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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

MD/DC: Safeway and Giant getting scabs ready for possible strike

Safeway and Giant have over 20,000 union workers who are getting ready to be on strike. While the workers had given concessions in their last contract, including a higher copay for new hires, the company is now going for the jugular, stating they cannot compete with Non-Union stores such as Target and Wal-Mart, they have even been interviewing temp workers for the possibility of a strike, I would say this is an aggressive stance. According to the UFCW, ‘‘Strike preparations have gone very well and will be completely in place by Wednesday, March 26,”

UnionGal's Blog (3/24/08)

They're Called SCABS

They are not "replacement" workers and they are not "Temporary" workers. They are scabs and Safeway and Giant advertising in the store AND in the local media for scabs is beyond the pale.



I just wish Fox 5 News could have called a scab a scab.

From the UFCW site (2/24/08):
UFCW members of Locals 400 and 27 are standing together for a fair contract--and UFCW members nationwide are standing with them. Members last week wore stickers to show their support for locals, who are currently bargaining with Giant and Safeway. Their employers have so far been unwilling to agree to a fair contract for their workers, one that shares the success with those employees that made it possible.

Members are signing pledges to fight for a fair contract with wages that pay the bills and affordable health care. Their pledge also includes signing up to pass out info to consumers outside their stores, with info about the negotiations and a request that shoppers support them with their shopping dollars if the company won't settle a fair contract.

In addition, UFCW members will be asking for support from members and supporters nationwide, in telling the companies that they need to offer Baltimore/DC workers a fair contract now.
Recently the 2 companies have ran ad's for Scab's, according to Gazette.net (3/24/08):

Safeway recently ran advertisements in The Washington Post seeking applications for temporary employees ‘‘in preparation for a possible labor dispute,” while Giant ran a similar ad without mentioning labor issues, according to published reports.

Giant, the region’s top grocer, has about 13,400 employees in Maryland, and the company ranked fifth in the number of employees in Maryland among private companies, according to a survey released last year by the state Department of Business and Economic Development.

Safeway ranked ninth in the number of employees in Maryland with 8,680, according to the state survey.

What can we do to stand in solidarity with the workers? Stop shopping in Target, CVS and Wal-Mart.

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Why anti-union.blogspot.com ?

This site is dedicated to Lawyer/PR man, Rick Berman, who works as a lobbyist for the corporate war against unions and the working class. His MO is to start websites who falsely claim to be factual and through truth, half truth and out right lies, misinform the public, unions are not his first campaign and I'm sure it will not be his last.

Heres an interview from 60 Minutes and a Full Story I wrote.

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Union Review - Labor Movement News and Views

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In the United States today, a worker is fired or discriminated against for trying to form a union every 23 minutes. This is a major reason that every worker should support the Employee Free Choice Act.

According to a survey from Peter D. Hart Research Associates 57 million people say they would join a union if they had a chance. But in todays America, employers routinely fire, harass, intimidate and coerce workers who try to exercise their right to form a union at work.


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I"m As Mad As Hell #1 - "The Part That Big Media Left Out !!!"

10/27/07

Why is it that when someone who becomes a hero, the fact that he is a proud union member is not mentioned in the mainstream media? Could it be that the media on a whole is quite a bit anti-union?

I'm not just talking about the likes of Rupert Murdoch, I am talking about the main 6 companies that own almost everything you see and read, the six that have to bargain directly with unions and would like nothing more than for people to believe that the working mans plight is hopeless and we must bargain from the scraps left for us. And yes my friends, they want total control of the internet . Well I've gone a bit off point, the point is that when Wesley Autrey, a member and shop steward of LIUNA Local 79, became New Yorks subway hero on Jan. 3rd. 2007, by putting his life at risk to save another, there was absolutely no mention that he was a union member in any of the big media outlets. I only came to learn that through my diligence in serching out news on the internet. And that my friends is a total shame .
NYPost "Autrey, 50, a construction worker who achieved nationwide fame for his death-defying rescue of a Boston man who had fallen off the subway platform" NYTimes "Mr. Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker, said he knew something was different when he showed up for work later on Tuesday. His boss, he said, bought him lunch — a ham-and-cheese hero — and later told him to take yesterday off." USAToday "I just tried to do the right thing," said the 50-year-old Harlem construction worker." NBC "Wesley Autrey, a Navy veteran and construction worker, was standing nearby on the platform with his children when he saw Hollowpeter fall. Autrey jumped down to the track area and lay on top of Hollowpeter as a train passed about "2 inches" from his head."
What comes to mind that is if this was me, the first thing i would say if asked what my job was would be my union . Now this isn't the only instance whereby I have come to this conclusion , when speaking with an official with OPEIU on the crisis in downtown NYC regarding HIP's removing 186 union jobs from downtown , good paying jobs they were obligated to keep there when they used "Empire State Development Corp.'s WTC Job Creation and Retention Program", none of the big papers here in New York would carry the story , the Times (which has this so-called worker friendly stance said it was too small an issue) refused as did all the others , the only paper that would run the story was New York Newsday. I consider it very newsworthy, and refuse to buy any other paper. Not to mention the fact that Newsday is the only paper here in New York which reports on employee misclassification and tax evasion by nonunion contractors .

Media ownership

the tie to net neutrality
"A Federal Communications Commissioner said that the censoring of political speech during a recent Pearl Jam performance illustrates the need for network neutrality." Link
FROM : SaveTheInternet
What is Network Neutrality? Network Neutrality — or "Net Neutrality" for short — is the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet. Put simply, Net Neutrality means no discrimination. Net Neutrality prevents Internet providers from speeding up or slowing down Web

content based on its source, ownership or destination.

Ok that means hypothetically, that without "Net Neutrality", if Disney, who is partnered with Verizon , has a "Union" issue and someone posts an article on UnionReview about it, Verizon is within their rights to throttle our sites basic internet bandwidth to the degree that it would be frustrating if not impossible to view it. Think this isn't a possibility, think again .

FROM: SFGate.com

"If you missed the incident, Verizon Wireless initially refused to transmit text messages over its cellular network from Naral Pro-Choice America, a pro-choice group, to its members. Naral uses text-messaging to update its supporters on pro-choice policy and the message would have only gone to people who had signed up to receive them. But several days later, Verizon did an about-face and agreed to send the messages. Nonetheless, according to news reports, Verizon did not retreat from its position that it is entitled to decide what messages to transmit. This is censorship of the first magnitude."

As a matter of fact , those that oppose Net Neutrality have garnered the talents of "spin-doctor' Rick Berman, former lobbyist for big tobacco and current creator of Center For Union Facts, whose main focus is to tarnish unions through truths, half-truths and out right propaganda.

Basically his site Hands Off The Internet is a giant scare tactic to those in the world that believe everything they read. Basically if you read through Berman's web sites you can easily understand this joke.

Q: How can you tell that Rick Berman is lying? A: He opens his mouth FROM : SaveTheInternet

What else are the phone and cable companies not telling the truth about?

AT&T and others have funded a massive misinformation campaign, filled with deceptive advertising and "Astroturf" groups like Hands Off the Internet and NetCompetition.org. Learn how to tell apart the myths from the realities in our report, Network Neutrality: Fact vs. Fiction.

Well this was installment #1 of my "Mad as Hell", stay tuned as I once again someday sift through all the misinformation and spin-doctoring and get another story here.

Heres the 2nd. installment from UnionReview.com: Mad As Hell#2 - Australia dumps corporate government in favor of labor and what's important here