trumka vision is tunnel vision

here's our trumka-rd ....


 a real player 
         these days
   tiltin 
             with  the tower titans 
                                 shadows no less

       
from  mine shaft 
to ass shaft 

today 
trumpee's bent over 
to receive the full  load 

===============================================

Richard Trumka
 a third-generation coalminer 

------------
god bless ya for yer back ground richie
             and
       may yer ancestors
    please forgive me
    for what you are about to receive ----------------------



trumka 
directs 
afl xxx
" strategy 
towards US business"

------------------------------  notice "strategy"
thats
a nice wordthat

especially good
 to use 
when you're taking 
    a  vicious beating

             it sez 
  things were  planned  that way   ---------------------



    trumka  is sitting in
              the   gloomy half-light
                        of an office 
                           that should offer
                     one of Washington's 
                  best views
                                   of the White House

"I'm not opening 
the window blind again
 until that man
is out of office," 
he says
 jabbing at a
 "W Is For Weasel" placard 

------------------  "that man " .....impressive ---------------------



 in spite of plunging
           membership
             and 
a hostile political climate
 US trade unionists 
have gained a knack
 for getting their voice
               heard

------------ heard  by who
                         and to what end 
                                         -------------

From Social Security reform 
to trade with China
 the AFL-CIO
 is playing 
         an important role
 in increasingly mainstream
                       battles.


---------------- 
sez who ? 

important on what?

important as a fifth   rube wheel 
                 on winning coaches 

   and on the losers?

   who fuckin cares....---------------------


In  campaigns
 such as those against
             Wal-Mart 
          or
 excessive executive  pay
 past setbacks 
    have encouraged
a change of tactics:


 targeting customers
 and investors
rather than tackling
 big companies head-on

-------------  see where
    this vallentine's comin from ?

 when the  press makes a  pass at ya like this
saying yer scorin points
makin the tower boys ouch 
 best watch yer ass  trum-kabble 

                          wall street's behind it all

                             message clear
                                    
 " don't throw us in the briar patch trum trum " ------------------



 scarce resources
 have been spent 
on political
campaigns 
 causeing internal criticism

 particularly
from rebels 
who would prefer
 to see John Sweeney
 AFL-
CIO president
 spend more on recruiting


------------------  
                       but thats tough going
                                         ----------------
-------------------------------------------------------------

 anti-
capitalist guerrilla tactics
mark  the campaign against
Wal-Mart.
----------------------------- what none sense
                                            
  "this be  peoples war agin the walton empire" -------------------


Unions have long struggled 
to gain a foothold
 in wal mart's
 North American stores
but 
 Whenever they come close
            retaliation 
from the retailer's head office
            has been
           swift and devastating

So instead of focusing 
on recruitment
 unions have
formed 
a coalition
of environmentalists 
and community
groups
 to oppose almost everything
 the company does 
from new store openings 
to procurement 
and 
hiring
practices

-------------------------- hit em where they ain't ------------------

 Trumka :

 "Wal-Mart is much more
 than just an
organising drive"

-------------- and much less too -----------------

Trumka:

" The Wal-Mart model
 is a threat to 
the American way of life."

---------------------------- what ? -----------------------


Even the labour department 
seems alarmed

---------------------- MORE BRIAR PATCH ------------------
 

Government
regulators recently
 launched
 a crack-down 
on union
financing 
 driven 
by a desire 
to see unions 
held  accountable 
         for
           campaigns
   where members interests 
            are 
not  obviously directly involved

--------------------------------------------------

 some campaigns have finally
begun to resonate
 among a wider audience

----------- really ?
                     read on and see -----------------

Last year
 union petitions 
on Chinese currency
manipulation 
and factory working conditions 
were
rejected by the government
 within hours of being filed

------------------ right  strike out number one -------------------


This year
 the unions have supported
 a cross-party
congressional effort
 to tackle the trade deficit

----------------------- and ? -------------------------

Trumka:

"People call me protectionist
 and I say:
 that's right
 protecting the American worker
 What's wrong with
that?"
 

Union success on China

-------------what success?
       they lost big time ---------------


                matched in executive pay
                             

union pension funds 
are used to advocate
corporate governance reform

 by tabling votes 
at company
annual meetings
 Last year
 they won 34 proposals
 on
pay 
this year they have filed 
more than 140

-------------- great where's the wagery's win here? -------------

Executive pay 
is still rising
 now about 300 times
that of average workers
 
-----------------so no win  second strike out 
      

not even a hit  for 
         the stock rubes  ---------

 but the unions 
have sought to
convince
 other investors 
of a shared interest 
in
linking pay to performance

----------- complete
 ffth wheel shit
grab some pine bat boy --------------------

 Trumka :

"Excessive pay
 is often a warning
 to
all shareholders
 that the management
 is out of
control".
------------------------------- wond-er-fuli 
i bet the stock rubes 
really needed to hear that  Rich  -------------


Many campaigns may fail

----------------------- yup thats for fuck sure ---------------------

 but that 
does not make them 
a failure

------------ oh no ? ----------------------------

 in the grand scheme

------------ grand scheme eh

we're pretty far
   from the coal face
    now  aren't we 
               richie me boy ------------


 the  impetus 
comes from the battle 
for the next presidential election

--------------- what ? --------------------

Trumka:

"We need a permanent
 mobilisation effort
 not just 
on- and-off campaigns," 


---------------- reminds me 
                    of goebles 
              screaming into the  radio microphone
after the surrender at stalingrad

                         "now its total war "
            

===============================================