AMERICAN LABOUR MINNEAPOLIS:
SOLIDARITY WITH CHIPOTLE WORKERS:


The following call for a solidarity action with Chipotle workers in the Minneapolis area comes from the SEIU Local 26.
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Solidarity with Chipotle Workers Action
Time Thursday, January 20 · 10:00am - 1:00pm

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Location SEIU Local 26 Union Hall
706 North 1st Street, Suite 110
Minneapolis, MN

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Created By SEIU Local 26

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More Info
Join us and our allies as we let Chipotle know that workers rights are just as important as animal rights. We'll be gathering at the SEIU Local 26 Hall and traveling to a nearby restaurant to let the fast-food restaurant know enough is enough.

Integrity starts with people.

In December, right before Christmas, Chipotle abruptly fired more than 150 Latino immigrant workers at multiple stores in Minneapolis, MN without notice or paying back wages. To continue using “Mexican” in its name and the chili pepper in its logo, we expect Chipotle to treat the hardworking Mexican American employees who’ve made their company a success with integrity and respect.

Chipotle prides itself on serving food with integrity; however it is not sufficiently committed to treating people with dignity. In fact, Chipotle treats its chickens and hogs better than it treats its employees The slogan, "Food with Integrity" means nothing when employees are treated with disdain.

The real winners of today’s broken immigration system are companies like Chipotle who reap huge profits off of a low-wage immigrant workforce. Instead of standing up for a comprehensive solution that would lift all worker wages, Chipotle scapegoats its workers and turns a blind eye, supporting practices and politicians that are anti-immigrant. Enforcement without comprehensive immigration reform just perpetuates a system
where corporations profit, workers suffer and our immigration problems continue to fester without relief.

IT’S TIME FOR CHIPOTLE TO STAND UP FOR WORKERS, SUPPORT IMMIGRATION REFORM

• We are calling upon Chipotle to stand up and treat its workers with the same dignity they give to their ingredients. We are asking Chipotle to do the following:
* Pay, in full, back wages to immigrant workers wrongly fired at Chipotle stores in Minneapolis, MN.
* Stand up for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, because it’s good for workers and it’s good for companies.
* Refuse to work with suppliers that support anti-immigrant candidates through political contributions.

CANADIAN POLITICS CANADIAN LABOUR:

SEIU CONDEMNS POLICE ACTIONS AT G20:

In the aftermath of the police riot at the Toronto summit of the G20 more and more Canadian labour organizations are condemning the actions of the police in arresting over 1000 peaceful protesters while totally ignoring (encouraging ?) the actions of less than 100 rioters. At last count when Molly looked 41,775 people had joined the Facebook group 'Canadians Demanding A Public Inquiry Into Toronto G20'. Molly wants to reemphasize that this is not just a question of police misconduct. The general security plans for the summit were set by political masters. The concentration of huge numbers of police from various jurisdictions shows this quite plainly. It is also entirely possible that the decision to both bait the Black Bloc with abandoned police cars and to not engage the rioters was a political decision rather than a tactical police decision.

Here's the statement of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on the events in Toronto.

TRTRTRTRTR
Canadians' Civil Rights Trampled At G20 in Toronto
A group, colourfully attired, some in decidedly unmilitant summer dresses and open toed shoes hemmed in at the corner of Spadina and Queen street in downtown Toronto break into a spirited rendition of O'Canada, a moment later a boom, then a line of riot police standing down the group charge forward trampling some and beating others with their batons. It's a searing image that neatly sums up what happened in Canada's biggest city over the weekend - while the world watched.

The lesson here is that when a government spends 1.1 billion dollars on security infrastructure, tear gas, rubber bullets, sound cannons, they're going to use it - and other than the five million dollar fence that went down as quickly as it went up - that infrastructure and the elastic approach to civil rights in this country is likely here to say. After all the spot searches of persons well outside the security zone was routinely witnessed by the nations media, becoming routine and unremarkable by Sunday afternoon.

How did the temporary regulation added to the Public Works Protection Act that covered 5 metres from the security perimeter get extended to the faraway corner of Queen and Spadina? The nation's media failed to ask.

According to the Toronto Star blog that ran live during the G20 Police Chief Bill Blair, challenging and unapologetic throughout, said the people on the corner had three chances to leave, and suggested that any criminal activity was made easier by the complicity of the crowd, ""It's unfortunate some innocent people had to stand in the rain," says Blair. "We had to stand in the rain with them." The deluge, he says, was the "good part" because the rain "cooled their ardour. That's what we wanted it to do."

When asked at a press conference Saturday night about the beating of an accredited journalist by police, Blair ominously suggested that they (The Toronto police) had video of the incident as well. The video by the Real News Network clearly shows journalist Jesse Freeston being struck and pushed backward. When he asked a supervisor on the scene why he was struck the supervisor instead of answering his question instructs the police to "give him another shot" - which they do - several more times.

G8/20 summits are where the worlds rich and most powerful leaders make decisions that affect all of us. The theme of this summit was austerity - a reduction in worldwide deficits that is facilitated by a reduction in the standard of living brought about by decent wages and social programs - as viewed by fiscal conservatives such as Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty. What has become the brutal routine in the developing world and now underway in Greece - what Canada's G8/20 architect (or parrot?) Mark Carney calls the "canary in the mine" - is all that's at stake at these summits. It's what brings the crowds out.

Downtown Toronto was a testing ground both for what we can expect, and what we'll withstand.

CANADIAN LABOUR-SASKATCHEWAN:

HEALTH CARE WORKERS VERSUS THE SASKATCHEWAN GOVERNMENT:

Out Saskatchewan way a real test of wills is shaping up between the right wing Saskatchewan Party provincial government and over 11,000 workers represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Having voted over 88% in favour of strike action in late November the health care workers have continued to negotiate with the government, but many are becoming frustrated enough to begin walkouts at any time. They do this despite legislation that defines pretty well all of what they do as an "essential service" which means that they legally barred from striking. What follows is an article from the Regina Leader Post. To follow developments check in with the SEIU's western Canadian website.

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Health-care workers willing to defy legislation, SEIU says:
By Janet French
Some unionized health-care workers are willing to walk off the job, defying essential services legislation and potentially incurring hefty fines, if they can't reach a deal with health regions, the president of Service Employees International Union-West says.

"People are prepared to take that next step," union president Barbara Cape said late last week.

Last Friday, the union, which represents more than 11,000 health-care workers such as licensed practical nurses, special care aides, laundry, maintenance and food service workers and more, announced it is taking four regional health authorities to court over their latest essential services plans.

Cape says lawyers have filed a notice of motion for a judicial review of essential services plans given to the union by Saskatoon, Cypress, Five Hills and Heartland health regions, and have also asked for a judicial review of the Public Service Essential Services Act itself.

The union is challenging the constitutionality of the act, and the plans.

Three health-care unions representing 25,000 workers -- SEIU-West, Saskatchewan General and Government Employees Union, and Canadian Union of Public Employees -- bargain together, and have been without a contract since March 2008.

The parties had been at the bargaining table, but those talks broke off in early December.

In a late-November strike vote, SEIU members voted 88 per cent in favour of job action.

When health regions delivered the union their essential services plans that day, Cape says the employers had declared at least 90 per cent of the workers "essential," which she says was more onerous than plans the health regions had handed over earlier this year.

"It takes away our right to strike, if not, severely limits our right to strike in support of collective bargaining," Cape said.

Susan Antosh, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations, which bargains on behalf of the health regions and Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, says the regions did meet with the unions to try and agree on an essential services plan in advance, but the parties were not able to reach agreements.

They had also discussed, but failed to reach an agreement on providing replacement workers in the event of a strike.

Essential services legislation says as soon as there is a threat of job action, employers must present an essential services plan to the union, and notify workers, if no such agreement has been struck in advance.

Antosh said a strike vote means the unions could give 48-hour strike notice at any time.

Because hand-delivering letters to thousands of employees takes more than two days, Antosh said health regions opted to hand out their plans earlier.

Antosh also said the essential services plans handed over in February, then after each union's strike vote, were the same, if not less demanding than initial plans. Each plan declared about 75 per cent of the full-time workload to be essential, Antosh said. She admits that may work out to affect more than 90 per cent of the employees, but didn't have exact numbers.

During talks with members across the province before the strike vote, Cape said several workers claim they are willing to defy legislation and walk off the job to get a fair deal. Cape said the union is attempting to discourage workers from doing that.

Defying the essential services legislation could result in "significant" fines against the worker and the union -- $2,000 on the first day for a worker, and $400 on every subsequent day, Cape said.

"I don't know any health-care workers, let alone any person in the province, who can afford that kind of fine," she said.

Antosh also discourages any workers from breaking the law, but adds those are personal choices health regions cannot control.

When asked what assurances Antosh could provide that health-care services will be there for Saskatchewan people in the event of a strike, Antosh said the employers have done everything they can under current legislation.

"The employer is extremely interested in ensuring the services are provided, and people of Saskatchewan actually have access to the services that they need," she said. "That is not a decision or something that I have the ability to control."

During talks, the unions asked for wage increases of five per cent in 2008, five per cent in 2009 and five per cent in 2010.

SAHO countered with a proposal of a 9.4 per cent pay increase over four years, with additional incentives for hard-to-recruit professionals.

Cape calls the essential services plans a "stall tactic," that's preventing the parties from reaching an agreement, instead of a tool to ensure public safety during a strike.

Antosh maintains essential services agreements and collective bargaining are two independent processes, and that one shouldn't affect the other. (She probably said this with a straight face too-Molly )

However, there is hope bargaining will resume soon between the unions and SAHO. Both parties have agreed to work with government conciliator Doug Forsyth, and Antosh is hopeful more bargaining dates will be scheduled for January.

The essential services legislation was enacted in Saskatchewan in May 2008, and raised the ire of several labour groups and official Opposition both before and after it became law.

AMERICAN LABOUR-PUERTO RICO:

PUERTO RICO IN STRUGGLE:

The following report is from the AFL-CIO blog, and it's about solidarity demonstrations across the USA in support of workers in Puerto Rico who held a general strike the other day.

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Thousands of workers rallied in Puerto Rico against the governor’s drastic layoffs:

The sign says “Give me back my job.”
In states across the country, working people marched and rallied in solidarity today with their Puerto Rican brothers and sisters against draconian budget cuts and cancellation of their collective bargaining rights.

As 200,000 people march in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to protest Gov. Luis Fortuño’s plan to slash the budget deficit on the backs of workers, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sent a letter of support and solidarity and rallies were held in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities.

In his letter of support, which was read at the San Juan rally, Trumka said:

"We are fully aware of the attacks being afflicted on the workers and their families on your island and we will do whatever we can to stop them. We are completely committed to bringing the full force of the AFL-CIO to fighting for the rights and well being of our affiliated unions, their members, and the people of Puerto Rico."

Using recently passed legislation known as Public Law 7, Fortuño plans to lay off as many as 30,000 public employees and deny collective bargaining to the remainder of the island’s public workers. The U.S. commonwealth, where unemployment is already at 15 percent, is set to receive $6 billion in federal economic recovery funds, more than enough to cover a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit.





Trumka’s letter goes on to say:

"At times like these—and especially at times like these—the people of Puerto Rico need a strong public sector, not a weaker one. We need the government to step in and push the economy forward, not further weaken it. Laying off public servants, particularly at the scale that the governor is planning, is not only anti-worker, it will set back national efforts towards an economic recovery."





Jose Rodriguez Baez, president of the Puerto Rico Federation of Labor, told the crowd:

"Today’s march is a clear demonstration of opposition to the government’s policies. Puerto Rico is unified in repudiation of the lay-offs of more than 30,000 public sector workers, the elimination of collective bargaining agreements and policies that promote privatization. "





AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, whose union represents many of the Puerto Rican public employees, in his prepared remarks, told the San Juan rally:

"We must tell the governor: Cutting jobs hurts Puerto Rico by crippling public services. Cutting jobs hurts Puerto Rico by putting added pressures on the economy. Cutting jobs means more families without a paycheck. Cutting jobs means less money circulating. Cutting jobs means less tax dollars in the treasury.
We are not going to roll-over. We are not going to give up. We are not going to stand by while Gov. Fortuño cuts vital services and our members’ jobs.
Some things are too important to sacrifice. Some things are too precious to give away. The future of Puerto Rico is too important and too precious. "





The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), an AFL-CIO constituency group, joined with AFSCME, SEIU and other unions to bring the situation in Puerto Rico to the attention of the White House and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.





Here’s LCLAA President Milton Rosado:

"We want Governor Fortuño to know that an attack on the workers of Puerto Rico is an attack on all who fight for workers’ rights and that we are committed to ensuring that every Latino and Latina activist and trade unionist is aware of it."
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AND MORE
Here's an earlier story and appeal from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) about the strike and what you can do to espress solidarity with the strikers.
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Stop Puerto Rico's George Bush:‏
Anna Burger (info@seiu.org)
We may have replaced George Bush last November, but Puerto Rico's version continues to wreak havoc on the island.




Despite campaign promises to the contrary, Puerto Rico's Republican Governor Luis Fortuño announced plans to eliminate the jobs of 30,000 public employees early next month.




Tomorrow, over 200,000 people are preparing to take to the streets in a general strike, and Fortuño is threatening to charge the protesters with terrorism.




Not even Karl Rove and George Bush tried that.




Ask Congress to hold hearings on Fortuño's anti-American behavior, and we'll be sure to send you a button designed by popular artist Antonio Mortorel.




In recent days, thousands of university students have demonstrated and marched in support of the working women and men who provide critical public services to the people of Puerto Rico.




Those young demonstrators were threatened, physically attacked, tear gassed and falsely arrested in some instances. Violating the civil rights of your own citizens is unacceptable...wherever you are.




Stand up for the civil rights of Puerto Rico's citizens by contacting your member of Congress to ask them to hold hearings on Fortuño's anti-American actions.




We'll be in touch with more opportunities to get involved in the near future.
In Solidarity,
Anna Burger,
International Executive Secretary-Treasurer
SEIU

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AND STILL MORE

If you live in the USA go to the link above or to THIS LINK to send the following letter to the US Congress.

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Dear Congress:


I am very concerned about what has been happening in Puerto Rico over the past few weeks. I'm deeply troubled about recent media reports that Republican Governor Luis Fortuño has tear-gassed students and threatened to arrest demonstrators on terrorism charges if they protest his short-sighted plans to eliminate 30,000 public employees.


I'm writing to ask you hold a public hearing on these issues as soon as possible.
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FINALLY
Here's an item from CNN that gives a bit more background to this struggle, and more news of the strike.
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STRIKE PROTESTS JOB CUTS IN PUERTO RICO:
(CNN) -- Thousands of people took to the streets of Puerto Rico on Thursday, paralyzing commercial activity in downtown San Juan to protest government budget cuts that are expected to result in at least 13,000 layoffs.




Gov. Luis Fortuño's office says that Puerto Rico's economic downturn started four years ago.




"More employees, zero fired," a sign held by one demonstrator read.





The one-day general strike started at dawn and culminated at noon with a rally at the Plaza las Americas mall. Organizers said at least 100,000 people took part in the rally and thousands more stayed home from work.





Federico Torres Montalvo, a union leader, said 200,000 people attended the rally.





Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock estimated the number at no more than 15,000.




"There's no way you had 20- or 25- or 50,000 people there," he said.





There was no independent verification of the turnout.





Confrontations between police and students blocking a highway in Puerto Rico eased late Thursday afternoon after the rally, which ended at 2:30 p.m.





But some students refused to leave a highway where they had blocked traffic, the news outlet primerahora.com said. When police stepped up their presence, the students confronted them and burned a tire, but there were no reports of violence or arrests.





"If things like this had happened in Washington, the capital of the free world, there would be prisoners now," said Gov. Luis Fortuño, whose money-saving efforts were the focus of the demonstrators' ire. ( That's an interesting and undoubtedly accidental example of telling the truth on the part of a politician-Molly )"Instead of looking behind, we have to look ahead."





Victor Villalba, president of the Puerto Rican Federation of Workers, lauded the turnout and criticized government efforts at privatization.





"They will have to pass over the bodies of thousands and thousands of Puerto Ricans before turning the government over to private businesses," Villalba told the crowd.





Aida Diaz, president of the teacher's union, also praised the turnout.





"Today we said, 'Present,'" she said. "Tomorrow we will say, 'Present,' because teaching is by the public, for the public."





University students, teachers and clergy leaders were among those who joined the strike.





Negotiations between police and protesting students continued late into the afternoon.




Methodist Bishop Juan Vera, a strike leader who had spoken at the rally, was one of the lead negotiators.





"We can feel how the soul of a whole people vibrates," Vera said.





At least six demonstrators required medical attention for dehydration and high blood pressure as a result of the heat and sun, the primerahora Web site reported. One woman was taken away in an ambulance.





"Everyone has the right to express themselves and we will guarantee that right," Fortuño told CNN affiliate WAPA TV in a morning interview. "The important thing is that we do it with respect, that we do it with order and that we understand that each of our rights ends where the other person's begins."





News media reported no major incidents at the protest sites. Some University of Puerto Rico students got into shoving matches with police at the mall before the noon rally but no arrests were reported, said primerahora.com.





The mall's windows and doors had been covered with plywood and it was closed for the day. Its 3,000 employees and 300 stores, restaurants and banks make it the Caribbean's largest.





The demonstrators oppose Fortuño's demand that nearly 17,000 workers be laid off to help close a $3.2 billion budget gap.





McClintock said Thursday that the true number of public-sector job cuts, slated to take effect next month, will likely be closer to 13,000.





According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Puerto Rico's unemployment rate exceeds 15 percent. Some analysts expect the layoffs to propel that rate to at least 17 percent.





In a statement issued Thursday, the governor's office pointed out that the island's economic downturn started in 2005, three years before the recession hit the U.S. mainland.





According to the statement, about 70 percent of Puerto Rico's budget is dedicated to salaries and benefits for government employees. The U.S. protectorate, the statement said, has more government employees in proportion to population than any state. Its efforts are not unusual. Forty-three of the nation's 50 states have implemented some form of payroll reduction, hiring freeze or layoffs, the release said.





The government already has cut 10 percent in operating expenses by cutting back on official vehicles, cell phones and credit cards, and has instituted 10 percent pay cuts for the governor and agency heads through next year, the announcement said.
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MOLLY NOTE
This may be shape of things to come, even in the mainland USA, as the government attempts to bail out the corporations while offloading the burden to ordinary people. In the future such general strikes may not be limited to more or less symbolic one day affairs. We'll see. We'll see.

AMERICAN POLITICS:

STOP THE KEN LEWIS GOLDEN HANDSHAKE:

Some of us can only dream of a just a little goodby present after screwing things up. ken Lewis of the Bank of America will get a $53.3 million pension for his role in producing the present financial crisis. The following appeal from the Service Employees International Union asks you to add your voice against this atrocity.

APAPAPAPAPAPAP
Stop the Ken Lewis Bailout:‏
Ken Lewis is on his way out at Bank of America. But not without one more parting gift from all of us.

Despite helping to drive us into one of the worst financial meltdowns in history, it's been revealed that Bank of America plans to send Ken Lewis out the door with a $53.3 million pension on top of the hundreds of millions he's already made during his failed tenure as CEO.
We're the ones paying billions in tax dollars to bail out Bank of America for the mistakes Ken Lewis made. We shouldn't let him take one more penny of our hard-earned money.

The Obama administration has appointed a 'pay czar,' Kenneth Feinberg, to make sure our tax dollars aren't being used to pay outrageous earnings to bank CEOs.
Will you tell the pay czar to stop payment on the Ken Lewis bailout? http://seiu.org/stoppayment

SEIU Secretary Treasurer Anna Burger will be delivering a letter to Mr. Feinberg, asking him to withhold Lewis' absurd compensation until Bank of America agrees to stop hurting our communities with reckless financial practices. But we want you, as a taxpayer, to sign on to the letter before we deliver it to Mr. Feinberg: http://seiu.org/stoppayment

The changes we're asking for are simple - and they're necessary to stop greedy banks from driving us toward another financial meltdown. Help make sure Ken Lewis doesn't get another dime of our money until Bank of America cleans up its act.

Sign on to Anna Burger's letter at http://seiu.org/stoppayment

Thanks,

John VanDeventer

SEIU.org

P.S. It's not just Ken Lewis. CEOs at all the major banks are continuing to rake in millions, but they've done nothing to fix the problems that got us into this mess. Help us put them all on notice by signing the letter to pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.

MOLLY NOTES

The actions of CEO Ken Lewis are actually quite typical, and they repeprsesent an huge undergound iceberg of managerial control in presumably 'capitalist' companies where the managers can undercut both the workers and the stockholders, who are too dispersed to control the managers. Win or loose in some supposedly 'competitive' system where the rules are usually jeririgged to produce less competition rather than more, the managers exit the companies they have ruined with extraordinarily high payment for 'failure'. Nothing could be so demonstrative of how far the USA is aways from an actual "free market" (assuming such a thing could work. The "socialism" that right wing Americans like to scream about has been in place for many decades now. Its purpose is to provide social security 'on a grant scale' to those who have wealth in society while putting every roadblock in the path of the poor and working classes.

Here's the letter from the SEIU to Obama "pay czar" asking him to block Ken Lewis' bailout, You can send the following letter via THIS LINK. Not that the Obama administration is very much adverse to making awards for failure, but the more public protest the less than can carrying out this looting of the public treasury.

Here's the protest letter

ALALALALALALAL

Dear Mr. Feinberg:

On behalf of the 2.1 million members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), I ask that you take immediate action on the multimillion-dollar retirement package being offered to one of the chief architects of the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis.

News reports indicate that Mr. Lewis will be leaving the bank with $126 million—including a $53.3 million pension. We do not yet know what kind of additional bonus money will be paid out upon Lewis’ departure.

At the same time, SEIU members and Americans across the country continue to lose their homes, their jobs and their retirement savings.

Bank of America, under the management of Lewis, has restricted lending to small businesses and consumers, continues to rake in billions in fees and high interest charges from their customers, and has been slow to modify mortgages and save homeowners from foreclosure. Shareholders have seen the value of their holdings plummet and Americans have seen their pensions and 401(k)s evaporate.

The housing crisis created by Bank of America and other banks has created severe budget crises for state and local governments—and even though they continue to receive taxpayer support, Bank of America and other large banks’ lending decisions have forced states and cities to lay-off workers and cut critical public services.

Personal bankers, tellers, credit card call center workers, and other frontline Bank of America workers have revealed to the press compensation and quotas systems built around selling products consumers do not need or cannot afford. These quotas incentivized workers them to engage in the predatory practices that led to the mortgage crisis and the overabundance of credit card debt.

In addition, Bank of America continues to spend millions lobbying against pro-working family legislation. Together, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch spent more than $12 million on lobbying in 2008. Just three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America held a conference call with clients to organize opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act and raise funds for those efforts. The bank opposes President Obama's financial reform efforts and lobbied against bills, such as the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights and the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008.

Beyond the damage done to our economy, Bank of America and Ken Lewis continue to face investigations and potential legal action for misleading shareholders about commitments to pay Merrill Lynch executives up to $5.8 billion in bonuses during Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill last year. Shareholders have already soundly rejected the failed practices of Lewis. In an unprecedented show of no confidence earlier this year, shareholders ousted Lewis as Chair of the Board. The action followed demands of nearly 100,000 taxpayers from across the country for shareholders to fire Lewis.

Taxpayers have already provided nearly $200 billion in bailouts and backstops to Bank of America. This enormous public investment entitles taxpayers to have a say in the bank’s executive compensation practices.

We request that Ken Lewis and other executives at banks supported by taxpayer dollars be prevented from receiving any retirement or severance package until the banks commit to:

* Stopping foreclosures to save Americans’ homes and state and local budgets;

* Providing the same affordable loans to state and local governments that the banks receive from the federal government;

* Restoring small business lending to save jobs and tax revenue;

* Lowering interest rates on consumer credit cards and stopping charging abusive overdraft fees that take billions out of consumers’ pockets; and

* Allowing employees to negotiate compensation practices so they are no longer directly tied to quotas and unreasonable sales goals, targeting consumers with unnecessary or harmful products, and amassing consumer debt.

According to a report released by SEIU[1], once all crisis-related programs are factored, taxpayers could be on the hook for up to $17.8 trillion to rescue the big banks. A year has passed since our economic crash and since then, banks have refused to aid in the recovery of our economy. Instead, they continue to engage in the same failed policies that created the crisis and engorge themselves with profits and bonuses.

The American people are counting on you to reform the reckless culture of Wall Street that allows bank executives to drive our economy into the ground and walk away with millions. Immediate action by your office will set a precedent that no bank executive will receive compensation packages until they put policies in place to create jobs, allow homeowners to retain their homes and support state and local governments.

Sincerely,

Anna Burger

International Secretary-Treasurer

Service Employees International Union

[your name]

[1] The Trillion Dollar Bank Job: How Wall Street and the Big Banks Are Holding Up America’s Economic Recovery, SEIU, September 2009.

CANADIAN LABOUR-SASKATCHEWAN:

SASKATCHEWAN WORKERS FIGHT BACK:

Ah, "good" old Saskatchewan, Molly's home province, left long ago and very rarely missed. Time was when Saskatchewan was in the vanguard of socialism in North America, but that time is long passed- mostly Molly feels because of the excessive and single minded devotion of socialists there to the party politics road to socialism. The inevitable happened. The CCF and then the NDP became the be-all and end-all of what socialism meant. The ideology failed to change with the times as the NDP travelled an inexorable trajectory to the right, urged on by so-called "realism" at every step. The only response of "the left", pathetic as it usually was, was to either engage in futile attempts to capture the party or in even more futile, and quite frankly usually ridiculous, attempts to build an electoral sect to the left of the NDP, hampered, as may be expected, by the usual mishmash of Marxists worshipping some foreign power. All this stuff failed, of course, and in the end the electorate began to shift strategically between a corrupt party of the right and a corrupt party of the left. Politics as "revenge".

Since 2007 the governing party in Saslkatchewan has been the (creatively ????) named 'Saskatchewan Party', an ill suited conglomeration of conservative forces patched together to escape the opprobrium of the name of the (stupendously more than usual) corrupt former Conservative party. Since coming to power the SP has done its duty to its class by vicious attacks on working people in that province.

People in Saskatchewan, however, are beginning to fight back, as the following article from the Public Values website details. Needless to say I, as an anarchist, don't agree with the general politics of the Public values site, whose social democracy is exactly what misled socialists in my home province down their long disgraceful road. What I hope, but have little expectation of, is that the "years in the wilderness" will convince unionists and others in Saskatchewan- and elsewhere- to not put all their eggs in the social democratic basket and to build and retain networks that are truly independent of party politics. Still, the Public Values website, along with its sister sites such as the Harper Watch and Straight Goods, are often valuable sources of information. Here's one such example. Go to the original website to view the video associated with this article.

CLCLCLCLCLCLCL

Saskatchewan public servants fight back:
by Ish Theilheimer
A political sea change in Saskatchewan is forcing public servants there to fight back. With the election, November 2007, of Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party, organized labour has had a war on its hands.

"Since 2007 we have seen the introduction of some very regressive pieces of labour legislation," said Barbara Cape, in a YouTube video interview for Straight Goods News. She is President of SEIU-West, a recently-formed amalgamation of SEIU locals in Saskatchewan.

"On the face of it they may sound appealing to the public, but quite frankly the government has declared war on trade unions in Saskatchewan."

She says four pieces of legislation are particularly troublesome. These include:
-- the Public Services Essential Services Act, she says, is "probably the most appealing one to the public in Saskatchewan. The problem is men and women who work in health care in Saskatchewan have always ensured there were essential services in the event of a strike. We are being painted by this government as not caring for our patients, clients and residents. That is 100 percent not true. Health care workers in the province are a special breed of people who would never contemplate taking job action without ensuring that there was some safety for their patients, clients and residents.
-- changes to the Trade Union Act. "Previously we had had card checks for organizing. And Saskatchewan had real good union density (proportion of workers that belong to unions) at 33 or 34 percent. With this legislation, not only do we have to have cards signed by our members, but then we have to go through a vote. (Very much to revert the system of unionization to the thuggish regime prevalent today in the USA, a regime that proponents of the 'Employee Free Choice Act are attempting to change down there-Molly)The government has said a vote is democratic. Our argument has been a vote is democratic, but we use the democratic form of card-signing. People have the opportunity to make their choices in the privacy of their own home. There was no pressure. It was organizing, in the pu rest sense of the word.
-- changes to the Construction and Trades Union Act that "open the door quite widely" for the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) to organize in the trades and in health care. Cape joins with most others in the labour movement in calling CLAC an "employer's union."(Even worse in Molly's opinion. The CLAC is more than just a corrupt union. It resembles communist or fascist "trade unions" more than it resembles the old Teamsters) She says the legislation "lowers the standards for working people across the province."
-- the Trespass Act, which "says that nobody, no union, no organization shall be allowed to gather on Crown property without permission in the province of Saskatchewan. What that does is it takes away our right, as citizens of the province, to gather an assemble on our land, our Crown land. The penalties are quite stiff in all circumstances," $2,000 a day for individuals, $50,000 a day for unions.

"With this kind of legislation, they're pushing our members up against the wall," says Cape.

"Health care workers are going to seeing some dark times ahead in Saskatchewan."

Fightback campaigns
In response, her union has organized campaign such as one called "Essential 365 Days," in support of health care workers. Most recently has come the You've Got Mail campaign. "We marched to the Saskatchewan Party caucus office at the Government of Saskatchewan, and we delivered over 6,000 pieces of mail," said Cape. These were generated in 30 days from workers and concerned citizens. "That's significant," she says. "It has had an effect. We've heard from the Minister of Health that he wants us to redouble our efforts at the bargaining table, and he is challenging us to get a deal sooner rather than later."

Cape says the Wall government has been clever in how it has marketed the changes it has introduced. "Initially when the legislation was introduced, on the face of it it seemed pretty innocuous, however when you read the legislation it has absolutely put our members' backs up. The way that it's written and the punitive nature of it, has really angered our rural members, our long-term care members, our acute care members, people are just shocked that our government, which is supposed to be leading our province, that this is a war they're willing to take on health care workers."

Wall was in Toronto for the launch of SEIU's Member Action Program (MAP), which she sees as "an extension of the kind of work we've been doing right now. Our members are about to see, with the response from the government of Saskatchewan, are already seeing the ability of government to respond to those 6,000 pieces of mail.

"All it took was a signature. You see the immediate action, and you want to go further. And I think our members are going to be really impressed by how quickly we can see some payoff for our efforts in the political realm. Because bargaining is no longer just about sitting at the bargaining table anymore, you need to have some other pieces of the agenda, and I think MAP's been helpful to that."

................................
Ish Theilheimer has been Publisher of the leading, and oldest, independent Canadian online newsmagazine, StraightGoods.ca, since founding it in September 1999. He is also Managing Editor of PublicValues.ca.
Posted: July 02, 2009
Public Values (PublicValues.ca) is a project of the Golden Lake Institute and the online publication StraightGoods.ca

AMERICAN LABOUR:

TAKING CNBC TO TASK:

The following story and call for protest is from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The brazen partisanship of the American mass media is a continued source of amazement to the rest of the world. Statements which would be a source of hilarity and mockery elsewhere are taken as gospel truth down there. The following points out one such example, and asks its readers to protest. While being quite doubtful about both the final practical effect of the Employee Free Choice Act and the messianic fervour with which unions and others in the USA have hitched all their hopes to it, it still has to be admitted that opponents of this legislation have 'out-hyped' its proponents by a considerable distance. This is none such example.

ALALALALALALAL

CNBC FAILS:

CNBC isn't exactly a shining example of responsible journalism. The financial news network has been ridiculed for enabling the financial crisis with flawed reporting and fawning coverage of failed CEOs.

Well, CNBC is at it again. Yesterday, CNBC's Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett made a ridiculous, irresponsible statement. Cramer and Burnett compared the aftermath of Iran's recent election to what would happen under the Employee Free Choice Act.

Huh?
This is the height of irresponsible journalism. Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett need to hear from you now about their reckless reporting.
Send an email directly to Cramer and Burnett. They need to get the message that this kind of coverage is unacceptable.
Click here: http://action.seiu.org/page/speakout/cnbc

Here's what Burnett and Cramer said yesterday while discussing the Iran election:
BURNETT: And it wasn't a secret ballot. I think that's important. They're going to know - they know everybody and how they voted.

CRAMER: Absolutely.

BURNETT: It makes a strong point for this whole union conversation we're having in this country.

CRAMER: The card check, the card check.

Let's get our facts straight.

Despite Erin Burnett's delusions otherwise, the Employee Free Choice Act does not take away the secret ballot. To suggest otherwise is just plain wrong.

But to extend that delusion to the Iran election is more than inaccurate. It's irresponsible. It has no place in our national dialogue, and CNBC needs to know that.
Let Erin Burnett and Jim Cramer know what you think. Click here to send them an email now.

Burnett and Cramer need to know that today's union elections are undemocratic. They bear no resemblance to democratically-held elections that we would all recognize in a free country.

The Employee Free Choice Act is an important piece of legislation that reforms the rigged system that prevents employees from having a free choice to improve their lives. The aftermath of the Iran election is proof of what happens when voters don't have a free choice, when the deck is stacked against the electorate.

For some reason, CNBC doesn't understand the difference. Make sure they do.
Send a message to Erin Burnett and Jim Cramer now.

Thanks for writing to CNBC - with your help, we'll make sure they get the message.

In solidarity,

Michael Whitney

Change that Works

SEIU.org

AMERICAN LABOUR:

THE TERMINATOR WIELDS AN AXE:

Arnie, Arnie, Arnie, how could you ? Seems that Governor Schwarzenegger of California wants to cut the wages of home care workers in that state down to $8/hour. This is less or equal to the minimum wage in many Canadian provinces. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is protesting these cuts, and they are asking you to add their voice to theirs. Here's the story and the appeal. Look out Arnie. "They'll be back".

LLLLLLLLLLLL

What happened when Gov. Schwarzenegger drove by?:‏
Earlier this week, thousands gathered outside the Capitol in Sacramento, California to protest the pending home care cuts.

As they listened to passionate pleas from pastors, workers and those who depend on their care, a limo drove by.

The car slowed and a backseat window rolled down ... A smug, cigar-chomping failed Governor peered out at the crowd.And when Governor Schwarzenegger looked, he was immediately met by chants of "stop the cuts! stop the cuts!"

Check out pictures from the 48-hour vigil in Sacramento and send your personal message to Gov. Schwarzengger telling him not to cut home care for the most fragile among us

http://action.seiu.org/homecarerally

When he heard the chants, the governor's limo sped away.

But he can't run from the fact that his misguided priorities have propelled California to the edge of insolvency.

Now, the Governor wants to cut the pay of the workers who help seniors and people with disabilities stay in their homes down to $8 an hour. That could force thousands out of their own homes and into nursing homes, costing the state four times as much as in-home care!

Send a message to the Governor telling him his short-sighted policies will send California deeper into fiscal abyss.

http://action.seiu.org/homecarerally

We can win this fight, but it will take you lending a voice to the effort today.

Rock the boat,

Tim Tagaris

New Media Director,

SEIU

AMERICAN LABOUR:

HELP SAVE HARTMARX JOBS:

The following appeal from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) definitely has potential. It seems that Wells Fargo, one of the beneficiaries of the recent free money (bailouts) from the US Treasury has been nowhere near as forgiving with its own debtors. Par for the course I guess. What makes the matter interesting, however, is the following. One is that the company, Hartmarx (yes ! that is the name) is one that makes President Obama's suits. The other is that the workers involved have threatened to stage a factory occupation if their jobs are not saved. They have been no doubt inspired by the recently victorious factory occupation at Republic Windows and Doors in their city.One wonders about the conniptions this may be creating in Washington as they weigh their various options. Here is the article asking you for online solidarity with these workers.

WWWWWWWWWW
Bailed out bank wants to bail on union workers:‏
The public gave Wells Fargo $25 billion in bailout funds, but rather than investing that money in American jobs by keeping credit flowing, Wells Fargo is considering cutting the cord.

1,000 workers at Hartmarx, the Chicago-based apparel company that makes President Obama's suits, may lose their jobs if Wells Fargo forces the company to liquidate. Two of the bidders on the manufacturer have said that they see the value in continuing the production of top quality suits and will keep the plant open and a third bidder wants to liquidate.

These Hartmarx workers are members of Workers United, SEIU's newest affiliate.

Please take a moment to sign a letter to Wells Fargo Executive Vice President John Stumpf asking him to choose a bidder who will save these jobs. We'll make sure the letter is delivered with your signature and keep you updated on the situation.

http://action.seiu.org/page/m2/18a1e56d/165dd20/5a89ca52/ce67296/388944281/VEsE/

Yesterday, workers at Hartmarx voted in favor of a "sit in," which means that if Wells Fargo or a buyer tries to close the factory, the workers will remain at their job site.

These workers are taking a stand not just for their own jobs for all workers jeopardized by shortsighted banks.

Please co-sign the letter to Wells Fargo right now.
http://action.seiu.org/page/m2/18a1e56d/165dd20/5a89ca52/ce67296/388944281/VEsF/

The predecessor unions of Workers United like the ILGWU (remember "look for the union label") have represented Hartmarx employees for almost a hundred years. I'm proud to ask you to join me in standing with them today.

In Solidarity,

Andy Stern

WWWWWWWWWW

THE PETITION:

Please go to THIS LINK to sign the following online petition.

WWWWWWWWWW

Dear Mr. Stumpf,

The American people gave Wells Fargo 25 billion in TARP Funds. Now we are asking you to do the least you can do in return -- keep the Hart, Schaffner and Marx apparel company open by accepting one of the two bidders on the company that plans to keep the factory open.

Forcing the liquidation of American jobs is the last thing our economy needs right now. Wells Fargo has an obligation to shareholders, investors and public to take a longer term view of the economics, that means keeping jobs and supporting this profitable business. I urge you to do the right thing.

[your signature will go here]

CANADIAN LABOUR:

TORONTO HOMECARE WORKERS OCCUPY OFFICES OF COMMUNITY ACCESS CENTRE:

Since initiating strike action workers employed by the Toronto Community Access Centre have gone on to occupy the offices of the organization in the face of massive layoffs. As has been predicted here at Molly's Blog such workplace occupations are indeed becoming more and more frequent in these tough economic times as workers look for extra leverage as traditional methods fail to pressure the bosses. The workers involved are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1. The following story is from a press release by the SEIU, via the Ontario section of the Anarchist Black Cat discussion forum.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TORONTO, ONTARIO-- Home care workers and their supporters occupied the headquarters of the Toronto Community Access Centre today after learning that 350 women and men who work for Red Cross were going to lose their jobs because they exercised their right to bargain for a better contract.

"These women and men are trying to improve their lives and the quality of the home care system. No one should lose their job for that," said Louise Leeworthy an SEIU home care worker. "We've been taking strike action for over a month and not a single person with essential health needs has gone without support. Home care workers in Toronto haven't missed a day of work."

Last night, SEIU was informed by Red Cross management that they would be firing 350 home care workers in the Toronto-area after the Toronto Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) declared that they would be switching to other providers. Camille Orridge, the CEO of Toronto CCAC, claimed that they decision was a result of Red Cross home care workers decision to take strike action.

Members of SEIU Local 1 Canada employed by Red Cross have been in a legal strike position since March. Rotating one-day strikes have taken place in communities across Ontario. All clients with essential health needs have received the same regular care. No strike action has been taken in Toronto.

Home care workers have chosen to take strike action after years of poor work conditions. While the government has set a "minimum wage" of $12.50 an hour - home care workers are only paid for a fraction of the hours in their work day. Home care providers spend as much as a third of their day travelling from client to client - time that no home care agency provides real compensation for. Statistic Canada calculates a "low income cut off" annually. In 2006, a single mother in Toronto with one child had to earn $21,384 a year to be above that cut-off. Many home care workers don't earn this much. By contrast, Camille Orridge, the CEO of the Toronto CCAC, receives over $180,000 in annual compensation.

"I'm not asking for a six-figure salary," said Leeworthy. "All we want is to be able to do our job."

AMERICAN POLITICS:

PROTEST THE BAILOUTS FOR THE BANKS:

While billions and billions continue to flow from the US Treasury to the banks and other institutions that brought about the present financial crisis executives of these corporations seem suicidally determined to show that they have learnt nothing from the debacle. The recent unmasking of the millions of dollars in bonuses that AIG management is awarding itself for its "wonderful" performance is just the latest example of this arrogance. Many ordinary working people are determined to not take this sitting down. Here, from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is news of planned demonstrations against this corporate arrogance.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

HAD ENOUGH YET ?:

Insurance giant AIG is the poster child of corporate irresponsibility. It gambled on the housing market and lost, big time. That's why the government had to dole out nearly $200 billion in bailouts just to keep the company afloat.

But word broke yesterday that despite being crowned the "Bailout King," AIG is going to pay out more than $400 million in bonuses.

We've had enough. On Thursday, March 19, thousands of people nationwide will demonstrate outside major banks and demand real change. We want you to join us.

Watch this video about our actions and sign up to attend a demonstration near you:
Click here to join: http://www.TakeBackTheEconomy.org

The outrage doesn't stop at the bonuses. We finally found out how AIG has spent its bailout funds - it gave billions of dollars to other bailed out banks, including banks like Bank of America and Citigroup that are actively organizing against change for working families.

Just last week it was revealed that Citigroup organized a call to "build opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act." Bank of America did the same thing just days after it received its first bailout from the government.

We have major banks and financial institutions taking government money with one hand, and slapping working people in the face with the other. The very same people who destroyed our economy are now actively working to prevent its recovery.

Enough. Join our demonstration against corporate excess on Thursday.

http://www.TakeBackTheEconomy.org

It's up to us to take back our economy. We hope you'll join our efforts.

Thanks for all you do.

In solidarity,

Michael Whitney

Change that Works

SEIU.org

AMERICAN POLITICS/AMERICAN LABOUR:

FEEDING AT THE PUBLIC TROUGH:

It's pretty well inevitable. Whenever public money becomes available it's a guarantee that much of it will be wasted on things not connected at all with the ostensible "goals" of said public funding. The only difference between right wing and left wing governments is what group of parasites eats the honey. The now almost worldwide impulse of governments to throw money at their financial systems (and other industries) is a gigantic magnet for abuse. In the USA the Bank of America has so far received $25 billion in government funds. What have they done with it ? The following item from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) tells the story. What Molly finds most disgusting, if not surprising, about the misuse of funds is the idea that there should be "bonuses" for the incompetent managers who ran the business to the brink of bankruptcy. The interests of management who control corporations is quite often something other than the interests of either the nominal owners (the shareholders) or the workers employed, but this sort of thing sets a new goal post for sheer arrogance.

................................

Stop payment on the bailout:‏
When taxpayers gave Bank of America a $25 billion bailout, the country's largest bank was supposed to use the funds to help jumpstart the economy.Bank of America instead misspent the money on foreign investments, executive salaries, and corporate jets. To top it off, Bank of America double-dipped, taking more money from our cash-strapped states by not paying for their workers' healthcare.

Yet this morning, the Wall Street Journal reports that Bank of America wants "billions" more in bailout funds.

Well, enough is enough. It's time for Bank of America to either use its bailout to help the economy and its workers - or give back the bailout.Watch this video and then sign our petition demanding Bank of America help its workers with the bailout:

Click here to watch and sign: http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/bankofamerica

What can Bank of America do? To start, it can provide health care for its 247,000 workers using the money it spent last year on executive salaries and bonuses. We're also asking that Bank of America:
***Keep over 12,000 troubled borrowers in their homes with executive bonus money
***End the practice of unilaterally changing credit cardholder agreements.
***Sign new leases with renters who live in buildings that are being foreclosed upon

These are common-sense ideas that will help hundreds of thousands of working people get by in these tough times. Watch our video about Bank of America and join the call for bailout accountability:

http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/bankofamerica

Bank of America has $25 billion of our money - funds from the government of the United States - but so far has not done its part to get the economy going again. And if the company can't do that, it's time to stop payment on the bailout.

Join us in asking for real economic recovery, or a return of our funds from Bank of America:

http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/bankofamerica

Thanks so much - with your help, we'll bring accountability to Bank of America.
In Solidarity,

Michael Whitney

Change that Works

SEIU.org