Teamsters – RI Future

April 3, 2016April 4, 2016

What does Wisconsin want?

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The Democratic Primary in Wisconsin has a lot on the line ideologically, and it could reverberate East.

After Sanders swept six of the last seven contests, by a margins averaging about 75 percent, the contest moves into Wisconsin where progressivism and the unionism face a historic ideological challenge. Will Wisconsin vote for the principles of political revolution they were founded on or will they default to neoliberal pragmatism?

Laborers or labor unions

A little discussed fact is that it is the unions and their members have been the major contributors to Bernie Sanders campaign. Most notably are the Machinist Union, Teamsters Union, National Education Association, United Auto Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers, Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, not to mention the US Postal Service and the Laborers Union.

However, there is a schism. Unions like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which was central in the fight with Governor Walker on the right to organize, endorsed the reformist darling of the Democratic Party establishment Hillary Clinton. Since Sanders seems more popular with the membership than the leadership, it is not clear how this will translate into votes. The AFL-CIO, the largest national union, has declined to endorse either candidate.

Which labor movement will show up? The one who fights for workers rights or the one who believes they already have a seat at the table that it could lose?

Independent voters

Wisconsin has an open primary and at this point it looks like the blue collar workers will largely support Sanders and not be tempted to cross over to Trump like they did in Ohio. Though Trump has also has taken an anti-NAFTA position, it is Bernie Sanders who has clearly articulated a pro-worker vision from the $15 minimum wage to a pledge to rewrite all of the so-called free-trade agreements. It is Sanders appeal with independents that his campaign bases there claim that he is the stronger candidate in the general election and they may break his way on Tuesday.

Wisconsin’s progressive roots

And then there is the question of ideology. There’s been much discussion in this campaign about progressivism. After Bernie Sanders laid out a clear progressive, social democrat platform, Hillary Clinton claimed that she was “a progressive who can get things done.” This was particularly startling since Hillary, a household name, has been practicing triangulation and transactional politics which was started by her husband Bill Clinton through her career. Clintonism, which has dominated the Democrats ideology for decades, claimed that by moving the discussion to the middle, the Democrats could get the Republicans to compromise. What happened, which is what many on the left predicted, is that this tactic pulled the whole party to the right.

Wisconsin should know what the term means. The Progressive Movement was founded there by Bob La Follette, who is known as “Fighting Bob.” At the age of 64, the former governor and staunch supporter of Socialist Eugene V Debs, ran for president largely on an anti-corruption platform, demanded investigations into the war profiteering and corrupt monopolies, and that the big banks be broken up. His platform called for taking over the railroads and private utilities, calling for child labor laws, the right to organize and increasing civil liberties ending racism.

He campaigned for the presidency on a pledge to “break the combined power of the private monopoly system over the political and economic life of the American people” and denouncing, in the heyday of the Ku Klux Klan’s resurgence, “any discrimination between races, classes, and creeds.”

This laid the groundwork for the Progressive Party of Wisconsin which influenced Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, and was carried on by his son establishing the progressive platform as core values in progressive politics for decades.

Bernie for Wisconsin

What is on the line Tuesday is whether Wisconsin stays true to its progressive roots, or if after years of being clobbered by the Koch brothers, it takes on the mantle of neoliberal centrism. Its progressive roots still live on, at least, at the an annual event called the Fighting Bob Fest where, in October 2014, Bernie Sanders spoke on his familiar topic- Democracy or Oligarchy. You can read the full speech here – or watch the video.

After eviscerating the Koch brothers and the racist right wing fringe, pillars of power in the Republican Party, Sanders lays out the Progressive Platform that he is currently campaigning on – demanding campaign finance reform, breaking up the banks, single-payer health care and strengthening the safety net with a passionate plea for social, environmental and economic justice.

He said we are in the midst of the greatest crisis since the Civil War.

And this is not an easy fight. They have huge resources. They have think tanks. They have media. You name it, they’ve got it.

But there is one thing they don’t have. While they have unlimited sums of money, what we have is the people.

And if we can overcome some of our differences, we can focus on the broad issues facing America: jobs, health care, education, the environment, the needs of children. And on these issues, believe it or not, we are a united nation.

So let us reach out to our brothers and our sisters, fellow workers, fellow family members, and let us create a movement that tells Washington: We are not asking you, we are telling you.

Change will take place in America not through some backroom negotiations.

Change takes place in America when millions of people demand it.

Wisconsin decides Tuesday if it wants systemic change or the status quo primacy of the 1 percent and Wall Street. The same question faces Rhode Islanders on April 26th.

February 19, 2015February 19, 2015

2,200 RI Hospital employees authorize labor strike

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Rhode Island Hospital employees represented by the Teamsters Local 251 voted to authorize a strike Wednesday.

“Rhode Island Hospital employees have sent a clear message,” said Teamsters Local 251 President Paul Santos. “It’s time for Lifespan to listen to the employees and the community and agree to common-sense proposals for good jobs and quality care.”

An FAQ sheet sent to union members and the media says the vote doesn’t mean there will be a strike – but it does move the 2,200 hospital employees one step closer to that. “Voting to authorize a strike notice does not mean we will issue a 10-day notice right away,” it reads.

According to a press release from Jobs With Justice sent late last night, “Sticking points in negotiations include job security, fair wage increases and retirement benefits, and Lifespan’s rejection of proposals to address unsafe staffing and equipment and supply shortages that undermine patient care.”

According to an FAQ sent by Rhode Island Hospital, “the hospital wants to make it clear that neither a strike nor the threat of a strike will make bargaining more productive nor will it force the hospital to take any action that it does not believe is in the best interest of its patients, employees or the hospital.”

In a statement, hospital spokeswoman Beth Bailey said, “The vote process came despite recent movement by the hospital on key wage and benefit proposals. The initial union proposals called for more than $20 million in wage and benefit increases, an amount that is unsustainable in the current healthcare environment. The union proposals included: wage increases twice the hospital average, additional hospital contributions to health insurance, a second retirement plan, and additional vacation days, among other requests. The hospital responded with proposals that increase wages for all three years of the contract … the hospital is not asking the union for any give-backs for wages, retirement or benefits.”

According to a press release from the union, “Sticking points in negotiations include job security, fair wage increases and retirement benefits, and Lifespan’s rejection of proposals to address unsafe staffing and equipment and supply shortages that undermine patient care. Lifespan executives have angered employees and the community by rejecting common-sense proposals, including a proposal to require the Hospital to ‘maintain sufficient staff and adequate supplies.'”

Local 251 represents 2,200 employees at Rhode Island Hospital, including non-medical staff, such as secretaries, janitors and landscapers. “But they also represent the unit assistants, the folks who check on patients to make sure everything’s okay, and the CNAs,” said Jesse Strecker of Jobs With Justice.

“This campaign is about workers and the community working together for a better Lifespan,” Strecker said. “The overwhelming vote shows that workers are sticking together and the community will stick with them.”

February 17, 2015February 19, 2015

RI Hospital employees will vote on labor strike

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Following stalled contract negotiations between Lifespan and Rhode Island Hospital employees, members of Teamsters Local 251 can vote tomorrow on whether a work stoppage is warranted. There will be three ballot votes at the Local 251 Union Hall in East Providence at 8am, noon and 4pm, according to a Jobs With Justice press release.

“Lifespan executives have angered employees and the community by rejecting common-sense proposals, including a proposal to require the Hospital to “maintain sufficient staff and adequate supplies,” said the press release. “Lifespan even rejected a proposal that, “providing quality care to patients and their families is the top objective of the Hospital and that poor working conditions, inadequate staffing levels, inadequate supplies, and improper equipment undermine quality care.”

Rhode Island Hospital Senior Media Relations Officer Beth Bailey said, “We are committed to bargaining in good faith toward a fair labor agreement that reflects the positive contributions of our employees. Our proposals to date have included increases to wages for all three years of the contract and shift differentials, and a comprehensive plan to help union employees impacted by technology changes. We are confident in the quality of the care we provide and the investments we have made in technology, equipment and staff to support the delivery of quality care.”

Tomorrow’s vote is one step in the process of calling for a labor strike, said Jess Strecker of Jobs With Justice.

“It’s an authorization vote,” he said in an email subsequent to sending the press release. “The contract negotiating committee will then make the final call about when or whether to strike. Then they would actually give a 10 day notice to Lifespan before going out on strike. The strike could last as long or as shortly as it has to.”

A FAQ sheet sent from Local 251 to the 2,200 members said, “Voting to authorize a strike notice does not mean we will issue a 10-day notice right away. We will continue to negotiate and try to reach a fair agreement. A strong Yes Vote will send a message of unity to the Hospital and give the Negotiating Committee more leverage to win a fair contract. A No Vote would send management the message that we are not united. Management would have very little reason to make a fair contract offer.”

The FAQ says, “The bottom line is there can be no strike without a second vote by members to go on strike.”

Kathy Ahlquist, says the press release, “blames understaffing for her father’s medical tragedy.” Kathy is the wife of RI Future contributor Steve Ahlquist, who has reported on some of the previous employee actions as a new contract was in negotiation.

lifespan-says-no-final-feb-10.qxd — Material provided by union to members.

January 30, 2015

Picket at RI Hospital as contract negotiations stall

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Yesterday an “Informational Picket” was held outside Rhode Island Hospital to draw attention to the stalled contract negotiations with Lifespan. Nearly 2,500 Teamsters, represented by Local 251, have been working under a contract that expired on December 31, and was extended to yesterday. According to a statement from RI Hospital the contract has been re-extended until January 30.

Union rep Brooke Reese told me that negotiations with the hospital are “not so great.” A press release from the union says that hospital management has rejected a union proposal that states, “providing quality care to patients and their families is the top objective of the Hospital and that poor working conditions, inadequate staffing levels, inadequate supplies and improper equipment undermine patient care.”

Lifespan has also rejected the union’s proposals on “job security, fair wages and benefits,” which the union calls “a slap in the face to every Rhode Island Hospital employee and every person in the community that is concerned about good jobs and quality patient care.”

To bring attention to their cause workers borrowed a large inflatable “Fat Cat” from New York Teamsters 804. It was an attention getting prop, and it had the effect of slowing rush hour traffic around the hospital more than usual. The Fat Cat is seen wringing the neck of a UPS worker, but for the purposes of yesterday’s picket we’re being asked to picture the strangled worker wearing hospital scrubs.

Jesse Strecker, of RI Jobs With Justice, said in a statement, “Lifespan isn’t hearing workers and the community’s concerns at the negotiating table, so we are coming together to raise our voices in front of the hospital.”

During the picket Strecker led a community delegation consisting of representatives from labor unions, community organizations and student groups as well as religious leaders in an attempt to deliver an “Open Letter” to the hospital administrators, but were prevented from doing so by hospital security. After much negotiation the letter was taken, with the promise of delivery, by the head of security, but no one from the delegation was allowed inside the hospital and no one representing the hospital addressed the delegation in any meaningful way.

Beth Bailey, Senior Media Relations Officer for Rhode Island Hospital, said in a statement that the most recent proposal from the union “does not make economic sense for the hospital or its patients, as our state continues to struggle economically” and that the hospital is “offering a fair contract that continues to provide wage increases, retirement, health care and other benefits.” The statement did not address community concerns about patient care.

The union maintains that Lifespan paid its “ten highest paid executives” more than $16.6 million in its last fiscal year, an average of $1 million more in compensation “than the average earned by CEOs of nonprofit hospitals nationally.”

April 20, 2014April 21, 2014

Unions are not all the same

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In several recent conversations about the gubernatorial race, people have talked about “the labor vote” going to this candidate or that. We often hear pundits and even reporters talking about “unions” as a monolithic bloc. Like thinking that all RI Democrats are equally liberal, seeing the labor movement as a single unit is deeply flawed.

The world is a complicated place. Many things, even contradictory things, can be true at the same time. Nor is it a zero-sum game. Just because something you like can be supported with evidence does not mean that the things you don’t like cannot. As a rule, everything people say and believe is true…to an extent.

Unions are people, too, my friends

Like people, like the world, unions are a complicated mass of contradictory things. As conservatives claim, it is true that unions can sometimes act to shield incompetent or unproductive workers from scrutiny and accountability. But it is also true that unions can sometimes act to shield good workers from unscrupulous bosses.

In my experience, the latter is true far more often than the former. But for conservatives and their allies in the press, one example of union shenanigans invalidates a mountain of evidence that unions do critical, sometimes life-saving work. This has to end.

(Here, I will contradict myself in that the following is a zero-sum exercise. As I will prove that the union landscape in Rhode Island is complex and varied, I will simultaneously disprove that “labor” is a single, undifferentiated bloc. Deal with it.)

I cite as evidence the union endorsements for gubernatorial candidates in the 2010 election. Also, this will support my long-running assertion that the RI Democratic Party—that is, The Machine—is dominated by highly conservative people to the point that a former Republican was the “liberal” in that race.

The Teamsters union is not a progressive organization, and its members are mostly social conservatives. In 2010, they endorsed Caprio, the Machine’s candidate. Caprio is nobody’s progressive, nobody’s liberal; he is a Democrat in name only. At the PPAC debate, the Teamsters turned out in numbers and set the ugly, partisan tone. Sitting in that highly-charged atmosphere, it was hard not to think of the phrase “union thugs.”

The SEIU is the kind of union that proves we need unions. Service workers—and I was one for about 15 years—are some of the worst abused workers in the country. As a never-was rock star, I spent many years in commercial kitchens. It is dangerous work for bad pay. And bosses and customers frequently fail to distinguish between “service” and “servant”.

In another career, I met a person in the restaurant equipment business. He told me that there is a trade term for restaurant workers: the burn-and-churn. Restaurant owners will consciously try to keep wages low by driving workers to their physical and mental limits, forcing them to quit or commit a fireable offense. Then they replace them from a large pool of unemployed workers and repeat the process.

The SEIU rightly endorsed Chafee. Even though Chafee was then an independent and recent defector from the GOP, he was by far the most liberal candidate. Virtually all progressives supported Chafee. Some, like me, did so openly. Others more integrated into the Democratic Party, could only work in the shadow or drag their feet in support of Caprio.

The AFL-CIO is a coalition of coalitions. It embodies the vast diversity in the labor movement. So it’s telling that the AFL-CIO endorsed…nobody. Because Caprio and Chafee represented such distant political positions and because the AFL-CIO members find themselves equally divided between those two positions, the Grand Coalition could not achieve unanimity of purpose and issue an endorsement. They basically abstained from the campaign.

As goes the union debate, so goes the political debate

To review, the more conservative union backs the more conservative candidate and the more liberal union backs the more liberal candidate. And the broad-based coalition union can’t decide.

This is what diversity looks like. Different people, different groups, different unions are, well, different.

It is unhelpful for people to talk about unions as if they were all the same. Conservatives do it specifically to make good unions look bad, tarring them all with the same brush, as the saying goes.

But members of the press—to whom this post is dedicated—do this because it’s easy. Explaining complex issues is hard and takes a lot of words. Reporters are under deadline, and editors can’t have long stories.

This is unacceptable because it has a real impact on the political discussion in Rhode Island. And Rhode Island desperately needs to have an honest, open discussion about our badly broke political system.

Let’s start by changing the way we talk about the organize labor movement.

October 24, 2011January 2, 2012

AT&T/T-Mobile Merger is about jobs. What’s wrong with that?

Last week, the pretend defenders of private sector unions on Fountain Street bought the line that the AT&T/T-Mobile merger was a bad idea. Typical double speak. Here is a good counter argument from the Communication Workers of America:

If you repeat a made-up falsehood over and over again, will reasonable people start to believe it?

That’s what the critics of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger are hoping. They’ve manufactured a fact, claiming that the AT&T/T-Mobile merger will lead to 20,000 layoffs of T-Mobile workers. The problem is: they are just plain wrong. The proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger is good for workers and good for job creation.

Certainly, with unemployment hovering at a stubborn 9 percent, the impact of the proposed merger on jobs today and in the future should be a top concern of policymakers.

Let’s look at the so-called evidence the critics put forward.

Continue reading “AT&T/T-Mobile Merger is about jobs. What’s wrong with that?”