Category Archives: Labor

A Flood of Fraud

Posted on October 4, 2005 by bfiacarolinevernon

A FLOOD OF FRAUD By Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate CrimeReporter, http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com. Robert Weissman is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Multinational Monitor, http://www.multinationalmonitor.org, and on the steering committee of the Center … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Government, Corporate Greed, Environment, Jobs, Labor, Main Page, National News | 1 Comment

Your Second Priority

Posted on September 10, 2005 by Trish Nelson

Your Second Priority

NicholasJohnson.org

Nick Johnson (pictured above) was formerly an FCC Commissioner and Iowa City School Board member and now teaches at the University of Iowa College of Law.  These are his remarks to the Iowa City Federation of Labor Labor Day Picnic, September 5, 2005


“Whatever is your first priority, your second priority has to be media reform.”

I've been saying that to gatherings of labor, and other progressive organizations, for 40 years now.

Your first priority may be a fairer shake for labor. Healthcare for Iowans. Rights for women and minorities. Improvements in local schools, or the environment. Electing your candidates to public office.

Whatever is your first priority, you have little hope of making any progress with it if you can't get media coverage – fair and favorable media coverage.

For no group is this more true than for labor.

“Yeah, so what else is new?” I hear you say.

I'll tell you what's new.

For the first time in the history of Iowa, so far as I know, two currently sitting commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission – Michael Copps and Jon Adelstein – are coming to Iowa City because they want to hear from you.

The national organization Free Press is seeing to it that Wednesday, October 5th, a month from today, probably at the IMU, hundreds of Iowans will be coming forward to tell the FCC what they think about our local media.

There are petitions that give you a chance to participate. The petitions ask the FCC to at least hold hearings before automatically granting license renewals to Iowa's television stations.

All those Iowa stations have to file for renewal by October 1st. If their licenses are renewed they will be able to keep up what they've been doing for another 8 years.

Meanwhile, a local group called Iowans for Better Local Television,  and anyone else in the state, has from now until the end of December to get comments and petitions to the Commission. IBLTV's Web site actually lets you sign the petition online.

So why should labor care?

You can probably answer that better than I.

 – When did you last see a documentary favorable to organized labor on local television?


Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, How You Can Help, Iowa in the News, Jobs, Labor, Local Events, Main Page, Media Bias, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Your Second Priority

Honoring Those Who Go Before Us – Jim Hughes

Posted on September 5, 2005 by bfiacarolinevernon

Honoring Those Who Go Before Us: Jim Hughes – December 6, 1935

by Caroline Vernon

Jim said, “I made a commitment to myself and the world that if I was ever able to get out of that chair, I would dedicate the rest of my life to helping those who are less fortunate than I had been in my life.”

On December 6, 1935, Jim Hughes was born the youngest son of a union carpenter in Montgomery County, Illinois.

Upon graduating from high school in 1953, most of Jim’s former classmates were drafted into the service. Jim himself received orders to report 6 different times before finally receiving notification that he had been wrongly classified, 3 months prior to his 25th birthday. Instead of having a classification of 1A, he should have been classified as 3A, which meant he would only have been called up in the case of a homeland emergency. In the meantime it was difficult to get hired on with a 1A classification because employers knew it wouldn’t be long before workers were required to report for duty.

During the late 50's, early 60's, the economy was shaky and jobs were hard to come by. In the construction and building trades, as an example, you were lucky to accrue 600 hours a year. Jim worked on various union jobs, the first of which was as a laborers local, then he moved over to the Operating Engineers and worked on permit. He later worked for the Boiler Makers Union and the UAW.

By 1965, many of Jim’s friends had returned home from the service and were taking advantage of going to school through the GI bill while he was still bouncing from job to job. By then, Jim had gotten married and had children so it was at that time that he decided to go to St. Louis to work with the Teamsters. Jim stayed with the Teamsters for quite some time before being forced to take an early retirement due to health problems.

The family later moved to the Quad Cities in 1980 and Jim started RDS Walcott, a truck transportation brokerage business.  Jim and his wife Doris, successfully ran this business for many years until selling it in 2000. Jim and Doris had married on March 15, 1963, They have 10 children between them.
Continue reading →

Posted in Corporate Greed, DFQC, Education, Health Care & Medicare, Labor, Local Events, Main Page, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Honoring Those Who Go Before Us – Jim Hughes

First DFA/Democracy for Iowa Statewide Meeting September 10

Posted on August 30, 2005 by bfialindathieman

First DFA/Democracy for Iowa Statewide Meeting September 10 by Dennis Roseman, Iowa City DFA Organizer Preliminary Agenda for a Statewide Meeting of Democracy for Iowa September 10 Iowa Room, Iowa Memorial Union Iowa City Iowa 9 a.m.-4 p.m. This will … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, David Loebsack, How You Can Help, Introducing DFIA, Labor, Local Events, Main Page, Progressive Community | 3 Comments

U of Iowa Prof Optimistic About Labor Schism

Posted on August 1, 2005 by bfialindathieman

U of Iowa Prof Optimistic About Labor Schism by Jeff Charis-Carlson, Iowa City Press-Citizen Shelton Stromquist, professor of history at the University of Iowa, talks labor. In the current [labor] schism there has been a lot of debate over how … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa in the News, Labor, Main Page | Comments Off on U of Iowa Prof Optimistic About Labor Schism

Costco: The New Anti-Walmart

Posted on July 27, 2005 by bfiacarolinevernon

Costco: The New Anti-Walmart I am in the process of trying to recruit Costco to come to Iowa so we will have a socially responsible alternative to shopping at Sam's Club or Walmart. Will keep you posted of any developments … Continue reading →

Posted in Corporate Greed, DFQC, Jobs, Labor, Main Page, National News, Progressive Community | 4 Comments

Top Ten Problems within the Labor Movement

Posted on July 26, 2005 by bfiacarolinevernon

Top 10 Problems within the Labor Movement by Ralph Nader From Commondreams.org   Rose Ann DeMoro is the Executive Director of the California Nurses Association (CNA) – the country's fastest growing union. Since 1992, union membership has grown from 13,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Government, Calls to Action, Choice, Civil Liberties, Corporate Greed, Education, Environment, Jobs, Labor, Main Page, National News, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Top Ten Problems within the Labor Movement

Two Key Unions, SEIU and Teamsters, Leave AFL-CIO

Posted on July 26, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Two Key Unions, SEIU and Teamsters, Leave AFL-CIO by Harold Meyerson, Washington Post Tuesday, July 26, 2005 Yesterday's announcement by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that they were quitting the AFL-CIO was no … Continue reading →

Posted in Jobs, Labor, Main Page, National News | Comments Off on Two Key Unions, SEIU and Teamsters, Leave AFL-CIO

Honoring Those Who Go Before Us – Dick Fallow

Posted on July 23, 2005 by bfiacarolinevernon

Honoring Those Who Go Before Us
Dick Fallow – 08/23/20

by Caroline Vernon

It has been in my heart for some time to share the stories of various individuals who have committed their hearts and minds in service to this great country as well as their fellow man. It is not the first mile of compulsion or duty that will transform man and his world, but rather the second mile of free service and liberty- loving devotion. So it is with gratitude and reverence that I am compelled to share the first of many profiles in courage with Blog For Iowa. Dick Fallow was an easy first choice for me. If ever there was a second-miler… Dick is the man!

Dick Fallow was born in Hartford, Connecticut on August 23, 1920, to parents Gladys Bennett and Everett Fallow. The youngest of three children (one sister, one brother), Dick grew up on the East Coast during the Great Depression. As a young man he worked various jobs before enlisting in the American Field Service during WWII. The AFS consisted of many people who were unable to go into combat but wanted to be of service by helping the allied forces. Dick served as an ambulance driver for two years, assigned to the 8th British Army – most of their troops were primarily in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and England. Although they were technically not allowed in combat, these drivers were often under fire. After the war, the AMS went on to promote peace and understanding among people through student exchange services.

After his stint with the AMS, Dick joined the United Electrical and Radio Workers Union in 1945. It wasn’t long before the organization realized Dick’s talents and put them to good use. Dick was a Business Union Rep – a boomer – someone who went around to different job sites, assisting with organizing and various campaigns. This brought him to Sioux County in NW Iowa in the late 40's, where he met his wife, Mickey, of 47 years. Dick and Mickey were married in 1951, and later moved to the Quad Cities in 1952 where they settled in order to raise their three daughters. At that time Dick joined with the local AFL-CIO.

By 1967, the AFL National Staff recruited Dick to help coordinate national efforts in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Dick continues to have long-standing associations through the National Federation of Labor as well as the National Alliance of Retired Americans. He officially retired in 1988, but those of us who know him realize he never REALLY retired. He continues to compel and inspire his colleagues of many years as well as the younger generations. Dick believes, above all else, dignity and fairness on the job is most important; “We’re all in this together – combined, we all can make a difference”.
Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Corporate Greed, DFQC, Education, Jobs, Labor, Main Page, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Honoring Those Who Go Before Us – Dick Fallow

Vote Fraud: Diebold Dumpster Dive Yields Financial Documents

Posted on July 21, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Vote Fraud: Diebold Dumpster Dive Yields Financial Documents

BlackBoxVoting.org

JULY 20, 2005: One late night in Texas, 51-year-old Kathleen Wynne did something she never thought she would consider: She jumped into a dumpster.

An ordinary citizen who had become concerned about the integrity of Diebold voting machines, Wynne was amazed to find hundreds of pages of documents in the trash. Among them: internal notes and memos, planning information, problems with equipment and customers, price bid worksheets, staff bonuses, and financial statements from Diebold Election Systems. It was early July, just after second quarter financials, and the Diebold elections division seemed to be cleaning house.

Wynne was a citizen volunteer then – she is nowa full-time investigator for Black Box Voting, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501c(3) consumer protection group for elections.

Diebold, a company that boasts of its security, had made no attempt to shred the documents, or protect them in any way. Instead, the company was in the habit of discarding its internal records in various publicly available locations — an apparent violation of the management requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The first batch of documents is posted here.

(We'll come back to the document stash in a minute.)

DIEBOLD DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN GALLINA MONEY

In May, Black Box Voting broke the story of ACG Group, LLC, which has been funneling money from Diebold into the pockets of . . . someone.

The 'G' in ACG stands for Gallina – Pasquale “Pat” Gallina. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Gallina was caught giving $10,000 to the Franklin County Republican Party, handed off through the Franklin County Director of Elections. The Dispatch also contains a report of a $50,000 donation by Gallina to Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's political interests.

Diebold, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, denies any involvement in the donations by Gallina, pointing to “Celebrezze & Associates” and vowing to fire that organization (set up by Anthony Celebrezze, now deceased) if it is proved to have “provided the check in the name of Diebold.”

Excerpts from the above news articles can be found here
(scroll down).

Let us now dissect the spin:

1. The money was flowing through ACG Group LLC. A few dollars may also have wandered into Gallina's pocket through “Celebrezze & Associates,” but the large, UNDISCLOSED cash was flowing through ACG Group LLC, an entity Diebold has not uttered a word about.
Continue reading →

Posted in Corporate Greed, GOP, Labor, Main Page, National News, Verified Voting, Vote Fraud | 1 Comment