Poll: Americans Support Public Employees

by Tula Connell, Mar 9, 2011

A Bloomberg National Poll just out finds that 64 percent of Americans, including a plurality of Republicans, oppose Republican-led efforts to take away the right of workers to bargain for good middle-class jobs. The poll also finds public employees are viewed favorably by a large majority: 72 percent, compared with 17 percent who have an unfavorable view.

Sixty-three percent of respondents, including 55 percent of Republicans, say states without enough money to pay for all the pension benefits they have promised to current retirees shouldn’t be able to break those obligations.

In addition, 63 percent of those surveyed, including a majority of Democrats and Independents, say corporations wield more political clout than unions—an imbalance in the checks and balances process that the public undoubtedly understands will only worsen if anti-worker bills backed by governors like Scott Walker in Wisconsin and John Kasich in Ohio become law.

NFL Players Back Indiana Workers

by James Parks, Mar 9, 2011

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) today issued a statement of support for the working families in Indiana who are under assault by Gov. Mitch Daniels and a conservative majority in the legislature. In the statement, the players said:

The NFLPA stands together with the working families of Indiana and organized labor in their fight against this attempt to hurt them by targeting unions.

The hard-working people of Indiana, who work in both the public and private sectors, deserve the right to choose union representation and have collective protection for themselves and their families. The attacks on public employees in Indianapolis are particularly troubling. The teachers, nurses and people who keep us safe deserve our respect and strong representation from their unions. We stand in solidarity with our union brothers and sisters in their fight against the special interests that are trying to undermine the rights of American workers.

Michigan Republicans Use Budget Crisis to Make Outrageous Assault on Democracy

by James Parks, Mar 9, 2011

In an outrageous power grab, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican-dominated state Senate passed, and sent back to the House, legislation today that allows Snyder to declare a local city to be in a financial emergency and appoint an emergency manager. That manager can, without anyone else’s approval, cancel contracts, including collective bargaining agreements, force consolidation of schools, townships, cities and counties and, unbelievably, unilaterally remove local elected officials.

Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO, said the bill allows the financial manager to abrogate collective bargaining contracts for five years. “It takes every decision in a city or school district and puts it in the hands of the manager, from when the streets get plowed to who plows them and how much they are paid. In schools, the manager would decide academics or if you have athletics,” Gaffney said.


This is a takeover by the right wing and it’s an assault on democracy like I’ve never seen.

Poll: Public Wants Jobs First, No Social Security Cuts

by James Parks, Mar 9, 2011

Americans are sending a message to Congress: Focus on creating jobs and don’t cut spending on Medicare or Social Security and don’t shut down the federal government.

Nearly eight in 10 people say Republicans and Democrats should reach a compromise on a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit to keep the government running, according to a Bloomberg National Poll. Respondents, by huge margins, also oppose cuts to Medicare, education, environmental protection, medical research and community-renewal programs.

Fewer than half of respondents say cutting Medicare benefits or raising the age at which Americans receive Social Security retirement benefits would have a large impact on the deficit, and only two in 10 favor cutting Medicare benefits.

When given five choices for the most important issue facing the nation, unemployment and jobs ranked first with 43 percent, deficit and spending was cited by 29 percent and 12 percent said health care.

Asked to choose between jobs and the deficit, 56 percent called creating jobs the government’s more important priority now, while 42 percent put the top priority at cutting spending.

Indiana House Democrats Vow to Keep Fighting For Workers

by James Parks, Mar 9, 2011

Indiana House Democrats tonight told Hoosier voters they are going to stand firm and fight to save the state’s middle class. During a telephone town hall meeting the representatives said Gov. Mitch Daniels’ radical anti-worker agenda would destroy the state’s schools and local economies.

Democratic members of the state House are in their third week out of state in an Urbana, Ill. hotel. They left the state to prevent a quorum to consider the anti-worker legislation.

Some 25,000 people are expected to march and rally at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis Thursday for the “We Are Indiana” rally. The mass demonstration will be hosted by “Stand Up for Hoosiers,” a coalition of unions, education, community and social advocacy groups. In the past three weeks, more than 40,000 Hoosiers have protested the anti-worker agenda of Daniels and the state legislature. Smaller rallies also will be held in local communities across the state.

Rep. Scott Pelath said this was a grerat moment in Indiana history and the Democrats were giving up pay and being with their families because they could afford to.


We’re doing it for those who can’t.

Breaking: Wis. Working People Will Not Give Up After Republicans Rig Vote On Bargaining Bill

by James Parks, Mar 9, 2011

Breaking News: With their approval ratings in a free fall and Democrats standing firm, Wisconsin Senate Republicans used a hastily called conference committee this evening to rig a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to eliminate public employee collective bargaining from the budget bill. The committee then sent the bill immediately to the full Senate, which advanced the measure 18-1 with no debate. None of the 14 Senate Democrats was present.

There are 15,000 people at the state capitol now protesting the vote and we encourage you who are in Madison to go there and add your voice for a vigil now and a rally at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

The Democratic senators have been in Illinois since Feb. 17, denying a quorum to consider the budget bill. Their dteremination forced the Republicans to show their true intentions: to deprive hard-working men and women of the freedom to bargain collectively.

The Senate needs 20 members to pass spending measures, but Republicans hold just 19 seats. Republicans would not need any Democrats to be present to pass the collective bargaining changes as a stand-alone bill because it is not fiscal in nature.

The struggle is not over. Working people are mobilizing and working on recall efforts to change the Wisconsin state Senate, and are exploring legal challenges to the manner in which tonight’s vote was conducted.

Duval Teachers Protest Budget Trims, Job Cuts

Jon M. Fletcher

Posted: March 9, 2011 - 12:00am
By The Times-Union

Timed to coincide with the opening of the state legislative session in Tallahassee, some Duval County teachers Tuesday joined a multi-county protest against budget cutting legislation they say will cost jobs.

Teachers responding to a call by their unions lined a stretch of Beach Boulevard in the St. Nicholas area for about an hour as workers drove home.

Signs demanding "Recall Rick Scott" or save collective bargaining were among those aimed at the governor and lawmakers.

Karen Moody, a teacher at Fort Caroline Middle School, said the legislation will force teachers out of the profession and make it a less attractive career to newcomers.

Similar rallies were held in Clay and St. Johns counties in Northeast Florida.

Fla. Might Disrupt Presidential Primary Schedule

Mar 9, 3:27 AM EST
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
AP Political Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- In a virtual replay of 2008, Florida is bucking national Democrats and Republicans in planning an early presidential primary, an act of defiance that creates strategic challenges for GOP candidates and could unravel the parties' primary calendar next year.

The added wrinkle this time: The 2012 Republican National Convention is in Tampa. If national Republican leaders make good on their threat to penalize states that don't follow the rules, host delegates could be stopped at the door when the GOP gathers to pick its presidential ticket.

Wis. Gov. Proposes Union Compromise in E-mails

AP Photo/Andy Manis

Mar 8, 8:42 PM EST
By SCOTT BAUER and DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has offered to keep certain collective bargaining rights in place for state workers in a proposed compromise aimed at ending a nearly three-week standoff with absent Senate Democrats, according to e-mails released Tuesday by his office.

The e-mails, some dated as recently as Sunday, show a softened stance in Walker's talks with the 14 Democrats who fled to Illinois to block a vote on his original proposal that would strip nearly all collective bargaining rights for public workers and force concessions amounting to an average 8 percent pay cut.

Under the compromise floated by Walker and detailed in the e-mails, workers would be able to continue bargaining over their salaries with no limit, a change from his original plan that banned negotiated salary increases beyond inflation. He also proposed compromises allowing collective bargaining to stay in place on mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and classroom size for teachers.

Show Solidarity with the Women Working at T-Mobile

by James Parks, Mar 8, 2011

In recognition of International Women’s Day, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and unions around the world are standing in solidarity with the women of T-Mobile USA. As part of the global campaign, CWA is collecting messages of strength and support on its website and Facebook page—messages to encourage them as they go to work each day under harsh and unfair conditions.

Please join this show of solidarity by sending a message of support right now. You can post one on CWA’s “We Expect Better from T-Mobile” Facebook wall or submit your message here.

In February, the global union movement launched a major worldwide campaign to convince Deutsche Telekom to end its anti-union actions and allow employees at its T-Mobile USA subsidiary to join a union if they choose.