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March 25, 2011
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Rally season in Lansing demands change in course by Republicans By Marty Mulcahy
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Wisconsin lesson: Radical right wants to eradicate unions By Mark Ayers President, AFL-CIO Building Trades Dept. Under the cover of darkness, and at the urging of Governor Scott Walker, Republicans in the Wisconsin State Senate on March 9 exercised the nuclear option to ram through a bill attacking Wisconsin’s working families. These events, along with similar ones playing out in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and a host of other states, have demonstrated that radical right-wing conservatives are intent to do or say anything to push through an extreme agenda that is nothing more than an outright attack on the sole entity left in American society that has the ability to “check and balance” their aspirations for complete economic and political power – America's labor unions. If there is one silver lining to the dark cloud that has emerged from Wisconsin, it’s that Scott Walker and the radical right have been exposed as liars. NOTHING in the legislation that was pushed through last night had anything to do with the state budget. And the same is true in any number of other states, where conservatives are hiding behind the sham of “fiscal crises” to engineer their attacks on unions. To be clear, their ultimate objective is to eradicate unions from the face of the American landscape! Losing badly in the court of public opinion, and failing to break the Wisconsin Democratic Senators’ principled stand, Scott Walker and his right-wing sycophants in the GOP have eviscerated both the letter and the spirit of the law and our democratic process to ram through their payback to their deep-pocketed corporate allies. And today, the fight moves to Indiana, where our building trades brothers and sisters are mobilizing for the largest demonstration the Hoosier State has ever seen. In Indiana, the radical right – like they have in so many other states across the nation – is intent on eviscerating prevailing wage laws and project labor agreements. Make no mistake, brothers and sisters, the radical right’s ideological war on middle class working families and the unions that seek to protect them is now indisputable. Their willingness to shred decades of labor peace, bi-partisanship, and a cooperative spirit that embodies the fundamental values of American democracy is beyond reprehensible. They are summarily creating divisions in America that will take years to heal. And, politically speaking, their actions will also have the potential to cost the Republican party dearly in 2012 – but only if each and every one of our affiliated unions, state and local building trades councils, and local unions immediately and consistently engages with our members and educates them on what is happening in America today, and how we can put a stop to it in 2012! I firmly believe that the radical right has “awoken the sleeping giant.” Young people, workers, and middle-class American families are as agitated as they have ever been. In state after state, what we are witnessing is a classic overreach by conservatives, and it has unmasked the Wall Street/Corporate CEO agenda at work in legislatures all around the country. And the American middle class is finally standing up and saying “ENOUGH!” And because middle class Americans are finally awakening to the economic and political heist that has steadily occurred over the past 30 years, conservatives failed to break the Democratic legislators in Wisconsin and Indiana who have taken a principled stand for those middle class families. Even more, the radical right has done us the favor of making it crystal clear to the American middle class who, exactly, is on their side – and who isn't. Brothers and sisters, the battle in Wisconsin may be lost – for now. But, believe me, the war is far from over! Stand together and stand tall. Be proud of who you are, and more importantly, be proud of what you represent!
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No checks, no balances – State Republicans OK financial manager bill LANSING – Gov. Rick Snyder and the Republican House and Senate have adopted a bill that allows the appointment of emergency financial managers for financially strapped cities and school districts, while giving that manager powers akin to what critics have called a dictatorship. “The final passage of the emergency manager legislative package is not only a heavy blow to Michigan’s communities – these bills are an affront to the bedrock principle of a representative democracy that our nation was founded upon,” said Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney. “Michigan politicians have capitalized on our state’s budgetary woes in order to ram through legislation that rather than create jobs, takes away even more rights and resources from Michiganders and instead gives an unprecedented amount of power into those connected to the governor.” The main bill package was approved March 15 by a 62-48 vote in the Republican-led House, and Snyder indicated he would sign it. The Senate had already adopted the bill. The new law is intended to allow for the state’s earlier intervention into the affairs of financially troubled cities and school districts. It allows the manager to cancel contracts, including collective bargaining agreements, force consolidation of schools, townships, cities and counties and unilaterally remove local elected officials. Collectively bargained contracts could be canceled for up to five years. “It's not right that our Republican representatives are using this fiscal crisis as an excuse to pursue an agenda that would otherwise be unattainable,” Gaffney said. “It's not right that Snyder's administration will have the power to ‘reject, modify, or terminate any contracts’ entered into, with no checks or balances by the people living in a community or parents within a school district. All contracts for snow removal, road repair, even garbage collections could be thrown out.” Snyder’s spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said the governor “believes this was an important step forward and will be a key tool to help indicate and address fiscal problems earlier and more clearly in Michigan’s cities and schools with the hopes of avoiding the appointment of an emergency manager to begin with.” The move by Snyder and Republican lawmakers has grabbed national attention, although not nearly on the scale as what has gone in Wisconsin. MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow earlier this month used seven minutes of airtime to criticize the emergency financial manager bill in Michigan. Under a video of protesters chanting “kill the bill” in the Michigan Capitol Building, Maddow said, “Why are these people in Michigan so loud? Why are these people in Michigan so mad? It’s because Michigan Republicans are telling them they are about to lose their right to elect local government. She added: “If you think Republican governors around the country are using fiscal crises as a pretext to do stuff they otherwise want to do, this is something I don’t thing I ever would have believed Republicans ever wanted to do.” ronically, or perhaps not, some of the future financial woes in local communities that may necessitate the use of a financial manager will be caused by Snyder’s proposal of cutting millions of dollars in state aid to local communities, including a $564 million reduction in K-12 school aid.
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Want to voice your outrage? Here’s who you can call or write With no less than 37 anti-worker and anti-union bills on the docket in the Michigan House and Senate, it’s time for building trades workers around the state to let their state representatives and state senators know how you feel.
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Republican shakedown demonizes unions, government By Robert Reich Fmr. U.S. Secretary of Labor You can’t fight something with nothing. But as long as Democrats refuse to talk about the almost unprecedented buildup of income, wealth, and power at the top – and the refusal of the super-rich to pay their fair share of the nation’s bills – Republicans will convince people it’s all about government and unions. Republicans claim to have a mandate from voters for the showdowns and shutdowns they’re launching. Governors say they’re not against unions but voters have told them to cut costs, and unions are in the way. House Republicans say they’re not seeking a government shutdown but standing on principle. “Republicans’ goal is to cut spending and reduce the size of government,” says House leader John Boehner, “not to shut it down.” But if a shutdown is necessary to achieve the goal, so be it. The Republican message is bloated government is responsible for the lousy economy that most people continue to experience. Cut the bloat and jobs and wages will return. Nothing could be further from the truth, but for some reason Obama and the Democrats aren’t responding with the truth. Their response is: We agree but you’re going too far. Government employees should give up some more wages and benefits but don’t take away their bargaining rights. Private-sector unionized workers should make more concessions but don’t bust the unions. Non-defense discretionary spending should be cut but don’t cut so much. In the face of showdowns and shutdowns, the “you’re right but you’re going too far” response doesn’t hack it. If Republicans are correct on principle, they’re more likely to be seen as taking a strong principled stand than as going “too far.” If they’re basically correct that the problem is too much government spending why not go as far as possible to cut the bloat? The truth that Obama and Democrats must tell is government spending has absolutely nothing to do with high unemployment, declining wages, falling home prices, and all the other horribles that continue to haunt most Americans. Indeed, too little spending will prolong the horribles for years more because there’s not enough demand in the economy without it. The truth is that while the proximate cause of America’s economic plunge was Wall Street’s excesses leading up to the crash of 2008, its underlying cause – and the reason the economy continues to be lousy for most Americans – is so much income and wealth have been going to the very top that the vast majority no longer has the purchasing power to lift the economy out of its doldrums. American’s aren’t buying cars (they bought 17 million new cars in 2005, just 12 million last year). They’re not buying homes (7.5 million in 2005, 4.6 million last year). They’re not going to the malls (high-end retailers are booming but Wal-Mart’s sales are down). Only the richest 5 percent of Americans are back in the stores because their stock portfolios have soared. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has doubled from its crisis low. Wall Street pay is up to record levels. Total compensation and benefits at the 25 major Wall St firms had been $130 billion in 2007, before the crash; now it’s close to $140 billion. But a strong recovery can’t be built on the purchases of the richest 5 percent. The truth is if the super-rich paid their fair share of taxes, government wouldn’t be broke. If Gov. Scott Walker hadn’t handed out tax breaks to corporations and the well-off, Wisconsin wouldn’t be in a budget crisis. If Washington hadn’t extended the Bush tax cuts for the rich, eviscerated the estate tax, and created loopholes for private-equity and hedge-fund managers, the federal budget wouldn’t look nearly as bad. And if America had higher marginal tax rates and more tax brackets at the top – for those raking in $1 million, $5 million, $15 million a year – the budget would look even better. We wouldn’t be firing teachers or slashing Medicaid or hurting the most vulnerable members of our society. We wouldn’t be in a tizzy over Social Security. We’d slow the rise in health care costs but we wouldn’t cut Medicare. We’d cut defense spending and lop off subsidies to giant agri-businesses but we wouldn’t view the government as our national nemesis. The final truth is, as income and wealth have risen to the top, so has political power. The reason all of this is proving so difficult to get across is the super-rich, such as the Koch brothers, have been using their billions to corrupt politics, hoodwink the public, and enlarge and entrench their outsized fortunes. They’re bankrolling Republicans who are mounting showdowns and threatening shutdowns, and who want the public to believe government spending is the problem. They are behind the Republican shakedown. These are the truths that Democrats must start telling, and soon. Otherwise the Republican shakedown may well succeed.
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New, modern MLK High School takes shape By Marty Mulcahy Managing Editor DETROIT – A leaky roof, an empty pool and a host of other building problems led the Detroit Public School system to seek a replacement for Martin Luther King High School. And a modern replacement is what they’re getting: a new $46.4 million building is currently being erected on a parking lot just south of the existing school. Construction of the new building began last summer and the fast-paced project – what isn’t these days? – will lead to the building being ready for students in September of this year. The new MLK High School is the largest of 18 new construction/renovation projects that will be performed under a $500.5 million bond issue let by the Detroit Public School District in 2009. Walbridge is managing the implementation of the entire district-wide capital improvement bond issue work, while Jenkins-Granger LLC is the design-builder for the MLK work. “It’s obviously a very aggressive schedule,” said Darrell Green, senior project manager for Jenkins Construction Inc. “But the people out here are doing what they have to do to get this done, and they’re going a good job. We’re particularly proud that we have about 50 percent Detroit residents working on the project.” About 135 Hardhats were on site last month. Martin Luther King High School opened in 1968 at Lafayette and McDougall as Eastern High School, the same year Dr. King was assassinated. It was renamed in his honor in 1969. The old building will be demolished when the new one is put into use. The new bi-level, 193,000-square-foot school building will include a dual-eight-lane pool, a new gymnasium, a cyber café, and a media center that will connect to the current auditorium and performing arts building, which will be remodeled. It will be built to a Gold-certified LEED standard, with a huge glass façade on the southwest side of the building to capture the greatest amount of natural light. Jenkins Project Supt. David Balcirak said the building’s design was chosen in good part “for the ease of construction.” Moreover, he said modifications were made during construction that helped “push up the schedule,” such as the use of masonry pre-cast concrete instead of waiting for steel to be fabricated. He said the pace of the project was expected to pick up this month, with construction crews expected to go to two shifts earlier this month. "It's fitting that the first DPS school to be rebuilt is Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, a school named for a civil rights activist who devoted his life to fighting for equality,” Robert Bobb, DPS Emergency Financial Manager, said in a statement.
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On the occasion of the 25-year anniversary of the construction of its first North American manufacturing facility in Georgetown, Kentucky, Toyota Motor Corp. issued a proclamation of praise for both America’s Building Trades Unions and project labor agreements. Construction union membership drops The construction industry has taken the brunt of the Great Recession in terms of employment numbers, and there has been a corresponding loss in union membership among Hardhats. As we reported in January, total union employment dropped by 612,000 in 2010 from the year before. Unions now represent a total of 14.7 million workers, a drop of 0.4 percent in union density from the year before.
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