Teamsters Cripple FortWorth Buses on Election Day for Perry (R) Part III

[McCamy Taylor]

Lot's of backstory here. First, the letter I wrote to the Fort Worth Star Telegram after the election:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/local2/15968813.htm

"My family is strongly pro-union, and I don't want to give union-bashers ammunition for their battle against workers. But sometimes our friends do things that aren't right.

"There was no excuse for the Teamsters to choose the day before a major national election to go on strike. Some people in this city rely on buses for transportation -- poor, elderly and disabled people who don't drive. They have a right to cast their votes, too.

"What really worried me was learning that the the International Brotherhood of Teamsters endorsed Gov. Rick Perry for re-election. Now I have to wonder if some union official scheduled the strike to keep Fort Worth Democrats from the polls. I'm assuming that Republicans are more likely to drive pickups than ride city buses, but I might be wrong.

"Everyone knows that bad weather affects voter turnout. It's common sense to guess that a sudden change in voter transportation would do the same.

"I hope that no one stayed away from the polls on Tuesday for lack of a ride. I also hope that the Teamsters' leaders will consider their civic obligations in the future. They could have scheduled this strike for Wednesday."

Now the thread I started yesterday, when I read that the Teamsters forced through a new contract that most of the bus drivers did not get a chance to vote on, and that the majority of those voting rejected.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2966982&mesg_id=2966982

And if you will look at the post linked below, you will see that while early voting was up in Tarrant County (Fort Worth), over 2002 which also had a governor's race and while the county elections supervisor was predicting that total voting in the county would top the 2002 number, the final number of votes cast was lower than in 2002, despite good weather, despite the fact that nationwide Democrats were turning out in record number and Fort Worth has a lot of lifelong Democrats. For instance, Dallas County next door had an unprecidented switch to Democratic votes, with Chris Bell winning the governor's race in that county.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2966982&mesg_id=2967989

OK, that is the backstory. Today's story is the union members have filed charges because their union is not even enforcing the new contract which got them no net gains . The new contract said that employees who went on this strike would be hired back with the same senority. But so far, it hasn't happened, and so far the union is not standing up for its employees.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/16017298.htm

"'We went on strike, and the union didn't even tell us what we were facing," said Williams, who believes union leaders and McDonald officials conspired to ensure that certain drivers with seniority would not return to work. "And while we were on strike, then they never came out to support us. I feel they were working with the T.'"

And maybe the Teamsters officials were working with Rick Perry's campaign staff, too, to slow down bus service in the City of Fort Worth so that people who rely on mass transit--the poor, the elderly, the disabled--would have difficulty getting the polls to vote. From what I can tell, even the union members now suspect that this strike was not for their benefit.

As I have said before, the Democrats will not raise this issue. They can not afford to alienate union members, even if the Teamsters are not acting like a real union. This is a scam that could be put to use in 2008 in a major urban area in a state where the electoral vote is up for grabs--like New York if the race is between Hillary and Guiliani, or Ohio. Some one needs to investigate this.

[texpatriot2004]

1. Why would any Union Member be pro-Perry or pro-Rethug? nt

[redqueen]

2. and how would stopping bus service hurt Perry? n/t

[Selatius]

4. It keeps Dems without cars from voting (most likely the poorest Dems, elderly)

That's my interpretation of it.

[redqueen]

6. Dammit... *help*... sorry... I meant *help*

Cause unless I'm really needing more coffee, that's what seems to be implied in the OP... that somehow this helped Perry "cripple buses ... for Perry".

Am I reading this wrong?

[Selatius]

8. Well, this is how I interpret it.

Perry is Repub.

Poor people generally vote Dem.

Poor means many of them use mass transit because auto insurance and car maintenance and buying cars are very expensive.

Teamsters Union is Repub.

Teamsters hold strike on election day.

Poor people who use busses are screwed. Another form of voter suppression is seen.

==========

Now, Teamsters who did go on strike on that day are sueing cause Teamsters reneged on deal. They were promised that if they did go on strike, they'd be rehired with same seniority when strike ends. They say the deal is not being honored.

[aquart]

5. Bought and paid for criminals would be.

People who need to be in jail would be.

When the reds and lefties were forced out of the unions, mob schmucks filled the void. Wasn't that clever of us? Kept labor nicely under control. The unions barely said boo when our jobs were offshored.

[fudge stripe cookays]

7. Teamsters have historically been Repug.

Remnants of the huge feud between Jimmy Hoffa and Bobby Kennedy years ago that has never altered.

[Kolesar]

3. Jimmy Hoffa was a republican. So was/is his son, "James" Hoffa, IIRC

Ron Carey seemed to me to be a great Bill Clinton-era leader, so he was run out of leadership of the union.

[McCamy Taylor]

9. Emails sent to John Conyers, Bradblog and Greg Pallast.

There needs to be a law, no mass transit strikes on election day. It is too easy to disenfranchise the poor and elderly just by saying "We are going on strike!" REAL unions should agree with this principle. Holding democracy hostage is not the union way.