch of hardhat stickers. I have one left from the last batch ... and it is mine! Now I want to get a few thousand to send to anyone who wants them; but I need to raise some funds. The $500 would go to the cost of the stickers and the shipping; the vendor I want to use are GCC-IBT members out of Texas. If you are in, please click the donation button and send over what you can ...
The last batch of stickers were donated and made the rounds. One of my favorite hardhat experiences was going to NY for a confernece and seeing the sticker on a construction worker's hat. We didn't know who each other were -- and it was great to introduce ourselves to one another. He told me he checks the site often and probably got the sticker from Joe, who got a 100 of them when they first came out.
Let's get together and get this going. So far I have put aside $50 toward the campaign, and earlier someone sent in a five, so ... we have 450 to go ... help out, get a sticker, have fun, work safe ...
Richard has informed us he now has $100 in the till, c'mon people, you like what we do help spread the word, the stickers help.
Firstly, Labor Day 2008 in New York, trying to promote the Employee Free Choice Act
Myself, Richard from Union Review and Kirsten from Uniongal, the Women, Unions and Our Stories blog, are looking for sponsors to get some Employee Free Choice Act shirts, with our sites listed as supporters, to be given away at this years Labor Day Parade in New York, if all goes well we will have a major labor union donation to help us get our message out there, we are hoping that all our readers, and some people who are not as active out there in the streets will get educated on the Bill and spread the word of the facts on this legislation. It is possibly the most important bill in my lifetime.
Many law firms stand to lose a tremendous cash cow if The Employee Free Choice Act is enacted
Usually, unless the company agrees to a card check vote, when a MAJORITY of workers signs cards to be in a union there is a wait time, usually over a month later, when the employees get a chance to vote via "secret ballot" to be in a union. That's where the Lawyers and Union Avoidance law firms come into play, they make multi-billions in figuring ways to turn workers against the idea of being in a union, turning workers against one another and using any means , such as unlawful firing. . These law firms thrive on fear. They make companies whose workers are engaged in organizing drives terrified of a collective voice , which unfortunately in today's day and age is really not looking at the facts at all.
Many companies could stand to gain a great deal if they mimicked the business practices of COSTCO, who has a hands off policy and allows their workers to join a union by a simple MAJORITY card signing, some stores sign up and some do not, but their employees all benefit from not being denied that basic right. Consider how disgruntled almost every Home Depot employee is, it's a down right shame, they don't care about their shit job one bit, give them a fairs day wage, nice pension to worry about keeping, and decent medical and they would likely make the Home Depot experiance a much better one for customers and would most likely raise their share value far beyond just the next quarter. Corporations however usually do not think like that, you can learn more at "The Corporation- 23 chapters in YouTube playlist form", but let's get back to the facts in this matter.
What employers and law firms do to keep workers from joining unions and who's on their side, why America needs the Employee Free Choice Act FACT: Many companies have closed door meetings with employees without their own pro-union workers in attendance, brain washing them to fear being in a union and in fact fear to even mention the word. In one recent article I wrote about a construction contractor here in New York, whose MAJORITY of employees signed cards to be in a union, were sent to another jobsite for a closed door meeting, were told they would get a $5 an hour raise if they voted against joining a union and in fact a former supervisor, who stood to gain nothing testifying, in an affidavit to Federal labor officials, stated when he asked his boss about the union:"He said he had about six guns on the job, and he had people there who would do whatever needed to be done. He said that he could dig a hole and put me in it and make the records showing I worked for the company disappear.", the workers fearing reprisal and thinking they were going to get a raise wound up voting overwhelmingly against the union.From: "High-Cost Condos, Low-Cost Labor—and Threats of Violence to Union Organizers"- Village Voice (6/24/08)
Last November, the NLRB ordered Auringer to post a notice promising not to make such threats. A new vote was canceled after Auringer fired 10 pro-union employees on the election's eve.
This is a good reason that America needs the Employee Free Choice Act. They sign the cards, they get into a union. No guns, no threats, no bullshit propaganda. More reasons that the current NLRB "secret ballot' hurts working Americans
FACT: 30% of pro union employees are fired during an organizing drive, even though it is against the law, they just don't care as the NLRB has been battered by lobbyist and mega-corporations to the point of intellectuality. This is in no small part due to President Bush's appointment as NLRB Chairman, Robert Battista who just recently declined the reappointment to join a union avoidence and union busting law firm, from American Rights at Work, which I first published here on 5/5 in a story, titled "Former Bush NLRB Chairman Robert Battista, joins union avoidance law firm" which highlights the deterioration of the rights of workers during his tenure at the NLRB:
For years I've been writing that Robert Battista, former chair of the National Labor Relations Board, has been doing the bidding of anti-union employers by dismantling protections for workers under the law. Apparently, he's now going to be doing the bidding of anti-union employers and making a lot more money at notorious unionbusting firm Littler Mendelson (see a sample of their unionbusting strategies: Littler Mendelson’s Dos & Don’ts).
Now Battista can make money telling employers how to exploit the law he helped to weaken in order to prevent their workers from organizing.
Battista is not alone, spin-doctor lawyer and lobbyist Rick Berman, the self proclaimed "Dr.Evil", corporate lobbyist for Big tobacco and the liquor industry among others, and creator of such fun filled sites as The Center for Union Facts is working hard on getting the American public against the Employee Free Choice Act, by advertising on local networks against the bill, using that d1ckhead who played Johnny Sachs in the Sopranos (probably a rank-and-file SAG member like Ronald Reagan, except a hell of a lot less talented), to scare people into thinking that if the Bill is
passed that their Democracy will be erased by ending 'secret ballot'. It's more like it will end
Mr.Berman's and other lawyers cash cow. Lawyers, corrupt politicians and corporations are the modern day gangsters, I'm starting that when they went after the Mafia they really wanted to eliminate their competition.
The commercial shows a gangster over the card signers shoulder, yeah maybe it should show a corporate lawyer counting money if this doesn't get passed
**Click the image to add your name to the petition that will wind up on the desk of the next US President Strike News and Job Loss UA LU 699, IBT 282 NY Concrete drivers, American Axle updates
Lots of news going on, I've been trying to contact the Business Manager for UA Local 699 Sprinklerfitters to see if I can get any more info on the strike in Seattle Washington, last night I sent him an e-mail, still waiting for a response, I'm sure the guy is busy.
I have read that the New York concrete truck Teamsters Local 282 have gone back to the negotiating table as of yesterday, the NY Times reports that there is some progress.
Also received news of American Axle, who I recently wrote is gearing up to destroy the environment, is now looking to get rid of 400 white collar workers in the United States, now that they are escaping the land of labor rights to distant shores. What a disgrace, maybe they can rename the company to "3rd. World Nation Axle" Health Care For All, supported by doctors and now the Mayors Council
Big news, the single payer health care bill is being endorsed by the US Conference of Mayors(The U.S. Conference of Mayors is a nonpartisan organization of mayors representing cities with a population of 30,000 or more. It currently has about 1,100 members.), this is a bill that would get health insurance for all Americans and isstrongly endorsed by a whopping 59% of American doctors, here's the text of the resolution in support of the United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676:
Submitted By: The Honorable Lois J. Frankel, Mayor of West Palm Beach, Fla. The Honorable Wayne J. Hall Sr., Mayor of Mayor of Hempstead, N.Y. The Honorable Carolyn K. Peterson, Mayor of Ithaca, N.Y. The Honorable John E. Marks, III, Mayor of Tallahassee, Fla. The Honorable Sheila Dixon, Mayor of Baltimore, Md. The Honorable Becky Tooley, Mayor of Coconut Creek, Fla. The Honorable Ryan Coonerty, Mayor of Santa Cruz, Calif.
WHEREAS, every person deserves access to affordable quality health care; and
WHEREAS, the number of Americans without health insurance now exceeds 47 million; and
WHEREAS, millions with insurance have coverage so inadequate that a major illness would lead to financial ruin, and medical illness and bills contribute to one-half of all bankruptcies; and
WHEREAS, proposals for “consumer directed health care” such as Health Savings Accounts or Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) would only worsen this situation by penalizing the sick, discouraging prevention and saddling many working families with huge medical bills; and
WHEREAS, managed care and other market-based reforms have failed to contain health care costs, which now threaten the international competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers; and
WHEREAS, administrative waste stemming from our reliance on private insurers consumes one-third of private health spending while the single payer Medicare system has administrative costs of less than 5 percent; and
WHEREAS, U.S. hospitals spend 24.3 percent of their budgets on billing and administration while hospitals under Canada’s single payer system spend only 12.9 percent; and
WHEREAS, Harvard researchers estimate that more than $300 billion could be recovered by replacing private insurance companies with a single public payer, enough to cover the uninsured and to improve coverage for all those who now have only partial coverage; and
WHEREAS, entrusting care to profit-oriented firms diverts billions of dollars to outrageous incomes for CEOs and threatens the quality of care; and
WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) would assure universal coverage of all medically necessary services, contain costs by slashing bureaucracy, protect the doctor patient relationship, assure patients a completely free choice of doctors, and allow physicians a free choice of practice settings; and
WHEREAS, most polls show that the majority of Americans support universal health care; and
WHEREAS, as of the date of this resolution, the majority of American physicians (59 percent) believe that Single Payer is the best method of securing universal health care; and
WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) will guarantee every mayor that all residents and employees of his/her city will be fully covered for health care and save millions of taxpayer dollars now spent on premiums to provide less than full health insurance coverage for government employees; and
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors expresses its support for The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676), and calls upon federal legislators to work towards its immediate enactment and further urges the adoption of a process to insure that health care providers justify any increase in health care costs.
Got the MySpace up, and a shoutbox. Next we will change the layout here.
Finally did it, got a dedicated Joe's Union Review MySpace account that mirrors the blog here into the MySpace social network, it's how I met Richard at union review, theres a whole lot more to that story, but in a nutshell, I'm looking to meet more Richard's, Joe's and Kirsten's.
I also added a "shoutbox' to this site, you can easily add messages onto the site by entering text into the box and submitting it, try it out, it's right under the title "Say something even if it's wrong"
Seriously thinking of updating the site, I have been working with a layout that has more features, like having just the story introduction on the front page, with a read more lnk, ala Union review and the Building Bridges Radio blog i have been working on, let me know what you think.
Working behind the scenes a bit lately, a great win for the future of New York's labor solidarity was achieved yesterday, I'm waiting for a press release to write on it, stay tuned, and finally I leave you with...
"...and I see a link between that process and the stock market frenzy which scorns long-term investments, genuine savings, in favor of quick turnovers and speculative bubbles, whose inevitable bursting leaves insiders with stuffed pockets and millions of small shareholders, stock holders, employees and home owners, out of luck, out of work, and out of hope." -Bill Moyers
Legendary journalist Bill Moyers address the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, June 7, 2008. Presented by FreePress.net. For more speakers, press coverage, and info, visit: http://www.freepress.net/conference
At around 30+ minutes in, he clearly ties everything together.
Heres the part I felt like typing:
What do we need to know? We need to know that we are in trouble.
Napoleon told his secretary in the thick of battle that if the news on the front is good, don't wake me, if it's bad wake me immediately.
My friends, you don't need to be a reporter with your eyes open to see the news from the front is bad, but I as a reporter see it all the time.
I report the assault on nature, evidence in coal mining that tears the tops off mountains and dumps them into rivers. Sacrificing the health and lives of those in the valleys, for short term profit.
..and I see a link between that process and the stock market frenzy which scorns long-term investments, genuine savings, in favor of quick turnovers and speculative bubbles, whose inevitable bursting leaves insiders with stuffed pockets and millions of small shareholders, stock holders, employees and home owners, out of luck, out of work, and out of hope.
...and then I see a connection between those disasters and the repeal of regulations designed to prevent that type of human and economic damage.
Who pushed for the removal of that fire wall? The political marionettes in Washington, who danced to the speculators tune and were rewarded with campaign contributions and lucrative lobbying jobs when they have delivered the goods. Even honorable opponents of the practice get trapped in the web of a system that can effectively limit politics to those who can afford to spend millions of dollars in their race for office, and know that their careers depend on pleasing their donors, while deserting their voters.
Then I draw a line to the statistics that show real wages lagging behind prices, the compensation of corporate barons soaring to heights unequaled anywhere among other industrialized democracies. The greatest income inequality since the roaring 20's. The relentless cheese pairing of Federal funds devoted to Public Schools to retraining workers whose jobs have exported and to programs of health care, all of which natch away the ladder, which American's of scant means, but willing hands and hearts, could work and save their way up to some middle-class security.
...and I connect those numbers to campaigns to campaigns by our triumphant reactionaries against labor unions and higher minimum wage and to their success in reframing the tax codes so as to strip them of their progressive character, laying the burdens of the social contract on the shrinking middle-class, awash in credit card debt as workers struggle with the rising cost of health care, affordable housing, and college tuitions for their children.
While huge inheritances go untouched, tax shelters abroad are legalized and the rich get richer, and with each increase in their wealth, are able to buy themselves more influence over those who make and execute the laws.
Edward R Murrow told his generation of journalists, no one can eliminate their prejudices, just recognize them.
Here is my bias, extremes of wealth and poverty cannot be reconciled with a truly just society, capitalism breeds great inequality that is destructive, unless tempered by an intuition for equality, which is the heart of democracy.
When the state becomes the guardian of power and privilege to the neglect of justice to the people have neither power nor privilege, you can no longer claim to have a representative government.
"...and I see a link between that process and the stock market frenzy which scorns long-term investments, genuine savings, in favor of quick turnovers and speculative bubbles, whose inevitable bursting leaves insiders with stuffed pockets and millions of small shareholders, stock holders, employees and home owners, out of luck, out of work, and out of hope." -Bill Moyers
Legendary journalist Bill Moyers address the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, June 7, 2008. Presented by FreePress.net. For more speakers, press coverage, and info, visit: http://www.freepress.net/conference
At around 30+ minutes in, he clearly ties everything together.
Heres the part I felt like typing:
What do we need to know? We need to know that we are in trouble.
Napoleon told his secretary in the thick of battle that if the news on the front is good, don't wake me, if it's bad wake me immediately.
My friends, you don't need to be a reporter with your eyes open to see the news from the front is bad, but I as a reporter see it all the time.
I report the assault on nature, evidence in coal mining that tears the tops off mountains and dumps them into rivers. Sacrificing the health and lives of those in the valleys, for short term profit.
..and I see a link between that process and the stock market frenzy which scorns long-term investments, genuine savings, in favor of quick turnovers and speculative bubbles, whose inevitable bursting leaves insiders with stuffed pockets and millions of small shareholders, stock holders, employees and home owners, out of luck, out of work, and out of hope.
...and then I see a connection between those disasters and the repeal of regulations designed to prevent that type of human and economic damage.
Who pushed for the removal of that fire wall? The political marionettes in Washington, who danced to the speculators tune and were rewarded with campaign contributions and lucrative lobbying jobs when they have delivered the goods. Even honorable opponents of the practice get trapped in the web of a system that can effectively limit politics to those who can afford to spend millions of dollars in their race for office, and know that their careers depend on pleasing their donors, while deserting their voters.
Then I draw a line to the statistics that show real wages lagging behind prices, the compensation of corporate barons soaring to heights unequaled anywhere among other industrialized democracies. The greatest income inequality since the roaring 20's. The relentless cheese pairing of Federal funds devoted to Public Schools to retraining workers whose jobs have exported and to programs of health care, all of which natch away the ladder, which American's of scant means, but willing hands and hearts, could work and save their way up to some middle-class security.
...and I connect those numbers to campaigns to campaigns by our triumphant reactionaries against labor unions and higher minimum wage and to their success in reframing the tax codes so as to strip them of their progressive character, laying the burdens of the social contract on the shrinking middle-class, awash in credit card debt as workers struggle with the rising cost of health care, affordable housing, and college tuitions for their children.
While huge inheritances go untouched, tax shelters abroad are legalized and the rich get richer, and with each increase in their wealth, are able to buy themselves more influence over those who make and execute the laws.
Edward R Murrow told his generation of journalists, no one can eliminate their prejudices, just recognize them.
Here is my bias, extremes of wealth and poverty cannot be reconciled with a truly just society, capitalism breeds great inequality that is destructive, unless tempered by an intuition for equality, which is the heart of democracy.
When the state becomes the guardian of power and privilege to the neglect of justice to the people have neither power nor privilege, you can no longer claim to have a representative government.
“Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust
Please excuse the commercial, I have no control of that
Tammy Miser has created a tremendous amount of awareness to the senseless deaths that occur due to the absence of OSHA standards with regard to explosive dust, the petition on the right hand side of this site is her idea. She runs the blog Weekly Toll and the USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities and she has testified in front of Congress. Word is that Tammy will be appearing this Sunday night on 60 Minutes lead story, "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?", the show will feature Carolyn Merritt, former CSB chair, Ed Foulke (OSHA) and Rep. George Miller
At least 13 people might still be alive today if industry and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration did more to stop dust explosions in America’s factories, says a former government safety official.
Carolyn Merritt, former head of the government's Chemical Safety Board, talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the deadly problem of combustible dust this Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.
Take a look at the other stories I have done on this (I know for a fact that OSHA, The Dept. Of Labor, Senate and Congress have read them), a lot of sites and bloggers have helped spread the word and raise awareness. Please forgive me for not mentioning them all right now, I need sleep too.
Tammy Miser is helping workers, I admire her commitment and it shows the power of bloggers to change the world.
“Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.” Tammy Miser Congressional hearing on combustible dust
Please excuse the commercial, I have no control of that
Tammy Miser has created a tremendous amount of awareness to the senseless deaths that occur due to the absence of OSHA standards with regard to explosive dust, the petition on the right hand side of this site is her idea. She runs the blog Weekly Toll and the USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities and she has testified in front of Congress. Word is that Tammy will be appearing this Sunday night on 60 Minutes lead story, "Is Enough Done To Stop Explosive Dust?", the show will feature Carolyn Merritt, former CSB chair, Ed Foulke (OSHA) and Rep. George Miller
At least 13 people might still be alive today if industry and the government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration did more to stop dust explosions in America’s factories, says a former government safety official.
Carolyn Merritt, former head of the government's Chemical Safety Board, talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley about the deadly problem of combustible dust this Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.
Take a look at the other stories I have done on this (I know for a fact that OSHA, The Dept. Of Labor, Senate and Congress have read them), a lot of sites and bloggers have helped spread the word and raise awareness. Please forgive me for not mentioning them all right now, I need sleep too.
Tammy Miser is helping workers, I admire her commitment and it shows the power of bloggers to change the world.
second good news, E-Activism works, even if it takes a while, when the FCC on December 17th. 2007, went against 99% of American peoples wishes and overturned a rule that 1 company can not own more than one of either print, tv or radio in any one region, FreePress went to work, getting people like you and I involved in stressing to our Senators that we the people can not take this blatant disregard of our wishes. I wrote "Now Big Media can hurt workers better" at the FreePress Blog on Dec. 19th., the CWA and AFTRA joined in the fight
From the E-Mailbox
Dear Joseph,
Just moments ago, by a near-unanimous vote, the Senate stood up to Big Media. They voted to throw out the FCC decision to let the largest media companies swallow up even more local media.
This is simply an astounding victory, and it would not have happened without the massive grassroots effort by you and thousands of others who called their senators, sent more than a quarter million letters, posted thousands of pictures and stories on StopBigMedia.com, and testified at public hearings held by the FCC.
It was your dedication that made today's Senate win possible.
Today was a huge step forward, but there is still much to do. The fight against the FCC now moves to the House, where our elected representatives need to hear from us.
President Bush has promised that he will try to veto this bill. But tonight the Senate and the American people have spoken with one voice. This historic vote sends a clear message that the only people who support more media consolidation are Big Media lobbyists and the White House.
We are in this struggle to bring more minority ownership, diverse perspectives and independent voices to the media. We need to make media consolidation an election-year issue. And we need to start talking about how to break up the giant conglomerates.
Corporate news today -- with its propaganda pundits, horse-race election coverage, and celebrity gossip -- undermines our democracy. We must continue to speak out and demand that the public airwaves be used to actually serve the public.
In just three weeks, thousands of people will be gathering together in Minnesota to build the movement for better media. You can join them at the National Conference for Media Reform, just visit www.freepress.net/conference.
For today, know that you played a key role in the fight for better media for all.
Thank you,
Josh Silver Executive Director Free Press Action Fund
StopBigMedia.com is a project of Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund, on the Web at www.freepress.net.
This bill would require the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules regulating combustible industrial dusts, like sugar dust, that can build up to hazardous levels and explode. In early February the Imperial Sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia, exploded, killing 13 workers and severely injuring many more. OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which have launched a major investigation into the Imperial Sugar explosion, have concluded that the explosion was caused by combustible sugar dust. In 2006, following a series of fatal combustible dust explosions, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board conducted a major study of combustible dust hazards. It identified 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and 2005 that killed 119 workers, injured 718 others, and extensively damaged industrial facilities. OSHA has known about these dangers for years, but has failed to act. Even after the Chemical Safety Board urged OSHA in 2006 to issue rules controlling dust hazards, OSHA has never offered any indication that it is planning to issue such rules without being required to do so by law.
Tammy Miser: “Shawn’s back was towards the furnace when they were picking up their tools and there was a blast. Some say Shawn got up and started walking towards the door and then there was a second, more intense blast. Shawn didn’t die instantly. He laid on building floor while the aluminum dust burnt through his flesh and muscle tissue. The breaths that he took burnt his internal organs, and the blast took his eyesight. Shawn was still conscious and asking for help… And the two things that I can always remember and that never leave are his last words, ‘I’m in a world of hurt,’ and his last breaths.”
Thank you Tammy, for your hard work to memorialize workers who die on the job. I watched with great adoration your courage to speak in front of congress on behalf of workers.
Shawn did not die in vain. Through your persistence you have helped to change the world for the next worker, for that we are all grateful.
To read more about Tammy Miser and her contributions, as well as those of Rep. George Miller, please take a look at the article "Our Memorial Day" by Esther Kaplan published this week at the Nation
From the pages of USMWF.ORG - United Support & Memorial For Workplace Fatalities, a petition now being sponsored by the Change to Win Federation, please sign it, end the massacre that is the lackadaisical OSHA voluntary standard. Enough is enough, please sign the petition.
You can view the entire hearing here: Click here to watch archived hearing webcast » It is long about a little over 2 hours but if your really interested in how the system works, what some of our congress men think about OSHA as of lately or combustible dust it is a must see. You can also see individual parts here
<<<Give Us Combustible Dust Standards
Between 1980 and 2005, 119 workers were killed and more than 700 injured in combustible dust explosions.
These explosions were preventable -- but even though the U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommended in 2006 that regulations needed to be put in place to protect workers from death or injury from combustible dust accidents, OSHA chose instead to maintain its program of voluntary corporate compliance. But as Former CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt put it, "the problem with voluntary standards is not everyone volunteers."
This petition calls on OSHA and the Department of Labor to stop relying on voluntary compliance and issue a general industry standard for preventing combustible dust accidents in the workplace. Tell me more
Every time I see a union person with the NY Post under their arm I wish they had a fucking clue.
In December, the FCC, against 99% of the American publics wishes, overturned a longstanding rule of media, which stopped over-consolidation of media in any one area. That means, there was a rule which made sure that there was a reasonable chance that you might get more than one view on any given story.
Since then Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox Five, News corporation, MySpace (who banned the largest atheist group from its site), etc., the union-busting media tycoon has been on a buying spree, first came the Wall Street Journal and now NY Newsday is on the wish list. If you ever read the way the NY Post, another Murdoch holding, berates union workers you would understand why his ever increasing movement towards monopoly is a dangerous situation. Thats not the only thing, when he chaired News International, a UK organization which encompassed massive amounts of UK tabloids, he pitted unions against one another and forever changed the UK Labour Movement. From Wikipedia, on the 1986 Wapping dispute:
News internationals strategy in Wapping had strong government support, and enjoyed almost full production and distribution capabilities and a complement of leading journalists. The company was therefore content to allow the dispute to run its course. With thousands of workers having gone for over a year without jobs or pay, the strike eventually collapsed on 5 February 1987.
Heres my post in regard to the 12/18/07 FCC allowance of more media consolidation, Originally published on FreePress Action Network (12/19/07):
Now Big Media can hurt workers better
Submitted by Joe638NYC on December 19, 2007 - 11:41pm.
Hello, my name is Joe, I am a rank and file union member and on staff at the independent labor movement website UnionReview.
While we are primarily a labor news site, we also monitors news items that tie directly to the communication of the modern labor movement, such as Network Neutrality, the squelching of free speech and the spin doctoring of main stream media.
This ruling is a tremendous blow to the American working citizen. Information is power, the gathering of ideas based on different points of view is critical. When so very little can brainwash so many, what hope do we have.
Stand up people. Stand up for places such as Workers Independent News and Brain Labor Report, who continuously report on the airwaves about the struggles of the common working man and social injustices that never make it to the main stream.
Labor hardly got any attention in the main stream media before this was passed, and any if broadcast or published almost always portrays union workers as lazy, greedy and enemies of the public. A good case in point is an article I entitled NY Post spin-doctoring and the IATSE Stagehands, in which I retort the Rupert Murdoch News Corp.owned NY Post's so-called editorial about those greedy stagehands that closed down Broadway Thanksgiving week.
Does News Corp., Viacom, Disney, etc. have a stake in portraying unions as bad to the public? Absolutely, they have to negotiate with them at every step of their business, they are the employer, directly and indirectly of writers, screen writers, engineers, truckers, service employees, construction workers, screen actors, communication workers, stagehands, make-up artists and a host of other labor groups. It suits them well that there is a growing majority of ignorant people in this country that believe that unions are bad for them personally. They have the power to repeat in every media form their message and use the theory that if you continuously lie over and over the masses will believe it to be truth.
That suits Big Media and their corporations fine, by leveling the public against workers, by speaking generally without a fact basis, they perpetrate half-truths and outright lies that get embeded into the heart and mind of the public. By instilling hopelessness and fear they divide us into more and more fractions of smaller groups, pitting each against one another, dividing and conquering, making working people feel as if they are lucky to have a job, and that they must accept the final offer by employer.
This is not acceptable for my country, I thank the work of all those who contribute here, I regret that I have found this late, after seeing this at the AFL-CIO WebBlog, I couldn't help but get involved, firstly by writing a story on my new site Joe's Union Review the Anti-Union BlogSpot (theres reasons for the name), porting the story to UnionReview and MySpace, and by posting the links to our site and the AFL-CIO's story globally onto Labourstart, the global newfeed which reaches thousands of labor sites worldwide.
If we do not stop consolidation of the corporate main stream media and we give those same corporations complete control of the internet, our sources for free independent and diversified news and information will dry up.
Sites, such as freepress and UnionReview, that exercise our freedom of speech, that communicate important social matters and move people to take action may no longer be viewable or in the worst case scenario, have nothing to write about.
Thank you for putting this together, please contact me if anything I write at the site is erroneous, or if theres any other way I can help.
I leave you with this
"Such a small percentage try to make the world a better place, leaving the work to a scarce few. If those that did next to nothing did just a tiny bit, the world could be a better place for all." - me 7/7/07"
How dangerous can consolidation be, heres a snip from a report on Murdoch's adventures in China, which explains the European media holdings, From The Guardian.co.uk
But I am sure it is true that anticipatory compliance is Murdoch's most powerful weapon. I doubt he needed to tell all 247 of his editors to support the invasion of Iraq, but they did. He might not even have had to lean on Tony Blair to ensure - as Blair's former spin doctor Lance Price reveals - that no British minister said "anything positive about the euro". Power is sustained not by force but by fear, as everyone seeks to interpret the wishes of his master and to meet them even before he asks.
The Senate Commerce Committee has taken the first step in Vetoing the Dec.18th. FCC ruling. From the Freepress Action Network Blog post "Senate Commerce Committee Did the Right Thing" by jtorres (4/24/08)
The Senate Commerce Committee did the right thing today by unanimously voting out of committee a "resolution of disapproval" sponsored by Sen. Bryon Dorgan (D.N.D.) that would overturn the FCC’s Dec. 18 decision to relax the longstanding limits on how much media one company can own in your town.
It’s the first step toward an official Congressional “veto” of the FCC’s new rule, which permits one company to own both a major daily newspaper and a broadcast outlet in the same market.
Dorgan, as well as Democratic and Republican leaders, had warned FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last December not to lift the 30-year ban that forbids "newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership."
But the Murdoch empire still has NY Newsday (as well as Yahoo) on its to buy list, you can help fight the sale of Newsday by donating to FreePress, from the E-Mail:
This morning, the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved the "resolution of disapproval" we've been fighting for.
It's the first step toward an official congressional "veto" of the Federal Communications Commission's new rules that gut media ownership limits.
This vote couldn't have come at a more important moment. Just this week, Rupert Murdoch announced plans to buy his third New York newspaper — Newsday. (Murdoch already owns the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal and two television stations in this one media market!)
We can stop this runaway media consolidation by passing the resolution of disapproval in the full House and Senate. To do that, we need your help right now.
Time is of the essence. Senate rules require a floor vote on the veto within the next few weeks. So your immediate contribution is critical.
With your support today, the Free Press Action Fund will:
Line up more senators to support the resolution. We’ve already secured 25 co-sponsors, and we need to exert serious pressure to get the rest. (Murdoch’s greedy grab for Newsday will help, but you can be sure he’ll be fighting us every step of the way.)
Counteract Big Media’s misinformation campaign. Huge newspaper conglomerates like Murdoch’s News Corp. and Tribune Co. are spending heavily to convince Congress that the FCC rules don't go far enough. They want to swallow up even more local media.
Setting the record straight. If we can raise enough funding today, part of your contribution will pay for ads to get the attention of Washington decision-makers.
Reach out to our hundreds of thousands of media reform activists -- and allied groups throughout the country to make sure they flood the Senate with letters, phone calls and e-mails.
Since the FCC plan was announced in December, more than 250,000 activists have called on Congress to block it. Today's vote is the result — proof that when we pull together behind a clear strategic goal, we get results, even though industry lobbyists outspend us in Washington more than 200-to-1.
The time to stop Murdoch and Big Media is now. I urge you to make your contribution right away.
Gratefully,
Alexandra Russell Program Director Free Press Action Fund www.freepress.net
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the time limit should be lifted because Congress and the president should be focusing their energy on the needs of America’s working families as the economy staggers toward a recession, not on the flawed trade deal.
It is chilling to think how this measure by the House to fast track the Colombia FTA was defeated by only 29 votes, 195 mostly Republican Reps voted to make this thing happen on the Bush fast track. That means 195 people who we elected don't think that this is worth investigation. You can see who's-who here
The U.S. House of Representatives, this afternoon, told President Bush there will be no Fast Track for his flawed U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). By a 224–195 vote, the House removed Fast Track’s 90-day deadline for an up or down vote on the deal.
The vote will delay consideration of the deal indefinitely, probably until Bush leaves office in January.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says the time limit should be lifted because Congress and the president should be focusing their energy on the needs of America’s working families as the economy staggers toward a recession, not on the flawed trade deal.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has called Bush’s push for the Colombia trade deal “an outrageous disregard for basic human and workers’ rights” that, if passed, would “reward murder.”
The violence against trade union members in Colombia has claimed more than 2,500 lives since 1986, including 39 murdered in 2007, and another 17 killed so far in 2008—a rate of more than one a week. Yet the Colombian government has obtained convictions in less than 3 percent of the cases and has done little to stop the bloodshed or guarantee worker and human rights in the country.
The AFL-CIO position on the Colombia FTA remains unchanged: The violence, murders, impunity, and violations of workers’ rights in Colombia must end. Until and unless the Colombian government achieves sustained results on the ground to that effect, the AFL-CIO will muster all its resources in opposition to this agreement.
Because the Colombia deal was negotiated under the now-expired Trade Promotion Authority or Fast Track, it normally would have had to be voted within 90 legislative days, but Pelosi said the House has the right to set its own rules.
How does this tie into labor? Check out my post on FreePress Action Network to see my point of view -> "Now Big Media can hurt workers better" (12/19/08) :
From the E-Mail box
Dear Joseph,
The FCC wants to hold TV stations accountable to the public. Don't let Big Media take away your right to know.
Your local television stations want to keep you in the dark. The FCC has voted to make TV stations more accountable to their viewers by disclosing basic information about the ways they serve the public.
Seems simple, right? But there are many things that Big Media don’t want us to know. And their powerful lobbyists and lawyers in Washington are now suing the FCC to stop the new disclosure rules from going into effect.
Defend your right to know. Tell the commissioners that local media need to be more accountable to us.
In exchange for a promise to serve the public, Big Media giants get a free license to use our public airwaves and make billions. The new rules will help you monitor the media and make your voice heard. They require stations to form community advisory boards and have someone in the studio at all times for public safety alerts.
In addition, stations would have to post information on station ownership, educational and community programming, and public complaints on their Web sites. This information helps communities pressure stations to improve their programming -- and even challenge their licenses at the FCC if they’re not meeting local needs.
Big Media’s lawyers and lobbyists are fighting rules like these. They are telling the FCC that no one cares about how their stations do business.
In Colombia it's outright dangerous to be a unionist, while some claim that only 39 union leaders were killed last year is a good thing, we here at Joe's union Review tend to think differently. It' s Now Or Never People, I called the desk of Hillary Clinton and had to leave a message, there are 3 E-Action campaign's, get involved before it's too late.
The Scoop From AFL-CIO
House Set to Vote on Removing Fast Track Timetable from Colombia Trade Deal
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that tomorrow the House will vote to lift the 90-day Fast Track time limit for the House to vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that President Bush sent to Congress yesterday.
Pelosi said Congress and the president should be focusing their energy on the needs of America’s working families during these precarious economic times, not on the flawed trade deal. She told reporters she told Bush on Monday that:
we really had to continue our conversation about addressing the economic concerns of America’s working families.
We agree with Speaker Pelosi that Congress must keep a hard focus on the economic crisis facing America’s working families—and certainly before consideration of another flawed trade deal. We applaud her for taking decisive action to reassert congressional authority over trade.
There's little in life that's free. You’re savvy enough to look for the hidden costs, or the catch.
Americans now know the catch in "free" trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA. The hidden costs of these pacts took a tremendous toll: 1 million jobs disappeared, countless communities collapsed, and workers' rights were exploited at home and abroad. 1
But now George W. Bush and Elaine Chao, the Secretary of Labor, want another "free" trade deal, this time with Colombia. To make matters worse, Bush wants to unilaterally "fast-track" this agreement in 90 days.
The first vote takes place tomorrow in the House of Representatives. Tell your Members of Congress and Secretary Elaine Chao that you oppose the Colombia free trade agreement. We can stop this.
Outside of the obvious negative consequences for the United States, the Colombian free trade agreement (FTA) fails to meaningfully address a severe Colombian crisis: union members there are regularly assassinated.
Violent incidents against union members are pervasive in Colombia, and the country's president has done little to stop the attacks. Since 1991, at least 2,245 union members have been killed for supporting a union, including 18 deaths already in 2008. 2
Believe it or not, Elaine Chao doesn't seem to think that's a problem. She even had the gall to suggest that because fewer union members are being killed than in previous years, we should implement the trade agreement - without putting in place real protections to stop violence against union members. 3
You've heard from me before about the sorry state of labor law in the United States; most of America's workers never get a free and fair chance to join a union because of threats, intimidation, and misinformation from their employers.
But as bad as America's workers have it, Colombia's aspiring union members literally put their lives on the line to have a voice at work. This is an unacceptable situation, and the United States should not engage in agreements with leaders who overlook serious issues like the assassination of union members.
With Bush threatening to unilaterally pass this agreement in less than three months, your voice is needed to take away his power to do so. Please write to your representatives now.
President Bush is demanding a vote on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) before he leaves office next year. The Colombia FTA is wrong for workers both in the United States and Colombia.
Tell your senators and representative that you OPPOSE the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and that they should, too. Use our toll-free number to do so today:
1-866-338-5720
And please click here to let us know how your lawmakers plan to vote on the Colombia FTA.
With the U.S. economy in near free fall, President Bush has sent the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to Capitol Hill—Bush wants to force a vote before he leaves office next January.
The all-out, nationwide mobilization to let members of Congress know that working Americans oppose this deal begins today.
As the fight gears up, we need to know whose side your members of Congress are on.
Call your senators and representative today to ask if they will side with workers and oppose the Colombia FTA. The call is toll free:
1-866-338-5720
We need you to report back to us: Click here to let us know how your lawmakers will vote.
The deal is wrong for workers in both countries.
Bush has made passing this agreement a priority, even though it will do next to nothing for the failing U.S. economy.
The Colombia FTA represents a continuation of the Bush administration’s failed trade policies, an agenda that has contributed to the loss of more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, skyrocketing trade deficits and shrinking paychecks.
Colombia remains the most dangerous country in the world for union members—39 trade unionists were murdered in 2007 and another 17 to date in 2008. Of the more than 2,500 murders of trade unionists since 1986, only some 70 cases—about 3 percent—have resulted in convictions.
Balanced trade agreements must guarantee the right to organize, lift the lives of workers in both countries and prevent exploitation. But this can’t happen in a country where workers who try to organize are killed.
Colombia’s government has thwarted workers' right to organize and bargain collectively—by weakening labor protections, refusing to register legitimate unions and failing to enforce the law against anti-union discrimination.
Remember to call your representative and senators today. Tell them to oppose the Colombia FTA: 1-866-338-5720.
In solidarity,
Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
P.S. Please tell your friends tocall the U.S. House and Senate today at 1-866-338-5720. Together, we can stop the Colombia FTA.
Click the link below to tell your friends about this campaign. Tell-a-friend!
From (4/4/08)
LabourStart
It has been nearly a month since the murder of Leonidas Gomez Rozo, a leader of the National Union of Bank Workers of Colombia.
His murder in early March was one of several violent attacks against trade unionists in that country -- many of which have been highlighted on LabourStart's Colombia news page recently.
Today we've been asked by UNI Global Union -- a global union federation to which Rozo's union was affiliated -- to flood Colombian embassies around the world with messages of protest next week.
Please send off your message by clicking here. And spread the word.
I keep thinking that there will be a limit on how far thinking people will go to turn a blind eye to the death and misery brought to us courtesy of so-called "free trade". But, lo and behold, every day brings new wonders at the capacity of our government, and its servants in the "free market", to ignore reality in the service of profits and "efficiency" and "low costs". Prepare yourself for another example coming down the pipeline this week when the Administration tries to ram another so-called "free trade" deal down the throats of the Congress—-and down the throats of the American people.
The uproar over Mark Penn’s work for the Colombian government, and his resignation from the Clinton campaign, has partly obscured the content of the issue (most of the traditional media and, frankly, progressive media and blogs, have been far more focused on Penn and the political/electoral insider story than the actual Colombia deal). This pact, which is in a whole lot of trouble, as it should be, is awful for a variety of reasons. But, the main one is this: union activists and leaders have a funny way of ending up dead in Colombia, courtesy of death squads that have been linked to the government.
Mark Penn, who resigned over the weekend as the Clinton campaign's chief strategist, went into full damage control mode on Monday, hosting a conference call with Burson Marsteller's managing directors to persuade them that the fallout from his resignation was both overblown and would soon pass.
Peppered with questions from colleagues -- one mentioned her "pretty panicked client," another asked bluntly, "Ultimately did you think that it was the best thing for the company [to work for Clinton's campaign]?" -- Penn insisted that "the situation has played itself out."
But he confirmed that while his title with the campaign had changed -- and his work load would undoubtedly decrease -- he still would play a direct advisory role for Clinton.
Two sources confirm Marc Ambinder's scoop that Penn was on the campaign's message-of-the-day call this morning, and was involved in debate preparation this afternoon.
Hillary Clinton's political guru may have been pushed from the top spot in her campaign, but he didn't land in the grave.
Despite embarrassing the White House hopeful by consulting for the Colombian government on a U.S. trade agreement she opposes, Mark Penn remains "very much in the loop," a Clinton source said...
"Reports of Mark's death are greatly exaggerated," said a Penn confidant.
"You don't break a circle like that easily and quickly," a senior Clinton adviser agreed.
So the message to insiders is: Penn's not going anywhere, just wait a few days for the public to stop paying attention and everything will be back to Business As Usual.
On Sunday evening, Sen. Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn, resigned from his post after it was revealed he was working (on the side) for the passage of a Colombia Free Trade Agreement that his candidate opposed.
But within the Clinton campaign, Penn is not the highest-ranking adviser with financial ties to groups and individuals supporting the passage of the measure.
Former President Bill Clinton has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars speaking on behalf of a Colombia-based group pushing the trade pact, and representatives of that organization tell The Huffington Post that the former president shared their sentiment.
In June 2005, Clinton was paid $800,000 by the Colombia-based Gold Service International to give four speeches throughout Latin America. The organization is, ostensibly, a development group tasked with bringing investment to the country and educating world leaders about the Colombia's business opportunities.
The group's chief operating officer, Andres Franco, said in an interview that the group supports the congressional ratification of the free trade agreement and that, when Clinton was on his speaking tour, he expressed similar opinions.
"He was supportive of the trade agreement at the time that he came, but that was several years ago. In the present context, I don't know what his position would be. It is not only about union trade rights. It is about what benefit or damage it can do to the US economy," said Franco. "Events with the Clinton campaign [concerning Mark Penn] are not good at all for the trade agreement... Right now it became a campaign issues and that is sad, because it needs to go through."
The comments were supported by a June 23, 2005 article from the news portal Terra (uncovered by Ben Smith at Politico) in which Clinton offered unambiguous support for the free trade agreement with Colombia.
Take action on this important campaign at:
Tell-a-friend!
