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Eamonn Fingleton gives a stunning account of how the elite press – the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the New York Times and Washington Post - pilloried US autworkers while systematically concealing the hidden subsidies which have allowed Japan and Korea to destroy Detroit. All this with the connivance of the US government. Also in our latest newsletter: Michelle Obama comes to Merced. Bill Hatch, the Balzac of the Central Valley, gives an uproarious account of Michelle’s state visit to UC’s new campus. Get your new edition today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
How the U.S. Press Helped Destroy the Auto IndustryOrder CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
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Today's Stories June 4, 2009 Arno J. Mayer June 3, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts Kathy Kelly Alan Farago Franklin Lamb Bill Hatch Nadia Hijab Dean Baker Binoy Kampmark Manuel Garcia, Jr. Remi Kanazi Behzad Yaghmaian Website of the Day June 2, 2009 Uri Avnery Robert Weissman Conn Hallinan Gideon Spiro Roger Burbach Dylan Quigley Dave Lindorff Ray McGovern Belén Fernández Martha Rosenberg Willie L. Pelote, Sr. Website of the Day June 1, 2009 Pam Martens Yitzhak Laor Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Saul Landau Eugenia Tsao Afshin Rattansi Debra Sweet Abdul Malik Mujahid Bill Quigley John Wright Website of the Day May 29-31, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Vijay Prashad Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Rannie Amiri Bill Hatch Chellis Glendinning, Stephanie Mills and Kirkpatrick Sale Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Jean-Christophe Servant Dave Lindorff James McEnteer Missy Beattie James C. Faris David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Adam Federman David Ker Thomson Mark Seth Lender Stephen Martin Joseph Nevins Sophia Mihic Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 28, 2009 Joan Roelofs Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mouin Rabbani Joe Bageant James McEnteer Dedrick Muhammad Richard Morse David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day May 27, 2009 Joanne Mariner Paul Craig Roberts Walden Bello Dave Lindorff Brian M. Downing Carlos Villarreal Nadia Hijab Adam Federman Laray Polk Isabella Kenfield David Michael Green Website of the Day May 26, 2009 Manuel Garcia, Jr. Mike Whitney Sharon Smith Marjorie Cohn Dean Baker Deepankar Basu Fred Gardner Jordan Flaherty Josh Ruebner Brian Cloughley Website of the Day May 25, 2009 Diane Christian John Ross Kenneth Hartman Uri Avnery Fred Gardner Cindy Sheehan Sen. Russell Feingold Sibel Edmonds Franklin Lamb Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Website of the Day May 22-24, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Michael Teitelman Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Sonia Cardenas / Clive Hamilton Conn Hallinan Fred Gardner Carlo Cristofori Dean Baker Rannie Amiri Andy Worthington David Macaray Nadia Hijab Franklin Lamb Ted Newcomen David Ker Thomson David Rosen Mark Weisbrot Robert Fantina Heather Gray Farzana Versey Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Jay Diamond Dr. Susan Block Ben Sonnenberg David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 21, 2009 Jeffrey St. Clair / Paul Craig Roberts Chris Floyd Gerald Paoli Zach Mason Uri Avnery Andy Worthington Niranjan Ramakrishnan Norman Solomon Dave Lindorff Website of the Day May 20, 2009 Michael Hudson Gary Leupp Michael D. Yates Jonathan Cook Peter Lee Binoy Kampmark Peter Zinn William Loren Katz Gary Lapon Trudy Bond Website of the Day May 19, 2009 Kristoffer Rehder Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Vijay Prashad Mirjam Hadar Meerschwam Mustafa Barghouthi Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark John Walsh David Macaray Website of the Day May 18, 2009 Dave Lindorff Abdul Malik Mujahid Jonathan Cook Ben Rosenfeld Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader Stephen Soldz Eugenia Tsao Walter Brasch Roberto Rodriguez Charlotte Laws Website of the Day May 15-17, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair David Rosen Mike Whitney Bruce Page Jeremy Scahill Fred Gardner Tom Barry Mats Svensson Ramzy Baroud Mark Engler Mark Weisbrot Farzana Versey Ron Jacobs Hannah Wolfe Cal Winslow David Macaray Christopher Brauchli Mark Seth Lender Robert Fantina David Ker Thomson Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson Chase Madar Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 14, 2009 Michael Hudson Andy Worthington Paul Craig Roberts Jonathan Cook Ray McGovern Lance Selfa David Green Dave Lindorff Frida Berrigan Sue Udry Website of the Day May 13, 2009 Brian M. Downing Gareth Porter Robert Sandels Ricardo Alarcón Eric Walberg Dave Lindorff Deepak Tripathi William S. Lind Kevin Zeese Franklin Lamb Website of the Day May 12, 2009 Gary Leupp Richard Neville Wajahat Ali Dean Baker Franklin Lamb Norman Solomon Paul Craig Roberts Lisa M. Hamilton Bob Fitrakis / David Macaray Website of the Day May 11, 2009 Andrea Peacock Michael Hudson Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader John Kelly Saul Landau Dave Lindorff David Michael Green Anthony Papa Paul Krassner Website of the Day
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June 4, 2009 How Corporate America Has Outmanueverd Organized LaborIs Card Check Dead?By ADAM TURL The fight for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) appears to be stumbling, with Corporate America increasingly confident that it will defeat the most "controversial" parts of the pro-union legislation. If passed in its current form, EFCA would make it easier to form unions by giving workers the option of gaining representation when a simple majority of employees signs union cards, a method often called "card check." EFCA would also increase fines on employers for violating workers' right to organize and make it harder for companies to weasel out of initial union contracts by imposing binding arbitration if negotiations stall. Now, however, a rotten compromise on EFCA--if not its outright defeat--is looking more and more likely. Back in November, it seemed as if there was a perfect storm to win the law. Barack Obama had won the White House, the Democrats increased their majority in Congress, and there was widespread anger over the financial meltdown and government bailout of the big banks. But just seven months later, efforts to pass EFCA have faltered. As expected, business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have been ferocious in their opposition to EFCA. But Democrats have been at best tepid in their support for safeguarding workers' right to organize. "They're acting like they don't understand how much power they have, and that the conservative movement is disorganized," said James Thindwa, executive director of Chicago Jobs with Justice. "EFCA is a test of how committed the Democrats are to labor." Some are certainly failing the test. A few have turned outright against EFCA--like Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, which, of course, is the home state of the notoriously anti-union Wal-Mart. Other Democrats seem willing to let EFCA die by a thousand cuts--Obama among them. In May, the president argued for compromise on EFCA, saying "I'm supportive of it, but there aren't enough votes right now." Democratic senators are floating ideas for possible amendments that would defang the legislation. These include:
When (and if) EFCA gets out of Congressional committees, even worse amendments will be proposed by Republicans. * * * HOW DID this happen? Opinion polls show support for legislation that makes it easier to join unions is stronger than ever. That's surely the result of the gut-level understanding among millions of people that corporations have been getting away with murder. But because of the timidity of Democratic politicians and their backers in the union movement, big business has been able to project its case against EFCA. The result is that an upside-down "bizarro" version of what workers actually face predominates in the mainstream discussion of the legislation. Take, for example, Corporate America's main red herring about EFCA--that it would allow unions to intimidate workers into signing up. During the 75 years since workers have had a legal right to organize a union, there is almost zero evidence of "union intimidation." In fact, a new study by the University of Illinois shows there is evidence of the absence of union intimidation. The real balance of forces in the workplace is very different from the picture painted by business. Since 1970s, labor laws that favor unions have gone increasingly unenforced, while backwards anti-labor laws are used with impunity. As Teamsters Local 743 President Richard Berg put it:
Chris Townsend, political action director of the United Electrical workers union (UE), agrees. "We have an often unrecognized, unchecked and unprosecuted corporate crime wave in the workplace," Townsend says. "That is the primary reason [EFCA] should be passed--to protect workers from a lopsided war against them waged by their employer almost every day." The direct result of all this has been the undermining of union power. Even before the recession, organized labor represented less than 10 percent of private-sector workers--down from a post-Second World War high of 35 percent. An entire way of life for millions of working-class people--made possible by unions--was destroyed. As Berg recalls, "When I was a kid--my dad was a truck driver--nearly every truck on the road was union. And now, when you drive down the road, even in cities like Chicago...only a fraction of the trucks are union." But unions didn't take the opportunity of Obama's election and the big Democratic win in 2008 to go on the offensive. As the Los Angeles Times explained:
Townsend says EFCA supporters--including Service Employees International Union President Andrew Stern--made the mistake of offering compromises at the outset:
* * * THINGS DIDN'T have to play out this way. Across the country, there are examples of workers and trade unionists doing the sorts of things that could tip the balance in labor's favor if such tactics were pursued nationwide. For example, the United Food and Commercial Workers union seized the moment to launch an organizing campaign at Wal-Mart. The union deployed 60 organizers to 100 stores across 15 different states. Business Management Daily reported: <blockquote> The cards also symbolize the union's push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would allow workers to choose union representation by completing an authorization card rather than by secret ballot. One can imagine the impact if more unions had undertaken similar initiatives, connecting actual organizing with the struggle for EFCA. There have been other positive examples. In Fontana, Calif., 200 workers picketed for EFCA in front of a Wal-Mart warehouse. Another 300 people protested in Lynn, Mass. In Peoria, Ill., hundreds of unionists and workers protested former George W. Bush advisor Karl Rove, who was speaking at an anti-EFCA event. In the brouhaha that preceded Rove's visit, the city's Chamber of Commerce was pressured into withdrawing its endorsement of the event, and even issued a statement that it had no formal position on EFCA. Unfortunately, mobilizations like these have been too few to have the same sort of impact nationally. Of course, EFCA is not the end of the story. Even if EFCA is watered down or defeated, there are more fights to come. As the UE's Townsend put it, "EFCA is not a magic wand or a cure-all. As fast as we pass this thing or something like it, we are going to have to go back again and face a whole front of other issues [that] will need to be fixed." Chief among these issues is organizing--with or without EFCA--a generation of workers now living on the economy's edge. Adam Turl writes for the Socialist Worker.
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