Unions Threaten Business

And another grossly misleading titled union-bashing post. One that cherry-picks the salient points about this "threatening" letter.

Here is a more detailed look at the event:
WI Firefighters Spark "Move Your Money" Moment

The business in question is the "M&I Bank on the Capitol Square", which apparently used it's "secret tunnel" connecting to the capitol to allow Walker to usher in his lobbyists while he used the police to lock out everyone else (including Democrat legislators).

The sedate, old fashioned M&I Bank on the Capitol Square has gained some notoriety in recent weeks. Oddly, a tunnel in the M&I parking garage links to the capitol basement. Dubbed the "rat hole to the Walker palace", the tunnel was used by Governor Scott Walker to ferry lobbyists into the capitol building to hear his budget address during a time when the capitol was in a virtual lock down in defiance of a court order and after Sheriffs has quit the building refusing to be a "palace guard."

So citizens have begun circulating letters threatening to pull their money out of this business and a handful of others that were seen to be doing business with Walker.

Word is beginning to spread that M&I is one of Walker's biggest backers. Top executives at M&I Bank have long been boosters of Walker. M&I Chief Executive Dennis Kuester and his wife gave $20,000 to Walker in recent years. When you package individual and PAC contributions by employers, M&I is number one -- at $57,000 dollars. The firm apparently uses a conduit to bundle much of its money to Walker. Flyers, webpages, and Facebook sites have popped up encouraging WI consumers to boycott Walker campaign contributors and "Pull the Plug on M&I Bank."

This is a grass-roots campaign, and this is EXACTLY why we need unions, to offer some resistance to the autocrats that would simply use their money to rule over everyone else.

Joe Conway, President Madison Fire Fighters Local 311, explained to CMD that the action was totally spontaneous, but that "economic transparency" was going to be a big theme in the fight ahead. "Groups will be sending letters to Walker's major donors giving them the opportunity to support the teachers, firefighters and police in their community." Conway is well aware that new polling shows that 74% of Wisconsin families support collective bargaining rights for public workers.

Two of these letters are already in the mail to M&I Bank and Kwik Trip. "The undersigned groups would like your company to publicly oppose Governor Walker's efforts to virtually eliminate collective bargaining for public employees in Wisconsin. In the event that you cannot support this effort to save collective bargaining, please be advised that the undersigned will publicly and formally boycott the goods and services provided by your company," the letter says. "However, if you join us, we will do everything in our power to publicly celebrate your partnership in the fight to preserve the right of public employees to be heard at the bargaining table."

I say more power to them, if you don't like the TPTB, then BOYCOTT them. Don't do business with them and don't give them your money. I suppose now we call "boycotts" threats. It's no wonder America has lost it's spine, when some people do attempt to boycott, the corporate-sponsored MSM treats them like "thugs" and heaps scorn on them.


@centurion

Now they don't specifically say the following, but it's happened in the past when businesses refused to pay for "protection". Not hard to imagine how this will go down if the businesses say no. Someone breaks in and the police don't show up. Or there is a fire and the firemen "somehow" don't get the alarm.

Great job of inserting words into someone's mouth. Are you accusing these police and firefighters of threatening to refuse to do their job and allow a business or homes to burn or people to be victimized by crime? No, they "don't specifically say the following", you'll do it on their behalf so you can continue to call them thugs, meanwhile the rights of workers to oppose this incestuous relationship between the oligarchs and their puppets gets whittled away.

reply to post by ohioriver


I'm sorry old friend i see your link now. I will go and read it. Thanks.

I'd also like to point out that deaths have occured. Remember this past winter? The snow storm and the people that died as a result of snowplow operators "boycotting" the New York government?

Just saying. . . . .

Good for the unions.

Heaven forbid the workforce organize and bargain for benefits.

reply to post by beezzer


Hate to say it but they think that deaths are justified as long as they get what they want.

reply to post by spinalremain


Best wages and benefits I've ever had were at non-union businesses.

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
And another grossly misleading titled union-bashing post. One that cherry-picks the salient points about this "threatening" letter.

The title came from an online radio station website that is local to Wisconsin (see T&C guidelines for posting article titles). So the problem with the title is? Oh, you don't like reading the truth because you are pro-union ...

And cherry picking? I posted the part of the union letter that contains the threat. Also check T&C posting guidelines about posting excerpts and not the whole source article.

@centurion

Now they don't specifically say the following, but it's happened in the past when businesses refused to pay for "protection". Not hard to imagine how this will go down if the businesses say no. Someone breaks in and the police don't show up. Or there is a fire and the firemen "somehow" don't get the alarm.

Great job of inserting words into someone's mouth. Are you accusing these police and firefighters of threatening to refuse to do their job and allow a business or homes to burn or people to be victimized by crime? No, they "don't specifically say the following", you'll do it on their behalf so you can continue to call them thugs, meanwhile the rights of workers to oppose this incestuous relationship between the oligarchs and their puppets gets whittled away.

I simply said it's happened before - just this past winter in New York as others have pointed out. Also pointed out since it's the police and firemen making the threat, who are you going to call if they do choose the "dark side"?

Come back when you have a real debate argument to post. We'll be here ...

reply to post by ohioriver


You gotta love an article that slips in the phrase "assuming this is true,”, then goes on to ignore the fact that emergency services are not allowed to boycott, including snow removal. It claims that it was the garbage service that caused the trouble, not the snow plow operators. Even then it "assumed" it was true, and given the media, means it probably wasn't. I think if you go back and look at the videos, you saw them out there with backhoes and front-end loaders and were running out of places to put the snow.

Originally posted by lonegurkha
reply to post by beezzer

 

Hate to say it but they think that deaths are justified as long as they get what they want.

That is so beyond sick, that I really have no civilized comment to that.

reply to post by centurion1211


The "Threatening letter" claim is what is misleading. I suppose a boycott is a form of threat, a threat not to do business with said business.

What's misleading is how you chose to interpret this threat - as a threat to do violence or physical harm.

Originally posted by Blackmarketeer
reply to post by centurion1211

 

The "Threatening letter" claim is what is misleading. I suppose a boycott is a form of threat, a threat not to do business with said business.

What's misleading is how you chose to interpret this threat - as a threat to do violence or physical harm.

What's misleading about the fact that union workers have done this before?

What's misleading about union workers in New York City this past winter deciding that they needed to not work even if people suffered and died because of it?

What's misleading about union bosses and workers coldly deciding that if someone suffers and dies because of their actions, it's justified because it helps make their point?

Maybe it's you, in fact, that is being misleading.

reply to post by ohioriver


Ok my friend. I'm back. It only took two minutes to ferret this one out. The link for your information was Outside the Beltway, a conservative blog. The article you read was lifted from the New York Post. Do you know about the New York Post? It is owned by Rupert Murdoch who also owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal among dozens of other media outlets around the world. When we speak of MSM around here this media empire is as close as one can get to the perfection of it. Murdoch constantly is funding right wing causes an candidates across all borders and state lines. Etc.

But the thing about the Post? It has been losing money for years. He,Murdoch, keeps it even though it runs in the red, so that it can run false headlines and biased stories which portray anything liberal in a bad light. Especially for members of the conservative echo chamber. He IS the definition of propaganda.

I thought you might like to know just who it is you are getting your information from

Seeya

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


Thank you! So I can dismiss news from ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, HuffPo, DailyKos, NPR, Daily Beast, John Stewart, The Obama Administration, ad nauseum

Because THEY have an agenda as well, right?

Originally posted by TerryMcGuire
reply to post by ohioriver

 

Ok my friend. I'm back. It only took two minutes to ferret this one out. The link for your information was Outside the Beltway, a conservative blog. The article you read was lifted from the New York Post. Do you know about the New York Post? It is owned by Rupert Murdoch who also owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal among dozens of other media outlets around the world. When we speak of MSM around here this media empire is as close as one can get to the perfection of it. Murdoch constantly is funding right wing causes an candidates across all borders and state lines. Etc.

But the thing about the Post? It has been losing money for years. He,Murdoch, keeps it even though it runs in the red, so that it can run false headlines and biased stories which portray anything liberal in a bad light. Especially for members of the conservative echo chamber. He IS the definition of propaganda.

I thought you might like to know just who it is you are getting your information from

Seeya

And only 2 seconds to realize your point is bogus.

So, if it was from the Huffington Post, no questions, no problems?

Absoluterly no way this information couldn't be correct?

The "shoot the messenger" deflection attempt has been debunked repeatedly.

All working people that value their freedom to exercise their rights as free men, should boycott any and all businesses or corporations that work against them and their rights to express themselves collectively.
When disaster strikes; whose side do you want to be on? The guys that work and are there to help or the greedy ******** that want to disenfranchise the working man.

Just like these guys....

www.rawstory.com...

Lists should be made of conservative businesses and individuals that have declared war on the middle class and see how long they can stay in business catering to their rich friends.

You want class warfare because that's exactly what this is......bring it!

The working people of this country aren't stupid and see exactly what this union busting trend is about. In the long run this will only make more people want to unionize to protect their status as middle class and not be forced into poverty by those that want to control them economically. ex. The Koch bros.

www.nytimes.com...

other98.com...

This whole bruhaha isn't about "working for the taxpayer" as Walker claims; it's about weakening the democratic process in favor of the wealthy that buy the lobbyist and contribute exclusively to the GOP. Also to weaken the democrats....News Flash....It's going to have the exact opposite effect and give the dembs invaluable ammunition in the coming elections.

Yes I am a proud union member.....AFTRA/SAG

reply to post by whaaa


Seing how the democrats have behaved when they didn't get their way, I can't WAIT for the elections in 2012.

They are going to get a further, ruder awakening.

And of course, they wil resort to violence again.

reply to post by beezzer


Beezer. If you like. I prefer to approach ALL media with extreme caution. But by the sounds of your reply to my post WITH information, you offer nothing in return except what to my mind appears to be only knee jerk reaction.
I do not like to knee jerk react myself but I often do.

You mention that you are a tea party memeber. Right on. By claiming membership in this group of US citizens you have taken a necessary step forward in reclaiming this country from the oligarchs and leeches who have been bleeding us dry for along long time.

The thing is beez, these guys will not stop lying, cheating and lying to get what they want. They have had practice and they will not quit trying to find new ways to bend us to their agenda.

If I may be so bold as to offer a recommendation? We are only just awakening to the problems that surround us both natural and contrived. For any of us to assume that this awakening means we are awake and fully understand our predicament is foolishness. My comprehension has changed,(I like to think grown but I realize it may only be changed) since 911 and the world as it is presented by the conservative AND liberal elites is far from the world as it really is.

So, should you care to converse along these lines any further, I hope the topic of conversation can involve the billions of dollars sitting in the pockets of the Koch Brothers and how much of it they are dumping into the coffers of their puppets who shall remain, here, nameless until such time as you wish to take this up again.

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by whaaa

 

Seing how the democrats have behaved when they didn't get their way, I can't WAIT for the elections in 2012.

They are going to get a further, ruder awakening.

And of course, they wil resort to violence again.

To me the only violence I see is coming from the conservative corporate elite declaring war on the middle class trying their damnedest to weaken their ability to bargain in their own best interest. You have been unmasked.
and in Unity there is strength.

And our Gov. just committed political suicide by taking on IATSE. See the trend here?

reply to post by centurion1211


B.S. another bogus claim.

Murdoch-owned NY Post makes a bogus claim, that is then backed up by Murdoch-owned MSM or right-wing blogs, and that's all it takes to become fact, isn't it. Not one substantive source can back up the claim that anyone was striking during the NY snow storm, but now it's being twisted into "people died due to public unions".

The Post is a useless propaganda rag for Murdoch. He uses it to create a sensationalist headline, which then becomes fodder for his media empire. (NY Post)

The Post has been criticized since the beginning of Murdoch's ownership for sensationalism, blatant advocacy and conservative bias. In 1980, the Columbia Journalism Review opined that "the New York Post is no longer merely a journalistic problem. It is a social problem – a force for evil."[31]

Perhaps the most serious allegation against the Post is that it is willing to contort its news coverage to suit Murdoch's business needs, in particular that the paper has avoided reporting anything that is unflattering to the government of the People's Republic of China, where Murdoch has invested heavily in satellite television.[32]

Ian Spiegelman, a former reporter for the paper's Page Six gossip column who had been fired by the paper in 2004,[33] said in a statement for a lawsuit against the paper that in 2001 he was ordered to kill an item on Page Six about a Chinese diplomat and a strip club because it would have "angered the Communist regime and endangered Murdoch’s broadcast privileges."... (see source for rest of article)

What Murdoch does with his media empire is criminal; Judith Regan Settles...(Headline Should Read: Rupert Murdoch Settles Before Indictments Flew)

One of the main functions of the political content at the site appears to be crafting inflammatory and widely misleading headlines for links to articles by news organizations whose content contradicts the Fox headline.

If Fox came out and made these claims, they'd be thrown off the air when the falsehoods of sensationalist claims came to light. But by using the NY Post as a source (all of which are owned by Murdoch), they avoid blame. And the NY Post wouldn't know the truth if it bit them in the anus.

That is basically the source of the NY "people have died" from snow plow drivers work stoppage. Which, BTW, their contract expressly forbids.

So back to topic, what OP is claiming is that this letter reveals a plot by police to stand by while you are shot dead in the streets, or a plot by firefighters to stand by while your house/business burns to the ground. A sensationalist claim designed to continue portraying unions as thugs while the corporate elite extend their hegemony over taxpayers.

I think what has people really upset, and why this letter was written, was the fact that Walker has been less than honest about the source of his financial backing (especially from billionaires like the Koch brothers who stand to financially gain from Walker's legislation).

I think people are upset that Walker used a "secret tunnel" from a neighboring bank to usher in lobbyists to the capitol to shape his budget policy while LOCKING OUT everyone else.

Sounds to me like some damn good reasons to boycott them.