[Educationforall] spam con huevos, labor news, views and concerns, 2.6.12

Tue Feb 7 05:12:23 UTC 2012

Canadian Auto Workers Threaten Plant Occupation‏Chris Hedges | Black Bloc: The Cancer in Occupy  The Deal That Saved Detroit (and Banned Strikes)  Six Things You Should Know About Arizona's Worse-Than-Wisconsin Attack on Public Workers  Senate votes today on anti-union FAA bill. Tell Democrats not to caveSuper Solidarity over Super Bowl Weekend‏   
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
CAW Threatens Electro-Motive Plant Occupation
Union says it won't accept minimum severance payment
CBC News
Feb 6, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2012/02/06/wdr-caw-electro-motive-occupy.html

The Canadian Auto Workers union is threatening to
occupy the Electro-Motive plant in London, Ont., if
parent company Caterpillar doesn't offer the out-of-
work employees a severance package it deems reasonable.

Progress Rail, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Caterpillar, announced the closure of the plant last
Friday, putting nearly 500 workers out of a job.

The union occupied a Caterpillar plant in Brampton,
Ont., in 1991 when it was closed by the company. CAW
Local 27 president Tim Carrie said the tactic worked
then and workers in London are prepared to take the
same action now.

He said there are several locomotives still in the
Electro-Motive plant and the company wants to get them
out as soon possible. Carrie said the train engines are
worth millions.

"If they want to play hardball the way they have since
the beginning of this, we'll do what we have to do. If
that means those locomotives aren't leaving that
facility, that's what it means."

Carrie says Caterpillar will have to go well beyond the
minimum severance requirements under Ontario law in
order to satisfy the union.

"This is a multi-national corporation with billions of
dollars of profits and they're going to leave some of
it behind for this community and they're going to leave
it behind for the workers."

Caterpillar closed its London plant just weeks after
locking out its workers on Jan. 1. The two sides could
not come to terms on a new collective agreement.

The provincial Conservative leader refuses to condemn
Caterpillar for shutting down its London plant.

Tim Hudak said it's "heartbreaking," but he blames
Caterpillar's decision to close the plant on the
Liberal government.

"It's been Xstrata jobs in Timmins. It's been steel
jobs in Hamilton. Navistar in Chatham. There's an
unfortunate pattern of people picking up roots and
moving out of Ontario. Why? Because Ontario is less
attractive for business investments because the
government spends too much, taxes too much, and is
charging us way too much for energy. It's costing us
jobs," Hudak said.

The Liberal government has cut the corporate tax rate
each of the past two years and plans further
reductions.

The NDP said the Caterpillar pullout shows corporate
tax cuts don't help keep jobs in the province.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Chris Hedges | Black Bloc: The Cancer in OccupyChris Hedges, Truthdig: "The presence of Black Bloc anarchists - so named because they dress in black, obscure their faces, move as a unified mass, seek physical confrontations with police and destroy property - is a gift from heaven to the security and surveillance state.... Because Black Bloc anarchists do not believe in organization, indeed oppose all organized movements, they ensure their own powerlessness. They can only be obstructionist. And they are primarily obstructionist to those who resist." Read the Article 

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The Deal That Saved Detroit (and Banned Strikes)Laura Flanders, The Nation: "You're going to be hearing a lot about the deal that saved Detroit in the next few months, not least because likely opponent Mitt Romney was against it. Then Governor Romney wrote in the fall of 2008 that if the big three auto companies received a bailout, 'we can kiss the American auto industry goodbye.' Romney bad; Obama good; Big Three back. The Deal with Detroit is gold dust for Democrats. Reality is a bit more complicated." Read the Article 

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Six Things You Should Know About Arizona's Worse-Than-Wisconsin Attack on Public WorkersSarah Jaffe, AlterNet: "Along with South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Indiana's Mitch Daniels, Arizona's Jan Brewer, not content with making her state the least friendly to immigrants and people of color, has decided to get in on the union-busting action as well, introducing a bill that makes Walker's and Kasich's attacks on public workers look mild." Read the Article 

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/06/1062190/-Senate-votes-today-on-anti-union-FAA-bill-Tell-Democrats-not-to-cave?detail=hide

MON FEB 06, 2012 AT 08:36 AM PSTSenate votes today on anti-union FAA bill. Tell Democrats not to cave.byLaura ClawsonFollowforDaily Kos LaborShare377  PERMALINK30 COMMENTSThe Senate votes today on the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill—and as much as we need the FAA funded and open, we need 41 votes against this version of the bill. Since last summer, Democrats have stood strong against Republican attempts to make it all but impossible for airline workers to join unions through a provision that would have counted people who didn't vote in union representation elections as having voted no. But now, Harry Reid and Jay Rockefeller, the majority leader and the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, havesigned off on a "compromise" proposed by Republicans. If you know one thing about today's congressional Republicans, though, you can guess it's no compromise. As Dave Johnsonwrites:If you start with a bill that says, "kill all the unions, kill all the unions, kill all the unions, kill all the unions" and take out one "kill all the unions" is that a compromise? The unions are still killed three times over.The "compromise" would actually both make it harder to join a union and create ways to dissolve them without workers having a say. Employers would control information about what workers should be eligible to vote in an election, allowing them to pad the numbers required for the 50 percent of workers now required to even hold an election. Then employers would be able to delay the election, find out which workers were supporting the union and intimidate them. Not only that, but in cases where a larger non-union airline and a smaller union airline merged, the union and the contract would just be gone.Those and other barriers to workers joining or staying in unions make this "compromise" an unacceptable attack on workers. Tell your senators to vote against union-busting and demand a clean FAA reauthorization bill.3:26 PM PT: The Senate voted 75-25 to approve the bill, including the anti-union provisions, Monday evening. President Obama is expected to sign it.ORIGINALLY POSTED TO DAILY KOS LABOR ON MON FEB 06, 2012 AT 08:36 AM PST.ALSO REPUBLISHED BY DAILY KOS.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Feb. 6, 2012
The State Department is making major revisions to a guest-worker and cultural exchange visa program after foreign students were exploited in a factory subcontracted by the Hershey Co.In a series of weekend solidarity actions in Indiana, football players, construction workers, teachers and hotel housekeepers joined together in common purpose. Says AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, who took part in the events: “This year, as in Indiana, we will stand together for jobs and for economic freedom across the nation. And on Election Day, we’ll march to the ballot box to cast our votes for economic, social and political justice.”
Got comments? Post them at blog.aflcio.org. State Dept. Cracks Down on Abuse of Foreign Students by Hershey and Others No Super Bowl Payoff for Hyatt Housekeepers Rep. Ellison Calls for End of Crystal Sugar Lockout Hey, ALEC! Gotcha! Take Action to Help Cleaning Workers in Netherlands ‘Brotherhood Outdoors’ Takes Sheet Metal Worker on Bow Hunt for ElkRead more important news of the day on the issues working families care about.Follow the AFL-CIO:
            Take the next step. Become a mobile activist
by joining the AFL-CIO Rapid Action Text Team.
Text NEWS to AFLCIO (235246) to receive action alerts and more.
(Message and data rates may apply.)
To find out more about the AFL-CIO, please visit our website at www.aflcio.org.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 
Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monitory gain to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the material for research and educational purposes. This is in accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. section 107..
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html

Listen to Native Voice One http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/nv1/ppr/index.shtml

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/educationforall/attachments/20120206/561c6fcf/attachment-0001.htm>