Huge Superdelegate Controversy!!

[Coexist]

Not really, but I'm really excited about what the Teamsters are doing in PA, and I hope you will check it out, too:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/9/133558/9204/508/492755

Day Two: Teamsters Convoy for CHANGE!

by TeamsterPower
Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 01:35:44 PM EDT

(MILE MARKER 307, PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE) -- If you want to see the reality of free trade agreements, visit Reading Pennsylvania. Today we met a group of 50 or so Teamsters who make York Pepermint Patties.

They will all be out of work by the end of the year. Their jobs are being shipped to Mexico.

<SNIP>
Dale Wiler (right) has worked at the Peppermint Pattie plant for nearly 30 years. He has a wife and two kids. His 17-year-old daughter is about to graduate high school and now he doesn't know if he'll be able to send her to college. He and the other workers will get a severence package, but it's got to feed the family until the 50-year-old father can find other work.

"They just herded us into a room like cattle and told us they were closing, that was it. No discussion," he said. "I feel like I gave them the best years I had and they could care less."

Wiler and fellow Teamster Bob Shiller (left) explained that this isn't about Hershey having to close the plant. It wasn't about strategic downsizing or poor production. It's about cheap labor in Monterrey.

Please read the entire diary - and don't forget to check out Day One and follow them on Google Maps.

Please rec this if you love Unions - they always make the difference for Democrats in swing states, and we need them now more than ever!

[midnight]

1. I hope these family wage earning jobs are saved.

[Coexist]

2. kicking w/sexy new title!

[olkaz]

4. come on man

Don't do that.

1. This doesn't have to do with the primaries.

2. Purposefully mislabeling the thread isn't good manners.

[Coexist]

5. it does have to do with the Primaries,

they are supporting Obama and in a very grassroots way. City to city, town to town.

[JimGinPA]

6. Uh, They're Campaining For Obama In PA

We do have a primary coming up.

[K Gardner]

8. Here's how its about the Primaries.. From Teamsters Power Diary

Hoffa's message is consistent. "We're here to keep jobs in Pennsylvania."

Occaisionally, we run into a worker who's not interested in the election. "You're interested in your job aren't you? You're interested in your union, aren't you?" Heads nod.

Fliers are handed out, supporting Obama. The Teamsters endorsed the Illinois senator in February.

"I think he's the right man," says Pam Seliga, shop steward and a 22-year employee at Ocean Logistics. "He's for working people and that's the guy for me."

Among the first groups of workers we stop to chat with is Grace Fadarishan, 81. She's been working at Ocean for 31 years and a Teamster since 1976.

Her top issues are the economy and the war. "My son is an engineer and he has to work in a machine shop because he can't get a decent job. They brought in a bunch Indians that they had to train, and then showed them the door. This is America? It isn't right."

The small white-haired woman focuses her gaze as Hoffa speaks: "We lost 1,100 jobs here in Scranton when the Tops Bubble Gum company closed down. We need to keep those jobs here. Now they're closing the York Peppermint Pattie plant, that's more Teamster jobs that are going to Mexico.

"I've talked to Obama. He's for Employee Free Choice Act, he's for re-opening NAFTA. We need change. And we need your support," Hoffa told the members.

From one bay to the next, shipping, packing, we meet with groups of three, four, six workers at a time. Asking for support. The workers listen and agree.

[olkaz]

12. Alright, I'm convinced.

But purposefully mislabeling it is still not cool.

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

3. K&R

[UALRBSofL]

7. I don't see how this is good news, even when it is related to politics

I've been to Reading and there were several industrial sites which is the vein of the market. Plants closing is going to hurt the town in many ways economically. Regardless of the political implications, I feel for the people who live there. That's the important thing.

[K Gardner]

9. This is a fascinating story and worth following.. I'm surprised and disappointed you

had to change the title to get some Kick, so I'll give you one or two !

Good find.

[Coexist]

13. I posted a thread on Day One and it couldn't even get VIEWS much less kicks

so when the same thing started happening with this one, I got desperate. I am so proud of the Teamsters - some of the comments are from Teamsters in remote areas who are so excited that Hoffa came to talk to them, they felt left out and unimportant and said they felt validated by his visit.

[Araxen]

10. K&R

:kick:

[Divernan]

11. I've stopped buying Hershey's products since they started moving to Mexico.

If I'm going to buy imported chocolate, I'll get it from an EU country where there is quality control and the workers have good salaries/benefits - PLUS the chocolate is a much better quality.
I think the American candy manufacturers have been going on the cheap as to ingredients and diluting the quality for years. Now that they're moving to third world countries, I also question the sanitary conditions under which their plants operate.

[samsingh]

14. kick