The Sheraton Hotel in Anchorage, and What Labor Day is All About
Recently Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO came to Anchorage to conference, and to march in protest against the Sheraton and the Hilton Hotel here in the city. These two hotels have been under boycott for some time to protest unfair and illegal labor practices, including firing workers for handing out leaflets, and stealing tip jars from coffee shop workers. I marched with protesters, both union and non-union, from the unionized Captain Cook Hotel, down to the Sheraton, and around the building. After the march we gathered to hear Richard Trumka, and other labor leaders and Sheraton employees speak about the boycott.
We want to know one thing, and here’s what we want to know – Is America great enough? Are we great enough not only to build wealth for the millionaires and the billionaires, but to build good jobs and a decent life for the working people who make our country work. Or are we so flimsy that we’ll be ruined if the hardest working and most vulnerable people in this most incredible nation on the face of this Earth, earn a decent wage? Because when we’re talking about good wages, we’re talking about whether America is going to be a nation with a permanent under-class supporting the super-rich, or whether all of us will have a chance to work hard, and earn a measure of prosperity and security.
Today, America is at a crossroads, and those roads cross right here in Anchorage at the Sheraton. You see, inside that building managers are using time-worn schemes to curtail the freedoms of free people. They’re racking up labor violations as fast as they can. They’ve got cameras – in fact, they’re filming us right now. Turn around and just say hi.
Here’s what else they’ve done. They’ve convinced workers to spy on each other. They fired workers for handing out leaflets. They’ve banned business agents from the premesis. They’re pushing “right to work for less” propaganda on the hardest working, lowest paid employees that they’ve got. And guess what all of that amounts to? A simple argument for them… that that company right there – they think America’s a failure; that the American Dream is a farce. That’s what they’re about. Well, we’re about to show them that the American Dream is alive and well.
You know, it’s almost funny if it wasn’t so sad. Remington, a Dallas Corporation by the way, calls itself “dynamic” with a “culture centered on achieving results.” They think so much of themselves that they’ve actually applied to trademark the term – and I quote – “the premiere service provider to the hospitality industry.” They say “our people are the ultimate source of our competitive advantage,” but what they don’t tell you is the “how” and the “why” of that cynical, ironic statement. What they don’t tell you is that their “dynamic culture” is to use any means, illegal or legal, to intimidate and abuse, and that the results they achieve are to frighten vulnerable people into working for less and less. And that they can deliver outstanding returns to their investors and owners by scraping every possible penny from the hides of people who actually do the heavy lifting in that building right there.
You say that’s ugly, that’s pessimistic, and that’s a short term vision of America, and I think it’s disgusting. So if you call yourself a patriot, if you love America, then stand with us, stand with these employees. And if you honor your own freedom to work together, then turn abusive jobs into good jobs, then stand together with us. We’ll spread the word, we’ll sustain the boycott until they crumble, we won’t back down, and that’s why I know we’re going to keep fighting for your powerful actions against Sheraton, and Remington, and Hilton. I know and you know that we’re going to win, because we’re going to do it together.
People power, right? That’s Union power. We’re stronger together. Brothers and sisters, the AFL-CIO and every last one of our 11 and a half million members will stand shoulder to shoulder with you for one day longer than they can stand – standing together, fighting together, marching together, voting together – that’s how we’re going to win, and I promise you we won’t back down and we won’t give in and we won’t let anyone – no Sheraton and no Hilton – stand in our way. God bless you.
Later that evening Trumka delivered a speech in which he was critical of Sarah Palin.
“In this charged political environment, her kind of talk gets dangerous,” Trumka said at the reception of the Alaska AFL-CIO Biennial Convention. “‘Don’t retreat - reload,’ may seem clever - the kind of bull you hear all the time, but put it in context. She’s using crosshairs to illustrate targeted legislators. She’s on the wrong side of the line there. She’s getting close to calling for violence. And some of her fans take that stuff seriously.”
Trumka was also critical of Palin for using the term ”union thugs,” a loaded term given labor history, and that rhetoric in the context of unions in the United States. Of course our favorite backpedaler accused Trumka of saying that she had criticized union workers, and really she criticized union leadership. “Union thugs” is what she actually said.
Our ex-half gov responded via Facebook rant, and actially called Trumka “a career union boss who’s spent most of his life in DC.”
Nice try. Richard Trumka followed his grandfather and his father into the coal mines of Pennsylvania in the 1960s. The mines proved worse than he imagined they’d be. “Cold, damp, dusty – a dungeon of impending danger.” Nothing compared to the dangers of life as a sportscaster, or the hideous conditions in Wasilla City Hall, but you know…
Trumka wanted to do something to make a difference for miners and for all workers in general. His path led him to graduate from college, and law school, and he is now the President of the AFL-CIO.
He responded to Palin by saying, “I spent more time in the mine than she did as governor. I served a whole term there, as a matter of fact.” He later stated that he spent seven years working in coal mines before ending up as the president of the United Mine Workers of America. Palin, of course, quit after less than two years of a four year term.
~Hundreds of protesters chant, “Shame on you” to the management of the Sheraton Hotel in Anchorage.
Richard Trumka and Vince Beltrami, President of the AFL-CIO in Alaska
[Photos and first video by Zach Roberts]
I believe the correct way of referring to Sarah’s gubernatorial career is “The aborted partial-term governor.”
As we used to say an age ago… “Rank!”
Yes! The abortion governor!
Has any other governor in the state ever aborted their term? I think not. Brilliant, LB!
Technically yes, but it was to move to a job with the Nixon administration, so it wasn’t like he quit “for work for the benefit of Alaska”/(“pad his back account”) per se.
When I played Kiwanis League baseball (age 9-13 or so) our coach would treat us to ice cream cones after the games. My memory was that it was win or lose. Anyway, we’d go to this classy ice cream parlor, Schneider’s, where you could either go inside or buy stuff at an outside window. There was a very nice lady that worked there, and I always enjoyed seeing her there. At that time, I probably thought she had the most important job in the world, and she did it well. Over the years, I have thought about her (never knew her name, or anything like that). I think she was an employee, not the business owner. The context in which I thought about her was about the dignity of work. She had a job and did it well, and with dignity even though it likely didn’t pay very much. However, she had dignity in her work. Had I encountered her as an adult, nowadays, I’d likely feel sorry for her in some way or another. Everyone who works should have and feel dignity, and her job was as important or more important than that CEO who fired workers to make the company more profitable for the investor-stockholders.
Everyone should be paid a living wage. If that burger doesn’t get flipped, you don’t get to eat it. If you think what you do is way more important, let the satisfaction of doing it be your primary reward, and once all other full time workers are paid a living wage, maybe you can get a little raise.
Nothing too earth shattering just some old observations.
…Or as my grandmother said, “Any job worth doing is worth doing well”.
She usually repeated that when she was handing dishes back to me to re-wash. At the time, I found it annoying. But is was a lesson that has served me well.
We honor ourselves when we take pride in our work, no matter how ‘menial’ others may view the job.
“Or as my grandmother said, “Any job worth doing is worth doing well”.
She usually repeated that when she was handing dishes back to me to re-wash. At the time, I found it annoying. But is was a lesson that has served me well.”
*snorts with laughter*
Thing 1 and Thing 2 recognize this dynamic–I do it to them! Yeah, it may drive them crazy NOW, but it’s funny how it drives Thing 1 crazy having to deal with other students who do half-assed slip-shod work. Now, if only that transferred to their rooms.
Hint–floors are to be seen, not rumoured!
My daughter used to refer to her bedroom floor as a “Horizontal Storage Unit”. She is grown and her house is spotless. Have hope.
You are so right and that is a motto i keep repeating to my own and others from the younger generation especially those that think they can come in and get top wages without working for them.We used to get raises according to our work ethic.The better we did the bigger the raise.One time a friend and I were the only two people in a company of about 250 to receive above the normal raise rate for any employee ever.So I know first hand that doing your best and doing it well pays off. My dad use to tell me about people coming to work where he did,a union company by the way,and leaving after a half day because it was hard work.He always said they at least got a new pair of shoes out of it.The company finially stopped giving safety shoes out and left it up to the employee to buy them and get reimbursed.That stopped a lot of the people coming in for half days. LOL
Happy Labor day, Alaskans and mudpuppies!
“At a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, Obama said Republicans are betting that between now and the Nov. 2 elections, Americans will forget the Republican economic policies that led to the recession. He said Republicans have opposed virtually everything he has done to help the economy, and have proposed solutions that have only made the problem worse.
“That philosophy didn’t work out so well for middle-class families all across America,” Obama told a cheering crowd at a labor gathering. “It didn’t work out so well for our country. All it did was rack up record deficits and result in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”
He said Repubicans have consistently opposed his economic proposals and seem to be running on a slogan of “No, we can’t,” playing off his 2008 presidential campaign mantra of “Yes we can.”
“If I said fish live in the sea, they’d say no,” Obama said.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/06/obama-to-back-50-billion-_n_706452.html#comments
This country would crumble if workers could afford to really strike. All of them, at the same time. Bring the billionaires to their knees. Workers are the greatest asset this country has, by far. Bless the unions, may they live long and prosper, as we all should.
I was too ill to attend this wonderful and important march and sent Vince an email of support and a follow up call to the union office. I support this effort although I am not in a union.
I used to be in one when I was a maid at the Hilton decades ago. Our salary was $23.32 per shift, 12 rooms per day and two breaks and a half hour for lunch.
I can make a bed in 1 – 2 minutes, clean a bathroom in 4 -8 minutes and house clean a suite in a half hour with white glove results. Damn, I’m good!
You union people have me in your corner.
On another note, Vince looks cute in a suit.
I am reposting this speech given by FDR on Oct. 31, 1936 just before the Presidential Election that year. It is fitting on this Labor Day to be reminded of the struggles of the working man and woman, and the tactics of the corporate leaders of that time. It is also fitting to note how closely that era resembles the current one. Someone said today that it is almost as if FDR was prescient and knew his speech would resonate with a future population.
http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3307
i hope everyone enjoyed the day. i spent the day with Little Bubbles. we went to see a movie this afternoon and got our mani-pedis. we gave our carers nice tips and told stories that made them laugh. they told us stories about themselves and their families. we left looking pretty and we left them in good spirits….i want to give a shout out to my Communication Workers of America brothers and sisters. we fought long and hard for decent wages, medical and life insurance and other benefits; and because we stood together on strike lines,sometimes for months, we won for ourselves and our families a good life if not a wealthy one….so thank you my brothers and sisters who walked with me and stood with me “on the line in eighty-nine”.
We biked the PA Grand Canyon -on new bikes. Our asses are aching, but our day was divine
via ADN:
Senate candidate Miller cited in three-vehicle crash
http://www.adn.com/2010/09/06/1441595/senate-candidate-miller-cited.html
The “Thought of the Day” from the homepage on my web browser. beth.
“If any man tells you he loves America, yet hates labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool.” – Abraham Lincoln
nice one Beth.
Just read Gary Paulsons “Winterdance” (again). He SOOOOO makes up for the Palins. -Alaska should really thank him. A lot.
Just wonderin’ – when Toddy worked in the North Slope oil fields, was he a union “thug” or are those jobs non-union?
Yes, Todd was a union worker on the North Slope, as was Sister Sarah, both as a City of Wasilla employee and again as an employee of the State of Alaska. So maybe she’s just “projecting” again when she talks about “union thugs”. After all, she and Todd are textbook examples of the worst kind of bullying thugs (but in a “Christian” kind of a way, of course…)
A production “operator” job like Todd’s pays extremely well, probably near or above $100,000 a year after some time in the position, which is amazing considering that it is a blue-collar job, requiring (at most) a 2-year technical degree.
This from the Anchorage Daily News:
“ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The husband of former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has quit his oil field job on the North Slope.
“Todd loved his union job on the Slope and hopes to return,” Meghan Stapleton, Sarah Palin’s personal spokeswoman, said in an e-mail Friday.
Hmmm… wonder if he’d be so anxious to return if it paid $15 an hour?
It is easy for union workers for oil companies in skilled positions to make $100,000/or over. My oldest son works for an oil refinery in California and made over $100,000 his second year there. Last year he aced a test and was given a $5/hr. raise. (I remember telling him that the amount of the raise was more than a lot of people live on.) When he broke his ankle at work in a freak accident, all expenses were paid and he received full pay for the three months he was off. Before he was hired, he had three days of tests, then when he was hired he went to school for six weeks, with pay, and had to pass written tests they gave week. If you failed a test one week, you could retake it once, but if you failed the second time or on a future test, you were let go. It was quite a procedure and it took over two months to get hired, then another three months before he started. Fortunately he already had a job and could wait, but is much happier working at the refinery and appreciates the many benefits. My younger son has not had much luck in his career though and would love a job that pay $15/hr.
I got my picture taken with Brian at the beginning of that rally.
Also, I posted the video I took from the speech as well. http://www.ieatgravel.com/
Has anyone watched the TV show where the CEO of a company goes out and works (below the managment level) within the ranks of his company disguised as someone else? It is so good and has always brought tears to my eyes. His reasoning is not to spy on his employees, but to work with them and learn how he can improve the company. All the CEO’s that I’ve viewed have gone back to his executive board and had them make major changes to enhance working conditions for their employees. Some suggestions made by employees were actually implemented, which I found neat, neat, neat! (No mention of unions in any of these shows.) Do watch the show as it is truly uplifting – especially in our world of today.
I have to also add that a friend of mine worked for The Hilton Hotel downtown – her hours were cut and due to that she no longer qualified to have medical insurance, which ended up being detrimental to her in the end. I would not step into the Hilton or Sheraton (and, I have often throughout my working career – now retired) today under the circumstances. They treat their employees horribly.
The Captain Cook is a union shop.
If you have time to watch, or listen to, Michael Moore on Democracy Now, I highly recommended it. If you’re short on time watch the last 1/3 or so where he talks about all the death threats and attempts to physically harm him after he spoke out against the invasion of Iraq at the Oscars.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/6/michael_moore_on_his_life_his
It was a 1-hour show, but I highly recommend watching the entire interview. I especially liked the last third. When he told about how the Dems in his district dealt with Bart Stupak, the Michigan Dem Rep that tried to derail healthcare over his personal religious choices.
Per Wiki:
“On April 9th, 2010, Stupak announced that he will retire from Congress at the end of his term. [8]”
Interesting read there at Wiki, I had forgotten that Stupak had rented a room also at the “C” Street house:
“While in Washington, D.C., Stupak rented a room at the C Street facility of The Fellowship, a Christian organization which operates the property[13][14] and has been the subject of controversy over its claimed tax status as a church, the ownership of the property and its connection to the Fellowship, and the reportedly subsidized benefits the facility provides to members of Congress.[15]”
Glad to see this dude was given the boot! Congrats MM and Dems in his District!
You know maybe if enough people put up the death threat e-mails and people saw how bad this had gotten things might smooth out some!!!!!!!!
So quiet
We try to leave no action
No response
No presence of our existence
in the snow and ice
No memory of our DNA
No fingerprints
No Nothing.
Just forget the loss, the babies without loving arms
just bury the teens, who cares? Just bury the babies
Just pretend.
Just pretend it doesn’t matter.
Just bury the dead.
Just pretend we don’t care.
Gentle golden eagle feathers fall
Time goes by
Soft tears fall
Peace. Peace. That is all.
Sorry I’m not too chatty – been working on a project most of the day and into the early morning. Just took a look at Ralph Nader’s site to see what he has to say about labor day.
One day I was at BWI airport and went to the crowded men’s room. As I entered, the elderly cleaning man erupted in frustration. “I’m sick of this job,” he shouted to no one in particular. “Hour after hour I clean up, come back, see the crap, clean up some more. It never ends,” he wailed. The men who were wiping, flushing, washing, drying and zipping were stunned and silently shuffled out, as if he wasn’t there. I thanked him for his work and candor, calmed him down and gave him a gratuity. The others looked at me blankly as if I was dealing with a ghost they never see as a human being.
http://nader.org/index.php?/archives/2209-Honoring-Those-Who-Toil.html
This story reminds me of a similar incident I saw yesterday. While in the drugstore, I was near the front when I heard a woman, probably about 65, cursing out the woman working as cashier, accusing her of all sorts of things. The cashier told the angry woman that she was sorry if she was offended, but the angry woman kept on. After the man with the angry woman drug her out the door, I took my things to the cashier (whom I see at least once a week) and I told her that I had always found her to be most gracious to me and that I appreciated her service. She smiled and thanked me. People who work usually do it with dignity and deserve to be respected no matter what their job is. I always try to respect people I deal with, and it pays off as I receive good service 99.99% of the time.
In the spirit of Labor Day – Tim Wise on white privilege and to some degree why people vote against their own best interests:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xe1kX7Wsc&feature=youtu.be
All those who labor deserve a living wage, and some measure of dignity. Unions help achieve those ends. Daddy was a union man, mom was a union woman. I’ve never had a job where I could join a union (unlike my older sister, who’s a retired union woman). I love my work, and look forward to doing it for the rest of my life.