CHEERS/JEERS (Developments in the Progressive Movement)

CHEERS to the unionized flight attendants at American Airlines for their efforts on safety. They published a list of demands on their employer and government agencies. In one case, they refused to fly a plane until safety conditions were met. JEERS to American Airlines management for trying to dock their pay!  Morning News

 

JEERS to big-money in politics. A new report indicates that $54 million went to Texas politicians during 2000. 64% came from business interests and only 5% came from organized labor!  Texas AFL-CIO News

 

JEERS because the average American worker must earn at least $11.28/hour to afford a modest 1-bedroom apartment, but the minimum wage is stuck at $5.15/hour. 2.7 million Americans last year worked for minimum wage.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to the judge who jailed New Jersey teachers for striking!  Las Vegas Times

 

JEERS to the long list of companies using terrorism as an excuse to cut union pay and benefits.   New York Times

 

JEERS because household debt hit a 15-year high before September. The bankruptcy "reform" bill being considered in Congress would make it harder to avoid paying debts and accumulated interest.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to attempts to make it harder to collect Unemployment Insurance in Texas.  Ed Sills of Texas AFL-CIO

 

JEERS to the Navy for spraying our own sailors with nerve gas and other unknown substances just for a test in the 1960s.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to the insurance companies, hotel owners, and airline owners who line up for taxpayer bailouts without guaranteeing that they will save people's jobs!  Star Telegram

 

CHEERS to Texas State Senator John Whitmire for admitting that our state's social service programs, including Unemployment Insurance, may be in trouble: "Isn't it about time to start telling the people that we're broke?" he asks!  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to Northrop Grumman if it's true that they defrauded the Pentagon of "tens of millions of dollars on defense contracts, including one to produce top-secret parts for the B-2 stealth bomber."  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to LTV Corporation because it is still trying to void its union contracts and dump its obligations to retirees!  Wall Street Journal

 

JEERS to privatized prisons because nearly 3/4 of them have received big tax subsidies!  Texas AFL-CIO Labor News

 

JEERS to the sad state of world affairs. Clemson University Professor Martin Slann says that 1.3 billion people worldwide live in absolute poverty with no safe drinking water and less than $1/day for food; 500 million are homeless and nearly 20 million die annually from starvation or disease.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to news that Texas faces a $660 million shortfall in the Unemployment Insurance fund by next October. The report will trigger an automatic increase in employer taxes.  Texas AFL-CIO

 

JEERS to news that the federal budget will run in deficit for the foreseeable future and that President Bush has already "resigned himself" to getting the Social Security money.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to President Bush's announcement that he will intervene if the United Airlines mechanics try to strike.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to the Social Security "reform" panelists who were hand-picked because they all want to privatize our money. CHEERS to one of them, who managed to include a proposal to let fabulously wealthy people pay about $285/year more than they pay now.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to the editors that said people who work under "Right to Work/Scab" laws "throw off union shackles!" They said the Oklahoma vote would help anti-union efforts in Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Montana.  Houston Chronicle

 

CHEERS to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) for winning a union election at the Asplundh Tree Expert Company in Houston. JEERS to the company and government agency for delaying the vote count for three months!  Ed Sills of Texas AFL-CIO

 

JEERS to the editors who say that Social Security needs to be privatized.  Dallas Morning News

 

JEERS to the editors who insist that Congress pass "fast track" legislation.  Dallas Morning News

 

CHEERS to Tarrant County labor unions, including UAW 218, for helping get a $2.8 million grant to retrain workers for assembly jobs.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to the headline, "Americans Toiling Longer." The article says: "Americans work 137 more hours, or 3 1/2 weeks more per year, than Japanese workers, 260 hours (aboutr 6 1/2 weeks) more per year than British workers, and 499 hours (12 1/2 weeks) more per year than German workers... At the same time, American workers' productivity has gone steeply upwards!  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to the headline: "CEOs Salaries Remain on Rise" with statistics showing that the average factory worker would be making $120,000 per year instead of $24,668 if his or her salary had risen as quickly as their CEO's.  Star Telegram

 

JEERS to Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill for advocating the elimination of all corporate taxes, cutting all federal programs except the military, and abolishing both Social Security and Medicare. DOUBLE JEERS to local "news" agencies for not reporting it.  Fairness and Accuracy in Media (FAIR)

 

JEERS to the headline: "Texas Work Deaths Highest in Decade."  Morning News

 

JEERS to news that teens on the government's welfare-to-work program are doing worse in school.  Morning News

 

JEERS top the 44 Republican senators who used a filibuster to prevent the Senate from adding an aviation worker relief package to airline security legislation.  Work in Progress

 

Feedback to Webmaster

 

Back to homepage