[Educationforall] spam con huevos labor news, views and concerns, 1.29.12-I

Sun Jan 29 19:59:59 UTC 2012

Fact-Checking Obama's State of the Union Speech, Part 1: Jobs  How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the ‘1 Percent’  GOP Race-Baiting Masks Class Warfare  26 Facts About the Awful Conditions Where Your Gadgets are Made  With the Fake Unions Unable to sellout Fast Enough, EmployersTurn to Lockouts Interactive Map---Labor Unrest in China  So Long Checkoff? What comes after Union Tops cannot sell Member's labor and peace for money? NEA Idaho Discovers it Can Be Cozy with Bosses without Checkoff The Poison Apple [MAC] - iPhone Suicides in China ~ E-Action‏  @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Fact-Checking Obama's State of the Union Speech, Part 1: JobsJack Rasmus, Truthout: "On January 24, 2012, President Obama delivered his latest State of the Union (SOTU) speech to Congress. It heavily emphasized economic themes, among which were jobs, manufacturing, trade, the auto industry, teachers, taxes, Medicare, financial regulation and growing income inequality in the United States.... But many of the president's claims in his SOTU speech, especially with regard to jobs, were contrary to the facts." Read the Article  
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How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the ‘1 Percent’Scandinavian workers realized that, electoral “democracy” was stacked against them, so nonviolent direct action was needed to exert the power for change. READ MOREGeorge Lakey / Waging Nonviolence @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 
-GOP Race-Baiting Masks Class WarfareBy demonizing some, the Republicans seek to discredit the safety net for the 99 percent READ MOREBy Daniel Denvir / Salon

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-26 Facts About the Awful Conditions Where Your Gadgets are MadeBreaking down what we know about Foxconn, the massive factory in China where workers manufacture popular products like iPhones and iPads. READ MOREBy Lois Beckett / ProPublica
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With the Fake Unions Unable to sellout Fast Enough, Employers
Turn to LockoutsAmerica’s unionized workers, buffeted by layoffs and stagnating wages, face another phenomenon that is increasingly
throwing them on the defensive: lockouts.  From the Cooper Tire
factory in Findlay, Ohio, to a country club in Southern California
and sugar beet processing plants in North Dakota, employers are
turning to lockouts to press their unionized workers to grant
concessions after contract negotiations deadlock.Even the New York
City Opera locked out its orchestra and singers for more than a week
before settling the dispute last Wednesday.  “This is a sign of
increased employer militancy,” said Gary Chaison, a professor of
industrial relations at Clark University. “Lockouts were once so
rare they were almost unheard of. Now, not only are employers
increasingly on the offensive and trying to call the shots in
bargaining, but they’re backing that up with action — in the form
of lockouts.” 
The number of strikes has declined to just one-sixth the annual level
of two decades ago. That is largely because labor unions’ ranks have
declined and because many workers worry that if they strike they will
lose pay and might also lose their jobs to permanent replacement
workers. 
Lockouts, on the other hand, have grown to represent a record
percentage of the nation’s work stoppages, according to Bloomberg
BNA, a Bloomberg subsidiary that provides information to lawyers and
labor relations experts. Last year, at least 17 employers imposed
lockouts, telling their workers not to show up until they were willing
to accept management’s contract offer.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/23/business/lockouts-once-rare-put-workers-on-the-defensive.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
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Interactive Map---Labor Unrest in China 
https://chinastrikes.crowdmap.com/main 
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So Long Checkoff? What comes after Union Tops cannot sell Member's labor and peace for money?
The nation’s union membership rate
continued a decades-long slide last year, falling to 11.8 percent of
the American work force in 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
announced in a report on Friday. 
That was down from 11.9 percent the previous year even though total
union membership edged up, rising by 49,000 last year to 14.76
million. The overall membership rate declined because the increases in
organized labor’s ranks did not keep pace with overall growth in
employment. 
The bureau announced these numbers as the nation’s labor unions have
been coming under heavy political attack. Republican governors and
Republican-controlled legislatures in Wisconsin and in several other
states have pushed to curb the power of public employees to bargain
collectively. Moreover, Indiana is poised to become the first state in
more than a decade to enact a “right to work” law, which bans
employers and unions from agreeing to contracts that require workers
to pay fees for union representation.   According to the bureau,
16.3 million workers are represented by unions, some 1.5 million more
than the total membership, indicating that many workers opt out of
joining the unions that represent them at their workplaces. 
The percentage of public sector workers in unions was 37 percent last
year, more than five times the 6.9 percent membership rate for private
sector workers. In the 1950s, more than 35 percent of private sector
workers were in unions.    
 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/28/business/union-membership-rate-fell-again-in-2011.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y
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NEA Idaho Discovers it Can Be Cozy with Bosses without Checkoff Idaho's new school reform laws have gutted the collective bargaining
powers of teachers' unions, and membership in some of the
organizations is waning. 
That's leaving some of the union locals without the simple-majority
status that they must prove in order to negotiate with the district. 
The Students Come First laws, unveiled by schools Superintendent Tom
Luna one year ago and approved by the 2011 Legislature, limit teacher
contract negotiations to the issues of pay and benefits. Working
conditions and other issues were eliminated from master contracts. 
Boise Education Association President Andrew Rath told the Idaho
Statesman (http://bit.ly/xEXnqL) that the process isn't more
adversarial because of the new laws. 
"This (legislation) basically said to districts that if you don't want
to work with teachers in these areas, you can say by law you don't
have to do it anymore," Rath said. "But I think they've found that
districts want to work with the teachers."    
http://magicvalley.com/news/state-and-regional/idaho-teacher-unions-see-decline-in-membership/article_0865f506-45ff-11e1-8ecc-001871e3ce6c.html @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
iPhone suicides Tell Apple: Immediately improve working conditions at factories that make iPhones and iPadsDear john,According to the New York Times, workers at a factory in Shenzhen, China, owned by Foxconn (a company that manufactures iPhones, iPads and other devices for Apple) regularly work sixteen-hour, seven-day work weeks.They stand until their legs swell and they can’t walk, and they perform repetitive motions on the production line for so long that some permanently lose the use of their hands. To cut costs, managers make workers use cheap chemicals that cause neurological damage. There has been a rash of suicides at the Foxconn plant, and 300 workers recently threatened to jump off the roof over a safety and pay dispute.In short, as one former Apple executive told the New York Times, "Most people would be really disturbed if they saw where their iPhone comes from."Mark Shields, a self-described member of the "cult of Mac," started a petition on Change.org demanding Apple exert its influence on its suppliers to improve working conditions for the factory workers that make iPhones, iPads and other Apple products. Click here to sign Mark’s petition right now.Apple knows it can play an important role in ensuring safe and fair working conditions for the workers at its suppliers, like Foxconn. In 2005, the company released a supplier code of conduct, and it performs hundreds of audits each year in China and around the world to confirm its suppliers are meeting the code’s expectations.But that’s where Apple’s commitment falters: the number of supplier violations has held steady year to year and Apple hasn’t consistently publicly stated which suppliers have problems or dropped offending suppliers.The bottom line, Apple executives admit, is that they’re not being forced to change.One current executive told the New York Times that there’s a trade-off: "You can either manufacture in comfortable, worker-friendly factories," he said, or you can "make it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that seem harsh by American standards. And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China."That means public pressure is the only thing that can force Apple to ensure its suppliers treat workers humanely. If enough people sign Mark’s petition -- and tell Apple they care more about human beings than they do about how fast the company can produce the next generation iPhone -- the company could be convinced to make real change for the workers at Foxconn and other factories. Click here to sign Mark’s petition demanding Apple change the way it does business.Thanks for being a change-maker,- Amanda and the Change.org team P.S. Every week, thousands of people start petitions about issues they care about on Change.org. Here are some that need your support now:Delly Mawazo Sesete, a refugee from the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, isasking Apple to stop using minerals mined under horrible abuses in his homeland.When Cornelious Coe fell on tough times and couldn't make payments toward his $37,000 student loan, Sallie Mae began garnishing his wages. They've taken $68,000 from him, but say he still owes $45K! Sign Cornelious' petition telling Sallie Mae enough is enough.After an under cover investigation revealed horrendous abuse at McDonald's egg supplier, the fast food giant cut ties with the battery cage factory farm. Sign on to get McDonald's to now go cage-free, instead of finding a new battery cage supplier for its Egg McMuffins.Franca Ogbu was doused in acid by a fellow student she refused to date. Her school in Nigeria expelled her attacker, but he was never prosecuted. Join the campaign to charge Franca's attacker and demand the government regulate the sale of acid as a weapon.This email was sent by Change.org to InMart5 at aol.com   |   Start a petition 
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