Obama promises lack shelf-life12/28/09
Labor Shorts
A weekly-ish advisory from: LaborUnionReport.com• From the new Union Corruption Corner on 1-888-NO-UNION.COM's blog:• Union Boss Steals Money, Wins Lottery...Then Goes to Jail• The "autocrats" (pun intended) at the Union of Ailing Workplaces (aka the UAW) gets a new King (without a membership vote) as Ford asks 41,000 if they want to leave (with BIG incentives).
• Another Union Boss Busted for Embezzlement
• Dude! That is Sooo Bogus! Though officials say service is unaffected, Yellow Cab's cabbies are on strike in San Diego.
• Haul This! Teamsters tout GM carhaul agreement, but Chrysler and Toyota remain elusive.
• Now THAT's an A** Whooping! The Union of Purple People Eaters (aka the SEIU) garners a mere 2% of the vote as workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital opt for rival and 'no union'.
• Unions leave a hole in Chi-Town. As union-only building comes to a halt on the 150-story Chicago Spire, union investment funds are taking a pass on kicking in the bucks to bailout the building.
• YRC Ejects Teamster Rejects. Following the rejection by Chicago-area Teamsters of a concessionary contract negotiated between near-bankrupt LTL trucking company YRC Worldwide and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, YRC has opted to close and sell its facilities in Chicago Ridge.
• Machinists Prattle on About Job Cuts. The IAM (renamed as the IWAS) has taken Pratt & Whitney to court over the company's decision to transfer Connecticut jobs to Georgia and Asia. Interestingly, the White House seems to have ignored the union's pleas for help. Perhaps here's why.
• Driving Down Detroit: A humorous and pointed 13-minute video showing the atrocities of Detroit. [Watch for the falling environmental polar bear at about 7m 30s.]
• Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow… As the Teamsters target Continental Airlines' fleet service workers, the union of Jimmy Hoffa plans picketing to protest a lack of progress with getting a new contract for the airline's mechanics.
Readers, on behalf of all of us at LaborUnionReport and Kulture, we wish you and your families a wonderful and joyous Holiday Season.
Obama Mob devours national security pork
Moving Gitmo creates-saves massive labor-state bailoutDear Editor: I wish that someone would explain to me why the president is spending money that we don't have to buy a prison in Illinois, refurbish it and then bring the 190 or so detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. mainland.(from gadsdentimes.com)Around my house when money gets tight, we cut back on our spending. The millions he plans to spend on this boondoggle could be better spent on something else - like maybe paying down the debt.
I suppose it is no coincidence that the president's home state is getting the money and jobs that will come out of this deal.
It's just another example of the hypocrisy of this administration. He tells us to be frugal, than gives a sweetheart deal to the folks back home.
I say leave them where they are. At least if they escape from Gitmo, they still have to swim 90 miles to get to us.
Jim Lackey, Attalla, AL
Obamamania: Abolish non-union jobs
Union-only push fundamentally transforms contractors(from washingtontimes.com)President Obama's plan to force contractors to hire union workers for large government construction projects is proving easier said than done, confusing and costlier than expected.
It's been more than a decade since a federal project required bids that include union representation of workers, known as a "project labor agreement" or PLA, and a $100 million project to modernize the 12-story Lafayette Building that houses federal agencies is highlighting the kinks that need to be worked out.
The General Services Administration (GSA), for example, first called for PLAs to win bids to rehabilitate the Washington office complex, but earlier this month backtracked, saying the solicitation was in error and it would instead ask contractors to submit two bids, one with a PLA and one without - a highly unusual and costly requirement.
"It's crazy to try to do that. ... It is just pure confusion on their part," said Brett McMahon, vice president of business development for Miller & Long Co. Inc., the country's largest concrete subcontractor and the largest employer of construction workers in the Mid-Atlantic region.
GOP signals repeal surge
A bright line for voters in '10, '12Related story: McConnell Hints That GOP Will Campaign On Repealing Health Care Reform
(from alternet.org)Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hinted on Sunday that Republicans would campaign for office in the months ahead on a pledge to undo health care legislation, should it become law. But the Kentucky Republican refused to commit to pursuing a repeal, saying merely that the health care reform of 2009 would be a major issue come 2010.
"Certainly politically, it is a big problem for [Democrats]. They all kind of joined hands and went off a cliff together," McConnell told ABC's "This Week," when asked whether the GOP would push for a health care reform repeal. "There is great unrest in the Democratic Party. And the reason for that it is, the surveys indicate the American people are overwhelming opposed to this effort to have the government take over their health care. It will be a huge issue next year. And that's why you hear the Democrats saying, 'Let's not tackle any big issues'."
Jane Hamsher rips Rahmbo
Prog leader objects to 'The Chicago Way'(from firedoglake.com)Rahm Emanuel is destroying not only the Democratic majority but the Democratic Party. There isn’t enough pork in the world to hold his “Blue Dogs” in office with the legacy of bailouts that he has engineered, and that’s why his “big tent” is now collapsing in his wake. Parker Griffin, and now (possibly) Chris Carney, may blame Nancy Pelosi for their defections to the GOP, but that’s pure demagoguery. The mess they are fleeing — the corrupt back-room deals, the endless bailouts — belong to Rahm.
The ground is shifting. You can feel it. And the Rahm dead-enders have become no different than the Bush dead-enders, completely unaware that the President whose malfeasance they are defending on the basis that one must not “consort with Republicans” is the one who ran on — consorting with Republicans. It is knee-jerk authoritarianism in the extreme. Rick Warren is okay because Obama says so. Principles? Who needs them.
Stop Valerie Jarrett is a project of Americans for Limited Government and NetRightNation.com
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