Archive for the ‘Labor’ Category

Will Teacher Tenure changes in Minnesota spark a Walker-like reaction?

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

This story’s headline in the Strib had me wondering.

I don’t think so. It only effects one, albeit the largest, public employee union. It is good to the younger half of that union. It also gives financially hard pressed school districts the chance to shed their most expensive senior teachers. Also, it comes after decades of public criticism pointed at teacher tenure.

In the case of Duluth this could be something of a godsend. A district desperate to bring down class size and with no prospects for any new money could shed senior teachers at will no matter how experienced or talented. The DFT under Frank Wanner has sucked up so much of the fiscal oxygen that the District has little choice but go draconian on the senior teachers it can ill afford.

I have mixed feelings about tenure. Its supposed to put some spine in teachers to do the right thing but I’ve seen little actual exercise of it in terms of Duluth teachers speaking truth to power in the face of the Red Plan and or Keith Dixon. That inclines me to think it would be no great loss should Mark Dayton sign the bill. I note that a number of DFL Senators voted to scrap tenure protection.

I haven’t followed this closely enough to know what’s likely to happen. I’m frankly fascinated. This may be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

He’s coming out from behind the teleprompter…

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

…and looking for a fight.

Paying your dues

Monday, February 6th, 2012

My Buddy sent me this last week. I’ve only just now read it. It comes from a huge horse’s ass Andrew Breitbart. That said it is an important and as far as I can see journalisticly neutral appraisal of the politics of public employee union dues.

Here’s my take.

A. Public employees with enough seniority have very secure jobs.

B. As private sector unions have fallen on hard times over the past four decades of increasing “Right-to-work” labor laws the revenue from public employee’s union dues have become indispensable to the union movement as a whole.

C. The many rights won for all workers by unions in the 1940′s and 50′s have made union protection far less important in the eyes of workers with the result that many workers have adopted as anti union viewpoint as their fire breathing right-to-work fire employers.

D. Many of the protections that existed up until the Reagan ERA for workers are beginning to erode. The best example of this is medical coverage. This is just fine by a new Republican Party which has purged itself of moderate politicians who were comfortable with America’s less expansive version of Europe’s “cradle to grave” protection.

E. Today a right-to-work (and right to starve) GOP is faced with a public that has begun to notice that America has become a land of haves (Mitt Romneys) and have nots (the 99 percent)

F. Having done its best to put black drug sellers in prison and fence out Mexicans and cling to pale “european” skin the GOP is desperate to keep the Public employee Unions from raising money that could be used to challenge Republicans. They are probably right that unions grossly abuse their power to raise political funds from union members. There is a very big BUT in this assertion.

G. Here’s the BUT. The GOP inclined Supreme Court justices have givencCorporations an unlimited First Amendment right to spend money on politics as copiously as they wish. This threatens to turn American politics into a very unlevel playing field based on the 19th century premise that a corporation has Constitutionally guaranteed citizenship rights.

H. I think an equally persuasive argument could be made that corporations should have to allow their stockholders to withold political donations that they have not agreed to just as union members should have the right to deny their dues to be spent for political purposes to which they object.

I. If my point of view becomes law then both right wing business and left wing labor could find themselves muzzled. That would be OK by me.

This Chinese Life

Sunday, January 8th, 2012

Speaking of nations with which we’ve had on again – off again relations there was a mesmerizing 45 minute long story about China today on the great radio program This American Life.

For those Republicans who are convinced that labor organizations are only a menace the story will be a cold splash of water in the face. Same for Steve Jobs worshipers.

We could do worse than have an American President that can speak Mandarin even if he inexplicably uses it in a Republican Debate.

The Walker Experiment vs. Democracy

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Of all the news in the Trib today I think this was the most important to educators. (Once again, its not on the DNT’s website. Maybe they are charged to put AP stories in their own site)

What’s happening in Wisconsin is a grand experiment in control of public sector unions. The law which the 19th century leaning Republicans passed is a “Right to Work” lobbyist’s dream and a pretty wet one at that. In one fell swoop Republicans have eviscerated public employee union’s political power.

Before the law passed, WEAC had about 98,000 members and was one of the most powerful unions in the state, contributing millions to Democratic causes. Lobbying reports show the union spent $2.5 million lobbying lawmakers in 2009 and 2010, more money than any other group.

This summer, the union reported spending $500,000 in support of Democratic candidates in recall elections, and in August announced 42 workers had been laid off as a result of the law. Earlier this month, unions representing about 50,000 public workers opted not to go through with recertification, citing the fees and the lack of bargaining power beyond wages even if the elections succeeded.

My gut instinct tells me that this is overreach (more…)

On the other hand what answer do Unions have for this?

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

As the US loses manufacturing technology.

Thud Dead, Thud Dead

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

On Labor day one twit wrote a simplistic editorial for the DNT saying in effect that Labor Unions made people lazy. My first thought was of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in which hundreds of seamstresses died because the emergency exits were all chained by management to keep workers from taking non productive breaks. Maybe this seven minute video will give a more accurate summary.

Virgil’s swing…

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

…is not a miss. Only his Budgeteer column is missing from the DNT’s online site. That’s too bad.

He points out that the public employee union is pushing hard for City Council candidates. Once seated the councilors will determine how much union members are paid. At a time of diminishing Government services this is troubling.

Coincidentally I got a call a week ago from a surveyer not identifying himself asking me if I had decided upon any city council candidates. When I identified the one I Considering the source the suggestion might have cost both candidates votes from our household.

Like Mr. Swing I have no use for Wisconsin Governor Walker’s heavy handedness. That doesn’t mean that public employee’s political power is not excessive. It is, and it will probably continue to cripple Duluth.

Happy Labor Day!

JCI – the Unions best friend

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

I don’t know how much JCI spends to scrub its google results to hide unpleasant stories and I haven’t googled them for a long time but this story popped up just now. Duluth’s trade unions best pal, JCI, probably doesn’t much like them.

One paragraph:

Mexico’s dominant labor federations are made up of such unions, and have long accepted the notion that pay increases must be minimized in order to enhance Mexico’s “competitiveness,” leaving workers further and further behind the rate of inflation.

One toke over the line

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

Extremists are always paid in kind. That bill has yet to be settled.

Meanwhile Jim Oberstar gets a boat named after him……..the name “Titanic” was already taken.

But then Eisenhower was a Commie

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

“This is what I mean by my constant insistence on ‘moderation’ in government. Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid,” -

president Eisenhower, as a counterpoint to FDR.

Borrowed from the Dish. Demonstrating yet again why GOP pundits froth at the mouth whenever Andrew Sullivan pokes holes in their heads to let the air out.

Wisconsin, a state that wasn’t in such bad shape…

Saturday, February 19th, 2011

…until Republican Scott Walker was elected Governor.

I asked Vic to tell me if he knew whether Governor Walker campaigned on a platform of repealing the collective bargaining rights of public employees. The answer seems to be not really or maybe just barely if you could read between the lines. Thanks for the link, Vic.

As I said in the recent post about the Middle East I believe people have a right to chart their own course in elections even stupid courses. It strikes me that in this case, candidate Walker was dishonest and didn’t give his voters the chance to choose the course he’s taking them on. Apparently he was so intent on winning an election he decided not to be honest about his plans. That’s strike one.

Strike two: What Walker is doing is attempting to bring about a fundamental change to the midwest’s political landscape by importing controversial “right to work” legislation from the states in the deep South where it has been largely confined. This is a Roe vs. Wade sort of surprise which is more power grab than anything else. Rahm Emmanuel famously said: “you never want to let a crises go to waste.” I believe the GOP was outraged when President Obama pushed his health care agenda under this theory – except that everyone knew that’s what Obama planned to do. The President didn’t deceive any voters.

Strike Three: Scott Walker is making things in Wisconsin incomporably worse to please the likes of jerks like Grover Norquist. I think these four comments from Wisconsinites disagreeing with Andrew Sullivan make a lot of sense.

By the way. I have a long standing respect for collective bargaining even as I often have little but contempt for the way it is conducted and the way some people (elected officials primarily) cave in to union demands.

BTW My Dad was on the public employee union side of the bargaining table. I was on the side of the elected officials meaning (I think) the side of the voters.

The most compelling reason to vote for McCain

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

The reason? Its divided government and this persuasive argument for it and a McCain Presidency comes from George Will. I agree with George but I will almost certainly vote for Obama.

I hate the idea of “card check neutrality” which is absolutely undemocratic. It will come to pass under Obama. I’ve long felt that the power in union management has tilted too far out of balance in management’s favor. Republicans have turned the NLRB into a toothless regulator making it very difficult for unions to legally unionize businesses. As terrible as ccn is, it is a swing of the pendulum. Someday when common sense and its negative effects on the economy kick in it will be scrapped or modified. It will hurt our economy but so do farm subsidies.

As for the “Fairness Doctrine, well, George has a good point here to. You could call it the regulation of political speech or in other words “political censorship.” Its very Big Brother and kind of like the, AHEM, Patriot Act.

Against George’s call for divided government I must consider:

The Christianization of the GOP
McCain’s health and possibly muddled thinking
Sarah Palin
His take no prisoners campaign
His primitive faith in the maxim “My country right or wrong.”
Obama’s nuanced understanding of the increasingly complicated and hostile world that we have gracelessly and unnecessarily offended

But sometimes I agree with Vic

Thursday, December 7th, 2006

However, Vic also emailed me this link to a Wall Street Journal editorial about the Teacher’s Unions attempt to force their members to contribute to political campaigns in Washington State.

I simply emailed back: “Amen!”

Unions forever

Thursday, November 9th, 2006

This is pretty astounding news.

For Duluthians depressed at the City Council’s new policy of requiring a living wage forĀ  any business receiving city subsidies its a spash of cold water.

“Minnesotans elected four union members to the state Senate and 32 union members to the state House. Twenty-one are incumbents; 15 are newcomers. An astounding 20 of the 36 union members elected are members of Education Minnesota, the union representing teachers and other educators.”

Grams should quit, say the unions

Tuesday, October 31st, 2006

Tonight there was a silly bit of news about area labor unions which are calling on Rod Grams to quit the race for Congress.

Sure, Rod’s campaign has been drivel – complaints about trips to Paris and Jim’s home in Maryland. Rod’s recent story in the Trib about the poor farmers who were jailed for draining their swamp was patently absurd and slanted, but should he quit the race?

The unions are upset that Rod is trying to make the claim that Jim Oberstar has been a job killer. So what? Its just over the top campaign rhetoric. The public won’t be impressed.

I tried explaining while on Duluth Solutions today that economic development was more of a state matter than a fedral matter but my friend Mel has a much better take on a congressman’s limitations than I managed. Neither Oberstar, Grams or Welty can be expected to bring jobs, jobs, jobs to the Eighth District’s economy.l

Business Week Lite

Friday, October 13th, 2006

An interesting commentary on changes at Business Week Magazine which my Dad used to read religiously.

Are Americans really more obsessed with getting rich quick than Joe Sixpack’s place in the Economy? I guess that’s a silly question.