Baltimore’ alternative weekly City Paper published a story last week titled “Big Box Backlash” — a summary of the opposition that has arisen in the five months since Wal-Mart announced it wanted to build its first store inside the city limits

Written by Andrea Appleton and Hannah Bruchman, the story provides a good overview of the situation, including the role of a new group that combines the efforts of the UFCW and the NAACP

Some excerpts below:

“In February, city residents learned that a proposed 11-acre housing and retail development at 25th and Howard streets would include a nearly 94,000-square-foot Walmart. The news has since spurred a lot of dialogue, to put it nicely. Everyone from John Waters to Denise Whiting, the owner of Café Hon, has weighed in on the matter (the former con, the latter pro).

In fact, the proposed development has incited a hydra-headed opposition. While many of the affected community associations quietly negotiate concessions with the city and the developer, other groups have taken a more vocal stance. To date, the development has triggered the formation of at least three organizations. These groups run the gamut from those who oppose Walmart on principle to those seeking large concessions from the developer to those who take issue with the way the city is addressing the inevitable spike in traffic the development will bring.

The announcement that Walmart would be included in the development proved to be particularly galvanizing. A Facebook group entitled “Keep Wal-Mart Out of Remington”–now more than 1,500 strong–appeared, with members vehemently criticizing Walmart’s employment practices and effect on local businesses. Bmore Local, which formed shortly thereafter, took a more nuanced approach. The organization has proposed that 13 amendments be added to zoning legislation for the project. (For the development to go forward, the City Council must approve a planned unit development, or PUD, which would allow the mixed-use development to sit on a patchwork of land zoned for divergent uses.) The amendments include requiring the developer to preserve and reuse the stone church at 24th and Sisson streets; to maintain a certain percentage of occupancy or incur heavy fines; and to ensure all tenants pay the state definition of a “living wage,” $12.25 an hour. Bmore Local is applying for nonprofit status and plans to move on to other projects once this one is settled. “We would love to see community standards city-wide,” Vice President Genny Dill says.”

“Baltimore CAN, another new organization inspired by the specter of a Remington Walmart, has similar aims. Currently composed of 25 groups–including Bmore Local, as well as local branches of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the NAACP–the coalition’s aim is to promote city standards for new developments, with guidelines governing everything from wages to transportation to health impacts. “We’re pro development,” says Matthew Weinstein, Baltimore region director for Progressive Maryland, one of the convening organizations. “But we want to deal with development in a coordinated way so that communities don’t get run over.” The coalition aims to have 100 member organizations by Aug. 5, when the Planning Commission will hold a hearing on the 25th Street Station project.

That meeting is likely to be a tad crowded. It is also the deadline for any appeals regarding the city’s Traffic Impact Study (TIS) for the new development. (Studies that assess a development’s likely traffic impact on surrounding communities and transportation corridors are required for large developments such as this one.) Because the final draft was released late last week, it’s too early to say whether anyone will appeal it. But judging by initial reactions, the chances are good.

Remington Neighborhood Alliance (RNA) President Joan Floyd has been engaged in a contentious back and forth with the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) since the first draft was released nearly two months ago. In a letter to the DOT, she pointed out that the study–conducted by a company called VHB–included no information as to how data was collected (such as dates), which in Floyd’s opinion made it null and void. She wrote that the draft made such basic errors as miscounting the number of lanes in certain roads. And she took issue with some of the assumptions in the study. For instance, it took as a given that 25 percent of shoppers will walk, bike, or take the bus to the shopping center–which will feature Walmart and Lowe’s as its most prominent stores–resulting in what Floyd calls “the unrealistic removal of 1,000-2,000 and more cars per day from future projections.”

DOT Acting Division Chief Valorie LaCour responded to some of Floyd’s complaints in a letter dated June 16. She wrote that the department arrived at the 25 percent figure by using Institute of Transportation Engineers standards and reviewing data from the Home Depot on Eastern Avenue and Kane Street, which she says “has similar demographic and land use characteristics.” LaCour did not address the question of miscounted lanes, and in the new draft they do not appear to have been corrected, according to Floyd. “It’s something that doesn’t instill confidence,” she says. “This is not difficult stuff to get right.” As to the dates of data collection–which are included in the new draft–Floyd points out that many of the counts were conducted late last year before the TIS study began, which “raises questions,” though such data is allowable by DOT standards. A number of the traffic counts were also done during Johns Hopkins University’s spring break, when traffic is diminished.”

“Members of the Historic Fawcett Community Association, yet another new organization, are also worried that traffic will clog their small neighborhood. The area–bound by West 24th Street, the CSX tracks, Howard Street, and North Avenue–encompasses perhaps 100 families. In the development plans, it sits near the parking garage and a loading dock for Lowe’s, “right at the butt end” of the proposed project, steering committee member Megan Hamilton says. “In our view, we are the neighborhood most at risk.”

Support the Jewish Labor Committee

by John O. Mason

The Jewish Labor Committee is the Jewish voice within the Labor movement, and the Labor voice within the Jewish community, serving as a liaison between the two causes, sharing each side’s values. It was founded in February 1934 by Yiddish-speaking trade unionists, plus members of the Workmen’s Circle, the United Hebrew Trades, and the Jewish Socialist Bund, in order to combat the rise of Fascism in Europe and America.

In recent years, JLC has been active in the fight for the rights of immigrant workers, and has protested the abusive labor practices found in the Agroprocessors meat processing plant in Iowa, supported the Republic Windows and Doors workers in Chicago, and has worked for dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists. One of JLC’s programs is the Labor Seder, linking the freedom struggle of the ancient Israelites to current and past Labor struggles.

Recently, the Philadelphia JLC has lost its funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, which jeopardizes its ability to conduct its programs. Other JLC chapters may be facing this plight. If you want to help JLC, contact the main JLC office:

Jewish Labor Committee
25 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
(212)477-0707
www.jewishlabor.org

We are seeking more contributors of news and opinions from the labor movement in the Mid-Atlantic states. We additionally would like to reactivate the events calendar here.

If you are interested, please email me at demlabor@aol.com and include your connections to the labor movement.

We need much more content from DC, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania (especially outside the Lehigh Valley and Scranton areas) and West Virginia.

In solidarity,

Stephen Crockett

Editor, Mid-Atlantic Labor.com

Labor is lining up behind Elizabeth Warren for the position. Sam Stein: “On Tuesday, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry will ‘raise the point that Elizabeth Warren would be an excellent head of the newly created Consumer Protection Agency’ in private talks with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, according to a senior source with the union. The tete-a-tete adds an element of intrigue into the debate over who should head the new, but important agency, and could set up a now-familiar scenario in which the labor community finds itself butting heads with the White House’s economic team.” http://huff.to/am8o6z

The Tea Party “Catch 22”

The Tea Party movement has started to come unglued over a series of internal contradictions that amount to an identity crisis. The Tea Party is caught in a “Catch 22” position that has largely been ignored by the corporate mainstream media.

Just this morning I watched a local PBS show where a Republican operative claimed that the Tea Party movement was not “Republican, Right Wing or racist.” The comment appears to be the Republican Right Wing official spin on all things “Tea Party” in nature. Unfortunately, the claim really lacks credibility because it conflicts with the facts on the ground all over the nation.

Anyone who really watched the development of the Tea Party movement, as part of the anti-healthcare reform effort, understands that it was a creation of Fox News and corporate funded Right Wing Republican operatives. Despite many claims to the contrary, it brought very few new faces into the political process.

What the Tea Party public relations campaign did was simply “re-brand” the various largely discredited, Right Wing fringe elements in the Republican Party under a new name. It did con the mainstream corporate media very effectively into calling blatant corporatist, economic elitist policies “populist.” It was a bad joke that the media completely missed or just ignored.

Like the fake ACORN pimp and voter registration scandals, the storyline falls apart completely when the details are examined in any detail. The spin relies on manufactured “facts” that are really outrageous lies being told over and over again. In time, the storyline falls apart but often the damage has been done. It appears the mainstream corporate media has learned absolutely nothing from their Iraq War-Weapons of Mass Deception experience.

The reality is that there is probably not much of a Tea Party movement outside of Republican Right Wing corporate control. When it comes to economic populism, the Tea Party has either been completely missing in action or in outright opposition to every proposal that is populist in nature.

Our middle class has been under constant attack by corporate forces for decades. The Reagan-Bush Republicans have been pushing changes in government policy that benefit only the most elite of economic elitists for 30 years. American workers are being driven out of the middle class by government policy and market power. The Republican Right has successfully placed many of the levers of power in government in the hands of the corporatist economic elite. Some Democrats assisted parts of this corporate take-over of government but it was overwhelmingly Republican effort.

The government is not the enemy if it is controlled by the majority of middle class Americans. It is a check on excessive corporate power under those circumstances.

The genius behind the Tea Party campaign is that it is a corporate created public relations/political campaign designed to promote pro-corporate economic policies via government while calling the movement “anti-corporate and anti-government.” The racism angle is a just a way to hook “poor and middle class whites” into an effort designed to economically benefit the wealthiest of the wealthy at the expense of “the poor and middle class of all colors.”

Racism has long been used to divide working Americans up along color lines so they do not demand a better deal from the economic and political elite. Racism serves an economic purpose and always has served an economic purpose. Racism is a sucker bet for working Americans. It has been a key element in building the Tea Party movement and the Republican Party since Richard Nixon. Republican Right wing economic policies are a disaster for 90% of Americans and social wedge issues including race have been the key to Republican victories for more than a generation.

If the Tea Party was really a new creature, it would be fielding third party candidates everywhere under the Tea Party name. Republican and Right Wing operatives claim it is independent of the Republican Party but at the same time strongly oppose real independence. The Republican Party is the Tea Party. The Tea Party is just the most extreme elements of the Republican Party devoted to driving any remaining moderates out of the Republican Party.

You cannot support Pat Toomey-Club for Growth economic policies and still claim to be a populist movement. You have to support economic policies that increase the wages of American workers, support government measures to help the unemployed, curtail the ability of corporations to move jobs outside the United States and sell untaxed imports in our country, shift the tax burden back in the direction of corporations and the Super Wealthy instead of putting it on the middle classes and seek to regulate corporate market power to be an economic populist.

Economic populists do not make excuses for BP like Rand Paul or Sharon Angle. Economic populists do not oppose government deficits during a severe economic downturn nor support government deficits in good economic times, like the Republicans are doing. Opposing better access to affordable healthcare is not a populist position. Giving massive tax cuts to wealthy people while our government is running massive deficits and local governments are firing teachers, firefighters and police is simply stupid economics and has nothing to do with economic populism.

If the Tea Party is” populist” in nature, as they claim, then the policies they support should demonstrate that populism. If the Tea Party is independent of the Republican Party, then they should field independent candidates in the November general elections to prove their independence. If the Tea Party is not racist, then they should condemn the expression of racism from within their movement every time they occur. If the Tea Party is not an expression of extreme Right Wing sentiments, then they should stop supporting the political agenda of the Far Right.

American voters will learn in coming months just how fake and flakey the Tea Party con job is by watching the Tea Party Republicans seeking office in November. You will learn nothing about this from Fox News but the mainstream media should not drop the ball on this story in 2010. The voters deserve a real discussion about the unreality of the Tea Party reality.

Written by Stephen Crockett (Host of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ). Mail: 698 Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, Delaware 19702. Phone: 443-907-2367. Email: demlabor@aol.com.

Feel free to publish without prior approval.

From Maurice Morales

July 6, 2010 at 8:30am

Subject: Alliance for American Manufacturing Video by Baltimore Music Happenings

- MySpace Video http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=101605682

from a rally i videotaped resently.please share www.youtube/maurice11 for more of my work

Have you seen them?
By Ed Knox

I refer to beautiful stress balls that have been distributed throughout the United States of America, specifically at Veterans’ Administration Hospitals and similar locations.

These balls are beautifully imprinted with red, white & blue background and then with “DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS” imprinted along with a toll-free telephone number and a statement regarding the courage it takes for a Warrior to ask for help.

(I think that statement is in reference to those of us who served in the Military and might be experiencing difficulties coping with the effects of our service.)

So what? Guess where they’re made. Yep. That’s right; these balls are made in China!

It is an insult to those who fought and died for the Freedoms we enjoy here in the United States of America. You’ve heard the quote: “For those who fought for it, Freedom has a taste the protected will never know!”

We obviously cannot go backwards in time to correct the past. The best resolution moving forward is to let our Veterans know whether or not we as a Country care about them and their employment situation.

There are companies here in America that would be happy to manufacture these balls. I’m certain that these companies would hire Veterans. These companies - right here in the United States - would be proud to not only hire Veterans, but would be even more proud to know that they have helped Veterans who others might consider to be handicapped.

Think about what a wonderful message we SHOULD be shouting: “Because the United States of America actually intends to keep its word to the Veterans of Military Service, we will insist that first hiring priorities will go to Companies within the United States of America. These companies will receive even more ‘priority’ when they hire Veterans. Still more ‘priority’ will be assigned to them if those Veterans happen to have a Service-Connected disability. Companies who do not manufacture within the USA will not be considered a resource for items that could have and should have been manufactured in the USA! This is without regard to whether or not the ‘bottom line’ seems to be cheaper. That ‘bottom line’ is NEVER cheaper when it creates an increase in unemployment of Americans.” That statement becomes even stronger when you consider the employment situation of our Nation’s Veterans!

As a Viet Nam Veteran, a Member of the DAV, NABVETS, the American Legion, a lifetime Member of the VFW, and a true American Patriot; I am appalled and sickened by the situation as it currently stands.

One of the items that you might want to consider is to ask your Senators and Congressmen to continue funding the wonderful program called HELMETS TO HARDHATS. ( www.helmetstohardhats.com ) This is a program that assists our Service Members in their transition from Military to Civilian life. It helps them find a career pathway. Another item to consider is to donate your time and/or some Dollars to help HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS. ( www.homesforourtroops.org ) This fine organization builds special-needs homes for some of our returning veterans who have been severely injured in combat.

Paying attention to the problems facing our Veterans, and helping to put America back to work in order to start repairing our economy are the two most important issues facing our Country today.

Be American, Buy American!!

Sincerely,

ED KNOX

Ed Knox is President of Local Union 68 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and is a Member of the Denver Musicians’ Association (DMA). There are photographs to accompany this article which were taken by Pete Vriesenga, President of the DMA; but I can’t figure out how to post them here. Any suggestions?

by GISELLE CHANG

BatimoreBrew

Around 400 people, joined by actor and activist Danny Glover and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, crowded Mt. Vernon Square yesterday afternoon for 1199SEIU’s the Heart of Baltimore rally to demand that all health care institutions and employers allow workers to freely, without employer intimidation, vote on having the union at their hospital, nursing home or health care institution.

Many area hospitals and nursing homes employ unionized health care workers, with Johns Hopkins Medicine being the first to do so over fifty years ago. But participants in the rally said that others, such as the University of Maryland Medical Center, dissuade their employees from pursuing unionization with fear campaigns and punishment.

“How much do I like my job?” Gary Miller, a technician at St. Agnes Hospital Emergency Department mused out loud before deciding to answer why he supports unionization.

“St. Agnes Hospital is not yet unionized and we’re letting the union make the first move, otherwise we [workers] could get in big trouble.”

Wade Hilton, a physical trainer who has a private practice but worked in a hospital for many years, shared similar sentiments, saying that some workers “are afraid it’s going to affect their jobs” if they join the Heart of Baltimore campaign and demand unionization. While they may not lose their job, they may be demoted to a lower-paying one, Hilton added.

Why take that risk?

The crowd of nurse’s aides, technicians and laundry, food service and other workers — many of them still wearing their scrubs and carrying stethoscopes, all of them enduring the blistering heat — said they need to organize to improve their sector’s chronic problem of low pay and poor working conditions.

Many said they are currently barely making poverty wages and are unable to afford the health care benefits they provide for other patients. Organizers said the problem is disproportionately worse in Baltimore and that nurse’s aides here make less than their counterparts in every other major East Coast city.

They are two-and-a-half times more likely than other Maryland workers to be on Food Stamps, and more than half of them make so little, their children qualify for the state’s low-income health insurance plan, according to the union.

As one in every five Baltimoreans works in the health care, the 1199SEIU campaign the Heart of Baltimore, aims to not only improve the livelihoods of these workers by raising wages and guaranteeing health care benefits through unionization but, in effect, heal the ailing Baltimore economy as well.

“It is about strengthening the economy for the entire city,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said to the crowd, a sea of people in purple shirts waving yellow inflatable batons. “When health care workers have a voice, we all win.”

Workers with a sense of ownership, control and say over their environment perform better Miller said: “With the union, when we voice our concerns we will have much better of a chance of controlling what will be implemented, which is good not only for us but for the patients too.”

Rawlings-Blake echoed that sentiment, saying that every health care worker deserves a voice on the job and that when they do, “you can assure that every patient gets the right care.”

Annie Henry, an instrument processor with Johns Hopkins Medicine, has been a member of the union for 41 years in order to battle racism she says she sees in the work place. Henry said that after working for Hopkins for only six months she was ready to walk out the door and that it was joining the union that gave her a “voice without retaliation.”

Since then she said the union’s strength increased but that subtle bias persists even in workplaces like hers where the union is allowed. When she was applying for a position a few years ago, she said, she was rejected on the basis of being a union member.

Still the benefits outweigh the setbacks. Laura Pugh, a cook and delegate also with Johns Hopkins Medicine, joined the union in 1970 and says she did so because she “wanted to see change.” She describes how at the time she could only go in one door because she was black and that she was afraid to speak back to white employees. But “we have gotten better” Pugh stated, “better wages, better health benefits, we got a pension.”

Despite successes, the campaign is far from over. The local Baltimore union, which had been in existence since 1969 merged with the regional 1199SEIU (Service Employees International Union) five years ago, launching the Heart of Baltimore campaign for free and fair union election. Last fall the campaign was strengthened through resolutions passed by both the city and county councils calling on all health care institutions and health care providers to free and fair union election. The resolutions cannot mandate, however, that employers allow union election.

Thus the rally, advertisements in magazines and newspapers, radio support and other forms of publicity are needed, organizers said, to raise awareness about the Heart of Baltimore campaign and put pressure on health care CEOs to adopt a free and fair union election code of conduct.

“We have now learned that change is possible and we have to make [employers] realize that we are a partnership,” Pugh said. “We’re trying to get everyone involved because everybody should have health insurance.”

Henry explained that she urges health care workers to join the campaign for unionization because there is safety in numbers. “At some point in time everybody is going to want to make more money and why wouldn’t you want to pay workers to make a decent living?” she demanded.

John Reid, the Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU Maryland/D.C. invigorated the crowd declaring that Baltimore health care workers have long suffered in comparison with their fellow counterparts just down the road in D.C.

Reid addressed the audience urging health care workers to stand up and assert their rights saying “we are ready to make our voice heard because we are the heart of Baltimore.”

Wall Street Front Group Celebrates Record Success Electing Radical Pro-Corporate, Pro-BP Candidates

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/26/clubforgrowth-radical-sucess/

Roll Call’s John McArdle reported this week that the radical Wall Street front group “Club for Growth” is “celebrating” a near perfect winning streak this election cycle so far, especially given the results in run-off elections last Tuesday. The Club is known for running hard-hitting attack ads, especially in Republican primaries, against candidates who would consider raising any form of taxes on the rich or have done anything to hold powerful corporations accountable. Noting the Club’s historic role of purging moderates from the GOP, Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH) is quoted in the article calling it the “Spanish Inquisition.”

Chaired by prominent Wall Street investors like Thomas Rhodes and Richard Gilder, as well as the wealthy and reclusive Howie Rich, the Club collects funds from employees of J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, while being buoyed by large donations like a $1.4 million contribution from investor Stephen Jacksons of Stephens Groups Inc. The hand-picked candidates of the Club claim to lead the tea party movement, even though polls show that 70% of self identified tea partiers want the government to help create jobs, and nearly half want government to rein in executive bonuses.

Despite this contradiction, the Club-endorsed primary winners are already tacking to the extreme, pro-corporate right. For example, with BP’s oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Club candidates are rushing to defend the rights of corporations over the rights of the American victims of the catastrophe:

– State Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC), the Club-endorsed candidate to win in the primary run-off for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, attacked Democrats for holding hearings to investigate BP’s crimes. In a post on his website, Scott said, “Democratic lawmakers seem to enjoy hauling CEOs before their committees so they can grandstand and condescend to them.”

– Mike Lee (R-UT), the Club-endorsed candidate who won in the primary run-off for the Utah Senate seat, said recently that he wants to keep the low $75 million dollar liability cap for companies like BP. Lee said it would be a “mistake” to raise the liability cap for companies like BP and Anadarko, even if maintaining the status quo leaves “taxpayers on the hook for part of the damage.” Lee said he wanted taxpayers, rather than BP, to pay for the oil spill because the low liability cap was part of a “set of settled expectations that you give to a business when it decides to make an investment.”

– Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the Club-endorsed candidate who defeated incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) in the primary run-off last Tuesday, was asked in a debate last week if he agrees with Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) apology to BP executives. Gowdy recommended that Barton should have “stuck by his guns” and not apologize for apologizing to BP. He then said that the Obama administration should not “use the criminal justice system to extort money” from BP.

– Sharron Angle (R-NV), the Club-endorsed candidate who won in the Nevada Senate primary, told Nevada Newsmakers that in the wake of BP’s spill, the government needs to further deregulate the oil industry.

– Jeff Duncan (R-SC), the Club-endorsed candidate who won the GOP nomination in the South Carolina 3rd Congressional district run-off, closed his campaign by arguing for expanded offshore drilling last week. As one of South Carolina’s most right-wing state lawmakers, Duncan proudly refers to himself as a “states’ rights” politician.

– Mike Pompeo (R-KS), the oil executive and Club-endorsed candidate in Kansas’ 4th Congressional district, said his first reaction to BP’s oil spill was the “fervent hope that Congress doesn’t overreact” and curtail dangerous offshore drilling.

While much has been reported on the impact of the tea parties and their role in elections this year, the true driver for the hard right are corporate front groups like FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth. Using Wall Street cash, these fronts have helped to boost a cadre faux populists who are really just shills for large banks and foreign oil giants like BP. Notably, financial conglomerate J.P. Morgan, which funds the Club, is one of the largest shareholders of BP.

Dems Could Win Tea Party Voters Over With America-First Trade Message

By Mike Elk

In These Times article link/

A new poll contradicts the widely held belief that the the tea party movement is opposed to government action to help the economy. It shows that self-described Tea Party supporters are very much in favor of government action to revitalize America’s manufacturing base.

Seventy-four percent of self-described Tea Party Supporters would support a “national manufacturing strategy to make sure that government that economic, tax, labor, and trade policies in this country work together to help support manufacturing in the United States,” according to the poll, put out by the Mellman Group and the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Likewise, 56 percent of self-described Tea Party Supporters “favor a tariff on products imported from other countries that are cheaper because they came from a country that does not have to comply with any climate change regulations in the country where the products were made.”

The poll also shows that President Obama’s approval rating are 11 points lower among households were a family member is employed in manufacturing than a household where no one is employed in manufacturing. That underscores a trend already noted: those most affected by the Democrats’ failure to deliver on their promises of trade reform are turning against the Democratic Party.

Why? The reason is that many feel betrayed by Democrats. Government inaction during the last thirty years has destroyed the core of the American economy: manufacturing.

Such is the case in my own hometown of Westmoreland County, Pa., where the loss of manufacturing jobs turned the county from a heavily white, heavily union, heavily Democratic county into a heavily white, heavily Fox New watching, heavily Republican County.

In 1988, card-carrying ACLU member Michael Dukakis carried my home county by an 11-point margin in a year in which he won only nine states nationally. Yet in 2008 my home county voted for Republican Sen. John McCain by a 17-point margin. It turned Republicans because Democrats sold out on NAFTA, the North American Free-Trade Agreement, and thousands of manufacturing jobs disappeared.

The Republican Party has been able to keep these voters in their ranks despite the fact that Republican party is doing nothing on the trade front either. Infact, there is absolutely no mention of trade reform in the Tea Party’s official “Contract From America.” (See Roger Bybee’s great Working ITT piece on this problem for the Tea Party Movement). The Tea Party get its momentum not from an overall hatred of government, but from a hatred of government doing things that so often hurt people like unfair trade deals.

This new poll shows that the top concerns of all Americans, including Tea Party supporters, is not the federal budget deficit but that we are too deep of debt to China in terms of our trade imbalance. No major political party is championing this issue. The surprise victory of Democrat Mark Critz in John Murtha’s old district which was expected to go Republican showed that Democrats can win over Republican voters when they campaign tough on trade issues.

If President Obama really wanted to heal the words of divided nation and away from demagogues like Glenn Beck, he could do it be taking real action on trade. He could do it by fufilling his campaign pledge to renegotiate NAFTA (a pledge now considered “laughable” within the administration). Then Obama could fulfill another campaign promise by slapping tariffs on illegal Chinese currency manipulation which make Chinese goods 25-40% cheaper than American goods.

The great thing about renegotiating NAFTA and slapping tariffs on China is that by law Obama doesn’t need congressional approval to do it. He could do it unilaterally and send a huge signal to voters that he, along with those who support this policy, on the side of American workers. The president could use these steps to lay out a bold vision for an industrial policy to rebuild America.

The choice is President Obama’s - reform trade and heal the countries’ wounds or see a divided, unemployed white working class turn to voices of hate.

Change is good… except when it is arbitrary, capricious, and painful. John, a technical support rep, writes about trying to meet the so-called “right-fitting” policies imposed by management on employees at T-Mobile USA. Eventually discontinued, the plan ended up confusing employees and angering customers.

We note that this campaign for respect at T-Mobile has been picked up by the Wichita Eagle. The company has a major call center in that city.

We encourage you to continue visiting our website (http://www.loweringthebarforus.org/) and to like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/loweringthebar). Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/realtmobile).

The campaign continues. We are active in organizing. We are active politically. We are about to launch a major international initiative. We are thinking through the future of this company and reaching out to the investment community. We are working with a variety of stakeholders.

CWA Vice President Ed Mooney, who led the delegation of T-Mobile employees to Germany in May, is back! On Thursday, June 24, he appeared on talk radio in Bethlehem with a T-Mobile employee from Pennsylvania somewhere. We hope to have the audio file posted soon to the web site.

Do you know what a difference the union makes? Check out Hae-Lin’s post on How They Do It in Germany. She looks at the little things that matter so much – individual monitoring, how pay is structured, and break time. She finds that in general call center work is stressful but that the union (ver.di) negotiates a work environment that is much more humane.

Estamos Juntos? T-Mobile is actively reaching out to the Hispanic community as part of its attempt to revive its fortunes. Unfortunately, the company is not doing a good job of “sticking together” for either employees or customers. For those of you following the World Cup, you may know that T-Mobile is a major promoter of soccer, especially in the Hispanic community. We suggest, however, that T-Mobile deserves a red card for its treatment of employees.

There are some indications that the issues facing stakeholders at T-Mobile are present in different forms throughout Deutsche Telekom. In What’s Going on at Deutsche Telekom, we note managerial corruption at DT Greece, rigged bidding involving DT in Serbia, a step backward in corporate transparency at DT Hungary, and the recent resolution of the corporate snooping scandal in Germany that left a rather nasty smell. Back in the U.S., T-Mobile may have obstructed justice in a homicide investigation.

The corporate spying scandal at DT was once thought to have compromised the career of incoming T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm. His appointment changed all that… but it is pretty high stakes for DT CEO René Obermann.

As for the fortunes of T-Mobile USA, please note that CWA released an investor alert last week. We hate to be pessimistic, but mainstream observers are not excited by the company’s future. We note that Deutsche Telekom is no longer traded on the New York Stock Exchange. I have no love for the NYSE but it does have listing standards the company no longer has to meet – to the detriment of investors. Tell me again how the company will raise money for the 4G network?

For all you Apple fans out there, we note the speculation that the iPhone may be offered by T-Mobile or Verizon or… ?

We noted last week as well that T-Mobile is shutting down a repair facility in Georgia, only to outsource the work. How is that for respecting employees?

There are some observers out there who believe the brand T-Mobile will disappear in 2011. Maybe we should have a contest to re-name the company!

That’s it for now.
Enjoy your weekend!

—
Stick together at T-Mobile? Not for the workers. Learn the truth about T-Mobile.

http://loweringthebarforus.org/

http://twitter.com/realtmobile

Contact: realT-Mobile@cwa-union.org

JUNE 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News

SEIU elects Mary Henry to lead 2.2 million member union

BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM

REGION, June 4th- The 73-member International Executive Board of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) met in Washington DC on May 8th and elected Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry the 10th President of the Union. The SEIU has 2.2 million members which is the largest in the nation.

“This moment marks a renewed commitment to our union’s core mission, to improve the lives of all workers who are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. Working people are facing hardships we haven’t seen in generations, and we believe SEIU can be an even more effective vehicle for change to help them improve their lives and the lives of the people they serve,” said Ms. Henry.

Ms. Henry replaces Andy Stern which announced eariler in the year his plan to retire. Mr. Stern was a 38 year member of the union and has been the leader of the SEIU for 14 years, after former President John Sweeney resigned to become President of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) labor federation.

The SEIU represents workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania including employees at Mercy Hospital in Scranton and Geisinger Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre.

Mr. Stern joined the SEIU in 1972 as a member of Local 668, which represents members in the region. He was elected the youngest president in the SEIU history in 1996.

Mr. Stern led the movement of the national unions that disaffiliated with the AFL-CIO and formed the Change-to-Win (CtW) labor federation in 2005. Seven unions representing 6 million workers including: the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT); the United Farm Workers (UFW); the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA); the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW); UNITE/HERE; and the International Brotherhood of Carpenters Union joined with the SEIU to form the CtW labor federation.

However, Mr. Stern was critized by labor leaders including Teamsters International President James Hoffa after members of the UNITE/HERE Union voted to join the SEIU in 2009.

Anti-union business groups waisted no time in showing their delight that Mr. Stern stepped down.

Americans for Limited Government, an right-leaning anti-union organization, proudly pro-claimed “Good Riddance, Andy Stern” on their web-site and on a e-mail sent to the newspaper.

The organization stated the announcement of Mr. Stern’s retirement was a victory for the entire nation. “Perhaps Andy Stern, who has done so much to drag the United States economy into the socialist abyss will be retiring to a spiritual home in Havana,” stated Bill Wilson, the President of Americans for Limited Government.

Ms. Henry announced the SEIU will invest $4 million in an innovation fund set up to reinvigorate private sector organizing throughout the country; and also the Union will invest an additional $4 million in campaign work related to gubernationial races in 2010.

“We will invest in grassroots political action in a sustained way so that we can build a progressive majority from the ground up and link it to the incredible national work of our union. The best demonstration of this approach was passage of national healthcare reform granting 33 million more Americans access to healthcare. We want to link our political strength and our organizing program to stand up on behalf of all workers who are being threatened in this country,” added Ms. Henry.

Ms. Henry grew up in Detroit, Michigan and has served as Organizing Director for the union and head of the SEIU healthcare division. She was elected SEIU Executive Vice President in 2004 and is a strong advocate for immigrant rights.

Philadelphia CLUW Honors Women Active in the Community
by John O. Mason

The Philadelphia Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) held its Working Women’s Awareness Week Awards Reception at the assembly hall of Workers United, 22 South 22nd Street, on Monday, June 7, 2010.
Kathy Black, Philadelphia CLUW President, thanked the attendees for coming “to support the work of CLUW and to celebrate the achievement of some very impressive working women, from the Labor movement and our allies in the community.”
The awardees were Willie Black, Coordinator of Messages From Mom and Dad; Karen Bojar, who recently retired as president of Philadelphia national Organization for Women (NOW); Cecilia Lynch, activist for the Philadelphia Security Officers Union; Danielle Newsome, Organizer for the Cure CVS Campaign; and Barbara Rahke, Director of the Philadelphia Area Project for Occupational Safety and Health (PHILAPOSH), who won the Union Woman of the Year Award.
Black introduced Karen See, the new National CLUW President, who said, “I know that with your help, I know we can change CLUW into a vibrant organization nationwide. Fortunately, we have strong chapters in Philadelphia, which I hold us (as a model). When somebody says, ‘I want to organize a CLUW chapter,’ I say, ‘You want to be like Philadelphia.’”
Continuing about the Philadelphia CLUW chapter, See said, “You guys are doing a great job here, I like to clone some of your leaders and take them to some other states with me. We are coming back, there’s a new excitement about CLUW, and I feel it, and I see it everywhere I go.”
Janet Ryder, Pennsylvania State CLUW President, said of CLUW‘s recent activities, “Men, believe it or not, women get the job done…We’re a very diverse group, and we’re very pro-active, and we’re very passionate about what we do. The women (honored) tonight are being honored because of their passion and their service to the community.”
Ryder introduced Willie Black of Messages from Mom and Dad, an organization that videotapes prison inmates reading stories to their children, to maintain the connection between them. In accepting the award, Black spoke of her work, “talking to the inmates, and having them hear back from their children (and) of the service that we give them.” Black said her group sends survey cards to the children asking about the DVDs of their parents reading to them; “We have gotten,” she said, “some really heartwarming responses, most of them saying they don’t get an opportunity to see their parents, so this is their visit to their parents.”
Black said that Messages From Mom and Dad was “a collaboration of civic, social, religious, and political organizations….We go twice a week (to correctional facilities for men and women) and we videotape the men and women reading a book (for their children),” and they play the video to the children; “They are…giving a message of love to their child, and they’re encouraging their children to continue to read…So this has also become literacy type of project.”
Karen Bojar received the next award, saying, “Many of you know, the Philadelphia chapter of NOW and the Philadelphia chapter of CLUW have had a very strong working relationship over the past eight years.” Bojar added that Kathy Black, who is President of Philadelphia CLUW, is also Vice-President of Philadelphia NOW, saying to Black, “the partnership that we have has been certainly something that you have so much to do with.
“Women have made enormous strides over the past fifty years,” added Bojar, “but those gains have not been shared equally…The job of the Feminist movement is to focus laser-like on issues affecting working women.”
The next award went to Cecilia Lynch, who was active in the Philadelphia Security Officers Union (PSOU), working with Philadelphia Jobs With Justice (JWJ), in their organizing of security workers in the firm Allied Barton. “I want everybody in this room,” she said to the audience, “especially Kathy Black, all the people in CLUW, everybody involved with Jobs With Justice, how much I and the other officers appreciate with you did for us. It’s been many years, it’s been a long time, and we never could have done it without everyone here.” Lynch said that later in June the union would go into negotiations with Allied Barton for a contract.
The next award went to Danielle Kamali Newsome, who worked under Change To Win to head its Cure CVS campaign, protesting the drug store chain’s practices of locking up condoms in low income neighborhoods, and of selling expired medicines and baby formulas. Newsome thanked Philadelphia CLUW for being “one of the first organizations to sign on to the Cure CVS campaign. CLUW, along with NOW and Jobs With Justice, were really integral in getting everything that we won through that campaign, being out in rallies in the rain, going to City Council.”
Following Newsome, Barbara Rahke received the award for 2010 Union Woman of the Year. In her remarks, Rahke introduced her stepdaughters, saying, “In our work… we have people we love, who, every day, whether we see them or not, they remind us why we do what we do.
“I do consider myself an organizer,” Rahke added, “and as an organizer, your goal is to put yourself out of a job, if we do what we’re supposed to do, and we’re helping motivate people to find their inner power, and their inner strength, and to step forward and take leadership, then our job is done. I feel like I’m getting an award for just finishing the job, which we try to do all the time.”

JUNE 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News

Under pressure by Mr. Carney company suspends helmet manufacturing

BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM

REGION, June 5th- Under pressure from United States House of Representative Chris Carney (Democrat-10th Legislative District), Federal Prison Industries (also known as UNICOR) has suspended producing military helmets and agreed to waive the preferential staus that gives it first right of refusal on helmet contracts with the United States government.

“Our military men and women deserve only the best equipment and it has become clear that Federal Prison Industries cannot meet the standards required in manufacturing helmets,” stated Mr. Carney.

The decision to suspend helmet manufacturing leaves two large contractors who have large facilities in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Gentex and BAE, with the opportunity to win substantial contracts and add hundreds of jobs, Mr. Carney stated.

Mr. Carney was informed of the decision to suspend helmet production hours before consideration of amendments on the Defense Authorization Act was to begin on Federal Prison Industries.

The company which employs prisoners, is one of the largest military helmet manufacturers in the country and was the producer of the 44,000 helmets that the Army recalled several weeks ago.

Mr. Carney was pursuing action against the company because of alleged multiple problems it had with ballistic standards testing.

No Vacation Nation
Written by Nicole Woo

CEPR’s kicking off the summer vacation season with an appearance by CEPR Senior Economist John Schmitt on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend (click here for airtimes). He’ll be talking about paid vacation and holidays in the United States — or lack thereof.

In No Vacation Nation, CEPR finds that we’re the only advanced nation that doesn’t guarantee its workers and paid vacation or holidays. In fact, 1 in 4 U.S. workers do not receive any paid holidays or vacation — see the grim picture below.

(See chart at the article link on bottom of this post)

But it’s not just vacation. CEPR research shows that the United States comes in last when when it comes to paid sick days and paid parental leave as well. And while some argue that paid leave leads to less competitive economies, CEPR also finds that paid sick days don’t cause unemployment rates to rise…….

Read the rest of article at link below:

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/no-vacation-nation/

MAY 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News

Unions sponsor project that benefits 500 local children

BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM

REGION, April 30th- The United Way of Wyoming Valley and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Labor Council labor federation recently recognized the major donors and sponsors of the annual project which benefits 500 local children with special needs. Special certificates of appreciation were distributed at the conclusion of the Wilkes-Barre Labor Council meeting. The organization meets on the third Thursday of the month.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union Local 163, the Sheet Metal Workers International Association Union Local 44 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union Local 401 were Gold Sponsors.

The International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Union Local 38 and the Labor Council were Bronze Sponsors.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Union Local 1699, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Union Local 2585, the International Brotherhood of Carpenters Union Local 645, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Union Local 13000, Ed Harry, IUE/CWA Union Local 88177, the National Association of Letters Carriers (NALC) Branch 115, the United Steelworkers (USW) Union Local 5652, Utility Workers Union Local 406, and PASNAP Union, the Wyoming Valley Nurses Association Charter, were Bronze Sponsors.

“I would like to extend a special note of thanks to all the unions and individual union members who donated to this special labor community services project,” stated Walter Klepaski, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Community Services Liaison of the Wyoming Valley United Way, the go-between the labor community and the community organization.

MAY 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News

AFGE supporting legislation to expand bargaining rights

BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM

REGION, April 26th- The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Union and its National Veterans Association Council (NVAC) urged the House Committee on Veterans Affairs to support legislation which would provide full collective bargaining rights for physicans, dentists, registered nurses, and other Veterans Administration health care professionals covered by the Title 38 personnel system. The legislation could pave the way for current non-bargaining unit employees at the Veterans Hospital in Wilkes-Barre Township in Luzerne County to become union members. AFGE Local 1699 represents employees at the medical center.

In a statement to the House Veterans Subcommittee on Health, the union complimented the Veterans Affairs for changing its stance of opposition of the legislation and urged the Committee to capitalize on the change in momentum.

“The deep desire of Veterans Administation health care professionals to care for veterans is undermined by personnel policies that deny Veterans Administration professionals basic rights and dignity provided to their federal counterparts outside of the Veterans Administration with full Title 5 bargaining rights. When this legislation was initially proposed two years ago, the Veterans Affairs opposition was based entirely on fear and distortion,” stated Alma Lee, President of the National Veterans Association Council.

The most recent example of that transformation came after the White House issued an Executive Order, creating labor-management forums. In its response the Executive Order 13522, which was signed by President Obama, the Veterans Administration’s implementation plan recognizes that “cooperative, constructive working relations between labor and management are essential to achieving common labor-management goals and objectives,” said Alma Lee.

The Veterans Administration’s implementation plan also specifically addresses bargaining and negotiation rights.

The plan states the Department of Defense is committed to pre-decisional involvement in workplace matters, without regard to whether those matters are negotiable subjects of bargaining. The Department is committed, wherever appropriate, to engage the labor partners on issues that historically have been outside the scope of bargaining.

The American Federation of Government Employees stated in light of this of heart by the Veterans Affairs the union is urging the House Veterans Administration Committee to seize the momentum and enact this deeply important legislation.

“It’s time to put into place policies that can bridge the unfair, arbitary disparities that exist between Title 38 Veterans Administration health care professionals and their counterparts in their own agency, the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Prisons who use their Title 5 rights to speak up for safe patient care and working conditions. The Veterans Administration faces too many challenges to allow this legislation to languish any further. Now is the time to act,” said J. David Cox, AFGE national secretary-treasurer and former nurse for 23 years.

The American Federation of Government Employees is the nation’s largest federal employee union, representing 600,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia including nearly 200,000 in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Besides locally representing employees at the Veterans Hospital, AFGE Local 1647 represents employees at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Monroe County.

APRIL 2010 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton edition of The Union News

President Obama seats Craig Becker to the NLRB

BY PAUL TUCKER
THEUNIONNEWSSWB@AOL.COM

REGION, March 28th- President Barack Obama announced on March 27th the recess appointments of attorneys Craig Becker and Mark Gaston Pearce to fill two vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, DC.

Mr. Becker is Associate General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in Washington DC.

The Obama Administration sent to the United States Senate the nomination of Craig Becker to be a member of the NLRB more than seven months ago but his appointment was blocked after the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington heavily lobbied the business organization supporters in the Senate to not support his seat on the agency.

In April, 2009 President Obama announced his intention to nominate Mr. Becker and Mark Gaston Pearce for the two vacant Democratic seats on the NLRB. Brian Hayes was nominated by Mr. Obama to be the Republican member of the NLRB. Mr. Hayes appointment was approved by the Senate.

The NLRB is an independent federal agency vested with the power to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative. The agency also acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private employers and unions. Because of the two recess appointments, the NLRB will have a full complement of five members for the first time since December 16th, 2007.

Mr. Becker’s seat on the NLRB had been blocked by Arizona Republican Senator John McCain for months by calling for hearings before proceeding to full committee consideration of his nomination.

In February 2010 Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican led filibuster against Mr. Becker’s nomination. The key procedural vote failed 52 to 33 with two Democratic Senators voted with the Republicans.

The Chamber of Commerce stated Mr. McCain had a legislative hold on the Becker nomination because it takes 60 votes to invoke cloture on the nomination before it can proceed to an up-or-down vote and all of the Democrats in the Senate did not agreed to support cloture. Because of the Massachusetts election the Democratic party now has 59 seats in the Senate but they were unable to seat Mr. Becker when the party held 60 seats.

Mr. Pearce was a founding partner of the Buffalo, New York lawfirm of Creighton, Pearce, Johnsen and Giroux, where he practiced union side labor and employment law before state and federal courts and agencies. In 2008 he was appointed to the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals, an independent quasi-judicial agency responsible for review of certain rulings and compliance orders of the New York Department of Labor in matters including wage and hour law.

The United States Chamber of Commerce wasted no time denouncing the recess appointment of Mr. Becker to the NLRB.

“This recess appointment disregards the Senate’s bipartisan rejection of Craig Becker’s nomination to the NLRB. Overriding the will of the Senate and providing this special interest (organized labor) payback contradicts the President’s claim to change the tone in Washington. The business community should be on red alert for radical changes that could significantly impair the ability of America’s job creators to compete,” said Randel Johnson, of the United State Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC. The organization is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses as well as state and local chambers and industry associations. Labor unions that are affiliated with the organization are counted within those numbers.

The other two sitting members of the NLRB are Chairman Wilma Liebman and member Peter Schaumber.

Airlines Against Democracy

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Zaid Jilani, Pat Garofalo, and Alex Seitz-Wald

Last week, the National Mediation Board (NMB) — which is tasked with overseeing labor-management relations under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) — issued a ruling making elections for union representation more democratic. Previously, under the RLA (which governs railroads and airlines), workers who did not cast votes in an election were counted as having voted against unionization. Now, however, they will simply not be counted at all, like non-voters in any election for political office. The change brings the RLA’s process into line with elections held under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which covers most workplaces. The NMB said that the change “will provide a more reliable measure/indicator of employee sentiment in representation disputes and provide employees with clear choices in representation matters.” “The board will no longer presume that the failure or refusal of an eligible employee to vote is a vote against representation,” it added. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said that the NMB’s ruling represents “a new era of democracy.” “For far too long, flight attendants and other aviation and railway employees have faced significant obstacles in their quest for collective bargaining rights,” it said. However, since the ruling came down, the affected companies and their pro-corporate allies have been in an uproar, defending the antiquated previous rule, which unfairly tilted the playing field against workers trying to organize.

AIRLINES LAUNCH LAWSUIT: After the NMB announced the rule change, the Air Transport Association (ATA), an industry trade group, said it would be launching a lawsuit on behalf of several airlines. “It is quite clear to us that the NMB was determined to proceed despite the proposed rule’s substantive and procedural flaws, leaving us no choice but to seek judicial review,” the ATA said. The airlines joining the lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., yesterday include Jet Blue, AirTran Airways, and Delta Airlines, which arguably has the most to gain by preventing the rule change as its labor force is largely non-union. Delta has been trying to fend off unionization since it acquired largely unionized Northwest Airlines in 2008. “We believe that Delta and Delta people have been singled out for this rule change,” Mike Campbell, Delta executive vice president of human resources and labor relations, said in a memo yesterday. But as United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard noted, the old rule provided a huge incentive for airlines like Delta to inflate the size of their workforce in order to garner more automatic votes against unionization. “This created an incentive for employers to ‘accidentally’ include the names of workers who’d quit or retired,” he wrote. “Writing about losing an election in 2008, Delta flight attendant Linda Sorenson said airline officials released [their] list after the balloting. Among other problems, it included the name of a deceased worker.” This is not the first time that Delta has engaged in anti-union activity. In 2005, Delta attempted to void pilot contracts in bankruptcy court, but Judge Prudence Beatty said “one can talk about union busting and that is precisely what this kind of motion has the taint of.”

GOP DISAPPROVAL: Several Republican lawmakers immediately criticized the NMB’s decision…….

Read the rest of this article at http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2010/05/pr20100518/index.html

Please join Richard, Maggie and Alexandra on Richard’s Three County Announcement Tour for State Auditor

Richard Korn for State Auditor Three County Announcement Tour (Sussex)

Saturday, May 22nd 12:00 noon

The Brick Hotel on the Circle

Eighteen The Circle

Georgetown, Delaware 19947

Richard Korn for State Auditor Three County Announcement Tour (Kent)

Saturday, May 22nd 2:30pm

Belmont Hall State Conference Center‎
512 South Dupont Boulevard (new Route 13)
Smyrna, DE 19977

Richard Korn for State Auditor Three County Announcement Tour (New Castle)

Sunday, May 23rd 4:00pm

Sheetmetal Workers Local 19 Union Hall

911 New Road (Next to Corpus Christi Elementary School in Elsmere)

Wilmington, DE 19805