Posted on March 31st, 2009
President Obama has seemingly signaled that blue-collar contracts are less sacred than bonus contracts for bankers. Is this what we voted for last November?
In watching President Obama’s announcement yesterday concerning the U.S. auto industry, I was disappointed to hear him suggest that UAW employees may be in line for even more forced concessions if the industry is to be saved. I hope that isn’t so. Especially not after hearing members of the administration defend the validity of AIG bonuses under the guise of honoring contracts.
If a contract is a contract, then it should be that way whether you’re an overpaid executive or an assembly line worker struggling to keep his family afloat. I hope President Obama understands that as well.
Watch the President’s address:
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Filed under: politics, poverty and wealth, solidarity, unionism, video
Posted on March 26th, 2009
Will you tell Arlen Specter to not take part in a tyranny of the minority?
So we learned over the past couple days that Senator Arlen Specter is no friend to the working man, as evidenced by his flip-flop on Employee Free Choice (a bill he once co-sponsored, but now won’t even let come to a vote).
In his speech from the floor of the Senate, Mr. Specter announced he would oppose even allowing the measure to be voted on by his Senate colleagues. By denying his vote for cloture (a measure to end debate in the Senate), Arlen Specter is saying he believes a minority has a right deny the majority their right to vote on a bill. This from a man who doesn’t believe the majority of workers in a workplace should have the right to choose for themselves how they want to join a union. In its own strange way, it makes perfect sense I suppose.
In a post yesterday, I strongly suggested that PA workers let Senator Specter know they don’t appreciate him standing in the way of a vote on Employee Free Choice. Today, I point out a convenient way for all of us to send our message to Senator Specter’s office. Courtesy of Keystone Progress, there’s a simple way to send a message telling Mr. Specter to at least let the EFCA come to a vote. Even if he doesn’t support it, he should allow his fellow senators to cast their votes.
Click here to send that message to Arlen Specter.
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Filed under: politics, rights, unionism
Posted on March 25th, 2009
Senator Arlen Specter announced his intent to abandon his prior support for the Employee Free Choice Act yesterday. The aging Pennsylvania Republican voted in favor of the bill last year, but has suddenly had a change of heart.
What changed — the EFCA provisions? No, they’re still the same. Maybe normal working people no longer need any help leveling the playing field? Nope, that’s not it either. So how is this year’s version of the bill different from last year’s?
Oh, that’s right. This year, the measure has a chance of passing, since we no longer have an anti-worker administration in the White House. And Specter is expected to face an ultra-conservative challenger in next year’s Republican primary, so he has to show he’s not a friend of labor unions. Even though he likes to say he is a friend of the labor movement.
I guess actions speak louder than words. Which is why I strongly encourage every Pennsylvania voter to contact Senator Specter’s office to let him know that his loyalty to working people is not measured by empty campaign promises or a yes vote on a measure he knows will never become law (especially when he votes against the same measure when it has a chance of being passed).
If you are a Pennsylvania voter, please let Senator Specter know what you think of his lack of principle on this issue. If you are any kind of voter at all, even if it’s not in Pennsylvania, please make sure your Senators know the EFCA is important to you as well. Make sure your representatives represent you!
Click here to find out how to contact your representatives. Make yourselves heard!
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Filed under: politics, rights, unionism
