The Missile Is Not Invented That Can Kill An Ideal

Check Working Life for my new blog posts

2008-01-29T03:01:00.000-08:00

These days I'm too busy working, organizing, and trying to find time to play guitar. So I haven't had too much time the past few years to blog. But I have been following the primary election closely and I'm strongly rooting for John Edwards. Visit my page at Tasini's Working Life blog for my recent political blog entries.

2 other activist/organizer blogs I would recommend are Sindicalista (read the post "Fetishism of the word vs. actually organizing the people") and John Cronan Jr.

Depleted Uranium Is a War Crime

2007-09-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

Afghan vet Perry O'Brien explains danger of depleted uranium.

Drop the Fluorescent Light Bulbs, Learn How to Organize

2007-09-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

Mike Tidwell is right on the money with this piece titled "Consider Using the N-Word Less: Voluntary actions didn't get us civil rights, and they won't fix the climate."

Get ready for October 21-23 for actions called for by No War No Warming.

Slavery in Chinese Brick Factories

2007-06-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

NY Times

Israeli "Defense" Contractors Making a Killing

2007-06-23T09:55:00.001-07:00

Naomi Klein

Democrats Cave In to War Machine

2007-05-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

This is ridiculous. Rally your friends, neighbors, and coworkers together. It is our responsibility as Americans to end this war being waged by our government with our tax dollars.

Deregulate Deregulate Deregulate

2007-05-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

These right wingers in government don't believe in regulating industry, even when industry is calling for it and it's the safety of our food at stake.
-Paul Krugman

Our Lawless, Wiretapping President

2007-05-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

video of Ashcroft's former Deputy Attorney General's testimony
-truthout

work until we die serving someone else's greed

2007-05-19T11:56:00.001-07:00

retire at 65 (if you can afford it). die ten years later, twenty if you're a Japanese woman.

Ashamed of Her Wal-mart Past

2007-05-19T11:51:00.001-07:00

Clinton served on the Wal-Mart board of directors from 1988-1992 while her husband was governor of Arkansas. She advocated environmentally friendlier practices and moving more women into management. She also stayed silent on the company's vicious anti-union practices. None of this is advertised by her presidential campaign.
-NY Times

Strike! Shut Down The War Machine

2007-05-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Contractor Deaths Soar in Iraq
-NY Times

Time for a work stoppage?

Down With Clinton

2007-05-18T10:42:00.001-07:00

She'll sell us out to the corporations.
-Nation

SEIU and Young People

2007-05-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

They started a new organization called Qvisory that will help young workers with things like financial planning, credit card debt, and health insurance.
-NY Times

Starbucks Union Celebrates 3rd Anniversary

2007-05-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

A new store in Chicago goes public and another one in Michigan files a legal complaint regarding union busting.
-Liza Featherstone

Sicko

2007-05-18T08:50:00.001-07:00

Michael Moore's movie about the dysfunctional American healthcare system comes out soon.
-Michael Moore

Free Bumper Sticker

2007-05-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

"Support the troops. End the war." courtesy of John Edwards.

Support Your Canadian Brothers and Sisters

2007-05-18T08:46:00.001-07:00

Click Here. My friend worked at this distribution center for several months where they weren't prepared for an "American style" unionbusting campaign.

Clinton Campaign Manager Busts Unions

2007-05-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

read all about it

Unions To Unseat Corporate "Democrats"

2007-05-07T22:13:00.000-07:00

The Nation

Working in China: 14hrs a day, 7 days a week

2007-05-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

Independent/UK

Bush's OSHA Fails to Protect Popcorn Workers

2007-05-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Washington Post

Fortune Fears John Edwards

2007-05-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

"John Edwards: Union Man," Fortune:

should Edwards overcome stiff odds and win the presidency, a new and more hostile day is sure to dawn for Washington's business interests, particularly if Democrats retain control of Congress. Legislation to make union organizing easier would readily pass (already it passed the House this year), as well as other measures to boost the bargaining leverage of organized labor. Universal health care, mostly resisted by the private sector, would top his agenda.

The hyper-cautious Hillary Clinton learned the dangers of a frontal assault on business interests with the disastrous reception to her 1993 health-care plan. Barack Obama hails from the party's liberal-left wing, but prizes consensus. For President Edwards, though, the grievances of working Americans would land squarely at the door of corporate America.

To Fight Sprawl Let DC Grow!

2007-05-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Washington Post article about the restrictive building height limits in the city:

"D.C. leaders should consider lifting the limit around Metro stations that serve commuters from across the region, such as Dupont Circle, Union Station, Metro Center, the Navy Yard and, yes, Friendship Heights."

Common sense tells us that high density zoning centered around mass transit hubs (e.g. Metro stops) is the only way to fight suburban and exurban sprawl. If you can't build up, you have to build out.

Circuit City: "I've Made A Huge Mistake"

2007-05-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

Circuit City, citing poor sales of large screen televisions, expects to post a loss at the end of this first quarter. Financial analysts blame the firing of the company's 3,400 most experienced workers, 60% of whom had sales positions. Wobblies protest.
-Washington Post, Times Union

DC Hotel Workers Rising

2007-05-02T03:50:00.000-07:00

Youtube clip of Bruce Raynor's speech at a UNITE HERE rally

Wal-Mart Unionbusting Report

2007-05-02T03:08:00.000-07:00

Human Rights Watch report on Wal-Mart
watch the anti-union training video

Be An Union Researcher

2007-05-02T02:56:00.000-07:00

Cornell's ILR school is offering a special week-long course on strategic corporate research, June 17-June 22. You need to register by May 7.

NYC Taxi Cab Drivers Ready to Strike

2007-05-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is preparing for a strike in response to the Taxi & Limousine Commission's plan to require drivers to install expensive GPS computer systems in their cabs.
-Indypendent, NY Sun, Metro NY

Background on the Drivers: AFL-CIO Weblog, Taxi!

Elaine Chao makes me sick

2007-05-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

Youtube clip of our SECRETARY OF LABOR bashing the Employee Free Choice Act in a speech at the Society for Human Resource Management luncheon

Starbucks Union Mania

2007-05-02T02:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the Post article that made the front of the Style section several weeks ago.

And check this out to listen to a NPR program featuring a great interview with Starbucks unionist Daniel Gross. He breaks out the facts and takes on some idiot named Joseph Michelli, author of "The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary."

Death and Corporate Trade

2007-04-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

"Unionists' Murders Cloud Prospects for Colombia Trade Pact"
-Washington Post

NRLB Charges Starbucks w/ Unionbusting

2007-04-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

a victory for the starbucks workers union
-NY Times

Circuit City Fires 3,400 "Overpaid" Workers

2007-03-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

Circuit City fired 3,400 employees in stores across the country yesterday, saying they were making too much money and would be replaced by new hires willing to work for less.
-Washington Post

And this is just after the revelation that Citigroup plans to cut at least 10,000 jobs.
-NY Times, AP, Reuters

Boycott the LAX Hilton, Glendale Hilton

2007-03-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles City Council President is getting a lot of crap from anti-union right wingers for supporting the workers at the Century Boulevard LAX Hilton who are fighting for union recognition.
-LA Daily News

UNITE HERE is also calling for a boycott of the Glendale Hilton whose workers are in a similar struggle for union recognition.
-LA Daily News, Cincinnati Post

Check the union hotel guide for up-to-date listings of union hotels to patronize and anti-union hotels to boycott.

Radical Youth and the Return of the Black Bloc

2007-03-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

Counterpunch

Edwards, Kucinich: Only Candidates w/ Specific Universal Healthcare Plans

2007-03-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

Another high-ranking West Coast SEIU official, speaking to me off the record, said: "If the election were held today, we'd be supporting Edwards. When he comes into town he asks what he can do for us. Hillary asks us what we can do for her."
-Marc Cooper

Kucinich supports the ideal plan, which is obviously single payer national health insurance (aka medicare for all).

However, Edwards is the most progressive pro-union candidate to have a real shot of winning both the primary and general elections. His plan is a mixed lot, though his lit says it could gradually lead to a single payer type system.

Click here to see video clips of the SEIU healthcare forum.

Candidates Court Culinary Union in Vegas

2007-03-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Everyone (not just Edwards) is talking union when it's campaign time. With 60,000 union casino workers Culinary 226 is one of the strongest locals of UNITE HERE. Their current contracts expire in 2 months.
-Marc Cooper, AP

Colombian Blood Bananas

2007-03-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

Chiquita paid over a million dollars to right wing death squads in Colombia.
-AP, Washington Post, Counterpunch

Viva, Chavez

2007-03-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

What Argentines See In Chavez

Ken Loach's Wind That Shakes the Barley

2007-03-25T23:20:00.000-07:00

NY Times review

Child Labor in Guatemala

2007-03-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

NY Times, National Labor Committee report

(Update: Washington Post reports that CAFTA has done nothing to improve labor rights in Guatemala.)

We Need More Antiwar Organizers

2007-02-27T00:56:00.000-08:00

US Labor Against the War is hiring an antiwar organizer. All the established unions should do the same. This would be a big step in expanding the labor movement into a broader anti-imperialist movement.

Turncoat Organizer Drowns in Corporate Cash

2007-02-27T00:53:00.000-08:00

A former UNITE organizer turned union buster testified on the hill against the Employee Free Choice Act. He/she makes a pretty penny for espousing such views.

International "Development"

2007-02-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

Michael Parenti on How Wealth Creates Poverty in the World

Bush Will Veto Employee Free Choice Act

2007-02-15T14:46:00.000-08:00

Cheney says Bush will veto the national card check law if it passes both houses.
-Reuters, Think Progress

Venezuela's Media = Fox News on Steroids

2007-02-15T14:40:00.000-08:00

Chavez is no dictator.

Poll: Country Overwhelmingly Against War

2007-02-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

63% want full troop withdrawal from Iraq by end of 2008.
-USA Today

Criminals In Action

2007-02-14T14:53:00.000-08:00

Former third highest ranking spook is facing jailtime.
-Post

Edwards Hits Right Notes w/ Krugman, Meyerson

2007-02-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

Two important progressive columnists, Paul Krugman of the NY Times and Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post, write favorably of John Edwards in their latest articles. Krugman praises the specifics of Edwards' universal healthcare plan, and Meyerson praises Edwards' heartfelt economic populism.

Like We Did To Allende

2007-01-31T06:16:00.000-08:00

Let the Chavez bashing continue. Front page of the Post.

SEIU of 2007 = UAW of 1960s?

2007-01-31T06:13:00.000-08:00

Is Andy Stern today's Walter Reuther? SEIU is working hard to pressure Democratic presidential candidates on working class issues, putting resources to Americans Against Escalation and They Work For Us and Divided We Fail.
-Harold Meyerson

Bring The War Home

2007-01-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

Death and Starvation
Will Not Be Solved By Occupation!
That's Bullshit!
Get Off It!
The Enemy Is Profit!

The radical youth contingent was without a doubt the most interesting part of the big antiwar march in DC on Saturday.

Dennis Rivera to Chair SEIU Healthcare

2007-01-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

NY Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse writes about Dennis Rivera's leaving SEIU 1199 to head up the new national SEIU Healthcare.
-NY Times
(more from the Albany Times Union)

Labor Against The War

2007-01-26T01:36:00.000-08:00

This Saturday in DC is the big march against the war in Iraq.

and this leads us to the question of how do we grow the labor movement into a larger anti-imperialist movement to oppose war and corporate globalization.

of course, first and foremost, we should focus on union organizing: increasing union density and organizing whole industries. and many unions, including mine, are doing this in the most strategic, coordinated, and effective way that we know.

but as we do this, what do we do to make sure that the labor movement expands into a broader political movement for global social justice? and once we achieve higher union density, say in 20/30 years, how do we keep the labor movement from turning complacent and even complicit (with imperialism and other social problems) like it was the last time it had its peak in the middle of the 20th century.

i propose the idea that union leaders need to work on creating anti-imperialist committees at each union workplace, to work in conjunction with other community groups, to focus on raising consciousness of atrocities committed in the name of our government and to pressure the congressmen and senators whose districts include our workplaces.

these anti-imperialist committees can have screenings of movies like The Take and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised and speaking events and townhall discussions featuring people like Michael Parenti. this could be something to work on in between contract fights. other ideas?

Bring Our Troops Home.

Middle East Apartheid

2007-01-26T01:30:00.000-08:00

Folk singer recounts visit to Palestine

back in white

2007-01-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

the blog is back!
potomac action is discontinued
(for local md/dc stuff i'll post to free state politics)