The Republican Legacy:
The Worst Economic Crisis in Three Generations
Heckuva job Bush and his Republican friends have given us the credit crisis, the housing bust, the energy crisis, two budget-busting wars with the threat of a third and record oil company profits. Time and time again, the Republicans, including John McCain who doesn't know how many houses he has and who loves to buy stacks of $100 chips for gambling, have also offered giveaways to the rich who are already rich and don't need giveaways. Did I mention that we're in an economic crisis?Did I also mention that every sane person in Congress is holding their nose because they are probably going to have to vote yes on a bailout plan that is certainly better than Bush's plan but far from ideal because Bush and Republicans refused to deal with the problem when it would have been far smarter to do so a year or two ago? Yeah, it's a mouthful to swallow. And nobody likes it. Did everyone think that the Chinese were going to pour their billions into our housing market forever while huge areas of our economy lagged behind in the 20th century? Were we going to buy oil from the Arabs forever while shipping our jobs overseas? Were we going to borrow from the future forever
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
We Are The Millwrights
"GODS CHOSEN FEW"
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Mentality of Hillbillies
Mentality of Hillbillies
As one Republican lawmaker told Novak, GOP leaders champion an “anti-union attitude that appeals to the mentality of hillbillies at revival meetings.”
The hostility, while disgusting, is unsurprising. Unions wield power for workers, meaning they present an obstacle to Republican corporate donors, who want to put profit-making over other societal priorities.
Millwright Ron
As one Republican lawmaker told Novak, GOP leaders champion an “anti-union attitude that appeals to the mentality of hillbillies at revival meetings.”
The hostility, while disgusting, is unsurprising. Unions wield power for workers, meaning they present an obstacle to Republican corporate donors, who want to put profit-making over other societal priorities.
Millwright Ron
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Republicans
Republicans
Even the Republicans' sense of political self-interest seems dimmed by their anti-union zealotry. Senate Republicans may think they gain political points by standing against assistance to a major industry, but they will suffer political damage lasting generations if they permit the U.S. auto industry to collapse. - Ralph Nader
Millwright Ron
Even the Republicans' sense of political self-interest seems dimmed by their anti-union zealotry. Senate Republicans may think they gain political points by standing against assistance to a major industry, but they will suffer political damage lasting generations if they permit the U.S. auto industry to collapse. - Ralph Nader
Millwright Ron
Friday, December 12, 2008
$73 an Hour
$73 an Hour
That figure — repeated on television and in newspapers as the average pay of a Big Three autoworker — has become a big symbol in the fight over what should happen to Detroit. To critics, it is a neat encapsulation of everything that’s wrong with bloated car companies and their entitled workers.
To the Big Three’s defenders, meanwhile, the number has become proof positive that autoworkers are being unfairly blamed for Detroit’s decline. “We’ve heard this garbage about 73 bucks an hour,” Senator Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said last week. “It’s a total lie. I think some people have perpetrated that deliberately, in a calculated way, to mislead the American people about what we’re doing here.”
So what is the reality behind the number? Detroit’s defenders are right that the number is basically wrong. Big Three workers aren’t making anything close to $73 an hour (which would translate to about $150,000 a year).
But the defenders are not right to suggest, as many have, that Detroit has solved its wage problem. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler workers make significantly more than their counterparts at Toyota, Honda and Nissan plants in this country. Last year’s concessions by the United Automobile Workers, which mostly apply to new workers, will not change that anytime soon.
And yet the main problem facing Detroit, overwhelmingly, is not the pay gap. That’s unfortunate because fixing the pay gap would be fairly straightforward.
The real problem is that many people don’t want to buy the cars that Detroit makes. Fixing this problem won’t be nearly so easy.
The success of any bailout is probably going to come down to Washington’s willingness to acknowledge as much.
Let’s start with the numbers. The $73-an-hour figure comes from the car companies themselves. As part of their public relations strategy during labor negotiations, the companies put out various charts and reports explaining what they paid their workers. Wall Street analysts have done similar calculations.
The calculations show, accurately enough, that for every hour a unionized worker puts in, one of the Big Three really does spend about $73 on compensation. So the number isn’t made up. But it is the combination of three very different categories.
The first category is simply cash payments, which is what many people imagine when they hear the word “compensation.” It includes wages, overtime and vacation pay, and comes to about $40 an hour. (The numbers vary a bit by company and year. That’s why $73 is sometimes $70 or $77.)
The second category is fringe benefits, like health insurance and pensions. These benefits have real value, even if they don’t show up on a weekly paycheck. At the Big Three, the benefits amount to $15 an hour or so.
Add the two together, and you get the true hourly compensation of Detroit’s unionized work force: roughly $55 an hour. It’s a little more than twice as much as the typical American worker makes, benefits included. The more relevant comparison, though, is probably to Honda’s or Toyota’s (nonunionized) workers. They make in the neighborhood of $45 an hour, and most of the gap stems from their less generous benefits.
The third category is the cost of benefits for retirees. These are essentially fixed costs that have no relation to how many vehicles the companies make. But they are a real cost, so the companies add them into the mix — dividing those costs by the total hours of the current work force, to get a figure of $15 or so — and end up at roughly $70 an hour.
The crucial point, though, is this $15 isn’t mainly a reflection of how generous the retiree benefits are. It’s a reflection of how many retirees there are. The Big Three built up a huge pool of retirees long before Honda and Toyota opened plants in this country. You’d never know this by looking at the graphic behind Wolf Blitzer on CNN last week, contrasting the “$73/hour” pay of Detroit’s workers with the “up to $48/hour” pay of workers at the Japanese companies.
These retirees make up arguably Detroit’s best case for a bailout. The Big Three and the U.A.W. had the bad luck of helping to create the middle class in a country where individual companies — as opposed to all of society — must shoulder much of the burden of paying for retirement.
So here’s a little experiment. Imagine that a Congressional bailout effectively pays for $10 an hour of the retiree benefits. That’s roughly the gap between the Big Three’s retiree costs and those of the Japanese-owned plants in this country. Imagine, also, that the U.A.W. agrees to reduce pay and benefits for current workers to $45 an hour — the same as at Honda and Toyota.
Do you know how much that would reduce the cost of producing a Big Three vehicle? Only about $800.
That’s because labor costs, for all the attention they have been receiving, make up only about 10 percent of the cost of making a vehicle. An extra $800 per vehicle would certainly help Detroit, but the Big Three already often sell their cars for about $2,500 less than equivalent cars from Japanese companies, analysts at the International Motor Vehicle Program say. Even so, many Americans no longer want to own the cars being made by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
My own family’s story isn’t especially unusual. For decades, my grandparents bought American and only American. In their apartment, they still have a framed photo of the 1933 Oldsmobile that my grandfather’s family drove when he was a teenager. In the photo, his father stands proudly on the car’s running board.
By the 1970s, though, my grandfather became so sick of the problems with his American cars that he vowed never to buy another one. He hasn’t.
Detroit’s defenders, from top executives on down, insist that they have finally learned their lesson. They say a comeback is just around the corner. But they said the same thing at the start of this decade — and the start of the last one and the one before that. All the while, their market share has kept on falling.
There is good reason to keep G.M. and Chrysler from collapsing in 2009. (Ford is in slightly better shape.) The economy is in the worst recession in a generation. You can think of the Detroit bailout as a relatively cost-effective form of stimulus. It’s often cheaper to keep workers in their jobs than to create new jobs.
But Congress and the Obama administration shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking that they can preserve the Big Three in anything like their current form. Very soon, they need to shrink to a size that reflects the American public’s collective judgment about the quality of their products.
It’s a sad story, in many ways. But it can’t really be undone at this point. If we had wanted to preserve the Big Three, we would have bought more of their cars.
That figure — repeated on television and in newspapers as the average pay of a Big Three autoworker — has become a big symbol in the fight over what should happen to Detroit. To critics, it is a neat encapsulation of everything that’s wrong with bloated car companies and their entitled workers.
To the Big Three’s defenders, meanwhile, the number has become proof positive that autoworkers are being unfairly blamed for Detroit’s decline. “We’ve heard this garbage about 73 bucks an hour,” Senator Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said last week. “It’s a total lie. I think some people have perpetrated that deliberately, in a calculated way, to mislead the American people about what we’re doing here.”
So what is the reality behind the number? Detroit’s defenders are right that the number is basically wrong. Big Three workers aren’t making anything close to $73 an hour (which would translate to about $150,000 a year).
But the defenders are not right to suggest, as many have, that Detroit has solved its wage problem. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler workers make significantly more than their counterparts at Toyota, Honda and Nissan plants in this country. Last year’s concessions by the United Automobile Workers, which mostly apply to new workers, will not change that anytime soon.
And yet the main problem facing Detroit, overwhelmingly, is not the pay gap. That’s unfortunate because fixing the pay gap would be fairly straightforward.
The real problem is that many people don’t want to buy the cars that Detroit makes. Fixing this problem won’t be nearly so easy.
The success of any bailout is probably going to come down to Washington’s willingness to acknowledge as much.
Let’s start with the numbers. The $73-an-hour figure comes from the car companies themselves. As part of their public relations strategy during labor negotiations, the companies put out various charts and reports explaining what they paid their workers. Wall Street analysts have done similar calculations.
The calculations show, accurately enough, that for every hour a unionized worker puts in, one of the Big Three really does spend about $73 on compensation. So the number isn’t made up. But it is the combination of three very different categories.
The first category is simply cash payments, which is what many people imagine when they hear the word “compensation.” It includes wages, overtime and vacation pay, and comes to about $40 an hour. (The numbers vary a bit by company and year. That’s why $73 is sometimes $70 or $77.)
The second category is fringe benefits, like health insurance and pensions. These benefits have real value, even if they don’t show up on a weekly paycheck. At the Big Three, the benefits amount to $15 an hour or so.
Add the two together, and you get the true hourly compensation of Detroit’s unionized work force: roughly $55 an hour. It’s a little more than twice as much as the typical American worker makes, benefits included. The more relevant comparison, though, is probably to Honda’s or Toyota’s (nonunionized) workers. They make in the neighborhood of $45 an hour, and most of the gap stems from their less generous benefits.
The third category is the cost of benefits for retirees. These are essentially fixed costs that have no relation to how many vehicles the companies make. But they are a real cost, so the companies add them into the mix — dividing those costs by the total hours of the current work force, to get a figure of $15 or so — and end up at roughly $70 an hour.
The crucial point, though, is this $15 isn’t mainly a reflection of how generous the retiree benefits are. It’s a reflection of how many retirees there are. The Big Three built up a huge pool of retirees long before Honda and Toyota opened plants in this country. You’d never know this by looking at the graphic behind Wolf Blitzer on CNN last week, contrasting the “$73/hour” pay of Detroit’s workers with the “up to $48/hour” pay of workers at the Japanese companies.
These retirees make up arguably Detroit’s best case for a bailout. The Big Three and the U.A.W. had the bad luck of helping to create the middle class in a country where individual companies — as opposed to all of society — must shoulder much of the burden of paying for retirement.
So here’s a little experiment. Imagine that a Congressional bailout effectively pays for $10 an hour of the retiree benefits. That’s roughly the gap between the Big Three’s retiree costs and those of the Japanese-owned plants in this country. Imagine, also, that the U.A.W. agrees to reduce pay and benefits for current workers to $45 an hour — the same as at Honda and Toyota.
Do you know how much that would reduce the cost of producing a Big Three vehicle? Only about $800.
That’s because labor costs, for all the attention they have been receiving, make up only about 10 percent of the cost of making a vehicle. An extra $800 per vehicle would certainly help Detroit, but the Big Three already often sell their cars for about $2,500 less than equivalent cars from Japanese companies, analysts at the International Motor Vehicle Program say. Even so, many Americans no longer want to own the cars being made by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
My own family’s story isn’t especially unusual. For decades, my grandparents bought American and only American. In their apartment, they still have a framed photo of the 1933 Oldsmobile that my grandfather’s family drove when he was a teenager. In the photo, his father stands proudly on the car’s running board.
By the 1970s, though, my grandfather became so sick of the problems with his American cars that he vowed never to buy another one. He hasn’t.
Detroit’s defenders, from top executives on down, insist that they have finally learned their lesson. They say a comeback is just around the corner. But they said the same thing at the start of this decade — and the start of the last one and the one before that. All the while, their market share has kept on falling.
There is good reason to keep G.M. and Chrysler from collapsing in 2009. (Ford is in slightly better shape.) The economy is in the worst recession in a generation. You can think of the Detroit bailout as a relatively cost-effective form of stimulus. It’s often cheaper to keep workers in their jobs than to create new jobs.
But Congress and the Obama administration shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking that they can preserve the Big Three in anything like their current form. Very soon, they need to shrink to a size that reflects the American public’s collective judgment about the quality of their products.
It’s a sad story, in many ways. But it can’t really be undone at this point. If we had wanted to preserve the Big Three, we would have bought more of their cars.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
UNION BUSTING
UNION BUSTING
Republican Senator Admits Opposition to Auto Bill is All About UNION BUSTING.
Why were Wall Street workers not asked for concessions? Autoworkers stepped up to the plate to save the car industry. White-collar workers, on the other hand, weren't expected to do the same when financial firms went to Congress with hat in hand.
Its all those damn workers fault for trying to get pay raises and this crazy thing called "health care.
Millwright Ron
Monday, December 08, 2008
Aerotek
Aerotek
Millwrights Wanted. 12hr rotating shift starting on nights at$23.75/hr. Located in Rockford, IL for a Union Shop. Position includesmachine operation, preventative maintenance, fabrication of parts, andwelding.
Contact info: Lee Thoms, Aerotek Inc. Direct line: 815-394-5521 or emailat lthoms@aerotek.com .
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwrights Wanted. 12hr rotating shift starting on nights at$23.75/hr. Located in Rockford, IL for a Union Shop. Position includesmachine operation, preventative maintenance, fabrication of parts, andwelding.
Contact info: Lee Thoms, Aerotek Inc. Direct line: 815-394-5521 or emailat lthoms@aerotek.com .
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Bechtel Careers
Bechtel Careers
Superintendent Mechanical Position
#: 50405492 Closing Date: 27-DEC-2008 Position #: Position #: 50403091 Closing Date: 08-JAN-2009 Position #: 50403092 Closing Date: 13-JAN-2009 Position #: 50405492, Organization: FOS-Prairie State Energy Campus Project Business Unit: Power Location: Lively Grove,IL United States The Bechtel group of companies is a global leader in engineering,construction, and project management. With 40 offices worldwide andprojects in nearly 50 nations, Bechtel offers challenging careers in power;mining and metals; civil infrastructure; government services;communications; and oil, gas, and chemicals. Bechtel has worked on some ofthe most complex projects in history and has been the top-ranked U.S.contractor for ten straight years. No job is too big or too tough for us and we are looking for skilled individuals who feel the same way. Position Duties/Responsibilities:
SUPERINTENDENT
IAssigned to a field construction organization in a supervisory capacity.Responsible for supervising and directing operations within assigneddiscipline or area. Supervises and directs craft activities,subordinate superintendents and others, as assigned. Ensures assignedconstruction operations and subcontractors performance are in compliancewith specifications and within schedules and budgets. Performs generalfunctions inherent in all supervisory field positions.On a large project, schedules and directs the sequence of work forseveral crews of related crafts operating within a single area.On a small- to medium-sized project, coordinates and directs multi-discipline craft activities within a specific area of the project, orall related crafts of a single discipline covering all areas of theproject.The Mechanical Superintendent will be responsible for craft productivityand discipline costs. Also includes the ability to write work plans andjob safety analysis. This position requires excellent communicationskills coupled with a strong technical background and/or craftexperience in all millwright materials, installation methods, andrelevant code requirements. The Mechanical Superintendent will also beresponsible to specify and order tools and consumable materials asrequired in support of the craft workforce within his purview.The Mechanical Superintendent will manage the General Foremen, Foremen,technicians, craft labor, and sub contractors; and will have directresponsibility for customer satisfaction and project profitability.He or she must value safety as the primary performance objective.The Mechanical Superintendent will report to, and receive directionfrom, the Project Superintendent and may be required to fill in for sameas required. He will be responsible to provide progress and performancereporting, and work with the site management team to develop andmaintain the site construction schedule.Essential Job Duties:-Promote safety as a value and ensure all work activities meet Bechtel'sES&H requirements and objectives-Determines manpower requirements for assigned work responsibilities-Supports project Quality, Cost and Schedule requirements-Establish tool and equipment requirements for all site mechanicalactivities-Provide direction and supervision for subordinate personnel withinassigned area of responsibility-Provide input to construction schedule-Coordinate activities with all disciplines and client representatives-Ensures assigned construction activities are executed in compliancewith all applicable Bechtel work processes and procedures-Generates Field Material Requisitions (FMR's) as required for tools,equipment and materials.-Reviews FMR's generated by subordinates-Must be able to work a flexible schedule and support extended hours asthe project requires. Ability to travel as required.-Subcontract management experience is a plus.Basic Qualifications:-Journeyman Craftsman plus 8 years Craft Supervision Experience orDiscipline Related Engineering Degree and 8 years Related WorkExperience or 12 Years Equivalent Directly Related Work Experience-Must have at least 10 years experience in fossil power or heavyindustrial construction.-Must have the right to work and remain in the United States-Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills-Must have a basic level of computer proficiency.-Must also have experience in generating and maintaining resource-loadedschedules; determining manpower, material, equipment, and toolrequirements; and supervising subordinate superintendents, GeneralForemen, Foremen, Technicians, Craft Labor, subcontract andadministrative employees.-Must have the ability to work closely in multiple disciplines withfield engineers, and other superintendents.-Must also have experience in rotating equipment installation andcenterline alignment installation including current working knowledge ofAWS and ASME welding procedures, processes and requirements.-Must also have a working knowledge of current welding technology andmethodology and associated equipment.Preferred Qualifications:-Journeyman Craftsman plus 10 years Craft Supervision Experience orDiscipline Related Engineering Degree and 10 years Related WorkExperience or 15 Years Equivalent Directly Related work ExperienceMust have Full Right to work in the United States
http://careers.bechtel.com/PositionDetail.aspx?q_pid=241115&q_Source=positionsearchhttp://careers.bechtel.com/PositionDetail.aspx?q_pid=243757&q_Source=positionsearchhttp://careers.bechtel.com/PositionDetail.aspx?q_pid=242270&q_Source=positionsearch
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Superintendent Mechanical Position
#: 50405492 Closing Date: 27-DEC-2008 Position #: Position #: 50403091 Closing Date: 08-JAN-2009 Position #: 50403092 Closing Date: 13-JAN-2009 Position #: 50405492, Organization: FOS-Prairie State Energy Campus Project Business Unit: Power Location: Lively Grove,IL United States The Bechtel group of companies is a global leader in engineering,construction, and project management. With 40 offices worldwide andprojects in nearly 50 nations, Bechtel offers challenging careers in power;mining and metals; civil infrastructure; government services;communications; and oil, gas, and chemicals. Bechtel has worked on some ofthe most complex projects in history and has been the top-ranked U.S.contractor for ten straight years. No job is too big or too tough for us and we are looking for skilled individuals who feel the same way. Position Duties/Responsibilities:
SUPERINTENDENT
IAssigned to a field construction organization in a supervisory capacity.Responsible for supervising and directing operations within assigneddiscipline or area. Supervises and directs craft activities,subordinate superintendents and others, as assigned. Ensures assignedconstruction operations and subcontractors performance are in compliancewith specifications and within schedules and budgets. Performs generalfunctions inherent in all supervisory field positions.On a large project, schedules and directs the sequence of work forseveral crews of related crafts operating within a single area.On a small- to medium-sized project, coordinates and directs multi-discipline craft activities within a specific area of the project, orall related crafts of a single discipline covering all areas of theproject.The Mechanical Superintendent will be responsible for craft productivityand discipline costs. Also includes the ability to write work plans andjob safety analysis. This position requires excellent communicationskills coupled with a strong technical background and/or craftexperience in all millwright materials, installation methods, andrelevant code requirements. The Mechanical Superintendent will also beresponsible to specify and order tools and consumable materials asrequired in support of the craft workforce within his purview.The Mechanical Superintendent will manage the General Foremen, Foremen,technicians, craft labor, and sub contractors; and will have directresponsibility for customer satisfaction and project profitability.He or she must value safety as the primary performance objective.The Mechanical Superintendent will report to, and receive directionfrom, the Project Superintendent and may be required to fill in for sameas required. He will be responsible to provide progress and performancereporting, and work with the site management team to develop andmaintain the site construction schedule.Essential Job Duties:-Promote safety as a value and ensure all work activities meet Bechtel'sES&H requirements and objectives-Determines manpower requirements for assigned work responsibilities-Supports project Quality, Cost and Schedule requirements-Establish tool and equipment requirements for all site mechanicalactivities-Provide direction and supervision for subordinate personnel withinassigned area of responsibility-Provide input to construction schedule-Coordinate activities with all disciplines and client representatives-Ensures assigned construction activities are executed in compliancewith all applicable Bechtel work processes and procedures-Generates Field Material Requisitions (FMR's) as required for tools,equipment and materials.-Reviews FMR's generated by subordinates-Must be able to work a flexible schedule and support extended hours asthe project requires. Ability to travel as required.-Subcontract management experience is a plus.Basic Qualifications:-Journeyman Craftsman plus 8 years Craft Supervision Experience orDiscipline Related Engineering Degree and 8 years Related WorkExperience or 12 Years Equivalent Directly Related Work Experience-Must have at least 10 years experience in fossil power or heavyindustrial construction.-Must have the right to work and remain in the United States-Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills-Must have a basic level of computer proficiency.-Must also have experience in generating and maintaining resource-loadedschedules; determining manpower, material, equipment, and toolrequirements; and supervising subordinate superintendents, GeneralForemen, Foremen, Technicians, Craft Labor, subcontract andadministrative employees.-Must have the ability to work closely in multiple disciplines withfield engineers, and other superintendents.-Must also have experience in rotating equipment installation andcenterline alignment installation including current working knowledge ofAWS and ASME welding procedures, processes and requirements.-Must also have a working knowledge of current welding technology andmethodology and associated equipment.Preferred Qualifications:-Journeyman Craftsman plus 10 years Craft Supervision Experience orDiscipline Related Engineering Degree and 10 years Related WorkExperience or 15 Years Equivalent Directly Related work ExperienceMust have Full Right to work in the United States
http://careers.bechtel.com/PositionDetail.aspx?q_pid=241115&q_Source=positionsearchhttp://careers.bechtel.com/PositionDetail.aspx?q_pid=243757&q_Source=positionsearchhttp://careers.bechtel.com/PositionDetail.aspx?q_pid=242270&q_Source=positionsearch
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Friday, December 05, 2008
wind Turbines
Hi Ron. Could you please forward the following information to B.White @ local 711 and anyone else who has information that may be able to assist me in searching for some answers. In Ontario Canada local 1410 is watching work take place while having nothing to do with it. There are several wind turbines being placed on and around Wolfe Island which being erected by union iron workers who are working along side non-union mechanical companies. As a local covering Eastern Ontario we have very little industry left and several members who have been unemployed for the last several months are watching all of this take place. As a small local, we the millwrights tend to work side by side with the iron workers on pretty much everything that happens in our area. The ironworkers who we have kept in touch with us regarding this issue say that even they would rather work with union millwrights rather than non union mechanical outfits. The fact is, the iron-workers are doing everything on site, from unloading barges to bolting up everything and finally installing the mechanical components on top of the shaft. Something doesn't sound or look right from a this member's point of view. My question to all of you is this: When it comes to wind turbine erection in the United States, what exactly is your jurisdiction when it comes to setting up wind turbines? Do we do it all in the U.S.? To everyone who receives this, your input will be used to help our local in searching for answers on how to approach this. Thanks for taking the time to read this and Ron, hope your feeling better.
Eric Kirby
Local 1410
Kingston ON
Canada
Eric Kirby
Local 1410
Kingston ON
Canada
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
ILLEGAL FIRINGS
ILLEGAL FIRINGS
This report finds a steep rise in illegal firings of pro-union workers in the 2000s relative to the last half of the 1990s. It uses published data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to update an index of the probability that a pro-union worker will be fired in the course of a union election campaign. By 2005, pro-union workers involved in union election campaigns faced about a 1.8 percent chance of being illegally fired during the course of the campaign. If we assume that employers target union organizers and activists, and that union organizers and activists make up about 10 percent of pro-union workers, our estimates suggest that almost one-in-five union organizers or activists can expect to be fired as a result of their activities in a union election campaign.
Millwright Ron
This report finds a steep rise in illegal firings of pro-union workers in the 2000s relative to the last half of the 1990s. It uses published data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to update an index of the probability that a pro-union worker will be fired in the course of a union election campaign. By 2005, pro-union workers involved in union election campaigns faced about a 1.8 percent chance of being illegally fired during the course of the campaign. If we assume that employers target union organizers and activists, and that union organizers and activists make up about 10 percent of pro-union workers, our estimates suggest that almost one-in-five union organizers or activists can expect to be fired as a result of their activities in a union election campaign.
Millwright Ron
Audel Mechanical Trades Pocket Manual
Audel Mechanical Trades Pocket Manual
This tool needs no maintenance
Fully revised and updated, this convenient guide covers the latest industrial equipment as well as all the tools and machines prevalent in older plants, even those from the early 1970s and before.
Your complete reference tool
Discusses machinery installation, welding, rigging, carpentry, basic electricity, and more Features a chapter on safety issues Covers belts, drives, transmissions, and bearings Examines automatic sprinkler systems Offers tips for preventive maintenance Includes coverage of piping and pipefitting Reviews shop mathematics, geometry, and trigonometry.
Millwright Ron
This tool needs no maintenance
Fully revised and updated, this convenient guide covers the latest industrial equipment as well as all the tools and machines prevalent in older plants, even those from the early 1970s and before.
Your complete reference tool
Discusses machinery installation, welding, rigging, carpentry, basic electricity, and more Features a chapter on safety issues Covers belts, drives, transmissions, and bearings Examines automatic sprinkler systems Offers tips for preventive maintenance Includes coverage of piping and pipefitting Reviews shop mathematics, geometry, and trigonometry.
Millwright Ron
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Right To Work For Less
Right To Work For Less
Right to Work for Less should be the correct name.
To set the record (and the name) straight, right to work for less doesn’t guarantee any rights. In fact, by weakening unions and collective bargaining, it destroys the best job security protection that exists: the union contract. Meanwhile, it allows workers to pay nothing and get all the benefits of union membership. Right to work laws say unions must represent all eligible employees, whether they pay dues or not. This forces unions to use their time and members’ dues money to provide union benefits to free riders who are not willing to pay their fair share.
Right to work laws lower wages for everyone.
The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167). Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549).Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life
More Workplace Deaths and Injuries
Right to work endangers safety and health standards that protect workers on the job by weakening unions that help to ensure worker safety by fighting for tougher safety rules. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of workplace deaths is 51 percent higher in states with right to work, where unions can’t speak up on behalf of workers
Fewer People with Health Care
21 percent more people lack health insurance in right to work states compared to
free-bargaining states.
Lower Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Workers Injured on the Job
Maximum weekly worker compensation benefits are $30 higher in free states
($609 versus $579 in right to work state
Right to Work and Women
Union women earn $149 more each week than nonunion women.
Right to Work Hurts People of Color Most
Latino union members earn 45 percent ($180) more each week than nonunion
Latinos.
African Americans earn 30 percent ($140) more each week if they are union
members.
Right to work, plain and simple, means lower wages for all workers.
I hope that this helps you to understand about "right to work"
Be Safe
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Right to Work for Less should be the correct name.
To set the record (and the name) straight, right to work for less doesn’t guarantee any rights. In fact, by weakening unions and collective bargaining, it destroys the best job security protection that exists: the union contract. Meanwhile, it allows workers to pay nothing and get all the benefits of union membership. Right to work laws say unions must represent all eligible employees, whether they pay dues or not. This forces unions to use their time and members’ dues money to provide union benefits to free riders who are not willing to pay their fair share.
Right to work laws lower wages for everyone.
The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167). Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549).Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life
More Workplace Deaths and Injuries
Right to work endangers safety and health standards that protect workers on the job by weakening unions that help to ensure worker safety by fighting for tougher safety rules. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of workplace deaths is 51 percent higher in states with right to work, where unions can’t speak up on behalf of workers
Fewer People with Health Care
21 percent more people lack health insurance in right to work states compared to
free-bargaining states.
Lower Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Workers Injured on the Job
Maximum weekly worker compensation benefits are $30 higher in free states
($609 versus $579 in right to work state
Right to Work and Women
Union women earn $149 more each week than nonunion women.
Right to Work Hurts People of Color Most
Latino union members earn 45 percent ($180) more each week than nonunion
Latinos.
African Americans earn 30 percent ($140) more each week if they are union
members.
Right to work, plain and simple, means lower wages for all workers.
I hope that this helps you to understand about "right to work"
Be Safe
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Right To Work
Right To Work
Right to Work for Less should be the correct name.
To set the record (and the name) straight, right to work for less doesn’t guarantee any rights. In fact, by weakening unions and collective bargaining, it destroys the best job security protection that exists: the union contract. Meanwhile, it allows workers to pay nothing and get all the benefits of union membership. Right to work laws say unions must represent all eligible employees, whether they pay dues or not. This forces unions to use their time and members’ dues money to provide union benefits to free riders who are not willing to pay their fair share.
Right to work laws lower wages for everyone.
The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167). Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549).Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life
More Workplace Deaths and Injuries
Right to work endangers safety and health standards that protect workers on the job by weakening unions that help to ensure worker safety by fighting for tougher safety rules. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of workplace deaths is 51 percent higher in states with right to work, where unions can’t speak up on behalf of workers
Fewer People with Health Care
21 percent more people lack health insurance in right to work states compared to
free-bargaining states.
Lower Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Workers Injured on the Job
Maximum weekly worker compensation benefits are $30 higher in free states
($609 versus $579 in right to work state
Right to Work and Women
Union women earn $149 more each week than nonunion women.
Right to Work Hurts People of Color Most
Latino union members earn 45 percent ($180) more each week than nonunion
Latinos.
African Americans earn 30 percent ($140) more each week if they are union
members.
Right to work, plain and simple, means lower wages for all workers.
I hope that this helps you to understand about "right to work"
Be Safe
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/
Right to Work for Less should be the correct name.
To set the record (and the name) straight, right to work for less doesn’t guarantee any rights. In fact, by weakening unions and collective bargaining, it destroys the best job security protection that exists: the union contract. Meanwhile, it allows workers to pay nothing and get all the benefits of union membership. Right to work laws say unions must represent all eligible employees, whether they pay dues or not. This forces unions to use their time and members’ dues money to provide union benefits to free riders who are not willing to pay their fair share.
Right to work laws lower wages for everyone.
The average worker in a right to work state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167). Weekly wages are $72 greater in free-bargaining states than in right to work states ($621 versus $549).Working families in states without right to work laws have higher wages and benefit from healthier tax bases that improve their quality of life
More Workplace Deaths and Injuries
Right to work endangers safety and health standards that protect workers on the job by weakening unions that help to ensure worker safety by fighting for tougher safety rules. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of workplace deaths is 51 percent higher in states with right to work, where unions can’t speak up on behalf of workers
Fewer People with Health Care
21 percent more people lack health insurance in right to work states compared to
free-bargaining states.
Lower Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Workers Injured on the Job
Maximum weekly worker compensation benefits are $30 higher in free states
($609 versus $579 in right to work state
Right to Work and Women
Union women earn $149 more each week than nonunion women.
Right to Work Hurts People of Color Most
Latino union members earn 45 percent ($180) more each week than nonunion
Latinos.
African Americans earn 30 percent ($140) more each week if they are union
members.
Right to work, plain and simple, means lower wages for all workers.
I hope that this helps you to understand about "right to work"
Be Safe
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/
Crane and Rigging
The “best” is now bigger and better! The book referred to as the best rigging book in North America has been revised cover to cover. All of the existing sections have been reorganized, updated and expanded. Five new sections, and over 100 new pages were added.
The IPT’s Crane and Rigging Handbook and Training Manual are used for reference and/or training in every type of industry and all methods of classroom training in North America.
The IPT’s Crane and Rigging Handbook and Training Manual are used for reference and/or training in every type of industry and all methods of classroom training in North America.
Millwright Ron
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Audel Millwrights and Mechanics Guide, All New 5th Edition
Find the answer every time Here, in concise, straightforward language, is the guidebook your father trusted, completely overhauled and updated for the first time in three decades. Clearly organized to help you find what you need, it covers tools, drawing and sketching, measuring and connecting, installation, bearings, motor maintenance, electrical devices, structural steel, and more. Everything about the newest equipment is here, as well as information vital to maintaining the older machinery still found in many shops.* Apply the right method of installation for various types of machinery and equipment* Install, repair, and maintain chain drives and V-belt drives* Perform preventive and predictive motor maintenance* Understand and maintain wet and dry pipe sprinkler systems* Troubleshoot and repair pumps, air compressors, fans, and blowers* Create and use sheet metal patterns.
Millwright Ron
Friday, November 28, 2008
Working Union People
Working Union People
The working union people of this country are an amazing lot. Against all odds, they will walk off their jobs and strike, enduring significant hardships sometimes for months or even years – and why? To protect future generations of workers - and to preserve elusive concepts like “dignity” and “respect.” The generosity of the American working class and their willingness to help others is downright awe- inspiring. We just keep on trying. Unity Millwright Ron http://www.unionmillwright.com/
The working union people of this country are an amazing lot. Against all odds, they will walk off their jobs and strike, enduring significant hardships sometimes for months or even years – and why? To protect future generations of workers - and to preserve elusive concepts like “dignity” and “respect.” The generosity of the American working class and their willingness to help others is downright awe- inspiring. We just keep on trying. Unity Millwright Ron http://www.unionmillwright.com/
Right To Work
In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining...
Unity
Millwright Ron
This is America
This is America, where we have freedom...of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly—and the freedom to join a union.
In theory !!!!!
For most working men and women today, the freedom to form a union—a fundamental human and civil right—is an elusive freedom. When employers block workers’ efforts to form a union, it is no small infringement: Some 42 million nonunion workers say they want to be part of unions
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/
In theory !!!!!
For most working men and women today, the freedom to form a union—a fundamental human and civil right—is an elusive freedom. When employers block workers’ efforts to form a union, it is no small infringement: Some 42 million nonunion workers say they want to be part of unions
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/
Health Benifits
80% of union workers in the U.S. have health benefits through their job, compared with 49% of non-union workers.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2006
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2006
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
New Millwright Bumper Sticker
New Millwright Bumper Sticker.
"My Husband Is A Millwright"
Unity
Millwrightron
www.unionmillwright.com
Friday, November 14, 2008
Guns and Trouble
Guns and Trouble
The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. 'Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'No Ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. 'Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'No Ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, November 13, 2008
woods group
Hello Everyone,
This letter is being sent out as a reminder to update your information at www.woodgroup.com/fieldservices
Some changes may have been made to the required information in your profile. Please make sure that your information is current and complete. As we approach another busy season, we will be increasing our use of the website to locate and employ union millwrights. Thank you for your interest in Wood Group Field Services and feel free to pass on this information to other union millwrights.
Sincerely,
John Hanks
Gulf Coast Operations Manager
Wood Group Field Services
Millwrightron
www.unionmillwright.com
This letter is being sent out as a reminder to update your information at www.woodgroup.com/fieldservices
Some changes may have been made to the required information in your profile. Please make sure that your information is current and complete. As we approach another busy season, we will be increasing our use of the website to locate and employ union millwrights. Thank you for your interest in Wood Group Field Services and feel free to pass on this information to other union millwrights.
Sincerely,
John Hanks
Gulf Coast Operations Manager
Wood Group Field Services
Millwrightron
www.unionmillwright.com
Monday, November 10, 2008
Veterans :
Veterans :
Thank GOD for Veterans. Thank all of you Veterans for your service to our country.
God Bless
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thank GOD for Veterans. Thank all of you Veterans for your service to our country.
God Bless
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, October 16, 2008
What Do Millwrights Do?
What Do Millwrights Do?
Installs machinery and equipment according to layout plans, blueprints, and other drawings in industrial establishment, using hoists, lift trucks, handtools, and power tools:
Reads blueprints and schematic drawings to determine work procedures.
Dismantles machines, using hammers, wrenches, crowbars, and other handtools.
Moves machinery and equipment, using hoists, dollies, rollers, and trucks.
Assembles and installs equipment, such as shafting, conveyors, and tram rails, using handtools and power tools.
Constructs foundation for machines, using handtools and building materials, such as wood, cement, and steel.
Aligns machines and equipment, using hoists, jacks, handtools, squares, rules, micrometers, and plumb bobs.
Assembles machines, and bolts, welds, rivets, or otherwise fastens them to foundation or other structures, using handtools and power tools.
May operate engine lathe to grind, file, and turn machine parts to dimensional specifications.
May repair and lubricate machines and equipment.
May install robot and modify its program, using teach pendant.
May perform installation and maintenance work as part of team of skilled trades workers.
Millwright Ron
Proud Member Of The Union Millwrights
www.unionmillwright.com
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Fleeced
We the taxpayers, and that's working families in this country, and we have been fleeced again.
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Millwright
Do you need a Millwright book? An Audel or IPT BOOK or Manual?
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright
Millwrights Store
The Millwrights Store is open,Want Millwright decals,stckers,books and manuals visit the Millwrights Store.
Thanks Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwrights Store
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wall Street
If the Federal Government loans Wall Street money? Does that mean that Wall Street is a now a Socialists run business?
Some socialists advocate complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange; while others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Some socialists advocate complete nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and exchange; while others advocate state control of capital within the framework of a market economy.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Monday, September 29, 2008
Who Are The Millwrights
UNION MILLWRIGHTS:
The person who works with his hands is a laborer; the person that works with his hands and heart is an artisan; the person who works with his hands, his head and his heart is a Union Millwright.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
The person who works with his hands is a laborer; the person that works with his hands and heart is an artisan; the person who works with his hands, his head and his heart is a Union Millwright.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, September 25, 2008
FAT CATS
Lehman Brothers,
Which just want belly-up and is still planning on paying out 2.5 billion in BONUSES.
Don't worry about making sure that Social Security stays solvent...
We can all pay more taxes! Lets keep the fat cats in office and on the payroll. They deserve only the very best for their efforts.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Which just want belly-up and is still planning on paying out 2.5 billion in BONUSES.
Don't worry about making sure that Social Security stays solvent...
We can all pay more taxes! Lets keep the fat cats in office and on the payroll. They deserve only the very best for their efforts.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Corporate executives
"Corporate executives are able to negotiate lavish pay and retirement packages for themselves," said Tom Kiley, a spokesman for Miller, who is chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. "Workers ought to at least have the ability to bargain for better wages and benefits."
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
CEO'S and GREED
Lets hear it one more time for CEO'S and their GREED..
hip hip hooray... hip hip hooray.
Millwright Ron
Union Millwright and Damn Proud Of It
www.unionmillwright.com
hip hip hooray... hip hip hooray.
Millwright Ron
Union Millwright and Damn Proud Of It
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Where Do I find Millwrights
Where do I find Millwrights?
What do they do?
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Union Millwright Mail
The Union Millwright Mail has been down but it is up and running now. If you have a problem? Please email me.
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Brother Millwright Killed
Ron,
This is Rick Goodmay, BA for Local 2834 in Denver. I am wondering if you could add a post for me to your site.
I have a member Michael Shapiro better known as "Thunder" who was tagically killed in a motorcycle accident recently. Thunder was the definition of a Millwright, he travelled a lot and made a lot of friends in the brotherhood across the country. If you could please post this as well as a link to this memorial website. http://friendsofthunder.legacy.com/lmw/homepage.aspx
I appreciate your assistance.
Rick
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
This is Rick Goodmay, BA for Local 2834 in Denver. I am wondering if you could add a post for me to your site.
I have a member Michael Shapiro better known as "Thunder" who was tagically killed in a motorcycle accident recently. Thunder was the definition of a Millwright, he travelled a lot and made a lot of friends in the brotherhood across the country. If you could please post this as well as a link to this memorial website. http://friendsofthunder.legacy.com/lmw/homepage.aspx
I appreciate your assistance.
Rick
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Millwright Training Books
Millwright training books.
If you need a Millwright training book...Go to www.unionmillwright.com and look at the link Millwrights Store.
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
If you need a Millwright training book...Go to www.unionmillwright.com and look at the link Millwrights Store.
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Friday, August 29, 2008
Millwrights looking for work
Millwrights...Looking for work?
Visit www.unionmillwright.com
Thanks Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Visit www.unionmillwright.com
Thanks Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Audel Books
Audel Books:
The best price that can be found.
The Millwrights Store.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
The best price that can be found.
The Millwrights Store.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Definition of a Union:
Definition of a Union:
A combination so formed, especially an alliance or confederation of people, parties, or political entities for mutual interest or benefit....
If you belong to the Chamber of Commence.You belong to a Union that is against raising the Minimum wage. The Chamber lobbied congress against raising the Minimum wage. .
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
A combination so formed, especially an alliance or confederation of people, parties, or political entities for mutual interest or benefit....
If you belong to the Chamber of Commence.You belong to a Union that is against raising the Minimum wage. The Chamber lobbied congress against raising the Minimum wage. .
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Friday, August 15, 2008
Unionized
Companies who use unionized workers are 27 percent more productive, according to a recent report published in Scientific American.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, August 14, 2008
labor
Jobs are moved over seas to the cheapest labor cost and less
government control..... Does that mean that we who work with our
hands,our brains and our hearts have to make third world wages? Does
this mean that we have to work in a unsafe environment? Do we have to
sacrifice our health, our bodies and our loved ones?
There is always someone who will work cheaper, with less safety
and less concern about our environment.
Just look at big business..... The owners of mines,factories and
companies who are fined or arrested each year for pollution,safety
violations,harassment,lying,endangering their employees.
The Ceo's that steal hundreds of millions of dollars from their
companies and stock holders. If you think Unions are corrupted? You
hand better take a good look at big business.
Today we need organization of Labor more than ever......
Unions .... "The people who brought you the Weekends"
Union Millwright and Damn Proud Of It
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
government control..... Does that mean that we who work with our
hands,our brains and our hearts have to make third world wages? Does
this mean that we have to work in a unsafe environment? Do we have to
sacrifice our health, our bodies and our loved ones?
There is always someone who will work cheaper, with less safety
and less concern about our environment.
Just look at big business..... The owners of mines,factories and
companies who are fined or arrested each year for pollution,safety
violations,harassment,lying,endangering their employees.
The Ceo's that steal hundreds of millions of dollars from their
companies and stock holders. If you think Unions are corrupted? You
hand better take a good look at big business.
Today we need organization of Labor more than ever......
Unions .... "The people who brought you the Weekends"
Union Millwright and Damn Proud Of It
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
The Future Belongs To The Millwright's
"Excellence Is A Process Not A Goal To Do Better"
* * The Future Belongs To The Millwright's
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
* * The Future Belongs To The Millwright's
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Monday, August 11, 2008
DO STRIKES LEAD TO VIOLENCE?
DO STRIKES LEAD TO VIOLENCE?
...YES, BY EMPLOYERS AND THE GOVERNMENT
A standard attack on unions is that the government needs to repress
unions because workers have a history of violence in strikes. The
historical record shows that the violence, and especially murder, has
come
overwhelmingly from the other direction, through government police,
labor
spies, security guards, and Pinkerton forces employed to break
strikes.
One of the first great strike waves of this country occured on the
railways in 1877; in that strike, US federal troops repeatedly opened
fire
of strikers battling with the monopolistic railways, killing twelve
people
in Baltimore, killing twenty-five in Pittsburg, and using troops
throughout the country to break the strike. Local police in Pittsburg
had
actually supported the strikers because public opinion so supported
the
strike, but President Hayes made sure federal troops were used to
defend
the railroad monopolies.
In July of 1892, Carnegie Steel declared war on the Amalgamated union
of
iron, steel and tin workers as they went on strike. A private
Pinkerton
army marched against the union's position armed with Winchester
rifles--seven
strikers died and three Pinkertons died from return fire. Under this
attack, the union was broken and teh steel industry would not be under
union contract again until 1937, forty-five years later.
In coming years, strike after strike would be broken at the hands of
state
militias: switchmen in Buffalo, coal miners in Tennessee.
In 1894, Eugene Debs and the American Railway Union led a strike after
the
arbitrary firings of Pullman Car workers; the strike escalated
nationwide.
Despite protests from the Governor of Illinois who noted there was no
coercion or violence by the strikers, President
Grover Cleveland, sent in four companies of the 15th Infantry to crush
the
strike. Injunctions were ordered and 200 strike leaders were arrested
and
th strike was broken. Eugene Debs would be imprisoned under the
Sherman
Anti-Trust Act and went to jail and his union was crushed.
In 1898, 1200 western miners on strike were imprisoned without charge
to
break a strike in Idaho.
To note the repression by the government in other ways, note that in
1902,
the United Hatters union announced a national boycott against a
hatter's
company in Connecticut. THe company sued the hatter's union under the
Sherman Act and the courts upheld damages against the union that led
to
union members having home foreclosures against their homes and the
bankrupting of union coffers. Other boycotts were matched by a
conviction
of two years prison for the head of the American Federation of Labor
(although he eventually had the conviction dropped).
Unions found that if they struck, the government would issue an
injunction
and jailed; if they called for a boycott, they'd be bankrupted by the
courts or threatened with imprisonment. At the same time, attempts by
unions to use legislation such as limits to the working day or
minimum-wage laws were voided by the courts (until 1937 and the New
Deal).
Unions found that whether through the ballot, through a strike, or
through
speech and boycotts--the employers and government would attack them.
In 1912, a massive strike in the wool mills of Lawrence, MA showed
where
employer violence overstepped its bounds and backfired. Despite the
deployment of the militia and the arrest of strike leaders, the
company
could not break the strike. In order to survive economically,
unionists
planned to send their children to supporters in other states. The
company
and its supporters declared that no children would be allowed to leave
the
city. When the strike committee undertook to take the children to the
railway station, the police and militia surrounded the station, the
police
closed in and began to beat mothers and children mericilessly.
Despite the
jailing of 296 strikers, public protest and continued resistance
forced the
company to raise wages although the union was never recognized.
Possibly the most bloody attack on unionists was Ludlow, Colorado in
1913 where J.D. Rockefeller and his Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
had state
militia and hired special deputies attack and
try to crush coal miners there. Conflict ranged for months until the
militia opened machine-fire on a tent city of mineworkers family and
then
soaked tents in oil and put them to the torch. Women and children
huddled
in pits to escape the falmes; in one, eleven children and two women
were
found burned to death at the hands of the militia.
Because more radical union leaders in the International Workers of the
World (IWW) opposed World War I, several hundred of their leaders were
arrested in 1917 solely for speaking out against the war. Eugene Debs,
leader of the Pullman strike in 1894 and now leader of the Socialist
Party, would spend the war years in jail (and poll a million votes for
President from his jail cell). Others were forced to flee the
country.
In 1922, 400,000 railway workers went on strike and faced tough
opposition. The federal government stepped in in September and issued
an
injunction that barred the following: not just picketing, but strike
meetings, statements to the public, use of union funds for any strike
activity, use of "letters, telegrams, telephones word of mouth" to
pursuade
anyone to strike. This helped set the stage for the general decline
of
unions in the 1920s where courts declared pro-worker legislation
unconstitutional and most strikes illegal.
Only with the New Deal did the government and business stop universal
oppression and violence against striking unions. Part of this was the
1932 Norris-LaGuardia Act that banned use of the federal injunction
against labor disputes (which would be repealed with the Taft-Hartley
Act
of 1947). It was in this period from 1932 to 1947, when the
government
stopped its coercive violence against unions that most unions had a
chance
to organize and gain their rights. With the reimposition of
government
injunctions with Taft-Hartley in 1947, new organizing became much
harder
where troops could be deployed to break a strike.
One of the most violent strikes of the 1930s was the "Little Steel"
strike
of 1937 (after US Steel recongized the union) where the company
organized
attacks on picket lines, tear gassing union headquarters, the arrests
of union
leaders, and finally a bloody clash in South Chicago. There, the
police
opened fire on a holiday picnic of steel strikers and their families
on
Memorial Day, killing ten strikers. And while the federal government
was
not attacking strikers now, the Governor of Ohio deployed police to
break
the strike.
It is worth noting the findings of the La Follette Civil Liberties
Committee which released a report on corporate activies from 1933 to
1937.
In the report, it was gound that 2500 companies had hired labor spies
to
spy in union meetings and even becoming union officials in order to
undermine the organizations. Almost $10 million ($76 million in 1993
dollars) had been spent by companies in this period for spies,
strike-breakers and munitions--GM alone had spent $830,000. In one
strike, the so-called Little Steel strike, Youngstown Sheet and Tube
Company had on hand eight machine guns, 369 rifles, 190 shotguns, 450
revolvers, and 109 gas guns. The Republic Steel Corporation had
purchased
$79,000 of tear and other gas weapons, making it a larger buyer of
such
weapons than law enforcement officials.
With World War II and the post-war period, labor conflict has
generally
been quieter, both because of the continued use of labor injunction
after
Taft-Hartley and a slightly saner collective bargaining relationship.
However, that relationship broke down in the 1980s with PATCO and a
new
anti-union drive by employers.
On the net, a couple of people cited street fights in Las Vegas as
evidence of representative union conflict. Aside from the fact that
using
Las Vegas as representative of anything is a bit laughable, let's put
any
street conflict in a bit of context (other than the general violence
of
the town).
In 1984, there was a citywide strike of the casinos. The city passed
an
ordinance making picketing illegal and proceeded to arrest and jail
3000
strikers. Security guards in one televised incident beat the hell out
of
striking workers at the Hilton, an image that helped win the strike
since
people didn't want to vacation in hotels where security guards felt
free
to beat up non-violent strikers.
Now, we have a strike at the Frontier Hotel that's been going on since
1989. If you point a camera on a street corner for four years, you
are
inevitably going to have a street scuffle at some point in time. If
such
actions were consistent day-after-day, you might have a case, but to
cite
one or two fights over four years of a strike and identify that as
typical
union actions is ridiculous.
The point of all these posts is simple: violence in our society in
union
struggles has come overwhelmingly from employers and the goverment.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
...YES, BY EMPLOYERS AND THE GOVERNMENT
A standard attack on unions is that the government needs to repress
unions because workers have a history of violence in strikes. The
historical record shows that the violence, and especially murder, has
come
overwhelmingly from the other direction, through government police,
labor
spies, security guards, and Pinkerton forces employed to break
strikes.
One of the first great strike waves of this country occured on the
railways in 1877; in that strike, US federal troops repeatedly opened
fire
of strikers battling with the monopolistic railways, killing twelve
people
in Baltimore, killing twenty-five in Pittsburg, and using troops
throughout the country to break the strike. Local police in Pittsburg
had
actually supported the strikers because public opinion so supported
the
strike, but President Hayes made sure federal troops were used to
defend
the railroad monopolies.
In July of 1892, Carnegie Steel declared war on the Amalgamated union
of
iron, steel and tin workers as they went on strike. A private
Pinkerton
army marched against the union's position armed with Winchester
rifles--seven
strikers died and three Pinkertons died from return fire. Under this
attack, the union was broken and teh steel industry would not be under
union contract again until 1937, forty-five years later.
In coming years, strike after strike would be broken at the hands of
state
militias: switchmen in Buffalo, coal miners in Tennessee.
In 1894, Eugene Debs and the American Railway Union led a strike after
the
arbitrary firings of Pullman Car workers; the strike escalated
nationwide.
Despite protests from the Governor of Illinois who noted there was no
coercion or violence by the strikers, President
Grover Cleveland, sent in four companies of the 15th Infantry to crush
the
strike. Injunctions were ordered and 200 strike leaders were arrested
and
th strike was broken. Eugene Debs would be imprisoned under the
Sherman
Anti-Trust Act and went to jail and his union was crushed.
In 1898, 1200 western miners on strike were imprisoned without charge
to
break a strike in Idaho.
To note the repression by the government in other ways, note that in
1902,
the United Hatters union announced a national boycott against a
hatter's
company in Connecticut. THe company sued the hatter's union under the
Sherman Act and the courts upheld damages against the union that led
to
union members having home foreclosures against their homes and the
bankrupting of union coffers. Other boycotts were matched by a
conviction
of two years prison for the head of the American Federation of Labor
(although he eventually had the conviction dropped).
Unions found that if they struck, the government would issue an
injunction
and jailed; if they called for a boycott, they'd be bankrupted by the
courts or threatened with imprisonment. At the same time, attempts by
unions to use legislation such as limits to the working day or
minimum-wage laws were voided by the courts (until 1937 and the New
Deal).
Unions found that whether through the ballot, through a strike, or
through
speech and boycotts--the employers and government would attack them.
In 1912, a massive strike in the wool mills of Lawrence, MA showed
where
employer violence overstepped its bounds and backfired. Despite the
deployment of the militia and the arrest of strike leaders, the
company
could not break the strike. In order to survive economically,
unionists
planned to send their children to supporters in other states. The
company
and its supporters declared that no children would be allowed to leave
the
city. When the strike committee undertook to take the children to the
railway station, the police and militia surrounded the station, the
police
closed in and began to beat mothers and children mericilessly.
Despite the
jailing of 296 strikers, public protest and continued resistance
forced the
company to raise wages although the union was never recognized.
Possibly the most bloody attack on unionists was Ludlow, Colorado in
1913 where J.D. Rockefeller and his Colorado Fuel and Iron Company
had state
militia and hired special deputies attack and
try to crush coal miners there. Conflict ranged for months until the
militia opened machine-fire on a tent city of mineworkers family and
then
soaked tents in oil and put them to the torch. Women and children
huddled
in pits to escape the falmes; in one, eleven children and two women
were
found burned to death at the hands of the militia.
Because more radical union leaders in the International Workers of the
World (IWW) opposed World War I, several hundred of their leaders were
arrested in 1917 solely for speaking out against the war. Eugene Debs,
leader of the Pullman strike in 1894 and now leader of the Socialist
Party, would spend the war years in jail (and poll a million votes for
President from his jail cell). Others were forced to flee the
country.
In 1922, 400,000 railway workers went on strike and faced tough
opposition. The federal government stepped in in September and issued
an
injunction that barred the following: not just picketing, but strike
meetings, statements to the public, use of union funds for any strike
activity, use of "letters, telegrams, telephones word of mouth" to
pursuade
anyone to strike. This helped set the stage for the general decline
of
unions in the 1920s where courts declared pro-worker legislation
unconstitutional and most strikes illegal.
Only with the New Deal did the government and business stop universal
oppression and violence against striking unions. Part of this was the
1932 Norris-LaGuardia Act that banned use of the federal injunction
against labor disputes (which would be repealed with the Taft-Hartley
Act
of 1947). It was in this period from 1932 to 1947, when the
government
stopped its coercive violence against unions that most unions had a
chance
to organize and gain their rights. With the reimposition of
government
injunctions with Taft-Hartley in 1947, new organizing became much
harder
where troops could be deployed to break a strike.
One of the most violent strikes of the 1930s was the "Little Steel"
strike
of 1937 (after US Steel recongized the union) where the company
organized
attacks on picket lines, tear gassing union headquarters, the arrests
of union
leaders, and finally a bloody clash in South Chicago. There, the
police
opened fire on a holiday picnic of steel strikers and their families
on
Memorial Day, killing ten strikers. And while the federal government
was
not attacking strikers now, the Governor of Ohio deployed police to
break
the strike.
It is worth noting the findings of the La Follette Civil Liberties
Committee which released a report on corporate activies from 1933 to
1937.
In the report, it was gound that 2500 companies had hired labor spies
to
spy in union meetings and even becoming union officials in order to
undermine the organizations. Almost $10 million ($76 million in 1993
dollars) had been spent by companies in this period for spies,
strike-breakers and munitions--GM alone had spent $830,000. In one
strike, the so-called Little Steel strike, Youngstown Sheet and Tube
Company had on hand eight machine guns, 369 rifles, 190 shotguns, 450
revolvers, and 109 gas guns. The Republic Steel Corporation had
purchased
$79,000 of tear and other gas weapons, making it a larger buyer of
such
weapons than law enforcement officials.
With World War II and the post-war period, labor conflict has
generally
been quieter, both because of the continued use of labor injunction
after
Taft-Hartley and a slightly saner collective bargaining relationship.
However, that relationship broke down in the 1980s with PATCO and a
new
anti-union drive by employers.
On the net, a couple of people cited street fights in Las Vegas as
evidence of representative union conflict. Aside from the fact that
using
Las Vegas as representative of anything is a bit laughable, let's put
any
street conflict in a bit of context (other than the general violence
of
the town).
In 1984, there was a citywide strike of the casinos. The city passed
an
ordinance making picketing illegal and proceeded to arrest and jail
3000
strikers. Security guards in one televised incident beat the hell out
of
striking workers at the Hilton, an image that helped win the strike
since
people didn't want to vacation in hotels where security guards felt
free
to beat up non-violent strikers.
Now, we have a strike at the Frontier Hotel that's been going on since
1989. If you point a camera on a street corner for four years, you
are
inevitably going to have a street scuffle at some point in time. If
such
actions were consistent day-after-day, you might have a case, but to
cite
one or two fights over four years of a strike and identify that as
typical
union actions is ridiculous.
The point of all these posts is simple: violence in our society in
union
struggles has come overwhelmingly from employers and the goverment.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Buy your Millwright decals and books
Buy your Millwright decals and books at the Millwrights Store.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Why do we need Unions
Our good conditions of employment came from union action over the past century.
Unions provide the level playing field and the balance needed for justice. Employer organization's refer to union bosses' excesses. They ignore the excesses of the company bosses, their failures and their obscene pay, 130 times the average workers' pay.
Why do we need Unions?
Only an idiot refuses to see the writing's on the wall.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Unions provide the level playing field and the balance needed for justice. Employer organization's refer to union bosses' excesses. They ignore the excesses of the company bosses, their failures and their obscene pay, 130 times the average workers' pay.
Why do we need Unions?
Only an idiot refuses to see the writing's on the wall.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Friday, August 08, 2008
Millwright
Excellence Is A Process Not A Goal To Do Better"
The Future Belongs To The Millwright's
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
The Future Belongs To The Millwright's
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Millwright Work
Millwright Work
Millwrights install, repair, replace, and dismantle the machinery and heavy equipment used in many industries.
The wide range of facilities and the development of new technology require millwrights to continually update their skills�from blueprint reading and pouring concrete to diagnosing and solving mechanical problems.
The millwright's responsibilities begin when machinery arrives at the jobsite.
New equipment must be unloaded, inspected, and moved into position.
To lift and move light machinery, millwrights use rigging and hoisting devices, such as pulleys and cables.
With heavier equipment, they may require the assistance of hydraulic lift-truck or crane operators to position the machinery.
Because millwrights often decide which device to use for moving machinery, they must know the load-bearing properties of rope, cables, hoists, and cranes.
Millwrights consult with production managers and others to determine the optimal placement of machines in a plant.
When this placement requires building a new foundation, millwrights either prepare the foundation themselves or supervise its construction.
As a result, they must know how to read blueprints and work with a variety of building materials.
To assemble machinery, millwrights fit bearings, align gears and wheels, attach motors, and connect belts, according to the manufacturer's blueprints and drawings.
Precision leveling and alignment are important in the assembly process, so millwrights measure angles, material thickness, and small distances with tools such as squares, calipers, and micrometers.
When a high level of precision is required, devices such as lasers and ultrasonic measuring tools may be used.
Millwrights also work with hand and power tools, such as cutting torches, welding machines, and soldering guns, and with metalworking equipment, including lathes and grinding machines.
In addition to installing and dismantling machinery, many millwrights work with mechanics and maintenance workers to repair and maintain equipment.
This includes preventive maintenance, such as lubrication and fixing or replacing worn parts.
Increasingly sophisticated automation means more complicated machines for millwrights to install and maintain.
For example, millwrights may install and maintain numerical control equipment�computer-controlled machine tools that fabricate manufacturing parts.
This machinery requires special care and knowledge, so millwrights often work closely with computer or electronics experts, electricians, engineers, and manufacturers� representatives to install it
Millwright Ron
Proud Member Of The Union Millwrights
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwrights install, repair, replace, and dismantle the machinery and heavy equipment used in many industries.
The wide range of facilities and the development of new technology require millwrights to continually update their skills�from blueprint reading and pouring concrete to diagnosing and solving mechanical problems.
The millwright's responsibilities begin when machinery arrives at the jobsite.
New equipment must be unloaded, inspected, and moved into position.
To lift and move light machinery, millwrights use rigging and hoisting devices, such as pulleys and cables.
With heavier equipment, they may require the assistance of hydraulic lift-truck or crane operators to position the machinery.
Because millwrights often decide which device to use for moving machinery, they must know the load-bearing properties of rope, cables, hoists, and cranes.
Millwrights consult with production managers and others to determine the optimal placement of machines in a plant.
When this placement requires building a new foundation, millwrights either prepare the foundation themselves or supervise its construction.
As a result, they must know how to read blueprints and work with a variety of building materials.
To assemble machinery, millwrights fit bearings, align gears and wheels, attach motors, and connect belts, according to the manufacturer's blueprints and drawings.
Precision leveling and alignment are important in the assembly process, so millwrights measure angles, material thickness, and small distances with tools such as squares, calipers, and micrometers.
When a high level of precision is required, devices such as lasers and ultrasonic measuring tools may be used.
Millwrights also work with hand and power tools, such as cutting torches, welding machines, and soldering guns, and with metalworking equipment, including lathes and grinding machines.
In addition to installing and dismantling machinery, many millwrights work with mechanics and maintenance workers to repair and maintain equipment.
This includes preventive maintenance, such as lubrication and fixing or replacing worn parts.
Increasingly sophisticated automation means more complicated machines for millwrights to install and maintain.
For example, millwrights may install and maintain numerical control equipment�computer-controlled machine tools that fabricate manufacturing parts.
This machinery requires special care and knowledge, so millwrights often work closely with computer or electronics experts, electricians, engineers, and manufacturers� representatives to install it
Millwright Ron
Proud Member Of The Union Millwrights
www.unionmillwright.com
Peach Bottom needs Millwright
Peach Bottom Atomic Power station annual fall outage is scheduled to go down Sept. 14. I will need approximately 50 Millwrights to help me with this outage.
Thank you!
Millwright Local 2237,
council Roy Earnest
MMillwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thank you!
Millwright Local 2237,
council Roy Earnest
MMillwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Fort McMurray Canada
Subject:
Fort McMurray.
Here is our email address.
If you are interested in working in Fort McMurray send your updated CV/Resume
through to us.
We will then forward your CV/Resume to our clients.
Remember there will be a rotating shift scenario and camp accommodation or subsidised housing.
Obviously dependant on availability.
Plus trips involved back home.
If you know any other interested colleagues send our details to them.
We are looking for Millwrights, Iron Workers, Pipe Fitters/Welders, Shutterers & Power Engineers.
Best Regards,
Andrew Tarrant
Regional Manager
4 Royal Mint Court
London EC3N 4HJ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)129 352 3588
Fax: +44 (0) 207 990 7933
Email:atarrant@abglobalrecruitment.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Fort McMurray.
Here is our email address.
If you are interested in working in Fort McMurray send your updated CV/Resume
through to us.
We will then forward your CV/Resume to our clients.
Remember there will be a rotating shift scenario and camp accommodation or subsidised housing.
Obviously dependant on availability.
Plus trips involved back home.
If you know any other interested colleagues send our details to them.
We are looking for Millwrights, Iron Workers, Pipe Fitters/Welders, Shutterers & Power Engineers.
Best Regards,
Andrew Tarrant
Regional Manager
4 Royal Mint Court
London EC3N 4HJ
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)129 352 3588
Fax: +44 (0) 207 990 7933
Email:atarrant@abglobalrecruitment.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
The Millwrights
The word "millwright" has long been used to describe the man who was marked by everything ingenious and skillful. For several centuries in England and Scotland the millwright was recognized as a man with a knowledge of carpentry, blacksmithing and lathe work in addition to the fitter and erector. He was the recognized representative of mechanical arts and was looked upon as the authority in all applications of winds and water, under whatever conditions they were to be used, as a motive power for the purpose of manufacture. In other words, as the above definition would indicate, he was the area engineer, a kind of jack of all trades who was equally comfortable at the lathe, the anvil or the carpenter's bench. Thus, the millwright of the last several centuries was an itinerant engineer and mechanic of high reputation and recognized abilities. He could handle the axe, the hammer and the plane with equal skill and precision. He could turn, bore or forge with the ease and ability of one brought up in those trades. He could set and cut in the furrows of a millstone with an accuracy equal to or superior to that of the miller himself. In most instances, the millwright was a fair arithmetician, knew something of geometry, leveling and measurements, and often possessed a very competent knowledge of practical mathematics. He could calculate the velocities, strength and power of machines; could draw in plans, construct buildings, conduits or watercources, in all the forms and under all the conditions required in his professional practice. He could build bridges, cut canals and perform a variety of work now done by civil engineers. In the early days of North America millwrights designed and constructed the mills where flour and grist were ground by water power. Water was directed over hand-constructed wooden mill wheels to turn big wooden gears and generate power. Millwrights executed every type of engineering operation in the construction of these mills. The introduction of the steam engine, and the rapidity with which it created new trades, proved a heavy blow to the distinctive position of the millwrights, by bringing into the field a new class of competitors in the form of turners, fitters, machine makers, and mechanical engineers. Although there was an extension of the demand for millwork, it nevertheless lowered the profession of the millwright, and leveled it to a great degree with that of the ordinary mechanic. It was originally the custom for the millwrights to have meetings for themselves in every shop. These meetings usually included long discussions of practical science and the principles of construction which more often than not ended in a quarrel. One benefit of these meetings was the imparting of knowledge, as young aspirants would frequently become excited by the illustrations and chalk diagrams by which each side supported their arguments.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Monday, August 04, 2008
Millwrights
This is America, where we have freedom...of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly—and the freedom to join a union.
In theory !!!!!
For most working men and women today, the freedom to form a union—a fundamental human and civil right—is an elusive freedom. When employers block workers’ efforts to form a union, it is no small infringement: Some 42 million nonunion workers say they want to be part of unions
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
In theory !!!!!
For most working men and women today, the freedom to form a union—a fundamental human and civil right—is an elusive freedom. When employers block workers’ efforts to form a union, it is no small infringement: Some 42 million nonunion workers say they want to be part of unions
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Friday, August 01, 2008
China trade costs jobs in every state
Economic Policy Institute
China trade costs jobs in every state
Unbalanced U.S. trade with China since 2001 has had a devastating effect on U.S. workers. Between 2001 and 2007, 2.3 million jobs were lost or displaced, including 366,000 in 2007 alone. These jobs were displaced by the growth of the U.S. trade deficit with China, which increased from $84 billion in 2001 to $262 billion in 2007.
Growing China trade deficits between 2001 and 2007 eliminated jobs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Jobs displacement exceeded 2.0% of total employment in Idaho, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Vermont, Texas, and Wisconsin. The effects of growing trade deficits with China have been felt widely across the United States and no area has been exempt from their impact. While traditional manufacturing states such as Wisconsin, Tennessee, and the Carolinas were certainly hard hit, so too were states in the tech sector such as California, Texas, Oregon, and Minnesota. Rapidly growing imports of computers and electronic parts accounted for almost half of the $178 billion increase and eliminated 561,000 U.S. jobs. Idaho, which lost an estimated 9,000 jobs in computer and electronic products alone, was the hardest-hit state in the country in terms of share of total state employment.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
China trade costs jobs in every state
Unbalanced U.S. trade with China since 2001 has had a devastating effect on U.S. workers. Between 2001 and 2007, 2.3 million jobs were lost or displaced, including 366,000 in 2007 alone. These jobs were displaced by the growth of the U.S. trade deficit with China, which increased from $84 billion in 2001 to $262 billion in 2007.
Growing China trade deficits between 2001 and 2007 eliminated jobs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Jobs displacement exceeded 2.0% of total employment in Idaho, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Vermont, Texas, and Wisconsin. The effects of growing trade deficits with China have been felt widely across the United States and no area has been exempt from their impact. While traditional manufacturing states such as Wisconsin, Tennessee, and the Carolinas were certainly hard hit, so too were states in the tech sector such as California, Texas, Oregon, and Minnesota. Rapidly growing imports of computers and electronic parts accounted for almost half of the $178 billion increase and eliminated 561,000 U.S. jobs. Idaho, which lost an estimated 9,000 jobs in computer and electronic products alone, was the hardest-hit state in the country in terms of share of total state employment.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Unions
Naked Capitalism
Says
"If Congress is concerned about protecting middle-class incomes, it should pass measures to facilitate union organizing and collective bargaining coverage, including the Employee Free Choice Act. There is no reason to fear that higher rates of unionization will impede efficiency or labor productivity"
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Says
"If Congress is concerned about protecting middle-class incomes, it should pass measures to facilitate union organizing and collective bargaining coverage, including the Employee Free Choice Act. There is no reason to fear that higher rates of unionization will impede efficiency or labor productivity"
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Unions Are Good
"Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts." Molly Ivins
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Naked Capitalism
Naked Capitalism
Says
"If Congress is concerned about protecting middle-class incomes, it should pass measures to facilitate union organizing and collective bargaining coverage, including the Employee Free Choice Act. There is no reason to fear that higher rates of unionization will impede efficiency or labor productivity"
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Says
"If Congress is concerned about protecting middle-class incomes, it should pass measures to facilitate union organizing and collective bargaining coverage, including the Employee Free Choice Act. There is no reason to fear that higher rates of unionization will impede efficiency or labor productivity"
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Economic Policy Institute
Economic Policy Institute
How unions help all workers
by Lawrence Mishel and Matthew Walters
Unions have a substantial impact on the compensation and work lives of both unionized and non-unionized workers. This report presents current data on unions' effect on wages, fringe benefits, total compensation, pay inequality, and workplace protections.
Some of the conclusions are:
• Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%.
• Unions reduce wage inequality because they raise wages more for low- and middle-wage workers than for higher-wage workers, more for blue-collar than for white-collar workers, and more for workers who do not have a college degree.
• Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow. For example, a high school graduate whose workplace is not unionized but whose industry is 25% unionized is paid 5% more than similar workers in less unionized industries.
• The impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact on total union wages.
• The most sweeping advantage for unionized workers is in fringe benefits. Unionized workers are more likely than their nonunionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans.
• Unionized workers receive more generous health benefits than nonunionized workers. They also pay 18% lower health care deductibles and a smaller share of the costs for family coverage. In retirement, unionized workers are 24% more likely to be covered by health insurance paid for by their employer.
• Unionized workers receive better pension plans. Not only are they more likely to have a guaranteed benefit in retirement, their employers contribute 28% more toward pensions.
• Unionized workers receive 26% more vacation time and 14% more total paid leave (vacations and holidays).
Unions play a pivotal role both in securing legislated labor protections and rights such as safety and health, overtime, and family/medical leave and in enforcing those rights on the job. Because unionized workers are more informed, they are more likely to benefit from social insurance programs such as unemployment insurance and workers compensation. Unions are thus an intermediary institution that provides a necessary complement to legislated benefits and protections.
The union wage premium
It should come as no surprise that unions raise wages, since this has always been one of the main goals of unions and a major reason that workers seek collective bargaining. How much unions raise wages, for whom, and the consequences of unionization for workers, firms, and the economy have been studied by economists and other researchers for over a century (for example, the work of Alfred Marshall). This section presents evidence from the 1990s that unions raise the wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise total compensation by about 28%.
The research literature generally finds that unionized workers' earnings exceed those of comparable nonunion workers by about 15%, a phenomenon known as the "union wage premium."
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
How unions help all workers
by Lawrence Mishel and Matthew Walters
Unions have a substantial impact on the compensation and work lives of both unionized and non-unionized workers. This report presents current data on unions' effect on wages, fringe benefits, total compensation, pay inequality, and workplace protections.
Some of the conclusions are:
• Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%.
• Unions reduce wage inequality because they raise wages more for low- and middle-wage workers than for higher-wage workers, more for blue-collar than for white-collar workers, and more for workers who do not have a college degree.
• Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow. For example, a high school graduate whose workplace is not unionized but whose industry is 25% unionized is paid 5% more than similar workers in less unionized industries.
• The impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact on total union wages.
• The most sweeping advantage for unionized workers is in fringe benefits. Unionized workers are more likely than their nonunionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans.
• Unionized workers receive more generous health benefits than nonunionized workers. They also pay 18% lower health care deductibles and a smaller share of the costs for family coverage. In retirement, unionized workers are 24% more likely to be covered by health insurance paid for by their employer.
• Unionized workers receive better pension plans. Not only are they more likely to have a guaranteed benefit in retirement, their employers contribute 28% more toward pensions.
• Unionized workers receive 26% more vacation time and 14% more total paid leave (vacations and holidays).
Unions play a pivotal role both in securing legislated labor protections and rights such as safety and health, overtime, and family/medical leave and in enforcing those rights on the job. Because unionized workers are more informed, they are more likely to benefit from social insurance programs such as unemployment insurance and workers compensation. Unions are thus an intermediary institution that provides a necessary complement to legislated benefits and protections.
The union wage premium
It should come as no surprise that unions raise wages, since this has always been one of the main goals of unions and a major reason that workers seek collective bargaining. How much unions raise wages, for whom, and the consequences of unionization for workers, firms, and the economy have been studied by economists and other researchers for over a century (for example, the work of Alfred Marshall). This section presents evidence from the 1990s that unions raise the wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise total compensation by about 28%.
The research literature generally finds that unionized workers' earnings exceed those of comparable nonunion workers by about 15%, a phenomenon known as the "union wage premium."
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Unions Pay Better
On average, the Census Bureau reports that union-represented construction workers earn $20.60 an hour, compared with $13.30 an hour for those without a union -- a 65 percent advantage. In some areas, such as heavy construction and highway construction, the advantage is greater -- $25.47 an hour compared with $13.72 an hour.
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Friday, July 11, 2008
The Employee Free Choice Act
The Employee Free Choice Act
A growing, bipartisan coalition of policymakers supports the Employee Free Choice Act, proposed legislation that would ensure that workers have a free choice and a fair chance to form a union. Simply put, the Employee Free Choice Act will allow workers to once again choose to form unions without the fear of being fired.
The legislation would give workers a fair and direct path to form unions through majority sign-up, help employees secure a contract with their employer in a reasonable period of time, and toughen penalties against employers who violate their workers' rights.
Why is this bill so important? It's plain as day: workers are struggling in this country. Today's workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs, who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle to get by.
The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits – and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Corporate interests are fighting the Employee Free Choice Act with everything they've got. They're protecting the status quo – a rigged system which allows employers to intimidate, harass, and even fire workers who try to form a union. We're not talking about isolated incidents: 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers during union organizing drives.
Protecting the right to form unions is about maintaining the American middle class. It’s no coincidence that as union membership numbers fall there are growing numbers of jobs with low pay, poor benefits, and little to no security. More than half of U.S. workers—60 million—say they would join a union right now if they could.
Why? They know that coming together to bargain with employers over wages, benefits, and working conditions is the best path to getting ahead. Workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more than non-union workers, and are 63 percent more likely to have employer-provided health care. Without labor law reform, economic opportunity for America’s working families will continue to erode.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
A growing, bipartisan coalition of policymakers supports the Employee Free Choice Act, proposed legislation that would ensure that workers have a free choice and a fair chance to form a union. Simply put, the Employee Free Choice Act will allow workers to once again choose to form unions without the fear of being fired.
The legislation would give workers a fair and direct path to form unions through majority sign-up, help employees secure a contract with their employer in a reasonable period of time, and toughen penalties against employers who violate their workers' rights.
Why is this bill so important? It's plain as day: workers are struggling in this country. Today's workplaces are tilted in favor of lavishly-paid CEOs, who get golden parachutes while middle-class families struggle to get by.
The Employee Free Choice Act can restore the balance, giving more workers a chance to form unions and get better health care, job security, and benefits – and an opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Corporate interests are fighting the Employee Free Choice Act with everything they've got. They're protecting the status quo – a rigged system which allows employers to intimidate, harass, and even fire workers who try to form a union. We're not talking about isolated incidents: 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers during union organizing drives.
Protecting the right to form unions is about maintaining the American middle class. It’s no coincidence that as union membership numbers fall there are growing numbers of jobs with low pay, poor benefits, and little to no security. More than half of U.S. workers—60 million—say they would join a union right now if they could.
Why? They know that coming together to bargain with employers over wages, benefits, and working conditions is the best path to getting ahead. Workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more than non-union workers, and are 63 percent more likely to have employer-provided health care. Without labor law reform, economic opportunity for America’s working families will continue to erode.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Union Millwright
UNION MILLWRIGHTS
"KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY TOOLS".
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Millwright History
Millwright History
Who are the Millwrights and What do they do?
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/history.html
Who are the Millwrights and What do they do?
Millwright Ron
http://www.unionmillwright.com/history.html
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Millwright
Millwright
The word "millwright" has long been used to describe the man who was marked by everything ingenious and skillful. For several centuries in England and Scotland the millwright was recognized as a man with a knowledge of carpentry, blacksmithing and lathe work in addition to the fitter and erector. He was the recognized representative of mechanical arts and was looked upon as the authority in all applications of winds and water, under whatever conditions they were to be used, as a motive power for the purpose of manufacture. In other words, as the above definition would indicate, he was the area engineer, a kind of jack of all trades who was equally comfortable at the lathe, the anvil or the carpenter's bench. Thus, the millwright of the last several centuries was an itinerant engineer and mechanic of high reputation and recognized abilities. He could handle the axe, the hammer and the plane with equal skill and precision. He could turn, bore or forge with the ease and ability of one brought up in those trades. He could set and cut in the furrows of a millstone with an accuracy equal to or superior to that of the miller himself. In most instances, the millwright was a fair arithmetician, knew something of geometry, leveling and measurements, and often possessed a very competent knowledge of practical mathematics. He could calculate the velocities, strength and power of machines; could draw in plans, construct buildings, conduits or watercources, in all the forms and under all the conditions required in his professional practice. He could build bridges, cut canals and perform a variety of work now done by civil engineers. In the early days of North America millwrights designed and constructed the mills where flour and grist were ground by water power. Water was directed over hand-constructed wooden mill wheels to turn big wooden gears and generate power. Millwrights executed every type of engineering operation in the construction of these mills. The introduction of the steam engine, and the rapidity with which it created new trades, proved a heavy blow to the distinctive position of the millwrights, by bringing into the field a new class of competitors in the form of turners, fitters, machine makers, and mechanical engineers. Although there was an extension of the demand for millwork, it nevertheless lowered the profession of the millwright, and leveled it to a great degree with that of the ordinary mechanic. It was originally the custom for the millwrights to have meetings for themselves in every shop. These meetings usually included long discussions of practical science and the principles of construction which more often than not ended in a quarrel. One benefit of these meetings was the imparting of knowledge, as young aspirants would frequently become excited by the illustrations and chalk diagrams by which each side supported their arguments.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
The word "millwright" has long been used to describe the man who was marked by everything ingenious and skillful. For several centuries in England and Scotland the millwright was recognized as a man with a knowledge of carpentry, blacksmithing and lathe work in addition to the fitter and erector. He was the recognized representative of mechanical arts and was looked upon as the authority in all applications of winds and water, under whatever conditions they were to be used, as a motive power for the purpose of manufacture. In other words, as the above definition would indicate, he was the area engineer, a kind of jack of all trades who was equally comfortable at the lathe, the anvil or the carpenter's bench. Thus, the millwright of the last several centuries was an itinerant engineer and mechanic of high reputation and recognized abilities. He could handle the axe, the hammer and the plane with equal skill and precision. He could turn, bore or forge with the ease and ability of one brought up in those trades. He could set and cut in the furrows of a millstone with an accuracy equal to or superior to that of the miller himself. In most instances, the millwright was a fair arithmetician, knew something of geometry, leveling and measurements, and often possessed a very competent knowledge of practical mathematics. He could calculate the velocities, strength and power of machines; could draw in plans, construct buildings, conduits or watercources, in all the forms and under all the conditions required in his professional practice. He could build bridges, cut canals and perform a variety of work now done by civil engineers. In the early days of North America millwrights designed and constructed the mills where flour and grist were ground by water power. Water was directed over hand-constructed wooden mill wheels to turn big wooden gears and generate power. Millwrights executed every type of engineering operation in the construction of these mills. The introduction of the steam engine, and the rapidity with which it created new trades, proved a heavy blow to the distinctive position of the millwrights, by bringing into the field a new class of competitors in the form of turners, fitters, machine makers, and mechanical engineers. Although there was an extension of the demand for millwork, it nevertheless lowered the profession of the millwright, and leveled it to a great degree with that of the ordinary mechanic. It was originally the custom for the millwrights to have meetings for themselves in every shop. These meetings usually included long discussions of practical science and the principles of construction which more often than not ended in a quarrel. One benefit of these meetings was the imparting of knowledge, as young aspirants would frequently become excited by the illustrations and chalk diagrams by which each side supported their arguments.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
IPT Trades Books
Buy all of your IPT Trades books at www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Audel Books
Buy all of your Audel Trades books at www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Millwright
For the Best-Trained,Highest-Skilled Workforce Available Anywhere.... Union Millwrights....
The Trade Of All Trades ....
GUARANTEED
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Union Millwrights
The most important word in the language of the working class is "solidarity".
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Union Millwrights
For the Best-Trained, Highest-Skilled Workforce Available Anywhere .... Union Millwrights ,,,,,The Trade Of All Trades....." GUARANTEED"
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Union Millwrights
Union Millwrights:
Tools Of The Trade
"Quality and Integrity"
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Monday, May 05, 2008
Union Millwrights
Union Millwrights
"Making Engineers Look Good"
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Monday, April 21, 2008
Union Millwrights needed
Wood Group Field Services currently has a need for millwrights. If you are interested and want more information, please contact Marc Norred at 504-427-0207.
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Three Amigos Summit:
Three Amigos Summit:
President George W. Bush will soon host what has become an annual “Three Amigos Summit.” The leaders of Mexico, the United States, and Canada will be gathering in New Orleans on April 21 and 22. What do you suppose is on the agenda? A rational response to immigration, perhaps? A thoughtful renegotiation of the unpopular North American Free Trade Agreement? Lessons from Canada’s affordable medicines program?
No. No. And no. Rather than putting their heads together around pressing issues such as these, the three leaders will be advancing a so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). And while that may sound well and good, this initiative, begun in 2005, is unlikely to produce either security or prosperity. That’s because the partnership is only with big business.
The chief executives of Wal-Mart, Chevron, and 28 other large corporations are in on the closed-door negotiations, while members of Congress, journalists, and ordinary citizens are excluded. And the secrecy is not just around the presidential summits, but also the meetings of about 20 SPP working groups that carry on negotiations over the course of the year.
What’s on the table? Not much is public, but we do know that the executive powers of the three countries are hammering out regulatory changes that they claim do not require legislative approval. And given who’s in the room, it’s a safe bet that these changes will favor narrow corporate interests over the public good.
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Boomers on the road
WELCOME TO AMERICAN UNION TRAVEL!
This is a negotiated discount rate per job and vacation travel service. This service was started to help UNION and MILITARY members and their families "TAKE THEIR MONEY HOME!"
Our goal and mission is to negotiate with different hotels and motels, airlines and car rental companies for the best rates possible to meet and/or beat your per diem rates.
We also provide service to those in need of longer term housing options. Researching the area in which you need to be and locating possible rentals.
We provide service to those traveling with trailers in order to help find sites with utilities.
We are a NON Commission travel service. We charge a low flat fee rate of $25.00. This rate includes personal service 24 hours a day. If your out on the road and need assistance with car repair or business locations; bad weather on the way to a job we will assist you with finding resources.
This service is for active and retired members of Union and Military. Referals from Union and Military are welcomed.
This service is about taking care of our UNION and MILITARY family!
www.americanuniontravel.org
uniontraveler@hotmail.com
We look forward to doing business with you.
Kathy Stephens
American Union Travel
1301 N 19th St.
Council Bluffs, IA
51501
(712) 256-2806
If you mention that you saw this article on Union Millwright. They will give you a discount.
Unity
Millwright Ron
www.unionmillwright.com
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