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Reporters from Newsday ordered some campaign merch from Kerry and Bush to do some comparison shopping.
Bush’s merch is pricier and his fleece vests are made in the sweatshops of Burma.
Kerry’s merch is union-made and more affordable. Go figure.
The Bush-Cheney campaign is pouring a chunk of its massive war chest into security services provided by Vance International, a security firm that is also well known for its intimidating tactics when providing strikebreaking services to corporations.
DHinMI has the details at Daily Kos. A commenter notes that Bush's private security operatives have tried to stop reporters from talking to regular people in the crowd at campaign events.
Ironically, there is a growing union organizing movement among security guards.
Don’t miss a series of posts by Andy Stern on the SEIU blog that discuss some of the reasons why unions don’t have the power to really fight for working people’s interests anymore. The discussion in the comment threads about union democracy is very interesting. (Here, here, here, and here.)
Stern and other leaders made their proposals for reforming the labor movement an issue during the recent AFL-CIO meetings in Florida:
Some of the suggestions included changing the AFL-CIO from a voluntary federation into a more powerful ruling authority, slashing the number of unions and setting up close ties between American and foreign unions to match the power of multinational corporations.Many of the suggestions come from the New Unity Partnership, an informal group formed last year by several labor chiefs.
Its members are Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees; John Wilhelm, president of HERE, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union; Doug McCarron, head of the Carpenters union; Terence O'Sullivan, president of the Laborers' International Union of North America; and Stern.
The group has been controversial within union circles, however, with some worried that it could further heighten tensions among unions. One cause of concern especially is McCarron's involvement.
Complaining that the AFL-CIO was outdated and inefficient, he pulled his union out of the federation three years ago. That was a severe blow to the AFL-CIO's efforts to boost confidence that the labor movement finally was on the rebound.
"These are five guys sitting around and talking. They don't represent the labor movement," said Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers union.
Gerard's union, which the AFL-CIO says has lost 140,000 members in five years, recently reached a deal with the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers union to merge some basic functions. The unions will streamline some operations as well as coordinate activities, Gerard said.
But Laborers President O'Sullivan said the New Unity Partnership's goals are "neither to point fingers" at the AFL-CIO nor to stir divisions within organized labor. "We all need to look in the mirror and see what is best for our members and our unions," he said.
A popular suggestion raised by New Unity members is merging unions involved in the same or similar industries.
"You have too many unions that do not have the money or the power to represent their workers," said Raynor, the UNITE president. His union and HERE announced this month that they will merge this summer.
Rather than its current 64 unions, Raynor suggested the AFL-CIO might shrink to 20. And as part of that process, he suggested that unions should focus clearly on specific industries instead of gathering workers from diverse occupations, as some unions have done.
Marc Brazeau’s blog—the Joe Hill Dispatch—is a comprehensive roundup of on-the-job and union news. It’s another daily must read.
A friend who is a schoolteacher in Chicago forwarded a link to this online campaign to urge President Bush to fire Education Secretary Rod Paige.
There's a saying in the labor movement that "the boss is the best organizer." It means that thickheaded managers, by saying or doing the wrong thing, often do the most to get employees interested in taking action together.
In this case, Bush's top education official may be a significant motivator of Kerry's education voters.
