Wow, after a week, the MySpace thing is paying off, I got a bulletin with a great message, from a Teamster in Local 170, Sherri, here's what she had to say
Will you........... We all have a responsibility as citizens, as parents, family members and as friends. It is our chosen position to take ownership of what belongs to us and defend what needs to be defended. Without hesitation we will come to the aid of our children and care for our parents. We will get up at 4 am to reach those early bird specials the day after Thanksgiving. We will go to extreme measures to save a dime and waste not a minute to reach out for that impulsive purchase.
We will ignore those in need, mistreated by the corporations they work so hard for. We will make excuses that Wal-mart is cheaper and we have to be able to support our families before we worry about the economy of our country. We will not take any opportunities given us to learn who the law breakers of labor are, because as humans we are selfish and absorbed in our own lives. We can justify it, because it is a sinking economy that is responsible. And while we long for easier times, we will choose not to assist in making it happen.
We must all realize that the economy suffers because of an irresponsible government. From unemployment to the rising costs of health care, we have become prisoners in this land of the free. Until we admit our responsibilities and live up to them, we will continue to suffer along with the future of our children and grandchildren.
Register to vote and ask your family members to register to vote.
If we can come together, we can make a difference. Every vote does count, especially yours.
Will you help us? Take one for the team, ask a neighbor to GET OUT AND VOTE!!! Save some time in line and vote early!
Sherri H**** Teamsters Local 170
I challenge every Union Member to express yourselves and ask your my space friends to register and vote early! How can we possibly ask others what we will not do ourselves! Union Members all over the world are the examples of Unity and we must share our knowledge and encourage others to stand up and fight for a better tomorrow.
Had to say something, so I was reading through the NY Times article about how the AFL-CIO has launched a Veterans Vs. McCain website and when readin the comments I just had to chime in, from the NY Times, "Union Veterans’ Group Starts Ad Campaign Against McCain" (7/11/08):
Wow, reading through I can see the paid for posts, yes that’s right, today’s Big Law firm fat cats pay people to post on major news sites spreading bull misinforming people about The Employee Free Choice Act, the one true good piece of legislation that will allow people, that’s right American working people, to decide if they want to be in a union by signing a card. If more than 50% sign they get a union. The current method allows these union avoidance law firms to swoop in and divide and conquer the work force in the interim before the vaunted “secret ballot” election, using any means necessary, whether legal or not, by the time the election is over they deal with the legalities. This is a multi-billion dollar industry. Union avoidance and busting, a bunch of lawyers who spread the misinformation, and terrorize workers in their business see the passage of The Employee Free Choice Act as a tremendous loss to their cash cow, when was the last time you saw a “non-profit” so adamantly oppose legislation under the guise of taking away our democracy, where obviously money is no object, creating and running TV ad’s at will, that takes BIG money, even bigger than the AFL launching this campaign. Don’t let the billion dollar lawyers tell you how to think. They have owned the NLRB for the past 8 years under the guidance of a Bush appointee, Robert Battista, who has thoroughly contracted the power of all workers and given even more power to multi-national corporations who are ruling our world. He has done such a good job that when his appointment as the chairman came up this year, he decided to refuse in order to join one of the biggest union busting law firms in the world, that’s a fact that Main Stream Media doesn’t speak about.
And yes, Mr.McCain, who would make us all pay for our own health insurance with taxed money, and feed us into the hands of the big insurance companies is not the choice for any American worker, union or otherwise.
He also opposed the new GI Bill. I have been writing about the new GI Bill for quite some time and was completely surprised that this maverick veteran, ex-pow, would allow our returning vets to not get the care they needed, to not get funding to higher education, to not get the mental health care they needed. While both Republicans and Democrats supported the GIBILL 2008, McCain threatened cloture, and Bush threatened Veto, until a few weeks ago. This bill will allow our returning veterans a chance to become workers, company owners, supervisors, and modern day heroes, not the Vietnam era bill that flooded our country with homeless returnees. McCain did not want this! Bush did not want this! The military industrial complex did not want this! We the American people wanted this!
As a labor writer, do I staunchly back Obama? absolutely not, I despise the current 2 party system, I despise the fact that MSM censored the candidates I would have easily voted for in favor of the ones they could control through campaign finance. But Obama has a better chance of helping working people here in our country, and is a little less of a world eating profiteer that the reagan/bush/clinton/bush travesty that has lead us to where we are today. Especially if we, as working American’s hold Obama accountable if lected, remember, if you have 1 term in office, you will want another.
We can change the world a bit if Obama is elected, we can not if McCain is.
All of you here are among the Americans who can read independent news on the internet, do it, don’t just read the NY Times(no offense Mr.Greenhouse, I read your stuff, and it has been heading in a much better direction lately), don’t just read USA Today, spread yourself out onto Mother Jones, The Man Common blog, Peoples Weekly World, UTNE Reader, Consumers Union, Corp Watch, the list goes on, see the social interests links on my site. We have many issues, if this country continues on its path of separatism, the powers that be will take it all away from our little satellite groups at a whim.
As far as unions destroying America’s workplace, keep thinking that way.
Did the unions allow our industry to go to Haiti, where the people eat dirt sandwiches and the ones who are lucky enough to work in the former US Made Levi’s factory make about $2 a week, yeah blame the unions for that, or the other place where they make Levi’s, Bangladesh, where even the school teachers and policemen have to wait on thousand people lines to get government subsidized rice because they are paid so poorly, or in Vietnam, home of sneakers that were made her, where workers work 12 hours a day and recently went on strike to make a whopping $62 a month, instead of their current $58.
Yeah, the unions killed American jobs, yep
Open your eyes.
Gotta run, going to attend a function of the Wounded Warriors Project, where my friend, a retired union Steamfitter, who, along with a retired Firefighter, sell shirts and help our severely wounded returning vets do things they wouldn’t think they were capable to do.
Today they are scuba diving, yeah, that’s right, guys and girls with no legs going scuba diving, and union workers help, not because we want to, because in our hearts, just like running down to the trade center site after 9/11, we have to.
Firstly, Labor Day 2008 in New York, trying to promote the Employee Free Choice Act
Myself, Richard from Union Review and Kirsten from Uniongal, the Women, Unions and Our Stories blog, are looking for sponsors to get some Employee Free Choice Act shirts, with our sites listed as supporters, to be given away at this years Labor Day Parade in New York, if all goes well we will have a major labor union donation to help us get our message out there, we are hoping that all our readers, and some people who are not as active out there in the streets will get educated on the Bill and spread the word of the facts on this legislation. It is possibly the most important bill in my lifetime.
Many law firms stand to lose a tremendous cash cow if The Employee Free Choice Act is enacted
Usually, unless the company agrees to a card check vote, when a MAJORITY of workers signs cards to be in a union there is a wait time, usually over a month later, when the employees get a chance to vote via "secret ballot" to be in a union. That's where the Lawyers and Union Avoidance law firms come into play, they make multi-billions in figuring ways to turn workers against the idea of being in a union, turning workers against one another and using any means , such as unlawful firing. . These law firms thrive on fear. They make companies whose workers are engaged in organizing drives terrified of a collective voice , which unfortunately in today's day and age is really not looking at the facts at all.
Many companies could stand to gain a great deal if they mimicked the business practices of COSTCO, who has a hands off policy and allows their workers to join a union by a simple MAJORITY card signing, some stores sign up and some do not, but their employees all benefit from not being denied that basic right. Consider how disgruntled almost every Home Depot employee is, it's a down right shame, they don't care about their shit job one bit, give them a fairs day wage, nice pension to worry about keeping, and decent medical and they would likely make the Home Depot experiance a much better one for customers and would most likely raise their share value far beyond just the next quarter. Corporations however usually do not think like that, you can learn more at "The Corporation- 23 chapters in YouTube playlist form", but let's get back to the facts in this matter.
What employers and law firms do to keep workers from joining unions and who's on their side, why America needs the Employee Free Choice Act FACT: Many companies have closed door meetings with employees without their own pro-union workers in attendance, brain washing them to fear being in a union and in fact fear to even mention the word. In one recent article I wrote about a construction contractor here in New York, whose MAJORITY of employees signed cards to be in a union, were sent to another jobsite for a closed door meeting, were told they would get a $5 an hour raise if they voted against joining a union and in fact a former supervisor, who stood to gain nothing testifying, in an affidavit to Federal labor officials, stated when he asked his boss about the union:"He said he had about six guns on the job, and he had people there who would do whatever needed to be done. He said that he could dig a hole and put me in it and make the records showing I worked for the company disappear.", the workers fearing reprisal and thinking they were going to get a raise wound up voting overwhelmingly against the union.From: "High-Cost Condos, Low-Cost Labor—and Threats of Violence to Union Organizers"- Village Voice (6/24/08)
Last November, the NLRB ordered Auringer to post a notice promising not to make such threats. A new vote was canceled after Auringer fired 10 pro-union employees on the election's eve.
This is a good reason that America needs the Employee Free Choice Act. They sign the cards, they get into a union. No guns, no threats, no bullshit propaganda. More reasons that the current NLRB "secret ballot' hurts working Americans
FACT: 30% of pro union employees are fired during an organizing drive, even though it is against the law, they just don't care as the NLRB has been battered by lobbyist and mega-corporations to the point of intellectuality. This is in no small part due to President Bush's appointment as NLRB Chairman, Robert Battista who just recently declined the reappointment to join a union avoidence and union busting law firm, from American Rights at Work, which I first published here on 5/5 in a story, titled "Former Bush NLRB Chairman Robert Battista, joins union avoidance law firm" which highlights the deterioration of the rights of workers during his tenure at the NLRB:
For years I've been writing that Robert Battista, former chair of the National Labor Relations Board, has been doing the bidding of anti-union employers by dismantling protections for workers under the law. Apparently, he's now going to be doing the bidding of anti-union employers and making a lot more money at notorious unionbusting firm Littler Mendelson (see a sample of their unionbusting strategies: Littler Mendelson’s Dos & Don’ts).
Now Battista can make money telling employers how to exploit the law he helped to weaken in order to prevent their workers from organizing.
Battista is not alone, spin-doctor lawyer and lobbyist Rick Berman, the self proclaimed "Dr.Evil", corporate lobbyist for Big tobacco and the liquor industry among others, and creator of such fun filled sites as The Center for Union Facts is working hard on getting the American public against the Employee Free Choice Act, by advertising on local networks against the bill, using that d1ckhead who played Johnny Sachs in the Sopranos (probably a rank-and-file SAG member like Ronald Reagan, except a hell of a lot less talented), to scare people into thinking that if the Bill is
passed that their Democracy will be erased by ending 'secret ballot'. It's more like it will end
Mr.Berman's and other lawyers cash cow. Lawyers, corrupt politicians and corporations are the modern day gangsters, I'm starting that when they went after the Mafia they really wanted to eliminate their competition.
The commercial shows a gangster over the card signers shoulder, yeah maybe it should show a corporate lawyer counting money if this doesn't get passed
**Click the image to add your name to the petition that will wind up on the desk of the next US President Strike News and Job Loss UA LU 699, IBT 282 NY Concrete drivers, American Axle updates
Lots of news going on, I've been trying to contact the Business Manager for UA Local 699 Sprinklerfitters to see if I can get any more info on the strike in Seattle Washington, last night I sent him an e-mail, still waiting for a response, I'm sure the guy is busy.
I have read that the New York concrete truck Teamsters Local 282 have gone back to the negotiating table as of yesterday, the NY Times reports that there is some progress.
Also received news of American Axle, who I recently wrote is gearing up to destroy the environment, is now looking to get rid of 400 white collar workers in the United States, now that they are escaping the land of labor rights to distant shores. What a disgrace, maybe they can rename the company to "3rd. World Nation Axle" Health Care For All, supported by doctors and now the Mayors Council
Big news, the single payer health care bill is being endorsed by the US Conference of Mayors(The U.S. Conference of Mayors is a nonpartisan organization of mayors representing cities with a population of 30,000 or more. It currently has about 1,100 members.), this is a bill that would get health insurance for all Americans and isstrongly endorsed by a whopping 59% of American doctors, here's the text of the resolution in support of the United States National Health Insurance Act, H.R. 676:
Submitted By: The Honorable Lois J. Frankel, Mayor of West Palm Beach, Fla. The Honorable Wayne J. Hall Sr., Mayor of Mayor of Hempstead, N.Y. The Honorable Carolyn K. Peterson, Mayor of Ithaca, N.Y. The Honorable John E. Marks, III, Mayor of Tallahassee, Fla. The Honorable Sheila Dixon, Mayor of Baltimore, Md. The Honorable Becky Tooley, Mayor of Coconut Creek, Fla. The Honorable Ryan Coonerty, Mayor of Santa Cruz, Calif.
WHEREAS, every person deserves access to affordable quality health care; and
WHEREAS, the number of Americans without health insurance now exceeds 47 million; and
WHEREAS, millions with insurance have coverage so inadequate that a major illness would lead to financial ruin, and medical illness and bills contribute to one-half of all bankruptcies; and
WHEREAS, proposals for “consumer directed health care” such as Health Savings Accounts or Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) would only worsen this situation by penalizing the sick, discouraging prevention and saddling many working families with huge medical bills; and
WHEREAS, managed care and other market-based reforms have failed to contain health care costs, which now threaten the international competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers; and
WHEREAS, administrative waste stemming from our reliance on private insurers consumes one-third of private health spending while the single payer Medicare system has administrative costs of less than 5 percent; and
WHEREAS, U.S. hospitals spend 24.3 percent of their budgets on billing and administration while hospitals under Canada’s single payer system spend only 12.9 percent; and
WHEREAS, Harvard researchers estimate that more than $300 billion could be recovered by replacing private insurance companies with a single public payer, enough to cover the uninsured and to improve coverage for all those who now have only partial coverage; and
WHEREAS, entrusting care to profit-oriented firms diverts billions of dollars to outrageous incomes for CEOs and threatens the quality of care; and
WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) would assure universal coverage of all medically necessary services, contain costs by slashing bureaucracy, protect the doctor patient relationship, assure patients a completely free choice of doctors, and allow physicians a free choice of practice settings; and
WHEREAS, most polls show that the majority of Americans support universal health care; and
WHEREAS, as of the date of this resolution, the majority of American physicians (59 percent) believe that Single Payer is the best method of securing universal health care; and
WHEREAS, The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676) will guarantee every mayor that all residents and employees of his/her city will be fully covered for health care and save millions of taxpayer dollars now spent on premiums to provide less than full health insurance coverage for government employees; and
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED, that the United States Conference of Mayors expresses its support for The United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676), and calls upon federal legislators to work towards its immediate enactment and further urges the adoption of a process to insure that health care providers justify any increase in health care costs.
Got the MySpace up, and a shoutbox. Next we will change the layout here.
Finally did it, got a dedicated Joe's Union Review MySpace account that mirrors the blog here into the MySpace social network, it's how I met Richard at union review, theres a whole lot more to that story, but in a nutshell, I'm looking to meet more Richard's, Joe's and Kirsten's.
I also added a "shoutbox' to this site, you can easily add messages onto the site by entering text into the box and submitting it, try it out, it's right under the title "Say something even if it's wrong"
Seriously thinking of updating the site, I have been working with a layout that has more features, like having just the story introduction on the front page, with a read more lnk, ala Union review and the Building Bridges Radio blog i have been working on, let me know what you think.
Working behind the scenes a bit lately, a great win for the future of New York's labor solidarity was achieved yesterday, I'm waiting for a press release to write on it, stay tuned, and finally I leave you with...
Ronald Regan once said "I believe that in both spirit and substance , our tax system has come to be unAmerican"
All the way back in November of 2007, I wrote an article at Union Review that, aw hell here's the entire thing.
Mad As Hell #2 : Australian people dump corporate Gov. In favor of Labor and what's important here - 11/25/07 Note: I'm As Mad As Hell #1 - "The Part That Big Media Left Out !!!" is at the bottom of every page here at Joe's Union review
In a carbon-copy of the USA's wholesale sell off of the American worker in favor of corporate rulership , the people of Australia , who have faced their own War Against The Workers, have said "enough is enough".
The Liberals*, also known as the coalition, used Fear as the biggest tactic against Labor, fear of unions , fear of terrorism, immigrants, etc. . Even the distribution of fake handouts which stated that ""Labor*" supports terrorism" didn't discourage the masses to flock to the polls to oust the now-former conservative regime. Heres what the conservatives did against unions in 2005
"...2005 legislation that dramatically undermined workers' rights to organize and forced them onto individual contracts. The new law banned 'pattern bargaining' (industry-wide campaigns) and deciding on industrial action at mass meetings. It restricted union officials' access to members at work and abolished the prohibition of unfair dismissals."
Only time will tell if Australia will be better off , here in the states where we decide the lesser of two evils, where whoever is elected it seems "we the people", the working class people , get screwed. To what degree is something we could debate forever (Who signed NAFTA? Under what presidency did deregulation of industry start? Who fired the Air-Traffic controllers? Who's NLRB are we under today?) . We head into our elections hoping a democratic presidency will change that, I only hope that it will be true.
We need a party for the working people not just the lesser of two evils, a party that views the Constitution as law , a party that will not give away the final "gasp" of American industry, one that will support "fair" trade not "free" trade, one that will view the American people as people, not just consumers and pawns in todays global economy. We need to become "We the people", not just "We the consumer"
Unfortunately, we have been bushwhacked (no pun intended) to believe, by the elections in Florida, that all of our voting standards are flawed , but that just isn't the case, or at least not a good enough reason to go to electronic voting (using a computerized polls to vote in an election) . If you are on a computer now, you know how easy it is to be hacked, get a virus or any other security risk at hand .
What makes the powers that be think that 'we the people" want any form of electronic voting? Why would we want any form of voting whereby there cannot be a hard copy recount , where rigging could be as simple as a math problem on a calculator? Just take a looksie at YouTube and the Voting Machine Hacks (seems YouTube is down at the moment, maybe they got Hacked) , most interesting of which is this testimony. Who decides who gets the contract to use the software on these machines? An interesting note is that We The People - a Foundation who's mission is to protect and defend individual Rights as guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States - has filed suit against electronic voting claiming in part "computerized voting machines, are unconstitutional because they are ripe for fraud and error and effectively hide the physical vote counting process from the public, effectively denying citizens their legally protected Right to cast an effective vote.".
The fight is now, to make sure we do have a choice in the future, communicate information to others, end the war on the working people in the USA. Make sure those who wish to be in office are informed that we are mad, informed and that we are united. The world should be a place where life should be easier for the masses through innovations and inventions. Where things should be made better , not just throw away junk . Where we shouldn't be sicker and should live longer. What has happened? We are sicker, we pay the same for shoddy products, we buy poison food and toys from places we jettisoned our industrial jobs to, we work harder for less, we have less options for work , we have rampant illegal immigration (slave labor), we have a nation divided through fear, language and religion , we are closer to catastrophic loss of everything we own in a dire emergency then during the depression, we are a nation addicted to drugs for heart burn, erections and sleep disorders who ask our doctors what they think of medicines with commercials we pay for, we can be withheld by authorities and everything we 'own' can be taken for no reason at all, we are a nation of sheep blindly being led to slavery through creditors , mortgages and loans , a nation where our labor is taxed seemingly without representation (Ronald Regan once said "I believe that in both spirit and substance , our tax system has come to be unamerican") .
If one were to look at the current state of affairs , to look beyond the lies , half-truths and misinformation, one would think that we live in the world Ray Bradbury saw in Fahrenheit 451 , the futuristic world where Guy Montag the lead characters wife sits in her living room interacting with her 3 walls of television without a care in the world, while Montag who is a futuristic fireman in a world where everything is non-flammable, books are restricted, individuals are anti-social and hedonistic, and critical thought is suppressed. Montag's job is to burn books. Are we really that far off ?
Anyone who has showed up here at UnionReview a few times already knows that Net Neutrality can and will be used for information suppression . Just the basic fact that the ilk such as Rick Berman, the creator of the anti-union "center for union facts" , has been signed on in support of the corporate agenda is tell tale that there is a huge lobbying effort to suppress our freedom of internet information. The same companies that run TV, Radio and Cable want to control everything even on the internet. Check out and get active on www.SaveTheInternet.com, do it if only for the sake that you can still view this site, for the fact that we can still have a free voice over our concerns of the working class, that yes free speech is alive and well.
Well like all stories I write, this one, unfortunately, has come to an end.
*Please note that the 2 main parties in AUS. are "Liberal" which is the conservative party and sympathies with corporations and "Labor" which is somewhat to the left, has quite a few candidates who are Union and is more for the working class.
Thank you everyone who has signed petitions along the way, I felt it was of utmost importance that our returning vets had a good chance towards a career when they come home, together people such as yourselves from many different blogs and sites got active and we were heard. Even when such high ranking people such as Senator John McCain staunchly opposing the measure and a Geroge W. Bush threatened veto against it, the American people have spoken.
With tremendous support and overwhelming passage in both Congress(256-166) and the Senate (75-22 McCain was a no show) and a reversal of the veto threat by the President, our returning vets now have a fighting chance
Dear Joseph,
Today, history was made.
Just this morning, President Bush signed the new GI Bill into law. Since we are only a few days away from celebrating the 4th of July, this milestone is a fitting way to honor our veterans who have bravely served this nation.
IAVA has led the fight for the new GI Bill from the beginning, and your dedication over the past year and a half ensured that our lawmakers kept it a top priority. Over 20,000 of you called your representatives in Congress, spread the word in your communities and signed the petition at www.GIBill2008.org. Thanks to your hard work, we finally achieved our goal.
Generations of veterans to come will benefit from this bill. Your support in this fight has been overwhelming- very few bills in recent history have received such an outpouring of public support. Together, we can be extremely proud of this victory.
In a few days, we'll let you know more about this remarkable bill and how IAVA plans to help veterans take full advantage of these new benefits.
Thank you for standing with IAVA throughout this fight.
Elaine Chao’s Labor Department doesn’t see a problem, though. Elaine’s OSHA claims poultry plants are “safer than ever,” pointing to supposedly lower rates of reported injuries. The devil’s in the details, though.- American Rights at Work on Elaine Chao's stance on the poultry industry
2 SUV's and 6 security personal, just a few blocks from her home, wow Elaine must have gotten really gussied up for John McCain and her husband Senator Mitch McConnell.
Kentucky protesters get booted away from across the street of Senator McConnell's, John McCain fund raiser.
The Bush Legacy Bus - with some great music "you took our jobs and sent em overseas, now we owe billions to the red Chinese"- Takin My Country Back by The Honky Tonkers For Truth
Unlike her cohorts in the Bush Administration, Elaine Chao has escaped much-needed public scrutiny of her time on the job. From littering the Labor Department with corporate insiders to dismantling worker safety protections and collaborating with her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, on a blatant anti-union political agenda, Elaine has disgraced her role as Secretary of Labor.
Like most union activists we knew Elaine was a stinker – but until ARAW pulled all the information together at one spot, we had no idea just how bad her record is. We’re sure you’ll share our outrage over what we found out she was up to instead of serving in the interest of workers:
Hired a former colleague from the Heritage Foundation who actually wrote a report titled “How to close down the Department of Labor.”
Cut over 100 inspectors at the MSHA and, as a result, hundreds of mines weren’t inspected and tragedies such as Sago and Crandall Canyon might have been prevented.
Had Chao-themed coins, lanyards, and fleece blankets printed at taxpayers’ expense.
Failed to issue a rule requiring employers pay for their workers’ safety gear—contributing to 400,000 workers injured and 50 dead.
Had an auditorium named in her honor – thanks to her husband’s $14.2 million earmark to enhance the Mitch McConnell Center at his alma mater, the University of Louisville. Of course, Elaine never attended the university.
Thats just the tip of the iceberg, my buddy Richie at UnionReview.com has been following her views on the American worker for a while and I pointed out in a comment:
At the Shame on Elaine site theres also, among other atrocious misdeeds, an article about the North Carolina poultry industry, which as you may have read about first right here on JoesUnionReview, the newspaper in the local area, the Charlotte Observer has been doing what has become a rarity in todays Main Stream Media, an expose. Shame On Elaine notes:
The poultry story has created quite a stir, the AFL-CIO Web Blog is currently engaged in a debate in it's comments section pertaining to a story about the newest employer exploitation here on American soil. Slaves, Sharecroppers, Now Immigrants.
OSHA under the umbrella of Elaine Chao's DOL
BILL MOYERS: Businesses, on the other hand, say the requirements are cumbersome, and have long pressured the agency for weaker standards of regulation.
The pressure's paid off. THE NEW YORK TIMES' Stephen Labaton reported last year that since George W. Bush became president, the agency has left worker safety largely in the hands of industry, and has issued the fewest significant standards in its history.
In North Carolina, the number of OSHA poultry plant inspections fell from 25 in 1997 to nine in 2006. South Carolina poultry plant inspections dropped from 36 in 1999 to 1 in 2006.
Nationwide, OSHA workplace safety inspections at U.S. poultry plants have dropped to their lowest point in 15 years. In fact the government rewards companies that report low injury rates by inspecting them less often. And Washington's regulators rarely check whether companies are reporting accurately.
Please also note that the video features testimony by Bob Whitmore, a long time OSHA employee , who has been placed on Administrative leave to testify in the hearing, Mr.Whitmore was also the 200th. person to sign the petition against OSHA's lack of a standard in combustible dust
"As an OSHA employee, I was ashamed and deeply offended by my Agencies response at Rep Miller's Hearings. Like Rep. Miller said "I again see no sense of urgency from OSHA". The OSHA Watchdog has acted like a Lapdog again." - Bob Whitmore , Maryland
Applications that contained what were seen as “leftist commentary” or “buzz words” like environmental and social justice were often grounds for rejecting applicants, according to e-mails reviewed by the inspector general’s office.
Wow, all the way at the top, discriminatory practices at the US Justice Department come to light in a NY Times report that shows that, while under the authority of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, higher qualified candidates for jobs were rejected for "political and idealogical" reasons. Which of course is against the law.
Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials over those with liberal-sounding resumes, a new report found Tuesday.
The blistering report, prepared by the Justice Department’s inspector general, is the first in what will be a series of investigations growing out of last year’s scandal over the firings of nine United States attorneys. It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration.
“Many qualified candidates” were rejected for the department’s honors program because of what was perceived as a liberal bias, the report found. Those practices, the report concluded, “constituted misconduct and also violated the department’s policies and civil service law that prohibit discrimination in hiring based on political or ideological affiliations.”
And you thought all those rulings that weaken the labor movement and are directly made with the intent of screwing the working people was a coincidence, think again.
heres some cool stuff I copied and pasted here, just to see how it would turnout
Will you...........
In a carbon-copy of the USA's wholesale sell off of the American worker in favor of corporate rulership , the people of Australia , who have faced their own War Against The Workers, have said "enough is enough". 
Back Story With Eric Lichtblau (