A Little PAC flak:

I've been a little busy with the kittens as of late. I know, there should always be time for fightin'!

I'm reposting (with permission) an e-mail my friend and our Local's Recording Secretary sent back in response to an donation request for Mitt Romney.  Our hero lives in Utah County, which is the reddest of the red, politically.  I've added some links in case not every one is familiar with Labor Lingo (and some free advertising).  Also I included our PAC link so you can help fight on the political front.

Mr. Keegan;
Normally I would just unsubscribe from you and and your organization's email list. But as I mowed my lawn today with my American made Toro lawn mower, wearing my American made Red Wing boots, and my my union made denims, socks, underwear, and shirt it occurred to me you deserve a response to your "idiotic" accusation.                                                                          

I live in the most Republican County in the most Republican state in the nation. (Both are named Utah). I work for a company that is being "vulture capitalized" (Bain Capital)  by a few investment groups. Maybe you've heard of "Hostess Brands." That's right, we make and I deliver "Wonder Bread and Hostess Cake." We (Hostess) are in our second Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the last 8 years. I have been sent a W.A.R.N. notice. If you don't know what that is, Goggle it. Bottom line is that at the very least I can expect a pay cut if Hostess survives, and most likely will be out of work before the election in November. I have 24 years in with this company and am 58 years old. My retirement has been frozen (I need 6 months to qualify for early retirement) because Hostess just arbitrarily quit making their contracted contributions. How much of a chance do you think I'll have finding work? My age and past union activism are certainly not resume builders in a "Right to Work for Less" state like Utah! 

Everyday as I drive the 10 or so miles back and forth to depot to do my 10 to 14 hour a day job, I get the finger at least 3 or 4 times because of my Obama/Biden sticker. I am a proud Teamster and currently serve my Local's membership as both a Shop Steward and the Recording Secretary. I contribute $7.00 weekly to our D.R.I.V.E. Political Action Committee. Since you are so sure I need to support your PAC, how about you supporting mine? Our PAC has already come out in support of the President. Even though it stands for Democratic Republican Independent Voter Education, DRIVE supports those who support key labor issues. (Guess who gets the lion's share of our contributions). In conclusion, an accusatory tone doesn't work well with me. Especially when you have no idea what my situation is or views are. It kind of sounds like a Tea Party type assumption on your part. The old: my way or no way. 

The bottom line is this: just because my personal financial situation makes me unable to contribute to "Liberal Organizations" as I have when times were better, does not make me the enemy. There are ways to support the President and liberal causes other than with "the Almighty Dollar".
                                                                                                                               
I'm sure as a member of the 1% you'll never even see this;
                                                                                                                                                    
But as member of the 99%, I sure feel better;
                                                                                                                                                                                   All do respect; 

"Honorary Alley Cat"

Well said, Brother.

Not So Smart, ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, has put the Kibosh on Utah's raging progressive movement's attempt to hold a simultaneous event during ALEC's 39th Convention in Salt Lake City at the end of July.  You know, Utah, that bastion of liberalism?

An attempt to rent space in the same hotel as ALEC ran contrary to ALEC's idea of proper decorum, I guess.
 
It is interesting to note that the the L in ALEC does stand for Legislative.  That would be the governing body comprised of people elected by The People to do The People's Business.  But The People are officially not invited.  ALEC keeps in its hotel contract the power to chose who does and does not get to rent space during an ALEC Convention.  They must fear someone might shine too much light in their direction.  Do you know who else scurries away from a little light?  Cockroaches.  Cockroaches, unlike ALEC, are actually quite useful to the working men and women of America.  A quality rubber cockroach can be deployed during a meal at a restaurant to quickly settle the bill in your favor.

Utah may not be the welcoming destination point the Council had hoped.  School Vouchers, a pet project of ALEC, was passed in Utah in the 2007 Legislative Sessions.  It was so unpopular among Utahns that it was repealed via referendum that November.

In 2011, a bill (HB477) limiting the ability of citizens and the media to access government records created such an uproar that it was repealed after a mere two weeks of public fury.

In this year's Utah Legislative session, a bill banning sex-ed in public schools again ignited the scorn of the general population, and languished on Governor Herbert's desk, only to be vetoed as soon as the state's delegate selecting caucuses were settled in a decidedly non-Tea Party way.  While Senator Hatch, the intended target of Tea Party agents, is no wine sipping liberal, he's no tea drinker either (his LDS religion eschews both alcohol and caffeine.)  Having seen Hatch's moderates carry the day, the Governor immediately vetoed the bill, much to the dismay of our ultra-conservative Eagle Forum.

No, ALEC has chosen to visit Utah at a weird time for us, politically.  As a state we may trend heavily conservative in our voting records, Salt Lake City itself is a stubborn little enclave of progressive folks.  Our Mayors are Liberal.  Our gays are gayer.  We pride ourselves on really good local beers (too many to link to, trust me, you can't go wrong.)  And ALEC is coming to our town.  But they don't want to have anything to do with us.  And, ironically, we've sent most of their darlings packing in our latest GOP Convention.

So, I guess we'll just have to exercise our constitutional rights and go downtown to make a little noise.

Wailing Away, Way out West, Over Wisconsin

This Runnin' Ute don't truck with that Badger Walker.
Wisconsin Governor Walker is nothing more than an over glorified Union buster with really, really, really rich friends. Out here in Utah, Wisconsin's problems might seem distant, but they aren't. Nor are they insignificant.
Wisconsin is a Union state while Utah is right-to-work. RTW weakens Unions immensely. So much so that RTW states are basically little ships of workers moored to the Union states. Our benefits and wage scales are as strong as they are because our neighboring states are fortified by Unions. Non-Union workers get their wage scales and benefits in RTW states based on competing with Union workers. Every worker benefits from strong Unions in states like Wisconsin. (National RTW groups call them "Forces-Unionism" states.)
So why, then, is Walker's recall so necessary? When an aggressive anti-Union campaign is piloted by a Governor, but clearly funded by Industrial Barons (Koch Brothers), on a statewide level, with more Governors and more Barons watching closely, you must understand that our moorings are being hacked away. Without Union states, workers in RTW states will suffer.
It will be a helluva lot easier to defend our territory than it will be to recapture. As a stunningly inspirational US Marine told a room full of Teamsters at the UNITY Conference: we only fight for a position once, we never give it up.
What is at stake? Here's a list, you'll find the best parts of your life are on this list.
(I especially like #2 because the first Teamster Strike was over the right to take a break AND FEED THE HORSE!)
As for Wisconsin, God Speed, Badgers, you're fighting for everybody today (well, 99% anyway)


http://www.unionplus.org/about/labor-unions/36-reasons-thank-union

An Introduction

An Introduction:

A local voice caterwauling Union Ideals in the anti-Union wilderness of Utah.
If the squeaky wheel gets the grease, then I'll be one tough cat to grab.

I start this blog to add a voice supporting Unions.  The anti-Union forces are loud, well financed, and have television networks.  And one House in Congress.  And it would appear several Justices on the Supreme Court.  And a large stable of Governors.

Generally speaking, I will be responding to local Op-ed pieces in the paper, or timely discussions in my communities: Labor in general, and Utah.  This is also a great forum to announce and support events and causes.

I have always thought the most universally applicable solutions to social, civil and poverty-oriented problems have been through Unions.  Unions were promoting racial unity before it was cool.  Unions demanded equal pay for women doing equal work in the middle of the 20th Century.  In Utah today, the gender-pay gap has women earning $0.76 to a man's dollar.  In Union shops, everybody with comparable seniority earns the same wage.  Equity is equity, and what used to be a call for racial or gender equity is now a call for civil equity of the LGBTQ community.  Unions still offer the best pay, the best health insurance and the best retirement plans (we have pensions.)  Unions should appeal to people on all points on the political spectrum: from the most liberal because we take care of those in need of support; to the most conservative because we provide any Union worker the means to provide for him or herself and family without relying on Government assistance.  Unions have been doing this kind of work for more than 100 years, and yet it was the Unions the joined the Occupy Movement.

So, I lend my voice (if anybody is listening)
B3