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The Next Midwestern Assault on Unions


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How Illinois And Missouri Are Continuing A Bad Trend For The Middle Class

This week, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the Republicans in the Missouri legislature have both shown that they are anti-middle class. Rauner and the Missouri legislature continue an assault on unions that has been particularly potent in the Midwest, to the detriment of workers across the region.

This Midwestern flavor of anti-unionism really took off back in 2005, when former Indiana Governors Mitch Daniels eliminated collective bargaining rights for public employee unions, which decimated public unions in Indiana. In 2012, Daniels continued his assault on unions by making Indiana a so-called “right-to-work” state, making it illegal for unions to collect dues from non-members, despite the fact that they negotiate employment conditions for all workers, union or otherwise. While conservatives claim that right-to-work creates more jobs, the evidence suggests that this policy costs the average full-time worker, unionized or not, $1,500 a year in lost wages.

A number of Midwest governors took Mitch Daniels’ example and ran with it. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker eliminated collective bargaining for most public employee unions in 2011, while Ohio Governor John Kasich tried, but failed to do the same in 2011 as well. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder mimicked Daniels’ agenda by making Michigan a right-to-work state in 2013. Both Michigan and Wisconsin saw union membership steeply drop as a result.

Now Governor Rauner and the Missouri legislature want to implement these union-bashing policies into their states. Rauner made headlines last year for supporting eliminating the minimum wage as a member of the 0.1 percent. But now, he has exceeded even those anti-worker by signing an executive order that effectively makes Illinois a right-to-work state for public unions.

Meanwhile, emboldened by the 2014 election, Republicans in Missouri are moving a “paycheck protection” bill through the legislature, which would “require some state workers to provide annual written authorization for union dues to be deducted from their paychecks,” according to the Washington Post. In addition to their attempt to slyly undermine unions, the Republican legislature will also attempt to pass a separate right-to-work bill. Instead of working to create a larger middle class, these Midwestern Republicans continue their attacks against unions, which have done so much to improve working conditions and help build the middle class.

BOTTOM LINE: Unions are incredibly important to creating an economy that works for everyone. These Midwestern Republicans have contributed to trends that weaken and shrink unions, even though research shows that unions and are one of the keys to an inclusive prosperity that decreases inequality and builds up the middle class.

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Why The Middle Class Needs Unions


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a repost

New Data Shows That Union Membership Continues To Decline

The rate of unionization among wage and salary workers went down in 2014, from 11.3 percent to 11.1 percent, according to annual data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today. The number of unionized workers, at 14.6 million, was unchanged from 2013.

From the national debate over how to address income inequality, to President Obama talking about “middle class economics” in his State of the Union address, unions are more important than ever. In CAP’s recent report on inclusive prosperity, one of the key recommendations was to expand worker voice by making procedures governing collective bargaining fast and fair and remove the atmosphere of conflict that can surround representation elections and bargaining over initial contracts.

Check out the infographic below to see why the middle class needs unions.
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Historic negotiations with Iran


VoteVets.orgThis is historic. Iran, and western governments, including the United States, have negotiated a framework that would end the immediate threat of a nuclear Iran.

As Major General (Ret.) Paul Eaton, Brigadier General (Ret.) Steven Anderson, and Colin Powell’s former Chief of Staff, Colonel (Ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson said:

“[This agreement] sends a very strong signal to all of us in the US, and especially those in Congress — the United States will stand up firmly to Iran, when Iran’s demands conflict with our best interests. There can be no doubt that our negotiating team, while fair, is tough.

At the same time, our team remains committed to negotiating a good deal, that will move the region away from another war in the Middle East, peacefully. That is in the best traditions of America, and its leadership role in the world. It is an ideal to which we all must remain committed – for America, for our military, and for our security.”

Join retired Generals Eaton, Anderson, Wilkerson and VoteVets and add your name in support of these historic negotiations with Iran.

This framework would set the stage for an incredibly strong deal, which would drastically cut back Iran’s nuclear capability, limit it to peaceful purposes, force it to submit to constant, intrusive inspections, and not see any relief in sanctions until it proves to nuclear inspectors that it is meeting benchmarks.

In short, it would defuse a major powder keg in the region, that would have led to a protracted war in the Middle East.

But this is not done. Hardliners in Congress still may try to derail a final agreement. We need to stand up to them. You can help do that, by signing on to the statement from retired Generals Eaton, Anderson, Wilkerson and VoteVets:

http://action.votevets.org/iran-negotiations

Thanks for your support, and we will keep you up to date.

Jon Soltz
 Iraq War Veteran
 Chairman, VoteVets.org

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Canadian Supreme Court Rules Against Chevron and in Favor of Ecuadorians!
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The ruling is a victory for human rights and environmental justice

The law has finally caught up with Chevron. Today’s unanimous decision from the Supreme Court of Canada opens the door for Ecuadorian indigenous and farmer communities to enforce their $9.5 billion USD verdict against Chevron and is a major victory for human rights and corporate accountability.

Chevron’s deliberate dumping of 18 billion gallons of toxic waste water and 17 million gallons of crude into the Ecuadorian Amazon created a massive health crisis and remains one of the worst oil-related environmental crimes in history. After being found guilty of its drill and dump tactics in Ecuador, Chevron has been on the run, spending billions on retaliatory legal attacks seeking to delay justice rather than fulfilling its legal obligations to carry out a full-scale environmental clean-up and provide potable water and health care to the communities it poisoned.

This article from this morning’s Globe and Mail provides more background and details.

READ THE REST HERE »
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Jon Soltz, VoteVets.org … [Iran] We’re bringing veterans to D.C.


VoteVets.org

Since we started our campaign to elevate the voices of veterans who support a diplomacy-first approach with Iran, over 20,000 men and women who have worn our country’s uniform have added their names in support.

Today, I want to share a few of their stories with you, and to let you know that in the next few weeks, we’re going to be flying almost two dozen veterans and military family members out the nation’s capital to make their voices heard loud and clear.

Contribute $3 to help VoteVets bring these veterans to Washington, D.C. to lobby the Democratic representatives we need to hold the line ahead of the vote on the Iran deal later this month.

Dennis, an Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran (Afghanistan) wrote in that “The alternative is an eventual war, again, in the Middle East.”

Matt, an Iraq War Veteran from Colorado added, “Based on my experience in Iraq, I feel that diplomacy is a better path than military action in southwest Asia … Voting [against] the nuclear treaty with Iran would perpetuate our involvement in the region and likely lead to the next generation of our military being worn out in the region.”

Kevin, also an Iraq War Veteran says, “Diplomacy should always be the 1st option. It’s the best option. War is a last resort. With Iraq it was the 1st choice. 4500 Americans and countless Iraqis died for WMD’s that didn’t exist.”

We’re going to bring veterans who have served overseas – people like Dennis, Matt, and Kevin – to tell their legislators how their experiences in war inform their desire for America to reach for a peaceful way to disabuse Iran of their nuclear ambitions.

Contribute $3 today to help us bring them to Washington, D.C. to share their stories.

We received thousands of letters like theirs. Letters from veterans who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, Vietnam, and more — generations of combat veterans who wrote in support of the deal.

Congress needs to understand their perspective. Thanks for helping us make their voices heard.

Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
VoteVets