Corporate Crime // Current

535 people represent you..what are you gonna do about it?

The election is over and we must begin turning our country around now, or the opportunity may not come again. By quickly... more

joefac3
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The Real VP Debate wheres Biden /Palin??

All potential VP's were invited These VP Candidates showed up. I suggest listening to Matt Gonzalez Wayne Alan Root-... more

joefac3
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YouTube - Dr Strange McCain

fun video by my freaks in SaN Francciso

joefac3
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Wal-Mart has 'perfected the art of union-busting'

Want to understand why so many American workers find it so hard to organize unions in their workplaces? Look no further than Wal-Mart, a researcher for Human Rights Watch says.

Wal-Mart is a case study "of the abysmal workers' rights regime we have here in the United States," said Carol Pier, senior researcher on labor rights and trade for Human Rights Watch, an independent, nongovernmental organization that investigates human rights violations around the world.

In a speech last week at the University of Minnesota, Pier described her two-and-one-half-year study of Wal-Mart's labor-management record, which culminated in a 210-page report, issued in 2007, titled "Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart's Violation of U.S. Workers' Right to Freedom of Association."

The report found that while many American companies use weak U.S. laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus. Many of its anti-union tactics are lawful in the United States, though they combine to undermine workers' rights. Others run afoul of soft U.S. laws.

"I like to think about it as a 'death by small cuts' strategy," Pier told the audience gathered at the University of Minnesota Law School. "And the effect is devastating."

In the course of her research, Pier interviewed dozens of current and former Wal-Mart "associates" (the term the company uses for its employees) and supervisors in six states and pored through thousands of pages of material from the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces U.S. labor law.

Wal-Mart uses a subtle form of union-busting that starts with new employee orientation, where training includes watching an anti-union video, Pier said. The corporation has a 24-hour hotline for managers to report any signs of union organizing activity and a "labor relations team" is quickly dispatched to assess the situation.

Depending on the level of union activity, workers may be subjected to mandatory "captive audience" meetings where they are lectured on the evils of unionism. In some stores, Wal-Mart has crossed the line from subtle to heavy-handed by conducting surveillance on employees, disciplining and firing some.

When those actions are taken – clearly in violation of U.S. labor law – the failings of the system become clear, Pier said. Wal-Mart takes advantage of the exceedingly slow NLRB process to draw out cases for years. When a worker finally wins a case, the company faces no penalty – other than the requirement to reinstate the worker with back pay (minus anything he or she earned in other employment) and to post a notice saying "they won't do it again."

With nearly 1 million employees in the United States, Wal-Mart is the country's largest private employer. Yet none of these workers belongs to a union. Employees at two stores in Quebec, Canada, finally won union representation, but both stores have been closed – the second one earlier this month.

The International Labor Organization has cited the lack of penalties – and the fact that workers can be "permanently replaced" if they strike – as reasons that U.S. labor law fails to meet international human rights standards, Pier said.

more@linkWant to understand why so many American workers find it so hard to organize unions in their workplaces? Look no further than... more

pokesmot
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38 responses

19 days ago

Jail Time Not Bail Time!

a Nine part Video of the wall street protests in NYC

joefac3
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20 days ago

Palin and Biden Scared to Debate 3rd Parties

t's debate week! Ralph Nader will appear tomorrow (Thursday October 30, 2008, 4:30 to 5:30 EST) in a Third Party debate at... more

joefac3
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2 responses

20 days ago

Obama McCain- scared to Debate- Not Democratic!

It's debate week! Ralph Nader will appear tomorrow (Thursday October 30, 2008, 4:30 to 5:30 EST) in a Third Party... more

joefac3
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20 days ago

EnviroNutZ- Nader Wins

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader after a sweeping upset has won the Presidency! Nader a long time consumer advocate and best known for his criticism of corporate power has against all odds and without a fair debate with the two major party candidates, embraced the will of the people, and will now serve as what he quotes as “Citizen as Chief”
A befuddled Barack Obama when asked “What Happened?” responded” Well,… I think in the end the peoples saw right through me…I guess I underestimated him?
Senator McCain when asked about the Nader Victory resonded.” Why he’s a terrorist! I can’t believe it? Did you Know he’s Lebonese? We’ve sold our souls to al Queda….Gov Palin Chimed in with an “Yah he, like he’s an “Elite Terrorist” he’s from Connecticut is he not?” ”he’s not married he’s probably GAY!” OH Now the whole country will turn Gay” ”Glad I’m up in Alaska” ‘wink’**
Nader promises and immediate withdraw of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan followed by enormous aid to the region and international round table to discuss restoring the region. A plan to cut the wasteful military budget will then disentangle the Military industrial Complex from its politically engineered and perpetual congressional approval. Instead he plans to use the money for schools and his health plan. In his first 100 Days he will deliver Single payer Health Care, with private doctors and choice.
He plans to Bring jobs back home to the USA by invigorating green technologies and rebuilding America’s infrastructure. By instituting a Carbon Pollution tax, these new technologies may take root with subsidies to the industry and ween our dependence on foreign oil.
Nader vows to continue his plan to run the crooks out of Washington and the Wall Street Banksters with an aggressive crackdown on corporate crime. Including the High Crimes and Misdemeanors of the Bush administration adn bring immediate charges of impeachment to the “arrogant dynasty of King George the 4th”
By leveraging a Wall street Speculation tax of just 1/10th of 1% Nader spells out how the 700 Billion Bailout plan could have been avoided, and vows to hold deliberations in congress as to how to proceed.
Nader’s VP Matt Gonzalez will be heading up plans to reform Ballot access obstructionism and end the two party dominated corporate Duopoly. They promise to end the corporate controlled debates that Nader himself has battled for over 16 years. “No more debates brought to you by Anheuser Busch or Conventions by AT&T, its time to get the corporate paymasters out of POLITICS!”
Nader/Gonzalez will create a New Cabinet position for the Department of Peace. Cabinet Secretary Michael Franti of San Francisco has been tapped for the position as “Minister of Peace” for his insightful motto of “you can Bomb the World to Pieces but you can’t Bomb it into Peace”
Finally, Nader Gonzalez will defy corporate personhood and vow to forge forward a new government “By the People and For The People”
When asked what the first thing he was going to do as president Nader responded” I’m gonna put the Solar panels back on the White House that Carter had put on and Reagan took off…… then I’m probably gonna roll up my sleeves and get to work!”

** This reporter told her to STFU! you dimwitted fool!Consumer advocate Ralph Nader after a sweeping upset has won the Presidency! Nader a long time consumer advocate and best known... more