All posts by George

Action

Moneypolitics

Moneypolitics:  Noun. A political system created in the United States by the Supreme Court circa 2010, whereby wealth has nearly the entirety of the political power.  The system is characterized by large numbers of television ads which mislead the people into believing that the candidates who are best for wealthy interests are actually best for the people.  This political system only survives as long as the people are distracted, uninformed and inactive.
Ken Gordon

Union

Hey, They Split Out My Route

       I came to work the one day and my route had been split out. I was told that I could run the trash truck that was being loaded but I wouldn’t like it, or I could go home without pay. I thought this all sounded kind of heavy handed, so I went straight to the authority on such matters: my contract book. I sat down with my steward and we read through Article 3, sec. 9, parts a and b of the Central States Supplement. This article addresses Temporary Route Changes.
I see a problem here       I discovered that I had rights. I had the right to follow my work. If 50% or more went to a lower seniority driver, I could bump that driver and he would work as directed that day. If the work went every which way but loose, I had the right to follow any part of it that went to a lower seniority driver and that driver would have to work as directed that day instead of me. Maybe they wanted to go home that day and I didn’t. A lot of drivers jump at the chance to go home, I needed to work and my seniority guaranteed me that right.
        If I had not gotten my steward involved and had we not had a Teamster contract in place, I would have been at the mercy of the whims of management.
        I have power, I have a contract.

Uncategorized

Randi Rhode’s Take on Wisconsin


In the battle of Wisconsin, Democrats have beaten a strategic retreat. Democratic legislators have fled to Illinois in order to deny the Wisconsin Senate the necessary quorum to conduct its dirty business. Think of it as a filibuster conducted with your feet. Police in Illinois, or for that matter in Wisconsin, have no authority to bring the fugitive lawmakers in. There is no crime being committed—this is an action intended to prevent a crime from being committed. You know, if these fugitive lawmakers really want to rub Governor Scott Walker’s face in it, they should submit invoices for travel per diems for the time they’re out of state.

Governor Walker says the state of Wisconsin is in a crisis. He should know—he put it there. Intentionally. Just last month, Walker gave away $140 million in tax breaks—which accounts for all of the budget shortfall Wisconsin is now facing. If Wisconsin has no money, it’s because Walker has been giving it away. Walker created an economic crisis, and now he’s trying to exploit it. It’s a smaller-scale version of what Republicans are doing by using massive tax cuts for the wealthy to say we need to slash entitlements. In reality—not a place a lot of conservatives are familiar with—Wisconsin is in better shape than most states… except for the fact that Scott Walker is the governor.

It could be worse—look at Florida, where Governor Rick Scott has rejected $2.4 billion in federal money for a high-speed rail line, essentially throwing Florida’s economic recovery off the rails. Now both Republican and Democratic lawmakers are trying to bypass Rick Scott, like they’re laying a railroad line and Rick Scott is some sort of Florida swamp that they have to find a way to cross. Hey, if America could build a Transcontinental Railroad over the Rocky Mountains, we should be able to figure out a way to build a railroad over Rick Scott’s stupid intransigence. There is already talk of a recall swirling around Rick Scott—and Florida doesn’t even have a law for recall elections… yet. Nobody ever envisioned the voters in Florida making a mistake as big as Rick Scott. Yeesh. Wouldn’t it just be easier if progressives bothered to vote in off-year elections? 

Union

Magic Paper Takes Wing


Stewards Alert! 

You have magic paper, (Grievance Forms), in your union folder! 

        Every one of those forms the Local gives you comes with wings attached. All you need to add is a little ink from a pen to make them take off. You will be amazed at how far those little pieces of paper can fly.
        Fly baby, flyGrievances are the cause and effect of all the issues you live by on a day-to-day basis. They are the reason you have an attendance policy. They are the reason you can fight excessive overtime. They are the reason for how you pick floating holidays and vacations. They are the reason you still have a right to strike in Colorado. Somebody somewhere filed a grievance. They took the time to write it down, and send it to the business agent. They took the time to look in the contract book and find an article to file under. (Let us not forget, “and all others that apply.”)
        As a steward you will make many decisions and deals on behalf of your members, but none will have an afterlife unless they are decided through the grievance procedure. That is where the wings are attached. Once things are decided in a grievance hearing, it is a written record. This record that can always be referred to. This record can be researched and rediscovered. People’s memories are short and subject to interpretation. But when it’s written down, it becomes a fact. It becomes a fact that other people can call upon. You will be amazed in your career as a steward which grievance will grow wings and fly.
        They can only fly if you use that magic paper with the wings attached.
        Write it down!
        File it!