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Politics

Wisconsin Judge Strikes Down GOP Gov. Scott Walker’s Anti-Collective Bargaining Law

By Zaid Jilani on May 26, 2011 at 12:30 pm

Earlier this year, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) and the Wisconsin GOP set off a nationwide Main Street Movement by pushing legislation that would strip the state’s public workers of many of their collective bargaining rights. Walker signed the legislation into law in March.

Now, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi has struck down Walker’s anti-union law, saying its passage violated the state’s open meetings law and “the public’s trust”:

On Thursday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin’s open meetings law by calling the meeting without a 24-hour notice. She said that renders the law void. She had put the law on hold while she considered the case.

Sumi said violating the open-meetings law betrays the public’s trust.

“The court must consider the potential damage to public trust and confidence in government if the Legislature is not held to the same rules of transparency that it has created for other governmental bodies,” she wrote in a 33-page decision. “Our form of government depends on citizens’ trust and confidence in the process by which our elected officials make laws, at all levels of government.”

The “state Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for June 6 to determine whether it will” take on the same suit against the law. Lawmakers “could also pass the law again in order to nullify open meeting concerns that led to the judge’s ruling” today. It’s worth noting that while the open meeting law has been an issue since before the law passed, Wisconsin Republicans have thus far refused to re-pass the legislation, leading some to speculate they wouldn’t have the votes to pass it again.

Economy

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Claims It’s Unconstitutional For States To End Company’s Multimillion Dollar Tax Dodging

By Zaid Jilani on May 18, 2011 at 3:50 pm

As states around the country continue to deal with budget deficits, many are looking for ways to raise revenues so that they don’t have to cut even deeper into crucial public services like education and health care.

One way states are looking to raise revenues is to close what has become known as the “Amazon Loophole.” Currently, online retailers like Amazon.com set up subsidiary corporations in states and then argue that the subsidiary corporation doesn’t obligate the parent company to collect sales taxes in that state.

Lawmakers in numerous states, like South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and others are tackling this loophole by mandating that Amazon customers in their states pay sales taxes, which would both provide revenue for their states and deny Amazon and other online retailers an unfair advantage over local retailers whose customers do have to pay sales taxes.

Responding to these legislators, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos remarkably claimed today that state efforts to close the loophole and have Amazon behave like any other retailer are actually unconstitutional:

Now, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is saying that some U.S. states’ tax demands are violating the U.S. Constitution. [...] “First of all, most of where we do business – Europe, Japan, some of the states here in the United States – we collect sales tax. More than half our business,” said Bezos. “We do collect sales taxes, the European equivalent of value-added tax. And in the U.S., the Constitution prohibits states from interfering in interstate commerce. And there was a Supreme Court case decades ago that clarified that businesses – it was mail-order at the time because the internet did not exist – that mail-order companies could not be required to collect sales tax in states where they didn’t have what’s called ‘nexus.’”

Bezos is referring to a 1992 Supreme Court decision that said “that retailers who lack a physical presence in a state, or ‘nexus,’ cannot be required to collect tax.” Yet states aren’t claiming extraordinary powers to tax Amazon transactions. Rather, they are expanding the definition of “nexus” to “include affiliate programs, such as when Amazon pays a commission for links that result in sales.”

But the Amazon CEO should know that his constitutional argument is bunk. After all, his company lost a constitutional challenge to New York when it sued to stop that state’s efforts to close the Amazon loophole (Overstock.com lost a similar case). “Amazon should not be permitted to escape tax collection indirectly, through use of an incentivized New York sales force to generate revenue, when it would not be able to achieve tax avoidance directly through use of New York employees engaged in the very same activities,” said Judge Eileen Bransten.

It’s crucial that states are able to excise their powers of taxation to get revenue from transactions occuring within their territory, given that state governments are losing millions of dollars thanks to tax dodging by big online retailers. As just one example, in “2011 alone, Wisconsin will lose an estimated $127 million in uncollected sales tax on purchases made online.” Unfortunately, Amazon hasn’t reacted to these state efforts just by challenging them in court. When Texas tried to close its Amazon Loophole, the retailer announced that it would end all business there.

Politics

Poll: Most Ohio Voters Want Kasich’s Anti-Labor Law Repealed And Think His Budget Is Unfair

By Zaid Jilani on May 18, 2011 at 12:26 pm

In late March, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed Senate Bill 5 — which dramatically reduced collective bargaining rights for most of the state’s public workers — into law. In a fundraising e-mail sent shortly after his signature, Kasich said that “union bosses” opposed the new law and provided the opposition to his agenda.

Yet a new poll released today from Quinnipac University finds that it’s not just labor leaders who oppose Kasich’s anti-labor law, or his budget proposal, which dramatically reduces social spending in the state. The poll finds that 54 percent of Ohio voters want the law repealed, and only 36 percent want to keep it. Meanwhile, 53 percent of respondents said the governor’s budget proposal is unfair:

Numerous groups are currently collecting petitions in Ohio to put SB 5 on the Ohio ballot in November. They need 231,000 signatures to get a referendum on the law.

Politics

Poll: Michigan Voters Oppose Cutting Corporate Taxes, Support Constitutional Protection Of Labor Rights

By Alex Seitz-Wald on May 16, 2011 at 12:30 pm

Like other Republican governors, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has aggressively pursued an agenda to curb labor rights, cut corporate taxes, and slash funding for education. As ThinkProgress reported, Snyder’s proposed budget would cut corporate taxes by 86 percent while making the state’s already regressive tax system even worse by disproportionately increasing taxes on lower-income earners, especially retirees. The tax plan passed both houses of the state legislature last week and awaits his signature.

“Many of us are going to have to sacrifice in the short term. But I can tell you with confidence, with conviction, by making these sacrifices, we can all win in the long term,” Snyder said of his budget.

Snyder’s constituents don’t seem to be buying it, with 70 percent of Michigan voters opposed to cutting business taxes at the expense of education and other social services, according to a new poll from Michigan firm EPIC/MRA:

Meanwhile, 76 percent of voters supported a proposal to require businesses to demonstrate that they have actually created new jobs with the tax breaks they receive. Just 9 percent of voters said they think businesses would use Snyder’s tax breaks mostly to create jobs — most think companies will pocket the savings as profit.

On labor issues, 60 percent of voters oppose taking away collective bargaining rights of public employees, while nearly as many support an amendment to the state’s constitution guaranteeing a right to collectively bargain:

Support for the pro-labor amendment appears to have jumped sharply in recent weeks, as a March poll showed 49 percent of voters supporting it.

Snyder is eligible for recall in July, and a citizens group has already formed to spearhead the effort.

Related Posts

Politics

AZ Senate President Russell Pearce Threatens To Lock Up Protesting Public Workers In Desert Tent Cities

By Zaid Jilani on May 16, 2011 at 10:49 am

Arizona Senate president Russell Pearce (R) has been in hot water lately. He is currently facing a major recall campaign following a local scandal where it appears the Fiesta Bowl may have paid for Pearce’s out-of-state travel after he aggressively pushed for public subsidies for the organization.

The latest outrage from Pearce comes from a speech he gave before the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce last week. Responding a question about how he would respond to protests by public workers against the conservative agenda, he embraced the use of Sherrif Joe Arpaio’s infamous tent city prison camps:

According to the Yellow Sheet, Pearce made this crack about what he and his buddy Sheriff Joe Arpaio would do if workers stood up for their rights and demonstrated: “I’ve spoken with the sheriff, and he has some nice buses that hold a lot of people. We’ve also got some tents with a view.”

A CNN article from 1999 describes one of Arpaio’s infamous desert prisons as a “tent city [that] looks like a military camp in the desert, with thick canvas sleeping quarters spreading out in a remote area of Arizona.” It’s unclear whether Pearce was joking or not, but even if he made the comment in humor, it’s completely inappropriate for a high official in the Arizona government to even kid about taking such measures against Americans practicing their First Amendment rights. “I find it deeply chilling that an elected official finds it funny to discuss jailing a group of people expressing their First Amendment rights,” said Arizona AFL-CIO executive director Rebekah Friend in response to Pearce’s comments. “Suggesting a police crackdown before a rally has even occurred is just more of the same intimidation, threats and innuendo we’ve come to expect from Senator Pearce and his crony (Sheriff Joe) Arpaio.”

Economy

Romney: The NLRB’s Attempt To Stop Union-Busting Is A ‘Power Grab,’ Proves Obama ‘Distrusts Free Enterprise’

By Pat Garofalo on May 13, 2011 at 11:45 am

Since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced last month that it is launching a complaint against airline-manufacturer Boeing for potential union-busting, Republicans have been in an uproar. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) likened the NLRB to “thugs” from “a third-world country.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), meanwhile, said that the case is evidence the Obama administration has an “enemies list.”

Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) — whose state would have been the beneficiary of Boeing’s union-busting — said this week that “I’d like to see every [potential GOP 2012 presidential] candidate step up [and say] what they would do about it.” 2012 Republican hopeful Tim Pawlenty, when he was participating in a debate in South Carolina, did just that, calling the board’s decision “preposterous” and “outrageous.”

Yesterday was 2012 contender Mitt Romney’s turn, as he took a brief aside in his highly-anticipated health care speech to call the NLRB’s decision a “power grab” proving that the Obama administration “fundamentally distrusts free enterprise”:

The states, in the words of Justice Brandeis, would be the laboratories of democracy. They would try things. They would learn from one another. They would also compete with one another. So the same dynamic that would propel our economy — competition and freedom — would propel learning between the states…I’m convinced, however, that the Obama administration fundamentally doesn’t believe in that American experiment. They fundamentally distrust free enterprise and fundamentally distrust the idea that states are where the power of government resides. The most recent decision was the one made by the NLRB, to decide that Boeing can’t locate a factory in South Carolina. It was a power grab from states, with the federal government saying we know better than states.

Watch it:

To, once again, review what happened, Boeing, in 2007, announced a production line in Washington state, but in 2009 decided to move that line to South Carolina. Boeing officials very publicly explained that the decision was made because workers in Washington had engaged in a strike. According to labor law, shifting production as retribution against workers who exercise their rights is illegal.

As the Washington Post’s Steve Pearlstein wrote, “given the public statements of Boeing officials, there is nothing radical about the NLRB’s decision.” A lawyer who described himself as sympathetic to management told the Seattle Times, “If I’m [Boeing's] labor lawyer, I’m cringing when they are saying that.” But the GOP is treating this as some unprecedented assault on freedom, rather than an agency just enforcing the laws on the books and ensuring that workers don’t have their rights trampled by corporations.

Economy

Now Hiring: Walmart Seeks Spanish-Speaking Labor Buster To Maintain A ‘Union-Free Workplace’

By Zaid Jilani on May 12, 2011 at 11:00 am

As of April 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stands at around 9 percent, as millions of Americans are seeking work in any position they can find.

One company that is hiring is Walmart, “one of the largest private employers in the U.S.” The company recently posted a job listing online for a director of “Labor Relations.” The job description requires helping the company’s human resources department maintain a “union-free” workplace. Under “Additional Preferred Qualifications,” the company seeks fluency in Spanish:

Walmart is a company notorious for breaking up labor unions and has taken swift action to prevent its workers from organizing. In 2000, “when a small meatcutting department successfully organized a union at a Walmart store in Texas, Wal-Mart responded a week later by announcing the phase-out of its meatcutting departments entirely.” When a branch in Quebec, Canada, voted to unionize, the company immediately shut down the store.

Politics

In Latest Setback For Right-Wing War On Labor, NH. Gov. Lynch Vetoes ‘Right-To-Work’ Legislation

By Zaid Jilani on May 11, 2011 at 3:00 pm

Today, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) vetoed HB 474, which, if enacted, would have converted New Hampshire into a “right-to-work” state. In vetoing the legislation, Lynch said that his veto is a rejection of the influence of outside interest groups and in defense of the right to organize:

The debate over the so-called right-to-work bill in New Hampshire appears to be largely driven by national outside interest groups, and is not a result of problems facing New Hampshire businesses or workers.

There is no justification in this case for state government to interfere with the right of private businesses to freely negotiate and enter into contracts with their employees. Therefore, I am vetoing HB 474.

Starting in January, conservative lawmakers in at least 14 states (the Wall Street Journal tracks 18) introduced so-called right-to-work legislation that would cripple the ability of workers to form strong unions. The Associated Press finds that these bills have failed to progress in almost all of the states in which they’ve been introduced. Here are just a few examples of states where right-to-work laws have been introduced and have failed to go anywhere:

INDIANA: In Indiana, House Democrats took a page from the playbook of their Wisconsin colleagues and fled the state to prevent the passage of a right-to-work bill. Shortly after the Democrats left and thousands of protesters mobilized against the legislation, the right-to-work bill was withdrawn.

MAINE: Despite a strong push by newly elected Gov. Paul LePage (R), Maine has thus far failed to move forward with the legislation. “We’ve got a budget to concentrate on,” said Sen. Christopher Rector, a Republican who was dismissive of the state’s right-to-work bills.

MISSOURI: In Missouri, Senate Majority Leader Rob Mayer (R) stressed the “need to be bold about this new agenda” and pushed for right-to-work laws — which had been on the state’s “back-burner since 1978″ — immediately after being elected. Yet when the bill came up for debate in the Senate, it was shelved a mere three hours later, as it became clear that both Democrats and Republicans would filibuster it.

The Associated Press notes that the New Hampshire House is expected to vote again on the right-to-work proposal on May 25, in a bid to get the votes necessary to override Lynch’s veto.

Yglesias

Hours Worked And Family Policy

By Matthew Yglesias on May 10, 2011 at 6:02 pm

Here’s a chart from Lane Kenworthy:

His interpretation is that this is mostly not about taxes, but about family policy:

One group, in the lower-right corner, includes Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. These countries, along with Austria, have several features that might contribute to low work hours. One is strong unions. Organized labor has been the principal force pushing for a shorter work week, more holiday and vacation time, and earlier retirement. These nations also have been characterized by a preference for traditional family roles: breadwinner husband, homemaker wife. This preference, often associated with Catholicism and “Christian Democratic” political parties, is likely to influence women’s employment and work hours. It is manifested in lengthy paid maternity leaves, lack of government support for child care, income tax structures that discourage second earners within households, and practices such as German school days ending at lunch time and French schools being closed on Wednesday afternoons. These countries also fund their social insurance programs via heavy payroll taxes, the kind most likely to discourage employment growth.

A second group consists of the four Nordic nations: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. These countries too have strong unions. But they also have had electorally successful social democratic parties, which have tended to promote high employment. Denmark and Sweden, in particular, have been at the forefront in use of active labor market programs to help get young or displaced persons into jobs, public employment to fill gaps in the private labor market, and government support for child care and preschool to facilitate women’s employment.

One way to characterize this, perhaps, is in terms of which kinds of political parties dominate on the right. In the hard working countries, the main right-of-center party defines itself as “liberal” whereas in the barely working countries the main right-of-center party doesn’t. The Netherlands may be an interesting test case here since traditionally the Christian Democrats have been the dominant right-of-center force but in the most recent election they lost that status to a liberal party. Will that mean an upsurge in policies designed to encourage people to work more?

Politics

Florida City Paying $2,500 A Day To Radical Union-Busting Firm To Stop Workers From Organizing

By Zaid Jilani on May 10, 2011 at 3:35 pm

All over the country, right-wing lawmakers are waging a war on Main Street America’s labor rights, purporting to do so out of a desire for fiscal restraint (while also backing budget-busting tax breaks for the wealthiest among us).

Now, the city of Winter Park, Florida, is going to new lengths to stop nearly 150 city workers from joining a union. Apparently more concerned with stopping the union than saving money, Winter Park hired consultants at Kulture LLC, “a firm specializing in labor relations” at the rate of $2,500 a day to persuade workers to vote against organizing this summer:

Winter Park is paying a consultant $2,500 a day to help the city’s staff dissuade about 150 city workers from joining a union. [...] Employees in the public works, parks, fleet maintenance and water departments are likely to vote in June or July on whether to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME. In the past few years, the city has done away with longevity bonuses and pay increases because of the economy. [...] Members of AFSCME have criticized the use of tax money to pay a group that they say has a politically right-leaning agenda.

A spokesman for the city told the Orlando Sentinel that it didn’t “do a political background check” on Kulture before hiring the firm and that the city just wants to inform workers about their options. Yet a cursory look at Kulture and the activities it conducts shows what the firm is all about: union-busting.

Kulture’s website is replete with right-wing ideology. It hosts op-eds claiming that sweatshops are an opportunity for the “third world poor” and bragging that the “labor movement is dead.” Its webpages direct users to far-right sources of information such as the Ayn Rand Institute and The Federalist Society. It also hosts the anti-union laborunionreport.com, which hosts anti-labor articles and a monthly “anti-union report.” The organization’s CEO, Peter A. List, has said that “unions are a by-product of a bad relationship.”

“We’re basically hiring them to make sure that factual, accurate information is given to our employees before they make a vote on whether or not to join a union,” says Winter Park spokeswoman Clarissa Howard. But one has to wonder how hiring a radical, Ayn Rand-promoting anti-union organization will do anything but try to scare workers into submission.

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