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Another oil rig explodes

John Wojcik — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:14:00 -0400

Another offshore oil rig exploded and burned in the Gulf of Mexico Sept. 2, 80 miles south of the Louisiana coast.

The Coast Guard said the explosion threw workers off the rig, into the water. The report said there was one injury and no deaths, with all 13 workers accounted for. Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel, who confirmed the injury for the press at 11:48 a.m. ET, said he did not know the extent of the worker's injury.

The Coast Guard said it did not know whether the explosion had caused an oil leak into the Gulf. The platform is located west of the April Deepwater Horizon explosion that resulted in the massive BP oil spill.

The new explosion was first reported by a commercial helicopter flying over the site at 9 a.m. CDT.

Coast Guard Commander Cheri Ben Iesau said seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene from New Orleans, Houston and Mobile, Ala.

Ben Iesau said a number of the workers were seen in the water in life vests.

The Department of Homeland Security said the rig, known as Vermilion Oil Platform 380, was owned by Mariner Energy of Houston. The department said it was not producing oil and gas. Vermilion is the coastal Louisiana town nearest the rig.

Mariner Energy is involved in oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig that exploded was designed to allow drilling a half mile below the surface. The Deepwater Horizon, which exploded in April, had drilled a full mile below the surface.

BP, meanwhile, has not completed the relief well it had said would permanently seal the well that started leaking after the April explosion. The company says this weekend it will begin the process of removing the cap and failed blowout preventer, a step toward completion of that project.

Photo: An oil rig platform is tossed by waves. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2931160632/ cc 2.0

Unions shape Missouri Senate race: GOP/Wall Street vs. everybody else

Tony Pecinovsky — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:32:00 -0400

ST. LOUIS - "The right-wing wants to keep America from succeeding; they want to keep the president from succeeding; they want to keep us from succeeding," Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, told the 250 assembled delegates and guests here at the 25th Biennial Convention of the Missouri AFL-CIO.

Referring to the upcoming November elections, Trumka added, "They are out of power because they lost. We beat them, and we'll beat them again."

"This is our challenge," he continued. "We can't sit back. We have to fight. We have to build the political will to fight the irresponsible fear mongering and violent rhetoric of Sarah Palin and the Republicans."

This year alone the Republican obstructionists in Congress have filibustered over 400 bills, more than any other Congress in U.S. history.

"Every attempt to solve America's most urgent issues the Republicans have just said 'No'", Trumka added. He then urged union leaders and activists to "direct your frustration at those who deserve it, the Republicans."

Over the past two years the Obama administration has:

• passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the largest economic stimulus in history;

• passed health care reform, providing health care to 30 million Americans and reigning the power of the health care industry;

• promoted workers' rights through the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the National Mediation Board (allowing airline and railway workers to join a union according to basic democratic principles);

• increased funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the Wage and Hour Division (all defunded by the Bush administration), and expanded unemployment benefits to laid-off workers;

• passed Wall Street reform legislation, the most comprehensive reform of the financial system since the Great Depression;

• has appointed union leaders to key posts in the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board and the National Mediation Board.

Trumka said the AFL-CIO has a "one-word plan" to get us out the current economic crisis: jobs.

"Jobs for everyone who wants to work, good jobs, green jobs, jobs to rebuild our country. We want to make a real investment in our country. We want to change the face of America."

Currently the United States faces a $2.2 trillion infrastructure deficit.

Trumka then turned his attention to the Missouri Senate race between Robin Carnahan and Roy Blunt. He told union members, "We can either move forward with Robin Carnahan or we can move backwards with Roy Blunt; we can go back to the days when Wall Street set the agenda."

He added, "No one can sit this one out. When we win it will strengthen us to fight on November 3rd and every day after."

Blunt has taken more money from lobbyists than any other member of Congress; $1.6 million from Wall Street and $1.2 million from big oil.

According to Karen Ackerman, the AFL-CIO's political director, "Blunt stands for corporate America."

Ackerman continued, "The union vote will make the difference in this election. What you do matters."

Currently there are over 430,000 union voters in Missouri - including active members, retirees, union households and Working America members - and the Missouri AFL-CIO is running the largest voter turn-out program in the state. Twenty-five percent of all Missouri voters are union voters.

Nationwide, the AFL-CIO will be running voter turn-out campaigns in 25 states, reaching 17.2 million union voters.

According to Ackerman, the AFL-CIO is running an "intense communications program." They plan on "touching" every union member at-least 25 times between now and November - through worksite fliers, mail pieces, phone-banks, house visits and union meetings.

Senate candidate Robin Carnahan also addressed the union delegates. She said, "Blunt has been there 14 years already. How much longer does he need to stick it to us? How much longer are we going to keep footing the bill for what he's done? I refuse to accept that we can't do better."

Additionally, Carnahan said, "Roy Blunt voted to give him-self a raise 12 times, while voting against increasing the minimum wage eight times. It offends me. It's offensive. It's bull!"

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, Representative Russ Carnahan, state Treasurer Clint Zwiefel, and many other elected officials also greeted the Convention.

Additionally, on the first day of the convention delegates protested out-side of the St. Louis Express Scripts headquarters. The Service Employees International Union has labeled Express Scripts 'America's Most Wanted Job Killer.'

According to SEIU, Express Scripts has made $550 million in profits so far this year. However it is trying to take advantage of the recession by trying to cut wages, health care benefits and retirement security for 950 union workers in Bensalem, Penn.

At the protest, St. Louis Central Labor Council Vice President John Ebeling said, "This is nothing but a case of corporate greed. While Express Scripts CEO George Paz is making $1.8 million, 313 times the average worker, they want to make more profits off the backs of union workers, the very workers who made the corporation profitable."

A resolution calling for local union affiliates to mobilize their members for the up-coming One Nation March in Washington, D.C., on October 2 was also passed at the convention.

Photo: Robin Carnahan delivers a speech to the Missouri AFL-CIO at its 2008 convention. (Kelly Casey/AFL-CIO)

Mott’s strike takes national stage

Dan Margolis — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:08:00 -0400

As of August 30, the 300 workers at the Mott's plant in Williamson, N.Y., have been on strike for 100 days. They have dug in their heels as management continues to push for huge pay cuts and other givebacks, while solidarity and, more materially, money for the strike fund, has poured in from across the country.

The strike started on May 23, after the company, owned by Dr Pepper Snapple demanded surprisingly big givebacks, including a freeze on all pensions for current workers-and now for any new hires. Further, they demanded the workers agree to a jump in health insurance copayments and a cut in the company's contributions to workers' 401(k) plans.

Most shockingly, Mott's is demanding a pay cut of up to $2.50 per hour per employee.

While the company has decided to squeeze its workers more than the apples it makes juice and sauce out of, it has posted earnings of $555 million and increased their market share. In addition, stocks are up for Dr Pepper Snapple by nearly 30 percent.

Management argues that it wants to push workers' wages down to average Rochester-area wages; the workers point out that working conditions in Rochester are nothing to aspire to, as half the population lives in poverty.

The workers are represented by Local 220 of the Retail Workers and Department Stores Union. RWDSU Canada held its convention in early August, and raised $5,000 for its brother union in New York State. The locals strike fund has now reached $100,000, with more money coming in routinely from other supporters. The more money in the strike fund, the longer and harder the Mott's workers are able to fight.

The David-and-Goliath battle in which slightly more than 300 workers take on an international mega-corporation has attracted support from all over.

On August 26, unions and others in handed out fliers in Indianapolis. Taking part in the action were Todd Davis and Kent Knox, both workers at Mott's, as well as other members of RWDSU and its parent union, the United Food and Communication Workers; as well as communication workers, steel workers, members of the teachers' and leaders of the Indiana AFL-CIO.

Closer to home, the New York City Council weighed in on the matter, sending a letter signed by 34 members, to Larry Young, president and CEO of Dr Pepper Snapple. In the letter, the council members argued that "the workers who are responsible for the company's success should not be forced into a contract that cutes their income at a time when the cost of living in this state increases with each passing year."

"Your employees are entitled to be treated with respect and compensated fairly for their work," the letter continued.

The Rev. Al Sharpton joined in, meeting with Local 220 President Mike LeBerth.

According to the Local 220, the strikers "have extended our picket lines to Bowman Apple Products and National Fruit, both in Virginia, and American Bottlers in Chicago. The Virginia plants are co-packing Mott's and the Chicago plant is sending staff to scab in Williamson."

At the Chicago picket lines, Union Pacific train workers have refused to cross picket lines. According to the local, the plants have run out of sugar.

Workers remain optimistic that they can beat the corporate behemoth. They are asking people to continue to check for updates at their website, and to send a letter in support of the strikers to:

DPS President and CEO Larry Young

5301 Legacy Drive

Plano, Texas 75024

Fax: 972-673-7976

Get up, stand up, fight against the right

Sam Webb — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:17:00 -0400

As a kid, I never liked bullies. Who does?

Their thing is to intimidate, to make people cower and run for cover. They get some sick pleasure in making people quake in their boots. Sometimes they are successful. Other times brave souls challenge them and force them to turn tail and run. And who doesn't like to see a bully in flight?

When I was young, I thought bullying was strictly an adolescent phenomenon. Was I wrong!

Which brings me to the adult bullies that are turning a planned Islamic center in lower Manhattan into an inflammatory issue.

If it were not for them, the location of the center would be a non-issue.

New Yorkers, by and large, are very tolerant and democratic-minded. You can do practically anything here and it will barely raise an eyebrow, provided no one is harmed by your actions or words. The city and its people allow space for diversity and difference.

Thus, the decision to establish an Islamic community and cultural center in lower Manhattan didn't stir the city up, save for ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others of his ilk.

Actually, the project is old news here and elsewhere. It was publicly announced a few months ago with no adverse reaction. Even Fox News reported on it matter-of-factly at the time, no big deal, end of story.

So what changed?

Apparently, this collection of phonies decided sometime this summer that the topic could be opportunistically exploited for political advantage in the near (November elections) and longer term.

Once that was decided, the right-wing propaganda machine - including Fox - and unscrupulous politicians like Newt Gingrich (that's one guy I would have loved to have met in a bar in the '60s) reintroduced the issue into the public discourse and in so doing turned a local non-issue into a very divisive national and international brouhaha.

To call them hypocrites is an understatement. If they are so concerned about the feelings of New Yorkers, how do we explain their failure to address the inadequate health care and compensation provided to first responders at Ground Zero on 9/11? Why didn't they speak out with the same passion for the families of the victims of 9/11?

The answer is simple: this is a rogue's gallery. Only profit and power drives them, not decency, not fairness, not democratic sensibilities, not people's needs. They claim to be defenders of democracy and the Constitution, but their actions betray them, as evidenced by their efforts to deny people of Islamic faith their freedom to worship in a place of their own choosing.

In their hands, our most venerable national symbols, documents, traditions, legal precedents, and rights are putty to be shaped and reshaped to advance the interests of their corporate supporters.

Newt, Rush, Glenn, Sean, and gang will stop at nothing to turn our democratic heritage into a weapon to eviscerate democracy, manipulate public opinion, and, above all, crush President Obama.

They could not care less whether an Islamic center with a mission of tolerance, respect and mutual understanding is established in lower Manhattan. It has meaning for them only to the degree that the manufactured furor can erode support for the president and Democratic candidates this fall.

We can't let them!

Progressive films will shine at Toronto Festival

Bill Meyer — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:58:00 -0400

The Toronto International Film Festival is celebrating its 35th anniversary with an exciting array of over 300 films. Held this year Sept. 9-19, the festival will provide cinematic treats to film lovers of all tastes.

For those progressive viewers, this year's selections include new titles from some of the world's great progressive filmmakers. France's master of challenging, intelligent cinema, Jean Luc Godard, offers his latest philosophical treatise on world politics and cinema in the enigmatic "Film Socialism." Already creating controversy for its intentional lack of sufficient English subtitling, the film defines once again the director's ability to raise serious questions about world politics and how art should address the subject.

One of America's most talented progressive filmmakers, John Sayles, has a perfect record of directing valuable and relevant films that have great appeal to the progressive community. From "Matewan" and "Brother From Another Planet," to "Men With Guns" and "Casa de los Babys," Sayles has never failed to offer the most penetrating studies and critiques of American foreign policy. He brings to this festival his latest portrayal of U.S. imperialism. Of course there are many forays to pick from, but here Sayles chooses a lesser-known example - the brutal American occupation of the Philippines in 1900. The film is entitled "Amigo" but in some countries it carries the name "Brother from Another Country," reflecting his earlier classic with a similar title.

Another world master of progressive cinema, the UK's Ken Loach, is bringing his newest film, "Route Irish," to the festival. And yes, it's another example of U.S. imperialism and occupation, this time the Iraq war, and is titled after U.S. occupation troops' nickname for what became the world's most dangerous road, in Baghdad. Social realist Loach has covered many political themes in his long, distinguished career, and he will appear at the festival with his longtime screenwriter Paul Laverty, who has collaborated on Loach films, including "Carla's Song," "Bread and Roses" and "Wind That Shakes the Barley." Multi-Oscar winner cinematographer Chris Menges ("The Killing Fields," "The Mission") continues his long association with Loach also. They shared in the making of two classic working class British dramas, "Kes" and "Poor Cow," back in the '60s. This film promises to be one of the highlights at the festival for progressive viewers.

The Toronto International Film Festival isn't only about great cinema. Adding to the excitement of having world-class filmmakers in attendance, the festival has scheduled several intriguing panel discussions. In a discussion called Politics and Cinema, Loach and Laverty will be interviewed by the acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore.

Bruce Springsteen will also be in attendance to be interviewed by actor Edward Norton about music and cinema. A new documentary about the making of Springsteen's pivotal recording of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" will be screened at the festival in conjunction with his appearance on the panel.

Another new documentary and a panel discussion entitled Waiting for "Superman" addresses the American crisis in public education and the search for solutions. The film is directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth") and stars, among others, philanthropist Bill Gates, who will be in attendance for the panel discussion.

Last year the Toronto Festival took on a bit of controversy by choosing the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to feature in its City to City Programme. The brutal attack on Gaza had just occurred and it appeared insensitive if not downright politically inappropriate to honor a country that had just committed a major crime against humanity. But this year Istanbul is the honored city, and there should be little controversy. And ironically the festival is showing one of the most intense depictions of a city under siege, in "Tears of Gaza," by Norwegian director Vibeke Løkkeberg. The powerful documentary utilizes raw and shocking unseen footage gathered from Gazan cameras that show why the world was so outraged by the Israeli attack.

There are also at least two other films addressing the tragedies in the Middle East. Julian Schnabel's ("Basquiat") film "Miral" is a diary of a young Palestinian woman growing up in East Jerusalem. The film stars among others, Willem Defoe and Vanessa Redgrave. "Precious Life" is reminiscent of "Heart of Jenin," both films showing heartfelt examples of Israelis and Palestinians working together to save lives.

These are just a few of the films that show promise for progressive viewers. You can read about the whole Toronto International Film Festival at tiff.net

Photo: A scene from "Film Socialism." (tiff.net)

Business campaigns against EFCA in fall contests

Joe Sims — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:45:00 -0400

As Labor Day approaches, business groups are throwing big money into ad campaigns to undermine pro-labor candidates. Thehill.com reports that the National Federation of Independent Business and Associated Builders and Contractors are targeting "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Rep. Paul Hodes, the Democrat running for Senate in New Hampshire, and Kentucky Senate Democratic candidate Jack Conway in their states over their records on labor-related issues."

Democratic support for the Employee Free Choice Act is a key point in the negative ads to be aired during the Labor Day holiday.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is in the vanguard of big business efforts, already spending some $2.6 million on the fall campaign, and has pledged to spend $75 million before November.

The labor movement and other forces in the democratic coalition plan a massive get-out-the-vote campaign as well, targeting some 400 contests.

The AFL-CIO is working on the shop floor as well as in communities, according to federation President Richard Trumka. AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt-Baker also announced the labor federation's support for the Oct. 2 One Nation Working Together jobs rally.

NAACP leader Benjamin Jealous said that already 6,000 buses have been reserved for the event.

A Gallup poll recently showed a generic GOP advantage in voter preference, with independents giving right-wing candidates an advantage. Public opinions polls have gone back and forth over the summer.

President Obama is set to appear with Trumka at a Wisconsin Labor Day rally on Monday. The president recently lambasted House Republicans for blocking a jobs bill aimed at assisting small business.

The AFL-CIO is planning a half-million-dollar ad buy Labor Day weekend to kick off its fall drive.

House Republicans, underlining their anti-worker program, have announced that if they are successful in winning a House majority, their first act would be to extend tax cuts for the rich.

Photo: PW/Marilyn Bechtel

N.Y. transit union pickets UPS, backs Turkish workers

Gary Bono — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:12:00 -0400

NEW YORK -- At high noon and in brutal heat, New York City union members converged outside United Parcel Service's midtown Manhattan office Sept. 1. Union members set up an informational picket line to raise public awareness of important labor rights issues in Turkey. UPS is a giant, global delivery company that makes profits all over the world, employing workers of many different nationalities, in many different countries.

The TWU, Transport Workers Union, and the International Transportation Federation, ITF, organized the picket line. Although TWU members made up most of the picket, at one point, it was spontaneously joined by a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, or IBT, the union which represents domestic UPS workers. The IBT member just happened to be passing by on his lunch hour, saw the picket line, and joined in.

The picketing New York workers wanted to inform the general public about the plight of UPS workers in Turkey, who are trying desperately to form a union. Leaflets explained that, although UPS workers in US are organized with the IBT, Turkish workers face huge obstacles when they try to organize. Workers in Turkey must confront both anti-labor employers and hostile government policies.

To complicate matters many Turks, like other workers employed by transnationals operating outside the United States, work for operators who define themselves as sub-contractors. This scheme allows the actual employer to disguise its involvement and to deny responsibility until the relationship is unmasked. The Turkish workers trying to organize are employed by sub-contractors of UPS in Turkey.

The informational picket proved that although UPS can run to Turkey it can't get away with hiding behind sub-contractors. The picketing workers explained that workers in Turkey are being physically intimidated and prevented from unionizing by the UPS sub contractors, and UPS must take responsibility for this.

The flyers described a case in which a gun wielding sub contractor forced workers to resign from their union under the threat of death.

Turkish UPS workers, and Turkish workers in general, are confronted by employers who deny them the most basic labor rights, consistently violating the labor rights conventions of the United Nations. In fact almost 200 Turkish UPS workers have been fired for trying to join the Turkish transport union, TUMTIS. Because of these and other outrages, the fired Turkish workers have been joined on their picket lines by members of several European unions. UPS in Turkey responded to this by firing another 30 workers!

Fortunately U.S.-based labor leaders realize that a global labor movement is necessary to confront global giants like UPS. The picket today was an implicit recognition of the necessity for global labor solidarity. In working towards this, and other mass goals, a unified domestic labor movement is also important. It's significant that TWU, a member of the AFL-CIO labor federation, came out in solidarity with the IBT, a member of the Change to Win federation.

If there was one overriding theme of today's picket it was solidarity. Solidarity between the two national federations and solidarity between U.S. and foreign worker employed by the same company.

Photo: Gary Bono/PW

Poem of the week: “Jerusalem”

John Case — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:17:00 -0400

Naomi Shihab Nye was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on March 12, 1952. Her father was Palestinian and her mother was an American. During her high school years she also lived in Ramallah in the West Bank, the Old City in Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas. She has written poetry for children as well as for adults. Her 2002 collection of poems about the Middle East, "19 Varieties of Gazelle," was a finalist for the National Book Award. Additionally she has edited a number of anthologies which reflect her abiding interest in using poetry to promote cross-cultural understanding.

For many years, she has been a visiting writer all over the world. She sees teaching and writing as separate activities, but ones that serve and feed each other. Writing, she says, travels the road inward, teaching the road out.

In an essay entitled "Lights in the Windows," available on poets.org, she says, "I can never understand when teachers claim they are ‘uncomfortable' with poetry - as if poetry demands they be anything other than responsive, curious human beings. If poetry comes out of the deepest places in the human soul and experience, shouldn't it be as important to learn about one another's poetry, country to country, as one another's weather or gross national products?"

This poem was chosen from her 1994 collection, "Red Suitcase," which was published by BOA Editions, Ltd. It is reprinted with permission of the publisher.

Jerusalem

By Naomi Shihab Nye

"Let's be the same wound if we must bleed.
Let's fight side by side, even if the enemy
is ourselves: I am yours, you are mine."

-Tommy Olofsson, Sweden

I'm not interested in
Who suffered the most.
I'm interested in
People getting over it.

Once when my father was a boy
A stone hit him on the head.
Hair would never grow there.
Our fingers found the tender spot
and its riddle: the boy who has fallen
stands up. A bucket of pears
in his mother's doorway welcomes him home.
The pears are not crying.
Later his friend who threw the stone
says he was aiming at a bird.
And my father starts growing wings.

Each carries a tender spot:
something our lives forgot to give us.
A man builds a house and says,
"I am native now."
A woman speaks to a tree in place
of her son. And olives come.
A child's poem says,
"I don't like wars,
they end up with monuments."
He's painting a bird with wings
wide enough to cover two roofs at once.

Why are we so monumentally slow?
Soldiers stalk a pharmacy:
big guns, little pills.
If you tilt your head just slightly
it's ridiculous.

There's a place in my brain
Where hate won't grow.
I touch its riddle: wind, and seeds.
Something pokes us as we sleep.

It's late but everything comes next.

Photo: Naomi Shihab Nye (commons.wikimedia.org)

Trumka: The elections will define who we are as a nation

John Wojcik — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:24:00 -0400

At a press conference Sept. 1 attended by more media outlets than any recently held by the labor movement, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka declared that "the elections this year come down to a choice between leaders who stand with working people or those whose right-wing agenda will choke off economic recovery and put corporations back in the driver's seat."

The annual Labor Day press conference was the setting at which the giant labor federation outlined its plans for what observers say is perhaps one of the largest and most aggressive mobilizations of workers in memory for a fall election.

Union members are working in more than 400 contested races in 26 states.

Trumka told representatives of the nation's media that "the 2 million fliers already given out at 300 worksites are only a small prelude to a much larger push in the fall."

Several announcements at the press conference showed that he was serious when he said the mass leafleting was only a "prelude."

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker declared that "the AFL-CIO will be a major partner in the Oct. 2 mobilization for "One Nation Working Together." On that day hundreds of thousands are expected to gather in the nation's capital for a march and rally for jobs and economic justice.

The federation also announced that the AFL-CIO will run Labor Day TV and radio ads in key states during Major League Baseball games, NASCAR races and college football games.

Answering questions from several reporters about the content of the ads, Trumka said, "The ads running this Labor Day Weekend celebrate working people who are the backbone of our nation and the power of working together for a stronger America." The ads will be aired during baseball games on both Sunday and Monday, during the Sunday Pep Boys Auto 500 race and during the Monday night opener of NCAA football.

Trumka said, "This is a defining Labor Day for workers and the kick-off to the final round of a defining set of elections. We will either rebuild a fundamentally different economy that values hard work and a strong middle class - or turn back toward one that puts corporate interests before people."

In a slap at what he said was the "false patriotism" of the tea party and many of the right-wingers, Trumka said, "People are looking for economic patriotism. While patriotism has traditionally been defined by foreign affairs, it should begin in our own backyard, in our own communities. Workers are looking for economic heroes - champions who will put themselves on the line to create a better future for our children."

As it has done at almost all of its major media events since the last national election, the federation introduced real workers with real problems to the assembled members of the press.

Trend McNutt, an unemployed member of the Painters union from Toledo, Ohio, told the reporters why he was concerned about the 2010 elections.

"I'm on track to make a third of what I made last year but things are looking up," he said. "We can't afford to turn back. We need to elect people who support us and not the super wealthy. We can't afford to put people in office who will forget about the middle class."

Laura Jackson, a Communications Workers of America member from Moberly, Mo., said "We need to make sure that the people making the decisions make jobs their top priority. I'm going to do all I can to make sure that this is what happens Election Day."

At another point in the press conference AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler discussed labor's engagement with young workers. She said they would be a key part of the federation's election program and also said the labor movement, through Working America, is reaching out to workers without a union, many of whom, she noted, are the "so-called swing voters."

Trumka was asked whether he was discouraged about either the tea party or polls that show Republicans gaining support among voters. "When workers are presented with all the facts," Trumka said, "they always make the right choice. Because we have such a good election program I am confident when I say there will be no House Speaker Boehner."

When asked if labor failed to understand the importance of deficit reduction to the process of job creation he said, "All this talk about the deficit is misplaced. To solve the deficit problem long term you first have to create jobs."

Another reporter pressed Trumka further on the tea party and whether he saw it as a threat to the labor movement. "Hateful rhetoric and divisive racism is a threat to workers and to all Americans," he said. "If the tea party wanted to create jobs, we would welcome the idea of working together. Hate rhetoric and racism, however, hurts the fight for jobs and it hurts the whole country."

"This election is about a lot more than just who comes to Congress in January," Trumka said. "It will define who we are as a nation, whether we are a nation that respects workers and rewards work."

AFL-CIO Labor Day ad:

Photo is a still from the AFL-CIO ad (AFL-CIO)

Labor Day: President Obama goes to Milwaukee’s LaborFest

Milwaukee Labor Press, Press Associates — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:59:00 -0400

MILWAUKEE (PAI)--The President of the United States - along with his Secretary of Labor and the president of the national AFL-CIO - will be special Labor Day guests at Milwaukee's LaborFest.

President Obama plans to motorcade through Milwaukee on Sept. 6, and speak to working families and the general public in the early afternoon of the traditional free festival organized for the community every year by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council of the AFL-CIO.

The president's speech is expected to deal with the economy and jobs -- key issues for the working community, noted the event's lead organizer, the council's chief operating officer, Sheila D. Cochran.

The president is expected to again reiterate that the economic stimulus law he pushed through a balky Congress last year saved or created 3 million jobs and prevented the Great Recession from becoming a rerun of the Great Depression. He is also expected to concede that more must be done and to urge reluctant lawmakers to consider further aid for the jobless.

"We want to hear a jobs message -- what he'll do to create work for the future, building our future and defending our future," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who planned to join Obama at LaborFest, and to also speak there.

"He's done a great job on that," added Trumka on Sept. 1, pointing out that without the stimulus law, which labor helped lobby for, the Great Recession would have become a second depression.

Seating for the president's address is expected to be strictly limited, but even viewers outside the special area can hear his remarks. Special presidential tickets are being distributed by union affiliates of the central council to their members and working families. But the arrangement at LaborFest allows the general public to see and hear the speakers at Miller Stage -- where Obama, Solis and Trumka will speak -- from around the grounds.

Also appearing with Obama, Trumka and Solis are top candidates in the Nov. 2 general election, including Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Barrett -- whom Obama raised funds for in Milwaukee within the last two months.

Photo: Union members and working families make up a significant part of the president's active support base. (AFLCIO)

Another chicken and egg story

Scott Marshall — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:25:00 -0400

My grandfather was a chicken farmer in Marion, South Carolina. That doesn't give me any particular expertise on the current egg crisis. But I do remember helping out as a kid and I do have some good chicken stories.

Nowadays my grandfather would be classed as a "free range" farmer. He had two small sheds right out behind his house where the chickens had a pretty big field to roam around. He taught my brother and me how to gather the eggs without getting pecked and how to spread the chicken feed around the area for them. We also got to help change the straw and clean out the sheds. And we learned about roosters. Great fun when you're 10 years old.

Eventually, in the 1960s, he and a lot of other small chicken farmers in Marion got run out of the business by what was then Ralston Purina. That's how he explained it to us at the time. I suspect monopoly control of the chicken feed and baby chick businesses had a lot to do with it. Finally grandpa had to take a job at Ralston Purina as a maintenance man at one of their granaries.

I was inspired to write this by Phil Amadon's great People's World article, "Factory farms produce more than eggs." Both his experience and my own made me remember a recent conversation I had with a dear friend of mine, Mark Brody, a veterinarian who treats large animals. I started a rant about "big, industrial farms." Mark, who has much experience in the world of dairy farms in particular, called me out on a couple of my assumptions.

Like many, I've had a kinda "Modern Times" for animals view of large farms. You know, the Charlie Chaplin film about sweatshop factory life. Mark pointed out that many large "factory" dairy farms are family owned and operated.

Furthermore, two factors have meant serious attention to animal welfare and comfort in some of the largest dairy farms. One is that comfortable, healthy cows, with plenty of room to roam, give more and better milk. Second, there is a growing awareness in farming (including in corporate farming circles) of consumer scrutiny and concern about animal health and food safety issues.

None of this means that large farms will embrace the best practices for food safety or animal health and welfare. But it does show that there is a basis for grassroots movements for greater regulation and attention to problems with industrial-size farms.

Here is the big question raised in my mind from our discussion: Given the need to feed a growing world population, what kind of farming is viable and sustainable today? Surely we cannot turn back the clock to an age of small or medium family farms - though those should be protected and supported.

I think it's clear that there is a difference between corporate farms and family farms no matter how large. It's also clear that strict regulation and greater attention to animal welfare and food safety are paramount. And there is the obvious need to promote the labor rights and health and safety of farmworkers, including expanding labor law to cover all aspects of farm labor.

As Mark pointed out, the largest family farms, and even some corporate farms, are hurt by the giant food processing monopolies' price fixing and control.

I wonder where my grandfather would be on these issues if he were alive today. He was a "show me" kind of conservative, but open minded. He cared about his chickens and other farm animals and he cared about his customers. He even recognized that small family farms were losing their dominance in agriculture. And, to be sure, he was no friend of Ralston Purina.

I gotta believe that, feisty guy that he was, he'd be trying to find out how to organize without getting pecked by the monopolies.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/helloeveryone123/3979113928/ cc 2.0

VIDEO: Celebrating 40 years of Chicano Moratorium

Rossana Cambron — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:14:00 -0400

The Chicano Moratorium brought together 30,000 people in a national movement to protest the Vietnam War and racism towards people of Mexican heritage. The following is an interview of Chicano Moratorium leader Rosalio Munoz about the significance of the Aug. 29, 1970 protest, then and now.

Budget impasse hurts millions of Californians

Marilyn Bechtel — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:39:00 -0400

In twin votes whose results were widely predicted, California legislators Aug. 31 failed to pass slightly modified versions of a Republican budget proposal based on slashing human needs programs, or a proposal by Democratic legislators attempting to balance cuts with increased revenues.

California, which faces a $19 billion budget shortfall, is the only state to require a two-thirds legislative majority to pass a budget or to raise taxes. The Democrats' majority falls short of that level, and Republicans, including the governor, refuse to consider any new taxes.

State Controller John Chiang has warned for weeks that he will have to issue IOUs to pay bills, if the budget remains unresolved much longer.

With the state budget now more than two months overdue, programs affecting millions of Californians face a double-whammy: delays in funding until the budget is finalized, and uncertainty about what funding they will ultimately receive.

A quick survey of news reports gives a snapshot of the stalemate's impact.

• In San Diego County, some 100 nonprofit community health facilities are no longer receiving funds for several programs serving low-income people including children. A contingency fund is now exhausted. One community clinic director, whose facility relies on Medi-Cal (state Medicaid) for a third of its funding, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that if the impasse continues much longer, some clinics will have to close. Around the state, about 1,000 community clinics and similar facilities are being deprived of half or more of their operating budgets.

• The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) said that if no budget were in place by the end of August, "transportation fund cash balances may be depleted, resulting in potential suspension of ongoing construction projects." CalTrans listed 64 different projects throughout the state that would be impacted, including several it identified as urgent.

• Health testing at beaches is at its lowest level since testing became law over a decade ago. The Los Angeles Times said 40 percent of beaches in Long Beach, which has some of the state's most polluted water, are no longer being tested, while monitoring of other area beaches has been drastically curtailed. Though some officials say better treatment of runoff and wastewater has reduced the need for tests, others including public health and tourism officials are expressing concern.

• As August ended, Monterey County supervisors were adding up state funds the county is owed and trying to figure out how to collect. "If the state gets a budget and we get paid, fine," Supervisor Lou Calcagno told thecalifornian.com. "But the public should know that the county's money is being used on a daily basis by the state of California. We're not being reimbursed and it's getting to be a serious issue."

• Hundreds of child care centers serving low-income working families across the state also face a cutoff of funds until a budget is signed.

• In Yolo County, in the Central Valley, some drug treatment facilities have already missed several months of payments. Some have had to release patients before they completed treatment. Area Assemblymember Mariko Yamada warned in a statement that the delays can result in the need for more expensive emergency room care. "People are literally dying for a budget," she said.

• Top officials of the University of California, California State University and community college systems are no longer receiving state funds. Community colleges, short some $400 million, are borrowing to pay expenses, the CSU system is paying expenses from student fees, and UC says it may have to cut the number of students it serves.

Photo: An anti-cuts demonstration in San Francisco in June. (PW/Marilyn Bechtel)

ACLU sues Obama to stop U.S. hit lists

Joe Sims — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:02:00 -0400

President Barack Obama, CIA chief Leon Panetta and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights to stop the U.S. government's program of targeted assassinations.

The lawsuit, undertaken on behalf of Nasser al-Aulaqui, the father of accused terrorist Anwar al Awlaki, seeks to prevent the killings of both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals without due process.

The two civil liberties groups had sued the Treasury Department earlier in August for requiring a license to represent Anwar al Awlaki, who has been officially labeled a terrorist and targeted for death. Anwar al Awlaki is a U.S. citizen. The department says anyone in contact with persons designated as terrorists must first obtain a license allowing such interaction.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives forbidding extrajudicial killings.

"The U.S. Constitution cannot be amended for convenience," Kucinich said in a statement. "The constitutional rights of all U.S. citizens must be protected. The U.S. government cannot act as judge, jury, and executioner."

The ACLU said in a statement, ""Outside the context of armed conflict, the intentional use of lethal force without prior judicial process is an abridgement of this right except in the narrowest and most extraordinary circumstances."

At issue are both the limits of presidential power and the extreme borders of government's ability to wage the war against terrorism.

ABC News writes that the suit directly challenges President Obama's interpretation of executive power: "The point of the ACLU suit is that presidents don't have that power."

The suit says, ""The government maintains lists of suspects - "kill lists" - against whom lethal force can be used without charge, trial or conviction ... Executive officials are thus invested with sweeping authority to impose extrajudicial death sentences in violation of the Constitution and international law."

According to news reports Anwar al Awlaki is on two such lists: one maintained by the CIA and the other by the Joint Operations Special Command.

The suit maintains further that ""due process requires, at a minimum, that citizens be put on notice of what may cause them to be put to death by the state."

Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights are being abridged, according to the ACLU: the right to be free from unreasonable seizure and the right to due process before being deprived of life.

"The right to life is the most fundamental of all rights," the lawsuit says.

The U.S. government maintains it is acting within the law and authority granted by Congress after September 11.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spinfist/622630247/ cc 2.0

World Notes: India, Iraq, Kenya, Spain, Venezuela, Cuba

W. T. Whitney Jr. — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:05:00 -0400

India: David beats Goliath

In rejecting Vedanta Corporation plans to extract bauxite from the Niyamgiri Hills in Orissa state, an environmental ministry spokesperson on August 24 cited ecosystem threats and disregard for tribal rights. For the Dongria Kondh people, 8,000 in all, the proposed mine site is sacred. Church and human rights groups worldwide, plus the Norwegian and British governments, had opposed the project of Vedanta owner Anil Agarwal, allegedly worth $ 6 billion. According to Survival International director Stephen Corry, "Companies simply cannot be trusted voluntarily to abide by human rights standards." The Financial Times suggested that approval for a Vedanta offshore oil project is now uncertain, and that the government took the action to blunt the appeal to tribal groups of Maoist guerrillas who are trying to make inroads into areas burdened by large industrial projects.

Iraq: Government intensifies union repression

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka last month communicated to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki his rejection of a government ban on unionization in the state owned electrical industry, accompanied by closure of union offices and seizure of assets. Officials also threatened to arrest oil union leaders, while transferring officers to distant worksites and removing unions from oil fields, ports and refineries. Analyst David Bacon writing on Truthout.org quotes a U.S. embassy official: "We hope that everybody resolves their differences in an amicable way." Bacon indicates that U.S. soldiers and private contractors will remain in the oil-rich Basra area to protect "labor peace" and provide security. He likens the current trials of Iraqi unionists to anti-labor assaults taken under the British, royal, and Saddam Hussein governments.

Kenya: Controversy over guest dampens celebration

President Mwai Kibaki described Kenya's new constitution, which he signed on August 27, as the greatest day since independence in 1963. Festivities were marred, however, by the presence of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with crimes against humanity. Some observers, represented by Prime Minister Raila Odinga, suggested Kenya should have arrested Bashir, or not have invited him. Others like Foreign Ministry official Richard Onyonka maintained that to avoid perceptions of partiality the government invited both Bashir and his adversary, Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who mediated Kenya's 2008 post-election conflict, urged the government to "clarify its position" and reaffirm commitment to the ICC.

Spain: Workers take brunt in government cutbacks

Senate committee approval August 25 of the Socialist Party's labor reform package, modified to fit demands of the rightist Popular Party and certain to be passed by Congress, met union hostility as labor federations prepared for a September 29 general strike. A spokesperson cited by rebelion.org predicted the "anti-social and anti-union" measures would lead to "indiscriminate firings" of workers, reduced unemployment subsidies, and shortened temporary labor contracts. Workers' rights "have never been so systematically eliminated in a single legislative act." Quoted on www.lne.es, Economics Minister Elena Salgado indicated that to comply with EU mandates, the public debt will be reduced 6 percent, taxes will be raised, government expenses cut by 16 percent next year, pensions reduced, and the retirement age delayed.

Venezuela: Education on fast track

In a recent public discussion of UNESCO's 2010 update of its Education for All program, Minister of University Education Edgardo Ramírez predicted Venezuela will surpass the UN's Millennium Development Goals on education long before the 2015 deadline. Data over 10 years indicate the country is about to reach all six Education for All objectives. Specifically, 1.5 million children attend pre-school; 4 million are in primary schools, and adult literacy is 95 percent. That almost half of the 28 million Venezuelans attend schools manifests commitment to lifelong learning. The two remaining objectives, equality between the sexes and high quality schooling, are close to realization. "Socialism signifies inclusion and quality education with social relevance," Ramirez said, quoted by vtv.gob.ve.

Cuba: Foreign companies begin offshore oil exploration

The state oil company Cubapetroleo indicated recently that by late 2011 seven exploration wells will have been established in Cuban waters by several international companies. The fact that a Spanish oil company has had to hire an Italian corporation to build an oil rig in China to be ferried later to Cuba - all to avoid U.S.-imposed restrictions on use of its technology - testifies, according to the Reuters report, to the momentous impact of the U.S. blockade on Cuba's oil venture. In Washington, blockade supporters desirous of tightening present restrictions are facing off against congresspersons working to liberalize regulations and open up Cuban oil exploration to U.S. corporations. Russian and Chinese companies are presently negotiating for oil development opportunities.

Photo: Oil field in Guanabo, along Cuba's north coast. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hisgett/3196068587/ cc 2.0

A view from Iraq

Special to the World — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:01:00 -0400

An interview with Salam Ali, member of the Central Committee of the Iraqi Communist Party, on the continuing political impasse in Iraq, and the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces. The interview, slightly edited here, was conducted Aug. 25 by Nameh Mardom, the official publication of the Tudeh Party - Iran.

Q: Almost six months have passed since the parliamentary elections in Iraq but a new government with a popular mandate has not taken office yet. It seems that the election has exposed the complexities of the political situation in Iraq. How do you evaluate the situation?

The failure to form a new government has created a deep crisis with grave consequences for the Iraqi people, compounding crises that had already existed, on political, economic and security levels. The political impasse caused by the results of the elections on March 7, 2010, with none of the main four electoral blocs winning outright majority, has led to mounting popular anger and resentment. The political vacuum has contributed to a worsening security situation, while basic services continue to deteriorate. The shortages of electricity (with people getting only few hours of intermittent supply in summer temperatures soaring to 127 degrees) have sparked protests in several provinces. Violent clashes between demonstrators and police in Basra led to the resignation of the Minister of Electricity.

The popular anger has been directed against the dominant political forces that have been waging a fierce battle over power and wealth, driven by their narrow political and partisan interests and trying to preserve their enormous privileges and positions in government. In addition, they are all committed to maintaining the infamous sectarian-ethnic power-sharing system, despite promises given during their election campaigns that they will get rid of it. The political maneuvers of each of the three blocs (State of Law, led by Maliki, Al-Iraqiya led by Iyad Allawi and the National Coalition led by Al-Hakim) have been centered on grabbing the prime ministerial post and marginalizing rivals.

The fierce struggle over political power has also exposed and deepened divisions between major political groups, even within the supposedly united coalitions themselves.

As the political deadlock continues, the possibility of forming a national unity government that would be able to address the urgent needs of the people is becoming more unlikely. Our party has recently put forward, as an alternative to this impasse, the idea of dissolving the Parliament and calling for new elections on the basis of Article 64 of the Constitution. This option would spare the people and country the grave consequences of a continued political vacuum.

Q: Do you think that it is feasible, if the impasse continues, for the United Nations to become involved in the process of forming the next government? In that case, what will be the implications for Iraqi sovereignty?

The role of the UN has been of an advisory nature, so far. Some Iraqi political leaders, as part of their maneuvers, have called for direct intervention by the UN in the process of government formation, invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. But such a role for the UN is not feasible. Chapter 7 (which still applies to Iraq since Saddam's invasion of Kuwait) can only be invoked by the UN Security Council if there is "a threat to world peace."

Q: In a recent article, Raed Fahmi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Iraqi Communist Party, referred to growing foreign interference in the process of the formation of the next Iraqi government. Where does such interference come from?

The political crisis has opened the door for increased external interference, by the U.S. and regional powers, to influence the formation of the government. This interference had already been a big factor in the elections, influencing its outcome. Some political groups received enormous financial support from outside. Hundreds of millions of dollars were given by regional powers, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. It is an open secret that there is close coordination between the intelligence bodies of neighboring countries with regard to the situation in Iraq. External forces have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo in Iraq, keeping it weak and fragmented, to serve their own political agenda and strategic interests.

Q: The severity of a number of terrorist bombings in recent months demonstrates that the security situation is far from desirable. Who are behind these bombings? What would be the consequences of the continuation of such terrorist activities?

The political crisis and delay in forming the government has provided a favorable climate for increased activity by anti-people terrorist groups and also organized crime thriving in rampant corruption. These include extremist Islamist groups such as al-Qaida and remnants of Saddam's Baath party. Their aim is to destabilize the situation, create chaos, ignite sectarian conflict and restore militias. These terrorist activities also serve the agenda of some political groups that use the deterioration in security as a pretext to call for maintaining American military presence.

Q: On Thursday [Aug. 19] the last active combat units of the U.S. military left Iraq two weeks ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline scheduled by U.S. President Barack Obama. In the face of the continuing stalemate in the formation of a viable government, increased terrorist activities and interference from neighboring states, what are the implications of this withdrawal for security and political stability in Iraq?

As mentioned above, some Iraqi political forces had pinned hopes on continued American military presence to maintain their positions and gains. They claim that the Iraqi forces have not yet reached the desired level of readiness to be able to confront security challenges. They also use the recent deterioration in the security situation as a pretext to argue that an early withdrawal of American forces will play into the hands of terrorist groups as well as regional powers such as Iran.

Our party has condemned and rejected such calls, stressing that there should be no compromise over the big national issue: of ending the occupation and eliminating its legacy, regaining our country's full sovereignty and independence, for our people to control their resources and wealth, and decide their own destiny with their own free will. All efforts must be made to provide the necessary political and material prerequisites to end the occupation and ensure the total withdrawal of all American forces by the end of 2011 in accordance with the Iraq-U.S. security agreement.

The task of building Iraqi security forces on the basis of patriotism, professionalism, competence, integrity and allegiance to the constitution and homeland continues to be an urgent task, especially after the start this month of actual withdrawal of American combat troops. Political divisions and conflicts among Iraqi ruling elites must not be transferred to the ranks of the military institution.

As for dealing with the security situation, our party has re-emphasized its position that there should an integrated approach using a host of political, economic, military and security measures to defeat terrorism and acts of sabotage.

Q: Finally could you briefly touch upon the key issues that the Iraqi working class and the Iraqi Communist Party are campaigning for right now?

There are two major tasks facing the party and the democratic forces. The first is to intensify efforts to provide effective organization and leadership to a mass movement defending the fundamental democratic rights and freedoms of the people and striving to achieve Iraq's full national sovereignty and independence.

The second task is to strengthen the role and influence of the democratic current in Iraqi society and political life. Our party has stressed the societal dimension of this current, and the need to mobilize social movements alongside political democratic forces. A number of meetings have taken place recently to discuss these issues and develop effective coordination among various groups. The recent anniversary of the July 14, 1958, Revolution was an occasion for joint activities by democratic forces throughout Iraq. The mass demonstration and rally that took place on this anniversary in central Baghdad, attracting thousands of people, had a big political impact with calls for a speedy end to the political impasse and for urgent action to tackle the severe electricity shortages and deteriorating services. These efforts will be culminated by holding a national conference for the democratic current in the near future.

Photo: An Iraqi police officer stands at a checkpoint in central Baghdad, Aug. 28. (AP/Khalid Mohammed)

Five years after Katrina, it’s “win or die”

John Wojcik — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:23:00 -0400

Five years after Hurrican Katrina, the human-made disaster that preceded the storm and got worse afterward continues. Taking advantage of a legacy of deregulation that flourished during the Bush years, corporate profiteers have sunk their teeth into the rebuilding operation.

On the whole, with all the work that reconstruction of a hurricane-devastated city requires, unemployment in New Orleans is actually below the national average of 9.5 percent. But that has not reduced the city's poverty rate, which remains twice the national average.

"There's lots of work that needs to be done. The problem is that nobody's making a living off the work but the chiefs and thieves," said Robert "Tiger" Hammond, president of the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO.

As an example he pointed to a recent federal government $1.8 billion school construction grant to the city. "Workers are going to be hard pressed to get good paying jobs out of the grant," he said. "The money is coming to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and doesn't include Davis-Bacon requirements that workers be paid the prevailing local; wage."

"What's happening," said Hammond, "is that workers are deliberately misclassified as independent contractors so employers can pay them less than if they had a union contract. It was hard enough to get a union job before Katrina. Now it's even harder."

The public school system in New Orleans is one of the areas where much remains to be done.

The official picture state leaders put forward is a system being "re-invented" after Katrina. Seventy percent of the city's schools are now charter schools, a far higher rate than in any other city in the country.

The state-run Recovery School District now directs two dozen schools and "oversees" 46 charters.

With the majority of schools under state control or operating as charters, and with a post-Katrina state law banning collective bargaining for many teachers - the AFT's United Teachers of New Orleans, which once had 4,500 members, is down to fewer than 1,000.

Many students attend classes in portable classrooms, still awaiting permanent facilities.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a complaint with the Louisiana education department, saying the state has failed to ensure that students in New Orleans with disabilities have equal access to education and are protected from discrimination.

Five years after Katrina the city is no longer the totally devastated scene of breached and crumbling levees and 200,000 destroyed homes that it was immediately after the storm. New businesses and the tourist French Quarter are all back in operation.

But 50,076 homes, 23 percent of the city's residential properties, remain blighted, according to a recent report by the Brookings Institution. This puts New Orleans far behind other troubled cities like Detroit.

About one-third of the families that fled New Orleans in 2005 have never returned, leaving, many say, fewer people to revive the culture and spirit the city is famous for.

"Blight was a problem even before the storm, but Katrina accelerated it," said Sam Rykels, assistant secretary of the Louisiana State Museum. "New Orleans' historic character is now in precipitous decline and it will take considerable political will to change the city's property rights laws so decaying buildings can be reclaimed."

Among the important things not rebuilt is the city's health care system. The greater New Orleans area had 23 hospitals before Katrina. Today it has only 12. A visit to a hospital requires long drives and even longer waits. Charity Hospital, which served the city's poor and uninsured, closed down in the flood that followed the hurricane and has never re-opened.

Before Hurricane Katrina, Hammond lived in St. Bernard Parish, one of the areas hardest hit by the disaster. "I had 11 feet of water in my house. We were under water," he said. He said the hospital in his parish, destroyed by the storm, still hasn't been rebuilt.

Asked to describe the mood of the people of New Orleans, five years after Katrina, Hammond said: "It's frustrating. We are surviving but it could be much better. We're not going anywhere. We'll be here until we win or we die."

Photo: Hurricane Katrina survivor Robert Green, Sr., who lost his mother and granddaughter in the storm, hugs Veronica Henry after leading a parade through the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans on Katrina's fifth anniversary, Aug. 29. (AP/Gerald Herbert)

Ted Strickland blasts GOP “monkey business” opponent

Rick Nagin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:44:00 -0400

CLEVELAND - Blasting his Republican opponent as someone who "only cares about Wall St.," Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland rallied labor supporters here Monday to mobilize for the crucial November elections.

Speaking at United Steelworkers Local 979 hall, Strickland told a gathering of steelworkers, painters and laborers that unlike contests where differences are small, "I flat out disagree with John Kasich on every issue."

Kasich, a former congressman and a managing director of Lehman Brothers prior to its collapse, has run innumerable TV ads noting that during Strickland's time as governor Ohio lost 400,000 jobs.

"Actually," Strickland said, "the U.S. lost 8.5 million jobs. But this is not because of policies in Columbus, Ohio. It was caused by the policies of Bush and Cheney and the shenanigans on Wall Street."

The collapse of Lehman Brothers was a key part of this, Strickland charged. "It was the largest bankruptcy in history and it cost Ohio pension plans $400 million."

Kasich, however, did not suffer, Strickland pointed out. "He got a $400,000 bonus."

"Kasich says he should be elected because he has business knowledge," Strickland said. "Lehman Brothers cooked the books. They deceived investors. What he knows is monkey business."

While in Congress, the multimillionaire Kasich voted against raising the minimum wage and voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has cost Ohio hundreds of thousands of jobs, Strickland said.

"He calls for eliminating the state income tax, which accounts for 46 percent of our revenue," Strickland said. "That is reckless. It is irresponsible."

Kasich also would privatize the state Department of Development and other agencies, the governor charged.

"This is a tough time to be governor," Strickland said. "People are rightfully concerned. They are anxious. They wonder if government is capable of helping."

But, he said, "We can't go back to the same policies that led to this recession. We can't go back to the years of bad decisions, bad policies. The Republicans controlled Ohio for 16 years. Barack Obama has been president for less than two years. As Vice President Biden said, ‘Things are hard, but they are not hopeless.'"

"I am the proud son a steelworker," Strickland said, "and I never forgot where I came from."

Strickland cited achievements of his administration despite the recession, including allocating $1.6 billion for job creation and retention, achieving the sixth highest economic growth of any state, freezing college tuition and increasing enrollment and increasing investment in job training and public education.

"I'm not perfect," he said. "You should not compare the governor to the Almighty. The governor should be compared to the alternative. We must not turn our state over to Kasich."

Photo: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland addresses the Lorain, Ohio, Labor Day Festival in 2008. Second from left in red shirt is Rich Trumka, then AFL-CIO secretary treasurer and now the federation's president. (AFL-CIO)

New York elections not just about Cuomo

Dan Margolis — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:07:00 -0400

NEW YORK - Figuring out who to vote for in New York State this year is trickier than usual for those who want to advance labor rights, equality and democracy.

The state mirrors the national picture in many ways. Since the 2008 elections, the right has gone on a rampage, especially with the formation of the tea party, perhaps the most openly racist movement this country has seen in decades. It is at once sad and frightening, and, despite a relatively small base of support, it occupies much media coverage.

Against that, there have been significant victories under the new balance of forces that was ushered in with Obama's election, especially health care reform and the stimulus package of 2009 - but, economically and in most other ways, the country isn't out of the woods, and Obama and allied forces looking for a road forward are perpetually stymied. Every good initiative has run up against immediate obstruction by the minority Republican Party.

Here in New York, using the current economic crisis as a pretext, the corporations and developers are on a rampage to break unions and to decisively shift power away from working people towards Wall Street. Their first line of attack has been to cut services and, as we've seen in the budget fights and the attempt to privatize schools under the guise of creating more charters, to break the public sector unions.

The assault on public workers is an assault on all workers: the aim is to divide those who work in the public sector from those who work for private companies, in order to weaken the working class fightback overall.

While the big corporations have a home in both the New York Democratic and Republican parties, the Republicans are leading the most vicious assault. And while there are Democrats in our state leadership who've taken some terrible positions, the legislative Democrat caucus has been the group most responsive to the needs of working people.

Consequently, as bad as outgoing Democratic Gov. David Paterson has been, the main enemy for progressives is still the Republican Party.

Unfortunately, there's nothing to be excited about when it comes to the Democratic candidate for governor, Andrew Cuomo, the current state attorney general. He's been arguing for exactly the same business-friendly, reactionary economic policies as Paterson. Further, his shocking insensitivity to the African American, Latino, Asian American and Afro-Caribbean communities is deplorable. How can it be that there is not a single member of any of these communities on the statewide Democratic ticket?

The answer: insensitivity at best, racism at worst.

It's easy to understand the indignation felt by African Americans and other communities. Still, it's hard to see the formation of the new Freedom Party, co-chaired by City Council member Charles Barron, as a viable tactic in the fight against racism. History has shown that the only way to defeat racism and other social evils is for a united fight by the Black, white, Latino and Asian communities, male and female, old and young, unionized and unorganized. It doesn't seem like the bulk of these forces is ready to abandon Cuomo and the Democrats this year, despite the obvious shortcomings and chauvinism in his campaign.

Barron is right in charging that Cuomo is banking on the vote of the Black and other minority communities in New York State without planning to deliver on their needs and concerns. But the elections are not simply about the current Democratic ticket; more important is which block of social forces will gain supremacy this fall, those around the Democrats or those around the Republicans.

We have to ask how all working people, the racially and nationally oppressed, women and youth can build up the movement to push state Democrats to offer better choices. We've seen that, in communities across the state, this has been possible: look at the progressive, labor-oriented, Black, Latino and Asian city council members. There are many in and around the Democrats who are part of this fight: the labor movement, community organizations, women's rights organizations and others.

It's only this movement that can defeat the Republicans in November, and that can strengthen the anti-corporate, anti-racist currents within and around the state Democratic Party, many of whom are also working within the Working Families Party. Eventually, these currents will be able to, in some form or another, establish a labor-based people's party that can consistently challenge the big corporations.

This year, the Working Families Party, despite many concerns, may well offer Cuomo their ballot line. If he is able to win with a large number of WFP votes, a message will have been sent: we are voting for Cuomo because he's better than the Republican, but we support, and will fight for, pro-labor and pro-people policies.

Despite Cuomo's shortcomings, the November elections can be a huge step forward in defeating the anti-worker, racist extremists and in building a broader and more united movement for peace, equality, civil rights and democracy, both at the state and national levels.

Oklahoma honors labor culture

Jim Lane — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:40:00 -0400

The Central Labor Council of Oklahoma set a high cultural standard for the Southwestern states by holding its Laborfest in downtown Oklahoma City August 26-28. Brad Walker, an unemployed Jobs with Justice activist, drove 200 miles from Dallas for it, and was then surprised to meet two union sisters who had made the nearly 500 mile trip from Houston! Walker said, "It was worth it!" He'd be pleased to go again next year.

The festival was a first effort dedicated "to showing Oklahomans the rich history and future of the labor movement in our state." Indeed, Oklahomans have bragging rights. The statehood convention in 1907 proudly claimed that 70 percent of their constitution came directly from the American Federation of Labor. Corporations were prohibited under the first constitution. Their state motto, "Labor omnia vincet," means "Labor conquers all"!

A high point of the event, Walker says, was dramatic readings from Oklahoma writers interspersed with music by Oklahoman Woody Guthrie and others. The Red Dirt Rangers band was the star music attraction. In one of America's greatest literary works, "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck wrote that a large part of Oklahoma was made of red dirt, and the rest black. Steinbeck and mega-personality Will Rogers were featured in the dramatic readings. So were many notes from labor history that were accumulated when Oklahoma pulp fiction writer Jim Thompson (famous recently for the movie "The Killer Inside Me") headed the Oklahoma Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the last great economic crisis.

At least one of the presenters of dramatic Oklahoma readings has a big labor reputation nationwide. The Utility Workers' Stewart Acuff played a high-profile part in the Oklahoma Laborfest.

Photo: Dramatic readings from Oklahoma Labor History, alternating with the music of Woody Guthrie and others, were a high point of the Oklahoma Laborfest. (Stuart E., used with permission of the photographer)