File this under 'token gestures of the worst kind.'
No, President Obama, will not be making an appearance in support of the Unions in Wisconsin, Indiana or other surrounding states. No, President Obama will not be discussing the renegotiation of NAFTA, or the Korean Trade Deal, or the Highway from Hell that will run from Mexico, through the USA into Canada. No President Obama will not honor his own words:
"And if American workers are being denied their right to organize when I'm in the White House, I will put on a comfortable pair of shoes and I will walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States." — 11/3/07, Spartanburg, SC. Senator Barack Obama
Instead of actually taking a real stand, a show of full support behind the Unions in our nation, he is going to keep Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO, on a nice safe leash, and has apparently appointed him to be on his new so called Jobs Commission.
President Barack Obama named representatives from business and labor to his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, including Kenneth Chenault, chief executive officer of American Express Co., Richard D. Parsons, chairman of CitiGroup Inc., and Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. Among others Obama named to the panel today were Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont Co, John Doerr, a senior partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm; Roger Ferguson, CEO of TIAA-CREF and a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Laura D’Andrea Tyson, a professor of economics at University of California-Berkley and former President Bill Clinton’s economic adviser. Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of General Electric Co., the world biggest maker of jet engines, was named by Obama on Jan. 21 to head the 23-member advisory body. Paul Otellini, the chief executive officer of Intel Corp., the world’s largest semiconductor maker, was named by Obama Feb. 17 to the panel, and AOL Inc. co-founder Steve Case was added yesterday.
Also named today were: Antonio Perez, chairman and chief executive of Eastman Kodak Co; Mark Gallogly, managing partner of Centerbridge Partners; Joseph T. Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union; Lewis “Lew” Hay III, chief executive of NextEra Energy Inc.; and Gary Kelly, board chairman of Southwest Airlines. Other Members: In addition, Obama appointed A.G. Lafley, former board chairman, Procter & Gamble; Monica C. Lozano, publisher and chief executive of La Opinion, the U.S.’s largest Spanish newspaper; Darlene Miller, chief executive of Permac Industries; Penny Pritzker, chairman and chief executive of Pritzker Realty Group; Brian L. Roberts, chief executive of Comcast Corp. and board chairman of NBCUniversal; Matt Rose, chief executive of Burlington Northern Santa Fe; Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; and Robert Wolf, Chairman of UBS America.
The panel is scheduled to conduct its first meeting tomorrow at the White House. The advisory group replaces the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which was given the task of advising the administration on measures to help the economy recover from the recession and had been in operation since Obama became president in January 2009. Its chairman was former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and members included economists, business executives and labor union leaders.
http://www.bloomberg.com/...
Wow, what a great 'ploy' President Obama, but hey, did anyone else notice just how the 'deck' is totally stacked in favor of our Corporate Over Lords? Yeah, right.
This meaningless gesture by President Obama is nothing more than a way to not only neutralize the Unions, (and thereby keeping their support), but also a way to keep from actually standing up for the working people of this nation.
Gotta hand it to Obama, he does Triangulation with a capital 'T.'
As of today, Richard Trumka has not accepted this position (at least as far as my google eyes can find).
I sure hope he does not. Right now, America is in a pivotal point in its history, and for the first time, in very long time, the Unions could very well be in an amazing position to 'be born again' and perhaps gain a huge grass roots movement, that is sorely needed in our nation.
In case you missed it today (a must read):
Matt Stoller: The Liquidation of Society versus the Global Labor Revival
By Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. His Twitter feed is http://www.twitter.com/....
Today, the city of Providence, Rhode Island sent out layoff notices to every single teacher in the city. Every single one of them. If you want to understand why this is happening, why wages in the US keep getting cut, this chart tells the story.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/...
And of course there's this:
The Detroit public school system has been ordered to close half its schools to make up for a $327 million deficit. The schools will be shuttered over the next four years, causing class sizes to bulge to 60.
The plan, mandated by state education officials, will reduce the number of schools in the district from 142 to 72.
Robert Bobb, the district's emergency financial manager, said he was preparing a list of recommended school closures and that layoffs would be announced closer to April, according to The Detroit News.
http://www.aolnews.com/...
Memo to Richard Trumka:
Don't take the fucking bait Richard. This is your moment in time, to stand up and rebuild the Unions of this nation. Even if that means creating a third party for Labor (as has been done in Europe) don't let President Obama off the hook now.
If you join this bullshit fake Jobs Commission, understand that the 'deck' is totally stacked against you with the Globalization Corporate Overlords, but in fact, right now Mr. Trumka, you may not realize it but you are holding all the ACE's.
President Obama may think that he's a great poker player, but he obviously is trying to pull cards out of the bottom of the deck on this one.
Thanks..
Ms. B.