This is a piece that I posted to Daily Kos this morning. The whole gist here is that over the last few days I have met some amzing people here in Austin at Netroots Nation -- and that these folks are allied with labor and would do more on their own blogs if they had a better handle on labor and issues that we contend with day in and day out.

I contacted Mr. McIntosh of the Northwest Labor Press after reading his article  "Think it's easy to form a union? Better think again" In my note to him I wrote that I really liked his story and that, in my opinion, it really spelled out the issues surrounding the Employee Free Choice Act. I asked him if I could cross-post his piece to Union Review and on other blogs, and the blessings were given.

My hope is that you get as much out of this piece as I did.

-Richard  

The pilots union for US Airways said Wednesday the airline is pressuring pilots to use less fuel than they feel is safe in order to save money.

 

US Airways Captain James Ray, a spokesman for the US Airline Pilots Association, which represents the airline's 5,200 pilots, said eight senior pilots and the union have filed complaints with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The union also paid for a full-page ad in Wednesday's USA Today addressed to "our valued passengers." The ad accuses the airline of "a program of intimidation to pressure your captain to reduce fuel loads."

It seems that Sen. John McCain has some real gems advising him on economics.

McCain admitted early in his campaign that he doesn't really understand the complexities of economics, so he enlisted the help of one of his best friends, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm as his campaign's economic advisor.

So, I never shared a poem on UnionReview.com before today. I am not sure how folks will enjoy this or not, but thought to post this one after listening to some news and having a talk with a friend about the news. You can let me know if this is cool or not ... there are other poems that I thought to share at the site and on MYSPACE, but this is the first time giving it a shot. Let me know. 
In Solidarity,
-Richard  

Earlier today I read a piece on Talking Points Memo that grabbed my attention. The title of the piece is "Do Blogs Take Labor Issues Seriously?" The writer of the piece points out that a lot of the blogs out there did not mention some important information on recent Supreme Court Rulings. His statements are accurate; it was the comments that caught me off guard.

 

 

PATCO Co Founder & National Leader, Brother Jack Maher Passed away July 7, 2008.

It all started 40 years ago...

Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization

More details @ www.patco81.com

Original story:
PATCO Co Founder

Related links:
http://www.patco81.com

I hope that by now you have seen the button on the left - hand side of the site that says "One Million Strong from the Employee Free Choice Act." This is a serious campaign that we all need to do our part on -- and our part is easy: we have to sign the petition, and get others to do the same.

Today, in relation to the Employee Free Choice Act, there were two different emails that came my way. The first was from the Teamsters, which sent out a notice to all of its members about the petition and the campaign. The second was from the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, which announced that it was running a new video to educate working people about the legislation.  Both the mailing from the Teamsters and the press release from CDW is in the body of the story.

 

“They’re lowering standards for all carpenters in the Knoxville area,” he says. “We’d like to see them change their practices.”

Helton charges that Proffitt & Sons doesn’t pay what the union considers a fair wage, doesn’t pay benefits to many of its workers, and is engaged in using an inordinate number of 1099 independent contractors, rather than using full-time employees who are entitled to worker’s compensation and unemployment benefits.

“By law, you can’t use that many independent contractors on your site,” he says. “Somebody has to be an employee.”

 

http://www.ubcnewsroom.com 

 

http://www.metropulse.com/

Radio Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
                                National Edition
         Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg

It is the 4th of July in DC. I have an interesting opportunity to listen to music, watch television, play with the puppy, walk around the neighborhood, visit friends, eat some serious eats, talk about Bob Dylan and Beat poetry. I have the rare opportunity to take the car, the girl and said-puppy and go for a midnight drive up the highway listening to Blues music and singing along at the top of our lungs. What we have here, my friends ... is a day off.

 

Carpenters Local 424 Business Manager Rick Braccia said the group has distributed 1,200 fliers in downtown Hingham and at the job site, Avalon at Hingham Shipyard.

“We wanted to make the public aware that AvalonBay, we have found, is a practitioner of the underground economy,” Braccia said.

Blair, in a June 5 letter to the Hingham Journal, said the union is upset that they didn’t get more of the company’s Hingham work.

“We have engaged both union and non-union subcontractors, which has angered the New England Carpenters Union, which wants to do it all,” he wrote.

He denied that his company is part of the underground economy.

 

http://www.necarpenters.org/

Radio Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
********************************************

Speaking to a packed church house in 2002 at the Terrorism, Globalization and Conspiracy conference. From Google Video:

OCTOBER 9, 2002, VANCOUVER: Dr. Michael Parenti, one of North America's leading radical writers on U.S. imperialism and interventionism, fascism, democracy and the media, spoke to several hunded people at St. Andrews Wesley Church in Vancouver. Dr. Parenti has taught political science at a number of colleges and universities in the United States and other countries. He was written 250 majro magazine articles and 15 books and is frequently heard on public and alternative radio.

On June 13th. 9000 members of The Utility Workers local 1-2 (UWUA1-2), when faced with the idea of no raise in their upcoming contract(note: the last expired this morning), voted overwhelmingly to strike if their memberships needs were not addressed by the "Privately owned" Consolidated Edison.

In talks with a high ranking official of Local 1-2, the latest offer by Con Ed included a two-tier system where new workers would see a serious lack of benefits, almost no raise and as expected in todays day and age, raises in co-payments of health care. While the Governor has negotiated a 72 hour "cooling off period" whereby negotiations will continue Tuesday at 9AM, and the workers will remain on the job at least until 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night, there is the great possibility of a strike as of Wednesday.