Billionaire Tea Party financiers to lobby Alberta government: Koch Industries owned by billionaire brothers who fund Tea Party, climate change denial
Edmonton - An American energy conglomerate owned by two powerful billionaire brothers who help fund the Tea Party and climate change denial movements in the U.S. has registered to lobby the Alberta government.
Alberta's lobbyist registry shows that on March 15, Koch Industries signed up to lobby the province on energy and resource development policy issues, as well as taxation and economic development.
The company is run by Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in the world.
Koch Industries spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia did not respond to interview requests Wednesday but released a one-sentence statement.
"Koch companies want to add value by providing quality services and products our customers desire and value in a way that is compliant with all laws and regulations," she wrote.
She did not say what the company hopes to achieve by lobbying the government.
The registry shows the company's lobbying activities started March 3, and there is no fixed end date.
The federal lobbyist registry has no record of Koch Industries.
Calgary-based lobbyist David Keto of Global Public Affairs has been hired to arrange meetings and conduct grassroots and informal communications on behalf of the company.
Keto was executive assistant to cabinet minister David Coutts for two years ending in 2003. His company biography says he most recently worked in Alberta Finance as the project manager for the Alberta royalty review secretariat.
The extent of Koch Industries' holdings in Alberta is not known.
The company website says subsidiary Flint Hills Resources is among Canada's largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters. The company operates a crude oil terminal in Hardisty, 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. It also has offices in Calgary.
Flint Hills' Pine Bend Refinery in Minnesota was specifically designed to process Alberta's bitumen. Some reports suggest that refinery processes 325,000 barrels of crude oil a day and that 260,000 of those barrels come from Alberta. Cohlmia did not respond to a request to confirm those numbers.
Forbes magazine says Koch Industries is the second-largest private corporation in the United States with interests in pipelines, refineries and a host of other businesses.
The magazine's ranks Charles and David Koch at 24th in the list of the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $17.5 billion.
The company came to public attention in 2010 when New Yorker investigative reporter Jane Mayer published an article titled Covert Operations, in which she characterized the brothers as "primary underwriters of hard-line libertarian politics in America."
The brothers help fund the Tea Party organization, a right-wing political movement in the United States.
Mayer reviewed tax records that showed the pair poured more than a $100 million into dozens of "seemingly independent organizations," which Mayer says amount to the "subsidization of a pro-corporate movements."
"Many of the organizations funded by the Kochs employ specialists who write position papers that are subsequently quoted by politicians and pundits," Mayer wrote.
In 2010, a University of Massachusetts research institute named Koch Industries one of the top 10 air polluters in the United States.
The same year, Greenpeace reported that foundations controlled by Koch Industries contributed nearly $25 million to organizations that oppose clean energy and climate policy. The environmental advocates called the company "a financial kingpin of climate science denial."
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan worries the company's lobbying efforts will undermine the province's relationship with unions.
The New York Times has reported the Koch brothers were among the largest contributors to Wisconsin Senator Scott Walker's campaign. After weeks of rancorous protests, Walker on March 11 signed into law a bill that limits bargaining rights for most government workers in that state.
"The Koch brothers are the drivers behind the attacks on working Americans. We're concerned that they're going to start peddling the same kind of divisive and destructive policies here," McGowan said.
Premier Ed Stelmach said the province has good relationships with unions and has no plans to change its practices.
"We have the least days of labour disruption in this province. We are doing quite well, we have a good working relationship," he said. "Why would we change?"
Calgary Herald, Thurs Mar 24 2011
Byline: Karen Kleiss
Walker’s Attacks Strengthen River Falls Faculty Resolve to Vote For Union
"What we've seen at UW-River Falls today is an extension of what we've seen across our state since Walker announced his disastrous bill," said Wes Chapin, a professor of political science at River Falls.
Our state is at a crossroads. Wisconsin has a long and proud history of fairness, integrity and progressivism. The labor movement has been, and will continue to be, central to that history. Today, UW-River Falls faculty made a stand in preserving that history, and moving Wisconsin forward.
Chapin said Walker's anti-worker legislation galvanized the faculty's resolve to form a union.
Our strength cannot be legislated away. Our strength is, and always has been, our collective voice-a voice that is stronger than ever.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said:
This landslide election, along with the other recent University of Wisconsin campus union victories, demonstrates that workers...will not let Gov. Walker's anti-democratic, anti-worker ideological agenda deny them their right to form a union.
Faculty and academic staff tried for years to win the freedom to collectively bargain, a right they finally achieved in 2009. Since that time, faculty at five campuses-UW-Eau Claire, UW-Superior, UW La Crosse, UW-Stout and now UW River Falls-have voted in favor of collective bargaining representation. Three voted after the Walker-backed legislation was introduced.
AFl-CIO Now Blog, Thurs Mar 24 2011
Byline: James Parks
Wisconsin Court Upholds Milwaukee Paid Sick Leave Law
But Republican state legislators are backing a bill that would prevent Wisconsin cities and towns from establishing their own paid sick leave laws. Dana Schultz, lead organizer for 9to5, the National Association of Working Women, says:
Milwaukeeans have made their decision on paid sick days, and now the courts have upheld their vote. The State Legislature should not be trying to rob voters in Milwaukee and cities across the state of their basic right to local decision-making on sick days or any other laws....It's time for the State Legislature to stop its attacks on hard-working families and get to work on policies that will help create jobs and grow our economy.
In November 2008 voters approved by 70 percent the ordinance that requires large businesses to provide employees with up to nine sick days a year and small businesses up to five sick days. But in June 2009, employers were granted an injunction in legal battle that wound its way to the state Supreme Court and then back to the Court of Appeals.
New research on paid sick day laws in other cities shows significant benefits for workers and minimal impact on businesses. A study last month of San Francisco's paid sick days law shows business concerns about job loss were unfounded, with six in seven employers saying that paid sick days have had no negative effect on profitability and two-thirds of employers surveyed supporting the law. Other studies have shown that employees are healthier and more productive when they have access to paid sick days.
Nationwide, more than 44 million private-sector workers in the United States-42 percent of the private-sector workforce-don't have paid sick days they can use to recover from a common illness like the flu.
Recent surveys show three-quarters of Americans say paid sick leave should be a "basic workers' right" and Congress should pass legislation that guarantees workers paid sick leave. More than 160 countries provide paid sick leave, but not the United States.
AFL-CIO Now Blog, Thurs Mar 24, 2011
Byline: Mike Hall
Class war not welcome
Latouche suggests fat-cat trash collectors, hospital cleaning staff and school maintenance workers are bankrupting government, that their salaries and benefits are to blame for record-breaking budget deficits.
His logic would be laughable were it not so misleading.
First off, governments are in trouble because unbridled corporate greed caused a global recession.
Then they tried to kick-start the economy by rewarding some of the same corporations with massive bailouts and tax breaks.
Over the past decade, the Alberta government has given away billions to the energy industry in incentives and royalty breaks, more than enough to eliminate the deficit.
As for the notion the public sector has enjoyed large pay increases while the private sector has suffered, the Alberta government's own data shows that in the past few years, raises for employees in the health, education and public administration sectors have been on par - or behind - those in the mining and oil, construction and utilities sectors.
Blaming public sector unions for provincial deficits makes about as much sense as blaming oilfield workers for rising gas prices.
Latouche says the answer to the "problem" of public sector unions is "managed competition" - which is just code for privatization and contracting out government services.
Whenever advocates try to make the case for hiring private companies to deliver public services, they conveniently ignore the hidden costs to taxpayers.
These include time and money spent monitoring the contractor, administrative fees and additional charges for "extra" work.
In the U.S., the Government Finance Officers Association estimates that this can increase the real cost of a public service by up to 25%.
Latouche argues that by having private businesses bidding against each other, it will drive down the price because the "lowest or best price will get the contract."
The problem with this argument is that private companies are in business to make a profit - they will do everything they can to keep costs down, perhaps even cutting corners or taking advantage of poorly worded provisions in a contract.
The truth is, the only real way that private contractors can deliver a public service more cheaply is by paying lower wages.
Racing to the bottom that way will only hurt entire communities, especially smaller towns where public sector employees support local businesses.
Bashing public employees has become a popular tactic by people who want governments to cut taxes for the rich and slash services to the rest of us.
Contrary to what Latouche and his ilk would have you believe, public service workers are hard-working, contributing members of the middle class. They coach their kids' teams, mow their lawns and pay their taxes, just like everyone else.
Smear campaigns and attacks on their dignity and their contributions to society are not the answer to government's financial woes.
Albertans should let their politicians know, in no uncertain terms, that a U.S.-style class war is not welcome here.
Calgary Sun, Thurs Mar 24 2011
Byline: Guy Smith, President
AUPE
California Town Slashes Public Services, Destroys Jobs
Late last week, 200 of the city's 450 workers were told that they would lose their jobs in September, according to the New York Times. Nearly every city department will be eliminated. More than a dozen tasks will be outsourced, including graffiti removal, firefighting, building maintenance and street cleaning.
But many see this move as political payback, not a real budget crisis, much like the power grabs in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan. They point out that the drive to outsource the jobs was led by a City Council member who fought a bruising battle against unions in his bid for office.
Wendy Leece, the only Council member to vote against the layoffs and a lifelong Republican, told the Times her colleagues were acting "recklessly."
The sky isn't falling, but there is a real effort by some to exaggerate the crisis.
Helen Nenadal, who has worked in the city's maintenance department for more than 30 years, added:
They should have been thinking from the very beginning what kind of cost saving they were going to get before doing this. They are on their mission.
AFL-CIO Now Blog, Thurs Mar 24 2011
Byline: James Parks
Unions ask Stelmach to confirm he's not considering U.S.-style attack on the rights of public-sector workers: AFL reveals cabinet minister’s links to think tank pushing Tea Party-style ...
"We have discovered that Jonathan Denis, MLA for Calgary Egmont and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, is a founding member and director of the Institute for Public Sector Accountability," says Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), which represents 140,000 workers.
"The head of this institute last week called for all levels of government in Alberta to re-examine the collective-bargaining process - following the example of several anti-union state governors in the U.S. It is simply unacceptable, un-constructive and unnecessarily provocative for a cabinet minister to be associated with an organization like this - especially when the government is currently at the bargaining table with tens of thousands of its employees."
" Right-wing governments in several states - including Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Indiana and Ohio - have declared war on teachers, nurses and other public sector workers who provide valuable services and form the backbone of the American middle class," adds McGowan. "Alberta must not head down this destructive path. These attacks have proved to be immensely unpopular with Americans and have led to mass protests. These polices would be equally unpopular with Albertans."
The AFL has also discovered that the billionaire Koch brothers, who have spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying and on funding the Tea Party and other extreme right-wing organizations south of the border, have made a move to influence Alberta politics.
"According to documents recently released from the provincial lobbyist registry, Koch Companies, of Wichita, Kansas, has hired a professional lobbyist in Edmonton to push the government on taxation, economic development, and energy and resource issues. The Koch brothers are the drivers behind the attacks on working Americans. We're concerned that they're going to start peddling the same kind of divisive and destructive polices here," says McGowan.
"In light of the minister's connection to a Tea-Party style right-wing think tank and the move by the Koch brothers to influence Alberta politics, we're asking Premier Stelmach to confirm that his government respects public-sector workers, will honour the collective-bargaining process and will not take any actions to remove workers' rights," says McGowan.
"Governments and workers have a long history of successfully collaborating to provide the great services that Albertans value. We need to hear that the Premier and his government are committed to continuing this relationship."
-30-
Contact: Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour @ 780-218-9888 (cell)
U.S. energy giant lobbying province: Koch Industries owned by billionaire brothers who fund Tea Party
Alberta's lobbyist registry shows that on March 15, Koch Industries signed up to lobby the province on energy and resource development policy issues, as well as taxation and economic development.
The company is run by Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in the world.
Koch Industries spokeswoman Melissa Cohlmia did not respond to interview requests Wednesday but released a one-sentence statement.
"Koch companies want to add value by providing quality services and products our customers desire and value in a way that is compliant with all laws and regulations," she wrote.
She did not say what the company hopes to achieve by lobbying the government.
The registry shows the company's lobbying activities started March 3, and there is no fixed end date.
The federal lobbyist registry has no record of Koch Industries.
Calgary-based lobbyist David Keto of Global Public Affairs has been hired to arrange meetings and conduct grassroots and informal communications on behalf of the company.
Keto was executive assistant to cabinet minister David Coutts for two years ending in 2003. His company biography says he most recently worked in Alberta Finance as the project manager for the Alberta royalty review secretariat.
The extent of Koch Industries' holdings in Alberta is not known.
The company website says subsidiary Flint Hills Resources is among Canada's largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters. The company operates a crude oil terminal in Hardisty, 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. It also has offices in Calgary.
Flint Hills' Pine Bend Refinery in Minnesota was specifically designed to process Alberta's bitumen. Some reports suggest that refinery processes 325,000 barrels of crude oil a day and that 260,000 of those barrels come from Alberta. Cohlmia did not respond to a request to confirm those numbers.
Forbes magazine says Koch Industries is the second-largest private corporation in the United States with interests in pipelines, refineries and a host of other businesses.
The magazine's ranks Charles and David Koch at 24th in the list of the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $17.5 billion.
The company came to public attention in 2010 when New Yorker investigative reporter Jane Mayer published an article titled Covert Operations, in which she characterized the brothers as "primary underwriters of hard-line libertarian politics in America."
The brothers help fund the Tea Party organization, a right-wing political movement in the United States.
Mayer reviewed tax records that showed the pair poured more than a $100 million into dozens of "seemingly independent organizations," which Mayer says amount to the "subsidization of a pro-corporate movements."
"Many of the organizations funded by the Kochs employ specialists who write position papers that are subsequently quoted by politicians and pundits," Mayer wrote.
In 2010, a University of Massachusetts research institute named Koch Industries one of the top 10 air polluters in the United States.
The same year, Greenpeace reported that foundations controlled by Koch Industries contributed nearly $25 million to organizations that oppose clean energy and climate policy. The environmental advocates called the company "a financial kingpin of climate science denial."
Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan worries the company's lobbying efforts will undermine the province's relationship with unions.
The New York Times has reported the Koch brothers were among the largest contributors to Wisconsin Senator Scott Walker's campaign. After weeks of rancorous protests, Walker on March 11 signed into law a bill that limits bargaining rights for most government workers in that state.
"The Koch brothers are the drivers behind the attacks on working Americans. We're concerned that they're going to start peddling the same kind of divisive and destructive policies here," McGowan said.
Premier Ed Stelmach said the province has good relationships with unions and has no plans to change its practices.
"We have the least days of labour disruption in this province. We are doing quite well, we have a good working relationship," he said. "Why would we change?"
Edmonton Journal, Wed Mar 23 2011
Calgary Herald, Wed Mar 23 2011
Byline: Karen Kleiss
March 2011: Wisconsin protests; forklift safety; Alberta govt failing to collect billions; equality still a dream in Alberta; IAMAW 99 fight against CLAC
- From Wisconsin to Egypt, from Mexico to Canada, the rights of workers are under attack. The right of public-sector unionized workers to bargain collectively has been taken away in Wisconsin and similar moves are planned in other states south of the border. Meanwhile, the billionaire Koch brothers, who have funded this anti-union, anti middle-class campaign, have been revealed to have significant business interests in Alberta. They may be giving money to right-wing parties here! For more information ... and AFL video ... For the AFL Workers' Rights page ... To stay informed, follow us on Twitter and connect with us on Facebook.
- It's been a century since International Women's Day was launched, but Alberta women still earn, on average, only 72 cents for every dollar a man earns. Alberta is the only jurisdiction in Canada that does not give women and official voice to bring focus to this important issue and help to end the unfairness. The AFL is working to change this by aggressively lobbying MLAs. For more information ... and see also ...
AFL - making workplaces safer
- Campaigns by the AFL on workplace safety have resulted in positive moves by the Alberta government, which announced it would be hiring more inspectors and that it would initiate a forklift-safety blitz. However, the government's actions fell far short of what is needed to keep Alberta workers safe, so the AFL pressure continues. For more information ... and for recent release on forklift safety ...
Government pleads poverty while failing to collect billions
- The Alberta government released a budget inspired by the Wildrose Alliance, one that continued the starvation diet for Alberta's valued public services and included no plan to shore up the province's flagging revenues. Meanwhile, a coalition of unions called on the Auditor General to investigate why the government was failing to collect billions of dollars every year, by not meeting its own targets for revenue from oil and gas operations. For more information ... and for the release on the Auditor General's report ...
Urgent Action
- Join the fight against CLAC! - IAM Local Lodge 99 is locked in a runoff battle with CLAC to represent hundreds of workers at OEM Remanufacturing in Edmonton, an engine and powertrain component remanufacturing company, serving the railway, natural gas and diesel sectors. IAM has been fighting for nearly seven years to represent these workers, but victory is in sight. The Alberta Labour Relations Board has ruled that the OEM workers have the right to choose their own union, and IAM has a short time to campaign for votes. But they need your help. For details ... Also go to www.oem99.ca
Events
- March 22 - World Water Day
- March 26 - Friends of Medicare health-care rally at the Legislature (www. friendsofmedicare.org)
- March 31 - CUPE Alberta convention, Grande Prairie
- March 31 - Public Interest Alberta Annual Advocacy Conference
- April 2 - 27th Annual Labour Appreciation Night
- April 28-May 1 - AFL Convention
Did you know ...
- That some CLAC contracts say no union activity is allowed at the workplace during working hours "except that which is necessary for the processing of grievances and enforcement" of the collective agreement.
- That some CLAC contracts allow for only four hours' notice of layoffs, or say that no notice is required for layoffs due to equipment failure, material shortage or "other reasons."
- That some CLAC contracts stipulate that, in the event of it and the employer failing to resolve a matter of contention, "it agrees that the decisive word resides with management."
- That some CLAC contracts "will not permit or encourage any cessation of work, strike, slowdown or otherwise restrict or interfere with the employer's operation." For more information ... and go to www.oem99.ca
Time to track farm safety
Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk writes to refute the Journal editorial "Confront lax law on farm safety," Opinion, March 16.
The minister cites the huge fines imposed for safety violations and he disputes the stats used by The Journal.
Unfortunately, he fails to mention the Alberta government does not know the number of deaths and injuries occurring in the agriculture industries because Alberta does not keep track. Only 55 per cent of hospitals have proper reporting systems for farm casualties.
He also did not mention that his ministry does not investigate farm accidents and therefore does not impose fines or penalties, and so his point that Alberta has higher fines is meaningless.
There is currently a request on the minister's desk from the official Opposition, the Alberta NDP, the Alberta Federation of Labour, the Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada and the Farmworkers Union of Alberta to investigate all agricultural workplace fatalities, serious injuries or injuries to a child.
We await his reply. Eric Musekamp, president, Farmworkers Union of Alberta, Bow Island
Edmonton Journal, Wed Mar 30 2011
If Election Was Held Today, Michigan’s Snyder Would Lose
Here's why Snyder lost favor so fast. According to a new Public Policy Polling survey released today, his financial martial law bill is hugely unpopular in the state with 50 percent of voters opposing it and only 32 percent supporting it.
Even more Michigan voters (59 percent-32 percent) believe public employees should have the right to collective bargaining and 49 percent would favor a state constitutional amendment to guarantee it and 37 percent would not. Even nonunion households understand the value of collective bargaining with 53 percent saying they support bargaining rights.
Snyder has fallen out of favor with his state's voters even more than his fellow Republicans Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have lost favor with their state's residents.
Just 33 percent of Michigan voters approve of Snyder's job performance, and 50 percent disapprove. The survey respondents also said if they could vote all over again, they'd pick Bernero over Snyder by 47 percent- 45 percent margin.
The poll summary says:
Snyder's ability to win big in a blue state was due to his successfully presenting himself to the voters as a centrist but he's lost that image with a lot of folks over the last few months.
For full poll, click here.
AFL-CIO now, Tues Mar 22 2011
Byline: James Parks