The Shipping Point

I found this interesting article about the difficulty of organizing temporary workers. Whatever happened to the Employee Free Choice Act? Harold Meyerson has of late been writing some pretty interesting articles about unionism, this is another one. Read about it here: The Shipping Point.

GMP Local #17 Elections.

As you may already be aware, the date for the nominations and election for officers to represent GMP #17 is set. According to the latest issue of GMP Horizons magazine the nomination of officers will be on September 23rd during the regularly scheduled union meetings. The election will be on October 28th. The nominations and election will take place at the union hall located at 205 S. Santa Cruz Ave. Times for union meetings are 6:30 A.M., 2:30 P.M., and 6:30 P.M. During the election the union hall will be open for voting from 6:00 until 6:45. I will be talking more about the election in the days and months ahead. I have made it no secret that I intend to run for office, and I will write an article soon about which position I intend to run for and why I am running. The rest will be up to you. I will be setting up an election committee soon and I will be looking for volunteers to carry out a variety of functions. I can be contacted by phone at (209) 499-2859 or you can talk to me in the Carton Department on “D” shift. Unions in this country are at a critical crossroad and we need officers who have the ability, education, and experience to carry out a number of tasks. They also need to have the drive and determination to fight for what is right for the members of our union, both current and retired. I believe I have those qualities and can bring not only a vast life experience, but also a unique skill set that will be an asset to the union.

The Health Care Debate

This article by Atul Gawande should be required reading for anyone interested in learning more about health care costs and why some areas of the country are able to hold down costs while they skyrocket elsewhere. According to Nicholas Kristof this article has become required reading at the Obama Whitehouse. Read it here: The Cost Conundrum.

Sink the Drink Tax Redux

As many of you are doubtless aware, some legislators in the California State Assembly would like a regressive alcohol tax to become a part of California law. This tax has reared its ugly head in the form of two pieces of legislation, AB 1019 and SB 558. Below is a letter I wrote to the Chair of the Jobs and Economic Development Committee, Manuel Perez, who is a good pro-labor representative in the 80th Assembly District. I am also posting his response to my letter, which is that the bill died in committee. I would ask everyone who cares about this issue to remain vigilant and click on this link or the Sink the Drink Tax banner to stay informed on this issue and learn about what steps can be taken to combat these taxes that would definitely hurt the wine industry in California. I would also like to thank Chuck McIntyre and the West Coast Protective League and all the work they do to protect the wine and glass industry. Below is the response to my letter:

Hello Stephen,I am sure that you are aware by now that the proposed legislation, AB 1019, died in committee yesterday. I stayed off the vote knowing how, if passed, the law would have hurt many businesses, including yours. As the Chair of Jobs and Economic Development, I want you to know that I am working to keep people in their jobs and building policy to support small businesses in California. Thanks for writing. VMPerez, 80th AD

This was my letter:

From: Stephen Talbott To: Perez, Manuel Sent: Wed Apr 22 11:02:43 2009 Subject: AB 1019

Dear Manuel Perez,

As a 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 is again considering a proposal to raise taxes on alcohol, including wine.My company has already laid off over 40 employees in 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 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.
Please oppose AB 1019 and SB 558 because consumers like me are already paying enough and we cannot afford to lose any more jobs.

Sincerely,

Stephen Talbott

GMP Local Union #17 AFL-CIO, CLC

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