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Around the Nation, Union Members Take Action on Gas Prices
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With the price of gas hitting $4 a gallon this week, working families are feeling the squeeze. Pointing to skyrocketing prices and unemployment, union members from Boston to Albuquerque, N.M., hit the streets to demand a new national energy strategy and assistance for working families.
In Boston, Sen. John McCain appeared at a high-dollar fundraiser alongside his one-time rival former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), and, as has happened around the country, he was met by union members.
Led by the Greater Boston Labor Council (GBLC), 15 union activists from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU), Operating Engineers (IUOE), SEIU, Machinists (IAM) and Bricklayers (BAC) and a member of the Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice met the McCain bus as he was holding the private fundraiser at the posh hotel Westin Copley Place in Boston.
Handing out leaflets, carrying signs and chanting, “Bush/McCain love Big Oil” and “It’s time to turn around America,” union members told the public working families are being held hostage to the rising gas prices, while the oil companies profit under the Bush administration. They demanded answers from McCain about whether he’d look out for working families or oil company CEOs.
GBLC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Rich Rogers said the response to McCain’s visit showed the energy and enthusiasm of union members this election year and their concerns about the direction of the country.
McCain can’t come into this union city without being greeted by union members, who have a message for him. No more tax breaks for Big Oil and the wealthy. It’s time to turn around America.
In Louisville, Ky., 25 union members showed up at a gas station to spread the word, and members of the community showed their support, honking and giving thumbs-up as they drove by.
In Albuquerque, the New Mexico Federation of Labor led a protest at a gas station, and in Madison, Wis., where gas prices topped $4 a gallon this week, 25 union members came out to demand answers.
AFL-CIO rallies against high gas prices also took place this week in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana, among other states. More events will take place today and tomorrow.
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3 Comments
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This Method Of Tax Reform Has Wings!
Why do we not talk about tax reform as a means by which we might be able to both fix our economy & the inequities of our method of taxation? I believe the answer to that query is-> All well known tax reform proposals call for something in excess of a 20% sales tax to be added @ the retail level & that simply will not fly. There is another tax reform proposal that is beginning to get some attention & it looks promising. The Adjustable Rate Transaction Tax (ARTT) merges the most desireable & common sense attributes of our current method of taxation in with a national sales tax (NST) that causes all entities that purchase anything to participate. Everyone, including business, would be required to pay a relatively small sales tax on all purchases. The trade off being that all of the following taxes would be eliminated;
1-SS/Med taxation of all taxpayers including businesses 7.5% contribution to the SS/Med fund.
2-Income tax upon 90% of taxpayers.
3-Tax on business profits.
Elimination of the above taxes would put an approximate $1.4 Tril hole in the federal budget which would be replenished with a NST tied to most purchases made by both business & the retail consumer. The rate of the NST would be determined by the total dollar value of purchases made in the country. IE- $25 Tril in total taxable purchases would net a tax rate of about 5.6% or total purchases of $12.5 tril would net a tax rate of 11.2%. The advantage of the ARTT being elimination of the 35% tax on business profits coupled with the elimination of all taxation upon 90% of taxpayers & elimination of the SS/Med tax upon business & the top 10% of taxpayers would result in decreased retail sale prices even after paying the new tax & everyone would have more money in their pockets. Business profits would suffer no ill effect & employees would have received a significant take home pay raise that costs employers ZERO! The only tax that would remain @ the same level would be the income tax upon the top 10% income earners— and even their tax load would have decreased via the elimination of the SS/Med tax. My question is-> Why can we not explore the potential that this new method of taxation seems to offer?
FYI– The adjustable feature is included because a watchdog agency would be created whose job it would be to monitor & adjust the real time tax rates so as to never again allow the budget to recede into the red once we have paid finally this $9+ Tril debt off. I can easilly show you where $25 Tril in purchases occured in fiscal 2006 if you are interested— Or would you rather see $50 Tril??– More??– Ask me where!– I will direct you to where you can find it.
Thank You– Ray Pfeiffer/ ray154751@yahoo.com
In addition to the aforementioned unions, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO was also represented at this rally by three union activists.
Way to go Boston on short notice you got it done! As I and Terese Bouey coordinate McCain Rapid Actions events around the country I was so happy that he stopped in Boston. Miss you all!
Kathy