UAW President Bob King, AFT President Randi Weingarten

[janx]

UAW President Bob King:

"If it wasn't for Rahm Emanuel,... if it wasn't for President Obama and the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate, we wouldn't have an auto industry. Millions of more people would be out of work today," King told CNBC on Friday morning. (Watch at the 3:00 mark)

"They have done nothing but to help the middle class in America. I appreciate the Obama administration. I appreciate what they have done for workers in general. Did they do good for the auto industry?

"Yes they did. Did Rahm Emanuel play a role in that? Yes, he did. I appreciate him."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/03/rahm-emanuels-fuck-the-ua_n_704809.html

____________________________________________________

AFT President Randi Weingarten:

The U.S, Department of Education today announced it has awarded grants to two consortia of states to develop a new generation of student assessments. The Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers will receive $170 million, and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium will receive $160 million. Together the two groups include 44 states and the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON—We applaud today’s announcement. These grants take a solid step toward developing better assessments of student achievement. This is a welcome move away from single high-stakes tests—a move that will better inform teaching and learning.

A high-quality public education system has many building blocks. One of those is quality assessments tied to common standards. Tests must be aligned with what kids need to know to succeed in the 21st century. Former AFT member Albert Einstein once wisely noted: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

A single test at the end of the year becomes an unhelpful single focus for teachers and students. Quality assessments given throughout the school year are tools that will help both teachers and students. The new approach funded today promises to develop multiple interim assessments—a change that should be embraced by educators, parents, students and the public. But it’s important to remember that even the best test is not enough to make an education; much more is required.

http://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2010/090210.cfm

___________________________________________________

Happy Labor Day weekend, all. ;-)

[Hannah Bell]

1. both colluding in taking down their membership. go to factory rats & read the comments about kind.

go to a teachers' blog & read about randi -- an eli broad plant.

[Radical Activist]

2. So you throw top labor leaders under the bus if they don't hate Obama as much as you.

Thanks for confirming your level of commitment to campaigning against Obama. Clearly, nothing is more important to you that proving the evilness of TEH OBAMA MENACE.

You can claim Obama is busy busting unions all day long but the labor movement does not buy into your conspiracy theory. The fact that you think they're in on it is a little disturbing. These people do more for working people in a day than all of your combined posts on DU ever have or ever will.

[janx]

5. A...plant?

Is that anything like an impostor?

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Catshrink]

9. Do you know Randi Weingarten's history?

Do you know why Hannah Bell made that statement?

BTW, your remarks are out of line and constitute a personal attack.

[Name removed]

69. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NJmaverick]

17. Wow, your comments show a steadfast refusal to give credit where it's due

that's troubling

[Hannah Bell]

20. wow, your comments show a steadfast dedication to excusing anything: that's troubling.

[NJmaverick]

25. When the president of a labor union gives credit to the President

it's beyond belief that you would counter those compliments. So frankly I have little interest in your interpretations of my post, based on the unreasonable position you have staked out for yourself.

[Hannah Bell]

35. if the president is currently trying to force his membership into a vote a majority of them

have already refused twice, & said president has been involved in concessionary deals for years -- i think not.

and if other said president has an -- uh, "interesting" career path, including a stint in the school deformers' training base, "broad academy" -- i think not too.

[SoxFan]

30. ...

[Political Tiger]

46. "both colluding in taking down their membership"

Yeah, that makes sense.....NOT!

[Hannah Bell]

66. whatever you say, tiger.

[Radical Activist]

3. Thanks for the reality check.

Hearing the hysterical claims about Obama busting unions gets a little old. He saved tens of thousands of teacher jobs and that can't be ignored.

[DrSteveB]

4. Which begs the question: Why did Rahm say \\\"fuck the UAW\\\"?

If hes done so much for the union and loves unions so much, why did he say such thing?

[janx]

6. I suggest you look at the source of that quotation.

Is it by any chance a guy who is currently trying to sell a book? And even if he did say something like that out of frustration one day, it hardly matters in the grand scheme of things. If you check the huffpost link, there's a link to a video of King. He says a lot more than what I've excerpted here.

It's worth a look.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

8. Why, Janx, I think you're correct on that.

It's a guy who spent a whopping six months in the Obama Administration before resigning to fight allegations of securities fraud and who has since written a book that is doubtless intended to pay off his legal fees.

[janx]

15. Securities fraud?

I must confess I didn't know about that and will check into it.

[Hannah Bell]

31. Rattner is married to Maureen White, the former National Finance Chair for the Democratic Party.

In May, 2009, with the release of Rattner's financial disclosure report, it was revealed that prior to his appointment as head of the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, Rattner was an investor in a Cerberus Capital Management auto-parts-companies' fund. Cerberus was then also the owner of Chrysler, a major focus of Rattner's Treasury job in the spring of '09. "The disclosure said that Mr. Rattner would divest any Cerberus holdings that presented a conflict, and a Treasury official confirmed that he had done so. 'Like all employees, Steven Rattner was required to comply with financial conflict of interest rules, including divestitures where needed, and he has done so fully,' said Jenni Engebretsen, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department."<3>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Rattner

[janx]

36. Thank you, Hannah. That's a start.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

[Peacetrain]

10. Thank you for the reality check!

[Catshrink]

11. Insert fingers in ears and say la la la I can't hear you....

Rahm is such a sweet man, I know he'd never say such a thing.

[janx]

12. Even if he did, so what?

I've never been frustrated enough to use that word...have you? ;-)

[Hannah Bell]

13. king:

In November, Ford workers voted down a concessions contract negotiated by King by a margin of 70 percent. It was the first rejection of a national auto contract recommended by the UAW since 1982 and at Ford since 1976. In the days leading up to the vote, King was repeatedly booed and driven off the stage when he sought to sell the deal to workers in Michigan, Missouri and other states.

As head of the negotiations with Ford, King pushed through the “transformational” contract in 2007, which, among other things, reduced the wages of new hires from $28 to $14 an hour. In the first wave of 2009 contract “modifications,” he once again pushed through concessions, including stripping hundreds of thousands of Ford retirees and their dependents of optical and dental care.

http://socialequality.com/node/691


The UAW Constitution forbids any union official from negotiating with an employer
without approval of the membership. But under Bob King’s leadership the UAW
Constitution should only be used to control and manipulate workers.

The UAW International went behind the backs of the members and their elected
Bargaining Chairman, Greg Clark, and negotiated a cut rate contract with J.D. Norman.

In defiance of the local union, the UAW Constitution, and the fundamental union
principle of solidarity, Bob King demands that members vote to break the master
agreement at a special meeting this Sunday and ratify the scab contract on Monday.

http://www.factoryrat.com/factoryrat/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=87744


rah, rah, rah!

nobody buys the apologetics anymore.

it's pretty clear-cut when the head of the whole union is trying to force you to vote yourself $15/hr so you can train your non-union replacements cheap.

[janx]

14. My, those are impeccable sources...

The Socialist Equality Party and FactoryRat dot Com, which is a message board where anyone can post.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[janx]

19. I'm a skeptic about media too, so I'm trying to understand

what you're saying, but I cannot.

[Hannah Bell]

21. gee, too bad.

[janx]

23. Thank you for editing it! n/t

[Hannah Bell]

26. useless to explain the details to you as you're not interested.

[janx]

32. It's not that I'm not interested.

I'm very particular when it comes to sources, though, as there's so much misinformation online. I teach source evaluation. It's important to know where information is coming from and why it's there.

[Hannah Bell]

33. maybe you better check the washington post's conflicts of interest, then.

their ed deform/anti-union puff pieces directly benefit the ed deform corp that's their source of profits.

the paper is losing money.

[Hannah Bell]

27. editing -- what?

[janx]

28. The post that I had a tough time understanding.

You added some information, and I appreciate that.

[Hannah Bell]

34. i added the shotwell quote. not sure why that makes the post easier to understand.

[janx]

37. Well, now I know that he's a union member posting on a message

board, and I know a little more about him.

[Hannah Bell]

39. he's a union leader & activist, actually.

http://www.soldiersofsolidarity.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoNyQSyEAy8


Live Bait & Ammo #151: Where does Bob King Stand?

In an interview by Amy Goodman on “Democracy Now” June 22, 2010, the new
UAW International President, Bob King, said, “What we want is companies to recognize the
workers’ First Amendment rights. Workers should have a right of free speech. They should
have a right of association without being intimidated—in some cases, terrorized—by the boss,
without having their jobs threatened or their plants threatened to close. It’s outrageous the
way that some employers try to deny workers their rights to organize and their rights—their
First Amendment rights, really.” Meanwhile UAW members at a GM parts plant in Saginaw are being intimidated, even “terrorized”, with layoffs and threats to close the plant if they don’t terminate their contract early and agree to severe wage and benefit cuts.

King is AWOL when the terror is in his own house. Instead UAW officials are colluding
in threats of economic terror because workers voted the concession contract down.
UAW officials are circulating a petition for a revote. This is simply cover for a
Bargaining Chair who wants to re-negotiate and come back with the same concessions.
A rank & file member, who was exercising his rights under the UAW Constitution,
circulated a recall petition against the bargaining committee. He was disciplined. He was
reportedly on his break time but distributing in a work area. So the discipline has a basis. The
question is: are those who circulate the revote petition held to the same standard?


Does economic terror ever end? Will a worker ever feel secure in the USA?
GM is telling workers point blank that the goal of the contract is to make the site
attractive to companies that “are looking for a North American base.” In other words a
Korean or Chinese company whose real intention is to strip mine the Saginaw facility and
ship the work overseas. Both countries are aggressively pursuing an agenda to strengthen
their domestic manufacturing capabilities for export. They have no intention of creating jobs
in the USA.

Coercion and company-unionism go hand in hand...Where is King’s passion for social justice when he is actually in a position to do something more than talk the talk? Come on out, Brother King. Show us what your words mean.


sos, [e-mail]
www.warriorsoflabor.com www.soldiersofsolidarity.com www.factoryrat.com


http://www.soldiersofsolidarity.com/files/livebaitammo/LB_A_151.pdf

[janx]

49. And Good For Him.

We need more like him.

[Hannah Bell]

54. and fewer like bob king & randi weingarten. but it seems rank & file activists never get to play

with the "leaders"

[janx]

58. At least he is getting heard though, Hannah. n/t

[Hannah Bell]

59. shotwell? not in the news. not quoted on tv.

there it's all psyops, all the time.

if you only listened to the news you'd think gm is adding jobs.

they're not. gm's tv rhetoric is 180 of what they're doing on the ground.

[janx]

60. So maybe he should write a political gossip book and include salacious

quotations from federal officials--THEN he'd get some attention!

[Hannah Bell]

61. no, he wouldn't. only bigshot democrats get attention when they tattle on other bigshot dems.

ditto, pubs.

people who actually give a damn about something besides money & power are dangerous.

[janx]

63. delete--posted in the wrong place

[janx]

64. A little like Rattner tattling on Rahm Emanuel?

Surely we can agree on something. ;-)

[Hannah Bell]

65. my point exactly. and he said it -- that's not in doubt.

[janx]

68. It's not? In what context did he say it?

Do you see why I am skeptical about these rumored allegations?

[janx]

40. I'm not apologizing.

The reason I posted at all is because there seems to be some misinformation on DU about the relationship between the federal government and unions.

Also--a little civility should be in order, no?

[Hannah Bell]

42. you need to look up the definition of "apologetics".

and i don't feel any compunction to make nice when first post out of the gate is "i don't have to pay attention because you linked some socialists & a public website for uaw workers".

just bullshit.

king & weingarten are both selling out their members & weingarten is an honest-to-god plant from the ed deform contingent.

[janx]

44. I'm well aware of it. n/t

[Born_A_Truman]

22. Not sure where you got that ...

You said:
it's pretty clear-cut when the head of the whole union is trying to force you to vote yourself $15/hr so you can train your non-union replacements cheap.

Article said "new hires"...
reduced the wages of new hires from $28 to $14 an hour

:shrug:

[Hannah Bell]

24. new hires *already* earn $15/hr. the renegotiation is for older workers to take a 50% cut.

[DrSteveB]

38. Rattner's claim has not been disputed

By the White House. They had an opportunity to dispute it but didn't. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/03/rahm-emanuels-fuck-the-ua_n_704809.html

[janx]

41. And this is important why?

If the president of the UAW has no problem with it--King almost seems to find the question funny in the video--why is it important, other than because somebody finds it titillating and lucrative to publish?

[DrSteveB]

43. It was important to the person who told me to consider the source

Obviously.

To some, it is important that a high-ranking member of our government told a union to go **** itself.

[janx]

47. You are assuming that he did.

But when the president of the union appears in a video and describes his respect for that government member, I tend to use some critical thought and consider that maybe this is another case of media sensationalism--including promotional efforts on the part of the publisher (or publicist), who forwarded an advance copy of the book to Huffpost in the first place.

[NJmaverick]

29. Maybe because he was frustrated? You know humans get frustrated at times

and say stuff, in private, that they wouldn't say in public.

[janx]

53. I don't swear much...

unless I'm upset with a computer or behind the wheel of a failing car. And that's hardly comparable to dealing with the pending collapse of a major U.S. industry. ;-)

[SoxFan]

45. There are many possible reasons

Perhaps this will help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26UA578yQ5g

[Kahuna]

74. Who cares! That's Rahm. That's who he is. That's what he does.

According to legend, "fuck" is his favorite word.

[NJmaverick]

16. K & R

[FrenchieCat]

48. It appears that in taking a responsible stance, the UAW and the AFT leaders

are more concerned about deeds than they are about words.

Guess they realize that what is important is the fate of their workers,
much more than hurt feelings.

That's a good thing.

[janx]

50. Frenchie, look at this video, starting at about 3:00.

King looks amused when asked about it.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=1581746146&play=1

[FrenchieCat]

52. I'm just surprised that he's getting a fair interview on CNBC!

[janx]

56. That surprised me too,

but I was not surprised that CNBC asked the question.

[Hannah Bell]

57. you seem to mistake bob king for the uaw. he's not, you know. uaw is its

members. who don't really like the president's chief of staff saying "fuck the uaw".

[janx]

62. He is the president of UAW, isn't he?

How did that happen?

[Hannah Bell]

73. the same way weingarten got it. behind the scenes maneuvering & a membership out of the loop.

you really think the leadership is chosen by the membership?

lol. the possible candidates are preselected for the peons. as with all our "democracy".

[Hannah Bell]

55. yeah, that's why new uaw workers get $15/hr now & gm is opening non-union plants

& whipsawing its members into jacking their wages down further.

cause those nice leaders care about the members.

gag me.

[Number23]

51. Well, looky here, looky here. Kicked and rec'd

:)

[janx]

72. Thank you! n/t

[Scurrilous]

67. Thanks.

K & R :thumbsup:

[Cha]

70. This is so true..thank you,

janx!

Happy Labor Day to you~:hi:

[janx]

71. To you too, Cha--

Times are rough for many of us, myself included. But I will never give up. :hug:

[MineralMan]

75. Good story. I counteracts the other stuff I've been reading.

[sandnsea]

76. Good stuff, thanks!

I was just looking at info on the new testing plans. Perfect timing!

And yes, Obama saved the auto industry which is the backbone of the unions.

He's saving public education too, by making it work for all kids.

[JTFrog]

77. K&R!