We’re working from all angles to get the word out and drive turnout to pass Proposition C in Los Angeles on May 21st (vote by mail begins May 1st).
Obama in Plunderland: Down the Corporate Rabbit Hole
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Barack Obama: The Obama rhetoric about standing up for working people against “special interests” is as profuse as ever. Would you care for a spot of Kool-Aid at the Mad Hatter’s tea party?
Obama, Union Buster?
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Wendy McElroy: Unions are dropping their enthusiasm for Obamacare. Some push for the new subsidies. Others bristle over the excise tax. Many protest the impact of health care cutbacks by employers who cannot afford to fully implement Obamacare.
Closing the “Walmart Loophole”
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Steve Smith: Walmart and other large companies don’t think twice about cutting workers’ hours and wages to such a low level that workers have to get health care through taxpayer-funded Medi-Cal.
Critics of Obama’s Organizing for Action Ignore Political Reality
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Randy Shaw: I don’t hear any immigrant rights groups, labor unions, or progressive activist groups calling on the President to unilaterally disarm in the face of massive right-wing spending, and critics of OFA have virtually no base among those fighting each day for greater social justice.
Michigan’s “Right to Work” Debate Affects Latinos, Too
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Victoria Defranceso Soto: Latinos aren’t the first group that comes to mind in a discussion about unions, especially with regards to a rust-belt state such as Michigan. But it turns out that Latinos are disproportionately affected, and not in a good way, by the diminishing strength of unions.
Corporate Tax Breaks and Jobs
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Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer: The only way workers will succeed in defending jobs with decent pay lies in workers standing together and embracing the principle that the labor movement was built on — solidarity.
Kudos to Jerry Brown
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Joseph Palero: Working hand-in-hand with California’s teachers, nurses, students of all ages, and the state’s labor unions, Governor Brown rallied the troops, and in doing so helped save from fiscal ruin not only the state’s public schools but also the nation’s biggest and most important system of public higher education.
Activists Should Back Obama’s Progressive Agenda
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Randy Shaw: Activists now must write a new script for the post-2012 election by pushing the President to keep his progressive campaign commitments on taxes, the budget, and, most urgently, comprehensive immigration reform, where the time for action is now.
Growing California’s Workforce: If I Had a Hammer
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John MacMurray: With the help of the California Apprenticeship Council, there is no reason to bring these workers in from other states; we’ll grow our own.
All Eyes on Chicago’s Teachers
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Shamus Cooke: If the Chicago teachers’ union — 26,000 members strong — goes on strike, many critical yet ignored political issues will go into the national spotlight, exposing nastiness that many politicians and labor leaders would like ignored until after the presidential elections.
Of Champagne Corks and Gnashing Teeth
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Berry Craig: Ryan is a Social Darwinist of the if-you’re-poor-it’s-your-own-fault persuasion and a disciple of the greed-is-good gospel of Ayn Rand. He hates labor unions, to boot.
The Supreme Court and the “Broken Middle”
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Joseph Palermo: By striking down the Montana campaign finance law that dates back to 1912, the Supreme Court steams ahead on its long-term project of turning our political system over to giant corporations.
Can Democrats Be Patriots?
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Steve Hochstadt: Mainstream Republican politicians say that liberals are ruining the country and hint that they don’t really have the best interests of our country at heart.
In Wisconsin, Money Wins
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Randy Shaw: Progressive activists get so focused on mobilizing their base that they overlook the intensity of their opponents’ base. And Walker’s base was motivated.
Welcome to the New Normal America
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Joseph Palermo: Wall Street banks should be pouring money into Obama’s reelection since he’s been so good to them, and the neocons should be rejoicing in his establishing precedent for more unchecked executive power.
Activists Breathe New Life Into May Day
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Peter Dreier: This year, in the wake of Occupy Wall Street and the rebirth of a national movement for social justice, a wide spectrum of activist groups will be out in the streets to give voice to the growing crusade for democracy and equality.
West Coast Unions Cave to Democrats
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Shamus Cooke: In California, the unions agreed to a rotten compromise, which taxes the rich at a lower rate while including an increase in the state sales tax that disproportionally affects working and poor people.
Why Campaigning for Democrats Cripples Labor Unions
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Shamus Cooke: Millions of union and non-union workers have seen their lives worsen under Obama while he promotes stunts that are intended to serve the wealthy and fool everybody else.
Occupy and Organized Labor: Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win
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Mark Naison: If I dare to dream, I can see where this collaboration between Occupy and Labor might lead—to the unionization of Wal-Mart, to the unionization of McDonalds, to the unionization of financial services workers in the nation’s largest banks.
Santorum Loves Unions — in Iran
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“I believe in the American worker,” says Rick Santorum, the new anti-Romney in the food fight for the GOP presidential nomination. A hero of social conservatives, Santorum claims he’s a blue collar sort of guy, too. The ex-senator and congressman from Pennsylvania promises he can make factories boom again. Santorum says he has a plan [...]
Will Occupy Fade Away?
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Mark Naison: If the Occupy movement’s showed us, in words and deeds, “This Is What Democracy Looks Like” those attacking the Occupations showed the world, albeit unintentionally “This Is What a Police State Looks Like.”
Useful Examples for Occupy from the Great Depression
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Mark Naison: The “grunt work” of organizing Depression Era protests — at least until 1936 — was done by radicals who for the most part eschewed, or de emphasized electoral politics.
Professionals Moving to Organized Labor
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Sharon Kyle: Labor union membership has declined significantly in the United States over the last 50 years, but this segment of the labor market is booming.
Occupy Movement, Labor on Collision Course with Obama
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Randy Shaw: If President Obama and fellow Democrats agree to a deficit reduction deal that cuts Medicare, Social Security, and other programs serving the 99%, expect an electoral calamity for Democrats in 2012.
The Way Forward for Occupy Portland
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Shamus Cooke: If the Occupy Movement demanded that the wealthy and corporations be taxed to create jobs and prevent cuts to social programs, the 99% would see a movement built in its own image
Fuel for Occupy Wall Street’s Fire
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Shamus Cooke: Ultimately, the Occupy Wall Street protests have already succeeded. The movement has successfully re-focused the nation’s debate on who ruined the economy and who should be targeted, shifting blame away from immigrants, unions, and other groups of working people, like public employees.
Labor Occupies Wall Street, But Democrats Go in Reverse
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As the grassroots campaign against Wall Street grows, Democratic politicians are moving in the opposite direction. President Obama has secured the House Republican support necessary to pass three trade bills strongly opposed by organized labor and most Democrats. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who like Obama was elected with huge labor funding and ground support, [...]
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, GOP Fiscal Terrorists
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Jerry Drucker: The strongest answer to date in stopping the GOP onslaught is to replicate the wonderful and wise voters of Wisconsin.
PCL offers monthly Open House Events on the 2nd Saturday at 2pm and 3rd Thursday at 6pm. Click here to learn more.
Labor Must Choose Between Occupy and the Democrats
Shamus Cooke: The labor movement has a foot in both worlds; one in step with the Occupy Movement and the other with the Democrats, who are working to crush Occupy outright.