Bahrain firms fire hundreds of strikers in crackdown
Bahrain's unions called a general strike on March 13 to support Shi'ite protesters against the Sunni-led government who for weeks occupied a square in the capital until security forces moved in on March 16. The strike was called off on March 22.
Officials at Batelco, Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Services and APM Terminals Bahrain said they had laid off more than 200 workers due to absence during the strike.
"It's illegal in Bahrain and anywhere else in the world to just strike. You have to give two weeks' notice to your employer," said one executive who did not wish to be named.
Bahrain's main Shi'ite opposition group, Wefaq, said it estimated that more than 1,000 workers had been laid off and that most were Shi'ites.
"Unemployment has its effects on social relationships, the well-being of the society," said group member Jasim Husain.
Government officials could not be reached for comment on the arrests.
Bahrain has increased its arrests of bloggers, activists and Shi'ites, with more than 300 detained and dozens missing since last month's crackdown on the pro-democracy protests.
Bahrain has seen the worst sectarian clashes between its Shi'ite majority population and the Sunni-ruled security forces since the 1990s after Shi'ite protesters, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, took to the streets in February.
The clashes have killed at least 13 protesters and four police and prompted Bahrain to declare martial law and invite troops by Sunni Gulf neighbors who are wary of the regional influence of Shi'ite neighbor Iran.
NERVOUS OR CONFIDENT?
Gala Riani of risk analysts IHS Global Insight said the sackings showed that the government felt under fire: "This shows, to some degree, both how nervous they (the rulers) are and also how confident they are."
"They feel like they've got the security situation under control, so they can fire people in the dozens or the hundreds without risking renewed mass protests."
After security forces crushed the protests, the government launched a crackdown on opposition activists, Shi'ite villages and media such as the only opposition newspaper, Al-Wasat.
It suspended the newspaper on Sunday, accusing it of falsifying news about the unrest, replaced the editor and resumed printing on Monday, the same day it arrested and expelled two journalists, both Iraqis.
A government spokeswoman said Al Wasat had broken press laws.
Some political analysts said large-scale dismissals of Shi'ite workers could speed up the disintegration of Bahrain's society into Shi'ite and Sunni enclaves.
"They're basically punishing people to the degree that they can, and I think in the long term this is a very risky strategy for them to take," IHS Global Insight's Riani said.
More lay-offs are expected at Bahrain Petroleum (Bapco) which has fired the head of its workers' union. Workers fear that hundreds could be fired at the company after parliament launched an investigation headed by a Sunni hardline deputy.
"Everybody is afraid," a worker who did not wish to be named told Reuters.
CNBC, Tues Apr 5 2011
Workers Fight Back Against More Than 700 Anti-Union Bills
Camden County Manager Randell Woodruff alleges the company owes around $2.9 million, including penalties and interest. Yet, the United States government permits multibillion-dollar companies to play by a different set of rules, while average Americans are asked to sacrifice their pensions and social services.
While Erik Prince gallivants around the planet, his pockets stuffed with untaxed revenue, educators and union members marched in the streets of Philadelphia yesterday to protest the state education budget that contains a 54 percent cut to public higher education spending.
Students like Azeem Hill approach the issue of education cuts, which oftentimes lead to tuition hikes, less myopically than some political leaders. "Youth violence is one of the reactions to educational deprivation," Hill said. "The more we send to jail, the more crime we can expect down the line."
In Florida, citizens joined a national day of union-led rallies honoring the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination by protesting Governor Rick Scott's appearance at an economic forum. Florida's rally was one part of more than 1,000 groups holding nationwide protests as part of the "We Are One" demonstrations. WR1 emphasizes that King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968 while standing in solidarity with sanitation workers who were demanding their dream: the right to collectively bargain for a "voice at work and a better life."
The WR1 chapter in Michigan attracted more than 500 supporters in downtown Muskegon. Participants carried signs that read "Stand Up For Workers Rights" and "Unions also are We the People." Meanwhile, more than 700 anti-union bills, many of them similar to laws in Wisconsin and Ohio, have been introduced in nearly every state in the country. Quite literally, labor is under attack, according to this protester in Detroit, where hundreds of union members rallied downtown yesterday.
"The pay cuts, the tax on pensions, it's just too much," said Horace Stallings, a grounds worker at Wayne State University and an AFSCME member who marched along with other members down Woodward.
"We can't take it. It's anti-labor to the core."
In New York City, more than 1,000 people, mostly local union members, rallied against budget cuts at City Hall. As Pat Gibbons from Communications Workers of America Local 1101 put it, "We want our fair share because we do the work."
The Notion, Tues Apr 5 2011
Why Martin Luther King Jr. Would Support the Public Worker Protests
Forty-three years ago my father, Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated while he was in Memphis, Tenn., supporting a strike of municipal sanitation workers. It was, in his eyes, more than a quest for a few more dollars in a paycheck. He saw the strike as part of the great struggle of his time-a struggle for democracy, for truth, for justice and for human dignity.
These are the same basic reasons that my father would be joining with millions of other Americans today in supporting public employees in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and other states, where collective bargaining is now under attack.
Martin Luther King Jr. would be marching for democracy: During the 2010 election campaigns in Wisconsin, the Republican candidate for governor did not honestly present his plan to effectively eliminate collective bargaining; he waited until after the election. As a result, the voters never had the chance to examine the plan in detail or to hear an open debate on the issue. When they entered the voting booth, the citizens could not know what they were voting for. When voters are deceived about the actual policies a candidate plans to enact, democracy is undermined just as surely as if they are physically prevented from casting their ballot.
The abuse of democracy was compounded when newly elected Gov. Scott Walker introduced massive corporate tax reductions that vastly increased the state deficit and then presented the increased deficits as the "emergency" which justified measures to permanently eviscerate unions. A candidate can openly advocate that corporations should not pay taxes or that unions should be abolished in all but name as a matter of basic social policy, but he cannot truthfully present the second measure as being caused by an emergency beyond his control when it is largely a direct result of his actions.
Martin Luther King Jr. would be marching for truth: The most famous public employee in Wisconsin today is a bus driver who earned $160,000, an example presented as the "smoking gun" proof of overgenerous union contracts. Yet the actual starting salary for bus drivers in Madison is $17 per hour and after 36 years, this driver was making $26 hourly. His "high" pay was the result of more than 2,000 hours of overtime on nights and weekends at time and a half. His straight-time salary was not even $50,000 a year.
To present this atypical case as proof of exorbitant union pay recalls memories of false stereotypes, such as the "welfare queens driving Cadillacs" of previous decades, a reprehensible distortion designed to whip up animosity toward both African Americans and social programs. The example of the $160,000 bus driver is a very similar distortion, though targeted more to build resentment against public employees and government spending.
Martin Luther King Jr. would be marching for justice: In the debate over the Bush tax cuts last fall, conservatives vehemently argued that it was grossly unfair to impose 1990's era tax rates on people with incomes above $200,000 because such people were not really affluent. Yet today, bus drivers who make $50,000 and teachers who make even less are vilified as social parasites who are outrageously overpaid. Wall Street traders are said to be morally entitled to large six-figure bonuses because of the sanctity of their contracts, but the contracts of teachers and bus drivers are described as empty pieces of paper that should be voided at will. Behind this cynical double standard lies the condescending contempt of a privileged elite toward people who work hard and punch time clocks.
Martin Luther King Jr. would be marching for dignity: The fundamental purpose of unions has always been job security and protection from arbitrary firing, not simply larger paychecks. Before unions, workers would "shape up" before factory gates and beg to be chosen for a days' labor.
In the past some state governments that were unable to offer wage increases in negotiations offered in their place long-term fringe benefits that later proved fiscally unsustainable. In recent years, municipal unions have again and again negotiated "give-backs" through collective bargaining that substantially reduce these benefits but preserve workers' rights to representation and basic human dignity. In Wisconsin, the unions conceded to all of Gov. Scott Walker's financial demands in the earliest days of the conflict, only to find that his covert agenda was not fiscal prudence but their complete evisceration.
On April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of my father, I'll be joining the with thousands of Americans of all races in the nationwide "We Are One" demonstrations supporting America's public employees, trade unions and working people in a common quest for jobs, justice and decency for all citizens. In this endeavor, we seek the support of all Americans of good will.
AFL-CIO Now Blog, Mon Apr 4 2011
Byline: Martin Luther King III
Bahrain: Wave of Sackings, Threats and Violence Against Workers and Union Representatives
« Such punitive actions, especially dismissals, for having taken part in legitimate demonstrations, is a flagrant violation of ILO Convention 111 concerning discrimination at work, which Bahrain has ratified, and of Convention 87 on Freedom of Association which Bahrain is obliged to respect. The ITUC will be pursuing this matter, and the situation in Bahrain in general, at the ILO including at the annual ILO Conference this June," added Burrow.
About 300 workers have been dismissed for taking part in the strike and in demonstrations, mainly from the aluminium company Alba (Aluminium Bahrain BSC) and the Khalifa Sea Port (driven by APM terminal). Around 40 workers have apparently also been dismissed by Gulf Air. Furthermore, the aluminium company Alba has announced that it will make its rules and procedures even tougher, notably through action in the courts against striking workers.
Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain, President of the trade union at the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) has been sacked for having "called on workers to take part in the general strike" and faces legal action in the coming days. The company management has threatened to take legal action against other members of the union as well.
Bahrain University is also the scene of heavy anti-union repression. The Vice President of the Bahraini Teachers' Association and four other members of the union's leadership were arrested on 29 March, and the union's General Secretary the following day. Nineteen students were also arrested, and the payment of salaries of certain lecturers and union members was stopped. Students supported by scholarships who participated in demonstrations have been punished by non-renewal of their scholarships.
With the GFBTU expecting the wave of sackings to flow to other key enterprises, the ITUC denounces the dismissals as "an economic massacre following the deplorable human massacre of the past few weeks".
The punitive policy being imposed on workers and their union representatives is all the more unacceptable given that the GFBTU called on workers to return to work, and received assurances from the authorities that there would be no punishment for those who participated in the industrial action. The GFBTU call for a return to work was done in order to promote a spirit of national dialogue and in the interests of the country's economy.
"These degrading and unjust actions must stop. The GFBTU, which has the absolute support of the international trade union movement, must be allowed to continue to protect its members and their legitimate rights, in line with the fundamental principal of freedom of association," said Burrow. "All forms of anti-union repression must stop immediately - only negotiation can resolve the political and socio-economic problems facing Bahrain".
Since mid-February, when the unprecedented popular protests started, the Bahraini authorities' bloody repression, supported by troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, has caused the deaths of at least 20 people, while some 300 have been detained without any information available on where they are being held. Several dozen others have disappeared and 300 have been injured. Some of the most seriously-injured were further brutalised, and even chained to their beds, while medical staff were trying to treat them.
Teachers, doctors, artists, human rights defenders, cyber-activists, members of political parties and others face arrest, and the regime is also trying to stop the publication of the independent Al-Wasat newspaper. Armed thugs had already attacked the newspapers printing shop some weeks ago.
The ITUC also condemns the replacement of workers who took part in strike action by non-strikers. It is especially concerned for migrant workers, who are simply seeking to make an honest living but whose lives are in danger due to the political machinations of the regime.*
ITUC, Mon Apr 4 2011
Unions Make the Middle Class: Without Unions, the Middle Class Withers
Why should anyone—especially those who are not union members—care that union membership is at record lows and likely to fall even further? Because if you care about the middle class, you need to care about unions.
Critics of unions claim they are unimportant today or even harmful to the economy, but unions are essential for building a strong middle class. And rebuilding the middle class after decades of decline and stagnation is essential for restoring our economy.
Unions make the middle class strong by ensuring workers have a strong voice in both the market and in our democracy. When unions are strong they are able to ensure that workers are paid fair wages, receive the training they need to advance to the middle class, and are considered in corporate decision-making processes. Unions also promote political participation among all Americans, and help workers secure government policies that support the middle class, such as Social Security, family leave, and the minimum wage.
But as unions became weaker over the past four decades, they are less and less able to perform these functions—and the middle class withered. The percentage of workers in unions steadily declined largely because the legal and political environment prevents private-sector workers from freely exercising their right to join or not to join a union. Membership in private-sector unions stands at less than 7 percent today, from around 30 percent in the late 1960s. Public-sector unionization remained stable for decades—it was 37 percent in 1979 and is 36 percent today—but is now under significant threat from conservative political opposition and could start declining as well. All told, less than 12 percent of the total workforce is unionized, and this percentage is likely to continue falling.
Without the counterbalance of workers united together in unions, the middle class withers because the economy and politics tend to be dominated by the rich and powerful, which in turn leads to an even greater flow of money in our economy to the top of income scale. As can be seen in Figure 1, the percentage of unionized workers tracks very closely with the share of the nation’s income going to the middle class—those in the middle three-fifths of income earners.
In recent years, the middle class accounted for the smallest share of the nation’s income ever since the end of World War II, when this data was first collected. The middle three income quintiles, representing 60 percent of all Americans, received only 46 percent of the nation’s income in 2009, the most recent year data is available, down from highs of around 53 percent in 1969.
The middle class weakened over the past several decades because the rich secured the lion’s share of the economy’s gains. The share of pretax income earned by the richest 1 percent of Americans more than doubled between 1974 and 2007, climbing to 18 percent from 8 percent. And for the richest of the rich—the top 0.1 percent—the gains have been even more astronomical—quadrupling over this period, rising to 12.3 percent of all income from 2.7 percent.
In contrast, incomes for most Americans have been nearly flat over this same time period, and median income after accounting for inflation actually fell for working-age households during the supposedly good economy in the recovery between 2001 and 2007. The importance of unions to the middle class is not just a historical phenomenon, but is relevant to our lives today. To be sure, not everything unions do benefits the broad middle class, but unions are critical to defending the middle class, and their resurgence is key to rebuilding the middle class.
Indeed, it is hard to imagine a middle-class society without a strong union movement.
Across the globe, the countries with the strongest middle classes all have strong union movements. And in America today, states with higher concentrations of union members have a much stronger middle class. The 10 states with the lowest percentage of workers in unions all have a relatively weak middle class, with the share of total state income going to households in the middle three-fifths of income earners in these states below the average for all states.
Our analysis, more fully described in the body and appendix of this report, indicates that each percentage point increase in union membership puts about $153 more per year into the pockets of the middle class—meaning that if unionization rates increased by 10 percentage points (about the level they were in 1980)—then the typical middle class household would earn $1,532 more this year. This figure indicates how much better off all members of the middle class would be—not just those who are union members— if unions regained some strength. And these gains would continue year after year. To put these results in context, our analysis indicates that increasing union membership is as important to rebuilding the middle class as boosting college graduation rates, results that while shocking to some, are consistent with previous research.
In our democracy, when workers are joined together in unions they are able to more forcefully and effectively speak for their interests. Unions give workers a greater voice not only by promoting political participation among all Americans—ensuring that more of the middle class vote and get involved in politics—but also by being an advocate on behalf of the middle class in the daily, inner-workings of government and politics.
This provides a check on other powerful political interests, such as corporations and the very wealthy, and ensures that our system of government has the balance of interests that James Madison, a chief framer of our constitution, thought necessary to properly function. This counterbalancing role is essential for democracy to function properly and respond to the interests of all Americans.
In the workplace, workers who join together in unions are able to negotiate on more equal footing with their employers, providing a check on the inherently unequal relationship between employer and employee. As George Shultz, secretary of labor during the Nixon administration and secretary of state during the Reagan administration argued in support of trade unions, in “a healthy workplace, it is very important that there be some system of checks and balances."
Indeed, the ability of workers united together to provide a check on corporate power was the very reason Congress guaranteed private-sector workers the right to join a union, writing in the findings section of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935:
The inequality of bargaining power between employees who do not possess full freedom of association or actual liberty of contract and employers who are organized in the corporate or other forms of ownership association substantially burdens and affects the flow of commerce, and tends to aggravate recurrent business depressions, by depressing wage rates and the purchasing power of wage earners in industry and by preventing the stabilization of competitive wage rates and working conditions within and between industries.
And government employers, like corporations, sometimes need to be reminded by organized workers to treat their employees fairly. That’s why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis in 1968 to help city sanitation workers gain recognition for their union as they faced low pay, terrible working conditions, and racist supervisors. Even the conservative icon Ronald Reagan recognized that publicsector workers should be able to join unions and collectively bargain. Reagan signed a bill to grant municipal and county employees the right to do so when he was governor of California.
Critically, the benefits of workers having a voice in the economy and in democracy spill over to all of society. In these ways, unions make the middle class. The challenge of rebuilding the middle class will take a long time, but would be impossible without a clear understanding of what makes the middle class strong. This paper will explore in detail why we need to do this and how we need to go about it. To rebuild America’s middle class, we need to rebuild the labor movement. It’s that simple—and that challenging.
Canadians decry WI anti-labor union law
The rally organized by some major labor unions from three different states in North America, including the Washington State Labor Council, Oregon AFL-CIO and the BC Federation of Labor was held on Saturday at the Peace Arch border crossing in British Columbia, a Press TV correspondent in Vancouver reported.
Participants of the "International Solidarity" rally took issue with the mounting assault on labor unions in the US states of Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker sparked outrage recently by pressing ahead with his anti-union law that eliminates collective bargaining rights of over 200,000 workers.
Republicans in 37 US states are pushing to limit the bargaining rights of public workers as well as the ability of unions to collect dues.
Walker, who has been beset by mounting criticism over his plans to lay off thousands of public servants, has claimed that the budget bill would slash Wisconsin's structural deficit by 90 percent to $250 million.
During the rally, many Canadian protesters conjured up their economic hardships in British Columbia roughly six years ago, when Bill 29, a provincial bill, which allowed for the contracting out of health services, could have resulted in over 9,000 layoffs.
Hunted by the ghosts of the past, many Canadians are worried over the recent union-busting throughout the United States, and complain that they do not want the flu to spread further north.
"The attention on unions and what they do is at the highest level, probably in two or three decades. Folks understand what unions do and how important they are as a check to a corporate agenda," said Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO.
Labor unions say such union busting measures are not needed to rein in the budget deficits, and the working class should not be punished for the recession while banks and other huge corporations get bailed out.
They feel it is especially unfair at this time as North Americans are facing deregulation and free-trade agreements that consistently transfer their jobs to cheaper labor zones.
Press TV, Sun Apr 3 2011
Foreign-worker restrictions panned Lukaszuk, Duncan dismiss new federal rules
A new federal policy forcing people who immigrate under the program to leave the country after four years, then wait four more years before they can reapply, comes into effect Friday. "It's rather counter-intuitive," Alberta Minister of Employment and Immigration Thomas Lukaszuk said.
If Alberta trains the workers, gives them experience to add to their resumes, then sends them packing, countries like Australia will be sending us thank-you cards, Lukaszuk said Thursday.
"We now know our labour shortages will not be sporadic. The temporary worker solution is fine for temporary shortages but we shouldn't be applying a temporary solution to what appears to be a permanent problem. What we really need in Canada is a foreign worker program with paths to permanent residency."
Duncan, who is running for the NDP, called a joint news conference Thursday with the Alberta Federation of Labour and Filipino worker Danilo De Leon.
De Leon works as a cashier at a Petro Canada. He would like to stay in Edmonton and sponsor his wife and two daughters but that's unlikely to happen.
Two years ago, Duncan's office was getting calls from small businesses closing their doors because they couldn't compete with the salaries being paid in Fort McMurray.
That stopped with the downturn, but now industry reports say a new labour shortage is already affecting the petroleum sector and will likely be more severe than that witnessed in 2007.
Premier Ed Stelmach recently warned that rig operators and staff in the transportation industry are already scare.
"The answer to this should not be let's just bring in temporary foreign workers with no equal rights," Duncan said. "We need a strategy for employment in this county, a strategy in this province."
"It's absolutely appalling that we have this four years and you're out rule."
Since 2007, Alberta has had more people enter the province annually through the temporary foreign worker program than through traditional immigration streams. About 60,000 temporary foreign workers currently live here and 28,610 more came in 2009, the last year for which numbers are available.
Alberta is allowed to sponsor 5,000 of those workers, giving them a chance at permanent residency, "but that doesn't even scratch the surface of what the requirement will be," Lukaszuk said.
If someone under the temporary program can't get sponsored from the province, they have to move outside the country before applying to re-enter as a permanent resident.
"We're going to be short 100,000 people in the next four to five years. If you have a cap of 5,000 people under that program, you are going to be continuously falling behind," said Ken Kobly, president of the Alberta Chamber of Commerce.
"I agree with her," he said referring to Duncan, joking that his statement would likely give the NDP candidate a heart attack.
"We're coming out of this downturn a lot faster than expected. We need to look at growing our labour force with permanent immigrants," Kobly said.
"Temporary foreign workers should have a leg up on everybody else. They come into the county. They can stay for four years. If they prove themselves to be of good character and stay out of trouble, effectively they are serving a four-year probation period."
On the campaign trail, Duncan's opponent, Conservative candidate Ryan Hastman said the "temporary foreign worker program is working.
"What's clear is (Duncan) is using the election platform to give a boost to big labour and to try and make a partisan issue out of a foreign labour program that has been very successful," Hastman said.
"Business groups and employers have called for (the program) to continue, and I don't think now is the time for Duncan and big labour to attack our immigration policies and push hot buttons just because there is an election campaign."
Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose, who is running in Edmonton-Spruce Grove, said if there is a problem with the 5,000-person cap, it will be addressed through consultation with the province and employers.
Temporary workers "do have an option to apply to be a permanent resident," she said.
"But they do have to do that through the proper channel. This program was always meant to be a temporary program that's employer driven to deal with temporary shortages in the labour market."
Edmonton Journal, Fri Apr 1 2011
Byline: Elise Stolte
Don’t believe the hype! Economic Climate has the facts on gov’t spending
Media personalities and corporate lobbyists have been abuzz over supposed increases in government spending. "It's out of control!" they cry. "It's unsustainable!"
But is that really the truth? CUPE Economist Toby Sanger crunched the numbers and discovered that, in fact, government spending has been cut to its lowest share of the economy in at least three decades.
Despite this reality, taxes have continued to go up for much of the public. Why? A shift in our tax system has meant reduced taxes for business and high-income earners, while consumption-based taxes on households increase.
Still, corporate lobbyists are using misinformation about public sector salaries to gain support for further cuts to corporate taxes and public spending.
Learn more about this and other important economic developments in the latest issue of Economic Climate for Bargaining!
In this issue you'll also find:
- Details on Wisconsin and American attacks on the public sector
- An up-to-date economic outlook for Canadians
- Information on the recent commodity boom
- The latest on job market struggles
- The effects of oil and food price increases
- What really happens when inflation increases
- The truth about public sector wages
cupe.ca, Fri Apr 1 2011
Collective Bargaining Rights Being Destroyed in Maryland Sparks Protest
Collective Bargaining is the heart of the relationship between the employer and employee. It is considered the legal binding contract between the employer and employee. While many city, state, and federal officials continue efforts to void or violate the collective bargaining agreement which weakens the power of the employees, we have to consider their agenda. Just think we have contracts for the most important parts of our lives such as our mortgage, car payment, life insurance, and etc. Even the people that are trying to ruin collective bargaining have contracts with the position that they hold that dictates their wages, healthcare, and pensions. These people I am referring to are our legislators; they all have a contract with the people that they represent. So why won't they figure out ways to give up or violate their contract before they begin to violate or void the contract with the working men and women in America.
In Anne Arundel County, the County Council voted unanimously to remove a third party arbitrator from binding arbitration and place themselves to be allowed to have the final say. This was determined in the early part of March, with a seven member council which is composed of four republicans and three democrats. This measure was taken although eighty percent of the voters in 2002 voted for a referendum to allow firefighters and police officers to have binding arbitration.
In Baltimore City, the firefighters and police officers have filed a 57 page federal lawsuit against the City of Baltimore. The City of Baltimore has been accused of purposely underfunding the pension system and violating the contractual agreement in the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). The federal lawsuit was filed because of the vote in June 2010 by the Baltimore City Council to change the amount of years that firefighters and police officers must work before retiring, the benefits are changing, and the firefighters and police officers will be obligated to contribute more out of their paycheck to their retirement.
In Montgomery County, County Executive Isiah Leggett has decided to ignore the decision rendered by the third party arbitrator of not changing pension and health care contributions. This clearly violates collective bargaining rights between employer and employee. He still proposes pension cuts and a sizeable cut in county health care contributions.
All of these employees are on the front line. They are all hoping to have their voice lifted because they understand that if their collective bargaining rights are violated today, it is only the beginning. The beginning stages of crippling our middleclass and supporting the attacks on American Workers. These clear violations of collective bargaining rights will only stagnate the economy and destroy the future for young workers. Remember Wisconsin is where the door opened and now it is happening in Democratic states such as Maryland making it imperative for American workers to stand in solidarity. It is imperative that we have strong legislators to speak out on attacks against the middleclass. It is incumbent upon us to protect the future of young workers in America by protecting the standards and quality of life that we are enduring, instead of being passive.
corymccray.com, Fri Apr 1 2011
Wisconsin Update: ‘Budget Repair’ bill not in effect, for now
Sumi denied all of the DOJ objections, and ordered the hearing to proceed. It will determine whether Republican legislators violated laws requiring the budget repair bill to be discussed in an open meeting.
Until the hearing is concluded, Sumi has put the bills anti-union measures on hold.
"Based on the briefs of counsel, the uncontroverted testimony, and the evidence received at the March 29, 2011, evidentiary hearing, it is hereby DECLARED that 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 has not been published within the meaning of (state statutes), and is therefore not in effect," said Judge Sumi in here ruling.
Gov. Walker's administration said it would comply with the order, for now, and has halted implementation of the budget repair bill.
Recall campaigns for eight Republican senators in full swing
Wisconsin Democrats say they have enough petition signatures to trigger a recall election of Senator Dan Kapanke, one of eight Senate Republicans targeted over votes to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers. If approved, it would be just the fifth recall election of a Wisconsin legislator.
Volunteers have gathered more than the 15,588 signatures needed.
Winning the hearts and minds
Rallies are planned across Wisconsin and across the United States for April 4, 2011.This commemorates the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. He was killed while in Memphis, TN, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life.
Beginning with worship services over the weekend, and continuing through the week of April 4, unions, people of faith, civil and human rights activists, students and other progressive allies will host a range of community- and workplace-focused actions.
A recent Gallup poll shows nearly half of Americans, 48 percent, say they agree with public-sector unions in these disputes, compared with 38 percent who agree with governors including Gov. Walker. Thirteen percent say they favor neither side or don't have an opinion.
cupe.ca, Fri Apr 1 2011