Mich. Financial Martial Law Sponsor Faces Recall, Ties to Benton Harbor Developer Probed
The sponsor of Michigan’s “financial martial law” bill that Gov. Rick Snyder (R) pushed and then signed last month is facing a recall because the first city—Benton Harbor—to be placed under the law that virtually abolishes local government is in his district and local officials and residents want their government back.
In addition, news reports have uncovered his ties to a major developer that wants to take over the city’s crown jewel—a lakeshore park deeded to the city in 1917.
Today, Benton Harbor City Commissioner Dennis Knowles, filed a document that is the first step to recalling State Rep. Al Pscholka (R). The document is proposed language for a recall petition and if approved by the Berrien County Commission, activists can begin collecting signatures for recall. The county commission is expected to rule on the recall move May 9.
The document says Pscholka should be recalled “for sponsoring and supporting Public Act 4 that has robbed the citizens in District 79, namely the city of Benton Harbor, of their democratic rights…empowering a nonelected emergency financial manager…(and) striking local municipal government representation for, of and by the people.”
Meanwhile MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has traced the connections between Pscholka, the Whirlpool Corp.’s development of a luxury golf course and estate home community and a Benton Harbor lakeshore city park it’s drooling over to add to the Golf Club at Harbor Shores. Read the rest of this entry »
Report: Whirlpool Closing Will Cost Indiana Millions of $$$
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Whirlpool’s decision to abandon U.S. workers and send 1,100 production jobs out of Evansville, Ind., to a new plant in Mexico will create a ripple effect that will cost thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost income, according to a report released today.
Whirlpool already has eliminated one shift at the refrigerator plant in Evansville. The remaining jobs end in June. The study, written by Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, was released at press conferences in Evansville and Indianapolis, the state capital.
The study estimates the plant closure will throw 2,502 people out of work. That includes 966 Whirlpool workers who live in Indiana and another 1,536 who work in businesses that will lose significant clientele after the plant shuts down. That total doesn’t include job loss in the neighboring states of Illinois and Kentucky, where 20 percent of the employees live. Read the full report here.
Union, Community Rally for Whirlpool Workers Punching Clock for the Last Time
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Braving a chilly and dreary rain yesterday, several dozen union and community activists rallied outside the gates of Whirlpool’s Evansville, Ind., plant. They were there to show their support for the nearly 500 second shift workers on their way to clock in for their last shift on the line.
Whirlpool is closing the refrigerator plant, laying off 1,100 people and moving jobs to Mexico. Eliminating the second shift is the first blow, the other jobs end in June.
IUE-CWA Local 808 member Lori Houchin says that yesterday’s rally and the massive February march to the plant gates helps spotlight the damage to workers and their communities when corportions like Whirlpool shutter their U.S. plants and ship jobs overseas. She told the Evansville Courier & Press:
It’s happening across America—factories are picking up and moving somewhere the labor’s cheaper…all the factories are moving jobs outside the U.S.
Community to Rally for Laid-Off Whirlpool Workers
Members of the Evansville, Ind., community will come together Thursday afternoon to support the first group of laid-off Whirlpool workers. Some 500 of the workers will walk out of the plant Friday for the last time and head to the unemployment line as their jobs are shipped away to Mexico.
Just as they did last month, union members and community and religious activists will rally behind the workers to show that the layoffs will have serious consequences for the entire area.
Last month, more than 5,500 workers and community and religious activists from at least six states converged in front of the Whirlpool plant, led by members of IUE-CWA Local 808, to deliver the message to “Keep It Made in America.” But the company, which received millions in federal stimulus money, moved ahead with its plan to abandon U.S. workers and send 1,100 production jobs to a new plant in Mexico.
Community, Labor Unite with IUE-CWA at Whirlpool Rally
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| CWA Vice President Seth Rosen (left) and IUE-CWA Division President Jim Clark joined union members and community supporters in solidarity with workers at Whirlpool. |
When more than 5,500 workers and community and religious activists from at least six states converged in front of the Whirlpool plant in Evansville, Ind., members of IUE-CWA led the way to deliver the message to “Keep It Made in America.”
Local 808 President Darrell Collins said:
We have had small rallies before and Whirlpool ignored us! They will not ignore us today! This is just the beginning of something big. We will carry this fight on till it changes. There is no limit to what we can accomplish as long as we work together.
One of the Whirlpool workers who stands to lose her job is Natalie Ford. A member of Local 808, Ford told the rally:
This doesn’t just affect us, it affects everyone in our families…This is the only life we’ve known–now it’s gone. The questions run through my mind: Am I going to lose everything I’ve worked my entire life for? I try to be strong for my family, but deep down I’m scared to death, not knowing what the future holds for us.
Thousands Tell Whirlpool: Keep It Made in America
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| AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (far right) rallies with workers at the Whirlpool plant in Evansville, Ind. |
More than 5,000 workers, community and religious activists from at least six states converged in front of the Whirlpool plant in Evansville, Ind., to say with a unified and loud voice: “Keep It Made in America.” The massive crowd stretched nearly a mile along the road leading to the plant.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka along with 40 people, including children and grandchildren of workers, clergy and retirees, used a Whirlpool refrigerator to wheel petitions with 70,000 signatures to the plant’s locked front gate. At the same time, more than 40,000 signatures on petitions were delivered to the Whirlpool headquarters in Michigan. The petitions urged Whirlpool executives to reconsider their decision to shutter the Evansville plant, laying off 1,100 people and moving jobs to Mexico. Union members also made more than 1,700 phone calls today alone to Whirlpool headquarters in Benton Harbor, Mich., and the Evansville offices with the same message.
As the petitions were delivered, marchers chanted in unison “USA,” “USA.” The crowd extended down Evansville’s Hiway 41 five-to-deep as far as the eye could see. With tears in his eyes, a local business owner told of the hardship his company would experience with the plant closing.
Breaking: IUE-CWA Files Charges Against Whirlpool
IUE-CWA Local 808 today filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Whirlpool, alleging the company interfered with workers’ rights by threatening employees if they participate in a rally tomorrow to protest a plant closing.
Whirlpool announced it is closing the Evansville, Ind., refrigerator plant, laying off 1,100 workers and sending jobs to Mexico.
The charge stems from a memo by Paul Coburn, vice president for Whirlpool’s Evansville Division, warning workers not to participate in a march and rally tomorrow to save their jobs. Coburn’s memo, contained in an internal company newsletter, said employers in the future might not be willing to hire workers who participate.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who will speak at the rally tomorrow, said:
Whirlpool has taken the war against American workers to a new level by threatening to blacklist people who speak up. They don’t just want your job, they want your first amendment rights, too.
Show solidarity with the Whirlpool workers, 900 of whom are members of Local 808, by signing an online petition urging Whirlpool to reverse its decision and Keep It Made in America: Save Our Jobs. Click here to add your name to the more than 50,000 who already have signed.
Whirlpool Exec’s Letter Strengthens Workers’ Resolve
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Whirlpool executive Paul Coburn’s memo warning Whirlpool workers not to participate in a rally tomorrow to save their jobs has only made the workers more determined than ever to fight the company’s decision to lay off 1,100 workers and send jobs to Mexico when U.S. unemployment is at its highest level in decades.
The reaction to his “open letter,” contained in an internal newsletter, has been quick and strong. It also has put a national spotlight on the practice of many employers to cut costs and raise profits by moving jobs offshore without regard for the communities and workers they leave behind.
Show solidarity with the Whirlpool workers, 900 of whom are members of IUE-CWA Local 808, by signing an online petition urging Whirlpool to reverse its decision and Keep It Made in America: Save Our Jobs. Click here to add your name to the nearly 40,000 who already have signed the petition.
More than 630 people commented on the story about Coburn’s letter on the Huffington Post, many condemning Coburn for trying to stifle dissent and for moving good jobs out of the country. Many cited the $20 million in federal economic recovery money Whirlpool received and the boost in sales from the government’s push for energy-efficient appliances.
Whirlpool Warns Workers to Skip Friday Rally
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In an internal newsletter at Whirlpool Corp.’s Evansville, Ind., plant, Paul Coburn, vice president of Whirlpool’s Evansville Division, says the decision to close the plant and kill 1,100 jobs will not be reconsidered and warns workers about attending a Friday rally protesting the shutdown:
…these negative activities will only hamper employees when they look for future jobs….We fear that potential employers will view the actions of a few and determine whether they would want to hire any of Evansville Division employees in the future.
You can read more about Coburn’s memo on The Huffington Post here.
Show solidarity with the Whirlpool workers, 900 of whom are members of IUE-CWA Local 808, by signing an online petition urging Whirlpool to reverse its decision and Keep It Made in America: Save Our Jobs. Click here to add your name to nearly 40,000 who already have signed the petition.
Share Your Job Crisis Story, Connect with Activists at Our New Good Jobs Now Site
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Good Jobs Now, the AFL-CIO’s new interactive website, gives workers, people who have lost their jobs and activists a chance to take action, share their stories, find resources and, most importantly, be part of a grassroots movement to help the nation climb out of its 10-million jobs hole created by the recession.
Just launched this morning, Good Jobs Now’s first featured action is a petition calling on Whirlpool Corp., to reverse its decision to close its Evansville, Ind., plant and send work to Mexico, eliminating 1,100 good jobs.
As the AFL-CIO’s Good Jobs Now mobilization heats up in the coming weeks, you will be able to find events in your area so you can join the growing movement demanding that lawmakers focus on job creation and hold corporations like Whirlpool and big Wall Street banks accountable for their economic damage.
To help build and connect a community of job activists, the new site gives workers, employed and jobless, the opportunity to share their stories, photos and videos of how the job crisis has affected them, their families and communities, as well as ideas about the best ways to solve the job crisis and help rebuild the middle class. You also can read and comment on the stories.
