AFL-CIO Endorses Obama

Read about it here:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/06/26/afl-cio-endorses-obama-launches-meet-barack-obama/

FMLA

I found this great article on the Mother Jones web site. It talks about the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and how Democrats are seeking to expand its benefits for working families. As the article illustrates, Barack Obama is clearly on board with helping working families, while predictably John McCain is mute on the subject. The article reiterates what should be well known to everybody: While Republicans talk the talk on family values they do little to actually help families, unless your “family” happens to own a large corporation.

http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/06/family-medical-leave-act-changes.html

The wife U.S. Republican John McCain callously left behind

I would suggest that everyone who is still unsure about who they will be supporting in the next Presidential election should read this article. Like everyone I honor John McCain’s military service, but I believe this article speaks volumes about John McCain’s character.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain-callously-left-behind.html

Why I am supporting Barack Obama for President

Last semester in a Political Science course I took at MJC one of my assignments was to write a term paper about a well known political figure. I chose to write about Barack Obama. I knew little about the first term Senator from Illinois when I began the paper but what I learned was a revelation. His resume is impressive. He was born into a humble middle class existence, and through hard work and intellect rose to become a U.S. Senator. Along the way he graduated from Columbia University in New York with a degree in political science, and then he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents in Chicago. Barack entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, he was elected the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review where he graduated magna cum laude in 1991. After school he became a civil rights lawyer, and taught at the University of Chicago Law School. From there he ran and won an Illinois State Senate seat, where he served until he successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004. As impressive as his achievements are, I was further impressed by the campaign he ran against Hillary Clinton, where he displayed a political acumen beyond his years. To borrow a phrase from Stuart Scott, Obama is as cool as the other side of the pillow. Clinton fired shots at Obama with both barrels, and Obama handled it with an otherworldly grace. Contrast that with the well documented hot temper of presumptive Republican candidate John McCain.

McCain will run against Obama on the mantra that Barack doesn’t have the experience to be the President. But what good is experience if you have poor judgment? Case in point is the Iraq conflict. McCain supported the war even after it turned out that the reasons to invade Iraq were based on lies concocted by the Bush administration. But Barack saw through the deceptions. At a rally against the resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq in October 2002, Barack spoke with clarity of vision light years ahead of the popular conventions being sprouted by the White House and the compliant press. “I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars," Barack said. "What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne. “He’s a bad guy,” Obama said, referring to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi militaries a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences,” Obama continued. “I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.” Obama reminds me of the master chess player who is looking eight moves ahead, while the Bush administration is still trying to figure out how to play checkers. Meanwhile John McCain speaks of his vision of the U.S. being in Iraq for a thousand years and bomb-bomb-bombing Iran.

Experience is great, but experience without wisdom will doom our country to making the same mistakes that the current administration has been making for the past eight years. We need a leader with both vision and intelligence. That is why I will be voting for Barack Obama on November 4th, 2008.

Viva Las Vegas!

I just received word that I was elected to one of the six spots to go to the 73rd Quadrennial Convention. Viva Las Vegas! I would like to thank everyone that supported my campaign. The Warehouse and the Carton Department really stepped up and I am thankful for every one of your votes. I realized it would be an uphill battle, especially since my shift was on their day off, but for those of you who found the time to make it down to the union hall and vote I am extremely grateful. You did your part, now it is up to me to fulfill me pledge and bring you the best coverage I can from the Quadrennial. My attitude toward the Quadrennial is that this is an excellent opportunity to learn, and most importantly to pass on what I learn to my fellow brothers and sisters in GMP Local 17. Stay Tuned!

Why I want to be nominated to the 2008 Quadrennial Convention.

On May 28th members of GMP Local 17 will have a chance during the May monthly union meeting to vote for the delegates that we will send to the 73rd Quadrennial Convention which will convene from Monday, August 4 to Saturday, August 9th 2008 in Las Vegas. Six members will be allowed to attend, not including the President of GMP Local 17, Carlos Contreras. There are several reasons why I wish to be elected. Most importantly, I am against any union dues increase. I believe that the union needs to tighten their belts just like everybody else has during these economically tough times. There are other reasons, of course. If you see me at work ask me about them and I will be happy to expand upon it.
I believe that the convention should be an opportunity to learn and a chance to teach what we have learned to the members who cannot attend. I will use this site to blog live from the event and I will post video blogs so that everyone that desires to can find out what is happening at the convention. I pledge to bring back what I have learned and share this information with anyone who is interested. The use of this website will allow members to send feedback to me about what I am reporting. This goes along with my belief that our union will be stronger when everybody has a chance to participate and influence our union. The way we can achieve this is by activating committees that are in our bylaws but are currently unoccupied, and by giving members the educational tools so they can become better union members. I hope that this website can become the beginning of a conversation between union members so that we can share our knowledge and experience with each other. There is nothing more dangerous then an educated union member!

I am asking for your vote at the monthly union meeting on May 28th, 2008.
Where: The Union Hall at 205 1/2 S. Santa Cruz Ave.
Times are 6:30 am, 2:30 pm, and 6:30 pm.

The Right Stuff.

Here is the follow up to my previous posting. It is good to see that some unions still have the right stuff!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/30/financial/f155200D55.DTL&hw=International+Longshore+Warehouse+Union&sn=001&sc=1000

Union Muscle

While reading the San Francisco Chronicle Saturday morning I found this fantastic article on the front page of the Business section, “Longshore Workers Taking Off”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/26/BUC610C2HA.DTL

Members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union are planning a work stoppage on May 1st to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though the union leadership has withdrawn its request for a "stop-work meeting" to the Pacific Maritime Association, who manages the waterfront. Apparently the ILWU is entitled to schedule a “stop-work meeting” once a month to discuss union business, but typically the union only does this on the second work shift in the evening. For their anti-war protest, the ILWU wanted to schedule the meeting/protest from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., which is the busiest shift of the day. The Pacific Maritime Association would not agree to this request, and the union leadership withdrew the stop-work request. Apparently the rank and file members did not get the message and still plan to protest. According to Craig Merrilees, a spokesman for the ILWU:

"The Longshore Caucus resolution calling on all locals to honor May 1 by taking action to end the war and bring the troops home safely from Iraq continues to move forward. Various voluntary rallies and public demonstrations are scheduled for May Day."

A couple of things really struck me about this article. First, I was struck by the fact that it was the Vietnam War veterans in the ILWU who advocated having the war protest. According to the SF Chronicle there was a spirited debate within the union, and it was the impassioned pleas of the Vietnam vets that turned the tide of opinion into taking this action, which will basically shut down the ports of the entire West Coast.

Secondly, regardless of how you feel about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you have to be impressed by the solidarity of a union that had an honest debate, voted overwhelmingly to support a day of protest, and are now taking action. This is the type of solidarity that most unions can only dream of achieving. To achieve this type of union activism you have to have strong leadership at the top and strong dedication by the rank and file members.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the significance of May 1 for the labor movement, I would suggest this article to get acquainted with the International Workers' Day of May Day:

http://www.iww.org/projects/mayday/origins.shtml

Letters to the Bee

These are two letters that I wrote to the Modesto Bee that were published in the last year.

Posted on Sun, Mar. 09, 2008

Tell it to laid-off Hershey workers

March 09, 2008

I can't remember being more incensed after reading an article then I was after reading Fareed Zakaria's column, "Democrats demonstrate two weaknesses" (March 4, Page B-7), in which he pillories Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for wanting to renegotiate trade agreements.

Zakaria writes, "There are no serious economists or experts who believe that low wages in Mexico or China or India is the fundamental reason that American factories close down." He should tell that to the former workers at the Hershey plant who saw their jobs outsourced because of the low wages and lack of environmental standards available in Mexico.

Zakaria quotes a New Delhi television station as saying that hearing the Democrats talk about trade "is enough to send jitters down the spine of most in India." I say that we should be more concerned about the shiver that is sent down the spine of the American workers who have just learned that their good-paying jobs are being shipped overseas.

Free trade is not fair trade, and I look forward to electing a president who will negotiate trade deals that will benefit American workers, not hurt them.

STEPHEN TALBOTT

Waterford

Posted on Wed, Sep. 19, 2007

Worker help measure is underfunded

September 19, 2007

Regarding "Feds deny funds for Hershey workers" (Sept. 13, Page A-1): It is extremely disturbing, but not surprising, that the workers at the Hershey plant are not getting the help they need from the Bush administration's Department of Labor.

The Trade Adjustment Act, which was designed to help workers whose jobs are being lost to trade and offshoring, is underfunded and constantly subject to budget cuts. I am also concerned that county work force officials are asking for help from the 19th Congressional District's George Radanovich who, according to the AFL-CIO Web site, has one of the worst voting records in Congress when it comes to pro-worker and pro-union bills. I noted that Radanovich did not comment himself on the Hershey worker's plight, but had a spokesman speak for him. Perhaps the county officials would have better luck contacting the 18th Congressional District's Dennis Cardoza, who has a great record of voting on pro-working families issues.

STEPHEN TALBOTT

Waterford