We Want Jobs? Not If We Can’t Feed Ourselves!
Cooks Lining Up For Soup (from Flickr, gamillos) Liberal politicians and union leaders seem to think that if they could just create more jobs, the economy would suddenly recover and everyone would be happy. Of course those who are unemployed, particularly the long-term unemployed, are desperate for some financial security and relief, and jobs seem like the simplest way to appease them. While the absence of work is a terrible burden on families, the presence of work is not necessarily their salvation, and shouldn’t be their primary goal. Workers need material security, safer and b... more »
Americans Love Homosexuals and Hate Atheists
According to Harper's Index, 67% of Americans said they would vote for a homosexual candidate for president, while only 49% said they'd vote for an atheist. So what does this say about Americans? Considering all the sturm and drang about gay marriage, I find it surprising that so many Americans would support a gay presidential candidate. Then again, the statistic implies that nearly one-third of Americans would NOT vote for a candidate because of his or her sexual orientation, which is still a very high degree of bigotry. On the other hand, what Americans really love is rich and po... more »
The 1% Pays Only 10% of Their Profits to Feds
According to the Harper's Index, corporations paid only 10% of their profits in taxes last year, compared with 40.6% in 1961. What's changed? The ruling elite have been able to slash business taxes over the last 25 years. Simultaneously they've increased their profits by working their employees harder, longer and faster, while paying them less. According to Harper's, 3/4 of their increased profit margin is due to depressed wages. What hasn't changed? The ruling elite then, like today, had a monopoly on political power and the machinery of production, compelling the rest of us to se... more »
More Data Showing Achievement Gap Exists Prior to Kindergarten
The Minnesota Readiness Study in St. Paul has released new data showing an achievement gap exists even before students begin elementary school, particularly among children of color and those living in poverty. *The study* found that 60% of all students had the prerequisite skills for kindergarten. However, only 44% of Hispanic children were ready. The study also found that only 52% of children living below the poverty line were ready for kindergarten, according to Minnesota Public Radio. According to the report, kindergartners who had not attained pre-K proficiency were more than... more »
Today in Labor History—November 25
America, Love It or Leave It (By Force) *November 25, 1919* – A strike for union recognition by 395,000 steelworkers continued throughout November. The strike began on September 22 and collapsed on January 8, 1920. The strike was used by the feds as an excuse to deport approximately 250 anarchists, communists and labor agitators to Russia on November 24, marking the beginning of the so-called "Red Scare." (from the Daily Bleed) *November 25, 1946* - St. Paul teachers, led mostly by women, walked out of their classrooms in American’s first organized teachers’ strike. 1,165 teache... more »
What Are Teachers Worth?
Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons Capitalists build their wealth primarily through the exploitation of workers. They do this by paying them as little as possible while squeezing as much work out of them as they can. In effect, they pay their workers less than the value of the goods and services they produce. The greater the difference between workers’ salaries and the value of these goods and services the greater the profits. This simple fact helps explain why, even though worker productivity has been steadily increasing over the past 50 years, the purchasing power of their income and... more »
California Charter Will Result in Large Cuts to District Schools
We all know that charter schools are privately operated schools that get a share of district funds but operate free of many of the rules governing traditional public schools. The district funds they receive eat into already scare district resources, undermining their ability to provide adequate educational services at their remaining schools. What is less well known is that in California and many other states, districts are required to give charters more per student than they actually get in state revenue per student. In California, districts must spend $941 more per charter stud... more »
Today in Labor History—November 24
Future Slayer of God, Charles Darwin, Age 7 *November 24, 1859* -- Charles Darwin's Origin of the Species was published. (From the Daily Bleed) *November 24, 1875* - The Cigar Makers International Union, Local 144, was chartered with Samuel Gompers as president. (From Workday Minnesota) Mollie Steimer c1918 (public domain) *November 24, 1921* – Mollie Steimer, after doing 18 months for handing out leaflets, was shipped off to Soviet Russia along with three other radicals (Jacob Abrams, Samuel Lipman, & Hyman Lachowsky). In the U.S., they were victims of the Red Scare, for handi... more »
Stop Blaming Teachers When It’s the Parents’ Fault!
Future High School Dropout? (Image from Flickr by izatrini_com) In today’s New York Times, Thomas Friedman had an op-ed that seems to bash the Ed Deformers and tell them to get off of teachers’ backs. However, rather than placing the blame for the achievement gap and other problems with public education where it belongs—on the defunding of schools and growing poverty among children—he places the blame on parents, as if they merely need to behave better and become more effective parents. “Here’s what some new studies are also showing,” he tells us. “We need better parents. Parents ... more »
Schools: The New Republican Sweatshops for Kids
Scrub Harder Your Shirkers (Child Labor from Flickr, by Clogozm) Republican Presidential hopeful (charlatan) Newt Gingrich has called on schools to fire their unionized janitors and replace them with underpaid, underage school children, especially in low income schools (from Politico.com). In a wonderful bit of double speak, Gingrich said that the "Core policies of protecting unionization and bureaucratization against children in the poorest neighborhoods, crippling them by putting them in schools that fail has done more to create income inequality in the United States than any o... more »
Today in Labor History—November 23
Francois-Noel Babeuf (public domain) *November 23, 1760* – French revolutionary Francois-Noel Babeuf was born on this date in St. Quentin, France. Babeuf was a communist leader in the French Revolution and a member of the Conspiracy of Equals (along with Jacque Roux and Jean Varlet) until he was betrayed to the Directory, captured and executed. (From the Daily Bleed) *November 23, 1831* – The Silk Workers' Revolt in Lyon continued, with workers occupying the Town Hall and an insurrectionary government was formed. (From the Daily Bleed) Western Federation of Miners Poster (public... more »
California’s 1% Goes On The Offensive
We've Saved the Schools! (Image from Flickr, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com ) Three of California’s billionaires have committed over $20 million of their own money to launch and win a ballot initiative that would help close California’s perennial budget hole, according to the Los Angeles Times. However, their plan would only increase tax revenue by $10 billion, not even enough to close next year’s budget gap, which is already projected to exceed $13 billion. It will do nothing to restore the $21 billion that has been slashed from K-12 education over the past three years, or the bi... more »
Jerry Brown: No Friend of Teachers or Labor
Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons Led by the California Teachers Association (CTA), labor pumped millions of dollars into Jerry Brown’s war chest, helping him to defeat billionaire Meg Whitman in the race for governor of California. They were not just fighting for “anyone but Meg.” They actually believed that Brown would do great things for public education and public sector unions. One of the first things Brown did once elected was to appoint a CTA lobbyist to the state board of education, which was really more of a favor from one 1%-er to another, than a boon to teachers or student... more »
Today in Labor History—November 22
Live Free or Die Fighting, Canuts Uprising, Lyon Silk Strike, 1831 (public domain) *November 22, 1831* -- The revolt of the silk workers was continuing in Lyon, France. Workers seized arms and fought the military. Approximately 100 died, 69 of them civilians. 263 soldiers were wounded. (From the Daily Bleed) In this book, Bernays Argued That The Manipulation of Public Opinion is a Necessary Part of Democracy *November 22, 1891* -- Dr. Edward L. Bernays was born in Vienna, Austria. Bernay, a nephew of Freud, is considered by many to be father of public relations. He is also cre... more »
Today in Labor History—November 21
Revolte des Canuts - Lyon 1831(public domain*)* *November 21, 1831* – Silk workers went on strike in Lyon, France. However, the entire city rose in insurrection when the National Guard killed several workers. (From the Daily Bleed) *November 21, 1863 –* Workers across the country were striking and protesting against high prices during the Civil War. (From Workday Minnesota ) *November 21, 1870* -- Alexander Berkman was born on this date in Vilna, Russia (Lithuania). One-time lover and life-long comrade of Emma Goldman, Berkman wrote Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist, after serving t... more »
Today in Labor History—November 20
Zumbi dos Palmares bust, Brasilia (image by Elza Fiúza/Agencia Brasil, creative commons) *November 20, 1695* – Zumbí, head of the Quilombo de Palmares, was assassinated on this date. Palmares was the largest and longest lasting Quilombo (community of freed slaves) in Brazil. Estimates range from 11,000 to more than 20,000 inhabitants living in Palmares during its height. The community lasted for more than 100 years. Members of Palmares routinely raided plantations, freeing slaves and brutally slaughtering their masters. Palmares was portrayed in the 1984 film, *Quilombo*, directed... more »
Human Need or Capitalist Greed
It is not only absurd, but dangerous, to believe that jobs are good just because losing a job is undesirable (See the Cry For Jobs, Ruthless Criticism). Of course it is terrible to lose ones income and material security. But simply demanding jobs generally results in compromises and sacrifices in order to get that paycheck rolling in again. Workers accept lower wages, longer working hours, more dangerous conditions, less autonomy, longer commutes just to get back to work. Jobs do not even necessarily provide material security, particularly if the wages aren’t sufficient to cover ... more »
Today in Labor History—November 19
*November 19, 1904 – *6,000 members of the United Garment Workers of America struck at 27 wholesale houses in Chicago, which were then members of the National Wholesale Tailors' Association. (From the Daily Bleed) Joe Hill * November 19, 1915* - Joe Hill, IWW organizer and song writer was executed by a Utah firing squad after being convicted of murder on trumped-up charges. His final message from prison was “Don’t mourn, Organize!” His ashes were supposedly sprinkled in every state of the union, except Utah, because he had said, "I don't want to be found dead in Utah." However, it ... more »
Edu Debtors Union Calls for Mass Student Loan Default, Does Not Go Far Enough
Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons The Edu Debtors Union (EDU) is calling on student debtors to deliberately default on their loans en masse. Why? To get better repayment terms. According to their website, “mass defaults may be the only tactic that will force lenders to renegotiate.” Student debt has now surpassed credit card debt, with U.S. students owing billions of dollars in loans and interest. The average undergraduate owes more than $25,000 by the time they’ve graduated, a figure that can grow dramatically when interest and late fees are added, particularly with the depressed j... more »
Today in Labor History—November 18
*November 18, 1918 – *A major workers' insurrection occurred in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, involving over 6,000 workers and a plot to overthrow the government. (From the Daily Bleed)** Strikers Guarding a Window During the Flint Sit-Down Strike, 1937 (Library of Congress) * November 18, 1936* - Workers at the General Motors plant in Atlanta engaged in one of the many sit-down strikes that occurred during the organizing waves of the 1930s. (From Workday Minnesota) ------------------------------ Modern School
