Thursday, November 28, 2013

Holiday Eve Election Notice Makes Mockery of Certification Vote

The following is a statement by Boyd McCamish, the executive director of AFSCME District Council 48:
On the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday that will close their workplaces, the Walker administration abruptly announced late Tuesday that it is starting the clock on union certification elections for support staff in the Milwaukee Public School District.

“Gov. Walker and his Employment Relations Commission are taking a page right out of the playbook of communist China, making a complete mockery of the idea of fair elections,” said Boyd McCamish, executive director of the AFSCME District Council 48, which represents roughly 600 MPS employees.

“They are starting the election on a Friday when nobody is at work, essentially taking away the first five or six days in which we could possibly prepare for an election that will be over in a matter of days,” McCamish said.

McCamish said the new law forcing such elections – which has been found unconstitutional in a state circuit – already sets the threshold for success higher than that required of elected officials. Instead of simply winning a majority of those who vote, a union has to win a majority of all eligible voters to earn certification.

“This is a far higher standard than Walker has ever met on his career politician treadmill of constantly running for office. Of course, this governor seems to have no trouble with double standards,” McCamish said.

“By timing the election to start when employees are not even in their workplaces, they’re doing all they can to disrupt the certification process. Every union is going to have to decide on its own how to deal with the unreasonable requirements and moving-target timelines imposed by this administration. But our union is not going to waste our members’ resources participating in this mockery of democracy,” McCamish said.
This is NOT what democracy looks like.  But it does go to show that old Mr. Unintimidated is still scared to death of the unions and for good cause.  Because the only answer to organized greed is organized labor.

8 comments:

  1. if you union guys had such a great thing -- masses and masses of satisfied workers would take advantage of the opportunity to "vote" to certify their racist and self-serving unions over the long weekend.

    And you fail to point out that there is next week too -- it was the legal manuvers of the racist unions that prevented this from happening earlier -- not that you or McCamish want to tell the truth.

    Until the union movement becomes more inclusive and stops dividing us by trades and those jobs that can use extortion to generate unreasonable wages (that get passed along to other workers -- i.e. autos); the labor movement in America is dead.

    And you could google union participation yourself and confirm this.

    If walmart ever gets unionized with a traditional America big-labor union, those people will see a tiny wage increase that will be more-than offset by union dues -- even though the union itself traps them in poverty.

    The wobblies (IWW) understand this -- which is why every other union treats them like the plague -- the wobblies are the only union doing squat for walmart workers.

    But folks like you feel entitled to high-wages yourself while others languish in poverty -- you are just another version of reagan's "piss on little guy and non-majority" trickle down crap.

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    1. "if you union guys had such a great thing -- masses and masses of satisfied workers would take advantage of the opportunity to "vote" to certify their racist and self-serving unions over the long weekend."
      Perhaps "masses and masses" will, but that's really not the point. The point is the right's increasingly blatant, desperate attacks on unions in general, and public unions specifically. It's almost as if they realize that they can't win elections through the traditional process. You know, getting more votes. Instead, they're resorting to trying to restrict voter access, limit voter turnout, dismantle perceived opposition framework, and limit opposition funding. Please, feel free to explain how unions are racist. Unions are increasingly being driven by minorities and women. " In 2009, 14.5% of African American workers were unionized (down from a decade high of 17.2 percent), along with 11.8% of Latino workers and, as noted, 12.5% of Asian American and Pacific Islander workers. By contrast, only 12.2% of white workers are unionized."
      http://prospect.org/article/minorities-and-unions

      http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/nyregion/new-york-citys-unionized-workers-are-mostly-minorities-a-study-shows.html?_r=0

      http://www.thewire.com/politics/2013/09/unions-have-more-minorities-ever-and-democrats-have-noticed/69026/

      http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/12/19/unions-new-face-retail-fast-food/

      "it was the legal manuvers of the racist unions that prevented this from happening earlier"
      Oh yeah, totally. I mean, there's no choice but to announce late in the day before a long break that the certification process is going to start. Yeah, his hands were tied that's for sure. In no way was this political. As with all things Walker, altruism is his driving force.

      "Until the union movement becomes more inclusive and stops dividing us by trades and those jobs that can use extortion to generate unreasonable wages (that get passed along to other workers -- i.e. autos); the labor movement in America is dead."
      Yes, I see we've stepped back into Bizarro world here again. Why is it that those on the right increasingly live in a world of their own creation that is 180 degrees from reality? The union movement is more inclusive than ever. Repeating that it isn't doesn't change that reality, no matter how uncomfortable it is for you. Why is negotiating the value of a commodity (labor, its most important commodity), extortion? When a manufacturer calls a supplier, does that supplier not get a say in the price of the commodity it's supplying? Is that also extortion? What is it that constitutes an unreasonable wage, particularly given the state of corporate profits? Who are you to determine a wage is unreasonable?



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    2. (Cont'd)
      " But folks like you feel entitled to high-wages yourself while others languish in poverty -- you are just another version of reagan's "piss on little guy and non-majority" trickle down crap."
      Yes, in the face of record productivity, and at or near record corporate profits, workers like myself do feel that we should be sharing in the benefit of our labor. How fucking entitled of us. It's nice though, to see those poor unfortunate corporate makers have willing little lickspittles like yourself that will drop to their knees in front of their corporate masters with their mouths open and hands behind their backs ready to defend and verbally fellate them at a moment's notice. How does that taste so far by the way? As an aside, it seems like you fundamentally misunderstand Reagan's policies. Why am I not surprised. His policies weren't meant to protect the majority at the expense of the minority. Quite the opposite. His policies argued that by directly assisting the wealthy minority, the rest of us would benefit as well. Hmmmm, how did that turn out?

      Here's the reality for you. Union membership has declined precipitously as a result of the overall decline in manufacturing in the US, combined with a concerted effort on the right to make legislation that actively hurts unionization. The thing is, look around you at what's starting to happen in the retail and service industries, the fastest growing industries in the country. Not a day passes without another story of a walkout, worker organization effort, or strike. It looks eerily similar to the early days of the original labor movement at the turn of the century. If history shows us anything, it's that you can only shit on the working class for so long before they feel they have nothing left to lose, and decide it's time to organize. All your incendiary, rhetorical, bullshit, anti labor braying only strengthens the resolve of the labor movement. And that, I'm sure, terrifies you and your sycophantic cabal of like-minded, drooling imbeciles. You can trot in here with your list of easily debunked, provably false hyperbolic talking points. After all, it's all you really have. Here's some advice for you though. Next time, try actually reading about the things you're feigning knowledge of. It won't actually make you look like less of a dipshit though given your compulsion for completely ignoring commas and periods in favor of double hyphens. It might at least make it look like you reviewed the material though. On second thought, scratch that, carry on as per usual. It's nice to occasionally get a reprieve from discussing things with people who have a clue and instead focus on ridiculing the court jester. Carry on fool, dance!!!


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  2. Anonymous 9;45AM- A perfect example of the hatred for all unions that infests the Wisconsin landscape. Nice to see that corrupt Wisconsin GOP thugz have the time to post such bile on Thanksgiving Day. Enjoy your TV dinner, alone, in front of your computer today.

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    1. Anonymous 9:45 Spoken like a true Walker Ass hat.........Get some help for that hatred for the working union Men and Women. If I was not for the unions every one would be still working for peanuts. Happy Thanksgiving to every one even you anon. 9:45........

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  3. Walker has obviously worked in magic on these union haters. As Walker said - ya know first we divide and then conquer.

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  4. Global unionization will = Fair trade through Fair wage!

    I'd put a union worker against any non-union worker's pay and benefits, and the union (Of people standing together for the interests of each other) will ALWAYS have a better standard of living.

    Quit hating and get educated and organized. YOU to can make your Labor worth your while! UNIONIZE!

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  5. Just think what anonymous @9:45 could do if he weren't so concerned with taking something away from someone else.

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