Will he or won't he? We know that's what some are asking right now, especially since another likely 2016 Presidential Candidate flew into Southern Nevada for a UNLV Foundation fundraiser. And yes, he directly addressed that matter.
But first, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) wanted to discuss the reason why he came to the Culinary Academy this week. First, he wanted to talk about the issues.
Senator Sanders covered everything from workers' rights to Social Security to Medicare and Obamacare. He talked about everything from the ongoing G-O-TEA campaign against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) to the corporate media's obsession with "scandals". It was the kind of very frank discussion that one typically doesn't expect to have with a Member of Congress.
And speaking of frank, Senator Sanders cut to the chase when he was asked about 2016. Will he or won't he? Well, that depends on whether he can count on the kind of campaign machine that will be necessary for a Presidential campaign.
Senator Sanders then spoke a truth that is hardly ever uttered in political pundit circles. How does change truly happen? How can one make our system work?
Short answer: One can't. Longer answer: It truly takes a village. It takes a large village. It takes a village that becomes a large and enduring grassroots movement. One person alone can't change the system, but one person can help put together a critical mass who can...
If they stick together. If anything, that's the big takeaway of Senator Sanders' visit to Southern Nevada. But shhh, don't tell the media pundits. They're still obsessing over Hillary Clinton's shoes.
There's a famous quote we're thinking of this morning. It goes like this: "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
It's often wrongly attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, but it certainly applies to the political career of State Senator Michael Roberson (R-Henderson). In 2011, he was "Mr. TEA Party". He eagerly pushed to slash state funding in public education. Even though the final 2011 budget deal included millions in brutal budget cuts, Senator Roberson voted against it because he wanted more budget cuts.
Senator Michael Roberson was the premiere anti-worker, pro-austerity G-O-TEA "rising star" in 2011. So why is he boasting of receiving a "NEA award" in 2014? (NEA refers to the National Education Association, the national teachers' union.)
So why was Senator Roberson at the CCEA office yesterday? He has a rather long history of attacking their members and slashing school funding in Carson City. Who are these Republican educators behind this award he received?
The Senator had no interest in answering these questions as he dashed inside the building, even as CCEA leaders and a couple of the Republican teachers came outside to speak with teachers and community activists protesting outside.
It wasn't until 2012 when "Mr. TEA Party" suddenly morphed into "Moderate Mike". Out of personal conflicts and political expediency, he flip-flopped. And even then, he only pledged to stand with Governor Brian Sandoval (R) in maintaining the status quo.
So why was he at CCEA HQ yesterday to receive an award from the "NEA Pacific Region Republican Educators' Caucus"? During last year's legislative session, Senator Roberson fought hard against The Education Initiative (TEI). Senator Michael Roberson even introduced a competing initiative two months after the deadline for the Legislature to consider TEI. Remember this. He waited until the final weeks of the 2013 session to introduce his "Education Priorities Initiative", did so without receiving the support of Governor Sandoval and most other Republicans, and did so even though the deadline had already passed for the Legislature to propose an alternative to TEI.
So why was Senator Roberson at CCEA HQ yesterday? Everyone outside was wondering. And there may have been teachers inside the building who were asking the same question.
He fought against teachers. He fought against restoring budget cuts for Nevada schools. He fought against TEI. So why was Senator Roberson at the CCEA office yesterday, especially when CCEA wasn't endorsing him?
This morning, the US Supreme Court decided to tinker with workers' right to unionize... And the very survival of the American labor movement... And women's rights at work... And employers' ability to dictate their workers' health care decisions.
Both decisions were allegedly narrow, but they have the potential to set very dangerous precedents. Oh, and both decisions were 5-4. Who could have guessed the Roberts Court is so extremely ideologically divided?
In Harris v. Quinn, the 5 conservative Justices ruled in favor of a handful of home health care workers who did not want to pay union dues to enjoy the benefits of union negotiations. In order to curb "free riders", non - union workers were required to pay some sort of reimbursement fees to the unions for negotiating higher pay and better benefits for them. But now, 5 Justices (guess who!) just punctured a hole in this arrangement.
Now, they claim there's a separate class of workers who are "public employees" but are not really "public employees". Confused yet? Try Andy Kroll's Mother Jones primer for Harris. Suffice to say, today's ruling doesn't completely eviscerate the American labor movement... But it does bruise workers and threatens more pain ahead.
And then, there's Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby. Once again, we have a 5-4 ruling. Once again, we have a troubling precedent that threatens workers' rights. And once again, we have theoretical "religious freedom" valued over real women's health.
In Hobby Lobby, 5 Justices (guess who!) ruled that "closely held corporations" (essentially family run enterprises) can claim "religious objections" when denying workers contraception and other forms of reproductive health care. Strangely enough, some progressives are breathing sighs of relief today because this rather jumbled ruling actually gave plenty of room for the federal government to step in and provide reproductive health care to affected workers. The ruling was also designed to be narrow enough to avoid threatening other health care benefits (like blood transfusions and vaccinations) and/or legalizing workplace discrimination.
Still, this sets a frightening precedent. What if the hardest of hard-line conservative Justices just had one or two more votes on the Supreme Court? The message from Justice Samuel Alito (who authored both majority opinions) seems to be that he's waiting for just this to go even further in the direction of undoing the entire past century of progress on workers' rights and women's rights.
Here's a helpful hint: This is why elections matter. Presidents appoint and Senators confirm Supreme Court Justices. And there's a good chance we'll see at least one more vacancy this decade. Imagine the difference one vote could have made today.
So it finally happened. After many signs and letters and hopes and prayers, Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) personally came down yesterday to meet with grassroots activists calling for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). He listened to their stories... And he even prayed with the group before returning inside.
However, that wasn't all. Shortly after that, Culinary 226 and Nevada AFL-CIO workers, along with community activists from PLAN and ProgressNow Nevada, joined the DREAM Big Vegas crew in Pebble Park to make a second trip to Rep. Heck's Henderson area office and demand a House vote for CIR.
Culinary's Yvanna Cancela fired up the crowd at the park...
And then, the group prayed together before making the big walk.
Finally, everyone crossed the street and marched together in solidarity.
But because the manager of the complex was trying to rent vacant offices there, only groups of four were allowed inside one group at a time. The rest had to wait outside. They had to wait outside, in the back of the building, under the hot August sun.
And yet, they all waited. They waited to file inside, turn in "constituent comment forms", and let Rep. Heck's office know that Nevada families from all walks of life want Congress to finish the job on immigration reform.
All it takes is a floor vote. Rep. Heck and other House Republicans need to be willing to join a bipartisan call for a floor vote. Will they?
At least now, it's on record that real NV-03 constituents want one.
Last Saturday, Joyce Woodhouse (the Democratic nominee in SD 5) did another precinct walk. However, this was not just any precinct walk. Twenty-five Henderson firefighters joined Woodhouse to walk about a dozen precincts in SD 5 in Henderson.
Between recent "tea party" fueled attacks on firefighters (along with many other public servants) and State Senate G-O-TEA Leader Michael Roberson (R-Henderson; he himself narrowly defeated Woodhouse 51-48 in the old and slightly more GOP friendly SD 5 in 2010) announcing plans to attack workers' rights next year if he becomes Majority Leader, it looked like these Henderson firefighters were stirred into action. And they were ready to fight back. Although Roberson himself won't be up for reelection until 2014 (in the new SD 20 formed from the southern portion of the old, "super sized" SD 5), (the compacted Silverado Ranch to Green Valley north of I-215 to Old Henderson) SD 5 presents a key opportunity. Not only can they avenge Roberson's narrow of defeat of Woodhouse, but they may very well prevent Roberson from becoming Majority Leader by propelling Woodhouse back to Carson City.
Obviously, Nevada workers see a whole lot at stake in SD 5. That's why they took to the streets. And really, there's no better way for them to score a win here than to work the field.
After all, field matters. Democrats have already been working the field at the top of the ticket, but they haven't been alone. In fact, Joyce Woodhouse walks herself almost every day. And as she's been talking to voters throughout the district, she's been engaging in the kind of valuable face to face voter contact that just can't be replicated or imitated by any billboard, mail piece, or TV commercial.
So far, voters have been expressing their concern with the state of our schools, as well as what's happening with the overall economy. A few voters have even mentioned their frustration with the state's unfairtax code. And again, these conversations are so valuable because they allow for the kind of dialogue and interaction that one can not reach with TV ads or roadside signs. And believe it or not, many voters actually appreciate this dialogue (and prefer this to generic TV and mail ads).
Occasionally, I've seen flyers for Steve Kirk, Woodhouse's Republican opponent. They look quite generic, basically proclaiming him as "Generic Conservative Republican". While he clearly has some people out canvassing, it's unclear as to what kind of impression he's making on voters. While he's spent plenty of money on those flyers, as well as roadside signs and mail pieces, he hasn't really spent time engaging in any dialogue with local voters. If this continues, both he and Michael Roberson won't like the results in November.
For some time, CCSD Administrators have cried that they're just too poor to keep all those horribly mean & expensive teachers on the job. Never mind that they always seem to find the money pay Dwight Jones a cool $282,571 (!!!) salary, fly him to fancy vacations conferences and recruitment sessions, and shower him with all the "support staff" and iPads he could ever desire. But now, we may finally see a bit of a reprieve as the feds are coming to the rescue.
The Clark County School District might be able to temporarily rehire about half of the 419 teachers it laid off last month after the School Board approved on Thursday the use of federal funding to serve the district’s most disadvantaged students.
The School District will receive nearly $82 million next school year through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of Title I, which grants federal dollars to public and private schools with high numbers of students from low-income families.
Each of these “Title I” schools will receive an additional $100 to $375 on top of the district’s per-pupil funding. The goal of the program is to lower the achievement gap between rich and poor students.
Nearly half — or $43 million — of this federal money will fund 199 additional teachers for one year at “Title I” schools. District officials maintained this federal money could not be used to restore lost teacher positions throughout the district, but only to fill “high-need” positions for one year at the 224 schools receiving “Title I” funding.
More than 1,000 teaching positions — including 419 current teachers — were eliminated from the district last month to help plug a $64 million budget deficit next fiscal year.
In order to qualify for federal Title I funding, schools must have at least 40% of students qualifying for free and reduced price school lunches. It's funny how these vultures administrators have no desire to feed kids from working poor families until it serves their political interests. I'd be laughing if we weren't talking about real life.
And in case that isn't disgusting enough, CCSD won't even commit to rehiring the teachers they just pink-slipped for no good reason. Oh no, they're already flirting with finding cheaper replacements. While it's often great to bring in new blood and fresh energy, it's egregiously offensive to ignominiously dump veteran teachers after threatening to bankrupt them, then refuse to hire them back after getting bailed out by the federal government in order to hire teachers!
I wish I could say I was truly surprised by this, but I'm not. After embracing the crazed anti-education teabaggers at NPRI, CCSD bosses truly have jumped the shark. They really seem to care more about boosting their own egos than doing what's right for local teachers and students.
So Nevada's Superintendent of Public Instruction will be in town soon. And he isn't just coming to enjoy the lovely summer heat. Rather, he will be here for a NPRI event.
No, I'm not kidding. And really, we shouldn't be surprised at all.
John L. Smith warned us back in March. James Guthrie has stated before that he does NOT support fully funding public education. He came here to Nevada from a right-wing think tank. And his appointment by Governor Brian Sandoval was praised... By none other than NPRI. Oh sure, there's nothing to see here.
And Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction James Guthrie is coming here to speak to NPRI.
What's really going on here? Guthrie is certainly coming at an interesting time. I wonder what kind of "words of encouragement" he will offer to NPRI. It's just the kind of funky timing that I can't ignore.
So why is Nevada's "Education Czar" talking public education at an event being held by an organization thats dedicated to destroying public education? And why is he speaking to them right when they're waging war on Southern Nevada's teachers as they aim to bust their union? I smell something fishy here.
There's something seriously wrong here. Do you notice it?
On Friday, NPRI sent an email bulletin to 12,000 teachers through the district’s email system, Interact. The unsolicited email blast drew the ire of several teachers, who accused the district of providing their work email addresses to NPRI.
“It’s another in a long line of attempts by the district to intimidate union members to drop their membership,” said Daniel Barber, a social studies teacher at Durango High School who received NPRI’s email on Friday. “This is an example of divide and conquer.”
However, the School District did not disseminate a list of teacher emails, said spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson. District officials do not know how NPRI was able to gain access to teachers’ work email addresses, she added.
There are more than 40,000 employee email addresses in the district’s Interact communication system. Although the district’s four unions representing administrators, police, support staff and teachers are able to use the email system to contact their constituents, outside groups — such as vendors and non-union political groups — are not privy to this email database, Fulkerson said.
So an NPRI email asking CCSD teachers to drop their union (CCEA) was sent through CCSD's OFFICIAL, CLOSED email system... And CCSD's official Baghdad Bob spokesperson can not say how this happened? Are you f**king kidding me??!!
Maybe it's too difficult for The Sun to figure out, but hopefully it's not for you. And if you need a refresher on what's happening, here you go.
If the arbitrator had found evidence demonstrating that CCSD couldn't fill contractual obligations, he probably would have cut them some slack. However, the real evidence proved otherwise. Was he just supposed to ignore the facts and play Dwight Jones' game of make believe, where the district supposedly can't afford to pay teachers the salary step and education benefits long promised but (until now) never fulfilled, yet it can somehow afford to dump money into tons of iPads and "administrative support staff"? Give me a break!
Oh, and did I mention that teachers had to pay out of their own pockets for college courses that CCSD deemed necessary to qualify for the long promised education benefits? And that CCSD not only wanted to deny teachers future raises, but they even wanted to raid their bank accounts and take away past salary increases? So we were talking about a potential triple whammy where CCSD teachers would have had money taken out of their pockets, future salary increases denied, and all this debt left over from college courses that meant nothing? And media pundits like Coolican wonder why those "greedy teachers" were demanding justice?
Again, the arbitrator found that CCSD could indeed afford to pay teachers what they had earned. And yes, local teachers have had to work overtime and pay out of their own pockets to do their job. So why were they somehow required to roll over and accept the kind of torture that Dwight Jones wanted to subject them to?
This is what's really happening. The Nevada View broke this story last week, but apparently the facts were too hard for most of the local media to understand. Simply put, CCSD Administration has declared war on the teachers and their union. Las Vegas, welcome to Wisconsin.
It's no secret that CCSD Administration has been fighting the teachers' union rather than negotiating in good faith. So should we really be surprised that it is now allowing the rabidly anti-union NPRI to use its email system to spam teachers with anti-union infomercials? This is truly a bridge too far!
This is disgusting. This is outrageous. And seriously, this needs to end ASAP.
The irony here isn't lost on me. NPRI always claims to be interested in "private solutions for the public good". But now, it's using CCSD (as in public!) resources to spread its "tea party" message and bully teachers into dropping their union? How Scott Walker of them.
And when did Dwight Jones declare his allegiance to teabaggers? Doesn't he know that they want to defund and destroy public education? Doesn't he realize that NPRI won't be satisfied until CCSD is dead and replaced by voucher supported private schools? Is he so blinded by his desire to bust the union and break the contracts with teachers that CCSD had agreed to that he's willing to declare "the enemy of his enemy" as his new BFF?
NSEA recently paid for a poll testing the corporate margin tax it's backing alongside Nevada AFL-CIO. They must have been smiling after seeing this. So far, respondents are answering favorably. In fact, the initiative is leading 59-32 among voters!
And funny enough, the only two demographic groups it's losing are Republicans and conservatives. Among everyone else, it's leading solidly. It's leading 59-30 in the Vegas media market, and it's even leading 59-36 in the Reno media market!
It looks like most Nevadans are finally reaching their breaking point. They're getting sick and tired of seeing our kids suffer under third world conditions at our public schools while out of state multinational corporations enjoy first class tax evasion. Something's got to give.
And perhaps, it finally will. After all, can our state afford to take more of the same?
Lee’s original plan this year was to abandon his Senate seat in favor of running for Congress. He was expected to challenge a darling of the Democratic establishment, Sen. Steve Horsford, in the 4th Congressional District.
But Lee’s decision to drop out of the congressional race seems to have earned him the protection of the Democratic establishment against the liberal activists intent on driving him from office.
Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, who had announced he was running for Lee’s Senate seat, decided to move rather than challenge Lee. Other candidates whom progressives tried to recruit to run against Lee also backed out, before Spearman filed on the last day. [...]
“John is very thankful and grateful for the support of the Democratic Party and Democratic constituents,” said Ryann Juden, Lee’s campaign adviser. “He’s happy and thankful to have their support.”
He said the party’s support has “absolutely” helped.
“In the traditional way a party helps a campaign,” he said. The party has helped provide volunteers and “resources necessary to get out and connect with voters.”
The Democratic Party declined to comment for this story.
That's because the Nevada Democratic Party itself can not endorse in a primary. State and county party bylaws prohibit that. However, the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus has endorsed John Lee. You can see here how "excited" Senate Caucus leader Mo Denis (D-North Las Vegas) was to endorse Lee on live TV.
I suspect other folks listed as endorsers in Lee's recent mailer were much more excited to do it. In addition to a few unions and Democratic electeds, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce endorsed Lee. Remember them? They held up the state budgetlast year over their preferred legislation weakening benefits and workplace protections for public sector workers. Several other corporate lobby regulars, such as Barrick (mining), Bank of America & the state bankers' PAC, CenturyLink, and the realtors' PAC, also seem quite happy to support.
However contrary to what Lee operatives were hoping, the entire Democratic base isn't exactly on board with his campaign. It's mainly because of whose opinion he seems tovalue the most.
And not only are the state's progressive groups making noise about their disappointment with John Lee, but they're also backing that up with a real campaign. While they may not be able to fully compete with Lee's "business lobby" support, they are firing back with mailers, web campaigning, and a grassroots field effort.
“We think this is the right thing to do, to stand up for Democratic values in a Democratic primary,” said Erin Neff, executive director of ProgressNow Nevada.
Members of the coalition, including the Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club, Nevada Conservation League and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Network, “get it,” Neff said.
“They’re putting their name out there in a very difficult way,” she said. “It’s not easy to stand up to your own party.”
Lee, a conservative Democrat, has been progressives’ enemy in Carson City. He often votes against Democratic majorities on key issues for liberals such as domestic partnerships, minimum wage and environmental issues. His tendency to go rogue often required special attention from Democratic leadership to keep him in the fold.
Schwartz then noted the big Democratic allied groups staying out of the SD 1 primary, but he may have missed something quite important. The primary will likely be decided by a smaller (than the general electorate) core of Democratic primary voters who are motivated to get active in local elections, party matters, community affairs, social justice movements, and more because of their values. And their final decision in this primary will likely fall on who they believe best represents and supports what they value.
How much do Democrats in SD 1 value women's rights, full equality for Nevada's LGBTQ families, properly fostering Nevada's economy & environment, and justice for the 99%? And how does John Lee fit into this equation? How Democratic voters in that district answer those questions will be crucial in determining John Lee's political fate and Pat Spearman's political future.
Of course, there will be many more factors in this race. Who has the better ground game? Who contacted more likely primary voters? And who did best with the campaign donations received? But at the end of the day, it's really about the candidates' values and what voters in the district value most.
Clark County did not prove that a firefighter the government terminated at the height of the sick abuse scandal abused his privileges, an arbitrator has ruled, potentially costing the folks on Grand Central Parkway a lot of money.
Donald Munn's lawyer says the award could even up worth seven figures considering that the fired firefighter wants his job back with all benefits, too.
Although the arbitrator said an email sent by Munn raised suspicions about the use of sick leave in the department, the county had no cause to fire him and did not meet the burden of proof.
Back in March, Ralston interviewed the firefighter and attorney who sued Clark County. (Skip to 14:15 in the video below to catch it.)
Certainly, there have been problems with police and fire contracts in Clark County. However, that's more because of lazy local elected officials. They figured it was cheaper to pay current firefighters good salaries with good benefits for doing extra service than recruit more new firefighters. So once "The Great Recession" hit, we suddenly saw a "crisis" where there hadn't been one before.
While Clark County government certainly has not attacked firefighters like Clark County School District has hit teachers, it's increasingly looking like they may have also overreached in firing firefighters who had nothing to do with the sick leave scandal. So chalk another expensive legal loss to a former employee for Clark County. I hope this isn't becoming a habit. After all, law suits and arbitration battles cost money, too.
So yet again, we see major twists and turns on the path to meaningful tax reform in The Silver State. But this time, this turn of events may lead to more justice for the 99% and a healthier path forward for the state's economy.
After months of talks, teachers, gaming, mining and other Nevada power players are unwilling to join the initiative campaign, but AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Danny Thompson said that won’t doom the proposal to increase funding for education.
“We’re going to do this with or without the teachers,” Thompson said. “We’re going to do this with or without anyone.”
And here's where it gets really interesting. There have been rumors for several weeks about Brian Sandoval's power brokers bleeding dry both organizational and financial support for Nevada AFL-CIO's tax initiative. So obviously, there have been questions about how Danny Thompson can somehow make this work. In today's Sun article, Thompson himself provided us with some clues.
Thompson said he would have no problem collecting the signatures needed to qualify his ballot initiative.
“I can get the signatures internally,” he said. “I can go to the unions. I don’t even need to go out to the streets.”
Thompson wouldn’t disclose how many members unions affiliated with the state’s AFL-CIO have but noted that the Culinary alone has 65,000 members.
Thompson said despite rumors to the contrary, his organization has money to support an initiative campaign. He declined to reveal how much money the organization has.
“We have money,” he said. “We’re just not giving it away to candidates.”
Is there more to that alliance than what we saw last month outside Red Rock Resort & Casino? And is this why Danny Thompson doesn't seem to be shedding tears over the loss of the state teachers' union from his margin tax coalition and the deafening silence from Billy Vassiliadis and the R&R powerhouse business leaders? Thompson indeed makes a valid point about the grassroots might of Culinary's 65,000 members. If Culinary goes all in for this initiative, it will indeed mark a key turnaround for this initiative.
Thompson also noted something important in stating unions won't just be "giving away" money to candidates this year. This looks to be in line with the national AFL-CIO plan to focus more on its own campaign instead of just donating to Democratic party committees and candidates. We have been seeing Labor in full force in Wisconsin since last year, and now they're hoping to take the energy and momentum nationwide. And while Brian Sandoval has been trying hard lately to avoid becoming "The West's Answer to Scott Walker", Danny Thompson may nonetheless see opportunity in rallying workers behind a tax initiative that has the potential to carry a powerful "99%" economic justice message in making big business pay its fair share so working class kids can have a better education.
We'll have to wait and see where Danny Thompson and Nevada AFL-CIO ultimately go with this margin tax initiative. But now, it looks like there may actually be a path forward for it regardless of what NSEA and the Nevada Resort Association ultimately decide to do with it. Can the kind of Labor powered grassroots energy that reawakened progressive activism in Wisconsin and catapulted the Occupy message of economic justice to the national spotlight redefine the conversation on taxes and investment in public education here in Nevada?
“We have some concern regarding language,” Lynn Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association, said of the proposed ballot initiative. “As of now, we’re not signed on.”
Warne said she supports in concept the effort by AFL-CIO head Danny Thompson to raise money for schools. But her position highlights growing uncertainty about the fate of the tax effort.
“There was a deadlocked certainty there’d be an initiative two or three months ago,” said one political operative. “Now, not so much.” [...]
Representatives of the gaming and mining industries, which are both being targeted with industry-specific tax initiatives authored by a conservative businessman, would not comment for this story.
Gov. Brian Sandoval’s announcement last month that he would support extending $620 million in taxes set to expire in 2013 appears to have dulled the sense of urgency behind the tax-related ballot initiatives.
The teachers union’s unwillingness so far to sign on to the AFL-CIO initiative presents two significant problems for the effort to get the tax passed. First, teachers are among the most visible, sympathetic faces of government services. Second, and most important at this stage, the teachers union has a reserve of cash that could be used to gather signatures.
If proponents of the initiative collect signatures, it would first go to the Legislature, which would have 40 days to pass it. If the measure doesn’t pass, it would be placed before voters in 2014.
This was one of the top goals of Brian Sandoval's "shift to the center" and sudden embrace of the sunset taxes. In addition to making himself look "moderate" and encouraging Republican Legislature candidates in tough races to do the same, Sandoval also hoped this would blunt momentum for progressive tax reform that had been building since last year. Yet even as Sandoval may be hitting a snag on the former (thanks to Chuck Muth's "tea party temper tantrum" causing some G-O-TEA primary mayhem), he still seems to be reaping some success on the latter. But then again, just blunting momentum for tax reform may be enough to boost Sandoval, setting him up for the best possible negotiating position with a (still) Democratic controlled Legislature and a prime opportunity to campaign as a "bipartisan uniter" when he runs for reelection in 2014.
And now, the Nevada AFL-CIO and the state's top teachers' union look to be playing right into Brian Sandoval's hands. Early on, the business margin tax promised to be the most viable tax initiative, as it had the most potential to attract strong financial backing. But now that NSEA is threatening to join the Nevada Resort Association on the sidelines, it's unclear how Danny Thompson can mount an ongoing and hard hitting tax campaign for the next two years. Even if he can get the signatures this year, the initiative must still go to the Legislature next year. And if the Legislature can't muster the 2/3 super-majority to pass this tax, then it must go to the voters in 2014.
So maybe tax reform isn't entirely dead yet, but it's certainly in a precarious position overall. At this point, it all depends on how committed Monte Miller is to his mining tax initiative as well as whether the AFL-CIO and NSEA can work out differences on the margin tax. However, at this point it also looks like Brian Sandoval has gained some more breathing room on the budget.
On Thursday, the Culinary again went sideways, scheduling a rally at Red Rock Resort the same night the property was hosting a big fundraiser for Bishop Gorman, the Catholic high school, at which the Engelstad Family Foundation was to be honored. [...]
To Taylor, however, this is all just noise.
“We have a very different view of time,” said Taylor, the union’s longtime leader.
“If somebody told me we’d have a six-year strike at the Frontier, I would have said, ‘I don’t think so,’” he said, referring to the legendary walkout of the now imploded property.
If the Fertitta brothers, who control Station Casinos, seem dug in, the workers are just as hunkered down, Taylor said.
“Those workers are not going anywhere, and they feel very strong and they’re extremely determined,” he said.
And even some of the traditional splits of the labor vs. management fight have been shaken up. Harry Reid has apparently expressed concern about how an extended Culinary vs. Station fight court hurt Las Vegas' image to tourists and conventioneers, while Bishop Gorman's President actually reached out to Culinary to ensure their protest last night could go on as scheduled (without interfering with their fundraiser).
And this war is not just being fought in the media. Culinary has called out Assembly Member Marcus Conklin (D-Las Vegas) for doing a fundraiser with Fertitta family members (one of them being a former Station Casinos executive), This is increasingly high stakes because Conklin wants to become the next Assembly Speaker, but he must first survive a tough reelection campaign in what's now a tossup district. I'm sure he must have appreciated the Clark County Democratic Party passing this resolution in support of Culinary 226, collective bargaining, and workers' right to organize and form unions. (Snark... And by the way, I'll do a disclaimer and note that I'm a member of the Clark County Democratic Party Central Committee.)
Even the AFL-CIO, which once had hard feelings over Culinary's parent union joining with SEIU in breaking away from the AFL-CIO several years back, is now teaming up with Culinary to take on Station Casinos and prevent Station from encouraging union hotels on The Strip and Downtown from going after their unions when contracts are up for renewal. National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was at the Red Rock Rally last night, and he told the media last night that the AFL-CIO is even considering a national boycott of Station Casinos. This is obviously becoming very high stakes for both sides.
And really, this is high stakes for Southern Nevada in general. On one hand, there is reason for concern as both Culinary and Station continue to up the ante in their ad wars and media skirmishes. As Las Vegas' gaming & tourism sector is finally starting to see a steady recovery, do we really want to put that at risk with an extended labor-management dispute?
However, we also can't forget this. Coolican finished his latest Sun column by noting this.
In the end, Taylor’s effectiveness can be found as plain as day in the contracts his members have secured. Our room attendants make 30 percent more than the national average, and unlike many of their peers, they have excellent health benefits secured by the Culinary contract. Those higher wages are also enjoyed by workers at nonunion hotels such as Station and Las Vegas Sands properties because they have to offer good pay to attract good workers.
Station has a lot of advantages in this fight. But don’t expect Taylor or the union to back down. Ever.
Believe it or not, we're unique in making these jobs ones with living wages. In almost every other part of the country, hotel workers are considered "lucky" if they're paid above minimum wage. And make no mistake about it, this is a big deal. Because union workers on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas do earn a living wage, they can afford to spend more and contribute to the greater Nevada economy. Even the non-union shops, like Station and Las Vegas Sands, have had to raise wages and benefits to remain competitive with union friendly casino operators like MGM Resorts and Caesars. But if Station "goes nuclear" on Culinary and encourages other companies to turn anti-union, then our entire economy is at risk of collapsing over the collapse of well-paying, stable union jobs.
There's really a whole lot at stake for all of us in the Culinary vs. Station fight. And we simply can't afford for the workers to lose this one.
We've heard plenty about what may have happened when Occupy Las Vegas moved Downtown yesterday. I wanted to share with you what I thought was the most poignant part, which was the part that did not receive all that much media attention.
Take a look at the video above... And these photos below.
Look at the 99% here. They were carrying signs and shouting out sound bites, yet they were also sending an important message directly to Nevada's Congressional delegation, especially Senator Dean Heller (R-Tea Party) and Rep. Joe Heck (R-Tea Party). While the G-O-TEA duo were promoting their "Balanced Budget Amendment" hogwash (since they are not actually interested in balancing any budget, all they want is another excuse to destroy America's social safety net), Nevadans were outside Heller's Las Vegas office and asking him to focus on what Americans really need: JOBS!
And interestingly enough, Heller's former colleague (and Heck's opponent last year) came by to address the crowd. She delivered this same message.
Dina Titus obviously has a different perspective on Congress, since she was briefly a member of Congress (and plans to return there in 14 months). Still, I see more here.
It can be quite easy to become discouraged by the whole process. And it can be quite easy to become distracted by the endless media hype and speculation over meaningless "dog and pony shows". And it be quite easy to become disgusted by all the dirty corporate money thrown around. Sometimes, it's quite difficult to remember what really matters.
However, we just can't forget. We can't forget the importance of getting involved, contacting our members of Congress, building a real movement, and ultimately using our votes to change what we don't like. That's the beauty of our system, and that's something we should never feel compelled to give up.
We can't wait for job creation. And we can't wait for an end to Congress' charade games that keep threatening middle class families. We need real, bold action on job creation. And if the current G-O-TEA House majority prevents Congress from acting, then we need to change Congress by occupying the vote.
In case you missed yesterday's lovely parade and festival in Downtown Henderson, here are some pics for you to peruse. I was with Congresswoman Dina Titus' famous pickup truck crew, and all of us at "Team Titus" had a great time (and got a great reception from the crowd!) marching down Water Street. Other great progressive Democrats marching were State Senator Joyce Woodhouse, judicial candidates Nancy Allf and Phil Dabney, our brothers and sisters at Transport Workers Local 721 (also showing their support for Dina Titus!), and more.
Democrats were out and proud yesterday in Henderson, and I think we and our supporters in the crowd showed that we'll be working to keep Henderson blue this year... After we finish with all our St. Patty's Day green. ;-)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid officially filed today to keep his Senate seat.
“While we have made significant progress through the Recovery Act and other measures to prevent this recession from becoming a depression, there is much work to be done. We must never forget our fellow Nevadans who are suffering during this economic downturn," Reid said. "That is why I filed for re-election today."
Reid is being challenged by Republican front-runners Danny Tarkanian, a lawyer and former UNLV basketball star, and Sue Lowden, a former state senator and one-time chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party.
Reid said his goals during another term in office would be diversifying the state's economy and making health care more affordable.
“I will spend the next seven months sharing that vision with the people of Nevada," he said. "I hope they will support my re-election so that I can continue fighting to get Nevada moving again."
"The Lowdens campaigned viciously against the unions," said D. Taylor, secretary-treasurer of Culinary Local 226, who was involved in the effort to unionize the Santa Fe that started in 1993 and ultimately failed. "There were lots of twists and turns on this, and health care was one of the issues." [...]
"We have already said a while back that we're going to work hard to make sure that Harry Reid is successful in the election," Taylor said, speaking for one of the Senate majority leader's core support groups in his uphill campaign to win a fifth term.
The AFL-CIO also is gearing up to help Reid and hit Lowden. Nationally, the labor group has identified Nevada as one of six states it will focus on. These states -- including California, New York, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- feature both strong unions and must-win elections for Democrats.
Danny Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, said the state organization is in talks now to see how to coordinate the national effort to help Reid.
Thompson walked the picket lines against the Lowdens in the Santa Fe labor dispute, one that was especially intense because it involved an effort to unionize a neighborhood casino.
"It was among the most anti-union campaigns we've seen in this town," Thompson said. "Organizers were singled out and treated differently. It was a very ugly fight." [...]
Lowden has "always touted her record against collective bargaining and her record against public employee unions," Thompson added. "There's a clear message from her past that she is not a friend of anyone who works for a living. If Sue Lowden does win the primary we will be exposing her record."
Whoops. It's always a mistake to attack working Nevadans. Suzy Lowdown should have learned this in the 1990s, but apparently she still doesn't even realize this today. Her campaign is already attacking the unions and bashing the workers they represent.
She obviously doesn't know yet what's coming.
And honestly, none of us really does. This campaign will certainly have its twists and turns. That much is guaranteed, even if little else is.
I asked U.S. Sen. Harry Reid today if he had anything to say to those critics who predicted he may not even file for re-election. With a characteristic, wan smile, he held up a folder of election documents containing the receipt for his official filing papers and said simply, “Copies of everything are right here.”
Translation: Reid is most definitely not going to call it a day and look for a soft landing elsewhere. [...]
“My No. 1 job is to keep working to create jobs,” Reid said. He cited a couple of upcoming bills that he said will do just that, including a bill to re-authorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. “So, there are a lot of good things going on,” he said, adding, “We just have to look at the glass being half full rather than half empty.”
As for his chances, Reid cited a recent poll that shows him winning in a general election matchup that includes third party candidates and a “Tea Party” representative. And, asked if he could win the race, Reid had yet another, simple reply: “I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t.”
Heh. I guess the guy from Searchlight knows something that the big media pundits and GOP operatives can’t see. This race is only just beginning.
Yay! Happy b-day to me, I get to laugh at more Station-Boyd gaming. The Fertittas may have thought they were safe when they struck an agreement with their creditors last month to emerge out of bankruptcy wholly intact, but I guess Boyd Gaming thinks differently. This is what they said when they announced narrower losses than expected in their Q4 2009 earnings report.
During a conference call with investors and analysts today, Boyd executives reaffirmed the company’s commitment to acquiring Station Casinos’ assets and discussed the company’s view of the current condition of the Las Vegas locals market. [...]
“This offer stands and we are actively pursuing these assets,” [Boyd President & CEO Keith] Smith said. “We believe we can offer the greatest possible value to the majority of Station’s creditors. There is no one who is in a better position to manage those assets properly.”
And I guess there's still an opening with Boyd, especially with creditors still objecting about the Fertittas' spending habits of late... And even U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Greg Zive asking his own questions about possible overbilling.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Greg Zive told lawyers Tuesday he would look for overbilling and questioned expense accounts. He approved $12 million in interim fees and expenses for law and accounting firms.
The judge noted that progress has been made in an agreement with key lenders and the company in clearing the way for Station to emerge from bankruptcy. Attorney Paul Aronzon told the judge there has been "good progress" and a creditors meeting is set for March 5. [...]
Most of the hearing was taken up with the judge approving the request for interim payment of fees and expenses, but Zive had several questions.
For example, one accounting firm charged $19,500 in hotel bills. Zive pointed out that Station Casinos has hotels where the representatives of FTI Consulting Inc. can stay.
"I don't know if the hotels still comp, but we need to be careful," Zive said. "This is not a large amount of money but it doesn't have to be."
The judge approved $3.9 million in fees and expenses for one law firm where some 50 attorneys and legal assistants are working on the case representing Station.
The judge noted two lawyers in the firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy are charging $995 an hour and a small group of others are billing at $900 to $950 an hour.
"When you bill at that rate, I expect a great deal of efficiency," he said.
The judge then threatened to hire a court-appointed fee examiner to investigate of Station's expenses keep spiraling out of control.
Don't like my Gaga? Too bad, bitchez! It's my birthday, dammit! Oh yeah, what was I talking about again? Oh, that's right, back to Station and Boyd. ;-)
I guess Station isn't really out of the woods just yet. As always, the Fertittas' wacky spending habits and self-enrichment schemes are coming back to bite them. And as long as they keep screwing with their own company like this, there will always be some kind of opening for Boyd.
Hundreds of workers from Station Casinos founded a union organizing committee last week and are meeting at the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226 today. The workers have called on the company to agree to a fair process for workers to form a union free from management interference, intimidation and harassment. The Culinary and Bartenders unions have informed the company’s owners, partners, creditors and the National Labor Relations Board of the committee’s formation.
Station Casinos answered the workers’ request for a fair process with threats and intimidation. Yesterday, the unions filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the company violated federal labor law in over 100 incidences by threatening, surveilling, physically assaulting and intimidating workers for their union activities.
“I’ve worked at Palace Station for 18 years,” said Casino Porter and Organizing Committee Member Casiano Corpus. “I joined the organizing committee because I want a better future for myself, my family and my co-workers. Station Casinos may not want a union, but it is not their decision to make. It is our decision and they shouldn’t try to scare or intimidate us because of our union activity.”
Since a management-led buyout in November 2007 that paid Station Casinos insiders $660 million, the company has subcontracted out its coffee shops and its uniform department to outside operators. Hundreds of workers have lost their jobs with the company as a result. The company has also cut hours, made permanent lay offs, suspended the workers’ 401(k) match, and raised employees’ health insurance premiums. [...]
“These workers are standing up for themselves and their families,” said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Culinary Workers Union President. “The company and the workers are in a very difficult position right now because the 2007 buyout increased the company’s debt and left it unable to weather the economic downturn. The company is making decisions that affect these workers lives and their ability to take care of themselves and their families. The workers didn’t create this mess, but they are suffering as a result. We are going to do everything we can so they can achieve the respect they deserve and take care of their families with dignity.”
It's already looking ugly with accusations of violent assault (FOX-5 video) now flying. So for now, the sordid soap opera that's become "The Station Casinos Bankruptcy Case" continues.
King’s willingness to embrace changes and evolutions in his political and moral thought, the global lens through which he viewed the problems of the poor and oppressed, and the tenacity with which he inserted justice and morality into American political and social discourses serve as powerful, yet often overlooked, components of his legacy. Without question, the traditional rendering of King—the one that will be recalled this MLK Day in schools, churches, community forums and political rallies across the country—is important, poignant, and powerful.
Yet, at best, it’s only half the story, and it disingenuously smoothes the rough edges of both King’s politics and American social, political, and racial history. Today, when we commemorate King solely through lenses of national triumph and racial conciliation, and portray, for example, Barack Obama’s electoral success as the ultimate realization of the Reverend’s dream, we do so only by carefully selecting from both King’s personal and American national history.
In a modern context that devalues dissent and rubber-stamps it as unpatriotic and irrational, it’s important to remember that King wasn’t always considered the hero that we now commemorate, and much of that had to do with his contemporaries’ discomfort with his jarring criticisms of American society. In our reimaginings of 1960s America today, the collective forgetting of both the radical elements of King’s politics and society’s general animosity toward them is perhaps explained by the fact that many of those problems that he critiqued have only worsened since his murder; and if there’s one thing that most American political and social discourses don’t make much room for, it’s our national mistakes and flaws.
Though it’s easy to celebrate the accomplishments that King saw through to some sort of tangible completion, it is less comfortable to reckon with those that he couldn’t fix and that remain unrepaired. The wealth gap in the United States is more staggering than ever. The commitment of budgetary resources to military and defense spending dwarfs—and worse, robs from—spending on human welfare and social justice. The reactionary invasions leading to the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Iran? Pakistan? Yemen?) are proof of the persistence of militarist and imperialist American impulses. And despite claims of postracialism, we have plenty of daily reminders that racism still exists, even if, scientifically speaking, race does not.
Yep, yep, yep. It's easy to just embrace the contemporary caricature of MLK as a "civil rights icon", and just as easy to forget all of what this person and so many social justice activists of the movement were working for.
He spoke out against the war in Vietnam. He fought alongside union organizers. And of course, he paved the way for friends like Bayard Rustin to later build on earlier civil rights advances to push for LGBTQ equality.
And of course as we start this new decade, we have to ask just how much progress we've really made in the last 50 years. Sure, Barack Obama is now President. That isn't something to lightly dismiss. Still, there's so much that's yet to be done.
Racial inequality persists even to this day. Economic injustice still plagues this country. Discrimination against women and LGBTQ people still hurts us.
Yes, we've seen plenty of progress. However, there is also still so much work to be done.
