Do you ever get the feeling that Tea Party Republicans see the phrase “Ignorance Is Bliss” as a Mission Statement?

2/25/11

Attacks On Unions Are Echoing A Chapter Of Western History

Photo by Jess Dennis


May 1933: Hitler Abolishes Unions
On May 2nd, 1933, the day after Labor day, Nazi groups occupied union halls and labor leaders were arrested.  Trade Unions were outlawed by Adolf Hitler, while collective bargaining and the right to strike was abolished.  This was the beginning of a consolidation of power by the fascist regime which systematically wiped out all opposition groups, starting with unions, liberals, socialists, and communists using Himmler’s state police.

Fast forward to America today, particularly Wisconsin.  Governor Walker and the Republican/Tea Party members of the state legislature are attempting to pass a bill that would not only severely punish public unions (with exception for the police, fire, and state trooper unions that supported his campaign), but it would effectively end 50 years to the right of these workers to collectively bargain.

Collective bargaining is a process of voluntary negotiations between employers and trade unions aimed at reaching agreements which regulate working conditions. Collective agreements usually set out wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs. -wiki

First of all, assaulting the rights of workers to collectively bargain has absolutely nothing to do with any immediate budgetary issues.  It does however have everything to do with ending one of the basic rights of labor to organize.

Second, and more importantly, the budget “crisis” in Wisconsin is both exaggerated and created in part by the new Republican power base as a tool to attack political opponents.  Walker decreased state revenue when he enacted tax cuts for the rich and big corporations, who are not surprisingly large campaign donors for his political campaign.

Photo by COTO Report http://coto2.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/wisconsin-governors-fake-budget-crisis/

To the extent that there is an imbalance — Walker claims there is a $137 million deficit — it is not because of a drop in revenues or increases in the cost of state employee contracts, benefits or pensions. It is because Walker and his allies pushed through $140 million in new spending for special-interest groups in January. If the Legislature were simply to rescind Walker’s new spending schemes — or delay their implementation until they are offset by fresh revenues — the “crisis” would not exist. -The Cap Times

Decimating unions has long been an objective of the rich and powerful.  Growing out of trade guilds in Medieval Europe, they were banned starting with the Ordinance of Labourers 1349 and Statute of Labourers in England.  It was not until the Industrial Revolution that labor began to organize again.


Every little gain for the rights of workers was hard fought and bitterly resisted by the rich and powerful.  The photo above shows the Lawrence Textile Strike (also known as the Bread and Roses strike) where mostly immigrant workers rebelled against increasingly harsh work conditions and lowered pay caused by mechanization.

Specifically, state law mandated a reduction in working hours for women and children from 56 to 54 hours, and factory owners responded by cutting salaries, something the poor workers could not afford.

Over time, organized labor managed to abolish child labor all together, as well as institute an 8 hour work day, 40 hour work week, mandatory breaks, safety guidelines, grievance procedures, a minimum wage, the concept of a work free weekend, workers comp, pensions, health safeguards, and paid sick days, vacation days, and holidays.  If you enjoy any of these things, thank a union member and support the passage of a strong Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).  

Collective Bargaining in the US was finally legalized for the private sector on a countrywide scale in 1935 with the National Labor Relations Act signed by FDR.  JFK signed an executive order extending this right to the public sector in 1962.  This is the key measure


Governor Walker’s bill being sped through the Wisconsin legislature would mandate health insurance contributions by public employees, force them to pay more for their promised pensions, and remove bargaining rights.  When public employees started protesting, Walker instructed the state National Guard to be “prepared” if any “problems” should arise, in what could be described as a thinly veiled intimidation tactic.

Although this draconian bill will not outlaw unions, it will effectively neuter them, as their CPI adjusted wages will be frozen and all other means cannot be improved as a whole.  Public sector unions will lose their freedom to negotiate against the state together.  This is a deliberate tactic to punish political opponents and to effectively lessen the rights of working Americans everywhere for the benefit of the rich and multinational corporations.

Walker’s plan to eviscerate collective bargaining rights for public employees is right out of the Koch brothers’ playbook. Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions. Several of these groups have urged the eradication of these unions.  In Wisconsin, this conservative, anti-union view is being placed into action by lawmakers in sync with the deep-pocketed donors who helped them obtain power. (Walker also opposes the state’s Clean Energy Job Act, which would compel the state to increase its use of alternative energy.) At this moment—even with the Wisconsin uprising unresolved—the Koch brothers’ investment in Walker appears to be paying off. -Mother Jones


In response to this open revolt on at the Wisconsin state capitol, which saw crowds initially in the hundreds quickly swell to tens of thousands, a Tea Party group hastily organized a counter rally on Sunday.  Dozens of free buses were mysteriously available from both inside and outside the state for Tea Partiers, with no mention of who paid for them, leading to speculation that this is blatant corporate astroturfing. At publishing time no camels were being charged into the estimated 70,000 pro-worker/anti-Walker demonstrators [creative humor license].


Photo courtesy of @cwoodardnews http://twitpic.com/41j2ra

The Americans for Prosperity group, a Tea Party group that is a Koch Brothers front, has put up a website [for the Tea Party Rally that] attacks all collective bargaining – not just for public employees’ unions. -Forbes

Wisconsin is ground zero in the fight for worker’s rights in America.  Following the ultra-conservative sweep of many state legislatures and governorships in the 2010 midterms, most Republicans are salivating at the opportunity to destroy the last stronghold of organized labor in America: the public sector.

Last year, more working people belonged to a union in the public sector (7.9 million) than in the private (7.4 million), despite the fact that corporate America employs five times the number of wage-earners.  37 percent of government workers belong to a union, compared with just 7 percent of private-sector employees. -Alternet


The percentage of the work force that have been organized has been declining (along with many other things) since Reagan and the conservatives took power, ending the Great Compression and starting an epoch in American history known as the Great Divergence (which culminated in the Great Recession, which we are in today).

Pro-corporate, fiscally conservative policies (such as deregulation and underfunding) have severely damaged private sector unions, unions that set the bar for standards and pay for all workers (thus, contributing towards the huge wealth concentration that is taking place).

The one point where this anti-union trend has not taken place is in the public sector.


This is precisely why the conservatives (mostly in the Republican Party) and their corporate masters are now planning the next phase in their strategy: to destroy public sector unions across the country.  Right now, their assault has triggered a massive and growing revolt by not only public sector unions, but students, progressives, and working men and women across the Upper Midwest region of the US.

The corporate front groups are desperately trying to play catchup and unleash their Tea Party legions, who need little convincing as apparent from the We Stand With Walker Facebook page.  The fear and hate caused by disinformation and Fox Propaganda is palpable, and they are only too eager to “fight back” against supposed union transgressions both in the workplace and in demonstrations.

Which brings us back full circle. Union busting measures by Republicans in Wisconsin this week have brought up some disturbing historical parallels to another sad chapter from human history.  This writer is not trying to say that Republicans are Nazis and the Tea Party are their Brownshirts, only that the union busting, corporate control over the government is part of the definition of fascism (along with authoritarian nationalism).

The attacks on unions that are taking place in American society today echoes a very sad chapter in Western history where unions were smashed for the benefit of a far right authoritarian corporate regime.  When Hitler abolished unions in 1933, it was followed by a 25% drop in real wages, and ended the ability of workers to protect living standards, and this is one of those times where history should not be allowed to repeat itself.

Reply by Ghostwriter: A friend of mine who father was a Social Democrat member of the Reichstag had to flee Germany with his family. They went to Holland.

May1940 Peter and his sister were put with Dutch farm families and his father and mother went into hiding. The parents were later arrested and disappeared into the Nazi concentration camp system. Peter never saw nor heard from his family after that.

After the Reichstag fire of January 1933, Hitler abrogated the national and all of the state constitutions in Germany, ruling by decree and suspended all civil rights. Later Hitler introduced the Nuremberg Laws that allowed the Gestapo to arrest anyone without a warrant. The laws prohibited Jews from working at jobs that could be held by an Aryan. It allowed the expropriation of all Jewish property and business. It allowed the roundup and shipment of millions of Jews to extermination camps. The laws allowed for the arrest and extermination of 500,000 gay Aryan Germans. The laws allowed the euthanasia untold thousands of mentally and physically defective people. The laws made it a capital crime for any Aryan to marry a Jew. The laws defined the degree of racial purity to be defined as Aryan. Gypsy and other subhumans were rounded up and exterminated. The laws allowed the enslavement of other European people in occupied Europe.

The trade unions, the socialists and communists were the first be rounded up and taken to Dachau, Bergen Belsen amongst other infamous concentration camps where they were tortured and worked to death.

Goering who organized the state police and homeland security (Gestapo and SS) had neat little shoe boxes of index cards listing hundreds of thousands so called enemies of the Reich. After the fire, the round ups began and did not end until the final collapse of the Reich in April 1945.

Hermann Goering said, "Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”

13 comments:

  1. Every now and then I like to post conversations from my FB friends since everyone has a tendency to read these articles then go back to FB to talk about it. I love having these opinions and sometimes just conversations as part of the scrapbook. I have left off last names.

    Terry Corporate = bad. Union = good.

    Terry Just for the record.

    Maura Mem you are divine, and touch the subject with real truth. Unions are not =Good My husband was in the union, paid in for 13 years his pension he worked all those years is long gone in a corrupt system of those that controlled the Teamsters. Only reason I personally protect the union, is it is last Collective bargaining power of the people. But it is as corruptible as any organization.

    Maura Teachers union DO not keep out bad teachers they actually protect them and their job. No matter how many children get harmed.

    Michael Mark my words...once districts strip teachers from their union there will be thousands fired because of their politics, race, religion, gender, parental status, or sexual orientation. Sure as shit.

    Mem
    Maura I know that some unions are corrupt just like all things in life. But with that said I was born and raised in a Union town, my father was Union and I have been Union most of my adult life. If it weren't for Unions children would sti...ll be working, losing limbs and lives. Women would have no chance at a decent job and so much more...If people want to take out Unions then take out or change the corrupt Unions but if you destroy Unions and collective bargaining then you are destroying any hope of rights or freedom in this Country. If you get rid of Unions then Corporations will run this Country and the middle class will no longer exist and the poor will die off. Michael is right about people being fired. Yes, Unions do protect people and that even means some bad teachers but we need to change that...not get rid of Unions.

    Leah I agree with Michael on this. I think we're beginning to see a new form of discrimination, political discrimination (conservative republicans against liberal democrats).

    Terry ‎@Leah, Mem, Michael - Yep - all that!

    @Maura - Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Unions are not corrupt, some union officials are corrupt.

    Terry ‎(and union members - sorry)

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  2. Maura Mem, I was speaking to unions=good Corporations=Bad no Corporations in some places NO work. Unions are not always good my Great grandfather was hung for supporting a union coming into the mine, my Grand mother had to raise three sons alone... through the depression, I know some of the good the unions have done personally. I worked as a temp in a union office, got not a single benefit they received, saw complacency and sloth, but when they got that 3% raise the county made sure I got one too, not wanting to lose someone that did my job 100%. You can not make good/bad as all things have both good and bad. As all my family until my generation died in those mines, I appreciated the bare minimum protections they provided.
    I stand with no one busting the unions, but see the Unions need to keep house.See More

    Maura Terry Really, President Bush and friends stole my 401K, some Union Member stole my husbands pension what is the difference? I will never trust others ever again.

    Maura Micheal I said the UNION needed to Clean out Teachers harming kids. NOT the district.

    Maura Look at how many Millionaires are willing to pay more taxes, and give back to the country, last I looked it was over 50? Most of the are the founders of corporations. Can not divide up people like many wanting to do, it leads to false assumptions. Mem, I meant you no disrespect.

    Mem Maura I did not think that you meant any disrespect! ♥ We all have our opinions and the freedom to voice them and we can do that here without hating on each other.:)

    John I think this will have different out than Walker intended.

    'Imperial Admiral Yamamoto, who conceived, designed and promoted the Pearl harbor attack, cautioned against a war with the United States. Having twice held naval attache positions wi...thin the Japanese embassy in the U. S. Capitol, he knew well the industrial strength, material wealth and temperament of the United States. Overruled by his superiors, he dedicated his efforts as Commander in Chief of the Imperial Combined Fleet to a successful attack. Upon completion of the attack he is quoted as saying"-- "We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve"'

    The union movement has just had its Pearl Harbor…

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  3. David Maura, your views are in line with a lot of the anti-union propaganda. Unions are required to defend people who are put up on charges. That is there job. Some are better at it than others. Management has the responsibility to send teach...ers for retraining, suspend them, or begin dismissal. It can be done. As far as the Teamsters, you cannot make a blanket indictment. They are a strong union and if anything illegal occurs are not immune from prosecution or lawsuits.

    The tyranny of employers require unions. Some employers are so good to their employees that unions are not needed. However, every workforce should have the option of forming a union. Congress needs to adopt the Employee Free Choice Act to protect worker rights to organize. Unions are the reason we have all workplace safety measures, the 40 hour work week, vacation, pensions, health insurance, life insurance, sick days, and are the last defender of the Middle Class.

    Mem Great post John and David. Maura I'm not sure if you had the chance to read this post on my blog but at the end of is a list of what Unions do for us. http://memspoliticalscrapbook.blogspot.com/2011/02/wisconsin-knows-importance-of-unions-in.html

    David John, I hope you are right.

    John What is also true is people who were neutral about unions are seeing the unfairness of this struggle and it is getting folks off the fence in the favor of the unions.

    David Polls across the country show that the American people by 2 to 1 support the right of collective bargaining for public employees. The Koch Bros and the Chamber of Commerce are losing this fight. But they have been winning the war for decades. Bush appointed anti-Labor members to the National Labor Relations Board.

    Maura Mem, my Great Grandfather was Hung for being a union Supporter. I know the Benefits. Again my only comments were addressing the blanket Union=Good Corporate=Bad. Not true, where there is men there IS greed and corruption. Does not make one good other Bad caveman style. David I am not a Union hater or I would not be supporting my friends who are in Wisconsin, Tennessee and Iowa. So you are incorrect in your wording and Place me in a Box I will not fit in your Box sir.

    Mem Maura I decided that list needed a post of it's own and this way you don't have to read or go through the other article to get to this:) http://memspoliticalscrapbook.blogspot.com/2011/02/unions-are-essential-part-of-strong.html

    Maura Thank you Mem I will book mark and use it when my friends need the right words;) I appreciate you work, words and mind my dear friend. I do get my dander up when people belittle my words or rephrase them for me. I really understand and h...ave stood strong for those in unions. If they want to survive, Unions must police themselves or become obsolete.See More

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  4. Mem Maura you are a sweetheart and I am sure no one here has meant to offend you. It's very hard for all of us to get our points across sometimes when we can not see the other persons eyes and they cannot see our expressions:) Hugs all...I'm off to bed...everyone stay safe wherever you are! ♥

    David Maura, as a life long union member, I interpret your comments as anti-union progaganda. I doubt your pro-union ancestors would be pleased, nor would the workers in WI, TN, etc. that you "support." The Teamsters you criticized are strongly... supporting the WI union demonstrators. It is time for Solidarity. Unions are comprised of the membership and reflect their members. Police in NJ flip from PBA to FOP for representation. Teachers flip from NEA to other organizations. It is up to the workers in each workplace to determine their representation. Again, illegal acts by union officials can be prosecuted and the perpetrators voted out of office.

    Maura Sweet Dreams, Mem;)

    Peter I like the way Oklahoma is an anti-union state. The people were snow balled into votieng for the double speak, "Right To Work Law'. There still screwing the people.

    Robert Pete: Learn to spell; that's right, you weren't taught by an educator that belonged to a Union.....'xplains it all.

    Wes the 5 lowest states in academics are all non union states, while the union wisconsin ranks 3rd

    Wes that's the way the republicans like them though, uneducated and easier to manipulate

    Peter @Robert, no one asked me if I could spell when they shoved an M1b in the hands in the USMC. LOL Havent figured the speel check yet. Frankly I dont give a rats A43 if I miss spell. If people doint like it dont read it.LMAO
    PS Tell that to Am...azon and Ink Tip.LOL

    Wes peter, i personally don't think about misspellings as long as the point you try to make is recognizable, hell, i didn't know we were being graded anyway

    Wes when i was in high school i decided the word vacuum didn't look right to me, i spelled it my way VACUMN, that looks right, now some words with double vowels look ok, like balloon, but 2 u's in succession didn't, so my science teacher, who ...couldn't stand me due to my smart assed attitude, always had a question on tests that required the word VACUMN in the answer, knowing i would misspell it. he would bring the papers around, hand me mine and say " 99 again Baggett". i'd just smile and say "but we both know it's reall 100, don't we?"

    Robert Pete: Free spell checkers available online; just go open source .Piece of cake, really.Will underline all misspelled words in red wiggly lines! 2105979(rifle#)

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  5. Peter It everybody must know it's called ADD. As far as school's when I moved my son's down to Oklahoma from Iowa they where given required test before entering the Oklahoma public school system. My oldest a senior in high school my youngest in the 8th grade middle school were 2 1/2 years ahead of there class. Needless to say they had a ball in sports.LOL

    Robert Always the non-conformist,Wes?That's O.K. as long as they don't single you out .....I'm just curious as to why you didn't figure out how to turn it around on your science teacher with a synonym...I most certainly would have.

    Wes Robert, coming from my background, i will continue to be a non conformist. in my early days i lived in a coal miner camp where my late grandfather was a coal miner who got paid in scrip, only to be spent at the company store, basically whit...e slavery, i was just 4 or 5 then but it left an indelible mark on me, watching him die in later years from black lung, mind you this was in the late 40's back before the union came in and they did what they wanted to the poor uneducated folk in the hills. They still do to some extent vis a vis the 25 miners who died last year in the explosion in kentucky i think it was. the mine had been cited numerous times and yet the owner still forced the miners to work or lose their jobs, with that being the only thing they knew it was a given. after the explosion he offered 3 million settlement to the families, knowing if it goes to court he could not only be found responsible, but could face criminal charges. i do realize some unions do overstep but there are still many that PROTECT their memberse

    Peter @Robert Thank you. Been getting crap sense I was a kid. Came home from USMC needed a 1/2 lousy credit to get my high school diploma. I was told to take a writing class.LMAO Well i was put in class with a smart na$% yakee officer's wife dro...m FT Sill. The first day told to go home and write a story. The next day turned in the report. 2 days later I and 2 other guys were given f's fro a word I never heard before. Plageism. I told her dont call me a liar or embarrass me in front of the class or my parents would set her straight. She looked at a picture on the wall of a sailing boat in the sailing in a storm with 3 kids at the helm. Just as luck would have it I was reading a book about the Marine's in the Bureno with Aussie's fighting the Jap's. In the cousrse of 2 hours I wrote her a story and turned it in. The next day shen got in front of the class and apoligized and got an A. Today the same story written over 40 years ago will be my 3rd book. The story, 3 kids who's parents were Lutheran missionares trying to run a mission on an island full of cannibals. The Jap's attacked there village. they were in the hills above the village and watched as the village was destoyerd. The kid's escaped on the sail boat thinking there parents had been killed, there fathers taught them to sail. I want tell the end of the story but , never assume nothing. Just because a person doenst act. talk. write like an egg head doesnt mean he has no brains. Obama proved that with them Dick H@#$'s in the Senate duriong the health Care conferance with the Repukes. That's why I love the movie Trading Places.LOL

    Peter ‎@Wes, wasnt any better for my father and grandfather. Breathed coal dust from the trains engines for over 40 years. As well as asbestus.

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  6. Wes An explosion at a Massey Energy Co. coal mine in southern West Virginia on Monday left 25 people dead in the worst U.S. mine disaster since 1984.

    Rescue efforts were halted early Tuesday morning because of conditions underground, with four m...iners still missing. The company said the rescue would continue as soon as conditions allowed.

    Associated Press
    Families and friends wait alongside emergency personnel after a mine explosion occured at the Upper Big Branch Mine, in Montcoal, W. Va.

    "Tonight we mourn the deaths of our members at Massey Energy," Chairman and Chief Executive Don Blankenship said in a statement. "I want to offer my condolences to the miners' families who lost loved ones at Upper Big Branch. And I want to thank the rescue teams and the Massey members who continue to work hard on behalf of our miners and their families."

    The accident at the mine in Montcoal, W. Va., about 30 miles south of Charleston, mars what had been an improving trend in U.S. coal-mine disasters in recent years. Coal-mining fatalities have declined over the past several years, to 18 in 2009 from a recent high of 47 in 2006, according to government statistics.

    The cause of the accident at the Upper Big Branch Mine, which occurred in the midafternoon, wasn't clear Monday night. But mine-safety experts said explosions are typically caused by high levels of methane, an odorless gas found in the coal-bed seams. Companies try to rid the mines of methane through proper ventilation.

    The Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA, has cited the Upper Big Branch Mine for hundreds of violations in recent years, including 10 so far this year related to legal requirements for ventilation systems to control methane and dust. The company has contested numerous fines, including two in January totaling more than $130,000 related to mine ventilation.

    Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, said the union doesn't represent any workers at the Upper Big Branch mine but that it had sent union safety experts to the scene of the accident to offer support if needed. "We are all brothers and sisters in the coalfields at times like this," he said.

    Peter ‎@Wes just found the email about 100%.LMAO

    Peter ‎@WES, didnt the owner get sent to Prison yet,

    Wes i don't know will have to check it out

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  7. Wes Methane monitors are mounted on the massive, 30-foot-long continuous miners because explosive gas can collect in pockets near the roofs of mines. Methane can be released as the machine cuts into rock and coal. The spinning carbide teeth tha...t do the cutting send sparks flying when they cut into rock. The sparks and the gas are an explosive mix, so the methane monitor is designed to signal a warning and automatically shut down the machine when gas approaches dangerous concentrations.

    "Everybody was getting mad because the continuous miner kept shutting off because there was methane," recalls Ricky Lee Campbell, a 24-year-old coal shuttle driver and roof bolter who witnessed the incident. "So, they shut the section down and the electrician got into the methane detector box and rewired it so we could continue to run coal."

    The continuous miner was working in an entryway about three miles from the location of the deadly explosion in April. Campbell and other mine workers were getting the section ready for mining. The continuous miner was cutting into the roof to make way for a conveyor belt and was cutting into both rock and coal, according to Campbell.

    "I asked them, 'What are you doing?' " Campbell says. "And they told me, 'We're bridging a methane detector. We're bypassing it,' is what they said."

    Witnesses Corroborate Bridging

    Two other witnesses confirm the bridging incident. Both asked not to be named because they fear for their jobs, their families and their futures. Campbell has already been fired by Upper Big Branch owner Massey Energy. He has a whistle-blower claim pending against the company based on other complaints about safety. Massey Energy has called the claim groundless and says Campbell's dismissal was warranted.

    All three witnesses are clear about what happened on that cold and snowy day in February in the Coal River Valley of West Virginia. The electrician was ordered to bridge the monitor by the mine supervisor but he didn't know how to do it. So the supervisor called to the surface to find someone who could describe the procedure.

    The process took more than an hour, as the electrician dismantled the monitor and used a wire to circumvent the device that disables the mining machine.
    MSHA Statement

    "The electrician said, 'Please don't say nothing,' " Campbell remembers, adding the electrician was afraid he would lose his state certification. "He knew it was dangerous. He knew he shouldn't have been doing it. But when somebody higher up [is] telling you to do something, you're going to do what they say. And he just [did] his job and [did] what they said to do."

    The electrician does not deny the incident happened but declined to be interviewed.See More

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  8. Wes he should be in jail but can't find anything new about it

    Terry Have those families EVER been compensated for the lives of the 29 men who died by Massey Corp? I doubt it. because this is something you hear about as the crook who was CEO of this corrupt corporation gets away "with murder" just like BP. T...hese companies make me sick to my stomach and they keep getting MORE tax breaks by the millions and in the case of the oil companies-BILLIONS!!
    Who pays for it? The taxpayers do but the GOP has everyone screaming aout UNIONS. Where is the justice or the sense here?

    Russ It is all our faults. Rather than focus on the bad guy we fight among one another. (asshole talking about spelling) Union leadership always has problem the only people with balls to stand against the bosses are and where tough guys. Some co...rrupt, some thieves even real gangster are parts of union; because they where the only ones with the balls to stand and fight... I'd rather give my money over to a Mafia Don, than trust a Cooperate executive, or Republican to do the right thing. At least a Thief will give you crumbs, these bastards republicans want you worked to death like slaves, and it is our fault for taking it; take a lesson from the criminal, we are never out of work, get it; and will take to feed our families and ourselves, and you will take care of our health when where in prison, and will still kick the shit out of the ruling class... I've been a union organizer since I was a kid, IBEW, TEAMSTER, AFSCME and yes a bad guy; however, I'd rather go to the wall for people who have nothing then kiss the ring of a Glen Beck or Walker or in fact now any Republican.... This is the beginning of hard times, the beginning of our third World USA, made by Republican Rich...

    Michael Sorry, talking about the mines, or steel plants, or corrupt unions and the lot are relevant to a discusion about a ot of things but really not applicable to what Wisconsin and other states are doing to teachers. Want to talk about the downside of unions- can we do it AFTER we protect teachers nurses, cops, firemen, paramedics, etc. Your child's favorite teacher may very well one day be foired for not teaching evolution with the fervor their school board desires. That is TODAY's issue.

    Russ We don't know about others; however, where we are, is headed to Hartford, to support our AFSCME brothers and sisters; and to me a teacher is just as important as a miner, or a cop is just as important as the Janitor... The electrician is a...s important as the truck driver... The only ones, I do not care about, are those making over $200 grand a year... Given the average union wage is only around $55,00 a year... And I am really with the guys and gals at the 18,000 level and those with no job... And hey aren't we talking about the right to talk, opinions, or did I miss something? Or can we only talk about what some-else tells us????? Get the point

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  9. Wes he should be in jail but can't find anything new about it

    Terry Have those families EVER been compensated for the lives of the 29 men who died by Massey Corp? I doubt it. because this is something you hear about as the crook who was CEO of this corrupt corporation gets away "with murder" just like BP. T...hese companies make me sick to my stomach and they keep getting MORE tax breaks by the millions and in the case of the oil companies-BILLIONS!!
    Who pays for it? The taxpayers do but the GOP has everyone screaming aout UNIONS. Where is the justice or the sense here?

    Russ It is all our faults. Rather than focus on the bad guy we fight among one another. (asshole talking about spelling) Union leadership always has problem the only people with balls to stand against the bosses are and where tough guys. Some co...rrupt, some thieves even real gangster are parts of union; because they where the only ones with the balls to stand and fight... I'd rather give my money over to a Mafia Don, than trust a Cooperate executive, or Republican to do the right thing. At least a Thief will give you crumbs, these bastards republicans want you worked to death like slaves, and it is our fault for taking it; take a lesson from the criminal, we are never out of work, get it; and will take to feed our families and ourselves, and you will take care of our health when where in prison, and will still kick the shit out of the ruling class... I've been a union organizer since I was a kid, IBEW, TEAMSTER, AFSCME and yes a bad guy; however, I'd rather go to the wall for people who have nothing then kiss the ring of a Glen Beck or Walker or in fact now any Republican.... This is the beginning of hard times, the beginning of our third World USA, made by Republican Rich...

    Michael Sorry, talking about the mines, or steel plants, or corrupt unions and the lot are relevant to a discusion about a ot of things but really not applicable to what Wisconsin and other states are doing to teachers. Want to talk about the downside of unions- can we do it AFTER we protect teachers nurses, cops, firemen, paramedics, etc. Your child's favorite teacher may very well one day be foired for not teaching evolution with the fervor their school board desires. That is TODAY's issue.

    Russ We don't know about others; however, where we are, is headed to Hartford, to support our AFSCME brothers and sisters; and to me a teacher is just as important as a miner, or a cop is just as important as the Janitor... The electrician is a...s important as the truck driver... The only ones, I do not care about, are those making over $200 grand a year... Given the average union wage is only around $55,00 a year... And I am really with the guys and gals at the 18,000 level and those with no job... And hey aren't we talking about the right to talk, opinions, or did I miss something? Or can we only talk about what some-else tells us????? Get the point

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  10. Peter It everybody must know it's called ADD. As far as school's when I moved my son's down to Oklahoma from Iowa they where given required test before entering the Oklahoma public school system. My oldest a senior in high school my youngest in the 8th grade middle school were 2 1/2 years ahead of there class. Needless to say they had a ball in sports.LOL

    Robert Always the non-conformist,Wes?That's O.K. as long as they don't single you out .....I'm just curious as to why you didn't figure out how to turn it around on your science teacher with a synonym...I most certainly would have.

    Wes Robert, coming from my background, i will continue to be a non conformist. in my early days i lived in a coal miner camp where my late grandfather was a coal miner who got paid in scrip, only to be spent at the company store, basically whit...e slavery, i was just 4 or 5 then but it left an indelible mark on me, watching him die in later years from black lung, mind you this was in the late 40's back before the union came in and they did what they wanted to the poor uneducated folk in the hills. They still do to some extent vis a vis the 25 miners who died last year in the explosion in kentucky i think it was. the mine had been cited numerous times and yet the owner still forced the miners to work or lose their jobs, with that being the only thing they knew it was a given. after the explosion he offered 3 million settlement to the families, knowing if it goes to court he could not only be found responsible, but could face criminal charges. i do realize some unions do overstep but there are still many that PROTECT their memberse

    Peter @Robert Thank you. Been getting crap sense I was a kid. Came home from USMC needed a 1/2 lousy credit to get my high school diploma. I was told to take a writing class.LMAO Well i was put in class with a smart na$% yakee officer's wife dro...m FT Sill. The first day told to go home and write a story. The next day turned in the report. 2 days later I and 2 other guys were given f's fro a word I never heard before. Plageism. I told her dont call me a liar or embarrass me in front of the class or my parents would set her straight. She looked at a picture on the wall of a sailing boat in the sailing in a storm with 3 kids at the helm. Just as luck would have it I was reading a book about the Marine's in the Bureno with Aussie's fighting the Jap's. In the cousrse of 2 hours I wrote her a story and turned it in. The next day shen got in front of the class and apoligized and got an A. Today the same story written over 40 years ago will be my 3rd book. The story, 3 kids who's parents were Lutheran missionares trying to run a mission on an island full of cannibals. The Jap's attacked there village. they were in the hills above the village and watched as the village was destoyerd. The kid's escaped on the sail boat thinking there parents had been killed, there fathers taught them to sail. I want tell the end of the story but , never assume nothing. Just because a person doenst act. talk. write like an egg head doesnt mean he has no brains. Obama proved that with them Dick H@#$'s in the Senate duriong the health Care conferance with the Repukes. That's why I love the movie Trading Places.LOL

    Peter ‎@Wes, wasnt any better for my father and grandfather. Breathed coal dust from the trains engines for over 40 years. As well as asbestus.

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  11. David Maura, your views are in line with a lot of the anti-union propaganda. Unions are required to defend people who are put up on charges. That is there job. Some are better at it than others. Management has the responsibility to send teach...ers for retraining, suspend them, or begin dismissal. It can be done. As far as the Teamsters, you cannot make a blanket indictment. They are a strong union and if anything illegal occurs are not immune from prosecution or lawsuits.

    The tyranny of employers require unions. Some employers are so good to their employees that unions are not needed. However, every workforce should have the option of forming a union. Congress needs to adopt the Employee Free Choice Act to protect worker rights to organize. Unions are the reason we have all workplace safety measures, the 40 hour work week, vacation, pensions, health insurance, life insurance, sick days, and are the last defender of the Middle Class.

    Mem Great post John and David. Maura I'm not sure if you had the chance to read this post on my blog but at the end of is a list of what Unions do for us. http://memspoliticalscrapbook.blogspot.com/2011/02/wisconsin-knows-importance-of-unions-in.html

    David John, I hope you are right.

    John What is also true is people who were neutral about unions are seeing the unfairness of this struggle and it is getting folks off the fence in the favor of the unions.

    David Polls across the country show that the American people by 2 to 1 support the right of collective bargaining for public employees. The Koch Bros and the Chamber of Commerce are losing this fight. But they have been winning the war for decades. Bush appointed anti-Labor members to the National Labor Relations Board.

    Maura Mem, my Great Grandfather was Hung for being a union Supporter. I know the Benefits. Again my only comments were addressing the blanket Union=Good Corporate=Bad. Not true, where there is men there IS greed and corruption. Does not make one good other Bad caveman style. David I am not a Union hater or I would not be supporting my friends who are in Wisconsin, Tennessee and Iowa. So you are incorrect in your wording and Place me in a Box I will not fit in your Box sir.

    Mem Maura I decided that list needed a post of it's own and this way you don't have to read or go through the other article to get to this:) http://memspoliticalscrapbook.blogspot.com/2011/02/unions-are-essential-part-of-strong.html

    Maura Thank you Mem I will book mark and use it when my friends need the right words;) I appreciate you work, words and mind my dear friend. I do get my dander up when people belittle my words or rephrase them for me. I really understand and h...ave stood strong for those in unions. If they want to survive, Unions must police themselves or become obsolete.See More

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  12. Wes he should be in jail but can't find anything new about it

    Terry Have those families EVER been compensated for the lives of the 29 men who died by Massey Corp? I doubt it. because this is something you hear about as the crook who was CEO of this corrupt corporation gets away "with murder" just like BP. T...hese companies make me sick to my stomach and they keep getting MORE tax breaks by the millions and in the case of the oil companies-BILLIONS!!
    Who pays for it? The taxpayers do but the GOP has everyone screaming aout UNIONS. Where is the justice or the sense here?

    Russ It is all our faults. Rather than focus on the bad guy we fight among one another. (asshole talking about spelling) Union leadership always has problem the only people with balls to stand against the bosses are and where tough guys. Some co...rrupt, some thieves even real gangster are parts of union; because they where the only ones with the balls to stand and fight... I'd rather give my money over to a Mafia Don, than trust a Cooperate executive, or Republican to do the right thing. At least a Thief will give you crumbs, these bastards republicans want you worked to death like slaves, and it is our fault for taking it; take a lesson from the criminal, we are never out of work, get it; and will take to feed our families and ourselves, and you will take care of our health when where in prison, and will still kick the shit out of the ruling class... I've been a union organizer since I was a kid, IBEW, TEAMSTER, AFSCME and yes a bad guy; however, I'd rather go to the wall for people who have nothing then kiss the ring of a Glen Beck or Walker or in fact now any Republican.... This is the beginning of hard times, the beginning of our third World USA, made by Republican Rich...

    Michael Sorry, talking about the mines, or steel plants, or corrupt unions and the lot are relevant to a discusion about a ot of things but really not applicable to what Wisconsin and other states are doing to teachers. Want to talk about the downside of unions- can we do it AFTER we protect teachers nurses, cops, firemen, paramedics, etc. Your child's favorite teacher may very well one day be foired for not teaching evolution with the fervor their school board desires. That is TODAY's issue.

    Russ We don't know about others; however, where we are, is headed to Hartford, to support our AFSCME brothers and sisters; and to me a teacher is just as important as a miner, or a cop is just as important as the Janitor... The electrician is a...s important as the truck driver... The only ones, I do not care about, are those making over $200 grand a year... Given the average union wage is only around $55,00 a year... And I am really with the guys and gals at the 18,000 level and those with no job... And hey aren't we talking about the right to talk, opinions, or did I miss something? Or can we only talk about what some-else tells us????? Get the point

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  13. Wes Methane monitors are mounted on the massive, 30-foot-long continuous miners because explosive gas can collect in pockets near the roofs of mines. Methane can be released as the machine cuts into rock and coal. The spinning carbide teeth tha...t do the cutting send sparks flying when they cut into rock. The sparks and the gas are an explosive mix, so the methane monitor is designed to signal a warning and automatically shut down the machine when gas approaches dangerous concentrations.

    "Everybody was getting mad because the continuous miner kept shutting off because there was methane," recalls Ricky Lee Campbell, a 24-year-old coal shuttle driver and roof bolter who witnessed the incident. "So, they shut the section down and the electrician got into the methane detector box and rewired it so we could continue to run coal."

    The continuous miner was working in an entryway about three miles from the location of the deadly explosion in April. Campbell and other mine workers were getting the section ready for mining. The continuous miner was cutting into the roof to make way for a conveyor belt and was cutting into both rock and coal, according to Campbell.

    "I asked them, 'What are you doing?' " Campbell says. "And they told me, 'We're bridging a methane detector. We're bypassing it,' is what they said."

    Witnesses Corroborate Bridging

    Two other witnesses confirm the bridging incident. Both asked not to be named because they fear for their jobs, their families and their futures. Campbell has already been fired by Upper Big Branch owner Massey Energy. He has a whistle-blower claim pending against the company based on other complaints about safety. Massey Energy has called the claim groundless and says Campbell's dismissal was warranted.

    All three witnesses are clear about what happened on that cold and snowy day in February in the Coal River Valley of West Virginia. The electrician was ordered to bridge the monitor by the mine supervisor but he didn't know how to do it. So the supervisor called to the surface to find someone who could describe the procedure.

    The process took more than an hour, as the electrician dismantled the monitor and used a wire to circumvent the device that disables the mining machine.
    MSHA Statement

    "The electrician said, 'Please don't say nothing,' " Campbell remembers, adding the electrician was afraid he would lose his state certification. "He knew it was dangerous. He knew he shouldn't have been doing it. But when somebody higher up [is] telling you to do something, you're going to do what they say. And he just [did] his job and [did] what they said to do."

    The electrician does not deny the incident happened but declined to be interviewed.See More

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