I’m going to do something different this week so, this column won’t take its standard gush-about-stuff-from-this-week format, because I’m responding to something Newbury Comics has done in their weekly comic book and graphic novel e-mail newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. For my thoughts on this week, you can check my blog.

Okay, so down to business. Publishing 10 best comic book titles of 2007 lists from your superexploited employees (I say superexploited because people who work in Newbury Comics don’t make a lot and tend to be people who chose the work environment because of an affinity for some superfluous product the store sells–i.e. comics, cds, hello kitty dolls–and so end up spending a huge portion of their limited income at the company store. I don’t even want to imagine the kind of debt I’d wrack up if I spent 5 days a week surrounded by comics for sale. Yikes. Sorry, huge tangent.) would not seem to be a task that the first week of February 2008 would call for. I know if I were left to my own devices I would never dream of publishing a list of my 10 favorie comics from 2007 this week, but Newbury Comics had to go and do that. What’s worse is that the lists provided by these guys (and they were obviously all male) demonstrate that they are even less equipped to provide such a list to the general public than I am. In the course of human events, there comes a time when I must cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war against Newbury Comics’ tardy best of 2007 lists. more »

Like comedy? Like justice?

As our own Davey Dave Segal has written, “PC janitors have been subject to harassment and intimidation as they fight for a fair contract.” With things looking as they do, a whole bunch of comedy groups at PC have decided to put together a benefit show to help build the contracted Hurley of America janitors’ strike fund. The show is tomorrow:

Wednesday, February 6 from 10:30pm to 11:30pm
Bowab Theater in Smith Center for the Arts @ Providence College

Come down for laughs of all shapes and colors! Rejects on the Rise, Harry Houdini’s Box of Doom, and Six Gents will be hosting a comedy night Wednesday, February 6th at 10:30 to raise money for the Hurley Workers. The money will be used to help the workers who are struggling to care for their families. Plus, it’s comedy!!!

Suggested donation: $2.00

Disclaimer after the jump. more »

First the striking writers brought us the glory of labor struggle-themed youtube videos and now the United Autoworkers (UAW) have picked up where they left off, launching a new folksy tv ad campaign and ancillary website telling members’ stories to educate the public that unions aren’t all about strikes and laziness. The campaign, with the slogan “I Am the UAW”, features union members and retirees doing good work in their communities through the union or talking about how the union fights for better labor standards at home and abroad. Very down to Earth and much to my liking, the tv spots have already started running in Detroit and will soon branch out to other media markets including one near my old stomping grounds — Louisville, Kentucky. In that media market, would be union members and UAW organizers are working hard to organize a Toyota Plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. If they succeed, I’ll be able to take pride in being from the state where the first American Toyota plant to go union is located.

What I really like is that the ads play counterpoint to the Lou Dobbs hysteria regarding led paint on children’s toys (we had led paint on our toys and we turned out okay!). This ad (after the jump), featuring UAW nurse Yolanda Crosby, expresses the same concern I’ve had all along–not just for the children of American consumers, but for Chinese workers as well: more »

For those who missed it during the big game, this was a nice commercial with a hometown flavor:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMf5cCDy1I]

But, us being whiny liberals and all, it provides us with the opportunity to highlight Coke’s record of facilitating human rights violations, and complicity in the murders of several union activists:

Listed below are union leaders at Coca-Cola’s Colombian bottling plants who have been murdered. Hundreds of other Coke workers have been tortured, kidnapped and/or illegally detained by violent paramilitaries, often working closely with plant managements.

Cool news on the labor activism front — the Jobs with Justice national convention will be in Providence this year. We’ll post reminders over the coming months, but you can register now by following the link below. From RIFuture:

One thousand community and labor activists from all over the country will be in Providence from May 2nd to May 4th for the national Jobs with Justice conference. There will be workshops on creating green jobs, fighting globalization, student activism, winning universal health care and organizing low-income and immigrant workers. As the former director of RI Jobs with Justice, I remember these inspiring and educational conferences vividly. You don’t want to miss it. Register today!

From Jobs with Justice.  Send an email by clicking here.

The Employment Insecurity Act: Everyone’s Vulnerable

Have you ever made a typo or a spelling mistake? Of course you have. But did ever lose your job because of it?

The Rhode Island General Assembly is considering a misguided piece of legislation that would force employers – when you apply for a job – to cross-check your name in a government database so riddled with error that officials from both the Social Security Administration and the General Accounting Office have criticized its flaws.

The legislation could cause thousands of Rhode Islanders - citizens and non-citizens alike - to lose their jobs or to be considered ineligible for employment because of an administrative error, a typo, a name change, or a computer glitch. Fear-mongering against immigrants has brought the Basic Pilot Employment Verification program to the State House. This Act is the Employment Insecurity Act of 2008- “employment verification” in this program will make everyone vulnerable.

 Janitors’ strike looms for PC Family weekend

Providence College janitors are planning to go on strike in less than 12 hours if they do not reach an agreement with their employer, Hurley of America, Inc.

More info at RIFuture.

PC janitors have been subject to harassment and intimidation as they fight for a fair contract. They need our support:

Contracted Janitors at Providence College
READY TO STRIKE
Against Unfair Labor Practices!

This weekend Providence College will celebrate Parents Weekend. The contracted janitors who keep the campus clean have announced their intention to hold a 72-hour strike if they cannot reach an agreement with their employer, Hurley of America, by the time their current contract expires at the end of Thursday, January 31st.

As workers have organized in support of a just contract, Hurley of America has responded with harassment and intimidation. If necessary, the janitors are willing to sacrifice their pay to stand up for the respect and dignity they deserve as workers. As PC students are reuniting with their families, Hurley employees on campus, with strong support from students and faculty members, will take action in the hope of a better life for their own families.

more »

Now this is some great news:

For the first time in the past quarter of a century, in 2007 U.S. unions increased their share of membership among workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) annual union membership report released today. Unions added about 310,000 members last year, raising the unionized share of the workforce to 12.1 percent from 12.0 percent in 2006.

Come out and support the PC janitors’ fight for a fair contract — and their fundamental right to organize, as they’ve been subject to harassment and intimidation by their bosses. 3PM at 549 River Avenue (outside of main entrance to PC).

This nonviolent rally will take place in remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose speeches and public demonstrations remind us of the possibility of a peaceful, brotherly society and the creation of a beloved community.

We believe that:

• Hard work on campus deserves just compensation,
• All workers on campus should be able to adequately provide for their families based on their salaries,
• Janitors have the right to unite for a fair contract without fear of repercussion from their supervisors,
• Janitors are essential and invaluable members of our community.

RIFuture covers two unusually positive political developments today.

• National Grid, our electrical utility, has expressed a new willingness to enter long-term agreements with suppliers of renewable energy.

• The Providence City Council’s finance committee will be taking up the Living Wage Ordinance on Thursday. (Yours truly was recently informed that he’ll be giving the presentation on the ordinance’s behalf.)

There are links galore to info about both issues at RIFuture. Also on Thursday, the Providence City Council will take up a resolution in support of the janitors at Providence College, who are organizing for a fair new contract.

This is really bad. For a million reasons. The NEA, which endorsed Clinton, is fighting against the Culinary Wokers Union, which endorsed Obama.

There’d been an understanding that the Dem Party would set up “at-large’ caucus sites for people who work on the Vegas Strip on the day of the Caucus.

The decision was a function of an open process, but nobody complained until Obama got the CWU endorsement — now the NEA is suing, with a pervasive sense that Clinton’s campaign is behind it.

From Kos:

After Iowa, Hillary Clinton expressed her disapproval of a system that disenfranchises many workers. Nevada has gone out of its way to mitigate that effect of the caucus system, only to have apparently politically motivated objections arise late, apparently on her behalf. Over at TalkLeft, Jeralyn suggests ways the teachers union’s concerns might be dealt with. But whatever the legitimacy of their concerns, the timing is shameful.

Though I’ve also seen the legitimate point raised that caucusing based on proximity of work place makes the already awkward caucuses even more problematic: It makes it more likely that you’ll be caucusing in the same venue the people you work for and with, which could certainly compel you to vote somehow other than you would were the process anonymous.

OK, so after tonight’s democratic debate, commentators will probably say that Hillary is “back off the ropes,” and that New Hampshire will “go down to the wire.” The latter is probably true, and we’ll see what effect the debate had, aside from jumpstarting Bill “Ralphie May” Richardson’s comedy career.
But it’s pretty plain to see that Hillary is getting desperate. She muddied the water on Iraq, but taking the “change” mantle, which I assume is some sort of novelty-sized New Year’s tiara, will be harder. Thank god for baseless attack ads! more »

As everybody knows, the state budget is a mess. But one glimmer of hope as the session gets underway: A ton of Reps and Senators (Dems and Repubs) have been approaching me about various posts on this blog and rifuture encouraging the vigorous development of renewable energy in Rhode Island, and suggesting that we position Rhode Island as a national leader in this arena.

The specifics could, and would need to, take a variety of forms. But as we look for a way to create jobs — and ideally jobs that fill real needs — Rhode Island is especially well positioned to exploit its long coastline and ample wind energy. (Solar, hydro, and wave power should be explored too, of course.)

As I’ve mentioned before, the first thing that we need to do is allow for net-metering — basically to let entities that put up renewables installations get paid for all the electricity they produce. (The alternative is for anything they produce above what they use to be pumped into the grid — essentially handed over to the utility — with no financial reward going to the producer.)

Deeper net metering would do away with a tremendous barrier to renewables production, and cost taxpayers NOTHING. Also crucial are a variety of targeted incentives, streamlining of permitting, and the creation of the Power Authority that died at the end of last year’s session.

(The other hopeful news is that we finally have labor advocates and environmentalists meeting to try to push a green jobs program. More on this as we move forward.)

Our new best friend has reached a tentative agreement on a contract with the Providence Newspaper Guild, whose 400-some members will be voting on it in a couple of weeks.

Ian has a detailed analysis:

The Guild’s last contract agreement, in 2003, came after four years of a divisive union-management battle that left many employees with a bitter taste following the Belo Corporation’s 1997 acquisition of the ProJo. The pain of the last battle, as I reported earlier this month, left both sides in a decidely more collaborative state of mind.

Another instance of no-show jobbing rears its ugly head yet again in Rhode Island, this time the accusations are against Providence Fire Union president Paul Doughty, who has allegedly not come to work a whole lot in the last three years. Doughty claims the allegations are retaliation from all the bad blood between the union and the city. It’s a pretty meaty story, read the whole thing here.