James Hoffa, Teamsters President, Says Romney 'Wants To Annihilate Organized Labor'

[highplainsdem]

Source: Huffington Post

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The way Teamsters President James P. Hoffa sees it, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney would be happy if an already weakened American labor movement ceased to exist altogether.

"He wants to annihilate organized labor as we know it," Hoffa told HuffPost outside the Democratic National Convention this week. "It's on his website. I'm not making this up. He's for a national right-to-work law. The Republican Party has veered dangerously to the right. It's rather incredible, in 2012, if you think about it."

Indeed, Romney's official stance on labor isn't kind to unions. His campaign website suggests that unions have outlasted their significance, "driv[ing] up costs and introduc[ing] rigidities that harm competitiveness and frustrate innovation." He supports states pursuing right-to-work laws, which weaken the clout of unions, and his party last week approved a platform pushing for national right-to-work legislation. He'd also like to prohibit automatic union dues-deduction from employee paychecks.

Hoffa isn’t the only labor leader who visited Charlotte this week and sees a hostility toward unions in Romney's positions. Mary Kay Henry, head of the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union, told HuffPost earlier this week that Romney "wants to take us out."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/08/james-hoffa-teamsters-romney_n_1866359.html

[valerief]

1. Rmoney would rename the U.S. to New China, if he could. nt

[zellie]

2. Like thats a secret or something??

no shit

[Samantha]

4. I think this is why the Republicans left without addressing the Post Office default

The post office has the largest (I believe) organized labor force in this Country. They want it to fail so it will have to be privatized. I believe that is the reason for the original 2003 provision requiring it put 75 years worth of funds away for future pensions and health care. No other entity has been required by law to do this, and I am thinking that provision was enough to take the Post Office down (they thought). I am totally against privatizing the Post Office and I am a big supporter of unions. Never belonged to one because of the nature of my work (there was no organized labor at my places of employment). I give credit to the great benefits and fair pay unions have acquired for the work force across the country.

Sam

[mountain grammy]

6. The importance of a public post office cannot be minimized.

It's a part of our Constitution, for God's sake! Article I Section 8.

[Samantha]

12. I have thought about that many times - how will they get around that

I hope they fail but I do not hear many politicians discussing this except Bernie Sanders. I believe the PO will go into a second default before the House reconvenes. More fuel for THEIR argument but I am sure they planned it this way.

The post office can and should be saved. Bernie Sanders was talking about a list of things the post office could do to add to its revenue. I have been wondering it a new function could be taking pictures of residents and producing voter i.d.'s? After all, the post office delivers the mail and many postal carriers are familiar with residents in their areas and where they live. Sounds like a good idea to me, and it would solve two problems: help the post office; where voter registration sites have been closed, the post office could step in and fill the gap? What do you think? I have been thinking about approaching Bernie Sanders with this idea.

Sam

[SaveAmerica]

9. I was going to make same statement in response to this, I know people in USPS unions

and have read some of the details of the bill that is ruining the PO and also read the union materials that are being mailed out.

I think that what is happening is a combination of trying to privatize the USPS and giving that no-bid contract to, say, Cheney's friends, and getting rid of all of those well-organized and strong unions inside the USPS.

[Samantha]

13. I totally agree

Business as usual. Break the union, privatize the organization, cut down costs by paying lower wages, give no benefits.

Sam

[xtraxritical]

10. This is why Congressional races are so important.

Only Congress can correct the evisceration of the post office that previous republiCON legislatures have been responsible for. VOTE A STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC BALLOT 2012

[Samantha]

14. I AM THERE

My plan entirely.

Sam

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. Very good point.

And of course goes to why they are creting taxpauer funded charter schools.
I am absolutely gob smacked that people. who pay property taxes for their schools which are being privatized,
are not up in arms.
Then there is the whole issue of once privatized, former government services are not accountable to taxpayers.

[INdemo]

3. Making the entire country a "Right to work" state

and trashing the Davis-Bacon Act is brought to us by the Koch Brothers,Karl Rove and the Right wingers on the SCOTUS and all the members of Citizens United

So Mr Hoffa is correct ..all of the above plus abolish the minimum wage and wipe out the middle class..And there are millions of hate filled right wingers out there that will actually vote for these A-holes

[macbug]

5. MR HOFFA

Believe this, the future of your job is at stake. The republicans want to destroy you. You can not make a deal with something that wants to kill and eat you. They have been keep wages down in YOUR industry for over 30 years and little has been done. Well your back is against the wall now because they think they have it in the bag. PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS, do not hold anything back. Write checks big enough to make the news. TODAY IS THE DAY and NOW is the time. YOU try to play it safe and you and your union is dead.

[mountain grammy]

7. You said it, and you're so right (correct!)

[mountain grammy]

8. As Governor Patrick says: "Dems need to grow a backbone"

and so do workers. Unions have been marginalized because workers have let it happen and allowed management to divide and conquer. I've seen it many times: Workers afraid to lose the good pay with benefits job the union won for them, so they turn against the union. Unions are far from perfect and have often been their own worst enemy, but its' all we got, and we have the power to improve our unions. United we bargain, divided we beg!

[freshwest]

17. Yes, union members need to recognize they're an endangered species and not vote GOP, ever.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. If I was living in a cave for a decade, this would be breaking news.

But today, this is SOP for the GOP

[elbloggoZY27]

15. We Are Not Represented

Federal Workers cannot have job actions like our Union Brothers. AFGE is hog tied and the people who pay dues are trashed by our Government. It's the facts and it is verified by the Salary Freeze. In Europe and other countries this is not the case.

It is one area that needs to be looked at by our Union Brothers and Sisters.

It's not just the freeze but incompetent and unskilled management.

[azurnoir]

18. This is news? That has been the Republican aim for 30+ years

anyone remember Reagan and the air traffic controllers?

[matt819]

19. I don't think annihilation is his objective; it's just a side effect

We've all commented here on Romney's apparent lack of empathy toward anyone, for anything.

I watched the clip of him trying to explain why he omitted mentioning the troops, giggles and all. He then went on to note that he spoke to the American Legion and the VFW.

Regarding the reference to the American Legion and the VFW, he comes across as checking off the boxes. Talked to VFW. Check. Talked to American Legion. Check. Done and dusted, don't have to talk to them again. Next.

But it was the reference to the troops that was most telling. Giggling, he observed that he did mention the military, which is the same thing as the troops, isn't it? My impression was that there was no sense of "the military," or even "the troops," as people. They weren't even pawns on a strategic chessboard. They didn't matter. How did military spending, or cuts, affect them. Didn't matter. They were incidental. They were side effects.

Now, back to union annihilation. Annihilation of unions may or may not be a Romney objective. But if unions are obliterated as a result of his policies, well, so what. It's a side effect. Let's take a look at the bottom line. Are the books balanced? Good. Are the American people suffering? So what.

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are right, of course. This is an election choice between two sets of values. Two visions of moral behavior.

[daleo]

20. I think it is more than aside effect

I think he genuinely dislikes unions, partly from economic principles and partly from upper class psychology.

[lumpy]

24. Annihilation of unions have always been a prime objective of the Republican party.

No matter who is running on the GOP ticket. Unions are like a scourge on big (and sometimes little) business. The worker must be kept in line without a voice.

[Canuckistanian]

21. This pisses me off

Unions "drive up costs"? Uh, no, Unions are there to fight for workers' fair share of the profits.

Unions "harm competitiveness"? How, exactly? Corporations are flush with cash and productivity has never been higher.

Unions "frustrate innovation"? Since when? Some of the most important innovations in the past 60 years have taken place in unionized workplaces. From auto companies to aerospace to government services doing research and development.

Unions don't HURT ANYTHING. They only ensure that workers get their FAIR SHARE.

[Hubert Flottz]

22. Not just Mitt but the entire GOP!

They want to bring back the "golden years" of the robber barons.

Mitt is another Hoover.

[JRLeft]

23. This is true about almost every republicon.