Teamster Union mobilizing members to support demonstrations in solidarity with Wisconsin workers!

[Better Believe It]

James Hoffa is the General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union.

Message From Jim Hoffa: The Time Is Now To Make Your Voices Heard
February 17, 2011

Rallies and protests are spreading like wildfire throughout the Midwest and beyond as American workers are finally standing up to the big corporations and their political stooges. It isn't just union members who are fed up. It's everyone who depends on a paycheck.

In Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, New Hampshire and Minnesota, people are flooding statehouses to say “no" to declining wages, “no” to economic instability that threatens their families, “no” to greedy CEOs and predatory corporations that try to suck every last penny from their wallets, “no” to the politicians who campaign for the middle class and then dance to the tune of the super-wealthy after they're sworn in.

For decades, politicians have distracted Americans with cultural issues like guns and religion while they've done nothing to solve the real economic problems that are wrecking the middle class.

What they're trying to do in Wisconsin and Ohio and New Hampshire and Michigan and Indiana and elsewhere is to silence unions. They know that unions make it harder for corporations to pass laws that weaken protections for middle-class families -- protections like Social Security and pensions, food and product safety laws, collective bargaining rights and minimum wage requirements. Can you believe that in Missouri they want to get rid of child labor laws, and there's a Tea Party U.S. Senator who agrees?

Now is the time to make your voice heard. Now is the time for the media elite to finally notice there's something in America called “middle-class workers.” Now is the time to gather your family, grab a sign and take to the streets to deliver a message to the big corporations and their political puppets. Now is the time to tell them what they’re telling them in Wisconsin, "We're not gonna take it anymore."

http://www.teamster.org/content/message-teamsters-general-president-jim-hoffa-10

The above is a public statement released by the IBT and therefore is not subject to copyright restrictions. BBI


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Monday, February 21, 2011
Teamsters Take Protests to 38 States

Teamsters throughout the country are mobilizing today to protest the assault on workers' rights even as an Egyptian union leader sent a message of solidarity from Cairo. There are more than 100 rallies planned this week in 38 states this week.

The protest continues in Wisconsin today. Wisconsin, though, isn't the only state where new governors and legislatures are considering right-to-work (for LESS) laws, eliminating project-labor agreements, killing prevailing wage laws and repealing minimum wage and child labor laws. In Congress, Republicans are pushing legislation to make it harder for workers to unionize.

In Indianapolis, Teamsters are among the crowd of workers lined up outside the Statehouse to protest a bill that would severely weaken unions, stripping many of the ability to negotiate wages and work rules. Our brothers and sisters from Indiana and Northern Kentucky locals will join the thousands expected to be there.

Read the full article at:

http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2011/02/teamsters-take-protests-to-38-states.html

PHOTOS OF TEAMSTERS IN WISCONSIN DEMONSTRATIONS





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[KansDem]

1. DAMN!!! It sure looks like Gov. Walker opened up a big ol' can of Whoop-Ass!!!

Didn't he read the label on the can? "Keep out of the hands of children"?

I blame his mommie for not putting it up higher on the shelf and out of the Governor's reach...

[OneGrassRoot]

17. Yep! K&R! n/t

[murielm99]

2. Those Teamsters are big dudes, aren't they?

My husband is a Teamster, too.

Yay!

[barbiegeek]

14. Give ur hubby a hug! We love our Teamsters!!!!

Teamsters kick ASS!!!

[Better Believe It]

3. From Teamster Nation: Don't let this light fade. Here's more of what you can do.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_V7Gvx3V-8VE/S5_i5QFWVvI/AAAAAAAAABQ/HG75jXAg7wU/Teamster+Nation+blog+header.JPG

Monday, February 21, 2011
Don't let this light fade. Here's more of what you can do.

The first thing you can do is share this inspiring video.


You can also wear red, the color of the Wisconsin Badgers. If you tweet, you can change your avatar to red.

Here's a suggestion from a twitterer:

@RuralPopulista To help wi union efforts from a distance, send name, email and phone # to [e-mail] spread word
The AFL-CIO blog shares these suggestions from a 29-year-old teaching assistant:

Spread the word! Talk to friends, post on social networking sites, send emails, texts, tweets, whatever.

1. Go to solidarity protests in your area. (You can find a list here.)

2. Comment on articles that are about the budget repair bill and write letter to editors in support of Wisconsin workers

3. Send an email to or call Walker’s office stating your opposition to the bill. Email is [e-mail] phone is: 608-266-1212.

4. If so inclined (I know many of you can’t do this), get your place of work to issue a statement in solidarity.

See the youtube video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MNJdJbpj1GE

[Generic Other]

4. Links to union songs and history!

GO TEAMSTERS!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x450192

[blindpig]

5. Big old k&r

former Teamster, local 311

[myrna minx]

6. Excellent. K&R

:cry: This makes me so proud.

[roguevalley]

7. teamsters and the IBEW are the big guns. I wov me some both.

RV, former teamster with a nephew who is rabid IBEW

[ellie]

12. My dad was an IBEW member

[Viking12]

15. I have been a member of both at times in my life!

Does that make me a super-duper big gun? :-)

[blondeatlast]

8. LOL! "Just practicing." We are ALL in it to win it! nt

[Better Believe It]

9. Kick

[leftstreet]

10. K&R

[maryf]

11. K&R

solidarity!

[Poboy]

13. Recommend!

[Poboy]

16. .