Scott Walker masters art of political self-destruction in Wisconsin

Not bad, Scott Walker. You’ve been Wisconsin’s governor for like two months, and you have half of Madison aiming for your throat because you made a power play to take away public employees’ collective bargaining rights. And you threatened to get the National Guard involved if union members tried to walk out in protest. Dude, this is Wisconsin, Union Central! You’re screwing with the teachers, not the bureaucrats! And Madison is like the hippie mecca of the Midwest! What did you think was going to happen? Not everyone is this hardcore about budget deficits. The Green Bay Packers (!!) have turned against you, and now you have people comparing you to Hosni Mubarak. A tad overwrought, yes, but the point is pretty clear. By going for the jugular a little too harshly, you’re making your political bed, Scott. Why can’t you be cool like this Scott Walker? source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

This is a fairly straightforward case under the National Labor Relations Act — whether it takes place on Facebook or at the water cooler, it was employees talking jointly about working conditions, in this case about their supervisor, and they have a right to do that.
National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel Lafe Solomon • Explaining why they stepped in after an employee at American Medical Response of Connecticut, an ambulance service, was fired for criticizing her employer on Facebook. (She was upset that she wasn’t allowed counsel with her union, the Teamsters, and ended up ripping on her supervisor.) It’s the first time that a worker has been defended by the board specifically for Facebook-related reasons. While American Medical Response denies the allegations and claims they’re without merit, at least one powerful law firm sent an alert out to its corporate clients informing them that this could be a big problem for them – especially if their workers have unions. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

obvious The Senate needs to confirm a TSA chief. Obama already has a guy picked out, and has for months. We just had a terror attempt, too.
lame Sen. Jim DeMint is holding up Erroll Southers‘ nomination … over his fear of unions. WTF? Who cares? Let it go, man! source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

Six of the paper’s seven unions agreed to cuts. The largest didn’t. The Globe, which looked off a cliff last night at the bottom and didn’t like the view, has apparently succeeded in getting enough concessions to stay afloat for the moment. The paper had set a May 1st deadline to get their unions to agree to $20 million in cuts. The only union that didn’t agree was the largest, the Boston Newspaper Guild. At issue are salary cuts and benefits such as lifetime job guarantees, which seem not so smart now that the paper’s bleeding money. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

If unions don’t accept cuts, they may cut out. Fiat is Chrysler’s main hope for survival right now, and they know this, but they still aren’t afraid of playing hardball. If unions don’t want to take cuts, said CEO Sergio Marchionne, “Absolutely we are prepared to walk.” The unions may not have much of a choice, if option B is the dissolution of Chrysler. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 20:59