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Reposted from Eddie Vale's page on FB. What a guy !
http://tinyurl.com/ltcd54 from Boston Globe Online
Romney speaks out against labor bill
Mitt Romney today joined the battle over a bill that would make it easier for unions to organize, coming down on the side of business, which vehemently opposes the legislation.
snip
The AFL-CIO, which has made the bill its top legislative priority, quickly responded to Romney.
"The idea that Mitt is a voice who is concerned about workers is hilarious considering he spent his career buying companies, firing the workers, and then breaking them up," it said in a statement. "Mitt lecturing anyone about the Employee Free Choice Act and 'politics' is as credible as taking marriage advice from Newt Gingrich. The only reason he is junketing around the country trashing workers is to get the old Romney 2012 train rolling."
Why do these people from Michigan and Massachusetts think they can come to NH and tell us what is fair and right. Screw Mitt.
"There is a road, no simple highway, between the dawn and the dark of night, and if you go, no one shall follow, that path is for your steps alone"
For every move President Obama and the Democratic Congress make to push back the darkness of the Bush years and step forward into the light, there is a massive push back. We did not get here by accident. Struggle is enobling we are told. New legislation to protect the rights of American workers is on the table. Push back the night.
STATEMENT BY AFL-CIO PRESIDENT JOHN SWEENEY
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE
Released on March 10, 2009
Today is a banner day for working Americans, a milestone on the road to rebuilding our nation's middle class - and it couldn't come at a more crucial time. We thank the House of Representatives and the Senate for introducing the Employee Free Choice Act, which will restore workers' freedom to bargain for fair wages, job security, better health care and secure pensions. Special thanks also go to Congressman Miller, Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Harkin for being the lead sponsors and champions for America's working families.
(I can't wait for this election to be over, and the slime merchants have crawled back into their holes. - promoted by Dean Barker)
This weekend we got an anti-Shaheen/pro-Sprinter flyer containing some very confusing language regarding the Employee Free Choice Act, which itself is already the subject of widespread confusion among many thoughtful folks and I do not pretend to understand it at this point (I'm working on it, OK?).
This item is sponsored by the Employee Freedom Action Committee, a decidedly anti-union group.
The mailing is most remarkable in its visual message, since it links the image of Jeanne Shaheen with that of actor Vincent Curatola (who played mob boss Johnny Sack on The Sopranos), whom we are to presume represents union bosses "looking over your shoulder" while you vote on unionization.
I know this is silly season, but this is way beyond silly, and far into outrageous.
I wonder if Mr. Curatola truly understands how his image and talent are being used? I am sure he is also a member of SAG and/or AFTRA, and I wonder how they feel about it? Apparently this same campaign is being used against candidates around the country, including in Maine, against Tom Allen. A video ad (again with Johnny Sack) can be seen here, I am choosing not to embed such nonsense on these pages.
Update: Laura has a diary on this issue from last year that helped me to fill in the gaps a bit.
As the postings on Blue Hampshire have noted, New Hampshire is getting a lot of attention these days from independent right-wing organizations looking to influence voters in our state.
Not that it's surprising, of course. An election year in a targeted battleground state? The phones and mailboxes are bound to be hit. What's important to note, though, is just how MANY conservative groups we have calling on us - and how big of a bankroll they are carrying.
In the case of the deceptively named Center for Union Facts, a bankroll largely financed by corporate interests. And those corporate interests are playing politics in New Hampshire to undermine public support for the Employee Free Choice Act , a great piece of legislation that strengthens worker rights and opportunities.
The Center for Union Facts is affiliated with the Granite Staters for Employee Freedom, which recently launched critical newspaper ads targeting Jeanne Shaheen. The Center for Union Facts has a long history of opposing union rights, and its founder Rick Berman has an even longer history as a hired gun for industry insiders.
And now you can learn more about him at Con Watch, a new feature on Granite State Progress.
We all know that radical free marketeer John E. Sprinter is terrified of big bad union bosses. But today he and millionaire Gregg got back at them by sticking it to the little guy. Josh Rosenau says it better than I can about our Club-for-Growth backed "moderate" John E.:
On the other hand, moderate Republicans tend not to differ from extremists at key moments. In a vote on a bill that would make it easier for workers to initiate the process of unionizing a shop, only one Republican crossed party lines – Arlen Specter. Undoubtedly Republicans will point out that moderate Democrats didn't cross party lines on this issue, but moderate Republicans tend to align with those moderate Democrats at least partly by claiming to be more worker-friendly, a claim which didn't survive an actual test: "once again we see that Oregon's Smith, Minnesota's Coleman, New Hampshire's Sununu, and Maine's Collins all sided against the rights of workers to organize."
Katrina Swett appears to be first on the scene among our candidates with a response (from an emailed release):
"Once again, we see our senators, who have been given the responsibility of representing this state, turn their backs on the working people of New Hampshire. The Employee Free Choice Act would reduce the harassment, intimidation, and procedural obstacles that many workers face when they seek to organize at their workplace. Senators Sununu and Gregg refused to give their colleagues the opportunity for an up or down vote on this important piece of legislation."
My kingdom for a photo of this action from the NH AFL-CIO:
On Friday, June 1st, union and community members will participate in an obstacles course outside Senator John Sununu's office to demonstrate what workers currently face when trying to exercise their freedom to form a union. The participants will call on the Senator to support the Employee Free Choice Act, which will help eliminate the obstacles that exist under current labor law.
Workers will jump through a series of hula-hoops, representing legal and illegal tactics currently used by employers to stifle workers' freedom to form and join unions to bargain for a better life. The Employee Free Choice Act, currently pending in Congress, would change labor law to give workers a fair choice to join a union free from intimidation. Senator Sununu has not indicated he would support this important piece of legislation for working families.
I'm getting kind of tired of John E. sprinting past a position on everything. I mean, c'mon, even Loserpalooza bandmate Gordon Smith said he was voting against this common sense labor protection. Do we really think free marketeer Sununu is going to support changing this?
Right now, if a worker tries to form a union in their workplace, there is a one in five chance that they will be illegally fired. It is likely that over nine out of every 10 of their co-workers will be forced to have one-on-one meetings with their supervisors to convince them to oppose the union.
It's at 11:30 in Manchester if you can make it. Bring a camera!
Two weeks ago, the House passed the Employee Free Choice Act by a vote of 241 to 185. Two Democrats voted against it, thirteen Republicans voted for it. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter both voted for it, a vote I didn't mark here because while it was a landmark and an event to be celebrated, the basically party line nature of the vote meant there wasn't a great deal to say about their individual votes.
When the Employee Free Choice Act passes, which it will not under this president, workers will gain the ability to join unions more easily - and unions bring higher wages, better pensions, health insurance. Unions will be more able to organize workers, leading to higher union density, which in turn raises the benefits of unionization still more. And strong unions help the Democratic party. In 2006,
The labor movement, despite being more divided and depleted than it has been in decades, produced record participation in the 2006 campaign, contacting 13.4 million voters in 32 battleground states and supplying 187,000 volunteers to help Democrats match the GOP's get-out-the-vote machine, which was far better financed.
Not only did organized labor put money and volunteers into Democratic campaigns, its members voted for Democrats: According to an AFL-CIO survey, 74% of union members voted Democratic.
So it's not shocking that the Republican hacks over at the Union Leader have their panties in a wad over this bill's passage through the House. (The two-week delay I can only attribute to, well, them being a tad slow.)
