Collective Bargaining comes to Wal-Mart

A first for North America. Read Here!

Tea Baggers

All jokes aside, I have been watching the Tax Day Tea Party protests and I really have no idea what they are getting so worked up about. Last time I checked my taxes were about the same as they have been the last few years. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for this link to Conor Clarke’s post What Are Tax Day Tea Parties Protesting? which discusses the expiration of the Bush tax cuts that will only nominally affect those who make over 250,000 a year. I don’t like paying taxes either, but money for police, fire department, road maintenance, our military, the post office, schools, park maintenance, and everything else that makes our society work has to come from somewhere.

Buy America

A recent survey of 65 historians organized by Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley for the television network C-SPAN rank Abraham Lincoln as our greatest American President. See here and here. Few would argue the choice. So what did our greatest President say about free trade? As you may be aware, a storm of protest has erupted over the Buy America provisions in the economic stimulus bill which will be signed by President Barack Obama today, with many screaming about “protectionism” and President Obama stating that “we can’t send a protectionist message,” Furthermore the Senate softened the Buy America provision in the stimulus bill. All this goes back to a simple question: What kind of trade policy are we going to have in the Obama administration? Will it be the trade policy which he campaigned on, one that would renegotiate trade agreements which were unfair to American workers, or will he be a free trader in the Bush or Clinton mold? Our greatest President, Honest Abe, saw the issue of Free Trade with clarity and insight. To quote our greatest American President, “I don’t know much about the tariff. But I know this much. When we buy manufactured goods abroad, we get the goods and the foreigner gets the money. When we buy manufactured goods at home, we get both the goods and the money.” And “Abandonment of the protectionist policy of the American Government must result in the increase of both useless labor and idleness, and so, in proportion must produce want and ruin among our people.” Almost sounds like Lincoln was talking about NAFTA. I hope that our current President from Illinois will heed the words of Lincoln and renegotiate trade agreements that have brought “want and ruin” to the American people and stick to the principles of fairness for the American worker. Here is a discussion on the Buy America provisions in the stimulus package. As usual, the great Senator from Ohio, Sherrod Brown, hits the nail on the head, “An $800 billion trade deficit and they accuse the United States of protectionism? Two-billion-dollars-a-day net outflow of trade dollars and they claim we are closing our borders? In Ohio, people would say that accusations like that don’t pass the straight face test.”

Link of the Week

Good article by Media Matters about the lies being spread by the right wing media, in this case Fox News, about the Employee Free Choice Act. This article also contains good information about the National Labor Relations Act.

"THEN ... WAGNER ACT"

Why We Need Stronger Unions, and How to Get Them

Please read Robert Reich on the importance of unions and the Employee Free Choice Act.

Why We Need Stronger Unions, and How to Get Them

Frustration with state budget boils over

This is a copy of the letter I wrote to the Modesto Bee which appeared on February 3rd, 2009 on page A-9.

Frustration with state budget boils over

As an employee at the Gallo Glass Co. who is feeling the impact of the global recession on everything from rising gas prices to my 401(k) diminishing daily, I am very disappointed to learn that the Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger are considering a proposal to raise taxes on spirits, including wine.
My company is already laying off more than 40 employees, due in part to the reeling economy. These are good union jobs, with pensions and health insurance. This new tax will further burden an industry that is already struggling, as are many companies in California. This tax will potentially cost thousands more jobs. Excise taxes such as the one being proposed are regressive and hurt those who can least afford it.
Our state government needs to find more creative ways to balance the budget and stop burdening consumers and damaging companies which are already hurting. For more information on this proposed tax, please go to: http://capwiz.%20com/sinkthedrinktax/home/.
STEPHEN TALBOTT
Welfare Committee, GMP Local Union #17 AFL-CIO, CLC
Waterford

A Death Spiral

Most respected economists agree that the way to fight out of a recession is to spend more and tax less. You have to keep money flowing in the system, and to do that you need to create jobs. The federal government and especially President Obama understand that. So why does the state of California have it backwards? They want to raise taxes, and cut jobs. What they are doing is creating a death spiral in our state. This tax on alcohol, including wine, will hurt the economy and the state. What our state government needs to do is get on board with the federal plan and borrow the money so we can keep spending and keep jobs in the state. When the crisis is over, then pay your debts and set up a rainy day fund for the future.

Sink the Drink Tax!

As an 28 year employee at the Gallo Glass Company who is feeling the impact of the global recession on everything from rising prices on gas to my 401K being diminished daily, I am very disappointed to learn that the California Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger is considering a proposal to raise taxes on alcohol, including wine.

My company is already laying off over 40 employees at the start of February, due in part to the reeling economy. These are good union jobs, with pensions and health insurance. This new tax will further burden an industry that is already struggling, as are many companies in California. This tax will potentially cost thousands of more jobs in the state. Excise taxes such as the one being proposed to help “balance” the budget are regressive and hurt the people who can least afford it.

Our state government needs to find more creative ways to balance the budget, and stop burdening consumers and damaging companies which are already hurting from a painful recession. For more information on this proposed tax please go to: sinkthedrinktax.com and act before more jobs are lost.

The Labor Agenda

In case you missed it, the link is to the New York Times editorial which asks for a quick vote on the Employee Free Choice Act. I would suggest that every union member at Local 17, and anyone else who believes in fairness and worker’s rights fire off a letter to their Senators and Representatives and demand passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Labor Agenda

Link of the Week

According to their website, American Rights at Work has informed the American public about the struggle to win workplace democracy for nurses, cooks, computer programmers, retail cashiers, and a variety of workers who we all depend on every day. Their vision is a nation where the freedom of workers to organize unions and bargain collectively with employers is guaranteed and promoted. Their chair is David Bonior, who is considered a strong candidate for Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration.

American Rights at Work