Labor Advocate

Outraged, Outraged I Tell You

2008-04-30T09:03:00.001-06:00

The headlines all say Senator Barrack Obama, front runner for the Democrat presidential nomination, is “outraged.” Is his rage directed toward the occupation forces deadly assault on Sadr City? Or perhaps the hunger caused by hedge funds cornering the world’s food supply? Or maybe that the cost of health care in the USA has increased ten times faster than worker incomes?

No, these headline stories haven’t gotten much play from Obama, nor from Clinton or McCain either. The junior Senator from Illinois called a special press conference to denounce a 66-year old Chicago Black preacher, now retiring–formerly Obama’s pastor, who performed the Obama wedding ceremony–Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Obama has been trying to lose his one-time “spiritual adviser”ever since the Clinton camp stealthily circulated videos of some of his sermons. Tuesday Obama indignantly responded to Rev Wright’s Monday remarks at the National Press Club. “I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks, but what I do want him to be very clear about...is that when I say I find these comments appalling, I mean it. It contradicts everything that I'm about and who I am.”

The bitterness of Obama’s renunciation led me to look up the transcript of what Rev Wright actually said at the private club of the Fourth Estate. You can do the same by clicking here.

Reverend Wright began by explaining why he was in our nation’s capital,

“Over the next few days, prominent scholars of the African-American religious tradition from several different disciplines -- theologians, church historians, ethicists, professors of Hebrew bible, homiletics, hermeneutics and historians of religions -- those scholars will join in with sociologists, political analysts, local church pastors and denominational officials to examine the African-American religious experience and its historical, theological and political context. The workshops, the panel discussions and the symposia will go into much more intricate detail about this unknown phenomenon of the Black church -- (laughter) -- than I have time to go into in the few moments that we have to share together.”

Not being religious, I have little interest in the theological differences between competing religions. But the differences between Wright’s “Black church” and the mainstream white churches go far beyond appeals to faith. As the Rev reminded his audience, 11AM Sunday morning is the most segregated time of the week in America.

Even more important than the role the Catholic church has played in Ireland over centuries of English subjugation, African-American churches have been the historic center of Black organization in the face of racism from slavery, through Jim Crow, down to today’s more subtle–and hypocritical--second class status. That’s why, even in an election year where all candidates piously proclaim “faith,” none of the movers and shakers even want to acknowledge the existence of a Black church–much less embrace it.

Rev Wright has been called “anti-American” because of his views on the War On Terrorism. Here is how he replied at the Press Club,

“Our congregation, as you heard in the introduction, took a stand against apartheid when the government of our country was supporting the racist regime of the Afrikaner government in South Africa. (Applause.) Our congregation stood in solidarity with the peasants in El Salvador and Nicaragua while our government, through Ollie North and the Iran-Contra scandal was supporting the contras who were killing the peasant and the Miskito Indian in those two countries. (Applause.)...

“Our congregation has sent dozens of boys and girls to fight in the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War and the present two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. My goddaughter's unit just arrived in Iraq this week, while those who call me unpatriotic have used their positions of privilege to avoid military service while sending -- (cheers, applause) -- while sending over 4,000 American boys and girls of every race to die over a lie. (Boos, jeers.)”

Some have called Rev Wright an “anti-Semite.” Here’s some excerpts from a question and answer about Louis Farrakhan.

“As I said on the Bill Moyers show, one of our news channels keeps playing a news clip from 20 years ago, when Louis said 20 years ago that Zionism, not Judaism, was a gutter religion. He was talking about the same thing United Nations resolutions say, the same thing now that President Carter's being vilified for and Bishop Tutu's being vilified for. And everybody wants to paint me as if I'm anti- Semitic because of what Louis Farrakhan said 20 years ago.

“I believe that people of all faiths have to work together in this country if we're going to be build a future for our children...My position on Israel is that Israel has a right to exist; that Israelis have a right to exist, as I said, reconciled one to another...

“Now, I am not going to put down Louis Farrakhan any more than Mandela will put down Fidel Castro. You remember that Ted Koppel show where Ted wanted Mandela to put down Castro because Castro is our enemy, and he said, ‘You don't tell me who my enemies are; you don't tell me who my friends are.’”

Senator Obama said, “The person that I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate.”

By all accounts, Reverend Wright has been making such “divisive and destructive” comments all of his life. He has never been one to pull punches as he built a congregation that numbered 87 when he took it over in 1972 to more than 8,000 at the time of his retirement. Perhaps it is the Senator who is a different person today. The man who would be President, groomed by Oprah and Ted Kennedy, surrounded by Establishment advisors telling him who his friends and enemies are, showered with record breaking cash donations, finds the preaching against war and racism of his former “spiritual adviser” to be embarrassing.

Obama’s censure of his one time mentor demonstrates audacity. It should also signify the end of hope held by so many “progressives” that this Senator represents some sea change in American politics and race relations.

Green Around the Gills

2008-03-06T11:05:00.001-06:00

I always get kind of nervous when the House of Labor’s equivalent of the College of Cardinals–the AFL-CIO Executive Council–gathers, as they have this week in San Diego. Seldom does anything good come as a result of them putting their feet under the conference table–presumably first checked by Tom Buffenbarger to ensure none were shod in Birkenstock. After I read their new encyclical, Greening the Economy, I was a little green around the gills.

This looks like a boiler plate document circulated by the Chamber of Commerce. The federation comes down firmly on the side of:

Cap and Trade
The bosses love markets. The Kyoto Treaty–rejected by the Bush administration–established a commodity market for pollution. 1990 was set as a base line for pollution, along with a modest goal of 5.2 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2011. Polluters didn’t have to actually stop polluting. They could buy credits from companies and countries that don’t pollute as much. And they could and did, of course, also shift a lot of pollution to developing countries through offshoring of industrial production. Kevin Smith of Carbon Trade Watch summed up this scam well, “The problem lies in the fact that carbon trading is designed with the express purpose of providing an opportunity for rich countries to delay making costly, structural changes towards low-carbon technologies. This isn’t a malfunction of the market or an unexpected by-product: this is what the market was designed to do.”

More Coal and Nukes
The fed document says, “The federation supports the expansion of both IGCC coal plants with carbon capture and sequestration and new nuclear technology...” Both integrated gasification combined-cycle technology (IGCC), and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are unproven, and somewhat dubious technologies aimed at cleaning up coal. Truly clean coal would be a wonderful thing. By all means research in this area should continue. But until the unlikely day comes of demonstration of viable science and economic feasibility for this dream at the very least there should be a moratorium on construction of any new coal fired plants. We don’t know what “new nuclear technology” the executive council has discovered. Even if catastrophes such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island are avoided there is still no safeguard for protecting the planet from the radioactive waste that remains dangerous for centuries and there are still big environmental threats from the mining, processing, and transport of uranium–a nonrenewable resource.

For Biofuels
After devoting an entire sentence to expanding passenger rail and mass transit the document goes on to hail biofuels and “UAW supported CAFÉ [auto fuel consumption] standards.” Coincidently, the UAW standards are identical to those acceptable to the Big Three and other car makers in the USA. The jury is no longer out on AgriBusiness’s biofuel schemes. On balance, the drive for biofuels is more harmful to the environment than conventional reliance on petroleum fuels--and is driving up food and fiber costs around the globe to boot.

I guess the fact that our labor statespersons made time in their busy schedule to comment at all on the greatest crisis facing civilization in recorded history should be recognized as progress. To have expected any independent thinking about a working class response to the crisis would have been as delusional as counting on clean coal. Still, one always hopes.

More progress on this issue–and many others–is more likely at the Rebuilding Labor’s Power conference, sponsored by Labor Notes, to be held next month in suburban Detroit.

A Clarification

2007-10-16T20:55:00.000-06:00

Based on unofficial sources we had previously reported that under the terms of the newly negotiated agreements new hires at GM and Chrysler would get a 401(k) instead of the traditional defined benefit pension. It is true the current defined benefit pension is gone for all those hired from now on. They will get a 401(k)--but that is only for post-retirement health care. A new cash balance, defined contribution retirement plan is being established for the sub-tier employees. So far we have seen no details other than there would be a company contribution of 6.4 percent of wages which would be invested in 30-year Treasury bonds.

Shortest Strike In History

2007-10-10T21:40:00.000-06:00

10:40 PM Wednesday

The great Chrysler strike is over. Plants not already idled by the company were shut down by the UAW for 1.5 shifts. Actual picket lines were up no more than six hours.

Was Chrysler brought to its knees by this shortest contract strike in history? Did the bosses come begging for mercy, handing over whatever the union wanted?

While no details have been released yet it is known that the deal includes a VEBA similar to GM, buying out all future company guarantees of retiree health care. It has a new second wage tier for new hires along the lines of the General Motors settlement. Job commitments are even weaker than GM’s. According to an AP wire, “The guarantees, which translate into job security for union workers, are in many cases only for the life of current products, the person said. GM made guarantees at many factories that include the next generation of cars, trucks and parts.”

Several readers of the KC Labor e-mail list, referring to my earlier post calling for solidarity with Chrysler workers, have noted I didn’t have to defer criticism of the UAW leadership very long. I’ll have more to say about the second act of Surrender In Detroit as details become available.

Support Chrysler Strikers

2007-10-10T12:31:00.000-06:00

Chrysler Strike

1PM-October 10.

At least a partial strike at Chrysler has begun. Five of the nine assembly plants covered by the present contract were already idled for inventory adjustment and the union has made a tactical move to exempt those from the strike, leaving those workers on their regular pay and benefits–for now anyway. A tenth plant, the new Jeep plant in Toledo, operates under a separate, special UAW contract and will continue to operate until it runs out of parts.

There was no immediate word of what remaining issues sparked first the strike deadline, then the walkout this morning. Clearly the strip and flip Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity that bought Chrysler from Daimler, has different priorities than GM and Ford and are not prepared to accept the GM “pattern.” They seem unlikely to agree to even the tenuous “job security” pledges made by General Motors--which were critical to getting a membership ratification of a contract with massive, historic give-backs. Cerberus evidently wants more.

The GM strike was orchestrated to last only two days. It is doubtful that Cerberus will be so accommodating. While there are many unknown factors the Chrysler strike has the potential to turn in to a rough fight.

We have been highly critical of the objectives, strategy, and tactics of the UAW leadership. Now that the strike has begun we will defer criticism until it is over. The main task is to build solidarity with Chrysler workers. We will use the Daily Labor News Digest and the Labor Advocate Blog to pass along information on this important struggle

Two Struggles Deserve Solidarity

2007-09-05T09:35:00.000-06:00

One just started, the other long running. One a strike, the other a lockout. One is high profile involving 3500 workers, the majority in a major city, the other just eighty workers in a small town. Both are fighting around issues of concern to all. Both deserve widespread generous support.

University of Minnesota
Three AFSCME locals representing 3500 clerical, technical, and health care employees of the U of M launched a strike this morning (September 5) that centers on wages. The employer wants to count progression step raises rewarding experience on the way to top of wage classifications as part of a none too generous cost of living raise. The union correctly nailed this as a wage cut proposal, condemning U workers to further erosion of living standards through inflation. 72 percent of AFSCME members rejected this insult, and authorized the strike.

University management is a formidable foe. They try to emulate the labor practices of the private sector bosses they so loyally serve. They will try to shift public resentment of government bureaucracy and the outrageous costs of higher education to the workers. They will attempt to frighten students with the disruption of day-to-day services. They can count on sympathetic attention from the mainstream media. They have municipal police at their disposal to reinforce their own security in shows of force. And they hope these mainly moderate wage workers will soon crack under the financial strain of missed paychecks.

The clerical workers in Local 3800 know all this well. They went through a tough 15-day strike in 2003–and won an honorable settlement. The union leadership did a good job both in preparing their membership and in sharing their experience with the other two locals in joint negotiations with them this time around.

Their strike preparations are a model in the best Minnesota tradition. Local 3800 has involved members in committees including picketing, mutual support (financial needs), internal communication, headquarters, kitchen, and community support.

There is also a volunteer Labor and Community Strike Support Committee that came together several weeks ago and organized rallies and other informational events before the strike. These support efforts help get the striker’s side, often ignored or distorted by the mass media, to the working class community.

Steps were taken early on to win support from the students and faculty impacted by the strike. The student staffed campus paper, The U Daily, ran an editorial entitled In Solidarity With AFSCME. The chairs of departments in the College of Liberal Arts issued an open letter to management urging them to make a fair settlement. Some faculty are arranging to teach their classes off campus. There’s a lot riding on this struggle for the entire labor movement of Minnesota–and beyond. The AFSCME strikers are on point for all of us. They deserve our support.

For suggestions of what you, and your union, can do to help visit these web sites:

AFSCME Local 3800

Labor Community Strike Support Committee

We will, of course, give prominent attention to the Minnesota strike in the Daily Labor News Digest.

Quad City Die Casting Lockout
Eighty members of UE Local 1174 used to come to work every day at this foundry on the bank of the Mississippi River in Moline, Illinois. That stopped in July when the company locked them out. These workers were forced on the street because they rejected the company demand for unlimited use of temporary workers. Local President Rich Nordholm said, “Our contract has allowed them the limited use of temps for years, but now they want unlimited temps, part-timers, outsourcing and insourcing. If we agreed to this we’d all be out of a job.”

Clearly this is not a trend we want to see started. Small time bosses in depressed Midwest towns would love to see a shape up every morning, picking the lucky ones to work for the day--with no benefits and no job security lasting past quitting time. This is the kind of fight our great grandfathers went through in the nineteenth century.

We should not allow small time bosses--usually vassals for major corporations--to pick off small, isolated groups of unionists, releasing such scourge in to our environment.

Visit the UE’s help end a lockout page to see what you can do to help.

Looking At Cincy Justice for Janitors 'Victory'

2007-07-31T20:32:00.000-06:00

I've been neglecting this blog for a while, concentrating on the kclabor.org web site, our Week In Review column, and groundwork on the upcoming Labor & Sustainability Conference. But I can't resist a timely comment on the latest SEIU victory.

The Cincinnati Post reports that the new janitors contract "was negotiated in a fairly amicable way." The results seem to justify employer acceptance.

Currently the minimum pay is 6.85. The first raise on October 1 will take them up to 7.05. Back-loaded incremental raises will eventually reach 9.80--January 1, 2012.

SEIU's press release proclaimed the "historic" agreement "will more than double the income of nearly 1200 janitors." This is based on a lengthening of the work day--in three years--from four to seven hours. Actually most of these janitors now work two part-time four hour shifts. Going to one seven hour shift, while being more convenient, would lower income.

The janitors do win, for the first time, health care partially subsidized by the employer. But this coverage will not be available until January 1, 2010. Single coverage will cost the worker 20 dollars a month; family coverage 198--a hefty chunk out of about 1200 a month gross pay.

Cincy janitors also get paid time off for the first time--six paid holidays a year.

Are these workers better off with the SEIU contract? Certainly. Is it a "historic" agreement? Hardly. These union members are still among the working poor.

They now have a union, and that's a good thing. But it's a top down union, willing to settle for the very lowest hanging fruit. To break out of working poverty they will have to transform this union into a fighting adversarial organization--not one that amicably accepts that their labor is of little value.

A Remarkable Union Leader

2007-03-14T20:06:00.000-06:00

I learned last week from the UE web site that Boris Block died last month at the age of 82. Known to all as “Red,” an appropriate description of both hair tint and political outlook, he was a remarkable leader in a unique union.

He was one of the last of a cadre who held together the UE through a roller-coaster history from the end of World War II to a generational changing of the guard in the 1980s. This period included:

●The biggest strike wave in American history in 1946.
●The passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, effectively outlawing labor’s most successful tactics.
●The Cold War witch hunt, launched in earnest in 1949, which led to the UE being driven out of the CIO and left severely weakened by raids from other unions.
●A series of further defections in the 1950s led by “left” forces seeking accommodation with the newly unified AFL-CIO.
●A modest resurgence by the union in organizing and bargaining victories in the Sixties, Seventies, and early Eighties.
●And finally, just beginning to be felt at the time of Block’s retirement, a new devastating loss of membership due to massive plant closings by General Electric, Westinghouse, WABCO/Union Switch, Allen-Bradley, Stewart-Warner, Litton, and numerous smaller companies.

A typical “service” oriented union could not have survived these upheavals. But the UE was far from typical. Rejecting the partnership with the boss approach that dominates American labor, for the UE it has always been “them and us.” To this day it maintains the most democratic structure of any union, still limits the salaries of officials to no more than those of the highest paid working members they represent, and relies on a network of stewards and activists on the shop floor to pursue the union’s objectives.

Red Block wasn’t typical either. Capable of serious intellectual discourse he was also a masterful communicator with workers of all backgrounds. Dead serious about his commitment to the class struggle, he possessed quite a sense of humor as well. Enjoying a well deserved label of tightwad when it came to handling the members’ money he could be quite generous on a personal level.

There are a couple of appreciations of the full span of Red’s career on the UE site and I’m sure more testimonials will be forthcoming. I want to offer some brief personal observations.

I first met Red shortly after he was elected UE General Secretary Treasurer in 1975. He was visiting UE Local 1139 in Minneapolis where I was a new member, recently hired on at Litton Microwave. I was at the time still somewhat ambivalent about the UE. I had been warned by some that there was still a strong influence of what I had been raised to call Stalinism. On the other hand I was already impressed with what I had seen of the democratic structure, their militant approach on the shop floor and the UE’s strong opposition to the recent Vietnam war. So I listened to a talk he gave to about forty at a local membership meeting with great interest.

It sure didn’t sound like any “Stalinist” speech I’d ever heard. He combined an excellent analysis of the objective situation facing the UE and the rest of organized labor with appeals to the best traditions of our class struggle heritage--interlacing sharp wit throughout. I was impressed.

As was the Local 1139 custom, most of us hung around after the meeting for some informal discussion over hot dogs, pickled herring, and a thin, colorless liquid that they insisted on calling coffee. Red, of course, could not pass up such a feast and we found ourselves sitting together at a table. I complimented him on his speech and then tested him with a curve ball I’d often pitched to union bureaucrats; I asked, doesn’t the need for a Labor Party of our own flow logically from the situation you laid out? I was mildly surprised when he agreed without hesitation or qualification. He suggested that if I felt strongly about this I should start raising discussions in the local. If I could convince them we should submit a resolution to the UE convention.

As a matter of fact I did just that. It took a while, but the 1978 UE convention unanimously adopted a resolution from Local 1139 calling for the formation of a Labor Party. Fifteen years later, this union that Tony Mazzocchi fondly called “the mouse that roared,” played a key role in the launching of the present Labor Party project.

As I came to take an active role in Local 1139 I encountered Red numerous times at District Council meetings and conventions. He was also particularly helpful during our 1979 negotiations with Litton that led to a bitter six-week strike.

When we started negotiations in the late summer the inflation rate was at thirteen percent. Labor’s “friend” in the White House, Jimmy Carter, was demanding that wage increases not exceed seven percent. Litton, one of the toughest antiunion employers around, patriotically announced they were standing behind our President all the way–at least on wage increases. It was clear from day one we were headed for a major battle. Litton workers, most of whom had been hired within the last five years, were to launch their very first strike.

Now there’s a lot of science that goes into negotiating a contract–more so with today’s computer technology, not yet available in 1979, that can instantly crunch any set of what-if numbers. Venerable institutions also come in to play to take care of essential tasks once a strike is called. But guiding this up close and personal side of the class struggle to a successful conclusion is also an art. Red was a Renoir in this art form.

Along with our District President, Frank Rosen, Red emphasized to us that this was not a contest between negotiating committees. Our members were our only reliable source of power–and it would be they who would suffer from any screw-ups we committed. We could suggest and attempt to inspire but should be careful not to raise unrealistic expectations. We should also listen very carefully and have a good idea of what those we spoke for really were prepared to fight around, what was acceptable, what was a deal breaker.

This may appear to be an obvious common sense approach. Unfortunately, it’s far from typical in the American labor movement. Often strikes begin with much bombast on the part of union officials, soon followed by caving in to the boss demands, coming back to recommend a disappointing settlement as the “best we can get.” Sometimes we see the opposite, though hardly better approach from prideful, inflexible leaders who, lacking any tactical judgment, simply “stick to their guns” until the bitter end of a lost war of attrition.

This is not the place for a full history of the Litton strike. It’s enough to say that the company threw down the ultimate challenge of attempting to replace us and run the plants without us–not yet a common practice at the time. Red was very helpful in working with the shop and local leadership to deal with the anxiety that “permanent replacement” inevitably evokes. The risks were frankly acknowledged. Without hubris we explained why we thought the strike could still be won and what we thought was needed to respond to this escalation by the company.

At the end of the day anger and determination prevailed over fear. Less than one percent of the strikers were lured in to scabbing. The few dozen “permanent replacements” the company hired off the street were met by mass, vigorous picket lines. An injunction limiting our picket lines proved to be too much for the Plymouth Police Department to enforce after some arrests of militant grandmothers caused them great embarrassment. After a couple of weeks of these scuffles and negative publicity Litton finally agreed to a settlement most 1139 members saw as a victory.

Red often passed along some of the wisdom he had acquired obliquely, through humorous anecdotes. Once, during a break in the Litton negotiations, he told me of coming to Minneapolis a couple of decades earlier to help prepare a strike at a major UE shop. Just as he was building up to a stem-winding conclusion to a rousing speech to the workers assembled at the union hall a business agent appeared at the door to the auditorium and announced, “hot dogs are ready!” At that point every one got up and started filing out to the dining hall. Somewhat perturbed, Red later asked the business agent why he hadn’t delayed the call to food until the speech was finished. The b.a. explained that timing was critical. Left in the water too long the hot dogs would start wrinkling.

I understood the underlying moral to this story was not that Minnesotans were vulnerable to growling stomachs. Rather it was a way of humbly reminding us that our members, for better or worse, don’t always share our sense of priority and will not be easily diverted from theirs even by our gifted oratory or writing.

Even though Red wasn’t involved, this lesson was still fresh in my mind the following year when I was part of a team sent to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to organize a Litton run away plant. We went there prepared to focus our campaign on the two-dollar-an-hour wage differential between these plants only about 200 miles apart. We soon discovered that the mostly women assemblers were not all that concerned about their wage rates–which were better than anything else available in the area. They were, however, seething about treatment issues. Fortunately, we didn’t try to force feed our game plan. We were able to make a quick adjustment in our strategy--and we went on to win the biggest union organizing victory in a manufacturing plant in the history of the state.

While working on the Sioux Falls campaign I was subject to the same frugal per diem rationed out to the regular UE staff. At that time the meal allowance while on the road was eight bucks a day. Mostly in jest, I once asked the General Secretary Treasurer if he didn’t think this was a little on the cheap side. He explained quite seriously that it was understood this may be insufficient to meet all your restaurant bills but, after all, you were paid a salary that was supposed to be enough to provide for your groceries. The meal per diem was meant to cover only the extra expense of eating out above and beyond your normal food bill. And, I must admit, Red strove to stay within these guidelines personally. More than once we encountered one another at a Chicago area White Castle during District Council meetings.

In the Eighties companies such as General Electric, and the Big Three automakers, started advancing new schemes, which they attributed to their successful Japanese competitors, for labor-management cooperation on the shop floor. They were known by such names as Quality Circles and Team Concept. GE invited UE, along with the other unions they deal with, to join them on a tour of Japan to see how this worked.

The other unions eagerly accepted the junket invitation–and returned home to work with the boss on improving productivity. The UE declined and I remember Red explaining why.

UE was most interested in Japanese labor relations but learned about them through their fraternal ties with Japanese unions, such as they do today with Zenroren. As a matter of fact, even though Japanese industry can be credited with many innovations the Quality Circle scams were based on the philosophy and methods of “scientific management” developed by the American Frederick Winslow Taylor, beginning in the 19th century. Taylorism had been introduced to Japanese industry during the American occupation at the end of World War II. A very old product in a new, imported package. Industrial unions had cut their teeth on battling Taylorism and the UE was committed to continue to do so. I heard him coin the oft-quoted proverb, “after the lion and the lamb lie down together it’s the lion who gets up and burps.”

Red retired in 1985. My membership in UE ended the following year after the Litton plant was closed and I eventually returned to my original home town of Kansas City. I saw Red only once more, at a demonstration in Washington. But I’ve often remembered this union leader, skilled politician, and a real character of the game.

How About Funding for Vets?

2007-03-02T19:52:00.000-06:00

The Washington Post expose of the horrible conditions for wounded GIs in “outpatient” treatment at Walter Reed Hospital has called attention to serious problems and cost some do-nothing brass their careers. The mold and vermin in patient quarters will be cleaned up. That’s good.

What’s been overlooked is the fact that Reed and other military facilities have simply been overwhelmed. A combination of body armor, advanced trauma medicine, and improved transport, has saved the lives of many who formerly would have died on the battlefield. But the flip side of this is that the ratio of wounded soldiers is the highest in living memory–currently running about 2,000 a month.

Most agree that the wounded are getting good medical attention now. But many of them will require expensive treatment, and disability payments for decades to come. A Harvard study estimates a liability of over 600 billion dollars to meet these most basic obligations. Clearly the military and the VA are nowhere near prepared to handle this little discussed cost of war. A compelling material supplement to the human arguments for demanding not one more day of this bloody, unjust war.

Dems Plan To Boost Bush War Supplemental

2007-03-02T19:50:00.000-06:00

A Reuters headline on AlterNet read, “U.S. House Democrats seek more war funds than Bush.” That’s right, not only are those peace congresspersons we’ve been lobbying not cutting off war funding–they are adding an additional five billion to the 93 billion requested by Bush to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re still debating what “conditions” they will attempt to place on this increased spending.

Find Out Why They’re Leaving

2007-02-28T11:15:00.000-06:00

Why do 1600 Mexicans leave for the United States every day? That’s one of the questions to be dealt with by Onesimo Hidalgo, co-director of the Center for Economic & Political Research for Community Action, Chiapas, Mexico, at two talks in the area. Hidalgo will be speaking in Lawrence Thursday evening and at UMKC Friday night. For details about the two events click here.

Too Bad They Missed the Oscars

2007-02-28T11:14:00.000-06:00

The theater of the absurd in congress is scheduled to open a new production Thursday with the first major vote on EFCA–the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s not a bad bill. It would allow union organizing through card check and provide for arbitration when impasse is reached, or within six months, in negotiations for a first contract. It looks like a cinch to be passed–and vetoed. Clearly the votes aren’t there to over ride.

The Democrats, and our union leaders, will crow about this great victory and seethe about the evil Republicans snatching it away. It will be another good message, like opposition to the war, to exploit through the 2008 election..Would it be impolite to ask the question why passing such legislation was never accomplished before when there was Democrat control of both houses and a Dem in the White House–as recently as 1994?

Circle the Wagons In Iraq Now!

2007-02-28T11:11:00.000-06:00

That might well be the new slogan of the incrementalists in the peace movement trying to be practical in working with the new peace majority in congress. One plan of the Democrat “left” would restrict GIs in Iraq to their bases and allow them to shoot only in self-defense.

At Least We Didn’t Get A Full Glass

2007-02-28T11:09:00.000-06:00

The header on the e-mail from Environmental Defense read “Breaking News: Global Warming Victory.” It went on to gush that a condition imposed on the sale of energy giant TXU was abandonment of plans for building eight new coal-fired power plants. Sounds good but part of the deal negotiated by ED was their blessing to build three new coal burners in Texas. Perhaps the lead should have been, “we’ve negotiated a seventy percent reduction in the latest dose of new poison.”

Monday one of the world’s top climate scientists, NASA’s James Hansen, called for a total halt to building more of these top polluters. The AP said, “Hansen, who said he was speaking as a private citizen, also told the press club that by mid-century all coal-fired power plants that do not capture and bury carbon dioxide ‘must eventually be bulldozed.’ It's foolish to build new ones if the emissions can't be dealt with, he said.” Capture and bury schemes are far from being practical–and may never be.

The incremental approach of ED and much of the mainstream environmental movement is an acceptance of further incremental increase in irreversible damage to our planet. Pardon me if I don’t celebrate such “victory.”

Monday Morning Shorts

2007-02-26T08:17:00.000-06:00

WIR Is Up
The February 25 Week In Review has been posted on the kclabor.org site and can be reached by clicking here.

Successful Immigrant Rights Rally
Initial reports from Connecticut indicate the East Coast Forum on Immigrant Rights last night was a big success, drawing over 300. We’ll have more details on the Daily Labor News Digest tomorrow.

Cheaper By the Dozen
Some have asked why I have been silent about the primary election being held tomorrow in Kansas City. Frankly, I hoped if we ignored them they might go away. It’s one of those contests where it’s a shame somebody has to win.

Because of term limits the current mayor, and five city council members, cannot run for reelection. Naturally, the five pink-slipped council persons are now running for mayor. They have been joined by a recently unemployed, term limited Jackson County Executive (who also happens to be under indictment for mortgage fraud), a recently retired city auditor, a former prosecuting attorney, a wealthy retired entrepreneur who now does “community volunteer” work, a marketing consultant, and two failed bar owners–a dozen in all.

The candidate endorsed by the Building Trades Council, Becky Nace, has close ties to loony right Republicans who bankrolled last year’s fight against stem cell research. She was the prime mover in helping Wal-Mart escape from a poor location in one part of town to a TIF haven in her ward. She has called for abolition of the city’s earnings tax–which provides a majority of the city’s revenues.

If the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO has endorsed anyone they haven’t disclosed that to the public.

After tomorrow’s decision I plan to display my favorite bumper sticker, “Don’t Blame Me–I Didn’t Vote.”

News Back Where It Belongs

2007-02-23T06:34:00.000-06:00

For today anyway our software is talking to the server and the Daily Labor News Digest is updated on its own page.

Thursday News Still Here

2007-02-22T06:26:00.000-06:00

After a brief fix Wednesday evening our problems with Microsoft software have returned. Here is today's Daily Labor News Digest we couldn't upload.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

War Zone

Insurgents Kill 23—Blackhawk Down

Italian president in crisis talks after Prodi quits
Britain and Denmark to start Iraq withdrawal
Chomsky on Iran, Iraq, and the Rest of the World
Iraq war protests grow before Cheney's Australia trip
National Guard May Undertake Iraq Duty Early

USA

Crews recover body of man buried in trench collapse

Rochester rally supports worker rights legislation
Human service workers may strike in northeastern Minnesota
Airline Bankruptcies, Mergers and Profits Provoke Unions
Teamsters OK Jeffboat contract
Jettisoning justice for janitors

Deal Struck with N.J. State Labor Union
Chrysler workers, dealers shaken
Guild wins 'webisode' dispute
Detention Facility for Immigrants Criticized
Slowing Economy Isn't Cooling Prices

Around the World
Canada
Rail talks resume as Tories file back-to-work notice
Germany
Where Is the German Trade Union Movement and Where Is It Going?
Guatemala
Leftist Party Backs Maya Nobel Menchu Election Bid

From Our Blog...
A Civics Refresher

Our Environment
Experts: Warming may harm Tuscan wines
Forests Hold Clues to Climate

A Civics Refresher

2007-02-21T10:35:00.000-06:00

When I aced the state mandated test on the U.S. Constitution back in the seventh grade my teacher awarded me a sack of Kandy Korn. That sweet reward reinforced my interest in what was then known in our schools as Civics, the rights and obligations of citizens. Trouble is I took all that stuff seriously–and still do. This has caused me problems over the years as I have learned how in real life the politicians manipulate the checks and balances of our branches of national government, not to mention what goes on in state capitols and city halls.

It was therefore only a nagging sense of duty that led to me agreeing to a request from the legislative coordinator of US Labor Against the War to join a delegation visiting Representative Reverend Emanuel Cleaver yesterday. This was part of a national effort of Volunteers for Change, sponsored by a “progressive” reseller of nonunion long distance service. They seek to orchestrate volunteerism for “busy people who want to make a difference.” Guidelines and talking points are provided.

All of us busy volunteers showed up at the appointed time to discover that Cleaver’s office claimed to know nothing about the scheduled visit. Cleaver himself was not on the premises but the director of his Kansas City office, Jeff Jolley, did agree to take a meeting with us.

To my relief, no one in our group seemed determined to follow our scripted guidelines and talking points. Two Unity (not Unitarian) ministers were more sharp tongued than I in dressing down Reverend Cleaver’s vicar. Not for the first time, he was reminded that the new congressional majority was there only because of antiwar sentiment and indispensable support from organized labor. We now expect more than half-ass nonbinding resolutions. We made clear we want our congressman to not only vote against the supplemental appropriation of 93 billion for the war; he should vote against any Iraq military spending other than what it takes to bring all of our GIs home now.

The unflappable Mr Jolley assured us that Representative Cleaver had always been against the war. (Cleaver was not yet in congress at the time of the 2002 resolution, on which Bush bases his authority for war, but has consistently voted for funding to continue the war.) He explained to us that defunding the war was not so simple. If congress slashes the defense budget by the amount requested for Iraq he claimed the White House and Pentagon can simply shift funds from elsewhere in Defense to keep the war going.

This seemed to me an excessively defeatist attitude on the part of congress. I strained to recall that seventh grade test. I believe the Constitution in fact gives congress the sole authority to declare and end wars. The highest law of the land also endows the legislative branch with exclusive power for authorizing all expenditures of government money. If congress chooses to renounce their power–and responsibility to those who elected them–to end the war I assured Mr Jolley that an angry majority will start looking for other alternatives to lobbying to stop this unjust war.

As I read this morning’s news sites I discovered there was an even less polite visit to Senator McCaskill on the other side of the state. The St Louis Post-Dispatch headline read “Iraq War Protestors Target Democrats.”Veterans for Peace organized a sit-in in the new senator’s office. Four were arrested and fined 75 dollars for making a fuss about McCaskill’s cynicism about the war.

Another somewhat relevant story caught my eye this morning. "Congress puts Palestinian funds in limbo" was the banner in the Los Angeles Times. The U.S. once committed to giving financial aid to the Palestinian Authority as part of the Road Map to Peace. But their support to democratic government among Palestinians was suspended when the ingrates elected somebody Washington didn’t like. The abrupt loss of this funding led to a virtual shut down of all public services resulting in widespread hardship and exacerbating factional rivalries. Recently the Bush administration agreed to restore about 86 million to the Authority.

But some in congress didn’t feel so helpless about challenging the commander-in-chief on this one. In fact one lone member of congress, Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, has put a hold on the money. Too bad her counterpart chairing the subcommittee on defense spending, Jack Murtha, can’t seem to do the same on Iraq war spending.

Well, that’s enough civics refresher for one morning.

Wednesday Morning Clips

2007-02-21T06:46:00.000-06:00

New UAW pattern: givebacks

The dilemma for US car workers

Nissan to cut factory workers in Tennessee

Government readies back-to-work law as CN workers refuse to end strike

Greek labor union headquarters attacked with petrol bombs, rocks

Movement to unionize workers at Milum Textile a fierce battle

Health care spending seen doubling in 10 years

Australia to ban old-style light bulbs

EU backs target to cut CO2 emissions

Two die in Carrollton grain elevator collapse

Ruling could pay off for meatpackers

Iraq war protesters target Democrats

Parkland schools remain closed due to strike

Groups urge expansion of Family & Medical Leave Act

Nuclear plant's safety questioned

Climate change laps at Bangladesh's shores

Threat to Lake Tahoe's clarity seen

Deal reached to postpone downtown immigration rally

Tugboat worker killed when tow line hits her

Army Launches Cleanup In Walter Reed Housing

9 States Sue Over Mercury Emissions

Cleaner Coal Is Attracting Some Doubts

News

2007-02-20T15:01:00.000-06:00

War Zone

Iraqi Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Outpost
Bombs In Baghdad, 20 Bodies Found
Suicide blast wounds 3 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan

Army Fixing Patients' Housing
U.S. Releases Numbers of Afghan War Dead

USA

Labor deal with Gelson's puts pressure on bigger grocery chains

Hundreds of workers leave N.C. slaughterhouse
Tentative labor accord aids motorcycle maker
Stop & Shop workers OK strike option
Unions may picket Qwest Field
Driving drivers away
Fairfax to cut work force
Unions help kill academy plans
Chrysler, GM deal would hit area hard
Debit cards for immigrants

Around the World
Britain
Mayor to sign Venezuela oil deal
London Subway Workers Authorize Strike
Canada
CN Rail strike deemed legal, mediator sets to work
Sweden
Pinoy seamen's group wins labor case in Sweden

Our Environment
Global warming scientist is encouraged
Canned tuna exceeds guidelines on mercury
Guilt-Free Pollution. Or Is It?
N.J. Farm Animal Protections Upheld

Tuesday Morning Troubles

2007-02-20T08:19:00.000-06:00

Once again, Microsoft FrontPage 2003 software, used to publish the kclabor.org web site, is failing to communicate with the host server. That is why the Daily Labor News Digest updates have not yet appeared today. The usually resourceful technicians at SupremeServer are working on this latest puzzle. If it's not fixed by this afternoon I will post the news links on this blog.

February 19 Week In Review

2007-02-19T13:14:00.000-06:00

Week In Review
February 19, 2007
by Bill Onasch

Bring ‘em Home Tomorrow
I don’t generally look at Newsweek. I thank Jerry Gordon for forwarding one of the best pieces about the war I’ve seen in a long time–a column by Anna Quindlen entitled “Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” Quindlen opens with,

“Tomorrow. That’s when the United States should begin to bring combat forces home from Iraq. Today would be a better option, but already it’s tomorrow in Baghdad, in the Green Zone fortress Americans have built in the center of the city, out in the streets where IEDs are lying in wait for passing soldiers and every marketplace may be the endgame for a suicide bomber.”

She concludes,

“The people who brought America reports of WMDs when none existed, and the slogan “Mission Accomplished” when it was not nor likely to be, now say that American troops cannot leave. Not yet. Not soon. Not on a timetable. Judge the truth of that conclusion by the truth of their past statements. They say that talk of withdrawal shows a lack of support for the troops. There is no better way to support those who have fought valiantly in Iraq than to guarantee that not one more of them dies in the service of the political miscalculation of their leaders. Not one more soldier. Not one more grave. Not one more day. Bring them home tomorrow.”

I needed this breath of fresh air as an antidote to the cynicism and futility being demonstrated by the “antiwar” party controlling congress and the mainstream peace movement pandering them. The House indulged themselves by passing a Milquetoast non-binding resolution criticizing the “surge.” Despite waffling even more in negotiations with Senate Republicans they couldn’t get that much done in the upper chamber. Now they are backtracking fast from previously implied threats to reject even the supplemental appropriation for the escalation in Iraq (93 billion.)

The main national peace coalition, United for Peace & Justice, has made lobbying the new congress their over riding priority. But they are “realists.” Here’s what they have to say in their talking points for peace activists to bring to their local reps (I am not disclosing any confidential plans–this is all posted on the Internet):

“UFPJ endorses a two-track strategy. Our first priority is to defeat the supplemental appropriation bill – we are asking all members to vote NO on the bill. It is a longshot that we can defeat the bill so we have a back-up strategy to put conditions on the funding bill...”

Even more “realistic” forces, that have created new letterheads such as Americans Against Escalation of the War in Iraq (SEIU and MoveOn.org), and MoveCongress.org (Win Without War, AFSC, Working Assets long distance company), have found a hero to champion the backup strategy--Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

In an “exclusive” MoveCongress.org interview Murtha proposes the following restrictions on the 93 billion:

1) Troops will need to be certified as "fully combat ready" with the training and equipment that they need;
2) Deployments cannot be extended beyond one year;
3) Troops must have at least one-year at home between deployments;
4) The "stop-loss" program where soldiers are forced to extend their agreed upon enlistment period will be prohibited.

That’s a long way from tomorrow. But that’s what all the realistic strategy of the peace Democrats, the pacifists, and UFPJ is coming down to–Murtha’s backup restrictions.

I’ve been asked by US Labor Against the War to join a delegation meeting with Representative Emanuel Cleaver, Democrat, MO fifth district, tomorrow. Unlike most others likely to attend I won’t be going in with a two-track strategy. USLAW has a one track strategy. I plan to politely, but clearly tell Rev Cleaver that we think he should not only vote no on the supplemental; we want him to vote against any further funding of the military in Iraq--except for what it takes for the immediate, safe withdrawal of every last GI in harm’s way.

I don’t expect to get that commitment from my congressman. But I’d rather lose what I want than to “win” what I don’t want. Principles and self-respect should dictate that we be at least as strong and honest as a Newsweek columnist.

Making All the Right Connections
You should be sure to read an op ed piece by California Nurses Association president Deborah Burger,

Defense spending overshadowing health care. She not only contrasts war spending to the cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, “Imagine for a moment how else we could have spent $589 billion, the amount already devoured by the war in Iraq, plus the administration's funding request for the next two years.” She also points out the Harvard study that estimates the United States will need to spend as much as $662 billion over the next 40 years on medical costs for the tens of thousands of injured veterans. She wraps up, “‘A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom,’ said Dr. Martin Luther King, and, he might well have added, endangering the health security of its citizens at home.”

Immigrant Rights Forum In Connecticut
The Campaign to Stop the ICE Raids in Danbury is sponsoring an impressive East Coast Forum on Immigrants Rights next Sunday, February 25. Speakers include: Ana Avendaño, Associate General Counsel & Director, AFL-CIO Immigrant Workers Program, Anabel Pimentel and Reina Campos, workers affected by the ICE Raids conducted at the Swift & Co. Meatpacking Plant in Hyrum, Utah, Foster Maier, a Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund Attorney representing immigrant communities in Hazleton, PA., Riverside, NJ, and Mamaroneck, NY, and Carola Otero Bracco, Director of the Mount Kisco, NY Day Laborers Center. The event will take place at Western Connecticut State University, Ives Concert Hall, located in the midtown campus and is scheduled to run from 4 to 7 p.m.

That’s all for this week.

New Democrat Antiwar Strategy

2007-02-14T20:45:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Jerry Gordon for passing along a perceptive article about how the Democrats plan to drag out their advantage as the perceived “antiwar” party: House Democrats' New Strategy: Force Slow End to War by John Bresnahan. A key component in this cynical prolonging of bloodshed and destruction is Americans Against Escalation of the War in Iraq. This outfit describes itself as “a major, multi-million dollar national campaign to oppose the President's proposal to escalate the war in Iraq by sending more than 20,000 additional troops into the violent civil war between Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.” Its major players are SEIU and MoveOn.org.

13,000 and Counting

2007-02-14T16:28:00.000-06:00

Chrysler Group revealed the basic outline of its Project X slash and shut plan this morning. 13,000 jobs in the U.S. and Canada–9,000 UAW, 2,000 CAW, 2,000 salaried--will be gone in no more than two years. The Newark, Delaware assembly plant and a Cleveland parts center will be shuttered. Shifts will be slashed at the Warren and Fenton (where I briefly worked in 1968) assembly plants. Still unclear is the future of Mack Avenue I and II engine plants. All this comes after a steady elimination through attrition of 40,000 jobs over the past five years. The UAW denounced Dr Z’s latest move. The CAW, who are trying to negotiate a Ford-style buy-out, were more muted in their response.

Support COTS Workers

2007-02-12T17:01:00.000-06:00

Our friend John Woodruff with UE Local 222 has alerted us that newly organized workers at the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) in Vermont have come under fresh attack by their nonprofit employer. Three union activists have been virtually fired. Their defense has been taken up by the Vermont Workers Center who is conducting an online petition campaign. You can lend support by clicking here.