Courtesy of the AFL-CIO - America's Unions

This Deficit Story Can't Be Repeated Often Enough!

05/09/2012

Dave Johnson, at the Campaign for America's Future, sends us this.

Atrios says it: Eschaton: Planning For 10 Years From Now.

"The last time an administration did the supposedly responsible thing, the fiscal 'hawks' suddenly decided that the worst possible thing was no longer a deficit, but a surplus, and that therefore it was necessary to have massive tax cuts for rich people.

And they will, of course, do it again."

Any time any D.C. elite complains about "the deficit" remind them that when Clinton left office we had a huge surplus, so big that at the rate it was being paid down the entire U.S. debt was going to be paid off in 10 years. Bush demanded that we give back the people's money and Greenspan warned of the danger of paying off the debt. Etc. Etc. Etc. Then Bush doubled military spending—and started two wars on top of that!

So we went from big surplus to huge, huge deficits. Bush said it was "incredibly positive news" when we went back into deficit spending. He said it was good news because it continued the plan to use debt to force the government to cut back. He said that. It was the plan. (Don't take my word for it, click the links.)

The Reagan people said it, too, back when they started the massive deficit spending. It was the plan: force the country into massive debt, "starve the beast" and use that to force the government out of business, or at least to be "small enough to drown in a bathtub." They forced the tax cuts and Reagan said this was "cutting the government's allowance." The point was to use revenue cutbacks to force government to shrink, to get out of the way of the 1%.

Now that government is very much out of the way of the 1%, we are seeing how things work out when the 1% dominate everything.

They called it "strategic deficits." They said it was the plan to force the country into debt, and then they would demand that we cut the things that government does for the 99%, in order to further enrich the 1%. They would scare everyone by saying that the debt will destroy us so we have to cut back. That was the plan. They said that was the plan. And now that the plan is being executed, we should understand that it was the plan and not fall for it!

They said it was the plan. So as the plan unfolds, don't be so surprised.

For more stories from the AFL-CIO, please go to their website at www.aflcio.org.

Welcome Back Richard Spencer to Local 286

Hey there union brothers and sisters, I am back! For those of you that do not know me, my name is Richard Spencer, and I will be serving Local 286 as a business representative and organizer. My history with Local 286 dates back to 1991, when I became a member and part-time representative during my employment at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. I have also served as an officer of the Bremerton Metal Trades. In 1997, I was added to the staff at Local 286 as a full-time organizer, and later served as a business representative, as well as serving on the Executive Board. It is an honor to serve the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 286 as a business representative and organizer. I look forward to meeting and working with you, representing your interests and the interest of our union.

BREAD AND ROSES STRIKE OF 1912

ne of the most prolific strikes in United States history was the Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. On the heels of a labor victory in legislation, reducing the work week from fifty-six to fifty-four hours, employers in Lawrence’s mills reacted by slashing wages to compensate for lost work. The mill owners expected their workers to be unhappy about the slash in pay, but did not expect the full-scale retaliation that followed.

Lawrence, at the turn of the century, was a city of immigrants from many different backgrounds. These immigrants worked in Lawrence’s mills, and because of their different ethnic backgrounds, mill owners believed that the workers would not be able to organize because of ethnic differences. The owners were proved to be wrong.

In the first week of the strike, angry workers walked from mill to mill, hurling bricks and stones through the windows, encouraging workers in those mills to walk off the job, as a result of the pay cut. During the first week of the strike, 14,000 workers walked off the job and were followed by 9,000 more in the following weeks.

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) took a major role in orchestrating and leading the strike. They successfully organized the workers, and raised the money necessary to help feed and provide for the strikers and their families. Many children were sent away to other cities, in order to maintain the resources for striking workers. This move gained tremendous sympathy from the public, and therefore the owners attempted to make sure this practice was stopped immediately.

On February 24, 1912, police officers were sent to prevent some mothers and children from leaving Lawrence, on a train to Philadelphia. The officers beat up the women and children, and caused a public relations nightmare that led to a Congressional investigation of the strike. The owners realized that they had been beaten and finally came to terms with the IWW.

The true heroes of this strike were the women of Lawrence. Women’s neighborhood associations were focused more on the womanhood than ethnic identity, and thus became more inclusive and unifying, which significantly helped the IWW to organize the striking workers. Women were also forces on the picket lines. They were better than the men at finding scabs who were attempting to cross the picket lines, and were often more militant than their male counterparts. A quote from Bread and Roses by James Oppenheim: “As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead, go crying through or singing their ancient cry for bread, small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew, yes, it is bread we fight for – but we fight for roses too.”

The Local

Our Local

Although we are a Stationary Engineer Local, many would be surprised at the diverse and varied kinds of work our union members perform. The Local represents members in school districts, zoos, hospitals and medical centers, food processing and distribution centers, city and county governments, laundries, property management organizations, and utility districts.

Each organization where we have members has its own unique rules, policies, and procedures which must be taken into account when labor agreements are negotiated; many of our union standards are common to all locations. The concept of seniority in job selection, promotion, lay-off, and recall is a concept we strive to achieve for all members, regardless of the type of organization in which they work. “Just cause” for discipline or discharge, equal employment, license requirements, holiday and vacation language, benefits, shift premiums, medical insurance language for members and their dependents, and pensions are benefits and topics that are common among most, if not all, of our groups.

Bargaining Basics

Not all subjects of bargaining are created equal. To some people, wage increases are more important than pension increases. Others may value health care benefits more than either wages or pension. Some may consider language regarding job security, contracting out, or seniority to be of primary importance. The priorities are as many and varied as our membership. Just as we do not value all subjects of bargaining the same, the law does not treat all subjects of bargaining the same.

The courts have decided that some subjects of bargaining are mandatory, while others are permissive, and still others are illegal. Mandatory subjects of bargaining are wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. Permissive subjects of bargaining are those that are not mandatory, or in other words, those that are outside of the scope of wages, hours, and working conditions, and not illegal. Illegal subjects of bargaining are those that conflict with either state or federal law. Examples of mandatory subjects of bargaining are: wages, pension, health and welfare, hours, seniority, management rights, discipline, grievance procedures, and health and safety issues. Examples of permissive subjects of bargaining are: definition of the bargaining unit, union-recognition clause, internal union affairs, and settlement of unfair labor practice charges. Examples of illegal subjects of bargaining are: closed shop clauses and hot-cargo clauses.

The law treats mandatory, permissive and illegal subjects of bargaining differently. The difference comes into play when one party to the bargaining insists on a subject to impasse. While there is a duty to bargain, there is not a duty to reach an agreement. There is nothing illegal about an employer insisting on a mandatory subject of bargaining to impasse. This is not so with permissive and/or illegal subjects of bargaining. A party to a bargain commits an unfair labor practice when it insists to impasse on either a permissive or an illegal subject of bargaining.

Not all subjects of bargaining are created equal. Different people place different values on different subjects. And the law requires us to bargain some subjects, and also makes it illegal to insist on bargaining others.

What It Means to be Union

“To remember the loneliness, the fear and the insecurity of men who once had to walk alone in huge factories, beside huge machines—to realize that labor unions have meant new dignity and pride to millions of our countrymen—human companionship on the job, and music in the home—to be able to see what larger pay checks mean, not to a man as an employee, but as a husband and as a father—to know these things is to understand what American labor means.”

Adlai Stevenson speech September 22, 1952

Not surprisingly, unions are very important to many Americans. The difference in union jobs is that union positions pay better, have better hours, better benefits and do not always end in the dreaded layoffs that plagued families too many times. More than that, union jobs give people a voice, so they are more inclined to participate in their own future, using the union to speak up to address wrongs that they witnessed by management done both to them and their fellow coworkers.

Some of the most important life lessons taught by unions are to value honesty, cooperation, reasonableness, and most importantly, personal and professional dignity or pride in a job well done. It is believed all of these values are what makes belonging to a union so powerful. Unions help people to develop personally by investing in what they do professionally.

The National Labor Relations Board explains that the purpose of the creation of the National Labor Relations Act was to protect some of these core values. “Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.” The key here is the idea that by working together, both the employees through their unions and management, we all can promote the values of working people which will benefit not only the employees and the employer, but also society as a whole. Indeed, the AFL-CIO’s mission statement sums it up well when it states, “The mission of the AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families, and to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our nation.” Notice that the AFL-CIO’s mission is not just for union members or union families, but to improve workplace rights for all people.

What IUOE members need to realize is the difference between having a voice and being stifled in the workplace. If you speak with some employees that are unorganized and work for non-union employers, you will notice that they have to accept whatever the employer gives them or risk losing their jobs. However, you have the fortune of a collective bargaining agreement and union membership which means that you have a voice and you have rights. The ability to have grievances filed on your behalf gives you rights, the ability to have the union to arbitrate grievances gives you rights, the ability to go to union meetings, vote and speak up gives you rights. But you have to know your rights and take an active role in them. You cannot take them for granted.

It may be easy with the current middle class ideas of eight-hour workdays, weekends off, and improved wages to take for granted what many people fought for through the labor movement. However, realize that nation-wide union memberships have declined significantly to around 11% in 2010 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, there are some powerful forces at play attempting to destroy the unions. The answer to this problem is to be informed and get involved.

WHAT IS A UNION?

The simplest definition of a union is a group of two or more employees that band together as an organization to address with their employer hours, pay, and working conditions. Unions are also democratic entities. Indeed they are one of the most democratic entities in the United States because their leadership at the national, regional and local levels are elected by their members. Unions are also guided by their constitutions and bylaws which are drafted and ratified by their members. These constitutions and bylaws address policies on how to govern the union and details everything from leadership compensation to how to settle internal disagreements.

WHAT IS IT THAT UNIONS DO?

Unions promote and protect the interests of the working class, whether the employees are dues paying or non-dues paying, or even those who may never even be represented by a union. Unions negotiate with the employer for written agreements for employees regarding their pay, benefits and working conditions. Unions represent their members in disciplinary processes and grievances for contract violations. Unions lobby for laws and regulations that protect working families on all levels of government. Unions offer members services to help employees outside the workplace.

WHAT HAVE UNIONS DONE FOR ME?

In the past, unions have fought for protections many Americans take for granted such as: minimum wage; the eight-hour workday; child labor laws; health and safety standards; and the weekend. Studies also show that a large union presence in an industry or region can raise wages for union and non-union workers alike.

WHY DO WE NEED UNIONS?

Most Americans (61%) believe that “labor unions are necessary to protect the working person.”Unions raise productivity on average by up to 24% in manufacturing, 16% in hospitals, and 38% in construction. Union workers also have higher professional standards because the unions increase opportunities for worker training. In fact, most unions even offer their own training (in our case, the Training Trust). For more information: www.americanrightsatwork.org.

Get Involved

GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR UNION

If you want to keep what you have, every member needs to get active to preserve their rights. Union membership is about participating in what is happening within your bargaining unit.

By attending meetings, you get updated on things that are happening at your workplace, and information is shared on things that are being discussed at Labor/Management Meetings throughout the year at these meetings.

Generally, your shop stewards are there to be your first line of communication if something is not right within the workplace. Seek those stewards out if you find yourself being questioned about something you are being accused of, or if you believe you have a grievance. They are there to help you.

And, as always you can make a call to your business representative.

TIP: Know your contract, and know your employee rights.

Organize Today

ORGANIZE!

We warm our hands at a fire we did not build. Things we sometimes take for granted, like the right to collectively bargain, grievance and arbitration procedures to settle workplace disputes, wage increases, health care, pensions, even the eight hour day, were fought for and won on the picket line and at the bargaining table by the brave men and women of the labor movement who came before us.

Currently, union density in the private sector is down to just under 8%. That is four times lower than what it was at its peak in 1955, and the lowest its been in 100 years. Unless we organize, the fire is in danger of going out. Do not think that there are not those who would like to put that fire out. Consider the case of Scott Brown, the newly elected Republican Senator from Massachusetts. Senator Brown could not wait to get to Washington D.C. In fact, he had his swearing in ceremony moved up for the sole purpose of making himself eligible to cast a vote to block President Obama's pro-labor nominee for a vacant seat on the National Labor Relations Board. Make no mistake, labor is under attack!

Organizing is the key to survival. Not only does the labor movement need to increase membership, but existing numbers members need to ensure that the fire still burns for themselves and those who will come after them by supporting each other and punishing those who would put that fire out.

SOLIDARITY

The Dictionary defines "Solidarity" as: union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group or between classes, peoples, etc.: to promote solidarity among union members.