Super Solidarity over Super Bowl Weekend
 |
||||
|
||||
Over the weekend, all eyes were on the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, where tens of thousands traveled to see the event and hundreds of thousands more watched it on television. But while the spotlight was on the game, workers across the city took to the streets to protest the outrages happening to working people.
In one such event, we rallied at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis, where hardworking hotel housekeepers are fighting to keep their jobs and boost their poverty-level pay at a hotel where rates can be more than $1,000 a night for a Super Bowl week room. Twenty longtime hotel workers may be out of jobs in a few days when the hotel ends a subcontract with Hospitality Staffing Solutions.
The hotel workers are not in this fight alone. In the midst of what is undoubtedly the busiest few days for football players, DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), and NFL players joined Hyatt housekeepers at the rally to demand Hyatt end its abuse of subcontracted workers and hire outsourced workers directly. Smith said NFL players would continue a year-old boycott of Hyatt over its treatment of workers and told the crowd:
I love people who stand together to fight for what’s right.
Just blocks from the Super Bowl, these football players, together with construction workers, office staff and steelworkers, stood side by side with hotel housekeepers, joined in common cause by the struggles that unite all working people—all of the 99 percent in this country who are fighting against corporate greed and challenging politicians who seek to take away our rights as citizens of this great country. Read the rest of this entry »
Indiana Working Families Ready to Take Back the State
 |
AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer Cathy Sherwin sends us this from the Indiana statehouse.
Far from conceding defeat after the passage of a so-called right to work (RTW) bill, tens of thousands of Hoosier workers came together in solidarity to march from the statehouse to Super Bowl village in Indianapolis. From the steps of the statehouse, Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott said today would mark a new start to taking back the state, starting with “the biggest march Indiana has ever seen!”
Construction workers and teachers, grocery clerks and truck drivers cheered on the workers and elected officials with chants of “Remember November,” vowing to take back the state door by door, neighborhood by neighborhood. WISH-TV has some great aerial footage here.
The overreach and extreme politics that led to today’s vote—including actions by RTW supporters that included shutting the doors to the statehouse, cutting off debate and an ad campaign bankrolled by secret special interests have given the voting public a window into the Indiana Capitol. In poll after poll, Hoosier voters say they don’t approve of these strong-arm tactics by GOP leaders. Read the rest of this entry »
Breaking: Indiana House Passes RTW
Moments ago, the Indiana state House passed a “right to work” for less bill by 55 to 41. The issue now moves to the state Senate, where it’s expected to be taken up and voted on next week. The Senate previously passed a different version of the bill.
Working Hoosiers by the thousands have been rallying in opposition to “right to work” for less each day and plan to keep it up as Gov. Mitch Daniels and his Republican statehouse colleagues push to ram through the measure.
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma and Gov. Daniels have been ramming the so-called right to work bill through even after the voters have made clear that they want a public referendum on the controversial anti-worker measure. Only one-third of Indiana voters favor passing the RTW for less law and a whopping 69 percent of Hoosier voters say that the Indiana General Assembly should slow down the process to allow more debate. An overwhelming 71 percent of respondents want to give voters—not the legislature—the final say on this controversial legislation.
Follow all the action at #inunion.
Indiana House Voting Now on RTW
Thousands of working Hoosiers are chanting, “No Right to Work,” while the Indiana House sets to vote on passage of a “right to work” for less bill that will lower wages for the state’s working people.
Listen to the debate here.
Indiana’s Daniels: Opponent of Working People
|
|
Indiana’s Gov. Mitch Daniels, who gave the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, represents all too well the sad decline of the national Republican Party. As suggested by the Twitter hashtag #MitchFail, Daniels was an improbably bad choice to represent a party already facing questions about its commitment to the 99 percent. (Feel free to post a message to Daniels at his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/mymanmitchfans .)
In his rebuttal, Daniels had the audacity to claim the mantle of people’s champion—this from the man who said he was against the “right to work” for less before he was pushing it armed with lies and ruthlessly anti-democratic tactics. This from the political party fighting Obama’s plan to address the deficit by raising taxes on retired financiers like Mitt Romney, who pay less in taxes than most firefighters, bricklayers, teachers and nurses.
Inconsistency and numbers not adding up is nothing new for Daniels, who failed miserably as George W. Bush’s budget director for the first 2.5 years of Bush’s presidency, which had massive tax cuts for the rich as its No. 1 domestic priority. And Daniels’ concern for working people is more than a little bit ironic in light of his record as governor of Indiana, which has included taking away the right in 2005 of public employees to collectively bargain.
Today, Daniels has entered the national stage as an angry opponent of workers acting collectively. He may have seemed mild-mannered in a speech well-received by right-wing pundits, but that manner is belied by his efforts to shut down the basic institutions of democracy in Indiana. Daniels, a lame-duck governor who seems to be spending a lot more time thinking about Washington than about getting Hoosiers back to work, ought to follow the lead of President Obama and listen to working people rather than CEOs.
Thanks, Rep. Lewis, for Backing Indiana Working People
Many thanks and kudos to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) for calling the Indiana Democratic Caucus today to encourage lawmakers to stay strong and firm in their efforts to stop the state’s Republican leadership from doing an end-run around the democratic process.
In encouraging the caucus to keep fighting against Republican moves to pass so-called right to work legislation, Lewis told Democratic lawmakers they are taking action not only for Indiana but for the entire nation–and the entire nation is depending on them.
“Make no mistake–the Republicans are out to destroy unions and our democracy.”
Lewis’ participation is especially meaningful because of his relationship with Indiana. He was campaigning for Bobby Kennedy in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968, the day that Dr. King was assassinated.
State Rep. John Bartlett (D), who took part in the call, said ”it is an honor to hear from anyone who has been in the struggle for as long as Congressman Lewis has been.”
His words were a major boost for our morale and he strengthened our resolve.
Lewis, who spoke about the long and constant struggle for economic justice, offered the caucus his assistance whenever needed.
Indiana Senate Passes RTW Despite Broad Public Opposition
AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer Cathy Sherwin sends us this from the Indiana statehouse.
Despite overwhelming opposition throughout Indiana to the so-called right to work (RTW) bill, the state Senate yesterday passed its version of the bill by 28-22, while House Speaker Brian Bosma continued to use strong-arm tactics to force RTW down Hoosiers’ throats. The Senate chose to vote even as 10,000 Hoosier workers packed the statehouse—and even though working families have been holding town hall meetings, making thousands of phone calls and signing postcards.
Throughout the day, Democratic amendments to the House version of RTW (House Bill 1001) were rejected on party lines. Even the hugely popular amendment calling for a public referendum that would allow voters to decide on RTW went down to defeat. Then Bosma shut down the discussion on amendments, cutting off further debate. In protest, House Democrats left the chamber and went to caucus.
10,000 Hoosiers Pack State Capitol to Protest RTW
AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer Cathy Sherwin sends us this from the Indiana statehouse.
More than 10,000 working people are filling the Indiania statehouse to protest “right to work” for less legislation. Inside the House and Senate chambers, legislators are battling between the interests of everyday working people and those of the big corporations and out of state special interest groups who are pushing this deceptive legislation.
As the Senate prepares to vote on final passage of its version of RTW today, the House will be considering key amendments today and the final version could be ready for a vote as early as Tuesday.
Big corporate dollars and national politics are threatening Hoosier wages and middle-class jobs. Worse, politicians like Speaker Brian Bosma and Gov. Mitch Daniels are playing fast and loose with the democratic process. They want to push our unions right out of Indiana.
But we aren’t going to let that happen.
Closing doors and cutting off debate is no way to represent Indiana voters. Our legislative process—and the upcoming Super Bowl—shouldn’t be hijacked by extremist politicians. Today, we’ve seen a stark divide between legislators working for lobbyists and special interests and those working for their constituents to stop the rush to ram through RTW. Tomorrow we must stand with the elected officials that are standing up for us.
This week, we’re taking our state back.
Follow us on Twitter with the hashtag #InUnion.
In Online Townhall, Mich. Gov. Snyder Opposes RTW
AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer Cathy Sherwin sends us this report.
Following the State of the State address last week, Michigan’s Gov. Rick
Snyder held an online town hall meeting. Participating on Twitter using the
hashtag #AskGovSnyder, union workers, the Michigan State AFL-CIO and progressive allies kept the questions coming – on jobs, needed infrastructure investments and education.
Many of the #AskGovSnyder tweets reflected priorities outlined in the Michigan 2012 Jobs Plan, introduced by Michigan State AFL-CIO President Karla Swift. The Jobs Plan has the support of a broad coalition of affiliate unions of the Michigan AFL-CIO and allies, including the Michigan League for Human Services, Progress Michigan and We Are the People. Many of the same organizations – and individual union members – joined in the Twitter Town Hall. The diverse voices asking tough questions were noted by Michigan Public Radio.
The Town Hall was also a great opportunity to educate the community on “right to work” for less. When Snyder answered a question by opposing “right to work,” workers and community groups spread the news far and wide. With extremist politicians in Michigan, as well as Indiana, New Hampshire and across the country pushing so-called “right to work,” educating the public about these unnecessary and divisive anti-worker laws couldn’t be more timely. Check out some of the #AskGovSnyder Tweets … and look for opportunities to #AskYourElectedOfficials about the issues that matter. Read the rest of this entry »
Ind. Republicans Can’t Seize Dems’ Pay
Republicans trying to ram through a “right to work” for less bill in Indiana cannot seize the pay of Democratic House members who are staying off the floor to filibuster the measure, a judge ruled last evening.
A Marion County judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the seizure after three of House Democrats challenged Republicans’ decision to fine filibusterers $1,000 a day by stealing their pay. The ruling allows the fines to be levied but blocks withholding paychecks.
The fines are the latest moves by Republican state legislators and Gov. Mitch Daniels to ram the “right to work” for less bill into law. Earlier tactics included temporarily shutting the protesting public out of the statehouse and reneging on an agreement to take up an amendment putting the issue to a statewide vote.
Hoosiers, 71 percent of whom support putting “right to work” on the ballot rather than having it forced through the legislature, have been making their voices heard at the statehouse in Indianapolis. They’re turning up the heat with lobby days planned Monday and every day next week.
Follow the events on Twitter with the hashtag #InUnion.
